Do You Remember...

Is the title of my sneak peek layout using the Pebbles Sunnyside line for the The Scraproom. I was thrilled when Tammy contacted me and asked me to be her Doubleshot guest designer for July, August, and September! Stay tuned for many more projects from this awesome kit :)

A litttle misting, a little confetti, plus some stiching = festive!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Welcome to the Big House!

This is a phrase coined by the University of Michigan to welcome fans to their football stadium in Ann Arbor Michigan. I've always dreamed of going to a U of M game but tickets are hard to come by and expensive to boot. My brother in law is a graduate of the U of M and is a season ticket holder. My son, husband, and many nephews have been to games thanks to uncle Steve :) Alas, no tickets left for football crazy sisters in law :(

Because the tickets are so precious, I'd never had a chance to go to a game until last fall. One of my patients and her husband were U of M fans too and we had some lively conversations about football while she was being induced. Much to my surprise, her husband returned a couple of weeks later and gave me 2 tickets to a game!!! Awww...and they thought of me. I was floored! After I picked myself up and hugged the heck out of him, I ran to make sure that I wasn't scheduled to work! Lol!

My son was rather disgusted by my enthusiasm, in his terrific teenage way, and rolled his eyes a lot (as you can see in the photos) but he had a great time too ;)

This is one of those loaded with photos layouts. I just couldn't choose! Thank goodness for Sketch Support, Allison Davis has the greatest multi photo sketches.

Traditional themed paper was just too predictable, so I spritzed spray ink onto the background cardstock and then stamped the letter "M" randomly, to create my own patterned paper.

A good rummage through my stash turned up some appropriate goodies. Like the tickets from Little Yellow Bicycle and diecuts from SEI.

Basic Grey chipboard covered in paint and then stamped for texture.

 The American flag looked so beautiful against the sea of people :) 

Who'd of thought that Basic Grey "PB&J" would look good with Authentique "Genuine"?! Love those chevrons!

Off to dinner. My husband the chef made T- bone steaks with sauteed mushrooms and onions, oven roasted garlic butter and chive potatoes and...Oops, he forgot the vegetables. Guess I'll have to whip up a tossed salad. A woman can't have everything :)

My Scraproom Part 2

Earlier this week I gave a tour of my scraproom, aka: my happy place! This time I'm going to highlight some of my collections and how I've re purposed them into storage for my goodies :) Collecting has been in my blood since my husband and I got married. My very first collection was antique yellow ware bowls, they are currently displayed above my kitchen cabinets.

Over the years I've gone from collecting carnival glass and Franciscan Desert Rose dinnerware to pressed glass and milk glass. Currently I'm particularly enamored with pressed glass jars and I'm sure they won't be my last collection!

I'm going to start with the top of my scrap desk. It hosts part of my milk glass collection.

I love these little planters! They are perfect for small embellishments and photos.

Next are the vases...they make great pen and marker holders. The larger ones store misc. items like scissors.

Next is this great cupboard that was my husband's Grandfathers. It displays my glass jar collection and other odds and ends.

Each jar is filled with things like buttons, ribbon, die cuts, fibers and flowers.

I found this nifty desk organizer at TJ Maxx, it isn't an antique but it was so cute and makes a great spray ink holder!

Next is a compote made of pressed glass, it holds Maya Road mini albums and chipboard.

Finally :)  my re purposed sewing machine cabinet. A super find by my hubby at a resale store. It still had the original 70's sewing machine inside! It started and an ugly brown with plastic door inserts . My husband and I  transformed it with paint, then covered the doors with fabric and added knobs from Hobby Lobby.

It is now my portable Cricut cabinet. On top is my Expression and my cartridges are stored underneath. The best part is that the top opens out on either side to create a perfect work space!

Hopefully you are still awake after that photo fest :) Thanks for touring my scraproom! Hope you've been inspired to re purpose some of your collections.

My Scraproom...

Is my favorite place to be. It's full of things I love, has a view of the gardens, a couch to lounge on, and most of all it's all mine! It's really our living room, but I commandeered it. The kids use the "front" room or den (as some call it) as their domain.

Now my scraproom isn't a fancy cabinet and counter filled deluxe model. It is a mish mash of my collections, hand-me-down furniture and furniture lovingly created by my hubby. It's not even finished! By finished I mean that we never finished it when we remodeled many moons ago. That is why I have a lovely 70's fake linoleum parquet on the floor and no trim. Maybe someday we'll finish it...but first we have to get more car insurance. Guess who's turning 16 in October :0

This is the view from the dining room. Notice the aforementioned lovely floor and absence of trim :)

And the view from the front door. Notice Genevieve kitty ensconced on the couch.

My lovely scrap desk. My wonderful husband built it for me with a photo from a Pottery Barn catalog as his guide. It's big enough to have a friend over to scrap comfortably.

