Winter Wonderland using Spellbinders

I have news to share - I did not make the cut on round two of tryouts for the Spellbinders team.  I was disappointed, but I know that their team is highly competitive.  The good news is that I may now show my projects with you!

My entry for round one was this 12 x 12 inch layout.  I used two colored  sheets of cardstock topped with snowflake printed paper.  The snowflake print made a lovely, low-key background on which to build the layout elements.  The first element I added was a Stampin' Up stamp which reads "Winter Wonderland" stamped on my snowflake print.

I used my Grand Calibur with grand label one to cut the two layer matting and the main photo.  I used nesties label one to cut the mats and the smaller photo.  I also used snowflakes number one and cut red and blue embellishment snowflakes.  The snowflakes were topped with red buttons tied with white embroidery floss.

My page border was created using a Spellbinders lacey border cut four times.  I mitered the corners and topped the corners with snowflakes or tags.  The WINTER tag at the bottom left was created using label 14 and a stamp.  I penned in the date at the bottom of the label. 

I will admit that I was a disappointed at not making the cut, but really it was fun to try out.  And I was able to get this great photo scrapped!!

Remember that I have blog candy up for grabs in the previous post.  A winner will be drawn a Thursday.

Last of the Weekend Layouts

This is the last of layouts that I will be sharing from last weekend's crop at Lake Murray (thank you Sally & Beth)!! Let me see... We featured Aaron, then Bethany... So it must be time for Ian. I must tell you that my photo stash of Ian has declined significantly since he went away to college. I am going to have to speak to him about being IN the photos he takes and posts.

The photos in this layout were from January 2009 when the Carolina Panthers were in the playoffs. I was excited that I had a reason to use the Carolina-Like Panther cut that I designed a couple of years ago.  Sadly they were destroyed by the Cardinals.... and it rained… And the quarterback threw a zillion interceptions…. OUCH. My poor guys - there they were in the rain watching their team loose. My husband assured me that except for the game the guys enjoyed their trip to Charlotte. That is one of those "huh" statements. They only went to Charlotte for the game!!! Yes they did spend the night and have dinner, etc. But they went to see the game!!!

I think the look on Aaron’s and Ian’s faces in this photo says it all - they look so annoyed with the game. I will add that Ian was better trained as a scrapper child - I not only got photos, he also brought me his game ticket to go on his page. Alas, now I would be happy to just have photos!!

And finally I will share this layout of Doug and me on New Year’s Eve. Not my best layout design, but I loved the paper. Note that the dancing couples in the back ground match my dress and Doug’s sweater. … I really did not insist that he wear that color…. Honest. This was a great set of paper that I found at Scrap Your Trip. Thanks Julie.

High School Graduation.....

My youngest child graduated from high school this evening. What a milestone... for Ian and for his parents!!! In just a few weeks he will be off to college and I have to wonder at the lightening-speed passing of time!!! Tomorrow will be Ian's graduation party, a low key affair to celebrate his achievement with friends and family. Tonight we are all tired and happy.

Catch Up Scapping

I have spent the day hermitted in my scrap room. I was not making cards, or working on my BBTB challenge, or designing for Custom Crops. No... I was doing some old fashioned scrapping!

My younger son will graduate from high school on June 5th and we are hosting an open house for him on June 6th. I would really like to have his scrap books as up to date as possible for the open house, but it is going to take lots of hours of scrapping to achieve that goal.

As I dug through my photo file I found photos of Ian from Spirit Week last October that had not been scrapped, a few photos from Christmas, and the rest were April and May events. I am hopeful that I have found all of my missing Ian photos. The following are a few highlights:

Day three of Spirit Week, TACKY DAY -

Ian with Grandma Edwards -

Locks of Love hair donation -

Prom -



Graduation Announcement Scrap Page -

Saturday Events

Yesterday marked the end of an era at my house.... My youngest child, Ian, attended his senior prom! It was a bittersweet moment as a parent. Ian is so independent and has such a nice sense of self that he does not feel the need to follow the crowd, as evidenced by his choice of prom attire. And as proud of him as I am, I will miss him just as much as I miss his siblings when he goes to college.

This is Ian and his date Mary (Note to Diane - she is from Boston!):



Also this weekend, my WONDERFUL friend and neighbor Andrea created this amazing wreath for my front door. My entry way is set in a bit and is often a bit dark (black door surrounded by dark red brick - duhhh) but this wreath is so bright and pretty it is easily visible from the street.


Andrea is one of the most talented stampers I know, so making her a thank you card was a bit of a challenge. I decided to use the purse card I had been working on. NOTE: THE CUT FILE HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE FREE DOWNLOADABLE CUT FILE MENU IN THE LEFT COLUMN.

And inside is an optional spot to tuck away a gift card:


I hope Andrea liked her card at least a bit as well as I LOVE my wreath!!

Home Safe and Sound

Wow, what a weekend! A group of friends and I (my friends Kathy, Toby, Suzanne, Pat, Beth, and Sally) joined a larger group of extended friends at a scrapbooking retreat in GA. this weekend. Our adventures began on Thursday afternoon and we arrived home safely tonight (Sunday). I managed to scrap 38 pages (beating last year's total by 2 pages), as well as make a card for a future BBtB challenge.

I am not going to post all 38 pages, but I will give a you a little peek into my weekend. First, Bethany's room in Charleston, where she is in college:

Ian and some friends celebrating his 18th birthday:

For Ian's senior year album - History being made:

For the Family Book, Thanksgiving time:

Bethany with Grandma Edwards, at Granny's after Christmas, and on Christmas morning:

Same Thanksgiving photos scrapped for Bethany's book:

And finally, page one of Ian's two page layout from the Flashback concert:

A Little Scrapping...?

I actually did not create these pages this week, but I did begin to organize a pile of "unbooked" pages. This is the title page to Ian's Senior album. Have I mentioned that my baby is a senior this year? The photos on these three pages were taken by an outstanding local photographer, Denise Jane. She is just amazing. Her idea of the perfect senior picture is not a formal portrait for parents, but rather capturing the nature and personality of the student. She did that with Ian. We do have a couple of fabulous dressy photos, but Ian really liked those photographs pictured here.

This last double page spread - I call this "Kathy and Susan Go to Convention"! Most of the photos are from 2006 when Kathy and I first decided to give the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Charlotte a try. We had a smashing time and have returned annually. In fact, our group doubled in size last year when Suzanne and Pat joined our group.

The layout below was one of four created in the BasicGrey Latest and Greatest class. I found the layouts as I was preparing "kits" for my retreat this weekend. All I did was trim the photos, add a flower and some journaling. Very easy. I do need to cut a title still, but I thought I would go ahead and share.