Family Record Book

Hi friends,
Here's the other book I made at the second Marion Smith class. Like the other album, I had to complete it myself.
Here's the cover:

Here are the innies:

 The page on the left has a waterfall element. You pull on the bottom tag & all the pics cascade down :)

This book has top loading & side-loading pockets for tags (as shown)

The page on the right is a pocket page.

This is the back cover:

I added lots of flowers & blingy goodness :) The metal flower embellishments on the cover & middle tag are from Marion's line for Prima & they're really pretty. The flowers are Prima & Recollections. The bling is Prima & ZVA. Even though this book has lots of flowers & bling,  I thought it would be great for some family pics---> the rich colors & distressing would go with the pics of my boys & the embellies would still make it a bit girly for me :)

Marion's Vintage Trinket collection can be found at the YMH Store---> HERE
and the bling can be found HERE.

Thanks so much for peeking today!
Gotta Go!

Sweet Things Mini Album

Hi ya friends,
I took a couple of classes with Marion Smith back in September so I got to make 2 of her mini-albums. I was really excited cuz she is a great designer & I luuuv her work. Without getting into it, let's just say I was pretty disappointed with the classes for various reasons. It wasn't the projects, they were really great, but mainly it was that we spent almost 6 hours in class & came away with a bare-bones book. :( Every time I attempted to work on it, the little crafter in my head would shriek, "You've already spent 6 hours on this!!!" so I would get really frustrated, put it back, and there it sat for months. I decided to pull it out & complete it during winter break cuz I didn't want to go into the new year with incomplete projects :( but in the end I really like how the book turned out & I got to do a lot of my own things to it.
Here's my book:

 

I want to add a pic here so the post card is just serving as a place holder.

Here are the inside pages:
First page has a side pocket:

All of the pages have a top-loading pocket for pics.

 Here, you can see the pink pull tabs & a closer peek at the binding. It's a simple accordion book, but I do like the punched border detail she showed us how to create :)

This pages has Stickles along the blue border

I cut out the umbrella out of the pattern paper & layered it on top for dimension. There's Stickles along the yellowish border along the blue edges.

I created a pocket with the chipboard piece so that tag pulls out.

 This is the back page: I'm adding a side pocket to this page too

 and this is the back cover

I added a lot of my own embellishments. The flowers & butterflies were from Recollections at Michaels, some of the flowers were from Prima, and the bling was from ZVA. I also added Crystal Stickles throughout & glossy accents to the clock faces. Someone mentioned that Prima makes the Recollections line for Michael's so I think that helped the embellies go together.

Marion has directions for making the album---> Here 
Although this was not the best experience, I really liked the project & techniques she showed.
I hope to make another of this type of accordian book in the future... so stayed tuned ;)

You Melt My Heart Mini-Album

Hi friends,
During Winter break, I got a chance to work on a few mini-albums that I will be sharing over the next few days :) Today's mini-album is from Polka Dots & Paisleys. It's a very cuuute gatefold style album.
Here's the book all done & stacked together:

Here's a closer peek at each page:

The backs of the mittens:

 The red mitten cuffs are glittered not because of design but because I put glue on the wrong side when I was adhering it! Ha! So I tried to fix that by glittering it up. I guess what they say is true---> "There are no mistakes, just opportunities for embellishing :)"

 Here are the inside pages that follow:
front:

back:

front:

back:

front:

back:

And here's the last page:

Unlike previous mini-albums I've shared this one is still available. If you're interested, you can find the info HERE.

Jordan has his first basketball game today & I'm very excited for a new season!

Soooo hope you have a great weekend!

Gotta Go!

Apple Pickin'

Hi there friends,
Before I have zero time to craft :( I decided to get one more card in before I plan for school. My blog pal, Kathy, is on the Tuesday Morning Sketches DT. This week she created the sketch so I had to play along :)
Here's her sketch:

Here's my card:

It's definitely a card to welcome happy days of spring :) The papers are Hometown Summer by Pink Paislee. The sweet image is called Adele Enjoying Fresh Apples by Sarah Kay. I just *adore* all the sweet details in her images. happy sigh...

