Weekend Wrap-up

Morning! I had the pleasure of spending an entire weekend at a hockey tournament with the family. Not being tongue in cheek or sarcastic...I was lucky there wasn't a crop scheduled that weekend and I could spend it with them. It was my first and an eye opener for sure. We were in Dover, NH and were in a hotel right in downtown - that was great as the kids could walk around and explore while we, the parents did the same thing. Plenty of great places to check out and eat at. My favorite place to eat was La Festa Brick & Brew Pizzeria with its pizza by the slice and cinnamon knots.

My favorite shot of my favorite player from the weekend...yikes!

Sneaky Sunday

Just Scrappin' Milford is just days away. Here is a sneak peek of our FREE Make n Take...it's a 2 page layout showcasing Echo Park's gorgeous Hello Winter line. Love all the patterns and just perfect embellishments. This layout takes one 3"x3", one 4"x4" and four 4"x6" photos.

Girlie Girls

There is just the one little girl in our family. Admittedly she is the princess of the house. Seriously though, how do you resist this face?

Since I shared teen boy products last month, I am going to share some girl products this month. Not necessarily teen girl but girlie girl products.

Baby Girl collection by Echo Park - love the addition of mint greens and browns

Another baby girl collection, this one by Carta Bella. This one has a beautifully muted vintage vibe to it.

Jack & Jill collection by Echo Park is perfect for little and not so little girls. Love that there is more than pinks in the color scheme.

This Princess collection is perfect for my little niece's photos. Must add to any scrap stash collection ;)

If the little girl in your life is into fairies, this line (Fairy Dust by Kaisercraft) is just perfect for it.

They're in stock and ready to go home with you. Let me know if you would like me to set a pack aside for you. Have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend wrap-up

I spent a wonderful weekend with the Cool Crops Crew and thoroughly enjoyed teaching the Crazy Birds card class to two amazing groups of ladies. It was a TON of fun getting messy with inks and the coloring was so calming.

 A couple of reviews from the class...

"This class is just awesome" and "I learned so much and had such a great time in your class"

Thank you ladies! I had a great time sharing my limited ink & water coloring knowledge with you.

 It was also a super cold Valentine's Day with the ladies. Good thing scrapbooking is in indoor sport ;)

Weekend wrap-up

This weekend consisted of hockey, basketball, shopping and more hockey...all on a Saturday. The highlight was Jori's basketball team won the championship by a point with a buzzer beater 3 pointer...after being down 25 points at the half. Exciting nail biter to say the least. Sunday we went to a late mass before coming home to get ready for our traditional Chinese New Year hot pot/shabu/steamboat dinner while watching the superbowl. It wasn't the most interesting or exciting game but dinner was delicious.

Today is the first day of the Chinese/Lunar New Year and we would like to wish you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous year of the monkey!

Fave Finds: Lunar New Year & Valentine's edition

The Lunar New Year falls on February 8 so I thought I'd do a combination New Year & Valentine's edition Fave Finds post.

In love with these Lunar Animals stamp set from Mama Elephant

Maybe these Paper Fortune Cookies will make a dent in my paper stash. I'm thinking this would make a great gift in a takeout container filled with fun or inspirational quotes.

Some fun Chinese New Year traditions to try...my boys' favorite are the hong bao's!

If you're into horoscopes, here is the Chinese Zodiac 2016 Horoscope

Can't go wrong with Free Valentine's Day printables to decorate with. 

Great ideas for a Valentine's day photo shoot...I especially like girl with umbrella photo series.

Another great sketch on the Sketchabilities blog...too bad they shut it down in the fall.

Totally going to make these Star Wars Valentine's for my boys!

And for a yummy alternative to Pad Thai, try this Malaysian Char Koay Teow dish.

February Special

For my February Special, I am offering a pre-order for delivery at Cool Crops Andover and beyond of Tim Holtz's crazy birds stamps, dies and accessories. 

Why pre-order? 

I don't carry many of these in stock plus I'm offering 20% OFF your pre-order and FREE shipping. Deadline for orders are 9am Friday 2/5.
Prices added below images - before discount.

Bird Crazy Stamp Set $21.95; Thinlits $29.99

Mini Crazy Birds & Things stamp set $29.95; thinlits $39.99

Crazy Things Stamp Set $29.95; Thinlits $39.99

Crazy Thoughts $21.95

Crazy Cats Stamp Set $21.95; Thinlits $29.95 - coming in April

Weekend wrap-up

I had a blast at Scrap-A-Way's Mom n Me crop. It was a pleasure sharing new tricks with such talented and creative ladies. The girls were up for everything I threw their way including getting totally messy with inks and a water sprayer.

