You MUST check out this giveaway!

Have you been to Mustard Seed Creations? This place is seriously inspiring!



Not only is she a gifted crafter, but she also hosts link parties a couple of times a week where a whole host of crafty peeps come to share their wares. I just found her a few weeks ago, and I have already spent hours perusing her site and links.

What I'm trying to tell you is that it's a serious droolfest.

And now, in honour of reaching 1000 followers, Miss Mustard Seed herself is hosting a giveaway of a hand-painted, custom-designed grain sack. Check out this one that she freehanded (Remember that Alexander Keith's commercial? "BY hand with NO tracing!") and then framed:
Can you imagine this with your family's name and date you were married? Be still my beating heart! If I win, I may need to get married just for the decorating possibilities.

All you have to do is comment to be entered to win...and then you can become a follower for a second chance, and post or tweet about the giveaway for a third entry.

Can you tell that I want to win this one, like, bad?

So go enter!

Or don't.

Because if you win, we might have to duke it out American-gladiator style. Uhh...without the spandex.

You know. Your choice.

We might as well be the Jetsons.

I can't believe that I am in bed with my MacBook wirelessly watching Olympic women's figure skating. (Go, Canada, Go!)
CTV%20Day%2014%20Block%202

(That link above is supposed to look like the live-streaming figure skating from ctvolympics.ca!)

I mean, c'mon. This is a far cry from the mono-chromatic silver laptop screen that my sister and I played Ducktails on circa 1995 (jump, run, jump, swing, jump, jump, done.) Let alone the Apple orange-screen version of Jenny's Journeys that was the coveted reward of good behaviour in Mrs. Archibald's grade-one class. It was on a floppy-disk. One that was actually floppy.

I know they promised us flying cars, but seriously. At the moment, my bed might as well be a Miata with wings.

Hi. I'm in Delaware.

A gun rack?!?

A gun rack.

I don't even own a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack.

What am I going to do with a gun rack?!


(Well, actually, I was thinking of trying something like this little beaut' from Ericka at Rose Colored Glasses...but not until the weather warms up. Can't have us out in the snow a-sandin' and a-paintin', now. But I couldn't wait to share my $25 find and link up to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Find Friday Link Party!)

Ahem.

She will be mine. Oh yes, she will be mine.




***Editor's note: if you know what movie that's from, you are most likely my soul mate. Please contact me for life-long friendship and possible marriage.

THANK YOU!

Just so you know...


Thank you so very much to the 17 fabulous, intelligent, and good-looking peeps who have decided to follow me! I am in shock and awe...and so very, very grateful. :)

Some Potty Loves You!

Thanks to Sheila over at Cheeky Magpie, who creates gorgeous {and free!} downloadable files for the Sure-Cuts-A-Lot program, I was able to say "Happy Valentine's Day" to Cliff in style this year.


I think this style probably says, "I love you in the bathroom," or something like that. He got the picture, anyway.

You can find Sheila's "potty heart" file here. It's available in several formats, so you don't have to have a digital cutting system to use it! Even printed on cardstock, this little lady would be darling! Sheila's website is one of the first I followed quite regularly, as it's a fabulous and funny place for inspiration. I totally dig this lady's style!

Straight outta the 90s, yo.

Ok, ladies and gents, in keeping with this week's theme of all-things-ugly, I am about to show you the transformation of what very well may be the ugliest clock that was ever made by human hands.

Just how ugly, you ask? Well, my fine friends, take a gander...

***Editor's note: Just so you know, I usually forget to do before pics until I've already started my project. I can be very impulsive. Don't be hatin'.

I found this little beauty at the Sally Ann on Saturday. I can see her now, up on the mantle of a lovely young married couple circa 1991. The husband asks his new wife for the time as he adjusts his parachute pants. She casually looks up from The Cosby Show as she runs her pick through her spiral-permed hair and lets him know it's exactly half-past seven. Almost time for Blossom.

Ahh. Wedded bliss.

Yes, this little clock was once a prized accent piece. I found it on a shelf of junk for $3.50.

But never fear...I had a plan for this poor little clock! This little lady had a date with scrappy destiny...behold!


So now you're either thinking, "Hey, I have a clock like that (though I'd never admit it to another living soul)" or "Hey, she finished this clock just after noon! How very organized and domestic!" or "Hey, she finished this in the middle of the night! This chick has no life!"

No, I will not tell you which of those is actually true.

