Remembering Pandi

One year ago today, my little sisfur crossed the bridge. She was 17 years old and lived the best life a dog could have asked for :) And she had the best parents who loved her dearly!!!

I went thought my old pictures this weekend and found some of Pandi growing up. It was so fun to reminisce and see her as a pup again :) I thought I'd share a slide show I put together.

A picture slideshow by Smilebox

And here is the layout I made last year after she passed. I was never more happy that I had this photo taken!!!

To Mom, Dad and Lucky: You are in my thoughts today!

10-10-10

Today I want to share a layout with you I did a while back. Looking at the calendar and seeing 10-10-10, it automatically made me think of this layout :) This layout is about 4 years old, but in reading through it, I realize that I love Jesse for all of the same reasons I did back then :)

(click on photo to enlarge)

1. The little things you do for me.

2. Your work hard/play hard manner.

3. Your need for adventure.

4. That fact that you love to get out and have a good time. 5. The way you come up behind me while I'm cooking and give me a hug...just to show you love me :)

6. The way you love the animals and spoil them.

7. The love you have for your family.

8. Laying on the couch with you getting to tickle your back.

9. The fact that you are perfectly happy sitting home watching movies on a Saturday night.

10. The way you are with children and the way you play with Dawson. (And now, Brody and Nicole too.)

What 10 things do you love about someone or something? Take time to jot it down today :)

The Dalai Lama Layout

The Dalai Lama came to Iowa back in May and one of my clients and her son were lucky enough to see his presentation. What a wonderful experience that must have been!

I pulled colors from the booklet and the ticket for the page and used these items right on the page itself. I mimicked the gold border on the booklet as well for the border on the page. I made a pocket for the booklet and let it stick out and used the top wording for the title of the page. I finished off the page with words from the booklet and some oriental coins. There is also a blank journaling spot for her to write about the visit.

I love using memorabilia along with photos on layouts and enjoyed putting this page together :)

Scrapbooking and the Economy!!!

I guess it was only a matter of time before our current economic situation hit the scrapbooking industry!

I found out last week that my main wholesaler would be going out of business! They were my first wholesaler and the best as far as I'm concerned! They had low piece minimums, low ordering total minimums, always stocked the new stuff...I could go on and on!!! I'm in the process of getting my last order together so I get stocked up!

Then, this week, I opened my latest edition of Simple Scrapbooks Magazine and found out they are going out of business as well!!! My latest edition is also my last!

This magazine holds a special place in my little scrapbooking heart because it was the first (and so far only) magazine I was published in. It has been a long-standing goal of mine to be published and Simple made it happen :)

Here is the layout I made about being published. Where the blue meets the red at the top...it creates a pocket. I was featured in the local newspaper and on a local website after I was published, so these items will go in the pocket :)

Is the economy hitting your craft? What are you doing to cope? And if you have any great paper crafting wholesalers...I'd love to hear about them :)

Prom...A Walk Down Memory Lane!

Local proms are officially under way! I always like to look at all the beautiful dresses the girls choose! All the bright colors and beadwork...so gorgeous! This got me thinking about my own proms...and I got to looking at old photos :) One of my favorite things to do by the way!

My junior prom we went all out...dress, flowers, tux, matching car...the works! We attended the dinner, the dance, and the after-prom events. We danced and had a good time :) Here's an old layout I found to share with you:

My senior prom was a little different. I never was much into school dances...I think I only attended 2 or 3. My dress cost about $40, I did my own hair...and we rode a dirt bike!!! It really wasn't supposed to be the plan, but the other car broke down and the dirt bike was clean :) Everyone got a good laugh out of it! We stayed long enough to watch the crowning of the king and queen and left! I thought you'd enjoy these photos:

Hope you are enjoying all the local proms in your area. Maybe you have kids attending or you just like to see all the pretty dresses that the girls choose :)

Thanks for the Inspiration!!!

I have to thank Bri at TheCraftBegins for the inspiration behind this new layout :) I entered one of her blog contests and unfortunately did not win. You want to know the cool part though...she sent me a consolation prize just for entering!!! How thoughtful was that!

She actually sent me a felted pin...but you know me...I made it into a scrapbook embellishment :) The colors of the flower were the inspiration for the color combo on this layout. I hardly ever use these colors, but they were so great for a page about our spring walk that it was just too perfect!

I used scalloped cardstock for the base of the page to add a little fun detail. The next layer is patterned paper and then another layer of cardstock. I traced a punched circle and cut it out by hand to make the orange scallop borders on the top and bottom of the green cardstock. I used lots of cute buttons and flowers to go along with the flower that Bri sent and made sure to put everything in visual triangles. The felted flower, the flower at the top right corner, and the flowers at the bottom left corner all create a visual triangle. Also, the buttons do the same thing. The buttons at the top right, bottom left, and then the one in the middle of my O for the title. This is something I always try and do on my pages to draw the viewers eye into the page :)

I was so glad I created this page :) I may have photos from 5 years ago that need scrapbooked still, but these more recent photos were more inspiring and I wanted to get them put together. Did you know that's okay? To scrapbook out of order? Of course it is! There are no rules to scrapbooking remember...just have fun :)

Whoooo Loves You

I actually got a layout done...for myself! It felt so good to just play and create and be selfish and do it all for ME :) I'm a little behind in getting this posted...as I actually did this page over Christmas break! But better late than never, right? And a special thanks to marymarsh for the deer and owl embellishments :) I entered Mary's blog contest...and won these cute little guys! I was really impressed with the way Mary had them all bundled up in this cute little bag. The embellishments are really magnets and large paper clips...but a scrapbooker sees embellishments in everything! The deer magnet gave me the idea to use teal in the page...inspiration comes from everywhere :) And don't forget about my two Blog Giveaways going on right now! Check my last two posts for details :)