A Big Day...

....you could even say an elephant-sized day, in my little world today!
 Have you seen it? Something I was really hoping for and it happened. I can hardly believe I was invited by Wendy Smedley & Angie Lucas to be an official Ella Publishing Friend. I am so excited to join them, and the rest of the Ella Friends, in what I'm certain will be a fun and exciting year. I hope you will join me over the next 12 months and share my love for all things Ella - a company I am truly proud and honored to be working with!

Wednesday Already?

Hi All - Busy day, followed by 2 more busy days so I just wanted to check in with a couple of cards. I made these with the Little Yellow Bicycle Freshprint Clothesline collection:

Today I get to go see an old friend for breakfast and I'm very excited. I met Nancy while walking to school on my first day of school in New Jersey. My first New Jersey friend, ever. Even as a 3rd grader she was friendly, sympathetic to my 'new kid' situation, kind - and a very snappy dresser. (I'll never forget her kelly green raincoat on that gloomy November day!) I was lucky to live right around the corner from her and even luckier I still get to talk to her all these years later!

I'll have much more to post this week - which means I better get right back to the desk after breakfast and errands.

See you later - enjoy the day!

Sunday at The Studio

This week Amanda at The Studio challenges us to take make a page about a 'fairy tale' day....

"scrapbook a perfect day... that hasn't happened yet!

If you could spend a day doing anything, what would it be? "

With that prompt in mind, here's what I put together:

The layout design is based on a sketch from Kelly Purkey, from her class "Sketchbook 2." I used my Studio Calico September kit (Back 40) for this page - which happens to feature a whole bunch of Sassafras Indie Girl (sigh). Since no perfect day for me would be complete without food - I chose to use this cupcake photo - which I took for my class back in the spring. (It's from Whole Foods - isn't it pretty?) I needed some flower embellishments that worked with the flowers on the cupcake and was fresh out of anything suitable. So, I made my own out of the Indie Girl border stickers. I cut the borders that had medallion shapes apart and arranged them on punched circles. Added a button in the center and voila. Here's a detail:

As you can see, my journaling is in list fashion, prompted by the numbered border sticker (also cut apart). The last item on the list is "cupcakes have no calories" - ah, wouldn't that be nice - even for just 1 day? Give me a big glass of milk and point me towards the nearest Crumbs!

So, why not scrap your perfect day and link it up at The Studio? The sponsor this month is The Scrap Rat Shop:

which happens to be the fabulous new Etsy shop of Amanda Jones. She has got the cutest collection of vintage goodies for all your cardmaking, scrapbooking and crafty needs. I ordered these, and these last night - can't wait to get them! The store just opened last night and she's running a grand opening special, plus shipping to the U.S. is on $2 - how awesome is that?!

Back to the desk for me now. Need to wrap up a review for Scrap That! and prep for a fun announcement on Wednesday. Which may or may not coincide with my 200th post - so be on the lookout for a giveaway - my first ever!!

materials: Cardstock: American Crafts; patterned cardstock: Sassafras Lass; frame: Maya Road; letters: Sassafras Lass; mist: Studio Calico; journal spot: Little Yellow Bicycle; string: Martha Stewart; tickets: Tim Holtz; pennant stickers: Jenni Bowlin

Picture Fall

Getting ready for Fall around here but it sure doesn't feel like it today - 90 and humid outside. I think tonight will be the last hurrah for the air conditioning. I can't believe October is only a week away. Good things happening in October - including "Picture This"  - a class I signed up for over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. It's taught by Tracey Clark, amazing photographer and founder of Shutter Sisters. 31 days of daily photography prompts. I'm very excited. I put this little mini album/binder together today to hold all the photos to come.
The binder is about 6" x 9" and I used my Studio Calico Harvest Moon kit (September) for the majority of it. Since I'm planning to keep this simple and make the actual photos (printed at 4 x 6) the pages, there isn't much going on inside yet. I will add a cover page once all the photos are in. I thought this would be the simplest way to keep control of this project. Now I need to start work on my "25 Days of Christmas" album,, which I also plan to keep simple. I skipped last year but really want to make another one. So much good stuff to take pictures of this time of year!
Anyone else taking this class? What do you plan to do with the photos?

A quick hello...

It's been quite a week and I just wanted to check in with a quick post.
I'll start off with this card I made for a call - I need to think of a nicer word than reject...maybe publication challenged?

** Project removed for publication **

I worked on & submitted my first Scrap That! review this week. That should be online soon. I'll keep you posted. I got to work with American Crafts product and I had a blast doing it.

