Who’s Your Inspiration? Your Creative Muse?

I am continuously on the hunt for inspiration and ideas, but there is one blog I visit REGULARLY that there is absolutely no shortage of inspiration from. It’s the Wizard’s Hangout. Yes, Vicki Wizniuk is a fellow CTMH sisters, however what’s interesting is that I have been visiting her blog and viewing her artwork since BEFORE I became a CTMH consultant. Vicki is so incredibly talented.

Some of her more recent work is featured below, but if you want to really get to know her, please visit her blog: Wizard’s Hangout. You will NOT be sorry!

(Forgive me Vicki for “borrowing” a few of your pictures to get others to go check you out. You continue to inspire me, and help me find my creative muse. Much more so than just about any other location I look at. Keep creating, I’ll keep following

Scrapbooking Milestones, Then and Now

Someone on Two Peas, posted something about their pea anniversary (the date they signed up to be a pea). It got me really thinking about my own personal scrapbooking time-line and milestones.

I started scrapbooking just before my son was born. I remember I had a friend who said, let’s go to this party together. They teach us how to scrapbook. I had no idea what “exactly” that was. But I went. This would have been 1994. I remember sitting there thinking… this stuff is so plain, but I’ve apparently been “scrapbooking” since high-school or earlier. I had albums full of photos that I had decorated with pretty stationary papers (about all you could find pre-1994), cut out titles and pictures to embellish the pages from magazines. I wrote directly on my page then, usually with just the date and who was in the photo, but sometimes I even included a poem and quote. Who knew I was a scrapbooker even then?

I never returned to a Creative Memories party again, but I did buy some things that night (an album, “safe” journaling pens, and a few decorative items). It wasn’t too long after that, I was in a Michaels and saw other types of albums, and then about 1 year later discovered rubber stamping stores and a year after that (in 1996) discovered a true scrapbooking store (Memory Lane in Mesa, Arizona … omg I miss that store, the staff (especially Pam… if you ever read this Pam, you were the absolute best!!) and a couple others.)

Eventually a few short years later I landed in Dallas, where I got a job teaching at the LSS, and then got the opportunity to teach at a GASC (gasp, that was way back at the beginning) LOL

I was an original pea – while I was still living in Texas. But at some point, the system crashed or their databases crashed and all that was lost. I think I even went through one account after that, but the account I use right now, shows that my anniversary is August 27. The day before my birthday. In 2003. Wow. It’s so odd to think of that. I’ve been a pea for nearly six years at this point. And if I remember correctly (yes I am getting fuzzy in my older age LOL) I first discovered two peas in early 1999, right before my daughter’s first birthday. So probably sometime in March or April. It is so weird to think of how two peas has grown since then as well.

Of course, my scrapbooking style has changed massively as well…..
Here are two pages I did in 1999. I remember that I loved cutsie, loved bright colors, didn’t have the first clue whether my photos looked good on certain papers, but hey I was having fun.

These layouts actually  make me laugh. I don’t know WHAT I was thinking, and am so glad that I have moved on, developed more “style” and I am able to obtain a wider variety of products now. I’m still VERY much a simple scrapbooker, but every so often, I make an elaborate layout… especially when I have time (ha! What’s that?!)

Here are a few more recent layouts (okay so they are at least six months old, because I haven’t scanned a layout in so long!) LOL

Hmm… I’m really glad I did this post. I realized, I need to post some more current layouts. I  have tons to choose from, and the scanner is brand new and awesome (I think I have to relearn stitching LOL) but I have nothing recent and I need recent. Check back often for some new pages.

Quad Fold Card

When I saw the quad fold card, I knew I had to try it, and I had so much fun the other day working on it. I had a birthday coming so it was the perfect opportunity to try something new. So here is the result of one of the cards I made that day. Considering it is my first one ever, and there were no dimensions for the layered paper, etc. I think I did pretty good. LOL

This is the outside of the card:

This is the card when it’s opened:

This is an overhead view of what the card looks like extended open: (sorry it is so dark)

Bra & Panty Card

This is a repost from last summer. Why? Because I just got done making a few templates to make some more of these, and it reminded me of this post, so I went to look for it and decided to repost it.

