I had such a blast playing along with the Nerdy Victorious Scrappers last month (and with a name like that, you just know I'm going to love them) that I decided to join in again for February's collage challenge.

Somehow these girls have me scrapping with pink two months in a row!! After seeing this month's collage I just knew I had to break out the cherry blossom photos from last spring and get them on a page.

I switched my neutral to brown instead of the grey in the collage in order to better match the photos, and I can't even begin to tell you what fun I had with my Mister Huey opaque white mist on this one! I love it so much that now I'm afraid of running out!

::sigh:: I adore cherry blossoms. It's almost time for them to start blooming here again- just a few more weeks to go! Our display in Huntsville pales in comparison to what you see in DC, but we do have the advantage of being waaaaay less crowded.

Thanks for the fun challenge, girls- you pulled me a bit out of my scrapping comfort zone, and I'm totally thrilled with the results!

Counterfeit Kit February Blog Hop

It's time again for the Counterfeit Kit blog hop, and WOW is it huge this time! This great little challenge has grown by leaps and bounds since it started up at the first of the year, and it's been amazingly fun to be a part of it all. If you landed here without starting at the beginning, you might want to go back to the main blog and start from there to see everyone's posts.

This month our blog hop challenge was to create a layout based on a sketch provided by Scraps of Darkness (the kit club we've been counterfeiting this month- my kit is posted here).

I have to be honest- when I first saw this sketch a little voice in my brain started screaming "Run away!!!!" It's not that it's a bad sketch- it's actually quite lovely- but it's so far off of my usual style that I thought I might break out in hives at the thought of trying to fit it all in! I'm usually a much simpler scrapper than that.

I didn't run, though- I just stripped away a few layers and extra elements until I was finally left with a layout design that wasn't quite so frightening to me. I'm not sure that I'm totally happy with the page (because it's still not quite my style), but I am pleased to finally have these photos scrapped.

Speaking of the photos, they are of my favorite house ever (architecturally speaking). I used to live near Fayetteville, Tennessee, and this house was close to downtown, meaning I drove by it quite often. And, lest you think me to be a Creepy McCreeperson for taking photos of someone else's house, I'll assure you that it was long ago renovated and turned into an antique store/lawyer's office. I kid you not.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Sherri is waiting for you at the next stop with another fun layout to share.

Project 12- January 2011

I'm quite excited that Scrapbook and Cards Today is running Project 12 again this year! I didn't keep up with last year's layouts as I'd intended to, but I'm slowly working on them as I try to keep current on this year's pages.

I had a lot of fun putting this page together. The papers and the photos were awesome to play with- I've not used any of the newer My Mind's Eye papers, and the So Sophie line is a dream! The colors and the texture on the papers are incredible. I bought it online on a whim, and I'm so, so very happy that I did!

Yup, those are snow kayaking and Aruba photos, side-by-side. Darren came into my scrap room last night while I was working on the page, looked at it, and commented that January was a good month. :)

I'm journaling the highlights of each month whether they've pictured on the layout or not- it's just a good way to have all the major happenings in one place.

I'm putting these layouts in my regular scrapbook albums, where they almost serve as "dividers" for each month- kind of like seeing a movie preview before watching the actual film.

I'm also planning on continuing my monthly photo roundups here on the blog. I'm a bit perturbed at myself for not having January's up yet, but it's not like I've had a lot of free time in February to get it done! And then there's always Project Life to catch up on...yikes!

Friday Favorites: Bye-Bye, Boston!

Usually I really enjoy traveling, even for work, but this trip has been something of a nightmare. You've already heard me whining about how many hours I worked last week, and then this week I came down with some major sinus crud (or a cold, not sure which). I'm finally getting over it and really looking forward to going home tonight, where it's supposed to be much, much warmer this weekend than it is here in Boston (it's snowing/sleeting/raining this morning).

I know that my craft room and a ton of cool projects are waiting for me, too- I'm so excited to get back to it all! In celebration, here are a few items from the blogosphere that have me just itching to make stuff.

From left to right:

• The Pantone Fall 2011 color report is out, and I have to say that I'm loving this one a lot more than the spring report. The deeper tones are much more my style than the spring pastels.
• I love, love, love St. Patrick's Day (mostly because it's my birthday), so I was tickled to find this awesome piece of printable subway art at Eighteen25. 
• If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed when it comes to putting together a layout from start to finish, you might want to check out Bite Sized Scrapbooking. It costs a mere $5 a month, and each day you get an email with a small task- choosing photos, papers, embellishments, etc.- and at the end of the week you assemble it all into a finished scrapbook page. Sizes (for papers and photos) and orientation (for photos) are included, making this a super easy way to put together pages!
• Zakka Life has a post on making your own decorative brads.
• Check out these gorgeous DIY flowers at Scrapbooks, Etc. (You just know that the color-spectrum flower photo almost guaranteed them a spot on the Friday Favorites this week :) ). 
• House of Smiths shows how to make these lovely hanging flower balls. The roses are made of crepe paper, and a single one would be a beautiful addition to a scrapbook page.
• Nichol Magouirk gives a tour of her lovely scrap room- love the white furniture!
• And because you can never see enough scrap spaces, here's a look at Prairie Girl's sweet space, too!
• I love these sweet magic wands by Elizabeth Kartchner. The directions could easily be altered to fit any holiday or occasion (hmmm...shamrock wand, anyone?).

