Rob Hair

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted much of anything here. So, since it has been such a long time, I decided I needed to post something really great for you to look at.;) So, here's a picture I took of my son after one of his recent baths. My husband had towel-dried his hair and I think his hair looked rather Rob-like. LOL! I thought those of you who are my fellow Twilight fans would appreciate my nuttiness, and the rest of you would just appreciate seeing my adorable little guy.:)



Isn't he a sweetie? Thanks for looking! I'll try to post some kind of project by the end of the week.

-Laura

DCRU's Epic Six Giveaway!

Most of you have probably seen this by now, but if you didn't know about it, now you do!;) Die Cuts R Us is giving away a QuicKutz Epic Six Die Cutting Machine to one of their followers, if they can make it to 500 followers by New Year's day! Check out the details here. I would personally love to win it!:)

-Laura

Copic Questions

Hi! Sorry it's been over a week since I posted here last, I'll try to start doing better. I had a couple of questions for all of you who are experienced with the Copic Sketch Markers. I'm looking to buy a few more(I only have 3 right now) and I wondered if anyone had any recommendations of what colors I really need to have? I really enjoy coloring in the digi stamps from TGF and other places, as well as coloring in some traditional stamped images. I'm still learning how to best use the markers. I have a few Prismacolor ones, too, but I really prefer the feel of the Copics. The Copic colors I have thus far are: E00-Skin White, E49-Dark Bark, and Y21-Buttercup Yellow. I want to find a color that would be good for darker skin, such as for Jacob Black images.;) I also would like to find a good medium to dark blue for jeans and the like. Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I am thoroughly overwhelmed by the 300+ colors available. Thanks in advance!:)

-Laura

TTIC #56 - My New Moon Experience

Hurray! Last night I finally got a chance to finish my projects for the current challenge from Twilight Tuesday. I just love their challenges!

From Twilight Tuesday -
"Happy Tuesday Twilighters! So, have you seen it? How many times??? I know some of you have gone 2 or 3 times already! Now, the most important question… Did you take pictures???? If so, then join us in making a layout of your New Moon Experience! If you didn’t, that’s ok! Scrap your ticket stubs, journal about the evening’s events, etc! Just have fun with it! Even if you haven’t scrapped before, join in! We can’t wait to see what you make and read about your time at the movie!!!"

Well, I have seen it twice now, and I love it! And yes, I did take pictures!(the first time anyway) Me, my baby brother, my best friend, and her two daughters went to the midnight showing on 11/19-11/20. It was a lot of fun.:) The only bad part was the first hour of waiting was outside in the cold drizzle, ugh. But the rest of the evening was great! I decided to start an 8x8 album of Twilight related things, so, instead of one, or, two big layouts for this I did four small ones.



You can't tell so much here, but I had golden contacts in and sparkles all over my face. I made the "Team Mike" shirt for my brother.


My little boy tried to sneak in the picture of all of us.:) My friend's daughter had me do her makeup Rosalie style since she loves Emmett.


Some of us freezing and being silly outside of the theater in line.


Me and my brother inside the theater waiting for the movie to start.


I used stamps from the Fictionally Inspired set from Artful Inkables.

I was inspired by what Amber did here, so, I used pieces of coffee cup sleeves to make the background pieces for the journaling sections. So, thank you Amber, and thank you Tim Hortons!:D

I think I need to go see New Moon again, though. I mean, it's a long time till June, so, I need to keep myself going until then. LOL!

Thanks for looking!

-Laura

Over the Top Blog Award

The lovely and very talented Erica passed this award along to me.:) Thank you, Erica!

For this award you have to pass it on to 5 other blogs and answer the following questions in one word.

