Rainbow Master

Good Sunday Morning! Okay, so yes, it's still very early and even I am not exactly a chipper-whipper just yet. It's the down side to trying (yet again!) to remove coffee from my daily routine. The upside, however, is that I have a better focus when working all day on a scrapbook page!

On Friday I included the Rainbow Master among my finds. I knew I was going to scrap this moment because it's a very big deal for him. I decided to use this Creative Scrappers sketch:



And here is my take:


The papers are some that I picked up at Hobby Lobby earlier this week. They were on sale and I was in a very Crayola-8-pack frame of mind. The two large circles are Technique Tuesday Technique tiles, painted and topped with Basic Grey Oliver rub-ons. It was nice to feel the need to add some dimension to this page; like I'm getting back into the old swing of things. Slowly but surely, my groove is coming back.

I think I'll also enter this in the Open Challenge at Sketches In Thyme this week. It's been a very long time!

Thanks for stopping by! Now it's time to find a perk-me-up so I will actually WANT to shovel the three inches of snow that's in the driveway this morning. Grrr.....

Friday Finds 6: Really? I've been doing this for six weeks now?!

Good Friday Morning! At least, it's morning while I begin to type this. It's also round about the time that my son wakes each morning (6 AM, he's a morning person!), but I'm hoping he sleeps for another hour. He had a big day yesterday and no nap. Wow, does that child still need naps! I digress, that's not what I've found this week.

What I have found is....

* The Rainbow Master:



My son, self-proclaimed Rainbow Master, went from being the crayon muncher, as a baby, to a perfectionist as a toddler. He'd try to color (or even draw) but would quickly lose control of the crayon and throw the biggest fits. In the past year, he's become more comfortable with simply drawing, but coloring a pre-printed page still frustrated him. As of Thursday evening, that's all changed and you can't get him to STOP coloring in his book for very long.


* In other finds, my good friend Carol is participating in a project sponsored by Dockers to make the world a better place. She is quite good at making things happen. Ever heard of Make a Difference Day? She was part of that, too.

* The Color Room has a fun palette out, starting today:



* How do you feel about Dusty Attic chipboard? If you love it, you may want to head over to the blog, Simply Paper. In several weeks she will be a well-stocked retailer of those beautiful pieces. In the mean time, she's also hosting a little give away:


I was glad to read her blog this week for a couple reasons. Obviously, these are amazing pieces! Thanks to a generous giveaway from Mandy, I've been able to play with some pieces on my own and am instantly in love with them. But also, I was wondering why I wasn't seeing much product in specific Etsy stores. In reading Simply Paper, I learned why and will be more than willing to wait.

* Are you fairly new to scrapbooking? Have you been a round for a while but wonder about how one might define your style? Practical Scrappers has run a week-long informational piece on the most popular styles of scrapping. Evidently, I am a Classic scrapper, with a few grungy tendencies.

* If you're looking to just read something that has NOTHING to do with paper crafting, I recommend a post by Single Dad Laughing from this past week.

* Do you like stamps? I was reading Gina's blog yesterday. She shared a link to a Sweet Pea stamp RAK.

* Whew! Looks like this week has been busy, huh? And I'm not even done yet! Frosted Designs has a fun challenge this week -- use metal. Jinkies! I love using metal! Jinkies! I love Frosted Designs!

* I also love Sketches In Thyme! They have an open challenge this week. Use a sketch of your choice to submit a project to their challenge.

....And.... It's now 6:30 in the morning. I'm tired again. Oops! I wish you all a fabulous weekend and warm sunny days ahead!

Living An Honest Life

Good Morning! Has the coffee kicked in yet? I'm still waiting for mine to do it's job. Hopefully it will soon, otherwise this may be one of the most interesting posts I've ever made!

Thank you for all the well-wishes in the past week. I really do appreciate them and have used them to fuel a big boost in my recovery. I was feeling so healthy and optimistic that I decided it was time to get crafty!.... Okay, so it was a combination of feeling healthy and needing a concrete way to give my son a message about life that he can come back to whenever he needs a reminder.

Since I've been in a creative funk, I looked around for a sketch that was simple, but still gave me a chance to add my own preferences and style.



Easy peasy lemon sqeezy, right? Thank you, Nicole Nowosad and Creative Scrappers! And what I made:



This has to be one of the flattest pages I have made in a long time; but I like it. Since I'm trying to get my groove back, it would do no good to force myself to create in a way that is not true to me right now. You could say, I wouldn't be living honestly.... In staring at it right beside me as I type, yep! I am definitely happy with this one.

