creative blessing

studio calico: daydream-believer

2012-01-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

The newest Studio Calico kit, Daydream-Believer is live and let me tell you it is a ga-gorgeous one! It was so easy to work with and I loved how versatile the addon kits are this month. You will need to be quick because things sold out quickly during the pre-sale. I created a layout with each of the kits that I got with only those kit items.
Stay
This is my main kit layout, Momo is my mom's dog. He is really a gentle giant and love s2 so much. I love how happy he is here as he watches them come down the stairs. I used Dark Calico Mister Huey Zing (rouge) and American Crafts Slick Writer (love how this pen dries instantly).

1965

Love this photo of my parent's on their wedding day. I thought the vintage colors and polaroid paper

Clarksville were perfect for this photo. I uesd Calico White Mister Huey with the background stamp, white gel pen and JBS winter vane ink to create a distress look to the layout.

NFL Dream

I know the colors in Lady Lane are very girly but I challenged myself to make it work with this football photo that I wanted to scrap of Saadiq. I "toughen" it up a bit by adding a lot over Overdue Mister Huey. :)

AM Delight

Stepping Stone really stole my hear this month, really the alpha stamps speak for them self! I loved the colors of this kit a lot! You cannot get much better than chevron and stripes! I love my morning dose of coffee after my morning greetings from s2.

I mixed bits of my favorites from all four to created this Snow layout of Synai. She was pretty much over the moon about our first snow a few weeks ago.

Good luck on getting the kits you want tonight!
xo

project life 2012|week three

2012-01-27T15:19:00.000-05:00

happy friday!! you know I love this project so I won't gush over it any more. :) As you can see I am still much inspired by neon, thanks jamaica! ;) It took me longer this week to put it all together because I had several projects I was working on but finally made time last night. As you can see I was working with the February Studio Calcio kit (Daydream-Believer) along with PL this week, love the dear lizzy neapolitan line! I need so much more of the polaroid paper, love it!

This week's layout is mixed with one 6x 8.5 page and a 5x7 page. I am pretty much obsessed with adding inserts to my weeks, which I am sure isn't going to make my album easy to close but I am okay with that! I have noticed a trend with my photos, I scrap multiple shots that happen on one day and that is cool because I know other days weeks will have an abundance of daily photos. It is fine and I am rolling with it, no stress=fun.

Basically week three consisted of an extra day off which was mixed with Syani being sick most of the week (thank you for all of the well wishes on instagram)! muwah :) Saadiq completing his science project, me taking down the Christmas tree and decor and enjoying a long holiday weekend.
No fronting here I love tv and a lot of the shows that me and my sister watch are not listed but these are some of our tried and true (guaranteed draaaaaaaaama)! It is how we decompress after work and after S2 are in bed. As you can see we love it raunchy! This journaling card is from Nisa's Splendid Fiins electric journaling card set-totally adorable, right?! I loved how kp used the alpha stamps in the Stepping Stone Addon Kit (goes on sale tonight at 12AM EST) in her sneak, so I had to cut mine up and add a title (ATV= adult tv).I love salads and eat one daily to assist with a more healthier lifestyle and my goal to continue to loose weight. I haven't talked much about it but I made a big change in my life last year and I am happier with me. I haven't blogged about it but am happy to if you need encouragement. I know I know, their are milk duds documented too but it's all good if eaten in moderation, not eating the entire box and sharing them with three mouths instead of one. :) I love anything cute and girly, so had to snap a photo of my new iPhone case (ebay, search bear iPhone case, ships from hong kong). Tina is so good with inspiring and posted an instagram challenge to take a photo of your your favorite scent, this is mine (pink glitter nails: essie a cut above). I am working on journaling more, taking more notes this week!
products used this week: zing (cricket) (embossed arrows); veneer asterisks and houses ; similar heart stickers; 1/2''circle punch; jbs tab punch; bazzill plastic paper; zing (rouge) ; paislee press ( press set no.3)
; foam tab circle adhesive; crate paper stickers; elle's studio tags; smash tape; hambly washi tape; smash date stamp; studio calico scrap pad (conversation bubble);blue jewels;basic grey micro mini alphas; folio paper; arrow stamp from field guide kit
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teal nails: opi nicki minaj (fly)

have a great weekend! xo

every moment

2012-01-24T15:03:00.000-05:00

hey there, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the kind love you leave me and nice emails about my project life album. Your kindness means a lot, thank you. I love seeing your projects and enthusiasm for this project too. So many awesome spreads in the SC gallery, it is so inspiring to see everyone's lives unfold weekly. I know some are on the fence about PL but the process of documenting you even if you don't have kids or married is worth it. Do not let your perception of "an exciting life" stop you from documenting your day, week, month or year.You will not document every moment but your moments are worth capturing, you are worth capturing. capish?! :) I have never seen some one not be happy looking at photos and words from a loved one's journals or photo albums.

now onto to some current inspiration via pinterest:

I am really into pops of neon and color lately from neon pink acrylic paint to pink lipstick like Revlon Colorburst lip butter in raspberry pie to China Glaze Shocking Pink nail polish.

favorite photo app of the week: picfx, the bokeh light effect is my favorite layer but their are tons (6) that have varies effects that you can add with each layer. really a fun app to add some creative flair to your photos and projects!
xo

game changer

2012-01-23T09:14:00.000-05:00

happy monday y'all!! Last full week of January and I am already counting the days until spring even though the only winter we've truly had was a little ice and snow this weekend. This winter has been super mild, like roller coaster mild, highs this week...50's! okay let me get to it,here is my take on dare 187 and come by to welcome meg back!!! I don't set resolutions as you may no if you are a long time reader but I do set goals that I want to do for the year or month. They change from daily to monthly. I love to do this as a personal motivator. But in 2012 I want to do even better!! My scanner didn't pick up the neon paint on the layout. :(

Dark Calico Mister Huey; Black Slick Writer Pen; Custard Mister Huey; Veneer Asterisks

project life 2012|week 2

2012-01-19T14:31:00.001-05:00

I can't believe week three is almost complete, if anything this project makes you really see how fast the weeks moves and it makes it even more important to document what you can when you can.I really enjoy getting my album together starting on my first day of the new week (Sunday for me). It usually takes me a few days to complete as I sit to work on it in open moments either before I go to bed or before s2 wakes up each day. I am not trying to capture it all but I am becoming more aware of what we are doing daily. Week two was a fun one, semi-annual dental appointment=early school release, denim find of the ~~century~~ minute at H&M (followed by swift failure at zara's...balance), first snowfall finally and documentation of our (mainly saadiq's and synai's) obsession with the weather each morning, home bathroom diy (yep that is my caulking gun) and reminder to stay on track with our fitness (we get our walks in on the weekend). products used: Bazzill Plastic Paper;JBS alpha stickers (yellow); Splendid Fiins PL cards (seriously and look here, avail. 1/23 at jessicasprague.com; Studio Calico Memoir Scrap Pad (chevron circle); Amy Tangerine Thickers; Jillibean Soup Corrugated Arrow; Studio Calico Chipboard Butterfly (I painted it neon pink); K and Company Smash Tape (really like); Studio Weekday Rubon; Studio Calico Wood Veneer (house); JBS Chipboard Buttons; Kaisercraft Jewels;;Crate Paper Cardstock Stickers; JBS Tiny Circle Alphas

a few notes about my album:

I use 12x12 Bazzill Plastic Paper (just like overlays) for the clear elements in this album and my December Daily 2011I cut them down to the size I want and insert,emboss, staple, tape or sew them to pages.

My page protectors are various sizes, including the following: 6x6, 6x8.5 and 5x7. I am thinking about adding these 4x6 to the mix as well!

Adhesives- I used anything that is clear or dries clear like mini glue dots (love how small these are); This to That Glue Dot Runner and Zip Dry.

I print my photos at home on an old cannon color photo printer. Some of my instagram photos on week two are 2x2, overlay photo is 3x5 and the remaining photos are 2x3.

hope this answers any questions you have if not just ask away from the link at the top of the blog or on twitter, I am happy to answer! :)
xo

amy tan|studio calico class winner

2012-01-18T16:10:00.001-05:00

Jenna Ruth said...

Oh, I would love to win!! Thanks for the chance!

9:46 AM

congrats!! please email me your contact information and studio calico username asap!

insta-review

2012-01-17T14:49:00.000-05:00

happy ~~Monday~~, oh wait it's Tuesday!! I guess a long weekend will do that to you, keep getting my days mixed up! It's no secret that I ♥ instagram and I haven't done an off duty post in a while, so here we GO! We stayed home during the extended holiday and played it low key.
1. finally took down our christmas tree yesterday, which snowballed into a cleanFEST for the entire house. It felt good and I love getting things accomplished! 2. take two of saadiq's 5th grade science project 3. current state of my desk with PL week 2 and other projects underneath it in progress.I changed the layout a bit for this week of PL because I had more photos, can't wait to finish it up tonight! I am still LOVING this project so much! I also hope to have a few sneaks of Feb. Studio Calico to share tomorrow. 4.perfect yellow polish by zoya....pippa 5. outfit details 6. first snowfall last Monday. 7. new iPhone cover just arrived, have the white one, super adorable! 8. love flats, even in the winter time. these are oldies but goodies. 9. Love the light that comes into my bedroom in the mornings and my new bedside plant.
xo, hope you are having a wonderful week!
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there is still time to enter the giveaway below!!

studio calico|amy tan's stretch your kit class giveaway

2012-01-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

I have a giveaway for you today, a chance to win a spot in Studio Calico's next online class.... Stretch Your Kit! Leave a comment below if you would like a chance to win! I will choose and post a winner on Tuesday, January 17th. Have a wonderful weekend! xo

CLASS INFO:

Are you ready to jumpstart the way you look at supplies? Tired of letting your kits pile up month after month without touching them? Ready to pull out the tools you have on hand and put them to use? Amy Tan is here to help show you how to see the Studio Calico Main kits in new ways and get those supplies onto your pages. She’s ready to share tips and tricks on making your kit supplies stretch to create beautiful page after page.

Known for her playful and innovative pages, Amy is the perfect teacher to help you stretch your kits. She’ll walk you through ideas for breaking open those brown paper bags and seeing your kits in a fun new way. Amy and Studio Calico kits... what a great combination!

Amy is joined by creative powerhouses Kelly Goree, Celine Navarro, and Jen Jockisch who will all share inspiration for using ONLY the Studio Calico Main kit. You’ll see their process for getting started on a layout, selecting which supplies to pull from the kits, and tips for using their favorite tools and techniques.

START DATE: FEBRUARY 1, 2012

REGISTRATION ENDS: JANUARY 31, 2012

PRICE: $30.00

project life 2012| wk 1

2012-01-12T15:21:00.001-05:00

okay I really have dropped the ball on blogging this week...will you forgive me?! :) I have a few deadlines that took priority but I do have a quick share of my first week of Project Life. Thank you all for the super sweet comments about my title page and feelings on this project. I can't wait to see your PL albums this year as well and I don'. It has been a long time since I've been this excited about documenting.

I didn't take a lot of photos during week one but I have more than made up for it for week two. My page bases are clear and the size of my pages are 6.5x8. This size is perfect for me, I love working with small photos and 4x6 ones... which makes this size a perfect fit for both. I like the format of the style A page protectors, so this layout was influenced by it. It feels good to use some of my most favorite products of all time, uhmmmm (heidi swapp obsessed...just a tad) and finally using my washi tape and extra kit items from studio calico!