I found out this week that I did not make the SEI design team - which is ok. They sent a nice email and offered me a guest designer spot which I happily accepted. I've been a big fan and user of SEI since I started scrapbooking so I'm happy to be a part in any way. I'll be looking forward to that and I can't wait to see who made the team. I bet they've assembled an impressive and talented group.

Also got invited to do a few other very cool things this week, which I will share in a future post. Now I need to work on my Studio challenge project due tomorrow and want to start work on a mini album for this - which I can't wait to get started on. Anyone else taking Picture Fall? I'll dedicate a post to that next week.

Getting Ready for Halloween

It is the last official day of summer, after all! I'm still stinging from the covering of the pool - which for me is the official end of summer - so a little Halloween decor always puts me in a better mood. Finished up the spooky house install thanks to serious badgering from my kids and a ton of sphagnum moss. Here are some details:

and the overview:

So now it's onto the rest of the Halloween decor. We go pretty big at Halloween, since we love it. Typically, we go to Disney in October so it never feels like we really get to enjoy the season up here. We can't buy pumpkins and decorate the outside until we get back, and the pickins' are mighty slim the week before Halloween. My mums die due to lack of water. Not this year though, we are going to Disney in December for a change. (More on that in another post!) So bring on the Halloween decor! Spotted these guys at a local market yesterday - if they weren't terracotta, they'd look pretty darn authentic all piled up like that:

 If I had a million dollars I'd buy them all and paint them to look real, then stack them up in my front yard. (Of course, the punky kids in my neighborhood would probably steal them all - maybe with my million I could hire a night watchman - a really creepy one!)

I apologize for the lack of crafty content today. I've got some layouts on the desk for a project I can not yet reveal, plus my work for The Studio this week, and some review material for Scrap That! So pretty soon, I'll be bursting with paper projects. I'll leave you with this little ditty from the reject vault....

Another photo sleeve - I love making these things. This one features the Basic Grey Offbeat line. Got a mini paper pad in my Scrapbook Trends goody box and I can't stop using it.

Happy Tuesday - thanks for stopping by!

Sunday at The Studio

Sunday again already - the weekends go so fast. I used to look forward to Sunday's for my True Blood fix but now the season ended last week. Sigh. What's next on HBO - Big Love? Tudors on Showtime? I need to fill this Sunday evening emptiness somehow! Anywho...Sunday also means it's time to post the weekly challenge from The Studio. This week we are honored to have Guest Challenger Lain Ehmann. Her challenge:

Use holiday-themed items on a non-holiday page.

No problem with having product on hand for this one. Although I'm not a theme papercrafter, I do tend to amass huge amounts of holiday product. Particularly Halloween. Love Halloween. I do find the lines to be pretty versatile, though, particularly those by American Crafts and SEI. So - here's what I made:

I used some of the pieces from my Studio Calico Harvest Moon add-on kit and an American Crafts Halloween paper from last year for the base. I cut out some of the stars and backed them with metallic silver paper scraps. Then I then took the reverse of the star cut outs (the purple stars) and tacked them here & there. Other Halloween themed items on the layout are the flair buttons (also AC) and the alphabet (current Making Memories Halloween line). Here's a close up:

Materials: Patterned paper, cardstock, metallic paper, flair: American Crafts; journal spots: Basic Grey; letter stickers: Making Memories; stamp: Stampin Up

It's another gorgeous fall-like day here in the northeast. I'm resisting the urge to hit the local orchard, as it will be mobbed with crazed apple-picking families. I'm missing the days where I could just take my kids on a weekday. Considering we've already racked up 3 sick days since the start of school (1 case of pink eye for the girl & and 1 in-school barfing incident for the boy) it's probably not a good idea to keep them home one day to do this. What a cool mom I am to even consider this!

Today we'll wrap up the install of the "spooky houses;" a labor intensive, extremely messy Halloween decorating project that seems to grow larger each year. Here's the 'work in progress' shot:

This is a portion of our Dept. 56 Halloween Village collection. This photo shows the first step of the process: arranging the houses and getting them to the right heights. I use a 'high-tech' system of stacked books and trays to raise them up and make space to support the layer of moss that will fill in most of the landscape. This chunk of the display is on our piano. A few others will be scattered around the house. Luckily, my kids are old enough now to know these are for show and manage to resist touching them once they are all in place. Here's another angle:

I'll post a completed install photo tomorrow once all the 'moss' and landscaping are in place. If my kids didn't love these things so much, I might have skipped this year. I also have some projects on the desk I need to wrap up plus a trip to the Scrapper's Cove to pick up my dt material for the month. I'll be back...

TGIF!

