Scrapbooking.com Magazine + RAK

Who me? Thanks to Jami and the staff at Scrapbooking.com for selecting me as Blog of the Week.

In honor of being selected the Scrapbooking.com Magazine Blog of the Week I am giving away 5 packs of Pink Paislee Rubons. All you have to do is leave me a comment with your email by this Friday 5:00pm EST. I just want to know who is stopping by to see me. :)

Work In Progress September Pages

Loved this kit and the colors. Perfect for end of the summer photos. There are few left, so don't miss your chance!

American Crafts Albums Deal!

Those who know me, know that I am a huge fan of D Ring albums. I think they are so much easier to work with than postbound albums plus the added convenience of adding different size page protectors and photo inserts. I always use the same Black Cloth American Crafts D Ring album. They look timeless and are a good value for the quantity of albums I make in a year's time.

I was asked by close friend to scrapbook and oraganize all of her 3 million+ wedding photos from about 5 years ago. (She never got to it before the baby was born.) To tackle a project this big I knew I would need to put many of the pictures in photo sleeves rather than try to scrap all of the photos from the many showers and events leading up to her big day.


I hit the jackpot today. I went into Archiver's to purchase 2 Leather versions of the D Ring album for her photos plus the protectors. The albums are normally $29.99 but are being clearanced at %50 off. I picked up the 2 albums plus 4 packs of photo inserts for the albums. I added on 2 packs of Thickers %30 off with coupons.

Here's the kicker...every time you spend $30 in American Crafts products at the store this weekend, you get a free 12x12 Black cloth album for FREE! I got both of her albums half off plus I walked away with two free albums for myself. That is what I call a deal. (I did have to ring it up in 2 different transactions to get the deal and use more than 1 coupon on the Thickers.)

buttons

I never ever get involved with "fancy" time consuming techiques for my layouts. (probably because it takes me so long to make them anyway) BUT I really would like to try to make these polymer clay buttons sometime. Check out this ScrapScene tutorial for directions.

the house is quiet.

They boys went back to school this week. Leaving me home alone for at least part of the day. My youngest in Kindergarten and my oldest to High School. Pretty funny! Emmitt got to ride the bus for the very first time Tuesday morning with Cooper. He never looked back even once. It is so much easier to be the third child. I thought I would be sentimental to see him go - but instead I was relieved. He really needed and wanted to go to school and was so happy to be joining his big brothers.

Now on the days I don't freelance at Pulsar, I have 3 hours of no kids! I should be cleaning or grocery shopping but I do plan on sneaking in some scrap time. After 14 years of kiddos, I derserve it!

My biggest worry this week has been Max and his adjustment to High School. He leaves the house at 7am and doesn't return until 7:30pm after football practice. I was literally waiting at the end of the driveway the past two nights dying to see him and talk about his day. All he wanted to do was eat and shower. He loves it and is already digging in to his studies. He wants to get all "A's" this year because he talked me into buying him a laptop if I did. Go Max.

Here is another quick page I made using the Making Memories Just Chillin line. In other news, I am thinking about trying out for this Design team. I like the existing team, sketches and their layouts. It would be a good challenge for me.

Some pages to share on a sunny monday...

Summer feels like it's almost over. Max and Cooper started school today. Emmitt has his first official day of Kindergarten tomorrow. The warm days flew by too quickly but I am ready for all three guys to be occupied with school. I'm playing catch-up today and finishing all my loose end tasks. I got to scrapbook a lot over the last week and will lots of pages to share later this week. I go back at Pulsar to work again next week so I need to enjoy my free time while they are gone.

Here are a few I finished earlier this month. Used SCAL and the Cricut to create all the unique diecut titles.

HSN

Check out HSN all day Thursday for Scrapbooking specials. Sometime today they will feature kits I helped design for 3 Birds. Focus on Photos was the first project I did artwork for back in April. I am so very excited to see it on air today.

today

Is my day to post at the Work In Progress Blog. Hop on over to check it out!

my space

I originally posted this at the Work In Progress blog but I thought I would share today on my own blog with an added picture at the end...

My Scrapbook room is not the kind you see in magazines. You won't find any beautifully painted drywall or natural sunlight in my space. What you will find is lots and lots of inexpensive storage and a room that is very functional for my needs.

