Backporch December Challenge from Me!

This month I am hosting one of the challenges at BackPorch Memories. If you'd like to participate, here it is! :)

Jana's DECEMBER "You Could Even Say It Glows" Challenge

Take inspiration from all the sparkly christmas lights and shiny packages popping up around you and create a layout that glows! Bling it, Baby! Rhinestones, metals, glitter, . . . you name it! I want to see where your sugarplum vision takes you!

(You can upload your challenge in the gallery at BackPorch Memories and post the image or link in the coordinating thread on the Message Board by December 31 to be entered in the December Challenge Prize random drawing. The more challenges you complete...the more entries you receive! ) WOOHOO! Who doesn't love a chance at a prize! ;)

Here's a sample from me! I used the Doodlebug Sugar Coated Cardstock, Making Memories Glittery Chipboard letters, and Prima Say It in Crystals. (And if anyone has any tips on how to photograph glittery things better, I'd love to hear them! LOL!)

Havin' fun!

It's only been one day of the Sugardumplin Crop so far and I am having such a great time working on the challenges. Just thought I'd come share the projects I've created so far. See ya later!

Card Challenge

Embellishment Challenge

Fall Colors Challenge

Cards and Croppin!

I really don't consider myself a cardmaker, but for some unknown reason I've been hanging onto "older" stuff thinking I'll make a bunch of cards from them someday. Well, I decided to try my hand at it. Here are a few I made. The first & third one were inspired by a Di Hickman sketch.
http://dihickman.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html
The other one I sort of just made up as I went.

It was fun. But it also helped me to realize that I'll never make it through the stash I have set aside for them. So . . . I purged a bunch of my stuff to my friends this week. It feels good to let go of it. LOL!




Well . . . Today marks the first day of the Sugardumplin Online Crop! It begins at 3:00 p.m. EST and will go through Sunday, Nov. 11th. So be sure to come on over and play. The Grand Prize is a Free 3 month Subscription to Sugardumplin. I KNOW! --- Awesome prize!!!! So what are you waiting for! :)



Here are a the layouts from the 2 challenges I'll be hosting. To find out what the challenges are, come visit us at the Sugardumplin Message Board. *wink* Have a great weekend!

All-Nighter!

I received a couple of kits from www.scarletlime.com yesterday that I had ordered and couldn't wait to dig in! Gosh! These are gorgeous kits! I had so much fun digging through all the treasures. It put my scrappin' mojo in high gear and I stayed up until 6:00 a.m. scrapbooking! I made four layouts with my new kits that I'll post here today. I used them to do some pages about myself using some great challenges from the site, www.iamascrapaholic.com

I also, made 2 layouts for Adornit, but I'll save those for next time. ;) Thanks for stopping by!

Sad.

I'm sad, and a little deflated. Yesterday, Jennie at 2 Jills announced that she will be closing even though it's only been one week since her Grand Reopening. I was just starting to feel at home in my new Design Team position there. I'm sad, but I understand that Jennie's family needs her right now. Families are the most important thing, so I really think it's a commendable decision.

Maybe someone will decide to pick things up where she left off, . . . I hope so! Great site!

Well then, here is my last page for the 2 Jills October kit. Atleast I got to be part of the fun for a little while, right? Thanks for the fun, 2 Jills! I enjoyed it while it lasted! :)

Autumn Cold - Time to Stay Inside and SCRAP! :)

Every morning when I take the dog out I about freeze my noggin off standing there in the Fall chill! Wow! Have we had some cold days this past week! Of course, when it is cold, all I want to do is stay inside where it's cozy . . . and get some scrapping done! Some of the projects I did last week I can't show you quite yet. But here are some that I've done for the new 2 Jills Design Team than I CAN show you!

For the Grand Re-Opening at 2 Jills Becky Fleck created an exclusive sketch just for the occasion. We were also lucky to have a Card Sketch created just for us by the talented Di Hickman. My takes on their sketches are below.




When the 2 Jills October kit arrived at my door this last weekend I couldn't wait to dive right in to all the warm colors, and cozy textures of the felt, ribbons, threads and more included in the kit. Three of my layouts using this kit are pictured below.



In Midway, Utah, we came across this gorgeous cottage. Every time we passed it, I made Kevin stop for a minute so we could admire it's beauty and architecture. Kevin would go on and on to the kids about how Snow White lives there with the Prince and the Seven Dwarves. My kids are completely convinced this is where she lives and they don't quite understand why we haven't taken them to visit Snow White, yet?!



Yesterday we took a beautiful fall drive over the Alpine Loop. It was 11 years ago this very same weekend that Kevin and I were on this very same drive listening to conference. We got out and were walking through the fall leaves, enjoying our time together and discussing our possible future together. It was then and there we decided to get married! It was fun to be there again, 11 years and four kids later. WOW!

Early Morning Scrapping!

Are you like this? If something wakes me up in the middle of the night, no matter how tired I am, or how hard I try, there is no way I'm going back to sleep!

Kevin is a saint, because he knows this about me, and if one of the kids comes in to see us in the middle of the night he always takes care of them so I can get a good night's rest . . . ahhhh! I love that man!

So, . . . this little trait of mine, combined with my scrapbooking gene isn't always the best combination. I mean, if I have an idea pop into my head during the night, I can't wait until morning . . . I've gotta get up and go put it on paper! :)

This morning was one of those times . . . and so . . . I have two more layouts for you today, born this morning at approximately 5 am! ;)

(Can you tell I was in a "circle" mood?! LOL!) See ya!

