PROJECTS FROM CAMP CROP 2008

Here is the clear (I don't like to spell the acrylic word, cause sometimes I miss spell it!) album that I started when I was at "camp crop" up in Sonora a few weeks ago. As you can see, I have not inked the edges of the pages in these pics. I have since inked all pages, all the way around using my Tim Holtz, Ranger Alcohol Inks. Inking these clear pages really completes the album. I will post some inked pages later so you can see the difference. I have also since then added more embellishments. These clear albums are fun, but, for me, I have to really "think", as you need to figure out what will work best since you can see everything from the back side as well. To the right, I used Kaiser Kraft Rub-ons. They work great because you get the same design and color on the reverse side of the page. There's a key that says "heart", that's another great little goodie by Tim Holtz. The black chipboard piece is by Cosmo Cricket, called Flueriste. In this package, you get all kinds of cool designs, even frames with cut out designs all around. I need to remember to use some of the frames on the my next few pages.

That red flower on the upper right side is by Creative Imaginations, it's really cool, it has a brad in the middle and around it are silverish metal beads. But I changed it, it has a bigger redish flower there now. If you look closely, I used some clear vinyl ribbon with black flourishes by Maya Road. I love her clear vinyls, and the ones I have for Fall are just my colors, the rusts, oranges and browns. Can't wait to use them. I might use some with my "Home Album". See that ivory colored ribbon above? I'm not liking that so much so that's coming off!

On the left side page, I used some red, flourishes "Say it in Crystals, yep, you guessed it! By Prima Marketing. Can you tell that I love this company? You can also see another rub-on in black by "Luxe Designs". Some more Prima on the right page, brownish-redish lace. Remember...........this album is still in the "Making"! It's really "bare" right now, when I'm done, you probably won't see much of the clear album!

Ok, on the page below - my hubby is being "crazy" with that cigar and that face! He really is good looking (well I think so!) when those blue eyes of his aren't bugging out! If you notice the black and red, some yellow here, I used some 7 Gypsies 4x6 ATC Transparencies, they work great, again, you get the same edging /color effect on the reverse side. These come in all kinds of designs, you can use them for anything!

Below - In the upper right side, next to the flowers, it says "my love". I used some Vinyl Apliques, EXPOSED Elements, by Scrap Works. The texture is great, it is vinyl, very fun to work with, goes on so smoothly. This company that makes Acyrlic Albums as well.

Underneath this Prima yellow flower (above) can you see the black felt? That's my favorite too! It's called "Viola" Die Cut Art Strips by Prima Markeing. They come in 15 different designs- just in case you were wondering! They are awesome to work with, you can use the entire felt piece, or cut them and make your own designs. The clear sticker: "ETERNAL" is by Heidi Swapp. They work well adhering them directly on your photos too (you can't tell it's a sticker on the photo). I ordered a bunch of these -they come in alot of different definitions -I purchased them from QVC - what a good deal that was! It came with a ton of clear stickers in a really cute pink long box where the lid flips up, but, I am not much for Pink in my scrappy room, so I took the goodies out of the box and threw the box up in the closet (I hide alot of stuff up there!).

On the left of this page, I used my favorite of all times ~ Lace, by Prima Marketing. I love all their ribbons and lace, so so many designs and colors to choose from. The texture is wonderful. I guess you can call me a "Prima Lover". I was talking to a vendor at the Sacramento Expo about her Prima Products. Her "Rep" for Prima is 25yr. old, he's single, and has been promoted to Senior Rep. and travels International now! Wow! What a life, to be young again, have an awesome job and selling an awesome product, but I bet he doesn't love Prima more than I do! And I'm guessing he has Prima Goodies coming out of his, well, you know what I mean. Ok, out of his ears. And I know he gets it all for FREE! Maybe we can go on a "Road Trip" and find this boy! Thank you for letting me share my scrappy goodness with you, I hope you enjoyed my un-finished projects!

PROJECTS IN THE MAKING

Here's a little something else I did at "camp crop". Our "baby girl" is going to be "18" in December. I still can't believe it. We are so proud. Especially because she has a heart of GOLD.

