My Hearties

Snow in Cyprus

2012-01-21T04:54:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

If you would like to see snow in Cyprus you can head over to my other blog and check out my new post.

3boys1girlmyhubbyandme.blogspot.com

I hope everyone enjoys their day.

T.

Have you missed me?

2012-01-17T22:52:00.000-08:00

No scrappy posts for today. But I thought I would share with you a link to my other blog where I have shared a little bit about olives. Olives! I know strange, but I live in the land of olives. Every, and I mean EVERY house on the island has an olive tree. And everywhere you look are olive trees. Every Taverna you enter serves olives and cooks in olive oil. So, olives are big stuff here.

If you are interested you can go check it out at 3boys1girlmyhubbyandme.blogspot.com

Have a good one,
T.

To Pasalimani

2011-11-06T00:39:00.000-07:00

My parents were here for 3 weeks. FANTASTIC!!! To have company is such a treat. To have family is even better. I think it is comforting because they can see where you live and how you live. I was able to show them all the great stuff and they could see the stuff that drives me NUTS! So it is a win-win. Three weeks were not nearly enough time, we barely scratched the surface of seeing the island. I will admit that 5 days of that time was spent on a cruise to the Greek islands (a real treat).

This LO is about one of our first lunches out. We had gone down to Limossal to walk amongst one of the (many) ancient ruins that are found on the island. Afterward we walked along the boardwalk and found this little taverna by the sea. We stopped for lunch. My parents thought it was quiant and kept taking pictures of the grapes. They thought that they were fake! I had a big laugh when I explained that they were indeed real and we would probably be drinking them in the house wine and eating them on our fruit plate. So it was hysterical when the fruit plate came and piled high was a beautiful mound of grapes that looked exactly like the ones hanging over our head.

Snacky Bits

2011-10-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Hi my scrappy friends (and not so scrappy friend ;) you know who you are). Anyway, I was just having a moment when I filmed this short video. Sitting in my scraproom. Eating snacky bits and wishing I had some scrappy company. The next best thing - talking to my scrappy buddies.

Just A Little Jaunt

2011-10-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share my LO process.

Step #1 - I always pick my pictures first.

Step #2 - Pick my papers.

#3 - Lay it out. I am a visual person, so everything is laid out so I can clearly see where everything is going to go or fit or get rejected.

Once I have the papers laid out the way I want them I stitched them down to my base. As you can see the blues don't match perfectly, but they have the same vibe which is good enough for me.

Once I have the background established then I futz around with my picture placement then my journaling and finally my title. I just go this Scrap'n Easel - LOVE IT!!!!! Because my desk is used by myself and my 4 kiddos and occasionally my hubby I needed someplace that my works in progress could be kept without being in everyone's way. Also when I work now I can just use the magnets to hold things in place and I can move them around until I am happy. This tool was totally worth every penny.

Movin' on . . .

Sometimes I want an an embellishment in a certain color. In this instance I wanted red brads. I did not have any red brads. So I used my copic marker and colored some white brads red. Viola! No worries.

The finished layout. I am pretty happy with it. I like the little pops of red. It livens up the photos. It was a dreary day when we were out and about, but the people were lively and hustling here and there. The photo of the big skyscraper is a huge financial firm. The atrium at the top is open aired. Apparently inside that atrium is a full on park with trees and grass. However it is only for the folks that work there and not open to the public.

My son is a car fanatic. So we had to get his picture with the Farrari. And it was red, his favorite color. The market square with the traditional buildings is where the Christmas market is held each year. The buildings themselves are all reproductions. The original buildings were destroyed in WWII.

I like to cluster little emblishments together. I think it give more impact.

Baker's twine....love the stuff. Just had to add a little here and there.

Those white brads that I colored red. Who would know. Shhh? Don't tell. It will be our secret.

A better picture of my new favorite tool - the Scrap'n Easel.

If you are interested I ordered mine off of Amazon. Marlo, the owner of Contain'Ya Crafts is really friendly and helpful.

Hope everyone has a good one.

Peace,

Pre-Informal October LOAD Blog Hop

2011-09-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Prepping for a LOAD

Messy, messy, messy. . .

(I like the little action figure. There was a whole battle scene set up here.)

This is my mess. I thought I would try to blame the kiddos, but I knew that you would know better. This is how my desk looks after I have been in a really deep scrap groove.

Now this is totally my kiddos. They were making posters for school and were digging through my letter stickers.

The kiddos desk area. Oh, the shame. Oh, what a mess.

{sigh} that's better - the way I like it. . .

A clean work space. My scrap desk is also my computer desk. Multi-functional.

Where my 2 younger kiddos hang out. Now you can see the surface of the table! Wowzer, that was a mess.

My cardstock, punches, stamps and misc tools live here. My paper cutter lives on this rolling cart. When I am scrapping I roll it up to my right side. When I am not scrapping I can roll it to this corner. This is a small room, when the cart is on my right side it is hard to get out the door.

My inks and other supplies. All my patterned paper is store in this box and I have it sorted by style - polka dots, stripes, boy, girl, floral, etc.

This is how I do my menu for the week. Each day is on a sticky note which are all pasted to the front of the fridge. I even schedule when the kiddos buy lunch.

I hope you all enjoy this blog hop. From here you can head on over to Pam's page by clicking on this link: http://dailypamage.blogspot.com

Blog Hop Hostesses:

Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Katherine: http://www.csmoferret.blogspot.com

Pam: http://dailypamage.blogspot.com

Katrina: http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com

Christie: http://mrsingie.com

Lisa: http://lisamzepponi.blogspot.com

Fun-tabulous Mad Hatter Birthday Celebration!

2011-07-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

My daughter's 11th birthday celebration.

Teacher Gifts

2011-06-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to make something special and meaningful I decided to make mini albums of the students to give to the teachers.

For my son's 3rd grade class I made this.

The album has a title page which has the school year listed and a note of thanks. The subsequent pages are all the same format. Pictures of the kiddos with a little note of thanks from them to their teacher. I used my Cricut and cut these speech bubbles for each of the kiddos to write their note on. Each page follows the same format with the same embellishments. The papers are all coordinated so it is cohesive without being boring. I snuck onto campus one day and with parents permission took individual pictures of the kiddos.

This is the album I made for the grade 5 teacher.

Again, I followed the same format that I used on the other album. Super simple an really quick to put together.

The last pages in each album are a collage of photos from the entire year; assemblies, class projects, and events that the students participated in. On the last page of the album I gathered each class and had them jump for joy, a nice action shot.

Thanks for dropping by.

Mespila

2011-06-11T02:23:00.000-07:00

I love to participate in scrapbooking challenges. Last month I participated in theThe Crop Circle Monthly Challenge which is the Paperclipping Community. I have to tell you that I really enjoy these monthly challenges and I'll tell you why - you get great feed back. If you want to see what I mean go check out this blog post at Paperclipping.

And, just FYI - The Crop Circle is a free community. Come try out the challenges. It's fun!

Tambur

LOAD Update

2011-05-16T04:55:00.000-07:00

Day 16 of LOAD - Wow! That has come up quick. So far I have managed to do a page a day. I am so amazed at that. I think of the times when I have had 'scrappers' block, you know the desire, but not the follow through. Doing LOAD no block, no excuses and no stopping me. All the credit I must give to the lovely Lain Ehmann - her daily prompts are fantastic, no denying that, but I think that she has built such a great community of scrappers and that is where I feel plugged in. Between her ScrapHappy group and her LOAD group I find such inspiration and camaraderie that I can't wait to jump on Flickr each day to see what's new.

Anyway - day 16 and I have done 16 LO. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

Hope you enjoy.

T.

(sorry about the smudge from my camera lens - oops!)

My oldest and his best bud. Love this LO of him. I like the large circle that anchors my focal picture. By the way, I ended up cropping this page down 1/2 and mounted the whole LO on a piece of chocolate card stock. It just looked better, to me.

My munchkins - changing my old screensaver from 2008 to the new 2011 for my iPhone. I love seeing how the kiddos have changed in 3 short years. But mostly I love that they still hang on each other. It makes me smile.

My dad celebrating his birthday. That's how I want to celebrate mine - doubt that will ever happen as my birthday is in November.

Ode to Kettlecorn......I mean what's not to love.

My daughter and I spent the day together. The boys were camping so we went out on the town.

Mother's Day and Week 1 of May LOAD

2011-05-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

For mom.

On holiday in Greece.

Baby girl at age 6.

My friends that I miss.

Wishing all Momma's a very happy Mother's Day.

May LOAD

2011-05-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

I am doing another round of Layout A Day or LOAD. Just thought I would share my first 2 LO for the month..... So far I am staying on target ;> )

Day 1

Day 2

2011-04-30T07:03:00.001-07:00

Patience

2011-04-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

My oldest son, who is now 15, is just the most patient kiddo. I mean from the day he was born he would wait patiently for me to nurse him, to change him, to feed him. My mom used to say that it was because he was born in England, it was the British influence on his personality. Perhaps. Anyway, still to this day he is Mr. Patient. When he does loose his cool it is almost comical, because even that is still rather calm and collected.

The picture for this LO I took way back in February of 2009. Not so long ago, I know, but in terms of his growth it seems like ages ago. In this picture he still looks like his toddler self. Not anymore. Now he looks very manly.

I digress.....

I have four pictures that have hung on my wall since 2009 and wherever I go, they go. I mentioned this before in this previous post which you can read here.

Anyway, I have had this 5x7 copy in my stash of 'to-be-scrapped' photos for, well, 3 years now. Today I finally got around to putting this one down on paper.

Here it is.....

I think it turned out rather well. Man-oh-man, I love this kiddo. I have the best job in the whole wide world - being mom to my 4 McKids.

Have a good one,

u {heart} soccer

2011-04-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

My boy....

Ev LOVES soccer. Every-single-day, everyday, he is out there kicking the soccer. He loves Saturdays, because that is Saturday Soccer. As I am typing this post I can hear the ball slamming up against the concrete wall of the house. He practices for hours. EVERYDAY!!!

I think it is great that he has such a passion for the sport. He plays during his free time at school. He plays after school, he plays all weekend long. He plays by himself, mostly practicing his skills - shooting, juggling, passing and footwork. Most often the house is his partner. Sometimes I am his partner and on good days when the big boys finish their homework early they come out and pass the ball with Ev. To me the sound of a ball hitting the wall is a happy sound.

A Birthday Card

2011-04-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

Today my daughter hosted a surprise party for a classmate of hers. I thought it was sweet that the girls in the class wanted to do something special for one of their peers. I agreed that our house would be the venue. I also volunteered to make a birthday cake for Alina.

I decided to make a special birthday card for Alina. The inspiration for this card came from the True Scrap event that I participated in recently. The card/mini book below was one of the virtual make and takes. I know, what is a virtual make and take. Well it is basically this - you watch a live (in my case recorded - time difference) demonstration that's the virtual part, but you use your stash to actually make the project. Pretty neat.

Sorry for the crummy picture - focussed on the background paper and not the flower - ooops! Anyway, you get the idea of how cute this card is. But is a special card.....

Inside it has 4 pocket with tags. I thought it would be sweet if each of the guest wrote a special birthday wish for Alina on a tag. When she leaves she will have a little birthday momento that she can keep and cherish for years to come.

Thanks for dropping by,

Time Flies

2011-04-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

This is a LO made from a Technique Tuesday Kit that I have had in my stash for a long while now. I used the clock to look back at the last 12 months. The center picture was taken recently, April 10, actually. Placing it in the center it defines that this is the now -present. Looking at the clock face we go back in time.

3 months ago when we rode out to the beach on a sunny winter's day. It was windy, a little chilly and sunny. They kids would have splashed in the water if I had let them. Instead they spent about an hour exploring the beach, skipping rock in the sea and collecting rocks that were unusual in shape and color.

6 months ago we were hiking in the Toodos mountains. After our hike to the waterfall we had a nice Souvla lunch at a Taverna in the mountains. It was much colder in the mountains than we thought and during lunch outside under the trees we were wishing we had brought jackets with us.

9 months ago we were in the Boston area and visiting the house that inspired the House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. We were moved out of our house and in two days time we would be flying to Germany to meet friends before we headed off to Cyprus.

