Guest Designer at American Crafts!

Hi Everyone! I know I have been gone for a little bit here, but it is because I have been non-stop crafting and had family visiting. :D I hope to get back on a blogging schedule real soon here! It is incredible how much time has gone by since I was last on here, and it seems like a million and one things have gone on in that time! :P I am writing up some other posts today, most of them will be scrapbooking catch up, but I will make sure to do some update ones on the girls cause they have grown sooooo much!!

Anyway, back to the scrappy stuff for right now....I received an email from Paige Evans of American Crafts a while ago about being their Guest Designer for the week! I couldn't believe it! Talk about a dream come true! :D Who doesn't love American Crafts stuff huh?! So of course I said yes! It has been a little bit since my layouts went live on the AC blog, so I thought I would share them here too. :D

This first layout is about my two favorite flowers we had in our garden this season! I LOVE Ranunculus and this was my first time having some! They are so beautiful and delicate and just perfect for putting in vases. :D Make me very happy. And then we had a surprise in the garden with millions (I am not exaggerating!) of poppies! Jed threw out a butt load of seeds without paying attention to what went where or anything, and as plants started growing we would try to figure out what they were. Well for the loooongest time we thought these were weeds, but as buds started to form we realized they were poppies! And man they were stunning! So many colors and sizes, some single petaled and others super thick!! And with how many seeds they let down they should come back even more next season!


The theme for my week of guesting were decorative brads, so I tried my hardest to use them on my projects! But they really took center stage for my altered project: hair barrettes and pretty clips! I couldn't resist making these! They not only work for going in your hair but also clip onto clothes or scarves! Some I made specific for me :D , and then the rest I made for the Munchkin and Aurelia!
These are for the girls!
And these are for me! :D I've already worn the middle one several times and love it!!
I know there were requests to do a tutorial on making the little hair clips from the Elmer's and XACTO Blog Hop, and I haven't forgotten that! I will be working on that real soon! :D

Next up is a layout about the little one. I am working on trying to catch up on her monthly layouts, and I am still three months behind now! Laugh! Anyway, I had so much fun making this layout! I tore out a couple sheets of paper from a spiral I have and messily folded them in half. Not a bit of it was even, as sheets were sticking out in different directions in several places. I trimmed some layers with decorative scissors, and then stuck some strips of patterned paper cut with punches into some of the sections. Everything is leaning differently and it is slightly messy, but by keeping the colors crisp and bright and using a clean white, it keeps it from looking a mess! :D Once it is all stuck down, then I sewed through each layer and started adding photos!



I have my dear friend Rahel to thank for the gorgeous pink Thickers!!! She is the sweetest!

And last, but certainly not least, is my layout about Creedence's Speech Therapist, Sharon. I am so indebted to her, I don't know how I could ever thank her enough for all she has done for Creedence! She worked so hard with her and was so patient with her, and Creedence is not the same little thing because of it! Her speech has improved immensely and I am so happy because of it! Laugh! Now Creedence seriously NEVER STOPS TALKING!!! But I wouldn't change a second of that! :D


So there you have it!! :D All my American Crafts GDT work!

Less than two weeks later was the deadline for the DT call, and serioulsy with all this amazing AC product that I had just received I could not resist putting my name in!! :D I will be back tomorrow to share with you my submission!

Take care!!

~Amy

Elmers + X-ACTO Craft and Tell Blog Hop!!!

Omgoodness everyone! My sincerest apologies!! I have no clue what happened, but my post is gone! :( Had it prescheduled (done it a million times), and it has just disappeared. ? Anyone ever had this happen? So needless to say I am rewriting the whole thing! :P

So by now you have made it through the whole line up-such an amazing group of ladies right?!!! (In case you are joining the hop without starting from the beginning-go here to Amy Heller's blog) I know I have told Amy a dozen times, but I am so honored to be a part of this awesome group of ladies!! Their creations are far superior to mine, so I feel awful being the last on the list for you all to see! I hope you all enjoy my creations!! :D

I am going to start you all off with the PRIZES!! Elmer's has been extremely generous with their prizes for this hop! We have 4 prize packs to giveaway, with a retail value of over $400 in total!! That is just incredible people!! :D

2 Grand Prizes-Two lucky people will receive this prize pack



In EACH of the (2) GRAND PRIZE bundles include:

3 X-ACTO Retract-a-Blade knives
3 CraftBond Extra Strength Glue Sticks
3 CraftBond Tape Runners
3 Mini Bi-fold 9x12 Foam Board packs
1 Painters Markers pack
1 X-ACTO Decorative Edge Scissors pack
1 Circle Cutter
1 X-ACTO Self-Healing Mat
1 Glue Dots pack
2 Photo Corners packs (various colors)
1 Gel Pens pack
1 Tacky Glue bottle
.................................
$140/retail!!

and then there are 2 more prize packs being given away by Amy Heller!

