More mini album pix...better late than never?

I know I promised pictures, but I didn't get them taken until Thurs when I stayed home with Erica on her last day of school...101.5 temp.

This album took me 3 years to finish...yes, you read that right. Some friends of ours (Erica's God Father) had a daughter three years ago and this was supposed to be one of the baby gifts. I "found" it when I was cleaning my craft room. It was nearly done, so I finished it this past weekend...whew! Now let's hope it doesn't take another three years to deliver it to them. They just went home with triplets girls this week (two identical twins and the third is fraternal). Jimmy is outnumbered 5-2 in the house now...poor thing...

This album is the last of the A-B-C albums I've made. I programmed A is for... all the way thru Z into the Xyron Design Runner and then print the sayings on each page. I always use page kits with embellies and am able to get almost all 28 pages done (I have to add a few extras and just look for coord papers and embellies if I need more).

There were too many to post, so I just posted the first few pages...thanks for looking. I may not be posting much more for the next week as we are going on vacation. I'll try to post some fun pix so the blog won't be too lonely...and then you can see them again when I finish the layouts :)

Scraptique Sketch Challenge

Did you get today's newsletter? Did you see the sketch challenge? You know how much I love sketches...so I had a blast with this one. Below is the 2-pg sketch. Not being a big flower person, I use Bo Bunny's Roughin' It line and did a layout with pictures from a Nature Walk that Erica and her troop went on for their Journey. This was from April, so the weather was pretty nice. The girls learned about shapes and textures in nature and made tree rubs.

Now you've seen what I did with the sketch...let's see what you do with the sketch.

Mini Album Weekend

It's been a while since I made a mini album...well, one for ME. This weekend I put together a class kit for Scraptique (I hope they don't mind me showing it early). My initial project was going to be an acrylic album, but I initially couldn't find the album, so I gave up and made something else. While I was looking for the album, I got lost in my craft room and decided maybe I should straighten it up a little. In doing so, I found two mostly done albums. Wouldn't you know I got side tracked and had to finish them. I'll post a few pictures of them later this week...for now, I'm soooo excited and wanted to post this.

From time to time I check out a mini album site. I have yet to complete one of their projects...until now. I saw this and knew I HAD to make it for Erica about her most recent camping trip. It's made from Toilet Paper Rolls. Jeff, my wonderful enabler, pulled out the center of his roll for me so I could make this...what a great husband, huh? Here are a few pictures...for more details, you can come take the class at Scraptique. I'll let you know when it will be.

Winter Camping Trip

Erica's Girl Scout troop has been very active...I often feel like all I put in the blog posts are things about her troop. I've mentioned a few times about her camping trip this past winter. We went out to Togowoods in Wasilla for the weekend. The weather was COOOOLD...seriously, it got to 20 below. On our way home, we watched a spider crack on the windshield travel from one end to the other...it was cool.

Anyway, here are the last of the pictures from the winter camping trip...just general camping pictures. I already scrapped the Service Project where the girls made bird feeders with toilet paper rolls, peanut butter, and seeds. They also made scrapbooks and they got to learn about the smallest owl in North America (I made an 8-1/2 x 11 page from that...I may make one 12x12, we'll see). The only other thing the girls did was make mini satellites to hear things far away, but I only got one picture of that. Oh, and I smashed my finger and lost my nail (OUCH!).

These are papers and embellies from Bo Bunny's Roughin' It line. I'm a HUGE fan of Bo Bunny!!! More to come with these papers later this month (projects for Scraptique).

All about me...

Have I ever told you how much I dislike scrapping about me??? I do. I don't have many pictures of me because I'm usually behind the camera (and I like it that way). Scraptique asked each of the DT members to make an altered album all about themselves. UGH!!!

Well, I finally got it done and will be taking it to the store this weekend (so you get the sneak peek before they do). Those of you who know me, know I'm kinda neurotic about how things look...I'll redo a layout and pull things off if they're crooked. This was a tough project because it is going to be hanging in the store...so I felt I had to do the front and the back. My solution was to punch out circles in pattern papers, adhere them around the album, and cover the back. Then I wrote a descriptive word on each "petal" for the various jobs I have: wife, mother, friend, cash machine, maid, etc. The journaling says, "I have lots of jobs in life...and they all make me happy." Well, each job may not make me happy (like being a maid), but they all represent something in my life that makes me happy. I'm very blessed!
BTW...Erica took all those pictures, except the one of me scrapping. The scrapping picture is from a weekend retreat I took with my friend, Kelly a few years ago. Oh, and I should say I used a free collage template from Scrapbooks Etc. I've mentioned this before in other posts and had to make sure to do it again with this. Those templates are AWESOME! I just created it in Photoshop, saved it, and printed it as a 5x7 photo.

April Summary - Project 12

I'm just loving this Project 12 thing. I tend to be a 2-pg scrapper and the sketches are all 2-pages...at least so far. Plus, it's a nice way to get recent events scrapped before you forget them. So here's the April summary:

April is the beginning of things calming down. The big Relay for Life fund raiser, Crop for Cancer, is over. I haven't gotten the full results, but I'm optimistic. The actual Relay is later this month just before we go on vacation. During April we also went on a Mother-Daughter camping trip and Erica finished her Daisy Journey with the Girl Scouts. So here's my layout and the sketch follows it.You can click on the Project 12 link in the margin for more info on Project 12. I hope you'll join me. Stay tuned next month for the May summary.