12 months ago I took the kiddos to Fredericksburg for the day and we had lunch at Fudruckers. Their very first lunch at Fudruckers, and they LOVED it. My hubby was away on a very long business trip. We were homeschooling and they had just finished a testing period and I thought they deserved a treat.

So much happened in a short 12 months.

I get a kick out of looking back at same/near date pictures from previous years. It is a habit of mine. When I download a set of photos I will often go and click on pictures taken on the same date from previous years. I love that when I look back I instantly recall what was happening at that time. It also amazes me at how quickly time flies.....it all goes so fast.

Have a good one,

T.

My Sweet Niece

2011-04-12T01:04:00.000-07:00

This is a LO I did using a Melissa Frances Page kit that I picked up last summer at the Great American Scrapbooking Convention. I pretty much followed her page design and used all the elements from her kit. I did add the CTMH Irresistibles Lots Of Dots letter stickers. I inked them to match the LO. Isn't she sweet!

Have a good one,

Strong

2011-03-31T06:25:00.000-07:00

My daughter, whom I think is quite clever, wrote this really moving poem. I wanted to preserve it some way that would have meaning for her later in life. As soon as I read the poem I knew exactly which picture to use.

I love this picture. It was one of those random shots. Not planned and in reality a really poor photo...the lighting was off and the picture is a little blurry, but I still loved it. You see, my daughter is always singing and making up songs and twirling and dancing. She jumped up on this rock and started doing her family concert at the same time I snapped a photo. I loved how her arms are open, waiting for any possibility. I also loved how it is almost a silhouette of her against the cloudy sky. I see her up there and I think of all the grand adventures that she will have in her life time.

When I read her poem I was shocked at what a mature little lady she is. She is 10, in the 5th grade and I think back to myself at that age and I don't think I could have written a poem so profound, with such depth and emotion. I was amazed.

Her poem is titled Strong. And I think she is a strong young lady. She is also confident and sweet, happy and giggly and klutzy and kind.

Here is her poem:

Strong

I look around
I can't see
The bright colors blind me
There's more and more each day
They don't understand me
They take one look and mark me as something I'm not
As they leave the stains of tears trickling down my cheek fade
the loneliness flees
And the joy of LOVE takes its place
My foundation is not shaking

In honor of my daughters lovely poem I made this page

I hope it conveys the love and admiration I have for her.

Peace,

T.

Pinewood Derby

2011-03-25T03:53:00.000-07:00

A quick and easy page. All the information for this event is on this page. I have used one of the 'ribbons' at the top to journals the details, including the date. To the left of the pictures I added a few more details regarding the troop # and the location. On the embellishment cluster I was able to add a couple of more details such as the fact that the Marines were present to judge the race and pass out the awards and that one of the pictures shows the final 3 cars in the race.

I will often use my embellishments to communicate information here the 3 signifies Evan's car #3 and that he finished in 3rd place.

I like to do collage photos for my layouts. This allows me to fit a lot of supporting photos onto a page without it looking cluttered or busy. I also like to cluster my embellishments - together they make more of an impact then if i scattered them all over the page.

On another note, Close To My Heart has come up with a great way to help out Japan. This information is taken directly from Jennette Lynton's blog. I wanted to share this with you.

"We've all been reeling with the images of tragedy and devastation in Japan. If you're looking for an easy, real, practical way to help relief efforts, then I invite you to contact your Close To My Heart Consultant!

Typically, our A-size sets retail for $7.95/$8.75 CAN, but the "Hope for Japan" set will be available through April 30 for just $5--and Close To My Heart will be donating 100% of the profits to the American Red Cross to benefit relief efforts in Japan.

If we all do a little, together we can do a lot. Let's show our support and together, provide real HOPE for Japan!"

Thanks for stopping by, and remember that comments are always welcome.

Have a good one,

Orange and Green

2011-03-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

On Sunday night my kiddos and I were watching a movie together. Just as the previews ended my youngest son, we call him Little Man, turned to me and said "Mom, my colors are orange and green. Orange because of my hair and green because of my happiness." Well you know I had to scrap that. And the fact is he's right.

1.2.3. ....blink

2011-03-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

I have some kiddos that no matter if the sky is overcast once they catch of glimpse of a glare of light they blink. Getting photos of them with their eyes opened and not looking like they are being tortured is a real challenge. This picture is an example of countless pictures I have on file...someone is blinking. Lucky this picture has only one blinker in it. Generally it is at least 3. We have trained the kiddos to keep their eyes closed until we say smile then they open their eyes and we snap a quick pic. It doesn't always work though. As you can see.

These are the papers that came in my Work In Progress kit, which arrived last week. I LOVE them. Such happy colors. The felt circles are from Melody Ross Homespun collection. I layered them on a floral sticker.

The red rickrack is from my ribbon jar. I used my Close To My Heart Pivot Point Stapler and some black staples to attach the rickrack to the page.

Thanks for dropping by.

2011-03-14T03:13:00.001-07:00

Did you know.....

2011-03-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

that you can change the color of your embellishment to coordinate with your page.

On my layout I needed some chipboard letters that would bring out the orangey-red of the patterned paper at the bottom of the page. I did not have the exact color to match, so I colored them using my Copic marker. If I had the right color ink I could have inked them or painted them. The choices are endless. For me on this project I pulled out my Copic marker R08 Vermilion and colored my letters.

I also used my Copic marker to color my buttons. I had a bunch of buttons in many different colors and wanted to give them a more unified look.

After I went back and looked at the LO I decided that I did not like the B & H in the tan so I took my chocolate CTMH marker and colored the B & H to better match the rest of the letters in Beach. Again, a simple fix.

By using my markers, Copics, inks and paint I can stretch my embellishment dollar by repurposing the items I already have on hand.

Artist Printers Tray Wall Hanging

2011-03-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

My middle sister recently became a mommy. I am so happy for her. She has wanted to be a mommy for many years and in God's perfect timing she has been mightily blessed by a darling baby girl. I haven't had a chance to hold my niece - yet, because we live so far away. But I think of her often and love her immensely. I had purchased the Aritist Printer Tray Wall Hanging kit from The Button Farm last July and I knew that this would make a great gift for my sister.

This is the finished project. I LOVE it because it is so sweet and girly. I think this is a treasure that my sis will hang in my niece's room.

This little tin opens and inside is a mini-scrapbook. You can add additional photos or write down all of her firsts, or even stash lock of hair.

Sweetness.

If you would like to check out the kits available from The Button Farm you can visit their site at www.thebuttonfarm.com. I have met Angela and she is a doll, so friendly and very creative. She does go to many of the scrapbooking conventions throughout the year. I know that she has been at the Creating Keepsakes Conventions along the East Coast, and she has been a regular at the Great American Scrapbooking Convention at Dulles, VA.

Technique Tuesday Kit

2011-03-03T05:02:00.000-08:00

Kits - I don't know your thoughts on them, but I know that I like to work with a project kit from time to time. The summer of 2010 I picked up this kit at the Great American Scrapbooking Convention at the Expo in Dulles, VA. I purchased it from the Technique Tuesday booth. I like their kits because they do a great job incorporating stamping with scrapbooking. I also like kits like these because they get me to think outside the box. Like using large dimensional elements on a scrapbook page and stamping on the dimensional element. And my favorite, stamping on twill tape.

Here is the LO I made using the Technique Tuesday This is true Love kit. Everything I needed was in the one kit. I like that. I also like kits - on occasion - that give me step by step instructions. It allows me to feel creative while letting my mind wander or rest.

Of course, I have a tendency to change things up a bit. That just makes it my own. Here the title was to be under the little heart. I liked it better over the heart.

Here is a close up of stamping on twill. It adds a little more personality to the project. Can you imagine what you can do with this?

Day 28 - the end

2011-02-28T02:38:00.000-08:00

This is it. This is the last layout for the LayOut A Day challenge I undertook for the month of February. Can I just take a moment to let you know how much fun I had? Well I had TONS! This was an absolute blast. My layouts are not works of art. My layouts are not going to chosen to demonstrate good design principals. My layouts are not going to win me any accolades or contests. What my layouts are going to do is be passed on to future generations. What I accomplished this month was a stack of 25 LO and each of them have purpose and tell a story that is relevant to us, to my family, my kids and husband. That was worth the effort it took to make sure I got one done each day I was able. I missed 3 days because we took a mini-break, but I don't care. I still finished 25 LO. That is freaking' awesome!!! I am kinda proud of me.

This is the last layout. Another photo collage. This is at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve. The base card stock I inked with some frayed burlap from Tim Hotz. The brown card stock is Cocoa from CTMH. I cut it at 5 1/4" and ran it through my Big Kick using a tree bark embossing folder. I then sanded the raised portions to add a little more personality. The title block is a piece of scrap patterned paper that I used some Tim Holtz on the edge dies to cut the wonky scalloped boarder. The 'Totally' is the same scrap of patterned paper that I ran through my Cricut and cut the title letters. The Wild is some chipboard letters and I put some rhinestones from KaiserCraft in the cut out holes. The Bity Brads on the title block are from CTMH. The fabric circle is from Technique Tuesday I stamped it with Grey Wool ink from CTMH using a background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms called Scratched Grid and then ran it through my printer for my journaling. The button came from my stash of stuff and I tied the bow using CTMH Hemp. The metal hardware on the paper strip came from my stash of stuff.

That is it. The end......

Well not really. I hope to continue at a good pace now that I have found my scrapping groove. Can I tell you again how much fun this was. Oh, it was way, way fun!

Layout day 27

2011-02-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

This is a fun one. I love using photo collages. I can get a bunch of pictures on a page and I only have to print one time. By the way, I print my pictures myself. I am a in the moment scrapper. When I see something that triggers an emotion or a really cool memory that is what I scrap, and I want to scrap it right then. So I have learned over the years that I am better off just printing what I want to scrap. Trust me.....I have many times uploaded a ton of photos to print places only to in the interim of waiting for them to arrive printed the same photo again. Or even better, I have printed a ton of photos only to have them sit in the the little orange cardboard sleeves cause I forgot why I thought they were scrap worthy or I have already scrapped them from a print I printed myself. I know....bad habits. But I am learned and now only print when I want to scrap.

This one is from 2008 - the trip to OK. After we went to the Witchita Mountains Wildlife Reserve we stopped by this crazy cool place called Meers. I don't know how my Dad found it, all I know is it is worth the detour. It is in the middle of no-where OK. I am sure there is plenty around, I just don't know the area so to me, an outsider, it is the middle of nowhere. Anyway, the burgers at this joint are AWESOME!!!! The are just simple, to the point burgers. And according to the menu if you want mayo your a sissy. We always enjoy going to eat with my dad aka Pop's. Pop's always knows the best places and they are always filled to the brim with personality. If you are out near the Witchita Mountain Wildlife Reserve be sure to look up Meers. It's worth the effort.

LOAD Day 26

2011-02-26T04:11:00.000-08:00

LO for today. I was a bit upset with my daughter because without asking me she replaced the screen saver on my phone. (I didn't tell her at the time, though). However, the two months since I have been bugged every time I go to answer my phone. I loved that picture of my kiddos.

This morning I woke up and went on a search of this picture. And believe me it was a search. I was almost in tears. But the good news is that I found the picture. I was so relieved. When I was printing it out I knew that I had to tell this story. So, here it is.

Here is the LO. This picture was taken back in 2008. The Autumn after we moved back stateside from Australia. We were homeschooling at the time so we could go on week long adventures like this one. I took the kiddos and we drove out to OKC from VA. This picture was taken on top of a mountain overlooking the Witchita Mountains Wildlife Reserve. My dad and mom had taken us out there for the day to see the buffalo. The kids were freezing, but they were also so happy to be with their grandparents and to see buffalo in the wild. I don't know what it is about a picture that can just bring you back to that moment in time. I can almost hear them giggling and screeching every time the wind would kick up. I had taken a few photos with my Rebel and then on a whim pulled out my iPhone and snapped this picture. The best of the bunch because it was more natural, less 'smile for the camera', than the other photos I had taken.

The journaling is also a bit on the sappy side as I realized looking at this picture how much my kiddos have grown in the past 2 years. I am guilty of always wanting to push the pause button on life. I know that there isn't one, but I sure wish there was. I think that is why I scrap, it is my little way of pausing the precious moments I share with my family and friends.

