Last Gettin' Sketchy Layout

My year is up with Gettin' Sketchy and I have one last layout to share with you using their awesome April Sketch! We were sponsored this month by the Etsy shop, The Jelly Bean Joint, and were able to play with some of their fun products! I just love the doodley feel of these letters and journal bubble! I can't wait to play with them some more. I think they look really cute with the Bella Blvd. Pack Your Bags papers!



This second layout is one a created for a challenge going on at the Urban Anthology site. I always love a good challenge and this one was a sketch challenge. Back in the day I used to LOVE making paper piecings and decided to dust-off my skills and create a few fun animals for this page of my girls playing beach. Silly girls! They totally have their seasons off, but they are having fun!







Have a wonderful weekend!
Jana

January BackPorch Memories Kit

Here are the gorgeous kits available this month at BackPorch Memories.

Solo Kit - $24.00

Medley Kit - $24.00



Triple Treat Kit - $19.50



January Stamps - $19.50




I worked with the Medley Kit and the Medley Embellishment Pack. CLICK HERE to order yours!

I had so much fun creating with this kit! Such lovely paper stories going on in this one! Love that I could do girly, summery, classic and masculine all with one kit! Talk about versatility! :D :D :D

Here is what I created!

This layout was created using a December sketch from So Sketchy. The Making Memories journal page and punch-out borders are from previous BackPorch Memories kits.

For this one I used a sketch by Becky Fleck that will be featured in the January BackPorch Memories Newsletter. I also added a ribbon from my stash.

In my attempt to become more organized in 2009, I created a cardfile based on the S.H.E. system. The inside dividers were stamped using stamps by October Afternoon. The star border stamp is from Label Tulip.

The ribbons on this layout are from my stash.
I used the January stamp set on this layout to add detail below the photo grouping.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

Day 2

Those kids of mine, I tell ya! They crack me up every single day.

All day long it's been snowing. I told the kids that I would come and get them from school so that they wouldn't have to walk home in it. I pulled up to the school and this is what was waiting for me.


I couldn't stop laughing! I guess it's cool to wear your Christmas Show-and-Tell home these days! :D :D :D

Well, I did it. I succombed to this New Year's Resolution madness and began dieting/exercising yesterday. I must celebrate the little victories, so I'm glad to say that I've officially made it to Day 2! LOL! The first two weeks are always so rough for me! But I'm hoping that I can get going and stick with it so that I am feeling healthier come summertime! Anyone else have a resolution to eat better/shed some pounds? Let's do it together, kay?! ;)

I have a couple new layouts to share with you.

This first one is for the First "Just for Fun" Challenge at Mix It Up! It was a color combination challenge that just happened to be perfect for these snowy pics I snapped of Maryn a few weeks back.





Mel has some FABULOUS challenges planned (I've seen them, so I know!) and the first Mixer will load January 7th (that's today)! Daisy Bucket is the January Sponsor and is giving away their new "Loves Me" collection to one lucky January participant, so be sure to come and play along!



This next layout is using the Love Song Kit by Noel Mignon and the January sketch from Gettin Sketchy. Can I just say how much I am loving the colors and combination of products in this kit?!!! It's freaking amazing! I hope you scored one, 'cause it's a beauty!

You should also know that Noel Mignon is holding a HUGE SALE right now . . . 15% to 70% off of EVERYTHING!!! It's been going for a few days now, and I'm not sure how long it will last, so run and take advantage of it while you can! ;)

There's also a few more days to participate in the Love Song Challenge, so be sure and check that out, too!



Finally, I am behind on a couple of blog awards that you sweet gals have passed on to me! Seriously! That just makes my day! Thanks for thinking I am worthy enough to receive them. I get giddy every time someone passes one my way. ;)

I'll do one today and then one next time if that's alright. :D



Marcee Rogers gave me the Kreative Blogger award. :D :D :D Thank you, Marcee! Not only is Marcee one talented scrapper for several fun design teams, but she has a wonderful way with words, her comments always make me beam! On top of all that she is beautiful both inside and out. Thank you, Marcee, for thinking of me!

So here are the official rules.

Here are the rules:
"Pay It Forward":
1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Provide links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Here are my 5 nominations. :D

Tami Floyd- I design with her at BackPorch Memories and let me tell ya . . . she ROCKS those kits each and every month! She floors me with her designs and makes everything she does look so effortless. You must go see how she used the Basic Grey Ambrosia collection . . . pure brilliance!

