My little piece of that Azure sky

Blogging my projects: Studio Calico's Daydream Believer

2012-01-29T16:28:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Busy weekend in these parts. I had an all day workshop for school on Saturday. Can I tell how how validating it is to be in this program? I was in class all day and came home energized, not exhausted. It's so great to actually FEEL like I'm doing the right thing.

My wish for you is to feel the same, no matter what it is you are doing.

Studio Calico's Daydream Believer went on sale on Friday, and I hope you had a chance to peek at it or pick up an add-on if that's your inclination. I got all of them. I loved that there was new CHAW12 product in this kit, and I don't have an LSS, so letting April choose what I'll be working with is perfectly fine by me. I have enough going on, and no scrapbook store. It makes sense to do one-stop shopping, because as a working mom, my free time is precious.

Check out the kit:

My Projects:

First I wanted to share my main kit only project for the month. We were in a really big time crunch for sneaks, so I created a card. I'm fortunate in that cards are easy for me to create, so this didn't take a lot of time, which was good.

This main kit is full of new and delicious products, with custom pieces as well as new CHAW12 product from Dear Lizzy and Pebbles. The main kit is still available, so I encourage you to check it out here. That butterfly is from an Etsy shop. Isn't it sweet? I also adore the SC woodgrain with the hearts. Such a great shade of brown too.

This next one was obviously in honor of the New Year. I was trying to get a photo of the kiddlets in those fancy New Years party hats I made, and the result was a glimpse at their personalities that I just adore so much I had to use them all on a layout.

I stamped with the alpha in Stepping Stone, #4, and I also took advantage of the fabulousness that is my Cameo, and created the title with it. I am in love with the thing. I know there are tons of die cut machines out there, but this seriously is the most user friendly thing I have ever purchased. I can utilize any shape I want, make it any size simply by dragging out the corner, and click and drag to move it anywhere I want it to be printed on my paper. SO easy to use. I think the font I used for this title was "this and that" from the Silhouette store.

Some extra fun on this layout? Stamping with JBS ink and using my Cropadile to add a confetti effect. Super easy.

This next one was my favorite layout of the month. A lot of products from the main kit, that Dear Lizzy polkadot being the definite favorite. THAT is my favorite shade of brown. Oh my, love it and the gray undertones.

Obviously with Morgan's birthday being last week I had to do something birthday related. I haven't had a chance to edit and share tutu and handmade leg warmer photos yet, or the roller rink party either, but I did get a photo of her that day to use in a layout to summarize her special day.

This layout was actually inspired by this pin:

Nana-luluLiving

Can you see where I was starting from?

Last up is a bit of home decor. I really need to do this to share here more often:

Yes, that's my living room! That's my sideboard. I adore this piece but someday there will be a true fireplace there.

This garland was easy to create and I'll be back with a bit more on that. Know that none of it was done on the Cameo though. I hand cut or used a punch.

And that's it! Those are my projects for the month. Before I go I did want to share a couple of shop items that I just ordered Friday morning and am excited to have in my crafting arsenal:

Knock Outs:

InLinkz.com

I have heard of these but they only very recently appeared in the SC shop to pick up. My Fiskars mini scallop punch has finally reached it's end, so I've been on the hunt for a new scallop. The starter punch set comes with something akin to the Apron Lace, which is also fine, so during one of my multiple checkouts on Friday (oh yes, I do it too), I picked this up as well. That and the tiny attacher, because it's about time, and the MME and new SC stamp sets that will work great in my Project Life and Project 12 album, which I need to get around to sharing with y'all too. Oh my.

Have a great day! Back to the books. Davinie

Kit product and store stuff used:

InLinkz.com

Wordless Wednesday - Be.

2012-01-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

Pinned.

Just trying to keep things in perspective. In the online world, it's easy to get distracted.

Happy Wednesday. Davinie

Stretch your kit winner and some Sunday Studio Calico sneaks

2012-01-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

And the giveaway (or givewaway, if that's what I type, lol) goes to:

Hi all! WOWee, exciting weekend at my house. Miss Morgan turned 8 and it turned into quite the extravaganza. Yesterday she had a roller skating party with friends, and I can't wait to share the details of her party. I asked a friend to make her a roller skating tutu, and then another friend generously volunteered to make her the coolest pair of leg warmers I've seen, we partied hard, and now our house looks like Christmas Day, covered from one end to the next with birthday party loot. This morning she's already made a pot with her new pottery wheel, and right now she's working on a poster for her room "Girl's Rock!" and all that.

Anyway, I need to choose a winner for the Stretch your Kit class taught by Amy Tan for Studio Calico. That winner is:

Allison said...

It's sunny and 70F the only emergency is whether or not to bring a sweater along ;) Stay safe!

2:34 PM

Congratulations Allison! Amy will put on a great class and I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it!
Friends, there's still time to register if you think it would help you. I'm sure it'll be full of inspiration! You have until the end of the month. Class starts February 1. Check it out here.

On to sneaks:

I have a few Studio Calico sneaks to share today too. I'm busy plugging away. LOOOOVE the Neopolitan goodies from American Crafts/ Dear Lizzie. She hit it out of the ballpark on that one. This new CHAW12 product will be in the kits this month. I had a lot of fun with the new prints that were in the main. You can see that here:

The color on that polkadot is beyond delicious. Be sure to add the MORE paper add-on to your cart this month if you are shopping away. So fabulous.

I'm a mixer so there are bits from other kits in this photo, but the base polka, and the floral and pink at the top (with the numbers) is all Neopolitan from the main kit. The mistable trim is too. The aqua polkadot and the garland are from add-on 2, Lady Lane, and the card is from #4, Stepping Stone.

I put my Silhouette to work (LOVE that thing), and used the stamp set from Stepping Stone (another declaration of mad love for that).

The blue polkadot is a background stamp from add-on 1, Clarksville. I think this is my favorite background stamp because it's a polkadot and really can be used on every layout. I also like that I just have a nibble of it showing here. I don't want to have to see the whole 4x6 stamp set. Another reason I love it? I needed a blue color for this layout, so I created it myself by stamping on cardstock and trimming it out. So with that said, I'd definitely recommend Jenni Bowlin Speckled Egg ink as the one shop item to add to your kit purchase. It's a great blue for this kit.

This last one was made with the main kit only. Compared to the first sneak I shared, isn't it amazing how versatile this kit is?! I just love it all. And that heart woodgrain? The SC paper? LOVE.

Don't forget, lots of exclusives in that main kit as well as the new Dear Lizzie products. This is a good one.

Have a great day! Davinie

A givewaway - Stretch your Kit!

2012-01-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to jumpstart the way you look at supplies? Tired of letting your kits pile up month after month without touching them? Ready to pull out the tools you have on hand and put them to use? Amy Tan is here to help show you how to see the Studio Calico Main kits in new ways and get those supplies onto your pages. She’s ready to share tips and tricks on making your kit supplies stretch to create beautiful page after page.

Known for her playful and innovative pages, Amy is the perfect teacher to help you stretch your kits. She’ll walk you through ideas for breaking open those brown paper bags and seeing your kits in a fun new way. Amy and Studio Calico kits... what a great combination!

Amy is joined by creative powerhouses Kelly Goree, Celine Navarro, and Jen Jockisch who will all share inspiration for using ONLY the Studio Calico Main kit. You’ll see their process for getting started on a layout, selecting which supplies to pull from the kits, and tips for using their favorite tools and techniques.

START DATE: FEBRUARY 1, 2012

REGISTRATION ENDS: JANUARY 31, 2012

PRICE: $30.00

Check out Stretch your Kit in the Studio Calico Classroom section of the shop.

Want a chance to win a spot in the class? Just leave me a comment on this post. Maybe tell me a bit about your weather. Experiencing anything inclimate? A State of Emergency is being declared all around me but we are still okay in Redmond. It's super super windy though. But after being short on snow all year, our local ski hill Mt Bachelor had to close today because they got more than 24 inches yesterday and it was wreaking havok. yikes!

I'm going to draw a name tomorrow night. That would be Friday, January 20, the day I became a mother. Yep, Morgan is turning 8. I am in a state of emergency about that. I can't hardly believe it.

have a great day! Davinie

ETA: When you are finished here, be sure to check out the CHAW12 sneaks from Studio Calico!

Stamps
Abroad
Take Note
Calico Volume 2

YUM. That is all.

Project 12 January

2012-01-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Oh yes. It's Project 12 January. In January! Finally! I know you have been anxious for the details of the new way of doing Project 12.

Project 12 has always been about capturing the moments of our everyday life, to use the less than perfect photos that capture our stories, and to tell those stories in our journaling. One of my favorite thing about the sketches Becky Fleck has created for this challenge was the great big journaling box. I’m addicted to that large space and love using a large journaling block on most two page layouts I create.

Life has a way of changing, and with the new challenge in this new year, it was time to make that change.

The first one is a change to the 15^th of the month instead of the first. That’s doable. That change is easy enough to adhere to. The new challenge itself is easy as well.

Scrapbook your life. Whether you take 1 photo, 100 photos, or no photos, get it down on paper. But this year, let’s include our memorabilia as well. Let’s declutter our world of those things we save but don’t have a place for, tickets and receipts and programs and race running bibs, and lets incorporate them into our work.

Taking a photo a day has always been an overwhelming task for me to take on. There are 365 days in a year (366 this time). I could never do it. But I do like the concept of Project Life, developed by Becky Higgins to incorporate your daily life in page protectors and journaling cards. I’ve taken on that challenge for 2012. I like the idea. I also think it’ll be fun to involve my husband and my kids and have them tell their story with their own words.

But I still think an album like this has a place for art on a larger canvas. So I think it’s perfectly fine to mix the two. I also don’t think it’s necessary to do something to document every single day. That’s too much pressure. My life isn't always that exciting!

For 2012 we don’t have a new sketch to work from every month. Becky has created sketches for this challenge the last two years, and SCT has done a great job capturing all of them in one place on the website. You can see them all here.

For my layout this month, which incorporates memorabilia and random photos from the first week in January, I chose to work with the August 2010 sketch:

Another twist on the challenge is to utilize a colour palette. Revealed on the 15^th every month at SCT, this works great with the new challenge. You can check out the the color suite for January here. (and now that I'm on my blog in Oregon and out of Canada, I can type color instead of colour. heeee). So with the sketch I chose and the January color suite in mind, this is what I came up with:

As you can see, I included receipts, coupons, my racing bib from a 5k I did that weekend, and even a snippet of a letter I got in the mail regarding Orientation for grad school. All of these are elements that will be fun to look back on down the road, as part of my history. There will be a time when loading your Starbucks card for $20 will barely cover the cost of a latte. J

You’ll also notice more random photos, like the one of my husband’s suitcase. This is part of the new challenge to myself to document even more of the everyday than I usually do. By the way, did you see how we mark our luggage? I have a fabrip wrapped around the handle. It's been there a few years now. Love it.

TIP: See the “splatter marks" on my layout? If you are like me and want more control on where the mist splatters, especially when your photos are already adhered, try this: dip a pencil eraser into a bottle of mist or stamp it on an ink pad, and stamp the splatter onto your page. I also used the end of a Basic Grey file. There are a lot of tools in your stash that would double as a quick and easy stamp. Try it!

One last thing. I LOVE the large journaling cards. Have I mentioned that? I love them so much that I asked Marcy to create some Project 12 projects for me, and she has. And they are gorgeous. And I think you should get some. Check them out:

Number badges and 2.88x8 journaling cards here here, and here. The one I used on this layout was a prototype but the rest will be here, LIVE, asap. Fun times. Cut them in half and they look pretty on your Project Life pages too. See? Multi-functional. :)

The new Project 12 challenge is to document more of your every day on a layout. Because some days we take more photos than the last, you can choose your own sketch among all the fun sketches that Becky has created for this challenge. Utilize the colour suite as an additional challenge for yourself, and enter that monthly challenge for a subscription to the magazine, the best and most inspiring craft publication available, if I do say so myself.

The Project 12 challenge is supposed to be easy to incorporate into your life and your albums. I have to have some easy in my life, lol. I wanted to be able to share an inspiration piece each month when I list the new challenge, and I love that I can do that with this new format. The jumping around that you had to do in the previous challenge on the SCT blog was always something I didn't care for but we couldn't find a way to work around it if I was to live through the month like the rest of you.

