Memories Artwork Designs

Out for a little while....back soon!

Dear Scrapper friends!

I apologize for not posting for some time now. One week ago yesterday I had surgery on my right shoulder, so I am still recooperating. I hope you understand! I'm really missing my scrapbooking and TaeBo horribly! I haven't been able to do sports for a few months now. Yikes....and my pants are getting mighty tight! But I'm hopeful to start doing a little bit of something soon. :-)

There is a project I am working on for Scrapbooking Stuttgart's design team. (It was supposed to be for January....but I had to delay due to the OP.) I recently watched a few videos at www.mycraftchannel.com (very cool btw!) and checked out a few of Teresa Collin's videos and one of them inspired me to make a book about me (A-Z). What an amazing lady, really. Love her style, her products, her personality. :-) Since Yvonne from Scrapbooking Stuttgart sent me these lovely Echo Park papers, I thought I would use them all in this book. I will be posting as I go along, since A-Z is a lotta pages and I don't want to jot something meaningless down under each letter. It will take some time and thought about who I am, what I do, what I like etc. I was able to get a cover started before the OP, so here is a little sneak peak of that one. Fun, fun papers for sure!

 

Lots of my stash is being used as I really need to "use" it up. Sometimes I'll look at something and think "That's so pretty that I will have to use it for something really special." ...Now that is just silly of me. That just means I will never use it. I should consider all the things I make special, right!? Then I will be "forced" to actually use it up. :-) 

In other news...

My hubby just recently had an operation a week prior to mine as he had a ruptured hernia. Yikes! He's pretty much okay now, but still has to be very careful. While he was in the hospital, my daughter Jenna had to have one of her baby teeth pulled as it had decayed and infected her gums. :-( She was very brave though....but then again, she had a wonderful dentist specializing in children's dental care. Not like the witch on duty during Christmas vacation. That was a definite disaster.

Next week it is back to work with a hopefully good shoulder! Some days are better than others. Today... not so good. Maybe it's the snow, I dunno. ;-) I'll tell you one thing.... I cannot WAIT for Spring to arrive! Seriously now! -14°C is not funny, with or without the sun.

Thoughts....

Thinking about my parents every day. And I worry and worry. I know I shouldn't, but with Dad and his massive heart problems, one kidney and cancer...well, I just can't help myself obviously. My mom has constant back pain and exhaustion, especially making sure Dad is always okay, driving him to the hospital for all of the doctor's appointments. And believe me, there are many. The guilt of not being able to be there to help is not easy to deal with. I try to call at least daily...I'm just afraid. Something that all people go through at some stage in their life.

Okay... nuffa that emotional stuff!! Gotta rest the arm now. Just wanted to pop by and let everyone know I'm still around. 

Have a super crafty day!

 

 

 

Exciting News for me! I'm published! Whoohoooo!

I'm finally able to let it out, my exciting news (well, at least for me it's exciting) ;-). 

 

First....I've been published!!! I was very honored that Simea Gut asked if I would like to contribute in her new book (available a to order on Amazon.de), called  "Fotoalben gestalten: Der große Grundkurs Scrapbooking"

 

 

I can't wait until it comes out in a little bit! :-))) The cover looks very cool and I'm very excited about being in an actual book! Wow!... Thank you Simea! You are the best! One of the coolest gals I know, seriously.

If you speak German (haha) you gotta get this book!

 

My second big announcement, also extremely exciting for me, is being accepted on the Design Team for Scrap-Art-Zine, a German Scrapbooking Magazine (and there are not too many out there on the subject)!! This was a great Christmas present for me and Lord knows I needed some exciting news. If it would make my Dad better, I would give it all up in a heartbeat though. Anyway... I'm trailing off! Design Team, Magazine... I mean how COOL is THAT!? You can check it out here: http://www.scrap-art-zine.de 

Of course, this was a huge honor to be picked as well! I was hoping for this for a long, long time and finally I made it. I feel really, really lucky. Hope this is a winning streak in other areas of my life as well. :) Can't wait for the Spring edition to come out. YAY! A must-order!!

