30 Days and Counting...

That's right people, according to my Eclipse countdown clock there's just 30 days left to go before Eclipse opens in theaters this June. I can't WAIT!!! I have read & re-read all the books in the Twilight Series and Eclipse is my FAVORITE by far. I am so excited to see how they're gonna bring this book to life on the big screen. The Eclipse Trailer I saw when I went to see the new Robin Hood movie was totally FIERCE! The last time I was this excited to see a movie was when the 3rd installment of the Star Wars Saga Prequel,  Revenge of the Sith opened in theaters in 2005.

On more of a scrappy note, guess what day it is? Monday did you say...? That's right and here is the first sketch for my monthly challenge over on sb.com. What do ya think?

Hello Sunshine!

It's been a couple weeks since my scrappy-friend Melissa from Alabama presented me with this happy little blog award...

and I didn't want to forget to spread the sunshine so I'm finally getting around to posting, lol! According to the rules of this blog award I get to choose 12 other bloggers who 'light up my online life' with their blogs to pass it on to. Here goes!

1. Darlene ~My fellow Groovy Sister. Your blog is inspirational in look and function. One thing I love the most is it's full of links to other cool blogs that have inspired me as well. Beautiful job! : ]

2. Jackie ~Your innovative scrappy style inspires me to think outside the scrappy-norm and challenge myself to try new things. Thanks! : ]

3. Cherry Blossom Studio ~You are my FAVORITE local place to shop for all my scrappy needs. I wish I could make it to a crop now and then, but thank you for being all that you are!

4.  Melissa ~ For being a consistent player in my monthly sketch challenge and producing layouts with your own hand made touches that inspire me to try new techniques, here's a little sunshine for ya! : ]

5. Delaina ~ For being you. Your scrappy style is one of my FAVOTIRES! The way you coordinate everything on a page from paper selection to embellies and how you put it all together truly inspires me! Love ya! : ]

6. Mandy ~ Your scrappy style is one I dabble in from time to time, but in my opinion, you create the most innovative distressed works of art I have ever seen. Thank you for being so inspiring and a mother of 5 to boot! Bless your heart! : ]

7. Julie ~ Your blog and design team truly inspire me to scrap more of my FAV things. Thanks for all you do and all that you are! : ]

8. Stephanie & Malinda ~ Good luck with your monthly kit club & thank you SOOO much for the give away. I still can't believe I won it and can't wait to get all those awesome goodies in my hands so I can play!!! : ]

9. Theresa ~ My former Groovy Sister who is a fellow FL girl living in Japan right now. I miss you but congrats you DIVA!  Good luck w/your Ning site. : ]

10. Sketchabilities ~ I LUV sketches and so do you guys. Thanks to you and your FABULOUS Design Teams for all the sketchy inspiration! : ]

11. Marci ~ This lady is an inspiration to me and one of my FAVORITE online scrappy people! Hugs : ]

12. Melina ~ I've been a fan of this ladies work for years. Congrats on the upcoming nuptuals! I wish you nothing but happiness. : ]

Now for those of you who want to spread the sunshine, here's what to do...

1. Put the Sunshine Award on your blog and/or within your post.
2.Pass the award to 12 other Bloggers.
3.Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they recieved this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you recieved the award.

Guess What???

Remember that post last week I added about an awesome scrappy kit givaway from Vintage Chic? Well guess who won it...ME!!! I can hardly believe it either cuz I usually never win anything like that, but it's true! The winning comment was posted on their blog and I saw this morning that it was mine! Can't wait to get my hands on that incredible assortment of scrappy goodness! Whoo-hoo!! : ]

On another scrappy note, here's the new sketch for this week over on my monthly sketch challenge @ sb.com.

Thanks to my friend Darlene who pointed me in the direction of Sassy Sketches for this little bit of inspiration! Happy Monday all & happy scrappin'!

Happy Monday!!

Time for a NEW sketch & the start of week 2 of my monthly sketch challenge over at scrapbook.com!

The twist this week is to make your own embellies for your layout and tell me how you did it/what you used, etc. I love creating my own personal embellishments whenever I can so I am excited to see what all my girls come up with!

