Mellow....

A fun layout from a little hike we took! I used BG Mellow, Maya road sheer blossoms, mellow buttons, american crafts& SU felt flowers, chocolate brad, making memories journaling sheet. I got the sketch from my latest Scrapbook Trends mag. Which was a gift from my family for Christmas. I love this mag.

take care!
julie






A close up of the embellishments. I've been wanting to try some of these close up shots. I kinda like it!

A wish for you

This is from the other Occasions mini catalog swap I'm in. I sometimes try to do the same card for both groups but by the time I got done with the first set there was no way I was making any more of those! So I came up with this one instead. I love these 3x6 cards. I like the long and skinny aspect of it without being too big and I like that it's a little different than the standard A2.

enjoy your day!
julie

E-isc08 a sketch challenge!

Here is a fun sketch for you to try today! Either upload your creation to the EIS gallery or post a link here so I can see what you came up with. Here is my card using the beautiful Embrace Life set. I had someone make the sketch off of a previous card that I had created. So if you're thinking you've seen that one before...you may have. :>
I am going to try and get another sample done for this sketch. It was definitely on my to do list to try another one....but I just ran out of time the last 2 days.
have a good one!
julie

*wish*

Just one more page from J's 5th birthday.I love this picture of him. That smile is priceless!

I was reading Ali Edwards' blog this morning...she is one of the most inspiring people I "know". She really has a way with words. She said something that really got me thinking. She said to take a look at your work, scrapbook layouts or whatever it is that you create, and see whats missing. Not the little material things on any given page, but as a whole what is missing. For me it's definitely the words. I tell myself that the layout doesn't need them or I finish and there just isn't enough room. I'm pretty sure it's just an excuse. I have never felt like I'm particularly good with words. And when I get right down to it I don't really have that much to say. You're thinking "yea right". It's not just with my layouts that I feel I have nothing to say, it's with people too. I'm always the one listening. Not that that is a bad thing but I want to have more to say to contribute to a conversation or to a layout. I'll have to work on that. Maybe I'll figure out where to put the journaling first on my pages before I even place the pictures. Maybe I'll go through my pictures and tell the story before I even get to scrapping them..maybe then it will be easier to get those words on paper. I' think I'll start looking for quotes that inspire me. I guess it doesn't always have to be my words as long as it conveys my feelings on the layout. Ya know I've been searching for my "One Little Word" for this year, nothing has really jumped out at me and I wasn't going to force the issue. It seems that it may have just hit me over the head! My word for this year will be words. I'm going to find more words, use more words, choose my words wisely ...get my words down on paper so that my children grow up they will know what made me tick, how I felt about them in particular and my take on our lives. That is why I'm doing this after all. I mean in the short run I just really love scrapbooking but in the long run the words are what really matters.

have a great evening! and check back tomorrow for the EIS challenge. Tomorrow it will be a sketch challenge, but check back every week because we will be mixing it up over there with the challenges.

julie

fun!

We are going to have an online creative night over in the Embellish It forums. The details are still in the works but we need several people to host a challenge. Please visit this link to read all about it! We are really excited for a fun night of online crafting. I hope you will join us!

my first ATC

I finally tried one of these cute little ATC's! Very fun. Michelle (flaxychick) posted an ATC challenge over at Embellish It Scrapbooking so I just had to give it try. I used the Basic Grey Blush collection, a cherry blossom stamp I picked up the other day and some white paper. I wanted to add some ribbon or brads or something but just couldn't fine the room...so I left it alone.

featured stamper

This card was made for the splitcoast featured stamper challenge this past Sunday. Sarah Green was the stamper to case and boy did she have a great gallery! This card is pretty straight forward. Basic grey cardstock layered with textured soft sky. I wrapped some silver cord around the sky and tied a maya road charm around it. I colored the image with reinkers and an aqua painter and some liquid applique to the frosting and finished it off with some pretties and a rhinestone brad.

thanks for stopping by!
julie

on a roll

I am so excited to have gotten so much scrappin' done lately! The inspiration is flowing. I do jump around a bit in my scrapping...always making sure that my pages end up in chronological order. But I do end up completing an album here and there and I have one that is like 5 layouts from being done! That means that it can emerge from my stamp room and out into the real world for others to enjoy. I also have to report that my plan for getting pages ready to go and scrapping them as I can is working so well I can hardly stand it!

