Crazy weekend and Crazy software....

HEADED OUR WAY! I thought someone might not have heard of the Cricut Craftroom software that is now being beta tested and thought I would post about it. But first I want to share some good news...

A very dear friend had her baby yesterday!! WOOHOO! Now let me share a little more about why this is so exciting. Five years ago my friend found out she was pregnant. This was good news during a bad time. Her mother was battling cancer at the time. Two months later her mother passed away. My friend and her mother were like best friends and this was very hard on her but at least she had the pregnancy to keep her going. Well when she was about 35 weeks pregnant they found that the baby was stillborn. How my friend was able to keep a grip on reality is beyond me, well not really. We know that God had His hands upon her so she could have the will to continue with life. Now fast forward, when she called me seven months ago to tell me she was pregnant I was in shock. Not only because she was knocking 40 but also because we didn't think she could get pregnant again. When I asked her what she was really thinking about it she told me "I am being cautiously optimistic" I told her that sounded good and I would think the same. She was suppose to go into the hospital for inducement today but little MaKaylah decided she didn't want to wait! Mom and baby are doing well! GOD IS GOOD! I am sitting here about to cry out of happiness for my friend. Even though through the years she and I have had our ups and downs we have always known NO MATTER WHAT we are here for each other.

Now about the Cricut Craftroom software.....O M G! I AM IN LOVE! Sadly I don't know how to post the video from Facebook to here but here is a link if you would like to watch - CRICUT CRAFTROOM SOFTWARE. Oh and the best part.....it's free. Yep you heard me! F R E E, FREE! But bad news, you have to use it with an internet connection. Still trying to find out details about "offline" use.

Have you seen the new Expressions?

Thanks to Tammy Skinner, aka CREATIVE CRITTERS, posting a pic on facebook we now have a little bite off the new scoop of flavor about the new Cricut machine! She said there will be more details to come so be sure to check her site for updates. She also has some great pictures on her site right now of CHA. Knowing Tammy she will try to keep us updated. I am sure most of you are familiar with Tammy, but if you are not, she is a fantastic person and crafter and she will also be one of my ship mates on the Cricut Cruise in less than a month *okie lets out a little scream of excitement*.

Notice there are no buttons on this sucker! It must be a touch screen like the Imagine *okie is still not wanting an Imagine*.

Here is a little info Tammy was able to give:
~You can use Cricut Imagine carts with it
~It has WIFI! No more having a cord from your computer to your machine if you are a Design Studio user!!
~It can remember your settings for different materails you cut. For instance if you want to save settings for vinyl, cardstock, thin paper etc. you will be ale to save it in the machine so next time you will have the settings ready. The blade depth is still manual.

I have done some crafting this past week but it has been slow going. Not sure why...but it has! I will have some projects to post for next week. I will be participating in a blog hop soon *okie can't remember the date right off* and will let you know for sure when it will be. I will have blog candy up for grabs from me personally but there will also be some great prizes you can have a chance to win along the way and for finishing the hop.

Right now I am heading out the door. My favorite bargain store is having a half off blue tag sale and I want to go see if they have any clothing that would be good to take on the cruise!

We need to have perspective

Being in career field that I am in I often here "It's not fair" which causes me to have an internal eye roll but a sympathetic nod on the outside. Well until I get to know my clients and then I do give them a real eye roll and tell them to get a grip and threaten to smack them upside the head. I think I have noticed more "it's not fair" statements or sentiments in the last few days than I ever have in my life. I am not one to play the "it's not fair" card in my own life. I see it much like the Joker card in a real deck of cards, not real useful unless you want to play some kinda weird game.

*okie notices the confused look on her readers faces* YES THIS MAYBE CRAFT RELATED! So just hear me out....unless you want to leave *okie points to the door* but don't grab one of the cookies, those are for people who stay and read the whole post! *okie sighs and continues*

Being on the Cricut message board I get to hear the "It's not fair" thing quite often *okie wishes she had a nickel for each time because she would be bloggin about this on a brand new computer* and with it being the time of the year for the winter CHA I am ready to hear it more. There are always people who get to go to CHA and they get some really neat goodies, meet famous scrappy crafty people, have wonderful stories to tell and create some great memories. Then there are those who could have gone but for one reason or another didn't and they start hollering "It's not fair". Of course I have little sympathy for that line and I want to tell you something that happened this week that I truly felt like screaming "IT IS NOT FAIR!!" And I am hoping to share this only to help other change their perspective about fairness in our world.