 

In other news... doing some Spring cleaning here and there, taking care of the administrative stuff....and oh, btw, I'm having a operation on my shoulder in 2 weeks! (yikes) They will be removing some kind of talc build-up in there that is causing pain.....pain that I've been dealing with off an on for about 8 years. So...I think it's about darn time it is taken care of! Although I'm not really excited about having an operation, it is better than being in pain the rest of my life. 

And we will be going to Turkey on vacation this year! YAY! The Robinson Club, supposedly the best Robinson Club in Europe according to employees we've "interviewed". It is toward the end of summer though, so it will be a lonnng wait. But, I'm also hoping to have an extended weekend with one of my best friends Anja somewhere sunny and relaxing. Hopefully we'll get it together, huh!

Have some other exciting news....but am not in a position to reveal at the moment, but hopefully soon! Hee! Stay tuned!

That is all for now. Hope everyone has a splendid Sunday and remember - make time for yourself, you deserve it!

Take care now,

 

Design Team Work - Scrapbooking Stuttgart November/December 2011

November/December 2011's Design Team project for Scrapbooking Stuttgart was to make 2-3 Christmas cards from the materials that was sent to each of us. So this is what I made...simple, but cute:

The supply list included the following:

• Kraft Cardstock
• Assorted ribbon Rayher Christmas
• Brads Rayher
• Cart-us Christmas Collection
• Cart-us Paper Pad Christmas Collection
• Die Cuts with a View - The Christmas Box of Cards
• Kars wooden ornaments
• Various fabric decor

All materials can be purchased at www.scrapbookingstuttgart.de. 

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend!

 

Altered Projects & Cards

Goodness! I just looked to see when I last blogged and it was SEPTEMBER!!! I'm SO bad! Sorry guys, don't know what happened there. I guess I got so wrapped up in my custom orders that I've neglected my blog. Never to fear, I'm not gone, no way. ;-)

Aside from my custom orders, I did a few other things along the way.... 

A birthday card from my nephew.....

Some altered letters for www.scrapbookingstuttgart.de

A marathon congrats card for my hubby....

A 60th birthday card....

A sympathy card...

custom order of Slovenian Christmas cards

A so sorry card for friend who's birthday I totally forgot (shame on me)..

Last, but not least.... a Halloween Card.... :)

I would have more to show you if I was authorized by some of my customers, but they prefer not to have me display their customs orders....such a shame... ;-)

 

If you are needing me to design any Christmas cards or gifts for anyone, place our order now, because Christmas is not too far away! 

 

August Kit from Scrapbooking Stuttgart - Altered Cardboard Crown

I just fell in love with the new August Kit from Scrapbooking Stuttgart, as I've always wanted to do something like this for Jenna, either in the form of a mini-album or as decoration for her room. So, this was perfect for me and I could hardly wait to do something with it. I had to work with it right away!

Jenna is a real "girly girl", so the paper that came with it was perfect for her room and she was excited when I showed it to her. Danny thought it was super cute too.  LOL Something like this belongs in every little girl's room!

Supplies from the kit (buy it for 12€ in the shop at Scrapbooking Stuttgart) :

• Rayher Papermachè crown
• Bazzill Kraft Cardstock 12x12"
• DCWV Mariposa Paperpack
• Metal trinkets
• E line paper flowers
• Gem brad
• Gems
• Crochet lace
• Ribbons, red & cream (not used in this example)

Other supplies:

• white acrylic paint
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Modgepodge
• Martha Stewart butterfly punch
• 1-1/2" Paper Shapers circle punch
• Packaging string (from the Juli Kit)

Then I also made this card from leftovers from the kit: 

I hope I was able to give you a bit of inspiration...

Have a wonderful start into the new week and to all the schwabian folk, have a good summer vacation time!

 

 

Scrapbooking Stuttgart DT Work - School Layout

Yayyy! I'm blogging! I'm so sorry it took this long, it's just been crazy like it always is after vacation and nearing school end with all the parties to prepare for and attend, plus I've been filling custom orders (which is not really a bad thing). 

