Some SEI pages...

Is it hot where you are? We went from 50 and rainy to the humid 90's in a matter of days. While I'm grateful that our pool has warmed up to the mid 80s in record time, I would have liked a more gradual warm up. It's supposed to break tomorrow afternoon - looking forward to a reprieve.

I think I've been talking about these projects for a few weeks now. Finally they are done and ready to be delivered - the SEI projects for the The Scrapper's Cove.
Here are a couple of the pages I made....this one's been up before, but I reworked it a little bit and filled in some of the blank white spaces:

 For both of these pages I was working with the new 'Sunny Day' line. Here's another:

here's a close up of my banner, cut from scrap paper:

What I love about this line is that even though the paper is flowery, it could easily lend itself to fall projects because of the deep color palette. I have a couple of layouts with the Couture line that I will share in a few days.

So that's me today. I'm working on getting back into a regular 'making stuff/blogging about it' schedule. I had a good 8 hours of solid paper-crafty time yesterday, so I've got some stuff to share. Starting tomorrow I've got  the Polka Dot Door blog hop - 2nd edition! Hope you will join in on the fun and for a chance to win some great prizes! Then on Thursday it's a new challenge at FYI. (There's still time to get in on the action for challenge 6 - there is a sweet prize up for grabs!)
Till tomorrow...

Twisted Sketch #61

Yes...I'm a terrible blogger. The days have just flown by and I had not a single crafty impulse all week - save the hour I took to put together my final card for the Twisted Sketches blog. Yep, my extended term is over. I've really enjoyed being on this team and I hope to see some of you on the next team. Looking forward to Anam's announcement. So - the card...sketch #61, whose twist is appropriately "summer" (it was 92 here today!)

I picked up the Pink Paislee 'Hometown Summer' last weekend at the expo. I'm so glad I got those die cuts because I almost didn't. I almost didn't get that green paper in the background either - but love how it looks stitched. Here's a close up... 

materials: cardstock: Stampin Up; patterned paper, die cuts: Pink Paislee; flag: Pebbles; string: Divine Twine

You can see the sketch and the DT's work on the blog. Be sure to link up your projects - we love to see them!

Doing any fun Memorial Day stuff? We have decided to lay low - which I'm very relieved about. That means some crafty time for me - which is good because even though I haven't felt like making anything, I have definitely felt like buying new stuff for when I do feel like making something. I added to the stash last weekend at the expo. This week I got my SMASH journal & accessories in the mail. I'm finishing up my SEI layouts for the Scrapper's Cove. I will have them by Sunday. Yes, crafty time is the very near future.

Hope you have a great, long weekend! oh....And don't forget to link up your projects over at Twisted Sketches

Sunday At The Studio

So glad to be on the other side of last week! Lots going on, and that whole rapture/end of the world thing really got under my skin. Not that I thought it would actually happen yesterday, but it just reminded me that our time here doing all this is temporary. I've been contemplating that all week and what it means to me and my family. Ok...so it was a heavy week. I did get to balance it out with some fun stuff. A day in the city and 2 days at a local Scrapbook Expo; I got to help out the Red Bee with an SRM sticker make & take. Seeing people get excited about craftiness always makes me smile.

This week at The Studio we've got a card challenge. Amanda's challenge was to use something shiny on a card. I was a little overwhelmed this week so I pulled this card from the archives:

materials: patterned paper: cardstock: Bazzill; Stampin' Up, American Crafts; felt stickers: Making Memories

To add the 'shiny' I used silver thread to stitch around the clouds and some silver embroidery floss to stitch some French knot rain. I hope you will join us this week. You could win this month's prize so why not link up? For more inspiration, check out what the design team made this week. They are one terrific group of cardmakers and they did an amazing job this week!

So, I spent most of yesterday and all of Friday at the Somerset Scrapbook Expo. I was invited to do the make & takes in the Red Bee booth - we made a cute project with SRM stickers and tubes. I'm usually a consumer at that show but this time, I got to see the whole thing from the other side. (Not that I didn't consume....more on that in a few...). Here's my little crafty corner of the expo:

I got to work with this fun stuff for the first time...Sparkly Fluff: 

Glitter mixed with flocking. Pretty colors - many of them found their way into my bag :)

 Crazy amounts of Stickles...

