Sad Days (And More Catch Up)

Wow.  The scrapbooking world has sure changed a lot in the past few years.  I've seen many manufacturers quit, many stores close and many magazines cease to print...but somehow I thought Creating Keepsakes would somehow make it through this.  But alas...I was wrong.

In case you missed it, you can find the announcement here.  Paper Crafts too is ceasing to print publications.  But there is slightly good news if you like digital magazines, because the two (Creating Keepsakes and Paper Crafts) will combine into a smaller monthly DIGITAL ONLY magazine.  I'm not into digital magazines and I am very sadden by this news.  Creating Keepsakes has always had a special place in my heart.  It was the first magazine I was published in.  And I will miss it.  But this industry has just changed so much.  As a designer too...it just seems impossible to make money in this industry anymore.  Oh well.

I'm in this weird place where I seem to be moving backwards while the rest of the world moves forward.  I long for simpler times (less time in front of a screen and more time outdoors).  I honestly could just throw out my computer, get rid of my phone, and cancel the cable.  I haven't...mostly for my family, but man...I am starting to just hate technology.  And the rest of the world continues on in a more and more technical savvy way.  And the scrapbooking and paper crafting world is moving on as the world is.  And I just may stay behind.  :)  I'm not really part of the online communities anymore anyways.  All I have is my blog and a couple galleries (which I am even worse at updating then my blog!)  So I am disappointed with the direction this industry is taking...I guess is my point.  I've kind of rambled.  :)

What do you guys think?  Better for the environment = better for the industry?  Or are you saddened by this kind of stuff as I am?

Anyways....

I do have a few more things to catch the blog up with.

First up, in case you missed it, I had a layout and card on the Fancy Pants Designs blog...here are some sneaks:

You can find the post and the projects here.

And then I also posted the second chapter to Worshipping With All Your He{art} here.  I do hope you check it out and let me know what you think.  :)

Here are some projects I did and featured in this post...

To read more about the canvases above go to the article here.  

Ok...well I will be back soon.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Playing Catch Up

Got a bunch to share with you guys.  

I guess I will start with a couple of pages in my art journal that I shared on the Ruby Rock-It blog.  Art journaling has no rules, and it is really just time to play and get a little messy.  I really enjoy it.  :)  And I like to use bits and pieces of collections in my art journal.  

So here's my first page:

I used parts of the At Last collection on this page.  I just love that bike...isn't it so cute?  The background is just white gesso, and I used a lid from some embossing powder to make the circles.  I added strips of color as if they were coming off the bike.  

Here are some close up's:

And then I also did another page in my art journal.  This time I used pieces from the borders and project cards from their new wedding collections. 

I'm not as happy with this one...but it's a lot easier to just move on to the next page with my art journal...I'm like "ok, that's done, what's next?"  I don't know why.  :)  

Here are some close up's:

And then I also have some cards to share with you guys that I also shared on the Ruby Rock-It blog.  We swapped with Scrap FX last month and I got to play with some of their fantastic chipboard pieces.  :)  

Here's my cards:

I just love the colors in the At Last collection from Ruby Rock-It.  It has certainly become my go-to with the new collections.  :)  On my first card, I cut my one chipboard piece in the middle to make it stretch so I could use it on both sides of my focal point. And the second one is pretty simple.  It could be used for a wedding, but it could also be used for graduations, promotions or a variety of achievements.  

And then finally, I also wanted to post a sneak of a layout that I had posted on the Fancy Pants blog.  

You can view that layout, as well as find out what I have to say about using buttons, here.  

Speaking of Fancy Pants...did you know that they are doing a cool blog hop with Tombow this week.  Every day on their blog they will be posting two projects (twice a day).  I have a card and a layout that will go up tomorrow that I am very excited about (had a lot of fun creating these)...I'll share sneaks soon.  Or just check it out yourself.  :)  

Ok, well thanks for stopping by this slacker's blog.  Some day I'll get back to blogging regularly (but doubtful that it will be soon...I'm just busy).  

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Where has time gone?

Seriously?  I'm still shocked that it's August...let alone the NINTH of August!  Wow.  Does that happen to you too?  I guess we've just been trying to cram in as much as we can before school starts again, and then when I have free time I've been working on my latest quilt...not scrapbooking.  BUT I do still have stuff to share with you.

So first...last week I had a new sketch up on the Fancy Pants blog:

And here's a sneak of the layout I made using the sketch:

You can view the whole thing and the post here.  :)

And then I still haven't shared a layout I made for CHA.  It uses the new Merry Little Christmas collection from Fancy Pants.  Yep, Christmas.  ;)

And here are some close up's:

And as for my next sketch for the blog...I DO have it all sketched out.  I just need to do it up on the computer and take pics of the prize.  So that to come soon.  :)  

Thanks for stopping by today!!

