Everyone has a story to tell, here's mine sprinkled with some creative projects along the way.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back again.



Sunday, January 31, 2010

Simply Beautiful

I love January. It's always the time when I am at my most productive. I'm not sure if it's because I have more time this month than in December or is it because it's the start of a new year and I feel very inspired to tackle a lot of projects. Whatever the case maybe, I'm very happy at all the projects accomplished this month.

And I just finished layout #7. Woohoo! That's a big accomplishment for a busy person like me. :)

Simply Beautiful

this page was based on the latest pagemaps sketch. I love following sketches. I might not copy it to a T, but I love how it jumpstarts my creativity and brings an instant order to my page.


I finally used a Martha Stewart Crafts paper pack that I've been holding on for a few months now. This is the first time I've used her papers and I have to say, I'm loving them.


Another thing that I've finally busted out are these Maya road flowers. Aren't they just pretty.

I journaled about how lucky I am to have a wonderful daughter like Madelyn. She truly is a blessing to me.

thank you for looking.

Till next time,
Grace

Saturday, January 30, 2010

as seen in print....

Hi all and happy Saturday.

This past week I received some of my published layouts back and I thought of reposting them back online and sharing them to my family and friends.

As seen in Creating Keepsakes February 2010 issue


As seen in Scrapbook trends November 2009 issue




It always makes my day to receive these back. Not only do I get reacquainted with my layouts but I also enjoy looking at the issues that the pages are in. I love getting inspired by other scrapbookers. I feel so honored to be in the same pages as some of the people I look up to in this hobby/industry.

Have a great day.

Till next time,
Grace

For Keeps

I was inspired to make a page this week because (a) It's been about two weeks since I made a page (how sad is that!) and (b) because of a great sketch over at Creative imaginations blog.

and here's what I came up with...

For Keeps

these pictures are of my daughter Maddie and her friend Danica. When these little ladies get together, they are inseparable. It's so fun to see them happy and enjoying each other's company.


Being that it's a CI sketch, we were to use mostly their products. Made sense! So I rummaged through my stash and pulled out ALL of my Creative Imaginations products. At first I was afraid that I wouldn't have much to work with but to my surprise, I was overflowing with CI products. Who knew!?


I pulled together a lot of lines here, from Creative cafe, Pizzazill, narratives, art warehouse and Helen Dardik. So many fun stuff!


I love how I can layer so many products and still make them cohesive and uncluttered.

Thank you for looking,
Grace

Friday, January 29, 2010

Card friday

Ahhh, Friday. The last day of the week. The start of the weekend. The last day I have to wake up at 7 am. Well until Monday that is! I just love Fridays!

Anyways today I decided to share some cards that I've recently made. Lately I've been inspired by cards and altered projects. I think I like it a lot cause I can whip something up in 15 minutes or less and right now that's all the time frame that I have to work on projects.

Thanks

This one is a hodge podge of scraps. I designed my brother's wedding invites last month and the white embossed background was a left over from that project.


I wasn't sure how all these colors will work together but it seemed to flow good. What do you think?

Love you

a friend ordered 3 valentine cards from me and I used the leftovers from that project to make this. The papers are from Scenic Route. I miss that company.


the frame is from Making Memories and the rubon is from Basic Grey. Did you notice I got a new border punch? I still love my fiskars but the EK Success border punch line is definitely a new fave.

Happy Birthday

this card was whipped up from leftovers from a layout that I made yesterday. Yes I actually pulled a page together yesterday. Woohoo! This card was based on the CPS 151 sketch. It's been a while since I've worked with their fabulous sketches.


All products are from Creative Imaginations. The Helen Dardik line is always a fun collection to play with.

So that's it. Hope you have a great weekend.

Till next time,
Grace

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

inlove with Crazy daisy kit...

It's still January but the sneek peeks for the February Crazy daisy kit is getting me really excited. Have you seen it????



I love the combo of colors and the minibook is really intriguing me. Wanna know more. Click here. Oh and they're having some great specials right now. Check them out here.

Wanna get a chance to work with the wonderful Crazy daisy kits? They're having a DT search right now. Try out info is here.

So what are you waiting for? Get crazy with the Crazy Daisy kits!

Till next time,
Grace

A crafty post

It was raining ALL WEEK long last week and so to past the time that I was homebound, I tackled some crafty projects. Here's what I've done....