This week's sketch comes from Scrapbook Challenges! If you haven't checked them out I highly recommend you do! They have an ENORMOUS amount of sketches to choose from and they post a new one each week! You can visit them at www.scrapbookchallenges.ning.com

Love Vintage & Retro?

I know I'm not the only one! If so, this givaway is for YOU!  Check it out!

For my friend...

So a while back my friend Carlos, (who recently finished Basic Training in the United States Army), asked me if I could do something w/some of his pictures. He had seen some of my scrapbook pages I uploaded to my Facebook. I guess he decided he'd like to have something to give his mom since he knew he was going to be sent to Afganistan for a year. Naturally, I said it would be my honor to do something with your photos for you. So about a month ago he stopped by with his shots & spent some time telling me about some of them so I could have some info to add to what I create for his mother. I just finished the 2nd 2 page spread for his book & I totally LOVE how it is turning out! Have a look for yourself...

I wanted to keep this page focused on the photos so I went with a neutral background that matched the photos well. Gotta love the basics, good old Bazzill Kraft cardstock was perfect for the job. My page design was inspired by my latest copy of Scrapbooks Etc. Magazine-June 2010 issue (pg. 108 Kim Moreno's "Bond" LO). She used strips of pattern paper to anchor 4 different size photos on her page. I did the same thing using pp & ribbon on page 2 with 4 of my 6 photos. Because I was working with more pics, I decided to spread them over 2 pages & give myself a larger canvas to work with. I was lucky to find these super cool 3-D Army themed stickers @ Michael's the other day that were 40% off. I couldn't resist & good thing too cuz they look AWESOME on this layout! I hand drew & cut out my own title block from some leftover pp scraps and used a mix of Basic Grey, Making Memories and Creative Imaginations letter stickers for the title. I scissor distressed the pp behind the title block that looks like a post card, (from the Making Memories Vintage Findings large Travel Kit I picked up months ago & so were the little red & white labels I used on 2 of the photos). Finally, to give the layout a finished look I inked the edges with Adirondack Hazelnut and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. TFL & Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's w/son's & daughters serving in the US Military. As a granddaughter of a former Marine & an Army Air Corps Pilot I salute you!

A New LO and a Mini-rant...

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't been scrapping near as much as I'd like to be right now.  Partly because of my job and how draining it is working the hours I work-(8pm-4am), and the fact that all of the part-timers seem to keep getting scheduled full-time hours over the last couple of months.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problem working 40 hours a week...IF you want to give me full-time status & benefits...but if you don't, I shouldn't have to.  Sorry if that makes me sound selfish when the economy is struggling and there are lots of others out of work, but that's just how I feel about it.

Anyhow, the few pages I have scrapped, have mostly been Design Team work for the If It's Groovy Blog. For May, Groovy Deb asked us to photograph some shadows-which was totally fun doing I might add!! Here's what I came up with.  Come check out the IIG Blog & see what the rest of my Groovy Sisters came up with!  www.ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com

This is the first time I scissor distressed the edges of a LO and I LUV how it turned out!  Will definitely be doing that again!  I also used a Prima Screenprint Canvas by Donna Downey on this page.  It was so easy to work with I think I just may have to get a few more!  To age the look of my canvas and pp's I inked the edges w/some of my favorite Tim Holtz Distress Inks & spritzed  them w/a mixture of walnut ink & water.  I also tore, crumpled and stapled.  I was even able to use up some old wire words from Making Memories that have been in my scrappy stash since the first or second year I got into scrapbooking, no joke! LOL!!  The bling swirl is my own creation made with Queen & Co. black pearls and the felt flowers I added are actually a dollar store find from a few months ago.  I have to say I think I have a new favorite LO!!! TFL everyone.  : ]

Happy MONDAY!

Good Mornin' my fellow scrappy peeps! : ]

It's Monday May 3rd & it's the start of my monthly sketch challenge on scrapbook.com. Wanna play? Would love to have you join us!  MayMonthlySketchChallenge

Here is the week 1 sketch...

It's a Page Maps Sketch from last March. I sure luvvv me some Page Maps! : ]


and this weeks twist it to distress it UP!

It's National Scrapbooking Day!

...and I have to work. BOO!!!! Hope you all have a great day & Happy Scrappin'!