It's Paper Trunk's Birthday!!

Happy 4th of July America!!  I hope you all have fun and safe celebrations this weekend!  Did you also know that it is Paper Trunk's 3rd Birthday?  Well it is and they're giving away some party favors!  Hop on over to today's post at www.papertrunk.blogspot.com and get your name in for a giveaway!!

I have one more fabulous thing to celebrate with everyone...My husband has finally been discharged from the Navy and we are officially civillians! Hip, hip, hooray!!  To honor this glorious moment in our lives, I of course had to create a layout to preserve the memory of the day my husband came home and took off that uniform for the very last time!  Here's a little sneak of it, but to see more and read my post, head over to Paper Trunk's blog.

God Bless America and have a happy and safe Independence Day!

A Few Bits To Share.....

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend and getting a chance to find inspiration and make the most of it!!  I've been having so much fun lately getting lots of projects done.  Creating is my ultimate distraction from life's let downs and upsets.  It keeps me focused, a smile on my face, and gives me something to look forward to each day!  Here are a few things that I've created lately...

These first two projects are things that I recently made for a good friend's baby shower. This card I created using Paper Trunk's, "Wrangler", line.

I also made for my friend's baby shower a sign for when her newborn is sleeping.  For this project I used all My Little Shoebox papers and a Nikki Sivils large chipboard album page.

Next I created a layout for My Little Shoebox's current contest.  There is a chance to win a $200 prize package of MLS goodies!!  Check out their Blog for more info.  For their first week of the challenge, they asked that you use four different elements for the Lil' Critter line.  Here is what I was able to come up with using the last itty bitty scraps that I had left.

And The Winner Is.....

Good Happy Thursday everyone!!  Today it is my pleasure to announce the winner of my Paper Trunk Blog Rock post! I asked if you could match up the slang definitions with the titles of the new designs for Paper Trunk's brand new "Rockabilly" collection.  In case you were curious, here are the answers...

1.CREEPERS ...a type of shoe

2.ROCKIN ...sick, awesome; to wear

3.GINCHIEST...coolest    

4.CHERRY...originally, unaltered car

5.DADDY-O ...term of address

6.GREASER...a guy with tons of grease in his hair

And  now for the drumroll please..............

Thank you to my lovely assistant, Kiersten Belle.........

The random hand drawn winner is..................

Out of 30 comments.................

Someone who said......................

"Darling layout!

1.CREEPERS F. A TYPE OF SHOE
2.ROCKIN B. SICK, AWESOME; TO WEAR
3.GINCHIEST D. COOLEST
4.CHERRY A. ORIGINALLY, UNALTERED CAR
5.DADDY-O C. TERM OF ADDRESS
6.GREASER E. A GUY WITH TONS OF GREASE IN HIS HAIR
Because I am a librarian, I had to look them up! I'm such a geek!"

Kelly Massman, come on down!!  You are my lucky winner!!!  Congratulations!!  Please send your information to Carrie at info@papertrunk.com to claim your prize!

Paper Trunk Blog Rock!

Okay all you dolly's, welcome back to the Paper Trunk Blog Rock!!  Are you flippin over all these sneaks or what? They are the ginchiest!  I feel so lucky to have landed such an awesome gig! So here's a bit of dish on the new line coming out next month called, "Rockabilly"

Like all papers, each design has it's own name. This new line has a clever twist to their names in that each design is named after a 50's slang term.  Isn't that just a kick in the pants!

To go along with the fun fact that these papers are named after slang words, I thought I'd play a little match up game with all you rockin cats!  You dig?  

Okay, here goes and it should be pretty easy.  Now don't cheat and look ahead through all the comments at everyone else's answers. Really though, anyone who leaves a comment and becomes a follower of my blog will be entered into a random drawing for a coolio Paper Trunk prize!!  All  you need to do is match up the names of the paper's with their definitions, leave a comment and follow my blog, easy peasy!

                                                        

1.CREEPERS 

2.ROCKIN 

3.GINCHIEST    

4.CHERRY

5.DADDY-O  

6.GREASER

A. ORIGINALLY, UNALTERED CAR                                                                  

B. SICK, AWESOME; TO WEAR                                                                     

C. TERM OF ADDRESS                                                                      

D. COOLEST                                                                

E. A GUY WITH TONS OF GREASE IN HIS HAIR                             

F. A TYPE OF SHOE                                                                                                     

Now without further ado, here is your next sneak peek of the new line.This one is the front side of the paper named "Rockin"

As one of the new Trunk Team Designers, I fortunately received my box of Paper Trunk goodies just in the nick of time to be able to whip up a new layout to share with you all. Let me tell you, the quality of this paper is outstanding AND it's recycled!!  Since I hadn't done a two page layout in quite some time and since I LOVE this new line so much I wanted to dig in right away and start playing!  These photos of my daughter playing her mini pink guitar in her Cinderella dress were just perfect for this new line!!  My little Rock Princess =)

I used almost all the new papers from the new "Rockabilly" line.  

