vacation here i come!

so i haven't had a chance to go on my weekly blog visiting trip b/c i am jamming all my hours for work into 3 days! we leave for vacation tonight after i teach my class and i cannot wait! the only thing is, is that my boss is sitting on my class tonight so i am nnnnneeerrrvvvvoooouuuusss! {that spells nervous, LOL}

to calm my nerves this week i did the CPS sketch this week. here is my card:

Core'dinations Chocolate Box Cardstock {the core is green so when you sand it, the green comes through}. then i used the collage press journal spots along the sides as closures.

i printed my journal right on the back of the Core'dinations cardstock and then embossed it with the Twigs Cuttlebug folder. AND, of course, my fave Webster's Pages alpha stickers.



i used removable adhesive on the back so these journal spots just peel right off to open.

So much going on...

i thought things were supposed to slow down at the end of the summer, LOL!

brain started his new job and owen started football last week so we are trying to get into a groove with that. so from every saturday moving forward, i will be camped out on the football field cringing and cheering! here he is with his game face on.



i am super excited...terry from Creative Cuts and More called me and i will be a guest designer for them in september and then again in june or july! they have the best premade diecuts so make sure you check out the store. and they are having a blog hop tomorrow with lots of inspo and give-a-ways.

maggie called me this weekend, too and it was so good to talk to her again. maggie was the first person i really clicked with when i started finding my way around this online scrapping community and she brought me onto her digi team to do some hybrid a few years ago. with my marketing background, her and i would do a lot of brainstorming sessions, LOL! so when she called me asked me to join the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog team and help promote the site i could not have been happier!

i am so excited for these new opportunities that i have been given lately, i just wanted to share.


Here is a little mini matchbook journal i made with the October Afternoon papers and journal spots from the Serendipity Scrapbooks Just Enough Please kit for August. I used the Cuttlebug Houndstooth Embossing folder on here with the Core'dinations Whitewash.

New Core'dinations!

I know a lot of people have been awaiting these....

check out the new lines from Core'dinations! Core'dinations is also sponsoring the Serendipity Scrapbooks Shape it Up Monthly contest.



Ebony and Ivory™, Sugar and Spice™, and the Jenni Bowlin Core Impressions Collection™. Each assorted pack differs in style and presentation. For instance, the Ebony and Ivory™ pack combines the Whitewash™ and Black Magic™ Specialty Collections with sunny Core Essentials™ colors while the Sugar and Spice™ pack mixes the Vintage™ and Chocolate Box™ Specialty Collections with rich, autumn-tinged Core Essentials™ colors.

The Jenni Bowlin Core Impressions™ Collection pre-embosses original Jenni Bowlin patterns onto red, black, and tan Core’dinations ColorCore Cardstock®.

Here is a layout I did with Core'dinations that was featured in the August Serendipity Scrapbooks Just Enough Please kit. There were 2 sheets of black magic and i sheet of whitewash in this kit. For a tutorial on how to create this edge {thanks to lydia who showed me this} click here. I added the corner punch for a bit of flair. If you have a Scorpal then you are set, LOL!











And another layout from the kit utilizing the Collage Press Diecut Circles. there goes henry up the stairs...AGAIN!

happy weekend!

i hope everyone had a great weekend. i went to the 'rents to hang with them and my very good friend louise visited and the girls scrapped while the boys played. it was so good to see "aunt weezie"! and to scrap...i think i got them hooked on Core'dinations! woot woot!

here are a few projects i did for Serendipity this month. The Just Enough Please kit is jam-packed with Collage Press, October afternoon, thickers, WRMK rubons and Basic Grey buttons. FUN! i can't get over how kristen combines different companies together and makes it work so well. i just love kits that mix and match product.

I have 7 projects from this kit. i won't slap all of them on you in one post...here is an "altered item" i did and a layout, and a card...

before ..... {these fun little guys came in the kit...aren't they cuuuute? they are from Cook Bookin} when i saw this packaging i had to run with it...it's the first thing i made...

after........

some of the Collage Press Knave of Hearts goodies in the kit:

at the crop andrea and i went to last week, she cut this out for me from her Cricut with the Damask print.....LOVE it. told you that girl can work a cricut.