1. Where is your cell phone? Speaker
2. Your hair? Pigtails
3. Your Mother? Crazy
4. Your Father? Logical
5. Your favorite food? Chocolate
6. Your dream last night? Unremembered
7. Your favorite drink? Macchiato
8. Your dream/goal? Author
9. What room are you in? Living
10. Your hobby? Lots
11. Your fear? Numbness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Alive
13. Where were you last night? Parents'
14. Something that you aren't. Wimpy
15. Muffins? Cinnamon
16. Wish list item? Punches
17. Where did you grow up? Ohio
18. Last thing you did? Read
19. What are you wearing? Boots
20. Your TV? Castle
21. Your Pets? Invisible
22. Friends? Few
23. Your Life? Good
24. Your Mood? Frazzled
26. Vehicle? Focus
27. Something you're not wearing? Bra
28. Your favorite store? JoAnn
29. Your favorite color? Black
30. When was the last time you laughed? Now
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday
32. Your best friend? Two
33. One place that I go to over and over? Blogger
34. Facebook? Nope
35. Favorite place to eat? Chipotle

And now to pass it along...I looked around and I think just about all of the cool craft ladies I follow have already received this, so, if you haven't gotten it then I give it to you!:)

-Laura

New Moon Blog Hop!!

Hurray! New Moon is finally in theaters! To celebrate, Twilight Tuesday is having a New Moon Blog Hop today! You should have arrived here by way of Tonya. If you didn't, I would recommend going back to Twilight Tuesday to start at the beginning - you don't want to miss anything! They also have a listing there of everyone participating in the hop.

I made two New Moon Themed cards for this hop. The first is my movie theater card. When I found the popcorn paper and the theater seats sticker, well I couldn't resist...



The inside reads "stuck in the middle with you."

And then, there's my Edward card. This was another one of those things where I knew just what I wanted to use. I used sparkly makeup powder with cosmetic sealant to paint on the sparkles.



The inside reads "Never Dies."
(both of the above digi-stamps were LE from the Greeting Farm)

The next stop on the hop is Jennifer O.

Thanks for stopping by! Have fun at all the other stops on the hop!:)

-Laura

TTIC #55 - Monochromatic

So, the Twilight Tuesday challenge this week is Monochromatic Colors. So here's the challenge - "Make a project using a monochromatic color scheme inspired by the Twilight Saga." and "for the comment portion of today’s challenge, please share your New Moon viewing plans! Are you going with your spouse, kids, friends…when? Let’s hear your excitement!"

Here's my card...



This one's blurry, but I feel like it shows the true colors...


My favorite color is black and it is definitely a color that comes to my mind when I think of Twilight.

I used paper from the DCWV La Creme card stock, some black ribbon, silver eyelets, and my Cullen Crest stamp.:) I used the QuicKuts Diamonds and Dots embossing folder.

I'm going to see the movie tonight at midnight!! It will be me, my brother, my best friend, and her two daughters. I'm so excited! Then, Saturday, I'm going to see it again with my husband and my mom(and probably my brother again, too). I'm wearing my new "Quileute" shirt, my honey-colored contacts, and sparkly makeup tonight. Also, my hair is already much like Alice's.:D I know, I'm a total dork, ha ha!

Thanks for looking! And have fun, all of you who are going to see the movie tonight, too!

-Laura

DCRU Challenge - Something Girly

I've actually had this done since Tuesday, I just couldn't seem to get over here to post about it. So this week's challenge over at DCRU was to create a girly project. This definitely got me out of my comfort zone.:)



I used papers from the Sweet Stack from DCWV, some random ribbon, some bling from the dollar bin, and a stamped image of Sarah Kay's Picnic of Daisies that someone gave me. I had fun coloring in the girl, until I realized that I didn't really have any paper that coordinated with the colors I used for her. Oh well, hopefully it doesn't look too awful, ha ha.:)

Thanks for looking!

-Laura

An Easel Card

I decided to try something new the other day. I decided to try making an easel card. I saw Margie's card and wanted to make one, too, so, I followed the tutorial she posted here. I didn't have one of the Sassy digis to use, but I still think it turned out OK, at least for my first try. It was also my first time trying to distress edges on something. What do you think?





I used a leftover scrap of paper for this, I'm so proud of myself.LOL. I used some little dark brown brads and the Hero Arts Written Thank You! stamp.

Thanks for looking!

-Laura

DCRU Challenge - Emboss Something

This week's Die Cuts R Us challenge was to emboss something. I was a little concerned at first because I don't have any kind of machine to do this.(just corner punches that sort of thing) But, one of the ladies had written that you could use embossing folders with a rolling pin! So that's what I did.:) It didn't turn out as well as it would have if I'd been using an actual machine, but I don't think it looks too bad.



