A Week In The Life Day 4

And some scrappy stuff too!

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This layout is for Pink Sketches, see the sketch here. The background is unknown cardstock, the rest is Bazzill cs, Core'dinations cs, and BG Eva pp; MM Notworthy for journaling (covering up a previous journaling mishap), American Crafts Thickers, silk flowers, Prima flowers, Dollar Tree brads, hand doodled flourishes, and the big brad in the middle was gold-which I painted black then dotted with more paint for the flower center.

This one is for The Story Matters, using a poem we were given and filling in the words. I had a tough time with this one, I didn't do it about me, hope that is ok. This is my sister-in-law and one of my favorite pictures of her!

I used Crate Paper Kaitlin for all the paper and diecuts, Kaiser Craft flowers, misc buttons, dyed "skittles", used my Cuttlebug to cut the felt squares, used Pebbles Inc foam stamps and paint for the title. I stickled the heart and wings.

This is my "prototype" of my Halloween Deco Squares for AMR. I mailed off my good extra one, so this one will have to do for now. The orange and green were scraps I had and not the exact colors I used for the actual squares. They are 3x3 and I used Bazzill cs, K&Co pp, Target Dollar Spot spider stamp, a Studio G stamp for the sentiment, the "webbing" is ribbon (but don't know who makes it), and AC brads. Let me tell you, I will never hand cut spiders again! What a daunting task, lol! Of course the real squares' spiders are cut much better than this one!

At Costco yesterday, found these Inkadinkado stamps for $20.00! That is at least $30 savings!

I received this bday card yesterday from June at AMR, how sweet! Isn't this a great card?

I got this RAK from Alyssa, a fellow DT member at Scrapbook Challenges!

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A Week In The Life from yesterday...
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I was a bad girl today, and took ZERO pictures! My day was so boring today! I didn't do a darn thing! I didn't cook, I didn't clean, I didn't watch tv, I didn't go anywhere, I didn't even get out my pjs or any grooming-all I did was scrapbook and blog! Hey, we all have those days! I will make up for it tomorrow though! Tomorrow me, Tigardlilly and Inara are going cropping at Life's A Scrapbook to celebrate my bday! I can't wait! I still have to get my table cleaned off and then I have to pack for the crop! We will be there when they open at 10am, and leave when they close at midnight! Nothing like cropping for 14 hours with good friends!
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A Little Bit of Everything

I know, it has been a few days since my last post. I wish I could say I have been MIA for good reasons, but I cannot, lol! I have got some scrapping done, and some shopping! But first things first, I got some challenges to share.

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This is for Pink Sketches. I am really liking their challenges/sketches. The new sketch is up and running already and there is no deadline either! I used Bazzill cs, BG Archaic, Hambly overlay, inchies I made for AMR's alternate shape inchie swap, misc ribbon/flowers/buttons, Kaiser Crafts rubon, Target Dollar Spot Halloween glitter stickers for the title.

This one is for a new challenge blog, InkaDink. This first challenge was anything about me, so I chose my love of scrapbooking, obviously, lol! I used BG Urban Prairie, MM Noteworthy scrap, Teresa Collins journaling block which I punch holes with my Crop-O-Dile and pulled my paper piercer through to make it look like I tore it out of a notebook, Prima and misc flowers with misc buttons, Cuttlebug letters, then I sanded the edges of my photo (suggested by hubby) for a different look. I also cut a butterfly out of more Urban Prairie, stickled it, and pop-dotted it.
This one is for a challenge at Scrapbook Challenges, White Space. I don't usually do white space, so this still feels incomplete to me, but I do like it. I used Bazzill cs, Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo, I inked and used Glossy Accents on a Grungeboard flourish (suggested by hubby), American Crafts Thickers, MM Grommets, misc square brads, and Jo Annes Essentials epoxy stickers.
This is an ATC I made for All Moments Remembered (AMR). This was a year long Four Seasons Swap, where we do an ATC for each season. This is the second one, Fall. I used Bazzill CS, Bo Bunny Dotted pp, Target Dollar Spot stamp which is embossed, Christmas ribbon from Michael's, and felt leaves from Target Dollar Spot (last year, so don't go try to find them). It was a simple ATC, but I think it still looks awesome.
Another ATC for AMR, this one is for our weekly Scrap Chat Hour, where we get paired up with one person to swap with based on our theme, Fall. I was gonna try to cheat and give the same ATC, but the recipient is already in the four seasons swap. I am glad, because I really like this one. I used Bazzill cs, October Afternoon pp, Studio G stamps. My husband didn't think this represented fall, but I explained to him that fall is apple season and he gets it now. He grew up in San Joaquin Valley, so he wasn't around apples as they grew and were harvested. I hope this is "fall" enough.
AMR is having another swap going on, deco squares. They are like inchies or ATCs, but are 3x3. This swap's theme is Halloween. I picked this stuff up yesterday, wait till you see what I come up with! I just hope I can create what I have in my mind.
So, yesterday, tigardlilly and I drove down to Salem to visit Scrapbook Fever. We have heard a lot about this store and have been dying to go for some time. We finally went! Wow, this store is awesome! It is big, as far as LSSs go, and roomy! It is my vision of what a Scrapbook store should be! They have a huge variety of stuff and I think the layout of the store and merchandising it very user friendly! When I walked in, I just stood at the door in awe! The link above shows pics of the store! It felt so inviting and NOT crowded, which has been my experience at most LSSs.
I found my most favorite thing....BASIC GREY!!
Ambrosia
and Eva!
Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock!!
Core'dinations cardstock!! 4x6 mini collection! These will be perfect for photo mats and paper piecing!! I tried one of the sheets, it is so cool! The core is a slightly lighter, coordinating color for sanding, tearing, etc. No inking needed!!
We also went to Michael's, and I scored the entire set of Studio G series 17 stamps..and a 6x6 pad of Basic Grey Mellow!
The previous day, while cropping at tigardlilly's house, I found this beauty in her bathroom!! It appears that I did in fact receive my September CK magazine, it even has my name on it! Why was this in her bathroom? Well the fact that I went digging through her pile of mags for reading material really speaks for itself! LOL!
Lastly, I got this card the other day from a fellow AMR member, how thoughtful was that!!! Thank you Cyndi!!


