Sentimental Sundays New Year's Day Party

Hey all!  Just wanted to let you all know that Sentimental Sundays is hosting a New Year's Day Party; blog hop style, on January 1, 2012.  For all the details click the button below. 

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful New Year!

Denay

   

Wide Awake (#186 Creative Scrappers)

Hello everybody!  I hope this post finds you all happy and healthy.  Today I want to share a lo based on sketch #186 at Creative Scrappers. 
Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

For the background paper, a raised Swiss Dot, I sanded the edges and inked with ColorBox Atlantic Blue.  I also distressed the paper strips and inked with the same color.  I set my eyelets and laced the skinny blue and the wide white ribbon above the picture.  The word "wide" are letters from an alpha punch-out set I have.  The word "awake" is stripped chip chipboard from lil davis.  To acheive the color I used a paintbrush dipped in Adirondack Color Wash in Sailboat Blue.  Once that was semi-dry, I sprayed some Gold Glimmer Mist from ART-C and let it dry.  Then I used the Atlantic Blue ink on the edges.  For a final touch, I adhered gem clusters around the photo.

I love this picture of my little one.  He was about 12 hours old here.  Of all my children, he was the most alert so soon after birth.

Thanks for looking!

Denay



Forever Friends

Hello all!  I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  Speaking of friends, that's the topic of my lo today.  My daughter and my bonus daughters; her friends from school.  This picture was taken right before dinner the night of Prom.  We'd just gotten back from the salon, where they enjoyed a total girl day, including hair and make-up. 

I received the Eiffel Tower wood chippie from Craftysprinkles and I knew it would be perfect for this picture.  While the girls were not in France, the tower just screamed "girly lo" to me.  I painted the tower with white acrylic paint and once it was dry I lightly sanded the edges and inked them with Tea Dye from Tim Holtz.  Then I inked a stamp with Dark Cherry ink from ColorBox and randomly stamped across the tower.  I did the same with Putty ink and set the tower aside to dry.

I used my Cricut to cut out my circles.  I used DMC floss in a pale pink and single stitched around the smaller circle.  I then went back around, weaving the same colored thread through the single stitches.  I adhered both circles to my bg paper.  I then used my Cricut to cut out the tag shape.  I used burgundy letter stickers for my title.  I also used the Dark Cherry ColorBox ink around the edges of the tag for definition and for the stamp border along the bottom of the tag.  I adhered the tag to the circle with Pop Dots.  I then used the Putty Ink and a flourish stamp to surround the circles.

I matted my picture on dark burgundy cardstock, leaving the bottom of the mat long.  I then used one of my borders to draw the scallop and cut it out.  I layered the floral and green scallops on top of the burgundy. 

I then adhered the tower, flowers, and pearls!

Thanks for taking the time to look! 

Have a Happy New Year!

Denay

Imaginisce & Clearsnap Blog Hop

Hi all!  Just wanted to drop by and let everyone know that there is an amazing blog hop going on right now.  Imaginisce & Clearsnap have joined together for the Holiday Blog Hop 2011.   This hop lasts the entire week and I just know that there will be yummy lo's, cards, and more for us to drool over.  Check out each blog every day and leave a comment for your chance to win awesome prizes. 

Well; what are you waiting for?  Get to hopping!

Visit with Santa

Good morning everyone!  I hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  As we draw closer to Christmas, memories of the past have been on my mind.  Those memories, and the pictures I have, are what prompted this lo.
We spent Christmas 2010 in Florida with family and on Christmas morning Santa made a surprise visit.  My little one wasn't sure what to think, but he never cried; just gave us a look of "who is this and why does he have me"!!!  I even had the chance to sit on Santa's lap...he got a big kiss!

For the tree I used the Quickutz Leaf die and the hand tool; yes my hand was very sore and tired after punching all of those leaves!  I layered the leaves, starting at the bottom and then embellished with stickers, brads, and stickles.  I used my Cricut and the Lacy Labels cartridge for the picture frames, so much easier.  I really need to find a cartridge with the leaf shape to save my hands!  The background paper is from an old Christmas stack I have.  The leaves and frames are from old cardstock I've had in my stash for years.  For the word "visit" I used Colorbok Punch-out Alphas, and the words "with Santa" were made using the Quickutz hand tool, and two of the Alpha fonts. 

