Received a RAK, Made ATCs, and More

I got my RAK from AMR's June crop. It is so awesome, a cityscape mini-album, some Imaginisce rubons with jewels, some acrylic letters, and some Glimmer Mist! How cool is that? Now I just need to figure out what to do with the Mist and how to use it!

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These are my "Favorite Pet" ATC for a swap on AMR. I used Bazzill cardstock, Pebbles Inc Dog Paws printed paper, Dollar Tree ribbon, 7 Gypsies Stamp, Technique Tuesday (The) and Studio G (boys) stamps. I also used my Fiskars Threading Water Punch. I used a generic stamp I bought at Mike's and Stickled (yes, it is a verb too) over it with Waterfall Stickles. I hope they are well received, I feel like they are not up to my standards.
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This is what I ordered tonight from AMR! I can't wait to get it all!

This is the AMR monthly kit and the add on kit. This is last months, haven't seen this one yet.

AMR Monthy Cardstock kit and Basic Grey Euphoria-GORGEOUS!!

Kellie's Stamps, Lilac City Designs, Heidi Swap transparency, and a Cuttlebug embossing folder, Swiss Dots for Laura, she has been drooling over this since it's release-surprise!!

Hambly Overlay, and Bazzill 1 inch chipboard squares for "inchy" swaps.
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There are some neat swaps over on AMR. There are the usual ATC swaps, a new "inchy" swap, and I have a swap (but no one has signed up) for a 6x6 page about yourself. Everyone involved will get one of everyone. At the end, you will have x-amount of 6x6 pages to keep forever! Laura and I did these for CKC Seattle, and had a blast. Check it out here. If you are not on AMR (you should be, lol), I can do a swap with you anyway, just let me know. Laura also has a cool one, a progressive ATC swap, where you send it around from person to person, adding on elements at each stop. So you send the base, the next person will add something, send it to the next and they will add something, so on and so on until you get your original one back that everyone got to work on. It sounds really neat, check it out here!

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***See ya next blog***

Completed Projects From Crop

I just got home from the crop tonight, and am amazed that in 15 hours of cropping, I only got 4 layouts and 1 card done. I used to be able to crank out 15-20 pages a night! Of course, I don't like most those pages and my style has changed dramatically, so it is worth it.

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This first one is a challenge over at AMR. The challenge was to use themed paper for an everyday layout. I used Basic Grey Figgy Pudding for this photo shoot at a freeway view point. I used an old Fiskars border punch and put some coordinating Bazzill cardstock behind it to make it show up better. I also used American Crafts Thickers which I inked to match, some Prima flowers with AC brads for centers, and 3 "skittles".

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This is the first part of another AMR challenge, "a book about me". Every 2 weeks we will do a layout, and at the end, we will have a complete book about ourselves. This first one was to use a baby picture of ourselves. I am very interested in seeing how it turns out in the end. For the printed paper and sentiment at the bottom, I used some K Marcella from Target, I also used MM Noteworthy for the title with an Autumn Leaves stamp for the baby, Sizzix dies for my name, Stickles on the circles in the title, SEI brads, assorted shaped rhinestones/jeweled brad from Michaels, and I used a Bazzill Stitch Template for the flourish.

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This one is another from To The Starres and Back..... you can see the challenge here. It is an ad for Ben and Jerry's and we were supposed to use that ad as a sketch, and it had to be about ice cream. It was definitely a challenge. I used American Crafts Sixth Ave for the printed paper/brown, and punched flowers. Tillamook Cheese (yes, they make/sell ice cream too) sign is a picture I took and trimmed, I used ribbon from Dollar Tree, stamped "ice cream delight" with Technique Tuesday stamps and then went over it with a Sakura Stardust pen.

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This was a challenge over at Use Your Stash! We were supposed to make a layout and a card, with the 1-2-3 formula....1 of something, 2 of something, 3 of something. I wasn't exactly sure if that was combined between the 2 or each, so I did 1-2-3 on each one and used the same products so they would coordinate.

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This first one I used 1 Jenni Bowlin die cut paper, 2 photos, 3 Deja Views framed jewels I got from Stacey at AMR. The top picture is the title.

