8 Days To Go!

Only 8 more days until Christmas...can you believe it? I certainly can't! I swear, I'm getting worse at getting my decorations up in a timely fashion every year. I bought my Christmas Tree a couple of days ago and it still sits...undecorated! I'm going to do it tomorrow, though...I promise. The good thing is I'm just about finished with Christmas shopping. I have a few gift cards to pick up and then I'll spend a few days next week wrapping everything up. I'm excited to see the looks on my boys faces when they wake up on Christmas morning.

Part of the reason that I'm so behind is the fact that I've been tied to my scrap desk...and boy what a messy desk it is. I'm busy creating CHA products to get ready to ship to CA, keeping up with my DT assignments and creating some stuff...just because.

I created this project quite a while ago, but never posted it here. I love making these little gift bags from dies. I put a lot of work into this one, creating a shaker box on the front for added visual interest. All of the dies are from Cheery Lynn Designs, the flowers are from Petaloo and the papers are from Pink Paislee's Queen Bee line. I used my Purple Cow Laminator to laminate the lattice die cut to make the shaker box.

This bag can be easily adapted to create a gift bag for any occassion. Here's another one that I created for Christmas along with step by step directions.

I know it's December and most people have their minds on the upcoming holidays, but I couldn't help creating a layout featuring some of my favorite pictures of Donovan from Halloween. This was the first time that he chose a scary costume and he really got into the acts. Check out his Zombie stance!

I used Pink Paislee Hocus Pocus collection, which suited my pics perfectly. I took apart one of the DooDads and used it to mat one of the small circle photos. I never thought I'd ever use a fly rub-on, but I found a home for them here...I mean what self respecting Zombie doesn't have flies buzzing about?


Well, that's all I have for now, but I'll be back later this week with an adorable altered project.

Have a fantastic week!!

Getting Back on Track

Well would you look at that...2 blog posts in one day!

I haven't posted here in a bit, but I think I have a good excuse. The events of past 2 weeks have been incredibly emotional! It started with the sudden death of someone that I admired, the coordinator for the OEM (Office of Emergency Management) team that I volunteer with. He was just days away from his 50th birthday and had a massive heart attach while driving to a fire. He was also the Captain of the fire department in my town. The following day my (non-biological) grandmother died. She was 88 years old and lead a pretty full life until she fell ill a couple of months ago. They had both touched so many lives and will be greatly missed by everyone who knew them.

So my Thanksgiving holiday was sandwiched between 2 funerals. I did get to spend the holiday with my family and I met my 3 month old niece for the first time, too. She's so beautiful...oh and did I mention that she's named after me? My brother gave her a "T" name, like his 3 sisters, and her middle name is Renee like mine. The events of the past 2 weeks have reminded me of how amazingly precious life is. I am definitely grateful for every moment of every day and for having the opportunity to come in contact with wonderful people.

I'm also grateful that I get to share my passion, right here, with you.

I whipped up this really simple, but elegant Christmas card using one of the foil papers from Creative Imaginations' Night Divine line.


This layout, featuring my adorable little monsters, was recently published in the Winter 2011 issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond magazine. I used and older line from Bo Bunny that I love so much, 'Tis the Season, along with some die from Cheery Lynn Designs and Spellbinders. Check out the Gadget Girls section of the issue or SB&Beyond website for your chance to win the featured tool, Spellbinders Presto Punch. It was really fun and easy to work with!


Thanks so much for stopping by today!! Have a wonderful week!

Featured on Scrapidees Blog

I am thrilled to announce that I am the Guest Blogger on Scrapidees blog (a French sketch blog). Here's the sketch that I created for the DT. You HAVE to visit the site and see what the ladies over there created...they rocked it out!

I had fun playing with products here! I used Authentique's Journey collection, lots of different Cheery Lynn Designs dies, and masking.

I even added a little freehand doodles!


How fabulous is that Basically Bare chipboard dress form? I cut strips of film ribbon and layered the along the bottom and then added a die cut flower and butterfly wings and some rhinestones.

here's a close-up of some of the die cut flowers...


As always, thank you for stopping by!! Have a great day!

Gift Wrapping With Petaloo

It's the first of November and you know what that means...Christmas will be here in a flash!! I'm getting a head start on my Christmas gifts...OK, so I haven't actually started shopping yet, but I've created these darling packages to wrap my gifts in. I used Quick Quotes Cherry Truffle line and inks, May Arts ribbon, and Petaloo flowers and sprays to decorate each package.


For this package, I recycled a Maya Road tin. This will look fabulous filled with white chocolate covered pretzels or some other delicious treat.


I purchased a chipboard box from Walmart and can't believe how little time it took to make it look like this using fabulous products and a hot glue gun. I even added a little sparkle to the flowers using stardust stickles.

This is a tiny gift bag that just perfect for presenting someone with a cash gift or gift card. Clever right?

Last, but not least, I used paper, flowers, and twine to add flair to this fabric covered gift. Fabric is great to use on those oddly shaped items.


Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. I hope you have been inspired to create your own holiday gift wrap...it's easier than you think!

Last Cheery Lynn Designs Post

I must say, I had a wonderful time designing projects as a Cheery Lynn Designs DT member. For my last post, I decided to make 2 Fall cards. Fall has started here and though I'm sad to see Summer go, Fall's beauty is enough to kick me out of my funk.