My scrap space is in the corner of my basement and is otherwise know as the "Laundry Room". It's actually not so bad when you think about it. "Honey, I have to go down and do some more laundry." Sneak. Sneak!

I recently added a new desk. It was my Grandmother's desk at the Auto Club where she worked for over 19 years. The desk is maple and laminate, over 7 feet long and very retro cool.

This is actually the entry to my room. I made a little "craft" area for my boys since they are always down there with me. They love to paint and color while I work. Their latest thing is to have me cut shapes on my Cricut for them.

This little tiered shelf was for displaying magnets. I use it for all my journaling cards.

I am never afraid to take things out of trash dumpsters. This little display was found in a discard pile at a hospital gift shop. I plan on hanging little bags of embellishments from it when the hubby finally hangs it for me.

My basket of embroidery thread. I love things inROYGBIVorder.

My bank from 7th Grade. Makes me happy.

My sewing table. I love my machine. Love it.

Metal boards from IKEA. Cheap!

Old pop bottle case. Makes great storage for paint bottles.

Old wood display case. I put things I want to use and not forget about.

Lazy susan/Desk Organizers. Must haves for me. I like to have my tools handy.

I rescued this spinner from the GNC trash. It used to hold Mens' Health and Bodybuilding Magazines. Now it holds my scrappy mags. The smaller rack is new/old and empty for now. It was an old stand for flat packaged gift wrap.

My typewriter from 1920. It rocks.

Storage bins hold stickers, chipboard and rubons. My poor over-filledClipItUp sits on top with my Curvy Cutter and glass mat. The entire bottom of my ClipItUp is filled with Thickers. Can you say addiction? I think I'll need a second one soon.

The divider wall/shelf that holds my Cricut (which needs to be used a lot more!) Baskets hold punches for easy access.

This cart holds all my tools and adhesive.

I put all my loose ribbons on Large safety pins sorted by color. A have a few extra pins for KI ribbons and Creative Cafe felt ribbons. The safety pins hang onto 3m clips mounted on the wall. When I crop I simply put the safety pins on a ring and they are ready to go.

A second storage tower that holds my stamping supplies.

Cool old mini file cabinet that holds my vintage stuff and charms.

Wooden cassette tape holder is perfect for my ink pads.

Plastic storage containers for brads and frequently used products like buttons and brads. Great for packing and going.

Sideways pen storage. I like these little drawers too but it is easy to forget what they have inside.

Old metal kitchen cabinet from my hubby'sGrandmother's house. The entire family thought I was wacked when I asked for that from her estate.

The bottom is great for storage. The top has glass doors. I keep all my mini albums and things to be altered there so I can see them and not forget what I already have. The counter holds more of my punches and extra trimmers.

Pattern paper and cardstock storage. Ahh...

The little mouse who won't stay out of my space.





My husband rebuilt a PC just for me. I know have my own computer to use just for art and craft projects. I have the entire Adobe Creative Suite 3, SCAL, Cricut Expression and my Large format scanner right next to my craft room. I have defintely used my Cricut more now that it in the open and connected to the PC. The desk sits a "dark" corner but that makes it better for color correcting photographs. The only thing missing from my setup is a large format printer that I hope to get for Christmas. Right now I am priting on a Canon i860. Great prints but limited to 8.5 x 12.

Some day it will have drywall, more lighting and maybe even some pergo flooring...but for now it works for me!

Laina

thrifty ideas

It was my turn to post at the Work In Progress Blog today....here's my latest little creations.

Let's be honest here girls...did you use all the fabulous Lime Rickey Paper from your June WIP Kit? If not, it's time to bring it back out. I originally made this page but ran out of time to do more with the paper.
The vibrant colors kept calling me and I decided to challange myself once again to use every last scrap.

All of the following used 4 pieces of the Lime Rickey collection plus one sheet of cardstock die cut stickers. I did add cardstock and a few embellies from my stash.


































I cut the cursive letter using SCAL and my cricut.


















I again used my Cricut for the title and starburst around the journaling block.


















I still had enough scraps left to make a 4x6 page protector layout. (lots of new styles of these by WeRMemory Keepers at Archiver's)

AND enough for 8 very simple and quick cards.

Hope this inspires you to bring out the paper and getting scrapping!

-Laina