But, just in case you were wondering, here's how it went down...


First step: pry off numbers. Discard. These are ugly and you should not keep these. I see you trying to sneak them into your stash. "But maybe I'll use them..." Don't you dare! I said discard. Discard!

Oh, and take off the clock parts, too.
Sand it down a little. Take out your frustrations. Don't think of it as punishment for being an ugly clock. Think of it as a little incentive to never be so ugly again.
Paint her up using a concoction of craft-paint colours to make something that looks like antique white. Break out the fresh bottle of antique white craft paint that you keep on hand for just such an occasion, pat yourself on the back for being so very organized, and paint that baby up. It doesn't have to be perfect, because then, you'll dry-brush it a little with brown paint, and then take your sandpaper to the edges a little.
Measure and cut the paper you'll use for your background, then decorate her all nice and lovely. I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts a Lot, some Stampin' Up chipboard, some random buttons and floss, ink and paint.
Adhere it to the last remaining ugly portion of the clock. I used spray adhesive in the middle and glue dots around the edges to ensure that the ugly bits would never again see the light of day. Slide in one edge of the paper first so it's lined up with the ...uhhh.... outer molding thingy. Then slowly lower the paper into the ...uhhh... inner non-molding part.
Here's what you have so far. Now, to reattach the clocky parts.
Now, here's where it gets technical. You may want to get a pencil and paper for this part. Are you ready? Ok. Hold the clock up to a light, and (you still with me?) wherever you see the light shining through, poke your pokey tool through the paper.

Whew. This explanation is exhausting. Wasn't sure I was going to make it through that last one. Good thing I had breakfast this morning.Ok, so now, you're ready to reassemble the clockworks. It helps if you lay them out on your table in the order you took them off the clock so you don't end up with a Wonderland clock that moves backwards and sends you on a random journey through time or something.

On second thought, please try that. That sounds way cooler than this clock.

When you're done, you'll have a clock fit to give your fabulous scrappy friend Adrienne on her birthday. (Alas, it won't send her through the looking-glass, but at least you won't be giving her a clock fit for the Golden Girls' mantle.)

If you'd like to see some more ancient-relics-turned-gloriously-modern-works-of-art, check out Someday Crafts' "Whatever Goes Wednesday" link party! I'm lucky number 113 - score! I'm also linking to Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party, Reinvented's Trash to Treasure Tuesday Blue Cricket Design's Show and Tell, and DIY Day with Stella and Dot.

Head on over to see what tonnes of crafty peeps have been working on. You should link-up, too!

And while you're at it...you could stop by Adrienne's blog and wish her a happy belated birthday! :)

These pages got hit with the ugly stick.

Ok, so Frances from the Paper Poppy Kit Co. posted the fifth in their seventeen days of giveaways leading up to the launch of their brand new kit company. Until now, they've asked for comments in order to be entered to win, but today, she asked for something different.

Today, she asked for ugly.

Now, calm down. She wasn't talking about ugly people. Not even ugly dogs (though she did post a photo of the blue-ribbon ugliest dog, and hoooooo-eeeeee is it ugly. It's so ugly it's cute!) No, she wanted neither of those. What she wanted was ugly layouts.

So of course I thought, "This one's in the bag. I will show you 10 shades of ugly, lady! Prepared to be assaulted with the ugliness I shall bestow!"

Actually, I thought, "sweet!" and carried on with my day. But...you know....it would have been cool if I thought in complete and humorous sentences like that.

After pouring over my albums, I have narrowed it down to two of the fugliest layouts ever created by someone who dares to call herself crafty. Prepare to feast your eyes on their hideous glory! I've even included close-ups so that you can truly come to appreciate their gawd-awfulness...you're welcome.

***Disclaimer and apology to the peeps in these photos: I think you're all wonderful and good-looking! But what I did to your photos is a crime. I deeply apologize for any harm I may have caused.

Ugly Layout #1:
This layout is ugly because:

a) the colour combo is bizarre. Plus, I smudged the word "Kris" on the vellum a bit, so I just smudged the whole thing to make it even.
b) I didn't know what to do with those multi-colour fibres. So I stitched them through the layout with a giant needle. Which left little humps allover my layout. {Don't let that Black Eyed Peas song fool you. There is nothing pleasant about "humps".} Plus, do you see the shadow next to the word "1st"? Ya. That's because I messed up the first layout I did with these photos, but I couldn't pry them off the paper...and I was a broke student so I couldn't afford to reprint them...so I cut the paper off of my collage (sort of) and re-adhered the whole works to this lovely shade of baby-poop green.
c) The tension was off on my sewing machine. I don't know how to fix tension on a sewing machine. I ignored it.

