and I'm back...

Hello out there in blog land. I feel terrible neglecting this place but things have been a little hectic. Happy to report both of my children are no longer home sick and I finally finished up some scrappy assignments that were weighing on my mind.

I completed the album for my cousin and his Knights of Columbus group. I think I mentioned this a few weeks ago. The book was to document the story of a fundraising event his group did for a man named Brendan Marrocco, a seriously injured Gulf War veteran. It was a cool project for a great cause. Here are some not-so-great photos but you'll get the idea:

the cover - it had a window (I stitched the big stars down)

the opening page: I found some patriotic (but not-too-themey) Creative Imaginations paper and stickers that worked really well - don't remember the last time I matted a photo, but I did it here:

Here's one of the ephemera pages (the invitation and the tickets to the fundraising event) designed by my cousin Tom:

So glad this is done and delivered. I was really stressed about it. Making a scrapbook for non-scrapbooky people is challenging - mainly because you have no idea what they are expecting. Luckily, my cousin was open to my ideas and happy I wasn't going to load it up with stickers. Now it gets entered into a statewide K of C competition. I hope they win. I'll keep you posted!

I've got a couple of reviews coming up on the Scrap That! blog. Here's a close up of a card I made for one of them - used a whole sheet of Hot Off The Press border stickers for this one. I haven't used their product in ages but was pleasantly surprised with the great selection they sent me. Very cool stuff, indeed. Keep an eye out for it. Should post any day now:

Last week my Studio Calico pal Jamie, was kind enough to present me with this award:

Jamie is an awesome blogger & scrapbooker - you should check out her blog "October Sky". She's really funny, too! Thanks Jamie for passing this on to me - great timing and I wish I could give it back to you because I think you are stylin' too! Here's the rules - I have to tell you 8 random things about me (I wonder why 8?) then pass it on to 8 of my fave bloggers. Here goes:
1. I'm currently yearning for a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre. (the big 'isolation' ones :)
2. Have not put a layout in an album for over a year! (I ran out of space, bought new albums, but have been frozen about how best to organize them. Now they are in a big pile!)
3. One of my most fave movies ever is Lost in Translation.
4. Terrified of bugs (especially moths and anything 'hoppy')
5. First concert I ever went to was Cheap Trick - in 1979.
6. The last concert I went to was The Killers - in 2009.
7. The next concert I am going to is Interpol, in Asbury Park in May (yay!)
8. I hate the expressions 'eek' and 'ack' - no offense to anyone that uses them - they just bug me.

So there are my 8 random things. Here are 8 stylin' bloggers I think you should be checking out:
Jan, Patti, Amanda (she's launching a new kit club today!), Tessa, Joanne, Steph, Amy & one more Amy

Ok, back to the day job today. Lots going on & much to do. Hope you have a great day!