Scrapbook Trends June

I received my complimentary contributor copies of the Scrapbook Trends June issue this Monday. I admit to going to Archiver's to take a peek at my first layout in this amazing magazine several times. Still, I'm intimidated by the incredible talents showcased in this magazine. It reads like a "Who is Who" in my GoogleReader blog-roll :)

So I finally have a layout in this amazing magazine. Believe me, I try, every, single, month :) Requests are rare, so I will celebrate success when I have found it.

My dad was with me when I first saw this at Archiver's. His comment was that these are old and no-good photos. LOL, of course, they are no good to him, his beloved grandchild was crying, and that is just not right. I must say that this name has indeed stuck. We now refer to her affectionately as Bucket. We did have to explain to First Born, "what Bucket" we were talking about...

This Little Hobbit Went to the Big Trial

Sitting in the movie theater watching Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring, I turned to DH and uttered these words, "What is a hobbit?" The genre of epic fantasy was not in my must-read list in high school or college. Then the movie gripped me and I spent a solid week finishing the trilogy. Now surpassing Jane Austen, Tolkien is my all-time favorite author. His imagination gives me a glimpse of the Creator's imagination...

And we come to my favorite line in the book... Gandalf Said: "There never was much hope, just a fool's hope."

I am not disappointed about not making the Cosmo finalists. I have a stack of wonderful layouts to show for that intense week. If I'm into stash reduction, I need more calls such as that :)

Here is a layout that I didn't include in the Cosmo entry, my family making my requested treat for Mother's Day. My waist line looks like that cupcake spillage as well. :)

Proud to be Americans!

Happy 4th of July to you and yours!!!

I went to Old Navy hoping to score some $1 flag t-shirts yesterday, but apparently, the information on Money Saving Mom blog was not accurate. The shirts were $5 each. Oh well... Thankfully, Second Child still fit into this 12-18 months shirt. We could even buckle the bottom, woohoo!! Nothing like stretching those BabyGap shirts!!

Happy Birthday, U.S.A. ! ! !

Collage Pressbrate Father

Collage Press is having monthly challenges now on their blog! The first challenge of June is to create a father themed layout. I was particularly inspired by the words of Jill Sprott when she said that we could use "any past or present lines" of Collage Press. So I did, combining three past and present lines of Collage Press, using up some miscellaneous photos of DH and Second Child. It wasn't easy to part with the last bit of Grayson Hall. Really, what am I going to do now? I'm Grayson Hall-less... sigh... The upside is that I love the look of combining the lines, or maybe it's because the people in the photo are so good-looking?? When I was creating this layout, a song kept running through my head, "loooooooooooving you... is easy cuz you are beautiful..." lol...

Chirp Chirp Chirp for Cosmo Cricket

My first introduction to Cosmo Cricket was actually via the Comstock Line of WRMM. Yes, the Comstock line, does that name sound familiar? :) I grabbed every sheet my LSS had to offer!

Then the lacing chipboard came into my life. I made a little house with it.

Now my love for Cosmo Cricket is full blown.

• Black board album is totally genius! I don't have to paint the edges of my album beforehand! It saves me time. It looks elegant. Best of all, it makes making a mini-album easier!


• Stickers... I *heart* stickers, and Cosmo Cricket offer such a full range of them. I am all about indulging my childhood fancy.


• Rubons... again, full range of them. Again, indulging my childhood self.


• Ready-Set-Chip, what a brilliant idea and wonderful product. The only problem for me is that it is sold out everywhere!


• Versatility is the name of the game. While the collections are themed with ample themed products to go with it, Cosmo makes it easy to think outside of the themed-box, or stay in it if you so wish.

All that is to say, I'm giving it a try, after all, nothing has ever been accomplished by not trying.

Early Bird
Some use this line for their inner or actual domestic goddesses, I use it to sing praise of my glorious man :)


Lil' Man
There is nothing little about this wonderful man who is now Home with the Lord. This photo is circa 1960. My FIL knows how much I love family heritage photos, he sent me a digital scan of this photo. This layout talks about him telling me the "Pete and Repeat in the car" joke at Thanksgiving dinner 1999.


Jack's World
It may be Jack's World, but it's N&A's universe!! Here you see what I mean by blackboard album make it easy to put a mini together. Jack's World's colors are nothing short of AMAZING. They are so incredibly rich and deep. They define the word "childhood" in my opinion.

Snorkel

I do have a water layout using the Snorkel line, and you can see it here.

I also have a Halloween layout using this line, but you will have to wait for the last issue of Memory Makers Magazine to see it.

Mr. Campy

When this line first came out, I wished that I hadn't scrapped my Canadian Rocky's trip already! I do have a few more pictures from that trip that need scrapping yet, and here is one:

Girl Friday

Need I say more? Girl, TGIF!!

By the time I made this card, I had run out of all the GF ribbons!

I do have the pleasure of using this Jasmine Tea tin every day.

With Scrapbook Obsessions April kit, I made this little Maya Road mini. See my excessive ribbon use here? lol.

The good ol' days are gone, now there is more fighting than hand-holding...

Cogsmo

Look how easy it is to use the Cosmo's Journaling cards to create a quick mini-album. This whole thing took less than an hour, and it is a mini-album, birthday card in one for DH.

So thank you for staying with me. I hope I've shown you what I can do with the Cosmo products. No matter what happens, I will always remain a huge Cosmo Cricket fan and loyal consumer!

Good Times...

I'm getting my pictures from my fall trip to Shanghai printed, very very slowly... I am always on the lookout for products that strike me as an Asian. It doesn't have to be designed specifically as an Asian line. Pebbles Inc's Linnie Bell collection is one collection that have the colors and temperament of Asian flair. This past weekend, I created this layout.

Yu Yuan Garden and Bazaar is a must-see for anyone visiting Shanghai. People from Shanghai avoid it like crazy. As if 18 million people isn't enough, half of them show up at this place on any given day of the week, and twice as many show up on weekends! But we took the Padgetts and the girls there. We had 小笼包子 at the most famous restaurant in Shanghai that serve them. It is my favorite thing to eat in the world, so I can't talk about it any more, salivating too much...

Anyway, check out that line for Asian inspiration, I definitely found it there!

Why I Scrapbook

In this layout, you see several major reasons why I scrapbook. Shall I go over it? Let's do it top-down then, Collage Press, Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket!!! Be still my beating heart! Oh oh, let's not forget, Becky Fleck's sketches! Oh, the people in the pictures? Must it be about them too? Everything else in life is all about them already! LOL!! So happy and So pretty together...