Selling like hotcakes thanks to this guy - proudly wearing the new colors:

Did a little shopping and picked up some items - like these awesomely weird Japanese cloth stickers. There was a washi tape guy there and he had these. I was struck by the English phrases that were just a little 'off' (my fave: "drawing every day pays off")- and the cool graphics...3 for $5 - had to have them:

Also of note - these microscopic tiny alpha stickers by KaiserCraft (had never seen these before), some cool corrugated tags and some bright baker's twine:

Also picked up some basics - a Sew Easy tool & SRM tubes and stickers from the Red Bee; some October Afternoon, some new Basic Grey, a little Studio Calico and some American Crafts.

And I amost forgot to mention - met one of my favorite blogging scrapbookers in person at the expo! Jody Wenke was shopping across from my table when I recognized. Normally I wouldn't say anything but I called her over and told her how much I love her work, and her blog. She sat & chatted & was so nice.  It was great to meet you, Jody!
(Thanks to Susan, Karen & Jim for 2 really fun days - it was great working with you!)

So there you have my update. I hope you will play along with The Studio, and also at FYI (there's a prize there this week, as well). As for today...I don't consider myself a super-Catholic, but  now I'm going to head to church with the main goal of thanking God for another day on this amazing planet with my family and friends. I should be doing this every day.
Happy Sunday, all!

ICFF, Surtex and the Stationery Show

On Tuesday I got to go into the city with my pal Jen - she's an artist and wanted to go to Surtex. I wanted to see ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair). We both wanted to see the Stationery Show. So in we went - in the foggy rain to the Jacob Javits Convention Center...

I planned to take way more photos but spent most of my ICFF time on the phone with my son's school and various family members trying to coordinate a sick-kid pick up. (I wasn't on the show floor for 15 minutes when I got the call from the school nurse that my son lost his lunch, literally). I felt so guilty that I was too far away to get him and get him home. I did take a few photos of the amazing things I saw...here are some things that caught my eye:

some cool lighting..

wood blocks painted metallic silver as side tables...

a coolio felt curtain panel (like quilled paper)....

a really pretty red chair...

some little corrugated animal sculptures...

Pantone chip folding chairs...

these are formed metal walls of a booth - not the product, just the display...

cute window film....

Next we headed to Surtex. For those of you not familiar (and I'm definitely one of them) Surtex is "Artists, designers, studios, agents and licensing firms selling and licensing art and design for a multitude of product end-uses: decorative fabrics, linens and domestics, contract textiles, wall coverings, floor coverings, apparel textiles, stationery, greeting cards, gift wrap and other paper products, tabletop, giftware, toys, ceramics, packaging and publishing" So, basically, the show is filled with amazing design that I know I've seen on some scrapbooking product lines...some I'm sure will be on lines to come. This was an amazingly inspiring show and frankly, this whole industry is pretty amazing. Wish I had some photos...but I didn't want to get kicked out.

Next up, the Stationery Show - which I figured would be like CHA light, but wasn't really. I got a little excited when a saw this big SMASH display outside the show...

but never managed to find the K & Co. booth to scope it out further. I will bide my time until July in Chicago! In the meantime..here are some poor photos of what I did see (I took these photos on the sly since I don't think photography was appreciated in this show either.)

this was the cutest paper tape ever at Cavallini...

 a pretty display at Tinsel Trading...

 ruffled ribbon at May Arts...

 mix & match canvas pennants at Canvas & Co....

It's so cool to see the up and coming items that will show up in stores in a few months. Trade shows are just pretty amazing. Also cool to see the displays. So much inspiration at these 3 shows. So glad they run them all together.
Tomorrow night I'll try to check in with a Scrapbook Expo update. Promise I'll take better photos :)
Have a great Saturday!

For Your Inspiration Challenge #6

Wow, we are up to the 6^th challenge at For Your Inspiration and we’ve got some new design team members, too.  Stop by  to meet the new team members, see their amazing work and  see the photo that inspired this:

 I used Versamark to stamp the clouds in the background, stamped the balloons onto patterned paper and threw in one of my beloved SRM stickers for the sentiment. Here’s a different angle:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: K & Co., Jillibean Soup; sticker: SRM; stamps: Practicing Creativity; string: Divine Twine

Speaking of SRM, did I mention I’ll be spending Friday and Saturday at a local scrapbooking expo doing an SRM make and take? If you are at the Somerset Scrapbook Expo, stop by the Red Bee booth and say hi (and do the make & take, too!) I’m excited and a little nervous. I’ll give a full update on my adventures on Sunday.

