Spreading Christmas Cheer with Page Drafts

I thought I scheduled this to post days ago, be sure to check out the Page Drafts Christmas sketches. I have one layout featured there but the sketches are pretty cool so I am working on more.

www.pagedrafts.com/2013/12/we-wish-you-merry-christmas-for-2013.html

He is here!

My new great nephew! Born 11:47 last night 6lbs and 11 oz.

This is him at 12 hours old!

I see I have a lot of spoiling to do, lol.

Mickey Mouse Baby Shower

I think my grand-nephew is going to make his appearance today, woohoo. His Mom is in labor, albeit slow, but I think he is coming today. We had a Mickey Mouse themed shower for hera couple of weeks ago and here are a few pictures. I made cake pops and used mini oreos for the ears before I dipped them in the chocolate. I also used qbee's template for baby carriages filled with Hershey Kisses - so stinkin cute! (I will add the link as soon as I get home), I also wrapped water bottles with a cute saying and my niece made sugar dipped Marshmallow treats. This party came together so well that we are working on a new project that you will hear more about shortly.  Hopefully I will be sharing some baby pictures on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone! 

Suckaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

My co-worker Charlie is a cool dude who loves Tootsie Pops and I wanted to do something nice for him. Charlie has a very giving spirit and an easy going personality. He has has a rough time of it since 2006 when his son, Pat, who was in his early twenties at the time, was paralyzed while playing college Hockey and is now a quadriplegic. Charlie and his wife try to make Pat's life as normal as possible and his son plays wheelchair Rugby, attends sporting events, attends college, etc with Charlies help of course. No matter how many appointments, or late nights Charlie has he never complains, he is just thankful to still have his son because it could have been worse. So for a sweet treat I made this Tootsie Pop bouquet for his birthday. I saw it done for other ages and thought it was too cute and yes there are 60 Pops on there, I counted them myself, lol!

Whoops!

I almost forgot to announce the winner of my blog hop! By random pull-by-my-husband-as-he-watched-Gilligan's-Island-like-it-was-the-first-time-and-he-really-doesn't-know-that-no-one-is-getting-off-of-the- island-and-everyone-obviously-packed-too-many-clothes-for-a-three-hour-tour......................................................................................................my winner is Barbara Greensberg! Barbara email me your snail mail address at tmikmik@yahoo.com and I will get your package right out to you!
Happy Crafting everyone and thanks for playing along!

Yay, it's reveal day!

I was looking through my pile of layouts and realized that very few feature my husband and after twelve years together, that aint right! So for this first sketch I decided to do one about him and his fabulous bread pudding. Since he and the girls do not eat bread ends (I don't know how that came about), he saves them for a month or two in the freezer and then makes a nice batch of bread pudding. He also makes it for our block party, Thanksgiving, the New Year and on demand for his many fans. One of the things that impress me the most is that he makes it without a recipe or a measuring cup and each batch is better than the last. I personally like the crispier edges and because I know how to do a dessert right I add carmel sauce to mine, lol.  For this layout I used almost the last of my Maple Grove papers from a Scrap-room kit in my stash. I hope to finish the papers off on a couple cards, 1 down and many more to go.

                             

Looking for inspiration? Make sure you stop by the Sketch~n~Scrap blog. The team did an excellent job with the sketch and this month the prize is a $25 gift certificate to Kiwi Lane Designs, you don't want to misss your chance to win. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. I am working hard on favors and extras for a baby shower, I will be sure to share photos!

Committing an one-eight-seven

YES! I plan on killing kits! My friends and I have been members of the Scrap-room kit club for several years and just as much as I love the kits and the variety they offer each month it seems that the new month's kit comes around before I even have the chance to get through the current kit so over time I have amassed a healthy stash of kits that I have not even touched (except to ooooh and aaah at my papers).

Just a Few................................

So last night I went through my stash and selected a couple of my faves and now I have to execute a plan to use each kit at least once! Okay so I won't actually be killing kits but I do plan on a little bit of assault on each kit. I have already matched one kit up with a couple of pictures and I am ready to go. Here is my scoreboard to keep track of my progress. As you can see it is blank so far but I am going to try hard to knock them out!

Everyday is a holiday Blog Hop!

I hope you are enjoying the Sketch~n~Scrap blog hop and I hope you got the chance to visit Hillary's blog yesterday and see her awesome Mother and Father's day projects. Today I have some sweet treats for you as I celebrate Sweetest Day, you know everyday really is a holiday.