Kim Hurst - Wow! This lady totally inspires me! She is the mastermind behind Colorstory Challenge. I LOVE the way she gets me to look at everyday images and derive inspiration from them. I get giddy everytime I receive an assignment from her for Colorstory. I know she is taking a break from it right now, but I hope she keeps it going. It's such an incredible source of inspiration!

Alexis Hardy - When I look at her work I am stunned, and intrigued, and blown away in so many fabulous ways. She's incredible. She's a trend-setter. I try and leave her unique comments to tell her how much I adore what she does, but my mind is just taken over with "You're amazing!" which never does her justice! ;)

Cindy Stevens - We will be working together at Mix It Up! challenge blog and I can't wait to see what she creates each challenge! All of her designs just capture me. Her attention to detail is incredible and I love how she layers elements together.

Abbie Torroll - I "met" Abbie when she made the Design Team at Sweet Pea Scraps. I instantly fell in love with her work and her style and I look forward to seeing her designs each month! Every layout she does has some unique spin on it that always leaves me thinking, "Oh! I've gotta try that!!"


Thank you to all of you ladies for always inspiring me! Everytime I visit one of your blogs I get the urge to sit down and create. Thank you for that. :D

Happy Creating!
Jana

Warning: Picture-Heavy, Monster Post

Happy New Year! Can you believe 2008 is over? Are you ready for a wonderful 2009?!!! Woot! Woot! :D

How was your holiday? Our Christmas was super-busy, but super-spectacular!!! Lots going on, but we survived it all and now we are just veggin' and chilling with the kids every day until they go back to school.

It all began on Saturday the 20th. Kevin and I were in charge of our Ward Christmas Party for 150+ people. We spent the week before fine-tuning all the details and then that Saturday decorating, setting up tables, chairs, etc. etc. etc. Thank you to Keith and Amy for taking the kids to Grampa and Gramma's for pancakes that morning and then taking the girls to your house to make Gingerbread houses later on! They had a blast and we were able to get everything done that we needed to. HUGS!!!

Pictures done . . . Time to dive in! LOL!
We have a tradition that the kids sleep in front of the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve-Eve. I snuck in and took this picture around 2 a.m. I just love how Owen's swords and light-sabers are strewn everywhere . . . so boy! LOL!

On Christmas Eve we went to a family party on Kevin's side of the family. My sweet SIL sent me pics, but I couldn't get them to download. BUMMER! I need to keep tinkering with it to see if I can get it to work. Anyway, we had a yummy soup dinner, the kids performed the nativity and we exchanged gifts.

Before going to bed we exchange gifts between our own little family. Our gift to the kids are always new Christmas PJs. Here is my attempt at getting a picture of the all the kids together in their new jammies. Cam doesn't quite get the "pose-for-a-picture" concept . . . yet.

I atleast snagged this one of her by herself puckering up those lips!
Before going to sleep the kids always like to check Norad on the internet to see where Santa is.
GOOD MORNING!!! They HATE that I make them take this picture. I like to get them all sitting on the stairs for a few pics before going to see the loot. "Hurry up, MOM!!!"
Jensyn didn't really ask for anything in particular, but she was thrilled when Santa brought her an adult bike *sniff, sniff* (growing up WAYYYYY to fast!) and a Hannah Montana video cam. She also received a Hannah Montana digi cam from her Gramma and she now says she is ready to begin her "career" as a scrapbooker. LOL! Love that girl!
The big item on Owen's list this year was a REAL metal detector. No toy-"fake"-detectors. He's been having fun finding every single nail in all of the floors. Beep. Beep. Beep. Hmmmmm. I'm thinking he needs some headphones to go along with that thing!
Maryn was THRILLED to get the Cherry Blossom Market! This girl cracks me up! She loves food and anything to do with it. Every year she has asked for a kitchen or shopping cart or something along those lines. No wonder she wants to be a chef when she grows up. I'm just hoping I can get her "trained" early enough to take advantage of it! I mean, who wouldn't love their own personal chef living at their house?! :D
Cam was happy when she got a play kitchen, play food and lots of dolls. Here she is playing with the Santa hat that was in her stocking.
Later on we had my side of the family over for Christmas Dinner. While they were all here it snowed 6 to 8"!!! My sister and her kids and my brother ended up staying the night so that they wouldn't get hurt trying to get home. The next morning the cousins played some more and we made a yummy waffle breakfast.