The memory of Santa's visit is my favorite from last year. 

What are your favorite memories of Christmas' past?

God Bless,

Denay

Christmas Mini album

Good morning all!  I want to share the Christmas mini album I completed.  I've never done one of these before, but I loved the look of all the mini albums I've seen lately, so I thought I'd give it a try!  Just a quick note:  all the paper I used are from my scrap stash!

This is the cover!  I used my Quickutz handtool and a leaf die to make the wreath, and a Quickutz alphabet for the letters.  I tied a simple bow and added some red gems.

Page 1:  I used a christmas tree die cut and added gems and stickles for the decorations.  Love how the leaves from the cover border this page!  The bg paper is some left over scraps from an old, old paper pack!

Page 2- I used the Quickutz handtool and the candy die.  I alternated red and green swirls. 

Page 3- Quick and simple, I glued my paper down and embellished with stickles. 

Page 4- I used a Santa die cut on this page.  I haven't decided how to embellish Santa yet...ideas are still churning!

Page 5- I had the present/bow die cut in other colors, but they didn't match my paper, so I traced around them on paper that matched and fussy cut it out.  I love how Santa seems to be peeking around the side on this one.

Page 6- Love these poinsettia fussy cuts.  I bought them years ago at my LSS's yard sale.   What a great find!

Page 7- The holly fussy cuts were purchased in the same pack as the poinsettia flowers.  I love how they coordinated with my green paper.

Page 8-  I used a cardstock bg on this one with plaid and glittered paper.  I embellished with a tag, sticker and a little tin star! 

Page 9- This is the last page.  The tag was purchased at the LSS's yard sale a few years ago, and the paper is from my scrap stash. 







Nothing has been titled yet!  I'll add journaling, titles, and any extra embellishments when I add the pictures.  I loved putting this together and can't wait to do another one.

Have a wonderful day my friends. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my wonderful friends!  I hope and pray that each of you are surrounded by love, family and friends today.  Take a minute to count your blessings today, no matter how small or large they are.  Each one is precious.

Lots of love from my family to yours,
Denay

What Your Thanksgiving Meal Says About You~ Quiz results!

For my blogging challenge this week I chose to take a quiz!  Here are my results:

When it comes to the holidays, you follow and love the big traditions. You look forward to them every year.

You see the holidays as a time to be close to loved ones. It's a good time to reconnect and make memories.

You like the aspects of the holiday that remind you of your childhood - opening presents, treats, and old favorite foods.

During the holidays, you are likely to feel comforted. At your worst, you feel a bit over-indulgent.

You consider yourself a big kid, and you're proud of it.

You tend to spend your holidays sharing and pitching in. You'll do whatever needs to be done.

This is me exactly!  I love tradition and the holidays bring up wonderful childhood memories.  I love being with family and loved ones and I absolutely consider myself a BIG kid! 

I am thankful for...

Good morning all; 

You may have noticed that there is a running list on my sidebar with the same title as this post.  I am taking part in a challenge where you list something you are thankful for every day during the month of November.  You can find the challenge here.  At the end of the month one winner will be chosen and receive a $30 gift certificate to their favorite scrapbook store or to Target.  To participate, click the link above and join in.  Good luck to you all!

The Soundtrack of My Life

My blog challenge assignment this week is to list songs that have defined certain moments in my life or that apply to my life right now!  At first I thought this would be easy, but…I got caught up in the memories and I had a hard time deciding which moments/songs I wanted to use!  I finally came up with a comprehensive list of songs that highlighted/defined all sort of moments in my life.  Here they are:

1.        Against All Odds by Phil Collins

This song always makes me think of a guy I had a schoolgirl crush on (my first real crush)—he was 2 or 3 years older and a complete hottie…at least my 12 year old eyes thought so!  Nothing ever came of that crush; but I can’t hear that song without him coming to mind.

