A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all :O)

Yes I know - I am a little late but - better later that never right!

We had a lovely day here at home and Robyn came over for the day too which was lovely - I manged to get the 3 kids to be nice to each other for a short while to take a photo LOL
Hope you like it - I love it - this will probably be our Xmas photo for 2010 :O)

9x9 Memory showcase Album

 This 9x9 Album I made using Robyn's photos from her Senior Prom. I used liquid glass and prisma glitter on the peacock's feathers. Organdy colonial white ribbon - and green/blue sparkles added more bling

 I used a top coat over the main photo and more ribbon and sparkles. I added clear embossing powder mixed with prisma glitter to the stickease in the center of the flower

 More liquid glass and prisma glitter really highlighted the feather on the right hand page.

I was so pleased with the way this turned out - hope you like it too :O)

21st place in the Bands Of America Grand Nationals :O)

I am so totally thrilled with the Walled Lake Central High School Marching Band. This past weekend they competed in the Bands of America Grand National competition and took 21st place = out of 86 bands. they did such a good job and this is on top of being the 2010 Flight 1 Michigan State champions. What a wonderful group of kids and teachers and supporters we have.
The season is virtually over and I am going to miss the involvement so much - but Jazz band starts in January so that will be good - I know Leo is going to enjoy that :O)

My Favorite Close To My Heart Product. . . . . .

 . . . . .   now that is a tough one - Close To My Heart sells so many awesome products - how can I narrow it down to just one!!!!   Okay I think we need to do this by a process of elimination:

Versamat? - I love it 'because it makes it so easy to line items up and place them in the correct position - plus the added bonus of the foam back is perfect as a stamping surface - but that's not my favorite.
Clear acrylic stamps and blocks?  They are totally awesome - you can see where you are putting your images - plus the high grade acrylic made clear and crisp images every time - but again - not quite my favorite.
The 60 exclusive colors of inks, markers and cardstock - now that is getting nearer - I love the fact they they all match and co-ordinate with each other - but no - that's not it.
The level 1 & 2 scrap-booking kits - they too are so cool - the Level 1 kits are perfect for both beginning scrap-bookers AND those of us who need to complete a beautiful layout quickly. and the level 2 paper packs are just perfect for scrap booking and card making alike.
Okay - I think we are there - I think my favorite product is probably the mini medleys - yummy little packets of embellishment goodies. ribbons and buttons and brads and fun accessories which match the colors in our inks, cardstock, paper packets and more. But wait. . . .
No sorry - changed my mind again - It HAS to be the Prisma glitter - oh what fun I have with that. You can truly add glitter to anything:O) And you can use it with so many different adhesives. how about adding it using the glue pen as snow or to form the glass in windows or as dragonfly and butterfly wings, or over the top of liquid glass for a 3D look. For perfect stripes - run a length of Tombow Mono Adhesive and sprinkle the glitter over the top - or to 3D foam tape for perfect squares and rectangles of glittery blocks. You can add it to embossing powder and heat set it - you can add it to the pearl paint for even more shimmer.
So yes Glitter gets my vote - what's your favorite item??

The WLCMB competition at Lakeland High School -

I am absolutely thrilled to tell you that my son Leo and the other members of the Walled Lake Central Marching Band took 1st place in the Flight 1 State championships on Saturday. All of the competing bands were marvelous but the judges thought that they were the best.
This is the 1st time they have been State Champions so that makes it even more special.
So if you copy and paste this link into your browser      http://www.vimeo.com/16357912              you will be able to see the show from a couple of weeks ago. Remember that these kids are aged between 13 and 18. They spend many hours practicing so it is so nice when it all pays off :O)
Hope you enjoy it.

A little more thanks to you :O)

DURING NOVEMBER WE’RE EXPRESSING OUR GRATITUDE TO YOU 

by helping you earn two fabulous My Acrylix® stamp sets for FREE! 

When you place a minimum order of $100, you will not only receive the November Stamp of the Month set, 

A Little Thanks, for FREE, you will also receiveone stamp set of your choosing from the 2010 Autumn/Winter Idea Book for FREE*!   