As you can see, there aren't any embellishments added just yet. This is a 7 Gypsies Gated Album. It turned out to be so thick after covering the pages with paper, that I had to remove the binding, added a larger one, but it still wasn't working out, remember, no embellies yet, except when you open it. I added some chip board and a leaf overlay. I could tell this album wasn't gonna work out, but I love this gated album. So, I went into the garage into my hubby's stash and found some black waxy kinda looking thick stringy stuff........ took the second binding out and used that. Now, I can add as many embellishments as I want, the book can now expand to however I want it. It's fun to go back and look at your home, how you decorated it, the things you had in it, this and that. Just yesterday, I was going through some old pics and came across our little house on the Springtown Golf Course in Livermore, CA. I couldn't believe it. I had pics of our son's room (he was 2 when we moved there) the kitchen (I was into blue country ducks, blue everything!) and the dining room and livingroom, one wall was even painted half way down in peach with a blue and peach country border. Oh, and I must not forget to mention the old turquoise ( isn't quite the color, it was darker and much uglier) carpet that everytime I vaccumed, the vaccum would suck up pieces of the carpet. That's when I thought I would ask the "owner" of our little home to please consider installing new carpet. I figured it was either yes or no-what did I have to loose, other than to keep making holes in the carpet. Well, he came through, and with all the excitement, he even let me pick out the color and texture! Ahh, what a beautiful dark peach color I choose, can you believe it? But I was happy. This new dark peach carpet completed our little home. All this in our cozy, comfy little home of approx. 800 square feet, two bedroom, two bath house on the 9th hole of the golf course. I'll make a pocket in the back of my album and add those pictures, what a treasure! I could see everything and what our son had as a "little guy", all his toys, and his Pound Puppy bedspread. What memories it brought back. I'm so happy I took those pics back then, and don't forget, I didn't even know scrapbooking even existed 20 years ago! Don't forget: making an album of your "HOME" is also good for your Home Owners Insurance. You never know. I even took pictures of my favorite treasures around my home...and yes, even my scraproom and all the items I use - Cricut Expression - Revolution, down to my trusty little tape runner! We all know that the most cherished and important is our "lives"- as we all know, love ones cannot be replaced. So, momentums and Scrappy stuff , jewerly, etc., are NOT covered under our Home Owner's Insurance unless you have a separate "rider" to cover these items. I was reading a blog: a woman that designs for Scrapbooking.com had a horrific fire in her home, the photos I viewed were unreal - unbelieveable, had she been in her bedroom, she wouldn't be here today. She's been scrapping for many years.........her beautiful albums, every little thing was gone. But that didn't matter, she and her family are safe and that's what counts. So this "HOME" album I am putting together is for good use as well. It will be in safe keeping along with my other things. Mmm, this album is taking longer than I thought. I think I will just keep adding the pics and go back and add some embellishments. Can you see my "Boston" sleeping on the floor near the T.V.?

Here you can see where I had to remove the binding and add that waxy stringy stuff. I works really well, you can tie if off big or small. It can also be fixed later if my album gets extra fat!

Happy to be with Nature

Just posted this and realized that it looks like I have nothing on, up on top, but I swear I do, cause you can see the one shoulder strap. As always, I was screwing around, laughing and having fun. It was dark outside and here we are, sitting in the middle of the driveway of the country house not having a care in the world. Only the deer and all the other animals were probably watching us. My second night there, I was out on the deck over looking everything, I could hear music in the distance, way distance and with that, the cows were "mooing" their heads off! It was so funny, but I stayed where I was and kept listening, of course living in Tracy Town, at least where I live, I don't hear that. I love all the different sounds up in the mountains at night time. But of course, being outside where I was, you still have to be cautious of your surroundings, as the Lions and Tigers like to come out and say hello too! There were alot of deer and babies where we were, just nesting in the trees and watching us "strangers". Never got a good shot of them with my camera.

Wow, look at this for you guys that know me. I'm really showing my age, huh? My "50" something day is coming up really fast and I can't believe it. This picture is for you Nicole.

We went into the town of Sonora to a little Scrap Store that I always go to when I'm there. I saw these adorable cards. You start off with a clear transparency, stamp your image with Staz On ink. Then take your Tim Holtz Inks and start blotting different colors directly onto the samped image. Take the finished transparency and matt it onto cardstock or which ever paper you prefer. I wouldn't matt it until you are completely done inking, as inks do get messy. Isn't it cool? I have to get my inks out and do one. I thought of something, to stamp a Christmas image and then use the inks. I think it would be really pretty for Christmas cards this year. Since my "back" situation, I haven't sent out Christmas cards, but I do send ones to relatives in Boston, MA. So, maybe just making a few of these would be nice, and something different, and it's also a fun technique! Any project using the inks are awesome. They're called "Adirondack Alcohol Inks", by Tim Holtz. They come in so many colors and they are all so beautiful. (I had a thought) so I went into my metal tin that houses my inks, the first ink bottle I pulled up to check was "Red Pepper". You'll know what I mean when you read further into this blog about my trip.

