Some recent papercrafts....

Here are some recent projects that I have completed. I like to use my projects for more than one event, so in some of these cases I have double- and triple-dipped...

Thank You card was made for the Funk It Up Bonus #2 project at www.scrapforums.com and also a card swap at www.iamascrapaholic.com.

"Sugar" mini book made for a project at the online crop last night at www.2scrappychixdesigns. I think I am going to realy finish this mini book with embellishments and photos and enter into a manufacturer DT contest.

Bampop 3x3 card made for a project I posted at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com for our online crop going on yesterday and today. The project is a manufacturer challenge where you are tasked to make a card or layout from Bampop and/or Sassafrass Lass. I also made this card for a 3x3 card swap at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com.

I got a lot of mileage from this layout... 1) Funk It Up Round #2 at www.scrapforums.com where I had to use the phrase "Someday I'm gonna..." on the layout. 2) HMITM Challenge #25 at www.hmitm.blogspot.com. A funky little blog that announces weekly challenges that really do challenge you to use up your supplies on hand. This particular challenge was to use 100 items on your layout excluding patterned paper, cardstock, and your photos. Not an easy task! 3) My sample for the project I posted for the online crop at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com. My project was to complete a challenge from HMITM.

2SCD Monthly Kit and Crop

This is the March 2007 Kit of the Month from 2 Scrappy Chix Designs. The kit features great papers and chipboard embellishments from Bisous for a mere $19.50. The March 2007 kit is currently sold out. However look for equally great future kits.

The monthly online crop at 2 Scrappy Chix starts this Friday. Make sure you check out the details for the online crop as well as all the other fabulous challenges and classes at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com. The winner of the monthly contest will win a $25 gift certificate. Check out the chix!!!

Funk It UP

These are projects I made for a contest I am in at www.scrapforums.com called Funk It Up. The "Troublemaker" layout is week 1 challenge. The card is week 1 bonus. It is a fun contest that lasts 6 weeks. At the end the winner {chica with the most points} wins a prize package worth about $500. Crazy! Note that I used a skull stamp that I carved myself on the layout!

Eraser Stamps

This was a fun online class that I did at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com on carving your own stamps from erasers. These are my versions. Carving the negative of the stamp is much easier than the positive.

Please excuse the mess...

I thought I would be cute and change up my blog. So now I have to redo all my links and make it fat and scrappy again. Give me a couple of days to get my act together...

5 Things...

that made me happy this past weekend {blog challenge from www.2scrappychixdesigns.com}:

1. My nutty dog Sugar
2. My boyfriend cleaning house
3. Watching movies with my boyfriend
4. Staying in on Sunday
5. Eating a late breakfast at IHOP on Saturday

I had to stretch on a couple of these since I really didn't do much but laze around the house this weekend and watch a couple of DVDs.

What are 5 things that made you happy this weekend.

Current Readings

I am currently reading this book French Fried by Nancy Fairbanks. I love the stories of Carolyn and Jason Blue even when Jason is being a jerk most of the time. Of course Carolyn gets on my nerves too sometimes spouting all the historical data about the places and events they visit in their food and chemistry travels. While I am not finished with this book yet, I would highly recommend it. As I would all of Nancy Fairbanks culinary mystery books.

Movie Reviews

My mom and I went to see "Music and Lyrics" on Valentine's Day. My mom really liked the movie. It was a good movie but did not live up to all the hype. Don't get me wrong, Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant are two cuties but something just didn't garner a warm tingling feeling at the end of the movie. Everything works out fine in the movie... it just isn't a movie that I will talk about and talk about after seeing it. Grade: B-

Edward and I watched "The Guardian" tonight. It was great. There were a couple of twists that I didn't see coming. Very heartwrenching. Please don't watch it without some tissue. Kevin Costner only gets better with age. Ashton Kutcher is a cutie in this movie. Very mature after a few immature moments. While it is heartwrenching it is also heartwarming too. Grade: A

Edward and I watched "The Departed" last night. Another great movie. How can you go wrong with Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Walberg, Matt Damon, and Alec Baldwin plus many more great actors. There was a lot of action and a lot of violence. This movied seemed to twist and turn and sometimes I felt like I was lost not knowing what was going on. The finale was upsetting but justice is served. You have got to like violence to enjoy this movie. Grade: A

New Papercrafts

Here are some new projects that I have worked up lately. All four are using the February 2007 monthly kit from


Layout from with a picture from Jacob's cowboy birthday party.

