Like A Boss

Once Upon A Time  I bought a Cuttlebug ...


That where the story of this blog post begins.
You're in the middle of a blog hop. It's possible that you came here from Becca Whitham's blog. OR you're starting here. Whatever the case, make sure to keep hopping through so you can see everyone's interpretation of embossing. The options are truly endless.

Here's the time line for what you see below.

Black Friday 2015 - Cuttlebug Ordered
January-May 2016 - Folder Collecting
March 2016 - June Blog Hop Sign Up Begins
June 14 AM - I Sign Up In Order To Force Myself into Learning How to Use My Cuttlebug AND Get the Folders Out of Their Packaging
June 15 PM - I Take Out My Blue Scraps and Start the Learning Process. Tried All the Folders I Like the Best and Then Went to Bed
June 16 9:30AM - Decide I Know Enough to Make a Project
9:35AM - Realize That I Have NO Really Good Project Ideas BUT a Photo of Everyone in My Family Wearing Blue
9:40AM - Find Said Photo
9:45AM - Lay Scraps On a Piece of White Cardstock
9:50AM - Glue Scraps Down Without ANY Trimming, Cut a Photo Mat and Wonder What Next
10:00AM - Spot a Pile of Stuff I Found Trying to Clean My Scrapbook Supplies. Clear Letters Are Perfect For This. Glue Letters to One of Embossed Scraps (this was literally the hardest part). Glue Shows Through so I Rub Some Ink Over It. Too Square ... Cut it Into a Banner Shape
10:15AM - Write a Little Journaling From My Heart
10:25AM - Take a Photo of the Finished Page
10:30AM - Transfer Photos to Computer With No Editing
10:35AM - Write This List!

Here you go ...

June 15 PM

9:45AM

9:50AM

10:00 - 10:15AM

This may just be the fastest scrapbook page I ever made but I'm happy with it. It makes me realize that sometimes I just try way too hard. Every page can't be a masterpiece, even if you're going to show it to the public at large. For those out there who feel like you're winging it half the time, you've got a friend in me. I'm sure that every time I run across this page in the album I'll remember the "system" of mayhem I used to create it. For those who are wondering, I'm still not fully confident in my embossing skills. All the folders are open now though so I'm making progress.

Thank You for stopping at my blog today. Keep on hopping to see what Stephanie Davis has created for you. Embossing is a different kind of process for everyone!!

Stick It In a Pocket - Blog Hops with Heart

Welcome to the Blog Hops with Heart May Blog Hop. It's a pleasure to be able to join these talented and creative ladies. I can't wait to see what they've all made with a pocket theme. You may have just jumped in on this blog or you're coming from Becca Whitham's blog. In either case please click the link at the bottom of each blog until you complete the full circle.

Every month there's a theme that each blogger can interpret any way she wants to. You're bound to see a whole lot of interesting ideas here. I just love all of the creativity.

My contribution is a basic pocket card. You can use it for a pocket scrapbook layout or put it on a card front. Carry it in your purse and every time you're digging for something you'll pull it out. That sort of thing is bound to make you happy when you're feeling a wee bit frustrated.

Here's how I made the pocket card (times 20).

I cut THESE ...

AND THESE ...

... using my Cricut.

In order to keep it simple I painted AND stamped right on the Cricut mats before I removed the sentiment pieces. That worked REALLY well. I didn't have to figure out how to keep everything from touching every other everything. 20 individual pieces in my world is a guaranteed mess.

Once these were all dry it was just a matter of adhesive and a whole lot of glittery doodads. Once they were done ...

I wouldn't really be able to pick a favorite BUT just for the sake of a close up ...

Do you wonder why I made so many???

Because I belong to the most awesome Close To My Heart team (the Rose Blossoms) We had a pocket card swap at our last meeting. I received the most beautiful stack of creations. I wish I could show you every single one but this post would last FOREVER!! I'm sure you're ready to hop once you see a quick look at my collection all tucked away in pockets for now.

Now you get to see what Stephanie Davis made for you. Just click on her name to move right along.

We Are So Thankful ... Sangria Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog. I'm participating in a brand new blog hop. Close To My Heart is a great big happy family. Thanks to Facebook we know each other from all over world. This blog hop represents friends who all share their love of paper creating. Those are some of the best friends to have. Make sure to watch for a link at the end of this blog to hop on to the next blog. This is a small group so you can easily pop in and see everything in one sitting.

I am oh so thankful for my family every single day. I can't just cram it all into one Thursday in November. Here's a scrapbook layout capturing my thankfulness for our parent's weekend with our beautiful college freshman Olivia. She brings us so much joy.

It's just a couple of days until Thanksgiving. In commemoration of that day this layout is primarily constructed out of leftovers. I rarely toss out ANY sort of scraps. PLUS, when I agreed to work with Sangria I had no idea I had so very little of it left. Isn't it awesome to use up what we have?

All of the Cricut cuts on this layout were tucked in with my leftover Sangria paper. I even had the negative cuts of the leaves from another project I did. One of the oddest things is that the leaves in the top right corner even had adhesive on them already. I'm not kidding when I say I rescue everything.

There are also "leftovers" from my Enchantment Fundamental Stickers. "GRATEFUL" was easy enough to just peel off and stick down. BUT I also had to have "SMILE". I love the honey color. Even though I had already used the original stickers, I cut out what was left so I could have that word all over again! It doubles the value of the sticker sheet.

AND ... one last extreme close up ... here's my favorite thing to do with CTMH Twine. Tie a knot, fray the end and pull out the Mini Stapler. Easy AND adorable.

Thank you so much for checking out my blog today. To make sure you see everything hop along to see what Stephanie has created to express her thankfulness by clicking HERE!