Craft Warehouse RAK Swap

Wendy of the Craft Warehouse Design Team challenged me to use punches to create a patten in paper and then use the punched out pieces in my project too.  I used the piece of hole punched paper she sent me (as an example) on this card and included a punched out Fiskars border to the card too!

On My Mind Card (using RAK doo-dads sent for the Design Team Technique Challenge Swap)

The inside sentiment - 24/7 along with punched out confetti from the border punch.

I love these mini button brads by Making Memories.  They add the perfect touch.

Welcome Little One Card

Inside of the card also includes some of the punched out image from a Martha Stewart border punch.

I have always wanted a stamp company to make a onesie the perfect size to put something on the front like a punched out mini flower or embellishment.  Studio G read my mind!  Finally!  An adorable stamp and it only cost me $1!  Think of the possibilities!

You Are The Best Thing (My Mind's Eye Graceful Scrap Club Challenge)

Featuring My Mind's Eye Graceful and American Crafts Dear Lizzy papers.

I saw this adhesive fabric paper and thought, pinwheel! 

I miss walks on the beaches, of the Central Coast of California, on clear days in December.

Sisters

I hope you all have a blessed Memorial Day weekend in honor of the men and women who have served this country for our freedom.  I found this photography site that had the most precious photography to help honor those who have given their lives for us to truly live freely in the amazing United States of America.

I also wanted to share my newest layout, Sisters featuring the new patterned paper line by Basic Grey called Basics.  The die-cut cardstock is by Momenta.

I love the colors of MME So Sophie die-cuts.  I thought this title went perfect with the papers I had picked out.  I also used Little Yellow Bicycle's doilies for the base of the flower.  Also included was a wooden button, Jolee's Boutique ribbon border, One Bright Spot pin, along with a Prima Flower and bead center.

The golden border is by Jolee's Boutique and a Martha Stewart border punch punched through vellum then folded accordion style.

Another First

I love my husband for having the patience to teach me things like "Camping" and everything tent camping entails.  Growing up we didn't go camping (lets just say we had a bad experience) so when I go hiking or camping with my husband it's a new little adventure.  Since meeting the love of my life, I am famous for saying, "Another First!" 

As I flip through my scrapbooks, I see a pattern forming in my designs...geometric lines with a small grouping of collage.  This layout's design was a challenge for me since I wanted to include all three pictures but the pictures with this pattern paper combo was just too busy for my eye on a single 12x12. 

Another First

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This was a layout that sat in the bottom of my project box, incomplete, for a year now. I just couldn't find the right font for the title. I had even cut out some letters using my Silhouette; to no satisfaction. This was a project that kept getting buried and buried. Last weekend, when I came across the layout again, I was thrilled because I had found some Thickers to make this 2-page spread complete!  Thickers' Salutations font works perfectly for this camping layout.  

Using Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy Paper Line, Prima Flower, some jewels, and Michael's Crafts Coaster

The chipboard was painted with Ranger's Tim Holtz Crackle Paint.  I love the embossing on The Little Yellow Bicycle journal cards.  That little touch adds a lot especially when inked.

I was so please with the final result!

Live * Laugh * Love...

This layout was created for the Craft Warehouse Design Team RAK Technique Challenge.  The challenge given to me: use journal blocks and hang charms from ribbon.  Doesn't seem too hard of a challenge but since I tend to hide my journaling (or don't journal at all) it was harder then I first thought!  ;)

This picture is one of my most favorite of my sister and I. It says so much of our personalities...

Live. Laugh. Love...twinkle in your eye, optimistic, joyful, good times. 

Live Laugh Love

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Photo by Evans Photography

PP Cosmo Cricket DeLovely & American Crafts

Journal blocks by Little Yellow Bicycle

American Crafts Thickers, mini letters Cosmo Cricket, Ribbon from challenge RAK Swap & Making Memories.

Journal block Little Yellow Bicycle, Jenni Bowlin vintage button, K and Co flower jewel & frame charm from years ago.

I am so thrilled CW has the new Jolee's Boutique Vintage Stickers.  The little lace bow is just one of the many cute stickers now available! They are fabulous!

You Say Goodbye, While I Say Hello...

When Josh and I drop visiting family off at the airport, I have such a hard time saying goodbye. Family means the world to me and being separated from them is the hardest part of living in Oregon.
I came across this set of pictures from a couple of years back. Sarah and I at the airport...saying goodbye. The precious thing is, since this picture was taken, my sister-in-law decided to make our home, her home, and now I can't imagine life in Oregon without her. She is so much a part of our lives, she is all over my scrapbook pages - and I am so glad she tolerates my hobby.

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MME Meadowlark papers

Measureless Love - Cannon Beach Ladies Retreat

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Someone read my mind and told Jenni Bowlin how much I wanted someone to make banner stickers with matching letters.  I placed the alpha sticker letters on clear buttons and made them 3-D w/pop-up dots.

Rub-on "Love" onto a flat no-hole button.

Acrylic Heidi Swapp heart put through the sewing machine, Starbucks gift certificate envelope, mulberry handmade paper, skeleton leaf, along with Making Memories and Jenni Bowlin doo-dads.

An article I wrote about Women's Retreat will be hidden behind this layout...

As a participant my church's Women’s Retreat: Measureless Love, I walked away in awe of all that God revealed to me over the short three-day getaway. I am still processing it and trying to wrap my mind around everything He taught me, however, like a blazing neon sign, one message was unmistakable: Remember.