Prize Pack #1

1- XACTO Cutting Mat
1- XACTO Gripster
1- XACTO Circle Cutter
1- Elmer's Foam Board Pack
2- Elmer's Photo Corners
1- Elmer's Glue Spots
4 Gel Pens
.................................
Approx. $50/retail (US)


Prize Pack #2


1- XACTO RotaryTrimmer
1- XACTO Scissors
2- XACTO Decorative Scissors
1- Elmer's Glue Spots
1- Elmer's Craft Bond
5 Gel Pens
.................................
Approx. $50/retail (US)

Here is how to possibly win one of these for yourself: Hop through all ten blogs on the hop (starting with Amy Heller's blog) and leave a comment on each blog. You have until 11:30PM, PDT (West Coast Time) on Sunday to comment- that gives you all weekend! :D Winners will be chosen and posted on Amy's blog on Tuesday. :) Super duper easy right?

Now to show you my projects!!

I will first start with some barrettes and clips I made for both the girls and myself. :D Please note that I am really really (REALLY) late to the 'make-your-own-flower-hairthingy-and-clips' bandwagon. So these are my first attempts at it. :D I had a blast making them! But somehow it slipped my mind how INSANE my eldest Creedence is, so all the pictures of her are crazy and super blurry. This child is wild I tell ya!! But I think the only reason the pictures of Aurelia turned is because, bless her heart, she is stuck in her swing! Laugh! Won't be long though before this baby is on the move! Ok back to the projects....

This is the best picture I got this headband I made. :P But I love how this looks!!! :D I used my bottle of Elmer's Tacky Glue for this project, and as long as you let it completely dry then it works great!! The top part of the band (that goes across the top of the head) is actually 1 inch cotton seam binding that I sealed closed by applying a line of the glue on the inside and simply folded the two sides together. The bottom part (which is underneath your hair at the back of your neck) is some elastic ribbon, just enough to make the headband taut on the head. Glue these two pieces of ribbon together and you have your head band! The flower was really easy. I made it out of felt. There are tons of tutorials on how to make these rolled up felt flowers online, but if you would like a link to one just let me know in the comments and I will find one for you. :D On top of the flower I glued a bow and a yellow flower brad (which adhered beautifully!).



These next photos are ones that I was talking about. Creedence is just moving waaaay too much and I am not a good photographer so I don't know how to not get them blurry. :P I actually have no clue how to use the camera except in automatic. Laugh! These are simply just felt circles cut out and then a brad through them. I used some aligator hair clips and used the Tacky Glue again to ahere the ribbon on. (I can do a tutorial for this if you would like! It is so easy anyone could do it!) This isn't an instant drying glue so the ribbon did take some holding onto for it to dry together but it didn't take long. :D And now I have customized hair clips for the girls!



Here is the munchkin playing peek-a-boo with me while I am trying to get her picture!



Her mouth here is completely covered in chocolate milk! My daughter is one of those that can not help making a mess no matter what she does.



Here is Aurelia with her barrette! It matches her outfit :D Probably the only time this baby has worn coordinating stuff since she was born! Laugh!

And because I can't do this blog post without having a picture of this baby looking at the camera!

Here is a side view of the barrettes so that you can see them on the clips.


And here are two clips that I made for my sweaters. :D I almost ALWAYS (even when I sleep) wear a little plain silver barrette in my hair to help keep my bangs out of my face, but rarely do I wear a decorated barrette in my hair. So seeing as I wear sweaters all the time, I thought I might make a couple little things to dress them up once in a while! One has a clip back and the other a pin. Both are adhered, again, with the Tacky Glue! (Love this stuff!)




And because the munchkin has to be in EVERY PHOTO I take now a days, she just couldn't resist putting her hand in there!