The amount of time you choose to document is up to you. For this layout, I chose a week in our life. Maybe next month it’ll be just a few days, or maybe 10 of them. The point is to grab a piece of time in your life and get it down on paper for future generations to get a glimpse of your life, one layout a month.

I hope you will be inspired and play along! Link me up too. And then come back to see what others are doing, just like you used to do. I'm going to do better about commenting too. I used to be good at that.....

Thank you so much for supporting this challenge! It has meant so much to me, knowing you do. I've had emails directing me to various talk around the web about this challenge, and I hope that you are happy knowing it is still going strong.

Have a great day! Davinie

I {heart} Project 12 - November and December in January

2012-01-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

I'm here! Project 12 is here! If you've visited the SCT blog, you've seen that changes are in store for 2012, with a different series taking that 1st of the month spot. That is fine by me!

I wanted to wait until I was scheduled to share my November and December layouts on the SCT blog before I posted them here. I know you have been emailing, posting, asking questions. Project 12 IS still here. You can still win prizes for November and December.

Project 12 in 2012 is a wee bit different. This isn't a bad thing! I am going to be posting about the new challenge on the 15th, so I hope you'll check back, look at the new twist, and play along if it works for you.

In the meantime, this is what I came up with the November sketch. I don't mind telling you this sketch was a doozy, and to have it during the holidays made it even more difficult to work with. That said, I really like how my layout turned out, so the challenge was good. This was the sketch:

Bam! This is what I came up with:

You can still see the basic idea of the layout, but I definitely ran with my own version.

The title is long for this month, so I layered the alphas a bit to fit it all in over my journaling block.

I had these fun fall themed embellishments, so I clustered a few things, used some stitching, and added small photos around. Just about everything comes from Studio Calico kits, but in particular, I was still playing with County Fair, which had the best color palette (still loving the leaves from the Handmade kit).

I had fun with the edges. I used stamps from previous Studio Calico kits, and I also used tags and bits of paper before stitching it all down. Tragically, I canNOT find my Fiskars mini scallop border punch. It's like losing a child! But I found a backup that worked just fine (although I really need my baby back, baby back).

The large doilies? Yep, my Cameo. I adore that thing.

Normally this would be late for sharing November, but early for sharing December. That said, I have my December layout to share with you today as well! bonus!

**Please note** Those playing along in 2011, please link your December layouts to this post for the December prize.

Check out the December sketch:

Becky went easy on us for the end of the year, and my layout came together really quickly:

I used Brooklyn Flea this time. I thought this color palette was perfect for Christmas type photos.

I liked the embellishments Becky used with her sketch, so recreated my own with a circle and snowflake punch. They created large shapes, so the layout really didn't need much else besides strips of paper and a few Crate Paper brads.

See that photo of Payton in that box? It's a horse costume. We converted a cardboard box into a horse, she painted it, even the face, trimmed it's hair, and starred in Humpty Dumpty in her Kindergarten class nursery rhyme play. She was.... all the kings horses. Her part lasted all of 20 seconds but she was so cute. She was also a stage hand for a few other numbers. I see performing in her future!

As I mentioned, I will be back on the 15th to reveal the new twist to Project 12. Project 12 started as a way to document the every day, without the pressure of 365 photos, and it still remains. I've also taken on Project Life this year, which was Becky Higgin's updated concept on memory keeping, and on the 15th, I'm going to share how you can combine the two, or still continue Project 12 on it's own, without the pressure of daily record keeping.

Have a great day! Davinie

Words on Wednesday - a new perspective

2012-01-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Pinned via Laura Winslow Photography / blog

A new year. A new you. A new perspective. A chance to renew, reflect, and start over. ::sight:: 2012 is going to be great!

Happy Wednesday!

Davinie

a New Year. a Fresh Start

2012-01-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

(a few of you may wonder what's happening with Project 12. No worries! SCT and I have plans and will be sharing them shortly. In the meantime, hold on to your December layouts for a wee bit).

On to 2012.

2012. Many changes coming my way this year. It feels like I've been reborn, if that makes any sense. I've been defining myself in a certain way for a long time, but that all changes this year.

Sometimes that's very scary.

But in the end, change is good! Change is a chance to refresh. Renew. To evaluate your like and make changes when you need to, or carry on if it still feels right.

Tomorrow night is orientation for Grad School. Oh my, I can't believe after graduating in 1999 with my BA, I am headed back, but it feels right. I've always wanted to finish and head into the classroom as a teacher. Payton is in Kindergarten, which would put her in first grade when I'm finished with the program, which means I won't have to worry about who's caring for her during the day. My time is now. And I'm taking hold and running with it.

A Challenge:

I issued a challenge on the Studio Calico blog this morning. I hope you will check it out. It's all about writing a letter to yourself and sealing it up tight, not to be opened until 12/31/12 when you can evaluate the changes you've made, the goals you've achieved, and what you thought you'd be doing at that moment. It was a great challenge for myself this time of year.

I'm also doing Project Life, so I wanted to include it in my album somewhere, in a safe place, so I used a 12x12 page protector and stitched it up tight.

My project:

Making confetti for a page protector is great fun! So is my new Cameo (that doily was my very first cut. Isn't it fabulous!?)

Happy New Year! Davinie

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T16:04:00.000-08:00

Wishing you and yours a safe and blessed New Year. I know I have a lot of changes coming to my life next year, and I'm really looking forward to it. Change is good! It replenishes the soul.

Back tomorrow with some fun things to share!

Davinie

Party Hat Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Studio Calico Reveal - County Fair

2011-12-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

ack.
Every time I write it I type fairy. Someone has an excess of estrogen in their household. heee.

It's December 27. 9pm my time. That means it's reveal night at Studio Calico and time to share what I managed to put together between wrapping gifts and making cake pops.

The kit:

Say hello to County Fair:

My add-ons of choice were Ring Toss, Kissing Booth and Photo Booth. Shooting Gallery is equally as lovely, but I was trying to hold myself back.

If I had to choose just one add-on this month, it'd definitely be Photo Booth I think.

I adore the corrugated alphas, and I think I used the buttons on every layout. I also love the stamp and the Kesiart paper..... the list goes on and one. Unfortunately for the DT, the product is new enough we didn't have a chance to play with either alpha in this add-on in time for reveal, but if we had, you would have seen more projects from me. I loved this one.

Another great add-on is the Kissing Booth add-on. I used bits here and there. It's the most affordable add-on this month too, at under $20. So that's great! I have plans for those envelopes, just ran out of days (I am one of those girls still in denial that we've already passed Halloween, let alone all the special holidays at the end of the year).

Anyway....

The projects:

This first layout was made with the main kit only:

Payton is in Kindergarten this year, and the class pet is this stuffed dog named Daisy. Payton was the lucky girl who got to take her home for her first week-long play date. Daisy came in a carrier, and had a toothbrush, a book, and a notebook to jot down your adventures. Oh my, we had fun with her while she was here.

Such a great idea for a class pet for a Kindergarten class!

I loved the BG chipboard ribbons, and had to use the #1 friend circle for a layout about this pup. I also ADORE this woodgrain paper. I'm so glad I got the more paper add-on because I definitely needed another piece, and it's OA which means I definitely needed to get the add-on in order to get it in my hands. The B side of that paper is the blue polkadot that I trimmed with a scallop punch. Loved both sides. I also loved the PP wood alphas!

This next layout put my sewing machine to work:

My sister zipped by and snapped some photos of our family to use for our Christmas cards, and this general pose won by a landslide so I had to use it on a layout. I wanted to keep it simple yet interesting, and knew exactly how that was going to work out when I saw this quilt:

(West Elm)

This is a chevron/herringbone. It's actually chevron but they are calling it a herringbone. It's a chevron print because the vertical line meets up, and a herringbone print wouldn't. But there you go.

Anyway, I adore this quilt. I want the blue one very very much. I was just about to hit buy on a nice one for my own bed when I saw the color is called Wedgewood, which gave me pause. In the photo it has a teal/gray color to it. But Wedgewood is definitely a blue that I'm not interested in. What do you think? Does it look teal/gray to you? Because if so I want it very very bad.

As for the layout, I trimmed out other pieces and stitched them before adhering just to add some additional texture to the layout. I really love the look of it all.

As it was a busy month, I only have three projects to share, and the last one kept my sewing machine working and is a bit on the festive side. On this one I made a wee booboo, but I hope you will forgive me:

When I got my kit the OA miscellany pack was in my box. I was thinking it was an additional shop item for this month that I had purchased, so I used it on my layout. But I'm a scatterbrain. It was a shop item LAST month. So.... it isn't in the shop anymore. The good thing about this is that if you are a shopper at SC, you may have purchased it, which means that you have it on hand right now and may need ideas on how to use it. So here you go!

I was inspired by the red SC paper and the greens in the main kit for a Christmas layout. And I made this layout while listening to holiday music, so it worked out really well and I had fun with it. I wanted to use circles because of that KesiArt paper, so trimmed them out and then adhered them with plenty of stitching in a pattern for fun. I then bent the edges up a bit to help them pop off the page.

This chipboard piece (from that darn OA pack) is nekkid except for some Calico Shine. LoVE. Who can't use a little sparkle in their life?

I hope you've found some inspiration here and that if you are an SC subscriber or shopper, you get what you wanted this month!

Davinie

Products that made it happen:

InLinkz.com

it's almost Christmas - and Studio Calico sneaks!

2011-12-23T22:26:00.000-08:00

Oh my.
T-minus the big guy is already on the road!
Don't forget to track his progress:

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/

Back in the PST, it's time for some Studio Calico sneaks. May you receive a gift certificate, money tree, Christmas bonus, and a discount so that you can purchase crafty products to your hearts content.

Sneaks:

The kit is County Fair. Here are a couple of sneaks:

This first is my main kit only sneak. I loved the BG brads and this OA woodgrain is just divine. The circles were punched but I used an even larger circle on this layout, and that was made tracing a Fiestaware plate. Fiestaware is not required in order to replicate that circle, but neither is a die cut machine. I did purchase a Silhouette recently but it's been too busy to set it up. That said, there are a lot of handy bits around the house that make for great embellishments on a layout, right?

I used the sewing machine a bit on the first layout, but that started a frenzy for the rest of my work this month:

I'm excited to share my inspiration piece for this second layout.

I was feeling festive for this last one!

I don't need to share how busy I've been. We are all busy this time of year. I will say I adore the kit and have plans for it next week when things slow down, but for now, this is it. I hope you are inspired!

Enjoy the holidays! We are going to do something different this year... brunch with Grandma and Grandpa and then we are going to the movies. I think the consensus is "We bought a Zoo" because we are not cartooning with the chipettes with the whole family, and we want everyone to have fun. Then it'll be home for an early night as it'll take a bit to wrangle kids into bed in anticipation of Christmas Day excitement. I'm looking forward to it, even though I'm still in denial that Halloween has already happened. Oh my, the end of the year came up quick.

Side note: TOTALLY behind on my December Daily album, BUT I have been taking notes and taking photos and WILL finish it. I started it which is a good thing! I have been working on it but have decided the pressure of getting it done daily was not worth it, and enjoyed the time instead.

Enjoy your weekend! Davinie

crafTuesday - baking Neopolitan cookies

2011-12-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

My sister and her hubby came down from Seattle last weekend for my grandmother's surprise 80th birthday party, and while she was here, I took advantage of the extra baking bod and put her to work in the kitchen with my kiddos, baking Christmas vittles.

I let the girls go through the cook books and cookie magazines, and Payton's choice were these Neopolitan cookies. They wouldn't normally have been something I would have gravitated towards, but since I happened to have the ingredients on hand we went for it, and it turned out to be a great cookie and a lot of fun to make.

The recipe:

Neopolitan cookies (from a Taste of Home cookie book)

1 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 drops red food coloring
1/2 cup flaked coconut
4-1/2 teaspoons chocolate syrup
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 teaspoon shortening

The process:

1. Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with waxed paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Divide dough into thirds. Add almond extract and red food coloring to one portion; spread evenly into prepared pan. Add coconut to second portion; spread evenly over first layer. Add chocolate syrup to third portion; spread over second layer. Cover with foil; freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

3. Unwrap loaf and cut in half lengthwise. cut each portion widthwise into 1/4inch slices. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

4. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip one end of each cookie into chocolate; allow exce4ss to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set.

