It's been a good day!

So I finally get to announce that I was asked to be the Guest CT member for the month of July over at A Cherry on Top.....so I'm super excited about that. And we went shopping today up in the city.....just so I could go to a scrapbook store....and I picked me up a few little items that I can't wait to try out tonight...some buttons, of course.....some big green HS flowers....some Maya Road chipboard...and some clear journaling stamps I have been wanting but can't find in stock anywhere......So it's been a good day!!!

Why am I so obsessed with this craft?

So I've been thinking lately about why I scrap. It has certainly taken on a life of its own within my own little life. I've always loved photos...looking through old photos....the stories behind them...the memorabilia. I used to sit at my grandmother's feet and listen to her stories and look at her photos....one of my most treasured memories of her. And certainly when I started all of this a few years back, my intention was to document those stories and photos and memorabilia. But I've realized in the past few days, that I scrap now for many different reasons- the documenting aspect of it is probably fairly low on the list. Scrapping has become my therapy...my happy place. It blows my husband's mind that I can sit for hours on end and scrap.....but I can....because that is how much I throughly enjoy it. I live for the creativity and the "play" aspect of it. I love inspiring others through my work. I love to get praise. And I've realized how competitive I am. And of course, I love to shop and buy more and more and NEW product! I'm sure as time goes on, my reasons for doing this hobby will change again.....I just hope it continues to provide me with as much pleasure and bliss and happiness as it does now.

Just Having Fun

Well, I decided after over a month of doing nothing but contest, DT, and challenge assignments, that I needed to scrap for pure fun....and so I did just that....and had a blast doing it. Here's what I created.

Window to My Soul

Back side


Front Side


Well here is my final entry in the ScrapLovers contest.....can't wait to find out the results. We had to choose a quote that represented our outlook on life and also use some liquid medium on our layout creatively. I chose a quote by Evita Peron- “I know that, like every woman of the people, I have more strength than I appear to have.” As soon as I read this quote, it jumped out at me. I do feel that I am a very strong person on the inside which has allowed me to endure hardships, but come out of it positively and not look back. Journaling reads- Like everyone, there have been times in my life where the skies have turned cloudy and gray. In just five short years, I have become a first time mother. I have endured the diagnosis of cancer, treatments, and the realization that I can have no more biological children. I have the task of raising a “special needs” child. I have lost and grieved some very important family members. And I have had to turn my crying child over to the doctors twice for surgery– not an easy task for any mother. Yet through it all, I have stayed positive. Much like the movie, I have been that magnolia with a steel core. It is my inner strength that will carry me through and allow me to continue to have hope and faith as fate will surely throw more crises my way. I will continue to live on a prayer. June 2007

Summer Lovin'

In honor of the first day of summer, I have been challenged to list 5 things I look forward to in summer that I don't in the other 3 seasons- so here goes...
1. going to the pool
2. eating a sweet juicy piece of watermelon or a nectarine
3. NO WORK!!!
4. wearing flip flops everywhere
5. just being RELAXED!!!!

July Sneak Peeks

I finally got to dig in to my July kit for the Shack......and it's yummy...full of Cosmo Cricket...one of my all time favorite manufacturers. I managed to get a card, a layout, a sketch, and an altered item all done in one afternoon. How's that for inspiration? The full reveal won't be until July 1st, but here's 2 teasers for ya.

Fearless? Not....

Well, I'm supposed to blog about my biggest fear....and I do have some. I am by no means fearless. My biggest fear (and it always has been) is fire. I didn't learn how to light a match or use a lighter until a few years ago and I still don't really like to do it if I don't have to. And the thought of being caught in a house fire terrifies me to death! I don't even like to take things out of a hot oven for fear of burning myself. And of course I have the other run of the mill fears- snakes, something happening to one of my family members, being home alone at night. So what's your fear? or are you fearless?