2.       Anything by New Kids on the Block

I’m an admitted teeny bopper and I loved every minute of it (still do if the truth be known!).  On concert days my friends and I would go downtown when they were in town and run around from about 10:00 a.m. until the concert started.  We haunted the hotels looking for the guys.  Got lucky a couple of times too…no not that kind of lucky J, we ran into Donnie Walhberg in the elevator of his hotel, Jordan Knight on the street getting out of a limo and taking pictures of the crowd, and Tommy Page (opening act) and his dancers in the lobby of the hotel.  Actually, I almost knocked Tommy down the stairs!  I was coming down, he was going up.  I wasn’t paying attention…thought NKOTB was in the lobby and I was moving fairly fast….next thing I know I’m knocking into someone and I stop to apologize and there he was!  My friends laughed at me the rest of the day!  Those are some great memories.

3.       Everybody Dance Now by C&C Music Factory

Best dance song EVER!  Loved driving down the road with my friends with this song blaring!

4.       One More Night by Phil Collins

Prom Theme song.   I had just turned 18 and “real” life hit me in the face!  I wanted just “one more night” to be a kid with no worries, no responsibilities, and no bills!

5.       Amazing Grace

This song means so much to me.  Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.”  How wonderful to know that Jesus found me and saved me.  I wouldn’t be where I am today without Him.

6.       It’s Never Easy to Say Goodbye by Wynona Judd

My best friend passed away at the age of 23 (years ago) and this song has given me so much comfort.  When I get down or feel lonely I put this song on and think about her and how it didn’t matter how many miles separated us or how long it had been since we had seen each other, our friendship was always the same.  I take great comfort from the chorus “It ain't easy, To ever say goodbye,  It ain't easy,  Lettin' go of the ones you love,  But believe me, Begin by and by,  If not here,  Then somewhere up above”.  I know someday I’ll see her again, and it will be like we’ve never been apart.

7.       I Get Knocked Down by Chumbawumba

This song was my anthem for so many years!  When I would get “knocked down” by life, people, etc, this song gave me the guts to get back up on my feet.

8.       Brown-eyed girl by Van Morrison

Reminds me of my daughter.  She has such beautiful brown eyes.

9.       Have I Told You Lately that I Love You by Rod Stewart

My husband’s and my song.  We heard it on a date and it’s been ours ever since.

10.   Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts

The first time I heard this song, I realized all that I had gone through in my life had led me straight to my husband.   I realized that even though I couldn’t see the signs, God was leading me right to where I needed to be.  We danced to this song at our wedding reception.

Lyrics:

 I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

[Chorus:]
Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

[Chorus]

Now I'm just rolling home
Into my lover's arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.

11.    Mayberry by Rascal Flatts

My middle son loved this song, and his one request when I was planning my wedding was that we would dance to this song.  Still one of my favs!

12.   TNT by AC/DC

My husband is a huge AC/DC fan and he loves this song.  When my youngest son was about 8 months, my husband had it playing and he went wild over it.  It only took the first note or two for him to know that “his” song was on.  He would stop whatever he was doing and dance along. 

There are so many more songs that I could probably list, but these are the ones that stick out for me.  Maybe at another time I’ll sit down and add to this list.

Unity

Good morning, well afternoon now!  Can't believe I've lost track of time today...but I got some scrapping done!  I want to share with you a new lo I titled Unity.  I took part in today's 5 step progressive challenge at scrapbook.com.  Seven individual steps are outlined, but you only have to do 5 of them to complete the challenge, you get extra points if you do all 7.

I love the Progressive Challenges.  I learn new techniques and come up with awesome lo's I wouldn't have otherwise.  This lo is scraplifted from Kotten's "Smile".  I really loved her curling/weaving technique. 

To creat my lo, I used 2 sheets of Prima "The Second Wind" paper collection, 1 sheet of Bazzill 12 x 12 French Vanilla cardstock, a 1/2 sheet of Basic Grey "Hello Luscious" (frame and flowers), and a 1/2 sheet of K & Company "Best of Brenda Walton" (polka dots). 