Yield: 5-1/2 dozen

I loved that this was a two day process. We did steps one and two with the kids before bed on Friday, and Saturday morning after breakfast finished things up. They turned out delightful, much better than expected. I highly recommend this one as a great cookie to bake with kids. Payton in particular really had a lot of fun with it, as did Alyca.

Have a great day! Davinie

Scrapbook and Cards Today - Winter issue

2011-12-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

Did you see it? The winter issue of SCT is LIVE! Check out the gorgeous cover:

I just love the tree Summer made with those brads. So cute! (Download it here, subscribe to get a copy in your hands here, or ask your LSS to carry this publication. It's fabulous!).

edited to add: ALSO, leave a comment on the SCT blog here and you could win a copy of this issue plus a fun holiday prize pack from Bazzill. Check out that link and you can also get info on the giveaways at SCT coming later in the month.

There's a lot of fun projects in this winter issue. Vicki Boutin is all over it with Christmas gift and tag ideas. I really like what Emily did with her Eye Spy layout this month too. I must get that background paper and use some inks and mists.

This is what I came up with for this issue:

The three designer challenge had fun products from Pink Paislee, Jillibean Soup, and Maya Road, to name a few.

I also created this card based on a cardmap sketch from Becky Fleck:

This card was made with Studio Calico products, Autumn Press in particular. I intentionally snipped some of the weaving out of my heart to add more texture and allow more of the background paper to be seen. I had fun with this sketch!

Have a great day! Davinie

P.S. Check out the December Countdown of inspiring holiday projects and ideas after you check out the winter issue. Today is Day 3 but you can view all of the projects here.

Project 12 November in December

2011-12-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

Woah.
Shocking that today is December 1. I just had to put it out there. We started all of our advent calendars today and it's a bit surreal, lol.

Welcome to another edition of Project 12!

I somehow found the time to work on the October sketch and I loved the results. As a reminder, this is what the October sketch looked like:

And this is what I came up with this month:

I used my Brooklyn Flea kit from Studio Calico, with the exception of a couple of leaves. I really like how this one turned out! I love the photos especially.

December is such a crazy month, but this is the sketch we have for November photos:

In a word, terrifying. But I'm going to step back and look at the sketch, and it'll inspire the design, I'm sure. Those photo spots might not all be photos (for real. I'm not sure I took this many photos in November, lol).

So my challenge to you is to find the TIME to participate, and carry on. This challenge is a good one. You know your albums will be glad you did it!

Until next month, Davinie.

(Questions about P12, see the Project 12 page above).

Studio Calico love - Fall Fun

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

I know yesterday was Advent ideas, and tomorrow is Project 12 and DECEMBER 1, oh my, but I didn't want to let November go without sharing a fun fall layout with Studio Calico products.

Fall Fun:

One of Payton's preschool friends is now a Kindergarten classmate, and they spend a lot of time together as his Mom and I swap playdates back and forth. She watches my PJ a lot when I have to work and Steve isn't home, and I take him home when the kids both demand macaroni and cheese and some trampoline time. :)

ON this particular day, the kids had scooped leaves onto the trampoline and were having the best time jumping in the leaves and throwing them at each other. I must say, I don't think Mr H knew what hit him when he put out the challenge to Miss Payton Jayne. He never stood a chance. :)

I love that there are 5 photos on this layout!

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

The Autumn Press products are currently on Last Call at Studio Calico, so if you want a good deal, you'd better check those out. They'll ship free with your kit or add-ons if you purchased any of the December kit this month.

Have a great day! Davinie

crafTuesday- Countdown to Christmas, Advent ideas

2011-11-29T18:03:00.000-08:00

So it's going to be a blog posting blitz for me this week. There are a few things that got away from me, and a couple of things I want to post before December.

Aren't you lucky? :)

Advent #1 - Santa's Beard

Counting down to Christmas is something fun in our family. As I was yarding out the Christmas decor, I noticed we actually have several different ideas for counting down the days, and I wanted to share a few with you in the event you were looking for ideas.

This first one came from Pinterest. I didn't see any reason to stray from the original.

Of course, I had to make two little santas, for my two little elves. I made them last night while watching the finale of the Sing-Off (dont' worry, I want spoil it for you if tonight is your night to DVR).

I used some old MM sticker numbers from my stash. Ran out of two's so utilized the Z's a bit. But it turned out great! This is going to be a fun little project for my girls. They are both artists, so don't need the help, but this would be a great preschool craft to teach scissor skills. Maybe someday with a snowman. hmmm.

#2 - Starbucks advent tree

A couple years ago I got this Starbucks tree full of chocolate, and had to keep it to reuse. I think this is the 3rd or 4th year for this one. When you turn the box around you reveal bits of a scene, and it's Christmas when the full scene is revealed. Payton saved me a few bucks this year. I was going to use some little candies or tiny little gifts, but when she heard the word "advent" the girl went to town on said scissor skills, and it's full of tiny bits of paper in tiny shapes, and who knows what else. I'm actually really looking forward to checking out what she came up with, especially for number 11. Number 11 is important because it's her favorite number, she "likes the way it looks, and the way it sounds". I'm sure she put something good in that one.....

#3 - Christmas books Advent

My absolute favorite advent idea is the countdown to Christmas book idea. I heard about this a few years ago and think it's just genius. I've always been baffled at the idea of Christmas books. What do you do with them the rest of the year? Are they just stacked amongst the other books? I love the idea of wrapping them all up, to be opened during the holidays. Starting 12/1, each night the girls will take turns choosing a wrapped book, and then we'll read it before bed. We usually read a couple each night, so they will get to choose a wrapped book, and then we can choose one of the favorites that were already opened. On the 24th, we read Twas the Night Before Christmas, so I don't wrap that one. This particular one has the fold out pages where the paper jumps out at you as you turn the pages. Love this version. We got it several years ago from my Aunt.

The smartest idea I had was to purchase wrapping paper after Christmas last year, and then wrap the books before packing them away. This helped with the let down post-holiday, and also saved me a ton of time this year. It also keeps all the books a surprise from even me. What fun!

These books are kept in a big basket with other holiday fodder, things like reindeer headbands, a snowman jack-in-the-box, a stuffed ornament that plays jingle bells when you squeeze it, light up reindeer noses. Fun things to entertain the kiddos.

Tomorrow night, the 30th, is when we are going to introduce our little elf to the kiddos. I wonder what they'll name her? I'm actually excited about the antics she'll come up with. I think it'll be fun for the hubby and I to take turns wreaking havoc.

Have a great night! Davinie

Studio Calico Brooklyn Flea kit - it's reveal time!

2011-11-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

The kit:

It's that time! The December kit called Brooklyn Flea is up for sale at Studio Calico. While I'm bidding on some vintage Shiny Brite ornaments on Ebay, I ended up purchasing Salvaged, Snow Cone, and Printer's Drawer to play with this month. And I had to get More Patterned paper, because this main kit is my favorite in a long time and I wanted to make sure I'd have extra papers to play with. Here's a peek at that one:

The A side

And the B side of the More Paper Add-on contents.

My kit stash is out of control, but I couldn't help myself. The contents were irresistible!

My projects:

We left for the beach on Saturday the 19th and didn't get back until Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so most of my projects were made before we left. I brought my kit with me to play with but it's always hard to do that when there's family from out of state and holiday bonding to do. As always, I wish I had more time! That said, I was able to ekk out 4 layouts and a card this month.

This first one was made with the main kit only and is my favorite main kit only layout to date. As I was creating it I never had the desire to reach for products from any of the add-ons I purchased.

#1

When I first spied the main kit stamp it spoke of a flower center to me, so that's how I used it this month. I could have used the leaf stamps, but chose to cut up the canvas green leaves instead, because I love the texture.

I wanted to create a banner with rectangular shaped pieces, and the "wire" was made but stitching back and forth with my sewing machine. No trims needed for this one.

The punch is a scallop punch from Stampin' Up.
The Ormolu tag was rubbed with the Prima Moss Lawn chalk.
The small yellow flower punch is from EK Success.

The journaling is inspired by Shelly J's Project 12 contributions. I LOVE when she does her journaling this way and it had just the right amount of texture I wanted for the bottom of my layout.

The alphas? The Ali alphas designed by American Crafts exclusively for this kit? LOVE.

#2

Obviously, this is my 2pager contribution to my gallery this month. I always like to have one. I'm on a pennant kick this month, and this time, used the pennant shape just for pops of color, not to hang on a line.

The addition of the Amy Tan tags was fun texture. I like natural elements to left my snowflakes bare. The fact they are wood is fabulous as is (They are in the Snow Cone add-on, along with the pink Crate paper, the tape. Other Papers are from the Salvaged and Printer's Drawer add-ons).

I would also like to profess my adoration of the Ormolu tags from the main kit, as well as my MIL's typewriter. It made it so much easier to write more extensive journaling, and I love the overall look too.

Isn't Charlotte the snow girl cute? I thought so.

#3

Brace yourself for this next one. She's not happy. Not happy at all:

Because of the orientation of the photo, I decided to make it a large one for this layout.

I just felt like layering rounded rectangles for this design, topping them with the Crate border stickers and some tape too. I had to use another Amy Tan tag for this one too (found in the Salvaged add-on).

#4

I had this photo I took of the kids the other day sitting around, and as I looked through the kit contents, thought it would be fun to put the twine to good use. I wrapped it a few times, tied it in knots, added brads, and then stitched it all down and added some snowflakes. I thought it was a fun and easy way to embellish this layout about the anticipation of snow.

Most of the twine and hat snowflake tape came from the Snow Cone add-on. The Peppermint brads are in the shop.

I love this photo.

#5

Lastly is a little card I whipped up because I had a hankering to use the main kit stamp again:

I really adore this color palette. And I really love that stamp as a flower.

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Let me know if you have any questions about my projects this month. I hope you liked them! Davinie

December Daily workshop winner

2011-11-27T20:24:00.000-08:00

Giveaway winner:

And the winner of the spot in the December Daily workshop by Maggie Holmes is:

Cheryl Leong said...

I Like your sneaks! TFS!

cheryl131091 at yahoo dot com

8:13 AM

Congratulations Cheryl! I'm sending you an email!

More Studio Calico Sneaks and a Weekend Giveaway

2011-11-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

We got home from the beach, survived Thanksgiving, and my sweet hubby got up with me this morning at 4:30 am to brave the crowds in search of those great deals for Christmas. We stocked up on several boxes containing games and accessories for our very own Wii. I swear we must be the last family to own one, but it's finally time and my kids are going to be so excited!

With the weekend here and Studio Calico's December kit reveal around the corner, I wanted to sneak in and share snippets of more of the projects I created this month. Check it out:

Sneaks:

I really enjoyed working with my kits this month. I know you won't be disappointed when this kit is revealed!

While the weekend awaits and before Reveal gets here, I wanted to share something I'm going to be participating in, as part of my Tis the Season (December Daily-ish) album (speaking of which, I'm buttoning up week 1 as we speak since I started mine the day we left for our beach vacation).

Weekend Giveaway:

Miss Maggie Holmes is offering a workshop in December with prompts and ideas for taking photos over the holidays. Check it out:

Isn't that great!? The holidays always get away from me. This is why I have never finished a December Daily album. Getting a daily prompt with inspiring photos and ideas is just the ticket to making this happen, I do believe. I'm very excited to play along! I really want a record like this for my girl.

You can read about it out again and check out Maggie's site here.

Maggie has generously donated a spot in this workshop for one of my blog readers, so if you'll leave a comment on this post telling me about how you are spending the weekend, I'd be happy to draw a name Sunday afternoon before SC reveal so that she can get you in the system and ready to go for her first post on December 1. Sound good?

In the meantime, check out the Black Friday deals at SC (some fun holiday stuff on page 2 for that DD album), and enjoy some couch time while you are at it!

Enjoy your weekend! Davinie

Brooklyn Flea sneaks

2011-11-18T21:42:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning (or today.... depending on where you live, lol), we are headed for our annual trip to the beach with my side of the family. Good times ahead, but a long drive, because it snowed last night, is supposed to snow tonight, and the first part of our journey is a trip over the Cascade Range, so a normal drive from my house to Portland OR that would take 2.5 hours could take as much as..... 4. Maybe more, depending on what pass we take. So wish me luck in the truck with antsy kids!

