Gettin' By

Sharing Studio Calico.

Though it's rare I do Sunday posts, I thought I'd make an exception this week and share with you all the projects I did as this month's guest designer for Studio Calico.  I got the main kit, Quilting Bee, and two add-ons, Honeycomb and Wedding Ring.  The contents were nothing short of fabulous. I was so inspired by all of it that I quite literally created all my pages in two days -I couldn't stop the mojo!  So here's the results:

patterned paper (American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras Lass) + chipboard circles (Maya Road) + rub on (American Crafts) + font (Bohemian Typewriter) + date stamp

This was the first page I created, layering the Maya Road buttons after I covered them with bits of patterned paper.  I love the whimsical border of circles and the little splashes of color they add.  The title is a rub-on from Dear Lizzy and I applied it after I had printed my journaling block on the vanilla cardstock.

patterned paper (Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts) + stamp (Studio Calico) + inks (Stampin' Up, Maya Road) +alphabet (Jenni Bowlin Studio) + font (King)

I loved the little cherry stamp in the main kit and knew I wanted to use it on a page.  I thought these photos of the kiddos drinking cherry slushies would be perfect for it!  I didn't have a good red ink, though, so I used the Cherry Maya Mist on the cherry portion of the stamp.  I love that it gave the cherries just a touch of metallic sparkle!   I used a fine-tip red pen to color the interior of the Jenni Bowlin Bingo Tiles for on the title.

patterned paper (American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket) + ribbon (American Crafts) + veneer (Studio Calico)+ letters (Cosmo Cricket) + butterflies (Maya Road) + pins (Jenni Bowlin) + font (Veteran Typewriter)

It took some restraint to not use this gorgeous Dear Lizzy ribbon trim on every page! I want to buy it by the yard and make lots of ruffled pillows with it :).  Here I mixed it with the floral Dear Lizzy paper and some of the wood veneer circles (with Cosmo Cricket paper inside).  I covered two of the butterfly chips with the matching musical note paper and embellished them with the Jenni Bowlin stick pins.  I love the feminine, soft feeling this page has!

patterned paper (American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, Jenni Bowlin) + letters (Cosmo Cricket) + butterflies (Maya Road) + jeweled flowers (Making Memories) + pins (Jenni Bowlin) + punch (Fiskars) + pen (Uniball Signo) + font (Traveling Typewriter)

I have been struggling to scrap all the photos I have of Riely meeting the princesses at Disney..until this kit came along!  I kept this page simple, with just a few girlish accents (layering the butterflies with paper and jewels and a tiny pink scallop peeking out).

patterned paper (Sassafras Lass, American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket) + rub ons (American Crafts) + veneer (Studio Calico) + butterfly (Maya Road) + jeweled flower (Making Memories) + pearl (Jenni Bowlin) + punch (Fiskars)

This pale celedon cardstock was gorgeous and I loved it with the wood veneer, so that was the starting point for this page.  I cut some strips of the softer colors of patterned paper and used a Sass border and a punched-edge piece for interest.  I slipped in the brighter dot paper from Sass at the last minute because I liked the pop of color it added.  The butterfly was painted with white acrylic and sprinkled with white glitter while still wet.  I layered two of the Dear Lizzy rub-ons for the title.

patterned paper (Sassafras Lass, American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket) + stamp (Studio Calico) + letters (American Crafts)+ chipboard (Maya Road) + jeweled flower (Making Memories) + pen (American Crafts)

This frame stamp from Studio Calico is so versatile!  I used it with black Staz-On on several of my favorite papers from the kit, as well as some black & white photos, and then cut out each shape.  I topped a few with chipboard accents, added a title and some short journaling, and this simple page was complete!

patterned paper (Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket) + stamps (Studio Calico) + letters (Cosmo Cricket)+ veneer (Studio Calico) + jeweled flower (Making Memories) + pen (American Crafts)

Finally, I made this little card because I just had to use that ferris wheel stamp and couldn't think of any other way to incorporate it into a project! :)  Also used some bits of Sass paper, veneer and that frame stamp again.

And that about wraps it up! I had such a ball with this kit and am happy it has been so well-received.  Thanks to April and all the fabulous ladies at Studio Calico for this opportunity - love you guys!! :)

Yes, I use bugs in my scrapbooks.

