Christmas Quick Page

While doing a little online Black Friday shopping, I tried out another quick page. I find it very hard to keep holiday (in general) layouts fresh, so I thought this was a little different with the row of pictures on the bottom.




Credits:
A Season to Give quick page provided by Digital Freebies, created by Atomic Cupcake & Retro Diva Designs

Christmas Tree quick page

Last year we went to a Christmas tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. Here's the layout with the title inspired by one of our favorite Christmas movies, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.



Credits:
Quick Page by Mad Genius Designs (Jewel Goodwin) with Winter Berries kit by Little Red Scraps

Turkey Time

I used a new technique on one of the elements on this page... torn paper. It wasn't hard to do and I think it turned out fairly realistic. What do you think?



Credits:
Fall Into Fall Kit by Mad Genius Designs (Jewel Goodwin)

English Tea Garden Tour layout

When I lived in Florida, I visited Walt Disney World... A LOT!! This layout was created for a challenge at Mouse Scrappers. I attended the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot and took a few pictures during a tour of the English tea garden behind the Twinings Tea Caddy.



Credits:
Land of Fantasy Add On by Britt-ish Designs
Mouse Madness Freebie by Nikki Scott
Cardstock from Pilgrimage Home by The Scrappy Kat
String from U.S. Coast Guard by Always Be Neighbors Designs

Welcome Home

From this evening's speed scrap at Stuff To Scrap, here is my layout:



Credits
Kit: U.S. Coast Guard by Always Be Neighbors Designs

Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving is coming up... even though from shopping at retail stores you'd think Christmas is next week.... I thought I would try out a Thanksgiving layout.



Credits:
Scrap Matters Template Tuesday 8/18/09 by Linz
Home Suite Home kit by various designers
Let's Get Together Add-on by Erica Zane

Canning 2008

My husband and I had our first experience with picking apples last fall. We picked far too many apples and ended up with 60+ pounds. We made applesauce, apple butter and even dried apples. It was a lot of work, but it turned out GREAT! If you check out the pics in the digital page, you can see my cat, Cajun, who needed to play supervisor while I was peeling apples.



Credits:
Quick page and letter is from Delicious Day kit by Ellie Lash

Happy Veteran's Day!

In honor of my veteran husband, I created a Coast Guard digital layout.




Credits:
Template - Scrap Matter Template Tuesday 7/7/09 by Trixie Scraps Designs
Papers/Elements - U.S. Coast Guard kit by Always Be Neighbors Designs

Halloween 2009

Another digital scrapbook page to share! I am loving digital scrapbooking. I don't think I've completed this many pages in such a short amount of time -- EVER!!

The picture used is from this year's Halloween. We got the idea for the pumpkin from a recent issue of Family Fun magazine.



Credits:
Template from Scrap Matters Template Tuesday 9/15/09 designed by Kathleen
Papers and elements from Hallows Eve Add On and Booville Add On both by Raspberry Road Designs

Apple Picking

One of things my husband and I enjoy doing in the fall in Connecticut is picking apples from our favorite local orchard.



Credits:
Template from Scrap Matters (9/1/09) by jendavey SMCT girl
Digital kit is Apple Cider Add-On by Raspberry Road Designs

My Eddie, the vampire wishes you a HAPPY HALLOWEEN

My vampire stamp has made a return visit for Halloween. I affectionately named him Eddie awhile back -- take 1 EASY guess after what fictional character. ;)

I used my new Drippy Goo punch by Martha Stewart for the red border. I spotted that punch last year and was so happy when I found it recently. I also embossed some black bats behind Eddie



Wishing you all a very HAPPY and SAFE Halloween!!

Halloween digital scrapbook page

I finally had a chance to do some digital scrapbooking. This is my first time using a template. Here is a page I created with a picture from Halloween last year.



Credits:
Template by Trixie Scraps (Scrap Matters 10/13/09)
Elements from Me, Scared? by Always Be Neighbors Designs

**There are typos on the page. Don't worry they have since been fixed**

Korean inspired cards

A few recent cards....

Wordless Wednesday

Lucky Cat for patience

Princess Anya

I love love LOVE my Anya stamps. I have more projects coming down the pike with these stamps soon. This time I used my Princess Anya stamp by The Greeting Farm to create a birthday card for a friend. I love how it turned out.

Disney Tips

I want to share some tips/observations that my husband and I made on a recent trip to Walt Disney World.