I've also been using the momento app tons to make notes and my tweets and instagram feeds are connected so it makes journaling a breeze!We saw (sister+me) War Horse while s2 were at school last Monday. It was PHENOMENAL!! Please go see it, loved it so much, now I want to see the play. We celebrated my mommy's 69th birthday, welcomed a new year, starbucks and lots of trips to Target. I visit that place way more than I should but I guess buying some groceries there....this is my rationalization!

my layout with inserts- The sizes of photos on the right sight are 2.5x3.5. My smaller photos like the 2012 and Synai with the leopard scarf are 2x2. I printed the all on my home photo printer.opposite side of the 2012 overlaylayout without inserts...i know every week will not be two pages, but I do like having extra room to play. It's all about making adjustments and making it work for YOU!I downloaded digital elements and had them printed on cardstock at fedex office. I had some printed on transparencies like the chevron one below.products used| Studio Calico Kraft Cardstock Stickers (stars); Studio Calico State Fair Rubon(sunday); JBS Ink (red); versamark;Aqua Zing;Studio Calico Autumn Press Woodgrain Alphas;JBS Cardstock Sticker Label (green and pink);JBS Tiny Type Stickers; Smash Travel Pad; Prima alphas; Elle's Studio; Martha Stewart Heart Punch
digital: Paislee Press
also loving these life in a nutshell journaling cards by my girl nisa too!
let me know if you have any questions! :)

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nail polish is essie lapis of luxury
xoxo

journey into project life| 2012

2012-01-04T15:09:00.000-05:00

project life, yes,yes...yes!! I am excited about documenting, snapping photos and scrapping the ones that don't make it onto my layouts sometimes. I think this is going to be the perfect album for s2 to flip thru and really "see" our lives. An album that triggers moments in their lives that will be forgotten as adults but remembered instantly with each flip of the page. For me this is truly a heritage album in the making, not that all of my other albums aren't, they are but this...this is different.

Project life for me is really about capturing the small moments the ones that get loss in the day to day activities of life but are remembered when you are older thru triggers. For instance every thursday night in our household was nutty butty (what we called them but they are nutty bars) night while watching the cosby show and different world. My sister and me looked forward to this night weekly because this was our tradition, our mom purchased groceries on that day and we couldn't wait for her to get home to have our 8pm treat while watching tv. This is what I want to capture and document for s2, the things that make us happy, our daily treats, home, patterns, accomplishments, trips and life.I will not be here forever with them but these pages will last for generations.
I am using supplies that I have in my collection and that jed hooked me up with recently, Some of my supplies I've had forever but ~~couldn't~~ wouldn't use. Everything happens for a reason and my HS goodies are perfect for PL but I still have my eye on the cobalt core kit. I know there will be weeks where I don't want to make everything from scratch. So the core kit or downloads are perfect for that.
products used on my title page: Elle Studio tags; Heidi Swapp silhouette words and stamp; Studio Calico wood veneer house; countryside tags; mister heuy's ink-overdue and custard;zing-mustard; Hambly (brown) overlay;Hambly (woodgrain) overlay; tweet rubons;rhinestones; classic scrap pad (note); Martha Stewart heart punch
Album: AC minibook for the Studio Calico|Ali December daily kit
Storage: I have all of my gathered supplies and stamps for my album in a drawer in my scrap area. Most of my supplies will be studio calico,smash, heidi swapp, elle studio and jbs. All provide journaling spots, stickers or cards that are perfect for project life. I also picked up this cute bucket from target ($1 spot, comes in pink too) thanks to lisa, to keep mobile supplies in. This will be perfect for scrapping in front of the tv, during my lunch break or while waiting at practices for Saadiq or Synai. I plan on keeping in simple, efficient and stress-free.
I think the key is finding what works for you and keeping with it....so who else is in?!xo
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eta- my nail polish is china glaze for audrey :)

onto the next one...

2012-01-04T01:33:00.000-05:00

YEAH and happy new year, my daily is done! :) I am happy to be finished and I am not going to lie, it became daunting because I had to played catch up at the end but I was determined to finish before totally engulfing myself in Project Life.

I know a goal for 2012 (yes already thinking about the next one) is to KEEP up, I like the everyday creating process and when that part is forced it makes it less fun for me. Below is the remaining pages in my daily, bless your hearts...get ready for the long list of photos. Thank you for all of the nice comments on my daily (I read every one of them), I really do love making this minibook every year. Please excuse the blurry photos, I rushed which = blur...
I hope you are have an awesome creative year, I am going to push myself to document more this year, the everyday threads of my life. I am excited about Project Life, xo

oh yes, the decdaily continues...

2011-12-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

quick share, hope you are having a great weekend! I am still ticking away at my decdaily before I start on my next minibook...project life! Yes, I have caught the bug but before I must close this door before opening another one. below are days 13-19. happy almost new year!!

sorry for the bad photos, I waited until almost dusk to get inspired to take photos! These days are basically all captured by my iPhone....easy, convenient and fun= i like it and keeps me hooked on the documentation process!
products used: green circles overlay; classic chipboard butterfly; precision pen; mustard zing;veneer asterisks; kraft butterfly stickers;classic alpha sticker; mister huey's custard;tiny attacher;green zing

county fair

2011-12-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

county fair is up and going fast, I wish I had more time to play with this kit this month, I have a fourth layout in limbo but sleep is dancing on my eyelids at the moment. If you love stamps, you will love the stamps in the add-ons this month, I picked up photo booth and shooting gallery for the stamps alone but really loved the colors in kissing booth and the little puffy sticker hearts, eek...love! I already want more of the envelopes in this add-on. They pretty much rock to me and the camera is already showing up in my dec. daily.

my main, county fair layout:
I love the exclusive wood veneer alphas in the main, I love veneer embellishments, and SC really makes awesome ones. s1 loves to cook, he is always in the kitchen with me helping just as much as s2. Here he is stirring pumpkin bread mix on Thanksgiving morning. Custard and Dewey Mister Huey's match this kit perfectly.

Main+Shooting Layout:
s1 has the biggest heart and he shows it on and off the field, he is a sentimental little guy. I love this picture of him getting ready for a game during the season. please disregard the hoarder like piles in the background, me and my scrap area are on the outs at the moment, lol...

I stamped the stamp from ring toss on a clear overlay, embossed it and cut it out with a craft knife and added it to the layout. I love the texture, you can't see it here because of the scan.

Kissing Booth Layout:
s2 wasn't in the photo taking mood a few weeks ago, she is becoming more and more like this lately. :( I hope this phase moves on quickly, but I still like this photo because it reminds me of how small she still is even though she is growing more with each day. I kind of had a heart party on this layout, but I LOVE hearts so I couldn't help myself. :)

I have a gigantic post of my dec. daily, it will be up tomorrow!
xo

gift guide:gifts< $50

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

happy everything!! last gift guide of the season and this one is for those last minute shoppers (good luck in the hunt)!! All of these items are under $50 and easy on the pocketbook, my favorite kind of shopping! I love a good glitzy deal! I guess I was really inspired by black|white and gold with this one but a few are on my future wish list as well. :) xo

1.Kate Spade Case| iPhone 4, $16;2.Triple Link Bangle , $22;3. Primitives By Kathy Love You More Sign, $50;4. IKEA Eivor Throw, $20; 5.Tory Burch Lucite Cuff, $45;6. SEPHORA COLLECTION Vanity Brush Set ($120 Value) Vanity Brush Set, $48;7. BC Footwear Snakeskin Flats, $45

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MORE GIFT GUIDES

for hostess

for him

beauty guru

for her

county fair sneaks

2011-12-21T13:19:00.000-05:00

Quick share today, HAPPY WEDNESDAY!! I finally got around to playing more with my January Studio Calico Kit County Fair this morning. This month I got Kissing Booth, Photo booth and Shooting Gallery add-ons. The sneaks below are a mix of all three, they mix so well together. I flipped out over the stamps in photo booth and shooting gallery (used the bullseye stamp 2x)!!

The sneak below is mainly made with Kissing Booth, love love hearts so the packet of hearts sold me along with the vintage inspired envelopes! I used JBS Chili Powder on for the camera stamp, slick writer for journaling and jet black for "i hit the bullseye..." and on the overlay at the bottom.

I mixed the main (county fair) and the add-on shooting gallery. I used one of my favorite mister huey's inkatmosphere (discontinued) and basic grey precision file set to shape up my heart cutouts.

That's all from me today, hope you are enjoying the holiday season! We are headed out of town for Christmas to see nana and family. I hope you have a magically time with the ones you love and hold dear.
xo

snips snips|days 13-15

2011-12-20T14:05:00.001-05:00

so I am still ticking along with my daily, just at a slower rate, but if I can get caught up this week, it will be all good! I plan on taking it with me this time down south, we leave on Thursday for Christmas. I usually don't travel with my daily but in order for me to not loose motivation I am taking it with me this year and making time to document. All I can say is thankGOODNESS for instagram, it has really made this year's album more fun! :) Here are quick peeks at days 13-15 and the inside of it all together, i love the layers and it is impossible to close now. I am adding bigger jump rings to it tonight. I haven't had time to photograph each day but I am going to try and do that soonish!
xo

nyc nights

2011-12-16T09:07:00.002-05:00

happy happy friday!!Can you believe Christmas is nine days away?!! I am ready, if you follow me on twitter, you know I finished my shopping yesterday!! hoRRAY!!!! I haven't forgotten about my holiday gift guide, it will be back on Monday! :) I hope you had a great week, I've been on vacation all week and this has been the fastest week of my life! I have a quick share today of a new layout I made with the studio calico memoir collection. I love the colors in this collection so much

products used| Basic Grey Precision File Kit; Pro Pen;Foam Tab Circles;Glue Glider Pro Gun;Veneer Asterisks; Memoir Button Chipboard;Memoir Collection

Studio Calico first class, Photo A Day is open for registration!The first class starts Jan.1, can't beat the price! It will also work perfectly with Project Life (which I plan on doing in 2012)!

Wishing you a spectacular weekend, xo!

d.daily 9-12+ american crafts

2011-12-13T00:07:00.000-05:00

how is it already wednesday?!! I am a bit behind in posting and creating in my daily but I plan on fixing that tonight!
products used|Folio;Pro Glider;Classic Label Sticker;Pen; Circle Punch;Veneer Houses; Tweet Rubons; Veneer Stars;American Crafts Thickers (Macaw);Tiny Attacher
I am also the GD for American Crafts this week, talk about being knocked out of my socks when Paige asked me?!! AC has always been a staple in creating,to see more of my creations check out today's post. Here is one of the layouts I created, love their christmas line and hello chap is so versatile!

have a great day! xo

gift guide: hostess

2011-12-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

happy friday, back with another edition of the 2011 holiday gift guide! :) I think this one is my favorite collection yet! Listed are some of my favorite gift ideas for the one in your life who loves to entertain! There might be something on this list for you too! ;) Some of my favorites are the gold journal, pave bangle set (i die) and the gold feather tray (instant home glam)!
Have a wonderful weekend! xo

1.Chevron Frame, $28;2.Valise Journal, $24;3. Modern Santa Collection,; 4.Benefit The Porefessional,$29;5.Design*Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney , $35;6.Pave the Way Bracelet Set, $24;7.Gold Athena Tray, $45;8. BAGGU Pouch Handbag , $12
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MORE GIFT GUIDES

for him
beauty guru
for her

d.daily|day eight

2011-12-09T12:34:00.001-05:00

day eight is all about the love list. I love list ( of any kind) this one is easy to do and document + instagram makes that super easy! All of the photos for today's page are photos from my instagram stream. The layers and embossing continues, I love both and mix in vintage Heidi Swapp products and it's golden. :)

My love list consists of 1. zara (love this store, never fails to inspire me, their lookbooks are always spectacular) 2. S2, love them of course, photo taken outside of target last weekend 3. into hearts as you can see in this photo ♥ ♥4. my santa ornament collection has kicked into overdrive, love these from pottery barn 5. loving the creative process of making a page every morning in my DD 6. love this lip combo this week, into bright lips all of a sudden! I printed all of these photos with my home printer, they are 2x2 with two prints printing on 4x6 photo paper. I get two prints per page side x side, I trim down the prints surrounding border and add the rows to my daily. If you have questions, let me know. :)
have a wonderful weekend! xo products used| StazOn (jet black);Foam Tab circles;Aqua Zing;Circle Punch;Hambly Circle Green Overlay; Autumn Press Scrap Pad (conversation bubble);JBS (yellow heart)Ink;Studio Calico Kraft Butterfly Sticker;JBS Large Alphabet (8); JBS Tiny Circle Alphabet; Kaiser Bling
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hostess gift guide will be posted soon!

d.daily| day 7

2011-12-08T12:13:00.001-05:00

this is week is moving along,day started with an two hour delay for school for s2! They love the extra time and so do I. :) So day seven is short is sweet, I took some pics of our tree decked out in bokeh and one of my favorite ornaments (photos actually taken on day 5, but that is the great thing about this project, you document the daily moments that mean the most to you).
Even though the redskins have not made me very happy this season, smh. I still love it because mommy gave it to me a few years ago along with a snowman dressed in redskins attire. :) I am happy that I am keeping up this first week (usually a battle for me starting week two) but it will help that next week I am on vacation!
have a fabulous day! xo
products used| Tiny Attacher Pro Pen;Adhesive;JBS Chili Powder Dye Ink;White Zing Embossing Powder; Versamark; Studio Calico Woodgrain Thickers; Amy Tangerine Paper Leaves; Hambly Overlay; Echo Park Chipboard (Santa); Foam Tab Circles

d.daily|6.