I distressed some Tim Holtz grunge board die cuts. Found these at Tuesday Mornings last year. You got a pack of 94 shapes for $7.99. I painted them with a base coat of Distress Crackle paint in tarnished bronze. Then I put a coat of Frayed Burlap over the bronze to tone it down a bit. Sanded down some spots and then layered on a bit of the Vintage Photo ink.

I also used a mask from Tim Holtz to add the clock to the brown card stock.

The title is a rub on that I put right on the photo.

If you look closely you will see that after I finished the LO and snapped a photo of it I realized it need one more thing. So just above the hinge on the right I added a Tim Holtz charm that says Thoughts.

LOAD Day 25

2011-02-25T01:51:00.000-08:00

I love pictures of my kiddos.

I love looking at them.

I love remembering whatever details of that moment that I can still remember, which as I get older, are not as clear as they used to be. I love being a mom. I love being a wife. I love that I can share my love with my family with my hobby of scrapbooking.

Just thought you should know that about me.

Okay, on to today's post.

I am still sticking to my 'dig through the stash mentality'. So, this morning when I decided that I would scrap one of my favorite photos of my son, Shane, I immediately pulled out my paper file and dug through until I found the first thing that spoke to me.

And I made this. 3 pieces of card stock and one piece of patterned paper. I distressed the edges just to give it a more time worn appearance.

The little tags that I made using a border sticker that I folded and tucked behind the picture.

The S is a chipboard letter that I distressed with some sand paper and then adhered to a Tim Holtz acrylic piece. I attached the acrylic embellishment to the layout using some embroidery floss.

I also stitched the all the layers to the background paper. This was super easy and really fast.

This is how I made that happen. I bought this plastic mesh at the craft store over in the needle craft section. It is used for cross stitching. You can buy a 8x11sheet for like $.50. I cut mine up into little square pieces that I use as a paper piercing guides. I also used my paper piercer to make the holes. And if you are like me I worn out my foam mat that came with my paper piercer. So, again I went to the craft store and bought some craft foam for $.99 and cut that into smaller squares that I use to back my paper when I paper pierce.

After I pierced my holes I just ran some embroidery floss through the holes.

While I scrap I like to listen to podcasts. My favorite scrapping companions are on The Paperclipping Roundtable. I find that as I scrap they (the hosts and guest hosts) keep me company. If you haven't listened to The Paperclipping Roundtable you should go check it out. I love their meandering conversation on all things scrappy. Every week there is a topic of discussion. Much like you would chat with a girlfriend over a cup of coffee the conversation stays on topic, but has an organic flow as their thought process wrangle with the topic at hand.

Okay, you've heard enough from me.

Go, get scrappy!

Have a good one,

LOAD Day24

2011-02-24T02:56:00.000-08:00

This LO captured a conversation that my daughter and I had in the car on Saturday. I am often amazed at how my kiddo's minds work, their sense of self, their sense of the world and just the inner workings of their minds. They are always thinking and processing information, constant mental motion. Some of our the best little chats we have are the ones that just evolve from one subject to another all willy nilly. I think that is awesome.

So on this day we walked in the door and I immediately went to my computer and jotted down the last bit of our chat. I am so happy that I can capture that moment for me to reflect on days and years from now. That is why I scrap.

The LO is super simple. The title letters are from CTMH - DE Simple Alphabets (Z1048). They are white chip board that I stamped with Versamark and clear embossed then inked. I love how cute they turned out.

The flowers are just die cut using my Cricut, as is the butterfly.

Everything else is just stuff I pulled from my stash of paper. The patterned paper is from October Afternoon from an 8x8 stack, no cutting, just laid it down.

The boarder on the journaling strip is punched using a Martha Stewart punch. It punches the scallops and the holes and embosses the flowers at the same time.

Now, go scrap!

LOAD Day 23

2011-02-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

LOAD Day 23, originally uploaded by Tambur.

The question is where do you get your inspiration from.

Often when it comes to design you can go right to the experts - ad men.

Yup, those guys get paid the big bucks to convey a message and sell a product through visual ad campaigns. Just flip through a magazine, or check out the billboards as your driving and see what sparks your creative juices.

I was flipping through a Southern Living magazine saw and that ad that inspired me to make this LO.

The Ad reads: Around here, it's hard to say which is of greater value - 100 miles of beautiful uncrowded beach or the chance to affordably share the experience with loved ones and close friends. It's different out here.

My journaling plays off of that and reads: Around here, it's hard to say which is of greater value - sitting in an ancient Roman Coliseum in Cyprus or the chance to share that experience with loved ones. It's different out here.

Super quick, super easy and so much fun.

Go find some inspiration in your magazines.

Have a good one,

T.

LOAD Day 22

2011-02-22T04:06:00.000-08:00

I missed a few days of the LOAD challenge. But, I had a really good reason. My hubby took us away this weekend. We went to Paphos for the weekend. Paphos is located at the south end of the island about a 2 hour drive. We booked a hotel for 2 nights and had ourselves a mini-break. Just because I missed a few days does not mean that I am out. I decided to just pick up with today's challenge and go from there. If I have time I will make up my missed days. If I don't make up the missed days, I'm okay

with that. No worries.

Here is my LO for day 22.

There is a back story here. We were driving along the coast on our way to Paphos and decided to stop at Aphrodite's Rock, you know the Goddess of love. My hubby spontaneously jumped up on a rock to strike a pose, like the Greek God's so often do and he was slammed by a rogue wave. I love this man!

Anyway, after we had a good laugh we were walking along and I turned around because my hubby had paused a moment and he had found a heart shape rock and placed it over his heart. Man, I melted.

This is the tag I made that holds the journaling that I hid behind the photo collage.

A few embellishments that I grouped together at the bottom of the page.

The key was actually at my hubby's place setting for Valentines day with a heart attached. Just thought I would reuse some of my handy work. Since he does have the key to my heart - I know, cheesy, but true.

Have a good one.

LOAD 211 Day 18

2011-02-18T04:46:00.000-08:00

This is my niece. She is a wish that came true. She came into the world in November of 2010. We are so excited to have her in the family. I look forward to the day I can hold her tight. I am hoping it is not a long wait.

The title I cut using my Cricut and the Storybook cartridge.

The scallop I made using my EK success corner rounder. This is a really easy technique. Just pop the paper guide off the corner rounder, flip it upside down so you can see what your doing and then you punch away. To make sure your scallops are even keep the paper flush agains the inside lip of the corner rounder, and then slide the punch over until you see the gap made from your previous punch and then punch again. I like to start at the center and punch in one direction and then go back to the center and punch the other direction.

The flowers are made using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die. The flower is made up of 2 large flower pieces one medium flower piece and the then center is the flower part with the long thin petals - like a daisy. The daisy part I just folded each petal in half lengthwise and then rolled it up using my paper piercing tool until it was a tight spiral.

I made a tag from the paper and added some hidden journaling behind the picture.

The paper 'ribbon' pleat is way, way easy. I cut 2 12" strips at 2" wide and then I scored the paper at 1/2" intervals. Folded the pleat and just put a dab of glue behind each pleat fold to help hold it all in place. The top are paper strips at 1", 1/2" and 1/4".

This was a paper all the way LO. And I have to say - so much fun to make. It is amazing what you can do with just paper.

All paper is from the More to Adore paper packet from CTMH.

LOAD 211 Day 17

2011-02-17T01:38:00.001-08:00

LOAD 211 Day 17, originally uploaded by Tambur.

Quote's. They are awesome jumping off points for a scrapbook page. Today's challenge was to use the following quote
“It isn’t the great big pleasures that count the most; it’s making a great deal out of the little ones.”
–Jean Webster, Daddy Long-Legs
I was amazed at how quickly and easily this page came together. I read the quote, grabbed my stack of recently printed photos, found the photo of the meatloaf and mac&cheese and immediately knew where I wanted this to go.

This dinner of mac&cheese with meatloaf was a special request from my kiddos. Which is funny cause meatloaf is not their favorite. They like it, but they generally would rather have more exotic fair. The journaling tells the story of how my kiddos wanted this special dinner as a reminder of home, the US home. They had been enjoying the local food of souvla - grilled pork, chicken and lamb, and Kleftico - slow roasted lamb in a large outdoor clay oven, and greek yogurt - served at every meal, for many months. I mean they really enjoy the Cypriot food, but I think they wanted some plain old comfort food. And I don't know about you, but mac&cheese and a meatloaf do it for me every time. Something about good basic meat and starch that makes you feel all warm and cozy inside. They still enjoy experiencing the Cypriot food, but when they want a taste of home they will as me for some good basics, mac&cheese, chicken and dumplings, chicken noodle soup, and chili. I guess that nothing beats the taste of home.

LOAD 211 Day 16

2011-02-15T23:12:00.001-08:00

LOAD 211 Day 16, originally uploaded by Tambur.

Every day, right before lunch, Toddy and I go out to the little fenced in area and play fetch. When I ask Toddy if he wants to go play he runs to the back door and waits, staring at the door handle. When I open the door he races me to the back yard and goes to find his ball. I ask for the ball and then the game begins. He will sit and wait patiently while I show him the ball and tease him a little, always trying to throw off his guard. But he is ever ready and once I release the ball he is off and running. After about 30 minutes, when my arm is tired, we head in for a biscuit (his treat). He immediately flops down on his bed and within minutes he is out for his afternoon nap.

LOAD Day 15

2011-02-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

You know you are loved when you receive a care package from your BFF and it is filled with amazing goodies. Goodies that you can't find here in Cyprus. Seeing the love in that box made me all emotional, good emotions. It is just a reminder that although we live in a land far away, we are still held close in the hearts of our friends and families. I know that from our side of the world not a day goes that we don't think of the people we love.

Here is the RAK we received today. All kinds of goodies.

Here is the page I made while the emotion was still fresh. The journaling reads - "This is love. This is what a good friend sends you when you live far, far away This package filled with love arrived today, the day after Valentine's Day. The kids haven't even seen the goodies - yet. I have them set up on the counter to greet them when they walk in the kitchen for an after school snack. With this stash of treats we will be able to celebrate the love for the rest of the month. Thanks!"

LOAD Day 14 - Happy Valentines

2011-02-14T02:48:00.000-08:00

First off, happy Valentines day! I hope you are all showered with love and affection today.

Here is my LO for today -

I am still working with those pictures that I talked about yesterday. This is my youngest. He is now 8, but when I took this picture he was 6. He still looks exactly the same. We call him our little man.

I used Scrapbooks Ect.'s Page Planner 2009 page 93 as my inspiration for my LO. The photo block is mounted on a piece of patterned paper that is 6x8. I ripped it asymmetrically down the vertical. I filled in the right side with rub-ons, then paper pierced the whole 6x8 section to make it more cohesive.

I sanded down the photo to give it a 'frame'. The charms are from Tim Holtz. The base of the LO is corrugated paper from Creative Imaginations. I added some more interest to the corrugated paper by first applying a mask from Tim Holtz and then sponging on some distress inks.

Another charm and mask from Tim Holtz.

Just thought I would share that look with you one more time. He's a sweetie, my little man. A real love bug.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Day 13

2011-02-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

In my house I have these 4 pictures hanging in my family room. These are pictures I took of my kiddos 2 1/2 years ago. I love them. They are truly a reflection of each of my kiddos personality, who they are as people. I have 5x7 copies of these pictures that I have had stashed for some time now - well 2 1/2 years! Today I decided to do something with these pictures. I treasure these pictures and although I have them hanging on the wall I also wanted to do a page for each of my kiddos explaining what they, individually, mean to me.

They are a little bigger now, but they are still patient, gentle, goodness and kindness.

This is my daughter. She is goodness. Simple as that.

The card stock is something I pulled off the shelf from Chatter Box Light Chocolate. It worked really well with the patterned paper which is from CMTH Amore - which is from my stash of goodies. The red strip on the left is punched with a Martha Stuart boarder punch.

The chipboard letter K I dug out of my big bin of chipboard letters. It was red, but I wanted more contrast so I painted it white and then sanded the edges to make it a little distressed. The heart is just card stock that I punched. To give it more dimension I punched three hearts and adhered them together to give it a chunkier appearance.