I have evolved so much as a scrapper over the last year. I went from having to scrap EVERY single picture I took to combining the kids' albums and scrapping the pictures that I love. In fact every time I go through the albums I find more pictures that don't make the cut. You know the ones that I feel like I have to scrap but really dread doing it for one reason or another. Those photos are OUT! Why on earth would I scrap something just to do it, when I'm not inspired by the pictures or the event. I also have to say that I'm tired of scrapping every single event year after year. WHY do I need to have an Easter picture for every year of their lives? I haven't even been taking pictures lately and that is where my first love of this hobby started. I still love photography but I'm drowning in the pictures that I have to scrap and I'm afraid to add any more too it. I can feel myself coming out of that little problem too. I grabbed my camera yesterday and took some pictures...just because. And the weather is so beautiful today that I just might do it again!

The only problem is that I only want to scrap right now and so my card making is being put to the side for a bit! I do have a couple of swaps coming up and as soon as I get my Occasions mini catalog order I'll have a couple of cards to show you.

have a great day!
julie


supplies: su guava prints dsp, textured white cardstock,, maya road chipboard flower, misc. chipboard letters (some su), buttons, white paint, white glitter stickers by making memories.

shoebox swap

Good evening! I made this card earlier this week to take to the monthly shoebox swap that I attend. I am really loving this Berry Bliss paper it looks sweet enough to eat! It's hard to see, but I used the pretty in pink textured paper. I just love that extra something it gives my projects. I sort of hoard it for my scrapbook pages, but so love it when I cut into it. I really hope SU! starts to carry it in the 81/2 x 11 size sometime soon. That would make it so much easier for me to use.

I have a friend coming over tomorrow to do some valentines for the kids' classmates. It should be a fun day of stamping!

It feels so good to finally get some of these pages done! I've loved these pictures of Jack and his Grandpa since I took them.

Pretty straight forward layout here some Well Worn patterned paper and some buttons and an SU! rub-on to finish it off.

little stamper

Morning all! I have wanted to scrapbook these pictures since I took them! I just love that at 2 years old, Jordan was already stamping!! She still loves to stamp. As I was making the valentines for her classmates she looked at the cards, got here paper and some flowers I had given her and totally copied my cards! I was so proud! LOL
I think this is another sketch from the Sketch This website. I changed it quite a bit and can't figure out which one I got my inspiration from.

I used some more SU! rub-ons on this layout. The flowers are some rub-ons I used on some PP then cut them out and poked a brad through the middle. The line of flowers up the right side are from the same set of rub-ons. The paper is from Basic Grey's Blush line and the title is from some American Crafts foam letters.

julie

cousins

Since I work on Tuesday I wanted to get in a quick post with another one of the scrapbook pages I completed last weekend. I used the new Jersey shore dsp from Stampin' Up!, chipboard arrow covered in pumpkin pie with a dotted rub on around the perimeter . The little strips to the left also have some rub-ons on it. (Have I mentioned how much I love those new rub-ons???) The star is also chipboard and the title is done with some American Crafts foam letters. I am loving the bright boyish colors in this paper and want to use it on every page!

thanks for stopping by today!
julie

5 candles

Good morning! We woke up to snow this morning. I have to say that I sure am ready for spring.:) I do love the snow...it's so peaceful and beautiful when it snow BUT...I so love to go on warm walks with the kids and Jack is chomping at the bit for some warm weather so he can play basketball all day!

I love these pictures of Jack taken at his 5th birthday party. He just looks so happy! I often print my picts in black and white on purpose, because that was the look I was going for. This is not the story with these pictures! My husband decided that we needed strawberry frosting for the birthday cake...yum, no doubt. But when Jack saw that the icing was pink he really wasn't thrilled about it. So I printed the pictures in black and white so no one would ever know he had pink icing on the the cake!

have a super day!
julie

trying again :)

I am trying one more to unload some of my retired stamp sets email me if interested. julieokada@live.com is where you can reach me.