Sweetest Day is always observed on the third Saturday in October, which fell on Oct. 19 in 2013.

Sweetest Day is an original American holiday not based on any group's religious tradition. It's simply a reminder that a thoughtful word, deed or small gift enriches the life of the recipient as well as the person giving it. Legend has it that Sweetest Day was established around 1922 by Herbert Birch Kingston, a Cleveland, Ohio, candy company employee who wanted to bring happiness to the lives of those who often were forgotten. Kingston and others distributed candy and small gifts to orphans, people confined to their homes and others to show them that someone cared. 

Keeping with the candy theme I thought this would be the perfect chance to use this template that I purchased a while ago here - http://kelleighratzlaff.com/sales/the-brand-new-candy-dispenser-template/.
These cute little candy dispensers hold about one cup of M&Ms and make cute favors or small treats for co-workers or friends.

And after attending five weddings this year I guess that I am still feeling the love in the air so I made this card perfect for an anniversary or wedding -

And to top off all of this sweetness I have this SWEET paper pack from one of my favorite online retailers- A Cherry on Top- to giveaway featuring Pink Paislee's Hey Kid collection! This collection is so much fun to play with, so be sure to enter.

All you have to do is make sure that you are a follower of the Sketch~n~Scrap main blog, every month we offers both card and layout sketches and a ton of inspiration, you will not be disappointed. AND make sure you leave me a comment so that I know that you have been here, that is it!You have until November 8th, the last day of our hop to enter. I hope you enjoyed my projects and make sure to visit the Sketch~n~Scrap blog tomorrow for another holiday celebration.

Guess what day it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't why I think this is soo funny but it cracks me up! Now I am making everyone at work crazy today asking, Guess what day it is, lol. I am in a good ol' silly mood today. Not much else going on, still getting excited about the Sketch~n~Scrap blog hop that I hope you will join me for starting October 21st.

Last night I watched the Hip Hop Awards and Kevin Hart cracks me up. We also watched Kevin Hart's DVD stand up comedy Let Me Explain last night, I ws laughing so hard that my cheeks started to hurt and my smile hasn't worn off yet. And YES! I even have a few layouts  to share. Have a great day everyone!!!!!!!!!

I always steal my daughter's selfies, lol

My youngest daughter just hanging out on the steps.



Oh she made me beg and plead with her to take School Pictures!!!!!!!!!



More Blog Hop News

It took me a while to decide on a prize but when I saw this collection I knew it was a must have for any scrapper so of course I wanted to give it away! Make sure you visit the Sketch~n~Scrap blog each day from October 21st through November 8th to see what each designer is up to and the prizes that are being offered.

For my holiday I am giving away this "Sweet" Hey Kid kre8tive kit by Pink Paislee that contains: (12) 12" x 12" single sided patterns, (329) cardstock stickers, (5) clear border stickers, and (27) chipboard stickers.Create amazing craft projects with the NEW Kre8V-Kits! Everything you need is bundled into one convenient pack including papers, stickers, alphabets, chipboard accents and more!

See you at the hop!

Sketchy Business

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes I am still around, got into a little blogging funk but I am back! First before I share some layouts I have to announce that our Design Team is having a "Everyday is a Holiday" blog hop starting Ocotber 21st through November 8th. Each day you can stop by the blog to see what Holiday our Designer is celebrating and what prizes are up for grabs. I am am busy getting ready for my Holiday now so be sure to check back soon, I promise that you won't be disappointed :). In fact you should stop by the Sketch~n~Scrap blog right away to check out this month's sketch and submit your layout for a chance to win a prize from our Ocotber sponsor, Stacia at Scrapstuffz !  Be sure and stop by her wonderful etsy shop and have a look around!

Here is the October 1st sketch and my take on the sketch -

My daughters wanted a little sister so badly - I am glad their father gave them one, my baby making factory is closed down, lol.  Fancy Pants Trendsetter papers

And just so you don't think that I am a total slacker here are some layouts that I have been working on in my absence, lol.

My nephew was 11 years old, wearing #11 in the year 2011, how cool is that? This is an Echo Park mini-theme collection.

Three generations of Jefferson men.

My daughter and niece call each other sexy each day of the week, Here they are in full sexiness, lol.

