A Pictoral Description of the Goings-on in the McGuinn Family and Other General Randomness



Sunday, February 27, 2011

Scrapbook Circle Weekend Warmup Challenge #2: Alter Your Alphas

Since I was lucky enough to win the first challenge at Scrapbook Circle, I thought I would give challenge #2 a whirl.  To qualify, your layout must alter an alpha from its original state and use a past SC kit.  I am still making layouts with the February kit and thought the colors in the kit went well with a photo of my boy just after their bath, right after a I took a towel and smooshed their hair in an attempt to dry it.  They absolutely hate when I do that!  The alphas that cam with the February kit are an natural color and only came with 2 of each letter, so after using the alphas on a few layouts I am running out of certain letters. So for this challenge I altered my alphas in two ways.  One, I sanded them and painted them red and Two, for an "R" and a "A", I used the negative from the chipboard sheet to use as a template to draw the missing letters with a black pen.


The prize this time is bunch of goodies from Glitz.  I know I cannot possibly get lucky enough to win twice, but I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Lots Goin' On

I know, I've neglected my blog this past week.  I lost someone very dear to me and have been trying to focus all my efforts on being with loved ones and healing.

But a few good things were happening while I was gone.  I was featured on a few scrapbooking blogs, which is quite exciting for me.  Wanna check them out?

I won a challenge at Scrapbook Circle, see the post and my winning page here.  I'm going to receive an awesome prize pack featuring American Crafts "Love" collection.



Next, also at Scrapbook Circle, a layout of mine using their January kit was "lifted".  Some of the DT gals used my layout as an inspiration point to make a layout of their own.  You can checkout the post, my layout and the lifted layouts here.

Lastly, I had several layouts featured on the Sweet Peach Crop Shop blog, here.

So, once again my scrapbooking has been more than just a hobby to me.  It's my therapy!  Hopefully, I will have some new scrappy goodies to show off soon!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

More Fussy Cutting with the February Scrapbook Circle Kit

I wanted to share another layout I made using the February kit from Scrapbook Circle in which I used fussy cutting.  The kit came with some papers from the "Hopscotch" collection from Basic Grey which just begged to be fussy cut.  On this layout I fussy cut various flowers, butterflies and the strip of "lace" (paper) towards the bottom. 


Aren't the gold dots awesome?  They are a rub on from Glitz Design and were also included in the kit!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Scrapbook Circle Challenge - Fussy Cutting

Scrapbook Circle started running challenges on their blog this year.  I've never been much for challenges, but I love Scrapbook Circle, so I though I would give it a try.  Here is the current challenge that runs until this Wednesday, when they post the new one.  The link will show you the prize should you "dare to try"!!!!

Anyways, here is my take on the challenge:


I "fussy cut" the letters to spell "movie night" for my layout.  They were from a sheet of paper from the February 2011 Scrapbook Circle kit.  I was hoping I had a circle punch the right size, but I did not, so I had to cut those little buggars out by hand!

Keep your fingers crossed for me that I win, the prize is just awesome!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Sweet Peach Crop Shop - January Kit Layouts

I just finished 6 layouts with the January kit from the Sweet Peach Crop Shop.  The kit was beautiful, and I am sure I will be ordering from them again in the future!

I happened to be scrapping some photos from Vegas when the kit arrived, so I made 3 layouts about our escapades while in Vegas:





Some photos of the boys at the beach last summer.  I posted one of them a few days ago as my entry into the SPCS color challenge:



And finally, Tyler's school photo from last year.



Thanks for stopping by!



Thursday, February 3, 2011

Scrapbook Circle - November Layouts

I just realized that I never shared all of the layouts I made with the November kit from Scrapbook Circle.  I did share a few in random posts about other topics, but here they are all together.  I love these kits, you can get so much done with them so quickly because everything is already coordinated for you.  Plus, it's a great way to get your hands on all the newest products, especially if you are not lucky enough to have a local scrapbook store, at a great price!  This kit contained fall/outdoor and school themed products from Lily Bee, Crate Paper and October Afternoon.

Thanksgiving 2001 - I posted this one back in November:


A trip this past year to Disney's Animal Kingdom:


Tyler's Pre-K Graduation:


Some cute pics of Carter:


Sleepy time pics of Tyler (he's an awesome sleeper!  6 yrs old, still takes a 2 hour nap on weekends and is passed out by 8-9 pm):


Tyler waiting to get on a ride during our Disney trip:


Hope you enjoyed my layouts!  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Sweet Peach Crop Shop Color Challenge

Sweet Peach Crop Shop is running a color challenge.  Check it out HERE.  The colors they challenge us to use are a soft, serene and just beautiful.  The best part, their not too feminine and they match the colors in their January 2011 kit, which I just recently received!  Here are the colors:


And here is my interpretation:


I've done several other layouts with this kit and will post them in the next few days.  Check back later!

Scarlet Lime Kit - October 2010

Scarlet Lime is another kit club that I belong too.  Their kits are really eclectic.  What I like about their kits as they usually do not have a strong theme (like birthday, Christmas, zoo), sometime not even a strong color theme.  Their kits can therefore be used for anything and everything.  The October kit was really pretty.  When everyone else was doing the standard Halloween theme kit for October, they did a kit that included lots, of orange, purple, brown and teal and not one single pumpkin.  If you are looking for a embellishment heavy kit club, try out Scarlet Lime.  They even have a less expensive monthly option for $19.99.  It has less paper but tons of embellishments.  I would have to guess that the actual costs of the items in the Frugal Fab kits are close to $35 - $40.  That's quite a deal!

Here are 3 layouts I accomplished with the kit.


Some flower shots at Butterfly World.  I love the Dear Lizzy key/lock and butterfly that came with the kit.


Dan and myself at the Mirage in Vegas.  I made the big flower using a pleated ribbon (Pink Paislee), the bottom layer of a Bella Bloom (Bella Blvd), a chipboard button (Jenni Bowlin) and a button.  I love how it came out!



Dan and I taking a gondola ride at the Venetian, also while in Vegas.  I am love with that flowered paper I used on this layout and the one above.  It was a Scarlet Lime "exclusive" print.  Often time, the kits will include papers only available in the kit.  It really makes your layouts unique!


Hope you enjoyed them!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Scrapbook Circle January Kit Creations

Scrapbook Circle's January kit was gorgeous.  You can see it here.  It includes lots of "love" themed products from Fancy Pants, American Crafts and Glitz.  I did 3 layouts and a bunch of cards, plus I have scraps leftover to get creative with at another time.

Here are my creations!

This is a self timer family photo that I took a few weeks ago.  I love the photo and I knew it would be a perfect match for the kit.  I usually scrapbook chronologically (which means I'm scrapping photos from August 2010 currently) but I had to scrap this photo.  I hung the finished layout in my scrappy place.


These were just some random pics I took of Tyler for no special reason or occasion.  I love that little buggar's smile!


The last layout is a picture I have had for over 10 years of my MIL and FIL at their prom in high school.  I'm guessing this is from 1970 or 1971.  Doesn't my FIL look like Austin Powers in this photo???  The kit came with these really cool black doilies printed on transparencies.  I had a lot of fun layering all sorts of stuff behind it and in front of it.  I think I have to buy some more of these to add to my stash.


I hope you enjoyed my layouts!  If you are looking for a great monthly kit club, with a really active community and blog, go check out Scrapbook Circle.  You can even see the new kit for February!