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The card uses 1 Jenni Bowlin printed paper, 2 Studio G stamps, 3 rhinestones.
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I never got around to my ATCs tonight, but I have a whole month before they are due, so I plan on working on those tomorrow, as well as another challenge on another blog, as well as birthday cards for the store. It is currently 2am on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so I am going to save the unpacking for tomorrow and go to bed for now. I am exhausted, and not just because of the long day, it was around 100 degrees today, and that always wipes me out completely-I do not do well in the heat. Ta ta for now, and hopefully I will be able to share more tomorrow.

Going Croppin'!

I am all packed up for the crop tomorrow. A few of us from CK are meeting up again. A few "regulars" can't make it which bums me out, but the rest of us will still have fun and hopefully get lots done. I am going to be working on challenges for blogs/AMR and ATCs for AMR as well. I tried to pack light. I spent 2 hours going through paper for my projects, and packed most my embellies and tools-you never know what you might need right?

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I was finally able to get some pictures printed, YEAH!! I haven't ordered picures in months! I still have over 500 ready to print though, so there is tons to do down the road.

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One of the projects I have to get working on is a summer-themed ATC, that is not holiday related. I have absolutely no idea what to do. Do you have any ideas, let me know! I am off to bed, the crop starts in 8 hours and I need my sleep. I guess it will be another non-10-hour night of sleep for me, lol! Blog ya later!

Great Mail Day!!

Wow, I really needed something to cheer me up! I had a great mail day, which I don't get often! I got my RAKs from the AMR challenges I won. Thank you Stacey! I love it all. I got some Cosmo Cricket Buck Naked Lacing Cards, Scenic Route Label Stickers, Gelatins acrylic stamps (racing theme), Deja Views Framed Jewels, Autumn Leaves acrylic stamps, assorted buttons, an acrylic flower embellishments, and some star paper clips. I was so excited to open my mail box!

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There was even more cool stuff in that box today! We got a refund check from the VA. Apparently we had overpaid in the past and they sent some back our way! It is only $234, but that can buy some groceries, gas, and cat food/litter! I am so tired of Ramen for dinner and PB&J for lunch!

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Like I said, I really needed this surprise. I feel so much better, I had another terrible day today, but this time I also had a migraine. I really want to do some scrapbooking, but I really need to get some decent sleep. I haven't gotten to bed before 1 am all week. I am one of those people who really does need 10 hours of sleep each night to feel rested. Getting up at 6 am is really, REALLY tough on me and I am not adjusting well to my new schedule at all.

Not Yet!! :) :) :)

I got home today, and was pleasantly surprised to find I still have my internet, so here are some things I have been working on and doing.

First is another challenge at To the Starres and back...... This one is all about the bling! I got it done at the last minute, I am still wondering if I will even make the deadline! I haven't had any time, so I forced myself to stay up tonight and get it done! I used Glitz Frosting, 4 colors of Stickles (3 on grungeboard stars and 1 on the journaling square), Bazzill Bling Paper, American Crafts Thickers (already glittered), Scrapworks Shimmer Shapes for the big blue star, and rhinestones on the felt fusion. Now that I list all the bling I used, I am worried it won't be enough bling! The printed paper is BG Archaic. The journaling reads....Daddy-From young to old, many things have changed. You can't give me piggyback rides anymore, I bait my own hooks, and I no longer like to get belly scratches with your chin. Some things have not changed. I still need your advice, I still love it when you wiggle your ears, and I still love and admire you!

This is a Father's Day card for my brother. I was totally out of ideas, so this is what I came up with.

This is a card I designed for work, since I do all the birthday cards for the customers. Again, couldn't think of much.
This is the birthday card I made on Sunday for my sister-in-law with scraps.
This one is a challenge on AMR, a progressive challenge. We added one element each day for 2 weeks. We were given very specific directions and had to follow them. The only substitution I made was on the fabric tag. I don't have any fabric, so I used felt-but I had permission lol!

Last weekend my brother came into town for his yearly visit. My DH, brother and nephew decided to hit the batting cages (no pun intended). I got tons of shots of everybody else-note the lack of chainlink fence in the shots. Take a look at the wonderful shot my hubby took of me batting!!! They are ALL like this. How on earth am I going to scrap that?!? No wonder I don't scrap myself, I am not taking them and they are crap! The shots I took are not zoomed in, just cropped square at thier original size. The photo of me, I zoomed in to crop.