Woo Hoo! I made it ...

to the Final Round that is. Boy, and so did 6 other awesomely, talented scrappers. It's going to be tough this week. What a way to end a great weekend!!! The Shack Crop was a huge success....we dropped four spots on the Top 50 Scrapbooking chart...which was the whole goal. Everyone seemes to have an absolute blast!!! And Jose had a wonderful Father's Day weekend...good food...good shopping...and all around good times with family!!! Here's to a new week!

My First Time Being "Tagged"

Well I've been tagged by Linda....never been tagged before so here goes....
Here's the rules: I must post the rules, 7 random things about me and then tag others to do the same. Sound fair enough, right? These are the rules…. each player starts with 7 random facts about themselves on their Blog. People who are tagged need to blog 7 facts about themselves and post the rules as well. At the end of their blog list 7 people you are tagging. Let them know that they are tagged by leaving them a comment.

1. I still bite my fingernails even though I've tried to stop for years.
2. I can't stand touching dishes and silverware that other people have used...hence I can't stand doing the dishes...although I am getting to where I can tolerate touching my son's and hubby's.
3. I can not remember jokes, lines to a movie, song artists, etc...to save my soul.
4. I LOVE listening to 70's music...I am convinced I should have been a young adult in the disco era...in fact I'm listening to the 70's station right now.
5. I put sugar on grits...which is a northern thing.
6. My nickname is Manda Panda...used to be called Mandy when I was really little.
7. If I could have a little girl...I would have named her Isabella....I absolutely ADORE that name.


Now to tag 7 people of my own...Jenelle, Tam, Terrie, Iris, Kim, Chris, and Elizabeth.

My Last Crafter's Workshop

Here's my final creation for my ScrapLovers DT gig....everything on here is Crafter's Workshop.....I used two of their templates- Dots All Around and Circle Circle Dot Dot. They are cool!!! Check them out here!

I won some Crate Paper!!

Woo Hoo! I won second place in Scrap4Life's Crate Paper contest....here was my entry titled Youth. Thanks to Jodie and the Scrap4Life Team!!!!

My Father

Well...today's challenge is to talk about our own father....so I'm going to post this layout I recently did using the yummy Scenic Route background grid papers....with some journaling I did about my dad. It's titled Not Much of a Daddy's Girl...or am I? and the journaling goes like this- I've always loved my dad, but growing up, let's just say I was more of a Momma's Girl. My dad has a very strong personality and his and mine clashed. At times, I would even say I was scared of him simply because he has a loud voice and I didn't like getting in trouble. I didn't like the classical music he cranked up full blast in the house. I didn't like the clothes and shoes he made me wear. And so on.
But as the years passed, my admiration, respect, and love for him has grown immensely. I now look back and appreciate all the vacations he made sure we went on. All the new experiences he made sure we had. And I even love classical music and penny loafers now. In fact, maybe one of the reasons we clashed so much is because we are very similar. On many occasions, I have found myself saying " That sounds like my dad".
As every year has gone by, my relationship with my dad has grown stronger and more special. I've enjoyed getting to know him better from an adult's perspective. I've enjoyed watching my husband and son's relationship with him build and grow. As I am in the "prime" of my life and he is in his "golden years", I've realized that I need to cherish each and every moment I have with him and pass on all the lessons he taught me. I guess I am becoming a Daddy's Girl.

The rest of my Treasured Scrapbooking projects for June

Today was the day to upload the rest of our June kit creations....here's what else I got done and I'm still working....there was so much stuff in this kit.

Loving ads lately!

So for my June challenge over at the Shack, I decided to use an ad I found for inspiration and challenge the other members to do the same. Here's the ad I used and my finished product...I am so pleased with the way it turned out...I don't get to scrap pinks very often.

Round 6....Will it be good enough to make the finals?