I have been in a scrapping frenzy for the last week or so, and my disheveled, disorganized, disarrayed and dirty house is a testament that I've been doing little else but playing with paper (oh, and possibly also using Thesaurus.com to find synonyms for messy - hee!)  And as you probably noticed in the previous post of my Studio Calico sneaks, a resounding theme in my recent pages has been butterflies. Actually, they have been appearing in my work for quite a few months now.  I'm not sure why I think every page needs one of these little creatures as an accent, but I find that every time I glue one down, it brings a smile to my face.  Also bringing a smile to my face?  Hayden's recent remark upon seeing all these butterfly-laden pages:  "Mom, you do know that butterflies are just BUGS, right?!?"  Well, yes, I do, but at least my paper butterflies are thankfully free of the creepy legs and bulging eyes that the real insects have.  And they don't poop, either - bonus!

So today after I complete my invoicing and a few revisions on client projects (boo for real work!) I'm settling in to tackle the March Jenni Bowlin Mercantile kit.  And don't you just know, it contains a big 'ol butterfly rub-on (an exclusive item you can only get in the kit!)  Plus, the add-on this month is full of vintage goodness - it's a must-have full of lovely rich colors that combine beautifully with the Homespun papers in the main kit. 

 

I'll leave you all with one of the above-mentioned pages that features butterflies prominently. I love the clustering of the little winged fellows on here - reminds me of the butterfly releases they do at weddings (without the screaming, flailing bride who freaks out when a butterfly lands in her veil and then proceeds to stomp and smash all the poor insects who don't take flight immediately. Who's romantic idea was that, anyway?!?)

swiss dot cardstock (Bazzill Basics) + patterned paper, journal tag, chipboard letters (KI Memories) + pen (American Crafts)

I used several acrylic and chipboard butterflies from my stash (mostly Heidi Swapp and Maya Road) and traced their shapes onto patterned paper from KI Memories' Flourish and Heirloom lines.  I cut out the shapes and bent the wings up slightly before using glue dots to secure them to the page.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Tuesday!!

Fridays Sneaks.

It's been a busy week in the crafty department around here.  After an ongoing power struggle with my sewing machine and the super-slippery chiffon I chose for Riely's bedskirt, I managed to finish up the sewing portion of her bedding and she now has a place to sleep:

There's still lots left to do before the room is complete, including painting a small vanity table & mirror (and possibly making a skirt for the table, if I can stop having nightmares about the chiffon!) We also need some accessories and art, something I hope to remedy with a shopping trip this weekend.  I'll be on the hunt for a wrought iron chandelier to hang above the bed, because you can't have a princess room without a chandelier, right?!?

So onto more craftiness...I've been thoroughly enjoying my stint as guest designer for Studio Calico this month.  The main kit, Quilting Bee and the two-add ons Wedding Ring and Honeycomb have been an absolute joy to work with.  And somewhat coincidentally, they all contain very similar colors to Riely's new quilt!   Here's some sneaks (full reveal is on the 28th!)

 

Can you see a butterfly theme happening here??  I am quite possibly channeling my desire for the arrival of spring onto my scrapbook pages. Love those little chips (they are in the Honeycomb add-on).  And with that, I am outta here....have a wonderful weekend my friends!

I'm pretty sure Abe Lincoln would've liked Thin Mints, too.

February 2010 sure knows how to pack a holiday punch - three holidays in the span of as many days?!  Cah-razy!  Not to mention the abundance of sweets: chocolates for Valentines, King Cake for Fat Tuesday and um, what do you eat for President's Day?  Cherry pie?!  Of course, no holiday ranks higher in my book than the official Arrival of the Girl Scout Cookies, which just happened to fall this weekend as well.  And I'm still celebrating today, as my breakfast of coffee & Samoas evidences. Sugar high, anyone?!?

So we celebrated the weekend with a quick ski trip on Saturday, and returned home on Sunday to begin the process of re-doing Riely's room.  It's a long-overdue project that was kicked into gear when last week we finally received the iron bed we'd ordered for her several months ago.  Um, yes, she is probably the only 4-year old still sleeping in a crib (though it's really more of a day bed right now, since we removed the side rails on one side) but to be fair, she LOVES her crib and always has, so convincing her to make the switch to a big girl bed has been quite the ordeal. After many promises that her new bed would be fit for a princess (and a side deal that allowed her to pick a new paint color for her room), she finally conceded to let the crib go.

