Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! Just a quick post today to wish my subbies, friends & family alike, a very Happy and safe New Year. Enjoy the time with those that are special in your lives and create more memories to scrap and cherish! :-)

Big "2011" hugs to you all!

CHEERS!

~Arlene

MFT: 8x8 "Sweet 39" Cupcake Layout

Yep, this past October I turned 39! Egad! Where does the time go?? It seems like only yesterday I was graduating high school and getting ready to face the world! LOL! Oh well, I'm just blessed and thankful to say, that I've had a fulfilling 39 years and I look forward to the next 39 years! hehe!

My husband made my 39th quite memorable. We spent the weekend at Santana Row at a super chic-nice hotel called Hotel Valencia. Italian architecture, stone walls... beautiful! Not to mention the service and the breakfast was AMAZING! But for dinner, hubby took me to this Asian Fusion restaurant called "STRAITS." It's "the" place to go if you go to Santana Row. LOVE it, been there a few times before, but it was my choice to go there again. hehe! You HAVE to try their Lemon grass beef... to DIE for! LOL!!! Anywhoooo... I digress! haha! So after dinner, we walked around and found Kara's cupcakes. We had gone to a Kara's cupcakes in Napa before, so I KNEW I had to have one of their cupcakes again! These are the best I've ever tasted and I don't feel so guilty eating their light and fluffy cupcakes! hehe! So hubbs buys some cupcakes for us and when we got back to the hotel room, he popped a candle on one of them and sang Happy Birthday to me. Awwwweeeee! So, it was one of the most memorable moments of the weekend, I had to scrap it! :-)

Now on to the layout... LOL! I used a mod podge of Basic Grey papers (Nook & Pantry & Porcelan) and a bunch of fun products by My Favorite Things. The Sprinkles on Top Jolinne stamp set is just too adorable. I LOVE the Jolinne collection, she is so fun to paper piece! :-) I also incorporated some of the MFT Die-namics dies on this layout. The dies include the "Rolled Flower", "Rolled Rose", "Little Open Scallop Strip" and "Flower Trio & Leaf trio." I also used My Favorite Felt in Banana Split to cut out the Rolled Rose - super fun to do and it comes out so pretty!

Here are a few pictures of the final project, but be sure to check out my vid HERE for a closer look at how it all came together. :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

MFT: Caged Bird Christmas Tag

This is my second blog post today, so be sure to scroll down to see more projects I've been working on! :-)

I created this tag using My Favorite Thing's Caged Bird stamp set from their "Inspired By" collection. This is by far my favorite stamp set, but you know what... I really love them all! The stamp sets are so versatile and you won't find such a HUGE variety of sentiments and styles of stamps than with MFT, which I LOVE. :-) I also used MFT's Die-namics "Let it Snowflake" die and used the die cut shapes as a mask to create subtle images of snowflakes in the background of the tag. I love the masking technique, it's perfect for backgrounds of almost anything from cards, to tags, to layouts!

I stamped the bird on Blending Card by X-Press It, available on the MFT website. I then colored it in with my Copic markers & cut it out and placed it on a bed of oak leaves punched out with my Martha Stewart punch. The brown fiber is sorta like the bird's nest... hehe!

Stamping on acetate is one of my favorite things to do! I stamped the bird cage on acetate, cut it out, punched a hole on top and tied it to the tag with some seam binding that I distressed by giving it a good roll between both hands. I LOVE the distressed look of it. :-)

Check out the video tutorial I created HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by and peeking! :-) Don't forget to scroll further down for more project uploads.

Happy holidays!

MFT: 8x8 Shadow Box Layout

I had such a fun time putting this project together. I purchased this 8x8 shadow box at my local Michael's for only 4.99 and have been wanting to create something to fill it. I knew the picture I took with Logan at Disneyland this past November was the photo I wanted to scrap. I absolutely love this photo of Logan and I... he was so giddy and excited to be at Disneyland (Mickey Mouse is his hero LOL!) So many memories that Thanksgiving weekend, this one moment will definitely last a lifetime with me. :-)

I used a bunch of supplies from my scrapbooking stash and incorporated products from MFT to the project. To watch the video detailing how I put this together, click HERE.

MFT products used:

Die-namics: "Dainty Dots Border" and "Framed Greetings die and stamp set"

My Favorite Felt in "Banana Split"

"Clearly Sentimental about Babies" stamp set

"Clearly Sentimental about You" stamp set

Visit My Favorite Things at www.mftstamps.com for product information & to place an order.

Happy holidays everyone! :-)

Other products used:

My Minds Eye "Life Stories" paper

K & Company Life's Journey Ephemra and metal key

iamroses flowers & skeleton leaves

Lindy Stamp Gang Starburst Stains

Tim Holtz metal "Ideology" embellishments, Adage ticket "Bliss", clock face from Vintage Grunge paper pack

Vintage book page from Rina "Scrapstress"

Shadow Box (8x8) from Michaels

Picture frame ($1 section at Michaels)

Espresso paint dabber by Ranger

Dymo label maker

Making Memories metal alphas

MFT: Christmas M&M Treats & Tutorial

Hi everyone! How's the last minute Christmas shopping going? If you were smart, you finished your shopping LONG ago... but if you're like me (eg. lagging LOL) you're probably a tad bit stressed and lacking sleep. LOL! But I love the holiday hustle and bustle... I just need more sleep. hehehe!!! There's something about the crowds and the insanity in the mall parking lot that draws out the Christmas spirit in me... hehehe!