Here's a closer peek:

She is colored with Copics & under her bare feet is some flower soft. The apple tree behind her is a MFT die called Sheltering Tree. I added little red buttons for the apples :) To finish it, I added a sentiment also from MFT on a Ribbon Tag Trio die from Spellbinders & an apple button to the center of the bow.
I've never been apple picking before  (well, except for a few that hang over my side of the wall from my neighbor's yard ;) ---> don't worry I asked... I think it would be fun to go apple picking & then come home & make a fresh apple pie! yum! Maybe I'm just having a Mary Poppins moment, but hey why not ;) Hopefully, it won't turn out the way it did when we went cherry picking.
     When I was a little girl, my Grammy took me & my brother cherry picking. We could eat as much as we wanted inside the farm & we just had to pay for what we took home in a bag. So, needless to say, my brother & I GORGED ourselves on cherries!!! About 5 minutes into the ride home, we made Grammy pull over & let's just say the only cherries we took home were the ones in the bag!!! Ugh, I will never forget that! But it did not stop me from loving & eating cherries :)

Ok, I see I'm rambling here as a way to keep me from my school junk, but I need to get to it seeing that I haven't touched a thing during vacation! Ah well...
 I'll be playing along with the following challenges:
Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch #127
The Pink Elephant: Anything Goes
Tip Top Tuesday: Anything Goes + MY TIP: When using the Viva Pen, start on the corners of your paper & then fill in the rest, that way your corners will always be neat & perfect :)
Cupcake Craftroom: Anything Goes
Stamps R Us: Anything Goes
The Cutie Pie Challenge: Use a Sentiment

Thanks so much for peeking friends,
Gotta Go... to school now----> insert tears here...

New Year Mojo

Hi ya Friends,
Happy New Year everyone!
I'm starting my crafty new year with a Mojo Monday Sketch :) Yaaaay!
My Grammy asked me to make a Thank You card she wants to give one of her friends. 
Here's the fab sketch:

Here's my card:

Right about when I was almost done, Grammy calls me to tell me not to put a big bulky flower on it cuz she has to mail it. Ughhh! Thanks for the heads up Grammy :(
Ok, so I ripped off that beautiful bloom & went with something a little less bulky:
Take Two:

I used a butterfly from the Spellbinders Butterflies 2 set along with a MFT mini rose cut in felt. I added a couple of pearl pins for the antennas, then went along the edges with my Viva pen. The beautiful paper is Sweet Nothings from Kaisercraft. The doily and the sentiment are from PTI (Signature Greetings).

Here's a closer peek at that:

Gosh, Grammy is so high maintenance! I always wondered where I got that from ;) Hee! Hee!

The good life is coming to an end soon as winter break is over :(   I know lots of you moms out there are jumping for joy as you're ready to send your kiddos back to school. You remember how you're feeling right now when the teacher wants to talk to you about your little darling ;)---> just sayin' ;)

I'll also be playing along in the following challenges:
Make it Monday: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show: Something old - (dies) Something New (pattern paper)
Paper Sundaes: Something old - (dies) Something New (pattern paper)
JUGS: Felt
Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

Thanks so much for peeking in the new year :)
Gotta Go!

Top 10 Cards of 2011

Hi friends,
Last year I participated in a Top 10 cards of the year blog hop which was pretty fun :) My blog pal, Shelly, reminded me of it again having visited her blog. So I'm joining her again in this year's Top 10 cards Blog Hop hosted by Karin at "With an I for Paper"

Here are my Top 10 cards of 2011 (in no particular order):
 #1: Image from Sarah Kay

#2: Image from Designed 2 Delight

#3: Image from Digital Delights

#4: Image from Magnolia

#5: Image from Magnolia

#6: Image from Sarah Kay

#7: Pumpkin pop-up card using the Sizzix Ball die

#8: Image from Heartfelt Creations

#9: Dies from MFT

#10: Dies from Heartfelt Creations

It's fun to look back at past creations :) Now it's time to bring on the new & bring on the bubbly!!!
Wishing you lots of lovely crafternoons in the coming year :)

Hugs & as always,
Thanks for peeking!
Happy New Year!!!