Feb 23, 2011

Elle's Studio February Gallery

I am SO excited to tell you that the Elle's Studio February Inspiration gallery went live yesterday! I have been itching to share these projects and could not wait to post them here. Be sure to head over to Elle's Studio and check out all the amazing designs. I love taking my time and watching each designer's slideshow. Plus the new line of goodies called Handmade Layers are available in the store! I can NOT wait to get my hands on those! Ok, back to February's gallery. I had such a blast with this layout, inking edges, stamping on canvas...
I LOVE stars and that star in a circle stamp is still available at the Elle's Studio shop, BUT it is in limited quantities, so if you want one, I'd head over HERE and pick it up now! I used Staz On to stamp on the Canvas Corp star and pennant. Then layered them with some October Afternoon Schoolhouse and THIS Elle's Studio Journaling Tag here...
and THIS Elle's Studio journaling tag here:
And THIS tag seemed perfect slid partially behind the OA paper that had handwriting lines. I asked Little Miss to write her own letters beneath so we would have a record of her handwriting at this time.
I struggled a lot with this next layout. Not sure why, but the original idea was to punch out scallop circles from patterned paper and sew them down as a background. Then I couldn't get the photos to sit the right way. So I kept moving things around, changing papers until I finally came up with this:
 The shaped paper is an old Crate Paper line. I misted the Bazzill cardstock with a mix of Brown Maya Mist and White Studio Calico Mr. Huey's to make Dandelion fluff blowing around. THIS Elle's Studio tag holds the title and is actually from a set of birthday tags:
The butterflies are punched from THIS Elle's Studio patterned paper. I LOVE little hearts and use them on everything. THIS Elle's Studio tag holds a punched butterfly:
And THIS one holds the journaling:
and is layered with THIS tag, a butterfly punched from HERE and a heart cut out from HERE. Phew! I know that is a lot of descriptions. But, I just wanted to show what I love about Elle's Studio designs--they are NOT just for journaling!
And finally, this month I also made a card set. The scalloped circles that didnt work out as my background to the layout above ended up as the main component of these cards:
 Very simple--I started with a 4x6 white cardstock base, rounded the upper right corner, stamped with these Elle's Studio stamps  (also from the Limited Quantity section!) in the bottom right corner...
Added the scalloped circle punched from my favorite Elle's Studio patterned paper, added these tiny tags and then put a few American Crafts details flowers on the part of the tag where you would normally journal. Quick and easy!
I hope this gives you some ideas for using those tags and stamps even if you don't like to hand journal. And be sure to stop by the gallery to see the other designers amazing projects.
Thanks for stopping by!
:) rebecca

Feb 22, 2011

A few days after the fact

 My little dude turned 4 on Sunday. When I ask him how old he is now, he gets this little devilish look and says "ten." Egads! 10!! I can barely deal with four--cut me some slack little man! I still can't believe he was ever this small:
or that he ever looked like a chubby baby:
Now he's this tall, skinny kid who says he's ten.
I adore this kid. He's getting a little big for his britches now and again, but for the most part he is just the sweetest heart and I soooooo dont want him to be 10 any time soon because then I wouldnt be able to hold him on my lap and kiss and snuggle him. That little face melts my heart. The other day we were at the park and he kept calling out to me, "Mom, CHEESE!" "Mom, take my picture!" Seriously? Now I have two camera hams??? How lucky can I be?
So, some random facts about my boy at four:
--he hates to have his hair cut at the fun kid hair salon, so I am trying to learn how to cut boys hair with scissors because he also doesnt like the clippers
--he likes to watch Thomas the Train, Dora the Explorer, the Backyardigans.
--his favorite movie is Wall E. Anytime he gets to pick we know what we'll be watching!
--he is a very picky eater. For a while he would only eat mac and cheese, now it is angel hair and butter.
--he loves preschool and is learning how to write his name.
--he has the mind of an engineer. He can look at something and figure out how to make it work. He can build things like carports for his cars, homes with windows and anything can be put together in a line to resemble a train.
--he is so funny! He comes up with one liners that crack the entire family up.
--even though I have always been into non gender specific toys and not designating certain toys are for certain genders, he has recently started saying "that's just for boys" or "girls can't play with that." Not sure where the idea came from, but I think it has more to do with the fact that he is trying to keep specifically HIS sister from honing in on his stuff.
--after doing something he knows is wrong he says he is sorry. Even if it is something like a temper tantrum. Once he has cooled down he'll say, "Sorry I was being crabby."
--his favorite books are the Bugs books (School Bugs, Birthday Bugs, Alpha Bugs and his number one fav--Jingle Bugs)
--although she often teases, picks on and general irritates him, he adores his big sister. He gets upset when she is in trouble and runs to help her if she is being tickled and calling for help
--as the fourth member of our little family, he makes us complete, a perfect symmetry and I couldn't imagine life without him. In fact, here is a layout I did saying that in so many words:
Happy Birthday Little Man, I love you ever so much.