Whew, so glad to be at the end of this week! The summer was very quiet for me and I got used to having a lot of free time. So not the case since school started. Seems things are picking up at both the day jobs and free time has been at a minimum. I'm happy to be back today, though, and ready to spend a good chunk of time at my desk working on some projects that are do, errrr, later today :) First a quick post, though!

No love for Val this month from the pubs, well, save 1 lowly card, but that's ok. I thought I'd entertain you with a "Gallery of Rejects" today - not just rejects, but fresh rejects!

Let's start with something to kick off the Fall/Halloween season. I promised my kids we would set up the "spooky houses" and other Halloween decorations tomorrow, so this will put me in the mood...

Image removed for publication

I made these from manila tags from Staples. I colored them with Distress Ink (Soot, using the puddle technique) then cut them into the shape of coffins. Those stamps are Tim Holtz/Stamper's Anonymous. I just love them. I heat embossed them then cut up the skeleton and rearranged him to suit my needs. The sentiments are old Martha Stewart Halloween rub-ons that I got on clearance last year. Tucked in a little ribbon at the bottom and called it a day.

Here's another rejected tag:

Used my Crate Restoration 6 x 6 pad for this, plus the Restoration stickers. The stamp is Stampin Up, as were the little punches I used to punch them out.

And lastly, a card:

I think there's a little too much going on here, but I still like it. I used my new Stampin Up flower stamp (Going Green) and stamped onto a Girls Paperie paper. The green card slides out of the grid sleeve and the sentiment can be written on the back. Think I need to develop & refine this idea a little more.

So, today I plan to work tirelessly to make some fresh stuff for the blog tomorrow - in the meantime, want to win something good? Over at Scrap That! Amanda is giving away a Scrapagogo kit. You have until September 22 to leave a comment on the blog and win. What are you waiting for?!

oh, and Happy Friday :)

Clearing the desk....

A little on the quiet side here - just a few items to clear off the desk today. Mainly, a huge amount of card making scrap and tons of little pieces of thread on the floor! I worked most of Sunday (a nice rainy Sunday) and a little chunk of yesterday on the Paper Crafts call.  Wow, did I make a mess. I wish I was neater when I worked.  Here's a teensy peek of yesterday's efforts. (I was all over my new Stampin Up stamp):

And to put you in the mood for the holidays, Moxie Fab World has started their week-long celebration for the release of Holiday Cards & More. One of my long time favorite issues, I am honored this year to have work in the issue, and especially happy to have my kraft & silver tag featured on the Moxie Fab blog yesterday. They are hosting a fun challenge where you can win a copy. (If you haven't picked up a copy yet, I think you should. You will not be disappointed!)

Two winners are posted over at The Studio today - the August winner of the Cosmo Cricket prize and the winner of the guest designer spot for October. Congrats to the winners and a huge thanks to everyone that participated!!

Got a little delivery yesterday of some new Studio Calico product from 2 Peas. Hopefully I'll get to play today and be back tomorrow with something new. Have a great day!

Sunday at The Studio

For this week's challenge at The Studio, we focus on one of my favorite subjects: food & drink...

"dedicate a layout to your favourite consumables! Whether it's chocolate, coffee or wine, tell us all about it"

I love working on these Studio challenges but this one was particularly fun. I knew exactly what I would make a layout about as soon as I saw the prompt....

I'm not sure what they put in this stuff but I just can't get enough of Dunkin' Donuts coffee! So much so that I feel a little pang of relief & well-being when I see the pink & orange "D"s in close proximity. I always order the same thing - Medium Hazelnut Light & Sweet - all seasons - all the time. I know my obsession is a little crazy. I tell myself there are way worse things to be addicted to.
Here's a detail:

For this layout, I used my Studio Calico coffee ring stamp - which was pretty much made for this project, and actually most of the product is from my Studio Calico kit for September (the main kit, Back 40 and the Harvest Moon add on). Also used the wrapper from my straw and hand stitched the little swirls of 'steamy coffee goodness', also part of the DD coffee cup logo, right onto my page. Hmmm, I think I'm in the mood for a cup right now!
So go check out what the design team did with this challenge - I think we all had a pretty good time with this one!

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned paper: Echo Park, Basic Grey; letter stickers, border sticker, journal block: Basic Grey; yellow journal block, butterfly: Jenni Bowlin; frame: Maya Road; stamp: Studio Calico; string: Martha Stewart; spray ink: Tattered Angels; floss: craft supply

"You Were So Brave"

 I took these photos in Union Square, NYC on September 17, 2001. We had just been allowed to return to work after the 9/11 attacks. I will never forget the memorials set up in this park, and all over the city, or the sad and terrifying events that made them necessary.