2011-12-07T12:34:00.001-05:00

day six done and documented, I don't spend a ton of time on my pages, sometimes it takes longer to print and crop my photos than to create the actual pages. Not today, this page has one instax of Saadiq drawing yesterday morning. I love that both s2 love to draw, Saadiq has become really good and draws almost daily.. I have some of his work that have won awards framed in our living room plus art class projects from him and Synai that is rotated as it made and brought home. He is drawing sonic here, I think a toy of his has been in almost every DD for the last three years. :)A lot of the elements on this day are adhered with foam tab circle adhesives, I love using them a lot! If you look closely you can see that the instax is popped up, love 3D action in minis.
products used: American Crafts Hollyday Jolly Old Elf; JBS Chili Powder Ink; AE Exclusive tag; Smash Stickies; Zing Powder (Mustard); American Crafts Remarks Sticker (snowflake); Wood Venner Star; Wood Veneer Pennant; American Crafts Foam Tab Circle Adhesives

have a joyous day, xo!
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gift idea: cranberry bliss bars- 6 pack are 50% off today! (makes a great stocking stuffer and they are super yummy too)

d.daily|4-5

2011-12-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

another day, another day to document! Days four and five of my december daily are below. I used an old overexposed polaroid as my base of page 5, i love layers and color!

day four:

All about football, season extended because they are competing for the state championship. I love the top right photo of Saadiq, snapped it right before we were about to get into the car. His passion for the game is unbelievable, after game chat with coach (he is telling them they aren't done yet) and his Auntie B treat to McDonald's for a victory celebration.
day five:
Counting all blessings ( yesterday it so happen to be in the form of coffee and morning read with breakfast). I love mornings in my house, chatter with s2, prep for the day and documenting in my december daily.products used|Memoir Tags;Smash Flag Clips; (so in love with them)American Crafts Remarks Stickers (snowflakes); Green Circle Overlay; 7gypsies stickers; Metallic Zing; JBS sticker;Studio Calico tweet rubon; Hambly Overlay (teal circles); JBS Alphas;Heidi Swapp silhouette word; Memoir Label Sticker; American Crafts Pen;
have a joyous day! xo

gift guide: for him

2011-12-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

okay with only 19 shopping days left until xmas, we can't leave the fellas out. If I had that guy to buy for I would so buy these (who am i kidding, would so buy variations of these for S1 too)! It is fun to pretend and I hope you get some gift giving ideas as well! :) Some of my favorites are a good beanie (prefer the boys to the girls versions anyway); tartan is always a good choice and gotta to have some cool kicks! Enjoy!

1.Reversible Rib Knit Beanie, $8.90 ; 2. Oxford shirt in Gillian tartan, $50;3. J.Crew Leather iPhone 4 case, $38;4. Coach Leather Money Clip, $48;5. BOSS Black 'Liar Stripe' Square Cuff Links, $135;6. Jack Spade | Jack Spade Stationery, $20
7. Supra shoes Watch, $22;8.Flud Watches:The Flud Duffle Bag in Black & Tan, Bags..., $52

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MORE GIFT GUIDES:

beauty guru
for her

d.daily

2011-12-05T12:26:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday!! Can you believe we are 20 days away from Christmas?!!! This month is moving fast and I am only half way done with my shopping list. I know I will get a lot done next week while I am off! We had a fun weekend of football, Saadiq's team is in the state playoffs again this year....yay!! You will see some pictures in my december daily tomorrow (it is my day four). I have more pics to share from day one-day three below.
more of day one:
I added more photos, I want to have more photos in my daily this year, so I printed out more instagram photos (app is the bomb) and added an overlay on top with journaling stickers that expressed my emotions for the day. Love red themed ornaments and in love with these santa ones from target and pottery barn, have a few more being delivered this week.

products used: jamaicamakes stickers; 7gypsies stickers; Hambly
day two:Synai's tooth came out at school on Friday, she was so excited to show me when I came home from work.OMG, she looks so tall here!products used: Studio Calico December Daily Kit;Mister Huey's Ink;Hambly; Echo Park Chipboard (button); Wood Veneer Astericks; Classic Labels

upclose detail of the contruction of this overlay: I added another coaster to the opposite side and built the clear elements of the next page. This page also has a "hinge" on it (the pink woodgrain) folds in.

products used: coaster from birchbox; American Crafts Zing (grapefruit); Heidi Swapp Stamp; Autumn Press Butterfly; VersaMark; Flag Smash Clips; Memoir Tag

day three: NOTD (polish you see on my nails) and finally hung my wreath on the front door. I love adding more holiday decor each day with snippets of my everyday life!I don't think I will ever get tired of Heidi Swapp stamps, I can't wait to see what she has planned with her new line!
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for him gift guide will be posted later today, apologize for the delay.xo

the decdaily

2011-12-01T13:02:00.001-05:00

yay, it's december 1st!! I am excited to start this year's minibook, it is one of my favorite parts of of the holiday season. I had a bit of drama with the cover, had to redo it after I added OLD modge podge to the first one. The mist and mp did not mix well= did not dry. So on this cover I misted an overlay, and added another overlay on top of it to "seal" it. Every year I use the same variety of colors, red, teal, yellow and white and that is okay with me (use what inspires you, you will need it when the holidays really get to pumping)! I love smaller minis and this one has a mix of 4x6 and 4x7 clear pages. I will be adding more clear pages,pattern paper and overlays as the days progess. The majority of the book will be clear, can't wait to make it big. This year I plan on including more photos and building interactive pages like the one below. Today for the first photo of the day I used my pivi printer to turn a digi photo into a instax print. I snapped a photo of my makeup for the day. One of my favorite portions of the day is "me time" when I am getting ready for the day. The photo is inside of a card holder that I stapled to a overlay and added it the inside of my cover as the first page. I have more photos of the day (like Synai hanging our countdown to Santa Claus) and others that I capture on instagram today.
Supplies Used| Hambly overlays; parts of Studio Calico Brooklyn Flea and Handmade kits| Mister Huey's ink (calico white); Autumn Press Bundle; Ink
thanks for reading and leave a comment if you are doing a DD, would love to see your minis as well
xo

gift guide:beauty guru

2011-11-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

Due to the holiday last week, I was unable to post my gift ideas (braved the black friday sales), but they are back this week for a double punch, look for another gift guide post on Friday for him! I love cosmetics from all brands, below are a few of my favorites that I think any sister, teen or friend (maybe you) would love to have as a stocking stuffer or gift.The elf brush works like a dream for foundation application and is perfect for someone new to makeup. It is super soft and doesn't shed because the brusht is synthetic. You can never go wrong with deborah lippmann's glitter polish and I am obsessed with opi's here today gone tomorrow! enjoy, xo!

1.Maybelline Baby Lips Lipbalm Collection : Target, $2.99;2.Elf Powder Brush, $3;3. Buy Milani Baked Powder Blush, Corallina 08 Online at drugstore.com, $7.49;4. Vitamin E Body Butter | The Body Shop ®, $18;5.Lime Crime Makeup Lipstick in Centrifuchsia, $16;6. LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics | USA, $25;7.Buy bareMinerals READY Eyeshadows 2.0 Eyecolor Duos, The Honeymoon..., $20; 8. Buy Deborah Lippmann Nail Color, Shake Your Groove Thing Online at..., $18;9. Amazon.com: OPI Espana Collection~Here Today Aragon Tomorrow~E48:..., $4.25;10.Buy Smashbox LIFE IS YOUR SET Pencil Set ($62 Value) Online at..., $22

Save 35% off your entire order at The Body Shop with code EXTRAJOY. Offer valid 12/1–12/5.
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MORE GIFT GUIDES:
for her

brooklyn flea

2011-11-28T01:03:00.001-05:00

I hope you had a great holiday weekend, we sure did! I am sharing my layouts, I wish I had more time to make more, this kit is fantastic.Brooklyn flea (love the name) is on sale now and totally gorgeous on the new site! I had fun scrapping with my instagram photos that I had printed via postal pix. This month I got addons #3(Snow Cone) and 4 (Printer's Drawer).As you can see I am a tad bit obsessed with the burst stamp from snow cone. I will be using it in my december daily as well! I inked and embossed with it on two layouts. I used the new mister huey's ink from the latest release: clay, dewey (both on fashion bee) and overdue (a smile in a cup).
I am off to see breaking dawn this morning, hope you have a wonderful day!
xo

december daily photography workshop winner

2011-11-26T20:20:00.001-05:00

congrats!!!!

scrap2010 said...

I hope to get a new lens for my camera :-)) Thanks for the chance to win a spot in this great class!

1:46 AM

Please email me your contact info.

brooklyn flea sneaks

2011-11-23T13:07:00.001-05:00

LOVed this month's kit=brooklyn flea (goes on sale at midnight EST 11/27). These two sneaks are from the addons: snow cone (totally worth the background stamp alone, sneak one) and painter's tray (love the colors, patterns and wood pennants,sneak two), monday's sneak was of the main kit only.

I see a lot of you have the pivi printer on your wishlist, it is so worth ordering it from eBay (great deal). Amy did a great blog post today, if you are on the fence. I promise you it is will be the best purchase ever!

Have a wonderful, safe and happy Thanksgiving!!

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don't forget to enter the december daily photography workshop giveaway below :)

thankful.

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

A list of bits I am thankful for, what are you thankful for today?

family,opaque tights,free will,Trader Joe's pumpkin bread mix (opt. mini choco. chips),a good night's rest,honeycrisp apples,music, hugs,faith, cup of joe and opi here today aragon tomorrow (best dark|black nail polish) ever!!

xo
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don't forget to enter the december daily photography workshop giveaway below :)

december daily| photography workshop giveaway

2011-11-22T07:30:00.000-05:00

finally able to post my 2011 December Daily, alot of scrappin' going on over here!! I love doing this mini book every year (previous albums) and this year's foundation is all clear, book is filled with overlays (both clear and printed), stamped images, stitches clear pockets and products from the studio calico december daily kit.

