Sneak Peeks

Hi my friends! In case you're wondering what I've been up to this week, here's a sneak peek! I'm working on a simple 8x8 Chatter Box album from my April Cocoa Daisy kit. Lots of photos with some Collage Press Grayson Hall goodness. How fun! I'll post some more pics of my little album soon.

Have you guys seen this beauty?



Ali Edwards' favorite products made into a kit and it's all at Cocoa Daisy. You can also pre-order an autographed copy of Ali's brand new book. Sweet!



And you can just call me Miss Enabler... Look at this August sneak peek from Work in Progress. Repeat after me: Oooh! Aaah! I can't wait to see more...



That's all for now. This Saturday, I'll be scrapping away at Damaris's house so I pray that my mojo sticks around and that it's a productive scrap day. If all else fails, I'm in the company of good friends so all is good! LOL! By the way, she just premiered her Scrapbook DUI July kit with nice, bright, fun Wild Saffron goodies from K&Company... Click here to check it out!

Peace and happy scrapping!

Meeting Nancy... and CKC-Ft. Lauderdale

Hi my friends,

I hope you had a wonderful week. Yesterday was a great day!!! Seriously, it was loads of fun... I worked all morning, but then Ady (my BFF) picked me up at work just after 1 PM and we went on a girls rendezvous. He, he, he! We shopped and giggled and just had some good times. We spent the afternoon at CKC and, although it wasn't as packed as last year and there were not as many booths set up, I still managed to find MANY goodies that I had been wanting so I was ecstatic. Yippee!!! Take a look at what I bought...



Then we rushed back to get my car at work... We ran into a little speed bump along the way (literally, but that's another story. Right, my friend?) Got to my house, we freshened up in a HURRY and went to John Martin's in Coral Gables to meet up with Nancy and Pascal from The Netherlands. For those of you that don't know Nancy, she is one of our scrappy friends from Holland that we met through her blog and on SIS TV. She is quite talented! She makes beautiful cards and has such a distinct style of scrapbooking. Nancy is also the sweetest, friendliest gal! We had so much fun last night. I wish we would have been able to hang out with them more, but their adventures took them all over Florida so Ady and I were just glad that we got to spend a little bit of time with them over dinner and drinks. Oh, and what great conversation we had. Here are some of our pics (including some silly self-portraits)...








And here is Richard talking Pascal's ear off!! LOL! And Jorge (Ady's hubby) was making faces... I think the guys had a great time, too :-)



I was thinking about how the Internet has shaped my life and I am definitely going to do a layout about that. I don't mean in the obvious ways! I'm referring to the fact that I have met some wonderful people through Internet sites and those friendships and connections have evolved into even bigger friendships and connections and so on... I even met my husband on the Internet! Cool, isn't it?

Thanks so much for your sweet comments about my Spain album. I'm just so thrilled that you all love the concept as much as I do :-) Now I will be working on a smaller, simpler project this coming week so stay tuned...

Peace and happy scrapping!

My Spain Album

Well, my friends, I can finally show you my finished album! I hope you like it as much as I do. I used a 12x12 American Crafts D-ring binder and I added Mod Podge on the front cover to adhere a 12x12 sheet of Collage Press Grayson Hall paper, as well as a Spain die cut I bought a long time ago (I think it's from ScrapYourTrip.com). As you can see below, it's a BIG album with lots of pages! OK, I'll admit it. We went completely nuts taking pictures of this beautiful country! LOL!



For the opening page, I used a sheet of Teresa Collins calendar paper to write our itinerary.



Then for each major city, I included a simple layout using the same scheme -- a horizontal photo with my journaling on an index card below it. I wrote all of my journaling while on vacation so I wouldn't forget later on what we did and how it felt. Boy, I loved doing this and will definitely repeat this process...





I used We R Memory Keepers 4x6 photo sleeves (6 up) to showcase all my photos, even the vertical ones. I didn't sweat it! I identified some of the important sights by using tiny journaling labels directly on the photos. I also inserted index cards throughout the sleeves with my journaling.




And I inserted 8 1/2x11 sheets with travel memorabilia (tickets, postcards, metro passes, etc.)





Finally, I created a few layouts throughout the album (mostly 12x12 with a couple of 8 1/2x11 layouts) to showcase some of my favorite photos and memories. This way, I have a nice mix of layouts among the photo sleeves to add interest and enhance the album.




That's pretty much it! Of course, I didn't photograph the entire album because I would be here all night and I really value my sleep. I wanted to give you a pretty good idea of what the final product looks like. I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment and my hubby says this is his favorite album ever. Hey, let me tell you that he is my biggest supporter but also my biggest critic so I know he was being honest. (He, he, he!)

Thanks so much for stopping by... you made my day! Peace and happy scrapping!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Have a wonderful day with all the dads in your life! Here's to my step dad, Jorge, who's one in a million (billion, actually!). Love you Jorge! :-)

I have had a wonderfully productive weekend. I shopped online and bought some cute summery clothes, including a couple of bathing suits (so that in and of itself is an accomplishment! LOL!), I planned our Caribbean sailing vacation for August (whoohoo!), I bought Father's Day cards and gifts, I went out with my DH for a lobster dinner (Yum! I was craving lobster!) and a movie (The Happening), and believe it or not....

I am 100% done with my Spain vacation album!!!