I started out by distressing the edges of the 2 Prima papers.  I inked the edges of the green paper with Colorbox gold ink and left the edges of the pink paper raw.  I cut the poka dot paper into strips and did a simple weave. 

I used Fiskars "Lace" combo corner punch and Martha Stewart's "Loop" corner punch to create the flowers.  You can find the tutorial here. 

I used Basic Grey "Undressed" Chipboard letters and followed this tutorial.  I put my own spin to the decorating by using ART-C glimmer mist in Red and inking the edges with a mix of the Colorbox gold and bronze inks.  Once it was dry, I randomly stamped over the letters.

I loved this challenge!  I look forward to using this techniques I learned in the future.  I hope to see you at the progressive challenge next month. 

Tell us 10 things about yourself that not a lot of people know

Hello all!  This post is going to be a little different than my others!  I'm taking part in a "Blog Challenge" and my challenge this week is to tell you 10 things about myself that few people know!  So....here goes:
1.  Favorite color: don't have one!  I actually like a lot of colors, but most range in the deeper shades; burgundy, gold, hunter green, dark purple, and teal.
2.  Pet Peeve: People who believe everyone owes them...take responsibility for your life and work for what you want!
3. Favorite Author(s):Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb & Stephanie Meyers
4. Favorite Band(s):Train, Script, New Kids on the Block, & Backstreet Boys(yes!  I'm still a teeny bopper at heart!)
5. Favorite T.V. shows:I love Survivor, Biggest Loser, Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and Big Brother
6. Dream job(s):I have 2!  To be a published author and to own my own vacation resort in a warm sunny place!
7. Favorite Bible verse: Psalm 23
8. Favorite vacation spot: Myrtle Beach, S.C., Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg,TN,
9. Places I want to visit: Ireland, Memphis, TN, Bahamas
10. I grew up in a big city, but I now live in a tiny town and I love every minute of it!

So there you have it!  10 things that people outside of my family don't know about me.  I have ecclectic tastes in everything and I like it!  I like knowing that I am uniquely me.

Clearsnap & Epiphany Crafts bloghop

Good morning all!  Hope you all are having a wonderful week.  Just wanted to drop a quick line or two about the bloghop going on over at Clearsnap & Epiphany Crafts.  Clearsnap is the maker of Smooch Spritz and ColorBox inks and Epiphany Crafts makes the Shape and Button Studio tools, which allow the crafter to make their own expoxy or acrylic embellishments.  Both sites are featuring great project ideas throughout the week; and of course offering some great "candy"!  Hop over to their sites and take a look!

Our Treasures

Hello all!  I'm back today to share with you another layout.  I found this sketch from Flying Unicorn a while back and saved it to my sketch file. 

I actually forgot that I had this one saved until yesterday when I went looking through my file for inspiration. I wanted to scrap a formal portrait of my children taken last year but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.  Instant excitement!  Here's my interpretation on this sketch:

For this lo I used Bazzill Mysterious Teal and Burgundy cardstock, BasicGrey Simply Grand from their Hello Luscious Collection, and K&Company KO Addison Blue Garden Swirls papers.  I used my Cricut and the Lacy Labels cartridge to cut the shapes I placed behind the picture and I used the Serenade cartridge to cut the flowers in the lower right-hand corner.  For the little flowers I glued to the trim I used an old punch I had.  I found the gorgeous trim at Michaels and the title sign and the corner decorations are from the K&Company Elegance Die-cut pack (the reverse side has the word family printed on it, I flipped it over and hand wrote my title).  I also used some blue-y teal gems for some extra sparkle!  I love how this lo turned out and it was so simple to do!

Heritage Layout

Hello all!  Hope this post finds everyone doing not only well, but great!  Today I want to share my newest Heritage layout with you that I've entered in the 1,000 views challenge on MLogan Design blog.  The prize is a Scrap FX chipboard pack worth $50.  Check it out!

