Just checking in...

I'm overdue for a huge update and I've been working on lots of fun crafty things, unfortunately, none I can share just yet. (Just to give you an idea of what's on tap: a guest designing project or two in early October, a new Polka Dot Door blog hop, a lot more Pebbles projects and a new Studio Challenge.) So there's lots to come, just bear with me :)

While at the desk yesterday, I took this snapshot of some potential project material:

Picked up a ton of old thread at an estate sale a long time ago but had to toss the actual thread because it was too brittle. The spools, though, that was the prize. Cute, huh? Took the picture with my iPhone. Sometimes the camera in that phone amazes. me. Anyway...now this photo is my iPhone wallpaper.

I will be back soon!

Back To School with Pebbles, Inc.

Feeling pretty lucky these past few weeks, for a lot of reasons. One of them being how great it is to work with Pebbles product. I'll try not to get too annoying with the gushing...This week I've got a page up on the blog - our assignment was to make a school-related project. Even though Pebbles doesn't have a specific school themed line, it wasn't difficult to put something together. I pulled papers from 3 lines for this one:

I took those photos of Chris last June on his graduation day. Boy the summer whizzed by. I'm sure before I know it I'll be taking photos of him in a cap & gown graduating from high school. Anywho...I cut apart a few of the papers to make the little banners and scallop borders. Below is a list of all of the items I used.

The design team made some great projects and they are all up on the blog this week, so stop by and check them out :)

Pebbles supplies used:

Floral Lane You’re Sweet (751121)
Floral Lane Just Because (751116)
Fresh Goods Window Display (751189)
Fresh Good Signage (751186)
Fresh Goods Come Again (751191)
Fresh Goods Dimensional Phrases & Icon Stickers (732076)
Fresh Goods Embossed Masking Tape Stickers (732078)
Fresh Goods Mini ABC Stickers (732079)
Fresh Goods Yellow Satin Ribbon (58515)
Welcome Christmas Toothpick Flags (747146)
New Addition Boy Brown ABC Stickers (732064)
New Addition Boy It’s A Boy (751152)
White Candy Dots (744270)
Navy Candy Dots
Other supplies used:
Date Stamp (Office Supply)
Ink (Staz On)

Not too late to sign up for Ella Publishing's Boot Camp - which started on Monday. I've been catching up on the training videos. I can even watch them on my iPhone which makes for a nice diversion on my lunch break at work.

So glad to be over the hump of this week. I missed a whole day thanks to a severe cold but seem to have gotten past it. Looking forward to some crafty time once the week winds down. How about you? Does it feel like Fall in your neck of the woods yet? I'm ready for the chilly air!

Sunday at The Studio Challenges

Having fun setting the challenges at The Studio this month. Each month one of the DT members takes a turn. September is mine all mine. Today I took inspiration from Ella Publishing and challenged everyone to make a page that somehow incorporated a list.  Here's what I made:

You know I love lists as a journaling alternative. I made this challenge even easier by using a sketch from my Ella Friend Donna Jannuzzi (more on that in a few) and I used my current Studio Calico kit. I'm not a fast scrapbooker but this one came together in about an hour and 45. That is really fast for me. Here's a close up.

materials: patterned paper, cardstock: American Crafts, embossing powder; stickers: American Crafts, Studio Calico; letters: American Crafts, MME; journaling spot, stamps: Studio Calico; ink: Stampin' Up, Versamark

The stamps that came in this month's kit and add-on are some of my faves. Love that little banner and it's so easy to trim out. You'll be seeing a lot of this guy in the weeks to come!
I hope you will be playing along. We've got a $20 Ella gift certificate for the lucky winner this month. The team did an amazing job with the challenge so check them out and link up your projects on this post at The Studio Challenges. I'd love to see your list pages!

Now, about my Ella Friend Donna Jannuzzi...she has been hosting a great series on the Ella Blog called Stretch Your Sketches. I decided to play along with her again and used this sketch for my page today:

Since this is the final post in her series, she's got an amazing Lawn Fawn giveaway. You won't want to miss it and Donna's sketches are so great to work with. Link up at this post on the Ella blog and you could win all that stamping booty!

Thanks for stopping by today. Have several projects in the works which I won't be able to share until October. Will have my gallery of rejected cards this week at some point along with a new Pebbles DT page. Hope you are all having a great weekend. Now go work on your Studio projects and link up! :)

Ella Publishing News

So much going on at the Ella Publishing Co. right now I thought I'd do a little update post.

I was so happy when Angie & Wendy let us know that the Ella Friends would have an extended term until the new year. I just love being part of this great company. So much to share...let's get started...

 Last month Ella hosted Digital Month and I thought I'd play along using the new List It series. I chose to work with the List It: Everyday Life Edition. This is one of my all-time fave go-to sources for inspiration. I love the prompts from the lists included - all printable and formatted in these cool journaling blocks. For my page, I printed the block onto vellum (had to dig deep down in the stash for that!) Here's my page:

I used my Studio Calico Boardwalk kit for this page. Here's a close up of the journaling block:

In the process of working with this handy tool, and contemplating where I'd add the list, or if I'd type it or hand write it, I realized I could just number the photos and let them be the list. Doesn't get easier than that. You can check out the post featuring this layout right here on the Ella Blog.

Have you signed up for Ella's Boot Camp yet? I'm all ready to roll and have you checked out the amazing giveaways that are up for grabs? I wish I could win them - what a huge, great collection of prizes up for grabs for a few lucky Boot Campers. Boot Camp recruits will not only get the chance to enjoy 6 days of inspiration, they'll also enjoy exclusive deals & discounts including a 50 percent coupon from Ella,  20 percent savings at Studio Calico and 10 percent savings at Ormolu and more!

