013113 A LOAD of inspiration

Well, it's just about T minus 24 hours until February 2013 LOAD ScrapHappier begins!

Last night I had a mild panic attack until I double-checked my supplies & verified that I had plenty of adhesive on hand. 

I decided that I really should get some new trimmer blades on my lunch break today, so I headed out to Hobby Lobby. 

Beware the siren call of the scrapbook aisles...especially on the eve of LOAD!

Basics. But hey! Since when do they carry Prima masks?

And what can I do with those cool  Stampendous pearlized mica fragments?

And I love alpha rubons - must have these...

And can't pass up the clearance aisle!

Not a bad way to spend the last of my Christmas money...

Now, LOADsters - start your engines!

The fun is about to begin :~)

This is the last time my desk will be relatively clear for a month!

See you in the gallery!

013013 CKC Quiet January Kit #2

This month has brought us a terrible loss. Our Aunie went peacefully home to Heaven early Sunday morning, January 13th. Although we knew she was in a decline we certainly did not expect to lose her this soon. We were able to get the whole family together which was a great comfort & blessing.

She looked lovely & aristocratic & some dear people helped us celebrate her homegoing. She would be thrilled to know that the congressman's children came to the funeral because they consider her family. We buried her with a watch on her wrist as she adored finding novelty watches, and we had them paint her nails as she used to do. One of the "girls" that worked with her in the congressman's office many years ago related a funny story of how Ann - who always ate her lunch at her desk - just this one time did her nails after she ate. Of course, someone came into the office right after & she was mortified because she couldn't shake hands! Aunie shared many delightful stories about what it was like to be on the campaign trail & to work on Capitol Hill as a congressional secretary. She saw a lot of history in her time in Washington D.C.

She was a hard worker, a generous woman who lovingly cared for her mother until her death at the age of 90. She was a Red Cross volunteer, a Pink Lady at a local hospital in Florida, she delivered Meals on Wheels, and ferried a number of "little old ladies" to the grocery every week. She taught me how to sew and to love crafting & quilting. She was an incredibly special person to my children all of their lives. She leaves a gaping hole in the fabric of our lives which we know will eventually mend as beautifully as her award-winning embroidery projects.

We traveled to West Virginia last week to bury her with her grandparents, parents & her big brother who died of polio at 15. The cemetery was just as my brother & I remembered it, although we must have been quite young the last time we were there. There is a beautiful view on that hilltop, and it was quiet & peaceful. A fitting place to leave the shell of our dear departed Aunie while she enjoys eternity with her Saviour. 

My second page from my CKC Quiet January kit is about that place.

After I had laid out the photos & chosen some things to add to the page, I stumbled across the transparency that included the gate & knew it would go perfectly right over those bright clouds in the large photo. The perfect counterpoint to the photo of the gate post to the cemetery. I like how the earthly one is so sturdy & grounded by comparison. That made me realize how perfectly the background paper surrounding the title looked joyful & light, so I traced around it in white ink. Tracing around the photo at the bottom in black gave me the final contrasting touch.

Until we meet again, Aunie...xoxoxo

012513 A LOAD of Happiness

How do you make a scrapper HAPPY?
 

Why, give them a daily prompt 

to inspire them & permission 

to take the time to scrap 

every day for a month!

 **SIGN UP HERE!**

Nothing makes this scrapper HAPPIER

than enjoying time in my scrapspace with my scrapstash, 

cutting & pasting & misting & glitzing & playing with my goodies,

 leaving a legacy of memories documented with love & flair. 

But what's a girl to do? How can I make it happen 

when the fam needs food & the pets need to be, well, pet? 

Grab your crockpot cookbook, load up the freezer with instant 

meals, get ahead on the laundry, get your photos printed, 

make a space on the scrapdesk & start your engines!

Heather Dubarry

Alison Day

Danielle Taylor

Alison Charlton

Christy Strickler

Lynnette Nagle

Julie Shepler

Joy McHargue

Kelli Panique

Cathy Holiday

==> YOU ARE HERE: Leslie Smith

Lori Martin   <== GO HERE NEXT!

Connie Hanks

Betsy Erazo

Marcia Fortunato

Regina Huminski

Beth Soler

Kristie Sloan

 Danielle Hunter

 
Katrina Forman

Jessica Baldwin

Cheryl McCain

Briel Schmitz

Marygail Mello

If you want more practical advice,

see my previous pre-LOAD post HERE.

012513 CKC Challenge Blog Hop!

 The first challenge over at CKC this month was to create a project using the following ONLY 

(not including cardstock/pictures/adhesive):

THREE patterned papers

THREE embellishments 

and only use a THREE word title! 

I do love a good challenge! 

This photo has been hanging around my desk just waiting for some inspiration.

That's my granddaughter, Chloe - with my daughter, Alex - seeing her first snow!

 I printed the sepia version to improve the look of the view outside the window.

I know I will need snowflakes...and cardstock is a freebie!

  Now to choose my background paper.

Good Day Sunshine/Jane paper  from We R Memory Keepers couldn't be more perfect!

Beautiful soft colors with snowflake-like bursts, so similar to that green punch I used.

I couldn't resist adding a little sparkle & shine

 Two companion papers, We R Memory Keepers Cotton Tails/In The Meadow for 
the blue snowflake inserts & Authentique Peaceful/Frost for the Peaceful fussy-cut.

 My embellishments were the teal ribbon shown above and the kraft medallion in the title. 
While looking for something shiny for the snowflake centers I discovered the silver dots in my stash just like the original kit. 
That will teach me to persevere a little more when counterfeiting!

 I really thought that the three word title would be the toughest part, but the picture told the story easily.

I needed to make the title draw attention so I used the kraft medallion for the "1st" portion.