My December Daily is already packed up with a crop bag full of goodies, ready to be filled while at the coast. Saturday is the first day of my "Tis the Season" adventures to-be-documented (I liked that title too, Jen). I'm anxious and excited to get started, because then I'll know how prepared I am for a daily type journal. I'm sure the gas receipts from the initial drive will be a treasure someday (you know, when the grandkids are laughing because gas was *only* $3.85 a gallon).

In the meantime, though, I do have a couple of sneaks to share of the Brooklyn Flea kit from Studio Calico and those projects I finished before I left town. I was going to finish up and leave my kit behind when I headed to the beach, but I still have time and inspiration left, so while I do have my assignments done, there could be a few extra pieces in my gallery this month.

Here's a bit of what I've come up with so far:

This first one is the main kit only. I thought the main kit stamp would make a great sunflower. I stamped it with black Stazon and used Prima chalk in Moss Lawn for the Ormulu tag. I also ADORE this layout. I can't wait to share the whole thing.

I made it while watching Water for Elephants. I didn't care for the movie so much, it was nothing compared to the book, but the layout is great! :)

This layout is a mix of a lot of things and makes me smile big time. This is a nibble of a two pager, 8.5 x 11.

And that's all I can share for now. I have more projects finished so will have another sneak post soon.

Have a great weekend! Davinie

For the Front Door - Yarn and yoyo fall wreath

2011-11-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

The details:

I'm obsessed with yarn wreaths and I'm not afraid to say it. I think since the moment I first signed on with Pinterest and started seeing them, I've been pinning and dreaming of making my own. I used to work at a flower shop in college and would make wreaths for clients on occasion (and not always with fresh flowers). It is such a treat to revisit this craft.

A couple of months ago I got a wreath form and wrapped it with yarn, and a couple of Studio Calico kits ago, I became obsessed with wood doilies and had to get some more, and the two combined to create a lovely little accent for my front door:

Maya Road doilies and buttons, Divine Twine, an embroidery hoop, and fabrics from Michael Miller and Heather Bailey, I think. It's close to Thanksgiving and almost time for a more Christmas inspired wreath, but for the next couple of weeks, I plan to enjoy it!

Davinie

Supplies:________________________________________________________

InLinkz.com

Brag Book Winner, and my December Daily album cover

2011-11-15T19:56:00.000-08:00

And the winner is.....

Barbara said...

Well I wish I could say I was doing something great at 11:11 but the truth is that I was at a conference. I was going to try to take a photo of what I was doing but totally forgot because I was learning at the conference. It was an exhausting day as I was on a panel discussion for the first hour and a half. My plans to take photos of the girls at 11:11 p.m. fell through also because I fell asleep. I guess I just have to become better at journaling.

6:49 PM

Barbara! Congatulations! Send me an email at cooperdees (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll get you in touch with Fancy Pants Designs to get your brag book. I promise you won't be disappointed with this album. It is so versatile and there are so many things you can do with it. Enjoy!

I was going to post the winner yesterday but didn't want to leave a post with just the winner's name, so took some time to finish up my December Daily cover. I need to think of a good name for it, though, as I'm going to start filling it on Saturday the 18th when we head to the beach to celebrate Christmas with my family, as that's the official start to my holiday. Anyway, check it out:

As I mentioned, my album is all about utilizing my stash. You may recognize a few things from very old Studio Calico kits on this cover alone. I'm excited about that. I'm so glad things will come to good use. It make saving it all worthwhile, and it's been fun to "shop" in my own stuff.

Davinie

Supplies:________________________________________________________

InLinkz.com

Tis the Season - Documenting the holidays and a weekend giveaway!

2011-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

The details:

Around my house are a couple of half finished December Daily albums. Every year I make this big plan to do it, and then the holidays get here and I'm too busy enjoying them to document them daily with photos journaling. Then the holidays are over and it's that post-pardum period, and then it's on to something else and the album cover gathers dust.

Last year I made a commitment to myself that 2011 was the year. I HAD to do one this year. I had several winter assignments in the winter issue of SCT, so I had a lot of Christmas/ winter product. I decided to save the leftovers for my 2011 album, and as the year has gone by, I've been gathering products to my stash to use. I'm already off to a great start!

Again, SCT set me up with another great idea when I was asked to do a mini album for the summer issue using the Fancy Pants brag book. For the summer issue, I used it to document all the fun we had in the summer of 2010, and as I put it together, I knew I had to use it again.

The album:

The Fancy Pants brag book is the ideal December Daily album, in my opinion. It has journaling pages, pages with pockets, and page protectors. It has a thick chipboard cover, and coil binding. Coil binding with perfectly spaced coils which just so happens to work beautifully with my much neglected Bind-It-All. I'll be able to add color and fun with my envelopes and memorabilia. The coil binding also allows me to arrange the album as I think best.

You could say it is a match made in heaven.

I am SO excited.

I'm calling my album "Tis the Season" because I plan to start it next weekend when we are at the beach for a few days with my family celebrating Christmas, just before Thanksgiving. This yearly gathering always speaks the holiday season to me, and I didn't wnat to exclude it just because it didn't happen in December. With my kids in public school now, it was getting difficult to schedule a December date that worked for everyone, so I think a late November gathering will be the norm from now on.

I'm keeping the cover simple, using stamps and minimal embellishments. I my experience, my mini albums get used and abused, and I wanted the cover to withstand the test of time. In saying that I also wanted it to be timeless, so didn't want to get too crazy with the cover.

I plan to share my progress with this album here. I'm hoping it'll go as smoothly as I envision, because I also plan to carry on in 2012 and do better about documenting the day to day. I'll share more about that with my next Project 12 post.

In the meantime, I wanted to share my excitement about this album with a blog reader. Leave a comment letting me know what you did at 11:11 on 11/11/11 and I'll draw a winner for your very own Fancy Pants Designs brag book and announce a winner Monday morning. Sound good? My girls were in the Veteran's Day parade at 11:11. They are Girl Scouts and were really excited to carry flags and waive to the crowds.

Speaking of the holidays, though, there is something else new in my home that I'm also pretty excited about:

If you haven't heard of it before, it's called The Elf on the Shelf, and I can't wait for him to join our family. I have wanted to use him in year's past, but I always forget about him until it is already into the season. Not this year. He's already found his way to our home and he's going to be the first book in our book Advent for December. I can't wait to have fun with him. If *I* am this excited to create mischief with this little guy, I can't wait to see what my kids think. I have pinned zillions of hiding place ideas on Pinterest already. Fun times ahead!

Have a great weekend! Davinie

Supplies: _______________________________________________________

InLinkz.com

Sketchpad winner

2011-11-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

The winner for KP's Sketchpad class is:

Ellie A. said...

SUPER DUPER Love Kelly & I would love the opportunity to be able to take the class thanks for the chance.

7:18 AM

Congratulations Ellie! Send me an email at cooperdees (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll get you Sketchpad! I know you won't be disappointed! :)

Davinie

Studio Calico Handmade kit love - Post Alley Gum Wall

2011-11-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

(the giveaway is still open for the Sketchpad class here. I have to go into work early on Monday, so I won't draw a name until late afternoon).

As I've mentioned before, just before school started for the year, we made a mad dash to the Washington area to get the kids to the beach and visit family.

One of the places we visited at the end of our journey was my sister in Seattle. We went to the aquarium and walked around downtown, doing the touristy thing. When I was shopping around for t-shirts I happened across a lot of periphernalia for the Gum Wall, and had to check it out, as I'd never heard of it before.

Around the corner from the flying fish at the Pike Street market is an alley. It's FILLED with gum. Gross, yes. But it was actually pretty cool. We all added to the pop culture art, and of course, had to get a photo or two.

I broke my "new to me" trusty Royal for the journaling. I love how much more journaling I can add to a layout with this thing, and how I can type right where I want without formatting a shape in photoshop, etc. I love that thing.

I told you I loved the SC paper that was available for November. I really dig that gray print. And that's a bit of the More Gray add-on too.

I wanted the layout to be dark because we were in a back alley in the evening, but it was about gum, so I had to use circles and pops of pink. I really liked that OA paper which was key in deciding to use these photos, but ended up with only a strip of it.

The title was inspired by the sign for the alley:

Strangely fascinating, isn't it?! Your kids would love it. :)

Davinie

A weekend Giveaway - Sketchpad from Kelly Purkey and friends

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

I have a really fun giveaway for you today. I was previously asked by miss KP to contribute to her Sketchbook class, so when she decided to do an updated version called Sketchpad, and asked me to contribute again, of course I jumped all over the opportunity.

Kelly has graciously donated a free "copy" of this class for one of my blog readers, and I'm very excited to share it with you! Here's a little more about Sketchpad:

Sketchpad is a brand-new class from Kelly Purkey, spinning off from her series of successful Sketchbook classes. Sketchpad is a downloadable, self-paced class featuring 12 original sketches, 35 exclusive layouts from Kelly + and her talented contributors, 35 MORE sketches made from those layouts, and 12 amazing cards based on the sketches from the talented, Kristina Werner... all in a full-color 75 page PDF. Visit Kelly's blog for more details on the class and how to purchase.

Here's a little sneak at some of the layouts from the sketches in the class:

And ssshhh. Don't tell Kelly I shared, but here's a little peek at my layout:

The concept is really cool, so I hope you get a chance to check out this publication. And because this blog post is for a giveaway, how about you leave a comment and let me know if you've taken a class from KP before, and I'll draw a winner Monday morning. How does that sound?

Good luck! Davinie

Project 12 October in November

2011-11-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

Uh oh. I'm human. :)

WELCOME to Project 12, November edition!

When we've found time, we've been working on our scrapbooking, right?! I'll tell you, I'm in shock that it's November. I can't believe Halloween already happened. Talk about a whirlwind! Why is life doing that? I feel like it's zipping by too fast to even enjoy it. oh my.

We've been working on our September layouts, so I wanted to remind you of the September sketch:

And this is what I came up with this month:

As in all things, I was behind on my Project Runway... so one night while watching the final four battle it out, I took out my sewing machine and stitched random grids to mimic the fun grid in the background paper. I just adore the texture it adds. (I also did that a wee bit on my layout for the Sketchpad class that KP is offering now. Check it out!).

September was busy too. We were in the Seattle area at the beginning of the month, doing the beach, ocean, city thing. And then we dashed home for school to start. Since September speaks School to me, I decided to use that photo for my main photo this month. But we also did random things like watch hula dancers, celebrate my mother in law's birthday, and go to the lake to catch frogs. Random things need documented too, right? It's fun to document the random things, with art.

Most products used were from the November kit from Studio Calico, Handmade. But that's my ribbon, the blue buttons are from my stash, and the blue alphas are from the Field Guide main kit (which is still available)

I did end up catching all the submissions, and these are a few that caught my eye:
I LOVEd Natalie's (vegatablog) layout this month. I know I highlighted it at SCT too, but I couldn't help myself. I really like the color palette and that background print works great with the design. And the stitching! I love the stitching!

I love the way Shelly does her journaling. Always do.

In love with the doilies here.

Be sure to check out the SCT blog post to see if you are a winner of the latest prize offering from Xyron!

And now, the October sketch:

Nicely done Becky Fleck!

As always you have until the 28th to link your layout here or at SCT if you want a chance at a prize (check out the Project 12 page up top if you have any questions or send me an email).

And now.... a few questions I want to ask about Project 12. Please answer them, whether you participate in the challenge or not, if you have time.

1. What do you like about Project 12?

2. Do you like using sketches? What about having 2 page layouts?

3. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see going forward, that might entice you to play along?

4. How much does the prize influence you?

I have a few things rolling around in my head, and would love to hear what you think about this challenge. I have been hosting it for a long time, and using this format for a while too.

That's about it! Now I'd better get to work on October before Santa comes down the chimney (because that is how quickly the world is spinning these days). :)

Davinie

Studio Calico November - Handmade kit

2011-10-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

You know what time it is. It's reveal time, of course. The Handmade kit is up for grabs.

I got three add-ons this month:

Pin Cushion

Thimble

Tatting

Add-on paper

I also HIGHLY recommend:

MORE SC

MORE GRAY

The gray (or grey) is fabulous. I also ADORE the yellow/orange chevron in the SC paper, along with that gray (or grey) ledger, so it's definitely a must have for this time of year, no matter the hemisphere, really. And don't forget the leaf pattern! The leaf pattern is divine as well!