I've been wanting to make some cute stuff for the kitchen and so last week I tackled the projects....

Canister labels

I know I'm the only one that will be using these things and I didn't need a label for them but since I'm in the "let's make everything extra pretty" mood, I went and made some anyways.


I grabbed papers that I already have on hand. I love the fruity paper and used the images as my embellishments. I added dimensional adhesive on top of them so they would have that epoxy sticker feel.
BTW these canisters are all filled with sugar (granulated, brown and powder) A girl can't have too many sugars in her kitchen right?!

Then I made this dishwasher magnet...

Being that my husband and I share the chore of putting dishes in and out of the dishwasher, sometimes we forget to inform each other if the items in the washer are clean or dirty. We've had some dishes washed twice and unfortunately used dishes that weren't clean. Ooppss, I can't believe I just said that!
Anyways, to avert the unnecessary, I made this label.

I used an old CD as my base for the project. Used the same papers from the sugar labels and added letter stickers to the mix. Mitch doesn't care much for this either but I do feel that it goes pretty handy.

Then after making that I was inspired to bust out my sewing machine and whipped this up...

A long time ago I went in a fabric store that had a lot of decorating fabrics. You know the ones that you use to upholster chairs and stuff, anyways they have binded fabric books that has samples of designs that they carry. They usually throw these books away when a new collection comes out. I kindly asked the lady if I can have the books that they were about to throw away and I scored a few binders of some really nice fabrics. I haven't played with them until now.

As you can see I made a blocking of all the fabric scraps that I got, sewn them together and made pillow covers for my couch. I was getting tired at looking at some outdated pillows. I still wanna do some more but the inspiration has fled me. So this will suffice for now. Oh and the best part of this project...it costs me nothing to make!

And then on Saturday night, I came across the Knit and Crochet today show at the Create TV channel (love that channel). I was inspired by all the cute stuff that they created that I busted my crochet needle and rummaged through my craft bucket to find some yarn.

and this is what I'm doing right now....

I'm just making a simple scarf. I know I'm not at all talented in this field so I'm trying the very basic.

It's fun to do some crafty things other than cards and scrapbook pages. Don't get me wrong, I still get pumped working with papers but once in a while getting outside of my comfort zone does me good in the creativity aspect.

Hope you are doing something crafty today!

Till next time,
Grace

Saturday, January 23, 2010

update on 29 things....

Happy Saturday to all. Ok so there's only about 1 1/2 hour for Saturday but my brain is still in Saturday mode so I'm sticking with that welcome. LOL

Anyways, today was a good day. Not only did the sun shining made my day (we've had a rainy week) but spending time with the family also got me very happy.

Another thing that made my day today is this....


I made this card a few days ago that was based on their sketch this week and they were so wonderful to add it to their top 5. How cool is that!

Now onto the "meat" of this post. The other day I thought about my "29 things I wanna do before I turn 30" list. There's been some things checked off and I just wanted to share the update on it with all of you.

