artsy.crafty.me

Very exciting news!!

2011-05-06T23:52:00.005-04:00

If you've wondered we're I've been the past couple of months you gotta check this out! We've been working REALLY hard over at Scrappy Boutique and we're finally ready to let you in on it! :oP So stop by www.shopscrappyb.com and take a peek at our brand new online store.. And if you're yet not a fan of us on Facebook, look us up! We got some good things coming your way...

And how could I forget?! We also have a brand new gallery.. and although I haven't been busy posting, I have been really busy creating samples for the store. You can check all of them out here alongside tons of other beautiful designs from the girls at ScrappyB.

Stay sweet,
Mari

My Lil Grad

2011-02-21T17:19:00.001-05:00

Pink Paislee's Old School I also loved.. as soon as we got it in the store {the one and only ScrappyB} my wheels starting turning hoping I could find a picture I could use for a layout, and then I remembered how much I loved this shot of Blue when he graduated from his puppy class and I'm so glad I did.. :) sometimes it just works out. Love it when that happens.

Stay sweet,
Mari

Nutella Day :-O

2011-02-20T16:11:00.001-05:00

Nutella Day was Sat. February 5th and to celebrate we made Nutella Crepes with strawberries and whipped cream (and I might have added a little ice cream too) If you know us, you know we're addicted and have Nutella with a loooong list of things. I should totally have a Nutella series.. Or maybe its best I didn't. hmmm

Just wanted to share.. :oP

Stay sweet,
Mari

Didn't quite make it to the garden...

2011-02-18T17:19:00.001-05:00

Ok.. just one more project with this line :-X I just can't help it..
I got this little tin pot from IKEA for less than a buck. I've been wanting to plant some herbs so I've been keeping my eye out for little pots that I liked. I loved this one and it was super cheap! Only one little tiny detail.. it didn't quite make it to the garden. And I am absolutely positively ok with that :oP

Stay sweet,
Mari

Love 'em

2011-02-17T16:30:00.000-05:00

More sweetness? Yes, please!!! I love, love, love this line! Just can't get enough of it... Made this and the previous layout {actually probably 90% of what you see here} for my beloved ScrappyB :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

be you

2011-02-15T16:13:00.001-05:00

I made this little something for Sophie {Stacey's sweet sweet daughter} for no special reason or occasion, it just totally reminded me of her. She completely embraces her uniqueness so she has this concept down {which I love about her and admire} I just thought something as simple yet so important like quick daily reminder of being yourself goes a long way. :)

p.s - I hear she was totally in love with it and gave me a big hug the next time I saw her to prove it :oP Love her.

Stay sweet,
Mari

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T15:59:00.001-05:00

Hope you're having a wonderful day with your loved ones!!! thought this was an appropriate post for the day :) Come by and check it out at ScrappyB with some other beautiful work all with this line (Making Memories - Je T' Adore)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Pink Paislee Sweetnes...

2011-02-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

The name of this line totally describes it... It is pure sweetness!

Stay sweet,
Mari

hello.

2011-02-07T22:49:00.003-05:00

I'm still here.. just finished unpacking yesterday! Have tons of things to post but for now I wanted to share this cute pic of Blue! He's wearing Dean's "I must break you" t-shirt and I think it suits him well :) Love him.

Stay sweet,
Mari

Now we return to regular programming...

2011-02-02T20:22:00.006-05:00

Stacey, Julie and I landed back home yesterday around 5pm. Talk about a long traveling day!!! we left LA art 9am and didn't get to Orlando till 5pm. I hate it when time differences don't work in your favor :oP I can't wait to show you pics of our adventure but for now I wanted to share my top picks of this winter release. SO MUCH GOOD STUFF. That's all I can say.

I am so thankful I was able to attend and share such a wonderful experience with these two amazing women. If you want to check out all the yumminess that Scrappy Boutique is bringing you, click here. :)

In no particular order...

Teresa Collins - Notations Kit

this kit contains all these goodies and a super nice black and craft 3-ring binder. You won't believe the price tag!!! Can't wait to play with this...
Ornate Frames from Kaiser Craft
I have big plans for this frame.. no, really, I do!!! and it's gonna be good :P

Pink Paislee: Daily Junque, and Butterfly Garden

I would really love your thoughts on these.. I LOOOOOOOVE them. I think they did an awesome job from embellies to pattern. Very innovative and different... we need more things like this in the industry. :)
Crate Paper: Portrait
This line is so versatile.. I love everything about it.

