CHLOE"S FIRST HALLOWEEN

This is an album I did for photos I took this year (not many!).  It was Chloe's first Halloween.  She really doesn't care for dressing up--she runs hot all the time so "clothes" just tend to irritate her!  For me it's kind of like playing with dolls again.  Second childhood maybe?  Anyway, she had a spider costume and a really cool witch's hat with long purple hair. 

The paper line I used is good ole Graphic 45--Halloween in Wonderland.  It is an awesome line.  The idea for the album came from Pinecone Press--one of their Options kits.  They are really great.  You get just the paper and a booklet showing some ideas for cards, altered art, layouts and albums.  You can pick and choose as you want.  You add bling and embellishments from your stash.  The thing I like best about this album is that all the pages are different in size.  The front cover was 8.5 x 8.5 and the back cover was 9 x 9.  All the other pages varied in size and weren't showing until you opened the front cover.  This is the first time I have done an album like this and it was really fun and easy.  Another thing I tried was printing on a transparency with my inkjet.  I did the Mad Hatter and he turned out quite well (photo 8).  I really enjoyed doing this album.  I wish the photos I'm posting were a little better.  Hope you enjoy Chloe's album as much I did doing it!

OCTOBER CLASS

Boy, it has been a long time since I posted.  I don't know what I have been doing--it doesn't seem to be scrapping!  I did clean up and try to organize my scrap room but that is an unending job!  We have gone on a couple trips--one to Orange Beach, AL and one to Chicago and Wisconsin.  Did get some good photos but haven't scrapped them as yet. 

I was lucky enough to get to take Wendy's October class at Treasured Memories.  Erin did too.  It was so much fun and I finished it that same day!  That doesn't happen often I tell you!  I love autumn and this layout really does it for me!  So happy and festive!  Thanks again, Wendy--you are such a good teacher!

I mentioned Treasured Memories--have  you been to the new store?  Oh it is so great!  Bright and so welcoming!  Love it, Janet!  You did good!  I had to "shop" some after my class of course!  The grand opening is next weekend and I for one am looking forward to it!  I will start the weekend on Friday with Beatriz's class and then after will crop 'til midnight.  Our friend, Thuy, is coming in from Dallas for the class and crop so that will add to the fun!  Then on Saturday I am taking both Donna Downey classes and will also take her class on Sunday.  Can you guess that I love Donna?  I am so excited that Janet is selling her memberships at half price starting on Saturday.  Erin and I always buy each other's memberships for Christmas gifts so it looks like we will have a start on our Christmas shopping.

Our family is going to Disney World in December.  It will be my first time (Ed's too) so I am really excited!  It will be so nice to spend time with Erin, Perry, Madeline, Nicholas, Sam and Fred all together.  That doesn't happen as often as I would like.  I am already thinking about all the great photos we'll get and the album I want to do.

Well that is it for now.  I will post again in the next few days.  I did a small album for Chloe's Halloween.  Yes, even Yorkies' do Halloween!  It is really cute!  Have I peaked your interest?  I hope so!  See you soon!  Bye for now!

TWO POSTS IN 1 DAY! TRUE LOVE LO.

     I wanted to post these photos of a layout I did at the Mega Crop in Rayne.  I used photos of my parent's wedding in 1935.  It was a fun LO to do.  The colors are soft and very vintage.  Janet had the wonderful lace in the shop at the crop and I think it makes it really special.   The alphas are by Prima and I just used Jumbo Jave to age them a bit.  It really made them go with the paper.  The flowers are Prima too.  My Mom carried Calla lilies and as luck would have Prima had just released the Calla lilies bouquet.  It goes so well!  The beaded pin was made by Emily (I hope I got that right) at the crop.  I took my papers , flowers etc. to show her and she picked out the beads to go with them and assembled it for me.  It is such a great finishing piece for this LO.  Hope you enjoyed these photos and the layout!

MY NEW LAYOUT. WHAT A CUTIE!