Next is a layout I made about all my favorite quotes from Pinterest lately. :D This was an enjoyable layout to make! It is a two pager (8.5x11 double). I products I used for this project are: Elmer's Tacky Glue, Craftbond Permanent Tape Runner, and Craftbond Glue Spots. They worked beautifully for my scrapbooking!! The glue spots are super thin (so no lifted off the page effect when you are not wanting it), the tape runner is so smooth and easy to use (and quiet! I used to have a tape runner when I first started scrapbooking that made a clicking noise the entire time you ran it-and when you have a little one in the same room as you in the dead of night when you are trying to craft-quiet means a lot!! :D), and my fav of all the Tacky glue works fabulously! What I love most about this glue is that it is thick, but it doesn't warp your paper like other glues I have found. And I am a wet glue girl, so I have used MANY a bottle of wet glue since I started scrappin. :D So this glue for me is a keeper.



And lastly, I have here a project that I have wanted to do for a VERY long time!!! Ever since I first saw these frames from Sassafras Lass I knew they would be awesome for this! So I finally did it! Here is our little family portrait hanging for the living room! Doesn't go at all with our furniture or the colors anywhere in our house, but I LOVE IT!!! I can't wait to get it hanging in it own designated spot in the living room! (for this picture I just hung it on the pan rack in the kitchen area so I could get a picture next to the sliding glass door) I used all the same glues as the above project, and again they worked like magic!

So there you have it!! All my projects! I had a few things in my box that did not get used, though I have intentions to do so. There was a circle cutter (something I have NEVER owned) so I was really intimidated by it. Circles is not something I have used much on my layouts because I would have always had to hand cut them out, and they look all wonky so I just avoided it. But now that I have the cutter I am going to put it to good use. I tried to use it for these projects but kept messing up (user malfunction! Laugh!), so I need to work more on my technique with it and then I know I will get it right eventually! :D And the other thing I wanted to use was the Foam Board! I could not for the life of me figure out what to do with this, until last night an idea came to me! LOL! A little too late huh? So I have plans on putting that together this week and hopefully will have it done soon!

Again Everyone I am so so sorry that this did not go up when it was supposed to! I have never had a post just get eaten up like that before! :( All your comments on my other posts will all be counted, so no need to recomment unless you really would like to! Thanks so much!!!

Real quick I wanted to say a HUGE Thank you to Amy Heller!!! She is the best, and I really had a blast with this Craft and Tell! And also a HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to Elmer's and XACTO for making all this possible!!

Take care everyone! And good luck with the hop!

Elmers + X-ACTO Craft and Tell!!!

Yay!!! I can finally share my excitement!! This is gonna be so fun!

A little while ago I was contacted by the amazing and awesome Amy Heller, asking if I wanted to be a part of an Elmer's + X-ACTO Craft and Tell Blog Hop she was hosting! Of course I said YES!! I was so honored that she asked me, as I not only love her work but adore her as well! She is the sweetest and nicest and is serioulsy talented!! I have been super giddy ever since I got her email! :D I received my box about a week later, WOW I couldn't believe some of the stuff in there! Some things really cool, some so super useful, and others that I have never used before in my life so this was certainly a fun and new experience! And I have had a blast! I will have some sneaks to show you real soon, but they just aren't quite ready yet. :D The full reveal will happen soon.... First off it is time for you guys to have some fun!!!

On Saturday and Sunday, June 11-12, mark your calendars, because some of the most talented ladies out there will be bringing you layouts, cards, altered items and mini albums all created with Elmer's + X-ACTO's specially designed adhesives and cutting tools, perfect for paper crafting aficionados such as yourself!

Amy Heller is going to be announcing a new member of the Elmer's + X-ACTO Craft & Tell Blog Hop Team via Facebook and Twitter each day (so make sure you are friends with her there/or following her there). Each day the person she announces will have a post on their blog, maybe even with a sneak peak of one of their projects that will be shown in its entirety during our hop! It is going to be a lot of fun seeing what all the amazing ladies on this team have in store for you!! :D

Not only will there be TONS of inspiration, but Amy will be giving away two spectacular prize packages (U.S. residents only) provided by Elmer's + X-ACTO!!! HUGE!!! Here's a look at what Elmer's + X-ACTO will be giving away that weekend!

Prize Pack #1

Prize Pack #2

Totally AWESOME right?!!

