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,

 

Handmade Christmas Cards 2011

How I love to give my family and friends my own handmade Christmas cards. I don't think I could bring it over myself to ever purchase another card again! It's just so much more personal....more like a mini-gift.  My heart goes into each and every card. :-) Here are some of the cards I made this year...some are cute, some are distressed, some are vintage and some are plain. What kinds of cards are you getting this year?

There are quite a few more that I made, but I could not fit them all onto one block. :)

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your families and friends and may your New Year be happy, healthy and filled with fun!

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!

 

Family Photo Shoot and Family Layouts

Near the end of October, my co-worker agreed to have a family photo shoot with us in the woods. To say the least, they turned out fabulous!! Take a look at some of our photos on her blog here...

I couldn't wait to get some of the first photos scrapped since they were just so inspiring to me. This is what I am passionate about.....documenting "us".  Although I do enjoy designing for others, I'm so glad when I get the time to do something for us. That is, after all, where my passion for scrapbooking began - documenting my babies, me, family life, grandmas and grandpas and love.

 

 

 

inbetween... I did a few other things... ;-)

 

More to come ...

 

NOTICE: I will only be taking custom orders for albums until 1 December, frames until 14 December. So, please place your order by then to insure timely completion and delivery. Thx, bye!

 

 

 

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! 

 

Been such a bad blogger.... sowwy!

I wish I could post something special every day. But...sometimes I think, what if nobody cares? What if it's just not important or interesting enough? We all have our doubts. 

It has been a turbulent few weeks. I've been doing two jobs the last few weeks, during which my daughter had a tonsillectomy, so I was in and out of the hospital just running around and completely frazzled. There was just no time to post anything. 

There were a few things inbetween that I was working on, some of which I can't post (tell ya later) and the others were just a few little cards for co-workers, friends, family...

Next week the kids are off to summer camp (no overnighting) for two weeks, saving me from needing to make breakfast in the morning. ;-) The second week of which I have a week off. HALLELUJA! Part of the week I will be visiting my parents. My dad will have the veins in his legs operated on, so I'm thankful to be with my mom during that. I'll get to see old acquaintances again, my dear cousin Anja, my best buddy Frank and the yearly carnival will be on, which I haven't been to in YEARS. Okay, it's really dinky, but boy do they know how to party. LOL

The second part of the week, I plan to DEclutter....not clutter, the apartment, starting with my office and scrap studio. There is SO much filing to do, so many things that "I thought" I would be selling on Ebay. (Yeah... right.) I figure I'll donate or throw out since it's not worth Ebay (unless it's electronic equipment or parts). There is just not enough time in the day if you know what I mean. LORD! There are so many scrapbooking magazines and supplies I need to purge that it really isn't funny anymore. I'm always looking for stuff or else I find stuff I had forgotten I had. Oh brother. My procrastination has really gotten out of hand. I just look at the piles, don't know where to start, turn on my heal and walk away. ADD doesn't make it any better. ;-) But, I plan to do one corner at a time and try not to look at the entire mess. Hopefully soon, there will be space to actually comfortably walk through my studio and office. (to the relief of my hubs I'm so sure).

After summer camp, Hubs and the kids are visiting the house in Bavaria (the one we don't live in). Unfortunately, this will be taking place without me since nobody gets vacation time in September. (too many events going on). On the other hand, I will have a week of peaceful evenings and can go out any time I want! Yeah!!! But, I will miss them! :-(

One more thing... just wanted to tell you about the dream I had last night. I rarely dream, because I usually don't sleep enough to get into that phase (another story in itself), but it was a really sweet dream. I dreamt I was walking in a garden and I think my daughter Jenna was with me, but I don't remember clearly, when I saw a small swarm of butterflies, really little ones. They were so cute that I went over to them and held out my hand, which soon had several little of the beauties tickling my hand and I giggled (and Jenna) and laughed, and thought how wonderful they are. That is all I remember....but I loved it. More dreams like this one please!! 

You all have a great weekend! I'm going to be enjoying the weather, the pool and my family this weekend. I am in definite need of relaxation and carefree hours. 

Whatever you do, do it with a smile! Have a super weekend everyone!

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!

 

 

Girly Garden Layouts & Birthday Cards

Yay.... I was finally able to scrap just for me. Although I truly LOVE designing for others, I sometimes miss time to do layouts just for me. I finally used one of my Studio Calico kits (May 2011). Have I mentioned that I just LOVE these kits!? There is just so much love that goes into putting them together and every month I'm so thrilled to get my package!!

Before I get to the stuff... Jenna was again invited to a birthday party and well....Danny wasn't so I decided to do something really special for him...especially with his good grades that he really worked very hard for. So, I took him to see Cars 2 in 3D. I was SO awesome! Not that it had very many 3D effects, but the scenery that they created was fascinating! Totally fell in love with "Porto Corsa". Hee... and Danny ate his sweet popcorn (yuck), got a cool cup and two cars from the movie theater. Said I was the best momma in the world. Now THAT felt good!

Anyhooo... the following two layouts are with photos from a little garden shoot I did in August of 2009 where Jenna was sick with Scarlet Fever for the umteenth time and I was trying to get her mind off of her throat and cheer her up and this is what came out.

 

AND... since there have been a few birthdays....I wanted to show you what cards I made lately...

What's great is that I never have to buy a card ;-)... but I also only make cards for people who appreciate the work I put into them. ;-)

Stay tuned....I'm on a roll babayyyy!

 

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. 