Have a scrappy weekend, everyone!!

Scrapbook Trend Watch: Much Ado About Doilies

What comes to mind when you hear the word "doily"? Does it conjure up memories of grandma's house, freshly baked cookies, and vintage 70's Harvest Gold appliances?

For me, the word "doily" brings to mind this one specific table that was in our living room when I was a kid. It was a small round table that sported either a dusty blue or mauve (sorry, Mom!!) fabric tablecloth with the biggest round crocheted doily I've ever seen (we're talking tablecloth sized, here) layered over the top of it. Or maybe the fabric was cream (okay, Mom and Dad, we need to get out the photos and find out!)...but I digress...

These days doilies are taking the scrapbooking world by storm. They're by no means a new trend, but one that's definitely taken off in a big way over the last year or so. And one thing's for sure- these aren't your grandma/mom/great-aunt/second-cousin-twice-removed's doilies!!

You're likely to find doilies in every color and shape imaginable in scrapbook papers from a variety of manufacturers. Take the Restoration line by Crate Paper, for example, which uses bright, punchy colors (without a hint of mauve or dusty blue in sight!).

 

 

 

 

Emma's Shoppe, one of Crate Paper's newest lines, takes the doily theme in a more crochet/granny square direction, but keeps the same cheery, vibrant tones as Restoration.

 

 

 

 

Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry line is full of homespun charm and, of course, doilies. They've chosen to layer white doilies over bright colors for major contrast.

 

 

You can also catch a hint of the doily theme in Basic Grey's die-cut papers, like those from the Pyrus and Curio lines pictured here.

 

 

Sassafras has eschewed the all-over doily pattern in favor of one or two of the crocheted pieces layered with flowers, lace, and fabrics in both their Sweetly Smitten and Mix and Mend lines.

 

 

You can find heart-shaped stylized doilies in this print from the Making Memories J'et Adore line.

 

Hambly features two different patterns of doilies- both single and multiple varieties- on screen printed transparencies and papers in a spectrum of colors.

 

 

Digital doilies? Absolutely! This gorgeous kit from House of 3 features several styles of layered doilies, plus a super cute banner.

 

You can even download and print free doilies from Martha Stewart's site.

 

Doilies also adorn many a scrapbook embellishment these days. This pack of aptly-named "Lovely Bits" from Cosmo Cricket contains doilies of several sizes and color.

 

Maya Road offers printed doilies on both transparencies and kraft paper.

Want to cut your own doily embellishments using your electronic die cutter? Check out this great set of files by Laina Lamb at Two Peas in Bucket!

 

If punches are more your thing, you have both border and shape punches to choose from in the Martha Stewart Crafts line.

 

 

Papertrey Ink always has great die sets, but they've outdone themselves with this 4" doily die, released just this month!

 

 

They also have a smaller doily die set and a stamp set (not pictured).

 

Speaking of stamps, you can find plenty of doilies there, too! Maya Road has both border and single doily clear stamps available.

And Hero Arts manufactures doily stamps, as well, in several varieties!

 

 

 

I don't know about you, but I'm totally loving the huge variety of doily-inspired scrapbook items available right now.

If only I could find a picture of that table to scrapbook...

Tuesday Morning & TJ Maxx

So, here's the deal. I did a ton of scrapping this weekend in my hotel room in Boston. I mean a TON. I've got lots and lots of pages to share, but I'm very picky about the way they're photographed and want to wait until I get home this weekend and can use my copy stand to take really good pictures.

Instead of blogging pages this week, I'm going to do more product-focused posts instead. I started yesterday with my February Counterfeit Kit, and today I want to share some new clearance finds at TJ Maxx and Tuesday Morning.

I actually stopped at TJ Maxx thanks solely to a post on 2Peas alerting me that there were massive packs of American Crafts Dear Lizzy paper for $6. While I was there, I also spotted a couple of stamp sets for $2 each and a set of chipboard letters for $1. Total score!

Tuesday Morning started their big monthly sale while I was in Aruba, but you can bet that I was at that store within hours of my flight landing back home. I was not disappointed! 25 sheet packs of American Crafts papers for $1.99 each, a couple of little Making Memories paper packs for $1.99, and an awesome assortment of Fiskars punches!

25 sheet packs of Making Memories die-cut papers and transparencies for $2.99 each- that black damask print and one of the transparencies have already found a home in my Counterfeit Kit for this month. :)

Then there were lots of embellishments- 4 different items bundled together for $3.99. A total steal since most of these items retailed for $3.99 each or more when they were first released.

Some of these items have already found homes in new projects, too. :)

I've got plenty of new goodies to play with now, and some to share with Mom, too- one of the big benefits of buying things on clearance!