A New Baby is a Perfect Match for Lily Bee Papers ~ Nook May Kit Projects

I'm sorry I've been remiss in updating my blog.  I'm soooo happy to announce that my niece Kylie is finally here! She was born on Saturday, May 23rd. She's my immediate family's first grandchild so we're all very very excited!!

Here she is using the Nook's May monthly kit featuring the soft pallette of Lily Bee papers. I had this layout done for awhile and was just waiting for a picture to snap in!! Too bad she's in her baby carrier that has a brown lining, but then again, that ended up coordinating with the brown background with white birdie Lily Bee paper.

I did add in a few things from my stash like the eyelet fabric lace that my friend Yolanda gave me ( I think it was a group buy from one of our Downtown LA garment district shopping sprees), the pink Webster's ribbon trim and that super cute foam puffy alpha sticker set I found on sale at Joann's recently when I was shopping for High School Musical scrapping supplies for yet another niece's upcoming birthday album. That "Sweet" tag, the Calendar Month Raffle ticket and that round scalloped journaling spot, all from from Creative Mess, were the perfect finishing touches to this layout. I came so close to making a banner that I cut out of that pink swag the birdies are roosting on, but I couldn't find my new QK banner 2x2 die. Urgh!! Yes, I seriously need to clean! But at the time, I wasn't sure if my layout had room for it due to creating a layout that I had not yet have the photos for. So it goes!

This last layout I created from the Nook's May kit is of a really old picture of me from 2005. I decided to drive down to the Carlsbad Flowerbeds after hearing rave reviews about it forever! I'm glad I did as I enjoyed a very relaxing and introspective stroll on the grounds.


I hand cut long strips from that swirly olive green Lily Bee patterned paper to hand piece a funky frame for my picture. I wanted to grunge it up but decided to keep it clean which is more of a challenge for me, and I'm about trying different styles of scrapbooking right now.

I incorporated orange-y Prima flowers to bring out the orange in my picture, else everything else is from the Nook May Kit. Oh, and of course, I incorporated a journaling tag from the "List Journaling Jotters Set" from Creative Mess. I laid it on top of a double-sided Lily Bee paper just to tie it in better with the top portion of the layout. I finished it off by reaching into my stash, like WAAaaay back, by using this My Minds Eye "Simply Beautiful" pre-fab die cut. The colors and font perfectly tie in.

I'll be back soon with some projects featuring goodies from the Nook's June kit that is just brimming with tons of Cosmo Cricket Early Bird goodness!! Scroll down immediately below this blog post to see it in its full glory!! You HAVE to get one by clicking here to order yours today before it sells out!




"Sweet Baby Girl"
Paper: Lily Bee "Three Little Birds" PP
Embellishments: Lily Bee "3 Little Birds" Frame Die Cuts; Maya Road Corduroy Flowers; MM Milk Chocolate "Piper" alpha Chipboard; Sandy Lion Girl Foam Alpha Stickers; Misc Eyelet Lace & Silk Fabric Flower; Button from Nook Kit; Webster's Pink Trim; Creative Chaos "Plain Jenns," "Calendar Raffle Ticket" and "Bright White Valentines" Journaling Spots
Accessories: SU Scalloped Border Punch

"Simply Beautiful...California Poppies"
Paper: Lily Bee "Three Little Birds" PP
Embellishments: Lily Bee "3 Little Birds" Frame Die Cuts; MM Milk Chocolate "Piper" alpha Chipboard; Prima Flowers; MME "Flirty Little Secrets" Title Chipboard; Creative Chaos "List Journaling Jotters Set of 6" Spots
Accessories: n/a

Love Me Some Glitz!!

Its been a long time since I've gotten to choose exactly every single item I want to scrap with since I've scored my DT gigs, so its a bit nerve wracking to do it all from scratch! But ooooh so giddy I was last week.

