My Old Stuff - Kit #1!

The Great Scrap Room transformation of 2010 caused me to go through every inch of my scrappy stash. Wow, that's a lot of stuff! ::blush::

I have too much. There, I've admitted it! So how do we handle this dilemma? Well, I give some of my stuff to YOU, of course! It's a win-win, really. You get some of my older (but still awesome!) product and I make some room on my shelves. For more product. Wait a minute...

Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. ;-)

Over the next few months (I am ashamed to tell you exactly how many of these kits there are...) I will be giving away kits of goodies. This month, for this Autumn-friendly September Kit, I want you to leave a comment and give me a recipe for your favorite apple dish. As I mentioned in the previous post we have an abundance of crisp apples and I live for this time of year just for the apple recipes alone. I will eat them ten ways from Sunday and not be tired of them.

The kit includes products from My Mind's Eye, Cosmo Cricket, Die Cuts With a View, Creative Imaginations, Daisy D's, Heidi Swapp and more.

So copy and paste a favorite... or link me up to something you found online... just give me a reason to get in the kitchen by Friday!

One lucky winner will be drawn to win the kit!

**Please, I can only pay shipping to winners from the continental US!**

Move Over Cupcakes!

There's a new baked good in town!

Ryan and I took the little guy for his first apple picking expedition last weekend and came home with a ginormous bag of apples. We've been picking them off one by one but really, let's be honest here... half the point of going apple picking is getting to bake sumptuous Autumn desserts!

And you know these will be some mighty fine desserts if the ingredients were plucked with sweet little hands:

Tonight I put together some Pie in a Jar. Pies in a Jar? Hmmm. Pies in Jars??

Well, anyway, you get the idea. *I* got the idea from the fabulous ladies over at Our Best Bites and nearly wet my pants because of the sheer cuteness factor. I didn't have the patience to "scrap" these up with paper and adorable pinked fabric skirts but you can bet a box of Martha Stewarts that it will be happening with the next batch!

Go ahead. I DARE you to tell me you don't want to dig into one of these *right now*. They were oh so delectable! However, next time I will use my own crust recipe. And a bit more sugar, although that will depend on your apples.


Don't worry cupcakes. There is plenty of room on the bench for both of you. :-)

Hidden Jewels

In an earlier life I was a costume designer. I spent many hours perusing the local fabric stores for luxe prints and thumbing through pattern books for inspiration. Sadly, the economy took its toll on my favorite fabric shop. It was filled with every type of cloth imaginable and had rows upon rows of trims, buttons, notions, and treasures.

I still visit the local "big box" fabric store, however, and there is a distinct benefit to shopping in these types of stores: the crossover of other crafts into the scrapbooking industry and vice versa. Recently, many scrap companies have been branching out into other crafts and hobbies simply for the obvious business strategy of gathering more customers. Makes sense. Look at Making Memories with their Vintage Groove line of jewelry findings, for example.

But scrappers have been doing this for as long as scrapping has existed. It is our very nature to see with "scrap eyes" and find page elements all around us. So when I now visit the fabric store I make a game out of finding non-scrap products to use on my projects. You can really find some hidden treasures if you know where to look!

Here is what I found on my last (short... the baby was not thrilled with the shopping on this day!) trip to the fabric store:

Crocheted doilies near the felt. Use them as is or mist/ink them. You can even use them as masks.

Hemp cord in the jewelry section... good for threading buttons and other fun stuff!

Buttons! You'll find all manner of buttons at a fabric store and you can get just a few. The frames were in the jewelry section and I will put tiny photos or papers in them and then cover them with Diamond Glaze. I like to hang these sorts of things from the binding on mini albums!

The styrofoam balls and pins are for an upcoming project using paper supplies... stay tuned!

Burlap is hot right now. And cheap! Cut it into strips and fray the edges for burlap ribbon/trim or cut blocks for backgrounds. You can mist it, ink it, or even stamp on it.

Basic canvas. I have big ideas for making my own canvas alterables. I have been seeing them everywhere and just *know* I can make my own for a fraction of the price!

And of course you can find eleventy billion different ribbons and trims to use on your projects. I am partial to extremes, apparently: rustic, basic twill... and fancy shmancy upholstery trims.

So, I had some fun, yes? Next time you're in the fabric store looking for cloth take some time to dig through the other aisles and find some hidden jewels. Just don't blame me if you get lost for a few hours. :-)

My 15 minutes of fame

Sometimes time gets away with me, especially as a semi-new mom. I'd bet most of you are thinking "where did the summer go!?" and I'm right there with you. September weaseled in like that dog from A Christmas Story who jumps on the table and steals the turkey. BAM! You blink and your turkey is gone!

Yeah. That was my August.

So when I realized how late in the year we really were it dawned on me that... this was it. It was time! I have been waiting for months for this moment and here I was *forgetting* all about it!


See that? I'm in there!!! I've been published in multiple online magazines (and let's face it, MANY of the scrapbook publications have gone this way) but there is something so completely special about seeing my work in print... the old fashioned way. It's even more awesome that the piece chosen was Owen's baby memorabilia shadowbox. Pages 62-63. I may have to shellac it and hang it on a wall... or something. ;-)

It's September!

Thus begins my favorite season (I know, I know.. technically not for a few more weeks but I'm going with meteorological Fall here!) and that means a new set of challenges is up at A Cherry On Top. If you need a mojo boost check them out!

There is also a new challenge up at Scrap That Baby! This month we're asking you to scrap your newborn to four year old using a Top 10 list of some sort. You could win a fab prize pack from Thoughts 2 Paper! We're nickname people so I did my example on the Top 10 nicknames for Owen:

I hope to see some fabulous pages!!