For the Cove...

Just finished up my April submissions for Scrapper's Cove.  Featured paper, transparency, ribbon & brads are from the Paper Company Studio Homeroom Collection. (The red lined paper is Jillbean Soup.) Here's what I've got this month - first up is the finished mini which features yearly school photos:

mini album images removed for publication

Here's the opening page - the transparency page has paperclips printed on it - love those paperclips & they inspired me to use them is a few places:

Here are details of the layouts:

The little pencil also showed up in a lot of places - it's from a Basic Grey stamp set. Love that little guy.

Next is the layout. I totally lifted this sketch from a Studio Calico sketch challenge. It's my second time using this one:

The little pencil stamp shows up again here, as a border on top of the photos. The ruler is a larger version of the ones in the mini album. It's a Silhouette pattern downloaded from their online store. It's hard to see but the red ribbon has paper clips printed on it. Lastly, a couple of book marks & a card:

There are those pencils again, sandwiched between the patterned paper and the transparency. And the card:

Used the last of the transparency, ribbon & patterned paper for this one.

So that's what I have so far. Lots more to work on this week so hopefully a few more posts before the holiday weekend.

For the Cards Blog & Easter cookies...

Just a quick post today, as I need to get ready for the Spring party at my daughter's school. (Have to admit, the idea of a room full of 1st graders makes me a little nervous! I will not let them see my fear!) Here's what I made to take to the class:

A little Easter baked in a cookie - I tried to keep these really simple, since I had almost no time to bake them. I don't know, I kind of like them simple.

It's been a couple of weeks since I submitted a card for the Cards Blog Friday challenge so here's what I submitted for this week:

The challenge was to use 8 colors. Think I made it, with a few colors to spare. I used the Basic Grey Kioshi paper that I just picked up at Scrapper's Cove the other day. I cut the flowers out of the paper and smashed them up before I tacked them down. That's Basic Grey pearlescent bling in the centers. I love that matching doily that goes with the collection. It's so pretty and I think you could really do a lot with it because the cut-outs are pretty big in comparison to other doilies. (And yes, I'm addicted to that washed seam binding.)

So, that's me for now but lot's on the desk today. Need to finish & deliver my Scrapper's Cove stuff this weekend. It's also submission time for another magazine call. I've got a lot of stuff to prep for that. Luckily, the weekend is pretty light obligation-wise so I will have some time. Yipee!

give me liberty...

Yes, caving in to peer pressure both live and on the internet, I finally went to Target today to peruse the Liberty of London offerings. My expectations were low since I'm about a week late to the launch. I figured I'd find a few picked over items; maybe a chipped cup or a hat with a dirty shoe print on it. Not the case however. Each department had a little something to offer - all completely adorable. I wish I had brought my camera to document the loveliness. By the time I got to the checkout, I had to do the 'do I really want/need this?' review of the cart contents and eject some of the more "frivolous" items: the hat (which looked not-so-great on me anyway) the wallet (which I rationalize was poorly designed and would certainly have caused me to dump all my loose change when trying to access my plastic money) the notepads (how many small notepads does one person need? well, I might go back for these...) Here's my what I picked up (so far, today):
I've got a thing for trays, especially the outdoorsy summery kind, the coordinating plates were impulse:

Tote bags - I use them all the time, for everything. I wanted all of the patterns but settled on this one:

This cute thing for my desk:

Love this print and the only room in my house this would make sense would be the room where my desk is. I will find a very visible purpose for it.
I think there is a layout in this post and I'm thinking I need to go back for some of the paper file folders - I can cut them up and use them on a project.  A Liberty 12 x 12 paper line, now that would make my day!

On the desk today is my Scrapper's Cove paper for the month from the Paper Company Studio. So far working on this mini for my kids school photos:

I love those paperclips on the transparency and the ribbon.

Here's a close up of the cover (the album is 4" x 4"):

(had to throw in a little Jillbean printed kraft to break up that red)

Here's a detail of the filler pages:

I made them out of cardstock sew together. The ruler border at the bottom is cut with my Silhouette. I downloaded that pattern today. It's really cool & I love the way it turned out, but there are so many tiny cuts, (I had to make 8 of them) that now I am in need of a new set of blades. (cha-ching). Each page will ultimately have a class photo for each year my kids have been in school. Now I need to go find these photos - I'm hoping they are all in one place....