I just assumed he would know to put the camera lens through the fence and zoom in, but NOOOOO, that would be too much work. I am so mad and disappointed.

So Many Changes

If you are wondering where I have been, I have been working! I had no idea how little time you have while you maintain a full-time job, 48 hours a week with 2 hours commuting, plus I am still working for SBA, which isn't a lot, but is still stuff to do . YIKES, I haven't even had the energy/time to blog, or post on message boards, or scrapbook. I have had the desire though. I currently have over 200 posts to read in my Google Reader, countless challenges to catch up on, a house to clean, sleep to make up for, a crop to pack for, DVRs to catch up on, and NO TIME TO DO IT! If all this is true, why is my scrap table trashed?! Well, I did make a card for my sister-in-law's birthday on Sunday. I took a pic but of course haven't had time to upload it.
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Oh yeah, as if that is not enough going on, I just gave my 30-day notice and now have to start packing all our stuff. We are moving back in with the parents-yes, I said BACK in. This will be failure number 5 for us. My parents' house is a tiny 2 bedroom duplex with one bathroom, and our room is tiny. I will do anything to keep my scrap stuff available, including squeezing our fat butts in a full size bed as opposed to our king size we are in now! Even more, before we can move, I have to reorganize their disastrous single-car garage to make room for all our stuff to be stored indefinitely. It is a sad day when 2 full time incomes only equal $1800 take home a month, and you still can't afford to pay all your bills/living expenses.
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You might ask if things can get even more hectic? Yes they can, this is what happens when you quit your full-time job to take a part-time scrapbook store job and then it doesn't work out. We just lost our internet/cable/and most of our phone service and the electricity is about to go. Thank goodness Hell's Kitchen is on regular TV or I would be devastated! We may end up moving sooner if we lose our power. We will just spend lots of evenings at our crappy apartment packing and cleaning, which we will need to do anyway. Once again, no time for scrapping and all things associated with it. Thank goodness I work for my dad again and he lets me play online while I wait for the phone to ring or for something to do.
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I will try to update more regularly during this process, though pics will be difficult as the computer here at work is a dinosaur and doesn't have a USB port and I can't email from home to here. I can't even use a floppy, as the floppy drive doesn't work! Hmmm, note to self, ask "daddy" to let me upgrade this computer!! You might also be wondering why on earth I would expose myself in this way....I don't know! lol Happy Blogging!

Some Cards

I finally got around to making a Father's Day card, this morning! Talk about waiting till the last minute! I used these fishing stickers/embellies I bought 2-3 years ago. The fishing pole it came with was really tacky and ugly, so I chose not to use it. I stamped and embossed the title then cut it out. It is very hard coming up with stuff for a manly card. Of course, my dad just glances at it, and sets it aside-thank goodness my mom appreciates the work involved! lol

I also made the thank you card for the gal who sent me the Studio G stamps. All the stamping was done with stamps she sent me. I used glossy accents for the punched flowers, but then I tried to dry them with my heat gun...it didn't work as well as I had wanted. I know it seems kinda empty, but I wanted to preserve the look of the patterned paper. I hope she likes it.

Should I or Shouldn't I???

That is the question! I have been having so much fun doing blog challenges, I was thinking of doing my own challenge! Problem is, I don't have any ideas on a theme or technique! Do you have any ideas, or something you want to do for a challenge? Let me know!

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On another note, I don't get many scrappy mail days, today I got this RAK I totally forgot about! Brenda810 from CKMB offered me these Studio G stamps, just because! She surprised me with a PM one day, and I graciously accepted. She sent me the entire Series 11 from Mikes! Obviously I had forgotten about it, as I bought 3 of these earlier this week, oops. I am totally blown away by the generosity of my fellow MBers! Thank you Brenda, you ROCK girl! I gotta use these stamps, and make her a thank you card!

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The parade last weekend went ok, until this lady refused to sit down when asked politely that we couldn't see the parade. Keep in mind, the people behind here left too. This is after I had already sat down there for 26 hours, and she showed up at the very last minute! GRRR...

