So Very Grateful

Hello friends! Today I am sharing a selfie layout of being thankful and grateful.  On a more personal note, I am celebrating my birthday today and actually I am not sad but happy and reflective.  I don't intend for this to seem that I am self absorbed, it just makes me reflect on how beautiful life is and after being on this earth for a number of  years it makes me realize that I have come through a lot of tragedies and challenges in my life and I can honestly say that I am happier in my life more now than ever. Sure, I physically feel my age at times, but mentally I feel 25.  I just wish I had the wisdom when I was 25. Ha!

It really is all about attitude and making the most of everyday and counting my blessings.  My life isn't perfect, but it's still wonderful.  I also am grateful for scrapbooking.  It really is an amazing hobby that lets me reflect on the memories, the beauty and the loved ones in my life.  If truth be known, I have always loved anything crafty, but scrapbooking by far brings me the most contentment.  I have met so many beautiful people, whom I call my friends, my support network and the people that get me.  Thank you for letting me share my passion with you and thank you for taking the time to read and visit my blog. I hope, if anything, you can take that we all need to do something we love, whether it's art, music, photography, cooking, sports or anything.  We need to do more of what we love and make the time for it.  Life happens and it's easy to get sucked into the monotony of everyday life so now,  more than ever, we need to slow down and take time for ourselves.

Well enough about that….  So getting back to business, I wanted to share a layout that I created for A Flair For Buttons.

I have been blessed to be on this amazing team and Shelley Haganman is so sweet and positive and she makes amazing flair buttons.  It's no surprise that I can't help but use her flair on almost every layout I create.  It always inspires me.  For this particular layout, I used the Fox And Owl Flair Set for the "thankful" flair button and the striped flair button as well as the Gobble Gobble Flair Set for the green patterned flair button.

 The patterned papers are all from the Simple Stories Sweater Weather Collection as well as the enamel dots, die cuts and chipboard embellishments.  I love anything that Simple Stories comes out with.

For the leaves, I actually handcut them using one of the leaves as a template and arranged them in a layered fashion using pop dots underneath some of the leaves to give some shadow and dimension.

  I had some burlap in my stash so I cut it and matted my photos and cut circles and placed the circles on the leaves and underneath the flair button to give it more texture.

Placing enamel dots around the layout gives it more of a Fall flair to gives the appearance that the leaves are falling down the page.  Most of my layouts have either machine stitching or some hand stitching because I love the homespun look and am an old fashioned girl at heart.  It probably has something to do with my cross-stitching days as well. 

Here are the flair button sets that I created my layout with:

Fox And Owl Flair

 Gobble Gobble Flair

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a good day and are able to take time to do something you love.

Stuck?! Sketches May 1 Sketch Reveal

Happy first day of May!  Today is the May 1 Sketch Reveal over at Stuck?! Sketches and my hubby is going to be celebrating his 50th birthday this month and to celebrate, he got a new car.  No this isn't a mid life crisis.  He truly is a car lover and especially loves Camaros and this is his sixth Camaro that he has owned.  He is happy to have a convertible and I am looking so forward to lots of drives this spring and summer.

I tried to add lots of grunge and texture to this layout by adding burlap, a stencil, and some chipboard and wanted to give it an ultra masculine feel.  Here is the wonderful sketch that I used created by Laura Whitaker.  I flipped the sketch.

Thanks for dropping by. To see the full design team reveal and to upload your take on the sketch for a fabulous prize, check it all out here.

Supplies

Burlap
Chipboard - Creative Embellishments
Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug Diamond Plate
Embossing Powder - Ranger, Sugar Loaf Products
Patterned Papers - Kaisercraft Garage Days Collection
Pen - Marvy Uchida
Ranger Metal-pressions Adhesive Metal Sheet
Stamp Ink - Color Box
Stencil - Tim Holtz Burlap Layering Stencil
Wood Embellishment - Studio Calico

Country Living Layout

Hello friends! Happy Sunday!  Today I would like to share a layout I created using the We R Memory Keepers Country Livin' Collection.  I love the mountains nearby and I love to go to the country every chance I get.  It just gives me peace.  It must be all the fresh air and the open space and sky and of course the beautiful landscapes and  animals.

I created this using Sketch #267 over at Creative Scrappers.  I rotated the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Supplies

Burlap - Canvas Corp.
Flare Button - Paper Bakery
Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Gathered Twigs
Patterned Paper - We R Memory Keepers (Country Livin' Collection)
Letter Stickers - October Afternoon
Twine - Karen Foster Designs
Wood Embellishments - Recollections, Studio Calico

Scrap Lifting Challenge

Hello scrappy friends!  I hope you have a wonderful Easter!  Today I wanted to share a layout I created for The Scrap Lifting Challenge.  I have always been a fan of Christin Gronslett's style and thought I would play along with the challenge and scrap lift her layout.

I chose these photos of my cat Sheldon who is quite the character.  The middle photo I captured in "mid yawn" and I thought it looked like he was laughing.  I used papers from the new collection Be Different by Fancy Pants Designs.   

Here are some more closeups of my layout

Thanks for stopping in and have a great Easter!

Supplies

Burlap
Acrylic Stamps - Kaisercraft
Cardstock - American Crafts
Chipboard Hearts - Studio Calico
Diecut - Silhouette America
Distress Paints - Tim Holtz
Enamel Dots - My Mind's Eye
Mists - Heidi Swapp
Patterned Papers - Fancy Pants Designs "Be Different" Collection
Roller Stamp - Glitz Design
Wood Embellishments - Studio Calico

Gratitude Jar - Susan K. Weckesser

Hello everyone!  I hope you are staying warm.  Happy New Year.  Today I am sharing my Gratitude Jar that I created with Susan K. Weckesser's lovely collection of "Live In Color" patterned papers.

To make this jar, I gathered a canning jar that I had in my cupboard and added some burlap for texture.  I fussy cut the label, flowers and bird from Susan's "Live In Color Collection" and also cut a strip of the green paper and used a border punch on the top and bottom edge and adhered it near the bottom of the jar to look like grass.  Next I went around the jar adhering the flowers and embellishing the center of the flowers with some embellishments.  I then adhered some Canvas Corp. ribbon around the jar lid and some Karen Foster Design twine and a metal word around the neck of the jar.  Finally, I adhered a wood doily to the bottom of the jar with some adhesive squares.  I had some green paper left over so I cut tiny strips that I could use in the jar to write what I am grateful for everyday.  When the end of 2014 arrives, I will take out the written papers strips and look back on what I was grateful for.  Here are some closeups of my jar.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are inspired to use Susan K. Weckesser's  gorgeous Live In Color Collection of patterned papers to create your own gratitude jar.  Have a lovely day!



Supplies Used:

Adhesive - 3 L Adhesive Dimensional Squares, Beacon 3-in-1
Border Punch - Fiskars
Burlap - Springs Creative
Jewel Embellishments - Prima Marketing
Metal Embellishment - Tim Holtz
Patterned Papers - "Live In Color Collection" (Susiebee Studios Inc.)
Ribbon - Canvas Corp.
Twine - Karen Foster Design (Tawny)
Wood Embellishments - Wood Doily (Maya Road), Wood Word (Studio Calico)