I used the Diamonds and Dots folder from QuicKuts. The digi stamp is Ebony from The Greeting Farm(available for purchase only last weekend). I used a few Copics and a few Prismacolor markers to color her in.(my first time!) A couple of silver eyelets and some black ribbon. I cut Ebony out with an exacto knife, so, it's not perfect, but I wasn't sure how else to cut her out without having a bunch of white around her. Oh well.

Thanks for looking! I'm learning new things everyday!:)

-Laura

TTIC #54 - The Raven

This week's challenge at Twilight Tuesday was an interesting one.

"Your challenge: make a project that celebrates the Raven or any other Quileute legend (google it if you need some ideas!)

Comment section: Tell me your favorite fable or about the “trickster” in your life!"

And here's my card...



It's simple, but I like it.:)

Hmm, I don't know if I have a favorite fable in particular, but I've always enjoyed reading mythology and that sort of thing. My husband is a bit of a trickster, and honestly, so am I.(I get it honestly from my father) We seem to have a thing for scaring people.;) When I was a teenager my friend and I would play pranks on her brother and his friends when they were sleeping. It backfired, though. One night we woke up with honey in our hair!(it's difficult to wash out, by the way)

For the background I used La Creme cardstock from DCWV. I used the Leafy Branch embossing folder from Cuttlebug on the citron colored cardstock.(I had to use a rolling pin, though, since I don't have a machine)I used the Textured Bird stamp from Stampabilities. The ink I used was from the dollar bin at JoAnn, it's dark grey with multi-color sparkles. And a few silver eyelets, and some craft ribbon.

Hope you like it!:)

-Laura

TTSC #15

I decided to change it up a bit this week and make a bookmark! I used the Twilight Tuesday Sketch Challenge #15 for this. I like the sketch, but I feel it would have worked better on a card where I could have gotten more elaborate. I didn't want to do too many bumpy/raised things on the bookmark since it's supposed to lay almost flat between the pages of a book.;)



I got to use some of my Twilight stamps that I bought at Barnes & Noble! I also used La Creme card stock from DCWV, Paper Pizazz papers in Black/White Sprigs and Gold with Black Border, a silver eyelet, gold hearts craft ribbon from JoAnn, red heart stickers from the I Love My Dog Cloud9 Design stickers.

I'm going to give this bookmark to my mom, who just recently got hooked on Twilight.:)

Thanks for looking!

-Laura

New House Card

One of my friends just moved into a new place, so, I thought I'd make her a card. I felt a little bit like a little kid again, putting together shapes to make a house.:)



The printed papers are from the Sweet Stack from DCWV. I used a Q-tip and white pigment ink to make the little fluffy clouds.

This one was a lot of fun for me.:) Hope you like it!

-Laura

DCRU Challenge 14

This week the challenge on the Die Cuts R Us Design Team blog was to "Nest Something". The shapes that the ladies there worked with were really nice looking. I couldn't find something like that in the stores I have close at hand, so, I had to make up shapes myself. It's very simple, and I jumped on the bandwagon of several other crafters and went with a neutral scheme for this card.



I just used some textured card stock I've had laying around forever, I don't even know what brand it is since the cover ripped off ages ago. Both stamps are Inkadinkado. And this time instead of attaching ribbon with something sticky I just used a couple of brads to secure the ends in place.

I think it turned out pretty good. What do you think?:)

-Laura

TTIC #53 - The Transformation

I did this layout for the Twilight Tuesday weekly challenge. The challenge was "Craft Challenge: Create something that narrates a physical change you’ve gone through
Comment Challenge: Tell us about your change, or a change that you wish you could go through!"