These cubes were a clearance find at Jo Ann's and hold my punches, adhesive, glitter, photos, and much more. An antique mirror hangs above.

Underneath are my Artbin containers with chipboard, stamps,and bulky embellishments. The crocks were my Grandpa's and make great trash cans.

The left end has storage for more Artbin and Cropper Hopper containers with ribbon, embossing folders, acrylic stamps and embellishments categorized by holiday and season.

The right end holds card stock, letter stickers, paper scraps and some old albums.

This armoire was also made by my husband and was a happy accident :) It was meant for my daughter's bedroom but wouldn't make the turn up the stairs :S My friend Lerita helped me with the front. The diamond pattern is punctuated with antique buttons.

The inside houses my patterned paper, sewing supplies,rubber stamps, tiny embellishments, paints, glitter glue, chalk inks and much more.

Thanks for staying with me through this photo fest! I'll be back later this week with some more photos highlighting some more of the storage and ideas for re purposing found items :)

All American Girls a *thinkingthroughdesign* Thursday Thought

Our assignment at *thinkingthroughdesign* this week was to demonstrate some form of fussy cutting on a layout. I wanted to convey a patriotic, homespun feel for this layout. This paper by K and Co. was perfect! What says homespun more than a quilt!

This photo was taken at sunset on 4th of July weekend, hence the patriotic theme.

Found some old Tim Holtz Grungeboard letters and embossed them with some glitter powder. The Dresden quilt embellishment was fussy cut and layered, then popped with a die cut from the same line.

A little stitching added to the homespun feel. This was my interpretation of a Sketch Support sketch. I'm so sad that Sketch Support is hopefully temporarily taking a break.

 Take a moment to check out the amazing layouts demonstrating different types of fussy cutting at *thinkingthroughdesign* ! Don't forget you can share your creations too!  Thanks for stopping by :)

The Story of the Rose Topiary *Out for Publication*

It started with a vision...A pretty paper rose topiary to complete a little vignette in my dining room. I've had this vintage McCoy pot forever, just sitting in a closet. In my mind this pot, another vintage pot and adorable froggie planter (a gift from a dear friend) would be perfect on my sideboard.

Doesn't it look pretty!

(minus the crooked switchplate cover...men!)

The topiary started innocently enough :) I purchased the Flower Shoppe Cricut cartridge and after making a few samples I started by pulling out pink paper from my stash, figuring it would take about 35 to 40 roses. I could get 4 roses from a 12x12 piece of paper cutting them at 5 inches. The cutting went smoothly and soon they were ready to ink and shape.

First I inked the edges of the darker pink with white chalk ink and the lighter ones with pink chalk ink. Then  sprayed them with a fine mist of water and rolled each petal around a paintbrush handle to shape them. Finally I rolled them with a quilling tool and hot glued them together. Some I rolled tightly and others more loosely, so they would look more natural. The leaves were cut with Core'dinations paper, using a dry embossing tool to make the veins and then sanding them.

The first 36 were done! As I was hot gluing them onto the styrofoam ball, I realized quickly that 36 wasn't even close to being enough. So I cut another 30. Then inked, shaped, rolled, and glued them. This kept me busy through my Dad's surgery and all the next day. Then I glued this batch on...and guess what...I needed more!!! 

This led to a frantic search for more pink paper in the right colors! No one nearby had pink paper in smooth texture so I ended up cutting them upside down to make them match :) 24 more roses and 3 days later...for a total of 90 roses, It was done! A fine spray of white/iridescent Smooch ink was the perfect finishing touch.

If I can get my daughter to help me I might just attempt a tutorial later this week!





Our Christmas Tradition *Out for Publication*

Some of my favorite memories of Christmas are the times spent with my husband's family. They welcomed me to their family over 27 years ago and I love them dearly! No mother in law angst here...I loved my first "Mom" in law (she passed away 15 years ago)and when my father in law remarried, he picked a good one the second time too :) I couldn't ask for nicer sisters in law either!

Last Christmas was the first time we celebrated at Mike and Jill's house. Grandpa & Grandma's house has been bursting at the seams for the last few years, especially since three of my nephew's married. Now with grandchildren, the 30 or so of us were crammed in like sardines at Christmas. We even had to forgo a Christmas tree to fit everyone in!

This is a Creating Keepsakes sketch. I love doing their sketches each month. Lots of photos are a must, and this one is no exception.

Punched the banner from Core'dinations paper then embossed with the Cuttlebug and sanded.

Matting the busy photos in white helped separate them from the patterned paper.

Love this photo of my girl :)

Folded the scalloped circles in half and added pearls.

Cut the snowflakes with the Joys of the Season Cricut cartridge then backed with white cardstock.

Fussy cut the journaling spots from patterned paper.

Hope you have a great week and thanks for stopping by!