Feb 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

Did you all have a happy heart day? Little Miss was back to the grind today, but the little guy was still not 100% so we stayed home. Our Valentine's was low key-homework, dinner, small presents for the kids. Here is a Valentine's project I did for my LSS Scrapbook Barn.
The chipboard heart album is Maya Road and the papers and stickers are Fancy Pants.




 and Target dollar spot doilies.
And on that note, Happy Valentines Day!
:) rebecca

Feb 12, 2011

Keep Calm...

Have you seen all the Keep Calm slogans cropping up? You know, all the variations on this:
The same website I got the image above from also has a history of where the posters originated (read here:http://sarahjlwest.com/keep-calm-and-carry-on/). Gotta love propaganda ;)
The variations are lots of fun too. Stephanie Howell posted this one on her blog:
(Image created by the keep calm shop on etsy.)
And this one is super cute:
I am just as partial to this one:
I guess I've been feeling the need for Keep Calm reminders lately. My sweet boy is sick again. Picked him up from school on friday and he was complaining about his ear. Found out he had a fever when we got home and immediately called the Dr. Of course they couldnt get him in. They called at 5pm and of course they couldnt prescribe over the phone. They recommended waiting until Monday or going to the after hours clinic. I knew his ear was infected and waiting until Monday was not an option. So we called the after hours clinic. Of course they couldnt give us an appointment before 7:30pm. Of course the intersection the clinic is on is a NIGHTMARE and I had to do about 100 u-turns to find the place. Of course we sat in there for an hour waiting to be seen. Of course George of the Jungle Part II was on instead of something entertaining. And of course, turns out he had an infection  in not ONE ear but in BOTH ears. We decided to give him the antibiotic shot since he had already thrown up that day and I was afraid we wouldnt be able to get medicine into him. He is so darn skinny, they had to break the shot into 2 (one for each thigh). Today he refuses to walk. BUT he is feeling much better. He watched a movie and even played and ate. I just want him healthy, especially since his birthday is next weekend. He is such a good little guy. I asked him to sit and take some pictures for me one night last week when he was looking especially cute...

That face literally melts my heart. Do you love his punk rock hair in the first shot? He is still not keen on getting his hair cut. We're going to have to do something before his party lol.
The other one is healthy as an ox. I swear, she brings this stuff home and we all get sick and she is fine. I guess it would be worse if both kids were sick. Speaking of Little Miss she had her Valentine's party at school on Friday. 
I helped her make some special valentines for her class: 


I saw the idea in the last issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. We basically punched scalloped circles out of different colored tissue paper and pushed a lollipop through them. I printed out Happy Valentines on green cardstock and cut out leaves. She wrote Love and her name on 34 leaves! Then we covered a cardboard box in green paper and tissue paper so it looked like all the flowers were growing in a garden.
They were a big hit and she told me, "lots of people complimented me on my Valentines." Her words. LOL.
I don't know if the little guy is going to make it to school on Monday for his Valentine's party, but I hope so because I have an idea for his from the same magazine. If I get them done tomorrow I'll post pics next week.
What else? Hmmmm,
3 Scrappy boys is having a Guest Designer contest this month!! The March kit is going to include LOTS of new CHA goodies. The contest is pretty simple and the GDT requirements are not strenuous, so I hope lots of people will give it a go. All the details are here.
I also have some Upsy Daisy Designs layouts to share. For the month of February we were asked to focus on the colors pink and red. Mine are mainly pink ;) Can you believe that big kid above used to be this little bundle?
I cut a 10" circle with my Kreaxions Circle Cutter, cut 1" wide scallop strips and sewed them behind the edge of the circle to make the ruffle.
And this one:
Isn't the Blossom line so sweet? More sewing...
I couldnt resist using baby pictures with the sweet pastel pinks in this line.
Next up...today I blogged over at the Just Imagine Crafts blog. I featured a layered tone on tone punched card:
And, I had this card on the Cards blog
The Cards Gallery is filled with amazing cards with doilies. I was so excited to see mine included.
Alright that is enough for tonight! Thanks for making it through :) Have a great rest of your weekend.
:) Rebecca