Now that's awesome!!! I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet, but I will soon so you could see it all. I'm so proud of what I did!!! He, he, he!

Peace to all and happy scrapping!

Rest in peace, Tim Russert

I cannot believe that Tim Russert, Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, moderator of "Meet the Press" on Sundays and the friendly, intelligent, familiar face on the Today Show and on NBC Nightly News, is dead. Wow, this is so sad. What a shock. I really enjoy watching him. I also loved watching the stories about him and his dad, Big Russ, on NBC. He wrote a couple books about their relationship. Just this year, TIME Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He was only 58 years old.

Today, I learned that it was his idea to include a mural with the First Amendment on the recently completed Newseum in Washington, D.C. Obviously, I didn't know him personally, but when you watch someone for so long, you almost feel as if you know him. He made the most complex analogies and information easy to understand, he covered election night like no other and I think Joe Lieberman put it best when he called him the "Explainer in Chief" today.

God Bless him and his family.

I'll post much "lighter" material tomorrow... Peace to all.

Vacation Album

Hey my friends!

I've been scrapping away all week! And I'm thrilled with the progress that I've made... For the past few nights I've been working on my Spain vacation album and I love how it's turning out! I have sooo many photos. I really went overboard with our photos, but they're just so pretty and we had such an amazing time that I find myself not wanting to part with many of them. So, I used 4x6 protective sleeves and inserted them all in there (vertical and horizontals all together). Then I'm creating an opener page for each major city we visited and a few layouts throughout, etc.

I would share photos of my not-so-little project, but I really want to get it all done before I post it... It's a great way to finish an album that would otherwise be COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING. This way, I am just a little overwhelmed. LOL! My goal is to finish it all by this weekend, especially since my hubby challenged me to do this. He thinks I won't be able to do it and, boy, do I love challenges! :-)

I'm using my November Cocoa Daisy kit for most of the album (featuring Karen Russell's favorite products), along with some add-ons I purchased that month and stuff from my stash. I love this kit!!! I've been saving it for my Spain layouts and I'm really happy to finally be using it.



I am especially liking the Anna Griffin papers and cards, some of which came in this kit... She really does have some beautiful patterns.







What's inspiring you this week? Please share...

Happy Saturday!

Hi my friends,

My DH is back in town after a week of business travels so it was nice to get to spend the day together today! (After all, I was gone last week, too!) :-)

So, we took it easy today and caught up on some filing and paperwork. I also finished editing and inserting all my hundreds of photos from our last vacation to Spain into an American Crafts 12x12 Modern D-ring binder... I used up lots of 4x6 photo sleeves. Now I just need to embellish the front cover, identify the images/destinations featured and finish up some layouts to insert in there and I'll be all done...

I also came across this vintage-looking three tier wire basket! I think it's perfect for holding my stamps. Right now, they're all thrown in one bin and I don't use them much because I forget what I have... I'm also considering the Little Monkeys stamp storage. Any other ideas???



Here are a couple of layouts that I hadn't yet posted (sorry for the crooked photo!) I used papers from my Scenic Route stash for the Miami layout and one of my Work in Progress kits for the beach layout.





Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Peace and happy scrapping.

Dinner with friends and some scrap goodies

I'm still on a Tim Holtz high after our weekend class! Boy, Tim was amazing!!! It was an awesome class...

So, anyway, tonight I went to Old San Juan, a yummy local Puerto Rican restaurant. The food tastes almost as good as the dishes that my grandma used to make me... Sure does bring back memories! In celebration of Esther and Anilu's birthdays we got together and had a great time! Ady and Barb were there along with Anilu's little girl, Nati, and Barb's oldest daughter, Amanda. Note to self: Do this more often!

Here's a peek at the birthday cards that I made Esther and Anilu...




In scrappy news, I am getting the June Scarlet Lime kit and I love it! I cannot wait to get my hands on these goodies... It includes some of the NEW Passport line from Making Memories and lots of other goodies.





I'm also waiting for my Cocoa Daisy kit to arrive along with my add-on papers. I have been wanting that Sassafras Lass Fawnd of You paper for a while now. LOVE this color combo :-)




Well, that's all for now. Peace and happy scrappin!

Nostalgic memoirs (weekend recap)

Hi my scrappy friends!

Well, I returned from a business trip to El Salvador on Thursday and it's been non-stop ever since. Here's a recap... Dinner out with my DH followed by a Blockbuster night, family visits, a birthday party at the beach and Tim Holtz.

Yes, that's right. I did say Tim Holtz. Last night, my dear friends and I took a class with Tim Holtz and it was awesome. This is my second time taking one of his classes (CKU was my first) and I must say that he ROCKS. He's entertaining and energetic, funny, professional, knowledgeable and inspiring all in one.





The class I took was called Nostalgic Memoirs. It was a 3 1/2 hour class at Scrapbook Central and we made this little vintage book.

I folded papers, created signatures and sewed them together, painted, used beeswax, hammered, screwed, distressed and glued this little baby together. I did all that! I don't sew so that was a little bit challenging, but it was a great learning experience. Here's how my little book turned out... Not bad, eh?





I even bought a cool denim apron and got it autographed by Tim. It reads: "Art is a chance for your creativity to escape understanding."

Thanks for stopping by! I know I promised to post some recent layouts and I have not forgotten. I just need to take photos and I will do that tomorrow...

Have a wonderful week! Peace and happy scrappin!