A Plethora of Choices

Call me indecisive. Go ahead. Indecisive. I signed up for Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand class in November. I printed out all the prompts, downloaded all the templates and whatnot she had available and got found a way to display the prompts. I also cut pages, stuck on numbers for dates and put together my album for December Daily, which Ali Edwards does annually. This is the third year I done this. Then I read about Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas. Three ways to document my December. As if I wasn't busy enough. I've decided to use HiH and JYC buffet style. Yup, you read that right: BUFFET STYLE. Just what is buffet style? I'll pick and choose what to do each day...could be something from HiH, JYC or DD ala Ali E. I like the freedom of this type of mini album. It can be as simple or as elaborate as I want. It can have a picture or just a boatload of words.

The cover of my December mini Album.

I used a mix of products from different kit clubs from 2008...Scarlet Lime (barn star, vintage Santa image), , Zany Zinnia (black die cut paper, red and cream paper, felt poinsettia, The Scrapping Spot (Christmas Red stickles and Pink Paislee alpha stickers) and Studio Calico (Melissa Frances bingo album). The green scalloped circle came from Basic Grey's Michael's exclusive paper pad "Mistletoe and Pear" and the Christmas ticket came from THIS BLOG. I also used red Maya Mist (on the ticket) and Evergreen Shimmerz paint (dry-brushed on the barn star and the Santa image edges). Binder rings from my stash.



Inside the front cover I have a calendar where I plan to write all the stuff I've done and/or will be doing during the month. It looks sparse now, but I already have 5 more things to add.



December 1: My so-called "manifesto". I didn't quite follow the assignment for JYC here. But, it's my album so I did it the way I wanted it. The library card was a download by Shimelle.



December 2: another JYC assignment. Weather. No snow here. Wish for snow all the time.



December 3: JYC assignment: Christmas cards. The left page contains one of two Christmas card designs I made for this year using the sketches from the Caardvarks Sketchfest. The right page is a list of people I'll send the cards to. Have to do that soon.

I need to work on this weekend's pages. Feeling a little lethargic. We went to brunch to celebrate Uncle Lloyd's 80th birthday. Water and wind biscuits for dinner.

Gypsy giveaway!

I've been intrigued by the Gypsy by Cricut since I heard about it. I've waffled back and forth about getting one. Custom Crops had it on sale during their Pink Tuesday sale. BUT, the Cricut Expression was also on sale. I have the original bug, the getting of which gave both my friend Jill and me anxiety issues. But, I'd like to be able to cut bigger things especially now that I teach fifth grade. Plus, I had a bad day last Wednesday and needed some retail therapy at 4am Thanksgiving day. Hence the purchase of the E and the Gypsy staying in the Custom Crops inventory. So, where am I going with this post?!?!?

There's a new blog in town... The Gypsy Spot! They're giving away a brand spankin' new Gypsy donated by Custom Crops. I know it's a long shot, but it doesn't hurt to try! Here's the verbiage from their blog:

Yes we are giving away a Gypsy here at The Gypsy Spot. I want to thank Custom Crops for donating a brand new Gypsy (retail value 299.99)..wow. I cant say enough about everyone at Custom Crops. Everyone is always so supportive and helpful. If you have never shopped at their store, you really should give them a visit. Not only will you find everything you need for scrapbooking or card making, but also some wonderful articles for fantastic projects. They also have a Youtube channel where you can enjoy some wonderful videos for awesome projects. There is even new video for husbands or loved ones to guide them with holiday shopping... what an awesome idea. Click on the links to visit : Custom Crops and Custom Crops Videos.

Now for the giveaway. Please spread the word. This is a new blog so we are trying to get the word out so that more can come and participate in the challenges. We love to see everyones Gypsy creations.

The rules :

1) Become a follower of The Gypsy Spot. (If you are already a follower you met the first step).

2) Post a link about this contest on your blog. If you don't have a blog you can start one at blogspot.com. Its very easy and a great way to share your projects with family and friends.

3) Use Mr. Linky box to give us the link to your blog post. (this becomes our entry list and the winner is chosen from here )


Random winner will be selected December 1st. Good luck to everyone.

Excuses, Excuses and some layouts

I. HATE. BEING. SICK. I came down with bronchitis two weeks ago. It's incapacitated me. No gym. No shopping. No nothing. Just in the last couple of days have I been able to teach and talk for longer periods of time without losing my breath. Seven days of Amoxicillin brought the only good thing about being sick...losing 5 pounds. That being said, I can now look forward to Thanksgiving next week and the upcoming holiday season!

I have managed to keep up with the November two a week challenge at Willow Traders. It helps that it's only two layouts a week. *Smile*

Challenge 1--let someone else do the talking. I seriously had trouble coming up with this one, but I was fortunate enough to have Lucas and Jacob here with me one day when we were off.

Kit from Studio Calico.