I had a session this week with a person we shall call Rover. Rover tells me that he will be leaving next month because the Coast Guard need him to do an sniper assignment. Knowing circumstances of Rover's life I knew this could NOT be true and started to confront the situation as to keep him from extending the fabrication any further. He was not pleased with my confrontation but we were able to get to the real truth. Rover wants to be in the military. He wants to serve and protect this country. He wants this more than anything in the world. But the sad truth is that Rover will never be able to do so because of he lacks the mental capacities to do so and through process he was able to admit this. Now here is where I wanted to scream...Rover turns to me and says "Why do I have to be this way? Why can't I be normal so I can serve my country. That is all I want to do. I know I am MR but I am high level. I just want to protect our country". At this point I had to muster ever bit of professional fiber in my being to maintain my composure and tell him "I don't know why you have to be MR. Some people are and some people are not. There are some things in life we have to accept and this is one of those things in your life that you will have to accept. You still have a role in life. There are things you do here that are very helpful to others". But I just so wanted to scream "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Okay okay so my point to all of this is, next time you feel like something isn't fair because you don't get to get something for free, or attend an event you would like to, buy a new awesome crafty tool, etc. I would like for you to change your perspective a little and think of Rover and how all he wanted to do was serve his country and had to accept it will never happen for him because he is intelligent enough to know his mental development is delayed but not intelligent enough to serve the country he loves. And that my friends...is truly NOT FAIR!

Another Chance To Win Core'dinations

Have you guys see the new Core'dinations? OMG! IN LOVE IN LOVE IN LOVE!! If you would like to enter to win just click --> WIN A NEW UNRELEASED TIM HOLTZ PACK. I keep entering, not winning but heck ya sure can't win if ya don't try!!

Sneak Peeks for CHA

Oh have any of you guys been snooping out sneak peeks of new products? I remember my first experience with CHA, online of course. I didn't even know what a CHA was and couldn't for the life of me figure out all the excitement. Soon the frenzy on the Cricut Message Board started and I was as wrapped up as every other living soul on there. We had a member that was at CHA and was taking pictures and posting them for us to see. This was way before everybody and their dog had blogs to post to *suddenly okie wonders of Lucy would like to have her own blog*. We were stalking the board like a fat kid stalks the bakery, drooling over every little glimpse of sweetness we were able to see.

I am loving the paper from PRIMA MARKETING that I found on their blog...





This new line from Creative Imaginations will likely go well with the new Cricut cartridge Camping Critters and I am sure some of it will likely find it's way into my paper collection *okie often wonders how some of that paper gets in there because she is quite certain she doesn't buy it all*



I seem to have a thing for birthday paper and I love having as many varieties as I can find so this is one sheet from American Crafts Confetti line that I know I will have to have! *okie wonders who she is kidding because she will have to have at least 3 sheets of the whole line*


I am excited about seeing the new products, I always am. But this year I am not going to go crazy and start stalking online merchants for the new releases. And why won't I do this? Well because I have paper to use right now and I need to use some of it before I start "garnering" more! *okie gives her readers a big wink when she says "garnering"*. I think of all the products released at CHA the new paper lines are what I anticipate about the most.

So what are your favorite things to see during the CHA releases?

Going Buggy Blog Hop Winner!

If you guys may remember that on Monday I participated in the blog hop that Enfys from GOING BUGGY was hosting. Today is the day I announce the winner for the ProMarker prize that I was offering on my blog. I would like to thank all of those who took the time to participate in the hop and leave comments.

I had never been a participant in a blog hop before and I was so nervous about my work being good enough to fit in with the other bloggers. While I am still not sure if my work held it's own I do say that it was fun to be part of the hop and I may take part in more in the future. I have been asked before but due to my anxiety about my work I always declined.

But enough about that stuff I am sure you guys are just wondering who is the winner of the 12 ProMarkers and ProMarker Wallet! So without further ado I shall announce that the winner is....

*okie's phone rings and it is a dear friend so okie yaks with her friend for awhile*

Sorry about that. Now where were we? Oh yes the winner of the ProMarkers! *okie looks at her coffee cup* HEY!! WHICH ONE OF YA'LL DRANK MY COFFEE??

*okie gets up and goes to the kitchen to fix another cup of coffee*

I can't believe ya'll drank my coffee! I hope the winner really likes the markers. I love using mine and find them so much easier and faster to use than the colored pencil method that I tried a few years ago. I like the effect of the colored pencil and gamasol method but my attention span just doesn't allow it to happen.

Okay okay I will tell you the winner now!

I used RANDOM.ORG to get the number for the winner and the winning number is 41!! The person who left comment 41 is..... NANCYDIANNE!! Congrats NANCYDIANNE!! I will be contacting you to get your shipping information so I can send you your prize!

Once again I would love to thank everyone who participated!!

The great outdoors - layout

Sorry this is posting late. I didn't get it written last night and scheduled for today and since it is Saturday I slept in a little and still had to take the pictures, edit them and get them ready to post *okie wonders if anyone really even cares it is late and wonders why she always explains things*.