Now onto the lo:
I generally scrap my immediate family pictures, but recently I've started scrapping Heritage pictures from both mine and my husbands families.  I love taking a look back & seeing where we come from.  I want my children to know those who walked before them, even though they may not have had the chance to meet them.  My children love to look at the heritage pictures that my husband and I have, and I want to make sure that these priceless memories are preserved for future generations.

In this layout, the picture features my husband's grandmother as a young woman and his mother as a baby.  My children were and are fortunate to have known both of these amazing women. 

For this lo, I used Bazzill 12 x 12 cardstock in French Vanilla as my base and added an old beautiful print paper as my next layer.  I water distressed the edges and then inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye and with Ditto dye ink in Red.  The next layer I used a paper doily that I spritzed with ART-C Glimmer Mist in Red.  The color was more pink than I was expecting so I used the Ditto Red ink to bring out the detail of the doily.  I then used a small square of really old (circa 1998) paper that had a cream lace pattern as my next layer.  I water distressed the edges and inked with the Tea Dye.  I matted the picture on a piece of paper from the Me & My Big Ideas 8 x 8 Pismo kit.  Then I took 2 small chipboard pieces from the Fancy Pants Scrolls collection and inked them with the Red ink.  Once that was dry I embossed around the edges (should have paid more attention to the label, I thought it was clear, turned out it was white lol), I spritzed over that with the Red Glimmer mist, inked the edges with TH Tea Dye and embellished with some red gems.  I added the flowers, pearls and leaves and then used small pieces of Prima's Say It With Crystals Swirls in Clear.  For the title I used a metal sign from Making Memories Girl line, it reads "Absolutely Delightful".  I smeared a little bit of white acrylic paint over the letters and wiped it off to make the words stand out.  It's hard to see in the picture, but irl it looks great. 

If you have never tried scrapping your Heritage pictures give it a try.  Who knows, maybe you'll love it as much as I do!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!   

Denay

Happy Fall!

Happy Fall everyone!  While I'm very sad to say good-bye to summer I'm looking forward to Fall.  The crisp weather, the changing leaves, pumpkins, apples and the local Festivals, Halloween and Thanksgiving; what's not to like?!

Today, I'd like to share a new layout I completed this week.  The pictures were taken in October, 2009 while we were on a weekend trip to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN.  On the corner of the main street in Gatlingburg was a "harvest" vignette, including an outhouse!  My kids were laughing and joking about the outhouse, so of course I just had to go sit inside! (you won't catch me in a working one lol!).  My son thought that was great and had to ham it up also.  My husband thought we were crazy, and took the pictures to prove we were!

I used 3 pattern papers and a small strip of solid pumpkin colored cardstock.  Love the layering.  I inked around the sides with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Tea Dye to add a little definition to the papers.  I'm not much on stickers, but I used them on the banner, and the pumpkins are punch-outs both are adhered with Pop Dots to add dimension.  The title "Autum" and the corn embellie came in a fall kit I've had for years, also adhered with Pop Dots.  Love how the sun cast shadows behind the embellies!  

This is one of my favorite family fall memories!  What are yours?

Sweet 16

Good morning all!  Hope you are having a good weekend.  I just wanted to share a layout I recently completed.  The picture is of me at 16; it's one of the few school pictures that I love; yes love, even with the big 80's hair!

In this layout I used a lot of distressing, ink, silk and paper flowers, brads and bling; but I think my favorite part is the lacing.  I was really intimidated the first time I tried the lacing technique, but now that I've done it a few times it's definately a personal favorite.

 I also love the chipboard bracket.  I started with a plain sheet of chipboard, cut it out on my Cricut, inked with a red ink pad and let it dry.  Then I used some Acrylic gold metallic paint and a stamp and randomly stamped over the ink.  Once that was dry, I sprayed some gold glimmer mist over it and then inked the edges.  I really love how it turned out. 

Color Challenge 2 at Scrappily Ever After

Hey all!  I'm back with another entry into Scrappily Ever After's color challenge.  This is the second challenge for August, and I have to say I loved, loved, loved the colors for this week.  The rules are you have to use 4 out of 5 colors on the card.  Check them out below!