Even the mom's got in on the action with a request that I teach them the class I designed for their daughters! Some of the girls came in to take the class again with their moms because they loved it so much. So sweet!

Thank you ladies for a wonderful snowy weekend. I made it home with 20 minutes to spare before heading back out to a hockey game followed by a 8pm bonus I forgot to mention baseball practice. Here's a pic of my trusty sidekick waiting with me...with the air cranked to 78 and his seat warmer on, spoiled brat!

Sneaky Sunday

Have you seen these super cute Crazy Birds stamp set by Tim Holtz & Stampers Anonymous? I finally got my hands on a set plus accompanying dies (coming soon...I had to hand cut these guys) and started playing with them last weekend. The result of my crafty session is a new class called Distress with the Crazy Birds. In this inky card class, we'll put together 4 cards and learn different techniques to use distress inks in our crafting. I will be offering this class starting in February and cost will be $20. 

Bonus: Class participants receive 20% off purchase of products used in class.

Please bring your favorite distress ink colors and blending tools (if you have them) and adhesive. Everything else will be provided.

Boys will be Boys

Boys dominate our family...as you can see from this photo - and older pic and the little ones are missing but you get the idea.

My boys have boy cousins on both sides of the family and even in the larger gatherings with second cousins and beyond, it's mostly boys except for a few token girls here and there. Needless to say, I have plenty of boy photos to scrap. What I had found lacking in the scrapbooking market was teen boy products. In the last year, there has been a few teen boy products coming on the market. If you have a teenage boy that you're scrapping, check these lines out...

 So Rad by Simple Stories - they even have an idea e-book

 Off the Wall by Kaisercraft - all shades of blue and just perfect for any boy related photos

 #Teen by FabScraps - they even have co-ordinating laser cut chipboard title/embellishments

 Game On by Echo Park - perfect line for the gamers in your life. Time to get some pics of my boys and their cousins going at it when they're together and across the miles...technology can be pretty amazing.

Jack and Jill by Echo Park - another nice all around boy line that applies to boys big and small. Especially love the colors and addition of dad embellishments...perfect for father son photos.

I have all of these lines in stock and am looking forward to sharing them with you - and of course playing with them myself for my gajillion boy photos.

Weekend wrap-up

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend even with the rain/snow, cold temps and more snow. It was nice to have the sun out yesterday. We had a weekend filled with sports and places to be but still managed to squeeze in family and friends time.

 I also spent some time in my scrap cave designing and prepping a class for the "Me's" at an upcoming Scrap-A-Way Mom n Me crop. They will put together 5 cards and will be playing with some fun techniques plus using up some rolls of washi tape. Looking forward to a productive week. 

Stay warm my friends!

Sneaky Sunday

A new class designed for Scrap-A-Way's Mom n Me crop next weekend. You have a choice of Max (boy)

or Molly (girl). 

We'll play with a variety of patterns, strips and stickers to put together a stunning layout that features your son/daughter. If there are kits left, they will be available in store as layout kits.

Weekend Wrap-up

I had the pleasure of spending the past weekend with the Scrap-A-Way Ladies in Mystic CT. The newly renovated hotel was beautiful but the best part was the company. I had a great time meeting new scrappers and getting reacquainted with scrappers I'd met at previous event.

Class is always a great time especially when the girls get excited about new ideas and cool tools. In this class, they learned to layer and glam up stickers.

It was pouring buckets when it was time to leave but we made the best of it. After all, it could have been worse i.e. 2 ft of snow or a hurricane. I made a pit stop at the Bleu Squid located in the Old Mystic Village for some cupcakes and a grilled cheese for the ride home. So yummy!

Ladies, Thanks for a wonderful weekend...see you soon!

Fave Finds: Winter Edition

1. Love the colors in this layout from BHG...it's also part of a slideshow of other great layouts perfect for scraplifting for winter sports layouts.

2. Nothing like a list of 50 Ways to Make the Most of Winter to help chase away the winter blues.

3. Need to make these DIY hand warmers ASAP. I know they sell hand warmers but it seems like such a waste to be throwing them away and I only use them for a total of 2 hours.

4. An infographic list of how to spice up your hot chocolate - I'm thinking I need to just go down the list and try them all!

5. It is 6F outside as I type up this post and we, me and my boys, will have to head outside when they get home from school to blow Frozen Bubbles!

6. Essentials for snowshoeing...this caught my eye as it's something I've been wanting to try for a while. Any of you snowshoe? Any tips for me?

7. I meal plan and Mondays are SOUPER MONDAY *insert eye roll from my teen boys* and I love this list of 29 Cozy & Delicious Soups to Make this Winter.