These pictures were taken in 2005 at our little cabin on Lake Eufaula here in Oklahoma. Somewhere we love to go but don't get to go very often anymore. It was so hot that summer we didn't even stay the full time we had planned.

For the background paper I used a cream colored sheet of cardstock and then crumpled it all up into a ball, smoothed it out and then went over it with a Tim Holtz Distressed Ink pad. The color I used was vintage photo.

The patterned papers are some I got at the LSS that closed down a few years back and I thought it was good "manly" looking paper to use for cards but it works nice for a camping layout.

The photo corners are some Making Memories leather corners. I thought the element of leather went well with the pictures and helped set them off well.


The title was done with Graphically Speaking and the branch is from Camp Out. On the title I used the hide contour feature so I could have "THE" in maroon. I also cut a second one in dark brown to do the off set shadow. I used a white Signo UM-153 pen to add a little bit of highlight on the title. *okie stands up and in a very serious tone announces* My name is okieladybug and I am a compulsive doodler.

On the branch I used the Cuttlebug Distressed embossing folder becasue...well because I wanted to *okie thinks 'it's my layout I can emboss if I want to' and laughs at her nerdy self*.

You can also see the background paper a little better in this picture. Of course you can click on the picture and make it bigger to see the details better.




After I got the layout done I looked at it and felt it needed something under the bottom right hand picture and dug through my buttons that I felt went well. I used some twine that my friend Linda, aka LGuild, gave me a few months back. I used a darning needle to sew the buttons on the paper.

The layout is full but I have a hard time leaving a lot of empty space on a layout. One day I may try it though. OKAY FINE! I have tried it...and I just can't seem to do it!

YOU ME - layout

I did this simple layout last night and worked to get it finished so I could post it today. I am not sure how something so simple takes so long to finish. Maybe it was the 30 minutes on hold with ProvoCraft, or the 4 hours on the phone with my BFF Karen, or stopping to make a grilled cheese, letting Lucy out to potty, cleaning the kitchen....I guess there are plenty of reasons now isn't there!

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expressions
Serenade Cartridge
DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies cardstock
Stardream Mica cardstock
Silver Signo UM-153 gel pen
BE Chipboard letters
Me & My Big Ideas rhinestones

I had given myself one of my famous haircuts *okie is just glad she didn't cut her finger this time like she did before* and I was trying to take a picture of it to send to a friend and Shiane came over and jumped into the frame. She is such a ham. There isn't enough pictures of my daughter and I together so I decided to scrap these instead of just delete them.

I actually used a sketch from Sketches2Scrapbook for the basis of the layout. If you don't know what Sketch2Scrap is, it is an app for the Iphone. I downloaded the free version first and then ended up buying the full version for $4.99. It was worth every cent!


I thought about using the Cuttlebug on the butterflies but thought the patterns on the paper were so bold that the butterflies needed to be more simple. This is not one of my favorite layouts but when my daughter saw it she said "OMG! I love it! We look so much alike" and went on and on about it. That is when I made another realization about scrapbooking...it isn't about making a work of art with each scrapbook page, it is about creating a memory that brings a smile to a face.

Mr. Incredible - Giftbag Card set

I recently got the Best of Pixar cartridge and was dying to see what I could make. If you have me on faceboook you saw the cut of Mr. Incredible the other day.

Today I am posting the finished product! I made a giftbag and card set *okie thinks she really needs to stop pointing out the obvious*.

Supplies Used:
-Cricut Expressions
-Best of Pixar Cricut Cartridge
Stamping Solution Cricut Cartridge
-Various Cardstock - Prism, Stampin Up!, generic
-Patterned Paper
-Cat Eye Chalk Ink
-Giftbag
-Hallmark Card Studio
-ATG gun and tape
-Scotch Glue *okie thinks she needs to remember to pick up some Scotch Quick Dry at her next trip to Walmart*

The card is very simple. I thought the theme of the card needed to be the focal point and I know what you are thinking "OMG OKIE DIDN'T INK! I GOTTA GRAB MY CALENDAR". But just calm down for a minute and I will tell ya why I didn't. Since the theme is based on a cartoon and is likely more masculine I thought I would forgo the ink and just let the theme be incredible *okie elbows her readers in their sides and laughs* GET IT?? Huh? Do ya?? *okie slaps her knee laughing and notices no one else is laughing...clears her throat and continues*. Since I had happy birthday on the front I didn't print it for the sentiment on the inside.

The bag front measures 8" wide by 10.5" tall so it is a decent size giftbag. I only decorated the front of the bag *okie knows it is because she is too cheap to waste paper decorating the whole thing but won't share that thought* and I think that was enough because that is what people pay attention to the most anyway. I didn't want to overdecorate because I didn't want the image of Mr. Incredible to get lost in a bunch of patterns. The "burst" is also on the Best of Pixar cartridge and I thought it added a nice touch. Oh the patterned paper is a something I only had one sheet of so I had to make it count. My friend Linda, aka LGuild, gave it to me quite sometime ago saying it was "ugly paper, just see what you can do with that!". She can be so hateful sometimes!!

