She's Fearless.....and a small announcement!!

That's my oldest daughter Samantha.....she's a Roller Derby girl!! She tried out and made the Kansas City Roller Warrior Roller Derby team and made the Victory Vixen team! Their theme is 40's pin-up girl and she was all dolled up for her photo shoot in this picture! I was lucky enough to see her play this last weekend and she really is fearless!! She's an awesome player and was voted one of the MVP's of the game!! We are so proud of her!

I used my Feb Studio Calico kit with add-ons to make this layout - it kind of grew bigger than I wanted it to, lots more patterned papers and things - but I like the way it turned out!

And, I am so excited to announce that I was contacted by Paige at American Crafts and was asked to be a guest designer on their blog in March!! I just got my goodies yesterday and I am beyond thrilled that I get to work with the new Dear Lizzie Neopolitan line!! There are bits and pieces of it in the Feb Studio Calico kit that I used in the layout above but I get to work with ALL of it!! When it gets closer to the blog release, I will give some sneaks of my projects!! The full reveal will be on March 21st!! Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!!

February 12 on the 12th - the layout!

This the layout I made for the 12 on the 12th challenge this month. There was the cutest piece of patterned paper in the Feb Studio Calico kit this month that has rows of tiny Polaroid frames, so I decided to cut off the frames and use them for each of my pictures from the 12th. I wanted to give my layout an eclectic, flea market-y feel, so I just used some vintage looking pieces and bunched them up in various spots on my layout. Most of the embellishments are from a pack of October Afternoon flower sack that I have. I didn't really have room for my journaling to explain each photo, so I found a cute envelope that I've had for a while and used it to house my journaling. I cut the "feb" with my Silhouette Cameo. Don't forget to check out all the other members of the Take 12 Team at Ella publishing to see their fabulous takes on the challenge.
Aliza Deutsch
Amy Prior
Angela Gutshall
Jennie McGarvey
Lisa Ottosson
Stephanie Medley-Rath
Van Nguyen
Margie Scarpignato
Monica Bradford
Lisa Day
Janette Kincaid

And don't forget you have until midnight EST Saturday, February 18 to upload your project here to win the awesome prize given away at Ella Publishing worth $79.99!! Hope you get to play along!!

Blur.....

This is all I see anymore of my youngest....she's always going, hardly ever letting me take her picture anymore. I was going to erase the picture of her when I saw it, but then I changed my mind - this is what she's always like - in perpetual motion. Not only is she in motion, but so is time....it's going by so quickly and next thing I know my baby will be gone - off to college and a new life. There is some journaling in the pocket on the layout - here's what it says:

"This is what life is like with this teenager right now. Constant motion, constant going, constant leaving, always on the go. It's never ending - and just how she likes it! I just need her to slow down some, spend some time with me before she's gone off to college. I just know once this one's gone, I probably won't see much of her anymore. She's my baby - the last of 3 - and I'll be heartbroken when she's gone. I need the blur to slow down and come into focus for just a little longer so that I can savor the last few years together, If only she could see things the way I do. But youth never does....."

Sigh.....I guess I'm just feeling a little melancholy today!!

I used my February Studio Calico kit (with add-ons) to make this. I inked those gorgeous chipboard letters with chalk ink (which I also used around the photo and to ink around other things too!). I did a little misting (white Mr. Huey), some sewing, some border punching and lots of layering! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!!

12 on the 12 - Feb edition

After talking to someone yesterday, I had planned on taking way different photos for my 12 on the 12th challenge. Since it was Feb, I was going to take pictures of things that I love....but that didn't happen as all my family was scattered apart (dh had band practice all day and older daughter doesn't live in the same town!) and that's what I love the most! Instead I took pictures of the cool things that I saw in the Antique/Flea Markets that my son, younger daughter and I visited yesterday! Some of things I purchased (I could NOT resist that Button Box) and some things were just cool and colorful and caught my eye!

Don't forget to play along with us over at Ella Publishing! This month you can win a fabulous prize from our Take Twelve sponsor, Stampin' Up! One lucky recipient will receive the acclaimed My Digital Studio software from Stampin' Up, a $79.95 value. It's simple and easy to navigate, allowing users of all levels to create beautiful, professional looking digital pages with trendy page templates and digital products. Ordering photo books through the software is a snap, and all colors are guaranteed to match Stampin' Up's physical products for hybrid scrapbooking. You can create some pretty cool results using My Digital Studio software!

To enter, upload your visual to your blog or any photo-sharing service (including the 2012 Take Twelve Flickr group), then link it up here by midnight EST Saturday, February 18. One lucky participant will be drawn at random from the entries and announced on February 19. Have fun!

hipster wannabe....

This is a layout of my son Jonathan and his new glasses. I was really surprised he wanted these - but he insisted on getting them!! He thinks he looks hipster - I think he looks like a science nerd (which he is by the way!) but I've grown used to them and they fit him very nicely!! What's really hilarious is that his father got a pair of these when he first went in the Air Force and they were always called BC (birth control) glasses because they were so ugly!! I used my new February Studio Calico kit (which arrived on my doorstep yesterday!!) to make this. For the stamped image I used paint, which I haven't used in a very long time and I know why I stopped using it - it takes FOREVER to dry!! Though, I do like the effect so I will use it every once in a while!! I really love the alpha stamp that came in the add-on kit. I can see myself using this very very often! I made the layout for the 2/5 Sunday Sketch on the Studio Calico blog . TFL!!

Projects for Challenges = being more creative

I love doing scrappy challenges! They not only help me be more prolific in creating, but they help me step out of my box and push me to try new techniques are use items that I wouldn't normally use! This week Studio Calico has been having some CHA challenges that I've been taking part in and I've created 2 layouts and two cards so far this past week, with two more layouts in the works! I just have until tomorrow to finish all 10 challenges and I'm gonna try really hard to do it!

For my "Dream Big" layout the challenge was to use a mask for misting or painting. I cut a butterfly out using my Silhouette Cameo and misted over it, then I used the same butterfly next to my photo of Danielle with her new straight teeth - she got her top braces off that day! I also used my Silhouette for cutting the title - which was a piece of cardstock covered with Cosmo Cricket tiny text sticker phrases.

For the "let love grow" card, the challenge was to use at least 2 stamps on a project where they are the main focus. My card is basically just the stamped images - the starburst, wood grain circle and quote - with just a small puffy sticker heart and some liquid pearl dots.

For my "oh happy day" card I combined 2 challenges - using some diecut washi tape was one, and the other was to make a card that has at least 4 different punches used on it! The 4 punched pieces are the 2 butterflies, the dark teal scalloped circle and the border across the bottom. The washi pieces are the larger butterfly and the dark teal scalloped circle.

It's been fun and I need to get a move on to finish!! TFL!!