Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Another bright layout from Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel line! I really love the fun, bright colors of this paper.


For this layout I used Sketch #27 from Sketch Savvy and again, stretched it into a two pager. I did take a few liberties with this sketch and didn't follow it verbatim, but it's close.


I also used this for Challenge #3 on the NSD Challenges on Disney Scrappers. You were to use rolled paper.

As you can see, I was inspired by all of the submarines on the strip tease paper from this line, and the little yellow submarine on the journaling tags. I thought it was a whimsical way to scrap our Nemo Subs pictures.


If you have ever been to Disneyland, you know that the lines for Nemo are really, really long. I took us a year to find a time when the line was short enough to ride it. The funny thing is, that it was exactly a year to the day that Nemo opened! Unfortunately, we didn't really like it. I think part of the problem was that we hadn't actually seen the movie yet, so we had no idea what was going on, or what the story line was.

If you haven't had the opportunity to ride the Nemo Subs, here is a video you might enjoy:

Jumpin' Jellyfish

I saw this paper and immediately thought -- Jumpin Jellyfish!! So, I set to work on it. I was a little limited with my options because I didn't have the entire line and I had a lot of the red paper and a lot of the umbrella paper. So I tried to use it to the best of my ability. These two pages turned out pretty bright, but I like the fun, whimsical, summery feel to them, and the Jumpin Jellyfish are definitely bright!


I used Sketch #33 from Sketch Savvy for this layout and stretched it into a two page layout. As you can see, I also used the same pennants. That is because if you visit the link to Sketch Savvy, she has the SVG cut for the pennants on the same post for free! Check it out!

I used the Snorkel line of paper from Cosmo Cricket. I added a few pieces of plain cardstock for additional circles and for the title.

Of course, there is a Hidden Mickey in this ride -- so I added the close-up and a photo from outside the ride so you could see where it is located. I love Hidden Mickey's.

Here's a little video that shows the Jumpin Jellyfish in Action:

Spring in Concord

I love Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird line. When I got it out and started looking at it, I just felt that it went so perfectly with these pictures of us at Louisa May Alcott 's Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts. We got to visit here in October of 2009 and this is our visit in the spring of 2010. It was so beautiful and green!

For this layout I turned Susan's sketch #54 from Sketch Savvy into a two-pager. If you haven't done so already, please stop by her blog and check out all the wonderful sketches and inspiration!



I used canvas and Tim Holtz dies to cut the green label and the cream canvas flowers. I added a smaller crinoline flower to the center of the larger ones for some additional texture.


I also loved the little tiny type letters they have. They aren't something that I usually use, but I thought it would be a fun little thing to change up.


In the corner, I cut a limb and made more white blossoms to kind of mimic the dogwoods that were in bloom all along the walkway in front of Orchard House. We had never seen a dogwood and thought they were really beautiful!

Also, the flag marking the fire hydrant was shocking to me, as a native Californian. Does the snow really get THAT high?

Spring Banner

I was going to go in a completely different direction with this, but I got inspired yesterday and decided to do this instead. I used the banner SVG from Sketch Savvy, and cut the banners out. I also bought a doily set of svg files for the doily in the center, then added junk bows (a la Margie Romney-Aslett) and some Tim Holtz Rosettes and voila! I love it!

I still have a few more ideas for spring decor, but those may have to wait. Spring Break is almost over and I have to get ready for an upcoming trip.

Here are a few close-ups.

Spring Wall Hanging

I got this idea from my friend, Susan Stringfellow. She posted several of her wall hangings on her blog, Creatively Savvy. She has several that she changes in the frame throughout the year.

Right now I'm decorating for spring and as I was working on a banner for the mantle, I decided to make one of Susan's wall hangings to hang above the entry table.

I used MME and Karen Foster papers with a teeny bit of Rusty Pickle thrown in (wow! talk about a blast from the past!) I cut the papers into 1 1/2 inch squares and arranged them in a grid of 7x7. That left a border of 3/4 of an inch all the way around.

I also pulled a 12x12 ornate cherry wood frame out from the back of my closet -- my family used to own a needlework shop with custom mat and framing. When the state decided to widen the hwy, taking out the front half of the shop, we sold out and moved on, but of course, years later we still have frames and things left over. I painted it white and then sanded it here and there for a springy shabby chic look.


For a bit of embellishment, I dyed the Rusty Pickle paper with Pesto Color Wash, then cut them out with Alterations Tattered Leaves die. The flowers are a wet, messy, crumple technique that I featured on a layout about a year ago. You can see how these are made here. The paper I used here is a really thick, shiny wedding paper that I dyed with Colorwash and some really old Fiberscraps Walnut Ink that I found when I was cleaning my scrap room a few months ago.

Of course, as Susan did, I sewed on the paper once it was secured in place. I love the look and texture that sewing gives to paper crafts. And lastly, since we celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday in the spring, I added one of my favorite hymns. When I was growing up, I loved to hear Mrs. Beeson pound this out on the piano as the church congregation sang loudly. Therefore, it was only fitting that I scan my hymnal and add a copy of this song to my spring art.

