LEO 15 and a card

I made it through all 15 challenges for LEO at Willow Traders! Go me!!! The assignment: Use ink or paint on a layout. I used black ink and charcoal Maya Mist on this layout.


Cardstock: Bazzill Lava; Papers: Studio Calico, Sassafras Lass (border strip); Ink: misc. black ink, charcoal and red maya mist; Rub-ons: Basic Grey; Alphabet: Sassafras Lass Vintage Yummy Monogram Alphabet Stickers and Adorn It by Carolee's; Misc. items: Tim Holtz mini mask, Studio Calico journal card, Maya Road turns.

This moment had to be documented. The title is what JB said when we were dressing him up for pictures on his 2nd birthday. Grandma got him the outfit and wanted to have pictures of him all decked out.

Here's a card for the Studio Calico blog challenge!


Cardstock: Bazzill Kraft; Paper: Making Memories snowflake (b side); Stamp: Studio Calico botanical; Misc.: red baker's twine from Michael's. Studio Calico items: bag sticker punched with a circle punch and "packed with love" card covered with kraft cardstock for sentiment.

LEO 14

Only one more LEO to go this month!
The assignment: shaped LO. It's a good thing I save the shaped papers from my kits. It's not that I don't know how to use them in a layout. I usually want to save it for something good. I used The Scrapping Spot's July 2009 kit for this one.

Papers: Fancy Pants Kraft Kut - Red Journaling, Summer Soiree Beach House, Summer Soiree Sunkissed, Autumn Leaves Die Cut Card lace, Summer Soiree Journal book page; Ribbon: Fancy Pants Printed Wave; Chipboard: Lime Rickey Chipboard stickers; Making Memories: Metal Sayings - Family; Alphabet: Doodlebug Design; Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink-dark brown by Clearsnap.

LEO 12 and 13

LEO 12- me at 35
The challenge: use fabric on the layout. I used a strip of green fabric along the border of the Studio calico camera paper. Papers, embellishments and stamp from Studio Calico. Fabric from Ben Franklin Crafts.





Here's LEO 13...Enjoying Life

Pictures from yesterday's post. Papers and embellishments from an old Scarlet Lime kit.

sketchfest Saturday

It's the last day of sketchfest at Caardvarks. Here's my take on the sketch:



I used an old Scarlet Lime kit for this one.

Sketchfest Friday

It's a double post day. Here is sketchfest Friday at Caardvarks!

Here's my take on the sketch:


Paper: Daisy Bucket Playlist and Bazzill Basics Kraft cardstock, Rub-on: Scenice Route Paper Co., Ink: Colorbox Chalk ink by Clearsnap and Maya Mist, Frame stamp: Studio Calico.

Now I have to psych myself up to do LEO 13...multiphoto LO.

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional photographer

Yesterday we said to good-bye to Auntie Chia. She was the last of her generation and all of us were saddened by her passing. But, she is truly in a better place. Fr. John Francis told a story during his homily about a woman and her fork.

She wanted to be buried with a fork in her hand. As she grew up, she was always told, "Hang on to your fork." There was something more to come. The woman wanted to be buried with her fork so that everyone would know that she finally had that something more. Uncle Marco put a fork into the flowers adorning the top of her coffin at the cemetery. It brought laughter through the tears and reminded us to be happy for now Auntie Chia is with Uncle Bill and the rest of the family smiling down on us.

Today we gathered one last time to say the final rosary. We prayed. We ate. The children ran around. The older folks talked and laughed. We took pictures. I'm so used to take single shots, not groups. GRRRR...forgot to change the f/stop on the camera and was left with some blurry shots. Those toward the back were...well, part of the background. Live and learn. Are the pictures totally shot?!?! Not to me. They still represent family and the joy we shared today.

Front row: Auntie Binkie, Auntie Eva, Auntie Zina aka Robocop, Mom. Second row: Auntie Marcia, Auntie Fay, Auntie Margaret, Auntie Patty, Auntie Dora. Third row: Auntie Vi, Auntie Jo, Uncle Alfred, Uncle Frankie, Uncle Marco, Uncle Donald.

These are our family's new elders...otherwise known as the "Manams" short for "Manamko'" which means elder in Chamorro. But, that's not all of them. There are more...

Sketchfest Thursday

I'm five for five of the sketchfest! That's five more cards than I had last week. They will all come in handy at some point.



