Something Old, Something New

STILL trying to whittle down the stash of supplies accumulated over the last several years, I have been digging into some of the collections that I once loved, but were pushed aside in favor of newer products. I'm now on a mission to use them up...or send them on, to somewhere they will be loved, such as New Orleans' Ronald McDonald House, Children's Hospital, etc. But before I do...

This first project uses old BasicGrey patterned papers and stickers from the Offbeat collection, pairing them with the new fabric brads from the Out of Print collection. Likewise, I used old BasicGrey letter stickers for my title, but a new(-er) alphabet card embellishment.


Supplies: Patterned paper-BasicGrey Offbeat collection, Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer collection. Alphabet card-K and Co. Stickers-Basic Grey Offbeat. Fabric brads-BasicGrey Out of Print.



And finally, a project with BasicGrey Archaic patterned paper...


perfect for a Walt Disney World Dinoland page!

Fantastic Scraptastic!

This month I am very honored to be Guest Designer for Scraptastic Club a kit club with awesome monthly scrapbooking kits. You actually have your choice between TWO kits each month, and the March kits are so amazing that you will have a hard time choosing! There are also add-on options for those of us who just can't get enough of a good thing. ;)

Here's a peek at the first page I created with the beautiful Be Amazing March kit:


7 double-sided patterned papers, 8 sheets of cardstock, a chipboard alphabet and a fun mix of embellishments are in this March kit:


The add-on option includes even more decorative elements:


And now you will see why I said it's hard to choose! Look at the fabulous Celebrate Life kit. LOVE that potty people paper. <---Try saying that three times real fast!


Here's the add-on option for the Celebrate Life kit:


Both of these kits are available to order beginning March 1st at Scraptastic Club. Also, be sure to check out the Scraptastic blog for kit examples, contests, and more.

Soaking Up The Sun

Yep, that's exactly what I've been doing, soaking up the sun. First on Sunday, watching the Okeanos, Mid City and Thoth parades, then on Tuesday, Mardi Gras Day itself. We spent most of the day out on St. Charles Avenue, people watching, picture taking, and bead catching. And of course snacking! Our weather has been SO delightful, with temps in the 70's and more sun than clouds. These unseasonably warm days could go on forever as far as I'm concerned. I'm ready for summer!

And speaking of summer, here is yet another layout from the great paper collection 100 Days of Summer from Simple Stories. I love all the cards (post cards, bingo cards, title cards) and the various decorative sticker elements (tickets, border strips, flags, and more) that make it easy to pull together an attractive page in the layered style that I love. Let's see...how many more days until it's summer again? I can't wait!


Supplies: Patterned paper, stickers, cards-Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer collection. Die-cut doilie-BasicGrey. Pigment ink-Tsukineko. Other-twine.

PawPaw Was A Soldier

The WWII Museum in New Orleans is a place I could spend all day perusing. There are hands-on activities for kids and the exhibits are so comprehensive and intensely moving. It's made even more personal when we go outside and find the brick honoring my Dad's service.

When pulling together products to make this layout, I thought immediately of the papers from Crate Paper's Toy Box collection, with its great camouflage paper and Hero journaling card. Wanting to get three pictures on this page (four if you include the photo of the brick), I made a collage of the elements, overlapping pictures and papers, even including a bit of memorabilia, a special V-Day pin given out on this particular day at the museum. The ration stamps are actually from a very old piece of patterned paper!



Supplies: Patterned paper-Crate Paper, Sassafras, Collage Press. Stickers-Crate Paper. Pigment ink-Brilliance from Tsukineko. Other: corrugated cardstock, star tag from Converse, V-Day pin, and chipboard scrabble letters.

Bon Voyage

Here we go again. I take a picture of Tommy. He takes a picture of me. And I end up with two pictures that are not always easy to scrapbook. In this case, overlapping the photos helps hide duplicate scenery and gives me more space to play. Works for me.

Funny thing...the page was complete, everything glued down, and I still didn't have a title. I went through every single letter sticker I owned but nothing seemed to work. Then I pulled out this pack of Scrapworks cardstock letters that have been in my stash forever (the back of the package says 2003-yikes!). Perfect! Makes it hard to purge the stash when things like this happen. LOL!


Supplies: Patterned paper-Heidi Swapp, The Girl's Paperie, Echo Park, Making Memories, October Afternoon. Letter sticker-October Afternoon. Decorative brad-Karen Foster. Cardstock letters-Scrapworks. Pigment ink-Brilliance by Tsukineko. Other-bottlecap.

Halls of Congress

Last year I had the opportunity to spend four days in Washington, D. C., at a leadership conference filled with speakers, training and workshops by leading advocates and experts on international development. The weekend provided me with resources and knowledge about extreme poverty and global health issues and how to support the many efforts being undertaken to help the poorest and most vulnerable people. The conference culminated with a day on Capitol Hill, where I was able to meet with our members of Congress and/or their staff to advocate for the less than 1 % of the federal budget that goes towards humanitarian assistance for those living in extreme poverty. I walked through those hallowed halls hoping to make a difference.


Supplies: Patterned paper-October Afternoon Farmhouse Collection. Flowers-Prima Marketing. Pigment ink-Brilliance by Tsukineko. Other: mini file folder, tag, baker's twine, mini-brad, and wooden disc.

Zap the Evil Zurg!

One of our family's favorite games/rides at Walt Disney World has to be Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. We love the competition, spinning and zapping away to see who can amass the most points. Three of our sharp shooters pose in the queue, ready to zap all those Z's, to defeat the evil Emperor Zurg.

I dressed up this layout with a paper piecing of another Toy Story character, an alien guy from the Claw machine at Pizza Planet. Isn't he cute?! If you look closely at the photo, one of the screens shows a squadron of these little aliens. I guess they must have some significance in the game, but seriously, I don't remember. We were too busy swinging our ray guns back and forth, trying to outdo each other in the mad race for points! It's such crazy fun.


Supplies: Patterned paper-Crate Paper. Stickers-October Afternoon. Letter stickers-Doodlebug Design. Pigment ink-Brilliance by Tsukineko.