Anyway, I was asked to work with a little kit provided to me by Scrapbooking Stuttgart and this is what I came up with. I realized that I never really scrapped Jenna's 1st day of school (shame on me!!). So, these papers from Sassafrass were the perfect thing for that! So here goes nothing:

 

Products used from the kit:

Sassafrass Paper pad Amplify

Bazzill Basics Kraft Cardstock

Wooden Ornaments

Rayher Brads "Nail"

Rayher Brads "Screws"

Prima Marketing Craftable flowers white, 3 sizes

Other products used:

Distress Ink Tumbled Glass, Barn Door, Marmalade

Perfect Pearls powder Rust

 

All of these can also be found at the Scrapbooking Stuttgart Shop and the little kit is also for sale there for 10 Euros plus shipping!

 

Design Team Work - Scrapbooking Stuttgart

As Design Team member at Scrapbooking Stuttgart, I was recently sent some products to use for whatever I wanted. Once I got started, there was no stopping me! LOL With just two sheets of double-sided patterned cardstock, twine, 3 kraft gift bags, brads and metal embellies, (and a few items from my stash) this is what I came up with. 

 

Supplies from Scrapbooking Stuttgart:

• Cosmo Cricket Crafting Kit "Social Club" - Swingin' & Borders Papers
• Knorr Prandell Gift bags
• Brads from Rayher
• Divine Twine by whisker graphics
• Metal guitar & musical note

 

Supplies from my stash:

• Prima flower
• Tim Holtz Vintage, Shabby Shutters, Barn Door Distress ink
• Ranger crackle paint clear
• Making Memories buttons
• Fiskars border punch
• DCWV cards (brown & black)
• Hero Arts sparkle clear sentiment stamps
• Other cards (white and pink)
• Martha Stewart butterfly punch
• Kars sticky pearls
• Cuttlebug heart die cut
• White Signo marker
• Wooden butterfly

Please note that most, if not all of these supplies can be ordered at www.scrapbookingstuttgart.de. 

5 more cards with "Life of the Party" patterned papers by Basic Grey

As promised, here are 5 more cards I whipped up yesterday in the scope of design team work for Scrapbooking Stuttgart with the "Life of the Party" line by Basic Grey. I also used the Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix die "Sewing Room", really fun stuff. Check it out...

Birthday card for anyone...

 

"Thx sew much" card....thank you card (fun dress form!!) - NOW available at Scrapbooking Stuttgart!

 

"Miss you sew..." I think this turned out to be my favorite one from the batch. ;-) I'm hooked on the dress form people!!

 

"Just wanted to say hi there!" - Cutesy card 

 

"Adore" card for various occasions....mainly loving ones ;-)

 

Hope you enjoyed all the possibilities of what can be done with this great Basic Grey collection! Until next time....I'm going to enjoy the sunshine!

NEW "Life of the Party" line by Basic Grey, now at Scrapbooking Stuttgart

Hello world!

It's about time I posted something again isn't it? I was recently sent a few papers from the Basic Grey "Life of the Party" line by Scrapbooking Stuttgart to use for either layouts, cards or decor. I used a bit of it for cards (more to come) and wanted to show you what I made out of one each, white cardstock (colorcore) and bazzill kraft cardstock along with 4 papers from the BG line. So, here it goes...

 

This can be used for just about any celebration. "Block party" paper, colorcore white cardstock, various buttons, Creative Imaginations letters stickers & Fiskar's scallop punch.

 

Thank you card made with "Getting Bigger" & "How you've grown" Papers, Bazzill Kraft Cardstock, Tim Holtz Walnut Distress Ink, Cosmo Cricket Chipboard letters "western"

 

"Party" card using bazzill kraft cardstock, "getting bigger" Basic Grey pp, "candy bag" pp by Basic Grey, CI alpha stickers, Tim Holtz Walnut Distress ink.

"Happy Birthday" card with white colorcore cardstock, "getting bigger & candy bag" pp by Basic Grey, Prima flower, Prima Pebble, White Signo pen, Tim Holtz Walnut Distress ink and old mesh, fiskars scallop punch.