Daddy-O, Cherry, Rockin, Ginchiest, and Greaser.  Cardstock is from DCWV and Core'dinations.

For this paper flower I used the Greaser paper to make the small spiraled rosebud in the center and used  inspiration from the flower tutorial by Corinne on the Paper Trunk blog to add the petals around the outside.

Well, that's all from me. Please feel free to go apey and head on over to Penny's blog tomorrow morning for your next sneak peak of the new line "Rockabilly" and another chance to win!   You have until June 1st to leave your comments on my peeps blogs as well as mine. If you've gotten lost along the way go to the Paper Trunk Blog to see a full list of the Blog Rock addy's.  Have a rockin good time, later gators!

This Made My Day!!!

So after a tiring day of going to the doctor with my three year old and finding out my military ID card was expired leading me to being twenty minutes late for my appointment, then after my appointment and having to sit through a wait for the pharmacy, having to deal with the nuisance of getting a temporary ID card, sitting through a torturous lunch at the McDonald's play land where I swear they should serve alcohol to us poor moms who have to endure all that screaming, I got a phone call on my way home with the best news ever!!!  I got to talk to Carrie Postma personally as she welcomed me to the new Paper Trunk design team!!!  I'm sooooo stoked!!  Not only are they an awesome eco-friendly company, but they are based in Wilsonville, OR which is not far from my home town of McMinnville Oregon.  I'm so hoping to make it down there soon to meet Carrie in person.  Thank you so much Paper Trunk for choosing me as part of the new design team, and also a huge congrats to my fellow team mates!!!

Just For Mom

It’s that time of year again when we show mothers how much they are appreciated and loved. That being said, I took the opportunity to make my mother’s gift this year using the wonderful papers made by Kiki-Art. Specifically I used the papers from the Magica line because I love the rich and varigated colors. You can find them at http://kiki-art.com/products.php?idcol=20&type=collection

What I did was use these papers to make the popular and very simple spiraled paper flowers that we’ve all probably seen. There are several tutorials out there on how to make these paper flowers and I found one similar to the technique I used here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyCSasUd7GY

This truly was a labor of love for my mother! I spent several evenings in front of the TV making these simple, yet pretty little flowers. When I had made enough I simply covered a styrofoam ball and adhered them with glue dots. Then I filled the little pail with another styrofoam ball and glued moss on top. I attached the two together with a painted dowling rod, and voila I had made a beautiful paper topiary that will far outlast any fresh flower display.

Happy Mother's Day!!  Do something special for the mom's in your life.  I love you mom!!

Just a Little Share & Tell

Hey friends, just thought I'd pop onto my blog here and do a little share and tell with you all.  I finished a couple layouts the other night.  They are of my daughter's second birthday. We went camping and when we got home we made cupcakes and ate them outside on the back porch in the warm August evening weather.  August is such a nice time of year around here in Washington and since we've been here it has been a tradition of ours to take little Kiersten camping for her birthday each year.  For these two layouts I mainly used My Little Shoebox's "Just Add Butter" line, as well as a sprinkling of a few of their other lines.  I also used some Hambly, Prima rosebuds, and Basic Grey rub-ons.

Here is our daughter Kiersten licking frosting off of her finger.  I love pictures that aren't posed and that capture the moment as it's really happening.

I wrapped the cupcakes in some Webster's Pages ribbon just to fancy them up a bit.  For the letter "K", I had a Heidi Swapp ghost letter that I never know what to do with and simply matted it onto some brown cardstock and then smeared it with white acrylic paint to mimic the look of icing.

One tip I've learned in designing layouts is that it works out nicely to have supporting photos turned black and white so that you don't have too many colors competing for visual attention.  I turned the photo of the cupcakes black and white because the colors of the sprinkles were just too distracting.  I added a little pop to them by gluing a little sequin to the top of each cupcake and adding a rosebud to the little plate.

I really love how this layout turned out because I really struggled with it at first.

For these little flowers on the branch I simply used photo corners from My Little Shoebox's cardstock cut outs.  I'm not a big fan of photo corners, so I had a moment of inspiration and turned them into flowers.  I used decorative straight pins for their stamens.

