Pencil Lines

The My Little Shoebox and Pencil Lines teams have teamed up all this month to make some great layouts using Pencil Lines's sketches and My Little Shoebox products.

Here is the sketch I got to work with.

And here is the layout I made.
Be sure to check out the Pencil Lines blog and see what great stuff everybody else has been making!
Hope you've had a great weekend!
We have been in New Orleans all weekend celebrating brother David's 30th birthday.
{but that is another post for later}
:)
gretchen

Warning

this might look funny over the next couple of days.

i am playing.

and i am not very good at it.

:)

have a great weekend.

:)
gretchen

Back to the scrappiness

I think I have recovered from my lack of sleep.
But I have this dang cold thing {not swine flu} thing that keeps lingering.

I think my sleep-deprived night got things stirred up again.

Dang!
Anywhooooo, back to scrappy-related things.
I have a few My Little Shoebox layouts to share.
{and be sure to check out the blog to see what everyone else has been making this month}

All my layouts are from the new Whoo Love you line.

This is a picture from last summer that I have been meaning to scrap but never could find the best papers to use.

Until now.

{and yeah, yeah you are welcome for the shirtless photo}

I had 2 things in mind when I made this next layout.
One thing was to get away from my 2-page layouts where I just line up the pictures in a row and decorate around them.
Accomplished.
And the second thing was that I really wanted to make this big, fun birthday cake!
They had the most fabulous cake at the crop {it was a fun green, not pink though} and I forgot to take a picture of it.

So I decided to make my own instead!
{if you notice, my cake isn't edible...it is best this way}

And this one is for Katie.
Some things, some memories just need to be scrapped.
You never know when you might need a good laugh later.


{please click on this layout & read the journaling so you don't think I am a total cheeseball for using that title}

Happy hump day!
:)
gretchen

Hold my hand

Well Brittney once again waved her magic wand and hooked us up with tickets for a Darius Rucker show at the Grand Ole Opry last night!
And then she and Kristen drove up to Nashville early, stood in line {first, of course, because they would have it no other way}, and got us excellent seats.
We were on the 5th row and the only seats in front of us were some sort of VIP section I guess.
{that's where Brittney & Kristen...and Scott who rolled up in there right at showtime...got to sit since they had been smoozing with the Grand Ole Opry staff all day}

It has been ages since I have been to a concert.
I was quickly reminded of my white-girl rhythm {or lack thereof}.
He sounded as good live as he does on his CD!
And for good measure he played a couple of Hootie songs!
{Let Her Cry which he claimed was the first country song he ever wrote and Hold My Hand of course}.

I caught a guitar pick!
{well actually it hit me on the shoulder and then I acted a fool as I scrambled around on the ground trying to pick it up}
Part of the show was taped for Jimmy Kimmel.
I heard that it aired last night live but I also heard it might not air until tomorrow night.

Either way, if you see some pony-tailed chick with a white shirt dancing funny and clapping out of rhythm, it is not me.

{once again, I did not take these pictures. Brittney did. You know, since she was practically up on stage with the band anyway.}

And good times were had by all.

Because we drove home last night and I worked today after only 4 hours of sleep, I am going to bed now.
:)

gretchen

It's Monday, but...

The high is only in the 80s today.

I have been late to work the past 3 work days because I got stuck behind school buses.

I bought a new Alabama football t-shirt.

Aaaaahhhhh it is starting to look like fall around here!

{yeah I did not take this picture-just really wanted to add a pretty one here}

I hope your Monday is a good one!
:)
gretchen

Blog posts everywhere.

OK really not "everywhere" but I am writing this post to tell you about another post.
As part of my guest designer gig over at Cocoa Daisy this month, I got to do a post over on the Cocoa Daisy blog.

Check out the good post here...I just wanted to at least share what I made on my own blog also.

Basically I used this sketch {which I use alot} to make a couple of things using the August kit from Cocoa Daisy. This layout is almost exactly like the sketch.