 

If you enjoyed this fun paper and would like to order, just head on over to the shop at Scrapbooking Stuttgart and buy on location or order online!! She's got it brand NEW!

Like I said...."more to come" so check back in a bit. ;-)

Busy weekend! Scrapbooking Layouts, Sketches, 50th birthday cards & housewarming card!!

Hello scrappers & crafters!!

I've been very busy this weekend, not only food shopping, washing, cooking, but also creating!! Lots to do and sooo little time! But, I love it or else I wouldn't make time to do it, am I right?

First of all... an ADHD story about my son, Danny, 8 years old. Yesterday, after my trip to IKEA for a new chair, I had left some scissors in the dining room after cutting off some tags. I remember putting them away and after a time I walked into the dining room and noticed a good piece of hair (blond) lying on the rug. I pick it up and look over at my son, who has this exact piece of hair missing from his bangs...now forehead showing through where there should have been hair. So, I ask him, I say "Danny, did you cut your hair?". He looks at me and says, "Me? No!...Huh??" And I say, "You're saying you didn't cut your hair." ...He says with big round eyes, "No, Mommy, I didn't!". So, I take him over to the mirror and say "Gee, that's odd...there seems to be hair missing from your bangs, now isn't THAT a coincidence!" ...Get this....he says, "But, I DIDN'T cut my hair." LOL Okay, this wouldn't be the first time he's so obviously caught in a fib and still won't admit it, even if you PROVE he did it. (ahh... life with ADD, never gets boring) He finally admitted it, but of course, could not tell me WHY he cut his hair. That's because no thought went into it. His brain said... ahhhh, scissors...cut.... hair, end of story. And then, he forgot he even did it. It was just sort of, well, the most natural and obvious thing to do. It's hard to even get mad at him for it, since he didn't do it for attention or to be mischievous. No bad thoughts behind it, just simple and unrestrained impulse. Now I know where all of those odd looking cuts in his shorts and pants are coming from...not on the knee part, but on the thigh cut at a 90° angle ("Mommy, I fell..."). Uh,...yeah, buddy, sure. But, I gotta tell you... it sure does not make it easy for me to leave him and his sister alone for any given amount of time. I'm always a bit afraid of what his impulse might tell him to do next. Know what I mean? 

So...now to the creative part... here's what I've been doin'!

This is August's Sketch I designed for the www.simea.de website for this month...

And this is the matching layout with the sketch.

Gotta love those Prima Marketing pebbles, so gorgeous!!

This layout will also be featured on Simea's website at some point this month....It's about how I LOVE strawberries. The picture colors turned out weird, because my printer was acting up, but I used it anyway, since it had kind of a retro vintage look to it. lol

closeup of the beautiful prima rose....love the vivid colors!

Please never mind the odd looking...or rather missing faces. I wanted to make sure nobody got on the web, that didn't want to be on there. ;-) Kinda reminds me of the movie "The Ring" though...a little spooky there. I made this as a going away present from the daycare mothers for one of the childminders who is leaving to work in Munich this month. LOL

 

So..."The Ring" again... this time a card for one of the childminders from the daycare for all her hard work.

 

This card was for my wonderful friend Emel, a housewarming card. She'd invited us today to check out their new house.... niiiiccccee house! :-)

And THISSSS... is a card for my brother dear who will be turning FIFTY... still can't believe it!!! Did a bit of Tim Holtz on there... Love the BINGO card!

I made this tag for the inside of my brother's card...it looked so empty. ;-) Love Tim Holtz!!!.. no, wait.. I ADORE Tim Holtz!!

This was the first draft of the 50th birthday card below. Yes, I know, it looks so completely different. LOL That is because I wasn't aware that 30 people were supposed to sign it. ;-) I'm sure I can sell it or that there will be another 50th birthday where it'll be needed. Tim Holtz again with the Grungeboard swirl shape, Fired Brick Crackle Paint and Glossy Accents over the top of it.

Last...but never least LOL, is a card I made for my friend Emel to give to her co-worker who's turning 50. She needed a BIIIIGGGG card, so that lots of people have room to sign it. So, basically, it's a 12x12" piece of cardstock folded in half. Now, THAT...is BIG!