Anywhooo..... today, I have a special project to share with you all. I made these M&M treats for my son Logan's classmates. I think they are just so adorable! My inspiration came from Jen. I met her at my son Dylan's cultural feast at school. She made these cute little M&M candies with a santa hat topper. I found out that she's a scrapper (which are hard to come by in my area!) so it was really nice chatting it up with her albeit only for a short while (if you're reading this Jen, here's a shout out to you --- thank you for the fun inspiration!) :-)

To change up the project a bit, I used some super fun My Favorite Things products. The Die-namics Textile Rectangle stamp and die set is so awesome -- I'm officially in love with the die. LOL! Then again, I'm in love with EVERY MFT die currently on the market, who wouldn't be?! I couldn't believe my eyes when I was able to cut out 2 good quality pieces of designer paper at the SAME time with the die! It sure was a time saver (I'm hoping I didn't break any "do not do that" rules for the die... yikes... but these dies are so SUPER durable, and like I said... I can't get enough of these!! hehe!)

The two stamp sets that I used are the "You Spin Me Around Additions" set and the "Santa Baby" set. Both super fun and versatile stamp sets.

Be sure to check out my video tutorial HERE.

Thanks for stopping and by and enjoy the rest of your week!

MFT: PI girl Christmas card & ramblings

Hi everyone! How's all the last minute Christmas shopping comin' along? LOL! Me... I finally hit the mall today, but didn't really find much.... although I did place an order at www.clearbags.com for some super cool clear plastic bags for cards & projects. I found out that Clear Bags is located near me, so it was as easy as placing an order and driving on by the warehouse to pick it up... LOVE that!!! And the customer service ROCKED. Check them out if you are on the prowl for some good quality clear bags. Anyhow... so what were the bags for exactly? Well, I got this really SUPER cool favor idea from one of my son's classmate's mom (Hi Jen!) and I can't wait to try it out. I purchased the 1" x 8" clear flap seal bags to create them. Once I do create them, I'll share them with you all... you'll want to give it a try too, trust me... they are SO FUN and cute! (Suspense, I know. LOL!)

But this post is about the super fun and cute Christmas card I created using My Favorite Thing's Pure Innocence stamp set called "Love you with all my heart." OMG, she is just too adorable!! I paper pieced her dress with some Anna Griffin Calisto Christmas paper and popped an iamroses poinsettia over the heart to change up the theme to Christmas. I think it worked out okay... she looks like she's hugging the poinsettia hehe! I also used my Copic markers to color her in. This super fun card is going to a very special lady for Christmas! :-)

Below I included a list of products that I used for this card. Thanks for stopping by everyone and be safe when you're out there doing your errands and shopping! :-)

MFT Pure Innocence "Love you with All my Heart" stamp set

MFT "Merry & Bright" stamp set (sentiment inside card)

MFT "Additions for Game Night" stamp set

MFT Die-namics Jumbo Scallop die

MFT Die-namics Faux Crochet Border

MFT Die-namics Decorative Doily die

MFT Die-namics Framed Greetings die & Stamp Set

Anna Griffin Calisto Christmas paper

K&Company Yuletide papers & border strips

Bazzill dot-embossed card stock in RED

Kaiser Kraft ruby red half pearls

Inside the card

TGF "A Cheeky Xmas" Holiday Cards

Here are more cards I created for a few of my scrappy friends! I wish I could send everyone cards, but I just don't have enough little elves to help me out - I'm a one woman show hehehe! I hand colored each of these with my Copic markers (E50, E51, R20, C9, C7, C5, C2, R29, R27, R24, R22, C0) and used some new fine red glass glitter I found on Etsy (LOVE it!!) and some Martha Stewart fine glitter. She's cut out using a Nestabilities die, which is the same die I embossed and stenciled with. I LOVE my Nestabilities dies. I have a bunch of them I haven't used in ages, but I plan on busting out with them more often hehe! They are so fun to work with and so easy to use!

Be sure to check out my latest video HERE where I show you how I created the card and give a tutorial on how to use the Nestabilities dies.

Hope you are all having a great week! It warmed up today in Sacramento (the sun came out... yippeeeeee!) But the rain will come soon enough.. sigh... but you know how the rain keeps you indoors... what better way to pass the time away than scrap right? hehehe!!! And boy oh boy, do I have tons of things to scrap! LOL! I've been wanting to cut into my Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime papers soooooo badly (they have been staring at me on the shelf and taunting me since last week! LOL!) But I can't start a new project until I complete the ones I have on my table! Sigh! :-( Soon enough...

Anywhoooo.... have an awesome rest of the week everyone! Keep inspiring! :-)