One more

One more My Little Shoebox project for the month!
We all got to work with some Clear Scraps products this month to help us complete our My Little Shoebox projects.
{that Disney album was a chipboard mini album from Clear Scraps}
In addition to the fun mini album, I also got to play with these clear shaped acrylic sheets.
They are way cool!
{but not so easy to photograph! ha!}
I messily painted the acrylic sheet then went crazy with a Martha Stewart butterfly punch.
This was an easy way to use a bunch of my My Little Shoebox paper scraps!

{FYI: this cute little butterfly idea is not my idea. i wish i could take credit for it. but i have seen it somewhere else. i just don't know where. maybe stephanie howell did it. maybe it was kerry lynn yeary. it might have been katie. maybe i saw it in the SIS gallery. maybe it was at Studio Calico. maybe in the 2peas garden. who knows? i ain't taking credit for it. but i do like how mine turned out!}

Here are a couple of close up views of the project.

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In other news, check out the KI blog for a Focus On about summer layouts!
And leave a comment about some of your favorite summertime activities for a chance to win a KI prize!
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Alrighty I am going to go enjoy the fabulous {not rainy} weather we are having today!

Have a great weekend yourself!
:)
gretchen

Scrappiness

Ahhh, TGI{almost}F!
Even though this was a short week, it seemed loooooong!

Anywoo, I've got some My Little Shoebox layouts to share.

I had the Flawless line to work with this month.
{and it might be my favorite line to date!}
This one is about my little brother being back where he belongs...in the South!

{I cut the stars out with my handy dandy Sizzix machine and then popped them up with a foam dot}

Here's a little card using some of my scraps. And a 2-pager.
{I *heart* this green piece of paper!}
That circle piece of paper is named "Gretchen".
It is part of the "Flawless" line.
I am pretty sure that was not a mistake.
{bwhahahaha}

And one last one.
I couldn't resist cutting all these fun flowers out!
Alrighty, that's all I've got for now.
Happy Friday!
:)
gretchen

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day from rainy Alabama!

We have a new grill at our house and Lee has been determined to use it all weekend despite the off & on weather!
{boys and their toys!}

However, rainy weather + 3 day weekend = plenty of good scrapping time for me!
{and I am not complaining!}
I worked alot yesterday on my class for the SIS Live event coming up at the end of June.

Here is a little sneak of one of the layouts we will be making.
I've got some fun sponsors so far including My Little Shoebox & Livingroomfloor and Jeanette is giving us some great MODsheets to work with!
{and I am still working to get a couple more...stay tuned!)
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I finished up one of my My Little Shoebox projects for the month.
It's a Disney album with no Disney-themed products!
{well, except for that cute Mickey ears punch that I love}

{I will share the pages of this later. I don't know if I am even supposed to be sharing this at all yet...oopsy!}
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I added a layout to the KI gallery.
This one is for Lisa Dickinson's great sketch challenge from earlier this month over on the KI blog.

{fyi: I have no idea who these people really are. If you know them, tell them they are my heroes!}
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And I am still having fun with Noel Mignon's Rise and Shine kit!
Man, this kit is packed full of goodness!

{rumor has it that there are only a couple of these babies left!}
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All that scrapping AND my house is clean!

I need a 3-day weekend every weekend!
{however, whatever you do, do not ask me how many showers I have taken or how many times I have actually left the house}

I hope you are having a great Memorial Day!
gretchen

Please allow me to brag

Well, please allow me to brag on my husband for a minute.
{I almost did a post about this a while back but couldn't do it without using a slew of cuss words so I just decided against the whole thing all together.}

Lee had worked at a YMCA for ~8 years up until this past February.
He started at the bottom and worked his way all the way up to the associate exec position.
He did not get the exec position when it opened up last fall.
{previously I would have inserted cuss words here because of course I thought he should have gotten that position}
Then he was let go in February when the new management decided "to go in a new direction".

{more cuss words inserted here at the injustice that was done}
OK now back up about 3 years.
Lee and his friend Trey sat downstairs in our living room brainstorming on starting a business.
They talked about crazy stuff like opening a store, selling stuff, and cleaning stuff.
I remember sitting upstairs scrapbooking, overhearing them, and rolling my eyes.
Now come back to present day and the result of that brainstorming session is this: Sentinel Cleaning.

They have been in business for 3 years, clean restaurants all over Alabama and into Tennessee & Georgia, have several employees who work for them, and now there are restaurants we can no longer eat at because my husband knows how dirty they are!
{thankfully most Mexican restaurants aren't too bad-what a relief!}
What a blessing it was for Lee to be able to jump full time into this job when he lost his job at the Y.
I just got mad about it.
Lee saw it as God giving him that push that he needed to make the move to Sentinel full time rather than staying comfortably at the Y where the check was guaranteed every 2 weeks.

{this layout is in the July/August of Memory Makers}
Supplies: Patterned paper (KI Memories, Basic Grey), Acrylic overlay (KI Memories), Brads (KI Memories), Alphabets (American Crafts), Misc (twine, paint, cardboard)

So not only is he an excellent yard boy, but also he is quite the entrepreneur!
And I am proud of him.
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And I will leave you with another something I made with the Rise and Shine kit from Noel Mignon.
Supplies: Patterned paper (Jenni Bowlin, My Minds Eye, Creative Imaginations), Die cut border (Crate Paper), Alphabet (Jenni Bowlin)
All supplies from the new Noel Mignon Rise and Shine kit
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Happy Sunday!
gretchen

Just read the journaling

Journaling reads:

look at this
rows and rows of scrapbooks
full of years and years of pictures and memories
each page labeled with names and dates and locations
and many, many memories
but this is not my house
and these are not my albums
they are the work of my grandfather Daddy Bill
he was an insistent picture taker
pictures before school
pictures before they left
pictures in front of the house
pictures in front of the van
pictures in front of their motor home
pictures hanging off of the motor home
pictures with siblings
pictures with Grams
pictures, pictures, and more pictures
each one meticulously placed on the pages of these albums
preserving the Misner family memories
in his own way, he was a scrapbooker
looks like I got it honest

{sigh}

I made this with the new Rise and Shine kit over at Noel Mignon.
{I get to be a guest designer over there for the month of June. he! so you will be seeing more of this yummy kit from me soon}

Happy Friday!
gretchen

Sad day

May 21, 2009
It is a day that will go down in scrapbooking history.
It is the day that the best scrapbooking store ever closed its doors.
{for good}
Where now will I go to hide out with my uncontrollable scrapbooking addiction?

Where now will I get my fix of My Mind's Eye papers, Making Memories tiny alphas, and Heidi Swapp mailbox letters?
Where now will I go to find others who suffer this same disease?
Where now will I go to find people who convince me that this is all normal and that I do not, in fact, have enough patterned paper in my bag?
Where now will I go to find people who understand that it is best to store things like Basic Grey cutting mats, Making Memories trimmers, and Bind-it-alls in the trunk of your car in order to keep peace in the family?

Please excuse me while I take the rest of the day to mourn.

So who gets the camera strap??

Well the random number generator says:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:11
Timestamp: 2009-05-20 22:42:44 UTC

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That means the camera strap goes to:

susanv said...
Love the camera strap and desparately need one!! Pick me!!
May 18, 2009 10:12 AM

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YAY!

Susan, email me (gretchenmcelveen@yahoo.com) with your address and I will send this little beauty out to you.

Now for all of you who unfortunately did not win the camera strap, be sure to check out Nancy's etsy shop for other awesome choices!

Happy hump day!
{I am soooo looking forward to a long weekend}
:)
gretchen