Finally...Blog Awards!

Jamie was kind enough to explain to me how to post the blog awards. So here goes!

Since I received two from Jamie and one from Samantha, (both would be on my list to GIVE awards to...what an honor to receive them!) I thought I'd just pick 10 people and send the two to each of them (it's about all this tiny brain can figure out!) The instructions read:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated" It also says: "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award." (Friendship)

and:

Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude. Link to your nominees within your blog post.- Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award. Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation. (Lemonade Stand)

So with no further ado, here are my picks:

To the following people I want to say that I feel like we are friends even though we have never met. I love perusing your blogs!

1. Carla: http://harrahshangout.blogspot.com/

2. Christi: http://www.blessingsonpaper.com/ (I have enjoyed the e-mails!)

3. Carla: http://www.paperpastorale.blogspot.com/

4. Jane: http://www.scrappy-gram.blogspot.com/

5. Beth: http://www.plumslife.blogspot.com/ (thanks for the cards for the troops!)

6. Gloria: http://www.gmgcreations.blogspot.com/

This next one is for my greatest cheerleader, my sister and my friend (as well as wonderful papercrafter!)

7. Samantha: http://www.samiesentiments.blogspot.com/

The next couple are the blogs of two young people who aren't showing any of their papercrafts (Ross, it might be a good thing...Sarah - you've got work worthy of posting!), but display godly character and a great way with words:

8. Sarah: http://www.newthingsideclare.blogspot.com/

9. Ross: http://www.logandspeck.blogspot.com/

And last, but certainly not least, here's to my precious 13 year old daughter who is an author in the works!

10. Michelle: http://www.shellymusings.blogspot.com/

This what Jamie told me to do: click on the image and save it to your desktop. Then post it just like you do a regular photo. (How easy is that? Why couldn't I figure that out???)

Marie with a :-)

The Final Stretch....

We are almost done with Jay's book! It's a good thing too, since graduation is this morning. We'll probably give it to him tomorrow, since that is when his grad party is. Alyssa did all of these layouts except for the very last one (Mom and Me) which I did. I think she's pretty talented...but there might be some bias there :-)

I really like the way she did her letters. She was inspired by a layout she saw in the CTMH Imagine book.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Marie with a :-)

Quick and Easy...

It's been a busy day so not much time for playing. Still you know the saying...a card a day keeps the doctor away (or something like that :-) This first card is for a friend I haven't spent much time with lately and hopefully now that our schedules are slowing down, we can get together. The inside reads: Wanna hang out? Aren't the monkey's adorable? They are from the CTMH set called "It's a Zoo" The sentiment comes from the CTMH set called "Free Spirit" The second one reads: Hope your day is as wonderful as you. Happy birthday to you! on the inside.

Guess what? NO RAMBLINGS!

Have a wonderful Thursday.

Marie with a :-)

Simple Layout (for the Jay book) and new blog

Jay's dad came by and picked up what has been done so far on "The Jay Book" so that he and Sherry (Jay's wonderful mom) can complete the journaling. I still have lots of layouts to complete before Friday but I hope to have most of it done! I was pleasantly surprised by Terry's reaction (Jay's dad) - he seemed really pleased with the scrapbook.
On another note - many of you check this blog merely for the craft projects and have to sift through my ramblings...others of you are deranged enough that you tell me you LIKE the random thoughts...so I have decided to create a second blog just for my ramblings. That way those of you who prefer no ramblings can be spared...the new blog is called It's A Wonderful Life and you can click the link to view (but I won't have posted anything before late tonight...) The address is http://www.maries-stories.blogspot.com/ The hyphen is a must unless you want someone else's ramblings :-) I am thankful for all of the wonderful comments and e-mails I have received. Marie with a :-)

Mojo 87 and some blog award fun!

Yes, this was another lunch break, 40 minute card. For those of you who have commented on the fact that I create cards quickly I have two things to note. 1) My cards lean towards the super simple. No elaborate stitching and such. Usually just pretty paper and a stamped image or two, and perhaps a die cut flower or image (or punched flower.) and 2) Now that I have been selling my cards (over 200 sold with another large order looming...yay!) it doesn't make sense to spend an hour on a card that I will sell for $4.00. And a funny thing...I can produce a card in a very short amount of time but it takes forever for me to figure out anything technological! I am embarassed to admit that I spent an hour trying to figure out the sweet awards from one of my blogging idols, Jamie Harder ( http://ahappyscrappyplace.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-award-fun.html.) Still can't figure out how to cut and paste them! Anyway, Jamie does some incredible scrapbook layouts but sometimes she also enthralls us with one of her beautiful cards. Then I received one from Samantha (http://mymemorycorner.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-award.html) whose work I also greatly admire. I'm glad that I recieved it from her because it made me realize that even though I am a "follower" of hers, I haven't been getting her recent posts. I need to figure out why. Anyway, before I ramble too much longer, I just want to say that I WILL pass these awards along once I figure out how :-) My computer doesn't allow me to "cut and paste" and my favorite geek just left for California...
Click the link to participate in the MOJO 87 Challenge (or check out the REALLY fabulous cards :-) )

CPS 116...Love This Sketch!