Ok…back to For Your Inspiration…I hope you will join in this week! Steph’s got a gorgeous inspiration photo for us this week…oh, and did I mention the prize for this weeks winner? Check it out right here.

Twisted Sketches #59

Busy Saturday as we get ready for Marilyn's Communion tomorrow. The weather does not seem to be cooperating which is a big bummer, since outside is where we want to be. I've given up on warm and sunny, now just keeping my fingers crossed that as least it's not raining.

It's my Saturday on the Twisted Sketches blog; my second to last challenge on this team - and wow, it's been a lot of fun! Here is my card for this week:

This card is all SEI. The papers are from the Claire line. Love the modern florals of this collection. They mixed well with the playful banners from the Corinne line. 

materials:cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper, accents: SEI; sticker: SRM

Want to play along? You can check out the sketch and the inspiring work of the design team right here.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Sunday At The Studio

Happy Mother's Day and belated National Scrapbooking Day!  So much to celebrate this weekend and I'm hoping today to play catch up on the NSD festivities from yesterday. I had not a second of crafty time last week. It was a crazy busy week at work but not without it's rewards: I got to see one of my fave bands on Friday Night:...

that's Interpol (they were amazing and our seats were in the 10th row - wahoo) I spent all day yesterday on a fun road trip in Pennsylvania with my cousin. Today I get to play.

Will kick off this sunny day in the Northeast with my card for this week's challenge at The Studio: use fabric on a card.

image removed for publication

Ahhh, fabric. Just love it! Must be my interior design roots. I have a pretty big stash of the stuff and hoard the samples I get at work, in addition to supplementing with anything cute that catches my eye. For example, this card has some fabric from Stampin' Up. Love the scale of the patterns. I used my Big Shot to cut the bracket shape, and a Cosmo Cricket Gluber to make the flower. (Those things are the best invention since sliced bread!) Here's a close up:

image removed for publication

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: MME; fabric: Stampin' Up; sticker: SRM; pin, spool: Maya Road; flower base: Cosmo Cricket Gluber; ribbon: Target; cutting die: Top Note for Big Shot (Stampin' Up); tap punch: EK Success

I have to say, the design team at The Studio really blew me away this week. The fabric cards are so gorgeous! You can check them out right here - we'd love it if you joined us this week!

Now, my Studio Calico box, which arrived 2 days early, is sitting on my desk un-opened. It is a good day, indeed!

Polkadot Door Bloghop

Happy Scrapbooking Day!

I'm so excited to be a part of the Polkadot Door's 1st inspirational

blog hop!

If you arrived here from Amanda's blog - hello! You have arrived at the next stop of the blog hop! If you've lost your way, start at the Polkadot Door, where you could read all the details and how the hop works, then follow this list:

Kim
Natasha
Geri
Amanda

Valerie (you are here!)

Jean

Diana

Nicole
Yvonne
Amy
Dana
Jennifer
Polkadot Door Designs

Rebecca & Sarah are planning to do this inspiration challenge every month. They've lined up some great sponsors for this weekend and an amazing team to supply you with tons of inspiration while you are hopping along. When you reach the end, leave a comment at Polkadot door then pick your fave.

Without further ado...here is the inspiration photo. There are 3 elements: the photo, the sentiment and the embellishment (a crocheted flower). You can use all 3 elements or just one or two.

Here is what I was inspired to make:

materials: cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill; patterned paper: Echo Park; flower, letters: American Crafts

I used the sentiment, the flower and the pinwheels from the photo. To make my pinwheel, I actually made one, flattened in, then trimmed it into a square. I then added a little stitching.

Next up from here is Jean's blog. Thanks so much for stopping by - don't forget to vote for your fave at the end!