The flowers were just red paper flowers. I gave them a good dusting of Creme de Chocolat glimmer mist. I did that for 2 reasons. I wanted to tone down the read and I thought every layout needs a little glimmery shine. The center of the flower are some mini-brads from CTMH.

The corner piece is also from CTMH the Antiqued Copper Mini-Medley.

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Have a good one,

LOAD Day 12 and Birthday Gift

2011-02-12T04:33:00.000-08:00

Today is a special birthday. A friend of ours is turning three today. To celebrate his special day I put together a scrapbook page for him. I gave it to his mom for his birthday. She loved it. But the best part was when Colty said 'This is the best present for me."

Colty's birthday page was made using my Cricut and the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge for the volcano, dinosaur and the tree. The font was cut using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. The paper is all CTMH - Splendor for the pattern paper and Cocoa card stock.

Now for today's LOAD challenge - it was a color challenge.

I actually love this page. I think it is funky and young and lively. Just like my guy.

As usual I dug through my stash and pulled out bits and pieces from here and there. The doodle blocks are from a page called Card Stock Coupons Pop Star by Rusty Pickle (I told you I dug through my stash). I colored them in using my copic markers in R29 Lipstick Red, Y17 Golden Yellow, and R08 Vermillion.

The black card stock is from CTMH. The orange background is from Scenic Route - Grafton Collection. The purple is from a paper stack that is probably 8 years old. The other strips are all from my scraps bin. The title is stamped using CTMH Posterboard Alphabet. I journaled around the edge of the page.

Thanks for dropping by.

Have a good one,

LOAD 211 day 11

2011-02-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

AISC - American International School of Cyprus. My kids first school in 5 years. Prior to our move to Cyprus we homeschooled the munchkins. When we moved here we decided as a family that we would give school a go. We had many reasons for this decision - homeschooling is frowned upon here, Bren was going into high school, Evan had never been to school. We were very blessed in that my hubby was able to visit the school before we moved here. We were thrilled that it was a small school housing grades Pre-K through 12 on one campus. My kiddos liked that they would still be able to check-in with each other at school. The class sizes are small - 13 in grade 3, 22 in grade 5, 35 in grade 7 and 21 in grade 9. Nice. It didn't hurt that when we showed pictures of the campus to the kids there was a great big swimming pool right in the middle of the campus. Sold!

Our decision to send the kids to AISC has been a blessing. The kiddos love it there. They have made lots of friends and are involved in many diverse and interesting activities. And the best part - they are hanging out with kids from all over the world, truly getting an international education.

This is my day 11 LO. Super simple.

The bingo card shows the grades my kiddos are in - 9th, 7th, 5th, and 3rd.

This was a silver metal tag, the kind you can get at Office Depot. I used the Staz-on ink in Timber brown to distress it and to have it match the brad, all in keeping with my color scheme.

The paper is from Crate - Static collection. (I am doing my best to use it up)

The Chipboard Alpha's are from Bella! Accent Alphaz - you can add some bling in the circle cutouts.

I hope you guys are getting scrappy, too.

Have a good one,

Day 10

2011-02-10T02:53:00.000-08:00

A trip down memory lane.

My dad has been scanning all the old photos and e-mailing them to me and my siblings. It has been really fun to look back on my life as a kid. Even more fun is sharing the pictures with my kiddos and telling them the stories behind the photo. Aren't you amazed at how you can look at a photo or listen to a song and you can recall a memory so vividly. I love that.

Anyway, this is a super simple LO. The focus wasn't so much on the picture, but more on the memory of what that picture brought up.

This is an 8 1/2 x 11 LO. I am putting together a Yesterday and Today album (taking a workshop with Ali Edwards at Big Picture Classes) that is 8 1/2 x11 in size.

The paper is from Crate Static Collection. The tittle is Thickers by American Crafts.

Have a good one,

Day 9

2011-02-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

You know the coolest thing about this hobby? How much it shows my kiddos that I love them. And this is the coolest - they know it and acknowledge it. Wow!

Today I was down in my room putting together my LO for today. My youngest comes in to check out what I am doing. I turned around a few minutes later and found this.....

He's scrapbooking. I totally let him do his thing. He knows what to do. All of my kiddos have free range with my supplies.

Just doing his thing.

This is the page he made for me. The journaling reads - " Tambur is my mom and she inspired me to do this page about her because she did not have a page to herself."

Man, that's a cool kid.

I love this - he said the title on the side says 2 things - Mom and Wow.

Oh, my goodness! I am gonna go hug that kiddo in a minute.

Here is my LO for day 9. Enjoy!

Day 8

2011-02-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

Inspiration: Spring 2011 CTMH Idea Book page - 115

Paper - You Rock - CTMH

Buttons - Boxer and a variety from my stash of stuff

Overlay - Top Coat from CTMH Rockin'

Super cute. Super quick. Super easy!

Have a good one,

Day 7

2011-02-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the bad pic. Poor lighting conditions, well poor photography, okay, okay, poor photographer. Anyway, here is my LO for today. Super, super quick and easy.

I used a sketch from my inspiration file - Sketch #75 from Get It Scrapped.

The paper is from CTMH - Splendor. The tabs are from the Splendor My Stickease by CTMH. The title are some chipboard letters from my stash. The y was really an x that I cut a leg off of. And stamped sub-title "The Story" is a Technique Tuesday stamp set titled The Story by Ali Edwards.

The journaling tells the story about how my youngest was going to be a legacy to the pre-school that all of my other kiddos attended. The year he would have started at pre-school we moved to Australia. We returned 3 years later. The kiddos volunteered at the pre-school as teach aides once a week (homeschool family - at the time) . Every year the pre-school went to Domino's as a field trip and made their own pizza's. Evan was a little late - but he was able to attend the field trip and make his pizza. Which made me so happy.

The color palette I chose because he is totally an orange and green guy - very happy little man. I think these are happy colors. The paper choice was easy.

Hope you enjoyed today's page.

Have a good one.

LOAD 211 day 6

2011-02-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Always a classic - The ode to a sister. In this case it is my 2nd sister. I am the oldest of 5. Cayce is just after me and then there are 2 other sisters and finally #5 is my bro. I love all of my family - immensely. But I think there is a special bond between sibs that are closest together. Growing up we could play together when the little ones were babies. As we got to college age we could relate to each other academically and finically. And we were the first of the clan to get married. In fact we were married 3 months apart. (I'm older but she got married first). My youngest 2 kiddos are the same ages as her first 2 kiddos.

The series of pics I used are showing our close bond in our younger years and again in our college years. The top pic was taken in 2007 when Cayce and her family came all the way down under to visit us in Alice Springs. That is love. The journaling is just a tribute to our sisterly bond and the friendship we now have. I wrote "I am so thankful for your constancy, your faithfulness, and your complete and utter selflessness. I admire you. I am thankful that God blessed me with such a wonderful little sister."

She is the sister I call on when I am missing goodies from home. If I have a craving for grape kool-aide she will be out the door that day purchase my requested item and mail it within 24 hours. That is love. Thanks Sis!

Okay - these are the most ADORABLE letter stickers. They are from CTMH and are Irresistibles Lots of Dots (z1261). These guys are embossed. They come white and you just take whatever ink you have and daub it on them and the white embossed dots stay white. Aren't they stinkin' cute.

The flowers on the LO are die cut from the Sizzix Tim Hotz Tattered Florals die. I just layered them and inked the and crumpled them to make them have a little personality. Then attached a button in the center.

Okay, this is another favorite of mine. These are also CTMH and they are the DE (dimensional Elements) Alphabets (Z1048). They are a white chipboard that you can ink to match whatever project you are working on. I liked the white edges showing so I just slapped the ink pad directly to the letter and viola - cuteness.

The paper used is also CTMH - Cherry-O. Super adorable.

Well that is layout #6. Hope you guys are enjoying the LOAD challenge. I also hope that some of these LO inspire you to go get scrappy!

And, by the way, I used sketch #72 from Get It Scrapped as my inspiration for this design.

Have a good one,

LOAD 211 day 5

2011-02-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

Here is my LO for Day 5 of the LOAD challenge. I LOVE this LO. I like the clean simplicity. But more importantly I like that although it is clean and simple the pictures tell a story and the journaling has a lot of info.

The Journaling is laid out like a table of contents. I have listed facts, my age, years married, number of children, etc. as the page numbers.

The majority of the products used on this LO are mostly from CTMH. The paper is retired, as is the ribbon. The title is stamped with a new stamp set from CTMH Bohemian Alphabet (1019). I really love this alpha stamp set.

The rub-ons are from My Minds Eye - Flirty Pure Joy.

Th other 2 stamps are just some random stamps from my stash.

Have a good one.

LOAD 211 day 4

2011-02-04T02:17:00.000-08:00

Okay guys, I have a confession. I am having so much fun on this Challenge. Every day I look forward to the challenge prompts and get excited about getting creative.

This is the LO I made for today's challenge. I have had these pictures printed for ages (well since last January) and never found the time to put a page together. It felt so good to get this off my imaginary scrapbooking to do list. Do any of you have those?

I took plain old chipboard letters and put a light layer of Rock Candy Stickles on them to give them a little sparkle.

The ribbon pleat at the bottom of the page is very simple. You just need a lot of glue dots.

Go have fun and get your creative groove on.

Have a good one.

LOAD 211 day 3

2011-02-03T01:25:00.001-08:00

LOAD 211 day 3, originally uploaded by Tambur.

This page is dedicated to my husband. Thanks for 20 years of fun, adventures, and loving me.

All supplies came from my stash. The die cut paper is Jenni Bowlin as is the Bingo card. The flower is Prima, the clock face is Heidi Swapp. The brads are Lush. The title is stamped using Technique Tuesdays Language of Love. The ribbon - I don't know from my stash of goodies.

The journaling reads:

20 years ago I said yes. Yes to a life of uncertainty. Yes to a life of unknowns. The one thing that I knew with complete certainty was that I loved you and that I would never stop loving.

20 years ago we started a life together. Every step of the way we have been together on this amazon glide adventure. We did not know where it would take us. But we always knew that we would have each other.

20 years later we can truly say that the adventure of ourlife together has not lost it's sparkle. We have lived in some amazing places. We have traveled the world. We have 4 amazing kiddos. We are not bored or complacent with each other. We live a life filled with love and respect and faith.

20 years ago I said yes to my true love - You. I can't wait to find out what adventures the next 20 years hold, and the 20 after that......

LOAD 211 Day 2

2011-02-02T03:53:00.001-08:00

LOAD 211 Day 2, originally uploaded by Tambur.

My day 2 layout.
Remembering our wonderful trip to Bald Head with one of my BFF's. Such a great time. Such great friends. Such great memories.

The papers are from Crate Paper Cottage Collection. The chipboard pieces are from Scenic Route and the flower behind the Take It Easy is from CTMH.

I am on a journey to get my creative flow going again, and part of my personal challenge is to use what I have on hand. It is fun to did through my stash of stuff and pull out odds and ends and get them to work together. As I always say - enjoy the journey.

Day 1 of LOAD

2011-02-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

This is my first LO for the LOAD challenge. This is a LO of my sister and her new husband from their wedding. They were married on Halloween. Yup, October 31. I love their wedding story and the pictures are awesome. The got married in their backyard. All the guests came in costume. How fun is that! Instead of a floral bouquet my sister carried a fan of peacock feathers, which were the inspiration for the LO.

The heart I stamped using the Amore stamp set from CTMH. I stamped it on a piece of blue patterned paper in VersaMark ink and then embossed it with black embossing powder. I then put a gloss of Clear Rock Candy Stickles over the top. I adhered the heart to 2 pieces of black yardstick to give it a more dimensional effect, and to sturdy it up. Then I put a few Bity Sparkles (CTMH) on it for a little extra glam. The ribbon is from CTMH - it comes gathered. Easy-peasy. The decorative brads are also from CTMH and I just jazzed them up a bit with more of the Bity Sparkles. The black ribbon is leftover from a set of invites that I had from Walmart. The little black 'feathers' behind the heart are pieces of scrap paper that I hand cut.

