Fancy Pants - Rough & Tough and more!

Got a little distracted and forgot to post the last layout that I did for Fancy Pants for CHA Summer. This fun line is all about boys and is so fun! It's called Rough & Tough. Lots of great colors and designs here! Here's a quick preview of the line.

Here's my layout:
You can see all of the great creations by the Fancy Pants design team by dropping by the Fancy Pants blog.

There are 2 other lines that Fancy Pants is releasing, but I haven't had a chance to use them yet. I can't wait, though, because they are so gorgeous. Here's Little Sprout:

I love the soft colors and the tone on tone designs of Little Sprout...and it's not just for babies, either. Check out some of the DTs designs here.

And last, but not least, is a beautiful Christmas collection, Christmas Magic.

Deep colors and festive designs with this collection. More DT work here.

I hope to get creative this week with these last two lines. Keep your eyes peeled! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

New Fancy Pants Dancing Girl!

Once again, I can share another one of my pages from the new Fancy Pants Summer CHA release. Since I am the mom of a boy, I don't often pull toward girly papers. I like deeper colors and more boyish designs. I do love the new Dancing Girl line from Fancy Pants, though. It is so fun and happy! Here's a little peek of the awesome-ness!

I like the colors of the tone on tone papers, and I think the doodley papers are adorable, too. Throw in some sweet rub-ons and notebook journal papers...and you've got a hit! I pulled out some pictures of my nieces for the page that I created.
This page turned out to be one of my most favorite that I have created recently. I used an acrylic page from one of FP's Mixed Media books as a home for all of my page elements. And, of course....I added my all time favorite buttons! It doesn't get any better than that!

Stop by the Fancy Pants blog for more pages and some giveaways! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

New Fancy Pants Trick or Treat!

I am so excited that I can finally share one of my Fancy Pants projects with you guys. I have never been one for Halloween stuff...I have probably only created 2 or 3 Halloween pages in my life. I think it has to do with the unconventional costumes that Ryan chooses...they never seem to go with any Halloween papers and embellishments. However, the new Trick or Treat line by Fancy Pants is so awesome, and I was thrilled to work with it! Here's a preview of the line:

It is just so fun, that I am actually looking forward to scrapping last year's Halloween pictures. I did get to create a very cute Halloween sign with the collection, and I love how it turned out. I originally wanted to give it to my friend because she is a big Halloween decorator, but now I just want to keep it for myself!
This was a shadow box that I picked up at A.C. Moore one time. I really never had any plans for it, but I am so glad that I got it. I drilled holes in the sides to add the ribbon for hanging. Here are a few close up pictures:

I will be back soon with more stuff from the new Fancy Pants collections, and you can check out their blog for awesome work from the other DT girls and some fun giveaways!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Another Page Already???

Crazy, huh? I guess I was just feeling motivated and creative. I have to say that my main motivation for this page came right from the picture. My niece, Brianne, shared the picture on her Facebook, and I fell in love with it immediately. I knew that once my mojo came back that it would be one of the first pictures that I turned to!
The colors are a bit off in my scan, but the lumpiness of the page made it tough to scan at all. I got to use the new Kraft Kuts Girl line from Fancy Pants for this page. FP introduced some new letter stickers last release, and I was thrilled! I love the basic font that they chose. You can see them on my page---they're the letters in "this is." Like I mentioned the other day, Fancy Pants has 5 new lines coming out this summer, so keep your eyes open here and on their blog for some new scrappy goodness! I got my goodie box in the mail the other day, and I have been on cloud 9...you're going to love what Fancy Pants has for you this time around!

Click, Click, Click & a sneak of the new Fancy Pants

These Summer days are just clicking right off. Before you know it, it will be back to school. Things are finally starting to get back to normal for me. I have my motivation back, and I have been working around the house a lot. The one thing that I have not been doing is taking pictures, and that makes me sad. Unfortunately, I can't go back over the past 4 months and re-live everything with my camera by my side. All I can do is plan for tomorrow. So, I have made myself a promise to carry my camera with me and take more pictures before the entire year of 2009 is gone! So, I guess Ryan better watch out because I will surely be following him around a lot more over the next few months!

So, I took some time to sit down and actually do some scrapbooking. I pulled some photos out that I took on New Year's Eve. It was Ryan's first attempt at Guitar Hero! He was hesitant to play, but he ended up loving it. So, it was certainly a scrap-worthy event.

