19 and Done!

These are the final pages for the album that I worked so hard on. These two pages are for sports. I was told that the student really likes all kinds of sports so I tried to put a great representation of lots of different sports and this page can either be used for team pictures or recreational fun. Whichever she chooses I think these pages will get the job done. I am really loving my Lace Ribbon Border punch. It really adds to a page.

Here is a close up of the last finished page in the album. On the back of this page, stuck in the sleeve, I included a variety of colors of cardstock and some punched shapes that can be used for additional matting for photos the student will add. I also added 12 X 12 sheets of cardstock for her to create a 20th page. This album was a lot of fun to make. I hope it brings her lots of fun and houses memories to last a lifetime!

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

19 Pages...Still Going...

Here are pages 14, 15, 16, and 17 of the scrapbook that I made for an exchange student from Thailand. I tried to make these pages generic so I stamped Great Times as a heading. I had fun making the stars. I stuck holes in some and stuck a brad in them. On the other ones I tied some linen thread through a few black buttons and stuck them on the stars. I think of all the pages, these two are high up on my top pic list out of the 19 pages. I used the First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper. For the heading I used the Just Perfect Alphabet. The pretty blue patterned paper comes from Pocketful of Posies Designer Series Paper. I used this paper for many of the pages in this album.
These are two more generic pages. In order for the student to make this her own we felt it was important for her to have a few pages for whatever she felt was important to add as a special memory. I love these two colors together. I put some extra elegant eggplant paper in the back of the album for matting photos. Again, I used the Just Perfect Alphabet stamp set. It's been awhile since I bought an alphabet stamp set and I am really happy with the size and look of this one. It really is just perfect (LOL)!

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

The 10 Year Old Is Stamping!

My daughter is going to a sleep over tonight at a friend's house. I thought I'd be cranking out a card last night but instead my daughter volunteered to make the card herself. I recently showed her the crayon resist technique and it has become her favorite thing to do when stamping. I pulled out my birthday stamps for her to choose from and she got busy picking stamps, colors and embellishments. I helped with cutting the cardstock and layering the ribbon, but she did everything else. She felt so proud when she was done. Great Job Zoë!

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19 Pages...and Still Counting!

Today I am sharing pages 10, 11, 12, and 13 from my 19 and counting scrapbook album that I created for an exchange student from Thailand. For these four pages I decided to loosen the reins and let the student have the opportunity to personalize some of the pages. I used a retired Simply Scrappin' Kit.
I started the layout on these pages but left out some key elements so that she could include them where she wanted. I also didn't decide on a heading instead I included 3 sheets of the adhesive cardstock cutouts that she can choose from 5 different headings (Here are Some of My Fabulous Photos, Totally Sweet, friends, Love To See You Happy, and Me & You.)
These are the second set still using the retired Simply Scrappin' Kit. After making these pages I really wanted to keep them for myself.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

19 Pages and Counting...

The countdown continues with pages 6, 7, 8, and 9. I am sharing more of the pages from the scrapbook I recently completed for a Thai exchange student. The students have Orientation Weekends so these pages can be filled with special memories from these events. I included two tags to provide space for journaling. I really love the colors on these pages. I picked them because they sort of have an Asian feel which made me think they would be a good choice for this book. These pretty papers are included in the Pocketful of Posies designer series paper pack. I added another bird to the branch so the cute little birdie could have a friend too!
Here are more pages using the pretty Pocketful of Posies designer series paper. The theme for these pages is "Friends." I used the Just Perfect alphabet and Petite Pennants Builder with some bakers twine for the heading. One of the first cool things I learned as a stamper was the torn paper technique so I thought I'd go back to my stamping roots and add that. What did you learn as a new stamper? Give it a try and you'll see that the thrill is still there.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

19 pages of Scrapbooking...