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I did manage to do some scrapping. So here are a few new layouts I have to share.

These first couple are a little brighter and funkier than I am used to doing, but I had fun experimenting. My Sweet Spuds kits sponsored us CT girls at Gettin' Sketchy for the month of December. They have some really fun kits, full of unique, funky goodies! :D

The rest of these are layouts that I did this week for Noel Mignon. This one if for the latest challenge . . . The Love Song Challenge. This is a quote from a song that I've been wanting to use on a layout for forever! I'm glad that this challenge made me finally DO it! LOL! I used some of our engagment pictures and the Extra Credit Kit (still available).
This one is mostly the Madeline kit (still available). The numbers were from the Memory Lane kit and I believe the journal spot was from the Hopscotch kit.
I made this one using the Love Story kit.

Well, that's it for now! Just want to say thanks to everyone for stopping by my blog this past year! Here's wishing you a wonderful 2009!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Jana

An Award, An Answer to a Question and Sweet Pea Scraps November Kit

Lynette is always leaving me such sweet, uplifting comments. And this time around passed this award onto me . . . Thanks for thinking of me, Lynette! ;)

The RULES for presenting this sought after Award are:

1. Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog.

3. Each award winner (upon acceptance) should show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.

4. Link to the Arte y pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. Show these rules.

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Honestly, I hate this part. I hate picking only 5 people to present an award to. I could pick hundreds! And maybe this is wussy of me, but I'll just have to direct you to all the amazing people and places in my left sidebar. These people are constantly inspiring me. I even added a few new favorites that I've been stalking. If you're ever in a web-surfing mood, you'll be glad you took the time to check them out. ;)

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Lauren asked me a question about what tools I use to handcut elements out of patterned paper (a technique I LOOOOVE!). I've had these trusty Fiskars Classic 5" Micro-Tip Scissors for about 5 years. LOVE 'EM!



They are one of those tools that I feel LOST without. Infact, when I can't find them on my desk (like when I've covered them up with a paper tornado) I get all panicky! I finally bought another set, so I could have 2 sets floating around my desk. LOL! They are just under $20, but soooooo worth it. The tip is very sharp and is perfect for getting in all the little nooks and crannies of things. And they are easy to turn corners with . . . that's a must in my book. AND they are great at trimming your daughter's bangs. ;) See? You NEED them! Or atleast something similar to them. What do you all like to use? I'm such a sucker for great tools and I would love to hear your favorites.

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Well, I'm a little sad. This is possibly my last Sweet Pea Scraps kit that I will design with as a Design Team member. I tried out for the team again, but heaven knows there are so many talented scrappers out there! Good luck to everyone who went for it. I can't wait to see who the new team is on the 5th.

I just want to take this opportunity to THANK Julie and Kristen from the bottom of my heart for letting me design with their fabulous kits. It was an honor being a Sweet Pea Girl. The new design team is in for a delightful treat. Serious! If you haven't tried them. YOU NEED TO! Do you hear me?! LOL! Let me tell you what I adore about Sweet Pea Scraps Kits.

You get a great mix of patterned paper (usually 12 sheets) and usually 10 sheets of cardstock, 2 sheets of each color. I LOVE the two sheets of cardstock! That means I can do a double-page spread if I want OR I just have a lot of cardstock to play with. I don't have to second-guess using that special shade of orange that came with my kit in case I want to use it on another page, because I have TWO! I really love that feeling. Very liberating! :D Not only is there A LOT of paper, but you get oodles of embellishments, too! AND an alpha! For our DT assignments we created 6 pages a month, and I'm telling ya, I NEVER got bored of a kit doing those six pages. There was always PLENTY to work with. I never felt like I had to scrimp or become ultra-weird-creative to make items stretch across those six pages. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT kit! Honestly, give them a try. Okay?! Okay. ;)

Alright, "soapbox" over. I just had to let all that scrappy-love-emotion off my chest one last time. Heehee!




Here are my six layouts using the Incredibly Gorgeous November Sweet Pea Scraps Kit.

Friendship

Homestead

Spunky

(used the November Gettin' Sketchy sketch for this one. YUM!!!)

Staying Cool

Sunday Afternoon

Witch

Happy Scrappin!
Jana