April Showers Bring May Flowers

Will it ever stop raining here in Maine??? My May flowers need sunshine :)

Big sister is trying to make little sister smile for the camera. She is crying because she is...WET.

This page was created by using a template for slicing then folding the design. Underneath the folds there is a different paper showing through. I used the template during a scrapbook store class.

Lace Flowers/BlogHop

It's time to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day this Saturday May 7th with our fabulous:

Divas Mansion Tour Blog HOP!!!

There are so many ways to make homemade flowers, I'm going a little crazy. I have quite a collection just waiting for the right lay-out.

The 3 pinwheel flowers are made from pink lace then centered with layered punched out flowers and a brad. The large flower is a 12inch piece of lace that I dyed with perfect pearls before making the flower. Check out http://what-a-beautiful-mess.blogspot.com/ for great flower making tutorials!!

We Have a Story To Tell

These are the first two pages to our family album going back to 2003. (Separate from the kids albums).

This is my niece, Stephanie.

About Me

One of the challenges last week was to create a page about myself. Hmmm! Not the kids?? So I took a lay-out about my first weekend away to a scrap and turned it into a page that I otherwise would not have taken the time to do. I also used my "life mission statement" I created a couple years ago. I hadn't done anything special with this statement until this challenge came up (it's in the envelope). The lay-out also includes my favorite quote from John Eldredge and a verse from a song about friends.

Thanks for the inspiration Creative Scrapbook Diva's!

Postcard Friendship Friday

Time to check out all the beautiful vintage postcards and travel back in time. Today I am sharing a postcard I framed. It's from the same time frame as most of the others I have which is early 1900's. Most are 1908-1916. I found them in my husband's grandparent's very old farmhouse in a box ready to be thrown out!!

This is one of the delicate vintage lace doilies from my husband's grandparents house.

Below are this week's flea market finds.

This is a jar filled with small buckles. These will be great for scrapbooking or artcards.

This key is quite a treasure. It is the "Key of Heaven".

It quotes:

"What does it Profit a Man to Gain the Whole World If He Lose His Own Soul"

Here are some great buttons. I will probably use them for centers of my homemade clay seals.

This is the back of the key. Such beautiful detail. "Saint Christopher, Be My Guide"

Here are more of my Vintage postcard projects if you are looking for ways to display your cherished treasures!

My last post has a link to the Creative Scrapbook Diva's Bloghop. It was pretty successful for me. It helped me finish 4 pages. Here is one of them. This challenge was using a sketch of a lay-out to help with the placement of pictures, journaling and embellishments.

Envelope Embellishment for Scrappin' or Giftgiving

Here is to Scrapbook Diva's One Year Anniversary!!

Handmade Envelope Embellishment

I have made several different styles of envelopes in the past but this time I wanted to make one a bit more expandable. It pulls open just enough to see inside and fit more pictures or memorabilia.

The ribbon is attached to the back.

I had fun embellishing with my stash of real buttons and lace..love the look. The measurements are 7.5x4.5 and are perfect for those extra 4x6 pictures I always like to include on my scrapbook pages but need to save some space on the page.

Please see my envelopes under "labels" on my sidebar for other ideas. I'm going to stick to this design for a while so stay tuned!

Check out this Etsy Treasury of Snowflakes created by Stephanie. I was honored to be a part of this charming winter treasury!!

Blogger Awards

I just received two awards from my friend at Ann's Scraps of Time. The Stylish Blogger Award is for getting to know blogger friends a bit more. So I will share 8 things about myself and pass this wonderful award on to 8 more friends!

Please visit these artist's blogs and maybe even their Etsy's!

Sara Snug as a Bug

Sheila A Path to Spirit

Tammy Paper Pastimes

Martha Martha's Favorites

Jen Jen Lowe Designs

Sharon Pretty Paper Things

Yoli Welcome to My Happy Place

Tammy So Happy Scrappin

8 things you don't know about me:

1) Last year my baby started kindergarten and I became one of the school activity coordinators. I do alot of volunteering!

2)I haven't worked for more than 5yrs but I am considering starting up part-time. I am an exercise specialist and worked with physical therapists for several years.

3)You probably have noticed from the last 2 posts, one of my girls is type 1 diabetic, she is 9yrs old. The last two posts included crafts for a Diabetes Crop and children's projects.

4)My husband and I rode Harleys for 7 years. I rode my own Sportster for 2yrs.

5)My husband of almost 17yrs was my one and only blind date but many many years before we got together....long story!

6)I have been organizing my many pictures from my childhood, hubby's childhood, our siblings kids and pics we had in those horrible magnetic albums from our first 10yrs together.

7)I miss my chocolate lab

8)I need new living room furniture!

I have a second award that I am so happy to receive and certainly very happy to give out.

The rules for this award states that it is given to bring light to new blogs and it's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be seen or ones you want to share with others.

