YSS Blog Hop Day 2!!! Win a Gift Certificate! *CLOSED*

Here is your 2nd chance to win a $10 gift certificate to the Your Scrapbook Stash store!!!  If you didn't comment on my Day 1 post, scroll down and make sure to post a comment there, too, for another chance to win!  You will have a 3rd chance to win on Tuesday!

For my project today, I thought I'd share with you this cute little Valentine's Day banner that I made with a Maya Road chipboard banner, Maya Road flowers and pins, and papers from Bella Blvd.

All these items came in my January kit from the YSS store and I just LOVE them!

Yellow has been a favorite of mine lately, and I decided to mix it in with some pink and red for this banner.

Very simply, I covered each chipboard piece with paper, sanded and inked the edges  in a coordinating color.  I cut some small scallopped circles with a QK die and then embossed them with a Tim Holtz embossing plate.  The chipboard letters I painted black and adhered to each white circle, which was pop-dotted off the banner piece.

I added a flower to each end and stuck some heart pins in for LOVE!  :)  Threaded the whole thing with Baker's twine and finished!!!

TFL today, and now it's time for you to leave a comment and then continue on with the blog hop in this order:

Your Scrapbook Stash Store Blog
Erica Weinstock
Alyssa McGrew
Audrey Yeager
Bente Fagerberg
Danielle Aubroeck
Jessy Christopher
Lynette Davis
Michelle Magana

Have fun!!!!!

Welcome to the YSS BLOG HOP Day 1!!!! *CLOSED*

First thing's first....over the next 5 days you will have THREE chances to win a $10 gift certificate to the Your Scrapbook Stash store.  Besides the wonderful products available, and all the new CHA things coming in soon, there are always FABULOUS sales and discounts!!  Be sure to check the blog regularly!!!

What you need to do is leave a comment on each post over the next 5 days.  On Wednesday, I will choose one winner from the comments from each post, for a total of 3 winners. 

Not only that, but you have LOTS more chances to win!!  Just visit each of the other Design Team members blogs and the store blog, leave comments on all their posts, and you have even MORE chances to win some gift certificates!!!

So for todays project, I would like to share with you some layouts that I recently made using some Basic Grey lines available in the store: Wander and Curio.

I just love the bright colors of the Wander papers.  I was inspired by a challenge on another site to use a childs book as inspiration for your page.  When I took this photo of Charlotte, I knew exactly what book to use!  It's called "Pajama Time" by Sandra Boynton, and it is one of her favorites!  We read it almost every night.

And here is my page:

All the papers except the dark grey background paper (MME) are Basic Grey.   I backed each paper and my photo with black cardstock to give them each a border.

I had originally intended to punch some star shapes in my background paper and back it with different color papers for stars.  But I found out I don't own a star punch...how does that happen?
So instead, I used some old blue felt stars I found in my stash.  The red ones are from BG Basics collection (I think they are called tabs or something..), and I inked them red. The yellow stars and the moon are cut from canvas and sprayed with dark yellow mist and covered with paper to match.

I added some of our favorite lines from the book on some BG stickers from the Basics line.

Next up I used some of the BG Curio line.  I love the vintage look of these papers, so what better to use than an old photo! 

This is my mom in 1966. I show people this photo and many of them think it is me....I don't think we look that much alike!

Can you believe how real this lace printed paper looks???  I pleated it and added some stitching to give it more depth.  I made the muslin flower myself! 

I used a lot of the embellies that went with this line, too, including the canvas tags, chipboard pieces, and brads.

Well, thanks for stopping by today!!! 

BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT AND HOP ONTO THE NEXT BLOG! 

Here is the order of the blog hop:

Your Scrapbook Stash Store Blog
Erica Weinstock
Alyssa McGrew
Audrey Yeager
Bente Fagerberg
Danielle Aubroeck
Jessy Christopher
Lynette Davis
Michelle Magana


Have fun hoppin' and remember to check back for my next two posts!!

So much going on! My last CCG guest spot and THREE giveaways this weekend!!!!

Well I have had a lot going on the past few days!

First of all, I want to thank everyone who commented and left such sweet thoughts on my baby post!  Maybe it's the hormones, but it made me a bit tearry-eyed to think of all the support and well wishes I have! 

In other good news, I got a NEW scrappy teaching job!!  My old LSS closed in Dec., and I had heard of another small place nearby, so I inquired, and I start next month at Scrappn' Savvy!!!  And get this, what new lines does Karrie have coming in for me to use for my first class????   MY Mind's Eye Stella and Rose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WOOo HOOOO!!  Definetly one of my favorite releases!!!  And this little store and crop room have some much personality and warmth...there is a big brick, wood burning fireplace in the crop room!!  How awesome is that???