I saw that The Pink Elephant had an Inspirational Play Along for May using this as a spring board for some creativity:


So when I saw these papers from the new Glitz line called Sparrow last week during my lunch hour, I was hooked!! I was so inspired by a particular layout that was created by the Glitz owners that was being taught at a wonderful lss I had never been to before (Sonja's Scrapbook Shop is located in the LAX area near my alma mater Loyola Marymount), but I wanted to do my own thing to it and make it more ME. I drove back to the store after work the same day to get them because I just couldn't get this gorgeous line out of my head!

Here's my layout:


And here's what I scrap lifted from (its piled on top of their other two layouts that were going to be taught in the class, and I just loved how that darker purple based pp looked, so I decided to incorporate that darker purple pp onto my layout):

In mine, I did add a few more things....lol. More strips of paper from the same Glitz Sparrow line and I did add a journalling spot from Creative Chaos from Jenn's Perfect Little Labels in White Set to commemorate the date.

tfl!


"Beautiful & Exquisite"
Paper: Glitz "Sparrow" PP; Bazzil CS with an EdgeEmbellishments: Glitz "Sparrow" Cardstock Journalling Stickers & Rubons; Glitz Ornate Frame Rubons & Cardstock Frame Stickers; Glitz & Prima Bling; Prima & Misc Fabric/Felt Flowers; MAMBI "Beautiful" word Bling; American Crafts "Getty" alpha stickers; Creative Chaos "Perfect Little Labels" Journalling Spot
Accessories: SU Retired "Lexicon of Love" Text Stamp; Colorbox "Yellow Citrus" & "Tangerine" Chalk Cats Eye; Versafine Black Ink

Happy Mother's Day & April's My Scrapbook Nook Projects

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!!

I hope you all are having a lovely day with your families. I was blessed to have been invited by my sister-in-law to join an early Mother's Day outing with her and my mom this past Thursday at the Huntington Gardens. We walked through the gardens while looking through the art exhibits and then enjoyed a lovely tea lunch in their Rose Garden Tea Room.


I took a few days off from work to just decompress and its been a relaxing 4 day weekend so far. Its been awhile since I've updated my blog with scrappy work, so I'm making up for loss time today and I'll have a few more to share with you through out the week. :)


Here's what I created with the April kit from the Nook:

This first one is of my best friend Jim. I've known Jim, it seems for forever, since I walked on that first bus trip to Mammoth with my ski club 13 years ago with a pillow. (See, I was much much MUCH thinner back then, and he saw the big pillow first before me, so its our running joke.) Jim suffered a stroke approximately 3 years ago and has been making incredibly strides in his recovery. We recently went out and had Chinese for lunch before we went out for a movie. It was great seeing how self proficient he is now. Jim, I know you're reading this because I'm going to send you a link to this blog post. Remember, you flashed me in your hospital bed back in Dec 06? You don't remember it, but I will forever have your er...body seared into my memory!! Thank you very much! not! LOL, anyway, yes...we will be going on a trip soon together Jim...I can feel it, its very soon! Jim, we need to do something OUTSIDE of North America next time. (That's what the journalling on the layout says.)


This "Jim" layout features tons of distressed scallops and a big circle which is just what the current challenge over at The Pink Elephant was calling for. :) That site is such a cute challenge site.

The second layout is of my BFF's Susan and Kari. We had a FABULOUS time together at Disneyland on New Year's Eve. I know it was very tiring for them doing Disney all in one day as they're both annual pass holders whereas I'm not. So, being the energizer bunny that I still am, I usually pack it all into one day, once a year. Thanks you two for being such troopers and for your friendship. I just love this picture of all of us.

I did add some swirly bling and Prima Woodstalk flowers from my own stash. I thought this butterfly kraft journalling tag, from Creative Chaos' "This and That" set which will be debuted on Jenn's etsy site on May 11th, was the perfect feminine touch for this rich layout I created using the Nook kit.

In this coming week, I'll be bombarding you with lots of scrappy goodies to make up for lost time.

Definitely check out the gallery to see what the other Nook DT's created with this fabulously gorgeous kit!