Whew... Not done yet though...still have quite a bit planned. Classes are coming up in September using the Cinch! More on the next post!!

Until then, ... relax and CREATE!

More of my Layout Sketches

Hello fellow Scrapbookers,

I've decided to post all of the layout sketches I've done in one place for easy access. ;-) You can also visit www.simea.de where my sketches have been published as well. Now, if you'll notice, it gets more and more challenging month by month as the number of photos increase. I've gone all the way from one to ten photos in a variety of designs. Hope you enjoy them!

Be inspired!!

September 2009

October 2009

 

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

(double spread)

March 2010

 

April 2010

 

May 2010

June 2010

(posted yesterday)

Now go create something!

Altered Frame "happy Summer"

Just one more thing I wanted to do before we fly tomorrow! A nice decorative frame for my buffet in the dining room! I want to make one for all seasons. So far I have Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas and now I have summer as well! :-) Used a few scraps and my square punch...and there you have it!

I just love having things dimensional...I also removed the glass so the 3D effect would be a bit more prominent.

So.... this is it now.... for real....no more scrapping things, I promise....not until after Grand Canary... :D

Over and out!

My iPhone & Me Layout

For Simea's Design Team, I was asked to create something using packaging. I've been wanting to make a layout about my iPhone for quite a while, since I get a lot of strange looks, critique from others, saying that I'm addicted to it, or that it's a nice "toy". For me, it's an organization tool and yeah, well, sometimes a toy. This phone has changed my life. I have information available to me where ever I go, I have internet almost anywhere. I can check and make lists, to dos, input appointments, check the news, the weather, the stock market, find a location, use it to navigate in my car, send emails, blog, converse with friends on facebook, check work/private emails on the go. I can put stars on my kid's reward list, have a flashlight handy, do my banking, buy from amazon, etsy, read my books with kindle for iPhone, look up time zones, set alarms, timers, reminders, read rss feeds, currency rates, English/German dictionary, flights, hotels, train schedules, traffic jams, read the gossip, the news, skype, chat, SMS, take photos/videos, google earth, calculate, check for an emergency pharmacy, sell & buy on ebay, check tv/movie schedule, listen to radio programs, look up recipes, create voice memos, listen to music, watch videos, yoga video, mental games, other games, use paypal, see current online sales, digi scrapbook, read a story to my children..... This little piece of technology can do so much and just makes life a little bit easier, especially for someone with ADD. I think that justifies a layout, don't you? ;-)

  

 I used K&Co packaging as a photo mat for the iPhone photo. ;-) 

So, all of you people out there, that just don't understand why I love my iPhone so much....now you know! ;-)  If you watch TV, use the internet, read a book or use the phone....does that make you addicted? I rest my case.

Acrylic Mini-Album with basic instructions

My resolutions for 2010....documented within an acrylic mini-album..

     

   

   

Acrylic Mini-Album

Instructions:

There are different types of acrylic or other translucent materials.  In this case, I just got some thick transparency at a hardware store in A3 size and cut down the number of pieces I needed to 6x6 inches with a guillotine paper trimmer, which worked great. 

Then you have all of your pieces laying in front of you that you need. After that I wanted to vary the pages a bit. So, what I did was to cut various pages into shapes, but using a template I made from a Making Memories journaling pad. I used a permanent marker to trace the edge of the journaling page and then just cut it out. Since it was going to be covered anyway, the marker would be covered up. If you like you can ink the edges with staz-on ink or with acrylic paint in case you don't want to cover it with paper.

Generally, with acrylic albums, you're doing to want to plan out the pages carefully, maybe even with a sketch as you'll want to cover front an back pages equally, so as not to have adhesive, or the back of other paper or embellishments showing through the page. Sometimes, it's a good idea to use double sided paper and then you can cover any bits of adhesive with embellishments. At any rate, plan ahead so you don't run into problems there.

After cutting some of the pages into shapes, I also stamped some of the pages with stay-on ink as well for a variation in the background. Staz-on is the BEST!

