Christmas Blessings

Hi everyone! I hope you had a FABULOUS Christmas and holiday season. :) We have been busy busy busy, as most of the world seems to be this time of year. We were blessed with much time with friends and family and of course many wonderful presents.

My biggest blessings:

(the poor boys have strep though...so they weren't feeling the best this Christmas.)

One of the best gifts I received:

:) Yep, that is a peek at my new Cameo. Can't wait to pull it out of the box and play a bit.

Thought I'd share another layout with you all, since I haven't posted for a little bit. This layout uses Pink Paislee (including more of the freebies I was talking about in previous posts that I found on their blog).

Here are the close up's:

I weaved a bit of paper, played with layering the same paper on paper, popped some up, and whitened my wood pieces (love their wood pieces!).

Well I really hope you had the best Christmas, but also got some moments to just breathe and relax. I'm looking forward to getting crafty, because it seems like forever since I have. :)

Have a wonderful day!!!

Spellbinders Series: Making Cards with Large Dies **AND GIVEAWAY**

Nope, didn't drop off the planet...just been busy. :) I'm sure you all can understand. It's just a busy time of year.

So today I am going to share with you how to make cards using the large dies from Spellbinders. This is my last post for my Spellbinders series. If you missed any of the previous ones, here, here, here and here.

So, using the Grand Labels One dies:

I made this card:

Isn't it fun! I love making shaped cards and these large dies make it so easy. All the papers and the cool wood shapes are from Pink Paislee. Some of them were freebies that I printed out...they were giving them away on their blog, and I think you can still get them, so head on over. :)

And using the Creative Book Pages Dies:

I made this card:

Those adorable snowmen is another piece I picked up as a freebie from the Pink Paislee blog. I printed it and cut it out. Again, all the papers are from Pink Paislee.

Well thanks for stopping in today! And I wanted to offer a giveaway. Think of it as a Christmas present for one lucky reader. :)

Here's the giveaway up for grabs:

It's a bunch of papers and die cuts from The ScrapCake! I love love love their papers, and I just know you will too!!! And I know they can be harder to find, especially here in the States. So now is your chance to grab them...and for free! :)

And here's how you can win: Leave me a comment on this blog post. :) It's as simple as that.

I will also offer extra chances to win by doing the following:

• If you are already a follower of my blog or have just become one, let me know. Just leave another comment on this blog post letting me know that you are a follower (old or new) and you will automatically be entered in for another chance at the giveaway.
• Share this giveaway on a blog, facebook, or another website. Leave me another comment on this blog post with a link to where you shared it and you will automatically be entered in for another chance at the giveaway.

Hope you are enjoying the season and getting much accomplished as well as spending good time with family and loved ones! My kids are off school til the new year and I am excited to have them home. :)

Again, thanks for stopping in!

Spellbinders Series: Embossing

Hello!! Welcome to my third post in my Spellbinders series. If you missed the other two, you can find them here and here. Today's post is all about embossing with the Grand Calibur.

Keep in mind that I am just learning this machine and in the beginning "playing" stage. I have no training with the machine and definitely don't know all the tips for doing things right...I am just a crafter with a new machine and I am sharing with you what I am learning along the way.

So I knew I wanted to make this post about embossing. It's very easy to cut and then emboss a shape with the Grand Calibur, but what I was wanting to do was ONLY emboss. I learned that was not as easy as I expected. I wanted to stick a piece of paper through and emboss three butterflies, at one time. I tried once, and it actually did cut my butterflies out. I tried a second time and for some reason my paper got all warped in spots. So I ran my embossing pad and plates through the machine with no paper or dies in it, to straighten out my pad. Then I tried a third time and got something I was ok with.

Here's the layout I made with the paper I embossed the butterflies on:

See that pink piece of paper? That is what I was talking about. I also cut out some more butterflies (these are cut and embossed) to add to my butterfly design. On this layout I used the Wonderful Wings dies and the Creative Book Pages dies (the postage stamp piece behind my photos over the banner strips).

The gorgeous papers are all from Pink Paislee, from their Butterfly Garden collection (I thought that was very appropriate for this layout!). I also used their rub-ons, charm and letters.

Here are some close up's of my layout:

And then, using the same supplies, I also made a card:

This time I added a bit of chalk on top of my embossed butterfly.

I'm gonna have to play a bit more with embossing with the Grand Calibur. :)

Thanks for stopping in today!!! Hope you have enjoyed my post.

Have a WONDERFUL day!

Pamela Goes Simple

At first glance, this layout I am about to share with you might look like a goal for a new year. But in fact, it has been a look back at this year so far. So much has happened in my life and it literally forced me to focus only on what matters most.

You may have noticed a lot of Magistical Memories chipboard on my stuff lately...it has totally been inspiring me. On this layout I used the Butterfly Swirl piece and just left it bare, adding a few gems in the middle of the butterfly. The papers and die cuts are from Pink Paislee.

Here are some close up's:

That picture was taken with my phone. I keep seeing all these awesome photos that people take with their phones, but mine never turn out well...mine are low-quality. And I have an iPhone. How does everyone get super pictures with their phones? Seriously, clue me in people! :)

Ok...well I hope you have a fantastic day and thanks for stopping in!