I think that about covers everything for now. I will be back tomorrow with my DT challenge for Scrapbook Challenges, and the sketch for the week. I have been dying to share my challenge for a couple weeks now, so I am super excited!! Have a great Sunday!
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Scrappy Retail Therapy ROCKS!

While things have been tight, all our bills are paid and I decided to go do a little scrappy shopping! I did good, really I did! I held off on SO MANY things! While I prefer to support my local scrapbook stores (LSS), I pop into the the big box stores ((BBS), Michael's JoAnne's) every once in a while. I went to Michael's today, and found BASIC GREY! Ok, I admit it, that is why I went. It really irks me that they have some of the new BG before the LSS's can get it, but it is only 2 lines, and you have to buy the pad and no extras are offered. It works for me because ONE, BG is my favorite paper line, TWO, I always buy the collection packs anyway and rarely use the diecuts/letters that come in them, and THREE, they were 40% off this week, making each pad, with 2 of each piece of paper, 12 bucks! These are 12x12. Retail for the same quantity of paper in an LSS is average $32, for only one line! I say I did good, and I promise (I'm talking to the people of Basic Grey), I will still buy the other 3 sets I still want when my LSS gets them! I got Urban Prairie and Granola.

At my LSS, I found some Mr. Campy from Cosmo Cricket. I saw this originally but was not liking it-I think I was stuck on the marshmallow thing! I saw it today and fell in love. These are the only 6 papers they had left! Trust me, you gotta see this is person, it is so cute!!
Here are the backs of the same papers.
At LSS, I also picked up some cs and that new Bo Bunny Dotted cardstock for my fall ATCs at AMR, and found some of the new Bazzill Swiss Dots cardstock! They only had 3 colors cause she herself didn't like it from the pictures, but after seeing it, will be ordering tons more! I am loving this new texture!! I also got a cute Sassafras Lass paper from the Pocket Full of Rosies collection!
Bad photo, but I think you can see the texture here.
The LSS also had these Pebbles Inc Foam alphabet stamps for $1.25 each! These are large sets people, and were originally marked $5! I didn't buy them for $5, but did buy them for $1.25!!
I also picked up some Kaiser Crafts rubons at LSS, and picked up some Staz On at Michael's (used 3 separate 50% off coupons) and also some Staz On cleaner and the foam brushes are 20/$1.00 again at Michael's!
All in all, I did fairly well! I can never figure out why when you get home from shopping, and start putting things away, it always seems like it isn't a lot of stuff!!
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Be on the lookout for these things in the near future!! I am off to scrapbook now!!!
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Whew!

Why is it when you get back from a vacation, which is supposed to be relaxing, are you so exhausted when you get home??? The first day/night we spent at Great Wolf Lodge in Washington-an indoor water park. That video on this link was the Howlin' Tornado, and I HATED IT!!!! With all the weight in that raft, we went at least 2/3 up the side and nearly fell out-I am NOT exaggerating! I was absolutely petrified and screamed so intensely that my jaw, eyes, throat and head ached for about 45 mins afterward. I cried for about 10 mins, and I LOVE thrill rides! The rest of the time, we had a lot of fun, but I personally would have had more fun if I weighed 100 lbs less! We spent most of our time in the wave pool, however keeping my body afloat on those inner tubes killed my shoulder for about 2 days! No pics to share on that part of the trip, because I was not going to bring my camera to a water park-it stayed safe our room! We spent the rest of the 2nd day there and went home for Thursday night.