8. This card caught my eye and I just had to share. More details on the card can be found at Joyful Creations with Kim.

9. Melted Snowmen cookies...need I say more?

January Bazzill Bulk Buy

A Bazzill Bulk Buy is an opportunity to stock up on Bazzill cardstock at a reduced price.  New to my cardstock bulk buy?  Here's the scoop...

• You will receive 60 sheets of cardstock, 5 sheets each of 12 different colors.
• Price includes tax and shipping to me.
• Price is for local hand delivery only - It does NOT include shipping to you. We can meet up or deliver at an event (check my schedule here).  Cardstock will be available for delivery at Cool Crops Andover and Just Scrappin' Milford.
• Mailing from me to you will be actual USPS cost of $11.25 for a priority flat rate box. I can fit 2 orders in a box.
• Order Deadline is noon, Wednesday Jan 15. 
• Payments accepted via PayPal or checks.

The cost of this month's buy is $28.  Email me (sluvs2skrap at yahoo dot com) to purchase, please include # of buys, payment method and delivery location.

Sneaky Sunday

A sneak peek of January's class - A vintage snowy Christmas 2 page layout using Carta Bella's gorgeous Christmas Wonderland line. Alternately, different embellishments can be used to change it to a Winter themed layout. Layout takes a 5x7, three 3x4's, two 4x4's and a 4x6. Class will be offered at Scrap-A-Way Mystic and Scrap-A-Way Mom n Me. Cost is $10.

Random Friday

When one has EIGHT nephews between one's brother and two brother-in-law's, one has to add a little  humor in one's gift giving. Our newest nephew was born 12/8 and this was his welcome present. Couldn't help it when I saw it. That plus a hand knit blanket just for him.

Isn't he is just precious? We got to meet him on our annual trip to Florida for the holidays and he is such a little peanut.

And the second newest nephew...I just had to share. Don't you just want to squeeze this little guy? I would except he's too far away...so I send virtual kisses and pinches and squeezes, not quite the same though 😩😩😩

Weekend Wrap-up

I guess you could say we had a quiet weekend. One kid was off on a retreat and the other kid had a TON of homework, a practice and a bunch of games.  We got a big chunk of our shopping done, went out for dinner with the kiddo who didn't want his pic taken,

enjoyed the gorgeous weather and cooked a delicious Sunday dinner. I am really liking the two meal a day on Sunday. Late breakfast (after 9am mass so we can sleep in a little) and an early dinner so we can sit down to have meal before CCD (5:45...I know) and hockey games. How was your weekend?

Fave Finds: Handmade Gift Edition

I am pretty crafty and love to give handmade. Since I started knitting, I always have grand plans on knitted gifts and it doesn't really ever happen. Maybe I should start in January, hah, but I am going to attempt a few. Here are a few hopefully quick and do-able handmade gifts that I have on my list.

1. These DIY Notepads look easy enough with scrapbooking paper. A Beautiful Mess has a different  take on DIY Notepads.

2. Letter Photo Art have been on my handmade gift list for the longest time...I even have photos to spell out our last name but could never find the right frame. Love the idea of smaller frames attached to a bigger piece. 

3. I've made one of these scarves, and it was quick and easy. Maybe I can handle one or two before the holidays.

4. Customized shirts are super easy gift if you have a Cricut or Silhouette and a stash of heat transfer vinyl.

5. I doubt I am fast enough to tackle this Knit 10 gifts in 10 days list but I'd sure like to try.

6. These Marbled Clay Ring Dishes would be a nice gift for the ladies.

7. Another knitting gift, this "The Big Hat" for my fellow crossing guard friend with the

reflective yarn.

8. Monogrammed mugs filled with hot chocolate is another quick and easy handmade idea. Not ready to hand draw, then cut out a monogram using vinyl on your die-cutting machine.

9. No time for handmade...how about making a memory instead? Here's a great list of memory-making ideas.

Share A Layout - find other layout

Another in my series of duplicate layouts. It definitely makes things easier when a paper pack has duplicates. I didn't have the same tags or buttons but no matter. It was even easier since I used the same photos for both layouts. Kiddo #3 belongs to a friend that came with us.

Mystery Boxes!!!

I have the month of December off from crops and will be using the time to organize and prep for 2016...new classes, new layout kits and more fun products. Before I do that, I need to make room and that is to your benefit. Over the weekend, I put together TEN Mystery Boxes...yes only 10. 

Each box is filled with an assortment of products - cardstock, letters, paper packs, layout kits, embellishments, etc. . You will get over $100.00 retail value of merchandise for ONLY $45.00 shipping included (Continental US only).  And to make this steal even better, I will be adding a $25 Time2Scrap gift certificate  to one of the boxes!!!  

To purchase a box, email me at sluvs2skrap@yahoo.com and I will send you an invoice via paypal. First come first serve!