And though the room is far from done, we did make some progress.  Here's a before shot:

And an after, with the new paint color:

We've got the new bed assembled and I'm going to try and get the bedding on it today so she can sleep on it for the first time tonight.  I'll post a completed "after" photo of the room soon!

Also on my agenda today is to finish up my projects as guest designer for Studio Calico this month - the kit is (no surprise!) just lovely and a complete joy to create with. Tune in for some sneaks later this week!

I'll sign off by wishing you a Happy Mardi Gras, my friends!  Enjoy your king cake (or Tagalongs or Trefoils or Thin Mints, whatever your preference may be!)

Some KI Memories goodness.

Right now I am up to my eyeballs in scrap projects, so I'll apologize in advance for the neglect of my blog over the next week or so.  But I do have some exciting things to share with you all near the end of the month - so keep stopping by, ok?

Today I thought I'd share two KI Memories layouts I did recently.  They both use one of my favorite scrap combos:  basic white cardstock + the bright, happy products of KI!

supplies:  Flourish Lace cardstock + patterned paper from Flourish 8 x 8 pad + Flourish Softies + Flourish Metal Badges + Flourish Epoxy Alpha

The whole Flourish line is one of my favorites from KI!  For this page, I cut apart the lace cardstock, backing some of the pieces with black cardstock.  I topped them with Softies and Badges to create a sort of "bouquet" of paper flowers.

supplies:  Hearts Brick lace cardstock + Pink Petals paper + Princess paper pad + Cute Warm alpha + Love You chipboard accents + Little One Icons glitter stickers

This was a page to highlight a sweet little love letter that Riely gave me.  I pulled out all the red & pink KI supplies I could find and tried to use a little bit of everything on this Valentine-themed page. (And if you haven't done a page about your Valentine yet, now is the time to do one! You have my express permission to forget the household chores today and scrap instead!)

Enjoy your Thursday!

I will play for gumbo.

So Sunday was the much anticipated SuperBowl, and like most red-blooded Americans, we celebrated with a little gathering of friends. Even without a vested interest in either of the teams, I wasn't about to turn down an opportunity to drink beer and eat the world's most perfect food, nachos.  Because really, is there anything better than a big ol' pile of corn chips topped with beans, melted, gooey cheese and guacamole?¹

Of course, you can't watch the big game without a team to cheer for, so after some consideration of geography (we did live in Louisiana for a time, early in Mike's career) and moral principals (who doesn't want to root for the underdog?) we opted to pledge our allegiance to the Saints.  In doing so, I had to replace my beloved nachos with a more appropriate New Orleans dish:  gumbo, of course!

Mind you, I have never made gumbo.  But a phone call to my Cajun sister-in-law Ali got me up to speed on preparing this much-revered recipe.  A quick run down:  there are no stewed tomatoes in gumbo; you can omit the okra if you think it's yucky; and the secret ingredient is file powder!  So I made a trip to the grocery store and then began the long process of chopping the trinity, browning the meat and preparing the roux.  Holy long cooking process!  Being a self-proclaimed 30-minute cook (I often consider dry cereal and milk too time-consuming a meal), this recipe was a definite test of my culinary will. I spent a very large chunk of Saturday afternoon slaving over this stew, slipping into a delirium by the end of the process, as evidenced by my randomly yelling "BAM!" and giggling insanely when I startled the children.

But I have to say the results were worth the time.  Served over white rice and topped with a few splashes of Tabasco, the gumbo was delicious.  And while I hate to take undue credit for the Saints win, I doubt that without my culinary prowess they would have triumphed so decisively. And, quite frankly, Drew Brees, I expect a thank-you note is forthcoming. You're welcome.

{Just an FYI - the recipe I used can be found here.  I followed it to the letter, with the exception of adding a pound of large shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cooking.}

We even had enough time before kick-off to enjoy a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit, in which my trivia-hating husband soundly beat the pants off all of us, dethroning me as the reigning TP Queen.  I'm thinking my consumption of Hazed & Infused may have contributed to my less-than-ideal recall skills.  Suffice it to say, a rematch is scheduled for the near future so I can attempt to restore my crown.

Have a super Tuesday, y'all!  And Geaux Saints!

____________________________________________________________________
¹ The correct answer is no.

February JBS Mercantile!

