Sneak Peek Before the Real Post

I went to dinner with an imaginary friend last week. I had the best time. We ate at El Charro's, the best (I think) Tex-Mex restaurant in town. Afterwards we went to Andy's Frozen Custards. I tried to pick things that were uniquely Tyler. More deets later.

No crafting today

I'm not crafting tonight. I'm having a Pampered Chef party. My mother and I joined a PC club last year. We committed to spend $23 a month for 8 months and got one month of benefits. I had my club meeting in November. My mother's night to be hostess is tonight. The theme for tonight is Valentine's chocolate. I'm going to get the cookware tonight! I'm really excited.

I'm getting excited about Thursday. Lela (from SCS) is on a business trip in Dallas this week. We are getting together on Thursday night. I don't know if I'll cook or if we'll eat out, but I can't wait to get together later this week!

The last two VSBN challeges

Here are my last two VSBN challenges for this round. The second one was just done today.

Je t'aime

This challenge was to scrapbook the loves of your life. I made a page about Roy, my husband. There was extra credit to include a French theme. I've tried to get to this layout for two days now and it's finally on paper. This is my submission for JAN09VSBNI. I used a very old sketch - SBSC39 - as my starting point though I did make a few changes. There's not a lot of stamping, but I adore the Urban Garden paper and wanted to keep the overall feel masculine. I also wanted to do a lot more journaling on the page than I am used to doing. I did throw in my only French set - Carte Postale. I included the Mon Amie stamp (My Friend). I had planned to use some of the other stamps as elements on the page. I just ended up liking the simplicity of the page too much to add those. I really like the journaling. Rereading it made me cry. I think it's good because it made my mother cry too. It's very sweet.

me

This challege was the most difficult for me. I never scrap myself. I included almost every picture I have of me in the past three years. I'm always snapping the pictures and don't get in them often. This is the last VSBN challenge I'll be able to get in under the deadline. I hadn't had time to work on it all week long and finally made time today. I used the Pencil Lines sketch 119. I also tried a new technique to me - sanding photos. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm also finding that I'm going to my distressing tools and sewing machines more often.

Two More VSBN challenges

Girl Time - One of my favorite things

This challenge was to scrap your favorite things using your favorite things. JAN09VSBNG submission. This was a hard one for me! I couldn't find pictures that fit want I wanted. I used one of the Got Sketches? that I loved but never got a chance to use. It was also a starting point for the JAN09VSBNF challenge. Journaling says: Eliza. Eva Grace. Girl time. Scrapbook sketches. Ribbon. Anything metal, especially Hodgepodge. Brads. Sweet girls. A few of my favorite things.

Dream House

Submission for JAN09VSBNH. The challenge was to scrap something new and to stamp on acrylic somewhere in the layout. This is our current house. These are pictures that I took when we looked through the house the last time before making an offer. We did make some changes before moving in but only a few. We had the carpet in the master bath removed and replaced with 18" travertine. We also removed the carpet in the living room, hallway, and formal dining and had a wide dark walnut put in. Everything else - including the paint - stayed the same.

VSBN - spread out

I've not been on in a couple of weeks. I participated in SCS's VSBN last weekend. VSBN is Virtual Scrapbook Night, but it actually lasts three days. There are challenges posted every two hours starting Friday night. There are challenges all day Saturday and much of Sunday. You have two hours to complete the challenges if you are participating in the contests, but you are welcome to complete them at any time in the future. I'm a bit OCD about certain things so I have a ritual I follow. I don't peek ahead (even though I'm done with all the pages I'll submit for the contests) and I have to do them in order, even when I get behind during the challenge weekend.

This round of VSBN I was able to complete seven of the challenges and making fourteen total pages. I'll upload them in a few blog posts so it doesn't take forever!

Acolyte

JAN09VSBND submission using Sally's sketch. I did alter the LO a little and I added the right page. I'm also working on my distressing techniques. The week Eliza was scheduled to be an acolyte for chapel her 4K year, happened to fall on Halloween. That year she wanted to dress up like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I couldn't find a costume that didn't look cheap and tacky (in my opinion) so I decided I was smart enough to make one, right? I took homemaking in high school (who's counting decades?) and I have several college degrees. That counts for something, right? I'll take a break from the story for those of you having to clean the beverage you spewed laughing at the thought of me sewing. Ok, time's up. I stayed up all night (yeah, I waited until the day before) trying to sew this costume. I laid it out, cut the pattern (I did have the sense to buy a pattern) and tried to piece it together. It never really worked. I'm sure I bought a faulty pattern missing at least twelve pieces. So I stopped, thought about it and started again from a logical point of view. I pieced it together and made a dress that looked really cute (if I may say so myself) on the outside. Just don't peek inside - it was a mess! I was on maternity leave at the time so I was able to go to this chapel. It was still warm enough to use the outdoor chapel in the woods.

I can't live without you

JAN09VSBNE submission. Distressing is one of the things I think I do worst, but I'm trying to improve. I struggled to distress my first VSBN submission and opened up challenge 2 and I was distressed, to say the least! :) I also broke out the sewing machine I just *had* to have several years ago. The only thing I've made on it was the Dorothy costume (see VSBN submission 1). I sewed a border! I was quite proud of myself! I used the Flower Fest set stamped on the reverse and cut out to make the flower shapes

Swordfish

JAN09VSBNF submission. I was going to use the sketch but I decided since I'm running so far behind I would do a "fast" one. I've never bought/used a Simply Scrappin' kit. My upline gave me Creative License a long time ago and I pulled it out for this challenge. It really went well with what I had in mind. Eliza wrote her first research paper this year. The students had to choose an animal they didn't know much about. What did my child choose? A swordfish! Do you know how many books are written about swordfish? Ones appropriate for a child's research paper? I finally found one and she read it and searched in the internet for more sources. They had to read their sources and write note cards. They wrote a first draft, edited and revised, and wrote a final draft. Finally, they illustrated their research.

I used: S(tamping) - title only. C(hipboard) - I flaked on this one. R(ibbon) - who can scrap without ribbon?! A(lphas) - title in Headline Alphabet. P(atterned paper) - contents of Creative License Simply Scrappin' kit. B(uttons) - under the ribbon. O(numbers) - stickers from SS kit. O(circles) - part of the patterned paper. K(udos) - woo hoo! my first SS kit attempt!