Paper flowers and a tissue box ;-)

Don't ask me why I decided to look up videos on youtube about how to make paper flowers, but for some reason I did and I obviously had a lot of fun! :-) Then I decided my tissue box was too pretty to throw out, so I decided to make a flower box to hold my hand-made flowers. Now, it could use a few more details around the edges, but this was a quicky. I just cut along the top of the box on one long end and the two short ends, covered the opening with a large journaling tag I cut with my cricut, then added a brad on the top and long side of the box to tie a string for closure. Like I said....very quick. 

 

I made this flower this morning, so easy. You just need 3 of each large, medium and small sized either punched or cut out flowers, whether they be 5 or 6 petal does not matter in the least. Ink them if you like, spray all with water, scrunch or wad them up real tight, then flatten each one out. Take some glossy accents or other quick drying adhesive and begin adhering them on top of each other beginning with the largest and ending up with the smallest flowers on top. Be sure to vary the position of the petals when you stack the flowers on top of each other for more fullness and dimension. What I did below is I put a brad through the middle. Sprayed it with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Blue Denim), dried it with the embossing gun, then used some Ranger Distress Stickles "Rock Candy" to give it some more glitter, dried it again and it was done. It took about 10 minutes or so. Like I said, real easy and saves you money!! :-) You can use them on cards or layouts, to decorate gifts with or hot glue on to a simple head band to spruce it up. 

Hope you enjoyed these short little tutorials. Have a great rest of your weekend!

 

"Tickle me!" - Using color on scrapbooking layouts

These photos I took of a tickle attack on Jenna last weekend inspired me to a new layout. For this layout I used a filmstrip .png file and mostly Studio Calico supplies out of various of their kits.

What I wanted to talk to you about is color. We all know how important it is to match the colors of the photos to our pages/scrapbooking supplies. So, I wanted to show you how I chose my colors to match my photos.

Since the main colors in the photos are green and blue, I chose a subtle greenish-blue small patterned background first of all. Jenna's shirt contains black, which the filmstrip was perfect for. She also had some orange and pink on her shirt, so I thought I would pull that out and tie it into the layout.

To offset the blue & green in the photos, I backed them with a solid orange. For the title, I again chose black to pull together the black filmstrip and Jenna's shirt. I found some paper with several printed banners and this one was perfect as it had black, blue, green & several neutral pastel tones and was great to add some slight dimension and a border at the top.

In my stash, I also found some old jeans patterned paper, which I used as a small border atop the journaling block. To top it off, I found the little bird and a tag out of the Girl's Paperie collection, some Prima Pebbles and a few Teresa Collins chipboard flowers that matched perfectly in terms of color.

So, when matching your colors up, you can see how easy it can be. Don't be afraid to use too many different colors as long as they compliment your photos and don't take attention away from them.

Hope you enjoyed my color-coded explanation. Have fun with your next layout! ;-)

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!

Typographic Sins....

Intermediate Scrapbooking Class - Man in da House!

Yo, Yo, Yo....we had a man in da house at Scrapbooking Stuttgart for my last intermediate Scrapbooking Class on 27 February 2011. Something different for a change! Here the students learned a little bit more about color, design and accents and busily worked away on their projects. Our man in the class had quite the creative ideas on his layouts! No wonder, since his wife is the ever talented Susi from the Design Team at Scrapbooking Stuttgart! ;-)

For more impressions of the class, please click here.

Please join us for my next class at Scrapbooking Stuttgart on 27 March 2011 where we'll be making a fabulous Configurations shadow box from Tim Holtz, similar to these below! 

For more information, please visit www.scrapbookingstuttgart.de or click here.

Valentine's Gift - Altered Altoid Tin

I was browsing through CK Magazine last month and came across this cute idea of altering an altoid tin and putting neat coupons inside for my honey for Valentine's Day. The coupon template can be downloaded from the CK Magazine website under free downloads. The altoid tin was ordered via ebay and was fairly cheap. Needless to say he loved it! :)

  

Supplies: Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink Red Pepper, Cosmo Cricket Yuletide PP, Corner Rounder WeRMemory Keepers, CK Mag free download (coupons), PSE 6.0 Elements, Prima clear stamp, Holtz Distress Ink Fired Brick, Ranger Glossy Accents, Holtz Crackle Paint Fired Brick, Holtz Grungeboard heart accent, Holtz Tissue Tape Nostalgic, other love metal accent, white cardstock colorcore

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!! <3

A trip home to Kindsbach and some scrapbooking stuff

I have been wanting to blog for what seems like ages. All I've been able to do is post classes and send newsletters. Although I'm feeling like a chewed up rag, a little case of the flu, I neeeeeed to do this!

During the Halloween weekend I decided to take a spontaneous trip to see my parents with the kids. Since they have both been very sick this year, Dad with his 4th heart attack and quintuple bypass and Mom with a dangerous intestinal problem, followed by 2 operations, I thought it might be good for them to get to see their grandchildren and daughter. ;-) We were pretty lucky with the weather. It was cool, but sunny on Saturday (which is when the Air Base decided to do Halloween) and I took quite a few photos:

Danny makes such a cute Luke Skywalker and Jenna was adorable in her witch costume. Unfortunately, it was a little cool, so they had to cover them up. Most of the time I was the keeper of the laser sword. ;-)

 

This is Kindsbach Lake in the town in which my parents have lived since about 1977/78. I do believe this must be one of the best outdoor photos I've taken, but that is mostly due to the beautiful weather and gorgeous bright autumn colors. ;-) We had a short, but nice walk around the lake with Oma Lotte (Grandma), the grandkids and I. ;-)

Then, I wanted to get photos of them together...and this is what came out of that ;-)

Danny and Jenna can make some pretty goofy faces....I'll givem' that. Guess they didn't feel like getting their photo taken today. ;-)

Then I caught them from behind.... ha!

I love the color of the leaves in the forest and I wanted to catch a glimpse of my mom walking on this path.