I didn't get the December Daily kit, but I KNOW it's fabulous! I just had to focus on my stash.

On to the kit.

This first one was made with the main kit only:

I am feeling Halloween ish,and I really liked the sparkly MME paper, so mimicked the pattern of the circles with my circle punch and the black paper for this design. I'm also a fan of the layered BG flowers. And the SC paper. LOVE.

Whenever something fun is around the corner, my kids are always saying "how many days?" Sometimes it's in reference to their birthday, NEXT YEAR, so it's often quite the math problem for the mama, lol.

I was really inspired by a Pinterest pin for this next one:

That's right people. That's a brown paper package, tied up with a brown brad, lol. Recognize it from this?

aplaceforusblog.com

Click that link and you can read the tutorial on how to make them too. Pretty cool stuff, and I'd love some for my wall, lol. Can you see how my layout was also inspired from this pin? You really can find inspiration everywhere.

My Pink Paislee wood alphas were misted with Pony, which was the perfect mist to match those brown BG brads.

I did something I've never done since I was first on the team in 2007 with this kit.... I only made two layouts for my gallery work. I just ran out of time! I have a two pager almost finished, which has a completely different feel from how I used the kit otherwise, and I'll be sharing that shortly. In the meantime, I did make a couple of cards with this kit, using the stamps, and I actually had a lot of fun with it.

I'm telling you, being on the PTC (aka PTA, PTO) for the elementary sucked the life right out of me. From what I understand, Pumpkin Carving night is the most stressful event, but just wait until Valentines Day gets here! We are doing a craft night/bake sale, etc., and it's going to be CRAFTY. Oh my.

Anyway....

The stamp used on this first card is my favorite SC stamp so far. I think it's because of that little tiny stamp you can use inside. I don't know. It's not normally a design I'm particularly drawn to, but I adore it. The stamp is in the Thimble add-on, which is a must have.

I used JBS Stick Candy and Lemon Drop inks here.

This last card also had an inspiration piece. I really wanted to use the butterflies on a card, and then I was peeking at the Crate label stickers, and saw this:

It worked perfectly, don't you think? See that little butterfly in the middle of a scallop? Voila. Embellishment idea. JBS Spice Tin ink here.

And that's it! I'll post on Saturday with that last layout. I promise. Really! Now go pick up Thimble, for that stamp set and the OA.

Supplies ______________________________________________________________________________________

InLinkz.com

Have a great night! Davinie

dusting off the blog with some SNEAKS

2011-10-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

Ever go to school functions with your kiddos?

Ever notice the mayhem that surrounds you as kids are running amok?

Ever feel sorry for the harried woman behind the cash register or announcing raffle winners or taking tickets or serving popcorn?

I was HER.

I coordinated a Pumpkin Carving Night for the elementary school, and it has rocked my world, lol. It was lot more work than I thought it would be, and then half the volunteers were a no-show, so I was superwoman, and forced to clone myself and be in several directions at the same time.

Why on earth would you volunteer for a school event and not show up? Why can't you call? I wonder if this was some sort of hazing initiation. I wish I had been punked, because then Ashton could have dashed through the pumpkin guts and chili dogs to save my day, but alas, just kids wielding carving tools and dancing to Monster Mash, lol.

And then they left and I was surrounded by orange and purple butcher paper and the aforementioned guts.

Fun times.

Glad that's over, because now we can get back to CRAFTS.

Studio Calico. November Kit. HANDMADE.

yum.

Here's a few sneaks:

This first one is my main kit only layout this month. Had fun with this one.

I was inspired by the Crate paper for this second one (the butterfly stamp is one of a few in the Tatting add-on, stamped with JBS Spice Tin).

Love this one. Had a fun with the details on it (and that's Pony mist on my Pink Paislee alphas, which match the brown in the BG brads from the Thimble add-on perfectly).

More stamping! JBS Stick Candy and Lemon Drops here... and that stamp from Thimble is an all-time fave, I think. I don't know what it is about it, maybe that little stamp that fits inside, but I could use this stamp all day.

Let me know if you have any questions! I did get add-ons 1-3, Pin Cushion, Thimble, and Tatting. I didn't get the December Daily project kit because I wanted to utilize my stash (but I know I'm going to wish I had that album for sure. I went back and forth on whether to splurge and decided to be good).

Supplies __________________________________________________________________________

InLinkz.com

Have a great day! Davinie

Field Guide Blog Hop winner!

2011-10-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

SusieQ said...

The Field Guide kit look really great. Your layout surely does show off the kit well. Thanks for a chance to win.

7:23 PM

Congratulations Susie! Send me an email at cooperdees (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll get you squared away with this great kit!

Thank you to everyone who left a comment. I really do read them all, and was laughing at a few of them... what, a bachelorette party and wine tasting instead of the pumpkin patch?! haaa! :)

Have a great day! Davinie

Field Guide Blog Hop! - comments are now closed.

2011-10-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello! Thanks for stopping by! If you've landed here, you either got lucky, or you heard we're having a blog hop with Studio Calico. Each month I get a box of delicious goodies delivered, and do my best to create projects I enjoy and hope that I inspire others with ideas for their projects when the kits arrive. This last month, one of the things we decided to try was to create projects using the main kit only. Normally I get my kit and the add-ons I purchase, and toss them all together, as the often play well together. It was fun to play with one package at a time, and create a layout using just the main kit. There's also paper, embellishments, and an alphabet too, so you really don't need more than that.

This is what the Field Guide kit looked like:

Delicious exclusive patterns from Studio Calico, a stamp set, and the chipboard butterflies from Sassafras for Studio Calico are FABULOUS. I don't know what it is about them, but they are fabulous.

This is the layout I created with the main kit this month (if you didn't get a chance to check out my projects at reveal):

My hubby and I recently celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary, so I wanted a simple layout with a lot of journaling. We took advantage of a friend's wedding to dash out of town for the weekend, so I included a photo of us just before the ceremony with my iPhone and the Instagram ap.

The journaling was made with my "new" old typewriter. I. am. in. love. I'm definitely including more typewritten journaling on my projects.

The butterflies for this project were fun. On another layout I created with this kit, I used clipart from the computer, trimmed it out and used it on my layout. With these butterflies, however, I used the new butterfly masks manufactured by Studio Calico, and some Clay mist. I misted the butteflies, then hand stittched them before trimming them out.

I hand stitched them first as I was close to the edge of the shape, and didn't want the paper to tear as I was sewing. I stitched around the edge of the masked image. After the butterflies were trimmed out i splattered some dewey just for fun. I stitched the shapes before adhering them to the layout because I wanted more dimension, and the wee bit of lift that the thread on the back of the shape allowed was the perfect amount.

I was inspired by the Sassafras butterflies to use this shape, so I had to include some of the chipboard pieces on my layout as well.

I REALLY like the Basic Grey alphas that were in the main kit. I adore the font and used them for a few of my projects this month. I also like that there were shipping tags. My vote is to have a couple in every kit!

I used most of the papers in this main kit for my projects this month. And I'm so excited. We like to have giveaways when we do blog hops, and the giveaway this month is VERY generous. If you haven't had a chance to check out Studio Calico kits, and like the looks of this one, each Design Team member is going to be GIVING it away! woot! (check out my sidebar for links).

If you would like a chance at the Field Guide kit, leave a comment here! (if you already subscribe and are the winner, you could gift it to a friend or have twice as many butteflies. woot!). Leave a comment and I'll draw for a winner and announce it on Monday.

My question? Do you have a pumpkin patch where you live, and have you or are you plannin to go? We have plans to head to http://www.pumpkinco.com/ tomorrow I think (although I hear they are charging for the petting zoo now. boo). i LOVe a good pumpkin patch though, so I'm excited. This one has a big corn maze, and the theme this year is Star Wars. Fun times.

Have a great weekend! Davinie

InLinkz.com

Project 12 September in October

2011-10-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends! I hope you had a wonderful Worldcardmaking Day and did something crafty, something you enjoy. We are posting a day late because of the events, but Welcome to another edition of Project 12! ha!

Here's what the sketch looked like for August.

And this is what I came up with for this month:

I used my Studio Calico Field Guide kit for this one.

Becky's sketches are a whole new world for me now that I see mist when I look at them. Again this month, I misted around the edges instead of using patterned paper, and used the same mist for my chipboard butterfly on the left. The color choice was Estate Green.

This month my hubby and the girls spent a lot of time at Grandma and Grandpa's, working on a big landscaping project. They usually went on the days I went to the office all day, so I wasn't part of the "fun". We had a photo of the project along with their new pond and dock, so I printed a 5x7 photo of our dog jumping for a toy. It's not the best photo, but someday those trees won't be that big, the landscaping will be done, and it'll be fun to look back and into the background of that photo. It would never end up on a layout otherwise, so it was the perfect choice for this sketch.

Here's a few things that caught my eye:

I like the patterned paper Kayla chose and how her scalloped frame matches and brings the layout together. The embellishments work together really well.

I like how Vanessa went back and looked through previous sketches for her layout, to find the best sketch that worked with her life. That's a great way to do it.

I had to share Jen's. I love that Cosmo paper in this sketch, and the visual triangle of embellishments she created with the layered flowers. It brings your eye straight through the layout, which makes it even more appealing.

Agata and her handstitchery and that multi-colored journaling block makes my heart SING! :)

Now that we are on to October, while in the midst of creating Halloween costumes (aaaaackkkk. already?!!), making the final push on some quilts I'm making for the girls (and should have given them LAST year), I've got a layout to make. Check out the September sketch:

Ooh. This is interesting. It's similar to the last sketch, only the reverse. I like this one a lot. See the visual triangle created with the three main embellishments? It'll bring the eye straight through the photos, which you won't consciously think about, but you'll find when you are finished with your layout, you'll just like your layout a lot, not realizing it's because you used that rule of design. :)

Have a great October! I'm going to be crafting about the first day of school while visiting the pumpkin patch and getting Pumpkin Spice lattes from Starbucks. That's the fun of scrapping a month behind. :)

Davinie

P.S. Be sure to check out the SCT blog to see if you are the winner of the latest prize (but post your layouts here)! and as always, check out the Project 12 page above if you have any questions about the challenge, or send me an email to cooperdees (at) yahoo (dot) com.

:)

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

2011-10-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

(Project 12 September in October will be posted later today)

Happy WCMD! Whether you paper craft or not, I hope you get a chance today or this weekend to do that creative thing that makes your heart go pitter pat.

I have sweet friends who knit and crochet (oooohhh how I envy their talents), quilt, bake, hike, bike, and even hunt (that's for you, Steve, lol), and I hope today is a day you get to do what you love.

I worked on a quilt last night for my girls. I'm making two for Christmas and have been working on it for far too long. Today we'll be headed to Joann's for supplies to create Halloween costumes, so while it isn't cardmaking today, it's still crafts, and I love it.

If you are making cards today, SCT has a great sketch from Becky Fleck with several interpretations, as well as a fun card kit giveaway from Jillibean Soup. check that out here.

I created a card for this challenge, using the new Autumn Press line from Studio Calico:

I used the last I had of that brown striped ribbon. I must get more because I think it's my favorite trim to date. I can't remember who makes it though, or where I got it. I'll have to add that to the search list for Joann's.

In case you are interested, supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Have a crafty Day! Davinie

Studio Calico - Field Guide projects

2011-09-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

It's reveal time, the October kit is up for grabs. Field Guide.

I got all the add-ons. Perennial, Greenhouse, Meadow Lark, and Almanac. AND I got allll the shop items. I know. I couldn't help myself. It's all new product and I have no LSS.

The SC paper is really cool this month too.

And I didn't get to play with it this month, it's a new addition, but you can now get MORE GRAY. woot!
One of the new things were up to as a group is to create layouts using the main kit only for the gallery every month. This first layout about my eleven year marriage to my hubby was that main kit layout for me this month:

The butterflies were created with the new SC butterfly masks, using Clay mist, droplets of Dewey, and then hand stitched and trimmed out.

InLinkz.com

I was a bit inspired by my recent circle challenge on the SC blog for this one.

I wanted an apple to make this layout more "school" themed, so I found one on the computer and printed it out. No mask, die cut, or chipboard element there. Just scissors. :)

All the little alphas in this kit begged for a card. There's just so much you can do with them!