Challenged with Sketch~n~Scrap

So have you ever looked at a sketch and thought, "I wouldn't know where to begin' so you pass it along. Well being on the design team at Sketch~n~Scrap we are challenged to work with each sketch, even if that means adapting it to your style. So my first challenge when I saw the September 1st sketch #40 was the number of photos. I rarely scrap with more than 3 photos even though I know I would get more photos done if I did. Next I was stumped with how to make this fit my style, so instead of looking at it as one big task I began to look at the sketch in two pieces. I worked with the top half first and then attacked the second half and put it all together for a cohesive layout. I am so glad that I did, it is so easy to get stuck in a comfort zone and in the end I love the results. Be sure to come join us this month at Sketch~n~Scrap and challenge yourself to do something different! 

Crusin is Made for Love

Late post, but here is my layout for the August 1st sketch and scrap layout challenge. There is still time to join in at www.sketchnscrap.blogspot.com!

A little Sketchy

I know that I always talk about better time management but if only you knew how much it stresses me out trying to find time to do everything that I want to do. That is the nice thing about scrapping, it is an escape for me, basically my chance to feel accomplished with something I truly love to do. This month I have focused on participating in a couple of challenges including our own Sketch~n~Scrap challenge. We would love to have you stop by and participate with us. Each month there are prizes and you could be our next Featured Scrapper! Here is what I have been working on lately -

Sketch~n~Scrap Aug 15th reveal #39 - You ever have those Perfectly Imperfect photos that you want to scrap. I could not get these photos super clear but I just love the spontaneous way they capture my niece playing at the sprayground. I wanted this layout to be just as playful with bright fun colors.

This layout is for Brenda Ragsdale's monthly sketch challenge. I really enjoyed working with this sketch and was able to pull this layout together just as I envisioned it. I used one of my crafter's workshop templates for the dashed circles and a border stamp for the other row of dots. I used Basic Grey's Hey Boy collection, it is a versatile and fun collection to work with, trust me you will see it again soon, lol.



This layout makes me laugh because I have been scrapping these photos for years. I did a photo shoot of my daughters a few years ago and I am still not finished with them. I do think that I have scrapped some of them twice but who is counting right? This layout was done using Brenshevia's sketch from the Let's get Sketchy blog. I was so excited to use Echo Park's Here and Now collection, the colors are just fantastic!

I still have more to show you so I will be back soon!

Cropping Escape and a Secret

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I went to an all day crop Saturday and it was awesome. It has been sooo long since I have taken time for myself. In fact the hostess' business name is Escape Scrapbooking, how appropriate right! There was good food (I have a Greek Pasta salad recipe that I must try now) and lots of prizes and great deals. While there I got the chance to work on a layout for the Paper Secrets July 15th Sketch Challenge with Twist! The challenge was to use a sketch and a Project Life card. While I am not a Project Lifer I did enjoy working the Echo Park Photo Freedom Volume 1 collection from my ScrapRoom kit.
The pics are of my girls right before going out to dinner together in happier times. Right now they are not speaking to each other so I am getting phone calls at work all day telling on each other, lol.  I try to remain neutral but honestly they just make me laugh. this will last for a day or two at the most, then back to all smiles!

Sketch~n~Scrap Reveal day!

Summer is in full swing and today is reveal day over at Sketch~n~Scrap and what a great reveal it is!  Even though I have stacks on stacks of older photos to scrap, I just had to scrap these recent photos on my oldest daughter. The sketch came together so easily, I just love the placement of the stars and wanted to duplicate that somewhat. I used my Lifestlye crafts nested stars and the star stickers that came with the collection. The Simple Stories 24/7 collection worked so well for me and wow! the colors are just fantastic! Be sure to jump in with us this month at Sketch~n~Scrap for a chance to win an awesome prize from Paper Secrets.

Word Art Find!

Every year my family and I attend the breast cancer walk and we talk about customizing shirts but then we wait until the last minute and run out of time to get a project done. So being proactive I created this image for my family using this program http://www.imagechef.com/ic/poem/. (I hope you can tell that it is in the shape of a sneaker), it is made up of all of our names. It is fitting because we call ourselves "Marie's Legacies". I am going to print it on some heat transfer paper this weekend to start my prototype for family approval. I am going to have to wait a few months for the final version because we have a new family member on his way but at least I have started the ball rolling.     

Is it Friday yet?

Just having one of those kind of days!