I'm looking forward to make several of these for different seasons throughout the year.

A Little Circa 1934

I think I fell in love with this Cosmo Cricket 1934 paper the minute I saw it last October. What a beautiful line! I was really quite intimidated by it and hope I have done it justice.

Practically Perfect
A little layout featuring Bert, Mary and the penguins around Disneyland Resort.
It's always a jolly holiday when Mary is around!

Of course, I turned to my friend Susan Stringfellow's sketch blog, Sketch Savvy, for inspiration, and found two sketches that I thought would be perfect. For this first layout I used Sketch #52 and turned it into a two-pager. Please click on the sketch to go to her blog and see all of the amazing sketchwork she has there.



The adorable scalloped, oval swirly frame was a FREE download from SVG Cuts. Can you believe it was FREE? And I think it was perfect for this layout. Well, practically anyway.


The small label is a FREE SVG Cut from my friend Susan. You can download it by clicking on the link. The black crystal swirls and roses are two Prima Say It In Swirls flourishes.

Mickey's 'Not So' Fun Wheel
This layout is about a "girls day" at Disneyland Resort with my friend.
She left her kids with her DH and we went down to DLR and did a bunch of
the attractions we had never done. Of course, most of them we vowed never
to do again, but we did try them at least once!

This second layout is also from Susan's sketch blog. I turned sketch #44 into a two-pager as well.


The bracket border along the bottom is a FREE SVG cut also from Susan. Please click the link and it will take you to her blog so you an download it if you would like.


While I was working on these pages, I was wracking my brain trying to come up with something really cool to put on them as an embellishment. It was that day that I noticed that Tammy Tutterow had posted a picture on her Facebook page that said she had made Tim Holtz rosettes out of crinoline, and dyed them with Distress Stains. I wondered if this could be the very thing this layout needed.

First I had to find out from Tammy what crinoline was and where to get it, then we were off to the races. Once I tried it, I LOVED it! What a fabulous idea! Tammy is full of great ideas, so if you haven't had a chance, click on the link to her website and check her out!


I didn't have Distress Stains, so I used some of my Distress Inks and a Mini Mister and it worked just as well. So well in fact, that I dyed the extra crinoline green and cut leaves from Tim's Tattered Flowers die. What fun! And what a perfect addition to the layouts!

Autumn at the Lake

Using one of Susan's sketches from Sketch Savvy, and the Nutmeg line of paper from Cosmo Cricket, I made this fun, colorful layout about our family Thanksgiving celebration at the cabin.


As you can see, this sketch was originally for Christmas, but I decided it would go perfectly with die cut leaves using Tim Holtz's Tattered Leaves die instead of the ornaments.


The circle was stitched with DMC floss in a warm orange. I just love the brown back ground with the light green and teal. It is such an unexpected fall color set, but it's perfect!


It was so fun to get to use a 2 page sketch for this! It made my job so easy. Thanks for the great sketch Susan, and for the wonderful fall color scheme Cosmo Cricket!

Dave Smith and Walt Disney Archives

On Saturday, Feb. 5th, I went to the Disney Studios in Burbank for a tour with my friend Kim. Part of the tour was a chance to peek into the Frank G. Wells Disney Archive Building. And guess who happened to be there, but Mr. Disney Archive himself, Dave Smith. What a fun day! We got to see some great stuff, but more on that later!

First, the sketch for this layout was from Sketch Savvy by my friend Susan Stringfellow. Please go to her blog to download a copy of this sketch and to see other examples.


The papers and trim used were Industrial Park from Scrap Within Reach. I cut the title with various fonts using my Cricut and SCAL software.

The pictures above are of me and Kim with a Disney Oscar, and Dave Smith, the original Disney archiver.


The journaling tag is just the chipboard that the ribbon came on. I added paper and tied ribbon through the top and voila!

Dave Smith kindly pulled a few things from the archives for us to see. Among them were an actual ticket from opening day of Disneyland, and the guide book from opening day.

Here is a portion of the Opening Day festivities at Disneyland!

Pluto's Corner - Disney Studios in Burbank

This layout was made using an SVG file for my Cricut and this sketch from Sketch Savvy by my friend Susan Stringfellow. Please visit her sketch blog to download the file and a copy of the sketch.


This was such a fun, unique sketch and I loved the shape of the patterned paper pieces, but I wanted it to be a two pager, so of course, I added page 2.

The papers are all Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety. What a bright, energetic paper line! I added the blue checkerboard paper from CC Material Girl Line and the stripe is from CC Cogsmo. I really felt that the layouts needed some blue and I had seen Susan add the Cosmo stripe on one of her layouts with this line, so I pulled a piece from my stash and she was so right, it was perfect!


The title is Minnie font and I used my Cricut with SCAL. The paw prints can be found on the Mickey and Friends Cricut cartridge.


