Work...I was working ALL weekend so didn't get a chance to do anything with National Scrapbooking Day - however - yesterday I pounded out a few LO's and cards for the Movie Madness Challenges over at the Nook.  It was great to finally get some things done and feel creative for once!  

My husband once said "every LO doesn't always have to be your favorite..." and he's right.  You don't have to think it's the best project that you have ever done...and because of this, I feel comfortable creating things are simple and some that are intricate.  Some take me days to complete, some take me hours....

Here are few of projects that I completed yesterday in a few hours...again not all of these are my FAVORITE projects I have ever completed, however they are a way to document life and it feels great to get some things scrapped!!

This is of my little guy at halloween last year.  He was a little dragon!!!  It was his first time going out and he did a fabulous job - as this one is not shy in any way - he made friends with all the neighbours!!!

I embossed the little envelope and put two bingo cards in it as well as a journalling card to write about the event.  I layered the "Spooky" sticker onto patterned paper with the same word.  The skull is a Tim Holtz die from one is his grunge board sets.  The transparency branch on the left side at the top is Kaiser Kraft.

This is a quick one I put together documenting my little guys' first time on skates.  He was just two and bit here...

This was based off of a sketch over at the Nook.  I used Simple Stories and some Crate Paper tags on this one.  

This LO is a bit different....there was a challenge to make your own background...so I chose to use the die cut leftovers from an October Afternoon sheet of journalling cards as my mask.  Then I sprayed it with different colors to get the look I wanted.

This is when my hubby and I went to Boston a few years ago - our favorite place BTW...

Then I just added a few pieces here and there....

Here is a little tag I made using Glitter as the main focus for another challenge.  I love the MME paper with all the glitter and bling on it.  I made the rose flower out of the Tim Holtz Sizzix pinecone die - so awesome!  I inked the seam binding to create the tie at the top.

A little 6 x 6 card that needed to be mostly "red" in various shades.  I used Crate Paper for this card.  The alphas are from Echo Park.

And lastly - a card sketch challenge.  I made that flower out of vintage pattern paper.  The rest of it is again made with Crate Paper - love this stuff!!!

Hope everyone had a great NSD and got lots of accomplished!  Blog soon,

Jody

Inspiration....

My scrappy friend Sherri was over the other day and we got

 to talking about inspiration from other scrappers.  I believe artists and crafters work hard to create projects that they love, have meaning and inspire others - therefore one should be given praise for what they make and how it has perked another crafters imagination and spirit.  

At the same time, there are so many trends out there that it's difficult to pin point certain ideas and styles.  For me, my style changes often.  I usually create messy, layered items, however I also like clean, simple pieces.  I enjoy changing it up every once in a while...helps me to grow as a scrapper.

I also like to try new techniques and keep up to date with the latest trends.  Does that mean that I "took" someone's idea and made it my own - or just that I was inspired by someones talent and showed it mixed in with my own....this is such a tough call because it IS HARD to know where one gets the idea if it's EVERYWHERE in the scrappy world - like accordian flowers, mini envelopes, embossing, etc...they are so pretty and many, many people use them - so who do you give credit to???

There are some obvious things that need to be acknowledged though...

such as sketches, challenges and lifts....these should be, in my opinion, given credit to those that have worked hard to create these things. 

With that, I leave you with a LO that I created, getting inspiration from my good friend Pat Carson over at Everything Happens For a Reason.  She created a LO of her daughter and I loved how she used blank space near the bottom, the ruler and the mini envelope....so Pat - thank you for your talent and inspiration - I love your work and am thankful to know you and be one of your "followers"!

So....

I want to thank all those wonderful crafty ladies in the world that have inspired me throughout my scrappy career...all the talent, techniques, colors, challenges, sketches and product has helped me to create all of my projects and grow as an artist and a person.  

Your talent is truly appreciated!

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by!

BTW - your comments always bring a smile to my face!

Jody

A Little "Lift" from Above!

Yes - that's what I need - a little "lift" from above!!!  Well - this is a little challenge over at My Scrapbook Nook that I joined in last week.  The idea is to "lift" a LO from the person that has commented in the forum "above" you!  This is my first time participating in something like this - and it's been great!  I got the pleasure to "lift" from Sarah over at Hippy Chick.  I'm pretty sure we have the same type of dog - so I took inspiration from this LO of hers about her two dogs laying in the sun!