Here's my layout for Round 6 of the ScrapLovers contest. All that is left is the finalist round and then the winner will be announced. This week's challenge was to scrap "our style". Even though I love to do a variety of work, I went with Hip Vintage/Shabby Chic. Hidden journaling says- Even though Aunt Virginia was my great aunt, I grew up knowing her as none other than “Aunt Virginia”. You would have thought that she was my grandmother, at times, from the way she spoiled all of us kids. She left us just over five years ago, in Feb. of 2002, but the many fond memories I have of times spent with her will live on in my mind forever.
She made the absolute, best egg salad sandwiches I have ever tasted.
I loved her cute, little house on Court St. filled with antiques, especially her spinning wheel.
Her kitchen was full of anything and everything with strawberries on it.
Her yard was impeccable year round and I used to love rolling down the small hill she had in the backyard.
She used to love to walk down the street to the fairgrounds and have a picnic.
She used to always have Mallomar cookies.
Every once in a while, she would pull out her Ginny doll and let me play with it.
And probably my fondest memory is this– every time we would go to visit her house, I would run up the front sidewalk and ring the doorbell. I would then hide in the corner as she opened the door and she always pretended she didn’t see me and acted surprised when I jumped out to scare her.
She truly was a special lady who I miss dearly!

Yeah...a full reveal!

Well for my Guest DT work at Rocky Mountain Hobbies, I was challenged to use any of the new Crate Paper collections and these cool items from a company called Kaiser Craft-
Rectangle Personal Album
Wooden Embellishment Heart Tags

I did two layouts and made a wall hanging out of the Kaiser Craft items.....I absolutely had a blast using the Sassafras Lass papers...and I love that cute little owl!

A little sneak peek...

of a project I made for my Guest DT work at Rocky Mountain Hobbies this month. I can't wait to be able to show you the whole thing....I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

Some contests to check out!

This month at Creative Scrap Shack, we are having a 3 Bugs in a Rug layout contest. 3 Bugs will be judging and the prize is a $20 Gift Certificate to the store. Check out the details here.

Check out the June contest at Treasured Scrapbooking....a Love, Elsie prize pack is at stake. Check it out here.

And please stop by both sites and take the time to join. We are looking for future Guest Design Team members and have lots of fun chatting and sharing about this great hobby of ours.

Crop and Live Chat with Leah Fung

Join us this Saturday, June 16th at Creative Scrap Shack for some challenges, Bingo, some RAKS, and at 7 PM Central Standard Time, a live chat with Leah Fung. Hope to see you there!!

My "Most Favorite" Layout

Well...this was hard to choose, but I have chosen this one-

U R my happy place (which is actually a layout I scraplifted from the awesome Terrie)

This one just came together perfectly in my eyes...I love the colors....the shabby chic feel....the distressed papers....I adore the photo and my little added doodling....and above all.....the title is PERFECT!!

$5000 and 48 hours later

So here is the question that has been posed-
"You have won $5000 in hotel and frequent flyer air miles"

"You have ONLY 48 hours to spend it"

"You can take one person along for the ride"

"It can't be your spouse"

"So what are ya gonna do???"

And here's my answer- Well it would be hard to not take my spouse because he is my best friend too (and has been for the past 17 years), but since I can't, I would drag my oldest friend Shawn along. We would jump a flight to Greece.....hang out at the top of the Acropolis....walk through the Parthenon....and then lounge around at a seaside cafe.....just staring off at the pure blue waters.

Who Doesn't Love Toys?

As an adult, my "toys" range from my wonderful scrappy supplies and tools to playing the Wii to surfing the Internet. But what about those toys I had as a kid. I had lots of favorite toys. In fact, some of them I still have packed away for safe keeping and strolling down memory lane every once in awhile. Without further ado, here are my top 5 childhood toys.

1. I loved my dolls and stuffed animals. I would often stage tea parties with them.
2. I loved Slinkies....although it got to where my mom and dad wouldn't buy me any more because within the first couple of hours I would have it so tangled and stretched that it was unusable.
3. My all time favorite book was called Mickey Mouse's Picnic. I have many fond memories of my mom reading that to me.
4. I loved riding my bike.
5. And last but not least, I adored my Barbie dolls. I would set up makeshift houses for them using my dad's record albums for walls....kind of like a large scale house of cards. A little funny...my dad used to have this deep blue, glass ashtray...I remember that was always Barbie's "hot tub".