Glamour - layout

I really am enjoying the Forever Young cartridge. I think I am going to get a lot of use out of it since I have a daughter. I also want to try some of the purse cuts since there are like 50 of them suckers on there, but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

My daughter was putting acrylic nails on a friend of hers to get ready for Prom. Of course being a shutterbug I couldn't resist taking pictures of them in the process. I think I irritated her since she wouldn't look up but luckily her friends like to have their pictures taken! The patterned paper is 3 Bugs and is some I got probably 2 years ago when a LSS was closing down. My daughter has always liked the paper but this is the first time I have used it in a layout.

I was afraid of the pictures getting lost with all the bold patterns on the paper so I double matted with white and then black. I think it gave the pictures the right frame to make them stand out more. I try not to always matte photos but I find myself matting more than not.



The title was cut out of Stardream Mica and then embossed with the Paisley Cuttlebug folder. I did the embossing because it looked too plain and after I did it I thought it didn't need any doodling *okie isn't going to tell them that she started to doodle but then decided she would be doodling all day, suddenly the polly wolly doodle all the day pops into okie's head*. I love the Mica embossed and since it is a a good thickness it always looks great embossed.

I used the Swiss Dots folder to emboss the center of the pink and white daisy. I ran the white cardstock through my Xyron and then sprinkled with white Doodlebug glitter.

I like this flower with all it's layers and instead of laying it flat I only glued around the centers on the top two layers so I could turn the petals up. You guys should know by know I am all about DIMENSION DIMENSION DIMENSION! Speaking of dimension I went to see my first 3D movie last night, The Green Hornet, and it was aawweessoommee! Anyway back to the flower, the center brad is a Stampin Up! brad from the Earth Elements collection. I got 3 of these sets during the big clearance sale a while back. I also glittered the white layer in the same fashion as I did on the pink and white daisy.



I didn't want the journaling to look so plain so I left a little extra space at the bottom of the cardstock I printed on so I could add 3 flower brads there. Even though there isn't any brown in the layout the middle brad still seemed to cooredinate well with all the other colors.

I thought I would use these brads on cards but then I found myself not wanting to "waste" them on something that might get thrown away.

Don't forget you still have time to enter my ProMarker giveaway and also the giveaways on GOING BUGGY with Enfys.

Tomorrow I am going to have something Incredible for ya to check out! *okie cracks up at her witty and nerdy self and knows folks on her Facebook understand*

Want to win some prizes?

You can still enter to win the set of ProMarkers and Wallet from my blog hop post yesterday. Please only enter once. Deadline is Wednesday Jan 19th at midnight. Also don't forget to keep visiting Enfys this week at GOING BUGGY as she will be continuing with her celebration.

If you would like a chance to win a Core'dinations not yet released cardstock pack then just click HERE. They have some fabulous embossed cardstock that coordinates with Basic Grey, Fancy Pants, MME and Jenni Bowlin! I think I would want them all but the Basic Grey is going to be a must have for my collection!

I have some of the Core'dinations Black Magic and Whitewash collections and I use them sparingly because it is not something I can find easily. they both give some really nice effects when embossed. I like the idea of this already being embossed and sanded for me.


Also my friend DisneyDreamer is having a giveaway on her blog. She is giving away the Cricut cartridge Cupcake Wrappers. Just click HERE to go to the post with the instructions on how to enter. I am wanting this cartridge myself so I can make some of those spa sock cupcakes that Cricut MB member Greenbean made so popular. I wish I had a picture of them as they are fabulous and I am wanting to make some for my daughters friends and also for party favors for my Girlfriend Christmas Party this year.






And one more giveaway I want to tell you about. Erin at Erin Lee Creative is celebrating reaching 1,000 followers on her blog and is having TWO giveaways. She has the prizes of Pagoda Cricut cartridge + Peachy Keen Stamps Critter Face Assortment and Preserves Cricut cartridge + Peachy Keen Stamps Laughy Taffy Face Assortment as her prizes. Just click HERE to reach her blog where you can enter.

Blog Hopping with Going Buggy and the gang! PRIZES!!

If you have arrived here from Enfys at GOING BUGGY, you are in the right place! And even if you didn't then go and start at GOING BUGGY and come back here to hop along with us! Make sure you go through to the end of this post for more instructions on how to enter for my giveaway and continue with the blog hop.

Welcome to my first blog hop participation, and yes I am nervous! *okie holds up finger nails she has chewed as proof of her nervousness* Make sure to check out the whole post because at the end there are instructions on what you need to do to continue along the hop.

