Psalm 139

You know that negative voice in your head that speaks loud and clear when you look in the mirror? Or what about the one that reminds you of all you do wrong? Oh and then the voice that tells you that you are a failure before you even begin? Ah, yes. The devil wants us to be defeated. But, Psalm 139 says something very differently. God loves us tremendously, flaws and all, failures and all. His thoughts of us are more numerous than all the grains of sand. Now, that is something to behold. That is the very reason I chose to do this page. To literally remind myself how worthy I am to Him. I am fearfully and wonderfully made...no matter what the sneaky mean voice in my head tells me. Sometimes I just need to read that Psalm as a wonderful reminder of His love.

Superstar!

Jack is so funny. Enough said. Click the pictures to see the details. Love this dog! LOL

My Birthday

I made this page about my most recent birthday. I cut out the Happy Birthday using the Cricut and then added yummy Stickles to make it glittery. The orange patterned paper had an owl on it in the top left corner, but I was able to cover it with a photo. I loved the colors of the striped ribbon and the color theme was inspired by that. Click pictures to see details.

A glittery photo mat, some fun ribbon and a bit of yellow bling to make a fun corner detail. I also used a Fiskars edge punch on the patterned sheet of paper.

Love the Spica glitter pens. I used the teal one to journal. Some more ribbon, a glittery button and some baker's twine finished off the details.

Nashville

Ok, there are a LOT of details and layers to this one. Click pictures for a closer look.

I used mini alpha stickers, the Cricut, edge punch, different solid and patterned papers, and bling.

I used my sanding block to distress the edges of all the photos. You can see the detail in this last picture.

The Graduate

Oops, I got a few days behind in posting...ok, back at it! :)
Brooke graduated from the University of Akron in December. Click the pictures to see the details: (glittery flowers/butterfly, stamped flowers on Kiwi Kiss cardstock, scalloped frame, etc.

I'll get busy preparing posts of the remaining pages I created at The Craft Farm in March.

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

Jeremy Camp

In August 2010, my friend Tammy and I went to the Ohio State Fair to see Jeremy Camp. I admire the fact that he uses his life to glorify God with his songs. I LOVE his music! Click for a closer look at the layers/details of this page. I used patterned papers, crumpled cardstock, a die-cut shape from the Cricut cartridge Paper Lace and some different letter stickers.

I got both the chipboard letters and tiny black alphas at Archivers. I am really happy with how this page turned out. It was a fantastic concert with an awesome friend!

Love these girls

My best friend Christie has three beautiful girls. When I was there in September 2010 I snapped these photos. I wanted a serious one, but had to endure their antics before that. ha

Click on either picture to see the details. The pennant style seems to be all the rage now. I bought a stamp set at Archivers recently and love that you can stamp them on solid cardstock or patterned paper for a totally different look. For this layout I chose solid cardstock in colors that matched the striped ribbon.

Black Friday Shopping

I found this die-cut title at Pizazz It! scrapbook store in Pickerington, OH. How cool is this? I had this page planned for a while and decided I'd complete it at The Craft Farm. On our way there last month, I was tickled to find this die-cut. It was perfect! Their selection of die-cuts is outstanding!

I placed several different journaling stickers on the side of the layout and wrote the continous text to tell my story. I'm sure I saw that idea somewhere. Not sure how I remembered it, but glad I did!

A new punch! I got this fun starburst circle punch (Martha Stewart) at a Micheal's store on the way to the Craft Farm. I love to do "tone on tone" looks every now and then. I think doing that along the bottom of the page added some much-needed texture. In regards to this layout...I still can't believe all I spent on Black Friday was $17. I got Riley a doggy winter coat, a Snickers bar and Kevin some undies. bwaaaaahhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa

Life really is FAIR sometimes

Fair food. Ahhhhhhh....My friend Tammy took this pic of me in August 2010 at the Ohio State Fair. I used the title in two ways...to tell location and to make a statement. Life really is fair sometimes. On this particular day it really was! Yum! :)

I threaded linen thread through various buttons (one continuous string) to create a button border. I let the end lay loose for a casual feel. Does that make sense? I also made a tiny little "Levis-style" tag beside my picture to show location and date.

I colored the chipboard Thickers using my Chestnut Roan chalk ink. It gives enough color without being took dark. I used copper staples to tack the ribbon and the patterned paper strip along the left side of the layout. Click each pic for a closer look at the details.

Love my Eskie boy

Fuzz, fuzz and more fuzz...that's my Jack! Love him! I had to mimic his real-life qualities by using some fun, fuzzy embellishments. Click on the pictures for a closer look. You'll want to "rub your nose" on the fur.....just like I do his real fur. OOH and touch the fuzzy Thickers letters.

I got the furry trim at Joann Fabrics. When I saw it I knew it looked just like him. I love how this page turned out! :)

Curly Kid

I got this patterned paper and ribbons at the store in Powell, OH. The paper collection had a few different double-sided papers. I was able to make "ribbon strips" from some of the patterned sheets. I added a bit more ribbon on the bone clip at the top right.