Frame for my sister of Sugar. Frame is from the Dollar Tree.

Altered frame from Maple Lane Press.

Altered frame from Kroger {grocery store}.

Blogging Goals

I am very haphazard when it comes to posting on my blog. So for now, my goal is to post at least once a week. After I get used to that... I will step it up. Not sure what the stepping it up will consist of but I am trying to set some goals for myself that are realistic!

Sub Design Team Toot

I have been invited to be a sub for a Design Team Member for April 2007 at

I Am A Scrapaholic

You cannot begin to understand how excited I am. I have been a member of this site for a little while now and their Design Team rocks. They really produce some great stuff. Of course it helps that Lynn Eon, the site owner, puts together some rockin' monthly kits. I cannot wait to get my hands on the kit and scrappin' up some stuff!!!!

2 Scrappy Chix Designs Monthly Online Crop

Go over to 2 Scrappy Chix Designs this weekend at:

2 Scrappy Chix Designs

We are having our monthly online crop starting Friday, February 9, 2007. I will be hosting from 5:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. CST. I will be posting a sketch challenge and two projects. There will be lots of prizes and comraderie to be had by all.

Transparency Layout

Here is my latest layout that I have finished:

I used a transparency for the background paper. Additional supplies used: My Mind's Eye Bohemia patterned paper, embroidery thread, Foofala buttons, May Arts and Basic Grey Ribbon, We R Memory Keepers rub-ons and chipboard letters/photo corner.

I really love the finished product as well as the look of the transparency.

2SCD Sale... BIG Sale!

The clearance section of 2 Scrappy Chix Designs is 50% off:

2 Scrappy Chix Designs

A bunch of great stuff on clearance... Cosmo Cricket, Crate Paper, Basic Grey, and so much more. Current lines too!

2SCD Monthly Contest - January

2 Scrappy Chix Designs is holding their monthly contest. This month's winner by random drawing will receive a Cuttlebug and a set of dies. Hurry because the deadline is January 31st. Just follow the rules of the contest and upload your entry into the gallery... Here is the link:

2 Scrappy Chix Designs

2SCD Sale and Preview

www.2scrappychixdesigns.com is having a 40% off sale on paper kits. Great selection of My Mind's Eye Bohemia, Crate Paper, Cosmo Cricket, and more. Here is a sneak peak at the upcoming monthly kit:

Manufacturer's Challenge: Technique Tuesday

Here are two fun projects I submitted to the Manufacturer's Challenge for Technique Tuesday at Pub Calls:

Pub Calls Blog

"A Charmed Life" 8x10 Layout/Altered Canvas is also for my Design Team entries at 2 Scrappy Chix Designs:

2 Scrappy Chix Designs

The main supplies used are Technique Tuesday "Underground" acrylic stamps, Gin X patterned paper and coaster chipboard, Bazzill cardstock, Petals & Possibilities metal "A", Avery file folder labels, and Spare Parts acrylic letters.


"Howdy" 6x6 card uses Technique Tuesday "Calamity Jane" acrylic stamps, Cosmo Cricket "Wanted" patterned paper, Bazzill cardstock, faux embossed leather paper, jute ribbon, Making Memories brads and safety pin, and Western charm.

2SCD Online Crop

More stuff that I created for some challenges during this weekend's online crop at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com...

2SCD Online Crop - Sketch Challenge

Another project I did at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com this weekend for their online crop... a sketch challenge. The sketch is from www.scraproomblueprints.com. The website has a bunch of different samples of sketches for different size layouts and cards. Check it out!

2SCD Online Crop - Tag Class

This is a fun class that I hoted at www.2scrappychixdesigns.com online crop this weekend. The tags are extremely simple to make. You also see a close-up and samples of how I used the tags. Happy Valentine's Day {early}!