I hope you liked what I had to share and tell today!  Thanks for stopping by for a looksie!!

Kiki-Art Blog Hopscotch **WINNER**

Thanks to random.org, the winner of my altered lunch pail for the good cause of the Let's Move Campaign is....


 Sharpshooting by Sherri said...


"This is a very important cause. Here in Canada it is called participaction. It ran when I was a child, and now that I have a daughter they are bringing it back it is very important. Love your lunch bucket."


Sherri from Scraptivity


April 30, 2010 8:38 AM

Sherri, please email at jcstirrat@hotmail.com with your address so I can mail out your prize!  Congrats!!

Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments and I hope that I was able to bring attention to a good cause!!

Scraptivity's May Kit Revealed!

Hi friends!  So I think you're all gonna want to see this new kit that Scraptivity revealed just yesterday.  It's a beauty of a kit!  Their kits just keep getting better and better!  This one is chock full of gorgeous ribbons, trims, baubles, and bling!  Not to mention the colors are pretty juicy too!  Have a gander at what I created with this kit and let me know what you think =)  Also, make sure to head over to Scraptivity to check out their gallery and see what the rest of the design team did with the kit.

• TPC Studio: Boho Blooms collection double-sided paper – two sheets each of Floral Border and Blue

• TPC Studio: Boho Blooms collection double-sided specialty paper with spot varnish – one sheet each of Rainbow and Lemon Love
• KaiserCraft: Gypsy Sisters collection double-sided paper – two sheets each of Esmeralda and Nadia
• Bazzill: textured cardstock – two sheets each of Yosemite, Candle, and Pomegranate
• Tattered Angels: Glimmer Mist – 1 oz bottle each of Mustard Seed and Meadow Green
• Prima Marketing Inc: Say It In Pearls Centers – 4 pieces in assorted colours
• Webster’s Pages: Glitter Sparklers – 4 pieces in Aqua
• Webster’s Pages: Scalloped Sparklers With Rhinestone – 2 pieces in Clear
• Ka-Jinker: Pearl Flower Gems – 6 pieces
• Petaloo: Celebrations Jewel Daisies, white – 6 pieces in assorted sizes
• Webster’s Pages: Bloomers ribbon with blooms – ½ yard of Aqua
• Making Memories: printed twill – 1 yard of Butterfly
• May Arts: Ruffle-edge Ribbon – 1 yard of White
• May Arts: Sheer Ribbon With Rosettes – ½ yard of Yellow
• May Arts: Leaves Ribbon – 1 yard of White
• Tulle: 6-inch – 1 yard each of White, Copper, and Aqua
• Flower stamens
• Coffee filters and paper towel pieces – for creating flowers with various types of paper
• Inkadinkado: Clear Stamps – Butterfly and Flower
• Notions™ newsletter

This next project is a little something special that I made for my sister.  She is an amazing home cook!!  She and I have a small collection of aprons handmade by our very talented mother.  When I came across a Spring Crop class by Kim Watson over at Cocoa Daisy, called Hanging Pretty, I knew it would be a perfect pairing for making this adorable apron hanger for my oh so loved big sis! The colors in Scraptivity's May kit were perfect for it!  Hey 'Chelle, wanna come cook Thai for us again?!

Oh, and I just have one more thing to share with you before you go.  I'm so tickled to say that I am published in Scrapstreet.com's current May Issue.  You can check out the full article here.

 Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Kiki-Art Blog Hopscotch!

Welcome to our first KIKI ART Design Team Blog Hop... only we call it BLOG HOPSCOTCH!


• When?  During National Scrapbook Day week-end.

It will run from Thursday 29th until Monday May 3rd

• How to play?  You start wherever you want, visiting the blogs of our talented Design team members (including all three Kiki Art blogs at the same time).


Each member of our design team was asked to pick a good cause and create a project based on that cause to show it on their blogs. So you have to find out which cause they are supporting and take note of it.


When you hop from one design team member to the other you will get inspired by their artistic work and hopefully you will also get inspired seeing all the efforts some human beings do to give us a better world.


• How to get a prize from the Kiki Art blog?

You can participate to be one of the random picked winners to get a prize from the Kiki Art blog.
To qualify for that chance you have to leave a comment on the Kiki Art blog, mentioning which one were your favorite blogs during your visits at the blog hop and the causes they have picked (don't limit yourself... you can choose as many blogs as you want!)


• How to get a prize from a Kiki Art design team member blog?

