Yeah, A Blog Award! Thanks Melissa!

I am very excited and honored to have received this award from fellow blogger Melissa. I follow her blog also, and it is really nice to have fellow bloggers out there to relate to and to draw inspiration from daily. 

This award comes with a few rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered (see below).
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.


8 things about myself:

1) I am a grandmother of three granddaughters (who live with us), and one grandson. They call me Mimi.
2) I am married to my high school sweetheart. We  have known each other since Kindergarten.
3) I was born and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho. We moved to Arizona in Dec. 1988.
4) My favorite color is blue.
5) I love music. I have very eclectic tastes. I love anything from classical to rock or hip hop.
6) My past professions have been in banking and the medical/psychiatry fields. I'm not working at the present time.
7) My favorite animal in the world is the Killer Whale.
8) My favorite all time movie is Forrest Gump




8 blogs that I enjoy -  in random order:

1) Jennifer Larson: Midwest Scrapgarden 
2) Diana Chen: The Lonely Scrapbooker 
3) Christy: Where They'll Go 
4) Katie Scott: Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking 
5) Lisa Hausmann: Recklinghausen Musings 
6) Missy Whidden: Little Nugget Creations 
7) Narelle Jurss: Life-a-liscious 
8) April: Capture The Memories 

I know you will become addicted to one or more of these blogs if you check them out. I'm sure one or two, if not all, will be very familiar to you. I love them!

Have a wonderful week! It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. December Daily starts Wednesday already! I'm excited!

Happy Thanksgiving

To all of you, my blog readers and fellow crafters, may you be showered with many blessings. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate this holiday. And whether you do or not, take this time to reflect on the many blessings that you have been given. Friends, family, health, home. I am very thankful for all of them and I count you all among my many blessings. Have a wonderful weekend!

Working With A Sketch

Since I am not taking an official class at the present time, it has allowed me to peruse blogs and discover many interesting websites related to scrapbooking and other crafty ventures. Last month I was introduced to Scrapbookers Anonymous. I love their challenges that encourage you to use up your scrapbook stash. This month I am trying my hand at using a sketch for my layout at Sassy Lil' Sketches. I loved the November 7th sketch. It was perfect for my Easter photos. It allowed me to use the patterned paper I had purchased from Best Creation Inc., and I was able to spread the busy pattern around the layout without overpowering the photos. I love squares anyway, so this was right up my alley. 

Yesterday and today was the girls' school's annual Turkey Run. Each year they look forward to it and get very excited. I am proud to say that Madyson and Hannah won first place this year in their grade's run and each received a turkey. Miss Hayley came in 7th, and we are just as proud of her. She has come a long way each year and has done very well. But we are most proud of what they did after they won the run.  They donated their turkey's back to the school for families in need. We had mentioned it to Hannah first a couple of days ago, because she has won first place and a turkey every year since Kindergarten. We thought if she was blessed enough to win again this year, that we would love to give back to someone who needed it more. She was all for the idea and was excited to do that. Then when Madyson won also, she wanted to do the same. I hope they will always keep that giving spirit in their heart.

My photo of Hayley's run didn't turn out so well (She is the one shown in red with a big smile on her face). This one of her at the starting line was the best one I got. I must of bumped my camera settings when I took it out of the bag and it was on some weird setting. All of my photos were grainy. Safety tip for today:  Always check your camera settings before each photo shoot. Hard lesson learned.

Kickin' It Old School

The last two layouts I have made,  I feel a bit like I've entered a time machine and went back a few years in time. I most definitely went out of my usual product type and style to tell a couple of our stories. I even did "take backs" on some die cuts that I had put in my granddaughters craft box. I just couldn't resist using them. They "called to me",  if you will.

I haven't used any true old school die cuts in awhile. I had purchased these farm die cuts, (pre-made), on Ebay a few years ago. I had recently purged most of my die cuts and gave them all to the girls. One of our challenges for LOM Community at Big Picture Classes was to go to your oldest storage binder and pull pictures to make a layout. I came across these photos from a 2004  trip to the Harmony Farms at the Phoenix Zoo. There is a big red barn there, (even though it is not shown in the photos I selected), and that's what came into my mind when I was envisioning these photos in a layout. So I swiped  these die cuts back and used them in the layout. I like how it turned out. 

And in my second layout completed for another LOM challenge, we were to pull photos from our Places We Go category drawers and use them on a layout incorporating a map in the design. I don't know how many times I have kept maps, brochures, and other ephemera and never used it on a layout. I was more than happy to design the layout around the map. I think with all of the many photos I have taken at the zoo over the years, I may use divided 12X12 page protectors following this layout in my album with the other photos of the zoo animals. Either that or I can feel a mini book coming on.

There are so many ways to tell our stories. Clean, simple, artsy, wordy, photo heavy.....it's all good. Just keep getting them documented and have fun in the process!

Using Holiday Patterned Paper For Non-Holiday Layout

This month's challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous is to use holiday paper on a non-holiday layout. When I perused my stash of Christmas and Halloween patterned papers, I found I had many sheets that could work for many other topics. The circle paper I used in my layout is Reindeer Games by Pink Paislee. It was one of their Christmas lines I believe last year.

This paper could have easily been used for a 4th of July layout as well. I don't even remember buying it, but I know I fell in love with it. This is a true example of the kind of product I want to have in my stash. Product that could easily be used for many types of layouts.

