SWAP

Good Morning,

In the crafty scrapbook world when I say SWAP or they're doing a SWAP what do most of you think? Maybe someone is hosting a tag swap or a card swap or even swapping out artsy supplies... right. In my husbands world when you say SWAP he thinks of swap meets where he can find all kinds of goodies like car parts, tools, lawn equipment etc. Well at work a SWAP is a bunch of managers balancing out merchandise. And while a Crafty Swap might give you a smile because you like what your sending or receiving and a at SWAP Meet  you might also smile because you just got yourself a great bargain or if your on the other end you just made a sale......a SWAP at work gives you  A GREAT BIG LAUGH!!!!   These managers look so funny running back and forth to cars handing to and taking from other managers merchandise from or for their stores. It's like big kids Trunk or Treating. But in stead of calling out trick o treat they holler out store numbers. It's the funniest thing to watch. I was lucky enough to pull in the parking lot in the middle of one of these swaps...and being a avid scrapbooker I had to take the opportunity to get a few pictures. So here's my project for today.....

The layout was inspired by sketch 4-29-09 over at Lets Scrap.

 http://letsscrap.ning.com/photo/4-29-09?context=album&albumId=2186252%3AAlbum%3A630432

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

New Look

Happy Sunday!

So I decided to give my Blog a face lift. I changed the cover photo to a digital art piece I made, moved things around a bit and changed some colors.  The problem is I can figure out how to get my cover photo large like the last one. I tried for over two hours and then just gave up. If anyone knows how or can suggest something I would greatly appreciate it.


Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Festival of Trees

A fellow crafter Lorrie Boudreau Jonas is asking for help.... see her message below

To fellow artist, I am just reminding you of an awesome found raiser you can help me with for Primary Children's Hospital. I am putting together an Christmas tree to Donate to primary children hospital for auction. If this something you would be interested in helping out with by sending a small 5x5 or 5x7 canvas for our trees.. We will be using them as ornaments. You can paint on an ornaments too if you prefer. Any help would be appreciated Please send me a message here or you can mail me what you would like to help with. my address is : lorrie Jonas Joyful Art PO box 1194 Pleasant Grove Utah 84062 Need Canvas by November 30th. Event set up is Dec. 2nd Thank you for supporting Primary Children s Hospital This tree is to help raise money for children with Cancer. For more information about the festival of trees http://www.festivaloftreesutah.org/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Festival-of-Trees-Utah/29830373582x\ Theme is Christmas

http://www.festivaloftreesutah.org/

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Cherish

Good Morning,

This morning I was up super early and figured I can get another scrapbook page completed and I DID. This one is for another challenge at Let's Scrap. I am going to be in some serious trouble with this group. I want to make all their sketches. They go back to 2009. I may just have to start there and work my way to the current ones.

This weeks sketch is based on a card but I did mine as a layout.

 Here's what I came up with...

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Let's Scrap

Happy Sunday!

One of my FaceBook friends Lori, invited me over to a group called "Let's Scrap" where she is hosting a her very first challenge. I was very inspired by all the wonderful pages that were posted that I joined the group and excepted her challenge. Her challenge was to make a page focused on "Yourself". The only rule is that all layouts you post must be inspired from one of the Sketches from the groups posts.

I skimmed through the sketches and found I wanted to do sketch 3-26-09.

Here's my take on that sketch.

I think in all, I followed it pretty close only altering a bit for what would work for me.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Another Technique

Hi Guys,

Over the last few days I have been playing around my craft room finishing up on some old and new projects that I started. But as you know sometimes you get bored doing the same old stuff time after time. I wanted to try something different. I love to scrapbook and I love to play around with mixed media but never thought to combine the two until I recently watched a You Tube Video where a mixed media scrapbook page was being made. Oh boy... Now that was something I had to try, and try I did. I am pretty pleased with how these came out and to tell you the truth had a bunch of fun making a mess while creating my pages. Clean up, well that's another story.

So for my very first mixed media scrapbook page I used ...

Tim Holtz Distress Paints, Dylusions Ink Sprays, Grumbacher modeling paste, clear stamps, stencils, gems, BoBunny jewels, my handmade flower and some letters.

 For my second mixed media scrapbook page I used ...

Tim Holtz distress paints, Grumbacher modeling paste, gel medium in black and white, glass effect gel pens, paint markers, stencils, ink sprays and stamps. To make the color of the bricks I used some red distress stain that I blotted on my craft mat added some white gel medium and a touch of the black gel medium. It was a bit runny so I added the modeling paste to get it thick enough to spread over the stencil. Next trip to the store I think I need a thicker and more textured paste. I actually love the way this page came out. 

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you don't have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Fall Card

Hello,

Just thought I would share a quick card I made. Nothing fancy. I did use paper that I made using the GelliPlate, acrylic paints, and some stencils. Added a scallop edge that I dobbled with an ink pad and tied on a ribbon.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Baby Girl Mini Album

Hey Guys,

I'm really excited to share this Baby Girl Mini Album with you. I chose not to use baby themed papers but wanted soft pastel like colors. I found this " Sparkly Sweet" paper line from K&Company and fell in love with it. I was able to match all the fibers to the papers.