My project for the blog hop is a card and matching gift bag.

Supplies Used:
Stampin Up stamp set and scallop circle punch
ProMarkers
Cricut Expressions
Cricut cartridge Forever Young
Cricut Design Studio
Martha Stewart border punch
Pink Tulle

I didn't stamp any sentiments on the card and bag because I thought this way it could be used for birthday or general use.

The gift bag is one from Walmart that comes in a pack of 10. I only decorated the front since it is only the front that really matters. I used some pink tulle to add a little extra embellishment on the bag handle and then behind the hat.


The image for the card is a Stampin Up! set that I got at a stamp sale a few years back. I love this set because it is just so fun looking.

I used the following ProMarker colors:
Hat: Lipstick Red, Antique Pink
Boa and flower: Dusky Rose, Baby Pink, Lemon
Dress and hat band: Pear Green, Marsh Green
Skin: Oatmeal, Blush
Hair: Tan, Cinnamon
Outer shading: Ice Grey 1

I added 2mm heat set rhinestones for the necklace and a 3mm for the ring.



I used Forever Young for the cut for the hat. I thought it matched the one on the card nicely and tried to use colors as close as I could find that matched the colored stamped image on the card. I did have to use the hide contour feature in Design Studio so I could cut the band and the yellow center. The green leaf is hand cut because otherwise it would have been red like the hat base.

I shaded around the edges of the hat with the Lipstick Red ProMarker and then Baby Pink on the flower. I used a 5mm heat set rhinestone to add to the middle of the flower. The scallop circle is a 2 3/8" Stampin Up punch.


For my giveaway today I have a set of 12 ProMarkers and 1 ProMarker Wallet. Now don't get excited you are NOT getting the markers in the wallet, those are mine. But at least you will have 12 to get you started if you win! *okie waits to hear the ooo's and ahhh's* So make sure you follow the directions in order to win! Deadline to enter for my prize is Saturday, January 22nd at 6 pm.















Now all you have to do to continue the hop is click on the follow button and leave a comment under this post, it may take awhile for your comment to appear so please comment just once.

The letter I have for you is R

Now you can hop on to the blog of PAPERCRAFT INSPIRATIONS MAGAZINE to pick up your next letter.

I do not hoard...I garner!

I don't know how many times I have heard that papercrafters hoard *that show Hoarders pops into okie's head and she shudders at the thought*. Many sheets of my paper I have plans for, certain layouts, certain projects. I won't use them on cards because I can't bring myself to have someone throw the beautiful paper away. But I still have plans for the supplies in my craft room.

Before I get to why I believe it is not hoarding let me give you a little background information. I started scrapbooking, at least officially, back in 2005. At that time when I would go into a scrapbook store I would usually get what was on clearance not being able to bring myself to spend 50 cents for a sheet of cardstock or 75 cents for a sheet of patterned paper *okie laughs at herself right now because she still has problems doing it but will if she needs it*. I did get some patterned paper stacks at Walmart, I believe it was Autumn Leaves, and used them A LOT. I did some layouts and thought they were nice. I used stickers *okie gasps at the word now* and gel pens to do my embellishing.

I heard about the Cricut around that time and I put my scrapbook stuff away, vowing not to do anymore until I got a Cricut. I would still purchase things from time to time but still didn't get into it much.

Okay now after I got my Cricut I was hitting the scrapbook store hot and heavy *okie closes eyes and tries to remember how often she was in there and realizes it is easier to remember how often she was not in there*. I would still buy most things on clearance but I started paying full price on some stuff I liked and thought I would use. I started buying all the nice embellishments such as jewels, brads, Stickles, Cat Eye inks, etc. There was always something I was needing everytime I did a page, whether it be ribbon, certain paper or a just right color of cardstock. It never failed. Slowly, okay probably rather quickly, I started building my stash of supplies. I was also very fortunate to have people send me supplies quite often because at that time everyone was clamoring for cut files because there wasn't near as many carts available like there are today and they would send items in appreciation.

Let us fast forward to today, or last few weeks actually. I have done quite a few layouts in the last two weeks and I got to thinking and realized I didn't need to go get one thing for any of the layouts I was doing. That is right, NOT ONE THING. I sat at my table and thought "dang I didn't even realize that I have everything I need right here. All these years of obtaining supplies has paid off".

So you see folks it really isn't hoarding. I think I shall starting thinking of it is a "Garnering". Yep that's the ticket folks! We will not be hoarding anymore. From this time all we shall be garnering! Since the definiton of garner is: to amass or acquire or reap, I think it is the perfect word! Although I think it needs to be I acquire, amass and then reap.

Next time someone says you hoard you just simply smile nicely and tell them "I do not hoard my paper crafting supplies, I garner them!"