Also, be sure to stay tuned THIS WEEKEND from Friday until Tuesday for THREE posts from me for the Your Scrapbook Stash Blog Hop!!!   I will be giving away THREE $10.00 gift certificates, one for each post, which means you have three chances to win on my blog.  Not only that, but you have three chances to win on EACH DT member's blog!!!  That's a lot of gift certificates!!!!!!  Can't wait for this weekend!!!

Finally, this is my last Color Combo's Galore palette as a guest designer there in conjunction with YSS.  I have had such a fun time tackling these palettes.  But I have to tell you, this one was HARD for me!!!

I love that deep purpley-navy color, but have nothing like it in my stash!!!  Luckily, I did find some Maya mist that was close and sprayed some Tim Holtz trimmings with it to make the navy flowers.

We also had to use lace, metal, and flowers with this combo.  I have had these metal tages FOREVER, like 6 or more years.  I am so glad I finally used them up.  I added some rub-ons to them, and I really like the way they turned out.  At first I thought the little white frame was metal, but it's not, it's plastic.  So I added a metal charm inside.  Like I said, glad I used my stash for this page!

One last thing I wanted to leave you with.  Last year, I won the "Crowned" competition at Scrapdango, and the competition is on again!!!  (I can't believe it has been a year!).  This is such a fun contest, and will be SURE to get you out of a creative rut!!!!

My Big (non-scrappy) news!!! Say hello...

..to baby #2!!!!

We are so very very excited!!!!  I had my first ultrasound about 2 weeks ago and it is SOOO amazing to see little legs and that heart beating (173 times/min!).  I am due August 12, and am approaching the end of my first trimester.  We are not going to find out what it is this time, either, just as we didn't find out with Charlotte.  At first i thought it was a boy because I feel so different.  But seeing that heart rate at 173, I now think it is a girl.  I would love to hear your guesses!  :)

For the entire month of December, I was SOOOOO sick and tired...I would just lay on the couch all day and couldn't do anything (hubby would prbably say "that's nothin' new"..  :)   ).  Over the holidays, I got he stomach bug and had a bad sinus infection for 2 weeks, so needless to say, I was pretty useless.  I just didn't have any spirit this year.

But I have been feeling great the past two week....still tired, but not sick.  I had a bowl of vanilla ice cream the other night, and right after I was still hungry.  So I ate a half a jar of green olives with some olive juice.  Gross.

Of course as with any happy event, I have to do a page about it.  I used some Basic Grey Olivia papers from my January Your Scrapbbok Stash kit.  Perfect timing for these papers!  Some of the stickers and the background are Bella Blvd Lovey Dovey.

I stitched a light pink circle and then fussy cut a lot of the flowers and cute little animals from the BG papers.

I had so many of these papers left over, and I love how they had pink and blue and green in them...perfect for a baby book.  So I decided to make a little journal where I can write about how I am feeling each month of my pregnancy, and any milestones that I hit.

I used two Maya Road chipboard albums, and covered the front and backs of each piece with papers.  Then I punch a simple label from white cardstock, outline the edge with black pen, used a "month" rub-on (some old ones from Daisy D's), and then some thickers for the month.  I left the oppisite side intentionally blank to add some strips of typed journaling. 

Well, that is our exciting news!!!!  Of course I will be posting updates (and layouts!) over the next 7-8 months!   Thanks for stopping by!

Another Color Combo's Galore and some YSS!!!!!!

So now I am really liking the color combo thing!  This is my 2nd page and I am having fun picking out the papers to match the palette.

Here is this weeks palette at CCG:

I used some papers from Scrap Within Reach "The District" and Basic Grey's "Wander".  The catch this week is that you have to use a cloud on your page.

I snapped these photos of Charlotte looking out the airport window at our gate when we flew East and North for the holidays.  The grey tones of the photo I thought went well with the palette.

I did some simple paper layering and then some doodling here and there.  I journaled on the photo before I printed it.

In my January Kit for Your Scrapbook Stash, I got to work with some of the adorable and bright colors of the Bella Blvd Socialite and Lovey Dovey papers.  I love the yellow and blues in these lines. 

On New Year's, we had a "bake off" where everyone has to bring a dish made with an secret ingredient.  This year's ingredient was Cream Cheese!!  I was hoping someone would make cheese cake, but no go!  :)   My little brother Johnny won with his Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe.  My Turkey Tetrazinni didn't get any votes :(.  My brother Brian called it Turkey Barf-A-Zinni.  (Yes, he is an adult...)

Anyways, I wanted to go real simple with this design and do a block type of pattern.  I doodled a black line around the outside to bring it all together.