{cork letters NOT in kit}

and, again, andrea let me use this cuuuute cuttle bug folder and i embossed it with my cuttlebug on the Core'dinations Cardstock whitewash and sanded it.

{bling and letters NOT in kit}

Altering...Again!

here are a few projects i did at the crop this weekend over at Citrus Tree Studios. I really love hanging out overe there..it is really relaxed and it is so fun. And i ended up winning the gradn prize! can you believe it? cindy is so generous...she gave a way a mini Clip it up! woot woot!

i used some BoBunny Birthday papers on here and I added tons of Glimmer Mists and colorwashes to the crepe paper to get it to match the papers. i love all the greens and yellows so i accented the hat with some Yellow Art Institute glitter.

he actually stands on the button!

We got some Clear Scraps in a product trade with Core'dinations and I used one of the ornaments on this altered frame. I heat embossed on it with my {fave} beeswax stamp.

I sprayed the frame with Glimmer Mists and Colorwashes and then added a crackle medium to allow the colors to show through. I used my Cuttlebug, Core'dinations and BoBunny goodies on here.

What a GrEaT weekend!

so my weekend could not have been any better...it started off with a crop and i got to meet this awesome lady...i can't tell you how happy i get when someone comes into my life that i know will be part of it for a very long time. EsPeCiAlLy when that someone is a scrappy buddy ;)

so here are andrea and i at our crop....this is getting pretty late into the night and we just did some damage at the store.

Here are a few fun facts I learned about andrea this weekend:

1.) she can work a cricut like it's her j.o.b.

2.) she is even nicer in person that i could have imagined.

3.) she is an enabler {yes, i really did need those thickers, LOL!}

this is me staking my territory on the Creative Cafe buttons;)



There are so many give-a-ways going on...I wanted to post a few of my favs...

Melissa is giving away a sLiCe!

and Nikki Silvis is offering loads of give-a-ways too...click here.

So let me leave you with a layout I did today...Citrus Tree Studios, a fun place where i hang...is having a Christmas in July crop so I made this will lots of scraps from Making Memories, BoBunny, 7 Gypsies, SR, Prima and then some!

2,4,6,8 Core'dinate!

Core'dinations Teamed up with My Little Shoebox so we got to play with their fun goodies, too! When I got these My Neighborhood papers, I knew I wanted to make a house of some kind so I cut out this house from a box {the box my goodies came in to be exact} and went to town. I love how the MLS looks with the Black Magic, especially with the pink core.

AND...guess what???!?!?!?!?!?!?! T MINUS 2 DAYS until i get my crop-on with Andrea! can't wait to meet her and chat and scrap...she is amazing and i know we will have fun ;) This is one time where I won't mind talking too much and getting less scrapping done ;)

Oh and p.s...can you pls look at henry in this photo with the Thicker on his forehead. He cracks me up everyday...this is so totally "him".

Forward Progress

The Forward Progress prompt is up!

This month we worked on taking stock in our lives. When I thought of my life and what that meant to me, I just started writing...kind of like free writing. Whatever came into my head went straight to the journaling, even if it didn't make sense ;) Then I added fonts and different sizes and printed it directly on the cardstock.

I hope you guys follow along FP... journaling and working on projects about your future can be really therapuetic! I can't say enough about it.

Bo Bunny and Masking

yeah, baby! it's the weekend...what a WEEK?!?!?!?! i taught my first class this week at a local community college and am totally stoked it is over...i got the first class jitters out of the way. i am so looking forward to next week and hoping and praying this is a new career path for me, i have always wanted this and worked so hard for it. I have been playing around with my instructor website all week, brain keeps yelling at me to get off the p.c. hey, at least i am not on here scouring the internet for all the new cha goodies, right? ;)

besides that...i got some time to scrap last night and made some cards. it felt good to snuggle in the whole with some vino and paper and chill {sigh}.