UPDATE: My friend saw these (the bra and panty or bikini cards) and decided she wanted me to make her some for a pool party this summer. I’ve already started (using a different template), and they are way easy to make dozens of, once you get the hang of it.

Also thought I’d give you the link where you can download your own pattern or template to make a bra and panty card – this was not the one I originally used, but I loved this one so much that I have switched to using it. Stamp Owl is brilliant! Click Here. Her card is SO cute!

These bra and panty cards were just too cute not to try myself. I tried to make them look more like bikini’s so my kids would not think I was losing my mind, plus I could think of nothing to do with a card of a bra and pair of panties. My kids giggled, but they thought they were awesome. LOL I had to download them each a template to make their own bra and panty / bikini card.

The bow on this card looks lopsided but it isn’t at all on the actual card. I have no idea why it looks like this on this picture.

Life Delights Memory Showcase

This was posted last year, and when I revamped the blogs, all the pictures disappeared and I happened to JUST notice it. LOL SO I’m reposting with the pictures.
Onto the blog entry….

So I’m behind the times, yes I know.

Yesterday I finally pulled out my Life Delights Memory Showcase kit because I was tired of dusting it off. So why did I wait so long? Because I just could not understand why I would want to make an album of that design. (the accordion stand up thing). Let me just say now, I am going to be making loads of them. What a perfect gift idea. Who knew? (yes I realize many of you have known for a very long time, I just happen to be behind the times a bit and couldn’t get it).

The things I liked about it: When I opened the kit (yes I just broke the seal yesterday morning!), I was thrilled with the ease of the layouts, the sizes of the photographs required and the idea behind a “family showcase”.

I didn’t want to wait to get any different photographs enlarged to cut down to a 5×5 which was requested so I cut them to 4×4 and wrote and/or stamped on the bottom of the mat.

I changed it up a little but I mostly used their diagrams with the exception of a few My Stickease changes, a couple of rotated pages and different sized photographs (plus two added embellishments and two added stamps)

Attention Scrapbookers

Somewhere along the way, I lost focus of this blog and what I was doing with it, and so I have spent the whole weekend cleaning up my whole website. I’ve located lost posts, found unpublished posts, delete thousands of files and all in all I feel quite a bit better about the direction this site can now take.

I’m going to give the blog a new face lift (cause you know me, I have to change ALL the time) and then we’re going to be back in the swing of things.

Missed you all (but if you’re bored, you can go visit me at my food blog: www.dailydishrecipes.com

I swear that’s the last time I will mention it.

Wanna See Something Beautiful and Sweet?

Just to have a little fun this morning…..

Sweet Lily – 5 days old

Little Rose – 5 Days Old

Bruiser – 5 Days Old

Sweet, Sweet Spot – 5 Days Old

This was supposed to be a picture of BELLA – but apparently we messed up and it’s a picture of Lily again. LOL  – 5 Days Old

Sweet little Emma – 5 Days old

For My Mom

This is what the whelping/bed looks like now.

Life Delights Flap Card

This has got to be one of my very favorite paper packs that we carry. Mainly due to the awesomeness of the color combination (blush, Chocolate, Lilac Mist and Sweet Leaf), total visual appeal for me.

Whenever I finally get the chance to do the paint in my scrap room, I’m tossing up the idea of using Life Delights or Let’s Get Together. Yummy palettes. Not sure which one I’ll choose because I truly love them both the best.

Anyway, this is my latest little cutie of a card – a flap card. I made a bunch of them but this was my favorite. I made them today for kicks, because well – I was bored and its Saturday and well, I like having cards on hand. So what do you think? Does it need anything else?

Such a Snowy Day

Two days of snow days for the kids and no work for me, because it takes everything I have to concentrate. I’ll be up late again tonight trying to stay afloat. I love snow, but I hate bad weather and I’m starting to not love snow days as much. Actually I was super happy about yesterday, today not so much. LOL We did have a great time, we made seasoned popcorn on the stove, cookies and other snacks. Today we are going to do cookie layer brownies. So yummy. (you’ll be able to see them here once they are done.)

Here’s my world today:

Okay, and I’m a weirdo. I take this same shot every year of my neighbors shed. I just like how it looks. I know I’m weird.

I need to go outside and get a shot – this was through my back window, so it doesn’t look as good as it usually does. I’ll get out there later. It’s just too freakin’ cold. LOL