The great bone stand-off

Having two dogs can be a lot of work, but the rewards are amazing! My two dog-ters, Dinky Molly (a diva-esque lhasa apso, pictured left) and Riley (a shih-tzu/brussels griffon mix and the Tazmanian Devil's spawn, I'm sure) not only keep me company, but they also make me laugh. AND ... they like to spend time in my scrap studio, often laying on the table beside me as I work!
As I mentioned, Riley shares many qualities of the Tazmanian Devil - namely bouncing off the walls (literally)! She's a 10-pound dynamo who is a fearless jumper but also a carefree snuggler. Unfortunately, she's also a chewer. She's been in our house for about a month, and she's already chewed up shoes, cardboard boxes, the bottom of a chair, and ... our barely-used, like-new couch. Anything she can get into her little mouth, she chews (except dry dog food, which she WILL NOT eat).
Now having a chewer in the house has been quite a change, as Dinky is the most mellow, well-behaved dog I've ever seen. (The most excitement she gets is chasing squirrels.) And she has NEVER chewed anything ... She hardly even chews her food! In fact, she has never been interested in anything to chew on ... until now.
After checking various websites on doggy behavior, the obvious occurred to me - Riley needed toys to chew on. So off I went to the local PetSmart to load up on chew toys and raw hide (which, by the way, totally threw me into shock when I saw the price tag!). Among the items I picked up was a big doggy ham bone. (I figured it would take her a while to chew that one up.) Little did I know that that $2.95 item would provide me with $1 million worth of laughs!
I unpacked the bone, let both dogs sniff it, then went off to do something productive. Suddenly I heard the most primal screech I've ever heard! I rushed back into the room only to find Dinky on one side of the bone and Riley on the other, neither moving and both TOTALLY STARING each other down! I watched in amazement as my precious, docile Dinkydoodle fiercely protected the bone, staring and just daring Riley to come one inch closer. Each time Riley so much as blinked, Dinky showed her teeth, growled, and put her chin on the bone, telling Riley to back off. Of course, I don't want my dogs to be enemies, but I must admit, I had that little "atta girl" feeling as I watched my precious puppy finally standing up for something!
The stand-off lingered through the night, as Dinky - who ALWAYS sleeps in bed with me - REFUSED to move away from the bone. In the morning when it was time to go outside on a "business" trip, I had to literally throw Dinky out the door to get her away from the bone. When she was finished, she once again reclaimed her bone, refusing to leave as long as Riley was in the house.
It's now noon, and the stand-off is in its 17th hour and counting. I'm beginning to wonder how long it can last! In the interest of the health (both mental and physical) of my babies, I'm about to head back to PetSmart to get another doggy ham bone so the non-chewing dog can continue to protect her bone and so my little chewer will have something besides the furniture to chew on. :-) How do moms with kids do it?????

More Graphic45

The snow is melting (a little)! I caught a glimpse of wood from the deck! It's still far from gone, though. My little angels have been dragging their toys outside, and when I stepped off the deck to try to retrieve them, I literally sunk in snow up to my thigh. The good news is that it's ALMOST March, which means we're headed toward warmer (we hope!) weather! Someone remind me again why I moved back to Iowa from South Carolina?

On to brighter things ... PAPERCRAFTING!!! Today I'm going to share more Graphic45 items. (I promise I do use other things, too, but I always give them away ~ or my one of my not-to-be-named scrappy best pal sells them ;-) ~ so I don't have photos to share at the momen

My 8-year-old niece is the best! She knows how much I love to scrapbook, so she's always asking me to make things for her. Recently, she asked me to make a special birthday present for her - a scrapbook with 20 pages, one for each year until she turns 20! How could I resist! As I looked through my paper stash I ran across a sheet of "Unforgettable" from the Baby to Bride Collection. I am a fanatic for stripes, and I loved double-sided design of minty-green stripes/multi-design boxes (florals, letters, etc.). I used the stripes for the base, the tore a border from the opposite side of the paper sheet and inked the edges. I tore an opening in the middle and attached a button to create an "opening". I had a little extra paper leftover, so I cut out a couple of the decorative squares and adhered them with pop dots to add dimension. Beyond that I added a tag, Prima flowers, buttons, and Bazzill (photo mats). One page down ... 19 more to go!

