ATHM: Little Monsters :)

ATHM-All Things Hand Made: 






I enjoy creating unique shadow boxes especially as gifts for showers.  Here is a little monsters themed page I recently created for a friends baby shower to go with their nursery theme.  Monster sticker die cuts, solid and patterned papers make this layout pop with color-cute and fun!  It was a huge hit at the baby shower as well :)

Chipboard Geocaching album...(Part 1)

A couple of weeks ago, I got together with some friends and I worked on a geocaching chipboard album.  Using some goodies I found at this summers scrapbooking expo in St. Charles-I decided to go with a fall/nature theme that complimented the photos.  Exploring state parks in the fall with friends is always a great adventure guarenteed to provide beautiful sights.

I love scrapping with others-exchanging ideas and getting inspiration from eachother.  This is still a work in progress and I will update with a future post when it is complete.

Enchanted Forests...

I've been a busy bee running around getting crafty projects organized and together. This past weekend I was able to complete a baby shower gift for a friend-a woodsy themed shadow box to match her nursery decor, along with other goodies for them to enjoy:

Here are more close ups of the LO/Shadow Box:

 I used my Create-A-Critter Cricut Cartridge to make all the layered pieces. I have to say this is one of my most used and favorite cartridges to date. There are so many options and the animals are adorable!! I hand stamped the "handsome little prince" title and added some green and white bakers twine to make it look like it was floating in the air between the sleeping owls. Inking is another technique I enjoy using in my creations. Here I inked the grass blades, the fawn and the fox. I love the dimensions it creates.

Ugly Paper Challenge LO-"Good Times"

Found my camera cord just in time to get this layout uploaded for the Feb. ugly paper challenge. This LO was also inspired by Let's get sketchy's impromptu challenge on their blog.



Glad to get Pat out of his RIC room and outside to roll down Michigan Ave. One of his friends stopped by for a visit and we went exploring the streets right before christmas. Enjoyed the lights on the trees and posed with a very nice silver lady :)

Let's Get Sketchy DT Call

Inspiration is all around us, we just have to open our eyes and minds to it. This is very true in scrapbooking and I love to turn to sketches for inspiration when I get stuck or fall out of a scrappy mood.

Browsing online I came across a new up and coming sketch site called Let's Get Sketchy. They are currently looking to fill positions in both their design and sketch teams. Team members will be required to complete a layout based on sketches 2 times a month for a total of 6 months. I think it would be a great way to keep my creativity flowing and try out new designs.

You have until February 10th to apply and the new design and sketch teams will be announced on February 11th, with the first challenge kicking off March 1st.

To qualify for the position they ask you to create a layout based on the following sketch:


Here is my layout based on the above sketch:


I love to distress with inks and recently discovered distressing using water on the pages. I love the way this transforms the paper and gives it a worn/unique look and texture.

Good luck to all the entries :)

Some Puppy Love...

I love my puppies with all my heart and loved making these layouts for their first album. Sadly one of them (male-Lance) passed away at a young age of 3 almost two years ago, and now our gwen was diagnosed with mast cell tumor/cancer. I am really behind on these pictures and layouts but as I say better late than never! Eventually I will get to scrapping the other 2 pups and other animals and events!!


They were small enough here to use a simple stake in the ground to hold them in place :)


Oh how they love their toys!


At "grandma's" house :)

Happy Scrappin' :)

Adventures with adhesive and my new love ... the ATG gun

I have heard of the ATG (****) Gun over the years and have not gotten one until now. The top reason (and only reason) why it took so long was due to its price. They are not cheap to start with but in the end save money when compared to other adhesives.

As an avid scrapbooker adhesive is very important to me. I started off with photo tabs. The little papers (backing) got all over the place and was messy... I was ok with this until it started not to hold as well. I use them on occasion, but have shifted to other adhesibves.

I then tried and LOVED my Tombow roll adhesive. It was small and fit well in my hands. I found it easy to use and it held --I never had issues with stuff falling apart. After some time I noticed the package changed but the product stayed the same (at least thats what I thought). Slowly I realized that my stuff was starting to come apart! This made me angry and I was off to look for a new adhesive.

I came accross Kokuyo dot adhesive and loved it. The little dot dispenser held well and projects stayed in tact. So why switch from this great product you may ask? well the company went out of business or something and the product was no longer being made!! **I have been informed that this product is no longer made under the name Kokuyo, 3M in the united states bought rights to this exact product and it is sold now as the Scotch adhesive dot roller--may have to pick one up to test it out for smaller projects.

So back to square one I went. I settled on Herma Dotto dot adhesive and was impressed with its strength. The more I used it the more I started to hate it for other reasons--since it really is sticky! It would gook up on the sides and get real messy--My table still has residue left over from it! Also to refill the tape was a pain and took a while with looking at directions. Eventually it got so gooked up I couldn't get it to roll without hurting my fingers/wrist.