The photo on the right warms my heart. Danny collected several leaves or rather ferns...and then went up to his grandma and put his arm around her waste and walked along side of her. So precious... just wants to make me almost cry. ;-)

Here are a few more impressions of our visit to Kindsbach....helping Oma in the garden...and "making stuff"

Danny is very good with his hands....not exactly sure what he made here, but it looks cool...just like this heart he made for me out of legos.... ahhhh... isn't he the sweetest kid??

and Jenna here helped Oma to get the leaves out from under the tree....I think she left a few hairs on some of those branches. ;-)

 

So now I want to show you my DREAM HOUSE. When we build a house, I want it to look just like this! An American family built it (as you might be able to tell due to the style) and it's right on the lake. Of course, it does get noisy during the sommer, but hey... they have that lake right out their front door and can jump in it any time they want! Cool deal. Unfortunately, they had to recently sell it. Sold it waaaay too cheap if you ask me! Anyhoo... here it 'tis...

It's simply amazing to me... I am so in awe of this house! Want it!!! Now!!

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And here is what I have been up to scrapbooking-wise.....

A recent beginner scrapbooking class....

and a frame for my best friend's sister who's pup recently died....such a sweet sweet dog too. :-(

Unfortunately, another doggy in our family died too.... Oma Gitti's doggy Tanja. We're all very sad about that and miss her so!

And then yet another doggy died.... his name was Sam and belonged to one of the daycare teachers who has been bringing him for a few years now, so the children knew him quite well. He was only 6 years old.

 

 ... back to scrapbooking / card making / frames.....

I'm trying to make a decorative frame for every season/occasion....

Finally scrapped some old Kindergarten photos of my two sweeties and their "Red Group". They really enjoyed it there!

A masculine birthday card for my very good friend Frank...

and an envelope I decorated...

Address erased to protect the innocent ;-)...

A purple birthday card for a friend whom I happen to know likes purple.

A sympathy card...

a with compliments tag

and

An early X-mas tag for a customer I placed with her order

A minibook class I taught on Saturday...

 

Everybody have a great week!

P.S. Don't forget, next Saturday is a Christmas Card Class! If you're interested and have time, now is the time to register..

xoxo

 

 

Scrapper Style Adventcalendar Class - November 27th!!

Yeah! An Advent Calendar Class! You know you want one!! ;-) I'll be holding this class on 27 November from 2-5 p.m. so, it's your last chance to make one before the Advent season begins!!

We will be making a scrap style Adventcalendar with 24 drawers with the size of the calendar approx. 34cm x 6cm x 34 cm. We'll decorate it with nice patterned papers and/or small photos if you like.

It will be similiar to the photo on the right (different style) below using this plain advent calendar cardboard kit on the left.

 
   Photo courtesy of http://kidoinfo.com/ri/advent-calendar/ (posted by Anisa)

Cost is 30 EUR incl. supplies and use of my tools.

The class will take place at Memories Artwork in Filderstadt. Out of the 6 available seats there are 4 still available, so register now to save your seat!! 

 

 

Midnight Scrapbooking Crops at Scrapbooking Stuttgart

German or American, doesn't matter! Are you into scrapbooking and are looking for crops in the Stuttgart area? Then, look no further! Beginning in November, the first Friday of every month you can attend the Midnight Crop at Scrapbooking Stuttgart! 

All you need to do is your photos and cropping bags along with 3 Euros for the use of Yvonne's machines and snacks and you can scrap your heart away from 6 p.m. until midnight! Is that a deal or what?!

If you are interested in attending, just write to Yvonne at yvonne@scrapbookingstuttgart.de and let her know.

I won't be attending this first time, but I'm really excited about the 3rd of December!!

So, remember, the first Friday of every month is crop till you drop at Scrapbooking Stuttgart! YEAHHHH!!!

Be there or be square! ;-)

 

Jackie

 

 

More Thank you cards....& a Cinch Mini Album ;-)

Good LORD! Time flies! I just checked my blog to see when the last time was.... how embarrassing! It's been close to a MONTH! I apologize profusely for not blogging sooner. Major stress at the day job. The days just whizz by and it's hard to slow down. Then my side-business here, well throw in the family with 2 kids and you can guess that I'm basically on the move 24 hours a day. I keep telling myself to BREATHE... but, there's no time! LOL

For the last 6-8 weeks I've had bursitis, an infection in my shoulder, which was irritating for one, but it also prevented me from doing TaeBo, which I really hated. Yesterday, I was finally able to go and although every muscle in my body seems to hurt, I'm SO GLAD that I finally get to go again! I missed it sooo much!

I just wanted to show you what I've been working on the past few weeks, so here goes!

 

 

I actually made this for a Cinch Mini-Album class and will be selling it on Etsy or Dawanda afterwards. Believe it or not... it was a "cinch" to make. LOL

I made this thank you card using one sheet of thick designer cardstock (DCWV Mariposa, 8x8), Ranger Dimensional Pearls, Jenni Bowlin Letter Stickers and a Martha Stewart Butterfly punch. The DCWV papers in this collection are SO pretty!!

A boy birthday card for my nephew....hope he ever got it since there was a gift certificate inside!!! Haven't heard from the little bugger yet. The red piece is 3D using 3D foam pads and is backed with a jeans design paper.

Just made this one a day or two ago...see, I can't even remember! Doh!.. Anyway... I wanted to protect the other mommy's kids, so that is why they are sensored. I used Tim Holtz design paper, prima felt stem, regular manila tag with walnut distress ink, flower made with dictionary paper, punched, distressed with various Holtz Distress inks, crumpled and stapled together. Looove those flowers! Martha stewart fence border punch, Tim Holtz ticket "dream", Ranger Dimensional pearls & Rock Candy, Prima Pebble, Journaling card from Yellow Bicycle. 