{sniff, sniff}
Supplies: Cardstock (American Crafts), Patterned paper (My Minds Eye, Basic Grey, Pink Paislee), Thickers (American Crafts)

This card is based more loosely on the sketch.

Supplies: Cardstock (American Crafts), Patterned paper (Basic Grey, Pink Paislee, Lily Bee), Custom journaling card (Cocoa Daisy), Fiskars border punch, The Paper Studio heart punch


Thanks for looking!
:)
gretchen

Happy happy birthday

My husband had a birthday last week.

Katie has a birthday this week.

My brother turns 30 next week.

And last Friday KI did a Focus On birthdays.

{how appropriate!}

{All supplies-cardstock, patterned paper, chipboard embellishments, stickers-are KI Memories}

So happy birthday to all those great people in my life!!
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And go leave a comment on this post for a chance to win some KI goodies!
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:)
gretchen

Well that was fun

After a good 8 hours of sleep last night I think I have recovered from the lack of sleep I got this past weekend.

I taught a couple of classes.

I hung out with some of my favorite people.

I met and made new friends with more cool people.

I satisfied my craving for new scrapbook supplies by buying some of the newest My Mind's Eye, American Crafts, and Pink Paislee.

I even scrapbooked several pages and made a few cards.

But because I always get nervous when teaching, I did not sleep so much.

However, I had a good ole time at the Sweet Memories birthday bash!

Erin and her team did a great job with this event and we will definitely be going back if she does it again!

{especially if Kelly is there to sing to me}

{by the way, give it up Kelly and just read Twilight-everybody is doing it}

I was lucky enough to be joined by some great friends.

Look at Carol and Kelli getting their scrap on!

and Michelle and Lisa too.
{if you need a button or some string, Michelle is your girl!}

And here's Nubia who I managed to take like 6 pictures of before she noticed me.
{hehehe}

And because we are scrapbookers we had to take a little time to get some real pictures together.
Here are my 2 stylish, supermodel friends Katie and Virginia.

Here's the whole group as we burned our eyeballs out staring up into the crazy sun.
{I really hope someone else got a better picture than this one!}

So that was my fun weekend!
How was yours?
:)
gretchen

Cocoa Daisy

Sa-weet!
I got to be the guest designer at Cocoa Daisy this month!
When Tricia mentioned there would be super new My Mind's Eye & American Crafts in the kit I thought for a second that maybe she custom made this one just for me!
{of course she did not but it is a dang good kit for sure}

Wanna see what I made??
I made this one about my sweet friend Virginia.

Yall know her.

And now I have a layout about her.

:)

Supplies: Cardstock (American Crafts), Patterned paper (My Minds Eye-pink scallop & blue strip, Pink Paislee-woodgrain, Lily Bee-blue/green), Fancy brads (Chatterbox), Pink brads (KI Memories), Alphabet stickers (American Crafts), Journaling card (Cocoa Daisy)
Everything {except the pink brads} is from the August Cocoa Daisy kit {Green Acres}.

I used this cute journaling card as a place to add the date to my layout.
{this is 1 of several custom journaling cards that come in the August kit}
I cut the frame out of the card & then saved the rest of the card for later.
{keep reading...hehe} _____________________________________________________________
I really wanted to do something fun with this cute new deer paper from American Crafts.
All I could come up with was this card.
How it is that I cannot {emphasis on the not} make anything using all the cute animal products that are so popular in scrapbooking these days (owls, deer, hedgehogs, etc etc) unless it is a page specifically about the creature.