Here's the Nook's May Kit which features all this Lilly Bee yumminess!! I just received this in the mail last week, so I'm diving into this one today and will hopefully have something to share in a few days.

Those Lily Bee papers, those little diecut papers and that Webster's Pages trim ~ all to die for! That is the most gorgeous trim. You really have to see it in real life. As always the kit's packed full of goodies with some of my favorites, like the Basic Grey chipboard alphas, Maya Road chipboard trees and velvet flowers, and a handful of bling and buttons. Pure yumminess!


We also have this adorable mini kit featuring French Couture from Lily Bee too as an add on kit.


Would you like a 6 month DT position over at My Scrapbook Nook ? Check us out and play along in our month long Scrap Off to win that DT position. We're having a series of challenges for 5 weeks. Lots of fun and great prizes, including a six month term on the design team! Now that's a prize worth playing for! :)



"Jim"
Paper: Pink Paislee "Captivating" PP & Prima Packaging (Repurposed)
Embellishments: Pink Paislee "Captivating" Die Cuts (Sticker Book) & Brads; American Crafts Alpha Stickers; Prima & Petaloo Flowers; American Crafts Ribbon; Maya Road Sheers
Accessories: Embroidery Floss; Versafine Brown Ink; SU Distressing Tool

"Susan, Me & Kari"
Paper: Pink Paislee "Captivating" PP; Jenni Bowlin Black Dictionary PP
Embellishments: Pink Paislee "Captivating" Alphabet (Sticker Book); Prima Bloom Bonnet and Woodstalk Flowers; Prima Bling; Maya Road Sheers; Creative Chaos Journalling Tag
Accessories: Versafine Brown Ink; SU Distressing Tool; HS Poking Tool

Lots of Happenings & Free Digital Kit @ Marks Paper Co :)

Thanks so very much to all of you for spreading the news about Marks Paper Co! If I daresay, I feel like this new paper company is the hottest thing to have debuted from Jan '09 CHA. Whoohoo to Stacy Marks, our wonderful creator and owner of Marks Paper Co.

Now on to some NEW news.... :)

We recently had a Digital Hybrid Design Team search and I just want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our newest additions to the Marks Paper Co Design Team:

Maggie LaMarre - who's our new Marketing Director too!
Michele Ciola
Patricia Komara
Cathy Pascual
Deanna Kroll
Cindy Gilchrist
Pamela Young

Check out their blogs!! These ladies are majorly talented!! Its an honor to be on the same team with them!

Marks Paper Company is excited to celebrate the addition of our new Digital/Hybrid Design Team throughout the month of April! We’re inviting you to celebrate with us all month long!

From April 1st through the 7th, MPCo will offer a Free Digital Template Giveaway and 25% Off All Digital Kits! Visit the MPCo blog for your chance to win!

April 1st also means the reveal of our featured Guest Design Team Member who is Charity Hassel. Check out Charity's work here in our gallery!

Be sure to keep an eye on the Marks Paper Company Blog...do a MPC layout link yourself up and you just may find yourself and your work highlighted on the blog! Yep...this award! How cool!

And finally, I want to share my most recent projects using this fabulous paper. I've always been enamoured with papers that wax childhood nostalgia, and this particular paper from the Old Fashioned Courtship line just melt my heart! For my card, I used the He Loves Me/Picnic Blanket & Neck Tie/He Loves Me along with Long Walk/Rouge papers. Yeah, I know, I have a thing for the paper pleating. My friend Kari says I need to move on from this technique. Lol, in time Kari, in time!

For my layout, I used Summer Log/Meadow and Ice Cream Cone/Board Shorts from the August Collection. I was soo proud to have snapped an "artsy fartsy" photo when my Mom and I were lounging in front of the Pantheon. It took us a few days to find this monument since the streets in Rome are pretty windy crazy, especially when you're tired and your feet hurt! Later on that day, I remember, my Mom and I just hung out on the steps of that Fountain enjoying the box of chocolates that we had hand picked earlier in the morning. It was a GOOD day indeed!


