I gave in!

Well, I gave in to the 40% off entire purchase coupon, but I was so good. I only bought basic supplies that I needed, and not one piece of patterned paper followed me home! My favorite thing that I bought was a set of the new Cricut pens, so I had to come home and try them out! I made this card from scraps just so I could try it -- I can see a lot of potential with these!

What can you do with a couple sheets of patterned paper?

I first pulled out this paper to make this accordian album for my Grandpa, commemoration the big get-together we had for his 76th birthday. I had 2 sheets of each pattern (stripes and polka dots), and I had so much left over I decided to use it for cards as well! Even still, I have enough left over for an 8x8 layout, at least. You can really make a little go a long way when you're scrapping! This pp is from Wild Asparagus, and the pre-made album is from DCWV.






This fun Donald card is for the little son of a friend of my aunt's who is undergoing major surgery tomorrow. He LOVES Donald Duck. I was happy to have an opportunity to use my Disney cartridge again, and Sammy had a blast putting this card together with me. I'm definitely going to let him help me put together an autograph book for our trip to Disneyland in a few weeks!



I really don't like this last card much, but I thought I'd include it since I'm talking about how many projects you can get out of just a few supplies. This is a super quick card for a guy.

Ack, the temptation!

I am doing so well with my spending ban, but the WORST temptation just landed right in my mailbox! My favorite LSS just sent me a 40% off ENTIRE PURCHASE coupon, good only on -- you guessed it -- October 31st. The last day of my absolute ban! Do I give in? It's only one day! And there are a few things I really need, so wouldn't it be more responsible to get them when I have such a great deal in hand?! Or shall I be strong for the sake of principle?! I'm dying here!

PS -- if any of you Utah folks want a 40% entire purchase coupon for Roberts, just holler at me!

Smile!

I've been nominated by my lovely friend Carol for a You Make Me Smile award!



This really makes me smile, because Carol makes me happy and I'm glad to know I can do the same for her! The best thing about being online is that you get to make friends with people you'd never otherwise meet. Thanks, Carol!

I know most of these people have probably already been nominated for this award, but here are my blogging friends who really make me smile (links to all these blogs can be found at left):

TeriBeri
Regina Easter
Carol (back at ya!)
Sonia
Patsy J
Ang


Thanks!

A cute album of my cute little nephew!

I made this album for my SIL for her birthday. The pictures are really the star of this book -- aren't they amazing? My brother took them -- if you're in Utah, you should totally check out his photography website www.capturethem.com. He's awesome! He's taken some totally precious pics of my two boys you'll see in an album soon!

Anyway, back to facts... I used a handy-dandy swatch book from Daisy D's for the pages. These books are SO great -- 24 double-sided pages, already pinked, in 12 different designs. I just painted around the edges of the photos and slapped 'em on! I also added some buttons, Quickutz rub-ons, and Making Memories quote strips. I put the whole thing together with my bind-it-all. On the inside cover I cut a daisy from the Walk in My Garden cartridge at 2 1/2" and a Making Memories pocket. The stamp is from Autumn Leaves. And by the way, my spending ban is still in full swing -- who knew I had such great stuff in my stash?! TFL!

Tagged!

My very lovely and talented friend Carol has tagged me, so now I get to share with you all seven facts about myself!

1. I am the oldest of ten kids -- 6 girls and 4 boys! We are a tight family and love spending time together, which means I will never, ever run out of things to scrap! (Or reasons to make cards and gifts, since there are always birthdays coming up!)
2. I lived in Denmark for a year and a half as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). I've been home for almost 6 years now, but I try really hard to keep up my Danish and keep in touch with people there.
3. I am allergic to cats, dogs, birds, and pollen. I've considered telling people I'm allergic to seafood because I REALLY hate it, but so far I've always chickened out! :)
4. I LOVE to sing. I took voice lessons during high school and the first part of college, and I used to sing with a huge choir called the Mormon Youth Chorus (if you've heard of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, this was the young-adult version of it back in the day).
5. I have lost 52 lbs so far this year!
6. I hate doing housework. There are SO many things I would rather be doing (and no, not ALL of them are scrap-related...) I can nearly always find something that definitely needs to be done first. This is something I'm working on overcoming.
7. We're going to Disneyland with our kids for the first time in November! We're very excited, and I'd love any great tips you Disney-maniacs have (I know you're out there!)

Okay, I'd like to tag Ang (http://angscrappinspace.blogspot.com/), Patsy Jackson (http://patsy-j.blogspot.com), Sonia (http://skscrap.blogspot.com), Teri (http://teriberi2.blogspot.com) and Tammy (http://ncscrapaddict.blogspot.com)(even though she's been tagged before)!

Fun new projects -- spending ban in full swing!

Well, I'm halfway through the month of October and I haven't spent a penny on supplies. Whew! It gets easier as I get out of the habit of checking all the ads and surfing the great shopping sites.

The best part about it is that I've still been having lots of fun creating stuff! Here is a layout I made for my album about my hubby and me. I just took this picture off the wall and decided it needed to be scrapped ASAP so I didn't forget about it, because it's such a fun memory. I haven't been a huge fan of this paper, but it worked just perfectly with the crazy striped shirt I'm wearing. This PP is from DCWV, and the circles and paperclip were cut with the Cricut (George and Fab Fins carts). The big eyelet is from We R Memory Keepers, and the definition strip is from Memory Works.