Another fun thing we did for the gallery this month was to create a project inspred by something pinned on Pinterest. This is my inspiration piece:

When we were vacationing in Washington, I was soaking up inspiration at my dad's house with my stepmom's quilting magazines. I came across that quilt and was immediately inspired by the circles stitching offset from the colored pieces.

I adore that layout. It must be said. That everywhere punch is da bomb. :)

InLinkz.com

Here's all the fun shop items this month too:

InLinkz.com

And that's it! If you have any questions about my work this month, let me know. Mini coming soon! There was a lot of great inspiration this month. Enjoy it all! :) Davinie

It's Field Guide Sneak time....

2011-09-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

IF blogger chooses to allow me to publish a post when I want on my own stinkin' blog..... then there shall be sneaks. October kit, Field Guide named sneaks.

I got everything this month. I was drawn to the color palette and each add-on contained something I couldn't live without. I know that doesn't help the budget conscious, but you should know each girl on the team has created something with the main kit only, and this is my sneak for that project:

I did use a new Studio Calico butterfly mask and some Clay and Dewey Huey (my FAVORITE color released, except for white), but you could print something from the computer to trace and cut out (I actually did that for one of my layouts this month), or use other objects or chipboard negatives, etc., in your stash.

I also got to use my new typewriter on this layout, which I am really excited about. She's a Royal. She's gray. And Steve's Mom got her as a gift for High School graduation and passed her on for me to play with. So she has history in my family. LOVE that.

The wood doilies are from Perennial, love those, and there's a nibble of the hand cut embellies I was referring to earlier.

(The birdie stamp and those Prima alphas are from Meadow Lark, #3. LOVE those Prima alphas - and you can take the centers out of those alphas. I just didn't). The background paper and the other alphas are from the main kit. I used those Basic Grey alphas on several layouts this month. I love that font.

I'm still working with the kit, as I like to use it for my latest Project 12 layout, and am having fun with it.

I have huge plans for the Amy Tan mini in Almanac.... it's the perfect type of random album for our trip to Washington, where we played in the sand on the beach, in a boat on the ocean, and in the big city of Seattle. The Ormolu date tags, perfect (we were there Tuesday to Monday), the Amy Tan bits and pieces, fabulous. Love it all. But I am not the fastest mini maker. So you'll see that later.

Have a great Sunday! Davinie

P.S. My friend Alison has a great big giveaway on her blog that you need to check out. Head here and good luck!

The Fall issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today...

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Good Morning friends!

It's mid-September and that means the fall issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine is available for download if you don't have a subscription or a scrapbook store that carries it. TODAY! :)

Check out the cover of the fall issue, created by sweet Kelly Goree. Isn't it gorgeous?!

I've only had a minute to peek at it, but as usual it is full of great ideas and projects. I have a couple of things in this issue, including a really great frame that my daughter is going to have a lot of fun with. I hope you'll check it out (it's on page 37).

I also wanted to share a peek at the upcoming 2012 calendar being put out by SCT:

If you didn't purchase this calendar in 2011, I encourage you to consider a calendar for 2012. They are available for preorder on 10/14. Each month will include a sketch of the layout, as well as closeup shots for each project to make it easier to lift or be inspired. If you have a 2011 calendar, my sweet peach just happens to be on your wall right now. Very cool indeed (I just love that photo). I have the honor of participating in the next calendar as well, and I can't wait to share the final product. It really is a great resource to have, for crafty purposes as well as organizational ones. ;)

I hope you have a wonderful Friday!

P.S. Ever wanted to be published in Scrapbook and Cards Today? The winter call is out now, with a deadline of October 3 for submissions. Check out the current winter call here.

Davinie

Words on Wednesday - Love your life

2011-09-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

Pinned

Pinned from AbsolutelyWhite

I'm in the process of pushing send on an application for grad school, and these quotes are helping me keep my end goal in perspective.

I have fears.

It's a big student loan.

Will I get a job?

What if I am not good at it?

What if I can't get hired locally? We can't move!

Am I organized enough to do this?

Will I still be able to do the things I love to do now, the commitments I have already made?

It's a BIG student loan. Is that the right thing?

HOWEVER. I do not want to live my life with any regrets. There are things I have already wanted to see and do, and it is up to me to make it happen. I'll always regret it if I don't go for my dreams, so I'm about to take a leap. The deadline is 10/1, and then the nail biting will begin on whether I'm accepted to the program. Oh my.

Anyway, I hope your Wednesday is filled with steps towards your goals, happiness, fulfillment, and love with your life. It is the most important thing.

foto Friday - a new tradition

2011-09-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

On top of having issues with Payton and Kindergarten, one of our external harddrives may or may not be kaput. This means I may or may not have lost some valuable photos, which may or may not lead to an insanity plea.

Because of that, I'm more determined to send more of my favorite photos to the cloud, and one way to do that is via my blog. I don't share a lot of photos here, but I like looking at them, so I've decided to throw caution to the wind and share more of them. It's my blog, after all. With the kids back in school I don't know if this will happen every week, as I tend to do a photo blitz and then the camera gathers dust for a few days, but I'm hoping to gather photos all in one post for the most part, and Friday is my day to share them I think.

The excitement this week in photos would be the beginning of the school year. Morgan started school last week, but I'm going to share her photo here too.

They both started school on different days, but Payton's first official day with her permanent teacher was this morning, so that was the first opportunity to take a photo of the two of them together.

This was today:

(chicken dance. I don't know why, lol).

(love that one).

And this is Payton on Monday when we thought she was going to have to be in PM Kindergarten (but Mama did NOT want PM Kindergarten):

She's such a nut. She learned that face from Grandpa Fiero.

There's my beautiful girl.

When we went to the meet and greet with her teacher earlier in the week, she got her first homework assignment; to make a self doll. This is what she came up with:

When she was first drawing this little brown strip on her hand, I thought it might be a bracelet or something, but no. It's pizza. ha! (apparently she was hungry when doing her homework).

And these are photos of Morgan last week on HER first day of school. Even though I knew that a ponytail wouldn't make for the best headshots, it's what she wanted, along with curls, so the night before after bathtime I braided and braided. It's a bit crimpy, but she loved her hair on the first day:

My squinty girl. She has her mama's light sensitive blue eyes.

And of course, after she got off the bus at the end of the day, it was time for jumping photos!

She loves school. Can you tell?

I hope you have a great weekend! I'm going to be busy crafting up a storm so if that's your inclination, I hope you have tons of mojo and little interruption!

Davinie

P.S. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here, but my photos look better in Photoshop than they do here in blogland. They look grainy here. ack. Whey can't this techy stuff be obvious and more user friendly? bleck.

Words on Wednesday - don't worry

2011-09-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Pinned

One of the many things that has had me preoccupied in recent weeks was a mailing from the school district with an assignment for miss Payton Jayne in PM Kindergarten.

This mama does NOT want PM, for a million reasons, including:

I work in the morning
I put Morgan on the bus in the morning. I don't want to have to then wait @4 hours before Payton gets to go to school. She has zero patience. And neither do I. It's a nightmare, lol.
Kids are fresh in the morning. School doesn't start until after lunch? NO. Not doing it.

I called the school and learned that they were really Kindergarten heavy, and eventually assigned kids based on their bus route. Yes, we live in a PM bus area for Kindergartners. There is no AM bus available to bring her home. But she could ride the bus in the AM to school with her sister, and I could pick her up, etc.

I got put on a waiting list, and have been twiddling my thumbs for WEEEEEKS.

School is already in session for the older kids, and it wasn't until "emergency" funding was released this evening that I finally got the word: A new teacher has been added part-time. And she's AM. And she happens to be the same teacher that Morgan had in Kindergarten.

I'm not kidding. I started shaking and almost cried. Hallelujahs were definitely in order. I know this sounds silly, but that reverse schedule was going to make this school year extremely difficult for me to organize. I work part time but I work 8 hours some days, and if Steve isn't home (he's gone for 48 hours at a time), I don't feel comfortable asking my sister or a dear friend to watch her if she was going to have an opposite schedule from their Kindergartner. This makes me feel so much better.

Anyway, a dear friend told me not to worry, and it turns out, she was right. I could have saved about 7 gray hairs that recently sprouted if I had just listened. It all worked out in the end, and it also turned out much better than I could have hoped. I love it when that happens. And now I can make a hair appointment to wash that gray right outta my hair because I now know when I'm free.

Have a great Wednesday! Davinie

Scrapbook Love - New Dungeness Lighthouse

2011-09-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Over the Labor Day weekend my family went on a weeklong family/ Washington tour. We spent two nights at the beach with my brother and his family, spent two nights in Sequim with my Dad and Stepmom, a night with my sister in Seattle, and then a night with my Mom in Portland before coming home. Wowwweeeee. On paper it seemed perfect, but the drive between destinations was a bummer.

When we visited my dad in Sequim, we took his boat out across the bay so the kids could check out a lighthouse. That was tons of fun. There were seals watching us along our route, we could see all sorts of sea life like large seaweed, jellyfish, etc. from the boat as we travelled along, and we jumped in this wee little skiff we had been towing in order to get to shore. Steve and I even went sea kayaking before heading back, which was a bit scary and FUN at the same time. I think we are going to get ourselves a couple of two seaters so we can take the kids out.

Anyway, overwhelmed with photos from our adventures, I turned to my latest kit from Studio Calico, and immnediately knew I had to use photos from our lighthouse adventure first.

As always, when new products are released after CHA and April is able to snag them for our kits, the Design Team is often left without them when our kits are sent, because we receive product a month ahead of everyone else, and that can cut it close when it comes to new stuff. In fact, even the Studio Calico exclusives are often sent in the digital slick version, because they haven't been printed for kits yet. For the September kit, it was much of the new Pink Paislee goodies that missed our boxes.

The main reason I chose Pep Squad (which is still available) was becuase of the hexagon shapes from Pink Paislee's new Nantucket Collection, so now that I have the product, I wanted to get it on a layout. I also really wanted to include the die cut shapes that were in Debate Team. This is what I came up with:

I'm a bit obsessed with the monochromatic texture of these hexagons. It must be said. :)

I'm also a fan of layering those die cut shapes, just like I did with a few of them for my latest Project 12 layout, which also utilized the Glee Club kit.

With this layout that brings my current total for Glee Club to 2 12x12's, 3 2pagers, and a card (which will be on the SC blog). Not too bad and I still have a lot of kit left.

Have a great day! Davinie

Where were you?

2011-09-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

It was 6:30 in the morning here on the West Coast and I was driving to work.

I stopped at the coffee stand I frequent for a vanilla latte (grande, of course), and the gal at the window told me that a helicopter had hit a building in New York.

At first, I didn't think much of it. She seemed confused by what she had heard, and crazy things happen all the time, right?
When I got to the office, people were a bit frazzled. They kept talking about the helicopter, or was it a private plane, or was it a news helicopter or... what was it?

And then we heard.

We heard the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane in New York City.

And life as we know it, as I know it, changed.

On September 11, 2001, I had just recently celebrated my first wedding anniversary to my firefighter hubby. We had started dating 5 years prior when we were just about 20, and for the first few years, we didn't know what we wanted to be when we "grew up". At first, Steve was having fun working on the ski patrol at Mt Bachelor on his snowboard. We talked about moving to Boulder Colorado so he could get on a mountain there and I could finish with school, career path undertermined.

Steve had some experience fighting wildfires with hot shot crews in the summertime, and realized that line of work appealed to him, so changed plans and found focus, spending the next few years of our dating life getting his dual paramedic / fire science degrees. After living at the Sunriver Firestation as a student for a few years, he was eventually lucky enough to be hired there, and that was where he was working on that weekday in September, 2001.

I eventually left work that morning in a bit of shock. There was just no way I could focus on health insurance when something like this was happening.

September 11 changed all of us, but it really changed me. It changed the way I think about firefighters, in particular. Being a firefighter was no longer "cool" as people often think. It was never about the flashy truck for Steve, it has always been about service to his community and helping others, but the reality of where the pretty fire trucks will go became real to me on that day. On September 11 I came face to face with what it really means to be a serviceman to your community. I hadn't really thought about what his career path meant before then.

There's a huge part of me that feels guilty about how happy I was that we were on the other end of the country. Steve is a Boy Scout. He believes in helping others. If we were in New York, I know he would have been in one of those buildings. I just know it. While the rest of the city was running out, there is a community of brothers that will run IN. It is their job. It is their way of life. And he is one of them.

