Organization might be key

I'm usually throw it all in a box or bin type of gal

and let it go at that.

HOWEVER,

It was making me crazy - as bad as when my scrap bin gets out of control

 so imagine that with tons of die cuts and punched out items in it.

(I didn't think to take a die cut bit photo so to help your imagination

I have a photo of my scrap bin.

It was driving me crazy digging around for stuff I KNOW

is in there somewhere for my page which

took longer than actually grabbing the punch or die cut

and just making the embelli I want which

sort of defeated the idea of the die cut bin. LOL.

When I lack mojo and have lots o'scraps I'll get out

punches and diecuts and just go to town.

Also my pal Holli helps out with punches and dies that I

don't have in setting me up with stuff.

Sooooooo double the fun!

Anyway I had these deviled egg trays laying around doing nothing

and that black tray was full of stuff that would never

be used so I chucked out the stuff that was in the black tray,  cleaned up

the egg trays and very meticulously 

separated all the embellishments so I can find them.

What a concept eh.

We shall see how this works and how long it lasts.

My area is located by the sliding glass door to the lanai and

it gets mighty windy some days.

I'm hoping to use them all before the wind blows. 

LOL.

It also doesn't take into account the itty bitty stuff.

That has its own dedicated bowls.

I seriously need a bigger area.

Or less stuff.

All about the numbers

Love Basic Grey - especially this old paper that

has numbers and problems that are

important to denote birthdays.

 Since Owen is a numbers guy (and also an origami folding guy)

I knew this would be perfect for the celebration.

 I have a lot of moose where that came from and you'll be seeing them. LOL.

Added some die cuts and really OLD Tim Holtz grunge

with the hash tags and number.

Also used some really OLD paint as well.

I'm actually shocked I had semi-matching colors.

Very fun!

Fun Fussy Cut Critters

I had a really good time with the Echo Park Autumn line

for this photo. Actually all the pages I did with the line were fun.

So because the photo is adorable, more adorable

was required and this fun critters fit the bill.

 Not only adorable critters, but mushrooms and hearts.

The  annual cousin photo this year and oh my

they are growing so fast.

Love how it turned out.

Different/Not Different

in a layout/design perspective but once it was completed

it looks like all my other pages.

 Shocking right?

I actually follow a bunch of designers that make beautiful

pages that are really really different from my pages.

I admire those that a. rock the mixed media, b. rock the minimalist look

with few well placed embellishments c. rock the layering.

 However, I do love the outcome.

Studio Calico mostly.

Family photo that is so adorable. 

Love August and I'm betting she was the best behaved too.

Scrappin' the Scraps

My scrap box was getting out of control at the same

time my mojo was at a low so I

broke out all my diecuts and punches and scraps

(oh my)

and went crazy.

Also, this mini album arose out of the scraps as well.

And it is meant to be lighthearted fun.

 Using a lot of scraps and diecuts I decided

the book would be sorta about me.

Mostly favorite friends and events.

One of my favorite pix with my honey slurping

down a most delish ice cream cone.

And my favorite bird stamp. 

 Got some PL cards in there as well and that

pile is slooowlly dwindling.

 Also got rid of some leftover embellies and

added them for no reason.

 Couldn't NOT have some selfies going on and of course,

snap chat that I can finally get through

without the help of 10 year olds and younger LOL.

 There is even A LIST in there.

Gasp.

 Love the edge that the "notebook" papers give.

They are leftovers from the smash book

I used on my "leaf peeping tour" that didn't quite

make the cut. (It was a wedding planner album after all).

 And I totally had to scrap about me and Holli's at

home crops. Mostly meeting at her house 

because she HAS A TON OF ROOM and TONS

of STUFF IN THE ROOM.

And of course the punch!! had to be documented.

I know you've heard me whine about losing this punch.

It was not only a favorite but the first punch I ever bought.

So my pal would punch different colors for me to use at home

and then for Christmas my pal not only gave me

one, but there's a smaller one!

And of course those adorable critters.

 Wouldn't be a complete album without my

Crossfit adventures and family.

I have been trying to get that heart on something

for like EVER.

Shane doodled on everything and I have made a page

about those way in the past.

Couldn't find said page, so it must be way in the past.

 Finishing up with some PL cards.

Love how it turned out. Very fun, goofy and eclectic.

Documenting artwork

Love documenting kidlets artwork because

it does, at times, have a short shelf life or the over abundance

of it gets out of control so its good to keep a record.

I actually knew Angry Bird. 

Shocking I know. 

But what a great likeness that is and it does

look so cool and makes me wish I had some talent like that.

It's a simple, yet colorful 8x8 page with

a faux tag, a neat embossed feather courtesy of Miss Holli

who very patiently cut a bunch for me

and a brad. I haven't used brads for ages-remember

when they where hot.

And of course that Tim Holtz bird and words.

That green dot looked more blue.

Sigh.

The moose punch

Got together with my pal Holli over at her 

awesome scrap room.