Here is more detail on the flower:

So, now I have the munchies and I need to go to bed. Jenna has a little something she needs to do on stage in school for the 1st grader ceremony. She's so proud. :-)

Thank you cards & Get well soon card

Hey out there!

I just wanted to give you some inpirations for the day (should it inspire you that is...). I recently made some special cards, see below. I just LOVE to stitch on cards. It's really much easier than it looks! If you can use a sewing machine just for basics, then you can do this too. I promise! ;-)

and this (below) is the inside of the card:

and a get well soon card for my Mom...who is still in the hospital (poor thing)

   

and a thank you card for an invitation to visit a nice woman and her children we met on Grand Canary

Yes, it's bright, but I like it! ;-)

 

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!

A frame, a birthday card, birthday invitation and a going away card

Hey Scrappers!

I just wanted to post some recent projects so you don't think I'm sitting around picking my nose... ;-)

   

A birthday card for my dear Daddy who will be turning 73 in just a few days and I'm so grateful he's made it this far. I'll be wishing him many many more birthdays to come! ;-) This card can be made in ten minutes or less using the following:

• ready-made card or make a card from cardstock standard size
• adhesive
  
• cardstock for punching
• 3D foam pads
  
• scallop border punch
• scallop circle punch
• circle punch
• letter stickers
• markers, colored and white
• patterned paper

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This going-away card was a custom card I made for a well... customer. ;-) She needed it for a co-worker who is leaving to work in Africa (wow!). So, I thought I would make a fitting card with some earth-toned colors.

You see, with just a little variation, you can use a similar design (as shown with the first card)  and make it look quite different. Turn the design 45° in either direction and you have yet another design variation.

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I recently had to make my daughter Jenna some invitations and since we are celebrating on a pony ranch and she wanted to help, we used her horse stickers to match the theme. Take a look:

psssttt... foam pop dots ;-)

The one on the right is the back side with the invitation information.

I just used one sheet of cardstock, using the front and back of the piece. 

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I recently received a newsletter from MOO who make business cards and they offer a mosaic  of your mini moo cards that looks like this:

which inspired me to make my own mosaic frame, since I still had old mini moo cards that I really didn't want to throw away (my phone number changed) and a nice frame I recently bought from IKEA:

Super easy to make! You just have to make sure your spacing is even. Now I have some nice "family" decor to display either on the wall or on the counter, buffet top. :)

I hope you all enjoyed these few simple ideas. 

Keep creating...

CHA Summer 2010 - Sneak Peaks from The Scrap Review

Hi People!!!

I just wanted to direct your attention the some CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) sneak peaks from the Scrap Review Website and give you some "eye candy". I SO wish I was attending the CHA. I've never been, but it would be like a dream for me, seriously!! At any rate....check some of this stuff out...

American Crafts - Dear Lizzy Collection

    

   
 
 
 
 Aren't these delicious!!!?? What's not to love?

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Studio Calico's Elementary Collection

Adorable for your school layouts!

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Creative Imaginations "Robots Rock" Collection

How CUTE is THIS for little boys??? 

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Creative Imaginations "Happy Camper"

Camping anyone?? Lots of woody / camping elements in there for avid campers.

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  Before I completely overwhelm you with impressions, please check out The Scrap Review website for more fantastic sneak peeks!! 

Keepin' the scrappin' spirit alive!

Jackie

Introducing Scrapbooking Stuttgart

 

My new partner Yvonne Simon of Simonarc have decided to make scrapbooking in Stuttgart just a little more popular, so we've come up with a new blog, click on Scrapbooking Stuttgart for more details. The website is in German, so if you live in the Stuttgart area and do not speak German, here is a little explanation of the website. As I stated, we are trying to gather together scrapbookers in the Stuttgart area for crops or classes and Yvonne has been adding some scrapbooking machines to her current printer shop Simonarc, just in case you are looking for something particular. If it's not in her shop, then you can ask her and she will see if she can get it for you.

Classes are held in English as well as German, so no worries there. If you are in the Stuttgart area and are an avid scrapper, just drop us a line. We would love to here from you and maybe you might be interested in attending a crop.

You can also follow us on twitter and facebook to keep up on information about events, classes or workshops. 

We are looking forward to hearing from you so we can get together and having a great time scrapping!

Photo Flowers - Cute Scrapbooking Project

Hey Scrappers!!

I was recently asked to make a few flowers with photos of children from Danny's class for his teacher as a going away present. (Too bad I only got to do five ;-)). At any rate, I wanted to show them to you, because I thought they turned out really cute. 

I blurred the photos in order to censor them....just in case you were wondering. :-)

 

Little flowers all in a row... ;-)

I'm not going to blur my son... that would be silly. ;-)

So for the most part what I did is just took several matching cardstocks and patterned papers and in most cases I misted them with water so that I could crumple them a bit better, dryed them with the heat gun, inked / distressed / cut the edges (in some cases with decorative scissors), then layered the largest circle starting at the bottom, attached the photos to the side with 3D foam tape and embellished either with a star (using glimmer mist), or button, bird, or butterfly. Then I attached the flowers to the wooden stem with glossy accents (gotta love that stuff), cut the leaves from cardstock/patterned paper, adhered, punched tags, stamped & inked them and wrote in the name. I placed an eyelet at the top to attach it with some string.  Eh, voila! Really easy to make and I had great fun doing it!

Hope your weekend was as great as mine!!