Challenge2--honor a parent or grandparent. Since I just done a layout of my grandparents for October's challenges, I decided to do one of my mom.

Kit from Studio Calico.

Challenge 3--Leaves. With Autumn happening all around the mainland, I thought I wouldn't be able to pull this off! Luckily we took a "field" trip to the land where the boys will be having their house built.

Kit from The Scrapping Spot.

Challenge 4--Thankful. I figured being "Grateful" meant the same thing!

Kit from Studio Calico.

Challenge 5-gifts. This is a layout of me as a baby circa 1974. I figured it was some time in 1974 because I spent the first few weeks of life in the hospital. No pictures of that!

Kit from Studio Calico.

Challenge 6-beautiful day. I chose to create a layout of some scenery in Kauai from my summer vacation this year.

Kit from Studio Calico.

I've also started putting together my December Daily album for this year. Excited to begin doing that again this year. I'm going to see if there are some things I can use from Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand class.

Christmas is...around the corner?!?!?

I've been seeing Christmas stuff out at our local Kmart for the last few weeks. Halloween stuff on one side of the aisle; Christmas on the other side. Sigh.... pretty soon we'll be seeing Christmas stuff out during the SUMMER. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE CHRISTMAS. Maybe it's because I celebrate my birthday a mere four days before Jesus does, but Christmas is my favorite holiday.

All this holiday stuff is seeping into my skin. I signed up for a free class at jessicasprague.com. I've taken two other free classes there and they were worth the time and effort. I have no idea what this upcoming class at the spraground entails, but I signed up nonetheless. Ali Edwards does a yearly December Daily album. I put one together last year and have hopes for completing another this year. I found a link on Work in Progress' blog for a handmade holiday guide at Skip to my Lou. Sometimes I wish I could quit my job and just hang out in cyber land all day while playing with paper.

Finishing up THAW at Willow Traders

I made it through another month of scrapping challenges at Willow Traders! Here are the last 6 layouts for the month.

THAW #7--Evaluate your life.

Yearbook kit from Studio Calico!

THAW #8--Celebrate your favorite nut. I have two!

Pep Rally Add-on from Studio Calico.

THAW #9--magazine "lift". I lifted one of the "Made in Minutes" layouts in the October 2009 issue of Scrapbooks Etc.

Soda Fountain kit from Studio Calico.

THAW #10--National Denim Day

Combination of past kits from Scarlet Lime and The Scrapping Spot.

THAW #11--spin the color wheel

Yearbook kit from Studio Calico.

THAW #12--National Candy Corn Day

October kit from The Scrapping Spot.

Bad Blogger

I have no legitimate excuse for not blogging lately. I wish had a good excuse like I was saving the world from doom or feeding the hungry. I've done none of those. I've been consumed by Bejeweled Blitz, Farmville and Cafe World on Facebook. It should be renamed "Crackbook". I don't even check the home page most days...peoples' status is of no consequence to the goings on of the above mentioned addictions.

My students are fully immersed in reading The Clay Marble. They clamor for more reading time instead of GASP! Social Studies or Science. Oh the horror! But, I am secretly thrilled that they want to read as opposed to being forced.

Our fourth and fifth graders had the privilege of being visited by the local fire station. It isn't often that we get visitors. Clifford and Smokey visit Headstart and we usually get "a rock". They weren't the only ones to have some fun.



I was the ONLY teacher that this fire fighter asked to try the jacket on. Go me.

On to THAW at Willow Traders! THAW stands for THree A Week. We get three challenges posted the Friday before and each layout is due Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the following week. I do mine during the weekend.

THAW 1: scrap something sweet.


THAW 2: use the entire alphabet.

This one took TWO DAYS to do. All the letters were different colors so I got it in my head to paint them white. I needed two coats to get them white and then had to paint the entire background as well. I am nuts.

THAW 3: was due on National Moldy Cheese Day so we needed circles or triangles, yellow or white and something green.


THAW 4: use a dozen of something. I used those pink and orange thingies.


THAW 5: use your favorite dessert as inspiration for a layout. My fave dessert is tiramisu and used the brown/cream color for inspiration. Plus, we had to use lowercase letters. In all honesty, I chose that color scheme because I had The Scrapping Spot's October kit out and I wanted to scrap Kim's wedding pictures since her colors were...pink and brown.


THAW 6: scraplift a sponsor. I lifted Emelyn's "Sweet sixty-five" layout.

I WON!!!!

When I participated in the sketchfest challenges at Caardvarks, I never expected to get anything out of it except 7 card sketches and 7 cards to use in the future. Imagine my surprise when I checked my messages on my blackberry and saw a feedblitz email for Caardvarks. I went to my beloved MacBook to check if it was for real! Sure enough, when I clicked on my name, my blog came up!!! Thanks CAARDVARKS! You made my day!

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.