September 11 scared me in many ways.

10 years later, I remember it like yesterday. 10 years later, I know I will never forget. 10 years later, I have two little girls that weren't here on that fateful day, and it's my job to tell them what I remember.

I had the TV on non-stop watching footage and hoping that out of the piles of rubble, more people would be found. As time went on it was a desparate feeling. I really wanted all of those rescue workers to find someone. Maybe just one person. Something. But they rarely did.

That was a huge day in our history, and I think about it all the time. But I kiss Steve goodbye every 5 days, and then watch for him to come home 2 days later. And I'll keep doing that for the rest of his career, because we need people like him in our world and in our communities. When we need help, I know he'll be there, just like 343 of his brothers in NYC who rushed to help when all instincts were to flee.

So hug your kids. Get out the camera and get in a photo with them while you are at it. And grab your hubby too before football comes on or the lawn needs mowed or you need a gallon of milk from the store. If anything, this day is a reminder of how precious and fragile our lives are. Davinie

Out for Pub - CK's Budget-Friendly Scrapbooking issue

2011-09-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

Months ago I was asked to contribute to a special issue for CK called Budget-Friendly scrapbooking. I think CK has a lot to offer the crafting community, so of course I said YES! I'd be crazy not to! :)

My assignment was to use multiple rubons on a layout. I immediately dashed to my stash of butterflies in various colors, from Studio Calico, and went to work on a two page layout.

The theme was literal. A couple years ago when we went to visit my sister in Seattle, we went to the Pacific Science Center which has a great butterfly exhibit. You get to be in with the butterflies, and there are several different kinds in many different colors buzzing about. You need to watch your step, because they land on the ground and everything. The girls thought it was very cool. It was definitely the best part of the show.

I was thinking of those bug display boards where you pin down the specimens when contemplating this layout design. Lots of circles here, with some butterflies adhered here and there. I also used pop dots and raised some of them to flutter about.

This issue of CK is out and available to purchase! There are a lot of great designs and cost saving ideas there so check it out!

Supplies:

Bazzill Kraft

Crate Paper Restoration

Stuido Calico Countryside and butterfly rubons

Sassafras alphas

Making Memory alphas

circle punch

Have a great Friday! Davinie

Project 12 August in September

2011-09-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

ETA: Oh my goooooodnesssss!!!! I was out of town and thought I had this scheduled to post on the 1st! Gal dang! I just realized it's still in Draft! I was so on top of it too! ACK! Anyway.....

Hello Friends!

Another month has just FLOWN by, and now the fun begins.... documenting it all on a layout! I'm glad that July's sketch was full of photos. My month was certainly full of adventures, and I'm glad to have a place to put some of them. Some of the photos on this layout may not have made it on to a traditional layout if it wasn't for this monthly sketch.

As a reminder, this is what the July sketch looked like:

And this is what I came up with this month:

I used the September kit from Studio Calico for this layout, Glee Club. I misted the edges of my layout with Lemonade mist. It looks a wee bit orange, but I love the overall effect. Very cost effective to mist the edges rather than use paper too, right?

The tags are from my stash. Staples. I think they need to be a constant for the shop. Wouldn't you agree?

This sketch was fun because I could use just bits and pieces of scraps from my kit to fill the spaces and add more color. I also loved the fun grid.

Here are some things I particularly liked about the projects linked to my blog this month.

LOVED the die cut shape that spanned the layout. Such a great interpretation of the sketch.
diggin the banner on pop dots.
Very cool background on this one.

Looking ahead, I'm itching to try out the next sketch for my August photos. Oh my. I've been wanting to try this design for a while:

As always, it's really easy to play along and I hope you will. Use the sketch, or don't. Use 100 photos or none. Just recap your month on a layout, and link it to the P12 post by the 28th of the month to enter for a prize. Increase your chances by linking to the Scrapbook and Cards blog too. More info on the Project 12 page up top.

I'll see you back here on the first. And hopefully, I'll be able to leave comments along the way before then. I've been having a problem with blogger lately (there's a chance I'm going to make a switch quite soon) so I can't always sign in to post. Sometimes I post anonymously and sometimes I can't even do that.

Have a great month! It's school time and I have a second grader and a Kindergardner! Things are a'changin' in the Fiero house. :)

Davinie

Revealed - Studio Calico's Glee Club

2011-08-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

It's Reveal time and I have projects to share for the Glee Club kit.

I bought two add-ons this month, #1 Pep Squad, and #2 Debate Team. I should have bought #4, Thespians, and will be in line to pick it up with all of you because I simply must have it now, lol.

I used 10 Instagram photos on this layout. i thought it would be fun to do the banners across the top with the stitching, and then layered my photos and some pennant pieces across the two pages to make a banner from the pictures. I really like the story of this layout.

Obviously a fun technique on this layout was the use of the Sew Easy tool. This is the first time I used the pennant head and it was much easier to use than I thought. I'll be posting a quick tutorial on how easy it is to use this particular head in a curved path. I love it and will use it again. I also previously bought the banner head, and will be using that one too. I almost used both of them on this layout.

The growing season has been terrible this year and I'm also not the best gardener, I'm still learning, lol, so things like these wee carrots are the best I've done. Morgan thinks it's FABULOUS though, so I can't complain. She even ate some, and almost got a serving of Vitamin A for the day. ha!

I tore off the perforated heart strip but as I was designing the layout, realized how well it matched the colors in my layout, and Morgan's shirt too, so stitched it back on the bottom. I actually like the added texture of having it adhered on top of the base paper with the stitching.

I liked the birdhouse and birdies (they are misted with Bonny Blue and Warm Calico), and thought they could use a bit of skyline to balance against the pattern of the base, so I went with clouds. I'm a bit obsessed with clouds lately. I also wanted the title to stand out a bit more.

This layout is fairly simple but that's because it's all about this photo. I adore this photo. I mentioned in my sneak post that I need to go back and purchase the Thespian add-on, and that's because last Halloween I took a zillion photos and love them all. I need to do a mini album. Ooh. This is a personal challenge. Mini Album. Halloween 2010. Thespian Add-on. Stat. As soon as the new Studio Calico albums become available, GAME ON. :)

A technique I used to do all the time but haven't for a long while is to tear my paper. It felt good to utilize it for this layout. I also distressed the fabric paper by stripping away some of the threads from the edges to make the fabric stand out. I also went a la Jen Johner and made a pink photo corner, but I layered it under my photo rather than on top.

And that's it! I wish I had more time to play but August was a busy month and family was the priority. I can't wait to have more time in September. The kids are *almost* back to school. woot!

Davinie

Sneakalicious

2011-08-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hey all

Kit arrival timed with the work week timed with the lack in Pink Paislee goodness combined to create a narrow window for kit work this month. I do have some sneaks to share with you though, of the upcoming September kit from Studio Calico, Glee Club.

This layout is a 2 pager with 10 Instagram prints. Woot! I have to say, having my phone at the fair sure made it more fun. I left my Canon at home, so it was one less thing to worry about. My kids are too old for the double stroller now, so I didn't want to lug it around and worry about damaging it somehow. Amy Tangerine's camera stamp was fun to use with this layout too (the camera stamp is in the main).

I'm excited about this layout because of the photos it has on it. Lately Morgan has just not been interested in the camera, and I haven't felt the photos I've been taking really represented who she is. I got a good smile on one of these pics, and it makes my heart smile because *that* is what she looks like. She's adorable. I think having so many teeth pulled (we are currently at 12) has bothered her a bit. In recent weeks, she had to lose her "fangs" and she wasn't happy about it. But she's so super cute. She has a beautiful smile and deserves straight teeth. That's what I keep telling her as we brave the dentist over and over (but I'm so glad to be done with that for a while. It's time for the girl to pull one out on her own).

P.S. The Sassafras chevron print in that gorgeous yellow? I need 100 more of those. You know I'm a kraft girl. I usually need a neutral as my background. But not this time. :) (this is in the main kit too).

The same thing happens to me every year. Last year it was Harvest Moon that did it to me. I decide I don't need the Halloween themed add-on, and then I get my kit and start looking for photos to use and determine I HAVE to have it. Last year I purchased Harvest Moon with the following kit and add-ons, and I'm going to do it again this year. I didn't purchase Thespians, but I'm going to be jumping in line to do so for reveal. I need to remind myself that SC does a fabulous job making a themed kit without a lot of themed product, which allows it to translate to other projects. That said, this last sneak is Halloween themed, so I didn't really HAVE to have the Thespian add-on, although I still plan to get it.

As it is I purchased two add-ons this month, #1 Pep Squad and #2 Debate Team.

Shop Items:

Be sure to check out the Sew Easy tool and attachments. I used the pennant for this sneak here (also part of that two pager above), and really adore it.

It must be said that I have developed a love affair for the Glue Art Glider Pro, my scrapbook room is beginning to thank me for page protectors and AC albums because I'm finally getting a handle on the organization, and my stamps are finally getting a proper home thanks to these panels, which are now back in stock. It's amazing how much more inspiring it is to create when your space is in some semblance of order, you know?

I'm still rearranging my space and can't wait to share. I decided to move my girls in with me, so I've created a space for them in my room. It's nice to be able to contain the "craft" in one room as opposed to the whole house. Their former craft space, which was this hideout room under our stairs, is going to be the new reading/homework/quiet space. I'll be sure to share pics when we are finished with that makeover. I recently pinned this chalkboard contact paper and am anxious to check it out and see if it'll work. The only thing I wonder about is the havoc from chalkboard dust. I see chalkboards getting more and more popular and nobody ever mentions the dust. Has chalk changed much in recent years?

Davinie

BOARDWALK winner

2011-08-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! I'm busy with swimming lessons and sneaks and a back to school PTC meeting and the sprinkler and I'm trying to climb back on the laundry wagon, but I have a winner to announce!

It slooks like #116 comment is:

Jessica said...

wow what amazing stitching! Lovethesneaks& would love to win the kit!

12:17 PM

Congratulations Jessicaaaaaa!!! Email me at cooperdees (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll get your info to SC headquarters for this kit. Yay! You will not be disappointed!

Enjoy the rest of your Monday, friends!

Davinie

a Weekend Giveaway and a snippet of a sneak

2011-08-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

We had a blast in Idaho. The water park was a hoot, and except the part where I was tossed from the boat on the biggest rapid of our float, rafting down the Payette was a blast too! :)

The week has flown by and my blog has gathered dust, but I'm here today with a couple of fun things to share.

FIRST: If you are not a subscriber from Studio Calico, then you may not have taken the opportunity to purchase the current Studio Calico kit, Boardwalk:

I have to tell you, I adored everything about this kit and ended up with all the add-ons as well, so this is defintiely a must have in my book.

Let's talk exclusives:

2 double sided papers designed by Studio Calico.
2 double sided papers designed by Crate paper for Studio Calico (LOOOOOOVED these).
That Sassafras sticker alpha? An exclusive color, just for us.
The brown chipboard alpha? That's the same font as our summer CHA release, but it's a different color, just for this kit.
There's also an SC exclusive stamp. It's that round frame.

All of the above is only available if you get the Boardwalk kit. Isn't that fabulous?!

The Sassafras prints in this kit as well as that Pink Paislee mistable trim had my heart so it's a shame to see any crafter miss out on an opportunity to get their hands on this one.

As for add-ons:

More Color - who doesn't want more cardstock to match?
Tide Pool, one of the add-ons for this kit, is available.
So is the more add-on paper add-on.

I definitely recommend that add-on paper add-on. We had a couple of prints from Simple Stories, a new company to me, and it was just delicious. Just look at the beautiful color palette:

YUM.

Lucky for you, Studio Calico has been gracious enough to pass me a main kit to give away on my blog. That's a $34.50 value! ($29.50 if you subscribe). I love that!

If you are interested in getting your hands on the Boardwalk kit, simply leave a comment on my blog, and let me know if you've ever hand stitched on a layout. That's all. I'll leave comments open until Sunday and draw a winner Sunday evening.

Hooray!

And with hand stitching in mind, SECOND: check out this snippet of a sneak of the September kit, Glee Club. I'm still working on this layout, but wanted to share my progress:

You can see bits of one of the main kit prints from Studio Calico here, as well as the main kit stamp. That camera is going to be in a few places on this layout.

I have 10 instagram prints! I sure love my phone. That phone and that app made it much less stressful to capture fun at the fair a few weekends ago. FUN times.