A Little OCD

I've decided I'm going to start doing some blog challenges to get me thinking and writing. So here goes with the first one-what are the last 5 things you do before you leave the house each morning. Well, during the summer, not much, but during the school year I definitely have a routine I do not deviate from.

1. Make sure Jose is ready- hair combed, face washed from breakfast, socks and shoes on, etc...

2. Wash the dishes...I can't stand to come home to dirty dishes in the sink.

3. Straighten the covers on the bed. Now the bed will have already been made, but Jose usually rumples the covers. I have to smooth them out before I go.

4. Check to make sure the blow dryer is unplugged and put away.

5. Make sure the coffee pot and stove are off....not just look...but actually touch the knobs to make sure they are all the way off. I have this fear that one day I am going to come home and find the house burned down.

Oh, and once the door is locked, I always have to double check it.....I'm just a little obsessive when it comes to my morning routine and boy does my day start off wrong when it is disrupted.

End of a weekend

Well another week begins.....we had a wonderful weekend. Jose learned how to hold his nose and go under the water at the water park. Of course once he learned that was all he wanted to do. The house got cleaned. I made the cutest project for my Guest DT work at Rocky Mountain Hobbies. And I found out I made it to Round 6 in the ScrapLovers contest. Now to create a layout of my choice in "my style". The wheels are already turning.

Another Crafter's Workshop layout

Finally got a layout done for ScrapLovers. I have been working on this for 2 days but have had so many interruptions. I loved this paper already printed with pretty scrolls and swirls. I used my trusty best friend- my Xacto knife on here. Thanks for looking.

Some get to know me...

1. What is your biggest struggle within scrapbooking? coming up with good, original titles
1. What is your biggest achievement this year so far? almost done paying off our debt
2. Do you suffer illness or injury? luckily not at the moment
4. What was the best thing you bought so far this year? 2 new cars
5. Where does most of your money go? scrapping supplies of course
6. What song will you always remember? Save the Best for Last by Vanessa Williams
7. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? happier, not fatter or thinner, richer in the long run
8. What do you wish you’d done more of? relaxed more with my hubby,slept, watched more movies
9. What do you wish you’d done less of? had to clean and grade papers
10. How will you be spending Summer? scrapping, going to the water park, taking a vacation
11. How many anniversaries have you celebrated? 7 so far
12. What is/was your favourite TV program? hands down Friends
13. What is the best book you read? Where the Red Fern Grows
14. What are your scrapbooking goals? to get published by one of the "big" dogs
15. What is your favorite all time embellishment? chipboard anything
16. What keeps you sane? scrapping is my therapy
17. What did you want to be when you were little? fashion designer, librarian, teacher
18. What is something that surprises you? the things that come out of my son's mouth sometimes

ScrapLovers Guest Design Team

I am honored to be the Guest DT member for ScrapLovers for the month of June. The kit this month is sponsored by Crafter's Workshop. They have some cool templates and papers. Here is my first project I completed. It is full of pictures from the water park last summer. Check back for more creations with this kit later.

Treasured Scrapbooking June Kit

I haven't had a chance to really dive into this month's kit yet. Here is the first layout I have completed using Cosmo Cricket's Dutch Girl.

Creative Scrap Shack June Kit

Accordion book made using Cosmo Cricket lacing cards


Mom and Me


Sunshine Smiles Laughter


This month's kit was graciously sponsored by 3 Bugs in a Rug. I had some difficulty with the bold colors and patterns on these papers, but still was pleased with my creations.

So You Think You Can Scrap

Round 5


Round 4


Round 3



Round 2



Round 1


I've made it to Round 5 in the contest being held at ScrapLovers. I'm so excited because in all the other contests I've done I never made it past round 4. And the 5 layouts I've done so far are, in my opinion, some of the best work I've done to date. Wish me luck in making it to the end!

First Post

Well....here it is...I have entered BLOGDOM. And this is my inaugural post.