1. to rock/wall climb- still nowhere close to getting this accomplished. For some reason my fear of heights are getting worse. I'm becoming more and more a chicken when it comes to heights.
2. to loose another 10 pounds- not even close. I'm actually in the process of getting back to my weight before the holidays. Gosh I hate holiday pounds!
3. be a featured designer for a major scrapbook company- I have this in my to do list this year.
4. get a professional photographer to take photos of my family- I don't know if this is ever going to happen. I have a very "frugal" hubby and thinks paying a professional to take photos of our family when I have my dslr is unlogical. Men!!!
5. get published 29 times in the magazines -I actually have 32 already published and fortunately there's more to come this year. I feel really blessed about it.
6. finish our kitchen (soon!!!) - totally done and we are loving every bit of work that hubby did to make our kitchen pretty and very inspiring.
7. paint the walls of our front room- not yet but is in the works by spring time.
8. reorganize my bedroom (make it look like an adults' bedroom)- for some reason I have not had the energy nor inspiration to tackle this project. Any suggestions?
9. reorganize my scrapbook albums - done! my problem now.... I need more albums. I have succumbed to putting my pages in boxes cause there were no other place to set them aside for now.
10. Finish one Jane Austen novel.- I have procrastinated on this one too but I really wanna get this checked off.
11. find a big and nice basket to place all my mini albums - got this one done too. I love how my mini's are all in one place and I also love the fact that the kids can easily reach out there and look at their faves. Maddie always picks up the one of her birthday.
12. go to sea world- this one is on the maybe or maybe not list. I'm not too sad if I don't get to do this one.
13. watch a play- mmmmm, another maybe or maybe not!
14. ride on a boat/ship/ferry - I went on a canoe trip in September and I'm counting that in this category since it was a "water vessel". Right?!
15. ride on a plane- don't know if this will happen as well.
16. ride on a train- there is a possibility this will be checked off before July.
17. visit 3 different states- another maybe. Gosh now that I'm updating this list, I'm feeling a little dumb for making such out of reach goals. LOL.
18. ski- another "maybe not". Although there's a lot of snow right now and who knows maybe I'll be able to take a trip up the mountains and actually check this off. *wink*
19. meet five of my scrapbook idols/inspirations- Since I'm not going to CHA, I'm not banking on this to be accomplished.
20. go to a photography class- time is not my friend to get this one done. Although I am proud to say that I'm taking photos solely on manual mode now, thanks to my brother Gary for all of his photography advise.
21. get a new lens for my camera- now this... I am really gearing on getting checked off. I'm even saving money for it, can you believe that?! I have only bought one outfit this month. Now that's progress! Hehehehehe.
22. create a library area/shelf in the house- Somewhat done but not totally accomplished to be checked off.
23. get a shopping spree at a scrapbook store- I wish!!!
24. get back to sewing. Accomplish a simple sewing project. - done and then some. I have sewn baby bibs, decorated baby onesies and even made some pillow covers for my couch throw pillows. I'm really enjoying my sewing machine right now. :)
25. prepare a gourmet meal- will accomplish soon as well. I even have a main dish in mind to do. Remember my post about Julie and Julia?
26. own an authentic coach purse- Just went to an outlet mall today and was blown away by how much a small coach purse cost. Maybe if I continue to save even after I get my camera lens I might be able to afford this but for now I'm putting this on the maybe not list.
27. do charity work- I have yet to figure out exactly what I will do for this one.
28. recycle more - I did this. I was saving paper towel rolls for Maddie's preschool class, and using a lot of "thrown away" items in my projects.
29. live life with more optimism.- I believe that I'm really, truly trying to do this on a daily basis, but I feel also that I will not be able to fully check this off till July. There's still room to improve on this.

So there you have it. Now off to see which ones I can check off, after all I have only 6 months left!

Till next time,
Grace

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

My Inspirations- January edition

Definitions of inspiration on the Web:
  • arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
  • a product of your creative thinking and work; "he had little respect for the inspirations of other artists"; "after years of work his brainchild was a tangible reality"
  • a sudden intuition as part of solving a problem
  • divine guidance: (theology) a special influence of a divinity on the minds of human beings; "they believe that the books of Scripture were written under divine guidance"
  • arousing to a particular emotion or action

Ok so as promised here's what is inspiring me right now.....

1. This show is definitely an obsession right now. It comes on at 7:30 in the morning around here but I don't mind getting up early to watch it. I love all the new crafty ideas that I'm learning from Wendy. Definitely a must see if you are a crafty person.

2. This article. Life needs to move forward and the best things are yet to come. That's definitely a lesson that I NEEDED to learn and it has inspired me to keep chugging along in this life I call mine.

3. I'm glad to be associated with a company that gives back. This year Aeropostale is holding it's annual Teens for Jeans program. Basically you just bring in your gently used jeans (any size or brand) and the company collects all the donations PLUS match it with their own jeans and give it to homeless teens. This year we are also giving 200,000 pairs to the victims of Haiti earthquake disaster. So what are you waiting for? Do something NOW!


4. I'm lovin' all the sneek peeks of the new scrapbook products that are making their debuts at CHA next week. I'm a little sad that I can't see them all in person but I know that as they trickle into my local craft and scrapbook stores that I will be making my wish list. This line is one of my favorite lines to come out.

Of course it's a GCD Studios paper! They just keep on coming out with some great lines.

5. There are a few songs in this CD that I'm really digging right now. They're my new fave tunes to listen to while I'm running.


6. and finally something or rather some people that always sparks up that something in me to get those inspirations coming

I took this with a timer when we went on a little field trip to Griffith park last month.

So there you have it. Inspirations are everywhere.

Till next time,
Grace

Heart card

It's still raining around here and I have been homebound for three days. The only time I really leave is when I have to take or pick up my kid from school and when I go to work. Some people might feel a little bit of a cabin fever during these days but not me....I love being homebound.

