Eyelet Outlet: Shades of Spring

Happy weekend!  I'm on the Eyelet Outlet blog this morning with two cards and reminders about the most important signs of spring: Easter candy!





Head over to the blog for more picture and the supply list.

Eyelet Outlet: It's the Weekend - Hang In There!

Happy Weekend!

This week at our house.....We got a new outdoor security camera system, and we spent the week looking at what happens while we sleep. There's apparently a set of alley cats that use our driveway as a playground!!  We've never seen either one of them in the daylight. Who knew what excitement was happening in the dark shadows?!

Inspired by those mischief makers, I'm on the Eyelet Outlet blog this morning with this card. Head over there for more pictures and the supply list.

Don't forget to follow Eyelet Outlet on Instagram (and bonus, comment for an extra chance to win $50 Eyelet Outlet product!). And show off your projects using #eyeletoutlet, too.

Have a great week!

Post-Vacation High: Bring on March!

We're back from our vacation to Mexico.  It had its highs.....

Hello down there, Gulf Coast!

 And it had its lows:

 But the highs definitely win!

Used a few scrap supplies to decorate my Bubba mug for the week.  This one happened to be full of Miami Vice.

 But that vacation high really wears off quickly, doesn't it?  I'm already tired of being back to work, the weather stinks, there's no one to bring me drinks/food on demand,  and I don't have much motivation to catch up on much of anything around the house. Boo hoo.

Ugh.....back to work stinks!

A public shout out to Crystal, though, who stayed home from work because she didn't feel good on Monday and Tuesday but went ahead and did all our laundry and suitcase clean-out anyway.  That's called "being a trooper" around our house, and she was definitely a trooper.  

And here we are, about to start another month......I think I need some blog goals to lift my spirits and to keep me busy for the coming weeks:

• I left off with some Instagram and app related posts earlier this month.  I will get back to posting about more app uses in March.  I actually just loaded a couple more options to my phone and iPad, so I may have some success stories to share there, too.
• I almost exclusively used my phone for this trip's pictures.  I'm anxious to dig in and start a project with them, but I think I'll wait a bit.  I'm not doing a big giant album - I feel like I just finished last year's trip.  And I don't have nearly the volume of pictures that I usually have.  So I need some time to plot and plan how I want to tackle this project.
• After getting caught up on several project life weeks, I now need another round of catch-up.  I'd like to stop "catching up" by the end of March so I can finish the last few months of the project in real time.  I think it's an obtainable goal!

I also plan to share some travel stories throughout the month as I play with the pictures.  Like the one about my spider monkey bite.

No, really, I got bit by a spider monkey! That's a story that will never get old for retelling. The one in my arms above was not the biter, though.  This one climbed up in my arms to cuddle, and she made the cutest grunting noise that's apparently the equivalent to a cat's purr.....amazing life moment!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a special Master Forger project, and then Friday with a new March kit. So bring on March......a little looking forward, a little looking back, and probably a lot of living in the moment!

Completed Summer Vacation Album - Finger Lakes 2012

Happy Weekend!

I have some friends coming to visit this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to some fun.  I haven't seen them since our vacation in August, and we have some things to catch up on.  And if nothing else, since my scrap room is also my guest room, it was good motivation to clean!

I had a goal of completing the album for that summer vacation before this visit, and I'm happy to report that I made it. I've shown some of the pages here in the past few months, but here's the whole album in order, if you're interested.


Album on Flickr

Sigh.....now if only our weather could be as nice this weekend as it was during our summer trip.  Oh well, I think we'll find some fun, anyway.

I had no intention of making an entire album for the week, but that's what it became - the album is nearly stuffed.  I usually have one album for a year, maybe an extra album for a special vacation or project.  I don't do mini albums or projects, so everything goes in the "big book."  To put it in perspective: In 2010 I used 2 albums, one for the year and one for a vacation.  In 2011 I used 2 albums, one for the year and one for a December Daily.  For 2012 I will end up with 6-7 albums:

--Two 12x12s for the year
--One 8 1/2 x 11 for February's Mexico vacation
--One 12x12 for this vacation album from August
--One project life 6x8
--One December Daily 6x8
That's crazy!  And really I should put my Week in the Life project into its own album, but I just stuffed it into one of the 12x12s.  It's definitely out of the ordinary for me, and I don't want to end up with that many albums EVERY year, but apparently it was a big year for scrapping.

Maybe I'll simplify and do everything 12x12 this year (other than my current project life pages) - I don't know, we'll see.

Have a super weekend!

Season's Greetings to You

To start the season, I want to pass along a holiday message to all of you......

To see other greetings from the Master Forgers, check today's Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Counterfeit Kit Challenge 3: Two Cards

The third challenge of the month for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge is to make two cards (masculine and feminine versions of the same card).

CKC highlighted this sketch (Unscripted Sketches #169) earlier this month, and I decided to use it for my take on the challenge:

Unscripted Sketched #169

I used two card bases from my stash, along with these two polaroid shapes to make the two cards look similar. Everything else was from my kit.

I really didn't have much to call "masculine" in my kit, so I looked to a scrap of wood plank paper to use as the background and embellishment. I knew I wanted to use stars for the 3 boxes on the sketch, but couldn't find anything in my kit or stash that worked here. After staring at the page for far too long, it finally occurred to me, duh, I could just hand cut some stars. I get so focused on punches and diecut machines that I don't always remember that a piece of paper and some scissors is really all I need.

The red paper had a sheen to it, so I used Staz-On ink for the stamp. The colors didn't come out great in my photo, but the stamp actually turned out really nice on this satin-like paper, and I was glad to have a use for one of the....well, let's not put a number on it.....MANY $1 stamps I've accumulated. 

The feminine card uses the last bit of a long-saved piece of Cosmo Cricket paper. The "hey sugar" was from the title strip of the paper.

Now what? Well, you could:

• Check the Counterfeit Kit page today for links to other Master Forger projects.
• Be a Master Forger! There's still time to apply! Click here for all the details.
• Take the challenge and link your projects here.

Enjoy the end of your own weekend!

July Challenge 1: Cards for Operation Write Home

I am just not a card maker, but what better reason to try?!  This month's first mini-challenge for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge is to make cards for Operation Write Home. 

The website has all the details for this great program.  As they suggest on the website, I kept my card general, so it can be personalized and used by the writer. 
My local scrapbook store, Red Letter Journals, happens to be hosting a card making drive for Operation Write Home this month.  I only have this one card to show you today, but I plan to make more this weekend and drop them off at the store to be stamped and passed along to the program. 

Your turn!  Check the Counterfeit Kit blog for links to other Master Forger card examples today. And to learn more about how We R Memory Keepers is supporting Operation Write Home, or to find a location to drop off your own cards for this program, click here.