scrapologie

(belated) happy new year wishes

 

I have some housekeeping to do around here. Time to dust off the old blog and start posting again. No worries, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Just been traveling WAY more than I want to be. I am blogging from Hartford again (and celebrating the fact that this will be my last visit here for a long time). Nothing against New England. I'd just much rather see it in the fall, and when I don't have to be here for work! Bob is flying in tonight and we'll be taking the Amtrak to NYC again tomorrow. We plan to spend the day at MOMA. I'm dying for some company - staring at the walls of my hotel room doesn't register too high on the entertainment factor!

I will be back home Friday; in the meantime, here are a few of my layouts with the January JBS kit and a sweet vintage postcard to appease you. Hope 2010 brings you much in the way of joy, health and peace.

 

JBS Studio December & A Gypsy Gingerbread House

Some projects to share today. Here's my contribution to JBS Mercantile this month. The December kit is up and it's one of my favorites yet. I especially loved the October Afternoon papers in the kit. Be sure to check out the rest of the design team gallery. And Doris is posting almost daily on the JBS Inspiration Blog - there will be lots of invited designers this month - including a secret favorite of mine, so put the inspiration blog on your daily reading list!

And here is a project I created for Seven Gypsies - this little gingerbread house is made entirely from Seven Gypsies product, with the exception of the bling and gumdrops on the roof. You can read about what product I used on the Gypsy Journal Blog here:

 

 

And here's a vintage image for you. Leaving tomorrow for Hartford -- have a wonderful week and I'll pop in after I return on the 11th!

Lovely Little Paper Bags

I love the beauty and simplicity of a plain brown paper bag, it has so much potential. These Naked Inclusions Paper Bags from 7 Gypsies are so delightful. Their size makes them easy to dress up quickly with stamps and bits of paper and trims. Mine shown here also use glittered up chipboard frames and letters from Tattered Angels and the stamped sentiments are from Pink Paislee. These would be great to fill up with treats. Mine will hold letters to Santa that I'll compile and place in the bags for our holiday book this year.

Have you ever been to the Norwegian Pavilion at EPCOT? I love going there, grabbing a pastry from Kringla Bakeri og Cafe, riding Maelstrom and browsing in the shops afterward. I always enjoy seeing the gorgeous Nordic patterned sweaters and outerwear from Dale of Norway selling at the Norwegian Pavilion. The memory of those patterns inspired these little holiday chipboard birdie ornaments I created for the JBS Inspiration Blog this month:

 

Many of you wrote to me last year to express your appreciation for the holiday music on my blog. I love it too and am trying to wait until just before Thanksgiving to switch to my holiday playlist. I don't want to tire of it too soon, lol!

I'll leave you with a vintage image of Christmas Past - have a wonderful Monday!

Jenni Bowlin Studio November Release

I've been busy with JBS kit projects - here is a sneak peek at one of my layout this month. I absolutely LOVED the new JBS patterned paper and the embossed cardstock from Coredinations. The rest of my creations will be updated over in the gallery at JBS later today. Doris is going to be posting holiday themed projects throughout the month on the JBS Inspiration Blog so be sure to stop by there regularly too.

Over the weekend, I took Alekha to see Disney's A Christmas Carol. It has gotten mixed reviews but I thought it was brilliant though a bit intense for a six year old. The script seemed to be lifted directly from the Dickens text so I found myself explaining various parts to Alekha throughout the movie. She'd probably be readier for it at age 8 or 9. Nonetheless, I loved it and would see it again. Jim Carrey was amazing. And I think I'll have to dig out my old dog eared copy of the Dickens text - it certainly made me want to read it again.

One other place you must go visit -- Melissa has created a gorgeous homespun holidays Christmas book using lots of Seven Gypsies product - check out her blog for the details -- it is stunning and she is an endless source of inspiration to me. I am inspired to make one of my own.

Here's today's holiday image -- have a great week!

Halloween Freebie & JBS October

 

I am back from Cleveland and glad to be home. It was a long week! While I was gone, Bobby took Alekha to the Miley Cyrus concert here last Wednesday (against my better judgment on a school night) but I have to admit that it was great for some daddy-daughter bonding time. She'll remember it for months to come and is still chattering about it daily.

I am hosting a small halloween party for a few of my closest friends and their children and created a digital image to use as the basis of my invitation. Feel free to print it out and use it if you like, (personal use only please!) I have included two versions - one for a spooky party and one for a not so spooky party. And I was happily able to work in a silhouette image of a Pierrot/Columbine. I am hoping to have a real old fashioned halloween party, with the exception of bobbing for apples -- with the flu going around I don't think that would be such a great idea, but maybe I can figure out a version of the game where the kids won't have to share germs. I am planning to order these edible wafers from Fancy Flours so that I can turn out some gorgeous sugar cookies like these:

 
I haven't had a chance to post design work from last month's JBS kit either - so sharing a few with you as well, today. I think they are almost sold out of this month's kit! Check out the gallery for the rest of my projects as well as those from the rest of the team. The last project is from this month's project kit - I used it to showcase photos of my sister, her new baby and her family.