The journaling tag I cut from a Teresa Collins 12x12 sheet, Journal It. I stamped the Romance, I love you and Love from the Amore stamp set. The bird is a Tim Holtz charm. The journaling folds and is tucked behind the photo. The overlay over the photo is also a CTMH product called a Top Coat.

Taking on the LOAD

2011-01-31T03:11:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I swear!

I have been very busy taking care of my kiddos. I have found that with every new country we move to the first go round of winter sickies we get slammed. I think it is new germs. Since New Years Eve someone in this household has had a fever and a horrible head and chest cold. But I am happy to announce that as of today all my kids are better and back in school!!!!

To celebrate that amazing feat I have decided to treat myself to a little creative challenge. I joined the LOAD. Have you heard of it? What I am talking about is the LayOut A Day challenge that Lain Ehmann created and hosts. You can learn all about the LOAD challenge on Lain's blog.

For some helpful hints and tips you can go here and read this blog post from a fellow LOADer.

Why did I decide to take on this challenge? I have many reasons for deciding to do the LOAD challenge in February.

My kids are all better (that is a good enough reason right there).
Having moved and then waiting 5 months for our stuff to arrive, I have lost my creative flow. Has that ever happened to any of you? Well I have lost it and I want it back. I think that LOAD will help get the creative juices flowing again. And knock down some creative blocks that I have installed since we moved.
This is the first time that all 4 of my munchkins are in school. At first I was really lonely and I missed the constant interaction I had with my kiddos. Then I started to adjust and became comfortable with having time for me. I also rediscovered the art of homemaking again. The way I like it, not the let's-get-it-done-cause-we-have-to way we did it when we schooled. The kiddos helped with household chores so everything got done, but it was not a relaxing event. It was part of our school day and I was always in teaching mode. Now I have re-discovered the joy of laundry, the fun in cooking, and the relaxing swoosh of sweeping.
I have time in the afternoons that I can use to be creative, to scrap. I have dreamed of this for many years and now the dream is a reality. And the reality is that I am a little overwhelmed with this new found freedom. Weird - I know.
Company. I know that sounds weird (I'm just a weirdo). But I have no scrappy friends here and I miss the company of my fellow scrappers. I miss being able to talk about paper and embellishments and whether I should make a 2 page spread or just a single page. I miss the lingo! I also miss chatting about the why's and how's of scrapping.

The bottom line is simple, I just want to be challenged to create everyday - for the joy of it.

For Him & For Her

2011-01-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a super quick card that I made for my nephew. I used my Cricut Lite Dude! cartridge to cut out the skater dude. The UR Great was a title I cut out from DCWV The Doodlin' Around Stack. The background paper came from Cosmo Cricket 8x8 paper pad called Get Happy.

I love this card. I was inspired by Kristina Werner MACM.

I used some odds and ends that I pulled from my paper scraps box. The flowers are from Sassafras called Blossoms mod pods. The Happy I cut from that same sheet of paper from DCWV that I used on my nephew's card. The ribbon is CTMH White Daisy Ribbon rounds. The birthday came from CTMH A Little Everything (D 1408).

Brithday Card

2011-01-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

January is a big birthday month for us. In my family alone there are 3 birthdays - within a week of each other. If you add in extended family and friends we have an additional 6 birthdays. That's 9 birthdays within the next 2 weeks. Oh-my-goodness!! For my girly friends I have made a couple of these cards. I wanted to use the stuff I have on hand. (Keeping with my New Year's resolution.) I pulled out this stamp circa 1999. It is a wood block stamp that I have had for ages (obviously). I used some of my copics to color the tulips. I pulled out my CTMH Coloring pencils and used the Grey Flannel to color the metal container. For the leaves I used CTMH Garden Green and Sweet Leaf ink pads with a blender pen. The ribbon and the papers are all from my stash of paper. For my inspiration I went here.

Now, I have more cards to make.

Have a good one.

2011 calendar

2011-01-06T03:02:00.000-08:00

A new year - already!?! I am shocked and amazed at how quickly 2010 rolled by. As many of you know we undertook another big move in 2010. The process of this type of move takes up big chunks of time, the preparation, the move, the getting settled and wham! - a new year. Wowzer.

Along with the passage of time going quickly when you live overseas you are always aware of the weight of your household goods. You get a certain allowance of weight coming and going. So for the duration of your overseas adventure you are constantly aware of trying to balance the weight of what you brought over with the weight of what you want to take home. Part of our families weight allowance was very selfishly - mine. I chose to bring the majority of my scrapping supplies: paper, adhesive, embellishments and tools. I don't know about many of you, and perhaps I am the only one out in the scrapping world that has this problem, but it seems that i have a collection of scrapping goodies that is essentially equivalent to a small store. Shame, shame, shameful! I know, trust me I know. Why did I chose to bring all this stuff with me? Well, because for the first time since I became a mom - over 14 years ago - I knew I would have time to scrap. How did I know this? Well, for the first time all 4 of my munchkins would be going to school. That meant that I would have at least a few hours a week all to myself, to do with whatever I wanted. My fantasy of leisurely scrapping and creating would finally come true.

When I brought all of my goodies with me I promised myself that I would do my best to use what I have on hand. I would not succumb to the lure of the newest paperlines and pretty embellishments that I would see on-line or in magazines. I would use what I have with me. That's the deal I made with me.

With that being said, I decided to make myself a new calendar for the new year. I attended a scrapping convention in June with my BFF, a tradition we started years ago. And at that convention I took a few classes. Often when you take classes you get goodies. One of the goodies that I got was an 8x8 12 month Calendar from Boxer. When I unpacked that calendar I knew I had to use it. I dug through my stash of goodies and picked 1 paper pack (also from the show), coordinating card stock, 3 types of embellishments and I went to town and created this . . . . .

Our family in November of 2010, up on the north of the island in a little town of Kyrenia.

I chose to not use photos in every month of the calendar. I just used 5 photos in the whole calendar. The other months I just embellished.

The big square on the calendar page is highlighting the weekends. I like to group my Saturday and Sundays at the end of the week. Helps me at a glance see how busy our weekdays are and how busy our weekends are. Weird, I know.

Another shot of an old building in Kyrenia, up in the north. All the pictures I muted the color and then printed on yardstick to keep in the color family of the calendar.

This is an older photo of the fam. We took this back in 2008. I like to see how the kids have grown and changed. And what a difference 2 years can make. My oldest, now taller than me, is equal to his dad. My second oldest is now my height. Wow! Also, September is our anniversary month and I like that saying 'when we love, we grow.' And, in 2010 we will celebrate 20 years of loving one another, and have been blessed to have such a beautiful family.

Every Thanksgiving that we spend overseas we open our home to new friends. These Thanksgivings tend to be the ones that are the most memorable. And they tend to be filled with kids. We tend to really reflect on the goodness of life and the many blessings that we have.

This is a picture of one of my Christmas ornaments. I collect the White House ornaments, have done since we got married.

I really enjoyed the process of keeping my choices limited and using every inch of product that I chose. I also like the simple layout design that I used. It made putting this calendar together super easy and super quick.

So, am I the only one with a huge stash of goodies?

OWH Sketch Challenge

2010-12-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

The Sketch

First of all let me say I am so sorry about the poor quality photo. I am having camera issues. I gave my trusty snap and shoot to my son to take with him to Germany. I can not locate my cable for my Rebel, I am sure it was shipped, but I haven't come across it yet. I am SURE it was shipped! Oh, my. Anyway, so I went and dug out an older point and shoot that actually seems like a dinosaur. Have you noticed that, you get something new and sleeker and trimmer and then go grab the old (5 yrs old) point and shoot and that sucker feels like it weighs a ton. Anyway, I remember - now - why we got the newer little point and shoot. I think 3 years of red outback dirt got clogged in the works, not to mention that my, then, 2 year old niece managed to rip part of the automatic lens cover off. Sooooo, you get this slightly fuzzy, out of focus shot of my super cute card that I made for the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps challenge they posted on Sunday. Well after all that rambling, I hope you enjoy my little offering.

Have a good one,

T.

Scraps

2010-12-26T05:33:00.000-08:00

This is a pile of scraps..... what to do. DON'T throw them away. With one little pile you can do amazing things. Like this

If you want to make one of these super cute and super easy beauties watch the YouTube video by Jennifer McQuire and she will teach you how.

I literally made this lovely package topper in just minutes. We were headed out the door for the Marine House gift exchange and I needed something to make my package feel more special.

I think it turned out really lovely. And believe me when I tell you that this little package received quite a few compliments.

Go - have fun. And remember that those little scrap piles can become things of beauty.

Secret Santa Gift

2010-12-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

My son's 3rd grade class is doing a Secret Santa. All last week they have been leaving happy notes for their chosen person. All the kids picked names out of a hat and Evan picked Emily. On Wednesday they will do their gift exchange at their Christmas party. Evan wanted to make a homemade gift. We decided to make an activity book.

We went on-line and made word searches using their weekly spelling. We also went to Crayola.com and printed up dot-to-dots, coloring pages and a crossword puzzle. We interspersed the activity pages with some blank pages so that Emily can draw (Evan loves to draw and knew that blank pages were a must).

Working as a team we came up with this

Ev chose all the paper colors, and cut all the paper to size.

The word searches use weekly spelling words. We just pulled them from his planner.

Crayola.com was a great source for additional activity pages and

coloring pages. There are also plenty of blank pages for Emily to draw, write or paint on.

This is the card that Evan made all on his own. He stamped the images himself and he used his Cuttle Kids to make the dog.

I love that he wanted to make a handmade gift to give. We really enjoyed the creative process and made a great team.

Because I just dug through my stash and scraps we made this project for basically nothing. Even the wire binding was a cut off from a previous project. Easy-peasy lemon squeezey!

Deck'd 2

2010-12-22T02:57:00.000-08:00

Birthday Card

2010-12-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

The other night while I was cutting 22 pieces each of the parts needed for the snow globe ornament (see previous post) my daughter came to me before her bed time and asked if I could make Miss Joy (her teacher) a birthday card for the class to sign. What's a mom to do?

So, I took a deep breath. Pushed one project aside and sat an had a think for a minute. I decided to pull out my Cricut and make a quick and simple card for Miss Joy. I wanted it to be quick and simple, but it also needed to be special. Miss Joy is a beautiful person inside and out. And she is young and fashionable. The kids adore her. I adore her for her teaching style and her ability to encourage each child in the class to reach their full potential. She is a dream teacher.

In honor of Miss Joy's birthday I made her this card.

I used the Forever Young Cricut cartridge, a white card base, some left over ribbon from my stash, and a piece of 8x8 paper from Cosmo Cricket's Hello Sunshine paper pad. The black is from Close To My Heart and came from my scrap pile. The white is also from my scrap pile and is Daisy White.

Class Project

2010-12-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

On Monday I have been invited to my daughter's 5th grade class to make a Christmas ornament.

I thought they could make little 'snow globes.' I dug through my stash and pulled out all my scraps of paper.

Using my BigKick and some Spellbinders Nestabilities I precut all my part. A large scallop circle for the base, a ring for a spacer, a clear window and a decorative scallop ring to make it look pretty.

I also die cut the Christmas trees.

These are the samples that I have made for the class. The clear window is made using clear packaging from paper packs, sticker sheets, anything that is clear and can fit through a die cutting machine.

The kids will be putting the ornaments together, stamping the sentiment, Peace on Earth, and cutting up the 'snow'. I decided I would skip the glitter.

So, on Monday morning I will be teaching 22 5th graders about paper crafting and sharing why I love this hobby so much.

Wish me luck!

A Good Read

2010-12-10T23:44:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some good news. My brother-in-law has co-authored a book, In the Shadow of Ares. I am so proud of him. He has worked on this for many years. The story is a mystery adventure Sci-fi mix that is absolutely absorbing. I am not a big fan of Sci-fi, but the story is so good that I had a hard time putting the book down. The book is available for you Kindle at Amazon. I have put a link below.

In the Shadow of Ares (Amber's Mars) [Kindle Edition] Thomas L. James (Author), Carl C. Carlsson (Author)

With thanks,

T.

More Olivia

2010-11-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving. There is much to be grateful for.

This will be our first Thanksgiving since we moved to Cyprus. This will be our 9th Thanksgiving that will be celebrated overseas. Although we would love to be home, we have found that these Thanksgivings, spent so far from home, are often the ones that are the most memorable.