General Tips:
- Take advantage of the Fast Passes. It will bring your wait in line down to 20 minutes (on a busy day) or less.
- Fast Passes are only given out once an hour per park ticket. For example, if you get a fast pass for Tower of Terror, you will have to wait an hour to get the fast pass for Rock N Rollercoaster
- Send someone else ahead to the ride you want Fast Passes for with all of the park tickets (they are needed to get Fast Passes). This way you can go do something else while one of the adults gets the Fast Passes, so you're not standing in yet another line to get the pass with a bunch of cranky kids.
- If you MUST take a double stroller to the park, be courteous. We were nearly run over or pushed aside by many a double and even single stroller.
- If you're at a park and there is a ride-time board... CHECK it! It will save tons of time by not walking to each ride to see what the wait is.
- Eat small meals (like appetizer size) throughout the day especially on hot days. It helps you not to feel so worn down and give you a break to sit and relax.
- Water, water, water.... bring it with you to the park (it's okay), purchase it... whatever. Otherwise you will be miserable.
- More on water.... we bought bottled water at Walmart before we headed to our resort. It was worth it since bottled water at the park is $2.50 each. It's okay to bring it in the park, we brought a 12 pack with us one day and weren't questioned.
- Sunscreen up before you leave for the park.

Magic Kingdom:
- Transportation to and from the Magic Kingdom can get a little crazy with the choices of monorail, ferry and buses. Be prepared to wait regardless.
- Avoid doing the Magic Kingdom on a Monday. We noticed it was ridiculously busy by late morning.
- Have breakfast at the Main Street Bakery at the park. It's a great deal. I purchased a cinnamon roll the size of a softball for $2.59. Plus if you get a table outside, you can relax for a few before hitting the park.
- If you are a resort guest, take advantage of the extra magic hours at this park. We walked right on to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and had only a 20 minute wait for both Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Epcot:
- Hit Epcot on a Monday. Most people are at the Magic Kingdom that day and so this park is less crowded. It did get considerably more crowded on Tuesday.
- Do the Spaceship Earth ride later in the day rather than first. It is usually very busy in the mornings, early afternoon. If you time it right, you can usually just walk right on. This ride is one that anyone can do and it's actually quite fun.
- Visit China. They have a great quick service menu and the tables in that area are SPOTLESS.
- There is a new Kim Possible World Showcase Mission "game". You get a ticket to meet at a designated spot, receive your communicator and then complete a mission within one of the World Showcase countries. We did this twice and had an absolute blast.
- If you can get reservations, go to the Rose & Crown Pub for dinner after 7pm since they have a 2 hour time limit for seating. If you speak with the host/hostess, see if they can get you seating for the fireworks out on the deck. It's WORTH it!!!
- For a quiet, shady retreat, go to the gardens behind the Tea Caddy in UK. When the Beatles tribute band isn't playing it's a nice little place with benches and shade.
- The Innovations section of Epcot is a great place to go get some A/C and also education for the kiddies. It's also a good place to go for the freak thunderstorm that Florida gets in the summer afternoons.

Hollywood Studios:
- Just a little FYI... if you go for the Star Wars weekend expect insane crowds and SW geeks galore
- If your little Jedi need a light saber, consider buying a prefab one. They have a make-your-own light saber section, but it's much more expensive than a premade one.

Animal Kingdom:
- Go to Animal Kingdom if it's a Star Wars weekend. We headed over to this park after the madness at Hollywood Studios. We had a short wait for Expedition Everest and walked right on to Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Disney Resort Guests:
- Get the refillable mug at the resort. It costs around $12.95, but you end up saving money on buying pop (or soda, whatever you call it), coffee, etc.
- You pay for what you get for when it comes to resort to park transportation. We stayed in one of the "value" resorts and since we were paying less, a lot of the time the buses didn't seem as frequent or made multiple stops. If you want direct access via monorail to Magic Kingdom or Epcot, stay at the Contemporary, Polynesian or Grand Floridian resorts.
- If you stay a resort, take advantage of the package pick-up in the park gift shops. They will send your package to your resort's gift shop and you can pick it up usually the following day after 1pm.
- The Disney Dining Plan seems like a good idea, but in reality causes a lot of confusion. We did not have the dining plan but ended up behind someone in line who did and had no clue what they were doing. It seemed like more of a hassle than what the savings are.
- There are no mini fridges in the All-Star Resorts. Stop at Walmart (if you're renting a car) in Kissimmee and purchase a $2 foam cooler. There are ice machines in each section of the hotel.
- If you need a microwave, there is one in the dining area for the All-Star resorts.

And this post wouldn't be complete without a recent Disney project I completed with my new Mickey ears punch:

Not-so Wordless Wednesday

So, I finally completed a MAJOR project that sort of fits into the crafting realm. I refinished a rocking chair that originally belonged to my grandparents. This rocking chair will be used in our future child's room.

