Mother’s Day Tags

I’m not a big card maker. I love to look at them and receive them, but I don’t normally make a lot of them. In lieu of cards this year I decided to make some Mother’s Day tags. They were pretty easy to make as well. I used Maya Road ribbon, K&Co., Prima and Foof-a-la. I also used various mini alpha stickers which are perfect for this size project. Without setting guidelines for myself, I pulled out the products that I wanted to use and went from there. It was relaxing, layed back and fun. I hope you all have a Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Scrapbook Trends May 09

Gonna toot my own horn a bit here because this happens only once in a while. Have you seen the May issue of Scrapbook Trends? It’s apparently not easy to find unless you subscribe. I heard that B&N might not be carrying it anymore, but I still have to check this out myself. My “These are the Moments” Maya Road mini album was chosen as “One Amazing Album” for the issue. I was so excited when it finally showed up in my mailbox yesterday. The layout is very nice. I was also pleasantly surprised to see it featured on the editors page as well. They published one of the pages with Brad and James and one with Lauren, so all of my sweeties are in there. This is one of my favorite mini’s. I actually just submitted it as a mini album, so when it was chosen for the “One Amazing Album” feature, I was so surprised and excited.  

 

Pantene Beautiful Lengths

Lauren has been growing her hair out for months and months to donate it. We talked about it a lot. I didn’t want her to feel any pressure, but every time we talked about trimming her hair, she wanted it to be long enough to donate. The one place I thought of donating had a requirement of 10 inches. Well she was almost there, but not quite. Her hair has a lot of wave and curl underneath, so we couldn’t go too short. She has been having a hard time dealing with it lately- static and it’s always in her face. We do ponytails almost every day and she was tired of that. So she was ready to get it cut. At the hair salon- they told me about Pantene Beautiful Lengths.   I don’t know why I didn’t think of researching a new option, but I am happy that they told me about it.  Pantene makes free wigs for cancer patients.  They only need a minimum of 8 inches instead of 10.  Perfect!  So here are the pictures of Lauren getting her hair cut to donate.  She looks ADORABLE with her new cut and she loves it. 

 

New Blog…New Pages

I have changed the appearance of my blog. Thought I would lighten it up for a bit and see how I like it. This format has a separate page where I can showcase a gallery. Click on the tab at the top of the blog page that says “Debbie’s Scrapbook Gallery”. I currently have uploaded pictures of 52 of my projects from over the last 2 years. Most of them done in the last year and a half that I have been on the Maya Road Design Team. It’s fun to see them all in one place. I have been feeling like I don’t get as many things scrapped since I mostly do mini’s now. I have done a lot less in the 12×12 format. I do have quite a few books to pass on to my kids though, so no matter what the format, that’s what is important.

 

Blog Projects

Well anyone have any really good vitamin ideas for me? We have been nonstop sick since the end of January. My hubby Brad has been eating Sushi like crazy and he hasn’t gotten sick. I think that might have something to do with the seaweed. I need to up the vitamins, herbs or veggie juices. I did read that seaweed is a super food, so maybe that- minus the raw fish.

~Heaven Sent Sign~

~Precious Moments Clock~

I hope to be posting some projects with more new Maya Road items soon. In the meantime, I thought I would post a few quick pics of my Feb and March Maya Road DT blog projects. You can visit the blog for more pictures and information on each project. The members of the DT post projects 2-3 times per week, so check it out if you haven’t been there before.

Notice my new Maya Road monkey on my sidebar? Isn’t he cute. I figured out how to post him, but I am not sure how to add a link to get you to www.mayaroad.com. If anyone can help me out with that, I’d love it!

Stay Healthy!

 

Shaker Card Tutorial

If you haven’t checked out the Maya Road Design Team Blog lately, go have a look. We are adding several tutorials a week. These ladies constantly inspire me with their creativity. It’s amazing how many different ways you can use Maya Road products.  Some of them I hadn’t thought of before that’s for sure.  I will be adding my own tutorials monthly. This was my project for January. You can see the full tutorial here.  Check back to the Maya Road Blog tomorrow and I will be posting my February tutorial then.