I also used a few journaling bits from Photo Log Journaling Jotters set of 7 (in Kraft & White) available from Jenn Steven's etsy shop now renamed Creative Chaos.




"He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not...He Loves Me" Card
Paper: Marks Paper Co "Old Fashioned Courtship" PP; Bazzil Bark CS
Embellishments: Offray Ivory Ribbon; Jenni Bowlin Jeweled Ivory Button; Kaiser Kraft Pearls
Accessories: SU Sizzix Top Note Die; Glue Dots

"My Best Shot"
Paper: Marks Paper Co "August Collection" PP
Embellishments: Prima Lace & Flowers; Marcela by Kay Diecuts & Dimensional Stickers; MM Tiny Alphas (White); Creative Chaos "Photo Log Journalling Jotters" Spots; White "Daiquiri" AC Thickers
Accessories: AC Slick Writers in Black Fine Point; Glue Dots

A layout using Marks Paper Company....Old Fashioned Courtship

I have been fingering the "Old Fashioned Courtship" line ever since I received it from Marks Paper Company a few weeks ago. This paper seriously looks like linen and feels so creamy when you cut into it. These colors and designs are soo me!

Scrap 'N Yap just got Glimmer Mists in the store as a result of Liz Hicks teaching technique based classes at our store, so I was able to stock up on another dozen or so bottles. I can't wait for Elizabeth of the Yap to replenish her stock as well as carry even MORE colors!!

The reason I brought up Glimmer Mists is that I used a few new colors (for me that is) on this next layout I created using the "Old Fashioned Courtship" line.

I repurposed one of the priority boxes I had lying around from this week's deliveries, and I spritzed it with Mimosa (bright sunflower yellow), Latte (reddish brown) and a bit of Moonlight (dark teal). I discovered that Graphite (black) was too stark and thus not complimentary to the patterned papers. I also hand painted a few swashes of gold acrylic paint on to the edges for further texturing.


Here is a detailed photo so you can see the dimension I created with the corrugated innards of the priority box along with my paper pleated photo matting strip.


I decided to die my pom pom ribbon which was a natural (rope) color from Prima with the Mimosa Glimmer Mists to draw out the yellow of the sunflower papers. I also added in some journaling bits from Creative Chaos which are from the Fabulous Random Date Journaling Spots and Valentine Ticket bundles.

The picture is of my mom when we were vacationing in Rome during Thanksgiving back in 2006. She had gotten used to the Starbucks sized coffee drinks so she was just beside herself with the small portions in Italy. Each and every morning, she'd order 3 lattes, or cappucino's, etc..you get the drift. She pretty much became the infamous Mama! (imagine saying that in a very dramatic Italian accent complete with hand gestures!) at the cafe we frequented in the mornings before we started our day of sight seeing! Ai-ya-ya...my mommy can be soo funny! Therefore, my layout is entitled "Bon Giorno Mama!"

I'll be back with another Marks Paper Company project tomorrow to share! Definitely check out the gallery, cuz the DT have really outdone themselves this month.



"Buon Giorno Mama" Layout
Paper: Marks Paper Co "Old Fashioned Courtship" PP; Repurposed USPS Priority Box for Corrugated Base
Embellishments: Prima Natural Lace; "Mimosa, Latte and Moonlight" Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists; Misc. Metallic Gold Acrylic Paint; Misc Fabric rak'd by Stacy Marks of Marks Paper Co; Staples yellow paper clip; Creative Chaos "Fabulous Random Date Journalling Jotters" & "Valentine Ticket Bundle" Spots
Accessories: Glue Dots

Urban-Anthology March Kit Sneak Peek!!

Its time for a sneak peek of the Urban Anthology March 2009 Kit entitled "Flowers in the Attic." This kit is packed full of the newest products released at the Winter CHA show! And I have to confess, that this one will be my most personal favorite because I finally got to go HOG wild with Jenni Bowlin! {There seriously are perks to designing kits...he he, cuz I get to have all my favorites each and every month!}

Can you see some of the Jenni Bowlin, Prima, and Cosmo Cricket in there? And, the color palette is so soft and beautiful! I cannot WAIT to get my hands on this kit!