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I got so upset, I had to leave and go up the car, where I decided to watch the rest of the parade from the parking garage. I took a pic of tigardlilly taking a pic of me! Maybe she will post her version on her blog!

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The night before while camping out on the street, I took the restless boys for a short walk, and we went to the top of the parking garage and I got these great shots of them!.
Of course they insisted on getting a goofy one of me! Can you believe I can get me leg up there? I sure can't!

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Multi-Photo Challenge

I finished another blog challenge from The Starres And Back..... This one was to use a lot of photos, suggestively index prints. We were also told to use paint or ink and real stitching. Here is her example from June Creating Keepsakes.

This is what I came up with. Not having many pictures of my own, tigardlilly gave me her index prints of the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade from last year. It was the 100th anniversary of the festival, so the parade was much bigger. They had what they called 4 parades within the parade. They broke it into 4 generations, the Jazz Generation, the Greatest Generation, the Groovy Generation, and the Global Generation. I used that breakdown on this layout.

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I used Scenic Route Paper, Technique Tuesday stamps for the circle borders, Sassafras Lass stamps for the dotted circles inside the bigger circles, and the stamps I got at Mike's yesterday for the title and 100 years. I used Bazzill In Stitches template for the border, MM Paint for the page border and mat border. I also used Stickles for the title and 100 years.

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On anothe note, last night I got out all my ribbon, and holy cow! I have too much ribbon. I need to find a way to store it, but I can't let it hang out because the cats will eat it. I can't go buy storage, and have a lot of floss cards. Any ideas? I would love to hear them.

Use Your Stash Challenge #1

I found a blog specifically for challenges, Use Your Stash. These 2 ladies got together and decided to start up a challenge blog. They have only had one challenge so far, and it was a challenge for me, as I don't really use letter stickers anymore, and my stash is picked through and old-fashioned. This is what I came up with. I used letters from the $Tree (2 kinds), Target, and American Crafts. Printed paper is BG Oh Baby Girl, flowers are mostly Prima, MM Noteworthy journal page, bulk rhinestones, Felt Fusion which I inked green, pink skittles, and Stickles (starry night and fruit punch).

Here are close ups of my page. I even took a pic to show what letters I used. Some of them I had to use Bic Mark Its to get the right color.

Michael's or BUST

I went to Michael's for the first time in months and found some more goodies. Why is it when you get home, it doesn't look like you got as much as you think you did? This is what $28.00 looks like after coupons and sales.

I got some of the SEI Papers, they were by the baskets and are technically for decorating, but I thought they were cute. .59 papers were on sale for .25!
Used my 50% off coupon for some Bazzill Bling, I paid only $7.50 for this sweet package! Then I found a few more Studio G Stamps. I bought 2 of the alphabets so I can use 2 of the same letters at the same time instead of trying to line up the same letter 2 times.
These alphabet stamps were on sale for $3.00! I needed more ABCs!

I also got some wood frames for a buck each, and the foam brushes were on sale for 20/$1.00! I also bought my first mod podge (2.99 w/ 40% off), now what to do with it!

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In case you are adding up in your head and realize something is off since I spent exactly $28 and it doesn't add up here....The cashier messed up and charged me for 2 extra foam brushes (.05 each) and took the 50% off on one of the frames. She fixed that, but had deleted one of the frames in the process and left that discount on. So basically I spent $1.50 on 3 frames plus the extra .10 on brushes. I still made out on the deal though. I was going to go back to make good, but she was not the brightest person, and this was already too much for her to handle. This was after she forgot to ring up the Bazzill, which is why the frame was discounted. She added it on twice, then had to do a return on one of the Bazzill pads and then insisted I fill out the return slip. I told her I didn't feel the need to expose more of my personal info since I didn't initiate the return. She said she needed it to make the return "look legit" so my address is "legitimately" 1234 Main Street, Your Town USA!! If I were "Michael" (see below), I don't know if I would want someone who referred to herself as "acting like a special person" handling my affairs.

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While at the register for 15 minutes, my 12 yr old nephew asks me "who owns this store?". I said "Michael". He asked again, "What is his last name?". I told him "Michaels". He caught on that I was joking. At least I thought it was funny.