Feb 8, 2011

Blog Hop Winner!!

Wasn't the Scrapbook Circle hop loads of fun!? Thanks to all that stopped by and commented. My winner (chosen by Random.org) was:


Blogger meluv2scrap said...





Love that!! Those BG tabs are pretty cool--just got some. Love your blog!
February 5, 2011 3:55 PM 
There were winners chosen from each of the designers blogs and they were all posted on the Scrapbook Circle blog, so be sure to stop by there to see if you won! And if you weren't a lucky winner this time around, never fear. I am coming up on my 200th post VERY soon. And it will definitely be time for another giveaway.
Until then, just wanted to share this one. 
I had to have two of the October Afternoon die cut houses from Modern Homemaker because each side is so darn cute. I am saving the flip side for a layout about Little Miss's doll house. 
I had fun exacto-ing (ok I know that is not a word) the door and sticking one of the flashcards in.
 Seems like the Studio Calico wood veneer frame and notion were made to go perfectly with this October Afternoon line.
I have another one with October Afternoon's Schoolhouse line, but it is for the Elle's Studio February gallery, so I can't share just yet.
Oh, did you see the Cards Challenge Gallery last week? The challenge was to mist on a card and they included this one from me:
I pulled out a rainbow supply of mists and masked away strips of the Hero Arts cloud stamped image until I had a misted rainbow. Attached a couple of felt Creative Cafe butterflies and a simple Thickers greeting, all on Kraft cardstock and called it a day. My misting "techniques" stay pretty much on the simple side ;)
Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great night!
:) rebecca

Feb 4, 2011

Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!!!

Hi and welcome to the February Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop! Scrapbook Circle is doing a fun filled hop to introduce everyone to the new design team members and to give away some prizes while we are at it. All the designers will be showcasing a project made with the February kit Happy Days. Isn't it gorgeous??

And here is one of the layouts I created with the Happy Days kit:
I just loved the mix of patterned paper in this kit. Who knew Cosmo Cricket, Basic Grey and Pink Paislee could look so perfect all in one layout.
And don't you love mixing alphas in a title? The mix between chipboard and sticker and large and small fonts make even a simple title look fun:
Love those Basic Grey tabs too--how cool that the stitching is done for you??!

Anyway, if you just happened on my blog (thanks for coming!!), but you will want to start at the beginning of the hop HERE. You will want to leave a comment there on the Scrapbook Circle blog because they are giving away one of these amazing kits. AND... each designer will be giving away a $10 gift certificate to the Scrapbook Circle store so you will want to leave a comment on each and every blog. Here is a list in case you get lost along the way:
Nicole Nowosad (http://www.justnicks.blogspot.com/)
Rebecca Keppel (http://www.myclutteredcorner.com/) ===You Are HERE===
Lady Grace Belarmino (http://scrappinworld.blogspot.com/)
Heather Leopard (http://thespottedleopard.blogspot.com/)
Diane Payne (http://dianepayne.typepad.com/)
Elizabeth Carney (http://itsmythingy.blogspot.com/)
Tessa Buys (http://precociouspaper.blogspot.com/)
Diana Fisher (http://www.designbydiana.blogspot.com/)
Diana Waite (http://wonderwoman-diana.blogspot.com/)
 Lisa Andrews (http://lisaandrews.blogspot.com/)

Be sure to leave me a comment below by Monday Feb. 7 in order to be in the drawing for my $10 gift certificate giveaway! The winners will be announced on the Scrapbook Circle blog on Feb. 8th.
Next up on the hop is Lady Grace Belarmino. Enjoy the rest of the hop and thanks for stopping by!