I'm also proud to announce that Jenn, who owns Creative Chaos, a wonderful etsy store who specializes in journalling bits, will be designing embellishments JUST for Urban-Anthology!!

Take a look at these precious additions that will be included in the March "Flowers in the Attic" Urban Anthology Kit!!

Stay tuned, as the FULL kit reveal will happen on March 1st, which is just a matter of a few days away. You don't have to wait that long to purchase yours, as you can buy it now to make sure you get this kit. Its already selling REALLY well as of this morning's announcement and there's just a few left now.

Be sure to check out all the sweet journalling bits from Creative Chaos too! {See my blog post below for my projects showcasing items from Creative Chaos.}

Embellish Online & Creative Chaos DT Gallery Reveal

Love is in the Air over at Embellish-Online this February!! Barb got BG's Bittersweet in, so I got to play with this gorgeous line this month for my DT projects! She also has the new BG Marrakech and BG Porcelain lines in too!

Here's what I created for our February DT Gallery reveal using the BG Bittersweet line. I couldn't help myself by adding a bit of Jenni Bowlin scraps in since JB is my other most favorite line! My new friend Jason likes this first card the best because he says he likes the dictionary text background; the others are too Valentiney he says...lol! I say the man has GREAT taste if he loves Jenni Bowlin too! (Jason, you've earned Big Brownie points with me for liking what I like!)

I'm really enamored with paper pleats so I created some contrast by pleating the rose fuscia colored BG Bittersweet papers against the paler BG patterned paper and the JB dictionary paper. I added a K&Co banner sentiment for a soft contrast and a splash of color against the JB dictionary paper and finished it off with a sheer brown organza ribbon.

For my second card, I obviously wasn't done with my obsession with paper pleats. This idea of pleating the edges was inspired by Jeja who is an amazingly talented scrapper who posts over at My Scrapbook Nook.


The heart shape was traced from an acrylic book that was raked to me by the sweet and generous Christine who is a fellow DT member at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog with me. I layered BG Bittersweet chipboard elements, Prima flowers and some gold flowers I found in the Christmas clearance section at Michaels around this really awesome journalling spot from Creative Chaos. This particular spot is from the Sampler Pack List Journaling Jotters Set. The sentiment "is time spent with you" was printed on an office manilla folder in Staccato222BT font, from which I hand cut and hand positioned/glued onto the orange journalling spot.

I also aged the edges of the Jenni Bowlin dictionary text paper fringe with my Colorbox Craft Cats Eye Inks in Peach Pastel and Tangerine, which I got at Scrap 'N Yap, to better coordinate the papers with the orange round journalling spot from Creative Chaos. Here's a detailed pic of the dimension for this particular card:

Lastly, here's my 3rd card I created for Embellish Online. The shape of the card was actually traced from some Jenni Bowlin packaging, and then I piled on some Heidi Swapp and Lil Davis flowers while arranging some BG Bittersweet chipboard flourishes around yet another Creative Chaos journalling spot. This spot comes from the Love Notes Journaling Jotters Set. {This was the card that Jason said was too Valentiney. LOL - I think that was male vernacular for too girly and too cutesy!}


I finished this card off with some Kaiser Pearls that I got from Urban-Anthology and the title sentiment was completed with my favorite alphas in the whole world: MM Tiny Alpha Stickers. The ribbon was a scrap from one of my ribbon spools found in the $1 section of Michaels. I wanted a neutral color of ribbon so that it didn't compete with the bold colors and textures of the rest of the card.

I still have one last card to share with you from my Embellish-Online February DT Gallery reveal, which I will do sometime at the end of this week. I'm running a bit behind in my schedule, so I really do have to work on my time management going forward. :(

I hope you take the time to go and check out the rest of the Embellish-Online February DT Gallery. Everyone did a phenomenal job!!!