Maggie Holmes has a new workshop, December Daily Photography Workshop this December that is designed to help people stay on track with and complete their Dec Daily Albums inspired by the AMAZING Ali Edwards! The class focuses on the photography aspect of the album and will include an email for every day in December. Daily emails will have photo examples, prompts, ideas, photography tips and tricks, etc. Maggie is nice enough to give away one spot in the class to one of you! This giveaway is open to everyone, please leave a comment with an item on your xmas wishlist on this post. :) I will choose and post the winner on Friday, November 25th.

good luck! xo

off duty

2011-11-21T07:23:00.001-05:00

happy monday!!!! we had a great weekend and are really looking forward to capitalizing on family time this week! Your family is a blessing no matter how big or small. Friends are an extention of family as well. I remember when I had just graduated from college and had to work (PT job in retail) after Thanksgiving and could not make it home because I had to work. My friends became my family, my point is (didn't mean to write all of this but I guess it is on my heart) that the people that you choose to surround yourself with become your family no matter if they are blood or not, enjoy them, be thankful for them. thank you for reading my words weekly and letting me share with you.

Our weekend little bit of scrappin' (sneak at studio calico brooklyn flea),we cheered (saadiq's team won the president's cup,now onto the next level of playoffs), received my first order of instagram prints via postal pix (awesome quality)and decorated our tree!!
hope you had a good weekend too!xo

gift guide:her

2011-11-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, first holiday post of the season...fa la laaaaaaaaaa! :)I love all of these items and a few are on my wish list as well (2,7). A few of my favorites that I have and love (2,5 and10)-personally think any of these would make a great gift(s). I am pretty much obsessed with the McQueen inspired scarf since its arrival, love it!

J Crew long sleeve sweater, $88 ASOS suede high heels, $81Madewell mini bag, $35Michael Kors jewelry;Happy Scarf, $20
NARS Danmari All About Cheeks Palette ($107 Value) Danmari All About..., $65MAC Fluidline Blacktrack One Size, $15;Stella McCartney Stella Eau de Parfum Roll-On 0.33 oz Eau de Parfum..., $20;SEPHORA by OPI Traffic Stopper CopperTop Coat Traffic Stopper Copper, $9.50;Marshmallow Fireside; Body Works, $20

paint happy

2011-11-17T12:39:00.000-05:00

a quick share of a layout I made a few months ago for my misting 101 workshop. You know I love my paint and mister huey's, especially dewey (Tiffany blue)!! If you have any questions for me just hit the ask tab and I will respond.
happy almost weekend!!
xo

holiday spirit

2011-11-15T14:15:00.001-05:00

srsly, happy that we are a week away from Thanksgiving!! I love the holidays and my family is just as excited as I am! Synai was jumping up and down this morning with excited because next week they only have two days of school and she finally gets to see her nana, she misses her a lot. I love Thanksgiving and the preparation of the meal and family time. I'm already in the Christmas spirit, purchased first gift yesterday and will be posting a gift guide on Friday of some of my favorite things that I think will make wonderful gifts. :) sharing is loving!!

I have a new layout to share today made with Autumn Press and Classic Calico (cannot get enough of the paper: folio, kraft butterfly stickers and pennants|flags wood veneer). All of the new lines are products are now available in the store and will ship with monthly kit orders at no extra charge!
be blessed,xo

mixed

2011-11-10T14:15:00.001-05:00

dare 186 is up and was inspired by kara's meme. I love this one and did it about a month ago on here. I love mixes of things, textures, fabrics, patterns, etc... i love juxtaposition in all forms! I used one of my favorite stamps of 2011 from the Studio Calico and some bits from handmade.
happy almost weekend, yeah!
xo

2011-11-09T16:17:00.000-05:00

a happy list is in order to help me get over this wednesday! I love happy list, what is making you happy today?

early morning cuddles with s2, we are waking up extra early this week because of the time change but that means they tuck into my bed until 7am arrives.
my favorite work nude lip combo: MAC blankety and Milani (whisper) crystal gloss
Christmas decorating next weekend
saadiq's team winning their game last night and spending time with family while cheering him on
last moments of fall before the weather gets colder permanently
pure love
belly hurting laughter
layers-clothes, scents
burning marshmallow fireside candles ( my favorite scents meshed into one, love fireside too)
basketball wives LA (guily pleasure, i know.... i know)

♥ totally magical

2011-11-07T13:40:00.001-05:00

never gets old, still has new magic to be found everywhere each time I viist (love love love this city). It is especially special with friends!

ps, had my first iced skinny white mocha latte today (do not like mocha lattes normally), how did I ever not try one of these before(???) I will never know but thanks to a super sweet barista now I have a new fav at starbucks and ~~will have to control myself from getting one everyday~~, oh happy happy monday! :)
xo

superlicious

2011-11-02T11:22:00.000-04:00

...AND now that I have fergilicious stuck in your head for the rest of the day :)....

you know i love minibooks so I was beyond excited when Studio Calico added these embossed journals to theie line! This week on the SC blog we are sharing a few more detailed sneaks of them. I started the foundation of a mini to document my trip to NYC this week. I layered three different mister huey's on the cover, love that guy! All I have to do now is to add pictures, a better peek at the mini is up on the SC blog.

happiness today is seeing the red cup pop up in Starbucks (thinking I need a nonfat eggnog latte soon) and wearing flare jeans today! What is your favorite thing today, i love this time of year?! :)

stay creative....

2011-10-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

I do 2,7,9 (a lot),12,13,18, 21,25, 26 and 32 and need to do more of 30 and 31 but MOST IMPORTANTLY DON'T GIVE UP!
nothing but love,xo

handmade reveal

2011-10-28T00:02:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday you guys!! I am sharing my November Studio Calico kit, handmade with you today! I made four layouts with the main only this month and remember the first layout in each of the design team's gallery will highlight the main kit only!! I did get the december daily kit (add-on 4), it has over 40+ products in it) as well and will be sharing my dd album here on my blog just like I have in years past.

I loved this pattern paper mixed with the gray (more gray paper is an add-on now), countryside tag (countryside open stock paper is BOGO) and my staple mister huey's calico white! I am pretty much OBSESSED with jbs weather vane ink, i used it on the # thickers to darken it up, love how the pattern resisted the ink! I love this layout so much because it is about embracing getting older and really loving the person I am as a 30+ woman! :)

I used the exclusive diecut paper as a mask to create a pattern on the black cardstock, Synai was so excited over her first hotel sleepover! She was totally all smiles, I did cheat here and added the stamp from Pin Cushion (add-on one) along the sides and inside the white heart but with jbs chili powder (it is the perfect red and will look great in a dd)! :)

I can't get enough of the mister huey's masks, LOVE them! Both s2 love to travel and they are really great travelers because they have been doing it since they were itty bitty. I take them everywhere with me and they love it. Now they keep themselves entertained as I did it before, all they need is their favorite electronics and their pillow. :)

I love NYC, can't wait to be going up next weekend with my girls, lots of paint here! I kept this one simple and used my fiskars fingertip knife to cut out the star frame. This knife will change your crafting life, it makes cutting out shapes so easy, trust me! Once you get used to controlling the blade at a lower angle, you will love it!

have a wonderful weekend! xo

I (♥) instagram

2011-10-27T18:54:00.002-04:00

but i think you know that by now ( follow me @strawbvee)! :) here are some of favorites from the last month.
1. corner view in my bedroom 2. leopard trapper hat=happy 3. gingham+sequins= double happy (love this time of year when their is an abundance of sequins)! 4. birthday starbucks treat=triple happy :)
happy almost weekend!xo

sand, punch, glitter x repeat

2011-10-25T15:47:00.001-04:00

quick sneak of my final layout for studio calico nov. kit|handmade. dare i say this is my favorite one, i had fun with layering, l love to cut, punch and sand everything x repeat! weather vane ink is a current fave, darken up the amy tangerine|american crafts thickers with it and love the effect, also cannot STOP using mister huey's shine, totally gorgeous! oh and printed all of my photos on white cardstock this month, love the texture a lot!
off to get a cup of joe my lids are very heavy! :)
xo

handmade sneaks

2011-10-24T12:29:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday!! I can't believe we are at the end of October!! The weather is getting a lot colder and because of it I am fighting the sniffles today. BUT onto happy things like the Studio Calico November Homemade kit! I have a few sneaks to share today, hoping to share a fourth one with you tomorrow as well!

ps...Thanks for stopping by and posting comments (read every single one)! I see a lot of you feel my pain from my ooc post and it is okay to have a pile of layouts. :) I do look through them more this way because as soon as they go into an album that's it! S2 pull out albums more than I do and that's what I love about this passion we share....the captured memories! :)xo

easy v. hard

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

new dare, inspired by kal! I love life and try to live each day to the best of my ability one day at a time. But life is hard but sometimes easy as well which = balance, yes?! Finally used my plum thumb mister huey, bits from field guide, studio calico mask (ampersand), butterflies (of course) and julie b. stencil!
have a great weekend!! plan on enjoying a perfect fall weekend!
xo

ooc-pile

2011-10-20T16:16:00.000-04:00

the pile that keeps growing, think this is over a year worth of layouts! how long does it take for you to put your pages into albums? let's talk...
xo

blog hop winner

2011-10-17T16:48:00.000-04:00

thanks for all of the lovely comments on my layout, you all are so kind! I wish you all could win but I randomly selected one winner... the winner of the field guide kit is:
Debbie Pereira said...LOVE your layout.
Please email me your details asap Debbie, CONGRATS!

field guide blog hop

2011-10-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!!!! I have a quick share (and a awesome giveaway) of another layout I made exclusively with studio calico's october main kit, field guide! Every DT member creates one main kit layout in the gallery each month, which is awesome because you get 19 ideas for the main alone! I love this kit and the exclusive stamp this month, I used the "you are here" stamp as the focus for this layout.

products used| mister huey's (custard and bluegrass);American Crafts Pen; JBS ink (chicken feed dye) and Zing (orange zing glitter)

Are you ready for the good news?!! Each of the DT members is giving away the OCTOBER main kit.... if you are already a subscriber or already purchased this kit, then they will still receive this kit . You will not be able to swap for a different kit or add on. So if you would like a chance to win this kit, leave a comment on this post only and check out the rest of the team's blogs for another chance to win! A winner will be randomly chosen on Monday, Oct 17th, good luck and have a fabulous weekend!
xo

off duty

2011-10-12T17:45:00.001-04:00

Wednesday already, zomg! I can't take how quickly this year has moved, before you know it we will be in the thick of the holiday season...yeah!! I haven't done an off duty post in a minute and trying to be a ~~good blogger~~ halfway good blogger. :) I had an extended weekend which is was nice, because we are seriously in football/cheer mode. We left the house at 8am on Saturday (ouch) and didn't come back until 2PM, I love seeing s2 being independent,social and loving their sports.This is a mix of our weekend life, diy leopard nails (painted synai's teal, pink and yellow), cheer and football (i know S1 is OOF, but I love it anyway because he is smiling and he never smiles in photos) and I can hardly stand much he is starting to look like a teenager! Synai had her first hotel slumber party sleep over this weekend, she had a blast and was so excited when we arrived, trip to IKEA for a new clothes rack since the previous one broke because of user error when assembling it. I love it, if you need extra space I highly recommend rigga. Saadiq and me saw Real Steel on Sunday, FANTASTIC movie, I love Hugh Jackman like a pat of butter, lol. It is great storyline and really touching movie, kind of like a futuristic rocky?! Steven Spielburg executive produced it so it will pull at your heart strings a little too
have a nice evening!!
xo

opposite

2011-10-05T12:58:00.001-04:00

dare 184 is all the way LIVE! It is a super easy and fun way to try something new;simple create a project that is totally opposite of your style. I am sure you're like vee, this layout is you but people i tried!! I had in my mind I want to channell jamaica (love her clean graphic style) but some how it ended up more tina-ish. I'm cool with that and of course I had to have paint as my base and no layers!!