This year we will be hosting the feast at our house. We have 3 other families that will be joining us. We have a tradition that has followed us where ever we go. We have everyone hold hands, we go around the room and each person shares what they are thankful for. We open our hearts to receive the blessings of new friendships and share in the rejoicing of thankful and grateful hearts.

~Happy Thanksgiving~

The Possibilities!

2010-11-24T02:39:00.000-08:00

As you know I move a bit. And like many of us mobile families the challenge in every new house is to turn it into a home. One of my favorite things is to personalize my space. And over the years I have discovered that vinyl lettering is fantastic for that. I can litterally rub a word or a saying onto the wall and when it is time to move on you simply peel it off. Landlords will never know you had beautiful decor on the wall.

Can you imagine if you could make your own personlized, just the way you want it rub on decals for your walls. Well go check out Thrifty Decor Chick. Right now she has a giveaway that would allow you to do just that.

Think of the all the possibilities.

Thanks for the Tissues

2010-11-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

I made another tissue box, this time for Thanksgiving. I love these little boxes. They are super cute and super easy to make. I used Olivia paper and a few Organic Dimensional Elements. The glittered letters were left overs from a make and take at a scrapbooking convention I attended in June. The rosette I made was using a large Organic Dimensional Element as a base I pleated left over ribbon pieces and glued to the base then using a pop dot I adhered the mushroom dimensional.

For directions and a tutorial on how to make these tissue boxes follow this link

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/tissueboxcover/

Have fun and have a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Thankful Banner

2010-11-18T05:43:00.001-08:00

I have all these naked walls. Until my shipment arrives I have been trying to fine ways to add personality, our personality to the house, make it feel more like home. And with Thanksgiving just around the corner I decided to make a Thankful banner. We have this one, beautiful accent wall in red and I wanted something that would fill in the space a little. I decided that I banner was just the ticket. I pulled out the bits and pieces that I have with me and managed to put this sweet banner together. I love it. The picture just does not do it justice. The twill ribbon holding the letter pieces came from a quilt that we bought at Target before we left. The ribbon was wrapped around the quilt. I knew I would find some useful purpose for it so I hung onto it. I decided to keep the project simple and made the letter bases 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Easy.

I have a bunch of these Organic Dimensional Elements in my stash and decided that they would look super cute on my banner. The ribbon I glued to a large dimensional to make a flower.

I also had in my stash some White Daisy Just Blooms paper flowers.

Oh my goodness, I think these little mushrooms are stinkin' cute.

Some more just blooms and a little organza ribbon.

Great Southern Land

2010-11-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

When we lived in Australia we met the most wonderful and talented people. One friend of ours is a videographer. I invite you to check out his other videos over at Vimeo look under Chris Tangey. Here is a music video that I love. This was shot along the coast (the city scenes) and much of it was shot around Alice and Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock (the outback scenes). Just FYI, Alice Springs is a town in the middle of the outback and Uluru is a 3 1/2 hour drive south from town.

Enjoy!

Great southern land-Warren H Williams from chris tangey on Vimeo.

Cherry-O

2010-11-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, on Veteran's day, I became an Auntie again! I am so excited. This is my middle sister's first baby. It is a little bitter sweet as I am so far away from my family right now. But I am amazed at how much I love that little munchkin already! So, in honor of Holland Elizabeth (great name!) I made this little card to let them know how Stinkin' Cute I think she is.

I {love} this Cherry-O paper. I think it is adorable and therefore, very appropriate to use as a card for Holland. I look at these cherries and just think sA-weet-ness!

I made my card base using white cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I then cut 3/4 of an inch off of the front of the card. I layered a scalloped piece of the pink stripe paper under and then used a piece of the chocolate cardstock to back the pink stripe. I used a corner rounder to round my edges. I love the simple, clean lines of the card. I think it lets the paper show off all it's cuteness.

Splendor

2010-11-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

Here is another paper packet I 'gifted' to myself. Hee hee!

I love it.

Enjoy!

Olivia

2010-11-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends.

As many of you know I moved overseas in August. Since, well, the day we packed out stuff to ship, way back in July, my crafty-scrappy life has been existing on what I managed to throw in a box and mail to myself all those months ago. Which is just the basics. I did indulge and ordered a few beautiful paper packs for myself. One of which is Olivia. I uploaded a few photos to an on-line printer and waited patiently for my photos to arrive. Some of which included these beautiful shots I took of my #2 child cuddling with my #4 child. These are older pics going way back to 2005. I love them. The pictures were taken one night when I went to tuck my guys into bed. Evan, my little guy, is famous for wanting to sleep with someone. Shane my second child is famous for not wanting to EVERY sleep with anyone. However, on this night, Evan was really charming and asked Shane if he could sleep with him tonight. Shockingly Shane said yes. I told my hubby I should take a picture of this cause it just doesn't happen often. When I walked into the room Evan was telling Shane how much he loved him and all the reasons why. As I wiped tears from my eyes I was able to snap these three shots, before the magic moment ended.

Zumba in the outback

2010-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends. I hope you enjoy this little video that my friend in Australia made. I love it. She filmed it in and around the town where we lived. I am especially chuffed that she filmed after a rain because it is so green and in bloom, Spring down under. Also you can see the river bed has a bit of water left from a recent rain.

Enjoy!

Tissue Box

2010-10-21T01:43:00.000-07:00

As I shared previously I am desperate for some holiday decor and decided to make my own. I came across this cute project over at Splitcoast Stampers. You can find all the cutting dimensions here.

For my project I used the Hooligans level 2 paper pack and 2 of my favorite felt adhesive backed Hooligan shapes (Z1332). This project was super easy and super quick.

Enjoy!

There Once Was A Spider

2010-10-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

Since I have no Halloween decorations or fall decorations I decided to make something. I cut the back off of a box and created this little Boo sign in honor of Halloween. I think it turned out super cute.

My favorite part is the spider. I know I saw this somewhere so I can not take credit for originality. However I can't remember where I saw it. Just know that I am a copy cat.

Isn't that so CUTE. The body and head are buttons. The eyes are little orange brads. The legs are brads put in upside down so when you spread the prongs they form the legs. Super simple, but super cute.

Have a good one.

First Video

2010-10-14T01:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, here we go. This is my first video attempt. It is definitely, uh - what's the word- ROUGH! I have to say that I enjoyed my first attempt. I hope you enjoy it, too.

I used the Hooligans paper pack for the cards. I made 6 cards using 1 sheet of black cardstock and only part, less than half of 3 B&T papers. I have plenty leftover to make scrapbook pages and more cards.

The card bases are white card stock cut to a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

Layer 1 - black cardstock cut at 4"x 5 1/4"

Layer 2 - purple dot B & T cut at 3 3/4" x 5"

Layer 3 - ha ha B & T cut at 3 3/4" x 1 1/2" and then punched into a scallop on one side

Layer 4 - funky stripe B & T cut at 3 3/4"x 2 1/2"

And this is how they look . . .

Rituals

2010-10-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

I am ready to scrap. For me this is a major accomplishment.

I am a bit high maintenance when it comes to scrap time. Before we moved I homeschooled my four kiddos. We would finish our school day and run through the chore jar to get the house in order. And then I would escape down to my very own space.

Here my life is a little different. My kiddos go to school, so I have free time. However I am finding that I can not sit and scrap until the house in order. And I don't have my plethora of tools and supplies (yet). Nor do I have my own space (yet). I'll admit that I was spoiled before (and still ;).

However there are a few rituals that I find are still consistent.

1) A cup of tea - I love a cup of green tea to sip on while I find my creative flow.

2) A candle - I really enjoy burning candles. Especially ones that smell so good. Like this one Autumn Leaves. Reminds me of home.

3) Music - I have to have music keeping me company.

So, tell me. What are your rituals before you can get your craft on? I know I can't be the only one who finds themselves mindlessly putting the kettle on, lighting a candle and turning on the iPod as they pull out there scrapping supplies and pretty paper.

Hooligans!

2010-10-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

A little birthday card for my little niece. She is definitely a star. She is also not a girly-girl. I knew that this little monster was just her style. I know she will LOVE it.

Back On-line

2010-09-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Guess what? I am connected. The lovely guys from Cytanet showed up at my house on Thursday and got me connected. Can you believe it? I am so H A P P Y!

So, what was the first thing you think I did? Well, actually the 3rd thing I did? I went shopping. I ordered some really great stuff from Close To My Heart. A few things coming in my order are:

Olivia Level 2 paper packet...love this paper. The clolors. The patterns. So pretty.

Hooligans. Is this just not so stinkin' cute. I mean come on. I had to have the Hooligans Level 2 Assortment of adhesive-back felt monsters to go with. You know what I am sayin'.

And the thing that is really getting me excited is the new How-To book Magic. The Magic book will show me (us) how to bring inter-active elements into your layouts. How cool!

All that gorgeous paper from the new Idea Book. I can't wait to get my hands on it. After I ordered my goodies, I uploaded all 587 pictures I have taken in the past month. That took a few hours.

I also wanted to share a few photos from our first day out here in Cyprus. We headed down to the coast and stopped in Limossal before touring an old Knights Templar castle (that was a winery) and then some Roman ruins. Enjoy!

On the board walk in Limossal.

Kolossi Castle. Built by the Knights Templar a forbidding fortress that exemplifies medieval building skills. Built to withistand attacks the walls are about 3 feet thick. The Knights also made wine here.

Okay the walls are more like 5 feet thick. This is a window seat. The windows were strategically set small to keep out heat, cold and arrows.

The view from the top of the castle looking inland north of Limossal. Love that little chapel in the foreground.

We are now in Kourion. The boys are sitting in an Roman amphitheater. Amazing! This amphitheater is still used today for concerts, theater, jazz and classical events. And check out that view of the Mediterranean Sea. Those Romans certainly knew the value in location, location, location.

I threw this pic in cause he's cute. ;)

Also thought you could get a better view of the theater seating. This amphitheater can seat 3,500. Back in the day you would have watched gladiators go head to head with wild beasts or watched a Roman production of some farce or drama. Cool!

This, to me, is awesome (okay, I am a geek - History major), we are looking at the tile mosaic from a Roman home. I know the color is kind of blown out (sorry), but again, the view is stunning looking over the sea and farm lands.

I'm Here

2010-09-13T00:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Can you believe that it is already the middle of September? Crazy!

We of the McDonald Clan are slowly getting settled in our new home. Well, I am the only one who is slow about the settling. My husband is working and not much in his daily life has changed, except his commute - all of a half a mile now. My kiddos are in school and loving it. This week is swimming for PE. Yes, there is a pool on campus. The kids are making new friends and really enjoying this new environment.

Me, let's just say that I am not totally digging it right now. To be fair that is mainly do to the fact that I am house bound. I have no car. I have no internet. I can only go to the places I can get to on foot. Which doesn't sound that bad, but walking here is not so easy. Public transport is unreliable where it exsists. Luckily, I can walk to my hubbies work and use his computer. Of course this only works when he is in the building. Last week he was in a ton of meetings at other buildings so I could not get on-line at all. That bugs me because I have an on-line life in addition to my real life. Additionally, right now the only way I can communicate with my friends is via the net. So when You can't get on-line it is a real bummer.

Whoo, I feel better now. I was hoping to get some pictures up for y'all to see. We'll see if this works. I have to do some fancey computer work here, as I don't want to save these pictures to this computer. So fingers crossed.....Success!

When we left the states we took a weeks holiday in Germany to visit some great friends and to do a little sightseeing. We flew into Munich and spent the first day of our visit walking around. This is the Glockenspiel in Munich city center. So lovely.

From Munich we took the train to Garmish. What an amazingly beautiful place. It is simply breath taking.
This picture is at the top of the Zugspitz, the top of Germany. We took a cog-train to the first tower and then a gondola to the top. We were able to walk across a bridge to the Austrian side of the Zuggy and had lunch.