Many members of our design team have decided to give away a project that is related to the good cause they believe in. Leave a message in to their blogs and they will pick a random winner from the comments left on their post.


On Tuesday, May 4th, all the Giveaway winners will be announced throughout all the blog sites!


Let's the BLOG HOPSCOTCH begin!! Get inspired and enjoy!

When I was asked to choose a good cause to represent on my blog, at first I had a heck of a time trying to think of something that was close to my heart.  Then one day while watching TV I saw something that interested me very much.  That was, the Let's Move Campaign to fight childhood obesity.  That, combined with shows like Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and The Biggest Loser, I knew immediately what good cause I needed to highlight for you today.  I hope this will inspire someone else to help fight the epidemic of childhood obesity.  I myself was an overweight child and now that I am a mother, I want to prevent my daughter from going through the same pains that I did and to teach her in a positive manner the importance of a healthy body.

The Let's Move Campaign is supported by First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as community leaders, teachers, doctors, nurses, moms and dads in a nationwide campaign to tackle the challenge of childhood obesity.

From the Let's Move website, which can be found here

"Obesity threatens the healthy future of one third of all American children. Obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years.


We spend $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing. For the first time in American history, our children’s life expectancy may be shorter than their parents’.


We need to get moving."

I encourage everyone to go to the Let's Move website to find out how you can join this important movement and help your own family as well.  Find out more at http://letsmove.gov/index.html 

Just to say thanks for taking notice of this good cause, I'm going to be giving away this cute little altered lunch pail made with Kiki-Art papers, and glittered chipboard. Leave me a comment and I'll be sending this out to one random lucky gal.  And don't forget, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!!

Don't forget to visit these other design team member blogs to up your chances of winning some goodies!

Here goes the list of names and blog addresses for the design teams:

English/Anglais/Ingles

Fleur Smith – BC, CANADA - http://fleursbydesign.blogspot.com/

Jillian Anger – ON, CANADA - http://www.sleepisnotrequired.blogspot.com/

Linda Shewchuk – SK, CANADA - http://awesomememories.blogspot.com/

Stephanie Hart – NS, CANADA - http://www.stephanie-hart.blogspot.com/

Tammy Lever – AB, CANADA - http://www.tampatha.wordpress.com/

Virginia Wong – AB, CANADA - http://www.virginiawongmichiels.blogspot.com/

Ann-Katrin – NORWAY - http://www.papirhobby.no/

Annika Bergquist – SWEDEN - http://www.annikasblandning.blogspot.com/

Carole Stirrat – WA, USA- http://www.carolestirrat.blogspot.com

Einat Kessler – ISRAEL - http://www.scrapinit.blogspot.com/

Ellen Sosnoski – PA, USA - http://www.closeyourears.blogspot.com/

Katrina Hunt – MO, USA - http://www.paperscissorsandglue.blogspot.com/

Keely Yowler – KY, USA - http://www.keelyy.blogspot.com

Lynda Lindley – WA, USA - http://www.positive-force.blogspot.com/

Meghan Epperly – FL, USA http://www.igiveacrop.wordpress.com/

Nicole Rixon – CA, USA - http://www.onesweetromance.com/

Ria Mojica – PHILIPPINES - http://www.cakesnscraps.blogspot.com/

Sarah de Guzman – CA, USA http://www.redoaklines.com/

Sophia Allison – SOUTH AFRICA http://www.sallison.blogspot.com/

Vivi Rahman – BRUNEI http://vivs.typepad.com/tyroscrapper

KIKI - Arantza Izurrategui - QC, CANADA - http://www.bykiki.ca/

Spanish/Espagnol/Español

Carolyn – USA & Panamá - http://www.carolynscrap.blogspot.com/

Christine – USA - http://www.scrappygal-scrapthat.blogspot.com/

Dessy – MEXICO - http://www.scrapenlasmontanias.blogspot.com/

Lida – MEXICO - http://www.rainbowcrafter.blogspot.com/

Olgacle – COLOMBIA - http://www.olgascrap.blogspot.com/

Patty – MEXICO - http://www.mynameisscrappy.blogspot.com/

Rebeca – ESPAÑA - http://www.mirinconscrap.blogspot.com/

Rosa – ESPAÑA - http://www.scraprosarr2.blogspot.com/

Tere – USA & Mexico - http://www.terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Kiki Canada & Argentina - http://www.bykiki.ca/

French/Francaise/Frances

Annie – Québec, Canada - http://www.annie10-unjourlafois.blogspot.com/

Kimmieprout – Québec, Canada - http://www.kimmieprout.blogspot.com/

Ladybird – Québec, Canada - http://www.blogladybird.blogspot.com/

Loustic – Québec, Canada - http://www.uneviedeloustic.blogspot.com/

Zamaline – Québec, Canada - http://www.janealiasjanik.blogspot.com/

Marie France - Québec, Canada - http://www.kikiartist.com/mariefrance

Karine - Québec, Canada - http://www.karl-scrap.blogspot.com/

- Kiki - Arantza Izurrategui - Québec, Canada - http://www.bykiki.ca/

Don't Forget...