I could totally shop there.

Anyway, she purchased this moose punch and made

me a herd of mooses to use at home.

Love that.

Love the quaintness of the photo and it totally called for a moose.

Like seriously.

Of course it needed a festive bow.

And how about those marshmallows in the hot cocoa.

Love how it turned out.

I was trying to pull colors for the mists from the photo

and I may have missed (get it). LOL.

Tucked in the glassine bag that is part of the mat,
is a PL card that says "It's the little moments that make life big."
AND journaling can be added to the back.

Studio Calico, Heidi Swapp mists, HL stamp, QK tag and frame.

Papers from the Smash book

These papers were leftover from the album I made 

for the 2016 Leaf Peeping Tour and were

taking up a lot of room in my scrap basket which

has totally runneth over. (more about that later).

 Love the edges when I pulled them out of the notebook

so I kept them as they add lovely texture.

I have been wanting to do this photo for a long time

and just couldn't decide what I wanted to do.

It totally worked out with these papers

and I got to use some girly stickers I had laying around for ages

The packaging technique helped pull colors around.

Mostly Studio Calico, K&Co, Shimelle diecut, thickers, and no clue on the stickers.

Mist swirls that didn't quite work out

I have done them before - stealing the idea from Nancy/Kitty Scrapper

and loved them and I have to admit it did look good

on the paper when I first did it 

UNTIL

I put stuff on top and no matter how I changed things it

still looked dumb.

So therefore, after screwing with it some more behind

the scenes, adding more mist splatters and sworls (like I thought that would help)
which made it look even worse, therefore,
 I decided to chuck that background
paper and slap the rest of it on another paper that I
totally love so much better.

So there.

For some reason I don't have a berry and leaf punch

so I faked it with a Martha Stewart

leaf punch and a hole punch.

Fussy cut the "kids" out of the tag sheet and love

the title - a wood veneer from Michael's $1.50 bin I painted
with SC color theory primrose.

SO when something's not working out - undo and scissors
to the rescue. It's not like it's never been done before by yours truly. LOL.

Pebbles, Nuvo.

8x8 size for an everyday moment

Love how this turned out and the size.

I was going to use this paper for another photo and it 

didn't quite work out.
This photo really worked well for it.

Love the transparencies where I layered on two.

Anyone else have issues with the tiny attacher bending

the staples when they go in???

Raise your hand if that makes you crazy.

I can't figure out why it happens.

Anyhoo, love that an everyday moment was caught -

Ms Amelia playing with play doh.

Going round in circles

Broke out the ole circle scissors.

I have a love/hate relationship with that tool mostly

because I'm highly uncoordinated.

Using the packaging technique with mists I pulled the colors

from the washi tape that came in the Studio Calico November kit.

I miss my firework, splash, grass punch.

It just disappeared one day and I KNOW I would NEVER

have given it away.

These splats are courtesy of my pal Holli who punched

a bunch in advance for me.

I think this turned out to be very fun with the circles and the mists.

Once again are those MAMBI alphas.

Studio Calico.

Owen riding the waves....

Fixing up an unwanted smudge

Nothing worse than having an accident on an almost completed page.

Sigh.

In the upper left corner where that flower sits innocently

I was adding some Nuvo dots.

I was quite successful adding them on the right side of the flower

and down by the butterfly but on the left side

the dots ran together and looked like a bug so I took

a wipe and made a huge black smudge

that no amount of cleaning up was gonna make it right.

Of course I was annoyed, really annoyed. 

Since I cut the paper down to 8x8 I had extra so I cut

a 1/2 inch piece and decided to run it all the way down the side.

Which looked well stupid.

UNTIL

I added stitching and now it looks like I meant to do that.

Love it when a plan comes together.

Cough cough.

Studio Calico, WRMK, and MAMBI alphas (again).

Presplatted paper and Arrows

The brown and gold splats came with the paper

and it was perfect for this

series of photos.

Of course I had to add more colorful splats with some hearts and stars.

 I thought arrows would be fun to roll through with the photos.

 Stamping some fun thoughts and that title is perfect.

TA-DA Annie caught the football

Fun page that helped in jump starting the ole mojo.

Studio Calico everything except the Quickutz arrows.

Tags that can be Tree Ornaments

Hopefully!

Hoping the grandkidlets will love them as they

did the ribbons and maybe think about hanging them

on their trees!

Had a fun time making these - mostly all hand 

and fussy cut and really so easy to do.

The trees were made from various project life cards that

sort of had "Christmas" colors and

it was easy to just slice on the diagonal.

The "Merry Christmas" was a stamp I found when cleaning

out my stamps. (Who knew).

My thought was to layer up different size tags, 

thus the gold color but it looked

well goofy and cluttered

so I just fussy cut the sentiment out and ditched the 

multiple tags idea.

Stamped the date with a library stamp from Studio Calico-

love that stamp by Shimelle and use it ALOT.