See that cable tower. That is how we got down from the Zugspitz. A gondola straight down and then a cog-train back to Garmish. We got off the train in Garmish and walked around the town for a bit. Lovely. Then we decided we would walk back to our hotel. We were having a nice relaxing stroll when we saw the clouds begin to darken. So we picked up the pace a little. Then it drizzled. Well, we were to far from town to turn back, so we carried on. Over half way to the hotel it poured rain, like a lot of rain. We were totally soaked. And guess who was wearing white cotton capris? Fun. Anyway, it was fun. We got back to the hotel. Took hot showers, opened a bottle of wine and sat on the terrace watching the clouds roll off of the Zugspitz. Cei'la Vie.

Had to share this picture of the typical Bavarian houses in and around Garmish. Too, lovely. Yeah, I took this picture on our stroll back, see the clouds, it wasn't raining yet.

When you are in Bavaria you can not not go to the Neuschawnstein castle. It is a must do. It's a hike to get to this picture spot, but I think the picture was worth every huff and puff I made to get here.

3 Days

2010-08-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

This morning I am writing to you from Philly. We decided to head back a day early from Boston and make a side trip to Philly to see the Liberty Bell. Can I just say that seeing THE bell in person was much more of an emotional experience than I expected it to be.

I am a very patriotic person. I grew up as an Army brat, and proud of it. I have traveled the world, which has been amazing and great. I know our country is not perfect. But, I have to say that as we stand on the threshold of again leaving our home country for 3 years I am more in-tune with the great things our country stands for and has to offer. So, when we walked up to the Liberty Bell, in all it's simplistic glory, the magnitude of what it symbolizes was just overwhelming. I stood there with my family for a moment and just marveled in the history that surrounds this old cracked bell. A tear slid down my cheek as my kids said, "Wow, mom! This is so cool."

Today we head back to Virginia. Sunday we fly to Germany. That is gonna be some fun.

Have a good one!

T.

Now What?

2010-07-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

My house is empty. Everything is either on it's way to our new local or it is being put in a warehouse for the next three years.

So, now what? Well now we are finishing up some odds and ends around town before we begin the vacation leg of this big move. As I write this (from our hotel room) my husband is showing his car to a potential buyer....fingers crossed. Our dog, Toddy, will be going into a kennel for he next 20 days. My daughter has a birthday party to attend. The boys are going to spend the afternoon with some friends. We have to drop our old 1977 International Scout off to a friend who is going to keep it for us for the next three years. And we have to drive up to Dulles to pick up our rental car.

Tomorrow we are heading up to Baltimore for the day. A friend of our is going to take us sailing. That is when the relaxing can begin. I am looking forward to the relaxing bit. Can't wait to open a good book and just let my mind wander.

Speaking of good books.......

Love this new mystery series featuring a scrappy scrapbooker, Kiki Lowenstein.

The following is from Joanna Campbell Slan's blog.

The Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery Series

Paper, Scissors, Death - Book #1 in the Kiki Lowensten Scrap-N-Craft Mystery Series

Now available from all major booksellers--Paper, Scissors, Death: A Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery
Kiki Lowenstein is a woman who's only ever been good at two things: scrapbooking and getting pregnant. She thinks of others first--with her family being paramount. She is clever and courageous, but she'd never attribute those qualities to herself. She's a bit insecure, a little overweight, and she is always comparing herself with others unfavorably. Because others sense her insecurity, they run right over her--but she never gives up on life, on love, and on the people who are dear to her.

She's a great mother, a terrific friend, and a good decent person with creativity and talent to spare. But her attributes are not those that society typically values or rewards. At least not financially.
When Kiki's husband George is found dead, Kiki's comfortable soccer-mom world turns upside down. Now she must fend for herself and her 11-year-old daughter, Anya.
"You can do this," says Mert, Kiki's best friend and former cleaning lady. "I'm enrolling you in the School of Hard Knocks."
Another friend steps forward to help. Dodie owns Time in a Bottle, Kiki's favorite scrapbook store. She offers Kiki a job, and a shoulder to lean on.
But the "new normal" doesn't last for long: George's college girlfriend turns up dead. Kiki finds herself the prime suspect in a murder-and if she can't solve the "who-dunnit," she may be next on the killer's hit list.

Step 2 & 3

2010-07-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

This was our formal living room. Although we did not use it as a formal living room. We used this space as our school room. Now this is our staging area. In this space I have 2 piles of stuff...the stuff that will sent via air and the stuff that will go on the boat. The air shipment is the stuff that we need immediately, like dishes, pans, sheets and towels. We are whisked from the airport and driven to a home that has been selected for us. It is a furnished home, but you still need your personal effects. The air shipment will arrive about a week after we do. Until our air shipment arrives we are given a courtesy box which will have 6 plates, 6 cups, 6 towels, sheets for each bed, you get the idea. Once we get our air shipment we return the courtesy pack.

This is our airship stuff. Towels, and sheets and all the goodies that will make the new house feel less like a hotel and more like where we live.

This is all stuff from my very expensive Costco run. These are the items that, although they have them where we will be living, are terribly expensive. So I try and stock up on the bare necessities. The paper plates will be saved for large social gatherings. The paper napkins as well. When we live overseas I use mostly cloth napkins, and save the paper for big events. Other items that will be hard to find are taco seasoning and Montreal Steak seasoning (I can't eat a steak or burger with out the good stuff).

This is a pile for the slow boat, but it is an important pile. These are the things that will make a house our home. The pretty stuff and the personal items. They are weighty but I will never move without having some of the lovely things that will make a house a sanctuary for my family.

This seems frivolous, but we have found that keeping the items you use during traditional events with you helps to make the transition easier. Especially during the holidays. I did not bring the whole set of dishes, but I did bring enough for a holiday open house. We have found that when we live overseas we tend to invite several other families over to celebrate. Thanksgiving is usually a biggie. We have shared Thanksgiving with 18 additional people in the past.

My family room. Bare. The walls are unadorned. The personality has been striped. This furniture, all of our furniture, will be put in storage for the next three years. The fun part will be when we return and we find all the pieces that we missed. Sometimes I will get a piece out of storage and think...why in the world? Ha! The fun of moves.

The count down is on. . . we have 7 days left in our house. Then we will take a little holiday and spend a week in Boston. Why Boston? We have never been there, so why not. After Boston we will spend a week in Germany visiting friends. And from there we go to our new home. Once we are set up (and yes, my Mac is in my airshipment - it helps me feel more adjusted) I will post an update.

For now...I wish you a blessed end of summer.

The Purge

2010-07-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

So, this is what step 1 looks like. A......MESS!!!

The First Step

2010-07-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to take a minute to stop by and say Hi! I feel that I have not been sharing very much lately. I aplogize about that. But if you bear with me I will get my scrap-on again....soon.

For those of you who are not aware, we are moving and the count down has begun. This is when my life becomes super crazy, super unpredictable and at times super scheduled. The crazy is how much I jam pack into a day. The unpredictable is when I pack a little more into my days, usually in the effort to squeeze one last visit in with friends, my friends and my kiddos friends. The super scheduled is there are certain things that will not be put off course, so I have to get those things done regardless of who I want to visit with or what fun stuff we want to do. I mean it is crazy time!

Making a move is a huge undertaking. Over the years, and what feels like a lifetime of moving, I have managed to create a four step process to prepare for our moves. I would like to mention that our moves are not little cross town moves, but big changing country moves. So, my process is key to making this whole thing come off successfully.

Step 1: Purge - any and everything that is no longer serving a purpose. All purged items are put into a yard sale. The golden rule for yard sale stuff .... if we put it in the yard sale pile we no longer have a need/purpose/use for it so it does not come back into the house. If an item does not sale then it goes into either the donation pile or straight to the tip.

Step 2: Sorting - this step is key. So to make sure we have a clear picture of what is going and what is being stored I clean out one entire room and that becomes the staging area for items that are shipped overseas and items that are mailed overseas. Whatever is in this room is what we will have for the designated amount of time for the tour. Whatever is not in this room is going into storage for the duration of our tour. By storage I mean packed into boxes, put into a crate and shipped to a warehouse storage.

Step 3: Necessities - these are the items that we will need immediately upon arrival in our new 'home.' These are the items that we can't carry in our luggage due to weight or size or practicality, but stuff that will help us make our new home more comfortable. This is also the stuff that we want before our air shipment arrives. This tends to be personal items like extra underwear and clothes. Other things that we usually will mail to ourselves are our Bose speaker so we can listen to our iPods, some games and, for me I usually send myself some scrapping supplies and my basic scrap kit. Oh, and books! We love to read so I usually mail myself and my kiddos plenty of books to read.

Step 4: Packing Out - this is where I just get to supervise and answer questions. At this point I have minimal control of the situation. I am usually emotionally numb during this stage. But, after the last box is loaded I usually just want a glass of wine and a nap.

So, this Saturday we take the first step. Then it is a snowball of events for the next 3 weeks, until it is finished. I will look forward to that glass of wine and will continue to dream about the nap.

T.

Recycling

2010-06-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I hope you have all been happy and healthy. Are you enjoying your summer? I feel like our summer is just whooshing by. So much to do and we are running out of time. For those of you who don't know we are moving in August to a new and exciting country. Our family motto is "Embracing life's adventures!"And a new adventure this will be.

I have a new layout to share with you. I will admit right off that this layout does not use any Close To My Heart products. In case you haven't noticed I am a very eclectic scrapper. This layout is about my sister and her new husband. They are expecting their first child in November and she is over the moon! I am, too. She has been praying to be a mommy for many years. God had provided a fantastic husband and now a new baby.

The layout is entitled Unity. Unity is the state of being united or whole.
Khina and her husband Matt came to visit us after picking up Matt's son for the summer. This is the first time their family was united. This page is a reflection of my sister's personal style and personality.

I was inspired by the packaging from a pair of shoes I bought (and yes, the shoes are super cute!).

I cut the box up and used the parts are embellishments for my page. Here is the finished product.

So, have a look around and see what packaging you can use to inspire your next layout.

Have a good one!

Rememberings

2010-05-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

This layout is in honor of my Grandma. She loved to drink buttermilk. To this day everytime I grab the buttermilk to make biscuits or pancakes or to fry chicken I see her face, I hear her giggle and I am reminded of all the little things I loved her for. She is forever imprinted on my heart.

T.

Thank You Gifts

2010-05-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

My kiddos volunteer as Teacher Aide's once a week at our preschool. I say "Our" preschool for 2 reasons. 1) The preschool is located at our church. 2) All of my kiddos (well technically 3 of my kiddos) attended this preschool. Just for some history here, my 4th munchkin was destined to go to this same preschool, but we moved to the other side of the world for 3 years one month before he would have started preschool. However, he was raised at this preschool, so it is as if he attended this preschool. Anyway - I love this school and I love the teachers at this preschool. The director and 5 of the staff have been there 10 years. They are like family to me.

As a thank you for the beautiful women that work at our preschool I made these little notebooks.

Aren't they adorable.

They start out looking like this. Cute, but not adorable - yet. I bought these cute little guys as Staples. You get 2 mini-composition books in a pack for under a dollar.

To make them all cute and super special you need a few basic supplies: paper trimmer, adhesive, good scissors, and ink. And then you dig through your scrap box to find your paper of choice. You need pieces of paper that are about 3.5"x5" to cover the fronts and backs of your notebook. And then you get to have fun and add what ever accessories you wish to personal you mini notebook.

These little notebooks are pocket/purse sized and make great little thank you gifts for not a lot of money.

And the best part... it is a heartfelt gift made with love.

A Few Cards

2010-05-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Two of my good friends have birthdays in May. I love making cards that reflect the personalities of my friends.

This on is for a woman that loves Victorian style. Lots of layers and rich colors. I made the center flower using tissue paper. I save all the tissue I get from gifts. The more crinkled the better. I will do a tutorial on how to make this flower, soon. The antiques 'lace' that is placed along the Colonial cardstock is actually a Crochet Flower that I cut the center out of. I aged the flower first by sponging Chocolate ink onto the flower and then cut the flower apart. Viola - lace edging.

This card I made for my friend that loves rather simple fun stuff. I thought the whimsy of the flower suited her. I created the background using the Connections (D1330) set. I placed three of the smaller circles and three of the smaller flower elements onto one block and then randomly stamped the images. I wanted the background to be lighter to I stamped the background using the second generation technique. To do that just ink you stamp, stamp off onto scratch paper and then stamp your image onto the card base. Super simple and super effective.

