Down Memory Lane...Minis

Most of you know that I love mini albums! I love creating the albums and teaching the classes. These are a few I have played with.
1. Paperbag album. I ran the sack through a crimper to give it a cardboard look.
2.Acrylic Halloween album.
3.Altered Starbuck's holder album.
4.Wooden Blocks.
5.Altered cigar box with an accordian album.
6.Funky album made from an altered cardboard box.
7.Empty ribbon spool, I took apart and made a mini album.
8.A fun to make explosion box.

Down Memory Lane....Circles

Happy Thanksgiving!!
I think my all time favorite design item to use on a page is a circle. To me they are so much fun to work with, perfectly round or not so perfectly round, I don't care:)
I bet that if I checked all of my layouts 80% would have a circle somewhere, intentional or unintentional, so I am circlefied:)

Down Memory Lane....Buttons

I love using buttons! I have a jar of vintage buttons that I played with as a child. I also have an acrylic box filled with fun buttons. I don't like the buttons sorted by colors,I love going through them to find just the right one to use.

Down Memory Lane...Stitching

I have a great friend that sews beautifully on every layout. Nice and straight and it looks like it belongs there. I am always in awe at crops or retreats when she pulls out her sewing machine and creates awesome layouts.
On the other hand I do not sew straight, or much of anything else straight for that matter, but I do love the way it looks on layouts. I don't sew on layouts much, just too lazy to get the machine out, or if it is out, to change the color of the thread.
Here are a few that I have sewn on, and once done, I do like the effect.

Down Memory Lane....Arrows

I didn't realize that I loved arrows so much! I have arrow stamps, arrow chipboard, arrow die cuts,arrow rub-ons. I even make arrows out of ribbon:)

Here are a few that I found while going through old layouts!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I was putting layouts in albums today and looking at old layouts on cd's, thinking about putting them on my external hard drive,I saw some old layouts that had techniques that I really like and had forgotten about.
While I am transferring the layouts to the hard drive, I thought I would post a few with some fun techniques I really like and used over and over. You never know when old will be new again! So this week I will post some "finds" from my computer on my blog. I think most of the layouts will be way before my blog, so they should be new, yet old!
Someone did a layout using this idea and I loved it. Trace around alphas, I used some of the big Basic Grey and just some regular size alphas, with a black or white fine tip pen, layering the letters. So easy and you still have the original alphas left over.

Cold Weather and Tree Colors

Today was one of our few cold days and tomorrow is going to be colder, with a low of 32. We start shivering and complaining when it gets below 60. We have such mild winters that we don't always notice the trees changing colors. One day they have leaves the next none, without much in between.

The trees in our backyard are just about 5 years old and this year they are really showing their colors. Our red and burl oaks are beautiful, the unknown tree is full of red leaves, and the bald cypress is a beautiful golden. We are enjoying our little show of fall colors even if we have to have the cold wind and weather to achieve the colors.

Santa Album

I was organizing my stash and came across some oldies that I decided to use on this album. I'm sure some of you know this but it was new and fun for me. I had some old MM epoxy word icons that had turned yellow over the years. I hated to throw them away so I decided to see what happened if I put stickles on the back. Loved how it turned out! Again I had some old epoxy letter stickers that were yellow, so I painted the letters on the back with arylic paint (2 coats) then put glossy accents on the back,and viola new letters (love)!
The ribbon and buttons were from an old make and take that I decided to take apart, since I didn't like the project but loved the ribbon and buttons. Presto, a little "tree"
The metal frame, I used 10 Second metal, cut the Sizzix frame with my CB and then used a CB embossing plate to emboss the frame. Painted the frame with some red acrylic, wiped it off and added a little stickles for shimmer. I also cut a chipboard frame to back the metal. I filled in the embossing on the back of the metal, with spackling so it won't flatten with glued down and let it dry.

I Won

I never win anything, ever! But karma was on my side last night I won this set of stamps! Check out Catherine's fun blog, it is an adventure every day:)
Thanks Catherine!

Elf Boot and Christmas Ball Albums

I finished these 2 samples for our new chipboard albums. I love the little Elf Boot! These are so fun and easy for quick mini albums!

Potato Soup

Here is the recipe Leslie gave me for Potato Soup. It is yummy!
8 C. Diced Potatoes
1-1 1/2 C. Diced onions
3 C. water
4 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
1/2-1 C. Picante Sauce.
Combine above and cook slowly. You can put it in the crock pot for about 10 hrs but I cooked it on the stove for about 5 hours on low.

Add:
1 lb. Velvetta cheese (cubed)
1 C. Heavy Cream
Cook one more hour, slowly.
Top with bacon bits and chives.

September & October 2008 Photos

I am a little behind but I went to scrap at Melanies this Saturday and got caught up with this little project. You can see other months here .

We finally had a cold front come through Saturday so it made a great day for staying inside at Melanie's. We had some awesome food and a great visit with our scrappin buddies.
It was still cool here today and I made the most wonderful potato soup. Leslie gave me the recipe and it is delicious. Even T, who picks her food looking for onions and other things I "sneak" in, didn't bother to look just gobbled it down. I will post the recipe in a few days!

Crazy Shapes Album

Vicki designed this adorable birthday album for us. I love all the bright colors. She is such a talented person, take a peek at some more of her creations here