House Stuff and New Layouts

At the beginning of the summer my husband and I came across this 1.5 acre lot that was a "diamond in the rough". We decided to purchase it and build our dream home on it! Fun! This is a picture of the land before we bought it. Believe it or not, there is actually an old, neglected house behind the tall bushy trees in the middle of the photo.


As part of the purchase agreement the old existing home was to be knocked down. While tearing down a cinder-block wall, the driver found an 8' snake! Thankfully, he "disposed" of it for us and hauled it off with the rubble. Whew! I hope he doesn't have any more "friends".

Here's what it looks like today after the home being torn down and the land is now levelled. Hopefully, we'll begin retention work and foundation digging next week! Just gotta get the permits from the city and we're on our way!


This week is my husband's "Birthday Week". (We like to take advantage of our birthday privileges for as long as possible around here. LOL!) He drives we nuts sometimes because he hates it when we get him gifts. All he wanted to do was go and work on the lot without any distractions. He spent all morning working in the "forest" section of our lot next to the creek clearing out dead trees and cleaning things up. It's looking really good! I can't wait for the kids to have their adventures back in there!

Camryn was such a cutie while we were visiting dad. She's almost walking, and all she wanted to do was crawl around in the dirt. It was alright with me since I was able to get some cute shots of her including her trademark squishy-nose smile!

Last week I was thrilled to find out that I had won a $25 gift certificate from sugardumplin.com from entering a challenge. Awesome, eh?! I used my certificate to buy their darling September Seasonal kit featuring lots of fun Foof-a-la papers and school-themed embellies.

I decided to redo my previous layout using these pictures. Have you ever done that before? You look at a layout and decide you just don't like it as much as when you were creating it? You can see the previous layout in a previous post here on my blog. The colors I chose were too dark for these rainy-day shots of my daughter. I decided to brighten it up a with the red, yellow, and blue color combination in the paper. I like it much better now!

I wish I could take the design credit on this one-year layout of Camryn, but it's a total scraplift from my fellow Carolee's Creations DT friend, Danielle Calhoun. Check out her gallery on Two Peas. She does some amazing work!

http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/userprofile.asp?user_id=242535

Here's one I was playing around with last night. I had fun combining some different colors on this one. Along with the primary colors I added some browns, teal and olive green stitching to tone it down a bit.

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

My kids excitedly ran to me saying, "Mom, Mom! Thank you! Thank you!" I responded with a confused, "What?!" (I mean when does this happen spontaneously?) "The Boomerang channel is back on the TV!"

I knew right then that this was the official start to the football season! Boomerang meant that dad had called and upped the Satellite service so that he wouldn't miss any of his precious games! LOL!

That same day I snapped this silly picture of my daughter. She looks just like a monkey, so I thought it would make a great page to record one of the nicknames my hubby calls our kids, "Monkey Brain".

This one is just a 6 X 12 I was playing around on. I LOVE doing this size! At first I wasn't so sure, but now when I am in the mood to "play" and not feel pressured to create something stunning, I'll work on this size.

This layout is a picture I took of this silly-looking rattle my daughter received as a baby. I just have always liked this little guy and thought I would snap a quick picture of him before my dog chewed him into unrecognition!

It's almost been a year since we had this family photo taken. I just couldn't find the right paper to go with it. Finally! Carolee's Creations came out with this great line called "Timeless". I really love this black and white toile and loved it for this layout.

Check back tomorrow, I'll be posting my latest creations with the Crop Addict October kit! See you then!

Real Quick!

Here are a couple of new ones I've done! Talk to you soon!

Gettin' Excited for FALL!

This past weekend we spent at a cabin in the mountains of Utah. It was beautiful! And can you believe it . . . the leaves are already starting to turn!
The air is cooler now and that means my favorite season is just days away! Yippee! Here is a quick Halloween card I put together just using bits and pieces I had laying around. It's a little funky, but that's what makes it so fun!

In a previous post I told you about my cute kids inventing interesting things to do to pass the days of Summer. Here's a layout I did today of another of their creative ideas. This time they decided to have a neighborhood parade. They made and passed out flyers, got their bikes and wagons ready, dressed up in their soccer uniforms, and even found candy to throw out to the by-standers. The "by-standers" completed their roles by setting out blankets and chairs to reserve their spots hours ahead of time. Too cute! I had to snap a few shots. We'll be moving in a year and I don't want my kids to ever forget the fun times they had in this neighborhood.

Fun Weekend

This weekend I went on a Girlfriends' Overnighter to Park City with some friends. It's so funny to me how when a bunch of ladies get together we all revert back to the "sleepover" mentality, . . . you know . . . giggling and staying up all night talking. It was a lot of fun! Of course I forgot my camera. Isn't that how it always goes.

Even though it was only a short time away, I missed my family so much! I hope they missed me a little, too. It's good to get away for even a short time. I think you appreciate each other more.

Here is a layout I did recently of my cute kids. What a creative little group of kids we have here in my neighborhood. They are always conjuring up all kinds of fun things to do. One of their favorite activities is to plan parties. This layout is of one of those parties where they were celebrating the end of summer. They plan games, activities, and then all raid their pantries to contribute snacks to the refreshment table. Too funny!