Holy Crop! It's a Blog Hop!

In celebration of my layout being published in the February issue of Creating Keepsakes, here's some fun for you...


It's a Blog Hop for you full of giveaways! The gals and I on Design Team at our LSS (Local Scrapbook Store) Paper Pals in Pullman have joined up to host this hop starting today and ending on Monday, January 25th at 8 pm.

So, how can you win these great prizes? Make sure you leave a comment on this and all the blogs listed by 8 pm PST on Monday, January 25. Every stop has a different prize, so visit any or all locations and leave a comment to win! (One entry per person per blog. Winners will be selected at random.)

After you comment here, visit all of the following:

Paper Pals Design Team
Kristy's "Kaydub"
Anita's "The Cory Connection"
Judy's "A Little of This, A Little of That"
Leah's "Confessions of a Scraplifter"
Suzy's "Life at the Big Red Barn"

AND... if you post a link to our blog hop on your web site, blog, Facebook,or Twitter, you get a chance to win another prize! Let us know by leaving a comment and a link to where you "advertised" us at the Paper Pals store blog. You'll then get the chance to win a Cropper Hopper Photo Case!

So, on with it! What can you win here???


It's a copy of the February issue of Creating Keepsakes Magazine (see page 18 for my layout!) AND a custom 12x12 layout created by me! (Winner will send me 1-4 photos and I'll create a layout for them.)

So leave a comment here telling me your plans for a Valentines Day gift (It's now only a month away!). Will you:
1. Make a handmade valentine to give away,
2. Purchase something already made, or
3. What Valentines gift??? :)

Comments qualifying to enter for prizes are open until Monday, January 25th at 8 pm PST. All winners will be posted on the Paper Pals Blog by Tuesday the 26th at noon. Giveaways available to persons at addresses within the continental United States.

Hop on, dear blog readers... hop on! And come back again sometime soon.

Before it's gone...

Before Halloween is gone (or all the treats that comes with it)...

I thought I'd share a photo of the gable box that I created for Design Team at Paper Pals. One could fill it with a bunch of fun treats! Check out all the details here.

And, using more of the halloween paper for a layout that isn't about halloween. These were fun to make!

Selected.

Doesn't that word just make you feel great? That is, if you're the one that is selected?

Well, I suppose it depends on what you're selected for. About 9 months ago I was "selected" as a member of the Superior Court jury panel for 12 months. I haven't been called yet, so thus far being "selected" is all good. (Not that I would mind serving my civic duty, it just depends on all the other factors in life that require my attention... but I digress...)

But today I'm able to jump for joy about being SELECTED. I've been selected as a Design Team Member at my local scrapbook store, Paper Pals.
This is my second term. I've enjoyed myself so far, and totally look forward to creating with their great products for the next 6 months. I'll share a little of what I'm doing here at this blog, but most of the time you will find me and my creations (as well as creations by the other Design Team Members)at the Paper Pals Design Team Blog. So visit it, mark it as a favorite (or even follow it!) and join me on this creative journey. You will be glad you did.

Here's my first assignment:
Hmmm... got the creative wheels turning...

New Layouts Posted!

I've just posted some vintage photo layouts and a card over at the Design Team blog... they're created using the Bella Bella line of paper and accessories by My Minds Eye. Here's a sneak peek:

They were my first vintage layouts, and I had a lot of fun doing them. I look forward to working on more vintage scrapping so I can learn more about the stories behind the photos from my family!

Road Trip!

We often take a road trip across the state to see family... generally during the holiday season.

Our Christmas trip was particularly interesting (including riding snowmobiles with our luggage and christmas gifts in order to reach our destination and packing our items in the extended cab truck versus the spacious--yet less winter road ready-- minivan).

Some of the elements of the trips have been "tradition". We've got it down. We know what we want in the vehicle with us as we travel, and we know what we'll see outside as we traverse the 400 miles.

I decided to "scrap" it. It's not really exciting or eventful, but it is memory making. I hope my kids will look back at this page and remember our family travels across the state of Washington with a smile on their faces.

For those interested, it's a hybrid page. I used a Photoshop Elements template that was FREE and included a video tutorial by Jessica Sprague in the January issue of Creating Keepsakes. I LOVE Jessica Sprague's computer tricks features each month!

Some of the page elements are from the Basic Grey "OffBeat" paper line (got it at CKC--Seattle... finally I'm using it!) I also created some elements using Photoshop Elements to match the paper, including text based elements (thanks to Becky for helping create the text on a path!).

And yes, that's bubble wrap you see on the layout. Here's a closeup of it: During my post holiday cleanup, I ran across a bunch of this stuff... and was inspired! After I pried it out of my childrens' hands, I kept it in my "green" scrapping stash-- I try to use random recycled objects in my projects when I can.

I used a variation of the same free template to create a two page 12x12 layout that I posted on the Paper Pals Design Team blog-- here's the journaled story behind the layout you'll see there:

So think of something you do traditionally (like a road trip)-- that isn't centered on a holiday. Scrap it. It will always be fun to look back on something that gives you happy memories.