There was also a twist for this week.  You have to use the sketch below:

I love using sketches.  They are a great jumping off point for my creativity.  Sometimes I will alter the sketch to better fit my lo, and other times I will follow the sketch as close as I can.  Here's my entry:

(I apologize for the crappy picture, but the flash kept distorting the image.)I used all of the colors except for the brown.  I love how this lo came together.

Let me know what you think!





Color Inspiration Challenge

Good morning all!  Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  I wanted to share with you my project for the Color Inspiration Challenge over at Scrappily Ever After. 

The object of the challenge was to create a layout or a card using only the colors on the color card.  The only other color that can be used is white.  This was a hard challenge for me.  While I love greens, I don't care for yellow.  That being the case, I didn't want to do a full layout.  Now, I've never made a card before, but I decided to give it a try.  Here's my card:

The inside quote says "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them -Walt Disney". 

I really like how this turned out.  Let me know what you think!

DCWV August Challenge

Hello all!  Welcome back!  Today I want to share with you my entry for the Design Cuts with a View (DCWV) August challenge.  DCWV provides the sketch and entrants use DCWV stacks to create their layouts.  Here's the sketch:

For my entry I used the All About Boys 2 stack.  The colors went perfectly with my son's clothes!  I love the stacks from DCWV!  Here's my entry:

 I altered the title "Yum" by using my Adirondack Color Wash spray in Sailboat Blue.  Instead of spraying it, I dipped a paintbrush into the Wash and painted my letters.  I love the way the polka-dots show through. The paper was originally white with polka-dots (see the loop border) and it faded into the background.  I stayed pretty true to the sketch, only adding some extra half circles and buttons as my embellishments.    

If you would like to participate go to DCWV!  Hope you have as much fun with this sketch as I did!

Quick Quotes challenge & entry

Hello all!  I wanted to take a minute or two and tell you about the Friday challenge over at Quick Quotes and to share my entry.  The challenge is to include a number somewhere on your layout.  Here's mine:

This was my youngest child's first birthday.  He wasn't real sure what to do with the presents; but he knew that the money was something special!  When it was time to eat, he did what all little ones do...he got cake everywhere.  He had some help from his oldest sister when she got him to do the "Oh No" pose (top right corner). 
You only have until August 11th at 11:59 p.m. pacific time to upload your entry, so get to scrappin'!

Just a quick note!

Hi all!  Hope you're having a fabulous day!  Just wanted to stop by and let everyone know about Kim Watson's awesome giveaway on her Blog http://kj-starre.blogspot.com/.  You can win the Calico Studio's August "Boardwalk" kit.  Well...what are you waiting for?  Head over to Kim's blog and follow the instructions!  Good luck!

So busy!

Things have been super crazy around my house lately.  The kids go back to school next week and I've been working a few extra hours these past weeks.  I did manage to get in some scrapping time though!  Over at scrapbook.com I took part in last weekend's Progressive challenge. 
This lo is of my youngest.  I had so much fun creating this lo.  It's not my usual style.  I've always been afraid of tearing and distressing, but I saw this wonderful tutorial (which just happened to be a part of the Progressive Challenge) over at Moments of Tranquility  and decided to try it.  I think it's one of my new favorite things to put on a layout. 

You can see the original tutorial by clicking here: http://www.moments-of-tranquility.com/2010/09/distressed-fold-back-frame-tutorial.html

Thanks Natasha for the wonderful tutorial! 

(sorry if the link doesn't work!  I'm still learning this blog thing!)

My first entry!

Hello all!  So glad you found me.  I'm new to the blogging world, but I have a feeling I'll be enjoying this creative ride.  I've been scrappin for a lot of years, but I'm still learning.  There are so many new techniques to learn and explore.  Recently I've learned to make paper flowers, and I'm becoming very addicted to them.  When I started scrapbooking years ago, there were very limited choices in paper and embellishments; and I love all of the new products that are constantly coming out. 

Below I've posted a layout using the paper flowers I've learned to make.  Let me know what you think.

Here's a close up of the flowers.