This was scribbled on a cement barrier:

I remember the smells of burning candles and the still smoldering towers. 

The wall of missing persons.

Tons of flowers:

Messages to the missing:

Just checking in...

This will be a quickie today. I'm having a little unexpected down time thanks to a back-to-school case of pink eye. Nothing repulses school staff more than a case of conjunctivitis, so the girl is home with me today. Making it my little guy's first day at school all by himself...so far, he is handling his big lifestyle change without a hitch. I don't want to jinx it so I'm going to zip the lip right now :) Here they are on their first day:

Got this in the mail yesterday and it's so good!

Paper Crafts Holiday Cards & More...I've been hunting high and low for this & stalking my Barnes and Noble. I didn't realize I was going to get a copy in the mail so it was a great surprise, along with the day-early delivery of my Studio Calico kit. I'm hoping to get a little time today to sit outside and enjoy it. I've got 2 cards and a tag in there. I still can barely believe I am included in this magazine. It's definitely a pinch-myself week.

Anyone else obsessed with these things?

Small scale versions of entire paper collections? I don't know how I got by so long without these. Have these always been around? I got one in a box of Scrapbook Trends booty, then I found a little Basic Grey Basics in a shop..now I must have them all! They are so handy - and so reasonably priced! I use them on cards and even for big layouts - I'm using them all over the place.

So that's me today - hope you all have a lovely Friday. The weather here in the NE is outstanding with a little Fall chill in the air. Oh how I love the Fall!
...oh, and one more thing..I also would like to say thank you for stopping by and for all of your awesome comments. I appreciate that you take the time to read my chatter and respond. That really makes my day!!

More Ella Love

Feeling the Ella love quite a bit these days! Got the call 2 weeks ago from the amazing Wendy Smedley to work on an actual assignment for the Ella eZine for September. To receive an email from a person who has been influencing you in your hobby from the day you started - asking you to make something for them? Wow. I still can hardly believe it. Can't forget the invite to guest blog, either. It's been a good week!

For the First Birthday issue of the Ella eZine, she asked me to make some girly birthday stuff and I was more than happy to oblige. Here's what I came up with:

A coordinating banner, layout and card. It all started with the layout:

here's a journaling close up - it's hidden behind the photo to the right:

and here's a close up of my 'custom' masking tape  - I masked, I sprayed, I stamped and I painted on the tape (just one of the skills I picked up from Julie) I used the tape on all the projects.

Here's a close up of the banner:

I have never made one of these before and was glad I had a Maya Road canvas banner on hand to make it all happen. On all of these projects, I relied heavily on the Sassafras Lass die cut flowers that came in my last Studio Calico kit. In fact, I think they pretty much influenced the whole project. I need more of those, many more! Last but not least, the card:

At this point, I had run out of die cut flowers and had to improvise. I traced the shape I wanted onto one of the papers and sewed them down.

The article features the girly projects above, and Wendy made the boy version. Check out her banner, it is fantastic. I can't wait to lift her technique. You can read the entire article here. While you are there, be sure to wish Ella a Happy Birthday and maybe pick up the new ebook?

Guest Blogger Day at Ella!

It's here - my day to guest blog at Ella Publishing Co!

I wrote about a subject near and dear to me - using vintage ephemera and yard sale stuff on cardmaking projects. I made several new projects for my post including this little ditty:

It's a card with a pocket inside to hold photos. I used these old photo sleeves I found at an estate sale last year:

I got a handful of these things for about a quarter. I wish I had more. My stash is running low.

So go have a look see and let me know what you think. Oh, and don't forget to wish a big Happy Birthday to Ella. She just turned 1 and she is celebrating with giveaways all month long.

Today is officially 'back to school' day here in New Jersey. By the time you read this, we will have already experienced the chaos of the 'morning of the first day,' the stressful drop off of my little guy to all day kindergarten and the tearful goodbye to my 2nd grader. Whew, glad that's over! I've been dreading it all summer long.

Sunday at The Studio

I hope you all got your layouts linked up at The Studio in time for the prize drawings. I really appreciate everyone who entered! Keep an eye out for the announcement of the winners, coming very soon...

Sunday again which means it's time for a fresh Sunday Challenge at The Studio. I always say this is the birthday time of year - so many birthdays in Aug/Sept. It was just Amanda's birthday so she issued a birthday-related challenge for this week:

As it's my birthday week, I want to see your birthday pages or mini albums! I always struggle to make birthday pages that don't look 'cheesy', so I'm looking forward to stealing all your ideas!