My first card celebrates Halloween . I used Pink Paislee papers and Cheery Lynn Designs Going Batty, Nested Circle Stackers, and Victorian Picket Fence to add a few fun touches to the patterned paper.




I used Core'dinations cardstock and Coved Rectangle Nested Stackers, Dimensional Small Leaves 1, and Burlap Embossing Plate to create this card. Although I didn't use any patterned paper on this card, the dry and heat embossing and dimensional leaves really make it pop!



Thanks for stopping by,

WCMD Cards and RAK Winner

I am so psyched that I was able to get some cards created for World Card Making Day. I had a pretty busy weekend with visiting my sister and going to Ranger's warehouse sale, but I made time to get in my scrap room.

I joined in on Pink Paislee's WCMD challenges and these are the ideas that I came up with.

1. Boo Skeleton Card for the Upcycling Challenge--the script background is actually chipboard backing from a package of Petaloo flowers.

2. 'Tea'rific Birthday Card using Michelle's Color Challenge

3. Joy Wreath card for the Stitching Challenge

4. Embossed Pears card for the Layered Stamping challenge

5. Poinsettia Christmas card for Dani's Color Challenge


The winner of my WCMD challenge is SHAR. Thanks to everyone who participated!!

Have a great day!

Smile...it's Monday!

Hey everyone!! I created a couple of happy projects using Cheery Lynn Designs dies.

I mixed a few new and previously released dies and created a faux embossed look with the Lattice 1 die by cutting it out of the same color paper as the background that I adhered it to.

Here's a close-up of the details.


Dies used:
Luggage Tag
Darling Daisies
Stacker Flower 2
Leaf
Victorian Romance Flourish
Lattice 1

Cheery Lynn Designs recently released a ton of amazing new die designs. I created these tags to
showcase a the dies that I received. For more ideas, check out what the rest of the DT created.


products used:
Leaf
Stacker Flower 2
Large Lace Faerie Queen w/ Angel Wing
Tiffany Border
Eccentric Circles Embossing Plate

detail shots



Thanks for stopping by the blog today. Until next post...have a scrappy day!!

Back To School Layout

Happy Monday blog readers!! I am here with my first 2011-2012 school year layout. I used some more Simple Stories papers and quite a few Cheery Lynn Designs dies to bring to life the photos of my newly crowned second grader's first day of school.

I started by die cutting the largest of the XL French Flair Nesting Stackers and "stretching" it. You can see how I did that in this post. I used Arrow #2 and a portion of the Dutch Scallop Square Frame to create horizontal lines to direct the viewer's eye across the page.

I just love all of the detail and dimension that Cheery Lynn Designs dies add to each die cut!


I created my own owl embellishment by using foam adhesive to layer circles cut from the XL Scalloped Circles Nesting Dies and the Little Stackers Circle Nesting Dies. I cut the owl from patterned paper and then adhered to the layered circles using foam adhesive.

I die cut stars from the Dimensional button 2 set to use as embellishments and completed the title with letters cut from the Varsity Font set.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today!!

Summer's Unofficial End

Good day blog readers!! I have a super cute, dare I say it, winter layout to share with you today. It features Cheery Lynn Designs dies and an embossing plate.

Here in the US, we are celebrating Labor Day today!! This is always a bittersweet holiday for me. Sweet because of the 3 day "weekend" and delicious celebratory BBQ food....bitter because it marks the unofficial end of summer, which just happens to be my favorite season. I'm always sad to see summer go.

The end of summer means winter will be here before we know it. Although winter is my least favorite season, it's one of my favorite to scrap. My son LOVES winter and that means I get the best, happiest, most fun photos of him during the winter...especially in the snow!

I wanted the winter/snow theme to really standout, so I used a lot of white space to mimic the look of snow and lot of Snowflakes cut into different shapes. I even used Canadian Kaleidoscope Doily as a large snowflake embellishment.

I used my sewing machine to stitch varying lengths of horizontal lines down my layout and then added the snowflakes and half pearls to mimics falling snow.

As you can see in this close-up, I embossed the blue patterned paper with the Dots/Lines embossing plate for a textured, "snowy" look. I added snowflakes coated with silver stickles to a couple of the title letters for a fun look.

Supplies used:
Dots/Lines Embossing Plate
Snowflakes
Ribbon Eyelet Border
Luggage Tag
Index Card
School Days Font
Canadian Kaleidoscope Doily
Embossing Pad

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!! Have a safe and Happy Labor Day!

Monday, Monday

Good day blog readers!

Every once in a while, I come across a photo that really speaks to me and I just HAVE to scrap it. In this case, the photo belongs to my friend Dolores. The picture is of her and her 3 daughters and she uses it as her facebook profile photo. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it!

I pulled out some very "girl friendly" Cheery Lynn Designs dies and Authentique Blissful collection and went to work creating a layout that was as pretty as those 4 smiling faces!!


I started by creating a few pleated flowers to draw attention to the photo. This one was created using the Frills and Hearts border. I also die cut a few Darling Daisies, Exotic Butterflies and Fanciful Flourish from cardstock and added them throughout the layout.


School Days Font finishes off the title to complete the layout.



I created this "Thinking of You" card using the same line from Authentique. Both the card and the layout are store samples and will be on display at The Crop Shop (Rockland, Ma).

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today!!