I went online and people were raving about the Adtec adhesive...they are super cheap--you can get a pack of 2 refills for $2.50! I used it with caution thinking to my self why is this one so much cheaper? well stuff started to come apart again--not at first and I saw it more with my shimmery cardstock.

I also have a xyron sticker maker which I love and never had issues with so my next adhesive trial was with the xyron roll dot adhesive. Like the others this is not on the cheap side... about $10 for the dispenser and one roll and refills are $4.99 for 28 ft. I bought mine on sale. I started using it and LOVE it --it doesn't gook up like the other adhesives and rolls out easily and smoothly. I may stay with it for quick little jobs, but refill will cost me.

After careful consideration and reviews I FINALLY purchased my ATG gun 700 style number with the Gold adhesive--the only one that is archival safe. I got it from: www.framingstore.com the cheapest place that has it. I got it for around $40 and refills are $3.45 each. Each adhesive roll is 108ft long--A lot more than the other hand helds I have been buying.

***They are backordered for the size I wanted, the 1/4" one so hopefully by the end of this month they will be able to send me my new scrapping toy!

Happy Scrapping :)

Handsome Little Prince...Shadowbox gift

This past weekend I attended my cousins baby shower--she is expecting a baby boy! In addition to buying her gifts off of her registry I alway make a scrapbook item for the mom to be. Lately I have gotten into making shadowbox pages since they take less time than an album would (I didn't have much time to make her an album but told her that I will in the next couple of months)

Here is the shadowbox page I made in a baby boy theme:



Some close up shots of the page and its details:







Happy Scrapping :)

Cricut Design Studio

I purchased my cricut design studio last year at a scrapbook convention. Its supposed to allow you to mix your cartridges and weld letters/images together and instruct the cricut to cut it all out as one piece.

I have heard that others use it to cut out all the elements of one die cut at once by arranging the different papers on the mat. This last I think would be a time saver since you wouldn't have to reload the machine each time and you would get all the pieces in the colors you want in one shot.

One can also make those intricate cardstock pages that look like lace-flowers, borders with text welded together etc...I don't have the expression so my size would be limited but I think would still work as borders and backgrounds.

Sadly I have not had a chance to try these fun techniques out yet! Part of the reason why I think is because its done with the aid of your computer. Some days when I get home from work I want nothing to do with the computer and stay far away from it. Others my husband takes over the laptop and I never get a chance to use it.

I've been feeling a creative bug nipping away at me recently and I think I will take a stab at playing with the design studio. I am limited in the type of cartridges I have but it should be fine.

There are other cutting programs that are compatable with the cricut that allow you to cut images/text without the need of a cartridge--I may try my hands on that in the future. For now I am sticking with my design studio.

Happy Scrapping :)

Time Flies!!!

WOW! I can't believe its already December, and that my last blog was in the middle of August--sorry about that!

I have been busy and I wish it was more scrapping stuff than regular life. Some updates to share with pictures:

on the animal front:
*RIP Bosco--our oldest little fuzzie passed away september 16--he lived a long life and I am glad Pat and I were there to happily extend his years and make the last couple some great ones for him. The other fuzzies are doing great and playful as ever!

Bosco with his favorite crab hiding spot--it kept him warm and cozy :)

*Also in September we "adopted" a chocolate lab and named her Avalon "Ava" for short. One of Pats coworkers had her and no longer could keep her so we took her into our home. She has adjusted well and gets along with the other dogs.

Ava in the grass & meeting her new family

*The beardies are doing great and love their new larger home :)



* The Koi are doing great in their outdoor home--although I think the crazy weather is starting to confuse them --its been warm this past weekend and last week. They have already started to hibernate but then are also coming up for food in the warmer days...hopefully the weather makes up its mind soon! Here are a couple of pictures of the fish/pond from earlier this year:




Scrapping Updates:
*Completed one set of the wedding invitation sets I was working on for a Nov. wedding along with programs and place cards (still need to be uploaded from the camera!):



*Focusing on another wedding invitation set due at the end of January--pictures will be posted by April 2010.

*My new scrapbook room is fully painted and moved in. I'm using my craftshow tables as my desk/work area and will break them down when I do shows. I have my peg board up and working on getting the second ready to hang. Also I'll be adding a floor to ceiling stamp/inkpad shelf in the next couple of weeks--I'm very excited about this--thanks Dad! :)

*I'll be updating my etsy shop with some christmas goodies soon...just have to take better pictures and upload them.

* I will not be hosting a table at this years xmas craft show in Kankakee--I didn't have enough time to build up my inventory--hopes to getting things together for next years show!

I promise to log onto here more often and definitly start adding pictures to my naked blog here!! please be patient --thank you :)

Happy Scrapping :)