I've been pretty crafty these past days. I've made all sorts of things, from kitchen labels, cards, scrapbook pages to even sewing up some new pillowcases for my couch throw pillows. I will show pictures of that soon but for now let me share a card that was inspired by two challenges...

Heart Card

I used the recent sketch from Get Sketchy blog. I love the layering in the sketch. Got me to use a bunch of products without making the card too busy.


I'm also turning this in for the latest American Crafts blog challenge. We were to use two or more mini mark rubons. I used the border rubons here. Everything else is also from American Crafts.

Supplies used:
Card base- Best Occassions
Papers, ribbon, chipboard and felt accents and rubon- American crafts
Border punch- Fiskars

Thank you for looking,
Grace

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Yoohoo, where are you????

Calling erink88!!!!

You were randomly selected to get the project prize in my latest giveaway. Please email me at graceelainetolman@yahoo.com so I can send you your prize.

Anyways, happy Tuesday everyone. It's raining today at Southern California. Something that we are not used to but the rain is definitely needed here so we are happy for it. I just hope that the people in the burnt areas are prepared for what might come down on them.

Since it's looking a little bleak around here(weather wise) , I thought of sharing some bright, fun projects that is cheering me up today....

Happy birthday card

Used up a lot of scraps here. I'm getting into my cuttlebug embossing again. I've forgotten how fun they are.

Celebrate card

another card made from rummaging through my scraps.

Homemade magnets

PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION

I initially turned this in to Grafix arts for their booth but they opted to pass on it. It's okay though cause I still like them and the fact that I was able to experiment with shrinky dinks was definitely fun!

I am still going through all the inspirations that have been shared in my giveaway post. They're all great. Tomorrow I'll share what is inspiring me right now.

Till next time,
Grace

Friday, January 15, 2010

Valentine decorations plus giveaway winners.....

Hi all and happy Friday.

I can't believe we are halfway done with January. I still can't believe that it's 2010 and because I keep on coming back to pictures from past years (to work on for scrapbook pages) I get my years confused.

Anyways, today I thought of sharing my Valentine homemade decorations. Most of these were made a long time ago with the exception of the last one.



This one I made one night when I was looking at my lace and figuring out what I'll do with it. It took me a couple of hours to do this. The only reason why it took so long is because (a) I had to figure out how to make the perfect heart from one sheet of 12x12 cardstock and (b) I had to hand sew the red thread all around the heart.


I made this cause I wanted to try the trend of "inchies". It's to make art that fits in one inch of space. Of course 1 inch is too small so my hearts are two inches. This is a great project to use your scraps with.


This one was inspired by a project I saw at a Martha Stewart magazine. Of course her's is way prettier but this one works ok for me.


I was able to work with Grafix Arts company this winter. They asked me to make some projects for them for CHA. They sent me a lot of products and I used the leftovers to make this.


They have a great assortment of papers products. They also offer chipboard and shrinky dink. Remember those? Yep they are making a comeback in the craft industry. Love em!

and now for the announcement of giveaway winners....

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1
4

Timestamp: 2010-01-15 17:39:42 UTC

Products go to....
PixieShtick said...

Hey, how's it going? Whenever you're available we need to get together and do some crafty projects. I have a few ideas already. One of my favorite places to go for crafty ideas is http://blog.craftzine.com/

Projects go to.....
erink88 said...

Non-scrappy inspiration? I usually head over to HGTV and cruise the gallery at rate my space. I also love jumping on flickr and seeing what others have put up. Cruising google images is a great way to find some great stuff too! I hope you share what it is that gets you inspired!

I would love either...a girl can never have to much product, but your projects ROCK!

Thanks for the giveaway!

Send me your addy's and I'll send you your goodies.

Thank you all for playing along and all the shares of inspiration totally got me pumped up!

till next time,
Grace

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Blossom, Vogue and See you later Alligator.....

What?!

No I'm not talking about random things....those are the new paper lines that Upsy Daisy designs have. Wanna sneek peek?

I thought so!

Here they are.....

VOGUE




SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR


BLOSSOM


Aren't they just lovely!!! I'm so excited to see them in person. If you want to see more, feel free to check out the site. They're all up there to be drooled over. *wink*

Have a great day guys.

Oh and last day to enter my giveaway.

Till next time,
Grace

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Upsy Daisy January share....