Go fly a kite...

and that's exactly what we did. It was way too nice to stay inside this weekend. We took advantage of the lovely weather and headed to the beach for a little fresh air. Sandy Hook to be exact:

It was by no means warm there, but it was not bitterly cold either. We brought the kids some kites, (yes, that is Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba -the kids show that is so excellent it borrowed it's title from a Ramones song.) We were by far the coolest people on the beach with this thing.

We brought a kite for the big kid, too. It took him a while, but he got it together!

The beach was looking pretty trashed from the giant storm the week before - see the 'pond' in the middle of the sand?

We had to walk a good distance to get around it to the shore line. The ocean really wants to take Sandy Hook back and it's making every effort to do so. Lots of sand is gone from the beach and now located in the parking lot. We wondered how they will fix it. There was also a ton of garbage on the beach - which made me really sad - as it probably washed up from the bottom of the ocean. I have every intention of getting involved in the Beach Sweep clean up effort.

Not a super creative weekend but definitely a fun family weekend - wouldn't trade this day for anything. My kids just love being on the beach, regardless of the weather. They are definitely related to me & Dan! So glad we got to spend a few hours doing this. (Look for these photos in many upcoming projects!)

big blue Atlantic

little people, big ocean

sand angels

See you in a few days with some crafty stuff!

Baking o' the green...

green cookies that is. Today is my day to assist at my daughter's Daisy meeting. Since it's St. Pats, I thought I'd try to bake something cute for the girls. Only problem is I forgot all about this obligation until yesterday. I had to improvise and thought I could bypass the whole cookie decorating thing if I dyed the dough green...which is what I did:

Did not even occur to me that 'cooked' gel icing colorant could be a little wierd. Thankfully, it was ok and the heat did not alter the taste.

After they were done, they looked so pathetic, so naked with nothing on them. I quickly whipped up a small batch of icing and came up with a fast, hopefully even faster drying, design.

 

Thankfully, it's a beautiful dry, sunny and warm day here in the Northeast. (Finally!) Optimal cookie baking weather. These babies are sitting next to open windows with the ceiling fan blowing a breeze on them. They should dry and be ready to roll within the hour - which timing wise, works out just fine.

Here's a quick layout I made for the Studio Calico sketch this week:

It was a tricky one. I focused on that shaped background and let the rest just fall into place. Here's a detail shot:

I made the flowers by running a thread through the ribbon and pulling it tight. (I love putting these things on my layouts but now have to face the storage issue - lumpy stuff in the binders tends to make everything lumpy. I hate lumpy.)

I can't even express my love for these kits. I used to be kind of "anti-kit." I liked to control my own desitny when it came to mixing paper and product. I still like to do that, especially when it comes to mixing papers, but wow, this just saves a huge amount of time. Not only is it gorgeous, brand-new sought after stuff, (along with a selection of SC exclusive items) - but it's a great mix. Not predictable in the least.  Those gals really know what they are doing and I am so thrilled to get one of these things in the mail every month.

Ok - off to the Daisy meeting and then hopefully some desk time. Want to send a card for the Cards blog (birds this week) and get cracking on some projects for submissions due in April.

Happy St. Patricks Day all!!

A Jillibean sketch...

Our whole neighborhood has spotty blackouts today, thanks to that giagantic storm yesterday. Trees are down all over the place and we've got an eye on the rising tide in our crawl space. Luckily, though, electricity has not been an issue for us so far...thank goodness - I can still print photos and sew on my layouts!

Today I took a break from my Studio Calico immersion to work on the  Jillibean sketch challenge. Love the Jillibean! Here's the sketch - simple, clean, nice...

Here's what I made:

 
For this layout, I used Jillibean's Minestrone, Alphabet Soup, Cold Raspberry & Staples lines. I love Jillibean printed kraft cardstock, particularly the one with the white damask-y motif above - I have used it as the  background on several of my layouts. (This was my last sheet, I need to get more!) I shifted the page elements around a bit on this sketch. I relocated the title bar to the bottom, then moved  narrow element up. I also used my Martha Stewart hydrangea punches to punch the little flowers.
I also worked on the Studio Calico Sunday sketch today but not loving the outcome. I was rushing to get it done before the sun went down so I could take a decent picture of it. How lame is that? Need to work on that one some more without the unnecessary pressure!

a blustery day

In the northeast we are having a giant rain & wind storm. It started yesterday and has been going strong ever since. Keeping my fingers crossed that our trees survive this latest onslaught of severe weather.