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On Friday morning we headed towards Newport on the Oregon Coast. I love the beach! We spent 2 nights there and had another blast! The first night was a failed attempt for our bonfire to roast wienies and smores, it was TOO windy and started raining! The next day ended up being sunny and not so windy so we did our bonfire for lunch. I didn't get a lot of pictures there either, as I was too busy roasting myself. I did manage to get these shots...

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We spent most of the day on the beach. I got sunburned very badly, on the inside of my thighs, knees, and calves! Don't sit "indian style" all day in the sun! Also, if you are going bald, be sure to wear a hat! These are both lessons I learned this weekend! My face got burned pretty good, but it is always red anyway!! We left the beach around 7 and went to the Historic Bay Front on Yaquina Bay for dinner at Mo's a locally famous chowder house. It was yummy as usual. When we were done, we went to find the sea lions that hang out on the docks. It was dark by then, so there weren't any good shots of the sea lions, but I did get this shot of the Yaquina Bay bridge at sunset. If you look closely, you can see tigardlilly taking shots of the sea lions on the left...

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We went back the next day to see them and play (by play, I mean the kids) at the arcade. Here is a good one of a very bossy and grumpy sea lion! He just jumped up, got in an argument, won, and knocked another sun-bather off! It was really cool to see these guys up so close! They don't even seem to be bothered by the dozens of human spectators lining the upper dock to watch them and mock their cries.

We spent the rest of the day checking out a few shops, souvenir hunting and tracking down the best candy shop! We finally found one that was polite to us (the first one wouldn't let us go potty), and I got some yummy fudge!! We then drove the 2-3 hours home and got home at 11 pm last night!
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We had stopped at a couple stores for scrapbook shopping, of course, and found that the Craft Warehouse in Newport was going out of business and everything was 40% off!

Technique Tuesday Wayfarer alphabet stamps: $12.29 (orig 20.49)

Studio G stamps, series 16: $0.60 each, I bought 3 (orig 1.00)

Kaiser Craft Pearls: $2.40 each, I bought 3 (orig 3.99)

Prima Flowers: $4.20 each, I bought 2 (orig 6.99)

I also found an 8x8 pad of Cosmo Cricket Hello Sunshine for 5 bucks at the LSS in Lincoln City. Not bad for a trip to the beach. The only problem is, you can't play with your new stuff while on vacation!!

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I was welcomed home by this RAK from aggiegirl on AMR. How super cool is this? The AMR message board has an ongoing "pay it forward rak" where you chose one of the offered items and then offer 2 for someone else to pick from. It is kinda cool.

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Now on to more important things. This is the sketch we were given for the Scrapbook Challenges DT. Below is my take on the sketch. I gotta tell you, it was a fun page to make. I used Scenic Route for the background paper, and Cosmo Cricket Get Happy for the printed paper and die cuts. The rocket is hand cut from one of the Strip Teases of the 8x8 pad I used. The title is American Crafts Thickers. The card stock is from scraps and embossed on a cuttlebug. I did this the other day at tigardlilly's house while babysitting and used her supplies. That reminds me, I need to replace this stuff! lol

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I am glad to be home. I went to my computer this morning to find 98 blog posts to read, a message board that I feel so behind on now, lots of challenges to work on, and now I have to go job hunting! Oh why can't I just stay home and scrap all day?!?!

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The never ending list...

...Of challenges that is!

Ok, so this first one isn't a challenge, but it did challenge me! My Grandma's birthday is coming up, and my dad asked me to make her a card-that really means a lot to me. She is pretty much blind due to Macular Degeneration, so I made the card big (8.5x11, folded in half), used bright colors (she can still see those), and added as many different textures as I could so she can feel it. Not my best card, but it will serve it's purpose, I think.

This is for a challenge over at AMR, using green and red, but not Christmas related, then we can only use a title, ribbon, buttons and journaling. My title is the napkin in the photo, the pp is Basic Grey Infuse, the ribbon is misc, and the journal square is Jenni Bowlin.

This one is for Crop-A-Holics' first ever blog challenge. We were supposed to scraplift one of her layouts, this is the one I chose that she did! It was supposed to be for one of the AMR challenges last weekend for thier online crop, but it didn't work out-don't you just love how this one ended up? I sure did...