Online Crop and Sale

is having a sale on patterned paper... 60% off. There are lots of good stuff to be had there... 2 Scrappy Chix Designs is also hosting an online crop this weekend. Join us on Friday through Sunday for loads of fun with challenges, classes, contests, etc. There will be prizes! Join the great group of chix that will inspire you, support you, and have fun with you!

Click here to join the fun!

BFF

Best friends forever... or not. I miss not having a best friend. Remember back in the day when you thought your school friend would be your best friend forever. I know this is the case for some people. My sister graduated high school almost 20 years ago and is close friends with about 5 girls. I don't know if she would classify any as her best friend but they are still all very close and get together several times during the year. I have a couple of friends but not any that I can call up at any time of the day or night just to talk. No one to really share my thoughts and feelings. Not a close confidente.

I had a very good friend until a couple of years ago. I would call her on a regular basis just to talk. We got together every once in awhile as we lived a couple of hours apart. But I got tired of being a better friend to her than she was to me. I got tired of our friendship being one sided. I don't think she meant for this to happen. She had a baby. She was having trouble in her marriage. She was going to school to become a nurse. I stopped calling. She never called to begin with so there were no calls from her. I moved. I moved three times even. I finally got a hold of her through her mom and tried to restart our friendship. Nothing. Oh I tried. I called her several times. We talked a couple of times. Really talked. I have left several messages on her voicemail with no return calls. I give up.

I don't think I am a selfish person. I try to be a good friend. I try to be thoughtful. I try to remember important dates. I try. Why doesn't anyone want to try to be my friend? It is heart breaking sometimes. I am extremely close with my mom and my sister. We do talk. But it isn't the same.

As an older adult how do you find a best friend forever? I have tried. I have joined different groups with similar interests. Nothing.

Just wanted to get this off my chest. The pity party is over. I am confident that one of these days I will find a BFF.

Design Team Here I Come...

I have been selected for my first official Design Team at:

2 Scrappy Chix Designs

It is a fantast message board, gallery, and store. I am so happy to be a part of the first Design Team. Here are my submission entries for the Design Team:

Homemade Christmas

This is an altered canvas that I made my mother for Christmas. Photos taken around where we live and printed in sepia tone. I wanted a Western (Texas) feel to this project and hope I accomplished it.

I've been a very good girl...

this year according to my Creative Escape 2006 Secret Santa. This is the package I received from her last week. It contained these fabulous altered wooden "?" and "!" and they are HUGE. An altered box for ribbons with four clothespin full of ribbon. Patterned paper and embellishments from My Mind's Eye and 7 Gypsies. Chipboard albums from 7 Gypsies and Maya Road. And an altered canvas bag with the most fabulous fiber and beaded trim. You can see that it is all in one of my favoritist colors--ORANGE. A BIG gracious thanks goes to my Secret Santa... whoever you are.

Disregard

Disregard... just needed to post so I can upload this image on a MB. Thanks!

Sugar

This is the latest member of our family. We saw Sugar and her brother last week (Wed) --just strays that I hadn't seen before. The next day I found her brother with a bullet wound. I took him to the vet but the vet discovered his internal damage was too extensive so we needed to have him euthanized. On Sunday, we found Sugar. Sugar was limping severely but otherwise fine. I believed she had been hit by a car and her leg was broken. On Monday we went to the vet. I was surprised to get a call a few hours after I dropped her off that she was ready to be picked up. No broken leg at all just really sore with a bad infection. I was so prepared for a broken leg and possible amputation that I didn't feed her after 9pm on Sunday night. Sugar is recuperating just fine!

Skullalicious

I am in love. I am in love with Caution Girl by Marah Johnson for Creative Imaginations! Can I just GIRL CRUSH on Marah!!! This beautiful line of paper is finally available through:

Scrappin Trends

They also had the Love Struck line too--but sucks to be you because it is SOLD OUT!


But I am happy to say that Nikki and I were able to order these fantastic products!!! Nanny nanny boo boo!!!

I want to thank Marah Johnson and her blog:

Random

for the link to the online where her paper line is finally available. And I want to thank Scrappin Trends since I stole the images of the paper lines from there {sorry!}!