I used this magical Martha Stewart silver tinsel glitter on the "1"...

  

...and this Krylon Silver pen to stencil the "st"...

  
Really love how this looks, especially the tinsel used with DIY Thickers.
The pen did bleed a little & left a lot of loose paint that made a mess, though.

I must say I think this challenge proved a real inspiration for my page.

If you are already working your way through the hop, go to Julie's blog next.
If you didn't start at the beginning, hop back to Jemma's blogpost!
You DON'T want to miss a thing :~D

Jemma Sharrock

Lesley Graffham

Lucinda Messman
Shir Benovich
You are here: Leslie Smith 
Julie is NEXT: Julie Hearn
Kate Blue
Tricia Simmons
Lisa Johnston
Julie Jeavons
Rebecca Delo
Lisa Hausmann
  
And one last little benefit - the colors are perfect for the #69 challenge over at Whimsical Musings!

  

011613 ScrapHappy Your Story Matters Blog Hop!

I belong to a group of the happiest scrapbookers on the internet at ScrapHappy! Our fearless leader, Lain Ehmann, brings a distinguished resume along with a fab sense of fun. A recent project was a "cookbook" made from a list of 25 memories that must be scrapped.  Each prompt was tackled by two different members. What a wonderful group of layouts was generated - each unique & creative.

Not one to keep the good stuff to ourselves, Your Story Matters is now available as an e-book! The introductory price is $7, but if you purchase before midnight on 1/21/13 and use the coupon code HOP you save $2!

And what a thrill - I am now a published scrapper!
Just another benefit of the association with this wonderful community of talented scrappers who are generous with their praise & inspiring with their pages.


My prompts were as follows:

View From the Porch

The One Lesson I Wish I'd Known When I Was 18

Continue hopping to see some more!
 Lain Ehmann: http://layoutaday.com

>>YOU ARE HERE >> Leslie Smith: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/

>> GO HERE NEXT >> Alison Charlton: http://scrappinginsingapore.blogspot.com/

Heather Dubarry:  noexcusescrapbooking.com

Danielle Hunter: http://ecoscrapbook.blogspot.com

Cathy Holiday: http://pikespeakscrapper.blogspot.com/

Monica Bradford: http://scrapinspired.com/

Alison Day:  http://adayinthelifeor5.blogspot.ca/

Paivi Eerola: www.peonyandparakeet.com

Lynnette Nagle: sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com

Kelli Panique: http://scrapbookgirl71.com/

Danielle Taylor: http://scrapperonthestreet.com

Be sure and leave a comment about what story YOU feel is critical for every scrapbooker to document. We will be giving away THREE copies of the book from comments made on ALL blogs in the hop by 1/19/13. Winners will be announced on the Layoutaday blog (http://www.layoutaday.com) on Monday, Jan. 21. Prizes must be claimed by Wed. , 1/23. If you win but had already purchased a book your money will be refunded.

PS - One of the biggest perks of a ScrapHappy membership is access to LOAD! The next one is in February and I will have some posts about it throughout the month...

010513 Date Day in Lansing

Still in search of prime rib...for lunch...

Time permitting, my knight in shining armor scoped out some furniture stores to get some inspiration for the living room - definitely a future project but we are ready to start dreaming. Funny how most of the sofas are too deep in the seat & the backs are slanted - impossible to sit up straight! But they did have this wonderful wall of clocks at Pilgrim House.

My fave? 3rd from the left - and it's tin (bonus!) Too bad I don't need one. 

Second choice would be the steam-punk style with the gears on the far left.

Then we headed downtown...

... to Clara's Lansing Station

...found in the old railroad depot and furnished with really interesting stuff.

We ate in a beautiful old railroad car, which reminded us of the Victoria Station restaurant chain 

we used to visit back in the day for our anniversary dinners.

My Capture Your 365 prompt was to "photograph colorful food" - perfect!

Didn't exactly nail the focus but I was trying to show how tall this chocolate mousse pie was.

As usual, it was good to get out & be together <3

010413 Happy New Year!

Enjoyed quietly celebrating my Saviour's birth, with the added bonus of two four-day weekends.

And now I am ready to rejoin the gang over at Counterfeit Kit Challenge. I've been AWOL for the last few months but thoroughly enjoyed putting a kit together again! This month's inspiration kit is from Paper Issues, a delightful Etsy shop. I've linked you straight to their shop and all of it's current goodies, and shown the specific kit "A Merry Winter" alongside of mine for comparison below.

Let's see what's in the magic blue box this month!

I decided not to do a Christmas kit, per se, as we had a very subdued holiday this year and not a lot of photo ops. 

Aunie is so frail & we just felt it would be very chaotic for her. This was our token tree this year:

Special thanks to my scrapbud Heidi who sent me the beautiful tags last Christmas.

Okay, so here is my Quiet January kit! On the left below is the original kit, and mine is on the right.

I tried to keep to a similar color pallette & style of papers (details provided upon request :~) 

That teal blue floral in the second row will be stamped with doily stamps as I loved that about the original paper. I knew I wouldn't be using tags (3rd row) so I added the two papers with lots of imagery that I felt would sub in nicely. I am hoping to do some house stuff, maybe some travel stuff (hence the handful of map papers), and no doubt grandbaby pages with one or two holiday pages.

(I just realized looking at the embellis that I forgot my sequined ribbon!) 

I put in some leftover kraft frames from an earlier kit's counterfeit instead of the banners and I have a wooden gate (thanks, Lynnette!) instead of the branch. I did throw in my Tim Holtz bird & branch die, some Jenni Bowlin feathers, Prima pretties, Maya Road pins and some messy/wet stuff to try to incorporate. Not usually a great success for me, so stay tuned!

So excited to break into my Quiet January kit. Happy scrappin' y'all!