CKU - Provo, are you going?

I have never been able to attend one of these (except as a demonstrator for Li'l Davis one year). I've always wondered what goes on and thought they looked awfully fun. Well this year, I get to go and TEACH! Woohoo! What is cooler than being surrounded by a bunch of people who are as wildly excited about scrapbooking as I am? Seriously!!

I will be teaching the Bella Vita Mini Album class for Deja Views. I'm very honored to do this with Lori Marek (also with Deja Views). It will be loads of fun and work, and I'm totally excited.

If you are going or know someone that is, please tell them to say "hi" to me. I meet the coolest people at scrapbook things! I'd love for it to be you. :)

On another note, here are two things that I posted for my Deja Views DT June online assignments this month. I'd love to post the CHA things we're working on. AWESOME!! All the manufacturers that I've been able to work with have the coolest things coming out for CHA. I'm glad I don't have the pressure of having to buy for a store because I would buy it ALL!!

Anyhoo (what a dorky-me word) . . . here is the first layout I did using Zach's Life stamps and papers (you know I'm addicted to that line):

And here is a Zach's Life (big surprise) card:

Well, I'd better finish up one more card and layout before the day is out to complete my monthly assignments (plus I have another kit to finish up). Hope you are having a beautiful summer day!

Purging Round ???

I can't remember how many times we've done this. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however, as it appears that I have about a few more weeks of this. Then things will trickle to only a few things every month. (I laugh when I think about how much I've accumulated. It's amazing how fast that happens.)

Anyway, here are the items up for auction this week.

The "Designing with Color Book" by Autumn Leaves:

A sentiments stamp set from Close to My Heart:

A set to be used with the Karen Foster Click-it set. It embosses:

The "Find Your Groove" book from Memory Makers:

A set of Li'l Davis Scrapper's Tape:

A Beach Scrapbooking Kit:

A package of Basic Grey "Boxer" products:

A Karen Foster Rub-on calendar set (Note: I cut one word from the February set and it doesn't affect using it--see the photo. All other months are untouched.):

A Travel Scrapbooking Kit:

And an Armed Forces Kit:

Thanks again for even reading. ;)

The Rest of the CK KOTM Projects:

Here is the mini album that I created with the rest of the "Kid's Play" KOTM. I kept it pretty simple and turned all my photos to black and white. The text was created in Photoshop so I could play with spacing and layers (I like that so much better that text boxes). :) Then I printed each text page onto the index cards included in the kit. The stickers and chipboard pieces in this kit are just so darling. (I did add a few extras like buttons, floss, and ribbon to some of the projects). The title text on the album cover is actually the stickers included with the kit and their rub-on phrases.

Anyhoo, here's the album:

The inside cover sheet:

And just a few of the inside pages (there were quite a few):


And the last page of the album:

It was such a fun kit to play with. I just received another kit to try and this one is UBER awesome as well. :) I love to take it out and just look at all the yummy goodies. I hope to get to work on that in a few days as I have some looming deadlines with CHA and all. :)

I Guess I Can Spill the Beans Now :)

I've been dying over this one, and just wanted to share so badly. LOL!

Check out this link: Scrapbook Trends Magazine (and read down a little bit until you see my name).

I'm so stinkin' excited to be working with the great editors and designers at ST!! I can't tell you the little happy dance of excitement I did when I got the call. (And again, when they asked me what I wanted my byline to read, and then again, when I got to see my article in the preprint form.)

I've always wanted to be a writer. Ever since I was old enough to write stories. This is the first step and a HUGE one for me. I'm so grateful for the opportunity and honored to follow in the footsteps of fellow scrapbooker and friend Kara Henry.

Thanks for letting me toot my own horn for just a bit! :)

Purging Round #4 (a little late)

Ok, here are this week's Ebay listings. Some fun things if you like kits and stamping. :)

The first several are Karen Foster snap-stamps.

This is the Medium casual numbers, which are about 3/4" tall:

This is the same size but the Medium Formal set:

Here is the Medium casual alphabet set (too darling!):

And finally the Large Casual number set, which are about 1" in size:

Then there is this fun "Teen" kit:

And a used Christmas stamp set:

And a Foam Stamp set from one of CK's KOTM:

A "Dare to Be" mini album kit that originally came with the Lisa Bearnson idea book from QVC (not selling the idea book, though):

A Mini Accordion KOTM from CK:

Ok, I think that's it for this week. :) Thanks for being patient as I wade through the overload in my office.

Kid's Play: CK KOTM

Don't you love acronym's? KOTM = Kit of the Month. And I was lucky enough to get to play with this month's kit from Creating Keepsake. It's a DARLING kit with a bookmark, several cards, a few frames, a phone book, and a mini album. And there are oodles of embellishment stickers and chipboard to play with. It also helped that these are my favorite colors and shades of colors to play with. :)

Here is a frame sample:

And these are three cards created with the kit (note: the cardstock and stamps and brads are NOT part of the kit, but things we often have laying around).

Here's the bookmark:

I'll upload the mini album later. :) Don't want to overload you all at once. Isn't that the cutest kit?

Last Chance and WSW!

No that's not another acronym for Walt Disney World. It's World Stamping Week! Do you love to stamp? Have you tried it yet? How would you rate your skill set: beginner, intermediate, purely professional. I'm intermediate. Loads of techniques that I've yet to try, but I love learning. Plus I'm cardstock driven by nature so creating my own pattern paper with cardstock is just too darn yummy. :)

Here's two cards I made today using Deja View's "Bella Vita" and "Delightful" stamp sets. I'm so happy they are making stamps to go with their gorgeous lines. It just adds the perfect touch to the project. :)

And don't forget!! My E-bay items (listed below) are almost done. Last week someone totally scored a stamp set for $.99. What a deal!!