Shleepy Baby

This is my shleeping Baby this morning. She looked snug as a bug in a rug so I had to take a couple of minutes to snap some pix. Note: Those aren't "Red Eyes" on the Babes... Baby has gone blind this year so her eyes are cloudy. Baby does pretty good for being blind--she gets around the house great. Her hearing has always been good but it has gotten even better. Baby is the best snuggle bunny. She sleeps right in my lower back at night. If I move, she moves.

Freakfest

I have been wanting to go to the Texas Renaissance Festival for years. This year was my chance. Edward and I went last weekend. While we had a great time--it is not a place for the timid and meek. It is an absolute Freakfest. I understand all the participants dressing and acting the part but it was the visitors that got me. I did love some of the costumes but have to wonder if some of it wasn't their normal wear. I loved all the freaks for coming out even if I am not one of them... If I am not a freak what was I doing there...

Altered Composition Notebooks

Here are some altered composition notebooks that I am sending my friend Sher from Creative Escape. She is donating them to a women's shelter.

Heidi Swapp

Just uploading a photo from Creative Escape of me and the lovely Heidi Swapp. I am the beauty of the left (wink, wink)!

Sexy Rexy

This is Rex. Rex didn't start out as a part of the family. Rex adopted us as his family. Rex is an ugly hound dog that lived at the neighbors.






But Rex was lonely. Rex saw that we had a lot of dogs at our house to play with. Rex would come over to play. Sometimes he would go home; sometimes he wouldn't. Sometimes Rex's other family would pick him up; sometimes we would take him home. One day Rex decided to stay and hasn't ventured home for too long. Rex has decided he is home now. Rex is a character. Rex always has to chew on your hand. Not too hard, mostly gentle. And his slobber gets all over you--and it isn't cute especially after he has been eating and he has wet crumbs on the sides of his mouth. If Rex can't chew on your hand, he goes for the next best things--your shirt or your pants. Or he just lays at your feet so you can't move. Rex has charm. Charm is what makes Rexy Sexy!

Crop for a Cure

I am getting ready this week to attend a Crop for a Cure on Saturday at my LSS, Scrapbook Country, College Station, Texas. It is an all day long crop where the fee is going to be donated to the American Cancer Society. I always get a little excited to attend a crop. Anxiety hits when I start packing my kits but excitement is always in the air. I think I am going to take kits for some of these projects:

* Creative Escape album
* Advent Calendar (cookie sheet)
* Birthday Calnendar (my take of Carol's CE project)
* CJ
* Halloween mini album (in progress)
* Cigar Box/trinket box

These are the projects for sure that I will be taking to work on. Course it is a long croppin' day so I need to get my rear in gear and kit up some more projects.

RAK Winners

Okay I have finally decided on the winners of my RAKs...

Carrie
Kristin
Kathy
Leslie
Lyn
Jeanne {Furoaks}

No particular reason for choosing these winners--except to say I liked what they said. All the players had a great reason for their favorite holiday.

Watch for more RAKs to come in the future. Now I challenge each RAK winner to Pay It Foward and pass on a good dead to another deserving friend...

New Obsession

This man is my new obsession. I have been watching the movie "Domino" on HBO. I am so in love with this actor. His name is Edgar Ramirez and he plays Choco, a bounty hunter, in the movie. I cannot get enough of this man!!! Love love love me some Edgar!!!

The Babes

This is a checkbook cover I made of my beautiful dog, Baby. Don't be fooled--Baby is a Yorkshire Terrier. She just likes to mix it up sometimes and got a Scottie cut for this picture. Baby is just that my baby. She is the love of my life. Baby turned 9 years in September. Just this year she has gone blind. For awhile she was depressed and then she became her old self again. Baby is known by many names... The Babes, Babalicious, Shrimpapotamus, Suge, Suges, Babykins, Shrimpanoodle, Tiny Heinie. To Nikki she is the greasiest ghetto dog that is AKC registered. To me she is precious!

I wanna RAK your world!!!

I am in another mood to RAK some friends from Creative Escape 2006. Yes I know I just RAKed 5 people last week. So what!?!?! Maybe those same five friends want anothe RAK.