Two holes are sufficient to hold the album together. I made sure to put in the holes before I started designing the album to make sure I don't cover up anywhere where I wanted the holes to be. You can use jump rings or ribbon or you can bind it with a regular binding system....whichever way you would like.

For the first time I used fabric in an album as a background. It looks as if it's sewn onto the album, but I just machine stitched a frame on the fabric and adhered with regular old tombow adhesive runner.  This worked surprisingly well. After that I needed to see what to place on the back side. Every double spread is matching in color to prevent chaos for the eyes. :-)  Generally, one page will contain a photo and the other some very important journaling.

On the page with my hubby and I, I stitched a heart on the other page before adhering the fabric, which I then also filled with buttons and pearls using gluedots.  The key I adhered with fabric glue and the keyhole with diamond glaze, which is really almost as tough as super glue, yet acid-free. I left the back side of the heart, because I liked the way it looked on the other side.

As for my resolutions, I'm thinking that if I spent so much time with this album, I just might stick to them better. Who knows?

Christmas Decorations & Cards

Hello out there! I'm still alive, just busy busy!! Aren't we all? Some of the busy time was spent creating nice things for Christmas and I wanted to show you some of what I've been doing and hope to inspire you to make some wonderful Christmasy creations of your own!

Here I took an ordinary frame and turned it into Christmas decoration for my mantle.

   

This was inspired by a card I saw on Kristina Werner's Blog. 

 

Gold embossed pillow box for small items, such as stockings, socks, jewelry, chocolates... the list is long. ;-)

I love hanging little things like jingle bells....they're so cute!

If you would like to give money, a little tag holding a gift card or money is really cute!

okay... one more card...

I'm really into the sheet music and birds (Jen Wilson digifile). I recolored the bird in photoshop, cut it out and adhered. The scroll is also made with PS Elements.

Hope this gets you into the Christmas spirit! I'm off to a Christmas market now to show children how they can decorate gingerbread men! And to freeze... LOL

Wedding Layout & One Day with Daniel

Although lots of these layouts are Design Team work, I'm so glad, because it gives me a "push" to get something done! Sometimes I'm not inspired, unlike this weekend! I've been busy.  I finally got another wedding layout done....it's really taking me long enough *g* and finally used the crystal swirls that I've had for awhile.....and another "day with danny" layout where I included some of the funny things he's said and our daily struggles of getting out the door and other things...

If you would like to know how something like this is made, sign up for one of my classes! :-) I'd be happy to show you!!

 

That which moves me...

I was asked to make a layout on that which moves me.  I could probably have made several layouts, but I made just one with a few subjects that move me...

So, here goes:

I'm very moved by the presence of Obama. I believe he has the power to make changes and to establish himself as one of the best presidents the United States of America has ever known.  That is my honest to goodness belief.

Rüdiger Nehberg is a brilliant man with a big heart. He's a Human Rights activist, especially tribes and children that cannot help themselves.  He founded TARGET for human rights and has made progress (along with Waris Dirie) with the Islamic Heads to stop the mutilation of young girls (children). In November 2006, TARGET organized and financed a conference under the patronage of the Eygyptian Great Mufti Ali Gomaa at Al-Azhar University of Cairo. As a result of the conference, leading authorities of Islamic law denounced genital mutilation.

Aretha Franklin to me is one of the most spectacular singers in the Motown world and each time I listen to her voice, it moves me, again and again. What can I say...:D

Resolutions for 2009

Hi All,...I don't believe I've posted this yet. This was for Simea's DT, go check out her site for more inspiration!

Got some sad news yesterday. My favorite Uncle, Uncle George suddenly passed away a week ago.  He had lung cancer and seemed to be doing better...I really can't stand it when someboday says.. "Well, that's life, we all die."  Obviously, I know this, but I don't spend my time thinking about it all day.  I want to think about happy things.  I only saw Uncle George a handful of times, but loved him nonetheless.  He was a pretty great guy and everyone will miss him dearly.

Quick little mini-album Goals for 2009

I bought this wee mini album 7 Gypsies in Simea's Shop and just had to do something with it right away. It was just too cute to let sit. :-)

Me @ 40