Can’t say I’m too bummed about being stuck inside because it gave me an opportunity to finally work with the Studio Calico kits that are starting to pile up. And boy, was that fun. How nice it is to have all the parts there in one box – and all of the parts are awesome, beautiful things it would have taken hours to put together and hunt down. Don’t get me started on the exclusive, limited edition things. They definitely have a fan for life!

First up is the Baker’s Dozen kit from last month. I made this for an Ella inspiration challenge – I’ve been wanting to make this layout for a long time & I finally took the pictures and got it done.:

My daughter is obsessed with cats – she doesn’t really want to own one, she just wants to be surrounded by their image. Works for me – I’m definitely a dog person!

Next was this one, for this week's Studio Calico sketch challenge. This is my first time participating in these challenges. So much talent up there in that gallery…

Here's a detail of the title - the letters are stuck down to a glassine envelope then I sewed around the C to make it stand out. After I did this, I realized I should have used that big "4" as the "for" in the title. Would have been clever...duh

Sketches really do make it so much easier. Can’t believe I’m just realizing this now, after 6+ years of scrapbooking. I don’t know if I will ever do a page without a sketch again.

Then I moved on to the current kit – the one that just came last week – Quilting Bee.

My ode to Ikea. Not too sure about this one – feels like something is missing…might have to go back to the desk with this page. This was also an Ella-inspired page. (Gotta love those sketches in the Donna Januzzi ebook!)

Got a feeling I’ll be back at the desk tomorrow – still plenty o’ stuff left in those kit boxes.

feeling a 'little' crafty....

The Cards Blog challenge this week is "mini" cards - and I love making small cards. Small is about all I can manage this week. So, in addition to this small blog post, I also whipped up these little numbers:

They are 3" x 3" each. I barely used any supplies on these cards - all the paper came out of my scrap file. The fabric flower shapes sewn to the background are K & Co. (K & Co. has this new vintage looking line that has some really great items.) I just picked up that antiquey-looking satin seam binding at the Scrappers Cove. I need to go back for more of that - in the other colors - cause' I'm loving it.

oh yeah...

In my cranky crabbiness of the past week I totally forgot that my Studio Calico kit was due today. What a pleasant surprise when the nice UPS person walked up my front walk with that box. (I say the "nice" one because we have 2 UPS people. One is always annoyed because my husband gets numerous very heavy boxes on a regular basis - for his job. Why she attempts to lift them instead of using her hand truck is beyond me. One way she shows her displeasure is by leaving the boxes at just the correct angle that I can not open my front door entirely to get the box in and off the front steps. In sharp contrast is the other UPS person - always friendly and has no known issues with the heavy boxes.) I'm glad it was nice UPS person today - just made the experience of getting all this even better:

oooh, pretty...those Dear Lizzie crocheted flowers, and the floral paper are outstanding. Loving the cheery colors and the yellow, blue and red combos. Then there was the add on kit, which I forgot I ordered (bonus!):

I think I'm going to stick with the directions for the pennant because this is a new format for me entirely. Fabric, triangular, iron on photo paper...new, new & new. Hopefully I will actually get to use these goodies before the next kit arrives. First I have to break into last months kit. All I've done with that is drool over it swipe a couple of sheets of the cardstock to make other non-kit projects. A girl could get used to these monthly deliveries!

Well, my Scrapper's Cove items did not get delivered today. I hate being late but I am just not feeling these projects. It's taking me so long to finish even the smallest detail. I feel fresh out of ideas. I wrapped up the 3 things I started and hopefully will squeeze out a card or two in the morning before I drop them off. Here are 2 photos of the mini - it's actually loose 4 x 4 'pages' in a little box.

The little box is from AC Moore. I wanted to use chipboard coasters but I was out. Instead, I made the 4 x 4 squares from the 3 Bugs papers with a layer of Bazzill sandwiched in between. One page for each year. On the back of each year card is lined paper for journaling the details from that year. To fill in between these pages, I cut photos at 4 x 4 - added the little captions then sewed around them. Plenty of room left in the box for more Easter photos and memories.