The chair started out as a reddish paint stain color -- it was ugly. It wasn't a cherry stain color, think burgundy paint. So, I stripped it and stained it an oak color to match the rest of our furniture.

Wordless Wednesday

From Semper Papercrafting

Check out my lassie!!

I don't normally participate in Club Anya challenges, BUT this one caught my attention. They have 3 challenges going right now and one of them is "where I come from...". The challenge is to to create a card, scrapbook page, etc using an Anya or Ian stamp from The Greeting Farm that shares your heritage, nationality, culture, etc. I could not resist this challenge.

So, to pay tribute to my Scottish heritage, I used TGF digital stamp of Dorothy Anya to create a Scottish Anya. I did my best to include elements from the Cunningham clan in the card.

The clan tartan and clan badge:





My Lassie:

From Semper Papercrafting

Wordless Wednesday

From yesterday:

From Semper Papercrafting

Can you see the double rainbow? I'm not the best photographer, but tried to capture it the best I could.

Happy 4th of July!!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy 4th of July!! The Fourth has always been one of my favorite holidays. I am super patriotic and love anything red, white and blue.

I recently created a card to celebrate Independence Day that I sent to my family and friends. It has sort of a quilted look to it (I've used this same technique earlier with a baby girl card).

Enjoy! And let the fireworks commence!!! :)

From Semper Papercrafting

My 1st Speed Scrap

Tonight I headed over to Scrap Matters to do my very first speed scrap challenge. It starts at 9pm EST and you begin with a blank digital layout page, then every 10 minutes the hostess gives you instructions on what next to add to your layout. Since I'm still a newbie, it was a bit overwhelming, but I did O.K.

I decided to scrap the picture of me and my grandpa at Epcot. Here's the layout:

From Semper Papercrafting

Digital supplies are from:
Scraps by Andrea

I'm still getting the hang of this digital thing... but I'm having fun in the learning process.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm not sure where the Wordless Wednesday idea started, but I've seen it on many blogs. So, this time around to be "less wordy", I'll share a few photos that I've taken recently that are hopefully more expressive than what I can ramble on about. ;)

From Semper Papercrafting

From Semper Papercrafting

And yes, both of these roses are from my garden. The top is a Peace rose and the red one... um... I can't remember!!

Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge #36

It's Twilight Tuesday.....

The theme for this week’s challenge (TTIC36) is What Says Twilight To You?

So many things say “Twilight” to the multitudes of Twilight fans. What images do you think of when you think about the Twilight books and movies?

For some, Twilight means an apple, for some, the chess piece on the cover of Breaking Dawn, and for others, Bella’s truck conjures up the Twilight mood. Many fans love to express their Twilight love by choosing a “team” to root for, and others have favorite quotes from the book that are near and dear to them.

For the craft portion of the challenge: create a piece that expresses what comes to mind when YOU think of the Twilight saga.

For the comment portion of the challenge: Many people often say that reading the Twilight saga has been life-changing. Please share how the saga has changed your own life or made you view life in a different way.

To work on my Photoshop Elements skills, I created a layout all about Twilight and included the comment portion in my journaling. I love everything about the Twilight series and most of all I love that this book has allowed me to find a great group of crafters who share my enjoyment of the series. Seriously... this group of ladies completely "dazzles" me. ;)

Here's my layout:

From Semper Papercrafting

Digital supplies from:
Kathy Goldstein, Ellie Lash and photos are from various internet sources

Since the journaling is hard to read, it says:

I don’t think I ever expected to become dazzled by a vampire saga. Twilight is so much more than a pop culture phenomenon, it is an escape into a world where love, romance and chivalry still exist. The main characters, while even being vampires, have so much passion for life and all that is good. The relationship between Bella and Edward speaks to so many generations of readers and that is,
true love is eternal.

If you have time, you need to check out the blog candy for Twilight Tuesday. AMAZING!! They have partnered up with Artful Inkables to celebrate the release of their new Twilight inspired stamp sets.

New digital layout -- Star Wars Weekend

For my birthday, I received Photoshop Elements 7. It does way more than I could ever imagine. So, after my birthday trip to Walt Disney World, we returned home and I began learning PSE. So, here is my first attempt at a layout using this program. The scrapbook page is of the day we attended Star Wars weekend at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

From Semper Papercrafting

Happy *early* Birthday to me and check out my mom's craftiness!!