 

Tough Times and A Little Love

On a personal note…for those of you still checking in- I appreciate it. I didn’t want to come back to my blog with such a solemn post, so I took a little time. My mother passed away unexpectedly in January. The passing made even more difficult by the fact that we had a rocky relationship. For those of you in that situation or those of you who have lost a parent, then you have some inside knowledge of the feelings involved. Things are tough, but right now my motto is to take it one day at a time.

I didn’t want to let February slip by without posting a little love. This minibook is called “I Love”. I made it for CHA-W for the Maya Road booth. It is the new 3-ring Tab Swatch Chipboard Book and it’s so much fun. I actually took the rings off and used chains instead mostly because my book is so fat. I know making mini books about yourself is difficult. In fact- this is my first. Even my DH said he learned something new about me. I decided to mark the tabs using categories and added pics of my favorite things in each category. It’s a fun way to showcase things about you or someone you love.  Each page is sprayed in Maya Mist.  The cover has chipboard pieces from a new Maya Road chipboard keychain.  I also used my Cuttlebug to emboss the chipboard pieces.  Did you know that you can emboss chipboard easily with the Cuttlebug?  It’s very addicting.  To this book, I also added sheers, rub-ons, flowers, ribbon, chipboard frames, the new sheer owls (so adorable), new mini Trinkets blossoms and jewel blossoms.  Try one for yourself!

 

Summertime Fun

It’s cold here (for California), but not much rain this year. If it’s gonna be cold or cloudy, I’d rather have rain because we need it. It already feels like spring and we haven’t had winter. The birds in my backyard are VERY loud. My favorite season is summer, so this book makes me happy. I LOVE Cosmo Cricket and this paper line- Hello Sunshine is one of my favorites. This is the Maya Road Window Round Tab Chipboard Book. O.K. so most of my books are a lot of work, but this was more like a ton of work. Hahaha. I decided to use paper squares, since covering each full page with the different sized windows is not easy. I painted it white first, but shabby white, not completely covered. Then I cut out a ton of squares in 2 different sizes, so I could mat each one. Next comes the fun embellishments. Really this sky is the limit with this one. It has a great variation of embellishments. I am really into the small sticker alphas right now too. They are so easy to use and fit well on mini book pages. You can see the new Maya Road Vintage pin on the front cover butterfly. You can also see the new double stitched ribbon in yellow on the cover. MR also just realeased a very cute singleton stamp called “Build a Tree”. You can add as many leaves as you want to your tree. Notice the stamped trees on some of the pages. The birds that are included in the stamp set are just too cute as well. You can even add an owl or a pear.

 

Seaside~ New Maya Road

I’ve got a fun little card tutorial up at the Maya Road Design Team Blog today. Take a peek if you get a chance. The whole design team is posting tips, techniques and tutorials a few times a week. I am always inspired by the other women on this team.  

Here is another CHA booth project.  This is the new Maya Road Suitcase chipboard coaster book.  We often go to Seaside, OR with family and rent a beachhouse for our summer vacation.  We have tried other locations, but it’s just not the same.  The drive is long and we must break it up, but it is worth it.  We are going again this July and we can’t wait.  The kids get unbelievably excited the closer it gets.  This book is from our trip there in 2005.  There was never a dull moment, but in a relaxing way.  This is the only vacation we have had so far, where Brad and I feel like it’s really a vacation.

BTW…thank goodness for autosave.  My whole laptop just crashed, but I didn’t lose this post.  Haha.

 

What a Day!

Wow! I think no matter what your political beliefs are-today is an historic day. I hope you had a chance to watch the inauguration too. I found it to be a sight to see and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Finally I get to post a Maya Road new release. James and Lauren are the apple of my eye, of course. I enjoyed making this little apple chipboard coaster book. You get a peek at the new mini blossoms, tag sheers, owl sheers and ribbon as well. The sheers also com in birdies. The flowers are so adorable. Maya Road is coming out with a lot of mini flowers and chipboard this release and they are just perfect for your smaller mini albums. The paper line is My Mind’s Eye. I cut out ovals and sewed around the outside edge then placed two of them on each page to mimic the inside of an apple. This apple coaster also has embossing on the front cover if you choose not to cover it with paper. I also used my Cuttlebug to emboss some of the chipboard. It comes out so crisp and clear.

Have a good Tuesday!