I think it was a record for me...this card only took about 20 minutes to make...the sketch is one of my CPS favorites! To take the challenge yourself, click here And in case you thought I didn't create anything yesterday...here's a card I made. I just wasn't really happy with the way it turned out so didn't bother posting alone.

Tomorrow my 22 year old son heads out to California for some military training. Doesn't look like we'll see much of him this summer :-( . I'm praying for God's hand of protection to cover him wherever he goes.

CCT 60

Out of necessity, my modus operandi of late has been "as quickly as possible." It was a day filled with many emotions and happenings but I did want to spend an hour or so in some creative pursuit so I decided to take the CCT 60 challenge which was simply making a card using letters or numbers. You really ought to check out the elaborate cards over there! There's a link on my sidebar.
Today's events included a memorial service, a power outage, and a shopping trip for Alyssa to find a clutch purse for Prom. Now it's time for ice cream cones and a couple rounds of Scategories with Scott and the kids. Kinda like Lays potato chips...I couldn't make just one card...

Marie with a :-)

Simple Ephiphany

I'm a slow learner. It just dawned on me after completing pages 26 and 27 for Jay's scrapbook that I prefer simplicity on my scrapbook pages. It makes sense...I prefer simple and uncluttered in my home (not that I always accomplish this!) so why should my pages be any different? This layout was so quick and easy! I used the cover to a hat box to make the half circle and kept the two pages clean and uncluttered. Now if only I could do that with my craft room. Then again, I just learned a new term from a high school friend who is in the mental health profession...reframing. Instead of thinking of my craft room as a disorganized, chaotic MESS, I will think of it as my Creative Sanctuary :-) It looks better already.

Another little parenthetical thought...I am loving Facebook! A few months ago, I said that I was a little leery about the entire FB world. Since that time, I have met up with several old high school friends through Face Book. It has been so much fun to see what everyone is up to...a cyber reunion :-)

Symapthy Card

A precious lady from our church, who radiated the love of Christ, went home to be with our Saviour this past weekend. Even though I had several sympathy cards on hand, I felt the need to make one for the family.

Donna was elderly and in poor health but she never let that slow her down. She continued as Children's Church director until her passing and she always had a smile and a hug for everyone. She will be very much missed by those of us on earth, but I know that she is rejoicing to be Home.

I usually don't list the products used because I tend to use a wide selection. This was a very simple card, though and I used only CTMH cardstock and ink, a stamp by inkadinkado, and some random ribbon from my ribbon drawer.

Marie with a :-)

Jay Layout 12 and over 200 cards sold!

After completing an order for over 20 of this "Fun in the Sun Card", I have now topped 200 cards sold since starting Isom Cre8tions last month :-). This layout (the next two photos) are of Jay's 18th birthday. He had a scavenger hunt birthday party and his dad made the cake. I used Creative Scrappers sketch 51 for the second page.

And below is the glued down version from layout #9 that I posted a couple of days ago...decided to remove the butterfly and make a few minor changes so that it was more masculine :-).

Marie with a :-)

Guest Designer...(drum roll, please) Alyssa Isom!

What a privilege it was for me to have my 17 year old daughter decide she wanted to spend some time scrapping with me for Mother's Day. Initially, it was something she was doing for me...but after a little while she really started having fun and I think she was amazed by the talent she has kept hidden. I absolutely love her layouts! She created layouts 10 and 11 for Jay's book...we are now more than halfway finished...woohoo! I also discovered from her layouts that I prefer more "white space" and simple designs more than busy layouts. I think it will bring about a change in the look of my layouts :-) Remember, you can click on the photos for a more detailed view.