I will be celebrating my birthday this year at the "happiest place on earth". I can't wait! I recently received an early birthday present from my parents. It was ALL decked out in Disney Princess wrapping paper, Disney birthday cards and even a "Birthday Princess" button to wear. :) It brought tears to my eyes, it was just so exciting. I received some stamps and Photo Shop Elements to further my craft skills. :) I even got a book to take to Disney to help me find the Hidden Mickeys.

But the best present of all was a scrapbook album my mom created of all my birthdays from ages 1 through 16. It was just so.... amazing, touching.... I can't even think of a good word to describe how I felt. And yeah... I'll admit it... I cried when I saw what it was, I think I was just sooo surprised!!

So.... way to go Mom and Dad! You rocked on my birthday this year!

I took a couple pictures of the first few pages of the album to share. I learned that it is very appropriate for me to celebrate my 30th birthday at Disney because I had Pooh as the theme for my 1st birthday! :)

From Semper Papercrafting

From Semper Papercrafting

Birthday card RAK

Thank you to Dani from the Twilight Tuesday group. She sent me a super cute birthday card.

From Semper Papercrafting

TTIC Catch Up Week... and I'm catching up.

This week Twilight Tuesday is taking the week off and letting us catch up with some of the projects we may have missed. So, I took the opportunity to check a project off the list. Here's the challenges that Twilight Tuesday has given us:

1. Rosalie Hale
2. Forks High School
3. Edward’s Meadow
4. Alice Cullen
5. Which team are you?
6. Rain
7. Emmett Cullen --done!
8. Bella Swan
9. Twilight the Movie
10. Which Twilight heroine are you?
11. A very Cullen Christmas
12. Twilight Quotes
13. Supporting characters
14. Baseball
15. Twilight cars
16. Twilight music --done!
17. Jacob Black --done!
18. Twilight Valentine’s --done!
19. The Villains --done!
20. Italy --done!
21. Renee Dwyer --done!
22. Bella’s Birthday --done!
23. St. Patrick’s Day --done!
24. Carlisle Cullen --done!
25. Celebrate YOUR favorites
26. The Void
27. Jasper Hale --done!
28. Bella and Edward’s Wedding
29. Bella and Jacob as BFF’s
30. The Ballet Studio
31. Graduation
32. The Great Northwest --done!
33. New Moon Quotes --done!

I am working on my series of digital layout of all the Twilight characters and here is my page for Emmett Cullen, which completes TTIC7.

From Semper Papercrafting

Digital supplies from:
Ivy's Inspirations, Simple Girl Designs, Kathy Goldstein, pics from internet

Introducing Eddie.... (and TTIC #32 and TTSVC #2)

Yesterday, I felt very inspired to work on a couple of lingering Twilight Tuesday challenges. For both projects, I picked up my favorite vampire stamp. He's just so cute. So in honor of Twilight, I decided he needed a name.... yes, I'm that cheesy.... his name is Eddie (short for Edward, OF COURSE). Eddie has done some traveling -- he's even on a postcard or two. ;) He started out in Volterra, Italy at the St. Marcus Day celebration. Since then, he's traveled to Shreveport, Louisiana and Forks, WA. Check out his adventures below. If he's lucky, he might even make it to Walt Disney World sometime soon! ;)

Since last night was a big night for the movie "Twilight" on the MTV Movie Awards, I'm posting the brand new trailer of "New Moon" at the end of my post. I am so excited for "New Moon" to come out! :)

Beth from Twilight Tuesday gave us this fun challenge from the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris:

Welcome to Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge (TTSVC) #2! This month we are drawing our inspiration from Fangtasia, Eric’s vampire bar in Shreveport.

Craft Portion: Create a project that screams “Fangtasia,“!
Comment Portion: Would you go there? What would you expect to see there? Let your imagination run wild! This is Fangtasia we are talking about here!

My project:

From Semper Papercrafting

I think Fangtasia would be a really interesting place to visit. From living in Louisiana for a short period of time, I know how wild and crazy those folks can get. So I think Fangtasia would a great place to people/vampire watch. :)

Next up is the challenge from Eve:

The challenge for this week’s Tuesday is "The Great Northwest.” If you have ever lived there you know what I mean. Maybe if you have only visited there you know what I mean. Maybe if you only heard about the filming of the movie you know what I mean. It is beautiful there. There is a reason for it’s beauty….all the rain!

So from the space needle to the forests. From the rain to the trees. From the lush green beauty of it all to the Olympic Peninsula. There are so many reasons to LOVE the great Northwest. Edward’s family chooses to live there. Bella feels she has to live there, and hated visiting as a child. Don’t forget the trips to Seattle, the coast, and into the forest. Have fun with this one!

Comment portion: If you could visit anywhere in the Northwest - where would it be and why?

