Owls!

Owls are all the trend right now and can we blame them?! They're very cute.. I took this picture at our local thrift store when I went to look around one day.

It's for the Photo Inspiration for the February Card Challenge on Scrapbook.com.

I have a funny story that goes along with that day and that shop. My parents collect old things. For instance, we have an old corn sheller, 8 ft. white old shutters, an old typewriter, and a ton of canisters on shelves and that's just in our living room!

So, Mom is big on canisters, she has them from all over the place, so much so that she didn't realize my sister stole 4 of them, but that's a story for another day!

I saw a bread box at the shop that matched canisters she had... but, I didn't get it. I showed her the picture a couple days later and she was stunned I didn't get it! My Mom was going to that end of the valley but had an appointment first so my Dad told me go get it before she does! So, I went and got it and I told the guy "My Mom will probably be in here in about an hour... I was never here!" He said "Okay, I'll tell her a lady bought it earlier".. I said "No! A man.... a man with blonde hair, that way it rules all of us out!" lol. Dad gave it to Mom for Valentine's and she was VERY surprised!!

I downloaded the cute owl imagine from Paper Craft Connection. I don't use copics and I can't shade to save my life, but I tried with some colored pencils anyway!

I used Bo Bunny's "Basic Dots" and Basic Grey's "Hopscotch" for this card.

My niece wanted to make one too, well, really, she just wanted to color the owls but when I suggested she put it on a card she was all for it.

I let her use my "good paper" (I have a spot for the paper she can use and she knows she has to ask me first if she wants to use any in the "good" bag.), so she was very excited about that!

She put dog bone paper because she was making it for my dog, Scruffy. =]

wait... what?!

I made this layout to tell the story of how I met Tim Holtz. The journaling explains it all, enjoy!

Journaling: Joey & I planned to meet Tif & Klayre at Disneyland on Saturday. There was only one problem, I forgot to set my alarm! Tif text me that they were already at Disneyland and I didn‘t know what to do about waking Joey. Since he works until about 2am, I didn‘t want to wake him. I sat there for a good 30 minutes and debated whether to wake him or not. I thought if I do wake him, he‘ll be mad, if I don‘t wake him, he‘ll be mad that I didn‘t. I finally decide on waking him up and he wasn‘t mad at all.

When we finally got to Disneyland, we met Tif & Klayre at the end of Main Street. We decided to go to California Adventure to go on Toy Story Mania. The wait was 45 minutes, which isn‘t too bad for that ride. About 25 minutes into waiting in line, it started moving again. I then passed by people in the next row going the opposite way. I saw someone that looked very familiar to me but didn‘t place him as quick as I should have. The next time I passed him, it hit me. It was TIM HOLTZ! My eyes popped out of my head and my mouth was open wide.. luckily I was carrying a map so my mouth was covered. Tif & Joey asked me what was wrong and all I could get out was “oh my god, oh my god.“ I said do you know who that is? Of course neither of them did! I explained and as my heart was pounding out of my chest I asked him for a picture and an autograph on a dollar bill, which is what I always have celebrities sign. A women he was with chuckled when I called him a celebrity, but to anyone in the scrapping world, he is for sure!

It made it even more exciting for me because back in January, 10 months earlier, I wrote on his blog about Disneyland. I saw that he had been there a day after me. I wrote “One day well be there on the same day!“

I‘m a big believer that you get certain signs in your life from the universe letting you know you‘re exactly where you‘re supposed to be at that very moment. I don‘t believe in coincidences what-so-ever. I debated on waking Joey up, we walked all the way into Disneyland just to walk all the way to the end of the other park. Then, waited in line and there was exactly the right amount of people between us to pass right next to each other. A coincidence? Not a chance.

I thought the Inspire definition sticker would be perfect for this layout! On my $1 bill that he signed, it says "Art Inspires!"

This may be my favorite part! I used an old photo slide and glued fabric to the back. I also used a hook and eye which I tied to the sides and wrapped thread around them.

I'm the worst at layering, but I really like how this turned out! Can you spot the hidden Mickey? Alright, it's not so hidden after all!

I love you to infinity & beyond

It's almost the weekend... woohoo! I lifted Add1cted's "Ready or Not!" on Scrapbook.com. This photo was taken at California Adventure in November, with Buzz Lightyear of course!

I also couldn't resist making a Mickey Mouse out of chipboard and buttons!

I'd like to think that anyone would use this cheesy title! I couldn't resist! I ran out of "L's" so I used an "I" instead.

I used foam Thickers called "Delight" for part of the title.

You're my love bird

Who's ready for Valentine's Day? Yeah, me either! But I do have a Valentine's Card finished before February 13th, so I'm happy!

I purchased this cute new Bo Bunny Paper called Crush Romeo last week. Our closest Scrapbook store is about a 1/2 an hour away.. it is however close to my Grandma's and my niece's doctors. So if we're out that way, I have to stop by! It's usually just to pick up 3 packages of foam pop dots too. But I'll search the clearance and if there's any really cute paper in the new section I'll pay an arm and a leg for it. =]

Sometimes I can't believe how expensive some Scrapbook Stores are! There's one in Rancho Cucamunga, I won't name names, but their prices are ridiculous! Although their store is beautiful and they have a ton of new items all the time, they charge way too much. I think I've been there twice and only bought ribbon by the yard each time. Too rich for my blood!

So for this card I used a sketch from Clean & Simple from 2009!!

hey you . hello . howdy

This card is for the February Card Challenge on Scrapbook.com for Product which is to use paint. I used paint by doing the Acrylic Smash Technique.

I got this cute little crocheted flower from Hobby Lobby. I thought they were all back east, but it turns out there in Southern California now too! I went for the first time about a month and I must say, as neat of a store as it was, it was nothing like I was expecting. I think I've heard different people talk about it for so long that I had a picture in my head what it was and it was nothing like the picture in my head! Still thought it was a cool store though!

Mr. & Mrs.

Posts two days in a row? This is craziness, I know! This is the sketch for the February Card Challenge on Scrapbook.com. As always, feel free to use this sketch for your own personal use.

I thought I'd use this cute little Wedding cake stamp from KI Memories. I recently got that dark blue paper, which is, Pink Paislee's Daily Junque - Tabs. Don't you love it that paper?! Me too!

For the Mr. & Mrs. I used American Crafts "Rue" for the sentiment.

I used Pebble's Shimmer chalks on the cake. I used a pearl white and a very light pink for the card. I then hand-stitched around the edges of the cardstock.

so lucky to have YOU

I made this card for the February Card Challenge for Theme, which is Luck/St. Patrick's Day and for Color, which were Apple Tones.. which you can see here, from Design Seeds.

For this card I got inspiration from Amber Daigre's "Birthday Bro Card" on page 45 of the January/February issue of Paper Crafts.

I used Cosmo Cricket tiny type stickers and American Crafts Forest Chipboard Thickers.

January Card Challenge Cards!

Even though I host the Card Challenge every month on Scrapbook.com, I don't think I've ever completed all the cards for the month! Sad, isn't it? I know it is, so this year I hope it changes! I only have one more to go and hopefully I can pull it off on Monday night before the challenges ends!

Of course I did them all within 4 days of each other, not all during the month since I ran out of time! So I'm going to share all of them with you right now. Get ready... there's a bunch!

These were all made for the girl who does my hair, Andrea. She gives cards to her husband and sends them to work and such! I trade her for a hair cut and since I needed my hair cut, I needed to get a move on! lol.

I used Clean & Simple Sketch #174 for this card.

I used Sassafras Lass' "Indie Girl", Stampin' Up's "Comfort Food" Stamp and some Timber Brown Stazon Ink.