That is why I chose to scraplift that page!! I obviously figured out the strips of paper wrong, but I like it! I used Dreamstreet pp, Bazzill cs and flower, button, MM Noteworthy journaling card, and inked American Crafts Thickers.

This one is for The Story Matters. Here is what the challenge is..."What is home to you?? It is where you want? Our homes can be a hotel room when need be, or a McMansion... but what is at the heart of it all?? What do you have to say about where your home is? What is it's meaning? What is it missing? How is it "yours"... "

Since DH and I have been floating and struggling for years now, and this is the 5th-6th time we have had to move in with my parents, we don't really have a home. I see my home as wherever DH hangs his hat. Whether it be here at my parents' house, our own apartment, or a motel room, as long as I am with him, I am home.

I used Bazzill cs, Basic Grey Archaic pp, mostly Prima flowers, some unknown ribbon, inked American Crafts Thickers, TT stamps for the "is where", K&Co Blue Awning journaling card, large jewels, and SEI and MM brads. Remember all those color-themed photos I was posting for So, I Smile? I won the last day, and I got the prize for it today, isn't it an awesome RAK??? I got a Studio G stamp, some "acrylic" journal blocks, some felt flowers, and a variety of buttons. Thanks Detta!!
Lastly, I spent last night and today at tigardlilly's house cropping. She needed adhesive, so we went shopping. She did very well and stuck to adhesive, but I spent a little more than I should have; I have a disease-I feel the need to buy more stuff even though I have plenty. Everything was either on sale or on clearance except for the felt fusion, but I got it at the cheapest place in town to get it per yard! Everything at Jo's was 40% off-All Papercrafting Supplies!!! Those lace cardstocks were only $1.19 each!! The Zots, DCWV All Dress Up 8x8 pad, Alcohol blending solution and felt applicator (both for alcohol inks) were all 40% off too! The stamps and rhinestone shapes/words were on clearance at Mike's, as were those ugly coaster sets which I will cover with pp and turn into minibooks! All in all, I would say I found some great deals today!!!

Remember, those of you with Reader, I am linking to my comments in the post so you don't have to leave reader to post a comment!! Click here!

I Am Way To Excited To Wait!

Before I can tell you what I am so excited about, I have to lay out the history...
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Tigardlilly had given me some of her dyed "skittles" a couple months ago, and I love them so much. I don't want to ask her for more since she already gave me quite a few, so I have been accepting the fact that this is all I will ever recieve and have been dealing with that realization, all the while knowing they will be gone after a while. Don't you just hate the phrase, "when they are gone, they're gone!"?
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Now for the excitement....Laura called me at work to tell me she is at the Beaverton Michaels, which we have both searched multiple times for more "skittles" with no luck! Needless to say, Laura checked again, and there they were, 1 pack of blue, and 3 clear! She only wants 1 clear, so she is picking up the other 2 for me! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am!!!! What is so exciting about clear skittles you may ask? Check out tigardlilly's post about dying skittles, and here is her tutorial!! Now, what should I do with my 8 JoAnne coupons I have??? hmmm, I think I am going to stock up on alcohol inks, tonight!!! The cool thing, is that all 8 have different SKUs, so I can use them all in one transaction!!
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What else can I do with these inks? Oh yeah, Ali Edwards was at Tim Holtz's booth at CHA using alcohol ink on transparancies!! How cool is that!?! I have to do more research on it when I get home to find some cool links. I did find a lot however on some of the blogs I read, which are over on my side bar, in case you can't wait till I get home. Unfortunately, I can't remember which ones, and my dinosaur here at work just takes too long, sorry.
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Check back later, on this post, as I will upload pictures of my goodies tonight when I get home! That is still a long time till I get off at 6, and since I also have to meet with my landlord tonight at 7 to do my move out walk-through.
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Here's hoping I don't go crazy waiting to get there, and here's hoping they don't suddenly sell out of the inks before I get there! lol
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I will post later this evening with pics, I promise!!

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As promised, here are some pics I took!!!

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Of course, all stamps, stamp sets, and stamp pads were on sale for 30%. Why do they do that when they have tons of coupons, everything is on sale, grrrr. Being in the bad mood I was in, I argued with them saying I want the 40% off, since the alcohol inks didn't fall into any of those categories. The manager had the cashier change the prices for me and quickly made this rude comment..."I don't know why, I have never had anyone complain that something was on sale". Well I wasn't complaining, just making a point. Anywho, I got them and that is all that matters. I think I will take the rest of my Jo's coupons, head to Mike's and get the other sets of inks that Jo's didn't have, not to mention, I grabbed 2 of the same sets! Now I have to go back and exchange them.