Like I wrote above, I wanted to create something concrete for my young son to (hopefully) come back and re-read again and again; especially in his more challenging moments in life. This past week, he had a moment-of-choice while I was upstairs and it was just his grandmother (my mom) and himself downstairs. He convinced her to share part of her treat with him, as if THAT's ever been difficult, but it was HOW he did it that bothered me most. Evidently, he told my mom, "Now, if Mommy asks this was all my idea so you don't get in trouble."

He's not even four years old yet. Reflect on that a moment.... He's several weeks shy of turning four and he's making sure that accomplices get the story straight so Mommy won't frown. He knew for a fact that I had told him he wasn't eating anything else until he finished the peanut butter-banana-waffle-wich he had begged me to make him and then snubbed. He knew I was serious, but as soon as I was out of sight, he was out of his mind.

Reflect further on the understanding of "what goes around comes around." Twice, I have done what I could to appease my son after my husband laid down the law, making sure he understood that we didn't need to let Daddy know that we had done so. Super! I taught my child to be sneaky. But, so have my parents because this is certainly not the first time he's gotten a special treat when I've left the room.

Super....

So, I'm working on changing that. I really do want my son to live an honest life. I want him to be able to grow and stand with his shoulders squared and own all of his choices because they are the best choices he can make at the time. I wanted to type out the following sentiments on a tag that would tuck behind the photo...but I forgot that plan and adhered enough adhesive to prevent it. Hence, the rub-on journaling at the bottom.

* Tell the truth, EVEN when you know you'll be in trouble.

* "Sneaking" food is not necessary.

* Only take what you need.

* Focus on function over fun.

*Learn who you are. Accept it. Strive to enrich your strengths. Grow from your weaknesses.

* Say "yes" because you mean it; not because it will make someone else feel better.

* Same for "sorry."

* Bravely (and knowledgeably) speak in what you believe.

* Follow your heart's advice.

Surely, there are 100 other things I could have added, but space was at a premium.

Friday Finds 5: Because I love HER and HIM

Good evening! Technically, it's still Friday so I'm giving myself credit for being on time.... for a deadline and routine that only I am holding myself to. So silly! AND, so not in top form. I've been...hurting for the past two weeks. It's taken a toll on my ability to craft, blog and participate in life in general. That's not what you came here for, is it? According to the title, it's a Friday Find! And it's all about love.

I know this amazing woman who is also an amazing author. She blogs but she's also written her own fictional masterpiece. Going by many names, she's best known in the blogosphere as Wicked. I've been folowing her for several years, back to the days when I thought MySpace was cool. She's always been cool and I've continued to follow her wherever she blogs. It was so thoughtful and heartfelt that I asked her permission to share it on my blog.

Oh, and as I mentioned, she is also an author. It is definitely grown up content, but I was able to read it bit by bit as she shared it so long ago. It is an excellent piece, well-written and keeps you interested. You may wish to check it out.

And one more thing? She's also breaking into crafty endeavors. Wicked (aka CK George) also paints wine glasses; custom to your order. They're very pretty:



Annnd, as the title mentions, I also love HIM. "Him" would be my son. He turns four in several weeks. In this house, that means it's time to start talking about the party. As far as he's concerned, as long as he gets a cake and a pinata he will be a happy camper. Theme be hanged! Unless he starts caring about decorations and theme soon, it's up to my husband and I to make that choice. Enter Spider Man!



No, I didn't make these, but they are supposed to be cakes on stickes, made to look like Spider Man's head. Wanna know who does make these? The store name is "cakepopcastle" and I spy so many cute treat ideas! I sent her an email today with some follow up questions because this looks sooooo cool! If this is a bust, I may have to learn a little something about that smooth stuff they put on cakes -- fondant, isn't it? See?! THAT's how much I need to learn! All for the love of a little boy.

And thus concludes my Friday Finds for this week. I really hope to be back to my usual crafty/bloggy self soon. It might be another week, though. *le sigh*

Friday Finds 4

Good Friday Morning! I've done a little more wandering around the blogosphere and have a few bits and bobbles to share with you. Are you ready? Alrighty then!


First up (and I have NO idea how I wound up underlining everything!)Is a cute little sketch from Page Maps:




This month, Becky Fleck is giving away a very generous prize -- a whole lotta Basic Grey!!!! The goodies are mains from the Wander, Curio and Pyrus collections, which I love, so I've got my submission nearly done. I look forward to sharing it soon!

Looking to join a Design Team? Enjoy working with a variety of projects and challenges? Frosted Designs has put out the call for anyone interested in joining their Design Team. Truly, it's a great site and they have loads of inspiration every week. I do recommend checking them out!