This thank you card is so very simple, but so, so lovely. I made a set of six of these as a thank you for a friend. I made all six in less than an hour. The image is from Childhood Portrait (D1373). The sentiment is from Card Chatter (C1381).

Thanks for stopping by.

My Scrap Space

2010-05-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday! I thought I would share something really personal with you all. My scrappin' space. This is where I go and play. I wish I could say that this was my room - just mine - but the truth is that this is also where the McKids come and get crafty, too. Not to mention that one of our computers resides in this room. Bottom line, I hardly ever am alone in this room. In fact, I had to nudge some munchkins aside in order to take these pictures. They were working hard on Mother's Day gifts. Top secret.
My room is located in our basement. There are double doors that open out to our backyard area so I can throw them open and keep an eye on the kiddos when they are swimming.

This is standing at the doorway to the room. The computer is here on the right and the little messy desk is the where my kiddos sit, mainly my daughter, when they are playing with all the arts and crafts goodies I have. We are a homeschool family, so we do a lot of creative playing!

The message board on the wall is a piece of homasote board I bought at Home Depot for about $30. They come in 4x8 sheets and they will cut it down in size for you. I buy the whole sheet have them cut it. I then cover the homasote with batting and then fabric. This board is screwed into the wall. The off cuts I used to make a smaller message board that I attached to an over-the-door wreath holder. That hangs upstairs. More information than you needed, but I got carried away! Anyway.....back to the tour.

The desk....I print my pictures here and my Cricut lives here. I have it hooked up to the computer. This is my business center as well as a school space - multi-functional!

When you are standing at the door by the computer and look left This is what you see. In between the wooden bookcases I have set up a cutting station where I have my big guillotine cutter and my big shot. The bookcase on the far wall is filled with little embellishments.

This is my desk. This is where I get my craft on! I like to stand when I scrap. I used bed risers, from Walmart, to lift my desk to the right height. Under my desk I have a few closet organizer shelves, the kind you put together yourself, that I use to store my 12x12 scrapbooks.

The alcove behind me is where all the stuff I use the most is stored. I can just turn and reach into a drawer to find what I need.

Inside my go to drawer. I keep my stamps filed by color on one side of the drawer. My ribbon rounds are collected here so I can just grab and go to work

To the left of this, where you can just make out a chair, is my little table that has my sewing machine sitting on it. I keep it threaded and ready to go anytime I need it. I also can sit here and look out the double doors and watch my kiddos running through the woods.

You can just see those shelves under my desk. The metal shelves under my message board are metal snap together shelves. I love these shelves. You can configure them into any shape. They hold my CTMH papers, my How To books and my large stamps that I have in a binder. This is also where all the kiddos craft materials live.

Thanks for visiting my scrap space. Have a great and blessed day!

Summer's Stinkin' Cute IB

2010-05-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

You guys, I am so excited. This Summer's Idea Book is beyond stinkin' cute. I can not wait to get my loot and start playing.

Flip Flapping Away

2010-04-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Last week at my 3T class I got share with the ladies all the great reasons to have some Flip Flaps in your stash.

Reason #1 - you can add a ton of photos to a page without it looking cluttered or too busy.

Reason #2 - they make great interactive elements to your scrapbooks.

And reason #3 - they are great for adding additional journaling. Or, if you have something private you can use it to keep you journaling hidden.

Flip Flaps also make great mini-albums.

Oh, here's a tip they are Flip Fl-A-ps - not flip flops...totally different thing.

Hi!

2010-04-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

It isn't often that I even think to take a picture of me. I am ~~usually~~ almost always behind the camera. So I thought I would share a recent moment of forward thinking when I actually turned the camera around and snapped a photo of myself. I am also making a concerted effort to give my camera to other people to snap some shots of family events - so I can be included in the pictures. I will no longer be the mystery person, obviously there, but not there - if you know what I mean. Obviously I was there because I scrap the stories behind the photos, but I am not there because I am rarely ever included in the photos on the pages. Does that make sense? I hope!

New Episode of Art & Soul

2010-04-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

A new episode is up over at CTMH. You can find it by clicking the on the badge above. Once you are at my website click on the CTMH TV tab. The episode is titled Live Your Dreams and is 12 minutes long.

Enjoy!

What do you think?

2010-04-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

Do you like the new look? Just wondering. I think it looks fresh and springy!
Have a good one.

T.

Easter

2010-04-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

These were a couple of Easter cards I made. I was playing around and just love the results. Not my usual style. But it is always good to stretch and grow.

Here are some pictures I need to get scrapped.

I love this one of my daughter and our dog. She took this picture. Love it!

This one is going to be all about my kiddos first trip to Fudruckers. Kari loved the milk shake.

I know this picture is a little odd. I was making biscuits the other night and pulled out the buttermilk and I had the best memory of my Grandma. She loved buttermilk. I alway thought that was odd, but to Grandma buttermilk was a real treat. So I am going to scrap a page about this memory. Whenever I look at buttermilk I think of her. I can even hear her giggle.

That is why I love this amazing hobby of ours. It tells the stories of our hearts.

Have a good one.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

2010-03-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

May the Luck of the Irish be with you today and always.

Mischievous

2010-03-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is fun to just spice things up a bit. To make this layout I began by choosing the title piece. This is something that I have had in my stash of goodies for a couple of years and decided it was time it got put to good use. That title piece determined the color scheme of my page. Once I knew the color scheme I pulled paper and emblishments. After those decisions were made I determined which pictures I wanted to use.

The title piece is deceptive. The journaling is a touching tribute to my wonderful friends. Some I have known for many, many years. Others I have met only in the past 5 years or so. All of them are special to me. Part of the journaling reads, "With these women I have laughed and cried. I have shared heartfelt talks and worship with them. I have broken into spontaneous song and dance with them. And have, on occasion, been a little mischievous with each of them. I cherish our stories. I cherish each place in my heart that is held by them. I thank my heavenly Father for I have been greatly blessed."

The base of my layout is a piece of White Daisy cardstock. I dry embossed lines on it at 1/2" intervals. Then I inked the whole page with Bamboo ink to make the lines stand out. To give it an aged looked I used Sunflower, Honey and Chocolate ink sponged onto the edges.

The flower is three pieces of Just Blooms layered with a Filigree Charm in the center. The butterflies are also from the Just Blooms.

I used my corner rounder to scallop the edges of the cream B&T paper. You can really see how the ink work gave this page a vintage feel.

So, how 'bout it. Why don't you shake things up, spice up your scrappin' routine. You never know, you may end up with a thing of beauty.

Rockin' Cute Birthday Card

2010-03-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

Boy birthday cards are always so much harder for me to make. The jokes on me though, because I have 3 boys. Add in their friends and I have a lot of guy cards I have to make. Tonight my 2 big boys are going to hang out with one of their buds to celebrate his birthday. Teenage boys are even more of a challeng to come up with a card that they will appreciate. Lucky me - I have the You Rock (X7122B) paper collection just hanging out in my scraproom. I then pulled out my Wishes book and decided to use Keep It Secret pattern on page 75. Using that as my inspiration I got rollin' and made, what I believe is a really cool teenage guy card.

I started out with the Outdoor Denim cardstock to use as the base of my card. I wanted to go for a worn jeans look so I first used my Edge Distresser (Z1297) to rough up the edges of my cardstock.

To give it a more jeans-y feel I used my sanding block that comes in the Sanding Kit (Z1294) and using the finest grit I sanded in all directions until I was satisfied with the look I wanted.

I layered the inside of the card using the B&T paper in the Goldrush color and stamped the guitar from the Star Power (D1403) in Goldrush ink (Z2123) and then stamped on a scratch piece the guitar again using the Outdoor Denim (Z2140). I cut out the Outdoor Denim guitar and layered it over the one I stamped in Goldrush. Once I had my guitar in place I used the wings from Star Power and stamped them in Versa Mark ink and then embossed them using the Clear Embossing ink (Z671).

I folded up the bottom of this inner piece of the slide card to make a pocket to hold my gift card. I secured the sides with some gold star brads and hand wrote Happy Birthday using a white gel pen.

Still using the Star Power stamp set I stamped the border and the Your A Star. The big blue splotch is from Rock Star (C1388). I pierced three holes and add three gold star brads.

And that is a rockin' cute card for a teenage boy.

Sweetly Sparkling Scrap Night

2010-03-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

Friday night I hosted a scrap night for some of my friends. I had nibbly bits for us to snack on. You have to keep your strength up while scrapbooking. I covered all the necessary scrapping food groups: savory - french bread pizza bites, salty - cheeze-its and cheese puffs (whole grain=fiber=health(ier)), sweet - mini pound-cake cupcakes with buttercream and caramel frosting, candy covered chocolates in happy colors and smiley face gumballs. For the sparkling part of the night I had sparkling water, IBC rootbeer, mini bottles of Asti-Spumanti, and Cherry Lime soda.

I was able to get a little bit done on Friday night. I love the chatting and catching up and then I also love the silences when everyone is hard at work. Concentrating on creating beautiful scrapbook pages.

These are the 2 I finished on the night.

For this page I used Form and Function pattern from Cherish (9029), Topstich paper packet (X7120B), December 2009 stamp of the month - Notice the Details, White Daisy Just Blooms (Z1300).

My second LO:

I used Beauty In Repetition from Cherish, Emporium paper packet (X7105B), Photo Hangers (Z293), and Natural Hemp (Z280).

The stickers were part of the challenge for the night...dig something old out of your stash. I had some stickers that were a few years old and used those as my embellishment.

That is what I call a fun and productive scrap night.

Birdthday Card

2010-03-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

My daughter, Karissa made this card
for her friend's birthday. I did give her a helping hand. We picked our stamp set first. Karissa chose Piece of Cake (D1407), the February Stamp of the Month. Karissa then chose the pattern Pretty Simple from the Originals How-To book (9032). Then we started digging through my stash of supplies. We started with a CTMH White card base (x254). We then layered some patterned paper from my stash on top. We stamped and embossed the image on to Daisy White cardstock and glimmer misted the background. Karissa went in and colored in the image using CTMH Exclusive Ink markers. We also glimmer misted another piece of white cardstock before Karissa stamped the sentiment. Karissa layered all the parts onto the card base following the Pretty Simple pattern. Cute!

To coordinate the package with the card we used the same striped paper that we had pulled from my stash. We cute it to fit the width of the bag and then at 6" wide. Folding it in half we cut a slit for the handles to poke through. To give it a little personality I used a Martha Stewart punch for the edge. We stuck on some letter stickers from my stash of goodies and all done. Super simple. Super fast. Super easy.

Since I was in play mode. I pulled out my Tim Holtz alchohol inks and made a the background on this card. Then I stamped my image from Treasure Life (D1306) using versa mark ink and emobssed with chocolate embossing powder. Once it was embossed I went over the top of the image with some Radiant Pearls just to give it a little shine. I mounted my image onto chocolate cardstock and then wrapped it with some chocolate ribbon from my stash. The ribbon slide is something I have had for a while. I then dry embossed two lines down the side of the card and stamped my sentiment. To finish it off I pierced three little holes.

March - Already?

2010-03-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I am sorry for not having any new stuff to post - yet.

Life in my household has been so crazy....I am sure you know what I am talking about.

My hubby is on a long business trip. {I miss him.} So I have been holding down the fort - solo. That part is okay, but the running of the kiddos here, there and everywhere is - at times - overwhelming. There have been events that we have had to pick and choose which munchkin gets to go and which munchkin must miss out. That is just the way it is.

We also took a road trip. I drove my kiddos out to Oklahoma to see my family and to celebrate my middle sister's wedding. We had such a great time. It was the first time in many, many years that we have all been together at the same time {I have four sibs}. I LOVED every minute. The time went all to quickly.

Now I am home and after having a few days to get back in the groove I am ready to have some play time. Friday night I am having some lovely ladies over and we are going to get our scrap on! I am really looking forward to it. I need some grown-up time. I will get the kids all set up with a movie and put my oldest in charge of putting himself and the younger sibs to bed.

Hopefully I will have some fabulous pages to share.

I hope all of you have had a great February. I am shocked and somewhat amazed that March is here. February just flew by. The really good news is we are now in count down mode until daddy comes home - 22 days to go. Yipee!!!!