Be sure to join me tomorrow where you can see the reaping benefits of my acquired supplies I amassed because I will be posting for the blog hop that Enfys is doing and I will have a prize up for grabs!

Lucy the pissed off Ladybug - layout

If you have me on Facebook you might remember me posting this picture a few weeks ago. I wish the pictures were a little more clear but I took them with my cell phone and the lighting wasn't too good but the expression on Lucy's face was just too much to pass up to scrapbook! Her expression is truly priceless!! My daughter and I laughed until we cried at her looking pissed off and my daughter said "MOM!! SHE IS MAD AT YOU!"

I am not really sure what the paper is since it is some that someone was nice enough to send me because it had ladybugs on it. The brown paper is some I got in Hobby Lobby's open stock. I used Lyrical Letters, Doodlecharms and Stretch Your Imagination for this layout.

Lyrical Letters didn't have a shadow for this font so I made one. I don't know what it is about shadows and layers but I just seem to have to have them. *okie says in her best Edward Cullen voice* It's like a drug to me *and then okie falls out her chair laughing*. But seriously.....I really do gotta have the shadows and layers. I added some lines on the letters with a white Signo UM-153 gel pen. A lot of times just adding a little doodling to lettering can really make things POP *okie all the sudden has pop goes the weasel playing in her head and hopes it goes away*.

The sunflower is from Stretch Your Imagination and while the colors don't seem to go well in the photo they do look good in person. I inked around the center of the sunflower, added some dots on the petals and then highlighted with the white gel pen. I also added Cinnamon Stickles to the dots in the center of the flower

The ladybug is from doodle charms and I didn't cut the eyes because they looked goofy to me. I inked around the ladybug wings and then a little white gel pen highlights. I also added some Black Diamond Stickles to the dots on the wings.

This is the last of the layouts for a little while. Next week I will be taking part in Enfys's blog hop she is having over at GOING BUGGY. She has some fantastic giveaways going on right now so if you haven't checked it out you might wanna head over there and enter! Oh I will also be having a giveaway when I participate so be sure to keep your eyes peeled!

Best Friend Lucy - layout

Okay so who wouldn't love Lucy? I have some more pictures of her that I need to scrapbook but figured two layouts, another which I will post tomorrow, is a good start.

I found this paper at Big Lots. I think it might be DCWV. I got the pack for $5 and it had paper for dogs and for cats. Which when I feel like I can scrap pictures of my beloved "boys" I will use the cat paper then. But I am still not in the place where I feel like I can do that without crying. But this post is about my lovely Lucy LuLu. There was nothing really "special" about the pictures other than I thought they were good ones of Lucy.

I used Paper Pups for all the cuts on the layout. I don't use this cart enough, but then again like I said I haven't scrapbooked many of the pictures I have of Lucy...YET! There are some great things on the cart even if you don't have a dog. I actually traded for this cart years ago. I ended up with an extra ATG gun and traded it for the cart.


I got the "map" for the layout from PAGEMAPS and where it had ribbon I cut a dog collar to place in that spot. I was able to use Design Studio to get the color to just the right length I needed to reach across the page. I think it turned out really well. I did add faux stitching along the sides to make it look a little more realistic. I was going to sew but I was too lazy.

I found this little woof heart tag in my embellies stash and thought it worked well with the collar. Since I didn't do any journaling on this layout I just added the date on the heart tag. On the other end of the collar I used silver eyelets to add to the holes. I was lucky that the cuts were perfect for my 1/8" eyelets.

I added Fruit Punch Stickles on the Best Friend and also on part of the butterfly that you can see on the full layout. The large silver letters are from Bare Elements and I got them when I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington Texas with Linda, aka LGuild and Karen, aka BFF Karen. We had a blast and Linda and I are looking forward to going this year and hoping to meet up with Carmen, aka ScrapperDelighted *okie is beginning to think her friends are all spies or something since they all have aka's on their names*.

I also found some little dogbone paper clips in my embellies stash that I thought worked well with the layout.

I will be featuring Lucy tomorrow as well!

Football is Life - layout

This is the companion, so to speak, layout for the one I posted yesterday. The pictures were taken the same day, just later that night. It was really hard to choose pictures for the layout but I narrowed it down to the ones I felt my daughter would appreciate the most, and of course the ones I liked the most *okie always scraps pictures she likes but figures it sounds better if she at least acts like she considers what her daughter might like*.


I think sometimes it is hard to see a two page layout when it is photographed with both pages in the picture but I like showing the overall effect of the two pages next to each other *okie wonders if she should mention they can click the pictures to make them bigger but then decides she won't because she says that all the time*.