...to join us tomorrow for Kiki-Art's Blog Hopscotch!  Here's the low down on the fun which starts tomorrow, April 29th-May 3rd

• When?
 During National Scrapbook Day week-end. It will run from Thursday 29th until Monday May 3rd

• How to play?
You start wherever you want, visiting the blogs of our talented Design team members (including all three Kiki Art blogs at the same time).

Each member of our design team was asked to pick a good cause and create a project based on that cause to show it on their blogs. So you have to find out which cause they are supporting and take note of it.

When you hop from one design team member to the other you will get inspired by their artistic work and hopefully you will also get inspired seeing all the efforts some human beings do to give us a better world.

• How to get a prize from the Kiki Art blog?
You can participate to be one of the random picked winners to get a prize from the Kiki Art blog.
To qualify for that chance you have to leave a comment on the Kiki Art blog, mentioning which one were your favorite blogs during your visits at the blog hop and the causes they have picked (don't limit yourself... you can choose as many blogs as you want!)

• How to get a prize from a Kiki Art design team member blog?
Many members of our design team have decided to give away a project that is related to the good cause they believe in. Leave a message in to their blogs and they will pick a random winner from the comments left on their post.

Until the festivities begin tomorrow, I have a layout to share that I created using Kiki-Art supplies.  This layout is featured on the These Are a Few of My Favorite Things Challenge Blog. There are several other layouts done by our wonderful Kiki-Art design team featrured on the blog as well, so please go check them out for some great inspiration!  The challenge over there this month is to do a layout about your favorite city.  My favorite city happens to be San Fransisco which I will hopefully be living near to in the next couple of months =)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you back again tomorrow for the Kiki-Art Blog Hopscotch!!

Moving?...Maybe Baby...

Hey there friends! I hope your day has been a good one, but here in our house we received some sad and frustrating news today.  Our moving plans have been delayed.  If you read one of my recent posts, I explained how we were about to start a new life and begin a journey outside of  the Navy, a long awaited dream.  Now, it appears we will have to put that dream on hold as the Navy is being complicated and dragging on the all to familiar military saying, "hurry up and wait!".  So California you'll have to wait for now and we will enjoy the Spring weather and maybe the Summer weather as well here in Washington.  Perhaps it was Murphy's Law seeing as my husband and I sat down and made some moving cards the other night.  We both made two cards using My Little Shoebox's "Away We Go" collection which is perfect for a moving card!  My hubby is just too darn cute in his support of my paper crafting and it was fun to get to create together.  So first thing I'm going to show you are the two cards created by my wonderful and loving hubby, Jay.

These next two cards were created my moi =)

Although we aren't moving quite as soon as expected, we will be moving eventually so I'll hang on to these cute cards and will probably have time now to make even more!  Until moving day actually arrives, I'll do my best to keep my chin up.  Thank goodness I have my scrapbooking to take my mind off things and keep me busy!!  Thank you My Little Shoebox for brightening my days with your cheerful papers!

Cocoa Daisy's Spring Crop!

If you aren't familiar with Cocoa Daisy, well then girlfriend you really should be!  They are so much fun over there and this weekend they are having a Spring Crop.  There is so much going on over there, you really should check them out if you have some free time this weekend.  Here is a sample of what I've created from their challenges so far...

This layout was for their challenge #2-Laundry Line. I used mainly supplies from My Little Shoebox.  The challenge was to follow this sketch...

Next challenge I took on was Challenge #3-Raindrops on Roses. The challenge: to use glossy accents somewhere on your layout.  For my layout I chose to use the glossy accents in creating rain falling down the page. Papers are from Prima.

The last layout isn't actually for Cocoa Daisy's Spring Crop, but instead is for their April Lift Contest.  I again used My Little Shoebox papers for this layout.

Hopefully you can stop in over at Cocoa Daisy this weekend, there is some fabulous inspiration sprouting up all over the place over there!!!  Happy Crafting!