 

JBS Mercantile September Kit Projects

JBS Mercantile September is up! You can get the kit here. And check out all the eye candy from the DT here. Here are my contributions...

 

 

 

 

 

JBS Mercantile - August Kit Projects

I've been busy with the August kit debut at JBS Mercantile and have been working on some exciting projects for the folks at 7 Gypsies as well... (more on that soon!) Here are my projects from this month's kits. The main kit features Jenni's new Town Square Collection of papers, which I found to be so versatile. I created a variety of projects in a number of different styles. The kit also contains several new CHA releases from JBS - the little alpha stickers and borders are wonderful. I'll be back tomorrow with the last wedding image post. For now, here are my projects posted below, and you can see detail shots, including instructions for making the felt gift bag, plus the fabulous work from the rest of the DT here:

 

 

The papers are so versatile and reminded me a lot of Christmas. I made the postcard below and designed the reverse side of it in photoshop; I am happy to share it with you as a free download - please credit if using it for your own projects or publication. It would be great to use this not only as a Christmas greeting, but how about a mid year postcard to the little ones, from Santa, to remind them that he's watching, ALL year long? 

Here is the blank version for you to download:

and here is the project I created with it:

 

 

Have a good Sunday evening - I am off to watch Merlin!!

Walking in the Rain and CHA Peeks

 

 

Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain. (Billie Holliday)

 

It's been raining here all day long. And we are due for more over the weekend. It's good for all the green growing things and I find myself not minding it too much. We have really had an exceptionally lovely summer so I can begrudge Mother Nature a few rainy days, I suppose!

It also gives me a chance to spend time one on one with Alekha who is usually outside with skinned knees and a tanned face, alternately towing and being towed at break-neck speed, down the sidewalk in a wooden wagon with a half dozen children - two piled in, four on foot, and Murphy racing alongside them while all the mothers watch with more than a little concern at the prospect of a potential accident.

So it's all good - I'll take it as a sign to retreat inwards and enjoy some good summer reads and make art.

Lately it's been CHA projects I've been knee deep in. Jenni Bowlin has some fabulous products coming out at CHA. Here are just a few peeks at some of the things I've been working on - there will be more in the coming days.

Jenni has some gorgeous new Halloween Bingo Cards and I had to create some fun projects with them. This first piece is a Boo Treat Bag. We have a neighborhood tradition at halloween of leaving a bag of treats on a neighbor's doorstep, ringing the bell and running away - and the neighbor repeats the favor with someone else, until the whole neighborhood has been "boo'd". So Jenni's jumbo bingo cards worked perfectly for that. I created a Halloween Boo Treat Bag with the larger bingo card:

 

The reverse side of the baggie contains a chocolate bar wrapped in JBS patterned paper and decorated with vintage witchy images and some more JBS new product coming soon!!

 

I used the mini versions of the bingo cards to create a mini collage:

 

 

 

If you haven't used Jenni's bingo cards - you are in for a real treat. They are so versatile. You can use them on cards, layouts, make banners out of them, or even use them for Home Decor. I did just that by popping one of the cards into a vintage style frame. I added some ribbon trim and glass glitter to one of Jenni's chipboard stars and buttons, et voila, instant and simple Halloween Decor! You can see more peeks on the JBS Inspiration Blog.  

Jenni Bowlin Studio June Kit Projects

Doris gave us the green light to go ahead and share our June kit projects (the entire DT gallery should be uploaded today). Here is my contribution from this month's main kit. This was such a fun, summery kit. The key lime and tangerine are a perfect color combination to kick off the month of June. My favorite kit item was the orange glass glitter and the gorgeous german scrap butterflies -- so lovely!! Detail shots and full descriptions will be posted in the gallery later today.

And these are my contributions from the June Project Kit; I ended up getting a ton of mileage out of the project kit! Jenni's mini bingo cards and the red medallion trim were fantastic:

Here's a vintage summery image to kick off the month of June, more summer images to come!

So excited....

Bobby and I decided yesterday, after giving it much thought, that we were ready to welcome another bundle of fur into our home. Our first dog was a rescue dog - a lovely red golden retriever who came from the rescue to our home and died in my arms three years later. She developed cancer and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do - putting her down. That was about six months after Alekha was born. I missed her but stayed busy with caring for a new baby and then running my business. I felt the time wasn't right to get another dog. Recently though I have been having doggie dreams mixed in with some baby dreams and I figure it's a sign - my doggie mommy instinct is kicking in again. Bobby knew a coworker who had adopted a Goldendoodle and (a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle for those who don't know) and she told him that they still had a male puppy available. He moved pretty swiftly in calling them and putting the puppy on hold. He'll be delivered to us tomorrow, I am so excited! And even better, it's a surprise for Alekha who has been pleading for a dog. Here are a few things in the meantime to share with you... a few quick card projects. I'll be posting doggie pics over the weekend!

 

 

And  some JBS projects. This one was made by outlining a paint palette (smallish sized) on chipboard, cutting that out, and covering with paper and embellies.

 

And one last card: