Back from San Diego!!

So I'm not updating this as much as I would've liked but I HAVE been productive these past few weeks and that's what really matters, right? The San Diego trip was AWESOME! Absolutely gorgeous weather every stinkin' day and I had a relaxing time away from daily stressors around here. I only wish I could've spent another week or so exploring but I'll take what I can get. So, I took a TON of pics out there and now have a gazillion LO ideas running through my head. I started with pics that really spoke to me and finished a couple LOs this week. If I keep this up, I might actually scrap an entire vacation in the same year I took it!!!!

Some shots from La Jolla Cove

Just taking a minute to share some pics from our San Diego trip. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous and I've had a few opportunities to see some rare things. It's seal pupping season out here right now and La Jolla cove had a ton of them on the beach. Yesterday, Jeff and I arrived just in time to see a seal birthing. Totally bizarre. You just don't get to see that every day!

I've been checking out a few LSS and seeing the sights! Perfect time of year to visit!! Everything's in bloom, it's warm but not too warm, sunny(I actually got burned the first day)and all the kiddos are in school so no mass groups of tourists!!!

Summer's on its way!

And in the spirit of all things summer, here is another layout I did this morning! This is my son Chase (now 14) at Lake Nacimiento in Cali. We used to drive down on the weekends from Monterey since it was the closest body of fresh water to drop our waverunner in. He was such a cute little toe head! The grass is starting to green here and it won't be long before I'm back in serious bad hair-day humidity! Looking forward to it!

A little Art-Deco anyone?

Did this one yesterday. I had these pics laying around since last July and I was in the mood for something a little tropical. These were taken with a disposable underwater Fujifilm camera and they're not half-bad. Chase had a good time taking pictures of himself underwater and for once, I didn't have to worry about destroying my camera at an amusement park! Guess you can see I'm already thinkin' about summer...

The Power of Persuasion

After nearly a year and a 1/2 of occasionally posting LO's to my fave scrapbook site I was invited to join a critique group. I have to say I've never really wanted to put myself out there like that for the harsh reality of what people really think of my schtuff but this has already been an eye-opener for me. The original of this LO is below but after taking my group's comments under advisement and banging my head against my craft table for awhile (never recommended) I made some necessary changes to this and I'm so much happier with it now.

I'm thinking this is the start of a fantastic learning experience (or the start of a severe frontal headache) but either way I'm hoping to churn out some great stuff this year! Another special thanks to these ladies for pushing me to produce the best that I can!

Another page done!

This is the 2nd page I've finished in my Book of Us. This is Jeff and I right after he returned from a year deployment in Kosovo '01-'02. Can you see how pastey white we are? That's what a winter (or two) at Ft. Drum, NY will do to ya. The white glare behind us is the 5 feet of snow on the ground.There's a journaling page that goes next to this but I'm not quite finished with it (and the journaling might be a little too personal for me to slap on the internet). I love the way this book is turning out. I've meant to work on this for a couple years now and was always waiting for the right paper or the right album--or maybe for the right motivation. It's really been a challenge though working with this paper. I love it, and it makes me happy--it's just incredibly busy. Anyways, glad I have a start on this.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are a few more cards I made for Valentine's Day. Teenagers are hard enough to buy gifts for let alone make cards for but I think these worked out pretty good. He ended up tossing it aside and ripping open the chocolate at breakfast this morning :)

The blue/gray one was nearly a total scraplift from the SCS gallery. That one went to my husband and he loved it. I've even got him asking me how I do particular things on my cards/layouts. It's so fun to shock and awe him with handmade stuff.

When I bought the SU! Always set I didn't think I'd use it that much but I kinda liked the bird and I thought the heart was pretty embossed. WOW was I wrong!! (Not about how pretty the heart is) but about how MUCH I use this set!!! This one was worth every cent and is getting a workout. Now I'm off to use that heart in a layout...

Used my Prismacolors today...

and I love them! I've taken some time in the past few weeks checking out tutorials on the SCS message board and the information out there is just awesome! I have learned so much from my favorite boards/blogs it's incredible and I'm thankful for such kind and generous people who share their tips and techniques! The best part of all---it's free!!!!

Here are some more Valentine's cards I completed today. I used the BasicGrey Blush 6x6 pad to make all of these cards (pretty versatile, isn't it?) and the adorable monkey stamp is a $ stamp from J's--can you believe it?!? Too cute!

A little BasicGrey for Valentine's Day

I'm lovin' the BasicGrey 6x6 pads for cardmaking! After fighting with my embossing powder and trying to get this somewhat intricate heart stamp just right, this card actually came together pretty nicely! It's always a no-brainer when I work with BG papers(well, almost always) and I'm also lovin' this SU! stamp set!

I'm back....

I took a bit of a hiatus over the holidays and I feel refreshed for the new year and ready to get some serious scrappin' done. Since I didn't post for the past couple months, these pics of the Christmas cards I made this year are a little late but I wanted to share them anyway! I loved the holiday BasicGrey paper (Figgy Pudding) this year and it was a perfect match for my Quickutz dies.