I used one of the more recent lines from Fancy Pants on this page. I am pretty sure that every single supply that I used was Fancy Pants...with the exception of my computer, cardstock, and a pen. The line is called Kraft Kuts Boy, and it is so fun! I just love Kraft so much, and the designs are awesome!

For those of you who have not seen the August issue of Creating Keepsakes yet, Fancy Pants is coming out with 5, yes 5, new lines for Summer CHA! I was drooling as I flipped across the ad. I scanned the page to share with you guys. I can't seem to decide which line I am loving the most so far. I'm diggin' the muted tones of the Little Sprout line...even though there are no babies in my life. I also love the Trick or Treat line and the Rough & Tough boy line (of course)!

I will be sure to share my new creations with you all once the new stuff arrives on my doorstep. I know that CHA time is so much fun with all the sneaks and stuff! I have my eyes open for what all of the awesome scrapbook companies have in store for us this summer!

Back to our regularly scheduled program.....

I can't believe it has been almost 2 months since I blogged. Well, it has been a crazy 2 months, but my main reason for not blogging was because I was not feeling well. Not sure what it was, but I was just not myself. And worse than not blogging.....I have not scrapped in 2 months, either (gasp!). To make a long story short....I wasn't feeling well, and now I feel better. So, I decided that it was time to get back to "normal" if anything is normal!

School ended today. I will miss those crazy kids. My first year teaching Civics in the 8th grade could not have gone any better. They were a great group of kids, and I will miss them terribly. So, now the summer begins, and I will be taking a little break from anything that remotely resembles work!

I hope to be blogging a lot more and hope to share any new scrappy goodness with you....if anyone is still around! In the meantime, here is the last layout that I created with some Fancy Pants goodies:
I just received a bunch of new goodies from Fancy Pants.....Kraft Kuts Boy and Kraft Kuts Girl.....so I am eager to get creating! Hope everyone is enjoying their evening. Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Tuesday!

Glad to have gotten Monday out of the way this week. I really do not like Mondays. I am not sure why, but they are just not one of my favorite days. So, I was glad to say goodbye to Monday for another week. The weather here is starting to get a bit nicer, and I have been itching to get outside. I finally took down my Thanksgiving decorative flag....talk about a little late! I did some yard clean up and then had to stop myself because I tend to want to get everything done right now! I have to realize that it is not possible, so I need to be happy with the little things that I can get done.

I finished up a Fancy Pants layout this past weekend. I used some random pictures of Ryan that I took a few months back...since I have been a slacker in the photo department. This was a quick and easy 8.5 x 11 one. It came together so fast, but I am happy with it.

I have been into using the chipboard letters raw lately. Not only does it save a bit of time, but I like the look. It's just another one of the little kicks that I get on. You know...from beads to buttons to fiber to chipboard to digital stamps....I seem to get hung up on one thing or another. It's all good.

I am amazed at how fast time has been flying by. It is hard to believe that we have already completed 125 days of school with only 55 days left! WOW! Summer will be here before you know it. Looking forward to it.....really looking forward to it! How about you?

I seem to have forgotten....

...that I have a blog. I cannot believe that it has been so long since I last updated. I guess I have been a bit preoccupied these past few weeks. Maybe because it has been feeling so "springy" around here, and I have been having a hard time sitting at the computer or in my scrap room. Not sure. Of course, we have more daylight hours, and I am looking forward to nicer weather. I'm done with snow days and cold temps!

I did have a chance to do a page last week. Wow...one page. That's pretty sad, huh? But, it is better than nothing. I tore out some of my Fancy Pants goodies for this one.

And, yes...those are pictures of me! Imagine me...in front of the camera! It happens so very rarely because I am always the one behind the camera. Of course, I have not even been behind the camera lately. I really don't think that I have taken a picture in over a month! It makes me kind of sad, but I guess there just has not been too much going on to take pictures of. I need to change that, so I am making myself a promise to drag the camera out with me more often this month. Now that I have actually said that out loud, maybe I will really do it!

I hope that everyone is well. I'm hoping to get some blog hopping time in, so I can see what you all have been up to! Hope you are enjoying your week...Friday is on it's way!

Pencil Lines!

Long time...no blog!