I used more of those awesome sassafras butterflies from october's field guide kit!
happy hump day friends!
xo

this is me

2011-10-04T18:56:00.000-04:00

haiiiiiii, it's October and fall is for sure here, dare I say it is COLD! There has been no transition of seasons in my area. As you can tell I am in a bit of a blogging slump. It always happens every year but it is the flow of blogging, being real, finding the time, etc... I like this a to z tag on blogs lately, so I thought I'd give it a whirl as well:A. Age: 34.5

B. Bed size: Queen although I prefer to sleep with the King (love the extra space) :)

C. Chore that you hate: by far folding laundry, although I have passed the buck to s2 to fold their clothes and put it away so know that I think about it isn't too bad ;)

D. Dogs: no, :( our aiden died a year ago and don't have the heart right now for another fur baby

E. Essential start to your day: a light breakfast is a must and sometimes coffee depending on how late I stayed up the night before

F. Favorite color: leopard? no that's a pattern but it's a favorite right now! :)

G. Gold or Silver: BOTH, equal opportunist and mixer

I. Instruments you play: played the saxophone (alto)

J. Job title: HWIC (head women in charge) :) just made it up, yep!

K. Kids: two, 10 1/2 son and 7 year old daughter

L. Live: DMV (DC Maryland VA metro area)

M. Mother’s name: Lillie Mae, love her name especially her middle name

N. Nicknames: Vee, Ronnie

O. Overnight hospital stays: 3 (fractured my arm in 4th grade and two kiddos)

P. Pet peeves: people who have loud conversations on cell phones in ~~public spaces~~ ANYWHERE

Q. Quote from a movie: Took a hard hard violent fall, kinda pin-balled down hit a lot of railings, broke a lot of shit. I'm not gonna say i survived I'm gonna say I thrived.- bridesmaids

R. Right or left handed: righty

S. Siblings: one younger sister

U. Underwear: always, no el commando

V. Vegetable you hate: really wouldn't say hate but I really dislike cauliflower

W. What makes you run late: OMG, is this a trick question....uhmmmm, I am almost always late.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: arm and teeth (wisdom teeth extraction) do the ones you get at the dentist office count and sonograms too???? woah, too many to count...

Y. Yummy food that you make: My fam just had this conversation last night, homemade pizza, homemade mac and cheese, chilli and steak

Z. Zoo animal: leopards (duh!), baby monkeys, baby pandas and elephants

if you have done this tag, I would love to learn more about you too- link me uP!
xo

product ♥| cleansit

2011-09-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

I haven't done a products i ♥ post in quite some time and wanted to pick it back up again. I know I love to read about what people are currently into or using. I received cleansIT a couple of years ago when I won Making Memories Masters and just stared using it this year! The bottle has a dabber top, works on both rubber and acrylic stamps. It is an amazing product and cleans off your stamps (removes all types of ink) quickly, and dries fast too. It does have a slight order but it doesn't bother me, emotes the same smell as a sharpie only slightly stronger. A little bit goes a long way and trust me before I started using this cleanser I NEVER cleaned my stamps! I like this cleaner because it makes it easy to use one stamp multiple times with different inks without having to use baby wipes or soap/water as cleaning agents. I use one paper towel multiple times until it is literally broken down into pieces to remove the cleaner from my stamp(s).

field guide

2011-09-28T06:36:00.001-04:00

studio calico's october is live and I am a huge fan, the main kit has a little bit of everything in it and did you see the exclusive stamp, love?! I made three layouts and a mini with my kits, ran out of time but could have easily made more! I have plans to play with field guide more this weekend!
I challenged myself to make layouts with each of the add on kits. I like doing this + mixing in cardstock in from the main kit and did you see you can now buy more gray, yay!!!

main kit-fun sunday
I had so much fun with my family at the fair, I had to scrap those photos immediately. I printed them small and created the layout around the size of the photos, everything else it large so that the photos pop out a little more. I am in love with the sassafras butterflies, think I almost used them all this month! :)
products used: jbs weather vane and chili powder ink; American Crafts precision pen; mister's hueys schoolhouse

greenhouse add on
not only is saadiq almost as tall as me (yep, i'm short), he is almost my mini me. :) I see pieces of my features in synai as well, but she is 95% her daddy and saadiq is 95% me. :) I love the american crafts custard thickers, gorgeous font. This kit has two types of alphas in it!
products used: mister's hueys calico white; mister's huey gable green and paint

meadow lark add on
I have to say this is my favorite layout of the month and add on this month. I love the butterflies, chipboard is one of my favorite products to use. I misted the top butterfly with mister's huey shine and outlined it with my white pen. This is also my pinterest inspired layout, it is a good source of inspiration but can be overwhelming for me sometime. I haven't been there much lately, sort of took a time out from it. I love printing double photos, totally loving IG and the bird on a wire stamp in this kit!
products used: mister huey's shine; zing white embossing powder; white gel pen; versamark ink and bushes

almanac(sold out)
I cut out up this mini to have papers and overlay where I wanted them to go, it is really easy to make this mini book custom to how you want it to work for your project. I love layers in mini books, so this book was super easy to make because most of the work is already done. :) I added lots of paint, punches and the newer mister's huey inks.
products used: countryside tags; pro pen, mister huey's ink

whew, thanks for hanging in there and reading my blog! happy wednesday, this week is flying by and october is almost here!! :)
xo

san♥fran mini sneak

2011-09-27T12:42:00.000-04:00

a day lat, but reveal is tonight! I scooped up Almanac, addon #4 and reworked the Amy Tangerine mini album to document my San Francisco trip that my mom and I took this summer. I mixed up all of the addons to create this, seriously have an addiction to the prima alphas from Meadow Lark. The font is perfection, I IG'ed a photo of them this morning and a lot of you agreed! :)

Grab bags are back, act quickly because they go fast! They are located in the past kit section. Field Guide goes live tonight at 12AM EST. I will be back tomorrow to share my layouts!
xo

field guide sneaks

2011-09-23T19:07:00.001-04:00

add-on no.three: meadow larkadd-on no. two: greenboxmain sneakit's sneaks time for studio calico, i went a little bonkers this month and got all four add-on kits!! i know... but they are are so beautiful! If I had to choose I would say that meadow lark is my favorite because of the prima alphas ( i need them in every color) kinda of love + the exclusive stamp is the bomb.com!! ;) As usual I used my assortment of mister huey's, ink, embossing powder and paint (totally in love with claudine hellmuth's paints now, colors are so opaque)! have a great weekend!!
xo

angles

2011-09-21T18:04:00.002-04:00

dare 183
my girls totally tore this one up, think i "mist" the boat on it . my butterflies are at an angle, that counts, right?? long time lover of hambly, which sponsored this dare. work
need more of these ink splatter rubons stat!
xo

lil' bit of crazy, whole lot of love

2011-09-20T18:26:00.001-04:00

crazy week, you hear me, C-R-A-Z-Y! Work is off the chain, big event coming up which is all consuming but popping in to say hi and share some recent happenings. Where in the world has the month gone to?? Fall is for sure here in the DMV and we are loving it! Drinking hot drinks, finished up 30 photos|30 days (photos 3,8,9) and enjoying family time. We went to the fair on Sunday, where most of the snaps are from, love the fair and riding with Synai on the tornado. She loved it and so did I... Saadiq (if it is food here is there, photo #2), not so much. He wasn't into it at all, but that photo of Synai with her hands up in the air was taken while we were on the tornado and it makes my heart melt. She is totally enjoying the moment, love moments of life like that. :) My sister's birthday is Thursday and mine is officially a month away. I can't wait to P-A-R-T-Y, if you are around hit me up amd I will send you the details! :) I promise to be a better blogger this week, thanks for reading and xo!

calico shine

2011-09-08T15:28:00.000-04:00

and you thought you loved mister huey's mist before-meet calico shine!! It adds a soft silver metallic sheen to your projects, needless to say I am a BIG fan!! :) I misted closely to my layout so the mist is more opaque but it can be sheer too, I LOVE it! I am also in love with the smash date stamp ,super duper cute! Jamaica was sweet enough to send me her HS ghost words, she knows my love to infinity for them and I was more than happy to accept them since she was cleaning out her scrap supplies. THANKSgirl!! This is a sample layout for the misting 101 workshop, missed out on it this round? Let me know and I can offer it again :)It is still super soggy and wet here, the rain is OOC, but I know it could be a lot worse and crossing fingers it doesn't. s2 footballs games were cancelled for weekend, which means no running around like a chicken without a head on Saturday morning, is a bonus! :) It's almost fall and so excited to see the fall specialty drinks at starbucks, may have to pick up a salted caramel mocha on the way home- nom nom!
xo

sunday best

2011-09-07T14:05:00.001-04:00

a quick post today, hope you are not getting swept away by the rain! I made this sketch layout for scrapidees sketch blog site last month. I love each of the DT's take on my sketch, their layouts can be seen here! Thank you Paloma for asking me to play along!!
xo
ps, so excited for the true blood finale, woot woot!!! This season was so good, was surprised right up unitl the end of this week's episode! love that!!

yeah, yeah....it's the weekend

2011-09-02T16:23:00.002-04:00

heeeeeeeeeeey, it's Friday!! I am jumping for joy for the holiday weekend here in the states and I am extending mine by one day so three day work day next week, yay! I am still trekking along with the 30day photo and almost done! It has been so much fun! 1.photo 25- something old (my father's dashiki) 2.not included in the 30day project but had to snap Synai in one her new school outfits 3. photo 26-after dark-worked late yesterday & on the way home 4. photo 27-daily routine (last step of daily makeup is lipstick (one of my favorites MAC innocence beware)

have a great weekend, xoxo
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two sneaks of the my misting 101|the basics workshop. I love these layouts, can't wait to share them with my peeps who are registered. Are you registered, you still have time!!!! registration will be open until Sunday! :) want more details, click- - - -HERE

@heart

2011-09-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

I was ecstatic to be a GD for Nichol Magouirk Scrapbooking Stamping class at 2peas this month. This is a year long class that covers a different stamping techniques each month. No surprise that I used embossing powders (LOVE LOVE) them on a clear overlay, this is my my technique example for the class! This ampersand stamp is one of my all time favorite studio calico kit exclusive stamps. SC is have a major sale on their tags for only $1, pick them up before they are gone (only at this price until midnight)! I used warm calico and orchard mister huey's on this page and a bit of pattern paper (black circles and scallop) from the thespians kit.

The journaling on this layout is centered around my feelings on aging at the moment, I will be 35 next month and really I still feel young at heart. Life moves so fast and I can clearly remember being my Saadiq's age and wishing I was older like my cousins, sigh. There are so many things as a child you wish you could speed thru and as an adult you just wish time would slow down.
*reasons 3498575 why I love instagram, now I am never without photos to scrap! :)
xo

height of summer

2011-08-31T17:20:00.004-04:00

height of summer, what's that you ask? photo(s) that depicts the best thing about your summer and it's the current dareness- dare 182! I love photos (would love to see your photos) and yes I chose a food picture because we had a lot of awesome food this summer, nom nom! this photo was taken in oakland,ca at peet's coffee (great coffee and as your can see carbs too).
My mom and I would go there every morning for our coffee while we were there- good memories :) photos and memories are one in the same...
xo

huzzah-survived

2011-08-30T13:02:00.002-04:00

First, THANK YOU for everyone's concern via twitter and FB, we made it safely thru Hurricane Irene. It was an intense storm to say the least and I know we made it thru lightly compared to ones closer to the coast and poor New England, my prayers go out to everyone...such a vast amount of devastation.