This next page was also a lot of fun!  My cousin Melissa and I had a girls day out, and we went to Friendly's and then went for pedicures!  When we sat down at the spa's, we both realized we hadn't shaved our legs in quite a while...:)  Those poor ladies had their work cut out for them, let me tell you...Oh well! 

I used some Maya Road chipboard shapes which I inked black and added some patterned paper behind.

I used some Smooch Inks in taffy and some red Stickles to do some streaks across the page to mimic nail polish!  :)

TFL today!

Stay tuned for a HUGE (non-scrappy) announcement from me in the next couple days (in the form of a layout!)  :)  Can you guess what it is?

Exciting News!

Woo Hoo!  I made the Simply Renee Clip-It-Up Design Team!  Read about it here:
http://simplyreneeinc.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-design-team.html

Thank goodness they didn't ask for a photo of our scrap space for the application!  :)  I probably wouldn't have gotten chosen with my messiness! 

BUT I have been trying to be more organized, and have purged a lot of stuff, so I think being on this team will REALLY help me out!  Can't wait to share some organizational stratagies and tips!!!

CCG and YSS!

This month, Your Scrapbook Stash is teaming up with Color Combos Galore for their weekly reveals.  You can enter the weekly palette and submit your entry on the YSS blog to win some fun prizes!!  Check out the details HERE.

And while you are at it, check ME out here....a nice little intro about me for the YSS team!

So I have to be honest and say that color combos are not really my forte!  I have only done a few in my scrappy days.  So this was a bit of a challenge for me, but I LOVED it!

Look at this fun, bright pallette:

As I started to think about these colors, I was rummaging through my drawers and saw all these containers of American Crafts ZING powders that I just purchased at my LSS closing sale.  I had the perfect shades of green for this color combo!  I know it looks like paint, but it is all heat embossed!

I have tried many different types of glue, and I have this one liquid glue that has a funky applicator, so I used it to spread glue on my page and then sprinkled the dark green embossing powder on it.

For the light green embossing, I mixed some mod podge with water to make a real runny glue and splattered it on my page.  Then I added the light green embossing powder and let it dry.  THEN I heated it with my heat gun.

I actually used this from my stash for this page, like the Pink Paislee artisan tapes (the orange and the black houndstooth), and some Pink Paislee rub ons. The papers are from Jillibean Soup.

TFL today and be sure to try your hand at this color combo at CCG and YSS!

OH and one more thing, check out my fun tutorial on the Scrapbook Circle Blog!

Crop Addict Final Reveal...a bit late...

Well as I have mentioned....a lot of things are coming to an end for me!   My term with Crop Addict is also ending.  :(  I just loved the ladies on this team...they are all so inspiring and creative! 

Here is the lovely January Kit featuring BoBunny and Fancy Pants Roadshow (which I love)!

 There is a lot of purple in this kit, which I don't usually work with that much.  BUT it helps that Charlotte happens to have a lot of fall and winter clothes that have purple in them!  (And no, I didn't dress her up to match the kit, but I was tempted at some points!)

I had these photos from Thanksgiving week when Charlotte got dressed up a few times.  This adorable cap was handed down from her cousins!

I fussy cut out some of the flowers from the BoBunny paper and then drew in some of the swirly lines by hand to connect them.

I outlined my  photos with my black pen and pop dotted a cute little butterfly in the corner.

This next page was inspired by some boots that my brother bought over Thanksgiving while he was here.  Miss Charlotte loved them, too, and thought she could wear them around...well they were just about taller than her legs!  But she still looked cute!

 I was inspired by some of the patterns on the boots. I used a damask stamp and some clear embossing powder to stamp the black cardstock.  Then I did some different types of stitching on the borwn paper to give it some texture like the boots, too!

The shape of this journaling block reminded me of a big belt buckle, so I added some brownish inks and some crackle paint to the edges.  I mean with big boots, you have to have a big belt, right???

I am so excited about this last page.  I knew I was going to use this kit for this page as soon as I saw it!  My word for 2010 was RENEW, so I wanted to do a softer type of page to reflect on how I did with my word.  I definetly feel renewed.

I layered a lot of elements from the kit including some of the cut out cards from Fancy Pants Roadshow and these cut little alphabet cards.  Luckily I got an "A" in my kit!  :)

There is also a Maya Road keychain with some fun words, and I choose to use REAL to reflect some of my thoughts...

I have to say that I am not much of a card maker.  But my Dad's birthday is coming up this week, and I wanted to send him a little handmade card because I know that he will appreciate it, so here it is!  This will also tell me if he reads my blog...:)

Well, that is it for Crop Addict!  I really enjoyed my time there!

Yesterday I spent 13 hours at Archiver's with Heather cropping and had SOOOOOO much fun!  PLUS I got a ton of stuff done which I can't wait to reveal over the next couple weeks!