This means you can increase the value of your purchase by  up to $45.90—that’s almost 50 percent more

in value! It’s just our way of imparting A Little MORE Thanks to you for being a great customer.

Mistletoe - Workshop on the Go

 The cards above are from the Mistletoe Workshop on the go - I think they are just gorgeous - the paper flowers and mini brads, bigger brads and acrylic brads are included along with the lovely stamp set which includes these beautiful ornaments and phrases. The instructions are on the leaflet included in the kit.

 These 3 cards were made using more of the paper in the paper pack which is included and the patters come from the Originals and Wishes card confidence programs.

This double layout was so  lovely I had to make it - again the instructions are on the leaflet included in the kit. Hope you like it :O)

Walled Lake Central High School Marching Band Scrapbook Layouts

 So you can guess what I have been doing for the last few days hahaha :O) Yes - getting up to date with the marching band photos for Leo. I have used Outdoor Denim cardstock and Sunflower cardstock and paper and ribbon and accessories in the same colors. I then added Indian Corn blue, white and bamboo for accents.

 The middle photo on the right hand page opens and is tied shut using the ribbon and gold photo hangers.

 Dimensional element swirls were colored in with the sunflower markers.

 White grosgrain ribbon added texture.

 I used colonial white waxy flax to stitch through the stickease buttons.

 Lots of buttons!!!

 I dry embossed the Outdoor denim cardstock and then sanded it to expose the white core.

 Both pages had interactive section on them the left hand page has a fold out section which you can see below and was tied closed with ribbon.

The right hand page also had flip flap sections which lifted up.
Hope you like them :O)

Hooligans Halloween goodie bag

This is a fun Halloween party goody bag - I used a regular paper lunch sack and then added black cardstock to the front and back. I then added the Hooligans B&T and cardstock and stamped the Monster from D1437 - Party Animal. I colored him using the matching markers and then Prisma Glittered his tummy :O)
Black organdy ribbon forms the handles.
Hope you like it :O)

Olivia Workshop On The Go - with a twist on the color

This is a card inspired by my good friend Kelly Waterman who made a layout many years ago using fall leaves and these spring colors. It was so pretty and stuck in my head - so when I say the Olivia WOTG stamp set I knew I had to make a card using those same colors, Amethyst, Heavenly Blue, Key Lime and Baby Pink.  It makes a fun spring themed card. I used the piercing tool to make the stitching holes along the left hand side of the ink distressed Amethyst cardstock and used the corner rounder with the guide removed to make the scalloped edge and then used a hole punch in those scallops. The word Delight was stamped in Cocoa ink.
Hope you like it :O)

Hooligans Workshop on the Go Cards

Here are the cute cards made with the Hooligans level 2 paper pack and accessories from the Workshop on the Go

 The bottom 3 cards I made using the Originals and Wishes card confidence programs - again using supplies just from the Workshop on the go kit.

These are perfect birthday cards or invitations or even 'Well Done' cards - perfect to celebrate a good grade, exam result or 'Just because'
Hope you like them :O)

October Stamp of the month - Share The Magic

 So finally - here are my samples of the October stamp of the month. What a cute set - these 1st 2 tags above  were copied unashamedly from Melissa Laverty's blog - they were so stinkin cute I couldn't resist. I love the fact that this set has 'To' and 'From'.

 These 2 3x3 tag cards were fun to make - the snowman has Prisma glitter 'snow' and the new light blue Sparkles for buttons. The reindeer - who has the cutest knees I have ever seen - has a liquid glass nose and prisma glitter on the tree lights above his head.

 On the Santa gate fold card - I went nuts with my sparkly heat embossing again - I added prisma glitter to clear and embossed the candy canes, prisma glitter to silver for his belt buckle, prisma glitter to white for the cuffs and hat and then used liquid applique for his beard. I sliced through the top of the sack and tucked the teddy bear in. I used the Creative Basics Misteltoe paper - pg88 of the new Winter idea book.

 This round card is a birthday card - the present stamp can be used for any occasion - not just Christmas - so I used markers and then paper pieced the ribbon - the paper is from the Perfect Day level 2 kit - my all time favorite - as you know LOL. A tulip button finished it off.The pattern is from Wishes - pg 127 - Side Note.