I am sharing my Halloween mini that I made with the thespian add on that came out with September's glee club. I love the papers in this addon, could easily be used with fall, back to school and Thanksgiving layouts! I used a portion of my Studio Calico box that my kits arrived in to construct the cover and back, this mini is 4x4 in size. I love small mini books, but I think you know this by now, ha! I misted the cover with a healthy dose of warm calico (love this color and have been using it a lot lately)! Photos of s2 from over the years, I left the mini unbounded for now so I can add this year's photos to it! THANK YOU for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful/night! :)xo

glee club

2011-08-27T21:00:00.000-04:00

Studio Calico's Glee Club is now on sale and it is such a gorgeous kit!! I had so much fun creating with this kit, I can't stop creating with it!! I picked up (1)Pep Squad and (4)-Thespians add-ons.
( I will share my minibook I made with thespians tomorrow).
I love this layout (made exclusive with the main kit), I made a mask (a technique that I share in my upcoming misting 101 worshop) and used it to create the rain drop pattern as a background. I LOVE the camera stamp in the stamp, love all of the exclusives in this kit this month (9 holy cow)!!I used a mixture of mister huey's (orchard, dewey and bluegrass)on this layout. I also zinged out my stamp with white zing opaque powder and added a layer of dewey mist. If you love basic grey's out of print paper as much as I do, more pattern paper add-on is a must too!Another layout made with the main kit and the stamp from the thespian addon, I am telling you this kit is the B-O-M-B!I outlined my hearts with one of my favorite tools, a white gel pen and used powder and grapefruit zing embossing powders with a mix of mister huey again. I think one of the reasons I love this kit so much is because it is so graphic-love the circles, stripes and chevron patterns in it.I made this layout with Pep Squad, I love the woodgrain paper in this kit, you know my love for grain products! The sassafras pop up flowers are super cool too, love the 3D effect of them!

I hope you are safe and dry, Irene is still blowing by and we are getting drenched but thankfully we are safe for now.
xo

a photo a day

2011-08-26T17:21:00.002-04:00

:) hey there and happy happy happy Friday! This week has been been a doozy( hello earthquake)!! so needless to say I am really looking forward to being indoors and out of the way of hurricane Irene!! Hopefully we will have a quiet weekend with electric before schools starts for s2 on Monday. I haven't posted my photo challenge photos in a minute so here they are, love them all and have scrapped quite a few them already! :) 12.closeup of synai, love her, she is such a helper and has the most tender spirit;13. from a distance...football is in full effect, i love watching their games; 14. flowers: florist at SAFEWAY was OOC when I took this photo, she actually thought I was from a competitors store, really lady these are sub par sunflowers, okay?!; 15. shoes-fall low boots;16. what i ate-love luna bars for a quick lunch ( chocolate dripped coconut bars are my favorite); 17. on the shelf- used to be on the shelf now on my dresser; 18. what's in my (makeup) bag-the band-aid friction stick is the best thing ever, saves heels!; 19.where i slept; 20. read: can't go wrong with either of these on a lazy Sunday afternoon. i am invested in twilight, love the books hate the movies but will i go see breaking dawn, but of course! ha. 21. pretty pattern-vintage studio calcio paper that i just cut last weekend. 22. trees-afternoon walk. love the street I work on; 23. sunset- sky at sunset, nothing more gorgeous; 24. smile- a self portrait from yesterday.

much love, xo

creative type

2011-08-24T18:49:00.000-04:00

supplies used: Studio Calico memoir and homefront pattern paper; mister huey's in estate green and orchard; veneer house; pattern paper from boardwalk kit; countryside chipboard alphas
I was happy to guest for the creative type this month. The current prompt is "vacation getaway" and a lucky winner will get a prize, so check them out if you have a second for great inspiration. It was the perfect prompt to get these photos off my iPhone and onto a page. It is no secret that I love the beach and tropical weather. Whenever I am on the west coast or the Caribbean I always end of with tons of photos of palm trees, lol.
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Workshop Questions
I've received several questions for more details about the misting 101 workshop, I am happy to answer them so please feel free to contact me at any time! :) Within 24 hours of your registration being received,you will receive a confirmation email with workshop details.

What format is this workshop?
My workshop is an online workshop that will include daily inspiration layouts, prompts, misting tutorials and techniques and access to private class blog from September 5-9th. This workshop will jump start your creative process in how to use masks, create your own custom backgrounds and get the most out of your creative tools!

Are lessons daily?
Yes, every day for the duration of the workshop you will receive a color PDF of directions for the day's lesson via email.

Can I sign up for the class now and work on the lessons later?

Certainly! Please feel free to work at your own pace and this workshop is design for you to be able to learn and work misting techniques into your own creative style at anytime.

I am new to scrapbooking, what supplies do I need?
You will need a paper trimmer, stamps, craft knife, scotch tape,paper punches (shapes preferably); spray inks, white or neutral cardstock such as cream, grey, light yellow, etc.

I do not have spray inks, can I make my own?
Yes you can, here is a video tutorial! :)

Can international scrappers register?
Absolutely, everyone is welcome!

off duty:where did the weekend go

2011-08-22T12:59:00.000-04:00

boardwalk giveaway winner
Moi said...
Love your sneaks Vee!! And the misting is super awesome as always!
Fall is my absolutely favorite season...I love the foliage, apple picking, mild weather, and of course - HALLOWEEN!! My favorite holiday =)
congrats!!! please email me your information to vee.jennings at gmaildotcom.

another monday another week for which I am grateful for-quick recap of the weekend. It felt good to relax, scrap, clean and watch saadiq play football. I try to soak up every moment with them because it is moving so quickly! I did a quick polish update but remembered to ask my sister to take a quick picture for amber, (this is galion, looks black but it is a dark grey polish which makes it more subtle). i love it and it's my second week in a row wearing it and that almost never happens with me and polish.

another sneak for the september studio calico kit, glee club. It was so easy to make three layouts with this kit, sneak above is with add on 1-pep squad.reorganized my jewelry storage after seeing a lifestyle feature on the glitter guide and had a total aah-ha moment of why in the world didn't I think of that?!! So happy I picked up this petite letterpress tray in PA last month, it is the perfect size for my dresser and work so much better than on a shelf empty. :)Plus I like being able to actually "see" everything.SC blog layout spotlighting the countryside and state fair tags, love these tags! I love to cut them up and make more tags in different pattern papers!

I hope you are having a great start to the week! xo

misting 101-the basics workshop

2011-08-20T12:08:00.000-04:00

How can I register?
You can register by clicking the paypal button today until September 4th.
How long is the class? The class will start on 9.5 and will end 9.9.
What is the cost of this workshop? 22USD
What supplies will I need? Muted cardstock (white, light toned colors), stamps, spray inks, basic scrapbooking tools (paper trimmer, craft knife, ink pad and punches) more facts about the class HERE
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eta: registration is now closed, thank you everyone who is signed up! :)

favorites

2011-08-18T08:00:00.003-04:00

pretty much obsessed with this polish, the perfect edgy/stormy grey polish -galion-.anything in the shape of a heart, you will see them on my pages soon too ;), I think I am loving hearts more than stars and circles now.picked this melissa frances glitter glass up at CKC Valley Forge, in love with the color. I can't wait to bling out my projects more with it!
some of my current favorites, i love reading post like these.
don't forget to enter my giveaway below if you haven't already!xo
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PS, finally putting up info and registration information on my new online workshop, more details to come on Saturday!

glee club sneaks

2011-08-17T13:46:00.000-04:00

Wednesday already, happy hump day y'all?!! I have two sneaks of Glee Club (love the name) to share and trust me this kit will make you want to SIIIIIIIIIIIIING! :) I have a feeling this kit will sell out quickly when it goes live on August 28th at midnight. My sneaks are of the main kit and add on four (thespians). As you can still see I am still in love with the new gable green, orchard and dewey mister huey's. Good news calico white is finally back in stock too, it is a staple and the perfect color to start misting with if you are new to spray inks!The colors in glee club are so happy and gorgeous. This month's main kit is FULL of exclusive items and newNEW products including Amy Tangerine|American Crafts paper and embellishments. I LOVE the camera stamp set, especially the oh snap! lol, I know that slang very well, so 80's....love it! :)I love getting s2 ready for Halloween and going out treating every year with them, it "unofficially" kicks off the holiday season for our family. A quick sneak of a mini. :) However the papers in this kit can be used for a lot of other events besides Halloween, yes it is that versatile! L-O-V-E it!NOW..... giveaway time, want a chance to win Studio Calico August's kit- Boardwalk? Leave me a comment on what you love about fall and the holidays and I will pick and post a winner on Monday, August 29th! GOOD LUCK and lots of xoxoxo

cheers to the weekend

2011-08-12T17:31:00.003-04:00

cheers,I hope you are having a great start to your weekend! :)First things first, the winner of the this & that class is:
WillieburgScrapper said...

LOVELY page!!! I really like the mix to elements and the scrapes of paint here and there. My fave color combo right now is Mustard yellow, turquoise and pink but all my pages have been in shades of green and blue which is weirding me out- I start with a specific color combo and end up with entirely different papers. LOVED the new SC kit! Congrats on the 1k posts- that's awesome! 9:57 PM

Please email me your info. asap so kara can send you the class invite, CONGRATS!!
Our week in photos, yes, yes yes... instagram photos again!! I believe they will be a weekly occurrence so sorry if you see them on twitter or facebook as well! Football and cheer practices are in full effect with three football scrimmages set for tomorrow. Thank goodness the weather has cooled down a bit thru the weekend. 30day photo challenge still going strong: 8: dvr not cooperating with my demanding tv schedule, I'm sure I will need another new box soon! 9: playing with mister huey's 10: wip with studio calico's sept. kit 11: something fun, LEGOS in the morninng. Saadiq still loves his legos. supplies used: some of my favorite JBS alpha stickers, paint, white gel pen, hambly overlay, countryside tags,harvest pattern paper, odds and ends from past kits; fiskars star punch and homefront journaling card
a layout I did in June for the MSD seminar, I love this photo of Synai, so enchanted with her pins that she acquired while on vacation in 2010. We were waiting for our flight home, they are the best travelers and love our trips no matter if they are by train, airplane or auto. :)

have a fantastic weekend!
xo

1K

2011-08-09T13:28:00.003-04:00

Finally got my stuff together and finished up my sample layout for Kara's upcoming class- this & that! I chose to work with a challenge, dug into my duly noted collection to use some calendar pages. I love incorporating vintage papers into my layouts and mini albums-mixed a few new Studio Calico products as well as some of my all time favorites (mister huey's:dewey and heirloom blue; rubons, precision pen labels, paint, veneer asterisks and memoir paper).
ps....i promise i don't have bird poop on my jacket, my scanner had some eraser particles on it and it picked it up in the scan, random!

NOW to celebrate my 1K post ( seriously can't believe this, doesn't feel like i've been blogging for four years!!) You have a chance to win a spot in this amazing class that will jump start your creative mind. :) Leave a comment on what your favorite color combination(s) in life, fashion, decor...really whatever and post it here for a chance to win.
A winner will be chosen on Friday, August 12, 2011.
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more class details
This & That. http://www.classesbykara.com/thisandthat_/

Haven’t scrapbooked in awhile? Feeling uninspired with your current supplies and same old photos? Want to try scrap booking or art journaling but don’t where to start?This & That is a three week online class jam-packed with challenges, journaling prompts, and techniques designed to get you scrapbooking again. Mix and match and use this and that to create thirty plus pages! Choose one journaling prompt and one technique idea from the pool and combining ideas to get excited about creating again.