Happy Friday!  I wanted to share my layouts from this month's Jenni Bowlin kit - it's packed full of Studio Calico and Pink Paislee, and of course, some JBS exclusives:

 

I did three pages, and I would love to dig back into the kit to do more, but my crazy schedule this month isn't allowing much scrapping time (boo!) So here's what I've got!

patterned paper (Studio Calico, Jenni Bowlin, Pink Paislee) + chipboard letters (Pink Paislee) + stickers (Studio Calico) + font (Bohemian Typewriter) + machine stitching

When I ran across this quote on Twitter, I knew it would be the perfect title for a page on the kids participation with various charities over the holidays.  I hand cut a bunch of hearts to embellish the page and stitched them up the middle to attach them.  I love the bit of dimension they add! 

This next page began by wanting to document my current music & television favorites. After looking online for some album covers, I discovered so many colorful icons that I opted to make the page about all pop culture. I love that it gives a little snapshot life in 2009-10.

patterned paper (Pink Paislee, Studio Calico) + stickers (Studio Calico) + chipboard (Maya Road) + journaling card (Studio Calico) + jewels (Prima) + flower (vintage) + font (Bohemian Typewriter)

And finally, a super quick one that uses some of the lovely Studio Calico patterned paper, mixed in with vintage book pages:

  patterned paper (Jenni Bowlin, Studio Calico) + stickers (Studio Calico) + vintage flower + pearl (Prima) + vintage book pages

And that's all I've got for today!  I'm off to grab another cup of coffee and then hit the the treadmill.  Ciao for now people!

Martinis and Lamborghinis (oh my!)

Ack - it's Thursday!  Where oh where has the week gone? It kinda of flew by and I'm still left with a mile-long to-do list. Better get to tackling it, but thought I'd do a quick photo-heavy post from the Gala last weekend.  The theme was Casino Royale (which, in a weird twist of fate, also happened to be the theme for my sorority's formal rush party the year I served as rush chair. This event, however, obviously had a much bigger budget than ours and they opted forego the keg and deli trays and implement a full-blown James Bond theme instead!)

There were fancy secret agent cars to pose in front of:

It's not exactly an Aston-Martin, but it will do.

 

And Dancing With The Stars-type entertainment:

Someone's been waxing!!

And scantily clad Bond girls toting firearms: 

And my personal fave, the Martini Bar (They poured the mixture into the ice sculpture and it traveled through the spirals down to the glass underneath.  I love it when my drink doubles as entertainment!)

Shaken, not stirred, natch.

Who doesn't love giant chocolate fountains? And yes, there were marshmallows.

 

More chocoloate for dessert - does it get any better?!?

This jubilant pose was not due to too many martinis...it was because every time we tried to get a photo together, Mike would attempt to stick his finger up my nostril:

Finally got this one by holding his hands under the table: 

And later in the evening, there was gambling.  Luckily it wasn't real money we used, otherwise we would be taking out a second on the house.  Let's just say Mike has a lot to learn to about craps before we head off to Vegas...

 

 

So there you have it!  Hope your Thursday isn't "crappy!"  Ha!

So to wrap up: Martinis = good. Pantyhose = bad.

I'm moving a bit slowly this Monday morning after a late night at the gala Saturday (martinis are the best drink EVER!) and a 20-mile run on Sunday morning (ibuprofen is the best drug EVER!) but I wanted to pop in and say thank you for all the fashion advice and generally nice comments you left for me. (the internet is the best friend EVER!). I bet when Al Gore invented the World Wide Web he never imagined what a powerful tool it could be in boosting self-esteem.

At any rate, I do appreciate you stopping by and voting on the trivial topic of nude vs. black hosiery.  I opted to go with the nude, spent 30 uncomfortable minutes wearing them, and ultimately ended up removing them in the ladies room and spent the rest of the evening bare-legged. I figured I had taken all that time and effort to shave my legs, so why not show them off?!?  And after three martinis, who cares about pantyhose, anyway?!? :)

I was hoping to have some good photos to post this morning, but my point-n-shoot results were less than stellar, and the official event photographer at the gala hasn't yet gotten the evening's photos up on his site (hoping they will be there later today!)  So here's the shots we took at home before heading out - I'll try to post more later!

 

Finally, the winner of the RAK is  Mindy Miller (comment #35 on the last post) - yay!!  Mindy, email me your address and I'll get the package out to you!

Happy Monday people!