To qualify for these RAKs, post a response to the following question:

What is your favorite holiday and why? (Just a brief little explanation needed).

I will select a few (not saying exactly how many--but it is more than one) winners from the comments and send some RAKs. DEADLINE: You must submit a comment by Friday, October 13, 2006 to be considered for a RAK. Who said Friday the 13th was an unlucky day?

I LUV BLOGS

I am a lurker for the most part in most of the message boards I belong to. I don't pipe up and respond to too many posts. Mainly I read the messages. Oh I get a lot of information from MBs... New trends, bad products, good/bad websites, different uses for supplies, upcoming events, etc. Some of MBs go way beyond discussion about fun and friendly things that get off the track of papercrafting and comraderie--that is a lot of reason why I don't participate in MBs.

But I really love Blogs. Blogs are a great way for me to lurk. I don't have to know you but I can always learn from you. Blogs give me a glimpse of great papercrafting artists out there. And when I get bored because those bloggers that I stalk haven't updated their blogs (okay no finger pointing here) but I can always look at a new blog by clicking on a link from someone's blog. Yes, my name is Kim and I am a Bloggger Stalker.

Just this morning, I was stalking a blogger and clicked on a link that gave me a great idea for some Christmas presents. Again, another reason why I love blogs.

RAKs

I can't sleep at 2:00 a.m on Monday (and yes I have to be to work at 9:00 a.m.) Anyways, I thought I would post the recipients of my Creative Escape 2006 Raks (just in case these girls happen to read my blog--highly doubtful so their RAKs will still be a surprise):

Christall Murphy
Lara Cousins
Stephanie Miller
Chiara Osborne
Kristin Bruno

I dug through my supplies and found some great stuff to RAKs these wonderful ladies with. Enjoy!

Scrappin' Fun

I went to my LSS, Scrapbook Country, College Station, Texas, for a VIP crop. I finished my Heidi Swapp clock project from Creative Escape 2006. I know the picture isn't the greatest but I couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash since my battery was basically dead. As soon as I can recharge my camera battery I will try to figure out how to turn off the flash and take a better picture. But I believe you get the idea...





I also thought I would upload this lovely picture of Heidi Swapp and myself. I am the gorgeous girl on the left.

On my way to the crop, I was thinking to myself why aren't attending my crops lately. I get to meet new people as well as get stuff done (okay it is more of a theory that I actually get stuff done but I do work on stuff...)

I signed up for a class at my LSS but have put off on the crops until I see the November schedule since I can't make any of the October dates. Nikki and I are attending a weekend retreat in Buffalo, Texas, in November. So I do have that to look forward to...

Creative Escape

I am back from attending Creative Escape. It was a fantastic weekend as well as exhausting. I felt like I never stopped from the moment Nikki and I left my house to drive to Phoenix till I got back home. The classes at Creative Escape were great. The logistics of Creative Escape were not so great. I will let Heidi Swapp and Doug Jones (Mr. Bazzill) have a learning curve on this one. We were the guinea pigs for the first ever Creative Escape and I am glad to be a guinea pig. I am so glad that I was able to attend Creative Escape 2006.

I have been home over a day now from Phoenix and I am still completely exhausted. I think the swelling of my ankles (I am assuming from the driving) is almost back to norm (so that just means my ankles are regular fat).

I would have to say that the trunk show at Creative Escape was one of the highlights. I got to see actual paper crafted items by all the artists/instructors of Creative Escape. They were scraptacular projects. It was more than just seeing what they created for a class and I copied. These were actual personal items produced by the instructors.

I can't say that I will attend next year's Creative Escape but am glad to say that I was at the first Creative Escape!! Thank you to Heidi Swapp, Doug Jones, instructors, volunteers, sponsors, and especially my fellow students. I loved meeting all the ladies that I was able to meet. Thanks to all of you for making me and my sister's weekend in Phoenix and true joy!!!

P.S. This picture is from the Epson team that were on-site at Creative Escape. Nikki is on the left and I am on the right in our "Fat & Scrappy" tees that we made especially for Creative Escape!!!