Here's another example of a layout using "Unforgettable" from the Baby 2 Bride collection. I love the design of the paper, so I really didn't want to cover it up, yet I still wanted to do something creative to showcase the cute picture of Brittany. (This one is for Grandma and Grandpa's scrapbook!) To create a unique look, I tore the frame, rolled the edges, and inked them. The paper is so delicate that I wanted the photo and elements around it to provide a sharper contrast. he flowers are Primas, the ribbon is a velvety base with another layer of beaded ribbon on top. The "Unforgettable" paper has a variety of decorative boxes on the sheet, some of which spell out B-A-B-Y. For the title with Britty's name, I cut out the "B" and "Y", added liquid glass on the letters, inked the edges, and adhered them with pop dots to both ends. For the middle part of the title, I cut out four of the decorative squares from the paper, spelled out the rest of the name with rub-ons (Making Memores), inked the edges, and adhered them with regular adhesive. (Note ... if you don't have an ATG gun, I would highly recommend investing in it. I find that the adhesive is extremely affordable if I buy it in bulk, and it seems to last forever so I'm not making daily trips to get adhesive!) The journaling is on strips of off-white paper (actually, it's computer paper that happened to match), and I inked the edges. The butterfly is modified from K&Company.

Brittany loves to host tea parties! No matter who the company, she's always organizing up a tea (juice) and crumpets (cookies or grapes) gathering! I had this picture of Britty and her grandpa engaged in such a party, but I couldn't find the right paper to use until I found Graphic45 Playtime Past Collection. I covered the wooden frame with "Life's a Ball", then cut out elements (dress, tea pot, etc.) from "Dollie's Teaparty" and "Playtime Past Tags". I used Modge Podge to cover the paper and cut-outs, then placed identical cut-outs adhered with pop-dots on top of the first ones to create dimension. To highlight the photo, I outlined the opening with beaded ribbon, then added Prima flowers, brown fiber, and a vintage tassel to the corner. (I added the flowers so the frame would include all of Britty's favorite things - team parties, dolls, grandpa and flowers.) I needed something else to complete the frame, and I remembered that I had an old library book from early in the 20th century that addressed etiquette. I tore out the page on "Beverages" and adhered it to the corner to continue with the theme while adding an interesting and unique element.

Like most scrappers, I have a ton of scraps - leftovers that I know I will use SOMETIME but that pile up quicker than I can use them. As I was unpacking a box I ran across a styrofoam heart wreath that I really liked and decided would be perfect in the master bathroom. I wanted to coordinate with the shower curtain and my extra TP box, so I chose to cover the wreath with scraps of Graphic45 papers. I tore strips, then wrapped them around the wreath. (I used lots of different papers from various G45 collections.) I crumpled each strip and inked the edges for a vintage look. (The picture doesn't show the dimension and depth, which really make the wreath pop!) I then wrapped beaded ribbon around the wreath, added a couple of buttons/charms and a vintage dollhouse picture, and flower. The final touch is a hook on the back to hang it. This was so easy to make, and it made great use of my scraps!

This last item is a simple thing, yet it is really pretty. I used Graphic45 "Masterpiece" from the Renaissance Faire Collection as the background (the actual card base is an off-white Bazzill cardstock). The "love" element is from Now and Then. To create a vintage look, I sprayed with Glimmer Mist (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!), then used a paper towel to soak up the excess. Once it dried (which was quickly) I adhered it to the card using pop dots for dimension. I further accented the element by coloring the flower in the hat with a red Spica marker (another fave) and by adding a couple of rows of gems to the bottom of the heart. To finish off the card, I added a row of beaded lace down the side. The card is very simple, yet beautiful! Sometimes less is more!

Until next time, happy papercrafting!

One of my faves - Graphic45

I love papercrafting, but my inspiration and interest shot to a whole new level when I was introduced to Graphic45 papers last year. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the colors, and the designs are out of this world. The thing that I find so amazing is that, while the papers have a classic design, I can create items in either a classic or more modern form. Also, the individual lines are very versatile and can be mixed and matched to create many wonderful things!

Here are a few of the fabulous things I've created with Graphic45 products:

My brother-in-law's parents took their family on an Alaskan cruise last summer. I found it hysterical that the pictures from their July trip had them all wrapped up in blankets while our Christmas photos were taken at the beach on a summer-like day. To record this. I chose to use the Graphic45 Botanicabella Collection papers ("Birds in Paradise", "Dragonfly Duet", and "Botanicabella") as a background for the summer setting, while I used a Christmas line from another company for the December photos. Although the two paper lines are completely opposite in color and design, I LOVE the way this layout turned out. It is now framed and hanging in my nephew's room!