Happy Birthday Hubby!!! (masculine birthday card)

Ahhh..... for at least 5 months you will be one year older than me. ;-) I made this card for my husband, and yes, it has hinges. Don't ask... Anyway, I made it for him an decided, since he knew what he was getting for his birthday....tickets to Rodger Hodgson (former lead singer of Supertramp), I would do something silly. My co-worker suggested printing up fake concert tickets, so I found something on the internet (it escapes me at this point) that produced these fake tickets, totally cool!  LOL He thought it was pretty funny too. Something different for a change, that's for sure.

Dear Hubby.... have a WONDERFUL birthday! Love ya lots!!!

A Half-Marathon Digital Scrapbooking Layout

I decided to make a digital layout for a change... ;-) Seeing as how my scrap studio desk is overcrowded at the moment as it is... ;-)

Digital products:
MFen Serenity Paper
Emily Powers Blossom Paper
Sande Krieger Torn edge Embrace Life Border
Karla Dudley Artist in me stitches
Dear John & You are loved fonts
J Baechthold Brads
Queen of Quirk 2 Ps Spring Chicken Journaling
Get Stamped letter E

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!

Layout Sketch of the Month (June 2010)

I designed the following sketch for www.simea.de in the design team. I've been doing these for a while, but I seem to forget to add them to my own site.....sheesh! Anyway....hope you're inspired to create your own beautiful layout using the sketch! Have fun!

Here is my take on the sketch:

and this is what Birgit Moosbauer made using the sketch...so pretty!

Have a great evening!

Scrapbooking in Stuttgart (Crops)

   
 
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Just wanted to do a little market research and see how many interested scrapbookers are located in the Stuttgart area. Google doesn't seem to find much in that respect. Here are a few questions for you. Please leave a comment below.

• Where in the Stuttgart area are you located?
• Where do you purchase your scrapbooking supplies?
• Are you interested in classes? If so, what type? i.e. Beginner and advance scrapbooking, cards, other decorative crafts?
• Do you hook up with each other for crops? If so, where?
• What crafts have you created already? Please enter your URL in your comments so I can see your work.

I have room for about 6-10 ladies and have all kinds of tools, such as the cricut expression (die cut machine), the cuttlebug (die cut / embossing), corner chomper, eyelet setters, magazines, paper cutters, mats, inks, stamps, etc.  etc.... I wouldn't mind hosting a crop once a month in my home. Bring along your supplies or you are also welcome to use my tools for a small fee. So, if you're interested in hooking up with other scrappers or are interested in scrapbooking classes, let me know. I'm happy to help!

I would so like to hear from you!!

 

Father's Day Card - For Dad

This is the Father's Day card I made for my Dad. He didn't get the German Father's Day card I sent, nor did he receive an entire mini-album I had made a few years back for him thanks to the wonderful German Postal System and obvious thieves who think there is money to be had. This time I sent it registered mail. If he doesn't receive it this time, then I KNOW something fishy is going on and I will SO be knocking down the door to the post office to complain (again). Everything else seems to get delivered...but when I send stuff to Dad.... hmm... Maybe someone at the post office has it in for him! Gasp! They better watch their backs....just sayin'!

I mean...who would want to steal a personalized card? C'mon people, get real!!! I will be highly teed... if he doesn't get this card, for real!

Over and out!

Happy 10th Anniversary card

Today is Rick and my 10th anniversary! Can you believe it? I know I can't! Time really flies, especially when you have kids and your daily life becomes stressful and full of appointments and things to do. Through it all, we made it to here. I'm counting on it staying this way too. ;-)

I put a lot of heart into this card since it is our 10th after all!

Yes, I used a bit of Tim Holtz schtuff.... like distress ink, crackle accents (on the heart), grungeboard, key, keychain,...And I had great fun. I really love the crackle accent on the heart, looks so cool and shiny! I really hope he sees the love! :)

Happy Anniversary baby! I love you so much!!!!

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!

Just a few birthday cards and a baby boy card....

FINALLY, the sun has come to my rescue! I was beginning to doubt that summer would even come this year. Nonetheless, this makes me verrry happy. And, of course, the fact that we are leaving for a nice vacation on Wednesday to the Canary Islands. I so cannot wait!! I've never been there, so I'm really looking forward to that!

Anyway,....just wanted to show you a few cards I made the past few days....

and this baby boy card (this was sooo much fun!!)

What can I say....creating just makes me happy! :) More to follow... ;-) Catchya later peeps!

My Magic Mini-Album Class last Sunday...

Hello there! I would have posted sooner, except I've been feeling very under the weather the past few days with some type of virus or flu. I'll be paying the doc a visit in the morning. At any rate, I wanted to let you know how much fun we had on Sunday at my Magic Mini-Album class. What's the "magic" in the name? Doesn't mean a thing. LOL I just thought it sounded nice, is all. ;-)

I had 5 lovely ladies (including 2 pairs of moms & daughters) in my home for the class, which lasted just about 3 hours. Everything was pretty much relaxed. We first made the base of the accordion album, then we made the front and back pretty much together. After that I gave them a few tips about how to use design paper to style their pages. Each one had one double-sided patterned paper so they could put some variation in there. It's a very simple album, but cute nonetheless. I wanted them to be able to use their own creativity in decorating their pages, so I just offered my help when asked and let them run with it.

Check out part of this cute one here:

 

The album contained a total of 8 pages of which 6-7 could be used for photos. We attached some ribbon to the front and back of the album for a closure. Now, I know some people are more comfortable making an exact replica of a layout or album, but I wanted to make sure each one had a different album. It's also difficult when they have photos along to make everything the same, so I think it turned out pretty cool.

Here we've got some major concentration going on. ;-) Don't you just love those pink buckets I have for their tools? I picked those up at a flea market and thought they would be perfect for classes.

Sometimes it takes a while to get used to these paper cutters, but once you figure it out you never forget ;-).