Instead of "hanging" the tags, I decided to make then lay in the same direction as the ribbon. I love the one that says "licks & kisses". Riley is the lickiest dog in the world. Is that a word? Lickiest. LOL

I've had the vinyl Thickers for a while. The glue on them has gotten all gummy, but I was able to adhere them ok using glue dots. I added several descriptive stickers to the bottom right corner from a sheet of stickers that was all about dogs. I just love my little curly kid! :)

89th Birthday

For Grandma's 89th b-day, we ate at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Akron. I used patterned papers and embellishments that gave an "old Italy" look when combined. Click pictures for a closer look at the many details.

Sometimes I love to use the raw chipboard instead of coloring it with my craft inks. Here, I chose to wrap the numbers with linen thread. So not my idea...I saw it in a magazine.

Adventures in Stamping 2011

Thought I'd post several pictures highlighting the fun convention Connie and I attended yesterday. First will be samples that I liked for one reason or another, then pics of goodies I bought. Thanks for stopping by! Love the colors, layout and Cuttlebug texture on this one. Easy July 4th card idea! Cute, easy turtle using punches! Ah ha! Just use the textured Bazzill cardstock, corner rounder and square punchto make this cute chunky pencil. Denami Designs' booth had several samples with this looped ribbon idea. I think they most likely used glue dots to keep the loops in place. I will definitely try this idea. Anyone got ribbon scraps? What a neat way to use them up. I can see this idea using several different ribbons. Or do it in ROYGBIV order to create a circular rainbow. Neat! Love how they added buttons over the ribbon on either side of the sentiment. Love the NINE circles idea and the bling on either side of the sentiment. Connie and I laughed a lot yesterday. She let me know that the "play on words" stamps are so NOT her style. After a while we began to notice just how many of those are out there! ha ha This one's for you, Connie! :) Now that will be a running joke with us. Some of them are so corny, they make you cringe.Love this card sample. Looks like it's been on display a while....the buttons are sliding down on some of the hearts. You could easily mimic this design using various different patterned paper scraps or stamping solid cardstock to create your own backgrounds. Isn't this one sweet? You read everywhere about GOING GREEN! Well, this booth had a neat idea on how to recycle old greeting cards. They sell the "postage edge stamps" and you can cut cards or patterned paper or even photos to create a unique look. I remembered I had actually bought one of these stamps a few years ago. I need to dust if off perhaps. A closer look at one... Ok, creepy! I am not into altered art at all. Some of the Tim Holtz stuff is creepy. This tops it all. Eww.....armless dead kids. Eww...What on earth would do you with this? *shiver* Connie said it reminded her of a baby doll that had its arms ripped off by an ornery brother. Simple card. Simple layout. Love the little detail of the triangle with the brad. Cute! hahaha A funny one...I looked at this and then said out loud to Connie, "Why would someone want a stamp that says 'tiny bunny head'?" Duh. You might be blonde if...ok, that's the DESCRIPTION, not part of the stamp. Yep, we laughed. hahaha I thought that was part of the actual stamped image. hahaha Gorgeous. Time-consuming. Gorgeous. Whoa. GO GREEN...again. Pop tab=cute way to add ribbon. Attach it with a brad and there you go! No "butts" about it...you're great! And, so is that saying with the stamp of the animal butt! You look so young! (now you say it back to me.) Another great one! Over the top! Holy scrap-a-moley! Like, seriously? To complete this look, you would have to buy stamps and dies that cost way too much. Just one of the samples in the show that made me go "Wow, neat...I'd never do that!" I appreciate the art, but not the price I'd pay to mimic it with their products. No way. $$$$$$$You know it! We saw our friends Ken & Christi from Zane Trace Inn and the Craft Farm! They gave us big hugs. Good thing we've already booked for March 2012. Christi said that month is already full!Ok, now to the goodies I bought. Three loose sheets from a quaint little booth. I told the lady she looked SO familiar, then we figured it out. She used to work at the Fairlawn Archivers. Ah ha! She started her own company last year. I loved that she sold individual sheets of paper. I saw things in her small booth that I had never seen. Yay for this small purchase! Impression Obsession....I have bought things from them before. I got a "scratches" background stamp, a tree that will be so versatile, a bird, a Bible verse and a swinging tire. The wooden stamp is from Endless Creations. I loved the "handwritten" look of this Happy Birthday. The two small unmounted stamps say "My dog licked the envelope" and "I kiss my dog on the lips". ha ha One of the new tools being showcased at several booths is the Bow Easy. We got ours from Inky Antics. You can easily create various sizes of single or double-looped bows using this tool. I also grabbed up some navy/champagne pearl bling that was a good price and Scor-Tape for my stash. OOOOHHHHH....these bling were only 99 cents each. Yes, you read that right. I am sharing with my mom. Oh, and you can see my "photo assistant" in the lower right corner. Riley was laying on the spare bed when I laid the quilt down to take pics today. He has to be right with his Momma. hee hee Be still my heart. 100 flat-back pearl blings per bag for only $1.29 each. I got 19, but could have easily scarfed up all 40 colors they had available. I talked myself out of it, then I gave in. Just a weak moment for me. I twisted my own arm. LOL I will just use my small glue pen to carefully place these on my projects. Small sacrifice for this price!Mmm...a closer look. Please, feel free to LICK the screen. I know you want to!

That concludes the Adventures in Stamping highlights. Hope you enjoyed. Check back daily for the next few weeks for posts regarding projects I completed last month at the Craft Farm!