This once drab clipboard turned into an amazing photo display with just a few touches. The background paper is Graphic45 Botanicabella Collection "Eden's Symphony" (checked). I then layered "Dragonfly Duet" from the same collection in the middle, trimmed with beaded ribbon. I then added miscellaneous flowers, buttons, and brads to the top to hide the clip. The tags, also from the Botanicabella Collection was so much fun to do! To give the tag at the top an old-fashioned look, I crumpled it up, made small tears in it, and inked the edges and creases. The one at the bottom is attached with pop dots to add dimension. On the back of the clipboard I attached a picture hanger, and after I took this photo I added a photo of my 8-year old niece and her best friends. She now has a unique picture frame to hang on her wall!

One of my favorite things about Graphic 45 is that it's easy to make fabulous cards! for this I used Botanicabella Collection "Love Letters", and Times Nouveau Collection "Copacetic" and "Bees Knees", and die cut tag. I inked the edges of the papers and tags, then layered the papers. I added a random heart-shaped doily (complete with a few strategically-placed ink stains for an old-fashioned effect), then attached the tag to the doily. For a final touch, I added a random charm to the corner.

One of the things I love so much about Graphic45 is that it's double sided, so the inside of cards can be pretty, also. After adding a light-colored paper with inked edges for writing a message, I cut out squares of Copacetic, then cut them in half diagonally and created cool corners to enhance the light paper. In the lower left corner I added one of the tags from the die-cut sheet and voila! a card is born!

This was such a fun layout to produce! My oldest dog-ter, Dinky, loves two things - her cousin's American Girl doll and getting on my sister's furniture (where she isn't allowed). This photo was too precious to pass up, but it took me forever to come up with the layout concept. It had to be just right! The Botanicabella Collection provided the perfect background for this Nature vs. Nurture theme. I chose the papers not only because I loved the colors and theme, but also because it allowed me to complement some of the subtleties, such as the natural design on the chair and the whole nature (the dog) vs. nurture (taking care of the doll) theme. The bird and flower are cut from a 12x12 sheet, and the circles are cut using Spellbinders Nesties (LOVE them, too!). The charm on the side is actually from a remnant of ribbon I found. Once again I had a blast doing the tag, as I crumpled, tore, and inked it to make it look old and worn. The VS chipboard letters are leftovers from another company, and the rub-ons are Making Memories.

This is, perhaps, one of my favorites, and it came about in a crazy way! When I moved back into our house, one of the first things we did was redo the bathroom. It's a small space, with not much storage, so we didn't really have any place to store an extra roll of toilet paper. The shower curtain has kind of a vintage feel, so it's been hard to find deco to match. When I saw the Renaissance Faire Collection, I immediately knew it would compliment the rest of the decor. I started with a plain chipboard tubular container and covered the base with Times Noveau Wallflower. I then cut out part of the design from "Renaissance Faire", adhered it to the base, then used Modge Podge over the entire base. Once it dried I cut apart some Prima Flowers I had purchased from QVC many years ago and placed them over flowers in the design to add dimension. I also added a couple of vintage charms to further create the look. I covered the lid with the back side of the "Renaissance Faire" paper, then Modge Podged it. Once it dried I added a velvety ribbon and a large Prima flower. Who would think an extra roll of TP could look so good?

Enough for now. I look forward to sharing more designs with you soon! Toodles!

Wow! I can't believe it! I've finally got my scrappy blog up and running again! It's been a while, mainly because I've been noodling on what I wanted to do, but I'm baaaccckkkk!!!

After what was a crazy fall -- a sudden move back to Iowa only to find our renters had completely TRASHED our beautiful home, living in a motel for 3 months during the eviction process, having a commuter marriage for a while, unpacking boxes, starting a new job, adopting a new "dog-ter", losing a dear aunt to breast cancer -- I can now solidly say that I'm back in the scrap of things! Our house is still a total wreck as we continue to paint, redo floors, unpack boxes, etc., but I am happy to say that my scrap studio was the first - and only - room to be completely organized and "liveable". You can certainly tell what my priorities are, right?

A little about me for those of you who don't know me: I'm an educator (teacher/administrator) who is passionate about three things - family, working with teenagers, and scrapbook

ing. I taught high school journalism (yearbook and newspaper) and English for many years before becoming a high school administrator. My training and experience with journalism and English only enhanced my interest in layout, design, and journaling. Scrapbooking is the one hobby that allows me to relax and be creative while also practicing what I have been trained to do.

I am married to a community college administrator, and we have two beautiful (and spoiled) "dog-ters" - Dinky Molly, a 7-year old lhasa apso, and Riley, our newly-adopted (rescued) 3-year old shih tzu/brussels griffon mix.

I look forward to sharing my love of scrapping with you and hope that you can find inspiration - and a few new ideas - through my posts!