Zoie & Santa LO

While everyone is working on layout's for Zoie's book, I thought I'd work on some too! :) I had a little free time the other night so I wanted to do Zoie's 1st Christmas picture with Santa. I used most of my Christmas embellies, but I thought it turned out really cute. I inked the edges of a chipboard frame orange to bring out the snowmen in Santa's shirt. I also painted the SANTA letters blue to match the chair. I used some items from swaps too. I really thought it all came together nicely.

Thanks for looking,

Love,

2nd Annual 12x12 Scrapbook Layout Contest!

I have decided to hold my 2nd Annual 12x12 Layout Contest! Last year (well, the end of 2007) I held a contest to help me get caught up with my scrapbook for Zoie. I had probably close to 10 ladies participate and received some wonderful layouts to help with Zoie's book!

Each person submitted one or more 12x12 layouts to me and I posted them all in the Paper Crafts gallery. I opened the voting to our fellow crafters, and they each chose their favorite layout. The winning layout from last year was designed by Cathryn Andrews. It was titled "Giggles" and she used a beautiful combination of blue, black, white and red patterned paper, along with a lot of flourishes and bling! She received a HUGE box of goodies from me, including 12x12 paper, embellishments and more!

Here are a few other layouts that were submitted:

To show my appreciation, I also sent each participant a goodie bag as well, for taking the time to help me complete Zoie's book with their beautiful creations.

This year, I am pretty much going to do the same thing. Each participant is welcome to send in one or more 12x12 layouts. The more layouts you make, the more chances you have to win! The layouts can be designed any way that the artist chooses. The only requirement is that you use two types of patterned paper and at least two embellishments. You can use ribbon, rub-ons, bling, letter stickers, flowers, brads, etc. Let your creative juices flow!! The more detail used, the better. I do have a few "themes" that I could use help with, so if you are up for a challenge and want to know what layouts I am needing for pictures I already have, let me know! Some themes include "A Day Out With Thomas (the Tank Engine)", Day at the Park, Halloween (She was a butterfly), Christmas (2nd and 3rd), 2nd Birthday (Thomas the Train theme), 1st Baseball Game, 1st Basketball Game, Chuck E. Cheese's, At the Lake, etc.

And now... for the good stuff. THE PRIZE!!

Depending on how many people participate, I have collected prizes accordingly. (Each participant will receive a "thank you" gift for your efforts.) If there are up to 10 participants, the prize will be a box full of goodies to include embellishments, cards, swap items, paper, stamps, etc. I have already started going through my stash, and below are some of the items that will be included. If I find anything else, I will throw it in too!

If there are 11 or more participants, the prize is going to be a New-In-Box 35mm Camera!! I will also include some scrapbooking goodies as well. You have to have some goodies to use for your layouts after you take the pictures, right?! :)

I will open the contest to the end of March, so your layouts will be due to me on April 1st. This will give you over 2 months to get your layouts completed and mailed to me. (I will email you my mailing address.) When mailing, all that I ask is that you package your layout well enough that it will not get bent in transit. We all know the post office is not the easiest on our mail. Last year I had people make their own boxes out of cardboard so that the layout remained flat. You can put it in a mailing tube, a priority box, etc., just please make sure it doesn't get damaged. I would hate for you to put time and effort into something only for it to be damaged during delivery.

I think that is it. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment to me and ask. To join, please leave a comment on this post stating that you would like to participate, so that we all know who will be entering and how many people will be participating. Please email me at ucophotogirl@hotmail.com so that I can send you my mailing address too. Please share this contest with all of your friends! The more people that participate, the more items I will put up for the prize!

Thank you for joining my contest, and I look forward to seeing your beautiful layouts!!

My Best Friend LO

These pictures are from when my best friend, Jessica, and her husband took a road trip from Indiana and stopped in Oklahoma to spend the day with Zoie and me. We went to the zoo and ate downtown at Chelino's, my favorite restaurant. I decided to may a layout of "My Best Friend". I really like the colors of the paper and embellishments that I used. They matched Jessica's shirt, Jason's shirt, and Zoie's dress perfectly. I still have to journal, but the layout turned out cute.

Thanks for looking,

Fall Festival 2007 LO

I created this layout for Zoie's 2nd Halloween. Each year our church has a "fall festival" where the kids can go and play games and win prizes and candy. We had a really great time, and Zoie loved playing the games.

This was a really fun layout to do. I chose to use really bright and fun colors and ribbon. I used a lot of "extras" from swaps that I had lying around. I think it really turned out great. (You can click on each picture for a larger image.)




Thanks for looking,

Zoie's First Easter LO

I had a chance to sit down and work on my scrapbook a little bit. I am so far behind that it is overwhelming, but I thought I would try and get one layout done when I can and hopefully get somewhat caught up.

Below is the layout I did for Zoie's first Easter. Yes, FIRST Easter. lol I liked the colors in it, and the sparkle that I added. This was as fun layout to do.

With Love,

Lindsay Got Her Groove Back...

I am FINALLY getting settled in the house for the most part. I still have boxes that need unpacked, files to go through and things scattered about, but overall we are pretty much set. All of the Christmas decorations have been stored away in the attic until next year, and my boxes seem to be diminishing out of the garage. I am going to have to have a major garage sale in the spring to get rid of the "clutter" I have accumulated over the years. I mean, what else can I do with 500 beanie babies?? (To me, it seems more like 5 "million" lol). I have found knick knacks from Europe, wedding momentos, and old decor, as well as teddy bears from old flames, picture frames, candle holders, and the usual thing that a teenage girl acquires. My answer--garage sale, then GOODWILL.

I am also finished with the house projects too. The only thing left is the bathroom and re-tiling the floor. Luckily the carpet guys I used gave me a box of black tile, so I just need to get one more and two boxes of white for the checkers. I think the lady that we are using at work for our big flood project is going to help me out too once I let her know how much I need. She does massive projects for the hospitals, so she said she has a lot of afterstock. Hopefully she will have enough remnants that I can finish the floor in the bathroom, vanity and closet and I should be done with the remodel. Then I can focus on putting things on the walls and getting my computer/craft room in order to use!

I did have a chance the other night when I had a case of insomnia to work a little on my scrapbook. I didn't do anything new, but added some detail to some pages that I had left unfinished. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing that. I really miss "crafting" and being creative. Hopefully I can find some time in the near future to get back into the groove of things and start creating! I am still so far behind on my scrapbooks it is overwhelming. I have seriously thought about hosting another 12x12 Layout Contest for Zoie's book. I've been going through some of my scrapbook embellishments and I really think I would be able to come up with a great prize package. Let me know if you'd be interested in participating.

I hope everyone is having a great year so far!

Lots of Love,