Remember this will all start on Saturday the 11th!! So make sure you check out Amy Heller's blog on that day to begin hopping through our blogs!! :D

In the meantime, make sure you "Like" Elmer's and Xacto on Facebook and follow them on Twitter:

FacebookElmer's : http://www.facebook.com/Elmers

X-Acto : http://www.facebook.com/XACTO

TwitterElmer's : http://twitter.com/#!/elmers

Woohoo Can't wait til the 11th!! Hope you all have fun and I'll wish you luck!! :D
~Amy

Exciting News and Winners!!!

Hi Everyone!!! Lots going on today, so I am going to have a couple posts go live today. I have winners to announce, layout shares and super duper huge awesome blog hop that I am so honored to be a part of!!! :D Let's get to it!

First up, so so sorry that I did not get on here sooner to tell you all the winners of my Scrapbook Trends April magazines! And I totally blew it when the munchkin drew names and didn't have my camera out. :P Which was probably best cause I was almost in tears when the names were finally drawn and all was said and done. I was so frustrated because Creedence just did not want to listen at all to my telling her to just pull ONE NAME AT A TIME, she wanted too much to just throw the whole bowl up in the air and have all the little papers go flying, and pretend like it was snowing on her. :P Bless her little heart, she just loves to have fun! Needless to say though I think I will have Jed pull names for future giveaways from now on. And something awesome...I decided to do three names instead of just two!! :D So there is one more lucky winner! Yay!

Here they are:

Glue Meets Paper said...
wow Amy great post :) Your little ones are too adorable! No surprise they picked that pretty little girl for the cover! And btw when I saw your picture I thought "wow she looks GREAT for having such a young baby" and then I read how you're still unhappy with how you look. So let me just say I completely understand that feeling (i have so much more to lose and my baby is already 8 months eek) but you really look fabulous. OH and your layout is so darling....love it! Alright- long comment for a long blog post :)
May 8, 2011 10:51 AM

Katey said...
great photos! congrats on the layout on the layout!
May 18, 2011 9:01 PM

Olivia said...
Wow Amy, what a beautiful layout with the patchwork heart! Your Easter looks like it was fun, love the cute photos of Creedence's expressions :)Hope that you had a lovely Mother's Day xx
May 8, 2011 3:30 PM

Yay to the lucky ladies!! Congrats! If you ladies could all email me (09122007@sbcglobal.net) your addresses I will get these off to you ASAP! :D Thank you to all who left comments!! I will have more giveaways coming real soon!

I also wanted to thank you all for your wonderful comments about how I look. :D They really made me feel so much better, as I had been really low lately. You all are wonderful!!! Thank you!!! *HUGS!* I have started really watching what I eat (as I had been eating a ton of this lately!) and been trying hard to kick my butt in gear with working out, but I am determined not to be watching the scale. I need to get back in shape and not be so focused on the losing weight part. It is unrealistic for me to automatically assume that once I am back to my previous weight I will be able to fit all the pants I wore just out of hight school. Laugh!! What truly is just silly. I know that things have changed since I had the girls. Things shifted that are never gonna move back! So I need to just come to terms with that. :D But being healthy is a goal I can achieve. And that is what I will be working towards.

Everyone is good here, just chuggin along. Jed has grand plans for the house and is getting an itch to start them, so we are in the middle of combining our offices right now. Thought this would be a lot easier than it turned to be. I knew it would be madness!! So now my scrap room (which was somewhat close to being done) now got turned upside down again, and has about half of Jed's stuff in with it too. :P This did not make some of my pending deadlines very easy!! :( But I am working on it.

Speaking of scrapiness stuff, I have a share for you all! :D It is a layout I did for the new Noel Mignon challenge which is all about Birthdays! My layout was late (thanks to my missing mojo) so it is not on the challenge post, but it is up on the Noel Mignon blog. :D I used the new Mary Ellen kit for this layout! Love that kit!!!!

This layout is filled with so many layers! It was a lot of fun to make, but took quite a bit of planning! :D I put this in for the Elle's Studio call, didn't make it though. :( I will keep trying for that team though cause I want it soo much! :D Really love the colors in this kit! I hope to get a couple more layouts done with it before the new kit arrives!
That's all I have right now so I will be back soon with more scrappy shares and picture updates!

I have also posted info in another post on the totally awesome blog hop so be sure to check that out!! :D

Take care!

~Amy