My project:

From Semper Papercrafting

I would love the opportunity to visit Forks. While I was there, I would have to check out Seattle. I've only been up in the Northwest once and I didn't have much of an opportunity to be a tourist. This area of the country is one place I don't think I would ever want to live, I love my sunshine too much to live there.


And last but not least.... the brand new trailer of New Moon:

I've been dazzled!!

I just want to give Julie, from Twilight Tuesday, a big THANK YOU for the gorgeous card she sent me in appreciation of my participation of the Twilight Tuesday site. I can't say enough good things about this website and the group of crafters who participate in the challenges. It's a great way to get your Twilight fix along with being crafty at the same time!!! :) It's awesome.

Thanks again Julie! You have inspired me and motivated me to get out of my "funk" and get stamping!! :) She is a very talented lady. Go check out her work at: http://www.starsfallcreations.com

Here's the beautiful... and DAZZLING card she sent:

From Semper Papercrafting

Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge #33

It's been awhile since I posted a project for Twilight Tuesday. But I felt inspired this week. The challenge this week is from Beth:

I love quotes that capture a moment - just a sentence or two that stick out and remain in your memory forever. My challenge is to choose one from New Moon (that is a challenge in and of itself ~ choosing just one) that sticks with you. One of my favorite quotes in the whole series is from Jake, of course, and since I have used it already, I will ‘challenge’ myself to find another. But as Challenge Mistress, I will wield my considerable power and share it anyway - even if it is a little long.

Craft Portion: Create a project that captures the moment and complements the quote you’ve chosen.
Comment Portion: Explain why your quote is memorable to you and what about it ‘grabbed’ you initially.

The quote I picked from New Moon is from Jacob Black. If you've read the Twilight series you know that Jacob is..... *if you haven't read it, turn back now*... a werewolf. I find Jacob to be very comical at times -- it's probably his maturity level since he's much younger than Edward (we're talking mentally not physically). The quote I used in the layout is: "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" (New Moon, Chapter 13, p. 321). This is probably not my favorite quote, but it's certainly memorable.

Since I was feeling inspired to complete this challenge -- I have decided to complete a series of digital layouts for all the Twilight characters. See my previous posts regarding the men of Twilight and Jasper Hale. So this Jacob layout is a continuation on my theme. I hope at some point to finish a layout for each character and get them printed to put in a Twilight scrapbook. ;)

Here is my digital layout:

From Semper Papercrafting

Digital supplies are from Ellie Lash.

I hope to muster up some motivation to work on the most recent Sookie Stackhouse challenge on Twilight Tuesday. But personally.... I've been a bit run down and in a bit of a funk. Don't worry, I'm hoping and praying that everything works out SOON and I'll be back to my old crafty self. ;)

Remembering Memorial Day

Thank you to all who have served or are serving in the United States military.

Finally posting a few recent projects

Due to a card that got lost in the mail, I am finally able to post my most recent projects now that I know the receiver FINALLY got her very belated birthday card.

Birthday:

From Semper Papercrafting

Supplies Used:
Unicorn (digital stamp) from The Greeting Farm


Baby girl congratulations:

From Semper Papercrafting

Supplies Used:
So Many Scallops from Stampin' Up

Here's is the tutorial on how to create the quilted look: http://stampinat6213.blogspot.com/2007/07/quilt-card-tutorial.html


Mother's Day:

From Semper Papercrafting

Supplies Used:

Garden Delight from Inkadinkado

...gasp... I've been stamping too!

After a bit of a creative hiatus, I finally completed some projects that I have been meaning to finish days ago.

First off is a card for a male friend who turned 30. I used my new Bombshell stamps on it. It's a complete departure from what I usually do, but I had a blast.
Front of card

Inside of card

Here is a thank you card I created for a family from my home church. They kind enough to send us some Korean items for our pending Korean adoption. This family adopted 3 children from South Korea several years ago.

From Semper Papercrafting

The cherry blossom stamp is a digital stamp from the Digi-Shack.

Finally, here is a wedding card I was working on today for my sister-in-law, who is getting married next weekend. They are having a beach wedding and I couldn't resist using my Stampin' Up Crab & Company set. On the inside I created a pocket for a gift card.

From Semper Papercrafting

I hope to work on the Sookie Stackhouse challenge from Twilight Tuesday soon. I found some GREAT paper for it. I've been missing out on the Twilight Tuesday challenge projects despite having a few great ideas. But I hope to share my BIG project soon -- it's not a paper craft, but will be well worth all the time spent on it since I will be using it regularly. :) It's been the reason for my departure from my stamping lately.