Obviously, this sneak is more about hand stitching than anything else, but i just wanted to share how easy the Sew Easy tool was to work with, especially that pennant roller. SO fun. (You can pick up the banner roller, as well as other shapes, from the shop too).

More sneaks coming soon.

Good luck on the giveaway! And have a great weekend!

Davinie

P.S. You can only win the giveaway once, but you have multiple chances. Check out the DT blogs (listed on my sidebar) for more chances to win. This isn't a blog hop, but most of the girls should have a kit to give away so check them out. :)

Words on Wednesday - have fun

2011-08-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

Pinned from Someprints.com

Man, we haven't camped as much as we usually do in the summer, but have filled this one with so much fun stuff that it's just flying by. Last weekend we went to the County Fair and had the best time. Today, we are headed to Idaho to see some cousins before school starts.

We plan to have lots of fun.

We are headed here.

And then if we can get a raft we are going to do a day trip down the white waters of the Payette. My brother in-law used to be a guide and can get a raft from his church. But if we can't, we are going to float the Boise River on blow up tubes and rafts.

FUN. TIMES. Really looking forward to it. It's a 5 hour drive but should go fast.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Davinie

StoryArt on CrafTuesday - Olivia

2011-08-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

My girls are of an age where sibling rivalry is abundant. They are very competitive, especially Payton, and whenever they are doing something, it's not long before the question of "which one is the best" comes up.

Because Morgan is older and therefore has more experience under her belt, whenever we are working on art, especially, she often has a hard time complimenting her sister and her latest drawing or creation, thinking she could do a better job.

I'm always saying "all art is beautiful". There is ALWAYS something nice you can say about a piece of art created by someone else. This would apply to scrapbooking too.

With art in mind, creativity in mind, and freedom to create, the next story for StoryArt is

Olivia, by Ian Falconer.

Who doesn't love this little pig?

Olivia is another constant character in our bookshelves. Love her.

Olivia is the first book in the series, and is in black and white, with little touches of red.
At one point in the story, Olivia visits a museum and spots paintings by Jackson Pollock, determines she can do that on her own, and proceeds to get in trouble by creating an inspired painting on the wall of her home. whoops!

Because it's summer and my girls have low attention spans these days, preferring otter pops and a sprinkler here and there, I thought this would be a fun, but quick and easy art project to celebrate the freedom to create with wild abandon, and to celebrate art for the sake of art.

I was googling around for Jackson Pollock info to bring more art history to my girls and came across this lesson plan:

http://www.storyboardtoys.com/gallery/Jackson-Pollock-lesson-plan.htm

Payton has done something similar to this in preschool when making spider webs for Halloween crafts, so this is a fun option to try.

Supplies:
Cookie sheet
Cardstock
Poster paint
marbles (we robbed Chinese Checkers, but I considered Hungry Hippos too, lol)
paper bowls

Start by putting some paint and a marble in each paper bowl I was going to do just black and red, like the story, but figured in the end it was about the process, and more color is better anyway. :)

I used a glue dot to hold their paper down on their cookie sheet so they wouldn't float around. Then it was a matter of dropping a painted marble onto the paper, and picking up the tray to move it around as they chose.

They both ended up with a little finger paint, which was totally fine, and had fun with their projects. Payton actually did a couple of these prints and enjoyed the process and freedom of not quite knowing how things were going to turn out.

This one is Morgan's:

And here's one of PJ's:

She called this one "Rainbow Angel". Cute!

It was a fairly quick and extremely easy project, but it lasted long enough for the girls to ask me to do them more often.

After we were done we read a few more Olivia books, just because.
Visit this website for some fun computer artwork you can do 'a la Pollock'.

http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

I got a bit distrcted there myself, lol.

Have a great day! Davinie

Words on Wednesday - What if?

2011-08-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Pinned from LittleMinchArt

The problem with the WWW is that you eventually find yourself with people who share the same interests, which is great, but unfortunately can make for worldwide friendships.

If I were a millionaire,
my girls would go for lemonade and playdates with Steph's girls
We'd dash to Omaha to head the zoo with Lisa and her crew
check out the corn with Jen and take Nik to lunch on one of her long shift days.
then I'd make a dash to see Dani, because we hug the opposite coastlines.
Payton would have a playdate with Ashleigh in Australia for sure.
Then we'd check out Kelly and have her take us out for icecream. Or donuts. Or both.

And that would just be on a weekend while dad was at work (well, if he took an overtime shift. That'd be a long flight in the lear, lol)

Meanwhile, the house would be totally renovated because I would have hired out for that. And it'd be full of Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. Fo. Sho.

What about you?

Have a great Wednesday! Davinie

Project 12 July in August

2011-08-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Why Hello August. While you snuck in I was up at the lake with the family, soaking up the sunshine you FINALLY decided to bring to Central Oregon. But before I left, I recapped June before I forgot, in the exciting adventure that is Project 12 (details here).

As a reminder, here was my sketch:

And this is what I came up with. I'm really happy with how this turned out. I mostly used my August kit from Studio Calico, Boardwalk.

I was trying to choose a base cardstock or patterned paper but was having a hard time deciding, as the kit papers are so delicous, when I decided to channel my inner Nic and use white mist around the edges.

Hello fabulous! What an inexpensive way to completely change a layout! I just used a scrap piece of cardstock as a mask, and an old piece of die cut Bazzill for the scallop on the right, and then misted over it. I was at the tail end of this bottle, so coverage isn't as even as I'd like, but with the teal stitching at the border, I am in love!

One little extra from my stash for this layout are some wood buttons from Maya Road that I picked up at the recent CHA sale at 2peas. I left them nekkid, because they better match kraft, and what's the point in purchasing wood buttons if you are going to paint or mist or alter them somehow? I prefer them au natural. FYI - that twine from My Minds Eye that's in the kit this month is FABULOUS. So are the Pink Paislee mistable trims. I only had three wee scallops left of this length and had to use it. I am a huge fan of the stringy bits on my layout. I love the homespun look.

Another extra from my kit on my layout was this veneer frame. I already had the package of frames out for an assignment, and as the sketch called for a frame around this photo, which just happens to be a last day of school-ish photo of my two cuties, I had to use the veneer so they'd stand out. It went well with the wood buttons too.

And GUESS. WHAT. I just happened to check and holy toledo, you can get this package of veneer frames from Studio Calico for a buck. $1 !!! They were hiding in the Elementary section! There are two sheets and several sizes of these frames. $1 is a great big steal. Kit subscribers, you still have time to add something like this to your cart without an additional shipping fee. I'm just sayin' .....

I had a lot of fun with the sketch and the square photos and general design. Square photos are great because it makes more photo files available when it comes time to designing your layout, as it doesn't matter as much what the orientation was when you took the picture (except that your subject needs to be a bit close together for cropping).

On to some favorites this month. FYI - Of course I am trying to prepare a blog post before I head out of town at the last minute and this is the night that Google decides to REFUSE my login info... it won't let me comment or even post anonymously. I'll be back to post properly later. It's really important to me to leave comments on your posts when I can. Grrr.

Anyway......

Red. Seriously WOW
Love the border on this one!
I love the minimal use of product and the perfect use of mist on this one.
FAB. U. LOUS.
Love the tilt on the frame on this one.
Mary, I LOVE how you can fill up a layout. Must. try. digital. (left, right).
I love how the stars spill off the patterned paper here. I also adore the ElfQueen.
Is this blue flower made from trims? I love it! I also love that you chose P12 as your only crafty venture for July. Honored.

Thank you as always for playing along with me! I am seeing new faces and I'm so excited that this is a challenge that inspires you. I am a bit biased, yes, but I think it's the best. :)

With that said, this is what's next for July:

Hello grid pattern. Ruched trims. I am going to have a lot of fun with this one, I'll tell you that right now. I took a lot of photos in July, so choosing the perfect pictures to use here is going to be fun.

As always, you have until the 28th to play along for a prize, and for July it's the PK4 from Picture Keeper. I'm anxious to get reviews on this one, so get to crafting ladies!

I'm going to be commenting around the web, and then I'll see you back here on the first! Davinie

P.S. Don't forget to link your July layouts on the SCT blog post here.

It's Friday

2011-07-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

It's Friday. Woot! As soon as Steve gets home from work Sunday morning, we are taking the trailer up to the lake for a few days. It's only about an hour+ from home, so I'm taking my Dingo with the boat up, staying a couple of nights, and then coming home to work. Steve and the kids are going to stay up all four days he has off and coming home Wednesday.

The bright yellow orb in the sky is finally sending down some heat, so it should be sunny and warm and tons of fun. I can't wait.

In the meantime.... it's Friday. And that means that I need to have already picked a winner for the Studio Calico 6x6 Memoir pad from the blog hop. That winner is......

Lane said...

I love the way the white zing woodgrain pattern compliments the blonde wood penants! I also really love the way you've been using the anywhere punches lately! :D

8:49 PM

Congratulations Lane! Send me an email to cooperdees (at) yahoo (dot) com with your info and I'll get you set up with this 6x6 pad. I have to say, I have been using mine quite a bit lately, for cards and for regular layouts. I'm definitely going to need more than one. :)

Speaking of Studio Calico and the blog hop which makes me think of the projects I shared, check this out:

http://scrapbooking.about.com/od/layouts/ss/Best-Scrapbook-Page-Ideas-Of-Cha-Summer-2011.htm

I didn't know anything about this until it was pointed out to me earlier this week. How cool is this? Who hasn't come across an idea at about.com when trying to google something? I think it's pretty neat.

On another note, the girls just buttoned up their second session of swimming lessons this summer, and both passed. I'm so happy for them! We are going to take a little break but then they are signed up yet again before school starts. They are both enjoying it so much! We have considered keeping them at the pool throughout the school year. When asked if they want to do soccer or softball or basketball or, or, the one thing that gets an enthusiastic YES is swimming. So I guess we will (oh my, being indoors will certainly be fabulous on nasty weather days rather than being outside at the soccer field! woot!).

So that's that. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Davinie

on the BOARDWALK - Studio Calico's August kit

2011-07-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

It's project time for Studio Calico's August kit. I have to admit, I bought it all and should have added time to my cart as well, because I needed more of it.

My favorite part of the kit was the exclusives this month, especially the color palette of the Crate Paper designed for the main kit. My #1 recommendation would be the More SC paper add-on this month. I just adored this color palette so much.

Here's what I came up with:

This layout was inspired by this shirt I saw while shopping online at Old Navy:

I liked how the ruffles went at odd angles, so decided to try that and utilize the monochromatic prints in the main kit.

This is the month to try mist because the Pink Paislee Mistable trims in the main kit are just begging for it. I used bluegrass which matched pefectly for this layout.

As I mentioned in my sneak post, the main kit comes with AC chalk journaling stickers, and one of them has this big cloud on it, that inspired my hand cut embellies this month. It was appropriate to make dark blue/green clouds for this layout as it was a bit overcast when we were camping at Mt St Helens, which is where these photos were taken.

Payton was so cute with her cousin Lilly while we were camping. Lilly kept following her around and trying to hold her hand, but that was because she wanted to place her at various places around camp and keep her there. it was super cute.

I like sewing in those crazy circles, so it was fun to trim a big circle and do it a different way.

This particular cloud was made with that Claudine Hellmuth sticky backed canvas. I LOOOVE the texture it offered.

Did you notice how this layout was a bit of a scraplift of the previous one, down to the base paper? That's how crazy this month has been, and that's house much I loved the More SC paper add-on, lol.

After three layouts, I came up with a couple of cards this month:

LOVED the Simple Stories paper from add-on 4, Sandcastle.

The chipboard alphas from the main kit are just a different color from new chipboard alphas that were released at CHA summer.

This main kit is so fabulous!

I had fun with stamps on this last card. That Basic Grey paper was begging for the cute apple stamps from Sandcastle, as well as the sentiment stamp on the label sticker.

One last thing to mention is how fabulous twine is from My Minds Eye. It's thicker than other twines I have tried in the past. And the package includes a lot of twine, so it's a good deal too. Loved this addition to the kit this month.

And that's it for me, except to mention that I ran out of adhesive this month after my this and that threw a spring, and i had to try and use the refill without it, so when I saw that we were adding these to the shop I jumped on the chance to try it out. 40 feet should last until next month, right?

Have a great night! Davinie