This book is from birth to the first year.

 I had so much fun making this mini.  I'm really please the way it turned out.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Crinkled Flowers

Happy Sunday,

Today I took a little break from all the projects I have going on and decided to replenish my crinkle flowers. I only had two left in my box and figured I make a bunch to fill my box back up. I used the Tim Holtz die cut spritz the cut out with water and crunched them up. After they dried I unraveled them glued them together and added a button. Now my box is full and ready for me to find a flower for my projects when I need one.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

July 20, 2013 "Lobster Bake"

Happy Sunday,

Yesterday was our Lobster Bake. It was unbelievably hot,  95 feeling like 105 with the humidity and severe thunder storms predicted for the late afternoon. We got pretty lucky with the storms because just as we started cooking we heard the thunder in the distance but it never came over us but the heat just blasted on.
There were 25 of us ( everyone pre-ordered what they wanted). With that said Here's what we had...
Jason cooked the 16 Rib-Eye steaks to perfection on the grill, Claudette cooked the 45 Lobsters to perfection on the fire pit, we had baked potatoes, coleslaw, and cooler corn ( the first time I ever did the cooler corn and it was delish ). If we had a winner of the who can eat all your dinner my Uncle Pete would have won, he has 2 lobsters, 1 steak, 1 corn, 1 potato, coleslaw, steamers & muscles. Everyone else ended up taking half their food home with them.

Next time I plan something like this it will be in the Fall where I know it won't be so hot. I have all my picnics in the fall so what made me do this in the summer was beyond me.

Here's the layout I can up with using my Scrapbook Factory Program.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

My First APCs - Altered Playing Cards

Hey Guys,

This is what I have to share with you today. I went camping this past weekend and brought along some of my crafting supplies. I have a long list of ATC Swaps that I have signed up for and figured I could concur some of them while I was hanging around the campfire.  These were made for ATCs For All - Altered Playing Card Swap Ace of  Spades, Diamonds, Hearts and Clubs themed  Butterflies (you had to make all four).  This was my first attempt at an APC (Altered Playing Card). At least one corner of the card must be showing so you can tell the suit.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Craft Room Link Up

Craftin Desert Diva is hosting a Craft Room Link Up. If you would like to link your craftspace jump on over to her blog and link up.

http://www.craftindesertdivas.com/2013/05/craft-it-up-link-it-up-party-6.html

Here's My Craft Room....

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Heather Von St. James

Today I would like to share my blog with Heather, so she can tell her story.

For Lily: A Mother's Fight Against Cancer

Life can sometimes present challenges that seem impossible to bear. When I was 36 years old, my life was suddenly turned upside down. After my daughter’s birth, my husband and I were happy beyond measure. Unfortunately, this blissful period was brief.

About a month after Lily was born, I went back to my full-time job. I soon noticed that I had no energy. I was unusually tired, and I was losing up to seven pounds a week. I knew that motherhood could cause exhaustion, but I felt that something else was going on. Sadly, I was correct. I consulted my doctor and underwent a battery of tests.

Only three and a half months after I gave birth, I received the news that I had malignant pleural mesothelioma. It’s a cancer of the lining of the lung, and it’s caused by exposure to asbestos. I was unaware that I had been in contact with asbestos in my childhood. Without treatment, I had about 15 months to live.

I was devastated. All I could think about was how my death would affect my husband and baby daughter. My husband and I decided to do everything possible to beat the disease, no matter what it took.

The treatment protocol we decided on was the most extreme option. We traveled from our Minnesota home to Boston. On February 2, 2006, I had an extrapleural pneumonectomy; this procedure removes the cancerous lung plus certain parts of the chest and heart linings and half of the diaphragm. I was in the hospital for 18 days. Two months later, I underwent chemotherapy followed by radiation.

While I was in treatment, Lily stayed at my parents’ house in South Dakota. I can never give enough thanks to the friends and family who helped my parents and Lily during this horrible period of our lives; their role in helping us survive the ordeal was enormous.

I missed a lot of Lily’s important milestones. While under my parents’ care, she started rolling around and eating solid food. It was difficult to be apart, but I knew she was in good hands. Like any mother in the same position, my priority was fighting my cancer so I could be there to see her grow up.  

Although cancer is a nightmare, it can actually bring some good. I gained strength to fight from knowing that my daughter and husband needed me. Life is fragile, and our family appreciates it more now. I would advise anyone dealing with a cancer diagnosis or any other difficult challenge to look for the good in every bad situation.

Foe more information go to.....http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather/

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

JAM with Lori, Pat & Joyce

Good Morning,

Today I wanted to share a JAM that Joyce, Pat and Myself worked on. Here's what we did.

