See this?

Yes, this is a mini album. A newly created mini album. A mini album newly created by ME! =D Not as part of a class or workshop or crop, but created down in my craft room, just for fun. I CRAFTED! I put it together after the A.C. Bailey party on Thursday night. I was so happy crafting away that I didn't even notice it was 2:00 in the morning. Oops! But it was well worth it (I say as I'm running on 2 hours of sleep...) and here is the album in its entirety...

Craft Room Wishlist

As my craft room is an utter disaster right now, I've been thinking about what I want to do to make it better, more usable. I have a table that's been in the garage, waiting for me to take it to the craft room, but I'm not sure where it will go or what it will be used for. So I need to figure that out.

BUT... one thing I do know is that I want a table in my craft room where all my little machines (Cricut, Cuttlebug, Xyron, Sewing) are all set up so I can use them when I want to. I tend not to use them because it's too much of a hassle to pull them out for one little thing. But I WOULD use them if they were already set up. So I need to make that happen. I should also re-evaluate the tools I have and whether I want to keep them, and where.

My dream is to have a craft space that is usable for the stage I'm at in life right now. I don't get down there for monster crafting sessions any longer. Most of the time I have just 30 minutes here or 30 minutes there to craft, and I need to make sure my room is set up for that sort of use. So #1 on my wishlist is a place for all my machines to be set up, ready to use at a moment's notice.

A.C. Bailey Party

See these people? They were at my house last night. CRAFTING.

Yes, It's true.

This beautiful A.C. Bailey Consultant came to my house....

... and taught us this make-n-take!

Cute, huh? She gave some of us renewed interested in our Cricut machines, and it was really fun just to get together and scrap with friends again! I do believe Craft Night will make a comeback. At least I hope it does! =D

In the meantime, I am enjoying all sorts of goodies from the party. I am especially enjoying this pile of goodies, since it was FREE! =D Yay for hostessing parties!

New Goodies

So while I was in Washington last month playing with Tam, I got to go to Treasury of Memories, her LSS. It is the coolest LSS I've been in yet, and I wish I lived closer to it! But I don't, so I'll settle for bringing pieces of it home to MT. ;D Here's what came home with me...

There was Hambly 50% off. Who could resist?

There was Theresa Collins galore!

There was a die cut machine and colored chipboard...

And scads of cute paper that will soon become a couple mini albums!!

Now I haven't really gotten to play with any of the new goodies yet, but there's a crop on Friday night I'll be attending, so maybe I'll have something to show over the weekend!!

SLIDE

A series of pictures of Ellie going down one of the slides at the school near our house. I still need to do the journaling, and the pictures are old (from last winter, I believe), but it's a nice simple layout. The journaling page and ticket are from Tam, and the rest (minus the title letters, which were from my stash) are Sweet Pea Scraps.

TODAY including all the memories, all the love, all the good stuff

The overlay title is by Karen Russell, donated to my layout by Tam. =D Thanks, Tam!! The journaling paper is also compliments of Tam. =D The prima swirls are from my stash, but the rest is Sweet Pea Scraps again!

Memorial Day Scrapbooking!

We got to spend Memorial Day with our friends Dave and Tam in Washington. We used to see them pretty much every Memorial Day and Labor Day, but this visit was special because we hadn't seen them in 3 years! Not since I was pregnant with Eliana. So it was exciting to see them again, have them meet Eliana, and meet their two precious kiddos, too! To top it all off, I got to scrap with Tam, which is always fun! I got 4 layouts done while I was there, and got in a trip to Treasury of Memories, which is the most amazing scrapbooking store I've been in yet! It was fabulous.

So... once again I'll spread out the scrap love so you have more than one post to look at this week. =D To begin with, we'll start with something completely unrelated to Memorial Day...

Not the greatest Halloween pictures ever, but my daughter's first "real" trick or treating none-the-less, so I had to document them. And I'm pretty happy with the layout! Sweet Pea Scraps kit, of course, with the addition of some Prima tape (across the bottom) and a die cut paper tape across the top, and a cute little ticket (from Tam) along the side. Oh, and I used a new edge punch along the bottom, though it's hard to see in this picture. I like it!

Lollipop Tutorial

While I was in TX I picked up a couple of hard candy molds from Hobby Lobby. Robert and I had a grand time making candies and lollipops, so I figured I'd give you a smidge of a tutorial, complete with pictures! =D Use your favorite candy recipe... Here is a decent recipe if you don't already have a favorite of your own.

Love Birds

Another picture taken on Ellie's 2 year photo shoot. Instead of being of Ellie, though, this one is of my parents. I love it! It's so fun to capture and record their playfulness, to show how much they love eachother! The layout itself is a scraplift from the SPS DT, but I like how it turned out!

Look at Me!

This is not Ellie, but her best friend Zoe. Also from her first birthday party. This one will face opposite the last layout in the album (assuming I ever get around to putting these IN albums), since they are the same event, same color scheme. They look better together than separate, I think. Anywho, these pictures have always cracked me up.

Going back in time...

Wow! This picture is from 2 years ago, at Ellie's first birthday party. She had so much fun playing with her friends, and I think it was the first time she really got to play with a bunch of friends at her own house. She loved it!

Happiness

More from last summer. I just have a ton of pictures from that, I think! But Ellie loves her grandparents, so it's worth documenting!

Giggles

Some pictures just make me giggle every time I see them. This is one of them.

She can fly!

I feel like there needs to be some sort of journaling on this one, but I don't know what yet. So this is it for now. It's another picture from her 2 year photo shoot, and I'm glad to be getting these done since her birthday is coming up again in 2 months!

This girl loves to create art...

Just documenting some of Ellie's creative side here...

Another NSD Layout: Enjoy Every Moment

I love the pictures we took of Ellie and my mom when we took 2 year photos last summer. There are a lot of them that I still haven't scrapbooked, though, because how many layouts can you do about 2 year pictures? I worked through some of them on Saturday, though, and this is one of them. I love it!

Would you believe it??

Amazing, I know, but I am actually updating My Inner Martha! That in itself is shocking, I am sure, after all but a month's absence, but here's the real kicker... I have scrapbooking pages to show for my absence!

*GASP*

I know. It's been so long. I actually got down to the craft room for National Scrapbooking Day on Saturday and I got about 10 layouts done. It has seriously been a couple months since I scrapped, I think. And, sadly, it will probably be a while before I get to it again, so I will spread the layouts over a few posts. =D If you're really lucky I'll even remember to schedule them so I don't have to remember to post them regularly for you. ;D

So... the first one I will post is one of my favorites from the weekend. I have been putting off scrapping my pictures from Eliana's labor. But I just felt like these went together and I liked it, so I went for it! Do you ever have a hard time scrapping pictures from an event because it was such a special event or such a special picture that you just want to do it justice? That's pretty much how I am with Ellie's birth pictures. I've scrapped a couple, but it is hard for me! So this was big. But I like it!! Here you go...

Angel Eggs...

It's not a Martha Stewart recipe, but it's cute, and one I want to try...

The Best Deviled Eggs (from Home Made Simple)
Set this traditional party appetizer apart at your next gathering with a combination of chives, bacon, lemon and tarragon, along with our inspired take on presenting these delicious deviled eggs.

Serves 6-8
Total time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 dozen hard-boiled eggs, peeled
3 heaping tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped (plus more for garnish)
4 slices of cooked bacon, finely chopped (or bacon bits)
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Take each of your peeled hard-boiled eggs and slice off the bottom (wide) end to expose the yolk. Cut a small sliver off of the top (pointed) end to help it sit up straight.
2. Scoop out the yolks into a medium-sized bowl and place the whites carefully into an empty egg carton with the hole-end up for filling purposes.
3. In your bowl, mash the yolks with a fork and add mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, bacon, tarragon and mustard, then stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Use a pastry bag with a piping tip or a zip top plastic bag with a corner snipped at an angle to fill your egg whites with the yolk mixture. Add more mayo if the mixture is too thick to pass through. Garnish with chopped fresh chives.

Tip: You can buy piping tips in the cake decorating section of the grocery store. Try attaching one to your zip top bag for more precise and decorative filling.

A pile o' cards

So I picked up the items I had on display at the LSS last time I was there. I knew I still had a couple layouts there and some other items, but I didn't realize just how many cards I had on display. Look at the pile!

There are 68 cards here. And two I know that are there but I couldn't find. I had at least 70 cards on display at the LSS. Crazy!!!

I'm teaching a class on Saturday...

... so that's what I've been working on lately! I finally got the project done for my Canvas Album class at Keepsakes by Design this Saturday. Here it is....

A belated valentine...

Before the month of February ends, I ought to at least show you what I did for Valentines this year!

I made some heart chocolates (some peanut butter filled, some toffee crunch filled) and some chocolate covered pretzels (pink and white, of course) sprinkled with coarse sugar and tied them up with cute pink and brown polka dotted bows. I love this ribbon! It was clearance ribbon from Martha Stewart Christmas stuff at Kmart, but I thought it was PERFECT for Valentine's Day. Isn't it?? I love it!

Here's a closer look at the Valentine goodies....

Together

Love this picture. More from the Sweet Pea Scraps February kit...

My Little Beauty

And some detail shots...

This is another layout from the February Sweet Pea Scraps kit. I've said it before, but I'll say it again... I love these kits! I've gotten quite a few layouts from this kit already and I've still got plenty of paper left to do more. I love it! On this layout I used one of the clear stickers and painted on it with alcohol ink. That's what the flower overlapping the photo is. I also used alcohol ink around the edges of the paper, then over painted with some gold acrylic paint. There's actually quite a bit of gold acrylic paint on this layout... The pictures are from Halloween, but I just love them so much I couldn't resist scrapping them again... =D

Motherhood

This is my favorite layout as of late. I love the combination of textures and colors and the subject matter! And I love that I had no idea what to do with these papers the first time I saw them, but that they worked perfectly together for this layout.

The fabric I sewed across the bottom looks blue in the first picture and green in the second because it is a beautiful blue/green taffeta. I got a scrap of it somewhere and I'm loving scrapbooking with it. It's the perfect color and texture for so many things, and I really think it's what ties this two page layout together. The key is from a set of old keys my mom cleaned up and gave me. I'm really enjoying playing with these on layouts, too! Except that I'm afraid I'm going to use them all up and then I won't have any....

I painted a little gold acrylic paint around the edges of the photo and mat, just to make them stand out a little more. I really like the effect. I'm not sure the picture does it justice, but I like it in person a lot.

The journaling on this layout just talks about how much I have always wanted to be a mother. More than anything else in the world. Motherhood is such a special thing to me and I really think it needs to be documented, even if I don't know which album this layout goes in. I want my kid(s) to know someday how much it means to me to be a mother. (T)he(i)r mother.

And when it all comes down to it, this, THIS, is why I scrapbook. I have been given a legacy by those before me, and I want to do my part in handing it down to the ones entrusted to me.

(Sweet Pea Scraps February 2009 kit)

A little scrapbookery...

A new favorite website...

I found a new favorite baking website... adorable, wonderful things for candy making! It's great! The website is Bake It Pretty... I can't wait to get some hard candy molds! It will be GREAT!

I seem to be in candy making mode right now. I don't know what that means, but Eliana sure has been enjoying it!

Scrapbooking!!!

I got to scrapbook Friday, yesterday, and today. WOOHOOO! That means I should have new things to show-and-tell soon. Yippee!

Life is a bowl of cherries...

... and this is a complete scraplift!

But I love how it turned out! Layouts like this are why I'm so glad Sweet Pea Scraps has a DT gallery! I would never have known how to use this paper if it hadn't been for the layout I lifted, but it was perfect for this picture and I found a quote I liked. So... this is my take on it.

Shrek Baby!

The first time we put pigtails in Ellie's hair, she looked like Shrek! =D

Homegrown Beauty

This is another from the Sweet Pea Scraps kit I was using, though I can't remember which one it is. *blush* I suppose if I stayed on top of my scrapbooking I might remember which kit I'm using, but I don't, so... oh well! I'm just glad to have a few new layouts done and getting them posted!

I played some more with the book pages on this one... I made the letters for "beauty" out of the pages and then layered them, popping every other letter up with pop dots for a little depth. I also did a little hand stitching up to the flower blooms, which were also made with the book pages. I'm getting a lot of use out of this book so far!

Vintage Valentines

Remember these vintage beauties??


Well, they're now for sale at a local scrapbook shop near you!

Well, okay, a local scrapbook shop near you IF you happen to live in Bozeman, MT. ;D

Yes, I now have items (finished items, not kits) available for sale at Keepsakes By Design in Bozeman. There are a few things, from a premade vintage 8x8 album to cards (including these!) to mini albums...

So if you're interested, you know where to get them. =D

You hold the key....

This is a wall hanging I made the other day, expanding on my new found decoupage technique. =D I covered a 12x13 piece of lightweight chipboard and finished the edges with wide Prima tape. Turns out I really like how that works! I used a full page from the book to mat the photo, just curling, tearing, and inking the edges as needed. Then I added the flourish around the corner of the photo, which is a combination of several things: Stamping, painting with alcohol inks (another dabble into a "new" technique), Prima crystal swirls, and Prima flowers with vintage button centers. What I like best about this corner is that it has such dimension and texture. In the picture it looks pretty one dimensional, but in reality you can see the text through the painted flowers, the Prima flowers pop up, and the painted swirls stem off the crystal swirls. I just like how they all build off one another and meld together to create a single multi-dimensional element. It's fun!

Because the bottom of the page seemed sort of blank, I sewed a strip of bunched tulle across the bottom of the page, creating a sort of ruffle. It's gold, shimmery tulle, and I like it! I also raided my chipboard stash for this project, and used chipboard letters (painted with Radiant Rain mica daubers) and a chipboard heart (painted with black crackle paint). I cut the words "to my heart" right out of the book I'd used for for the rest of the project and just pressed them into the crackle paint while it was still wet. Add a few button ellipses, and voila! the corner embellishment is finished! Very simple, really....

The other element I added to this project is an antique skeleton key. My mom gave me a whole bunch of these to use on projects (she gave me the book I used, too) and I had yet to use one, the fact of which she reminded me often. ;D So, Mom, this one is for you! (And actually, I did make the wall hanging for her. =D Whether she'll want it or not, we'll have to see, but she was the one I had in mind when I made it, and the picture is of her and Eliana this summer.)

So this is it... the first "real" project I've done in MONTHS! I'm so happy to be back crafting and scrapping! I've even made a couple layouts since doing this, so the crafty has continued! Hooray!