SCRAP ROOM

We scrapped, watched DVD's, listened to tunes, laughed, screwed around, ate, talked, argued (just kidding!) entered in a drawing for some new CM product, NO! I didn't win anything! And of course, I walked around to see what my friends were creating. And yes, I was trying to be so careful not to fall over anything or trip, but I did manage to hit my toe on someones scrappy tote, yelled and said few words, then went back to my "corner" to scrap some more.

Eating Eating and More Eating!

I don't know about you, but I don't eat three meals a day. Up at the house, a nice big breakfast was always served at 8:30 am. By the time I was done, my tummy was so full, I would have to go and try to do a little walking in the driveway. Just when that "feeling of fullness" would subside, oh my gosh, it was time to eat lunch which was served at 12:30. And they were big lunches too! Then when you get rid of that icky full feeling, you go about your business, scrapping, napping, walking, going into town, then it's time for dinner! And with dinner, we always had a nice dessert...who could pass that up? One night it was Cherry Pie, another night, Creme Broulee (sp?)I can't think of the third one we had. The dinners this time were pretty good. I think maybe, just maybe it is Red Peppers season? We had red peppers with almost every meal. Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Red Peppers sauteed with zuccini and onions. Then it was red pepper something again red pepper this and that! Red pepper cookies ~ not! just kidding! And low and behold! For Sunday morning, the chef was with us making our omelettes, you could add anything and everything to it, and there it was! RED PEPPERS! Don't get me wrong, they are good and so pretty in color, but not for every stinking thing you put in your mouth. I bet this was why I couldn't "you know what" the whole time I was up in the mountains. Ok, here's a hint: you need a toilet. But all in all, yes, our meals were good. You will never, and I mean never! starve up at "camp crop". Three meals a day. Yum! And don't forget, there were "13" of us, and each of usbrought a snack to share. So, we're talking food all over the place- and at night there were times I was busting into the refrigerator and going for "snacky stuff." As you can see in the photo, we all couldn't sit there, there's that table near the kitchen, and then we also had the long table in the dining room. This was where I sat for my meals because the mountain scenery from the window is "breathtaking"!

More Scrappy Stuff

Well, maybe I did have some stuff on the floor, but it was my big scrappy tote. If you look closely, you can see a layout I did of my daughter from my kit club, "Cocoa Daisy", I love you Cocoa Daisy! I will find this layout from my other memory card and post it later.

Work in Progress

As you can see, I had all kinds of stuff going on here. This is where I scrapped, in the corner, so I wouldn't trip and fall over anything on the floor. Lets face it, when you're at a "crop", you have to put your scrappy bags and such on the floor. Then here comes Velma, tripping, or falling (can't do that!) Being in the corner, I couldn't get hurt. I was able to literally put all my stuff on the table. It was great. Look at this table... what a mess I always make!

Not Good for the Back

The back brace helped a little going up the hill. My "nature walks" aren' that long, but long enough for me to feel the pain that starts. So up the hill I went. Scrapped a little and took a nap. That's my favorite thing to do up in the mountain, lay down and nap or just relax!

Nature Walks

Waking back up to the main house, it's raining! But it felt so good, haven't been in the rain for such a long time.

My Scrapbooking Trip

Here it is..."My Favorite Place". Well, at least one of my favorites! I've been going to this same country style house up in the Sonora Mountains since 2002! It's been warm, hot and one March, we even got snowed in. We got one night of rain, it was beautiful waking up to the crisp air, everything wet ouside, and having a nice cup of coffee and just taking it all in. It's so beautiful in Tuolomne County at this time of year. So, the room you see to the left is where we set up for scrapbooking. Leaving it all out, not having to clean it up, no excuses for not finishing a project. But I'm famous for not finishing stuff. But, I did manage to get some scrappy goodies done.

We saw the deer, quickly went back up to the house to get our cameras, but when we returned, they just looked at us and went into the trees. It's so amazing how they just seem to "blend" right in with nature.

Happy Monday.........I'm back from Sonora! I am so so happy to be HOME. That's right, I missed "FAMILY and my HOME". Leaving Thursday and returning Sunday at 2:00 was enough of Camp Crop for me. OK. I had a little bit of tears, I was home sick. I've got a ton of un-packing to do, oh...and I need to locate my camera! As soon as I get unpacked, I will post some pics and what I worked on.