Now, I'd say, from the looks on all the gals faces....they had a pretty good time and they can all be proud of what they created today! Good job ladies!!! :)

Father's Day Tag (ala Tim Holtz)

Hi Y'all!

So... I have a ton of tags and have to use them up, so I thought I would make a tag this year instead of a card for my hubby for (German) Father's Day....which was yesterday.

I used lots of Tim Holtz Stamps and one from Hero Arts with black Archival Ink so that I could use plenty of Tim's distress inks on top of that. I used Vintage Photo, Crushed Olive, Walnut Stain, Fired Brick and Tumbled Glass. The "E" stands for Erik. ;-) Then I used an arrow (also Tim) and a brad, stuck it through the heart. Unfortunately, this is a night time photo, so you can't see how I bashed the brad to distress it a little. I topped it off with a ribbon and stuck it to his gift. Violá!

I thought it turned out pretty cool. ;-)

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.

Happy Mother's Day card!

My mom already received hers and thought it was the greatest card I have ever given her. ;) she was sooooo happy about it. So cute! That is exactly the reaction I wanted from her. :)

 I saw this technique with the tags a while back and posted it as well with some other tags I made. I temporarily adhered the 3 tags next to each other, then used one stamp across all three and heat embossed with part black and part pink sparkly embossing powder. After that I ink distressed them and adhered using 3D foam tape for dimension. Underneath is just a wide strip of patterned cardstock. I punched a scallop border, used a white gel pen (Signo) to display a bit of stitching, wrote in happy mother's day. Added ribbons to the tag holes and flower with brad. 

 

Update, National Scrapbooking Day & Upcoming Mini-Album Class

I must apologize since I've taken soooo long to post! Yikes! I just have so much going on....like all the time. ;-) But, I must say, I'm stressed, but feeling good, so that's okay. ;-)

My father, for whom I made the get-well card (which the brilliant German post office misplaced and finally LOST, by the way), had to have bypass surgery (5 bypasses in one operation) just a few weeks ago. He'd suffered his 4th heart attack a few days before Easter and it was "time" he finally let them "cut" him to fix him up. He's now in a rehab/wellness center accompanied by my mom and is doing better from day to day. He hasn't walked that far in years, quoting my mom. ;-) I'm very relieved to say the least!! - Update: he had to be flown back to the hospital yesterday as he was having complications and is getting a pacemaker today. Never a dull moment!

What I've been up to:

Last weekend I held my "Cool Card Class", having 6 students and we made 5 cards in a little over two hours. They loved it and they did a great job.... and I just LOVE to teach. ;-) Unfortunately, I didn't get around to taking photos, but Yvonne from the class took some and posted them on her blog (sweet girl). So, I'm just going to "steal" them and post them on here as well. ;-) As always, she did a wonderful job of photographing these! ! :D

I've also been quite busy with design team work, custom orders and class planning / organization on top of my basically full-time investor relations job and my family!!! So, if I don't answer your emails right away or don't get something done quite on time, have MERCY on me! ;-)

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National Scrapbooking Day - May 1st, 2010!!

Don't miss out! Check out the web and go to popular scrapbooking websites for giveaways, prizes, contests, etc.! Here are just a few you might have fun with (source: scrapbook update website):

Scrapbook Update: We’ll be joining the NSD fun with a big round of giveaways on Saturday starting at 10am! (And just maybe we’ll sneak in some challenges too…hint, hint)

Studio Calico: 10am-7pm eastern time. Hourly chats with design team members, challenges with prizes and two big prizes of 6 month Studio Calico subscriptions.

Designer Digitals: Store-wide 20% off sale for NSD is already underway! That’s well over 7000 digital scrapbooking items, plus one new item at an introductory price of $.99. Sale lasts until 6am EST Sunday morning.

Paperclipping: 1pm-3pm PST. Noell Hyman from Paperclipping will be doing a Live event. She’s doing a charitable project for NSD, encouraging people to purge their stashes & donate their unused supplies to local programs devoted to creating life books for children in state custody.

Scrapbook.com: 11am-7pm PST. Special NSD forum will be hosting a virtual crop with challenges, mini-contests, treasure hunts, and many more activities at the top of every hour. They’ll be giving away a hundred prizes, all valued at more than $75.

Club CK: 9am-6pm MST. New sketch every hour. Page titles and fonts free for download. Photo and layout contests with randomly drawn winners – prizes include Stampin’ Up! products and Two Peas In a Bucket gift certificates.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Giveaway and special content on their blog.

Chatty Scrapppers: UK scrap site (and Scrapbook Update readers) Chatty Scrappers are having NSD fun for a long weekend, with an online crop from April 30th-May 3rd. Join them for challenges, tutorials and prizes!

TwoPeasInABucket.com: NSD is also going on for a long weekend at Two Peas, as they will be celebrating from April 30th-May 2nd with sales and sponsored challenges.

Scrapper’s Guide: This digital scrapbooking education site is giving away four copies of Photoshop Elements 8 bundled with Premier Elements: two copies in the Scrapper’s Guide Forum and two copies on their Facebook page. There will also be a Mother’s Day give-away which you can access from their home page, and a 25% off coupon for anything in the Scrapper’s Guide store.

amillionmemories.com: Their online crop starts Friday at 6pm PST with the posting of online challenges, and a chat at 9pm PST. Saturday the festivities continue at 10am PST with a scavenger hunt and tutorials. 

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Class Announcement

My next class "Mini-Album Magic" will be on 16 May 2010 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. ! There is only 1 seat left, so sign up soon if you would like to take part in it. Here is the info:

Location: Memories Artwork

Fee: € 20 including materials (album kits in neutral colors) & tools

Bring: B&W small photos to fit a 6x6" Mini-Album containing 8 pages (6 pages for photos)....and FUN!