So here is my Transformation project. It's big. It starts with me being humongously pregnant, I was about to pop in that first picture. I had gestational diabetes, tachycardia, and I started into that pregnancy almost 20 pounds overweight, so, I was kind of miserable at that point.(I had some health problems after my daughter was born that caused me to have chronic pain and fatigue, so, I gained a bunch of weight) Next you can see me with my newborn baby boy in the hospital.(You know you gals are really special that I'm actually sharing these two awful pictures of myself with you, right?) The third picture is of me back around March of this year, so, my son would have been about 8 months old then. The next picture is of me and my wonderful friend, whose support over the past year has meant the world to me.(this pic is from around April) And the other two pictures are now, just the other day, actually. My baby boy is now almost 16 months, and I'm within the healthy weight range for my height for the first time in over 5 years! And I have short black hair now.

You can click on these to see them larger if you want.






The left side is Me & My Big Ideas paper(glued to some sturdier card stock), the right side is DCWV Solid Glitter Silver card stock. I used DCWV La Creme card stock behind the pictures, brads through the corners of the pics, black ribbon, a couple of silver eyelets for the bow, and a few bits of bling in the lower right corner.

Thank you for coming by and looking at my transformation project! It was a nice project to do since I don't usually do much with pictures of myself, and it got me really thinking about what a major transformation I went through.

-Laura:)

TTSC #14

This card was inspired by the Twilight Tuesday Sketch Challenge #14. It's not quite the same because I don't have a way of cutting out perfect circles right now, and I was going by my memory of what the sketch looked like(I know, always dangerous). But it's close, and it was based on it, so, here it is. It's an anniversary card I made for someone who just celebrated their 20th anniversary. It's not extremely elaborate, but I think it turned out OK.



I used DCWV La Creme card stock. I love the velvety textures some of these have. I did punch/emboss the corners with my little four sided Fiskars punch.(I'm always forgetting I have it)

I hope you like it.:) I'm working on my TT Weekly Challenge project right now, hopefully I'll get it posted tonight, or, tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

-Laura

Last Minute for DCRU Weekly Challenge

Hi! Yes, I'm getting this posted at the last possible minute. I apologize for my lateness, forces were conspiring against me. Anyway, this week's challenge from DCRU was to create any paper craft that is "male" themed. So, here's the boyish card I made for my husband.:)



I absolutely love the Edward stamp by The Greeting Farm, it is super adorable! I would normally give details about everything I used, but I don't have the time right now, so, if you have any questions at all feel free to post them in the comments and I'll get back to you. Thanks for looking!

-Laura

Just a note...

I just wanted to pop in over here and say hi! I received a blog award on my beauty blog earlier here, and the reason I'm mentioning it here is because about half the blogs I awarded it to are craft blogs, and I didn't think some of you would ever know that you received it if I didn't say something over here on the crafty side.:)

The crafty ladies I passed the award to are...

Gwen

Margie

Erica

Alison

Gabby

Donna

Jacqueline

Sammye Jo

It's always so hard for me to choose who to give blog awards to since there are so many awesome blogs out there! Thanks for reading, I'm so excited to already have so many wonderful followers!:)

-Laura

Twilight Tuesday Anniversary Blog Hop!!

Twilight Tuesday is having a 1 year anniversary blog hop today! And what's better is that I'm getting to be a stop on this blog hop!

So, instead of a regular challenge this week, you can go back through the 51 previous challenges and choose one of them to do. How cool is that? So, since I'm new I decided to go back and do the challenge that was from week #17, Jacob Black.

The challenge was to create a project that captures the essence of the special bond between Bella and Jacob.

The comment portion was to "Explain your version of the relationship between he and Bella, or he and the other Quileutes… basically, the essence of Jake. What is the dynamic that draws you in or *GASP* deters you from him. ***note: I don’t intend for this to be a TJ vs TE debate! This is NOT about Edward!*** Do you know someone who is as special as he is to Bella? Does the rebuildng of a car remind you of something or someone? Did someone special teach you to drive (a motorcycle?), or save your life??? et al… Take this any way you want. I just want to see a little puppy love and will abuse my executive power on this one to get it!!!"

So, here's my card, and then I'll explain...


And here's a closeup so that you can see the little paw print cut outs...