Didn't I tell you? Ugly. Take a deep breath, though, because this one is so ugly it's funny...

Ugly Layout #2I had a stencil. I thought it was cool. It didn't occur to me that it would take up the entire page.I also had one of those paper packs of various-sized mismatched cardstock. Those things should be outlawed.
People cut out of context! Nooooooo!
Just in case you didn't realize that I was scrapping about "fun" I made sure that word was made with photos of said fun. Creative, right?.....right? *cue crickets chirping

Whew. Well, if that's not enough to win me some prizes, I don't know what is. I can't wait to see your ugly pages, too! You have to link your pages here to enter to win.

Let the pageant of ugly begin! ;)

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Happy V-Day!

Cliff and I have never been big Valentine's people. At least one of us was always in school for our whole relationship until last year, and so gift-giving holidays were often celebrated with a home-cooked meal or a hand-made card. (Read: cheap, but fun!)

This year, we decided that since we can, we will. We both decided we would get each other something small...so of course I was on board to make him something cute! Errr....I mean, manly.

***Editor's note: There will hopefully be another post coming today when/if I find the card that I made for Cliff two weeks ago...for Pete's sake, this house is only so big? Where in the bujeezes could it have gone?!?

First, I made him this little Chinese take-out box with Valentine felt fortune cookies. What a cute and easy little project! Amy from Pieces of Me has a great tutorial here on her fabulous blog, and it was so easy to follow.

She's right - two little cookies fit perfectly into the box! I printed out her pattern onto a piece of paper, and then used my printer/copier/scanner to photocopy the pattern onto the back of a piece of Sweetwater patterned paper. Then I just cut out and glued the box together.

By the way, if you're planning to try this and you want to put a ribbon handle on your box (as I decided, too late), punch your holes and set your eyelets *before* you put the box together. The small Cropadile doesn't reach! :)

Here it is, all closed-up and super-cute:Thanks for the tutorial, Amy!

I also made him a little frame for his desk. I wanted it to be manly enough that he won't be laughed out of the office if he takes it to work, but still lovey-dovey enough for V-day. I started with one of those unfinished square frames from Michael's, and here's what I came up with:First, I painted it black, and then sanded the edges a little. Then I used clear embossing powder and Hero Arts' woodgrain background stamp (thanks for the loan, Adrienne!) allover to create some texture. Here's a close-up...Then I applied a piece of a transparency overlay (the "always" sentiment) across the bottom, and attached some black ribbon across the top of it to hide the "seam". I added three little white heart brads on the right, and then printed and adhered "YOU ARE MY" on the left in Impact Label font from dafont.com. (Hooray for free fonts preventing me from buying a $30 label maker! Yahoo!)The "happiness" chipboard word was a prize from the Crop Away weekend I attended a couple of weeks ago. You can find these at Michael's (if you're lucky - they're so cute and I think they went pretty fast!)

So there it is: my "little" Valentine's gift for my sweet, wonderful Cliff. He is such a fantastic man, and sometimes I wonder how I found him. I really hope he likes his gift this year.

And I hope that next year, I remember that when Cliff says "little" he means a spa gift certificate. I am such a lucky girl! :)

I'm proud to be Canadian...especially tonight.

**Editor's note: I have started and restarted this post about five or six times already. Sometimes, what you feel is so moving or so profound that you're not sure you have the words to truly capture how you're feeling. This is one of those times...so I need to throw caution to the wind, stop worrying about how it sounds, or whether it's in keeping with my previous posts, and just try, for Pete's sake. And so here it is...

Watching the opening ceremonies tonight of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games was so moving for me. I was literally brought to tears several times throughout the night by the bold, sensitive images, and the strong, proud words that so eloquently demonstrated what it means to be Canadian. From the computer-graphic-illusion of killer whales swimming across the floor of the stadium, to the beautiful cultural mosaic of First Nations and other dancers and musicians, to k.d. lang's heartwrenching rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", I was again and again in awe and wonder at the beauty and creativity that humanity is capable of, and which can so easily be forgotten in light of the crimes against humanity and the environment that we know are committed daily and which usually occupy the forefront of the media and of our minds.

