YAY! I actually scrapped a page today. This hasn't happened for so long, and it feels so good. Not only did I scrap but I scrapped on paper! Well sorta. :)
I used Jen Caputo's Photo Grids to layout my photos in photoshop, and I used her new awesome text paths for my journaling. And she has a great video tutorial on using them up at Digital Scrapbooking TV, check it out HERE.
Anyway it felt good to pull stuff out of my stash and actually use it. For instance the paper the journaling was printed on was stuff I know I bought back in '98, both of the yellow circles behind the photos were cut with my lighthouse cutter (which hasn't seen light outside of it's pretty purple case since we left Colorado back in 2001) the little splash label was cut from some who knows how old patterned paper (same line as the stripe paper in the background) and then UTEEd, ooo and I used some Making Memories Rub-On letters that I bought just before I started digi-scrapping 2 years ago so they had never been opened, and the buttons are a couple years old and tied with same aged scrappers floss. In fact the only thing recent in this whole layout is the vintage cream twill ribbon from my most recent PTI purchase. I'm so excited that I'm using things up finally. I don't know why I've just kept amassing stuff instead of actually using it. Ah maybe next time I will break open some vintage club scrap kits circa 2002-2006. ;)

I also tried a project I'd seen HERE using toilet paper tubes to make a cute basket.

Hmmm mine is no where near as cute as Nichole's, but it was fun to do and everything I used was from my scrap pile. See Tricia, I do use those scraps. I think the next one I do I will use a border punch along the handle instead of my cloud scissors. I think the scallop they make is just too big for this small scale. Maybe I'll go pick up a Martha Stewart punch with my 50% off coupon I got the other day.

Ok just a quick post for today. I've been addicted for the past couple months to PTI (PaperTrey Ink) and just had to share my happiness with my latest purchase from them. They just released their new stamp images for Nov. and I had to get Teacher's Apple and Out Of The Box. I love these! Well I also ordered some paper and ribbons and the Out of the Box Sentiments and my wonderful yummy package came yesterday. :) I can't wait to create some things with them this weekend. Also they have some great challenges on the forums over there. Jen Caputo gave this awesome one a couple weeks ago and it included a great video! So I really wanted to use these TAC stamps and my bazzil bling paper so I never posted my creation over at PTI but here is what I did to play along.
Thanks Jen for a great challenge.

Ok I have to run pick Ruthie up at Preschool, but hopefully I will play with my new PTI stamps and be back later to share my creations.

A couple more cards to share today. On Saturday, Ella had a birthday party to attend, so I whipped up this really quick card:
I have loved these frogs from the first time I saw them in TAC's catalog a year or so ago and immediately bought them. But, you guessed it, this is the first time I have used them. :) And the only reason they were used is because I finally started that reorganizing project of my stamp room and found them. Now they are in my favorites basket right on my desk so I hope to have a little froggie collection to share soon.
Also it was Jamie & his dad's birthday yesterday! So I made this card for Ned:
And for some reason I don't have a photo of Jamie's, I'll have to find it and share later. And, unfortunately you can't see this in the above photo but the chicken is inside an embossed scallop square (Nestabilities) and the brown paper is very shimmery (Bazzill Bling) and is actually quite darker. Oh well. And the ribbon is a cute little spool I got at Michael's for 75 cents. :) I started to color this chicken in with my new Copics, but I just can't get the look right with them. I'm really not liking them. :( So I went back to my tried & true Prisma pencils and Gamsol. Please someone help me love my Copics! I have 10 of them including the Colorless Blender (which does help somewhat when an area gets too dark) but just don't see myself using them much. Oh well.

So I was up late last night making these:

They of course are the girls treat bags to take to give out in their classes today. A total of 28! I'm pleased with how they turned out, but boy did they take a while. And I don't think my hand can take punching anything else out. I used the SU! photo corner punch for legs, scallop circle for the body, a 1/4 inch circle punch for the nose, and a Fiskars Threading water punch for the edges. The Trick or Treat stamp is from an Archiver's set I got a couple weekends ago. :) Gotta love those $1.99 clear stamps. Anyway, the little spider is cute! But he wasn't my idea. Tricia told me about the idea she saw on Splitcoast HERE where the spider was used to cover peppermint patties. However, since my girls were quick to inform me that 3 year olds and almost 7 year olds DO NOT like peppermint patties I knew I needed to adapt how to use him. I spent an entire Wed. morning stamp time at Tricia's house using her corner punch to get enough pieces for the legs and just barely had enough of the black ones, I wasn't thinking how many more of those I would need. But fortunately I did have just enough. And then adhereing those googly eyes was quite the trick. Glue was just too messy, glue stick didn't hold enough, I couldn't find my YES glue (although I do think this would have been the best option and has prompted a desire to clean and reorganize my stamp room) so in the end my handy ATG was used and wasn't too bad considering I could get adhesive on several at once. See:

Speaking of ATGs I saw a bunch over at 2Peas recently that were altered and I think I really want to color mine, but I think that is low on my to do list. Oh well, I better run, Ruthie's school party is in a bit.

This weekend was so much fun! My mom came down to celebrate her birthday and that means I stamped. It has been so long since that has happened and it really felt good to create something. We spent most of the day on Saturday out shopping at Archivers. This was mom's first time in there and it was so much fun watching her. :) After that we hit Michaels and A.C. Moore also. ACM was having a great sale on some organizers that I've been wanting so I picked up 2 of those and had them assembled before I went to bed that night. My favorite card mom and I made was this spinner card:


Isn't it cute? I know spinners are not a new thing, but this was the first one I've ever made and it was actually easy and fun to do. Which is a good thing because we made tons of them for a swap my mom was doing. Which was why I had to snap a picture, because I didn't get to keep one.

So now that I've gotten myself back into stamping and enjoying it (more on that later), I started going over to stamp at a new friend's house every Wed. morning after the girls are dropped off at school. Oh my gosh, Tricia has the most wonderful stamping space! I love it! There are also 3 other ladies that come as well but I have yet to meet them. I hope this will be a new group for me to really fit in with. I miss my creative friends and so need that regular interaction. So stay tuned to see what I stamp each week. :)