     This is the layout I did for Treasured Memories Design Team.  I looked at the paper and embellies and knew I had to scrap the photos I had of Chloe, my Yorkie.  It was quite a challenge trying to get the photos for her "To Do List" but I think I accomplished it.  She is now 7 months old and weighs 3 lbs.  I think she may be as big as she will get.  She is tiny but what a whirlwind!  Very tenacious--must be the Terrier!  But she is also very free with her puppy kisses, unless you happen to be one of our cats.  Our house used to be very calm and quiet but no more.In a couple weeks our daughter, Sam and her husband, Fred are coming for a visit.  They are bringing their "baby" Tonka with them.  Now Tonka is an English Bulldog who weighs 60lbs.  I think Chloe may have the vapors over that!  I will let you know how that goes.  Keep your fingers crossed!
     I am finally getting back to normal after the Mega Crop in Rayne.  It ws so much fun and a really nice way to catch up with all our scrapping friends.  Both my daughters were with me and so was our sweet friend, Thuy.  She came all the way from Dallas.  It was so nice to spend the weekend with them.  Next year's crop is going to be at the same place--Rayne Civic Center--in July.  It was a perfect venue!  Plus having a food/beverage bar available saved so much time for cropping.  Thanks, Janet for such a fun time!And Cassidy and Dakota were wonderful!  I took several classes and really enjoyed them.  I have to take some photos of the finished projects and will post them later.
     I went to my stitch group on Wednesday night at Stitch n Frame on Ridge Road.  We meet every third Wednesday of the month at 6PM.  It is an informal group and is a lot of fun.  I am a needlepointer (yes, I have ANOTHER hobby!) and really enjoy getting together with all my stitching friends.  If you stitch, feel free to join us!  We'd love to have you join us!
     I certainly am going to miss Treasured Memories during the three months they will be closed.  The new store sounds like it will be awesome.  I am so happy for Janet.  I will waiting for the Grand Opening on November 1.  I am also curious who the teacher will be for the class being held!  It's a secret for now!  I guess I will put quite a dent in my stash with no shop open here in Lafayette!  That may be a good thing because then I can really shop when Janet opens!  We'll all have withdrawal by November for sure!
     It has been fun talking with you--until next time.....
   

ANOTHER FINISH!

     It is so nice to take a class, find photos for it and put it in an album.  All within a week!  This is a class I took last Tuesday at Treasured Memories.  The teacher was Wendy Reaux.  Her classes are always so much fun and we learn all kinds of new techniques.  She is the Queen of "clustering"!  I really enjoyed this class.  Now if I could only match photos to some of my other classes I would be very happy.  All in good time.
     Erin and I went to Michael's last night during their big sale.  Everything was reduced and we each used a 40% off one item coupon and then a 15% off entire total coupon.  Sure do love saving BIG!  Stocked up on some stuff to take to the Crop.  We may have to get a trailer to take everthing with us!  LOL
   Well enough for now.  Hope you enjoy the photos.

NEW PROJECT FROM JENNI BOWLIN

I had so much fun doing this project.  Sometimes I need to do something that has all the instructions and is all thought out in advance by someone else!  It keeps me sane I think.  Jenni Bowlin has some really neat projects on her site.  Sometimes they are sold out immediately so you have to check back often.  Anyway, I think this turned out quite nicely and  it makes me happy just looking at it.  Hope you enjoyed looking too!

Photos of my May layout

Thought I would post some photos of last month's layout. I am working on this month's and want to tell you--it is so cute. But you won't be able to see it until I turn it in to Janet though.

Is everyone getting ready for the Mega Crop in Rayne? I can't wait! I will be cropping with my two daughters so it will really be fun. And I am looking forward to seeing all our friends there. Thuy is coming in from Dallas too! Now if I can just get everything packed. Okay so let's see if I can upload some photos! See you in Rayne!

National Scrapbooking Day

Here it--NSD! I think I have spent almost the entire day going from site to site. There were some great projects given on the Pink Paislee site. Everyone is so creative. Will have to try a few of their ideas. Plus they had some great giveaways. It would be nice to win something but just going to the site and seeing what they had to offer was fun. Of course I also had to go to the Prima site and while there I checked out one of their online classes. Needless to say I am now gooing to try my hand at airbrushing using Copic markers. Really a fun (and amazingly easy) method of coloring all sorts of things. I just wish the markers were a little cheaper.



We turned in our layouts last Sunday. I missed the meeting as I had just gotten over a stomach virus and was having a bad allergy day. I see Janet has posted the photos online--thanks, Janet! Everyone's layouts are wonderful. These ladies are one talented group! I really had to work on my layout as the paper was not the color or style that I would have picked. But I really am happy with the way it turned out. It's a good thing when we are challenged and have to go outsideout comfort zone.