Weekend wrap up...

A busy weekend here in NJ. We started with ‘dawn patrol’ at Chuck E. Cheese (a.k.a. a 10 a.m. birthday party with ‘the rat’) then I had “Cookie Mom” duties to take care of. Me and the other Cookie Moms sorted the boxes and took whatever belonged to us.

Time to deliver the cookies, which also means 12 boxes of Girl Scout cookies have come to live in my home. All sorts & varieties, since this time it was our girl selling them. Hopefully by the time we break into the second box of Tagalongs I will be good & over them! (Please God, for the sake of my backside!!)

Since last Wednesday, I have been trying to get my Scrapper’s Cove work done. For some reason, I cannot get the flow going. I start. I stop. I move to another project. I get annoyed that everything keeps looking the same. Then I just lose interest. I reason that this must be the fallout from the layout making blitz of last week. I need a little break. As soon as I deliver the goods (first thing Tuesday morning, as promised) I think I will take one. Here are some of the parts. So far I’ve got 2 layouts and a mini album in the works:

I've definitely been staring at these 3 projects too long. Need to wrap this up and move on!

Today was the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 2nd largest St. Pat’s Parade in the country according to my Staten Island cousins. My cousin Tom hosts a party every year since he lives very close to the parade route, so off we went...

Trying to be tall:

Lots of bagpipers in this parade:

My kids (and me) got a huge kick out of this guy. His marching group was the "Staten Island Basset Hounds Club." Who knew such a club existed. Are there clubs for other dog breeds, too?

Last time we went to this parade it was about 15 degrees and very windy. I was pregnant with Chris and carried Marilyn the whole time. Today was almost 60 and sunny – so nice to be out of the house with my family.

Easter vs. Christmas

The calendar says March but in the land of magazine pub calls it's Fall and the holidays again - starting with Back to School and Halloween then head long into Christmas. The only thing not disturbing about trying to get back in the holiday spirit in March, is the fact that the actual fall/winter holidays and the draining of my checking account are still a long way off. Whew! Anyway, I missed all these calls last year, but this time, I'm ready. Even though I'm itching for the warm spring days and all things bright & sunny, I will dive into the depths of orange, black, red and green again. On top of the priority list is the 12 Days of Cookies album. Pictures are printed, album purchased...ready to roll on that. But first I have to work with this:

my Scrapper's Cove supplies for the month, which are all about Easter. Working with Three Bugs this month. Cute stuff. Although I'm not loving the chicks, etc. I do like that each paper is double sided and has a pretty cool pattern that could be used for non-Easter/Spring related projects. When a product is versitile like that it makes me happy. I have to get cranking on that stuff asap - it is due by the weekend.

Last month I submitted work for four design teams. Four! All for manufacturers I'd be honored to work with. I am, however, keeping my expectations very low since I'm fairly new to this whole publishing/design team thing and I have no idea what these big manufacturers are looking for. I wanted to have the experience under my belt, so there, did that. As a result, I feel like a layout-making-machine. I needed a break from the 12 x 12 world so yesterday I visited the non-scrapbooking area of the local AC Moore. I picked up some chipboard boxes and a shadowbox frame.
Ever since I saw this article in Martha Stewart Living, about Darcy Miller's "scrapboxes," I've been dying to make some, particularly one with my daughter's first pair of ballet shoes.  Aren't these outstanding?

I love the simplicity and graphic quality of these boxes. And what an impact a whole wall of these would make! Well, this is waaaaay different in comparison but, inspired by Darcy, here's what I made today:

Here's a close up of the inside:

Total opposite of Darcy's clean modern, style (which I love) but my audience is a 6 year old girl who is very girly. After putting this one together, which only took a couple of hours, I realize I could easily become addicted to making these things. Already, the possibilities are swirling around in my brain: Disney boxes with misc. stuff from the parks that always make the albums too thick, articles of the kids clothing that I saved that are just sitting in boxes in the attic, the ancient & mismatched collection of  tarnished silverware that once belonged to my Grandmother and was recently given to me by my mom. I better start writing this stuff down in my sketchbook!