I'll ship priority mail $4.60 for 1 set $8.95 for 2 or more sets.
Contact me for shipping prices outside the US.
I can accept a non-credit card paypal or a money order. Again...contact me if you'd like to pay with credit card...I can accept a few more paypals with a credit card for a small fee.

Thanks so much for taking a look and if there is something on your wish list...email me I may have it and be willing to part with it. :>

French Script $9
A Light Heart $5
Watercolor Garden II $15
Friends are Like Flowers $12
Mixed Bouquet $13
Bold Butterfly $15
In Full Bloom $10
Mon Ami $8
Sweet of You $5
Wishes Awash $9
Trim the Tree $8 (Stained blocks)
Doodle Alphabet NUM $22
Doodle Numbers NUM $10
Bundle Up $8 (Blocks Stained)
Happy Harmony $5
A is for Adorable $7
Little Holiday Wishes $5
Paint Prints $5 (stained blocks)

first day of preschool

This is my daughters first day of preschool the follow January. She's going to kindergarten this year "sniff, sniff" I thought it would be easier to send the second one to kindergarten but I'm already getting sentimental about it and it's 7 months away.

For this layout I used the pretty Lily Kate collection by Basic Grey, a prima sprite with a making memories glitter brad, some epoxy chipboard flowers by making memories and a rub on from SU's sale-a-bration rub ons set. Everything is available in the Embellish-It store.

have a great day!
julie

day one

It's still today...it's late but it's still today!! And here is the first of 8 layouts i finished last weekend. These pictures are a few years old. This is the first day of Jack's last year of preschool. I can't believe how young he looks!

Pretty simple layout here. I used a sketch this! sketch. Love that site! They have the greatest sketches and amazing layouts from their designers. I used Kraft paper for the base and the new Jersey Shore dsp from SU! for the stars. Some bold brights buttons and a snippet of new pumpkin striped grosgrain to finish it off. The black lines are drawn in and it's hard to see but "day one" is stamped in creamy caramel with the Jumbo Outline Alphabet.

Thats it for today oh, ok, tonight:>. I'll catch you all tomorrow (hopefully first thing in the morning) with layout #2.

see ya!
julie

soon...

Very soon I'll have many scrapbook pages to share. I spent half the weekend last weekend scrappin' the night away, to the tune of 3 am! I'm still recovering! I got quite a few pages completed and a few I just have to add titles to and maybe a few more embellies. I als discovered I CAN scrap on the go. I really never thought I'd be able to scrap if I didn't have all my stuff KWIM??? It was so easy BECAUSE I didn't have all my stuff. And you know wht? I really like the pages. Less is definitely more. I have also come up with a plan to get more scrappin' done at home as well. When I was getting ready for the weekend I chose some pictures picked some cardstock and patterned paper to match and had like 8 or 9 layouts ready to go. I'm totally devoting Sunday's to this process. I'll have a bunch of pages ready to scrap with the hardest part already behind me. I'll let you know if I actually accomplish any of this! LOL.

Lastly...I totally screwed up one of said layouts by adding some rub-ons that I know don't come out really well but I was giving them one last shot before I chucked them. They were $10 I'd hate to not give them a fair chance. Sadly they still sucked and the layout was ruined! I tried for 30 minutes to add a piece of pattern paper over the top and it just wasn't working. I decided to grab my handy adhesive remover and give it a try. I couldn't make it any worse...right? Guess what? IT WORKED!! I've only tried it on this one brand but I'm confident that you can remove any of them with the adhesive remover. I'll let you know if I come across a brand that it doesn't work for but for now, I'm going with it!

I'll have a new scrapbook page every day for the next few days (starting tomorrow!) and don't forget to check out the Embellish-It design team gallery on Feb. 5th.


make it a great day!
julie