Memorial Day Monday

I've been thinking about the young men I knew in high school and college to went off to Viet Nam and never came home.  This is what Memorial Day is about...honoring those who gave all for us .

I did get some scrapping done in the past few days.  My order from Craft Box in England came in and, after petting the papers, I found a photo of our river cruise and went to work.  This photo is from the top of Melk Abbey, one of the most beautiful stops on our trip.  We bought some of the brandy that the monks make and are waiting for a special occasion to break open one of our two bottles.

Without further ado...followed by a couple of how tos.

I wanted the top right to be a bit lighter but did not have a stencil I wanted to use (and I have a slew of stencils believe me).  So, I used a piece of nylon netting that was a bag for bath sponges.  I held it in place on my magnetic board with magnets and used Brilliance in white to achieve the results above.

I found the perfect metal bow and handle for the photo but both were too gold.  I altered them as well.

Until next Monday, have a great week.

Posting on Mondays only starting on Memorial Day

I have decided to only blog on Mondays from Memorial day on.  It is summery here in Florida and, besides several upcoming dr. appts and swim dates with our Grands, I've decided to share any and all new/layouts once a week. 

NOW, so excited.  My order from Craft Box arrived yesterday.  Because we were not home, I had to wait for the delivery today.  The old adage that good things are worth waiting for is so true...these papers are beyond gorgeous.  I have a lunch date with several of our women's group, The Women Who Do Lunch bunch, tomorrow but Friday and Sat. are all mine to play. 

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I'm going to dig out my collection of tattered lace from old doilys and handkerchiefs and some ivory ribbons for these beauties.  I am thinking also of doing a couple of small mini albums...that lady's head is to die for. 

I completed one (yes, only one) layout when I had the Women Who...over for lunch and artsy fartsy day.  But I can add another to the list of layouts I have completed lately. 

This last one is from a sketch at Sketches in Thyme.  The first is my own.

See you on Memorial Day if not before. 

Brand Spankin' New x 2

I am not sure how I even came upon this site, The Craft Box, but I could just see my money slipping out of my wallet the more I looked at the site.  The company has just come out with their very first branded paper line and, I fell in love, of course.  I ordered the entire collection and am waiting with excitement for my order to arrive.  The company is based in England and does have international shipping.  Mine came to about 9.00, which is not too bad at all. 

Will post a layout when I get my hands on these papers.

My layout using a sketch for Sketches in Thyme is up on the blog today.  This layout uses the gorgeous papers from Stamperia.  These papers are made in Italy and this is just one of the beautiful lines.  The interesting detail that this company makes is the images on rice paper.  Waiting to use my stash on something special. 

So, two new companies for one blog post.  Enjoy.   Love, from your friendly enabler, me

Paper of the Day

49th. and Market.  This is one of my few new favorites that IS manufactured in the U.S.  It is crisp, excellent quality papers with matched embellishments and, of course, coordinated stamps.  I love the vintage feel to the papers and, living in Fl., I especially love the nautical releases.  I've been hording my papers but will scrap with them soon.

I am one of those people who worries that once I find a company I love, they won't be around.  Thus, I buy buy buy and  then am in fear of using it all up.  You can tell this from how long I held on to the last 2 sheets I had of Basic Gray...see yesterday's post.

Here are  a couple of places you can pick up your 49th and Market papers.

Scrapbook Warehouse

 Rubber Buggy, USA therubberbuggy.com

My Rusty Crown, USA myrustycrown.com

Scrapbook.com  (https://www.scrapbook.com/store/fam-tg-87339.html?cmp=facebook-ads&kw=fam-tg-87339)  direct link to 49th and Market.


Enjoy...I'm off to play.

Bittersweet!

Yesterday, I used up my very two last sheets of Basic Grey papers.  I had been hording them for a long time.  While I am happy with the use to which I put them, I am still sad.  So many great paper companies have bit the dust.

Today's featured paper company is Pion.  I discovered this one, hunting for more papers from Maja Designs.  Pion is made in Sweden and I first fell in love with the seaside collection and then with the rest.  I used their handy store finder and it led me to Rubber Buggy and Funkie Junkie which have become my favorite go to online stores.  No paper shows today...but do yourself a favor and check these out for yourself.

(usual disclaimer:  I don't work for, design for, or get any special deals from any of these companies).

The Case of the Disappearing Blog Post

I had a blog post yesterday and it has "gone with the Schwin" to quote from a Muppet Movie.  So here is some Deja Vous all over again...If it pops back up, so be it.

I have been on a hiatus with both my blog and my scrapping.  Other than scrapping at retreats and crops and once a month for Sketches in Thyme, I have done nada, zero, zilch.  The last 7 weeks, I have been battling with shingles and its mean step sister, PHN (damaged nerve endings).  I think I have turned the corner with both the hike my mojo took and the shingles as the pain appears to be retreating and my scrapping at home has increased (anything above zero is an increase, right?).

I did a few challenges for National Scrapbook Day on line and then just kept going.  Here are a few.  Some are very simple and some are a bit more.  Have to start somewhere, right?

I have two more done but they are for my May 14 and June 14 th posts at Sketches in Thyme.

Back to scrapping and a continuation of my new favorite papers.  Tune in tomorrow.

Papers, papers and more papers.

Long ago and far away,  paper companies in the U.S. were innovative, gorgeous and made on quality paper stock.  We had the market cornered with papers that we cutting edge.  Now, most of the papers companies have been bought by one large company and others have succumbed  to copying the same lines in different colors and way too cutsey designs.  While these are perfect for scrapping my grand kids, they are not all I scrap. 

So, I went hunting...and the first company I found that had such pretty and different papers was Maja Designs.  I put in an order at Rubber Buggy and then a second and even a third once I had my first order.  The paper is high quality, the colors soft and so pretty and the designs are gorgeous.  These are just two of the paper lines I fell in love with:  Summer Crush and Life by the Sea. 

Check out the links and see these papers for yourself.  Fall in love like I did.  These papers also come in 12x12.

(disclaimer:  I do not work for or design for Rubber Buggy.  I do, however, spend  lot of money there as they have new and fresh paper lines from European companies such as this.)