Here is a card i did for the BoBunny sketch this week. It is a BBQ Invitation. I just loved the Calypso line, BBQ'ing is a summer staple in our house and so is kissing the cook ;)

Of course...all these projects have Core'dinations on them! today is the last day for our contest so make sure you check it out!




For this layout, I cut out this cool swirl paper from BoBunny and it totally reminded me of water. so i traced it on a scrap piece of paper, cut that out and then used it as a mask...this way it would match the cut out. then i adhered the patterned "off" a bit so show off the masking.

These are photos of my crazy hubby, brain {that is my nickname for him for those of you that don't know that-his real name is brian--get it ;}, my dad and brother-in-law getting the paddle boat to work...turns out the rudder wasn't down so they kept going in circles. it amazes me that i even got the camera out between laughing and crying so hard.

October Afternoon and DT CAll

One of my fave scrappy places to hang is HSS aka Happy Scrappin' Scrapbooking. Sharon is the nicest and most generous ladies I know AND HSS has tons of goodies in the store for all you Cricut and Cuttlebug users AND Pageframe lovers ;) So make sure you check out the DT call.

Here are some projects I did for Serendipity Scrapbooks Weekly Review. I got to review Ducks in a Row by October Afternoon {poor me, lol} and some cutie Twitterpated rubons by Imaginisce. Don't forget that Serendipity just loaded OA's roadmap collection! Of course I needed to add some Core'dinations to my projects...whitewash here...it went really well with these soft colors.

Here is the journaling....when i think of grandmas i think of hugs and kisses and unlimited candy in the candy drawer. i think of McDonalds and Soap Operas and playing in the sewing room. i think of laughing and a brilliant sense of humor. I think of what an amazing woman you were and how you taught me that working hard is nothing to be ashamed of...i think of you tickling my back while i sat on the floor putting off riding my bike up that huge hill. i think of sleepovers whem mom and dad went away and birthday parties on your back porch. i think of getting "squinched" b/w you and grandpa when i snuggled in bed with you. when i think of grandmas, i think of unlimted amounts of love and memories that will last a lifetime.

I did a little super secret journaling on here ;)

Caardvarcks, Core'dinations, and stuff

Check this out! Whitewash is one of my favorite things to use out of the Core'dinations products so I cannot wait for this! It is coming in August and will be fun!



And here are a few cards I did for Serendipity Scrapbooks this month. I got the Just Enough Kit Please and it was loaded with Bo Bunny, Jenni Bowlin and Core'dinations!

layered some rubons on here...

used some of the Karen Foster stickers on here....

layered some more rubons here....

and i used the cardstock stickers to make a border here...

and of course Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder with the Core!

SavvyNSassy Ribbon

so this was my last month getting my SavvyNSassy ribbon. I loved my time there! It is still hard to believe that was my first MB i ever joined. I remember signing up there b/c i was a my grandma's house. i know that sounds cheesey but since she is in a nursing home and doesn't really remember me, it means a lot to have that memory.

Holly has been doing a trivia over there everyday that is so fun. So i am going to share it with you {since it is the first one i ever got right, LOL}.

When this six-letter word is capitalized, it refers to a European country and language. When not capitalized, it means to make smooth or shiny. What is the word?

Can't wait to hear your guesses!

Here is a layout I made with the pompom trim SnS June kit. It was filled with such cool colors...yellows, browns and greys.

I also used a tag from Jennifer over at Creative Chaos. I was the June Guest Designer over there and she sent me a package of journaling tags! I used one on this layout, too. I added a fun little tag made from Core'dinations Cardstock that i ran through my Cuttlebug.

And here is a frame I did. It is based on a sketch from UA for their birthday celebration but I have always wanted to make those flag/kite things. I had this wood frame and I love to make frame stuff so i painted it red with some crackle medium and went to town....more SnS ricrac on there and another Creative Chaos journaling spot and more Core'dinations Cardstock.



i s

here is the sketch: