Imagine

Imagine by Maureen Esquillo-Kao Supplies Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, GCD Studios, Pink Paislee, Prima, Teresa Collins; Rub Ons: Hambly Screen Prints; Chipboard Alphas: American Crafts; Sticker: Pink Paislee; Flower: Prima; Die Cuts: Pink Paislee; Craft Lacquer: Stampin' Up!; Ink: Ranger; Other: Yellow printed cardstock; cork board cutout, silver crown, tag, twine

Yay!  Get ready, I'm able to share all the projects I've been working on for Scrapbook News and Review Magazine!  I use a one-word title.  I had fun with lots of inking (Ranger inks) and clear glaze over my rub on (the wings) to make them demensional! It gives it the look of epoxy stickers.

The layout is about my Granmother. What brings me joy is seeing parts of my her (she passed in 1994) in myself.  My smile, my hair, and the stories I tell my kids.  One big thing I remember is her "white lies" she'd tell to make my sister and I do what she wanted us to do.  To make us eat she'd say that if your stomach was hungry and unfed, it would start eating our intestines!  Or if you crossed your eyes and a gust of wind blew, you'd have crossed-eyes forever!  SERIOUSLY! We believed her for years!  I find myself telling my kids similar things! LOL!  They're just fibs, right?

We've been busy with lots of summer happenings.  I've also been extra busy with projects.  I'm having way too much fun creating...you'll see!

On that note, the June issue of SNR is available!  You've GOT to check it out!

Kickin' It.....BUCKET STYLE?

Remember this sneak?  Well, over the weekend, the project was posted in the Scrap Freak Forum as part of the May Class...so that means I can SHARE!

I've been meaning to do a bucket list for some time now.  And a post over at Carrie's blog gave me the inspiration I needed to get my butt in gear.  Thanks Carrie!

Look at all the goodies peeking out here!  Don't you wanna reach out and touch it?

I used LOTS of Pink Ninja GOODIES in this one!  And once again.....this is my most FAVORITEST kit...Accidentally Kelly Street.  I just love the combinations of color, girly and a little tough rock girl in there!  Just like ME!

Yah, I KNOW....lots of photos...but I took em...and I have to put my time to good use and share em ALL!

I really love this mini canvas book by Maya Road which I purchased from Simply Obsessed.  I want another one to play with.  It's so cool because it has two of these wonderful canvas pockets and thick chipboard pages!

So the topic was making a bucket list and I sat for a few minutes just thinking of things I'd like to add.  I figure the canvas pockets would be perfect for momentos like ticket stubs or something....little pieces of evidence to show I completed an item on my bucket list.

I used a hot glue gun to glue all these beautiful pieces to my pages.  It really works well!

I used lots of my Etsy purchases in this book!  This book is also a tribute to my love of Etsy!!!!  Even the Pink Ninja Addicts Kit is from Etsy!

This cute little bunny is from my girl Euphoria's Etsy Shop called Random Shenanigans!  Love all her beautiful goodies in her store!

Here's a close up!  I'm gonna use some of my bunnies for an Easter layout as well!

I LOVE how I layered strips of paper on this page!  That pink piece has a velvety soft feel.....gosh I so love this book!

That lace impressed heart is also from Random Shenanigans.

And that beautifully decorated chipboard button is created by London Tierney from her Etsy Store called Such Sweet Tierney!  Show her some love and visit my Seattle friend on her blog and Etsy shop!  She's such an amazing artist.

I added lots of cute brads to the holes....makes me giggle!

Remember, if you can't read the print, click on the images and you'll get a close up of ALL my photos!  I take the time to upload them as LARGE as I can just for you all!

I know, some of them are really simple...go fishing...I have as a child but it's been soooo long that I really need to go again!

I've also left some pages blank to be filled in later as I come up with MORE things to add to my bucket list!

I love that green tulle!

He he...isn't that cloud sooooo stinkin' cute?  That's another creation by Euphoria!

Look at those cheeks!  I love all the stitching around the edges!

More of those lovely paper strips...and another Random Shenanigans item...that froggy frog is soooo adorable!

giggling....

And a crochet flower from my Pink Ninja Addicts Kit to which I plopped on that cute bunny in the center and secured with some hot glue!

I love all the layers and how you can see items peeking out from behind other items!

This project was sooooo motivating and made me reflect on life and realize that I should keep my sights on some goals I have even though I tend to live life from moment to moment...to enrich it, I really need to remember to make my hopes, dreams and goals come true as well!

