Can you hear it?

She makes my heart sing.....
My beautiful Hannah. I choose this title for two, no, three reasons.
1. She does make my heart sing!
2. She loves to sing!!
3. The cool music sheet paper by "Dear Lizzie"!



I LOVED the glimmer mist. So much so that I got a little carried away. I used a little too much. I was upset that I failed to realize that my stamped butterfly should have been stamped after I used the Glimmer Mist, or stamped in a permanent ink. But as the day past, it grew on me, and now I like it! I made the flowers using the cool fabric self adhesive paper- I just cut it into thin strips and wound it around in a circle . The pearls are from my stash.
I hope you all are enjoying the kit-- can't go wrong with Glimmer mist, thickers and stamps!

Sweet baby girl is on the way

My sister-in-law is scheduled to be induced this coming Monday - I was so excited to hear the news today - I made this.

Used the April kit and added some Dear Lizzy ribbon!



This tin bucket was in the Easter stuff at Hobby Lobby 90% off - quite a deal and a perfect match for this kit!

lisa

Here are my flowers

Completely forgot last night to do this - so I snapped a quick picture with my phone - it's not the best, but you get the idea:



In this first shot, you can see all the different sizes of circles and scallops I punched. Then i took my Dremel and filed the edges - this is so so much faster than using sandpaper or files and it's a little more precise when you need to get into small edges (like where two scallops meet).

These are my flowers:



I'm not finished with them - I need to add something to the centers, but you get the idea! I just crumpled them up, stacked them, snipped a little here and there and stapled. Whatever I add to the center will cover the staple! There you have it!

later!
lisa

Punches are my favorite tool, how about you?

I love punches - border punches, corner punches, shape punches - all of them. I have a project I'm working on now and wanted to punch a few different size circle. I know I can use my Slice, but there's just something about a punch - I can't resist. And with the Slice, everything is cut in half inch increments and I wanted a different variation.

I headed to JoAnn's first, hoping to find a round punch that was a little less than 2 inches, plus I had a 50% off coupon. They didn't have one but the punches were on sale so I looked around hoping to find a new border punch - but they didn't have anything I was crazy about. I knew Michael's would have one, but didn't have my coupon with me and wasn't sure if they were on sale or not so to Hobby Lobby I went. Most of my punches have come from Hobby Lobby - so I felt they would have just what I was looking for. I also noticed a few Martha Stewart border punches at Hobby Lobby and this was a surprise, didn't think they would ever carry her stuff.

Let me tell you about my punches for a moment. I have Marvy punches, Paper Studio punches, Fiskars, Martha Stewart, and EK Success punches. I'm an equal opportunity puncher!! My favorite punches tend to be the border punches from Fiskars and then EK Success. I haven't had a problem with any of my Fiskars border punches and I use them lots. In my recent clean up of my scrap stuff I finally located one I'd been missing (apron lace) and was super excited to see it!!

I love my Paper Studio punches, but they tend to be really hard to punch with. I have these two that I've used a lot - they are scalloped circles - one is 2 5/16ths and then 1 7/8ths. These two are perfect for layering together but they are super hard to punch. I've tried aluminum foil and wax paper and neither help. I have to punch them on the floor and step on them (not the best method) or go to my kitchen counter top and punch there.

I was hoping to find a circle that would fit somewhere in between those two scallops. I ended up with a 1 7/16th circle punch - doesn't fit in between but I liked that size. I immediately opened it when I got home Saturday and started gathering my paper for my project.

One of the features of these punches (as well as the Marvy punches) is there is a clear cover on the area where your punched shape falls out - so you can see what you are punching, but it stays contained, in the punch. The bad thing is if you are lining up your paper and want the pattern just right in the punch, you have to take the cover off and take out the previously punched shape. My two scalloped circle punches have the clear cover removed and I'm pretty sure they are lost forever. I can see where this would be a great feature if you are punching a shape multiple times since it contains them all right there - no worries about them falling out or getting stuck. But with those particular punches, I haven't found it was that helpful to me. The coolest part of this new punch is the cover is clear and there's a slot that your shape can fall out of - so you can see where you are punching and then slip the shape out without having to take off that cover. I love it!! Best new feature of a punch ever!!