I'm also working on my embellishment clusters. I love them so much, but they feel so forced to me. My style is so linear most of the time, but I crave a small section on my layouts to just go a bit willy nilly and burst from the page. I know I'll get better with practice.

Weekend Getaway & A Chance To Win Scrapbooking Goodness!

We had a wonderful extended weekend and we hope yours was as well. My husband Ron and I were able to take a much needed out of town getaway this past Veteran's Day weekend and had a marvelous time. We drove up north to Jerome, AZ. It's a historic copper mining town that rests along side a hill. They call it the most vertical city in America. And wow, most everything was built right on the hillside and most of it was on stilts. It's also called the largest ghost town in America. Evidently there are many haunts around this town.

We stayed at the Jerome Grand Hotel. It was constructed in 1926 as the United Verde Hospital. When the mining was phased out, the hospital closed. It wasn't until in the early 90's that someone purchased it and it became a hotel.

It was a awesome hotel with an old working Otis elevator. The rooms were awesome and it had a beautiful view from our balcony. Rumor has it that it is haunted. We even stayed on the third floor where most of the paranormal activity is reported. I am happy to say, nothing paranormal happened. The only exciting thing that went on was the loud yay-hoo's that came in at midnight and had a hard time working the elevator. There was a lot of creaking and pipe's clanking, but nothing too awful. Here's a photo of our floor, (no orbs or apparitions found in the photos), & the Otis elevator.

Here's the view from our room.

There were definitely many old haunts at every turn of the town.

We also checked out Out Of Africa Wildlife Park. We have lived in Arizona since December 1988 and have never checked this place out. It is owned by Dean and Prayeri Harrison and is an amazing and fun park. You really get up close and personal with the beautiful animals they have there. We will have to go back and take the kids along for the next trip.

 Now, about the giveaway.

Tiffany Johnson is having guest bloggers at her site, and if you leave a comment on each blog post from Nov. 13th to Dec. 1, you will be eligible for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate at Two Peas In A Bucket. How cool is that. There are other ways to have extra chances to win as well as runner up prizes. Check it all out here.
Thanks to Snaps and Snippets for passing this information along! 


I hope you all have a wonderful crafty week!

Weekend Creativity

We had a very fun weekend spent in Anthem, AZ. My husband Ron was in the Veteran's Day Parade that kicked off their celebration in honor of  the Veterans on Saturday. The girls had a blast spending the day out in the cooler weather, as did we.

We are so appreciative of what our past, present and future service men & women have done for us. Be sure to tell them thank you every chance you get.

In regards to crafting, since LOAD has completed, I have been organizing and purging my supplies. I've said it before and I will say it again, I have and buy too much stuff! I went through my supplies somewhat a few months ago and got rid of some product, but this time I did a more thorough purge. This last LOAD I really became familiar with the type of products that I am drawn to and that fit my current style. I had so many things that were not inspiring me in the least. I came across many things that I purchased because it was a good deal, or I knew I could probably use it in some way. All of it was a waste of money because it you don't use it, it's not such a good deal. I felt sick when I thought of the money that I have spent on too many things that at the time I just had to have, and now don't really care for.

I vow from this day forward to only buy when I need product. If I need Christmas paper, then I will go out and purchase some of the beautiful product that is on hand at the time. Again, if I'm not using what I have, I don't need more of it. When I do purchase product, I will be more mindful in what my style and taste is, not what is popular at the time. I vow to buy items that can fit many type of topics rather that specific themed items. The exceptions to this of course would be Halloween & Christmas items, since I do have albums and pages dedicated to these holidays. I'm really going to try to not buy any more product until after the first of the year. I've almost broken down a couple of times, but I was able to think outside the box and come up with needed items from what I already have.

And I'm also doing something with the product that I have that I've not really ever done before. I'm going to try to make more handmade cards with extra patterned paper and embellishments not used on layouts. When I was going through my craft room I came across a box that I have thrown stuff in to make cards some day. I had all kinds of bits and pieces in there that I had forgotten. So I played a bit and this is what I came up with.

Thanks to Christy at Finding Joy In The Journey for the inspiration for the first two cards. I didn't know where to start and had remembered seeing cards on her blog. Check it out, she is super talented. And thanks to Sue at Life & Memories. She posted about the adorable and beautiful cards she made for a great organization that gathers cards for needy children. What a great way to help out and use up that stash you've accumulated. Check out Sue's blog also, she is also super talented and is one of my favorite scrapbookers!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

I Won The Paperclipping Crop Circle Challenge!

Yeah, I won the October Challenge at the Paperclipping Crop Circle. You can check it out here. They are on a break for the next couple of months, but they will back with more challenges in January 2011! I love challenge sites. They keep the old scrapbooking muscles moving in the right direction!

December Daily

Yes, it's that time of year. . . . . December Daily time, that is. I did this Ali Edwards inspired project a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it very much. Last year I was working on Project 365, inspired by Becky Higgins, so I didn't do the December Daily. I did though, purchase this lovely album from Making Memories last year for the project and it's still available.

It's the perfect size, at 8X8, and came with a few filler pages. Here's a look at a couple of the pages I've come up with so far.

I'm keeping it fairly simple, with Ali Edwards' style in her current album in mind. Her templates can be purchased at Designer Digitals. I made my own with Adobe Illustrator, but they are a copy of what she has done. Most likely I will put at larger photo on the top half, and either journaling or patterned paper on the bottom rectangle. And until I get this project completed, here's what my scrap table looks like.

Now I know you all can relate!