But I also like showing each page close up, so that is what I am doing here. I used Sports Mania for all the cuts, except the "ada vs ardmore" and that is with Base Camp. I love the font of Base Camp because it is a good solid font and the shadow on it is nice. The patterned paper is DCWV High School stack.















I liked this cut for the main title since it seemed nothing else needed to be cut for it and it pretty much summed up the pictures and the night. I cut the shadow base from grey and then the layer with brown Stardream Mica. I decided to add a few brads to just add some extra embellishment.

I don't know if you can see in the picture but I did use a background stamp and a versamark pad to stamp the maroon paper since it looked a little too simple. I liked it better after I added the light grey ribbon also.




I think this football is what made the layout! If you have me on facebook you might have seen the preview picture that I posted the other day of this cut. I used the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles to emboss the brown layer and make it look more realistic and it turned out great! I inked with dark brown to add some shading around the edges and then also lightly, every lightly, over some areas of the football. I inked before layering so I didn't get the ink on the white areas.

The next two days will also be layouts. Featuring one of my favorite subjects....MY LUCY LULU!! *okie knows that to know Lucy is to love Lucy*.

"Heart" My Team - layout

Living in rural Oklahoma football is a big thing in my town. I mean BIG. If you guys have ever seen the movie Friday Night Lights you will understand.

Actually odd thing about that movie. When I was working on my Masters Degree there was a guy in classes with me telling us about a book coming out that was about his high school football team. Of course we just laughed at him. I had forgotten about it until I went to see the movie Friday Night Lights and I could have been knocked over with a feather when they said "Don Billingsley". I called a girlfriend of mine who was friends with Don after the movie and told her "OMG! Don wasn't lying to us!". Now with that said I would like to interject I believe there was some added dramatization as there are in most movies.

Anyway back to the layout. My daughter and youngest God Daughter Amber were getting ready for the big rival game and I was able to snap a few pictures of their little ceremonial activities.

I had a few football layouts I was wanting to do and also I have some softball ones I need to do of my daughter and I knew Sports Mania would be the cart I would want to use. It was another eBay score, touchdown, and whatever else pun might be appropriate at this time.

The patterned paper is from the DCWV Highschool stack.


On the title cut, using Design Studio *okie thinks it is awfully redundant saying this since everyone knows okie can't use the Cricut without Design Studio* I welded a rectangle to the "heart" My team so I could put my journaling there. I think it worked out nicely. I used a cut from Hannah Montana to do the facet heart and adjusted it to fit the one from Sports Mania. I was too cheap to a little square out of a full sheet of gold cardstock so I just cut it from white and then used gold embossing powder to make it match the patterned cardstock.






The footballs were from a border cut on Sports Mania and the ticket is from a Mickey cartridge. I have to tell you that I did have this designed in DS and then transferred to my Gypsy thinking I would save time by not switching out carts. Well I couldn't get the design to cut right so i ended up just making the border larger so I didn't need to overlap and weld. That Gypsy is going to be the death of me yet!

I think it still turned out okay. I did have to use a white gel pen to do some of the stitching on the football border though because since it was small the stitches didn't cut well. I also used the hide contour feature to make a white border cut to layer under the brown. I used dark brown ink to shade the border and it seems to give it a nice realistic look.

Pedicure Junction - layout

My mother was always close to her sister's, even if they lived half way across the country and she remained close until her death. Growing up I always looked forward to seeing most of my cousins and I am very close with them today. My cousin Shelly came in from Ohio for Thanksgiving and my niece Amber thought "us girls" needed an evening of activity together since we don't get to see Shelly often.

Amber booked us at a salon for pedicures. We had a blast and I knew I had to do a layout of our pampering. I don't think I have ever laughed so much in my life as I did that night in the salon. I think everyone of us had to dry our eyes from laughing so much. Now if you ask what was so funny I really have no idea, I only remember the good company and laughter.

I do remember that the tech's were laughing and probably laughing AT us instead of with us. We have no idea what they were saying since they all were speaking in some foreign language.

I used Slumber party for the circle and square embellies and the title was with Hello Kitty Font. The glitter paper is from a My Mind's Eye pack.

The white pearls are some from Imaginisce that I got at Michaels for 40% off during one of Linda, aka LGuild, and my excursions.


Here you can see where I used some heat set studs to embellish the Cricut cut. I also did it for the other Cricut cut. I used regular cardstock and then also some Hot Pink Stardream Mica cardstock. I was thrilled when I saw the two cuts I used thinking the would work perfect for the layout. I actually got the cart because I thought it would be good for some of my daughter sorority layouts.

There are some more cuts on the cart I plan on using on some other layouts as well.

I love the Hello Kitty Font cartridge. There are actually a couple of different font options. I have the HK Greetings which if you guys remember I did cards with it a few months ago. I was able to score the font cartridge on eBay for a very decent price and couldn't resist.