Discovering PocketBooth

Every Saturday I sit for 2 hours with my son at my daughter's dancing school. She dances. We wait. Sometimes we go shopping. Sometimes we just hang out. He plays his DS, or the games he conned me into putting on my iPhone. I catch up on magazine reading and chat with the other waiting moms. This past Saturday I pretended to read a magazine while I contemplated what to make for a layout challenge issued to me by Keshet for Ella; a little Spring Cross-training with Write.Click.Scrapbook. It needed to be a layout using photo booth photos, or something like photo booth photos. I wrestled my iPhone back from Chris and searched for a photo booth app I had just read about:

PocketBooth. For a mere .99 I had a photo booth in my hands! Within a minute I knew exactly what the page would be about. I took Chris outside where we sat on a bench and he did what he does best - make funny faces for a camera. Here's the resulting layout:

Since the photos are a strong, busy element, I tried to keep the rest of the page pretty simple. I know, that striped paper is nuts but somehow it works. Must be because of the simple shape of the photos and the fact that they are black & white. The materials all came from my current Studio Calico kit (Singin' in the Rain), with the exception of the green letter stickers. Here's a close up: 

I love those buttons (from Pebbles). I cut the little flowers with my Big Shot (big surprise, right?) 

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Studio Calico, Webster's Pages, Cosmo Cricket; buttons: Pebbles; letters: Basic Grey (green), American Crafts (black); sticker: Cosmo Cricket

It was so easy to take these photos, load them into my computer and print them (via Elements). Best 99 cents I ever spent! I happen to have a lot of photos like this. Chris loves to take photos of himself making funny faces, especially while he's bored hanging out at dancing school with me. I'm glad to finally have some of them on a page.

Back to Ella & Write.Click.Scrapbook. - Keshet's post today is part of the Spring Training Series. Have you been participating in the challenges? Great prizes up for grabs. (Today is a copy of Kelly Willette's book!) I'm hoping to catch up now that the weekend is here!

The Mother's Day Card

With everything going on this month, Mother's Day almost squeaked by me. That was until I got an email from Scrapbook & Cards Today asking me if they could share this little number on their blog - an 'old' fave from last Mother's Day:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Little Yellow Bicycle; sticker: October Afternoon; letters: Webster's Pages, Making Memories; clear gems: Dew Drops; misc: vintage sewing pattern

I punched the flowers from an old sewing pattern (I need to use these a lot more!) and stitched them down with a few wavy lines. My little creation is up there with an amazing gallery of handmade Mother's Day cards. You can see them all right here.

Thanks Scrapbook & Cards Today :)

For Your Inspiration Challenge #5

Wow, we are up to challenge #5 at the For Your Inspiration challenge blog already! Thanks to all of you that have been playing along. I love how unique Steph's photos are. I always find something inspiring in each and every one. This week's photo was no exception. I was particularly inspired by the color and shape of this section:

In a bit of a tag making mood these days.... here's how I interpreted the photo:

The color palette felt very 'wedding' to me, as well as the building shape (which I think is a church) so I put together a gift tag.  Here's the close up:

materials: patterned paper: SEI; sticker: SRM; pin: Maya Road; ribbon: Target

So no it's your turn! Have a look at the photo - and the awesome design team inspiration - I'd love to see what you see when you look at this photo!

Just plain old Sunday

Remember this post - where I talked about an album I made for my cousin's Knights of Columbus group?

Well, I found out yesterday that this book helped them win the Service Award for Community Activities. (That was the desired result!) Wow, was I excited when I heard that. The competition wasn't to make a scrapbook, it was a prize for an outstanding  fundraising effort on the part of the council. My cousin thought instead of submitting the details and photos of their event in a report format, which is customary, a scrapbook with photos and ephemera would have a greater impact. Well, he was right. So glad I had the opportunity to help them realize their vision. (From what I understand, their entry, aka - the scrapbook, will go on to a national competition!) Congratulations Fr. Drumgoole Council!

Will tackle a huge list of crafty projects today, and hopefully will have a chance to work outside. Weeds are taking over our front flower bed and the hubby is motivated to put mulch down, so I must strike while the iron is hot! Despite the fact that I hate (hate) to garden, I will be out there doing my part. If I had large sums of cash at my disposal, I would hire a full-time landscaper who could deal with all the green and flowery stuff. Then I could just sit back and admire.

Have you been hitting the Craftnasium?

So much good stuff going on at Ella Publishing at their Spring Training Event! We just past the half-way point so it's a good time to recap and catch up on the challenges. The prizes are great so even if you haven't signed up, you can still participate and win! For a re-cap of the past week, have a look here.

Happy Sunday!