Oh, and if you sign up by the 19th, you can use the coupon code YESMAAM for $3 off.

And last but not least...there's a new eBook out: From Paper to Digi .

Whether you're a digital or traditional scrapbooker, this eBook is full of inspirational designs you'll want to borrow for your own paper or digital scrapbooking. When you download the eBook, you get a free digital page template and a bonus pack of digital paper designed by Crystal Wilkerson, author of this book.

A lot going on over there, huh? And in case you missed it a few posts back, Ella Publishing is also providing the prize this month for The Studio Challenges. You could win a $20 gift certificate just for playing along. (You have until the last day of September to upload a project and a new challenge goes up on Sunday.) Hope to see you there!

Have a great day everyone!

Pebbles Project Number One :)

Still pinching myself over here. Yesterday was my intro on the Pebbles, Inc. blog - next to last in a string of team bios and projects. Hope you got to meet the rest of the team over the past 2 weeks & check out their great projects. Today I get to share my page with you and gush about how much I love the Fresh Goods line, which I think was made just for me ;) It's got a vintage feel but with a graphic twist. Check out that groovy woodgrain - I need to replenish my supply of this particular paper asap! (fyi: it's the b-side of 'Come Again')

So many of my photos worked with these papers that I had a hard time deciding what to use. I chose these because I only took them a few weeks ago (they really are 'Fresh Memories'). I made that flower out of some American Crafts chocolate ric rac, with the assistance of a Gluber. Here's a close up:

I cut those blue flowers from the 'Come Again' paper. And do you see those strips that look like tape? Those are the coolest stickers ever - they look like dimensional masking tape. I stamped a date onto one of them with some Staz On.

Here's a list of the Pebbles supplies I used for this page:

Fresh Goods Come Again (751191)
Fresh Goods Flower Basket (751183)
Fresh Goods Local Market (751190)
Fresh Goods Dimensional Phrases & Icon Stickers ( 732076)
Fresh Goods Embossed Masking Tape Stickers (732078)
Fresh Goods Mini ABC Stickers (732079)
Fresh Goods Toothpick Flags (747153)
Fresh Goods Chipboard Buttons (747152)
Fresh Goods Fabric Brads (744277)
Fresh Goods Chips (744118)
Other supplies used: Cardstock (American Crafts); date stamp (Office Supply); ink (StazOn); flower base (Cosmo Cricket)

Thanks for stopping by today! So glad it's almost Friday - how about you?

Birthday Celebration at Paper Crafts Connection

I was so happy to have my card included in the birthday celebration for Kim Kesti over at the Paper Crafts Connection blog. Happy Birthday, Kim! Thought I'd share one of the cards I made around the same time as the card featured over at PCC today:

For this card I used Distress Ink with water resist stamping. (the lines on the blue tag were done with that technique - love that Broken China Distress Ink!) I also did a a little heat embossing for the word "wish". The butterflies are also stamped - first colored with Distress Ink and the blending tool, then stamped with the same color:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Studio Calico; stamps: Unity; ink: Ranger; embossing powder: American Crafts; "1" Maya Road; die: Stampin' Up

Hope you are having a good week. Week 1 of back-to-school almost under out belts.

Haven't looked this forward to a day off in a long time. Don't even get me started on the rain - which has been almost non-stop since Tuesday. I think the weekend looks brighter. Have a great day!

Sunday At The Studio

Hope you are enjoying the long holiday weekend!

It's the start of a new month at The Studio (with I great new prize!) and Sunday means a fresh challenge. This week we were challenged to make a 'back to school' page ...

I used a Studio Calico kit for this page (Paper Moon) and I was inspired to use the strips of pattern in the background from several pages I saw in the Studio Calico gallery, including this one. My journaling is inside the Smash envelope. Here's the close up:

materials: patterned paper: Sassafras Lass, Crate, October Afternoon, Studio Calico; stickers, button: Crate; letters: October Afternoon; envelope: K & Co.; wood veneer, spray ink, stamp: Studio Calico; string: WeRMemory Keepers

The prize this month at The Studio Challenges is a $20 gift certificate for Ella Publishing. Lot's of awesome eBooks to be had so why not play along? Have you stopped by Ella Publishing lately?

It's almost time for Boot Camp. I'm signed up and ready to go. You can check out the details of this 6 day series of 18 inspiring videos by 4 expert instructors right here. It starts on September 19 and runs through the 24th.

Feeling a little stressed about the upcoming week. School starts for us on Tuesday and I haven't quite worked out the logistics yet. I'm sure it will all work itself out. Busy crafty month ahead, too...there will be lots to share in the weeks to come.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you'll play along at The Studio Challenges!

It's September

Wow, that summer sure whizzed right by.
I know it's still officially summer, and it sure feels like summer, but once September comes, it's time to face the grim reality. Luckily my favorite season is followed by my second favorite season...it makes it much less painful.

Quick share today of another Studio Calico Boardwalk page. This scrapbooking stuff on an angle is starting to become a habit of mine:

I used a chunk of an old road map for this page - it's even a chunk of map in the area of the road trip in question. Here's a close up:

So sad about the road maps - rapidly becoming a thing of the past. I have a vast collection from my traveling days. I can't bear to part with them. I love to look at them. Isn't amazing how intricate they are? Yes, I'm rambling on...it's pretty safe to say I love maps. So glad they are a trending pattern in scrapbooking.

Two more days to Saturday - my new favortie day of the week - particularly when it's at the beginning of a long weekend! Have a great day all!