Price: $35 USDDates: August 15th-September 2ndIncluded: Access to private blog 30 journaling prompts 30 technique prompts and ideas.

Tutorial for creating vintage handkerchief albums Printable embellishment sheet 2 instructor videos

Email access to Kara Giveaways!

PDF of the entirety of the class

xo, have a wonderful day!!

off duty|down south

2011-08-08T16:20:00.002-04:00

We had a great weekend filled with family, trips to wally world, church and sonics! It doesn't get much better than that, in my opinion. I am still going strong with the 30 day photo challenge, you can see more of the photos from this project under the 30dayphotochallenge label. I can't wait to scrap these photos ! :)
1.my saadiq and synai (they have grown so much in a month 2. super variety of crush at wal-mart. we had never heard of the blue raspberry flavor. 3. saadiq taught synai how to ride without training wheels, such a great brother! she was so happy to show us her accomplishment 4. me as a baby :) 5. SONICS, 3 out of four of us love cherry limeade 6. photo doesn't do the clutch justice( totally gorgeous zara yellow with bright blue trimming).

warning (true blood talk)

Who loved TB last night?!! It was a great episode, can't wait to see how Lafayette is going to bring it! Sookie isn't annoying me as much this season and poor poor Pam! How much more pain is she going to go through this season?! What are your thought?

PS, haven't forgotten about the giveaway! It will be posted tonight! :)xo

all good, friday

2011-08-05T13:20:00.004-04:00

happy happy happy friday!!! first week of august done and I couldn't be happier because this evening I am off to pick up my babies from Nana's! I am so excited to see them, missed them a lot. I didn't get to post yesterday but I did take my photo yesterday! :) I love this challenge and i use my iphone to snap pictures which makes it really easy and convenient (both of which is a necessity). If I took them with my camera everyday I don't think I would be as motivated. check!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I don't forget to check me out on Monday!! I will a fantastic giveaway for you guys!!
xo

what i wore

2011-08-03T14:34:00.002-04:00

day two: what i am wearing today (love silky button ups ...yes even in this heat because in my office it is winter time), found this one at zara on sale= perfect. i am committed,30 day photo challenge :) so excited that some of you are too....we can do it! :) xo

down for the challenge: thirty days

2011-08-02T14:47:00.003-04:00

who's up for the challenge, this is why i love the blogosphere and the scrap community (we inspire each other to try new things). found this on amy's blog who was inspired by oh so lovely. surely i can do thirty days, I AM DETERMINED!! who's with me?! :)

day one

xo

off duty-instagram

2011-08-01T13:04:00.003-04:00

what's up, what's up, what's up,can you believe it is already August?!!! Before you know it the holidays will be here, wheeeeeee! I had a fun week last week at CKC Valley Forge and took in another Nat's baseball game. This game wasn't as exciting as my first one but we had amazing seats and I always enjoy hanging out with my cousin. He is a true baseball fan and loves explaining the game to me.

As you can tell by my layout in the August Boardwalk gallery, I am totally smitten with instagram. It is my most loved app after twitter, shakeitphoto and facebook! It makes taken photos anywhere so much easier, when you don't have your dslr. I love it!! I want to say hi to everyone who stopped by the SC booth to chat with me (THANK YOU), I love getting the chance to meet each of you -you guys are the sweetest!
hope your monday is off to a wonderful start!!
xo

boardwalk reveal

2011-07-28T00:00:00.028-04:00

Studio Calico's August kit, Boardwalk is now on sale and it's a beauty! I think this kit really lives up to it's name and really has the tones of the beach wrapped up in it! :) I love Mind the Gap, last month's kit which is still available as well!
This month I got Addon #1-Sea glass, Addon #3-Tidepool and extra SC pattern paper. I love the colors of this month's papers and fell for the hexagon paper hard! :)

I used Sea glass to make this layout and mixed bonny blue and bluegrass with the new gable green mister huey. The map stamp in this layout is OOC background stamp and I love it. Love this picture of my sister with s2, they love her so much and crack up with laughter with her fun antics with them.

I am currently loving using instagram for quick daily captures and also loved this paper in Tidepool by Basic Grey. My circle punch worker overtime on this page, lol. :)

Missing my s2, they will be back next weekend, yaaaaaay! :) This one was made with only with the main kit. I love using my white gel pen when adding journaling on dark colors.

I hope you will check out the rest of the gallery this month too!
xo

studio calico blitz winner

2011-07-27T14:51:00.000-04:00

CONGRATS!!

sandi m said...

110 here in Texas we are at 60 plus days of 100 degrees and higher!
11:03 PM
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please send me your information and SC headquarters will ship out your goodies when they are avaliable!
love reading everyone's temps from all over the world!! xo

studio calico summer blog blitz

2011-07-26T07:00:00.057-04:00

welcome to day two of our summer blog blitz! you have a chance to win some of the new products earlier before you can buy it, pretty cool I think! :) As you know, I had the opportunity to play with some new Studio Calico goodies, the new Autumn Press line to be exact! Autumn Press is a super versatile line that can be used for Valentine's Day, Christmas, seasonal or everyday projects (works amazingly with countryside as well)- i love it!! I really love the mix of green in this line with the cream, pink and red, be prepared to see a lot more use of this color palette from me. :)

I love Synai's smile, totally melts my heart with her lil' dimple. :) I mixed in some bits from the winter release- cloud rubons and of course mister huey in the new red- overdue and pumpkin spice. The scrap pads are another new favorite, similar to post it notes. I also embossed the silhouette stamp onto cork paper to add a bit more texture and dimension.

I also made a mini album from the same line, more of an updated version of my lala mini but a home edition. I used black chalkboard paper for the cover so that I could stamp the title, love these stamps from the home sweet home stamp set.

For a chance to win one of my favorite items from the new releases ( butterfly huey's mask) please leave a comment on this post on what the temperature is in your city. It is suffocatingly hot here on the east coast!

for the entire list of participants today and more chances to win product from the new releases, visit the studio calico blog!

*please be aware that these products are still under production and may take a while for them to be mailed to you, but I promise they will be worth the wait! :) a winner will be randomly selected on Wednesday.

boardwalk sneaks

2011-07-24T00:59:00.001-04:00

hope you are enjoying your weekend. I played with my August (boardwalk) kit yesterday. The exclusives in this month's kit is massive, trust me you will want more of the studio calico pattern paper, check out the sneaks here. The kit goes live on the 27th at midnight EST.

sneak 1-tide pool addon: I worked really hard to create separate layouts with each kit. I loved the patterns of the papers in this kit, worked so well alone. Basic Grey has always been one of my favorite lines to create with- I always love the colors of their patterns, so vibrant!

sneak 2-seaglass: sassafras had me hooked with the retro colors so I mixed a tiny bit of the main with this addon but not very much. I mixed bluegrass and bonny blue mister huey's in different areas of this layout and used the new butterfly huey's mask as a template to create a journaling spot. swoon, the map stamp is pretty much perfect!!

sneak3- three words: pink paislee mistables!! l-o-v-e. lots of paint, ink and hexagons on this layout! made almost exclusively with the main kit.

thanks for stopping by and enjoy your sunday!
xo

the best yet

2011-07-19T13:23:00.002-04:00

products used: Studio Calico (some older kit papers; documentary paper; new paper from autumn press-rosebud; new stamps (alphabet pattern stamp and heart from the silhouettes stamp set), new mister huey's (gable green, pumpkin spice), huey's mask (butterfly); American Crafts Precision Pen; StazOn (jet black)

almost a week late but here is my take on dare 180, boy this could for real been a book within itself as my quest for leopard domination continues- how could it not fall into the best $$ I ever spent category?!! I told you all about my score yesterday and today it is documented! :)

thank you all my friends and readers who chatted with me last night at MSD, I had a blast!! It was was the quickest and fun hour ever. off to have some lunch, hope you are having a fabulous day!
xo

off duty: low key

2011-07-18T12:54:00.000-04:00

i had a really low key weekend, didn't take many photos or scrap much. I just enjoyed the quietness of my home and rolled with it!

made shrimp rolls for lunch for B and me on Saturday, kept it really simple with ingredients which is always best in my opinion. It was delicious if I do say so myself. :)

tried out macarons finally, they were good not super sweet as my american palette is used to but I did enjoy them. my favorite flavors are the vanilla and hazelnut praline salted caramel ones. I still have a rose one to eat today! :) The Sweet Lobby has really great cupcakes too!

perfect summer find, reminds me of mrs. roper from three's company (hahaha, used to love that show), i LOVE it. It is a robe but I am going to wear it kimono style with jeans and tanks. It fits perfectly for the new 180 dare!
xo

inked

2011-07-15T13:09:00.001-04:00

HAPPY FRIDAY YOU GUYS!!! So happy it is Friday and the weather is absolutely gorgeous and a welcome reprieve from the normal humid DC summer. I have two sneaks from my booth work for Studio Calico like I promised! :) I had so much fun working with the new Autumn Press line, stamps, Huey's mask and Mister Huey's!! I think each of the new lines (there are three) will have something for everyone. I can't wait to play with the other two lines, love the purple in Memoir. :)

a minibook made with lots of ink and you can really see the new mister huey's color (gable green) on the first page. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS COLOR!! It is similar to pickle mister huey but more muted in color.

I am loving red a lot these days in addition to my usual colors and you can see grapefruit zing is in heavy rotation too! I love using red with pastel colors. You can also see the new red (overdue) mister huey as well, totally gorgeous red. It has a retro red feel to it, not overly saturated.Also mixed some previous releases like my favorite countryside paper. LOVE this chipboard alpha and so happy that each of the collections has coordinating chipboard and alpha stickers with them.

have a few things plan this weekend, mainly checking out a new bakery that opened up on the hill, watching NCIS and scrapping- will have sneaks of boardwalk on Monday! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!
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there is still time to enter in the below giveaway, a winner will be posted on the hero arts blog tomorrow 7/16.
xo

studio calico+ hero arts

2011-07-13T07:23:00.001-04:00

hero arts and studio calico are teaming up to offer high quality acrylic stamp sets and we are having a blog hop to celebrate!!

products used: (new color) Dewey Mister Huey; Versamark watermark Ink and Grapefruit Zing

make sure to check out the rest of the studio calico team, hop on over to KP next! The Hero Arts blog is also doing a giveaway today, lots of awesome chances to see how to use the stamps and to win product!:) If you are interested in winning a Stamp set, be sure to leave a comment here!
leave a comment on each stop in the hop and HA will pick a random winner from ALL of them!
The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to WIN! Winners will be announced on Saturday, July 16.
Thanks for stopping by! xo

own it

2011-07-12T15:46:00.000-04:00

quick share of a layout I made last year for The Big Book of Scrapbook Pages, lots of amazing pages in this book and was so happy to see some of my girls in this book as well. They are not kidding when they say BIG, it has 500+ ideas and layouts in it, a well done idea book for sure! Homefront is one of my all time favorite lines by Studio Calico, my hoarded stash is dwindling down but I think Memoir will make a fine substitute!! :) You know me and my circles, mixed Purple Onion stamps, American Crafts embellishments and misted some larger circles as well. It is a simple layout, those seem to be my favorite ones in my albums.