Hope you are having a good weekend. The dh and I are about to head out on a date. Maybe we'll see a movie and dinner. That's what we usually do. What about you? Any hot plans this weekend?

Coming Home

I had a dream about Joey last night. I went in to his bedroom, and there he was. Alive and well except for a stomach ache, which I reminded him was because of his tumor. It was surreal and even in the dream, I called the doctor and told them what had happened. They asked me if I was all right in the head or having an "episode" of some sort. Then they chalked up to being a good thing.

At first when I woke up, I was just happy to have seen him and talked to him. It seemed very normal, and I was, of course, ecstatic in the dream. But now I'm feeling the loss of him terribly today. I want to touch him so bad. Looking at his baby pictures, he really looks a lot like Jimmy. It's seem so hard for me to be able to touch and hug Jimmy and not be able to do that with Joey any more. I won't say "It's not fair" because it's not about that.

But I wish he were home. I know he is home (a home far more beautiful and safe than this home), but I feel like he's been gone long enough and it's time to come home. I say this a lot, but I think it's the way I'm dealing with losing him--he can't really be gone in the permanent sense of things, he's just off somewhere and I'll see him soon. I really need that to be true and my faith tells me that it is. I truly know that I will see him again, but I'm surprised that knowing that doesn't always make it easier. Is that the human part of us? The worrying part?

I just miss him. Miss him SO MUCH!!

Purge-a-lurging!! (once again)

I should have warned you that this could go on for some time, LOL, as I'm trying to list about 10 things every Monday. I seriously have four big boxes of stuff to get rid of, and I really need to kit more items. I have listed the items up for bid this week below:

This is probably going to be the hot item of the week, as I think it's a DARLING stamp set (but I already have one very similar and can't justify keeping it).

And this stamp set from Fontwerks, I've been hoarding FOREVER. :)

Ok, I have three Christmas things listed (just think of Christmas in July) and here they are.

Glitter & Flock kit:

Lisa Bearnson card kit (too darling for words):

And a self-kitted Christmas set:

And for the Basic Grey fans out there, a "Sugared" Collection set:

And I want bore you with any more details, but there are two more stamp sets listed. :)

Using Vinyl to Create a Dinner Plate Message Board

This episode of Nth Degree shows how to use Provo Craft vinyl, the Provo Craft transfer tape, and the Cricut Machine to create a fun message board for your family.

That vinyl really is AWESOME!! (NOTE: this is about the same techniqe for creating Vinyl messages for any home decor project--including the wall.)

The One Good Thing About Organizing One's Office . . .

Is that you find things that you forgot you had, and realize that you are missing others. LOL! I'm about halfway there. I have most of my own items organized, but I have a few company things that I like to keep separate for specific assignments and I'm going to save up a bit before buying organizational stuff for that. :) I'm already so much happier though. I can see my floor!!! (You have no idea what a big deal that is!)

And here are a few Inque Boutique projects. I have fallen head over heels in love with stamping. I just love the process of inking and then mushing the stamps on my paper. Happy, happy day! :)

This one is a birthday card (for an 8 year old--because that's the number I had on hand--do you know one?)

And I started with one vertical strip on this one, and it just took on a mind of it's own and turned out all vertical. :)
And I wrote this one's journaling shortly after Joey's passing. I was struggling a great deal with my faith. It's so easy to have faith when everything's going well. But true faith is tested during the hard times, and I wanted so much to be strong and not have a single doubt. I am still working through things, but I feel like I am moving in the right direction.

Additional Office/Craft Space Organization:

You can read about additional craft room organization in the following posts:

* Q&A About My Craft Room Space
* 2014-2015 New Craft Room Space Set Up (challenges and issues)

Do you like the idea of making your craft space work for you? I'm currently finishing up my new home's scrapbook office/craft room, and I'd love to share it with you. Simply subscribe to my Newsletter to see progress photos, and then gain access to the final room when it's complete.

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Taking a Break

It seems like I never take a break from work. I love designing. Don't get me wrong. :) It's just sometimes after pushing through a deadline, I get a little non-creative, and feel totally brain dead. So as the kids are adjusting to being out of school, I've been just puttering around a bit myself.

One mistake I made was to try to clean out my closet in my offices. YIKES! My storage system of big cardboard boxes just isn't cutting it anymore. LOL! But now I'm faced with the reality of the expense of truly organizing all that junk. Good grief. And I thought I was so good at purging! I'm making a list of needs and trying to figure out a reasonable budget, but even cheap containers do cost money.

I've been browsing Scrapbook Rooms on 2Peas and drooling over loads of people's rooms. People amaze me in their home decor skills. WOWSERS! I kind of have a half-way organized, somewhat eclectic room that's not quite done. But I have gotten to the point that I have my basic things organized so that I can quickly find them. That makes me VERY happy. :)

Still, I really want to open up the closet and be staring at a bunch of labeled organizational boxes so that I can find those rarely used items--acrylic paint, altered items, etc.

I'd love to hear how you saved a buck or two on your organizational skills. :)

And just for fun, here is a card for Karen Foster Design. It uses their darling new baseball line.

And this card was recently published in "Stamp It!" magazine. It uses Inque Boutique stamps and some fun embellishments. :)

I have a bunch of stamping stuff to post, but I'll do that later. Don't want to bombard you with stuff. LOL! Hope you are enjoying your summer vacation (if yours has started now).