As a recipient you must share the love and pay it forward by:

1-Creating a post where you blog about the Liebster award and reveal your 3-5 blog picks
2-Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog
3-Copy and paste the blog award on your blog
4-Have faith that your followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those you awarded
5-Have fun

So I am giving The Liebster Award to: Please visit them and their Etsy's as well!

Scott Meat on the Mirror

Angela Tealfully Cuttin' Up "Life is Beautiful"

Nikki Scrappin' Girl

Crop Out Diabetes Results

I hope to get some crafting or scrappin' done soon, but until then, I left you with some links. Happy Bloggin'!

Look what Luisa with the Creative Scrapbook Divas sent me. I can't wait to use the chipboard book!! This was from an after Christmas contest with the Diva's!!

Whiff of Joy sent this Aladin stamp collection for participating in the Crop Out Diabetes bloghop. Thank you Whiff of Joy and Sara!

Bloggers raised $175 and the live crop raised $2,525. That is amazing to me!

For a really cool diabetic necklace check out Nick Jonas' site. The necklace has "Diabetic" on the back.

Nick's Dogtags, Change for the Children foundation wings logo and the title words to his song "A Little Bit Longer" are on the front of the dogtag necklace.

A Little Bit Longer"
Words and music by Nick Jonas
Got the news today
Doctor said I had to stay...
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
When I thought it'd all been done
When I thought it'd all been said
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
But you don't know what you got till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like to feel so low
And everytime you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know (no, no)
You don't even know
All this time goes by
Still no reason why
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
Waiting on a cure
But none of them are sure
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
But you don't know what you got till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like to feel so low
And everytime you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know (no,no)
You don't even know (no, no)
You don't even know (no, no)
(2,3,4!) Yeah!
And you don't know what you got till it's gone,
And you don't know what it's like to feel so low
And everytime you smile you laugh you glow
You don't even know! No!
So I'll wait till kingdom come
All the highs and lows are gone
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
I'll be... fine

Crop Out Diabetes Challenges

I'm adding some finished projects for this week's Crop Out Diabetes.
PaperPretties challenge was to create a card for a child. Since Isabella's birthday is Sat. her little sister and I made this for her. She loves horses and her favorite movie is "Spirit". This UTEE'd stencil is running as though he is as free as Spirit is. She will love this card! SweetandSassy has a challenge for a movie theme. I think this may meet the needs of that challenge too!!

This was a great challenge with Mommyfink as we were to make something for Valentine's day that did not include candy. Yay Mommyfink!! This includes glowsticks, skateboard eraser,fuzzy pencil grip, bubbles, "mermaid" bracelet(it's filled with moving glitter) stickers and a tatoo. A couple of these items came from our 3rd grade store. The $ goes to their field trip fund.


This wonderful challenge was with Alecia. We were to alter something which symbolizes the life altering challenges living with Diabetes. Isabellas has been collecting these little vials that her test strips come in. So yesterday, our snowday, we finally used 4 of them to create dollhouse furniture. This first one matches the wallpaper in the bedroom.


We added stuffing under the material on the top for a seat, soo cute.

And my 7yr old wanted to have one for her "squinky". We layered green paper which was cut to look like layers of grass. She then added colored glitter glue to the inside so her squinky would have a soft carpet :)
Great imaginations!!



This is for the spring challenge with Martha .I made this just a couple weeks ago so it is also included in my snowflake post below. It's my favorite spring item right now. This is to be used instead of a card as it is sweet when it embellishes a gift.

Type 1 Diabetes Inspired Art/Crafts

As I was doing the Creative Scrapbooking Diva Bloghop, I found Clare who is involved with a crop for Diabetes hop.

See the "Crop for Diabetes" on the right. This crop ends Feb 5, 2011.

The below scrapbook page wasn't one I would have normally shared but it is definately for a good cause. This was three yrs ago when Isabella recieved this wonderful new friend from a children's state program. There is a CD player and speaker inside. Spinoza came with his own inspirational, peaceful CD. This was a wonderful suprise that came just 2 months after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 5yrs old.


I put this page together this past November using her school desk nametag. She was diagnosed just 2 wks before kindergarten. The "Hug" tab opens to see her drawings and stories she did throughout her first year.



Then the last page is her version of Spinoza. I love to add the kid's art to their pages whenever possible. Thanks for the opportunity to spotlight this disease and pull together. I really hope to meet some other moms dealing with the same challenges.


This is for Jessika's challenge which is to alter something. This is to symbolize how type 1 diabetes alters our lives. Below is an insulin bottle used to draw the insulin out with a needle. We have since started using the pump but we still use the pen needles when needed. I covered the bottle with clay that I stamped, colored with perfect pearls and baked. It actually won first prize for the Staedlers Bottles of Hope challenge for the Craft and Hobby Association. The bottles of hope are all donated to patients, mostly cancer patients.

"He shall set the captives free" and the other side says "He will rise with healing in his wings"