I got a little crazy and punched more circles than I needed, but hey - that's okay - I'll find a way to use them I'm sure!! While I was out hunting down the perfect circle punch, I ran in Tuesday Morning and found some Martha Stewart punches there. I only got one and it's odd - sort of a flower or medallion - not sure what it's supposed to be but for $2.99, I'll try it out. I haven't taken it out of the bag yet, but will get to it this week, I'm sure!!

So, what are your favorite punches? Do you have any fun tips or tricks to share? I'll be back next week with a few tips to share - I love taking a punch and using it to make something other than the shape intended!! Always love a challenge!! I'll try to come back later today and show you the flowers I made with my circles!!

Thanks for reading and leave me a comment about your favorite punch or tip!!

Altered Cubes

A long time ago, my son got this game in his kid's meal from Arby's. He didn't really want it and couldn't swap it for ice cream like you can at Chick-fil-a, so I took it! I just knew what I would do with it. Now, finally, I got around to altering it. I think I have 3 more, and may alter one for my Mom for Mother's Day, which will be here before I know it.

Here are some pics of the final product. I think it turned out well. The only problem I had was trying to keep my embellishments flat so the cubes would stack right!









As I look at these pictures, I realize that first, the bottom two cubes are backwards.... they should say "of my {kids}!" Sorry about that :). Second thing I noticed is that we are in restaurants in most of these pics! Maybe we eat out too much....

The third and Final (with distressing courtesy of my kids)

Sorry I'm late with this post. My layout was stolen and I couldn't find it. It finally turned up under a pile of pillows in the play room. It was also kind of wrinkled, but I figured it went with the "distressed" and "rough and tumble" theme of the layout.

Here is the third layout I did featuring the Glitz Bingo Paper. I had this nice number border left over after my last two layouts. So, I kind of tilted it to make a square-in-square effect on the layout.

Even though I love the paper, my favorite part of the layout is this cool rub on also from Glitz. I cut the rub on sheet in half and layered it both under and over the photo.

Oh, why is organizing so hard?

A few weeks ago I mentioned getting my room in better order and cleaning out. This past week I spent a few hours two different days trying to make a mark in there. I've still got a long way to go, but I feel better about the task at hand. The bad news is we may have company next weekend so I can't procrastinate too long - they'll need somewhere to sleep. The good news is I've found lots of things that I really like but haven't used simply because I've forgotten about them!

I have antique furniture in my guest room, which includes a cedar chest, a chest of drawers and a vanity. Right now, every square inch of those three pieces is covered in stuff. I started in the chest of drawers and started throwing things away that I didn't need, or adding them to a box for my sister-in-law to go through. I began sorting within the drawers a bit, but it's hard to sort through a mess. I'm the type of cleaner that needs a clean space to start with - you know, empty drawers or containers or something along those lines. That's how I like to organize. It's rarely how I attempt to organize though!! This time I did clean off the guest bed and start stacking things there. I quickly went through all five drawers on the first day and tossed things that I didn't need (packaging and such) and pulled out things for my sister-in-law and moved things around that I wanted to keep.

The second day I tackled the closet. This is really the worst place. I have a very bad habit of not unpacking bags of stuff. When I go somewhere to scrapbook, I pack up what I want to take and go. Then when I return home, I stick the bag in the closet and forget about it!! Not a good idea. I have several Michaels bags stuck in there as well - things I'd been thinking about looking for but just didn't care enough to look right away.

Now the closet is cleaned out mostly but the bed is covered!! Can you see how I struggle to finish this task? :D

I moved my paper rack into my closet since I don't necessarily need it out in the open. My closet has a light, so I can see inside it very well. I pulled a rack the spins and put it in place of the paper rack. I'm hoping that I can use this to actually display things so I don't forget I have them. I ended up with two empty Cropper Hopper 12x12 paper holders - so I need to find a good and practical use for them.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one that struggles in this area. I'd love to hear your favorite storage idea. How about sharing something you use that isn't typically used for scrapbook storage? Those are the things I really like. I have a hard time spending money on storage items (unless it's a fabulous deal) because that's money I could spend on tools or paper!!! So, I tend to look for things that I can repurpose.