I have found that I must "think" about my layout for the next month when I sleep. I woke up the other morning and had a double page layout in my head using the papers Janet gave me this month (Basic Grey's Kioshi). I don't know if I will use my "idea" but I found it an interesting concept.



I have been busy this past month. Looking at the photo on the bottom of this post I think you can guess why! We have a new member of our family. A four month old Yorkshire Terrier, named Chloe. She alternates between being Mama's sweet little baby and Devil Dog. Ask our cat Joe which one he thinks she is! She is really tiny, just made 2 lbs at four months. She only weighed 2 oz. when she was born. They don't make collars small enough but she does have a snazzy pink striped sweater that fits. Can you guess what photos I will be scrapping in the future (sorry Madeline and Nicholas)?

This is a first!

Carole here. This is my first try at posting to my blog. Hopefully it won't disappear into Cyberspace! This is all new to me so please be patient. Our first assignment for the Design Team was to do a layout about ourselves. That was really a difficult task--in more ways than one. I am usually the one behind the camera and am never in any photos if I can help it. So finding a photo was difficult but I persevered. I found one of my husband and I taken on a cruise. I did some cropping and there it was--ME! The other past of the assignment was to answer some questions. I will do that now and then get back to the first layout.

1. Tell us all about you:

I am a retired stay at home Mom. I was raised in Chicago and moved to Louisiana 41 years ago. I am married to Ed, the most wonderful man in the world. We have been married for 41 years and have two lovely daughters, Erin and Samantha. Erin has blessed us with two fantastic grandchildren, Madeline and Nicholas. They live right next door to us so we get to see them every day. They are truly a joy.

2. When & why did you start scrap booking:

I have only been scrapping for a little over a year. Wendy Reaux convinced my daughter Erin to give scrap booking a try. She in turn worked on me to give it a try. The rest is history. On a side note, Erin and I have gotten my other daughter, Sam, into it as well so it has become a family affair.

3. What is your scrap booking style:

I think I would have to say that my style is mainly vintage. When I started, I mainly scrapped old family photos. In fact the first layout I did was of my Aunt Lucille and it won second prize at the crop in Breaux Bridge last year. Quite a surprise! That layout remains my favorite.

4. What 3 products can't you live without (besides cutter & scissors):

The first product has to be Jumbo Java chalk ink by VersaMagic. I couldn't live without it--so helpful for getting an aged look to paper. Next has to be Prima flowers. I guess I could be called the Queen of Prima. It is not "dressed" until Prima has been added. Then the third is patterned paper. The selection is so wonderful right now. I refuse to tell how many boxes of paper I have in my stash! I do have to add though, even though scissors were out, I love my Tim Holtz scissors. They are so awesome!

5. What paper line best describes you:

I guess the paper line would have to be a toss up between Creative Imaginations (their die cuts are my favorites) and Prima with a dash of Graphic 45 thrown in for good measure! Can't only choose one! I really could go on and on--I love paper!

6. What embellishment line best describes you:

No surprise here--I already said I was the Queen of Prima. Their bling is gorgeous and of course their flowers are beautiful. I have to mention a Canadian company I have just discovered--RiffRaff Designs. They have the most awesome chipboard die cuts imaginable.

7. What designer inspires you:

Without a doubt it has to be Donna Downey. Her class that Janet had last year was eye opening. Really made me look at things differently. Just let yourself go--I need more of that.

8. What is your favorite product of 2009:

My favorite innovative product of '09 is my Slice die cutting machine.

9.What are your feelings about journaling:

I find that journaling is difficult for me; but the more I do it seems to be getting easier. I have been blessed with fairly good handwriting so that helps make it easier.

10. What do you hope to get out of being on the Design Team:

I am truly honored to be chosen for the team. Every one is so talented that I just know I will learn so much from them. I look forward to getting to know everyone and making new friends. I look upon this as a great way to stretch and get outside of my comfort zone. Thanks for choosing me, Janet!

I am going to close this post for now--are you tired of reading yet? I will take some photos of my layout and try to figure out how to get them on here. Janet will get them tomorrow so maybe she'll be able to help. See you later! I've really enjoyed talking to you.