Like for me to use an owl on a layout I would have to be scrapping a page about some owl we saw on a camping trip or something.
How do you do it people!??
So all I could come up with for this cute deer paper is an Oh Deer! card.
:)Supplies: Cardstock (American Crafts), Patterned paper (American Crafts-deer, Pink Paislee-woodgrain, Lily Bee-blue/green), Ribbon (May Arts), Heart punch (The Paper Studio)
Everything {except the heart punch} is from the August kit {Green Acres}.
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I just had to make a card using this cuuute journaling card!
{And remember the journaling card that I cut up to put on that layout of Virg & I?? Well I punched this heart out of what I had left. Leave no scrap unused!}

Supplies: Cardstock (American Crafts), Patterned paper (Basic Grey, My Minds Eye-pink scallops), Ribbon (May Arts), Journaling card (Cocoa Daisy), Heart punch (The Paper Studio)

Everything {except the heart punch} is from the August Cocoa Daisy kit {Green Acres}.

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And last, but not least, a little layout about my "cousin" Deanna.
I am pretty sure many of you know her too.

But did you know that we are related??
OK, so we aren't blood related.
We are cousins-in-law.

But that is close enough!
{especially in the South, you know}

Supplies: Cardstock (American Crafts), Patterned paper (American Crafts-flowers, Pink Paislee-woodgrain, My Minds Eye-pink scallop, Lily Bee-green/blue), Alphabet stickers (American Crafts), Ribbon (May Arts ), Custom journaling cards (Cocoa Daisy), Brads (KI Memories)
Everything {except the brads} is from the August Cocoa Daisy kit {Green Acres).

That's all I've got!
But check out what the rest of the design team did with this kit here.
I'm telling you...this is good stuff!!
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Sidenote...

Check out this post on the KI blog & leave a comment for a chance to win a KI prize.
:)
gretchen

Looky looky

Look here.

:)

Hmmm, new My Minds Eye & new American Crafts all together + some of my other fav{e}s.
How could I say no??!!
Here are a couple of peeks at some things I made.

Oh heck, here is a whole card!
{there have been too many sneaks on this blog lately!}

Excellent stuff in this kit!
And I will show you the rest of what I made in a bit.

:)
Happy Monday!
:)
gretchen

More sneaks & a shameless plug

In one week I will be in Georgia at the Sweet Memories Birthday Bash!
I am excited!
My classes are done!
{ok so they are really, really close to being done...just a few finishing touches people!}
I've got some good friends making the trip with me.

And I can't wait!
There are a few spots still left so if you want to come, sign up now!
As part of your registration you get 1 class included.
{and even if you don't care about the class, the product you will get is worth signing up for!}
The class is a "Happiness is..." album class using this stuff

by {and seriously, October Afternoon has given so much product that I was not able to use it all in the album!}

This is the album {in red} by American Crafts that we will be using.
It one of their cool, cordoruy 6x 12 albums.

And we will be filling the entire album up so you will be able to complete an album over the weekend!

{and that is reason enough for your husband to let you go scrapbooking for the weekend!}

We also get to use these cool Thickers {in black}.
And to tease you even further, here are some pictures from the actual album.

I am excited!
I think it is going to be alot of fun.

I hope to see you next week!
{seriously, let me know if you are coming!}

:)
Happy Saturday!
gretchen

{Insert sad smilie here}

I got my Sept/Oct and final issue of Memory Makers Magazine today.

{sniff, sniff}

This has been a great magazine for years and they have been so good to me!
And I am honored to be part of the final class of Masters.

I like to think of us not as the final class, though, but as the reigning class forever and ever!

:)

So as a pathetic little tribute, I thought I would share some of my favorite layouts I did for Memory Makers this past year.

:(

This was my favorite layout from my Masters entry.
It almost did not even get included in the entry because it got voted out by several people who helped me decide what to send.

But I really like this one for some reason so I went out on a limb and included it anyway.

I am glad I did.

And I still really like it.

Supplies: Patterned paper (Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye), Bookplates & brads (Junkitz), Chipboard letters (Heidi Swapp)

This next layout is my favorite one of all the layouts we had to do for the Master Pieces section of each issue of the magazine.

I thought I was soooo clever with my journaling!