Joyce - Embossed background design on white card stock

Pat - Distress look, dazzling diamonds, glimmer mist, Graphic 45 French Country papers, Prima wooden leaf

Lori - Butterfly stamp, embossing powder, glitter pens, glitter glue, string

We made 3 of the same and we each got to keep one.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

ATC Swaps

Happy Thursday,

Tonight I wanted to share two ATCs that I made for swaps.

The first one is for the "Paisley" swap.
Materials used:
* Black card stock
* Heat activated embossing powder
* Gel pens
* Pearl pens

The second one is for the "Initial" swap.
Materials used:
* Black card stock
* Patterned paper
* Tag with the letter L printed on it
* Black lace
* Sheer ribbon
* Velvet flower
* Puffed flower
* Ribbon flowers
* Dew drops
* Jewel drop
* Shimmer butterfly
* Yellow button
* Fancy pins
* Glitter glue
* Glossy accents (still wet in the photo)
* Gel pens

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Texture Medium

Happy Sunday,

Today I wanted to play around with some texture medium and stencils. So I made a journal page. I wanted to color the medium using Dylusions Ink Sprays. It watered the medium a bit and made it a bit runny but it was still thick enough to spread over the stencil and hold the shape. I glued the words to the paper and then went over them with glossy accents. I love the look and texture of the words once it dried. I think I will be using that technique a lot more often. I outlined the with some water color pencils dipped in water for accent.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Nemo / Charlotte

Good Morning,

The blizzard has passed. Nationally they are called it storm Nemo and in CT they called it Charlotte. Either way we got over 2 feet of snow. It started snowing on Friday Feb 8th at about 8:30am and stopped about 11:30am on Saturday. We are still snowed in. The street plows have not made it to our street yet. New Britain doesn't do a very good job with the plowing on days when there are small amount of snow so I can just imagine how long it's going to take and what kind of job they are going to do when they finally come this way.

Wonder how long it's going to take for all this to melt?

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Thought I'd Share

Good Morning,

Today I thought I would share a website that I found out about from one of my Swap Buddies, Susanne over at The Art Colony. She and her husband work at an organization called Se'Shen Youth Development Society.

http://www.seshendevelopmentsociety.com/

Se’Shen Youth Development Society is a multidenominational Christian organization created to provide help, healing and hope for Aboriginal and other at risk youth in the Cowichan Valley, by providing mentorship, training, employment opportunities while respecting and upholding First Nations culture.

The below pictures were taken at the SeShen Youth Development building.

It would be great if you could hop on over to their website, have a look around and show some support..
http://www.seshendevelopmentsociety.com/



Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Bookmarks

Good Morning, Everyone,

Today I would like to share two bookmarks I made for a swap at "The Art Colony" hosted by Laura.  For these bookmarks I used water soluble crayons, mod podge, glitter glue, perfect pearls, stazon ink, rubber clear stamps, fibers, grommets, and glossy accents.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Pay It Forward

Hey Guys,

Tonight I finished my ATCs for my Pay It Forward. I had five friends sign up to receive an item handmade by me. All they had to do was to agree to make a handmade item for five of their friends and so on. To make my ATCs I used Gesso, Stamps, StazOn Ink, Liquid Pearls, Glitter Glue, Smooch, Dylusions Ink, Acrylic Paints, Paint Markers and Water Color Crayons. I taped 6 of the ATC cards together to make one piece of artwork. The message says...No Act Of Kindness Is Ever Wasted!!! After everything dried I pulled the tape off the back and had six ATCs sharing a piece of the same message. I titled each piece on the back Pass it Forward numbered each one and signed my name. I will be putting them in the mail in the next few days.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Pomeranian Sticker

Happy Monday!

Today I would like to share a project I made using my dog "Cody" as my inspiration. I used the Cricut Cartridge "Pet Shop" to create the Pomeranian. I used the 5" Xyron and ran the cutout on the good side so the sticky would be on top. I then used white and brown flock to fuzzy the cutout. Then just used a black marker to color the eyes and nose.

I think it looks just like my little guy....

Here's Cody

Here's my Pomeranian sticker

I plan on entering this sticker in the Pet Challenge at Love 2 Create. http://www.love2createitall.com/2013/01/pets.html

The picture of Cody and the sticker will be going in my brag book with some journaling for the month of January. 

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

2013 Brag Book

Good Morning,

Today I would like to share with you my 2013 Brag Book. I plan to use this book to put something that happens within each month of the year that stands out. Could be journaling, pictures, mixed media etc. This is an envelope mini and each envelope has a mat to hold two months. For the life of me I can't remember the paper pack that I used to make this album. (Note to self: add the strip from the paper that shows the name of the paper somewhere on your project). The first project I added on the inside of the front cover using different mediums that says "Live Life For U".  I love the way this came out. The papers are so colorful and there is a 1/4 inch between each page so I can really pack it full. Let me know what you think....

I'm also going to enter this in the Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes" over at Tsunami Rose Designs http://tsunamirosedesigns.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori