Beauty

My in house photographer (Dave) never ceases to provide me with awesome pictures to scrap.  This is another photo from our trip to the Viera Wetlands a few weekends ago.  The embellished butterflies are from my friend Theresa's shop.  For more information you can check her blog out here....she does fabulous work and sell her handmade flowers and embellishment at VERY reasonable prices.

A Day at the Races

We live in the Daytona Beach area and often forget how lucky we are to live in an area that thousands, millions even visit yearly for vacation and we can enjoy all the area has to offer on a daily basis.  In February we took off a workday and made a trip to the Daytona International Speedway for the Gatorade Duels.  Two races, minimal crowds and very exciting racing.  I am working on a couple of layouts this weekend of that day and here is the first. 

I used this week's awesome sketch from Sketch Inspiration and it is also an entry in the Scrappin'-n-Chattin' "Us" challenge to scrap a picture of "us".  We are Jeff Gordon fans so I had to throw in a JG insignia on the page....he even lead the second race for some time...we just had a great day topped off with an awesome meal at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Ormond Beach.

Dinner Time

I am very lucky to be married to a man who has an awesome ability to take stunning photographs. He snaps 'em and I scrap 'em!! We recently spent a Saturday morning at the Viera Wetlands which is south of Titusville, Florida. We had many photo ops of springtime in the Florida wild. (Wait until you see the alligator pictures!!) Dave snapped this picture of a momma bird feeding her babies....just one of many magnificent pictures taken that day. I used the sketch from this week Sketches in Thyme challenge and also the 1-2-3 challenge this week at The Paper Variety. I used 1 photo, 2 flowers and 3 pattered papers for that challenge. I will also be entering it in Lasting Memories spring theme this week.

Welcome Spring

I love the spring time....one of my children was born in the spring and especially growing up and living in the Midwest, springtime was a wonderful time after the harshness of winter. Now living here in Florida, I really love springtime because (along with Fall) it is some of the best weather that we have down here...perfect tempertures and low humidity....what more can you ask for? To celebrate the arrival of spring this year I made this wreath. The colors of spring really inspire me...I love the pastels of new flowers and new growth and the freshness in the air. I received this grapevine wreath and a couple of others from my local freecycle...it was destined for the landfill before I rescued it. It had some ugly old flowers and ribbon on it. I removed those and added a new roll of sheer green polka dot ribbon from Michael's which along with the flowers is the only thing I purchased on this whole project. The flowers were in a large ziploc bag that I got at my local resale shop for $1. The chipboard birdies were from my friend April and the materials for the "SPRING" pennant were just scraps and brads from my stash. Total cost for this project was under $3. I am currently collecting materials for a beachy one for the summer.
Challenges entered: Wee Memories and Paper Issues and Moxie Fab World Home Decor Challenge

Where I create

I am a pretty neat and tidy person (except when I eat and then it's food and crumbs all over everywhere...lol). I do not throw my clothes on the floor and most mornings I make my side of the bed. I put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher and I hang my towel after I shower. However when I am working on my projects I can make a bigger mess than three toddlers!! Luckily it is my room and my amazing husband never bothers me about it!!

We Got Stoned

I used this week's Sketchy Thursday sketch for this layout of the installation of our landscape stone. I flipped the sketch to accomodate my horizontal photos. My husband was so glad to finally get our landscape to look more finished. We got the curbing installed last summer and had to wait until this February to buy the stone. We pay as we go without using credit and let me tell you those little stones are more expensive than I thought they would be! I am also using this page for the Sketches in Thyme this week as well as the Scrappin'-n-Chattin' color challenge. I had a good productive weekend and after I came back from sales meetings in Tampa for the next few days I will share some more with you along with some pictures of our newest family member....Lola the baby cockatiel.

A Couple of Completed Projects

I have big plans this weekend....several crafty projects have been awaiting completion in my scraproom. I'm hoping to get to many of them this weekend so hopefully this is the first of a few posts highlighting my finished projects. First is a special layout featuring our beloved cockatiel Sonny who recently passed away. In the photo he had escaped his cage and we found him in a mail bucket with my ebay packages that were ready to go postal. He was chirping to be rescued. When Dave found him and picked him up, Sonny kissed him and I snapped this photo. Now that he's gone we sadly realized that we do not have many photos of him making this one even more special. I used Little Yellow Bicycle's Fresh Print Clothesline collection which I recently won and I LOVE it. The cardstock is my favorite color -- Baja Breeze from Stampin' Up. My bedroom is painted almost exactly the same shade as this cardstock. I did this layout for the Scrappin'-n-Chattin' 24 hour challenge and Abby chose which sketch and what collection I was to use...great choices Abby! This page came together very quickly. I am also using it for The Paper Variety Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and Wee Memories "Anything Goes" Challenge. I did the horizontal line that included Bird--Layout--Scallops

Then I did a card last Thursday night for a friend that I sent a gift to....it's a secret so I can't say who it is but she is a special online friend who ALWAYS encourages and lifts me up with her sweet comments and care and concern. I used my Cuttlebug which was a gift for my birthday last year. I love the embossing and really need to remember to use it more. The striped paper is from Cosmo Cricket Delovely. I recently won the 6x6 paper pack from my good friend Kim's blog which you can see here....check her out, she is offering up some blog candy. Thanks Kim! The yellow cardstock is from Stampin' Up....I recently found a SU demonstrator in my neighborhood and this can be a DANGEROUS thing. They have awesome cardstock, stamps, ink and everything else for cardmaking and scrapbooking. I love the high quality products and personal service too. The sentiment is a Basic Gray stamp and the twine is from my friend Ann. I just love working with twine and I am quickly using up my supply.

Well I am off to take a bubble bath and out grocery shopping and then right back to working on my projects. Hope to have more to share soon....