I hope you have a wonderful day!  Enjoy it.  :)

CHA Week Post 4

Ok...meant to have this up yesterday, but it just didn't happen.  I'm not stressing over though, so I hope you don't mind.  I used to stress over this kind of stuff--getting my projects done was super important and blogging regularly was even more important.  So much has happened over the past few years that I now embrace a more easy-going philosophy: It's just scrapbooking and it's just blogging...if it happens, it happens.  Don't get me wrong, I DO think scrapbooking is important, but it can't control your life.

Anyways...kind of went off on a tangent there.

So today I am sharing two projects with you.  I have a layout and a seed-saving project that both use the new Happy Go Lucky collection from Fancy Pants Designs.  I love this fun collection...I especially love that it works for so many different topics and projects.  I'm not into the theme paper as much as the collections that work for all sorts of things.

So up first...my layout:

These pictures were taken at a restaurant that had those wax sticks for the kids to play with.  I have no idea what they are actually called.  But the kids each made glasses and I just loved it.  So thankful I had my phone with me so I was able to take pictures of this silly moment.

And I layered them on tags that I just used for my background.  I don't know about you, but I love tags...for me, they will never go out of styles.  :)

Here are some close up's of my layout:

And then I also have another project that I made.  I actually took an old Bounce (fabric sheets) box and painted and altered it to hold seed-saving envelopes in it.  I've really been into gardening this summer...I  just love it.  And I want to start saving my seeds to plant later, so this was just perfect timing for me to make this project, and Fancy Pants Designs has cool envelopes that make this project easy.  :)

Here's how it turned out:

I really just wanted to make this project simple.  I used the tape stickers on the edges and the cool ticket to the good life die cut on the front.  I printed pictures and information about each seed/plant and adhered it to the envelopes.

For the smaller envelopes, I had to break it up and put info on the back.

I am please with how it turned out.  I just hope my seed saving is as successful.  Wish me luck! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Have a fantastic day!!

CHA Week Post 3

Hello again!  Are you impressed by my posting three days in a row?  I am.  :)  Well...welcome to day 3 of my CHA week postings.  Here is a new project I made for CHA, once again using the Collecting Moments collection from Fancy Pants Designs.

This time I altered a wooden date display.

Here are several pictures:

Ok, before I get lots of comments about this...I know it is not the 21st today.  I took these pictures before mailing my projects off and I just didn't get pictures of the right day.  :)  

In order to have the right numbers for all dates, my first block has the numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and my second block has the numbers 0, 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 (the 9 can be turned upside down to make the 6).  

There is a block for each month that can be rotated to the front of the display.  

The envelope on the back holds the rest of the numbers for the year part.  

I really like how it turned out.  Aren't those little clothes pins the cutest?  

Well thanks for stopping by today!  Would love to hear what you think of this.  :)  And come back tomorrow for another new project featuring another new collection from Fancy Pants Designs.  

Have a fantastic day!

CHA Week Post 2

Hi everyone!  So, as previously explained, this week is CHA.  I am not there this year, but I am sharing projects all week with new product being revealed at CHA.  :)

Today I am sharing a layout I made using Fancy Pants Designs' new Collecting Moments collection.

It also uses one of their AWESOME new wooden phrases.  LOVE these!

So here is my layout:

I used the wooden words as not only the focal point of the layout but also as the inspiration and theme.

Here's some close up's of my layout:

I really LOVE this new collection from Fancy Pants Designs...it's one of my favorites.  :)

Well come back tomorrow for more new stuff!

Have a wonderful day!  :)

Oh Snap!

Hi everyone!  Hope all is well.  So I've been having computer issues all weekend...and even now I am just hoping to make it through this post.  Sometimes I hate computers and think life would be easier without them.  But then of course, I wouldn't be able to share all my projects with people all around the world.  So I keep plugging on.  :)

I have a new layout to share with you guys.  It uses the Memories Captured collection from Fancy Pants Designs.  By the way...I'm gonna tease you a little, but I have seen the new collections from Fancy Pants for CHA and they are AWESOME!  Can't wait to share them with you.  ;)

Anyways...back to my layout:

These pictures were taken the night my kids first saw the ocean...ever, on our recent California vacation.  They are not great pictures, they were taken with my phone, but I wanted to write about how strange Eryn acted...like she just thought it was weird.  :)  We went back and played at the beach some the next day and Eryn opened up more but still wasn't quite sure about the ocean.

Here are some close up's of my layout:

Well hopefully I will be back soon with more to share and less trouble with my computer.  :)

Have a fantastic day!!

The First of Many

Hi everyone!  Well I've done my first layout from our California vacation.  :)   I plan on making several, so this is kinda like my introduction to my California layouts.

Here's my layout:

I bought those cool window decals when I was at Disneyland and I thought it'd be cool to use them on this fantastic chalkboard paper.  The whole layout uses the Memories Captured collection from Fancy Pants Designs.  And then I wrote in white pen to also look like chalk on my paper.  :)  I am really lovin' this line!

Here are some close up's of my layout:

I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  :)

Well thanks for stopping in today!
I hope you have a fantastic day!!!