I'm definitely drawn to Jacob. He's fun, he's sweet, he's protective, but not overbearing. He's basically an ideal best friend. I do actually have one friend who really did save my life. I've nearly drowned twice(as a kid), and the second time that this happened one of my friends towed me into safety when everyone else ignored my calls for help.(No, I'm not making this up)

So, for this card I wanted something that really said "Jacob" to me. I used the pine forest paper(from Colorbok) and the rocks paper(from DCWV) because they reminded me of Forks and La Push where Jacob and Bella hung out. I used the EK Success Paw Print punch because I couldn't resist, and because I love Jacob as a wolf(and wolves in general). The stickers are from Fiskars/Cloud 9 Design, the pack is called I Love My Dog, ha ha. I used some leftover ribbon from something else. I hope you like it. It was a fun project for me.:)

Now, don't forget to go on to the next stop on the blog hop, which is LIZ!

Also, check out the lovely sponsors of this blog hop...


Stamp Happens Shop

Stamp Insanity Stamps

The Greeting Farm

Unity Stamp Co.

Die Cuts R Us

Sassy Studio Designs

Stars Fall Designs

Thanks for taking the time to stop here and don't forget the rest of the stops, the chances for blog candy, and the scavenger hunt. If you need more details, go to Twilight Tuesday! Have fun!:)

-Laura

Simple Cupcake Card

I made this card recently for a friend that loves cupcakes. It's really simple, but I thought it turned out cute anyway.:) I also put stickers on an envelope to go with it.




I used some really basic carkstock paper for the card itself. I used elements from a couple of pages in the Sweet Matstack from DCWV. I used the "maybe a cupcake will help?" stamp from Inkadinkado. The stickers I used are some really cute cupcake/dessert themed stickers that I bought at JoAnn, but I can't find the package to tell you the brand, sorry. It was a super easy, but fun card to make.:)

Thanks for looking!

-Laura

Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge - Edward Cullen

I did this project for the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge for this week. This week's challenge was Edward Cullen. From their site: "For the creative challenge: Create a project that focuses on Edward. For the comment portion: How do you feel about Edward's character? Is it like, love or disdain? Have you read the partial draft of Midnight Sun? What did you think about reading the story from his point of view?"

Well, I love Edward. I mean don't get me wrong, he can be way too protective and controlling at times, but I still love him in the end. I have read Midnight Sun, I loved it even more than Twilight. I liked seeing things from a more mature view, it made it easier to understand his actions throughout the book and explained some things that were left to the imagination in Twilight.

Here's the card I made and then I'll explain it...





I used the typical black, white, and red color scheme. I used the DCWV Full Moon paper because I think Edward - and any other vampire - is more comfortable after the sun goes down, it's easier to be yourself when you don't have to worry about sparkling around someone.;) I used the Paper Pizazz Red Music paper because Edward is a beautiful musician. I used the heart from the Colorbok Victorian Hearts paper because Edward is a very loving and loyal person.(and I thought the Victorian style suited him) At the bottom I stamped LION with silver pigment ink, not just because of the famous quote from the book, but also because he's described as being like the mountain lions that are his favorite meal.LOL I hope it all makes sense. I would have used a photo of Edward, but all the ones I have are cheap magazine pictures and I didn't know how I could make them look good against cardstock. Oh well. It was still fun.:) I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for looking!:)

-L

For Die Cuts R Us Weekly Challenge

Hi! So here's my first challenge project, yippee! This is for the Die Cuts R Us "Earth Friendly" challenge for this week. I thought this challenge looked fun, and then I found the adorable leaves at the store, so, I had to do it!:)




I used some really basic cardstock(that did contain recycled material, yea!) for the card background. I used DCWV Brown Funky Flowers paper, Paper Pizazz Halloween Stripe paper, Colorbok Fall Leaves Photo Graphics, and Craft Essentials papercrafting ribbon.

I hope you like it! Thanks for looking!:)

-L

Intro

So, yes, here I am starting a THIRD blog! I know, I really am crazy. I just think it's easier to keep things separate since some people only want to read about crafts, or, cooking, or, beauty. If you click on my profile you can find links to my cooking and beauty blogs if you're interested in them as well.

I started this blog so that I could show off my crafty side. Also, there have been some really cool paper crafting challenges that I would have liked to participate in, but I didn't have a place to post entries for them.

Feel free to leave comments, I try to respond to all of them.

Hopefully we can have some fun together being crafty!:)

-Laura