Through a series of clicks, I've JUST recently come across a new site that I'll be checking out. Understanding a few trends that are out there right now, I think many others would be interested, too. The Altered Alice is all about the love of Alice in Wonderland. They are running a challenge this month, with a focus on "Changes In Form and Dress Forms." I think many would have fun with this.

One last share! I saw a really cute paper-crafting project on White Racoon's handcrafts. I'm normally a lurker on her blog, but love the ideas she comes up with. Because of being a lurker, I don't feel confident sharing a picture of her craftiness here. Silly me, I only asked for permission on Thursday morning, so.... Regardless, it's a cute project and I encourage you to check it out.

Liebster Blog Goes Hippity Hop and Tiggity Tag

Hello! Happy Wednesday! I spy sunshine, do you? My son has unwillingly given me a break from playing with cars. I think the apple snack/bribe is helping. I needed to take a moment to catch up on my blog fun. I've been tagged in a generous and thoughtful way. Micupoftea tagged me with a round of Liebster Blog tag.

The Liebster (Love) Blog Award is given to bring new blogs to light. It is a great way to get new blogs seen by people who might not otherwise see them. If you have been tagged and would like to participate, create a post, use the Liebster (Love) Blog image, then link to 3 to 5 other blogs that you follow.
Here are a couple of blogs I follow that I will share with you!


Stacy's Blog : Stacy is a busy mom who finds time to craft frequently and always has a fun project and story to share about her adventures. She also has regular hook-ups to all sorts of blog-candy across the blogosphere.

Alyssa's Blog: If you want to be wowed by a stamping genius.... you know, in addition to Micupoftea, definitely head on over to Alyssa's blog.

Steffanie's blog: Steffanie makes amazing flowers of all shapes and sizes BY HAND!!!! She has a great eye for creating pearl flourishes, flowers, scrap pages and altered items. Seriously, check her out. Love her stuff. Contact her re/ her Etsy shop and see what kind of amazing flowers and bling she can make for you!

....And wow, does this boy know how to eat an apple! I guess it's back to the grind for me. Happy hopping to you!

Friday Finds 3: The Bella Creations Edition

Good Friday Morning! I've found quite a few pretty pretties to share with you this week. There was a little bit here and a little bit there, but a few of them have been from one site; Bella Creations. This site formed at the end of 2010. I might be wrong, but I believe the main goal was to keep a large group of close crafty friends together. They continue to support each other each day and the site has boomed like you wouldn't believe! Seriously, it's THAT amazing! There are groups for:

Hand-Made Embellishments
Christmas
Crafty News
Altered Art
Sketches
Chat
Swaps
Cards
Color Combination
Collage
Inking Techniques
Mini Albums
Clip Art
Tag/Bookmark/Etc

There's even a market place where one can share items they've made for sale! It's easy to spend an entire day socializing, perusing the gallery AND becoming inspired to make something totally awesome all by yourself!

The Design Team also hosts monthly challenges. If you click on the link above (or even any of the three pretty images to the right of this blog) you can find them in the forums AND posted in the groups. However, if you still need to see something, take a look at....

February Bookmark Challenge in Oh La La: The Group Leader has posted an amazing example of the fun one can have with the image supplied. Normally, I hesitate to create anything that isn't a 12x12 scrapbook page. It's where I started and what I'm most comfortable with. This time, evidently, I had some fun because not only did I make one. I LIKE IT and I took a picture of it.


Still need more motivation? If you read the information in the Challenge post (linked above) you'll see that there will be a random winner who will have the chance to select an ephemera sheet to have as his/her very own from Gecko Galz (aka, the sponsors of this challenge and creators of the bunny image here!)

If bunnies aren't your thing, maybe you'd like to participate in the February Bella Muse Challenge. Lacey has shared an adorable image that one can use on any project their heart desires.



If you choose to enter your submission, there will be a random winner selected for this beautiful package (The January kit from Scraps of Darkness):


Pretty, huh?

And one more? How about the February Tres Chic Challenge? Try a new style, or revel in one you already love. Try Shabby Chic! Use the colors of creme, pink and turquois. Incorporate at least one flower. Add some ribbon or lace. Apply a pearl. There will be a random draw for this prize, should you choose to participate:



Okay, one last, I swear! But, really, there's awesomeness around every corner at Bella Creations. You really should take some time and check it out for yourself. If you like being creative and crafty, it truly is a place to enjoy! If you're into sketches, this month's sketch challenge is to use this fun one:



So, if you're feeling inspired, what are you waiting for? Come on over and have some fun!