Beautiful Spring

All this heat is making me wish it was still Spring. Seriously...how hot is it where you are at?

Like I promised you yesterday, here's another 2 page layout (oh and remember you can always click on the image to view it bigger!):

It uses the gorgeous Butterfly Garden collection from Pink Paislee and some kraft cardstock and those awesome chipboard pieces from Magistical Memories (Yep, still a fan!). The pieces used are called Out On A Limb and Antique Sign.

Design Notes:

* When picking a floral paper to go with your floral pictures make sure you pick one that will not overwhelm or distract from the pictures.

* If using two sheets of the same patterned paper for your background on a two page layout, rotate the second sheet 90 degrees to give it a different look.

* Use bare chipboard on top of kraft paper for a unique more subtle look.

* When making a grid with your photos, just for fun take a few of them and tilt them!

* Try writing part of your title and then stitch (or write) around it with the rest of the title.

Here are some close up's of the layout:

Hope you are able to escape (or enjoy?) the heat.

Have a wonderful day!

Just For Fun

Just for fun...I took these pictures the other day of a what my son did with the recycle he was supposed to be taking out.

Just for fun...I made a scrapbook page with it, using some fun papers I hadn't had a chance to use yet. It wasn't for an assignment or a call or even to showcase a technique or anything. It was just for fun.

And just for fun...I plan on doing this again tonight. :) Just scrapping something with some products I haven't had a chance to play with.

So here's the layout I made:

It uses the super cool "Daily Junque" collection from Pink Paislee. Here are some close up's:

That chipboard frame around the photo is from Magistical Memories! I just love it. It's called the Out on a Limb Frame. I simply sprayed it with a little bit of Slate Glimmer Mist and added it to my page. Threw in the stitches just for fun. :) There's those words again.

Ok...I have more to share soon!

Oh and just a note....

Webster's Pages has done it again with their awesome new "Let's Celebrate" collection...they are partying all this week. :) Check it out here.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Paper Posies

This month I am guest designing over at Paper Posies. They are a fabulous monthly kit club. Check out the February kit here. Here are some layouts that I made with the kit:

Can you believe that we are still sick here. My son, who I think really started with the sickness, got sick again and has stayed home from school yesterday and today. I am still feeling sick myself, but much better than I was. I just can't believe that we are still sick...it seems to be lasting forever!!!

Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Scrap Lovers :)

So while Christina is at CHA, she asked me to be her guest blogger on the Scrap Lovers blog. She sent me some fun goodies and a made some projects. :) The first one is a layout using the Cupid Collection from Pink Paislee. Here's my layout:

And some close up's:

For more ideas you can get from this layout, visit the Scrap Lovers blog. (Oh and that doily flower is from Pink Owl Paperie).

Have a fantastic Thursday!!! :)

Joy

I don't know about you, but the word "Joy" and "Christmas" go hand in hand in our home. It seriously is my most favorite time of the year. I love all things Christmas. So it isn't any surprise that I make a lot of Christmas projects each year. So let them begin. :)

This is a project I made to hang on the wall. I didn't alter anything, I just made it from scratch. It's different because I liked the idea of using the Bind-It-All and wires on the top of each one, which is also how I hang it. :)

There's a lot going on on each of these...and I LOVE it! Almost everything came from a kit from Timeless Daydreams. I loved the kit because it came with a bunch of fun stuff that I probably wouldn't have bought on my own...but I love (like those birds, or the branch like thing). They are a new kit club...and you should definitely check them out. :)

Well I will be back with more fun Christmas projects!

Have a great Tuesday! :)

Scrap and Stamp

This week's challenge at Scrap and Stamp is to create a layout about a fall tradition. It must include stamping on it as well. Here's the layout I created for the challenge:

Everything is from Pink Paislee except the flower trim and the one frame stamp from Unity.

I was getting ready to put ribbon behind my circle, which is something I have done many times and I thought...why not try something new. So I decided to use the letter stickers and create a border around the circle with the word "pumpkins" over and over again. I love how it turned out! :)

I really do hope you play along with us this week! :)

Have an awesome Saturday!

I like...

I thought I would make a random list of things I like. I even tried to put them in alphabetical order. :) And I used these fun, random, pictures that Kathie took. Here's how the layout turned out:

I love the row of chipboard...I will have to do that again. :) The papers and chipboard are from Pink Paislee.

Ok, this the second post for today, so scroll down if you are looking for today's sketch.

I am actually taking a break from the Grandparents today. They will be hanging with my dad all day, I hate to do that to him because he really has a hard time seeing them that way, but I want to get a lot of stuff done...like laundry and some layouts for calls. :) So I hope to have a very productive day.

Supplies:

Papers, Chipboard, Flower and Brad--Pink Paislee, White Cardstock and Twill--Stampin' Up!, Computer Program--Microsoft Word, Computer Font--"Lindy Kay" (from http://lindarodriguez.typepad.com/my_socalled_life/2009/03/fontmaking-fun.html).