When I saw the teddy bear stamp I knew it would be absolutely perfect for baby cards so I made these 2 cute tags - using the Topstitch paper and pale pink and pale blue sparkles.White embroidery floss was stitched down the edges.
Hope you like them :O)

Malta album - Extravaganza Artwork

 This is the album which I made using parts of 3 albums. the front cover is from the new Mix & Mingle album and the rest of it is a combination of the Acrylix and Allsorts albums.I still have pages from both left over. Enough to make another :O) I used the Perfect Day paper and matching Stickease and LOTS of sparkles and liquid glass.

 I covered the dimensional element circle with the paper and added liquid glass to the dots on the paper. I dry embossed the horizontal lines into the cocoa cardstock and then sanded them.

 The right hand page features and opening section. It is kept closed with the ribbon.

 I love making the pages interactive. this way I was able to add more photos to the page.

This - I think - is my favorite piece of artwork created for my Extravaganza class at convention. I hope you like it as much as I do :O)  Would love to hear your comments on it :O)

Good morning

and yes I am still having camera issues - good grief - just how difficult is it to find a good camera which takes decent pictures and which is affordable. My apologies to all for my serious lack of blog items - added to which we have had a crazy busy week with Marching Band for Leo - they competed in the band of America Regionals on Saturday - Leo was at school by 8am and we didn't get home from the competition till 12.40am - a very long day !  But give me just a few minutes and I will post some fun artwork :O)

Hello :O)

Hi guys - I am sorry I have been MIA again - I had a major problem with my camera and had to go back to Costco to sort it out. They didn't want to deal with me but needless to say - I won and have a new camera. Now to figure out how to use it - give me a couple of days and I will give you a wonderful post of photos using the new October SOTM :O)

Leo :O)

This is all about my 14 1/2 year old son - Leo - who I am very proud to say is a member of the trumpet section of the Walled Lake Central High School Marching Band.

He looks so smart in his uniform :O)

I am so proud of the way he is adjusting both to high school and to the grueling schedule of the Marching Band. And - he loves it - the camaraderie, team spirit and just honest to goodness fun that they have.
Go Leo and GO BAND :O)

Hair today - Gone Tomorrow.3x3 Mini Album. Extravaganza Artwork

Here is a 3x3 My Creations mini album which I made with photos of Leo. He decided that he needed a new look as he was going into High School. I used the new Magnifique level 2 paper packet & matching stickease. I added the paper to the Dimensional Element solo 'H' and tied the chocolate dot ribbon around it. I also added the Glitz glitter gel to the stickease in the bottom right hand corner. I wanted to show how you can add 'bling' to projects for boys without making them 'girly'.

The inside cover is the Bamboo cardstock which I suede distressed with the Desert Sand ink pad. Again I added the glitter gel to the stickease and further embellished it with one of the Opaques Pearls from the Liquorice pack. I then added 3 pearls to the bottom of this page.

  More pearls and then the stamped tag and stickease on the right hand page. The tag is from the new      C1422 - Unity.

 On the left hand page I stamped the dots and then went over them with liquid glass to add shine. I layered the 2 ribbons on the right hand page.

I used one of the My Creations A-door-ables on the page below, I covered it with the B&T then added a tag from C1422 Unity and a shimmer brad as an accent to hold the ribbon handle in place.

 A piece of Pacifica cardstock on the inside of the door covered the ribbon and the back of the brad.

 I used an arrow from Z1019 Fresh Shapes dimensional element on the right hand page and added ribbon and pearls to decorate it.

 Again - liquid glass on the dots and pearls on the photo.

 I used a photo as my B&T on the left hand page and added my journalling over the top. Ribbon accents the journaling piece.

 Ribbon is tied over the B&T but under the journaling square to add some shimmer and interest.

 And the final page - my 'cool dude' complete with faux hawk haristyle, shades and a smile.

The inside back cover is the same distressed cardstock as the front and a stickease and pearl finish it off :O)
Hope you like it :O)