Marie with a :-)

May the Lord Bless You card- CPS 115 and CCT

We have been so busy working on Jay's scrapbook that I haven't had much time to make cards. Since I changed one of his layouts, deciding that even though Alyssa was in the photo, a butterfly was too feminine for a guy's scrapbook, I had a diecut butterfly in need of a card :-). I used scraps from that layout, along with the butterfly, to make this ten minute card. I'm using it for both the CPS 115 challenge and the Cute Card Thursday challenge. I like the CCT idea of creating a card for a child at Post Pals and hope to make several more child oriented ones to send off.
Marie with a :-)

Jay Layout #8

I love the CTMH Rustic Trail paper! I used it for this layout and my daughters were amazed to hear me say that I had created a masculine layout I liked :-) The next layout is going to include pictures of my oldest daughter so I decided I can get a way with a little "whimsy" on that one.

And finally below is another picture of Matthew...I'm still learning the ins and outs of swim competitions and I have a long way to go - I find a lot of it confusing. His team had "qualifications" today or something like that, and Matthew assured me that he wouldn't be swimming in the actual competition tomorrow because this is his first year of swim and he didn't think he would qualify. Wrong. He had his best time ever for the back stroke and indeed qualified. His long time friend, Ben P., qualified for both of the events that he swam! Unfortunately for me, we have a wedding of a very dear family friend tomorrow so I will likely miss the competition.

I think I have been getting by on 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night lately and I'm definitely overtired and acting like it - oversensitive and weepy. So I better get some sleep tonight or my family might have me committed.

Hope you have a beautiful weekend,

Marie with a :-)

Jay Layouts #6 and #7

Because the first page of this layout had so many photos (I do find it challenging to create a layout with more than 3 pictures...but I couldn't pass up any of these family pics!) I intentionally kept the second one "clean."

Couldn't get a very good photo of this layout.

I thought this frog stamp was so cute...but when Alyssa saw this layout she said "Isn't that a girl frog...look how long the eyelashes are!" Ugh.

Marie with a :-)

mini gift bag and card

My daughters really appreciate their youth choir teacher and decided they wanted to do something to show their gratitude. They bought her a movie gift card and some chocolate and then came to me for a handmade card and gift bag. I didn't have much time so went with a pattern from a previous card and had these made in about 30 minutes.

CPS 114

What's a girl to do when she has an hour to spare before family movie time and a craving for sparkles and flowers (after nothing but masculine layouts?) Head for the CPS Sketch 114 of course! Here's two takes on this week's sketch. I never would have gravitated to this dog stamp set by gel-a-tins on my own, but a while back I let the girls pick out a stamp set at Archivers using our 30 percent off coupon and this is what they chose. They haven't used it yet, so I decided to play with it.

Hope you had a wonderful Son-day! We had a delightful afternoon lunch with two couples from church and two of Matthew's friends. Now I'm off to enjoy a movie with my gang.

Marie with a :-)

Jay Layout #4

Well, it's been slow but steady these past two days...at this rate, I might just finish in time. I am leaving the journaling for Jay's parents, which makes it a little (more) challenging.

Another challenge for me, is that I have decided that "bulk" isn't good for the scrapbooks so I have pretty much quit using buttons and other bulky items. I did think that this paper I used was pretty enough without adding anything to it! (Oops, did I say "pretty?" Didn't mean it...after all this is a MASCULINE scrapbook. I meant to say "handsome." Yeah, that's it...the papers are so handsome looking that I didn't need to add anything...LOL. )

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Marie with a :-)

Jay Layout # 3

As I've mentioned for the last few posts...masculine layouts are a challenge for me! This one had a good feel to it, though and I think it is because "laughter" is what I think of when I think of Jay. While he is smart, and kind and polite, it is his laughter that stands out because it is so hearty, genuine and frequent. I didn't know him when he was a child, but these photos from his parents seem to indicate that he has always been full of laughter.
I used TLC paper (for a very brief time before my CTMH days, I was a TLC consultant and have lots of paper that they were clearancing right before I switched allegiances. I was looking through them to send some to my sister, and decided these would be great colors because they are so vibrant - they don't show quite as well in my photos. The flip flap on the left page isn't taped down yet (they actually go on the outside of the page protector) so it isn't as transparent as it will be when taped down.

I actually used 2 flip flaps on this page so there are four photos plus room for journaling. CTMH flip flaps...gotta love 'em!

Thanks to some pretty awesome kids, the laundry is complete, a cake made and the house cleaned up so I just may be able to get another layout done tonight. It also helps that my friend Donna provided dinner for tonight. We are keeping two of her children for an overnighter so she can celebrate her 25th anniversary with her sweetie. She really didn't need to provide dinner but she made a Mexican Lasagna that smells wonderful and I can't wait for dinner time!

Marie with a :-)