and yes, with all this rain and thunder and lightning, I'm still in my pajamas!  It's been the first day where we haven't had anything on the schedule and it truly is a day of rest!  I know I've been a bad blogger but forgive me yes??? It's just been crazy with Thing 1 starting high school sports for the 1st time and having 2 x a day practices!  Plus, squeezing all the other stuff we do in there made me one serious taxi driver-that is until my car conked out one morning while on my way to pick her up from practice...so, we are down to one car since I didn't have $ 4,300 dollars for a new transmission lying around and most of you already know how hard one car can be when your hubby works in another state! Let's jsut say it's been a serious attempt at juggling magical schedules...hope to fine tune it this week -Calgon take me away!! I'm hoping next week won't be as bad since school is back in session and HOPEFULLY practice will be right after school....so anyway...we're making lemonade outta lemons until we get it together..I do know it could be worse....so no more whining from me!


BUT, I have managed to TRY to clean my studio ( i know, it's a monthly thing...clean up, mess up, clean up ,mess up...) so I can play with paper....I had altered some trays and so loved this one that I just made for my sister (and I hope she will get it in the month of August-I'm allergic to the post office LOL)..she has seen sneaks already so...got these trays from Hobby Lobby ($6 with your coupon!) and papers are (green) vintage gcd studios (green areas are where she's gonna add her own pictures in),  (creams) are Webster's Pages and the awesome kraft is from Tim Holtz Idea-ology....beaded heart came from one of my Secret Santa Sistahs over at Scrappers of Color (I hoarded it for a year waiting for the perfect project) and the cross & the metallic "L" came from Hobby Lobby also-Walk around your local craft stores since there are tons of "NON" scrapbooking items that you can use in different ways-that beautiful cross was maybe $ 3???...my mom actually sent me the peacock feathers (SO LOVE THOSE) and the other stuff is from my stash!

I'm dating myself...old commercial & song for on eo f my favorite candies...and we hope we're still on your list of favorites- WE meaning the Lollipop Chicks over at Candy Shoppe Designs...yup, we're backkk!!!!  New challenge babies!! Woop Woop! or is it Woot Woot???

anyway, this month's challenge shoud you decide to welcome us back, it a PINTEREST challenge!  Yeah, THAT addiction :): LOL...Kimmy aka Foreign Chocolate Correspondent was inspired by this e-beauty:
you loving it right?????!!!  I was so digging this color palette and the whie and the yellow pops so I decided to actually use white space {insert gasp now but I do do it every now & then LOL) and created this!
 I do have to admit to NOT punching the butterfly borders, they are K & Company metallic borders that I switched over and used the wrong side....gcd papers in the house (I hoard them)
so anyway, hope over and read all about us being back and read more about our "comeback" challenge ...Don't forget to section off some time on your calendars to come play with us this June!!!

and scrapbooking really isn't original, we are all just imitating "something" that we've seen; doesn't have to be a layout; could be a work of art in a museum, an ad, a photograph, a quilt...art is always a reinvention of the wheel in a way...it's anything that our eyes, mind or brain captures...so one of my blog buddies hipped me to this site accidentally (she left a comment and I went to her blog and then hopped there since I always hop to new blogs that way)..anyway, for those of us who  HOARD have a paper/embellishment supply, THIS site called Counterfeit Kit Challenge was right up our alley!  Reuse, reduce, recycle right ??? So anyway, they take a current popular kit club from the web, get inspired by it, then guide you to use your stash to re-create it! Their challenge is for you to create  your own custom kit, share it and then share your creations !
This month, their chosen ONE was the Feb kit from Scraps of Darkness shown here:
and so I challenged myself to round up some supplies that I already had both used & unused  to create this:






I chose to of course include 3 sheets of my "go-to" black cardstock as a freebie, then I added:

• 6  12 x12 papers Jenni Bowlin Red & Black III
• 1   12 x12 misc journal PP ?? maybe Cosmo Cricket ??
•  2 6 x6 sheets GCD Studios Winter Wonderland papers
• 1 pack Prima rhinestones
• leftover pack Fiskars quote stickers
• Maya Road rose trims pieces
• 2 Melody Ross for GCD Studios die cuts
• Making Memories star brads
• Making Memories 5th Avenue piece journaling sheet
• Making memories metal accents
• leftover heart chipboard
• Jenni Bowlin cream vintage buttons
• Cosmo Cricket tiny type alphas
• Creative Imaginations piece overlay
• Jenni Bowlin ledger banner stickers