Description: We will be making a 6x6" accordion style mini-album with photos & embellishments from scratch! 

Get well card for Daddy

Just made a quick get well card for Dad to cheer him up at the hospital since they don't seem to be treating him very well there! Hope he gets to come home soon!

This layout is mine... ALL MINE!!!

Yep, finally I made a layout just for me... and well the simea.de website. ;-) I was asked to create a layout of my favorite place. So, since currently, that is my scrap studio...that is what I scrapped about. ;-)

 

 

I had a wonderful time with this and I just love the film strip (digi) for the photos. Everything I used was from my stash, so good for me! :-) 

Using Packaging for Scrapbooking or other Projects

YEAHHHH!! Spring is finally here! The trees are beginning their explosion of leaves and blossoms and the world looks wonderful in the sun!

Now I've been saving packaging from some scrapbook products that I wasn't sure how I was going to use, but Simea asked me to make something from packaging, so I hopped to it and made a little spring card. I hope you're a little inspired to put some of your packaging to use instead of throwing it away. You can use it for just about anything...cards, layouts, signs, frames, etc. 

If you make anything with packaging, don't be shy, send it to me and I'll display it here on my blog. I would love to see what cool stuff you come up with! 

That's all for now....

Vintage Tag Class á la Tim Holtz

The day after I held the mini-album workshop, I held a vintage tag class a la Tim Holtz (that I learned in Holland) for 5 ladies in my home where we made these lovely tags:

 
 

Yvonne Simon made these - aren't they lovely? Excellent photos too. Gotta love that hand stamp!
  
  

   

These are by Sarah Wagner, very sweet girl btw. I just love the eye! Great job!

  
 

And these lovelies are by Anja Ecker. Just love the use of color and butterfly stamps. Awesome! 

You're probably asking yourselves... What would I use these tags for? Well, check it out: 
 

 

You can also use these tags to put on cards, onto scrapbook layouts, as a gift certificate, as a card on its own or in a frame used as decoration....or, or, or...;-) See what you can come up with! :D 

We all had lots of fun making these tags and everybody is coming back to the cool card class the end of April! Yeah Ladies, can't wait! ;-)

CU there!  XOXO

 
  
 
 

Cool Card Class on April 24th, 2010 from 3-5 pm

Please note: New class planned for end of April, on the 24th from 3pm - 5 pm!!

In this two-hour class we will be making 5 cards from prepared kits. The cost is €15 including supply kits and use of my tools. Location will be at Memories Artwork, Rosenstrasse 13/1 in 70794 Filderstadt.

In order to register, please Email me. ;-) Look forward to some fun!

(Card example)

Sincerely yours,

Danny's Birthday Celebration at Jolo's in Sindelfingen

Last Sunday, we finally got around to celebrating Danny's birthday with a few of his classmates at the indoor playground called Jolo's in Sindelfingen. I must say it was the most relaxed birthday party he's ever had. ;-)

He had 3 boys and one girl, plus his sister Jenna with him and they were all very polite and nice. I could see why he wanted to invite them. :D Most were dressed as pirates, even Jenna, except for the other girl, but it was voluntary anyway. We also had a lady who painted faces, so the kids really enjoyed that.

Danny got some Powerminer figures from Lego and could not wait to get home and put them together. (He actually asked to leave his party early.) LOL That is exactly what he did when he got home. Raced to his room, threw off this jacket and proceeded to tear up the packaging to put together his birthday present. He was so happy and content. I haven't seen him that way in a long time. Now he plans on collecting them. ;-) It's great to see him enjoying something with such intensity.

Here are some impressions from that day.

Here is the pirate invitation I made using a template I downloaded from the internet. I just added my own text, printed it on cardstock, distressed it, inked the edges, wrapped string around it with a knot and then personalized it with a distressed tag onto the string.

 

Here I made little thank you bags with my cricut and filled with candy.

We had pirate muffins topped with canon balls out of chocolate.

The muffins were a hit!

 

The face painter did a great job!

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the dinner they had. It was a HUGE tray FULL of french fries with chicken nuggets, burgers and a few frankfurters. And aftwards they all got a mixed slushi that tasted more like water than anything else. LOL But at least it "looked" cool.

I'm glad Danny finally got to play with some of his classmates outside of the classroom environment so they could see what a great kid Danny really is. ;-)

Card kits for the kids... ;-)

My kids wanted to make cards today... so sweet. :-)... So I gave them a few things, sort of like a "card kit" and this is what they came up with. Not too shabby! :-)

Tattered Angels, Ranger's Tim Holtz and more at Kars in Holland

This past weekend I paid a visit to my wholesaler Kars in Ochten, Holland at their semi-annual event with special warehouse deals, demos and workshops. I had a really great time! The wonderful Ms. Condic, the manager over all of German-speaking countries was so nice! She actually picked me up at my house and let me ride with her. Just awesome! The time just seemed to fly by so quickly.

At any rate....this was my room....a quite old, but charming hotel. Only problem was, someone forgot to turn off their alarm, so it was beeping all night long until I woke in the morning. I just had no idea what it was or where it was coming from. Yikes! So, to say the least, I didn't sleep all that well. (My own fault!)

So, these were the beds...I did figure out that those were actual covers. ;-) ...Being used to big bedspreads, I guess it looked to me like something was missing. hehe

  

Here I was playing around with the camera, testing the light, etc. I haven't really been making many photos, so I needed to practice a bit.