Have you worked on YOUR LIST?  Do you have one?  What's on it?  I would LOVE to hear!

Hugs,

Mo

It's Yur Birthday!

You might have already seen me make some layouts with this kit.  It's the January 2010 Kit (Dream Street Urban Ink) from Simply Obsessed.  Except for the black Thickers, everything on this layout was created using the SO Kit!

I've been a kit subscriber for a few months now and have LOVED every kit!  They seem to speak to my own personal scrapbooking style.  Now, I am NOT being compensated for any of my SO shout outs...I just really love the kits!

And I struggle with creating masculine pages, so I was sooooo excited when Heather (SO owner) put this one together!  I loved all the gears and the stars!  So stinkin' cute!

I also have been sticking to my goal of getting my inspo from one of my FAVORITE forums....Scrap Freak!  Though they do not sell kits, they do have an online store and an AMAZINGLY active forum where you can find TONS of inspiration through the challenges and other threads!  If you haven't checked them out already....YOU GOTTA!

Right now, I'm working on the Freaky Friday Challenges and they have this DAILY JANUARY CHALLENGES called Jump Start Your Scrapping!  Holy smokes!  I cranked out about 3 layouts so far using these challenges!  Actually, I counted all the layouts I've done since the 1st and I think I'm up to 14!  Not counting cards!

Anyway, back to the point...the challenge was to tell a story with your page and I think I remember something bout Birthdays.....so I came up with this one.

You might recognize these photos from Gabe's 3rd Birthday!  There's my cousing "Sweet T" with the cute lil fake grin!

I took the journaling from a previous blog post I did about Gabe's birthday.  I do this a lot.  It makes it so much easier to focus the idea of a layout and write out the journaling.....SO MUCH EASIER.

Do you use your blog to come up with your srapbooking pages?

Hugs,

Mo

Our Memories....A Vintage Book

Once again, I had a BLAST participating in the Creative Cafe at Vintage Plum this past Tuesday! (CLICK HERE FOR THE TUTORIAL ON CC). Beth hosted CC and posted a tutorial on how she altered a vintage book! Miss Beth is so CRAZY TALENTED! (Click on that last link to learn more about my wonderful friend!)

I am soooooo happy with what I created! For the longest time I've been waiting to find a way to showcase some of my early childhood family photos. Then, Vintage Plum put together the April Kit called Hopscotch and I KNEW I had some wonderful materials to use! Then....Beth showed us some CRAZY vintage books she made a few weeks ago and I went BALLISTIC!

I have to say that I've learned few things about my scrap booking style these past couple of months being addicted to Vintage Plum! I've expanded my talents and learned so much! Thanks to all the VP Homies!!!!!! Woot woot!

Here's my book!I grabbed everything vintagy I had and laid it around the table and just let the MoJo flow! I loved these papers from the Hopscotch kit....the colors reminded me so much of Hawaii! I'm soooo happy!

And then my two-year-old son was running around with this little red fabric flower he pulled off one of my fake plants....I grabbed him and said "Can I have that?".....thank goodness he didn't pitch a fit...he handed it right over! It looks wonderful with the paper!

I love that turquoise color! And the font on the rub ons (another yummy part of the Hopscotch Kit) are sooooo perfect!

I grabbed my bag of ribbon scraps and went WACKY! The messier the ribbon looked...the better it worked! And I found that cute fabric heart in that stash. I actually saved it....it was part of he tag from a baby outfit that was given to my son! Isn't it so adorable! I knew I'd find a good way to use it in my crafting!

Here's a side view so you can see the tags and hanging-outy thingys that peek out from my book! I love that look. It's so here-and-there-and-everywhere....just like my brain! (Don't believe me? Ask my friends and family!)

And to be totally honest.....I wasn't sure about the whole doily thing in the VP Kit...but MAN did it look good on this book! I went from anti-doily to DOILY FREAK! I need more doilys!

My booky book...you're looking so beautiful! Beth! She looks so beautiful, doesn't she?????? (he he he)
I couldn't stop snapping pictures of this book! I can't wait for my sisters to see it in person! My mom saw it and thought it was wonderful!

Look at that red flower....it's like it's just lookin' at you and smiling!

So I got a good start on this...it's not done. I just started few pages. It's gonna take a bit because I have to scan my photos first (I can't cut up the originals!). I'm so glad I got a printer/scanner last year!