Okay - that's enough chatting. I need to get back to cleaning/purging/organizing!!

lisa

My latest Scripts creation

I have had so much fun with this month's kit! I LOVED that it had the raffia in it- and that I had pictures of horses to go with it! I think they go well together. I have several more layouts in the works-- can't wait to finish them up and share them here.

Lots of layouts

I spent a few hours last week just scrapbooking and watching mindless television. I don't get to do that too often - or at least when I do I'm not super productive, I get sidetracked from Brandon and Kelly's on again/off again relationship or get wrapped up in the whole Luke/Loralie thing.

Anyway, last week - I was productive.

I started these first two layouts during Spring Break and finished them up last week. I had photos in mind, but started the layouts without the photos. Usually I let the photos guide me but with this first one - the paper from the Black Bird kit just seemed perfect for the noise going on in the background while I scrapped with my friend, Michelle.



This second layout was inspired by this challenge over at Noel Mignon blog and I used the February Black Bird kit for it, as well. The challenge was titled "Lean on Me" and was about documenting that special relationship, someone you can lean on. So, I made sure to get a picture of me and my friend Michelle. She's that friend - the one that will listen to my craziness and not see it as crazy. She gets me. She has from the beginning of our friendship!! We are a lot alike in so many ways - it's a little weird, actually, but we love it!!



When I got my March Kit - Hey Jude - I couldn't wait to dig in and play. I did this layout with certain photos in mind (which were of Cole petting the animals in Animal Kingdom), but then decided that they wouldn't work (it was December and not really springy). I then thought about taking a picture of Cole outside playing but then wondered if the flashcards at the bottom would make since considering the lack of animals in my photo - so now it's just pictureless and I can't decide what the heck I'm doing here. So, if you have a suggestion, help a girl out.....



Now this one is using really old pictures, I never do that, along with the March kit, Hey Jude. I don't know why I don't use more old pictures since they are just in boxes and not being used at all. I seem to think I can only use photos that have been taken as long as I've been scrapbooking and not from the time before. So, these are from 1997 - while we were living the young and free lifestyle, not too worried about the future yet, not thinking about marriage or kids or anything other than where we'd hang out that weekend. I certainly wasn't too worried about fashion - that's quite apparent by my tucked in tshirt and denim vest!! I recently heard this song "Free" by the Zac Brown Band and loved the chorus and used it as my title.



And finally we have this layout about Cole and what he is, right now, at nine years old. I know we think we'll remember this little silly things about our kids forever. The truth is, we won't remember it all. I'm sure I won't forget his obsession with the Toy Story characters, but I may forget the silly way he says KOOKIE and that face he makes as he says it. I wish I would have thought to do this each year of his life - just a little 'right now' sort of layout. I plan to make sure I do it from now on! And it would be nice to do it with my own 'right now', too.



So, there's not much left of my March kit - so I'm ready to see the April kit! How about you??

Lisa

A layout---and help needed!

Ok, I am in a bit of a struggle, please see photo:



I made this layout with this month's Scripts Kit, but then, I struggle everytime with how to take a good pic of a 2 12x12 layouts?!

Now, I don't have a fancy schmancy scanner, so that is NOT an option. Who can help? with some tips?

And the second layout with the Bingo Paper from Glitz

In my last post, I mentioned how much I loved the Bingo paper from Glitz in this month's Scripts Kit. I loved it soooo much that I used it on 3 layouts. Here is the second layout on which I used this fabulous paper.

Now, it's kind of subtle. When I was cutting the grid out of the paper with my craft knife, I cut the star border of the paper off with my craft knife too. I just loved the star border! I also ordered some Dear Lizzy from Lucy (you know she sold some Dear Lizzy kits, right? She does stuff like that from time to time - as well as providing awesome monthly kits. Gotta watch the blog). So, I paired my brand new Dear Lizzy with some elements of the Scripts kit. I am in love with the glitter buttons.

To give the layout some more texture, I used the dyed coffee filter from the kit underneath the star border. I cut it into small strips and gathered it with adhesive on the back side of the star border. Instant texture!

So there you have it! Stay tuned next Saturday for my third layout with the bingo paper!!!