Now, I can't sign off on this post without asking you all to go and look at my dear and talented friend Eva's blog. She won last month's Embellish-Online contest and received the entire BG Bittersweet line from Barb. You HAVE to go and see her exquisite cards that she created with the BG Bittersweet collection!! Check out Eva's card here and her amazing tutorial project here.

I know Valentine's is over, but if you're like me, you probably still have yet to scrap your Valentine's pics. I'm in a pretty lovey dovey mood lately, so I know I'll still be creating Valentiney type projects for a while. So if you're loving this new line from Basic Grey and/or wanting any of the newly released Marrakech and Procelain lines from CHA, definitely head on over to Embellish-Online. Remember, you can ALWAYS save 20% off your order if you use the coupon code.

***COUPON CODE ALERT****

Don't forget....GLITTER is the magic word to get you 20% off of your entire order. Coupon code is available everyday, all year round making Embellish-Online the BEST place to shop!

And while you're over there shopping, you might as well enter Embellish-Online's monthly contest and you, too, can be a winner just like our lovely and talented Eva. :)

***FEBRUARY CONTEST ALERT****

Barb has a FANTASTIC contest right now in which you could win a Glue Glider Pro Gun with refills. The value of this prize is about $24.00!

Here's how you can win:

Post here in this thread if you want to enter the contest! The same rules as before will apply:

1. You must post in this thread if you want to be included in the drawing.
2. You must be a member of this forum
3. You must have at least 25 posts from the time you post here
4. You must type your forum post number in the post so I know what your post count is.
5. Forum and Gallery posts all count!

Good Luck Everyone!! {You have til March 1st}



"Sweet On You"
Paper: Basic Grey "Bittersweet" & Jenni Bowlin "Vintage Black Line" PP; Bazzil CS
Embellishments: Basic Grey "Bittersweet" Chipboard; K&Co "Sweet Talk" Banner Sentiments; Offray Sheer Brown Ribbon
Accessories: SU Scalloped Border Punch; Glue Dots

"My Perfect Day is Time Spent with You"
Paper: Basic Grey "Bittersweet" & Jenni Bowlin "Vintage Black Line" PP; Bazzil CS; Office Manilla File Folder
Embellishments: Basic Grey "Bittersweet" Chipboard; Bazzil Pink Tulle; Prima Flowers; Misc Gold Roses; Gold Stickles; Creative Chaos "Sampler Pack List Journalling Set" Spot
Accessories: Sizzix Bigz Circle Scallop Die; Staccato222BT Font; Cutterbee Scissors; UHU Glue Stick; Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch; Glue Dots

"XOXOXO Sweetness!"
Paper: Basic Grey "Bittersweet"; Bazzil CS
Embellishments: Basic Grey "Bittersweet" Chipboard; Offray Beige Ribbon; Heidi Swapp & Lil Davis Flowers; Kaiser Pearls; Creative Chaos "Love Notes Journalling Set" Spot; MM Tiny Alpha Stickers
Accessories: JB Embellishment Packaging used as pattern to trace card shape; Glue Dots

New Toot! My Creative Mess Design Team. :)

I'm seriously bowled over!!! I've been bursting the last few days even though I've been feeling unwell because I've been dying to tell someone!! I'm so excited to finally share with you that I've been asked to join Jenn Steven's Creative Chaos Design Team which specializes in all sorts of customized journaling spots, flower bitties, embellishments, etc. I looove this type of product and am so very excited to be a part of Jenn's etsy site as well as a part of her team.

Out of 56 entries, here's the team that's joining resident designers Missy and Renee:

Ching Tan <<<<<<===========That's moi!! :)
Lisa Day
Pamela Young
Mimi Leinbach
Nicole Stark

I'm truly honored and soo excited about getting to work with Jenn's products. Please check out Jenn's goodies at Creative Chaos. I'm sure you'll love it just as much as I have.