:)

Supplies: Patterned paper (October Afternoon, My Minds Eye, Prima), Alphabet stickers (Doodlebug, Making Memories), Chipboard embellishments (Fancy Pants), Paint (Making Memories, Misc (embroidery floss, notebook paper)

These next couple of layouts were published in a recent issue and I just never got around to posting them here.

My first bike!
Check out that stylin' basket on the front!

Supplies: Patterned paper (KI Memories), Alphabet stickers (Making Memories), Stickers & rub-ons (KI Memories), Bling (Heidi Swapp)

Can you tell I *heart* these Making Memories puffy alphas!??!

Supplies: Patterned paper & lace cardstock (KI Memories), Alphabet stickers (Making Memories), Chipboard embellishments (KI Memories, Heidi Swapp), Brads (KI Memories)

This is my final layout for Memory Makers.

{it is in that last Sept/Oct issue}

It is a very random layout for a very random topic.

And it was so much fun to make!
{even though I think it might have taken my hours to finish!}

Supplies: Cardstock (Prism), Patterned paper (KI Memories), Chipboard embellishments (KI Memories, Heidi Swapp), Brads (KI Memories), Metal photo corners (American Crafts), Bookplates (Junkitz), Rub-ons (KI Memories), Stickers (KI Memories), Flowers (Prima), Misc (embroidery floss)

And here is a little favor box I made for the special wedding issue that they were supposed to put out.
They ended up combining the wedding stuff with the Sept/Oct issue and it looks like my favor box got the boot!
But I will share it here anyway!

Supplies: Die cut favor box (Accucut), Patterned paper (KI Memories), Stickers (KI Memories), Scalloped tag (Jenni Bowlin Studios), Misc (ribbon, string)

So bye bye Memory Makers Magazine.

I will miss you!
:)

gretchen

Quiet

So I am kind of being a blog slacker lately.

And I was on a roll there for a while.

Just not alot to say I guess.

Weird.

So I thought I would just post a bunch of stuff.

{you would rather look at stuff rather than read my ramblings anyway, right??!!}
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Did you know that BHG Scrapbooks Etc. posts challenges & assignments on their website that give you a chance to get published in their magazine?
{check it out here}

You know the "Make it Yours" section of their magazine where different scrapbookers make their own version of a layout they were given for inspiration?
Well BHG posts those original layouts and you can make your own and have a chance to get published.

Anywoooo, here is a layout I did a while back based on a layout in the August/September issue.

{I forgot I had not shared this layout until I just got my copy.}

The original layout is by Mary MacAskill on pg. 58.

And here is my version...

Supplies: Patterned paper (KI Memories, Pink Paislee), Lace cardstock (KI Memories), Puffy alphas (Making Memories), Brads (KI Memories)

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The challenge on the American Crafts blog a couple of weeks ago was to use their pens to doodle.
I made this little gift set for a friend at work...and used my favorite AC Precision Pens to doodle.

Supplies: Patterned paper; rub-ons; pen (American Crafts), Ribbon (Junkitz)
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I made this card using some of the new My Little Shoebox stuff.

{this is from the Imagine a Forest line}
Supplies: Patterned paper; die cuts; tiny alphas; chipboard alphas (My Little Shoebox), Ribbon (Anna Griffin)
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And one more thing...
The challenge on the AC blog for this week is to use 2 or more of your favorite AC products.
So here I have used brads {of course!}, those tiny alphabet rub-ons that are old but I still love, and 2 different kinds of Thickers.

Supplies: Album; ribbon; Thickers; Brads; Rub-ons (American Crafts), Butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), Cardstock (Prism)

Look familiar?
It probably does if you were at last year's Scrap Etc event (like 2008 last year) in Nashville.
I made about 9,000 class samples using this MOD album and I don't really need but about 2,000 of them anymore.
So I turned one of them into something I will actually use now.
And I am working on finding uses for the rest of them too.
:)
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Stay cool!
:)
gretchen