I'm not a big flower fan so that's why I don't have any in MY kit but may make my own after I get started-will reveal some projects this week!  I challenge you to join up HERE to to get that stash used!~  Maybe we could even do a kit trade to see what folks come up with!

rainy day and CHILLY; I broke down and turned the heat on...totally different from the shorts & tees on Tuesday; October sure has been strange!  And speaking of strange, I am actually working on submission stuff and am getting tons done! Can I get a what what????  This is just my LOTD while I multi-task! Loved the Ava collection from Melody Ross (even though its from spring of this year) and wanted to keep it simple, something I NEVER do-nor can I scrap straight so......wanted to keep the focus on the picture-my journaling is on the back since it is for "their eyes only."               

thinking about warmer temperatures and so hoping we get to go on vacation this summer!

Rec'd these goodies this week from Heidi Sonbul and GCD Studios ...from the Artsy Urban collection created by Mizz Melody Ross...love it! Very edgy and  contemporary but not totally screaming at ya!  Has all the bling,love, butterflies and vintage all combined into one collection...Used some older gcd papers (I've used gcd back from the Zen Garden collection years ago) too and if you peek closely, you'll see one of their Winter Wonderland CHRISTMAS epoxies  are in there too...you aren't limited to using holiday collections on holiday layouts/projects....will be using more of this collection combined with more of the winter stuff on some snow layouts now that I got some pics developed this week!  Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY peeps!  What are you doing for fun????  Let me know!

Heidi & gcd picked me for one of  the fab tags giveaway -these are from the new Artsy Urban Collection from Melody Ross!  For those of you who live in Maryland, this collection CAN be found at Michaels, but only at the SuperMichaels in Bowie so don't do like I did and drive to all the different Michaels for a whole month asking their sorry salespeople (who know nothing about nor care about anything to do with scrapbooking) if they carried this line.

Or, if you'd rather order it, you can order is from Laura @ A Kiss on the Chic-she's the first to carry it in a kit... this has so many uses for it and I can't wait to get to creating what I have in mind.  Hopefully by the time I do that, I'll have figured out my camera situation too.  Had the 2nd junky camera as backup and when we were at dinner last night, I jiggled the secret switch too hard and that one broke too!  Am hoping a deal with a friend will come through so I can just snap something inexpensive on Black Friday.

courtesy of Heidi Sonbul a/k/a QueenofPaper)..you can find her at  her gallery at scrapbook.com, gcd studios or at her personal blog here ( queenofpaper )...I just adored this Who I AM layout that she did so...

for all you scrapping gals that missed Mandie's crop-you missed out on fun, great food and great prizes! I went to support her charity, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and I have to say, it was FUN !!
gotta give it to Mandie cause she had 3 years more experience than me and Susan...we'll have to get some tips from her IF we do another event next year...I didn't expect anything but fun & scrapping, but when we got there, we all got goody (goodie?) bags and buttons. Then, there were FOUR raffles of AMAZING stuff-
but I forgot to take pictures of the other two goodies baskets! I did try to win though, but no luck! I do know that 2 of my favorites- gcd studios and Tracy from Photoscraps in Eldersburg were 2 of the many sponsors of the raffle items..winner of some those goodies was Stevie~ a new friend that came way via Meetup.com!

and Danielle-


We all rec'd door prizes... the Winter Wonderland collection from gcd studios-I'll post better pics later and now that I think about it, I actually won two door prizes ( I won a K & Co album and goody pack)! I haven't unpacked everything from my totes so...

and then, if you can stand more, we had a $ 5 buck fill a bag AND a free item table! I came home with some nifty goodies!


Space was limited and this is an annual event so....next year you gotta sign up right away!

scrapbook goodies- If you will recall, I won the Vintage Boy collection from the lovely folks over at gcd studios

Loved these right away-rich dark reds and distressed navy and yellows and ORANGE....will be reviewing the papers once I start using them this week....One thing you can see that is a great timesaver is that some of the papers already have glossy areas on them and paint splatter distressing...no more being at a crop and waiting for stuff to dry!

Enjoy the peeks!