I have had this pic of Bauer for a while and just needed that little "push" to scrap it!  Here is my "lift" from Sarah's LO:

I loved that she used the hearts and then sewed down the middle!  I don't have a heart punch (however I totally need one now - thanks Sarah!) so I used my Martha Stewart starburst punch.  I loved the sewing she did on her page as well as the tiny alphas she used.  I used mostly MME Kraft line - however added in some Crate, Making Memories, Tattered Angels and some Cosmo Cricket into the LO.  Isn't that face sooooo cute??!!

I also have a few cards that I completed over the weekend...

I used My Scrapbook Nook's April kit to complete these.  I love the simplicity of this first one - I'm totally into "splats" - very official word - on my LO's so I tried it on my card - and loved it!

I also punched out some adhesive cork butterflies to give it some texture!

This card was originally supposed to be for a challenge that included and "outside of the box" type of banner on your card.  I didn't get it finished in time for the challenge - but here it is anyways.  Again I punched out some adhesive cork for under each letter - I found it makes the word stand out so much than just on the canvas banner.

Last but not least - I found some old stash of Teresa Collins that I absolutely love!  I can't believe I forgot about this stuff!  It is super clean lines and very...."clean"...(no other word really) that describes this line.  I love it for it's simplicity, colors and patterns.  I bought every piece to go with this line and have a ton left over - perfect for more birthday cards!

 I am working for the rest of the week so probably won't have a ton of scrapping time to get in...until the weekend that is!

Have a great rest of the week!

Jody

Basic Grey Plumeria Card Class

The new Plumeria line by Basic Grey is so pretty.  There are so many things that you can do with the sticker sheets and the paper.  The colors are so fun and vibrant, pretty and sweet.  I have created a card class for my LSS.  The class has 6 cards with all the pieces, embellies and paper provided.  Everything will be cut and ready to go.  Check out The Scrapbook Cottage for more information and to register!

Hope to see you there!

Jody

Some more Nook...

Just a little post to show a few things I have done recently...

I have been playing with My Scrapbook Nook stuff, including the add on that I got for free this month. Here I created a LO of my Mom.  It was taken this winter out on the farm.  The LO really isn't that "purple" shade that it looks like here...I couldn't get it right when adjusting the lighting...

I added a few other embellies from my stash that weren't included in the kit as well as some ribbon and the heart frame.  The two tags at the top pull out - which I have written on to tell a small story.

Here is LO I did using the Echo Park This and That line...it is so cute!  I did the splats using a Distress Ink stain from Tim Holtz/Ranger.  They are so fun to play with.  And...since I'm in the mood for banners lately, it was a must on this LO!  

And finally a little card I created using the Nook add on collection from Crate Paper.  I just kept adding stuff because I love layers and embellies.  This again, will go into my stash of cards that I love to make but hardly ever give out!  Crazy how that seems to happen!!!

Have a great week everyone!

Jody

My Scrapbook Nook April kit

I finally got my kit yesterday so of course I had to create!  

On the first LO I went a little crazy with the mist...it wasn't coming out of the bottle right so it didn't end up being exactly what I envisioned.  

This was for the quote/title challenge over at the Nook.  I used a quote from Dr. Seuss as Shea loves all Dr. Seuss books and the colors matched so perfectly!

This next one is of my little guy watching his favorite movie Cars.  He loves it so much he needs to sleep with the character cars that he has!  I wrote a bit on the red tag telling what movies and tv shows he likes right now.  

And just a few cards, again for some challenges over at the Nook.  I love to make flowers of all kinds and of course cards...so here are a few the I whipped together today.....

Needless to say this kit, and there is lots left over, is going to go a long way!  You can't go wrong with the awesome stuff that Crate puts together for every collection!  It is one of my favorite lines to use - always and with any topic/card/lo!  

Hope your Sunday is bright and cheery!

Jody

MME April Challenge

As I have said numerous times on this blog....I love a challenge!  MME blog has come up with a new look and some great new items on their agenda!  Their monthly challenges are not going to be sketches all the time - but may be a theme, item, etc!  For the month of April, they are having a "hexagon" challenge - so the Follow Your Heart line was calling my name for this!

Here is a pic of my little guy and my niece.  I love how these two play and laugh together - they make my heart fuller than it already is - so precious and make life so worth everything!

I misted the background using Tattered Angels mist and a mask from The Crafters Workshop.  It is probably one of my loves right now...I then just layered, layered and layered, trying to keep the hexagon shapes visible.  The kraft doily is from Maya Road and the twine is from a place off of etsy, the key hole is from Melissa Frances...other than that everything else is MME.  

I'm thankful that these two are so close in age...I hope that they grow up to be good friends that last a long, long time!

Head on over to the MME Challenge and enter yourself - it's always good to challenge yourself!

Jody