19 pages of scrapbooking really sounds like a lot doesn't it? Well, for the last couple of weeks I've been working on just that. An album of 19 fun scrapbook pages for an exchange student from Thailand. I designed most of the pages and she will get to add her photos to them so she can record her memories of her year in America. Her host family has a seven year old that plays on the same soccer team as my seven year old. The mom of the host family and I brainstormed a variety of themes to include in the book. I will share a couple of the pages each day for the next several days until all are shared.

I always find it challenging to get things to stick on the linen album cover. How does one decorate it? Add some ribbon and then what? Please leave a comment if you have any ideas to make a cover a bit more interesting. I added ribbon some twine and a chipboard tag with the student's name. I also put a button on the tag and I covered the holes on the button with a couple of rhinestones just to give it some sparkle. (It is hard to see it in this photo.)
As far as the Thailand page I was going to add some chopsticks to the side of the page because I thought it would look cute, but then my husband asked, "Are you sure they use chopsticks in Thailand?" which then gave me pause so I didn't put them on. A picture could go nicely on this page to recognize and acknowledge the country she calls home.
This welcome layout was pretty much copied from a design made by my second level upline, Gail Murray. We made pages very much like these at one of her classes and I thought they would work perfectly for a Welcome to America layout. I made some very slight changes such as color, stamps, and paper for the purposes of this book and because of the availability of supplies but the idea is all Gail's.
One of the themes we decided on was a school page. I used her school colors, my Sizzlits Dies for the heading, and I even included the school mascot too! She can stick her pictures wherever she likes and get some journaling done on the white square. I hope she likes these pages because I sure do:-)


Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

A Birthday for Him

Creating masculine cards remains such a challenge for me. I decided to use the Open Sea stamp set and a sentiment from the Bring On the Cake stamp set and this is what I came up with. I kept it pretty simple because that's how I roll:-) I made a second one, which I forgot to take a picture of before sending it, and I used a blender pen and water colored a touch of blue under the ship and really liked that effect.

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Best Time ever!!

Okay, so I do know that Convention has come and gone but I still have this great MDS page to share. Convention is one of my most favorite times of year. I get to connect with my stamping friends for an extended amount of time. We get to stamp, see and use new product, and just have lots of plain old creative fun. This page highlights one of my favorite pictures from Convention. All of the ladies that I hung out with in Utah are featured here on this page. Such great memories!

This is a pretty simple page but it gets the job done.

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Our Days With Copper

Our dog for a week in MDS.

As summer comes to a close and school starts back I am hoping to be able to blog on a regular basis. I was doing really well there for awhile until a new little one came into our lives and totally took stamping and all creativity out of my life. My kids had been wanting a little puppy forever... I thought I would be a good little mommy and give it a try. I found this cute little red colored poodle on a website I'd been following for over a year. I really thought long and hard and then went for it. Well, cute little Copper came into our home. He was the perfect puppy. He was great with the kids and they love, love, loved him....I just had a hard time with all that it took to care for this little guy. I think I probably should have started earlier in the summer? I probably should have had a different set of expectations for what I could get done once he got here? I probably should have managed my time differently? I probably should have known I'd have less time for my kids? I probably should have known I'd get a lot less sleep? I don't know but whatever it was...it wasn't working for me.

So we found Copper a new home with a lovely couple who have had a dog before. They came over, he went to them right away and it seemed to be love at first sight. I am happy to say that our Copper is now living in Philadelphia and going by the name "Rudy." We will visit him in a couple of weeks once he gets adjusted to his new home.

As for my kids...they were sad when he left. Some more than others....we had tears for a day maybe...some how could you remarks for 2 days maybe...but now a week later... the kids are doing fine. The day after he left I took the kids for ice cream and to apologize for sending their dog away, and my youngest (the 5 yr old) says, "Oh, we forgot all about that didn't we?" Well, the older children didn't agree with his proclamation ... but I have to say today they are living as if they did forget all about it...to some degree.

I have to say that when I was about 10 yrs old. My mom got us a puppy and then 2 weeks later she gave him away. I never really understood why she did that to us... but now I totally can!

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