I know, I know. I've been absent for the past few days. I have no excuse. I guess I just didn't have anything interesting to say or share. I do have something interesting to share today, though, so I'm glad you stopped by. I am still in the process of scraplifting my last layout, and I hope to share it with you soon. I did, however, have the honor of being asked to be the Guest Designer over at Pencil Lines. I was thrilled when I was asked. I even went ahead and created my own sketch...go me! Sketches rock. I think I have mentioned that before. I am a huge fan of the ever-so-awesome Becky Fleck and her PageMaps. She just oozes talent! I have used so many of her sketches to jump start my creative self, but I never ever entertained the thought of creating my own sketches. When I was asked to guest design for Pencil Lines, I was psyched to try my hand at it. So, here is the sketch that I came up with:

Now, I know that it's no PageMap because Becky just has a special flair, but I don't think it came out half bad. Here is the layout that I designed based on my sketch:

I used some of my favorite Fancy Pants goodies, of course. The doodle/hearts design is one of their awesome transparent overlays...love it! What is even more cool about my sketch is seeing how other talented scrappers interpreted it! It is so neat to see someone else use my sketch. Hop on over to the Pencil Lines site to check it out! You will love it!

I am off to do some school work today! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Winter "Blahs"

I guess it has been a while (a week to be exact) since I have posted. It just ended up being one heck of a week. It started with my buddy getting sick last weekend....the dreaded stomach virus. I felt so bad for him. Since it is best for me not to miss school, he stayed with my Mom & Dad, and they took great care of him. Then, we ended up having 2 snow days from school. Yuck! I know that lots of kids and teachers love snow days, but not me. It only means that you are stuck in the house with nothing to do in the middle of the winter, and then you will end up staying in school longer at the end of the year when the weather is beautiful. Add to that the fact that my grades were due and the tons of homework that I had for my University class...and it was just a "blah" kind of week. So, I am optimistically looking forward to beginning a new week. Ryan is better now, and my glass is half full...LOL!

On the scrapping front, I do have another layout to share. This time, I used the new Fancy Pants Delight line by Nancie Rowe Janitz. It is very fun collection. I especially love the colors...they are so bright and cheerful. You can stop by the Fancy Pants Gallery to see some other great creations from the Fancy Pants DT.

I had this layout started before CHA, but the journaling just was not working for me. So, it had to sit half done while I figured out what I wanted to say. Journaling is really important to me, so I hate to rush it. After Ryan got sick and spent time with my Mom & Dad...everything just came together. In addition to my new Fancy Pants goodies, I also got a chance to use my new Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder. If you click on the picture, you will see that my circles are dry embossed with it. Fun stuff!

I hope that everyone is well and having a great weekend! I am off to finish some school work...and maybe do some scrapping if I work fast enough. Enjoy your day!

*NEW* Fancy Pants Mixed Media 8x8 Books

I meant to post my mixed media book sooner, but my buddy Ryan got the stomach virus. I have been taking care of him since yesterday afternoon. Poor thing is so pathetic...sleeping and being sick. He is with my parents now, so I thought I would take a minute or two to share.

So, these 8x8 mixed media books by Fancy Pants turned out to be so much fun! I have to say that I was a bit intimidated at first. Believe it or not, I never created an album or a scrapbook page on a clear acrylic background. I sat and pondered how to do it. How do I keep elements from showing on the other side yet still keep the truly fabulous design of the clear page? I know that I have seen it done, but I guess I never paid much attention to how they did it. Well, I just decided to stop over-thinking it and jump right in. I just started resizing and printing pictures as if I were going to put them on an 8x8 page. The rest just happened! As it turns out, I am thrilled at how this book turned out! So, before I drive you nuts with my rambling, here are the pages:

This is the front cover. I chose to use the clear acrylic page so that a picture of Ryan would show through from the page underneath.

January's page:

February and March pages:

April and May pages:

June and July pages (half of a felt page):

More July:

August and September pages:

October and November pages:

December's page:

Back Cover:

As you can see, the album has pictures from each month in 2008. It is just a snippet of our lives for 2008. The neat thing is that I can easily add additional pages with more pictures and journaling if I would like. Speaking of journaling, if you click on the images, you will see that I do, indeed, have several typos =( I saw this after I had the book all packed and ready to ship out for CHA. Thank goodness that I saved all of the journaling. Once I get the book back, I can just reprint it and change it out. Easy as pie!

You can check out more of the great shapes of 8x8 mixed media books and designs from other Fancy Pants DT members on this Fancy Pants blog post. Fun stuff!

Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

*NEW* Fancy Pants "On A Whimsy"

Another adorable line is being released by Fancy Pants at CHA this upcoming weekend. It is called On A Whimsy, and it is just so......whimsical. The talented Jackie Eckles created this sweet and playful collection. It has line drawings and pretty colors that I loved working with. And the acrylic stamps that go with the collection are so stinkin' cute! I cannot wait to create more pages and use more of the stamps.

I used some older chipboard from Fancy Pants to create my own little sunshine on this layout. If you click on the layout to make it larger, you can see a close up view of that sweet little lady bug stamp on top of the "m." It is just ever so tiny and ever so cute!
Once again, you can check out more of this collection in use by clicking on this Fancy Pants blog post. Keep your eye out here because I will be sharing an awesome mixed media book that I created for Fancy Pants. I am so happy with how it turned out, and I can't wait to show you guys!

Thanks for stopping by and Have a super day!

*NEW* Fancy Pants "Summer Soiree"

CHA Winter '09 is right around the corner. I had the pleasure of creating some items for the new Fancy Pants releases. My layout below uses their new collection called Summer Soiree. Can I just say that I adore the cheery colors and the fabulous designs?

This collection is so me right now! Created by the talented Michelle Coleman, it just screams summer fun! I created this layout with the new collection:
Please excuse my scan and all of its shadows. I am normally 100% obsessive compulsive when it comes to my scans. I usually play around forever until each layout is just right. With my time being so tight and the show coming up so soon, I had to scan my pages quick so I could get them in the mail on time.

You can see creations from some of the other girls on the Fancy Pants DT by checking out this Fancy Pants blog post. Stay tuned for more goodies from yours truly over the next few days!

Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to comment. It's always nice to spread some cheer! Have a great day!

Pink is for boys, too

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment on my posts. I enjoy reading what everyone has to say, and your comments always bring a smile to my face. I don't know anyone who couldn't use a quick smile every now and again!

I used to struggle with pink papers or with papers that had pink in them. I never thought that I would be able to use them unless I was working with pictures of my nieces. I don't know exactly how or when I changed my mind about that....but I did. Now, I love using pink...and it is fun to scrap Ryan's pictures in shades of pink. I created this layout using some pink paper from Fancy Pants!

These pictures are just some random shots of my buddy that I captured on Christmas morning. He was making funny faces for me, and I was snapping away. The lighting was bad, but I like how these turned out. They are so him.

The papers that I used are from the Fancy Pants Splendid collection. It's a great line for Valentine's Day, which will be upon us in a few short weeks. It's a limited edition collection, so get some now before it's gone!

My original plan was to make the background from the paper that I did the journaling on, but I just knew the whole design would look so much better with a pink background...so I went for it! And I love it! Just goes to show you that stepping outside of your normal box is a good thing!

I am off to spend my Sunday scrapping! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Christmas Present

I love making handmade gifts for people. If I had more time, I would make them for everyone, but time is hard to come by. However, I try to make sure that Mom gets a handmade gift as often as possible. I know that she truly appreciates them, and that makes me happy. Because I know she lurks here every once in a while (Hi Mom!), I had to keep this little album to myself until after Christmas.


The chipboard album is by K&Company. I love that the edges of each page are different. It's being held closed with a ribbon from Fancy Pants that has a thin piece of elastic sewn through it.

The whole album is done in Fancy Pants papers and diecuts. The circle phrase on the front is a stamp by Art Warehouse. I heat embossed it for a deeper, shinier look

All of the photos inside are from different times throughout 2008. I also labeled those photos with when they are from.

I added a little personal message with the date to the back of the album.

I was just so happy with the way this turned out. It's kind of hard parting with creations that I love so much, but I know it went to a good home where it will be loved, shared, and taken care of. Hope you liked it, Mom!

Fancy Pants Photo Box

Hi all! Hope you are doing well. Since we have begun a new year, I am trying to find ways to make my life a little bit easier. One thing that I have to learn to do more is to organize my pictures. Often times, during the course of the year, I take a picture that just turns out perfect. I want a way to save those pictures, so I created this little photo box for them.

You can get step by step instructions for this box on the Fancy Pants blog along with a complete supply list.

The sweet thing about this box is how the pictures will be stored inside. I attached a ribbon to the inside of the bottom of the box with a brad. The ribbon is long enough to hang outside the box as you can see in the above picture. I cut pieces of cardstock that fit exactly inside the box. I will adhere a favorite picture to each piece of cardstock. On the back of the piece of cardstock, I am going to write the file path to where the original can be found on my computer. This way, if I need to make a print, I will know exactly where to look. Then, to remove the pictures from the box, all you have to do is remove the lid and pull on the ribbon. The pictures will be nicely lifted right from the box!

Below is a close-up of the box top. I added some rub ons, chipboard letters, and brads to make it a little fancier! I just love little projects like this that are not only fun to make, but are also very useful!

If you have some spare time to craft, this would make a great gift idea, or a nice organizer for yourself! Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day!

Another layout share

Yes, it is true. I actually created 2 layouts in one day! OMG...the sky is going to fall...LOL! Last Sunday, I created the last layout that I shared. I then went to try to wrap Christmas presents, and it just was not working. I was in such a creative mood that I could not bring myself to sit down and wrap. I just had to scrap. So, I tossed all the wrapping paper, tape, and bows back in the closet and headed back down to my scrap room. After cleaning the whole thing up just a few hours earlier, I tore the whole thing apart once again! It felt so good, though. So, this is the second layout that I ended up with.

Since scrapping time has been short this school year, I figured that I would go with it while I had the mojo and the time. I used papers from the Fancy Pants Splendid collection, and that glittery swirl on the left side is a Fancy Pants glitter cuts. Love them! I channeled some Cindy Tobey with the knotted ribbon....she just makes it look so good that I had to try it. This was actually a pretty easy layout to put together, and I would have been done with it a lot sooner if I didn't have the television playing in the background. I never really watch television, so it was a little distracting.

Anyway....I am off to enjoy some time with Ryan...we are working on a Club Penguin mission together. Gotta Love it!

Creative Sunday!

Having a snow day on Friday gave me the chance to get some "real life" stuff out of the way. So, today I had the chance to do some fun stuff...scrapping! I brought out my Fancy Pants Daily Grind papers to create this layout about my first year teaching 8th grade.

I like the black background paper with it's grid...it reminds me of school. I also like how it makes the colors pop out at you. That small picture is of Ryan holding up the piece of paper that I received over the summer telling me what my "job" at school would be for this year. This has been quite a year for me, and I needed to get that documented.

On the Christmas front, I plan to sit down tonight with a hot cup of tea and help "Santa" wrap Ryan's presents. Ryan and I went out shopping yesterday (oy...that's a whole other story), and I am DONE getting gifts for the family, too. So, I have some work ahead of me. Feels good to be so close to Christmas and be ready! Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday!

More Fancy Pants Fun!

Thank you to everyone who left such nice comments about my layout the other day. No matter who you are, I think it always feels good when someone takes the time to leave a comment and brighten someone's day. So, thank you all for brightening my day!

I love it when I get on a roll. It is especially great when I have time. There's nothing worse than being in the mood to scrap but not having the time. Thanksgiving break was good to me. I got all of my homework done for my College class, and most of my lessons done for school. I had to take a break from all of the intellectual things and spend some time being a bit creative. I created this layout with the limited edition Fancy Pants Arctic Chill collection.

The background is the Dotted Swiss Cardstock from Bazzill, which is one of my new favorites. I just love the texture that it has, and is comes in so many awesome colors. As you can tell, my layout is not a winter theme at all, showing that you can use the Arctic Chill collection for anything...not just winter!

Once again, I am proud to say that I used an awesome PageMaps sketch for this layout. While I have been in a creative mood, I have also been pressed for time. Becky's sketches are just perfect for when I am on a time crunch. I just pick a sketch that has the amount of pictures that I want to use and go from there! Perfect! Thanks, Becky!

Well, thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Here's to Creativity!

Ahhhhh...finally the chance to create! I really appreciate the time that I have to get some scrapping done. It is such a great release and so relaxing. Fancy Pants has a great new line out for Christmas called Happy Holidays. It is whimsical and fun and filled with great colors! I had taken a few pictures of Ryan as we decorated the tree this year. Not our "official" Christmas pictures, but some quick shots for fun. They were perfect to use with this new line.

I adore the new printed chipboard shapes that Fancy Pants has come out with. Not that I don't like plain chipboard. It's fun to be able to design the colors of a title by either painting them or covering them with paper....but, it is sometimes nice to just throw some already designed chipboard onto a page with ease! My title, the star, and those cute trees are all printed! Go grab some because they are awesome! By the way, my design came together super easy with a PageMaps sketch from the fabulous Becky Fleck! She so rocks!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your week!