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