This card was also made for the Card Challenge for Theme - Valentine's Day.

This is the sketch I made for the January Card Challenge. February won't take as long to post, promise! As always, feel free to use this for your own personal use!

This card was also made for the Card Challenge for Sketch & Bonus - Create a card having something to do with food or drinks.

I used Basic Grey's "Hopscotch" line and their "Cup of Tea" Stamp Set.

This card was also made for the Card Challenge for Theme - Valentine's Day.

I used Heidi Swapp's "Love" Corner Stamps for this and placed them closed together and filled it in with heart stamps I had to make a small collage.

I used Stampin' Up cardstock, a Singo white gel pen and some Zva tiny rhinestones!

This card was also made for the Card Challenge for Theme - Valentine's Day.

I made this card from the January/February issue of Paper Crafts Magazine from the sketch on page 24 by Kim Kesti.

I used all 3 Birds Rub-ons for this card, Stampin' Up cardstock and a tiny Zva rhinestone.

This card was also made for the Card Challenge for Theme, Technique & Product.

• Theme - Valentine's Day
• Technique - Faux Leather with Masking Tape
• Product - Glitter

This was such a fun technique to try! It makes a wonderful finished product, try it out!!

I used Bo Bunny's "Crazy Love" Collection.

This card was also made for the Card Challenge for Technique.

Don't you love that whale? It's from Autumn Leaves.

I lifted the sentiment from the January/February 2012 Paper Crafts Magazine. I lifted it from Veronica Zails "Cross an Ocean" Card on page 44.

I was out of N's so I changed a "V" into an "N".

Last but not least I made this for the Card Challenge for Theme. It's a simple one that I just love!

Chalkboard Technique!

I wanted to try the Chalkboard Technique that I found on Splitcoaststampers. I liked it so much that I made two cards with it and will defiantly be using the technique again! I used Pebbles Inc. Chalk on the image, but I used Pearlescent Chalks. Even though I love the look of it, I think it may be better with regular chalk because you can see a little shimmer all over the black cardstock.

This card is also for the February Card Challenge for Technique.

For this card I used sketch 142 at The Sweet Stop. This week was a sketch with a spin.. to create a non-traditional Valentine's Day. I turned the sketch on it's side because it worked better with my image. What do you think?

I used the Pearlescent Chalks on this card also.

Our 1st Anniversary!

A year ago on the 8th of January, I met the love of my life. Did I know it was love from the beginning? For sure. In April of last year I wrote Joey, 3 months after meeting him, a loonnng letter telling him how excited I was for our future and how there was no doubt in my mind we'd be together until forever. I gave it to him on the 8th of this year.. Still excited by the way, lol.

This photo is from our first date at The Kitchen in Pasadena. We look so young... it's crazy.

This is from my family's annual Christmas Party... even got a smile out of him, that doesn't happen in photos too often!!

He is sweet enough to save all the cards I make him in a shoe box in his closet. Hey, as long as they're not thrown away!! I made him a gift one time, maybe you remember it... it was made out of a deck of cards and it was 52 songs that made me think about us.. Well, there was no way I was going to let that sit in a shoe box, so I took it back, lol. It's now displayed in my room!

So anyway! I used the Sketch for Submission on Scrapbook News and Review for this month, this is my entry. I always call Joey, Joesteph, so I thought that was fitting!

Boy cards are hard enough for me, but a boy card AND an Anniversary card all in one.. watch out.

Christmas Thank Yous!

Here are some of Christmas Thank You Cards! I am a big believer in sending thank you cards for Christmas!! It is a lift from Abby's (Oceans972 on Scrapbook.com) "Celebrate" Card. Her card is the card picked to be lifted for The January Card Challenge.

This card is also for the January Card Challenge for Color. I used Basic Grey & Echo Park on this one... I think they go together really well!

For these two cards I used Sweet Sunday Sketch #150.. I just love her sketches!