My boys' Fish Room

We were having a discussion on Scraphoria about paint...
and how much primer might be needed for some previous
paint jobs....and here's the pictures of my boys room.
I had a look in my head...and this came out nearly exactly
as I'd planned.
Interesting note: I went into labour with my 3rd baby
the day we did all the pencil sketching on the walls
in this room. DUH. And I'll be surprised
if he's not permanently damaged from being in the room
with me and the paint fumes for the first month of his life...
come to think of it....no wonder he slept so well....
he was probably passed out from the smell :)

TFL.
Cathy

A box of albums

I just sent off a box of albums and cards to my Clear Scraps peeps...hopefully they'll like 'em and use 'em at their tradeshows in the near future :) I know I had an immensely FUN time playing with some of these new Clear Scraps albums...and the goodies that came with them this time - Staz-on Ink, Magic Mesh, Glitz Designs jewels, and Basic Grey Paper (Yummy!)

Here's a sample of what I've just finished:
ETA: This birthday calendar is going into the Jan '09 issue of Handmade Magazine :)
This calendar is actually 2 8x8 tabbed albums (I needed 6 tabs) but with the covers from only one. I wanted to use a Doodlebat font that I had do the pages inside but I couldn't get it to print out in 310 size - LOL. So, the inside pages are Hybrid. The month and numbers are computer font (Smiley monster) and the swirly stamp is Autumn Leaves, and the lines are hand doodled using a Crafter's Workshop template. A little more labour-intensive than my norm, but I like how it turned out :)


Then, this dog-bone album about my Beagle/Basset Hound Bean. On this album I played and played :) I used all kinds of paint and ink...I used Magic Mesh and KI Lace Cardstock as masks (both on patterned paper and straight onto the acrylic)...I used my Bind-it-all machine to put the album together...I used Staz-on ink straight from the ink pad and also with the cute little ink dauber. And, I used Mod Podge on acrylic. Worked like a charm!! Over ink, paint, even directly onto the acrylic! (ETA: This album has been removed from my blog to be considered over at ClearAlbums.com)

An Easter Tag: This was my experiment with modpodge. I used staz-on ink to ink the chick, acrylic paint on the front (white) and back (yellow) of the Clear Scraps tag, a pink sharpie to doodle the border and colour the flower. I painted the white first, stamped the chick and then scraped the paint out of the center of the chick revealing the yellow paint on the back of the tag.

My Faith Album. The colours on this came together so easily with Basic Grey's Blush....but the journaling took some work...My faith is very personal and it's so hard to put in to words sometimes...especially in such a public forum as a blog/gallery/magazine (?) so I kept it pretty simple...with verses that mean something to me and which are the basis of my faith.

I just don't get it.

How did we get so lucky? Or is it luck? Or is it grace. And mercy. And more grace for those tough times. Of all the people in our family (siblings, and spouses) we should be the ones struggling. And we have. And we do. But here we are. Still together. While others aren't. I just don't get it. I don't think it's that we're trying harder...or more capable...or that it's anything we've done, or not done. I can't believe it's that we're just doot-de-dooing our way through life and not really paying attention....or we're too lazy to realize when we're struggling. It's got to be grace - God's grace - that has us still here. Still together. I see in one family how hard times turned out to be a turning point that led to a great new life. And yet I see more struggles in other families that don't seem to be leading to anything but more heartache. I wish there was a manual. A list to follow for the perfect life. The perfect marriage. But there's not. And even if there was, we wouldn't be able to follow it perfectly. No one's perfect. My DH's not. And he sure didn't get a perfect wife either. Guess we'll just keep going. And believing. And trying our best. And loving more. And learning to live with each other's imperfections. And learning to accept and embrace the grace that's holding us together.

Sorry to be so deep. It's that kinda night.
Cathy

Blog Tag

I got tagged by Maria

Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog.
* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here goes:
7 Random Facts about me.

1. I'm tall. 6' in fact.
2. Further to that....I have large feet. Size 12. They weren't always (in my adult life) that big. They were size 10 until I started having babies....then they grew.
3. I have an aversion to socks. I would be barefoot all year long if I could be. Not possible in this climate, but as often as possible - they're off.
4. I had my first baby in the front seat of our car. It's a long story....but needless to say, she came extremely fast, and early.
5. I'm a hoarder of scrapping goodies....I buy and don't use....I save some stuff just to look at (sad, isn't it?)
6. I make the best bran muffins (an old family recipe from my DH's side).
7. You'd think as a scrapbooker, I'd take more pictures....but I frequently forget my camera when I go to events. I need to have one surgically implanted so I won't forget.

There you go.
I'm am tagging my new Clear Scraps friends:

Lisa
Michelle
Nichole
Julie
Laura
Terina

Sheetload of Cards

I just found this cool blog/website called Sheetload of cards. They make a free-to-download card magazine every month with a pattern and instructions for how to get tons of cards from simples supplies....(thrifty - right up my alley!). Just click on this AD below to get to their website - they're giving away tons of prizes this month for their "Month of Celebration" now in March!!