Part of my "use what you have" quest is to really use up all I have, so after I finished the layout I made some quick cards with the scraps. I was able to get 3 cards AND that layout out of this single piece of PP and a couple sheets of cardstock. Not bad! This "u" stamp is from Pebbles, Inc.



Here are a few of the cards I've worked on over the past couple of weeks. As you can see, I'm still obsessed with scallops! I've created nearly all these scallops with the Coluzzle circle template -- I LOVE doing that!



This one uses an adorable Stampin' Up stamp and some great paper from CTMH. The little flowers are cut with the George cartridge. After I scanned it, I thought it was missing something and I went back and sprayed the whole card with glimmer mist -- very cute touch.



This one is for one of our employees whose cancer has returned. I did these scallops with my corner rounder. The paper is Crate Paper, and the letter stamps and cuts are from the Quickutz Sophisticate set, which I got for $30 at the Scrapbook Expo (score!).



This is another one I made at the expo -- I love this Treehouse Designs paper. The flower is an Autumn Leaves stamp. I used my Cutterbee stitchng piercer to make the holes for the stitching -- just love those things! The rub-ons are from Making Memories.



This is one I made for Regina's BBTB blog (http://regina-bittenbythebug.blogspot.com) -- the challenge this week was using the scallop shapes on the Mini-Monograms cartridge. Right up my alley! I just love this totally fab paper from Sassafrass Lass, too. I also used a Sassafrass Lass stamp to do the dots inside b, and a dymo labeler for "is for birthday."



I made this one at the expo, too -- I just totally fell in love with this Crate Paper doing a make-and-take with it at the expo, so I had to buy some to play with. More scallops, of course, and a flower and oval from the Cricut George cartridge. This rub-on is by Pebbles, Inc., and the giant brad is from We R Memory Keepers.

And last but not least!




If you'd like instuctions on how to make this cool folding card, check out this link:
http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=1154158

Thanks for looking!

My goal for self-control...

Well, I've heard it said that a goal is just a wish if you don't write it down, so I'm going to go public with my goal in the hopes it will motivate me to DO IT. I have been spending WAY too much on craft supplies, and even though I really do use it, I am still bringing stuff in way faster than I'm using it. I think I probably have a year's supply of scrapbook stuff, just waiting to be turned into something wonderful.

I do not, however, think I have the willpower to go a whole year without making a scrapbook purchase. But I'd like to see how long I can do it! My concrete goal is to make it through October without making a single purchase. One week down, and so far I've been good. I haven't even looked at the ads or browsed online. I even had to go to the craft store last week (just for picture frames!) and I did not even stray in the direction of the scrapbook section. The fact that even that is so hard is just evidence to me that I need to work on this goal.

After I make it all the way through October, I will reevaluate. I may need to make some small purchases for necessaries (adhesives and inks are the things I go through fastest), but I am committed that I will not buy any more paper until I have made a significant dent in what I already have. It's pretty sad when I honestly cannot fit a single additional piece of paper into my vertical storage shelves. I am going to get creative and use all the beautiful things I've been collecting! It is my quest to see how long I can go, though it may be hard with all you enablers out there.

I'm trying to decide right now if I should build in an exception for a couple of the new Cricut cartridges coming out between now and Christmas. I wouldn't do it except I had a great Christmas present for my boys and nephews all planned out, and I really need Paper Dolls to make it happen. I think I'll go through my plan and see how much I REALLY need it -- maybe I can do it with what I already have, or even wait until next year. One of my nephews is currently 7 months old and the other is being born today (yippee!), so I don't know that they really NEED an alphabet book right this second. Argh. I'm so excited to make it, though! I think I'll just see how well I can do it without, and if I can't do it without, I'll just use it as a reward if I can make it all the way to the Dec. 1st release date without buying anything.

Wow, that was a lot of rambling. Thanks for hanging in there if you made it this far! Anyone want to join me on this quest?

Thanksgiving card and envelope for BBTB Challenge

Our challenge this week was to use the card and envelope from the Christmas Cheer cartridge, but it didn't have to be for a Christmas card. I decided to go for Thanksgiving instead, and I found this lovely Wild Asparagus paper to fit that theme. The flower is a Quickutz die I just picked up at the Scrapbook Expo, and the stitching embossing around the sentiment is a Cuttlebug embossing folder, which I sanded to make white. On the envelope I made the little tie things by setting a couple of extra large eyelets and wrapping string around them, along with a little tage from Christmas Cheer.

Thank you!

Blogging is a funny thing -- you post comments and projects, but you're never really sure if people see them. But over the past week or so, I've had several unrelated people say, "Oh, I saw that on your blog!" It means so much to me to know that people are actually reading and enjoying my blog, so I just wanted to say thank you to you all! I really appreciate all the warm fuzzies you send me, too. Hope you're having a lovely day!

CD Date Book -- bound with Bind-it-all

This is the project I worked on during the SWARM his past weekend. I made it for a couple different reasons. I'm a consultant for Memory Works, and I've been meaning to make a bunch of products using just the contents of one of the kits (to show in case I ever do get around to having parties and such!). I use my Cricut so much in my paper crafting, I wanted to do this one without. I did use it to cut the circles, but that's all. The pattern papers and chipboard are all from We R Memory Keepers. I bound the book with the bind-it-all -- a little tricky with the cds, so I think I need more practice on that. But I sure like the finished result! And I definitely need a date book -- for being such a dedicated card maker, I sure miss a lot of birthdays and such!