Today I used a kit from 2008 from The Scrapping Spot! I can't remember off the top of my head which month it came from, but it was full of Chatterbox Happy. It was also the kit where Dee crocheted a butterfly. I still have the butterfly! Saving it for something really cool... :) I think I added the Chatterbox Happy stickers to the kit bag after having gotten it from somewhere else. I have no clue! It's been crazy busy around here lately. I can't imagine how I'd be these days if I had a husband and children. Not that I don't want them. I do...just waiting for God's plan there. But, I digress. I purposely didn't tack on a sentiment on this card. I like having a bunch of cards ready for any occasion. Thanks to Heidi for such awesome sketches this week!

Sketchfest Wednesday!

Here's day four of sketchfest!




I used Studio Calico's Playground kit for this one. I added a Jenni Bowlin rhinestone button. I also used Maya Mists in lime and charcoal. I used a the fiskars butterfly shape template as a stencil.

Sketchfest Tuesday and LEO 11

Here's day three of the Caardvark's sketchfest!



I used Studio Calico's July "documentary" kit. The flower came from a tutorial from Lisa at Willow Traders.

I used the same kit to scrap LEO 11 at Willow Traders. The assignment was to sew on a layout. I used the effervescence punch by Fiskars and sewed through the second set of holes with some yellow baker's twine that I got from Michael's.


This is a layout of me with my friend Sarah. Sarah and I met online through The Scrapping Spot's message board. We met in real life for the first time over the summer while I was in Vegas.

Monday's sketchfest

Here's day two of sketchfest at Caardvarks:Monday's sketch.

Here's my take on the sketch:




I used the Bibliography kit from Studio Calico and Tim Holtz's Flights of Fancy stamp set.

Play along with Sketchfest at Caardvarks

There's a sketchfest going on at Caardvarks! Here's my take on the first card sketch:



I used a past Studio Calico Kit and a stamp from Scarlet Lime.

Catching up with the LEOs

LEO 6: Old friends thank facebook
The assignment was to use decorative edges on a layout. I used the Martha Stewart zig zag punch and the Fiskars upper crest punch. I LOVE punches!!



LEO 7: Welcome
The assignment was to use old stash. This kit was from Scarlet Lime 2008.



LEO 8: being a mama
The assignment was to make flowers. I used a tutorial that Lisa had done. Completely CASEd her flowers from the Studio Calico paper bags to the scalloped circle to the use of maya and glimmer mists.



LEO 9: Random Hamdom
The assignment was to scraplift a design team member layout from one of the prize sponsors. I chose a layout by Hillary Hiedelberg from The Scrapping Spot's DT. She had a two-page layout posted, but I'm a mostly one-page scrapper.



LEO 10: growing up
The assignment: "That was then this is now"...in other words scrap a progression of some sort. I chose to scrap pictures of my niece Toria. She was 8 and receiving her first holy communion in the first picture and 15 in the second picture. All grown up, but she'll always be little to me.



It's a somewhat sad weekend for me. Got home yesterday after work to find out that my grandma's youngest sister, Auntie Chia, passed away at noon. No one called to tell me, but then what could I have done? She was the last of their generation. Now they're all dancing happily together.

Catching up with the LEO Challenge

I feel like someone hit the fast forward button on my life this week. Two nights in a row I ate dinner L.A.T.E. I make it a point to eat before 8pm...but two nights I had dinner around that time. UGH. I've still managed to keep up with my LEO stuff though. The one saving grace in the hectic week!!

LEO 3: Use a non-scrappy item. I used the brown paper bag (the strip under the black crepe ribbon) from my Studio Calico kit.




LEO 4: Scrap an OLD photo. This one is O.L.D. From the 50s or 60s...I keep forgetting to ask which decade.




LEO 5:



I used this sketch by Shawn as inspiration for this layout. I also finally got to use my September TSS kit

September LEO Challenge 2

We were given two color palettes to choose from for this challenge. I went with the first one, because that die cut paper matched perfectly!

September LEO Challenge 1

Challenge 1: Choose a layout from the July LEO and scraplift it! I chose this layout by Celeste.



Here's my scraplift:


I used the May 2009 Studio Calico Playground Kit.I added the Jenni Bowlin bingo card from a 2008 kit from The Scrapping Spot.