These pictures are of Pluto's Corner. It is a little intersection on the Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. My DH and I had gone to a movie screening at the theater on the lot, and we took a minute to take a picture at this famous corner. The sign post is an old prop from the studio tour portion at the beginning of The Reluctant Dragon movie made in 1941. The places on the sign do not really point to those departments. Later on, a Disney employee added the three dog prints in front of the fire hydrant and it was name Pluto Corner.


Here is a little clip of that studio tour portion of the movie, but it only shows a little bit of the outside of the buildings. This segment doesn't show the sign, but it's cute!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas 2010

That's right! It's that time again! Tim Holtz and his 12 Tags of Christmas start on December 1st and run though December 12th. Such a fun time of year. I love waiting up until 12:01 am to see the new tag for the day and then gathering up all of my supplies (I am shocked every year at how much TH stuff I have in my stash!) and I make a list of a few of the new things I want to add, and then I try and get to work.

Last year I waited and had a 12 Tags party, but we only got 4 tags mostly done and I only completed 5 more on my own, leaving me with three to still finish.

This year I just couldn't wait that long, and since I ended up with a last minute reprieve from baby sitting our nieces this weekend, I decided to jump in and get started!!

Tag #1
(if you click on this title, it will take it to Tim's blog so you can see his tag)

This one took about 3 1/2 hours to make...there are so many little details, but it was so worth it!

Tag #2
(click on the title to see Tim's tag)

I really liked this tag because it gave me a chance to try the custom stamp pad technique that allows you to stamp in several different colors (like the ticket on tag #1) Really a terrific technique! It looks so great! Check out Tim's blog for a photo tutorial on how to make your own custom stamp pad.

Tag #3
(click on the title to see Tim's tag)

Okay -- I forgot to put the moss on the bottom of the bird's feet, but I don't have any, and so I just took the pic without it. This tag had a couple of techniques. One was the Tissue Tape collage bird, colored with alcohol ink, and the other was the Tissue Tape flower. Tim made videos on his blog showing how to do each technique, so be sure to check it out!

Tag # 4
(click on the title to see Tim's Tag)

Tag #4 wasn't too terribly difficult, but I had a hard time getting the blue I wanted. I didn't like the bright blue on the facet on Tim's tag, so I ended up reinking it several times. I finally ended up using Slate (grey) and Stonewashed (blue) to get this somewhat darker greyish blue color. I'm 90% happy with it. The bling on the tag was a tiny bit tedious because I didn't have the bling on a roll, but I love the end result.

Tag #5
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

I haven't done this tag yet. I skipped it, but will get it done.

Tag #6
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

This tag Tim introduced a really cool technique that includes stamping on an embossing folder before you run the tag through it. I loved it! We also embossed the grunge board deer. This wasn't too terribly complicated, BUT we couldn't find the tiny green garland anywhere that he put around the deer's neck. Only one site that was selling it in 60 yard increments for $9.97. I thought that was a little excessive being that I only needed like 2 inches. So I messaged Mario and so must a lot of other people, because two days later he opened and etsy shop and sold kits with cool Christmas minis it, so my friend and I bought three! Woo hoo!

And this is a fun little tag I made using the techniques from Tag #5 and Tag #6. I used the stamping on an embossing folder technique, and the bling embellishing technique. I love it! I made several of this tag as it is the only one I will probably give away to people.

Tag #7
(click on the title to see Tim's Tag)

This one was really time consuming, but it is so beautiful in real life. You can see the sparkle of the rock candy stickles and the texture of the canvas poinsettia, So many steps that it took about 4 hours to make, but I made two because I figured that if I was going to go to all the work for one, I might as well do two since I didn't figure I would get it all out and do it again any time soon.

Tag #8
(click title to see Tim's Tag)

I haven't done this tag yet. I skipped it, but will get it done. To be honest, I don't like it. I like the technique, but don't like the tag, so I'm going to change it up and needed some time to figure out how I'm going to do that.

Tag #9
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

This one was really fun and so full of vintage golden goodness that I skipped several days and went straight to this one! The baubles at the top are some old earrings I had. The rest of the stuff is from Tim's Ideaology line. Not too difficult and such a pretty result. Definitely one of my favorites.

Tag #10
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

Again, I skipped ahead to try this technique before I go back and do #5 and #8. This is a thick tag. The snowman has two layers of grungeboard and then there is an embossed acetate tag covering the whole thing. Although time consuming, it really wasn't difficult and I love the dimension of the embossed plastic covering. I used snaps in the corners instead of washers and brads. I thought they were fun.

Tag #11
(click title to see Tim's Tag)

This is today's tag, so I haven't even started it yet. I do want to try making my own stamps though. Should be fun. I want to go through my dictionary now and see if I can find any cool Christmasy pictures to use as the background on my tag. Can't believe he found one with a sleigh!

Tag #12
(click on title to see Tim's Tag)

Tonight is the finale! Wonder what the last tag will bring? I am hoping it will be a tutorial on how to make the "Mold n Pour" molds and shapes. I've seen Mario making those for the classes and I want to make some too!!