I am happy to be be contributing to Masterful Scrapbook Design with their July "Fast Starts" Seminar. It's full of ideas and approaches shaving time off your scrapbooking time--I share a bunch of my favorite ideas on how to create pages quickly. This seminar also include Keandra Willis, Lynnette Penacho, and Celeste Smith! To learn more about the teachers and seminar check out this link,http://masterfulscrapbookdesign.com/.
I hope you will join me on Monday, July 18, 2011 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT for an Interview with me at Masterful Scrapbook Design. MSD is a great resource and I had a blast working with the team there, if you register for this seminar you can get the 100-page e-class “Learn Design Principles that Grow Scrapbooking Ideas” as a free bonus!
so LOVE this season of True Blood, poor Jason that's all I am going to say but dang! I am ready for Tara to go back to NOLA and love every word that comes out of Layette's mouth,"Five minutes, ten if they got dranks"....LOVE HIM! more layfettisms here. :)
xo

off duty: back on the radar edition

2011-07-11T15:05:00.002-04:00

sorry, went MIA for a bit but i am back!!! I had a tough week last week and was in no mood to blog, that is how it flows sometimes. nothing major happen just wasn't feeling "me" you know how it goes+ missing s2, they are at their nana's. But I am better spirits this week, halleloo!!! onward and upward had a crazy weekend working on cha projects for Studio Calico, the new lines are totally gorgeous you guys! I played with the Autumn Press line, love the soft tones of it, frolic is my favorite pattern paper and of course the new mister huey's are gorgeous as well! I will share a few peeks of my projects on Friday!

The Dalai Lama was in the district last week, so a lot of the street vendors were selling a lot of Tibetan influenced items, I was drawn to these bracelets. I didn't purchase one though, felt they were a bit bare, now having buyers remorse for not picking one up!

me and my sister had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants matchbox, it was my first time eating at this location, prefer the capitol hill location better but the food was yummy as always! My sister had a crab cake sandwich and I had the meatball and pepperoni roll, it was SOOOOO GOOD!

It was super hot, summer is in full effect on the east coast, but I love walking around the city, especially chinatown!

some new favorite polishes, I am really into neon colors lately.
(left to right) I wouldn't recommend the AE polish but loving the china glaze (shocking pink) and sally hansen (mellow yellow- which is the perfect yellow).
xo

rock it out

2011-07-01T12:32:00.001-04:00

via FGR
have a rockin' july 4th weekend!!! can't wait to partake in family cookouts, fireworks, trueblood and some r&r!!
xo
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congrats kari, your comment was randomly selected, please email me your details and I will ship out your box of goodies next week!
Kari said...
ooo* goodies. umm yes please.
*fingers crossed*
xo
kari

10:41 PM

i ♥

2011-06-29T14:57:00.001-04:00

dare 179 is up and it is a easy and fun one! simply take a photo(s) of the things you love. it is a given that I love love love s2 but I also love a lot of other things in life. the above are a sample of such. these are a few of my current loves dujour! can't wait to see what your loves are!! check back with the dares weekly, we have some very fun things planned!!

ps, i have a giveaway (priority box full) of goodies to share with someone (US only). my space was OOC!!! I tidied up over the weekend so that means someone will get some treasure! leave a comment below and I will pick a winner on friday.
sorry a picture isn't attached but good stuff included a few pieces partially used but the majority is super new stuff!!
happy wednesday!!
xo

mind the gap ♥ reveal

2011-06-28T09:13:00.000-04:00

Mind the Gap is LIVE and it is gorgeous, love the color combo of this kit so much and the SC exclusive pattern paper is one of my all time favorite SC exclusive kit papers! Time wasn't on my side this month, wanted to make more layouts but hoping to bang out another one with this pinterest challenge via the SC message board! OK, so here are my layouts, make sure you check out the rest of the gallery too!

I picked up addon one (knickers) and addon three (pint) this month and pretty much mixed up with the main again this month. It seems I am always drawn to the same numbered kits every month, lol, Also love these smash pins (so hoarding the few I have), can't believe the number border stamp is still in the shop (I have to refrain from using it all of the time)!!!

I love how s2 love eating at new places just as much as my sister and me do. My sister said recently that we are going to have a foodie summer so it prompted me to make this layout to documents some of most recent food encounters and as well as ones from last year. I mixed up bluegrass and clover mister hueys on the layout, love the two colors together. I also partial stamped and embossed the chevron background stamp with charcoal and grapefruit zing.

You know I love my circle cutter, so I added my favorite pattern papers in this kit with our pictures from our first Nats game ever! We had so much fun and can't wait to go to more games.

We were talking about our vacation to AZ last June a few weeks ago and I decided to scrap this photo us Synai and I at the Grand Canyon, it was so gorgeous there. I makes me happy to hear them still talk about the canyon and their favorite parts of our visit. Lots of paint , cut out the diamond of the exclusive stamp from the main kit and embossed it and of course mist (clover) again.
My layouts are pretty simple this month, but I love the photos, that is how I build most of my layouts around the photos.

have a great day and check back tomorrow for a giveaway!
xo

a good laugh

2011-06-27T14:28:00.002-04:00

LOVed the spoof from the bet awards last night!! OMFG, so so funny and i love tami from basketball wives. great monday laugh! :)
xo

off duty: san francisco edition

2011-06-22T14:20:00.001-04:00

I really had a fantastic time with my mom as we trekked around the bay area before my cousin's wedding last weekend. I hope my next trip will be a lot longer, i love cali!!

We love to eat and SFO,just opened their new terminal which is filled with good eats! First stop off the plane was Napa Farm Market, had the muffaletta! It was delish but I still want one from NOLA! :)

warning: this is a very photo heavy post! :) bless your hearts if you make it to the end but if I don't put them up now I never will, so here we go!
and speaking of hearts, bless my mom's because I made to sure to give her my camera to take my photo on several occasions, she was a very good sport. Since we were still on east coast time, we are up and out of the hotel every morning exploring Old Oakland and drinking lots and lots of coffee. The weather was unseasonable cool and being we had just left the ~~heat locker~~ east coast, it felt very cold to us.

I love how everyone is so friendly and kind on the west coast, one of the baristas at Peets told us about the ferry, so we had to go and check out the details and schedule. I was sold the first moment it hit my ears, I love traveling by water! These fire boats were docked nearby, loved the reflection and colors mixed with the shipping containers in the background.

Luckily for us there was a friday farmer's market right behind our hotel, it was so fantastic. We picked up some fresh fruit and I took photos of course. I love the abundance of gorgeous flowers available and for so cheap and don't get be started on the variety, so jelly of you west coasters! I love our markets too but the prices are higher of course.

proof of our coffee consumption: caramel latte

our view of Alcatraz from the ferry, even at a far away distance it looked haunting to me.

docked at pier 41 and immediately started searching for some lunch! :) Crabs are not my favorite seafood but these looked yummy at one of the seafood stands!

We had the best fish (haddock) and chips at sally's famous fishwich! It was a giant piece of fish, the photo makes it look small, good thing we had walked up an appetite!

I really loved all of the street performers too, live music, dancing, acrobatics but this guy asked me for a pic, lol.

Loved traveling to downtown San Francisco via cable car, our driver had jokes for days for tourist. We did a little bit of shopping and headed back to Oakland.

Saturday morning we took the BART up to UC, the campus is huge! Berkeley has a totally different vibe and so gorgeous, I liked it there!

Of course I had to introduce mommy to in-n-out, we took the BART and the bus to Pinole, it was worth the trip. her verdict: better than five guys, what?! I didn't agree with her there but now that I think about it in-n-out burgers are very similar to shack shake burgers; i like shack shake more because of their peanut butter milkshake,nom nom!

The reason we went to ca was for my cousin's wedding. It was so nice and she was the happiest bride I've ever seen. She laughed down the isle, when she was in front of him and during different parts of their vows. It was so sweet and the day couldn't have been more perfect!

loved her shoes and he had spurs on the back of his!

love the colors of their wedding, very tropical and gorgeous!!

and basically that is my trip!! Thank you for reading and I hope you are enjoying your wednesday!
xo

sun so bright...

2011-06-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

i'm back, busy editing photos, working and getting back into the swing of things after vacation... you know how it goes! sunnies are one of my major weakness and these karen walker beauties have been on my list for months now. be back tomorrow with a massive photo post!! five days 'til true blood FINALLY, it is almost time guys!!
xo

windows+ veneer

2011-06-17T09:00:00.043-04:00

products used:wood veneer-frames; wood-veneer-stars; mister huey's ink (bluegrass); mister huey's ink (hot dog); crountyside harvest paper; countryside tags
happy friday, hope you are having an amazing one!! I have a tutorial up on the studio calico blog using wood veneers and overlays. I love them both so the two together seemed a perfect fit! To see the entire process and how-to click on the above link!
xo

packedandready.com

2011-06-16T09:00:00.003-04:00

My mommy and me are off to san francisco and I am finally packed and ready to go, we are flying out for a family wedding. It is one of my favorite cities, i totally adore it and can't wait to explore it again with her. She and my daddy used to leave there before B and me were born.

Some of my favorite things I am taking for the journey ( and the leopard acquisitions continues, love!) and some new babbles. I am really into plastic rings now and these two are my new loves. Have a great week and I hope to have lots of photos to share upon my return.
xo

because of

2011-06-15T08:16:00.000-04:00

products used: Wood Veneer Hearts; Clover Mister Huey's Ink; Statefair Sideshow paper; Guess Your Weight paper; Chipboard Alpha Stickers
yep, the dares are back after a crafty hiatus and we are back with a BANG! all of us were so inspired by our guest-April Foster! My layout is about s2 daddy:without e, there would be no s2, so for that I am grateful even though we didn't work out; I have the two most perfect gifts from our relationship.

love what my girls created with studio calico goods and you have a chance to win too, go check out dare 178, what you waiting for?! :)
xo

off duty

2011-06-13T13:56:00.001-04:00

happy monday!! We had a great weekend, the weather was great, had some great food and hung out with friends. We attended a graduation brunch yesterday, I am always amazed at how fast my children are growing but it seems like my friends' kids are growing even faster, maybe because I don't see them everyday?! But it is a two way street because they say the same thing about s2! What I wore to brunch in top two pics, had a smoothie explosion which mandated a top change; B and me finally checked out shake shack|dc, it was amazing love the indoor factor of our location. PLUS, they have the best peanut butter milkshake ever, nom nom!!

we have lots of stuff planned this week, nationals game tomorrow with s2, quick trip to San Francisco with my mommy, more scraps to share and a short work week. hello ~~almost~~ summer I am loving you already!
xo

ps, who esle is devastated over game of thrones last night?! oh my heart, i love NED! :(

sweet treats

2011-06-07T16:18:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for the sweet comments on my mini, I have a couple more pages done, while I was home alone over the weekend. I have two more sets to share later this week. On Sunday, me and B went to check out Buzz Bakery in Old Towne, it has a lot of hype on yelp, but we weren't impressed. Their cupcakes basically tasted like bland cornbread, blah...don't let the pretty photos fool you, my sister had the red velvet one. The petite cheesecakes looked yummy from the counter, thank goodness we didn't sample one!

I love planting a garden and flowers every spring, Synai is always excited to help and be my little assistant. Yes, you see pink crocs (thanks to Heidi Swapp back in the day,damn lol), I wear them for gardening now !!

On the clear layer I added lots of layers and stamped the photo strip stamp on a clear overlay as another layer and added some of my favorite Studio Calico products: Calico White Mister Huey, Bonny Blue Mister Huey, Betsy paper. butterfly rubons (will never tire of woodgrain), weekday rubon (love this font) and statefair chipboard alpha. I am in love with this Basic Grey mini alpha, I want them to make this font in every color!

I had to add a small page about my newest pair of shoes,yeah hi I am vee and I am addicted to platform heels and our city as well.:) Love living here in the dmv- so much to see and do on the daily!
yawn,....i need a nap!
xo

chicken wire stamp winner

2011-06-07T14:53:00.002-04:00

True Random Number Result: 27
Patty said...
Lovely:) And thank you for the chance to win it Vee!!!

9:56 PM

send me your info, congrats!!