Tonight was about celebration. It was about peace, and about sharing the Canadian spirit with the world.

Now, I have to admit, I have never seen an opening ceremonies before. Often, when people have talked about the games as symbols of peace and unity, I've nodded at the suggestion and gone on with my very un-Olympic thoughts and responsibilities. I didn't get it. Until tonight.

There are two moments in particular that will stay with me for a very long while. First, slam-poet Shane Koyczan's powerful delivery of his poem "We Are More" captured some of the most poignant subtleties of the Canadian identity. Canada has often been criticized as a nation without identity, or which defines itself in terms of how it differs from the United States. You can find the full text of his poem here - but this is one part that I loved:

some say what defines us

is something as simple as please and thank you

and as for you're welcome

well we say that too

but we are more

than genteel or civilized

we are an idea in the process

of being realized

we are young

we are cultures strung together

then woven into a tapestry

and the design

is what makes us more

than the sum total of our history

we are an experiment going right for a change

I love this - I can feel it turning into art in the back of my mind. (I'm sure this will be featured on my blog in the near future!)

The second moment was when Rick Hansen wheeled the Olympic torch into the stadium - I felt my heart flutter. My brother Jeffrey has profound mental and physical disabilities; Rick Hansen and the understanding and goodwill he has championed have always been revered and celebrated in my family. For all he has done for this country, and for humanity, that triumphant moment was so well-deserved. What an exciting, beautiful moment when the silhouette of Rick in his wheelchair appeared through the white light of the entrance. Ahhhh. It was exhilarating!

So, what did you think? Are you as overwhelmed as I am, or do you just think I'm a sap? ;)

I was a little worried about this post as it seems off-topic, and perhaps, even out-of-character for a blog about the pursuit of scrappyness. This is what it's all about, though, isn't it? Writing and scrapbooking are about pursuing and capturing those moments that make you who you are...and these were moments that articulated an important part of who I am as a Canadian.

Thank you for allowing me to explore this moment with you. :)

Can someone please pass me a towel?

...because I need to wipe up the drool. Seriously. The most fabulous scrapspace EVER. You can see it here.

Sigh. A girl can dream, right? :)

A little somethin' somethin'

I started cleaning up my pig pen craft room last night...and, well, I can see the table top now, and that's a start. ;)

I thought I might sit down tonight and get a couple of little projects done. Cliff's birthday is this week, and my scrappy friend Adrienne's is next week...so I need to get my butt in gear!

Since I can't post the cards for V-day or for either of the aforementioned birthdays (because they might come a-blogging!) here's a little perpetual date book I altered for my sister who married into a large family. The little date book itself was a "party favour" from the ladies at the Crop Away weekend I attended at the end of January (thanks, ladies!) and I couldn't wait to spruce it up for my little sis.

Here's the before:



And here's the after!

And here's my attempt at sophisticated staging ;)She is so sweet to always send out birthday cards, thank you cards, and other little bits of love, and I thought this might help her. (Here's hoping she won't check my blog before it gets to her!) She's living in a very rural area, and we don't get to see each other nearly as much as we'd like, so it's nice to send something. Plus, who doesn't like receiving real mail of the non-money-collecting variety? :)

Products, by the way, include Peeled Paint Distress Stickles, some old-skool K&Co letters, a Fancy Pants journalling card, and rub-ons by My Mind's Eye Laundry Line, Basic Grey Origins, and Daisy Bucket Big World.

And now, it's back to my craft room. I'm feeling inspired. The cleaning will have to wait. :)

I think this might be the homemade-flower "Easy Button"

Now I know what to do with all of that handmade paper I bought at a garage sale but is really not my style! These are simple to make, but they look intricate when you're done. The ones above were my first try, so that should tell you how easy they are - you could probably complete 4 or 5 while watching a Friends rerun in your jammies, even. I omitted the Glimmer Mist step as my paper was pre-embossed and pre-gimmerfied. Thanks to Helen Croft at Scrap A Little for the tutorial! :)

Saying "Hi!" to Hybrid

So I was cruising around on my regular daily blog hop last night(sitting on the couch curled of with my MacBook - surprise, surprise!) when I found this post from Teresa Collins, followed by this one from Jennie Bowlin. Each of these fine ladies is giving away a free month's subscription to a new online digital scrapbooking site called ScrapHD, just for posting a page you've created with a free trial of their website. So I thought to myself, "Self, you better make at least one digital page so you can enter these giveaways."