I happily played along with a layout about my daughter, who turned 7 yesterday. Here she is turning 6:

here's a detail of the flowers:

materials: Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: SEI; labels: October Afternoon; butterflies: Jenni Bowlin Studio; letters: American Crafts; "6" card: Sassafras Lass; acetate frame: MME; pearls: Kaiser

s.e.i.

I used a mix of new and not-so-new product. The lined paper is SEI from last year, and the flowers were cut from an SEI paper from at least 3 years ago. Also used some current Jenni Bowlin (butterflies), Sassafras ('six' tag) and October Afternoon (labels), Kaiser (pearls) - all snatched from current Studio Calico kits.

So now it's your turn to go play - and maybe win something cool! Also check out the work of the DT - they do not disappoint  - there's a great variety of traditional and non-traditional layouts this week...go see

Two more blissful days off and then it's back to the routine: school, ccd, carpools, activities, afterschool playdates...I'm tired just thinking about it. Luckily it's all wrapped up in my favorite time of year, Fall. This Fall will mark my return to better eating and exercise, which I have vowed all summer to commit to, once the kids went back to school. For the first time in 7 years, I will be 'free' from 9-3 everyday. (Excluding the days I have to go to my 'day' job, of course.) What better time to get my act together?
Hope you are all enjoying the holiday weekend!

A Few Things...& Some Rejects....

First off, I can't believe it's already September!! Today is the last day to submit projects for The Studio Cyber Crop. Have you seen the prizes? Our sponsors included Elle's Studio, Cosmo Cricket, several kit clubs...the list goes on. Here's the prize for my challenge:

That's a generous selection of items from the Little Yellow Bicycle "Fresh Print Clothesline" release - which includes a sheet of each of the papers! The texture on these papers is soooo nice. All you have to do is make a layout about something you do "only in the summer,' link it up in the comments, and you're in. Tomorrow a.m. I'll pick the random winner. Why not give it a try? Or maybe one of the other challenges from the day. There were great sketches by Becky Fleck and  Anna Bowkis, fun  projects by the DT all day long and the prizes are so good. I wish I could win them :) Oh, and how could I not mention that a Guest Designer spot for October is also up for grabs!!

Next up....some fun news today. I was selected by Amanda Jones, founder of The Studio Challenges Blog, to participate on the team for her brand new blog:

a site that provides 'reviews and recommendations of all the latest trends and supplies from the scrapbooking world.' I'm looking so forward to writing my first review. I'll let you know when it's my turn but please check it out in the meantime. Amanda and Tony (her scrap widow) have been hard at work reviewing products by Tattered Angels, Copic and Kaiser Craft. It's such great information and I'm so honored to be a part.

So, onto the rejects! Just a couple...from the group of projects I submitted for the Stamp It special issue for Paper Crafts. First up, I used a Maya Road fabric tag and did a little masking for this backpack tag:

I also made some of that 'custom' painted/stamped masking tape for this one. Here's another variation. This is more of a gift tag:

I used a Crafter's Secret stencil with Tattered Angels Clover mist to make the flowers. Then I outlined with a marker, then sewed some details. I used some of the masking tape on this one, only plain.

So now I'm off to prep my little boy for kindergarten orientation. All while Hurricane Earl threatens to soak us. Between the tears (mine!) and the rain, it's going to be a wet day!!

Scrapper's Cove Layouts for September

...a.k.a. the 'fluffy stuff' layouts. You might recall the mystery product from yesterday - Flower Soft (the 'fluffy stuff')...I think I made the best out of an unusual situation here. You decide.

Since I was working with the Reminisce "Making the Grade" line, I stuck with school-themed layouts. I puzzled and puzzled over how to use the Flower Soft. Here I stamped some arrows, then made em' fluffy.  (The flower soft actually reminds me of the furry side of velcro - it's got that kind of texture once it dries.)

Here's a close up - I cut the numbers out of the printed paper, made the upper border then stitched through it. I kind of like the ways the arrows turned out & the movement they add to the layout:

Next up, fluffy stars. Same technique as above - I stamped the shapes, covered them with glue, added the flower soft.

Here's looking at you stars....

...and last but not least, a little number I like to call

the 'wonder bread' layout :)

It occurred to me after I made and applied all the fluffy circles, that I should have used a flower punch and fluffed them instead. Live and learn. Oh well, it's fun. That is me in the photo (on the right), on my first day of kindergarten with my friend Mary. Love this picture of us. It was taken at P.S. 180 in Borough Park, Brooklyn, where we grew up.

So on Friday, my little boy has his first day of kindergarten. I hope he remembers it as a happy day, like I remember my day all those years ago in 1972!