January is always the time where we reevaluate ourselves and rethink how we go about our daily lives. This is the time when resolutions of all sorts are made and homes are reorganized. So with that, I present to you some of my latest projects featuring some wonderful Upsy Daisy designs products....

Documenting in 2010 layout

this one encompasses one of my goals this year- to go back to journaling writing. With blogging and a hectic life I've neglected my favorite "me" time.

Journaling:

One of the things that I missed the most in 2009 is handwriting in my journal. With my life turning into one crazy ball of schedules and activities, I’ve sheepishly turned into my blog for documenting our everyday happenings. This sufficed me because typing is way faster than writing with my trusty little pen, but I miss seriously missed my journals. I miss the unabridged truth that comes out when I know that I’m the only one reading what I’ve written. I miss the unedited perspective that comes out of me. I missed the smell of paper and the chicken scratch of a writing that I make in it. I miss the quiet time I have with my “nth” volume of journal. I miss it all, that’s why in this next year, I will try my very best to go back to the habit of journaling writing. I know it’s going to be tough challenge but I’m going to try. After all documenting is what I do and I don’t see any better way of accomplishing that than journal writing.



Here I used the Enchanted paper line. I love the monochromatic look of the page with a hint of boldness that the dark purple provides. I also used some rubons and a border stamp fromUpsy Daisy.

Card Organizer

Have you ever experienced a time where you forgot so and so's birthday and you scramble to find that cute card you recently made but totally spazed out on where you last put it down? Well worry no more.....here's a card organizer for you.


I started with a used chocolate box that I received at Christmas time and turned it into a place to house my newly made cards. It's both an earth friendly and cute project, don't you think?!


I used some fun Cupcake papers in this project along with frame stamp from the My Guy collection and some oodles of doodles letter rubons.

So there you have it. Hope this will inspire you to get those resolutions and organizational tasks done. Just like my mom says....." in everything you do, put at art in it." These projects definitely fit that bill! *wink*

Oh and if you have just now stop by, I'm having a give away this week in my blog. Check this post. You have until Thursday (tomorrow) to leave a comment and I'm picking two winners on Friday.

Have a great day.

Till next time,
Grace

Monday, January 11, 2010

Give away....

Hi all and happy Monday! Yes the winter blues is gone away and I'm feeling so pumped up this morning. So how about a blog candy?!

I've been going through my scraproom lately, trying to straighten things out and found some stuff both new and unused to some slightly used items that I thought might need a new home. Do you want em?



I also have a few finished projects that I've been saving for that special time or person to give it to and I think it's time to find them a special home as well. Would you like to take them away from my hands?



So here's the deal-o....leave me a comment and share a few things/links that are inspiring you right now. I'm mostly looking for inspiration OUTSIDE of the scrapbook world. I'll give you guys a whole week to play and on Friday I'll pick two winners. Oh and can you please state which would you rather receive.... product or project.

That's all and thank you all for your continued support.

Till next time,
Grace

Friday, January 8, 2010

First batch of cards for 2010

I'm grateful that things have slowed down and that I was able to whip up some cards this week. Here's what I created.....

We're here for you

I've been going through my scrap stash and focused on creating cards that made me happy. Again I'm trying to take "stress" out of my life and this process is just what the doctor ordered. :)
I was very fortunate to get a big "load" of stamps from a lady in our ward. I love that people think of me when they want to unload some excess.

U Are Fabulous

As you can see with this card, the papers are all from the scrap stash. I also dugged from my die cut stash. That's something that I need to replenish again. Last year when I first got the cricut, I used up scrap paper and just went to town cutting images. I stored them neatly in a folder so whenever I need a quick cut out image, I go straight to that plastic folder for some treasures!

Let's Chat Soon!

I also dugged through some new stuff. One of the perks of getting published it that you get some free products as compensation from certain magazines. The phone chipboard here came from a loot that I recieved recently. Isn't it fun?!

Land of the Free

Here's another example of how I love to save scraps, even if it's just the tiniest strip of piece. The star pieces were from this itty bitty scrap of paper tha I was holding on to. Must be better at letting go of trash this year! LOL.

Hi

My scrapbook supplies give me such a wave of inspiration. This card was totally made in a few minutes. 10 minutes tops!

Best Friends

I love the girly colors on this. Very trendy.

So that's it. Now off to work on some more paper goodies.

Till next time,
Grace