Turns out, it was kind of fun!

Now I will admit, I have avoided digital scrapbooking in the past. I'm not really fussy about the faux-3d look (I appreciate other people's work, but it's just not my taste!). Plus, I need to get my hands dirty. Ink and glue and glitter and, and, and...make my heart happy!

That being said, I recently became interested in hybrid scrapbooking, especially when I saw all of the printable goodies over at House of 3. I've also really liked some of Ali Edwards' hybrid layouts wherein she journals digitally in the whitespace of her photos before printing them to create a "traditional layout". But, I didn't have the know-how. I've done some very simple work with Gimp, a free Photoshop-like program, but I am a total beginner. In fact, "beginner" may be a little too kind. And often, the digital-scrapbooking tutorials I've found online haven't worked with Gimp, and I've wound up frustrated and ready to throw my precious computer across the room.

I'm just kidding, my love, I would never do something so horrible.

Plus, as we have learned, I am way too thrifty to invest in Photoshop! This program, though, seems to be entirely web-based and is reasonably priced. But this layout I completed was free free FREE! /happy dance

(Editor's note: I'm not sure how to make the image smaller so that you can see it without the edge cut off...so here's a direct link to the image in scrapHD: http://www.scraphd.com/scrapbook/837 . You'll have to sign up for a free account to see it.)

So, I've submitted this LO for the draws for a free month of service...and I think that, even if I don't win, I may invest in it for at least a month. I think it will be an easy and inexpensive way to create pages on nights when I don't really have the time or energy to dive into my hands-on stash, and then I can add "real" embellishments on the printed pages.

Pages can also be printed in multiple, so it will be an easy(er) way to create multiple albums for family. Theoretically, it will be a money-saver as well (score!) because the "papers" can be reused over and over again.

Plus, we all know that I'm going to be on my MacBook anyhow. So really, this addition to my scrappy arsenal (sp?) is really only fitting. ;)

Five for Friday

In the spirit of Kayla Aimee's Five for Friday posts, here's a little snippet of what's running through my mind this week...

1. I am an English teacher and I loved the Twilight series. There, I said it. I am officially outed. Let the stoning with tomes of Margaret Atwood and Anton Chekov begin.
2. I have seen Twilight: New Moon twice (yes, twice) in the theatre. The first time, I was in ecstasy simply because it was sooo much better than the first one. Plus, it was much closer to the novel, which I really appreciate. The second time, we went on a Friday night to an early show where there were teenagers and teeny-boppers (does anyone even use that phrase anymore?) laughing at everything Jacob said and did because clearly they were on Team Edward. Now, don't get me wrong - I really enjoy teenagers. In fact, I spend most of my week with them. But on Friday night...I don't want to have to fight the urge to hiss at them to be quiet!! Now, it's showing at the cheap theatre. Yes, Cliff gets free passes to said theatre. Yes, I have been itching to go alone at a non-kid-friendly showtime for weeks so that I can have my love for all things Twilight restored. Yes, I take this far too seriously.
3. I think I have a little too much love for my MacBook. Once I'm cozied up with it on the couch, the rest of the night is basically a write-off. Then I take it to bed with me and watch DVDs. Honestly, I think this is getting out of hand.
4. My street is currently edged on one side with 5-ft piles of ice chunks that were pried from the street about two weeks ago and have since been covered in a blanket of snow. This is the one and only time this year that our street has been scraped so well, and already, the ice has built up again. Secretly, I love that the white streets make the neighborhood look homey and quaint...until I have to try to back out around those piles in a neighborhood with children and pets galore. I love your beauty, winter, but you gots ta go.
5. Cliff brought home donairs for supper, satisfying my love for garlicky goodness. I am a happy girl...just don't let me breathe on you. ;)
   

Have a great weekend!

*swoon*

I fell in love this weekend. Madly, deeply in love.

Honestly, I didn't know I could love like this. I think this is the beginning of a long and torrid affair.

His name is Sure Cuts A Lot. {Insert blissful sigh and fluttering eyelids here}

Have you heard of this? It's a downloadable software program that allows you to cut any true-type font or SVG file (also downloadable - for free all over the web!!) with your Cricut machine, and honestly, I think it's the best scrapbooking investment I have ever made. I can hook up my laptop to my Cricut Create with a USB cable, and poof - magic! The possibilities are endless.