Mother-Daughter Quality Time

Here's another layout I made for Scraptique...it mostly consists of My Minds Eye die cuts and alphas, along with a small strip of Little Yellow Bicycle paper. This layout, and the previous one, will be on display at Scraptique for a while...go check it out, and stay for a class or a crop.

This is from our trip to Orlando over Spring Break. Jeff couldn't go due to work (and another clean audit...he's soooo good!), so we went ourselves and met up with Grannie Annie and Grandpa Guru. What a great time we had (you've seen some of the stories on past posts...and you'll see more when I get them all scrapped). This was our first day at Disney. Erica had to wait two days before we went. I'm surprised she sat still for this picture, but I'm really glad she did!!!

Dress Up and the Enabler

I've been itching to show you this layout...it feels like forever since I finished it. It's in the Scraptique newsletter, too (woo hoo!). The papers are from the DT kit I got at the meeting and consists of Little Yellow Bicycle Fresh Clothesline papers, Maya Rd chipboard, Prima flowers, and My Minds Eye alphas and die cut border. I colored the chipboard with Smooch Spritz (fun!). Oh, and the layout is tweaked from a monthly sketch from Pagemaps.com (listed in my fave blogs on the right).

And now for the fun story. Erica is a girly girl (at times) and LOVES to dress up. Since Jeff is an only child and Erica is our only child, this makes her Grandma's only grand child. Grandma is an AWESOME seamstress...she wins ribbons for her quilt work at county and state fairs (I LOVE her crazy quilt with pictures of Erica!!!). Anyway, Grandma enjoys sewing for Erica and Erica is very appreciative of her efforts. For Christmas, Erica got a big box of dress up clothes, most of which Grandma made. These are a few of her wonderful creations. Thanks, Grandma!!!

Anchorage local cricut deals!!!

If you are in the market for a Cricut Expressions or some new cartridges, head to the Anchorage Dimond Costco before Mother's Day. They have the Expressions with an additional exclusive cartridge for $299. They also have a Gypsy deal with an exclusive cartridge, an Expressions Accessory Pack deal, and a GREAT Pick-3 cartridge deal: Pick any three for $94. Below are a list of the cartridges I remember they had (I hope I caught them all):

Tie the Knot
Give a Hoot (this is brand new)
Heritage
Sweet Treats
Once Upon a Princess (I think this is pretty new, too)
Wild Cards
Just Because (also brand new)

I think they had the Story Book font cartridge, too. If you can't make it to the Dimond Costco before Mother's Day, they will be at the Bragaw Costco starting May 14. GREAT DEALS!!! Go check it out...and Happy Shopping!!!

Technique Classes coming to Anchorage

Are you interested in learning a few new techniques? A friend of mine is coming back to Anchorage for a visit and while she's here she'll be teaching a few classes. She's very creative and talented. I'm sure you'll enjoy these classes and learn alot!

Brass Stencil Class - Monday, May 17th 6:00pm - 1703 West 46th Street - Anchorage, AK

Description: If you have never used a brass stencil before or if you have done some work with stencils in the past and want to renew your skills, this is the class for you! In this fun, fast-paced class, you will learn how to use brass stencils to make four cards using embossing paste, glitter, and ink. Each student will choose from a wide variety of stencils and card styles. We will learn how to (wet) emboss with stencil paste as well as dry emboss on a light table. We will use stencils with glitter on sticky paper for that wow effect! Advanced stencil paste techniques are taught in this class with step-by-step instruction. You will love the cards and be thrilled with what you learn in this technique-driven class.Supplies Needed: Paper Trimmer, scissors, ds tape, wet wipes, various colors of dye ink or chalks,

Skill level: All Levels (fast-paced) Class length: 2.50 hours Class price: $20.00

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Copic Marker Basics - Monday, May 10th 6:00pm - 1703 West 46th Street - Anchorage, AK

Description: Do you have a stash of Copic markers just waiting to be used? Have you heard about Copics and wonder what is different about them? Join us in class where you’ll learn all the techniques and receive all the information from my Copic certification class. I will pass on each and every tidbit of knowledge about these markers and how they work to achieve fabulous results. There will be many examples and you will have an opportunity to practice techniques hands-on as we work our way through the secrets of this medium. Airbrush with Copics is one of the many topics covered.

Supplies Needed: Pen and paper for your notes.

Skill level: All Levels (fast-paced) Class length: 2.50 hours Class price: $20.00

Crop for Cancer layouts

In honor of National Scrapbook Day, I'm hosting an all-day crop. But I thought I'd leave you with some pictures from the last all-day crop I attended: Crop for Cancer. It was such a special day. One of my friends was just finishing up chemo treatments and joined us for the crop. I'm not sure how much we've raised, but I understand the night of the event was about $6,000, without ticket sales. Our goal was $15,000 to get us over the top of $100,000. The actual relay is May 21-22. I'll be participating, so look for a layout on that soon.

For this layout, I used My Minds Eye Life Stories papers. The pack of papers includes some patterns and some sheets with journaling prompts and spaces for pictures. Yesterday's post was another good example of that. So this layouts takes one of the journaling prompt pages and pairs it with a plain kraft sheet. I added some papers, die cuts, and journaling to finish the page.