Unloading Scrap Crap...

This past weekend I participated in a scrap supplies garage sale at one of my favorite scrapbook stores, The Scrapbook Junkie in Kemah, Texas. The basics are you sign up for a spot at the garage sale, gather up all your unwanted/unneeded scrap crap, and sell! We got store credit from our sales. I unloaded almost $200 of stuff (and still took home about 1/3 of the stuff I brought). I was so delighted that I unloaded that much junk and got a bunch of new junk to replace it. I bought new papers from Foofala and Heidi Grace. Loaded up on a bunch of new Heidi Swapp (gotta support my girl especially since I am attending Creative Escape in a couple of weeks). Got some new bling (rhinestones). Another bottle of KI Gloo since I go through this stuff like toilet paper (meaning I REALLY go through it!) Bought an aluminum album from Pine Cone Press. There is so much more that I can't even think. It was really hard to pick out $200 worth of scrap supplies at one sitting. But I did and loved every minute of it!!

The only thing that I didn't (or shall I say couldn't) buy was the new Cosmo Cricket papers. I am so in love with this line of papers. The Scrapbook Junkie doesnt' have this paper yet. I don't know if I can wait--might have to order online SOON!!!

Scary Weather

As I was sitting around the house after getting off from work, a horrible storm came through out of nowhere. There was thunder, lightning, hail, and horizontal rain. After the power went out (of course it went out--I live out in the middle of nowhere in the country), we decided to take a drive to see what kind of damage the storm did. There were trees/limbs down all over. The neighbors haybarn lost its roof. And it wasn't any kind of light, cheesy roof. It was a sturdy roof that was ripped to shreds all over his farm. The power came on about 10 minutes ago, a couple minutes after we got back from our storm tour. I like living in the country but hate it when bad weather comes through. You just never know what is going to happen with the infrastructure. The electricity could be out for a couple of minutes or a couple of days. We lucked out this time...

It's Been Awhile...

since I have posted anything. Not that I am talking to anyone specific just writing a few thoughts down. But since outing myself as a blogger on the Creative Escape 2006 Yahoo! group, I thought I would update my blog.

Last weekend was my beach weekend scrap retreat near Galveston. I arrived way later than planned because I picked up my new car from the dealer in San Antonio (like 3 hours away from where I live). So by the time I drove to San Antonio, drove back home to pick up my crap, and drove to the beach house--I arrived about 10pm (12 hours from the start of my travels). I was pretty exhausted. Basically I took a shower because I felt grungy, did the requisite snacking, and went to bed. The entire weekend I got exactly two journals made and one 12x12 layout. This is by far the least amount of papercrafting I have ever accomplished--and this was a 48 hour plus weekend retreat. I have accomplished more in a six hour retreat than this whole weekend. Anywho... I had a great time. Good friends (some new, some old), great food, and lots of laughs. I got to play with my friend Dona's new Pazzle. There were some bugs to work out but Dona being a demonstrator with them, she was going to call them first thing on Monday to see what the problems were. We did cut out multiple die cuts that I need for my Rolodex swap for Creative Escape. I also met Nancy during this weekend. I have been hating on Nancy for quite awhile now. Let me explain... Nancy is this fantastic papercrafter that is on the Design Team at Novel Approach (in Friendswood, I believe). Hopefully Nancy knew I was kidding when I told her I hated her and her mother (well actually the cake her mother made). Not only did Nancy product some great stuff this weekend but she also brought a cake her mother made. It was a German chocolate cake with a layer of what I am guessing is cream cheese in the middle. You will not only want to eat this whole cake (and make yourself very very sick in the process) but you will want to kill anyone that dares come near this cake let alone with a fork. The cake (and Nancy's papercrafts) is to die for!!!

My goal this week is to get my (s)crap together for a scrapbook garage sale at The Scrapbook Junkie (in Kemah) next weekend. I have too much junk that I don't use to just be sitting around in the resource center. And what a better way to get rid of it (versus just throwing it away) is to sell it and get store credit. Store credit means that much more (s)crap to put in my resource center--only this (s)crap will be all the newest stuff from CHA!!!