Here's my first page. I love this stamp! It's by Provo Craft and it's a rolling journaling stamp called CIRCA. I will be using this lots in my vintage book!

About the photo: For the first 3 years of my life we lived in Guam (Dad was in the Navy. GO NAVY!). Then we moved to Hawaii. Yes, my dad's first car was a VW bug!

I broke into my big button jar....yay! I'm using up all kinds of stuff! Here I am just chillin' and relaxin'.....yes, they made swings back then (1977)! Look....it's made of aluminum!!!! He he.

The little birdy was made with my trusty Big Shot (It's the Birds and Blooms Sizzlits Die)! Order from Stampin' Up! If you don't already have a SU Demonstrator....order from ME ME ME! The black and white paper is part of a journaling book by Making Memories called 5th Avenue.

I asked my dad why they didn't smile in these old photos....he said they hadn't invented smiling in photos yet.....(he's a smart a**)! I never got a straight answer.

Here's a couple pages I started. I used another journaling page from my MM 5th Avenue spiral notebook. That beautiful strip of orange patterned paper is part of the March VP Kit "Hill Country" (can't remember the manufacturer).

Hope you liked the pics! I'll show you guys the pages as I complete them! This was tons of fun! Creative Cafe is on Tuesday at Vintage Plum (here are all the projects so far)! Can't be there on Tuesdays? The tutorials are posted and so you can do them later on your own time! Post your creations to the gallery! Want to peek at the other vintage books? CLICK HERE! Check back often to see new photos!

Okay your link lovers! I'm officially link overloaded AND I've got carpal tunnel! I'm done! See you soon!

My Prince! Scrapbooking a Wedding Photo...FINALLY!

I am on a roll! Here's another project I busted out this week! I entered this layout (LO) in the "Favorite Quote" contest over at the Vintage Plum website! I'm tellin' ya, the contests and kits are really helping me get some scrapbooking done! This photo from my wedding was taken nearly 7 years ago! I'm lovin' the colors in the March 2009 Kit I got last week! And their products are made in the USA!


This LO is of me and my Prince....my Hubby Luke. We will be celebrating our 7 th Anniversary this May. Whoa does time fly!

This photo was taken on my wedding day. We were married in a Cambodian (Khmer) Wedding Ceremony which was elaborate, symbolic and amazing. It was based on a beautiful legend of the origin of Cambodia and a re-enactment of the marriage of the first Khmer prince, Preah Thong, to the naga princess, Neang Neak. It has been said that the father of the naga princess swallowed a part of the ocean, forming the land of Cambodia...this was his marriage gift to the couple. Our ceremony was a very abbreviated one, lasting only one day but these ceremonies usually last anywere from 3 days to a week!

If you're interested in reading more about the Cambodian Wedding Ceremony, I found some very detailed info on this website: KhmerInstitute.org



I had a wonderful time creating this LO! I love using kits because it helps speed up the process of creating! I worry too much about all the little details sometimes! Having everything coordintated shaves off SO MUCH TIME!!!! I've got 2 rugrats pounding on my scraproom door every few mintues!!!! I don't have much time to waste going...."does this patterned paper go with this?"...."hmmmmm".....thanks VP for putting together such a great kit!

I used one of my favorite quotes by Amy Tan:
"I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever."

Most items I used were INLCUDED IN the MARCH 2009 KIT purchased from Vintage Plum!

Patterned Papers:
Stella Ruby-Ladies Book Club (Basic Grey)
Office Lingo-Outside the Box (Pink Paislee)

Prism Cardstock:
Razzleberry Dark
Spring Willow Medium
Sunflowers Medium

Embellishments:
Boardwalk-Sea Mist Stickers (October Afternoon)
Family Time Rub-ons (Scenic Route)
Free Bird "My Friend" Die Cut Transparency (My Mind's Eye)
Assorted Buttons (Scenic Route)
2 fibers (Basic Grey)
White Card and White Envelope (Halcraft USA)

Other materials used in this project included -
Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inkpads in Creamy Brown and Charcoal

Cricut Cartridge (George Font)

Making Memories Scrapbook Colors in Spotlight

Foam or flat paintbrush
White Signo Gel Pen
Pigma Micron 05 Pen by Sakura
Java Walnut Ink (Antiquing Solution) by Tsukineko

If you have any questions, just leave a comment! I enjoy hearing from you guys! Have a wonderful week!