New Studio J Layouts to share...

I've been having fun creating layouts using Studio J!  I'm now caught up through June of 2009.  This feels like a huge accomplishment because I've done practically ZERO personal scrapbooking since we brought Ruby home - except for the layouts that I've made for her birth mom.

Here's a layout I did of Sam's 4th birthday.  This kit is for members only and is SO cute!

This one is using the Lucky kit - which I really love using.  It is so versatile!

And in the "old" house we did a room makeover for Samantha.

I'm also completely caught up with my daughter's class album for this year.  I'm the class photographer, so I've been creating scrapbook layouts of each event all year.  Then I've printed a copy for Sam's teacher.  She keeps the book in the classroom so that the students and parents can look at it.  So fun!

I won't post those pages, because I don't know how all the moms feel about their kids faces being online, but I will say that it only cost me $128 to order 18 layouts, including shipping - that's 36 PAGES!!!  And that's not with any consultant discount - only a Studio J membership (available to anyone).

Want to try Studio J?  Check out my friend Christine's website and click the Studio J link!

Mega Scrapbook Class

This Sunday I'm holding a mega scrapbook class.  It's been a while since I held one of these classes, but they are always a blast, and people go home feeling SO accomplished!  :)

The class features either Girl themed pages (using Sophia papers) or Boy themed pages (using Lucky papers).  Here's the flyer showing what the pages look like:

The pages are not embellished, or titled.  I did this so they could be used for anything - birthday pages, trips to the zoo, easter egg hunts, you name it.  And best of all, in just 3 hours you'll go home with pages ready for your photos!  :)

Locals - I'm extending the deadline for RSVPs until 8 pm tonight!!!!  So let me know if you want to come! 

 Here is an example of what can be done with the pages...  I took mine, added some simple embellishments, and made 3 additional pages (using left over paper and extra sheets of cardstock) to create these "Baby's First Year" albums for our school auction.

So, be sure to let me know if you want to come if you are in the greater Seattle area!  :)

Teacher Gifts and other Gift Ideas

Before I get too involved in this post, I want to remind you all about my 150k hit blog candy!  Read all about it (and post a comment) at yesterday's entry.  :)  The drawing is only two days away!

This post is probably coming a bit late, as most kids are out of school, but it might be one to tuck away in the ol' noggin for next year.  In the two years that Sammie has been "school age" (preschool that is), I have found it pretty difficult to find meaningful and thoughtful gifts for her teachers.  I like to give practical gifts, but those don't always convey the depth of our feelings for the teacher.  I think we hit the bullseye this year, however.  :)  I got the idea from my friend and fellow knitter, Deb!

Market Bags!

And wouldn't you know, my monthly knit-along group (not the one I teach, but THIS ONE that I participate in through my favorite knitting store Twisted) had a market bag pattern this month!  SCORE!

I knit these two bags up pretty quick - they only took about 2 hours each.  Then we filled them with fresh apples.  I asked Dave for a good apple recipe, and he reminded me of our favorite breakfast dish - Apple Pancake Sam (and YES, that's the actual name of the recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book!).  It was perfect. Not only a delicious dish, but the name of it would remind her teachers of our precious little Sammie Girl.  

Here is a close-up of the 4x6 Recipe Card I included with the gift.  I used the Summer Cottage digi kit from The Shabby Shoppe.  After printing the cards, I tucked them in a CTMH Flip Flap.  It worked perfectly!

Now if market bags aren't your thing, you might want to consider the My Creations Memory Keeper Box.  They are made from sturdy white chipboard, and have a magnetic closure.  They are perfect for keeping treasures, cards, 9x9 Accordion Albums, and more!

Here is my latest one.  (I have a customer who purchases these as birthday gifts for all her friends.  She orders one for each friend having a birthday every  month.  Isn't that thoughtful?).  I used some left over Stampin' Up papers, and the stamp is from The Greeting Farm.  The embellishments are all CTMH.  I always include a matching gift card holder with my boxes.  At Christmas, we gave Sammie's teachers personalized boxes filled with baked treats, and a gift card to an office supply store. 

I used my cell phone for these images, so they aren't super crisp.  Sorry!  :)

Hopefully this has helped sparked some creative ideas in the gift giving department!

Decorated Album Cover

I mentioned before that Dave let me scrap all day Saturday. One of the projects I worked on was getting Sammie's 2008 books caught up. Here is one of her new albums with a decorated cover. I used the new foam numbers that will be released in the Summer Idea Book. They are super fun to work with!



If you want to know how to decorate your linen album covers, scroll down my blog and look for my youtube videos on the left hand side. one of the videos is a tutorial on this very thing!

This is my disaster of a room after spending all day scrapping. For a while Dave was using the table across from my mess, so it isn't as bad as it could be (or as it is right now for that matter! LOL). Just thought I'd share so you could all feel better about your scrap messes too.

My Class at C.U.

This is part of the class that I taught at Creative University. My topic was on interactive scrapbooking - or pages that move.

Both layouts have elements that move. The left page has a 3 pocket picture pull out (say that three times fast!) that reveals 5 photos. The right page has two photo pockets that fold up to reveal 4 more photos.

When you pull the photo out from under the chipboard arrow, several more photos are revealed!

This is the back side. So you see 3 photos on the front and 2 more on the back.

This is the right hand page.

When you lift up the 2 front photos, four more photos are revealed!

DONE!

One reason I didn't post much over the holidays was because I was furiously trying to finish the Disney albums. The layouts are pretty simple (not highly embellished) because I made one copy for myself and one copy for my mom - and we took over 600 pictures! No - I didn't scrap them all, but sure came close. =)

I finished the final project TODAY! YIPPEEE!!! Each book is 86 pages. It was so exciting to present the book to Dave and Sammie for them to see. They'd looked over my shoulder here and there while I was working, but had not seen every page. Now I can't wait to see my mom's expression when she gets her book.

I used my pazzles for the cover (and many of the titles in the book).

Here's a shot of the mammoth beast from the side!

The title page:

I was lazy taking pictues and left them in their sleeves (hence the glare). But regardless, I just *love* how the Snow White pages turned out.
Ahhhh - such great memories....