 Those MAMBI alphas that I didn't think I'd love

seems to be appearing on ALOT

of projects lately.

The stars are punched from some gold glitter paper I picked up

and love having on hand so I'm not running

out of enamels AND I use them with my heart punch

or with any punch which is not only very cost effective and unlimited uses.

Kardashians at the zoo!

 And I was totally clueless.

Like for real.

I happened to be in the elephant zone

when there was a big hubbub going on and there

were tons of cameras everywhere as opposed to cameras

in the zoo.

So of course, I joined the hubbub and just took pictures

all the while asking people what was a happening.

Turns out I had to resort to asking people younger than umm.....

30?? LOL!! to identify who was causing all hubbub

(and there was a lot).

I have to admit I was really kind of disappointed because

I didn't and don't follow the Kardashians

but decided in the end it would be fun to have gotten

them on my SD card.

Polar bear and the yellow ball

I have made some progress. Yay!!!

Almost finished the tags for the grandkidlets!! Yay!

Got my teeth cleaned. Not fun.

Had peeps over for dinner. Lots of fun.

Finally got off the Candy Crush level I had been on for MONTHS. Yay!

Got some new pix in!!! Yay!

Grass chomping giraffe

Every now and then I truly get lucky with the shots.

Probably should've been a camel since its hump day,

but alas no camels at the zoo.

Not much happening at the Murphy's - however,

the weather is beautiful here - a balmy 71

already this a.m.

Got some things rolling on the desk.

Making Christmas tags for the grandkidlets.

We'll see how these roll.

Oh Oh - I did order their presents on Amazon

and they are being shipped in rapid 

order - however, they are not going to get

them until after Christmas.

Sigh.

But won't they be surprised. LOL!!!

Crocheting a baby blanket and because of the ole

fingers, I have to use a bigger needle

and thread now - because that thin stuff

really racks my fingers and they

are not happy for a long time after.

I'm not sure how I feel about the blanket being "bigger."

Babies should have small and dainty.

However, will anyone but me know the difference??

Who doesn't love a koala bear

It's funny, life has a rhythm and ours seems to have 

a steady beat.

I like that.

Even when we're on the road.

Koalas are adorable and their rhythm is really

really fall asleep slow.

Even with the holidays the beat seems to remain the same.

I like that too.

Have you started decorating for the holidays?

We haven't yet.

Haven't done any Christmas shopping yet either

but I have an idea for the grandkidlets.

Hopefully it'll all fall together before Christmas

because I only had 11 months to get it rolling LOL!!

I gots nada!!!

I've been working on a gift that's really

not needed for a few months but I wanted to get it done

early (what a concept) than wigging out 

on getting it done on time.

I've also been on a big reading kick.

And then, of course there's the holiday excuse.

And did I take pix of Thanksgiving??

No.

Sigh.

The turkey ribbons were a hit.

Besides its the holidays.

What better time to take a semi break.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's been busy.

I've been mojoless.

So a break its gonna happen

for a few days!!

Have a wonderful time, enjoy family and friends

and hope your mojo flows!!!

Sunflowers appear to be popular this year

Got some more grands in the sunflower field

and it looks like they were having fun.

I love sunflowers and out west they are abundant and

beautiful everywhere.

So I do own a sunflower stamp and used it here

because why not.

Had some issues with the ole nuvo dots (and who doesn't)

but I feel it adds to the charm because

flower and particularly their center are not perfect.

Tossed about some watercolors as well and

doesn't that envelop make you swoon. 

Love the rustic-ness it brings.

I'm very glad that the grandkidlets (all of them)

are total posers and I get a lot of photos

otherwise wouldn't have a lot of to scrap about really.

An 8x8 of PinkFresh except for the hello (studio calico)

and no clue about the stamp - probably from M's.

I'm thinking posts will be slim this week with Thanksgiving prep
even though my sweet SIL is taking over.
How about you?
Got stuff rolling???

Turkey ribbons

I must apologize for the photo quality and since these 

bad boys have been mailed - this is it.

So shock upon shock 

I didn't have a turkey stamp, sticker or die cut.

No clue how that happened so I stopped by HL and picked

up the one and only turkey stamp they had.

Another shock, (I know they're coming fast) they didn't have

turkey stickers either. 

Also I shocker I only have 2 granddaughters yet I 

ended up with more girly colors on the turkeys.

I used water color pencils to color them in because

I was totally out of control and a danger 

to all stamped turkeys using regular watercolors.

Anyhoo, if you follow Ashi (Soaphousemama) you know

I jacked these fun ribbons from her.

I wanted to change up doing the cards and I also

had the presence of mind to add

a Zot on the back to they can either wear them or 

stick them somewhere.

I totally used a bunch of scraps too.

And I used punches though I did cut the banners

by hand.

Each one has their name on it by MAMBI alphas.

Keeping in touch with the grands

with snail mail.

Sometimes the old school technology works best.