DAY 1 (Demo day)

 

So, here's Tim Holtz, whom most of you might know I would guess. This was early Sunday morning and he was just getting ready to begin his demos. Just looking at some of the stuff he made to decorate was fascinating. He and I believe his team, even sewed a jacket out of grunge paper that you can even wash and dry!! I gotta see this jacket sometime, because I must admit... I am a bit skeptical, but Tim...if you say so, I'll have to trust you. ;-)

Tim started his demos and I was lucky, because I just happened to be there checking out his work. He made (or shall I say "whipped up") three gorgeous tags in a matter of minutes and I was allowed to pick one that he signed. Very cool tags. I had to have the one with the eye, don't know why...just thought the eye was awesome.

 

Now, do NOT ask me what colors of distress ink he used, but know this, I think they were ALL from his new line. I think "wild honey" and "crushed olive" were my favorites. Just beautiful. 

Just take a look at this tag that Tim made. Using several colors by wetting, drying, rewetting, drying, then flicking water onto it and drying again it got some pretty cool colors. Then using his new cling stamps (of which I just HAD to get of course), he stamped using archival ink in two different ways (tapping and rubbing over the stamp) he was able to create different shades of the archival ink . He also distressed it using his distressing tool, then added the metal washers and time plate by punching holes. Then he used his hammer is beat up the brads a bit to distress them as well. Fantastic job. You gotta just love the "eye" don't ya? Anyway...thanks for showing me those techniques first hand. The videos are great too, but it sinks in better when you see it done live.

So... then I was able to get a photo with him, which was pretty cool. Man... some women, they just swoon over Tim. I mean, come ON...yeah, he's incredibly talented and he's nice, but does the man need groupies? I dunno...I mean, he stamps, crafts and designs products, you know? At any rate, he's very down to earth and very patient with the ladies that follow him around. LOL

Just a good kinda guy with talent.

So... THEN I went over to Tattered Angels in Wendy Senger's (CEO) class. Hey! Talk about COOL! wooooohhhh! No offense Tim, you're great too! LOL

Check it out:

All the Glimmer Mists, templates (masks) and stamps with all kind of tags as well. I made the ones below. Such cool colors.

 

Can you see the glimmer on there? How cool is that?

 

And here I am with the CEO herself, Wendy Senger. A really nice gal. And yes... I know I have ink on my fingers and need to desperately die my hair....I am aware. lol Thanks for the pic Miss Wendy! ;-)

Here are a few photos of the Kars warehouse and their beautiful demo room.

 

 

This is Tanya Watts, a Ranger-U instructor. Really cool girl who showed me what can be done with UTEE embossing powders....namely this (below):

 

 

DAY 2 (Workshop day)

So, the next morning I was schedule along with the ladies from Scrappies, two wonderful ladies I might add. ;-) And we made 5 completely awesome tags using various techniques, various inks, distress inks, archival ink, stamps, distress crackle paint and distress rock candy. Too bad the workshop was "only" 1-1/2 hours. lol

Aren't those some really cool tags? Definitely! Do you want me to show you how you can make something like this? Well, I'm planning on it, so stay tuned for the news. lol

Here's another photo with Tim after the workshop. He probably wouldn't remember me now if he walked past me on the street as many women as he comes across, but I thought this memory is worth remembering.

 

He's probably gritting his teeth underneath that smile and I can't blame him. Even my cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much and I wasn't even holding classes!

So, to conclude this quite long blog entry....here are a few other little things that I made as make & takes or took along with me. The flower is from a great gal who designs for Cosmo Cricket. 

 

This was a card I made with a Basic Grey card kit and a little goody bag from DCWV cardstock.
The flower is cosmo cricket and was designed by Natasja Verbeek, a designer at Cosmo Cricket. What a sweet, cute and incredibly talented girl! Just fantastic!

This was a me&my BIG ideas mini-album kit that I didn't have time to complete there, but aren't the colors awesome? And lots of glittery stickers, etc....which, of course I LOVE!

I met another awesome lady named Rozella Méyer who designs for Kars, a Dutch scrapbooking magazine and Prima I believe. Very sweet and talented. Her layouts just "stunned" me, seriously now! Check out her blog! It's Dutch, but just check out the layouts! Here is one layout so you can get an idea on her talent:

So, ladies (& gents...if there are any out there paying attention), that's all for today. I will be translating all of this tomorrow...whew.... I know, it's long, but I just wanted to show you how fun it was and will be happy to pass along to you what I've learned!

You all take care and scrap your life!

Decorative Tag for Wine Bottle - Thank you gift

Let me start off by saying that we have an absolutely awesome pediatrician who really goes beyond his call of duty to help us. He's really helped us out a lot concerning Danny's ADHD symptomatic and returned our desperate calls during Christmas vacation and although he was actually on sick leave! I don't know of any doctor who will do that!

So, I was thinking....we need to thank him in a very special way. I thought, well, a good bottle of Tuscan wine and a Kristina Werner card that I recently purchased would do the trick. But as I saw that bottle of wine standing there, I thought... something is just missing. I need to dress that thing up a bit. Finally, I decided I would make a long tag, punch a hole through the top so that it would fit snugly over the wine bottle and then decorate the tag....which is exactly what I did. ;-) 

   

I inked the edges with Tim Holtz fired brick distress ink, then I took this fabulous Hero Arts vintage thank you stamp, embossing ink, and Tim Holtz Walnut stain distress embossing powder and embossed it, rubbed the crystals like he always says to achieve a distressed look and tied a piece of jute? Not sure what that is called. Afterwards, I decided to emboss around the circle with a 7Gypsies clear stamp and some gold embossing powder since I wanted it to look elegant as well as vintagy. It's simple, but classy, which is what I was aiming for. 

We'll be dropping it off tomorrow. I really do hope it shows how grateful we are to him for all of this support, but I think it will do the trick. ;-) I hope this inspires you to create something of your own as a gift for someone special.

Everyone have a beautiful Sunday!