A.D.C - Another Diaper Creation

Here is my other passion! More of my work is on my website: www.uniquelymade4u.com

More layouts

Over the weekend I decided to dip into my "To-be"  pile and finish up a couple of layouts. This first one is of my youngest daughter who is my favorite person to hangout with. When we go out to eat no matter how strange something is, she will always at least try it, the stranger the better, lol. I thought it would be fun to use actually chopsticks as an embellishment with Studio Calico papers.

This next one is of my three nieces. For the most part they are like little sisters instead of nieces and I am soo proud of the women they have become. This has been sitting because I really want to journal it but I just don't know what I want to say so for now I am going to call it complete and hope to come back to it later. I used my Cricut graphically speaking cartridge for the die cuts, that is still one of all time favorite cartridges.

  

Four days later..........

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday. It was pretty low key for me but I managed to get a little scrapping done. I have more layouts to share but I didn't want to send anyone into shock, lol.

Echo Park Brother's collection - I actually did this layout for a challenge a couple months ago but I ummm (clearing my throat) missed the deadline. I love these guys and I think that I have scrapped this photo more than once, lol.  Oh well it is a favorite.

This is my favorite layout of the weekend. Simple Stories is quickly climbing the charts as on e of  my top five manufacturers. This Vintage Bliss collection has such fun and easy to use colors and this layout is even more gorgeous in person. How can I be so confident? It has my daughter's seal of approval, lol!

SNS Sketch #36 Reveal Day! - D.C. Go-Go

This heat has really slowed me down among other things so I have made a pledge to try to do better in the month of July. Did I just say July? Omgoodness it is almost time to start thinking about Christmas gifts! Good Grief!

So without further ado I would like to share my July 1st layout for Sketch-n-Scrap. My husband and I spent a long weekend in DC in April just to change things up. We went to the aquarium, some historical spots, some great places for dinner and to the Zoo. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of animals out and we were kind of disappointed but we made the best of it and enjoyed our weekend anyway. Make sure you stop by the blog HERE and check out what the rest of our fantastic design team did with the sketch. Also make sure your upload your take on the sketch for your chance to win an awesome prize from Paper Secrets!

 

Weather Delay

You really can't fool with Mother Nature. My family and I were scheduled to have dinner aboard the Spirit of Philadelphia dinner cruiseline but our area is being hit with heavy rains and severe thunderstorms so it looks like we might be rescheduling. I was looking forward to hanging out with all of our children at the same time. Oh well hopefully the sun will be shining bright on our rescheduled date.

Time to start planning for the weekend! I downloaded a cool app called Ego Timer that helps you track your tasks, attach a picture or notes to your tasks and even set a timer while you are doing something to track the amount of time you want to spend on a task. This is seemingly great for meeting my scrap goals but my week has been so hectic that all it is doing right now is reminding of what I still haven't done, lol.

I was able to participate in the My Scrap and More Got Talent challenge this week. You can check it out here, there is plenty of time to jump in. This week the challenge was to produce a layout without using pattern paper. I was stumped at first so I looked through my stash and re-discovered my large Bingo cards and let the layout take shape. I like the end results but I would still rather have my patterned paper, lol!!!!



Winner Time!!!!!!!!!!

Did you have fun with my challenge? I would like to thank everyone who participated, you ladies made some really great guesses, shoot if I didn't make up the game myself I know there are a couple that would have stumped me too! So unfortunately there was no one who got them all correct so by random integer (who thought of that site, it is great!) the winner is  Lisa! Congratulations Lisa please email me at tmikmik@yahoo.com with your snail mail information and I will get your prize right out to you.

But wait since I really appreciate everyone who submitted a guess taking the time out their busy schedules to support me, Sketch~n~Scrap and  of course to win a prize I have this special additional prize for the person with the most correct guesses and that is Elizabeth.

Elizabeth got 7 out of 10 correct! Congrats Elizabeth, please email me at tmikmik@yahoo.com with your snail mail information and I will get your prize right out to you too.

Thanks everyone for participating and stayed tuned and connected for more to come from all of us at Sketch~n~Scrap! Here are the full size photos and names of each manufacturer from the contest so you can see the correct responses.  

1. Webster pages

2. Glitz Designs

3. Teresa Collins

4. Jillbean Soup (almost everyone got this one)

5. Basic Grey (and this one)



6. Pink Paislee



7. American Crafts/Pebbles (I accepted either answer)

8. Crate Paper (This was the toughie!)



9. Fancy Pants

10. Bo Bunny