On the blue I used some Glimmer mist to bling it up a little and then added a few dots with a white gel pen.

I will be posting another layout tomorrow and after that I am not sure what I will be posting.

Pecan Pickin' layout

Living in Oklahoma and growing up in the country picking up pecans was always a chore I dreaded when I was a kid but now as an adult I enjoy the task. Usually I go with my Aunt Betty and we go up on the ranch where my cousins husband is the foreman. Some years there are plenty and some years it is slim pickins, this year was a bit slim but at least I got some. I took my camera and was able to get a few good pictures for a layout.


The patterned paper of the trees and words is from Imaginisce Apple Cider collection. The yellow polka dot is something I had that went with it. as are the round chipboard embellishment and clear leaf stickers . *okie hears the gasps at they notice okie has stickers on her layout* OH SHUSH! I don't mind some stickers! I used Country Life for the title and Serenade for the trees.

I got my layout designed in Design Studio. I used Country Life for the title and Serenade for the trees. To cut the trees I put part of the trees off the mat to save paper and since I wasn't using the full tree it just seemed to make more sense to do it that way. I just scissors to clip the areas that needed it.

OH I want ya'll to click the picture and make it bigger and see the picture at the top. Lucy was having a ball trying to keep the cows away from the vehicles and us but she almost got kicked in the head. I couldn't believe I was able to get that shot! Another note about that picture...I had printed it at 5x7 but the photo paper I used messed up in the middle so I couldn't use it. I didn't want to waste ink and paper and do it again so I printed at 4x6 and then just layered on top of the 5x7. I think it gave the picture an interesting effect.

I did a little doodling in the title to help it stand out more against the patterned paper. Okay I admit I also did it because I am a compulsive doodler *okie hates it when her readers make her admit to her vices*. But ya got to admit, it usually looks better when ya do doodle a little diddle *okie suddenly wonders if she has been drinking...but doesn't think she has*.

I didn't want to completely cover the tree so I nestled the picture of Lucy into the branches of the tree and then with the bottom part of the title I put some behind and then left a little to fall on top. I always think layering over like this adds interest to the subjects and makes the photos and elements seem to be more harmonious *okie now thinks she sounds like she is full of crap and wonders if maybe she sniffed way too much ink today*.

I spelled out the PECAN PICKIN' and then welded the letters together. Ya'll know how I am about my shadows and layers and since the font doesn't have a shadow I just cut one in orange and then one in brown and offset the orange. I know I have told you guys before that is how I make my own shadow but figure it is worth repeating.

I wanted different colored leaves so I cut three sets for each tree out of patterned paper. And since it was from the same collection the patterns went well with the paper I was using.

The IN THE COUNTRY was already a phrase available on the cartridge and it seemed to go nicely with this layout so thought I would go ahead and use it. You can also see where I did add some sewing on the layout. I thought about sewing some lines down the middle of the leaves but changed my mind real quick because that just seemed like way too much work!

ProMarker Winner!!

I used Random.org to get a number and the winning number was 81!

Donna said...

I think that I can start a new addiction, so if I should win this set I could blame you and me for any addiction trouble I get into with DH. I like to share my problems- it's called not taking all the blame!! Thanks so much for the chance to win.

Donna C.
goCricutgo

January 6, 2011 2:54 PM

Congrats Donna! I will be contacting you soon for your information so the markers can be sent to you!

Thank you to all who entered to win!

ProMarker Card and Reminder

Just wanted to remind you folks that tonight at midnight is the deadline to enter for the ProMarker giveaway!

This is a card I made at Stamp Club this week.

The image is from Stampin Up though I don't know the name of it, I do believe it was from 2005.

The papers are all Stampin Up as well. The cardstock and patterned papers are from the last catalog's In Color's collections. During the latest sale I think I ended up with around 5 packs of the Crushed Curry. I like the color but it is going to take me some time to use it all. Good thing paper doesn't expire.

The insides sentiment reads:
Life's not about waiting for the
storm to pass and the sun to shine ---
it's about learning to dance in the rain!

I was going to put part of the sentiment on the front of the card but then I decided there wasn't enough room so I didn't.


The coloring was done with colors that aren't included in the set for the giveaway since I couldn't remember exactly what colors were in the set and I was at Stamp Club and didn't have access to look.

I do find that I am going to need more practice with the markers, but especially in very small areas. But sometimes I wonder if it isn't that I am just too picky *okie doesn't think ANYONE would ever label okie picky or difficult, at least if they want to NOT get smacked upside the head*.

If you haven't entered the giveaway go to THIS POST to leave your comment and contact info to enter.

Well I am off to my craft table to see if I can actually cut a layout that I designed in Design Studio and uploaded to my Gypsy. If it works I will be posting it tomorrow. If it doesn't you may hear me cussing all the way in Oklahoma!