Retreats are often “mountain top experiences” so even before it began I felt a nudging from the Holy Spirit to note carefully what would take place. He was telling me to take this weekend seriously so that I would not forget what He said to me when I went back to my day-to-day life. As my sister-in-law, Sarah, and I drove westward to Cannon Beach on Thursday, we listened to C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair on CD. In the second chapter, Aslan, the Great Lion, gave these instructions to Jill:


“…But, first, remember, remember, remember, the Signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the Signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down in Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the Signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the Signs and believe the Signs. Nothing else matters…”


Yet even with the Holy Spirit’s preparation, I was still a little surprised to hear Beth Moore bring up a familiar topic: remembering the examples of God’s measureless love in our own life. When she said in her cute Texas drawl, “Do I believe in miracles? I AM ONE!” - my own past flooded back.


In 2005, at twenty-seven, my life was at a crossroads. I had gone through a period of healing and restoration, and was lovingly serving God. This in itself was a miracle. Yet just as I had finally found contentment in being single, He was preparing another miracle for the next chapter in my life. It was during this pivotal time that my mentor gave me my very first Beth Moore book, Believing God. As I read, the book’s theme took me on a heart-transforming adventure:


God is a BIG God.
God is who He says He is. (Ex 3:14)
God can do what He says He can do.
I am who God says I am. (Jer 29:11)
I can do all things through Christ. (Philippians 4:13)
God’s Word is alive and active in me.


Wow! There is power in those words! These truths, found in scripture, left such an impression that I’ve never been the same. And just so I would never forget, God had my husband (yes, husband) design my wedding ring to be a visual reminder. In the center of the ring, the largest stone reminds me that God is a BIG God. He is who He says He is. On either side of the center diamond are smaller heart-shaped diamonds: a reminder that God is the One who brought our hearts together and He can do what He says He can do!


Now on the Oregon Coast in 2010, I was being reminded of those familiar truths. Had I forgotten the measureless power and love of God? No, not completely... yet, in my complacency I had allowed the daily things of this world to cloud my focus. In the words of Aslan, “the air had thickened” and I had not always seen the signs of His measureless love.


Mark Batterson sums this up perfectly in his book, Wild Goose Chase.
“Have you ever noticed how often people in the Old Testament built altars? It seems like they were building them all over the place, all the time. Why? Because we have a natural tendency to remember what we should forget, and forget what we should remember. Altars help us remember what God doesn’t want us to forget. They give us a sacred place to go back to. So why did we stop building altars? I honestly wonder if our lives seem more routine than they really are, simply because we don’t have any altars dotting the landscape. I wonder if many of us feel spiritually lost because we don’t have any milestones that help us find our way back to God. We need altars that renew our faith by reminding us of the faithfulness of God. And every once in a while, we need to go back to those sacred places to repent of our sin, renew our covenant with God, and celebrate what God has done.” – p. 48


Thank God, “We will never wake up on any single day of our lives that Jesus isn’t full of grace and truth!” (Beth Moore) I have no doubt of God’s grace, healing and truth. I have seen it over and over again in my life, and I need to be reminded of that. I need to remember.


“Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’” I Samuel 7:12


At retreat, I was challenged to build an altar that would stand as a constant reminder to me of His measureless love and faithfulness. This photograph is my “Ebenezer.” I am going to have it framed and place it where I see it daily, to remember all my God has done.

Lucky To Have You

Not only do colors and textures motivate my scrapbook pages but most of all the pictures I work with move me to pull out textures, themes, and colors. Depending on the time available, I could be working on a layout for thirty minutes or several weeks and all the while, I am thinking and reflecting on the subject in the photograph. Lucky To Have You was a layout that took me several weeks to complete. It was a page that reminded me why I love to scrapbook – because I love my family and love to reflect and recollect those treasured moments with them.

(click to enlarge photos)

 I adore the picture of Jen in this layout. It reminds me of how our mother often compared Jen’s personality to that of a wave or bubbling brook. She has a contagious smile, a twinkle in her eye, and she overflows with generosity and joy.

I don’t believe in Luck. I believe nothing happens by coincidence but that we all have a destiny…so, perhaps Lucky To Have You wasn’t the best title to pick out for this layout… but I know that nothing is left to luck – that God’s hand has been on my life all along. So, when I see Lucky To Have You – I really want to scream from the roof tops, “Thank you, God, for blessing me with two of the best sisters anyone could have!” They both have seen me through the joyful, as well as the tough times in life.

Jen has been my best friend since birth. Not too many people can say that about their best friend *smile*. She has prayed me through. Jen reminds me to look to God during turmoil when I am in need of refuge; God uses her to speak comfort and truth. Jen is an amazing mother and teacher. She has helped teach me to embrace life and see God in action in our everyday lives and in the daily way He demonstrates His love that are often overlooked. I am so grateful for her unconditional love and the way she makes me laugh.

I created a pocket to hold my tag journaling block.  The papers are a combination of Pink Paislee, Little Yellow Bicycle, Basic Grey, and Bazzill Basics Cardstock.

Lucky To Have You sticker, grey border sticker, and folded 3-D paper flowers from K and Co. Also included are the new Jolee's Boutique Dimensional embellishment stickers, border tape by Pink Paislee, pink ribbon is an antique faire find, acrylic paint mixed w/water sprayed w/ Ranger's Mini Mister, and I made my own paper flower rose sitting on a silk flower blossom.

Lately, my layouts have been full of  layers and fun borders.  I added the white dots using Liquid Applique.  The standard price tags (cut short) were from an office supply store.

Thanks for looking!