Tuesday, May 10, 2011

2 Down, 3 To Go!!

That's right...two semesters of nursing school down, and 3 more to go!!  Woo Hoo!!  Finished up yesterday with spring semester...have managed to pull Bs in all of my nursing classes and that's been such a relief...I've never been one to celebrate a B (I'm an A kinda girl), but after busting my butt 1st semester and getting a 90 (that would have been an A if we used a 10 point scale), I decided that I wasn't going to kill myself to try to get an A.  So, Bs it is!! :)

It was a great weekend here...with NSD on Saturday, I worked at Sandy's Scrapbook Corner  and then did some of the challenges over at 3 Scrappy Boys.  It was nice to get some scrappin' done!  For Mother's Day, I fixed lunch for my Mom and we all just enjoyed some family time before I hit the books for a little bit.

Before I go, I'll share two more of the challenges that I did over at the 3SB NSD crop:




<-------- This was for Heather's challenge to use some circles.  I wasn't a big fan of this paper...kinda on the cutesy side for me, but it worked PERFECTLY with these pictures of Cole in the monster towel my sister, Shannon, gave him for Christmas.  This actually ended up being my favorite layout that I did for the crop!!







This card was made for Heather's other challenge, which was to use some product packaging on a project.  I needed a card for my Mom for Mother's Day and this was so perfect  for it!!!  The card itself is made from the packaging sheet that came in a collection pack of Echo Park paper.  It was a little flimsy, but I just put some cardstock inside and it worked great!!  On the inside, I used some of the little alpha stickers from the collection and spelled out "YOU ARE THE BEST" and then stamped "Happy Mother's Day."  Great challenge, Heather!!


Thanks for stoppin' by!!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Layouts WITH Pictures...A New Concept! :)

In honor of National Scrapbook Day, I did something I haven't done in FOREVER....I scrapbooked AND put pictures on my layouts!!  lol  I know, sounds odd...but I do several pages a month for classes or when I just want to follow a sketch, but I have a PILE of pages with no pics.  I'm sure one of these days I'll get around to adding them!!

Anyway, I did these next two layouts for challenges over at 3 Scrappy Boys .  The first was for Jennie's sketch challenge using a die cut paper and the second was for Heather's raw chipboard challenge


And, seeing as how it's 4 a.m. and I can't get back to sleep, I'm seriously considering trying to hammer out a few more challenge layouts!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mama's out there!!  

Friday, May 6, 2011

National Scrapbook Day Over at 3 Scrappy Boys

Wow, so it's been a little while since I last blogged, but now is the PERFECT time to get back on it!!  Heather over at 3 Scrappy Boys  asked me if I'd like to do a little tutorial for NSD....of course I wanted to!!  There will be lots of great stuff going on on the 3 Scrappy Boys forums, so head over and do a few challenges or check out some other tutorials!

I decided to focus on the Sew Easy Piercer for 2 reasons...1-I've used it and think it's a cool little tool....2-I know that some people have had reservations about using it and getting it to go straight. 


First, it really does work better if you have a piercing mat like the one put out by We R Memory Keepers.  The holes will be ready for you to stitch, whereas you'll have to poke through little indentions if you're not on a mat (and they're hardly visible).  If you don't use a mat like this, please make sure that you are careful, as rolling it on a hard surface can break off the little "hole makers."





Next, it really isn't difficult to make this tool roll straight when that's the look you're going for.  Simply put your paper on the mat, line a ruler up and follow the ruler with the Sew Easy tool.  It might take a little bit of experimenting with to figure out where the holes are going when you use the ruler, but it gives such a great look to layouts that it's worth playing with a little until you get the hang of it!






I used this method, along with the Basic Grey papers from Life of the Party (which can be found in the New Products section at 3SB) to create this layout------------------->















I wanted to make my own embellishment and add a little extra to it with the Sew Easy Piercer tool, so I cut out this rose with a Lifestyle Crafts die (if you don't have the die, no worries....simply draw a pinwheel and cut it out by hand!).  I then slowly rolled the tool around the edge of the paper flower.




Then stitch on the flower using the holes made with the Sew Easy Piercer.  I used a backstitch (ok, so I think that's what I used...I'm not much of a seamstress!), but you can do whatever design you choose.









Next, using a pencil or the end of your paper piercer, roll the edge of the flower from the outside in until you reach the center.  Then you can unroll it and hand roll it tighter---do this a few times until the rose has a look you like.  You can really manipulate it as much as you'd like at this point....roll out the edges some if you'd like, squish it down...possibilities are endless...PLAY!!  Once you have a shape you like, put a few glue dots down on that base in the middle and adhere your rose together.





Now you're ready to add it to a layout, card or altered project!!







The last little thing I did with the Sew Easy tool was to use it on some chipboard letters.  You start by rolling the tool over your letters.







Because the letters are thicker, you can't just poke a needle through.  I used my paper piercer to make the holes go all the way through
 the chipboard letters.


Finally, I  sprayed my letters with Maya Mist, allowed them to dry and then stitched on them using the holes I made.

The Sew Easy Piercer is a fun and EASY tool to use to add that special touch to your projects.  The handle comes with a straight stitch head, but you can also get interchangable heads with different stitch patterns.  The tool comes with a needle and the handle has storage in it to hold that needle!!  Be sure to check them out over at 3 Scrappy Boys...Heather has the tool and heads on sale for National Scrapbook Day!!

Enjoy National Scrapbook Day!!  I hope you're able to spends lots of time gettin' your scrap on!!!