I'm loving being able to choose a font that I've downloaded (mostly from dafont.com) that suits my LO perfectly, rather than having to rely only on my Cricut cartridges. So, clearly my newly-acquired tool appeals to the, uh, thrifty scrapper in me (I can just hear my mother's gentle but admonishing voice in my head right now. "You're not cheap, sweetheart, you're thrifty. Thanks for the clarification, Mom.)

Here's a page I completed for Scrapbooks Made Simple using a free SVG file (the tree) which I found here and a free font. The journalling reads:

• Scrapping for: 4 years
• Favourite technique: sewing on paper
• My style: Ever-changing (mostly modern)
• Favourite embellishments: Die cuts
• Current favourite manufacturer: Fancy Pants (Editor's note: honestly, I only picked this because I had to pick one...I love so many that I really couldn't pick just one!)
• Solo/group scrapper: Solo for productivity, group for fun!

So there you have it. A public announcement of my unyielding love for Sure Cuts A Lot. (Cliff's joke: "Clever name. It must be good because a product called "Sure Cuts a Couple of Things" just wouldn't have the same appeal.") Though it's still early in our romance, this program has been so good to me.

And they say chivalry is dead.

One incredible weekend.

Report cards due, entire courses to plan, a classroom to clean, 6 hours of meetings to attend - and that was just in the latter half of the week! So it was no surprise that by the time the week was out I was exhausted and in serious need of some craft therapy.

Enter Crop Away.

Crop Away is a weekend-long sleepover crop in northern Alberta that, honestly, is the best time. I have been looking forward to this weekend for months! The crop is held at a summer camp where we crop in the main lodge and sleep in the bunks. The girls who organize it do a fantastic job, and this weekend - with its "travel" theme, awesome games, cozy and relaxed atmosphere, and fun challenges - was no exception. It's so incredible to go for such a fun little getaway only 15 minutes out of town! Seriously. So. Much. Fun. I am already looking forward to the next one in April! (If you're interested in attending a fun crop in Northern Alberta, post a message and I'll send you the info!)

What blows my mind is how creative I feel when I'm there. Honestly, the best pages I've ever completed were done at a Crop Away event. There are no distractions and no responsibilities...it was so great to be able to just focus on something creative and relaxing after a hectic week preparing for the "real life" that awaited me today with the start of the new semester.

As I mentioned last week, I've been so excited to enter some great challenges that I've found posted online, and while I completed the pages I've been dying to do (Yay!) I have missed the deadlines (Boo!)! I was so inspired by the creative challenges these fantastic ladies have posted for us to join in that I'm going to share my pages anyway. That's right. I'm a rebel like that.

First, my submission for the Dirty Scraps "Pivotal Moment" challenge.

I started out with this one, which was about the pivotal moment when I decided to become a teacher, and again, when I decided to stay a teacher:
The whole point of the Dirty Scraps blog is to challenge scrappers to journal the bad along with the good, and to dig deep. And, believe me, this was a challenge! It's really not easy for me to be so honest and unguarded about my feelings about teaching...so I compromised by hiding the journaling behind a file tag, and I really like the semi-privacy it provides. Now, that being said, I think I probably could have been even more honest (in terms of being thorough), but like I said, it was a warm up. Practice, not perfection, people! :)

So, here's one that I did later on in the weekend. I've had the idea for this page floating around in my head for weeks, and finally, I got in on paper. What a relief.
This page is about the choice to release my baggage and in favour of the freedom that this decision brings. What a cathartic process it was to make this page! This one is my (too late) entry for the challenge. These photos are a little dark, and the colour in the third photo is off, but I wanted to get the detail from that fantastic Inkadinkadoo stamp! I was really proud that the other ladies voted this layout 2nd place overall of the pages we each chose as our personal faves from the weekend. (Thank you, ladies!)

Now, for my entry to the "How Do I Love Thee" poem-inspired challenge at Scrap That Poetry, I knew that combining the poem with my design-team layout for Scrapbooks Made Simple, a local scrapbooking store, would be the perfect match! Here's what I came up with:As an English teacher, I love the subtle allusion to a poem that I've always loved. Thanks for such an inspiring challenge, ladies!

Well, there you have it: the results of one incredible weekend. I'll have a few more goodies to share with you over the next week or so!

What a great start to the new semester. Now, if only I can get my scrap stuff unpacked in a timely manner, life will be sweeeeeeet. :)