Sassafras: Sweetly Smitten
**love**

Cosmo Cricket: Up-cycle
need I say more? love the colors, love the patterns, Cosmo Cricket rocked it!
EK's SMASH
I'm gonna keep this one a surprise.. this was brilliant and I can't wait to share!!
Basic Grey's Hello Luscious and Life of the Party:
well Basic Grey will always be in my heart... this release wasn't gonna change that. Love it all!

Maya Road

Zipper ribbon and so much more fun stuff.. including more trims, chipboard goodness and canvas!!!

and there's so much more!!!!!! how about you!? what's on your top - can't live without - please get to my local store (scrappyb) soon cuz I'm gonna pass out if I don't play with it now list? :oP

just my 2 cents..
stay sweet,
Mari

Can barely stand it... {picture heavy}

2011-01-24T16:53:00.006-05:00

Have you been keeping up with all the yumminess coming our way on Scrapbook Update? Well I have, and I can barely stand it. Please tell me I'm not the only one that gets butterflies as I check out all the pretties.. Please tell me I'm not a nut. Pretty please? :o)

Tomorrow morning (eeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!) Stacey, Joyce, Julie and I are leaving for CHA Winter 2011 and I'll be out of sight (hopefully not out of mind, babe!) for a while, but hold on to your seats cuz we're coming back with big news... and awesome stuff :o)

Here are some I'm really looking forward to.. Click on the image to check out the original post from the manufacturers:

i don't even know what to say about these... :-O

more blingage? yes, please!

loving that typeset!

so...? what lines are you excited about?!

Stay sweet,
Mari

Because...

2011-01-23T17:29:00.004-05:00

...Because love is in the air and I'm so not ready to stop playing with this line yet.. :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Do...

2011-01-21T19:06:00.001-05:00

So I haven't played with the actual one little word class materials or actual workshop instructions, I know I'm a rebel. But I just wanted to have something that reminded me everyday to just "do" I used Creative Imagination's B.E frame and some Prima goodies on it and I can tell you it has already served its purpose. Although my first thought was "why in the word would I want to stare at a picture of myself everyday?", Dean reassured me that he would be doing the staring - and a double purpose projects makes for a happy girl :o)

Amy and Julie joined me and now have a reminder of "change" and "time" that they will display throughout the year.. Check out Julie's here.

Stay sweet,
Mari

This darn check....

2011-01-20T19:24:00.003-05:00

Has disappeared more times that I can count. Not.my.Fault. This darn thing just refuses to stay still , it wont rest until it's at the bank. Must take care of that soon.

By the way, it literally appeared on our shelf after *days* of looking. Dean claims to have nothing to do with it and I for sure know I didn't put it there.

Thankful the check is back and refusing to question it any longer,
Mari :oP

Lovey - Dovey

2011-01-19T19:04:00.000-05:00

Got to play with Basic Grey's new line Hopscotch and I know I say this always but why do I ever doubt you dear BG? you rock my world.

Not the best lighting when I took these pics.. sowwy :(

This layout reminds me so much of what I was used to doing maybe a year or so go.. it might be the flowers, but I love it! and I do love that shot of us too :)

Stay sweet,
Mari

What's the story?

2011-01-18T16:07:00.000-05:00

Several months ago Dean sent out a couple of things to Pet Planet Magazine of Central Florida: A Picture of Blue, one of Indy and a poem he wrote about his relationship with Blue. We counted the minutes for that next release to see what made it in and visited tons of Publixes trying to find a copy.. That month only Blue made it in. I remember Indy being *very* upset that his picture didn't make it... and by Indy I mean Dean :oP But guess what?!?! Dean and Indy made it in too.... only a couple of months later! You can imagine Dean's surprise as he was surfing through the pages!! Here you go.. take a peek and leave him some love :)

*dean would like you to know that this is not his best but I can tell he's still proud :P * and apparently he also wants you to know he loves me... ( I told him I wasn't gonna write that so it's a surprise hehe)

and there's my puppy Indino!!!! you can tell how long ago we sent this by how little he looks!!! reminds me he was a puppy once.. *sniff*

Here's Blues old picture in case you wanted a peek of that too!

Thanks for looking.. :o*
Stay sweet,
Mari

Just because..

2011-01-17T10:02:00.000-05:00

...just because this picture makes me smile...

**Blue and I watching Indy as he gets ready to get into some trouble which most likely included gardening**

Stay sweet,
Mari

At the beach in December

2011-01-16T19:52:00.001-05:00

More Hopscotch? Why yes ! you know I love me some Basic Grey... Tons of goodies on this layout. Super busy but super fun... We had a blast at the beach last month. We got to take the pups with us and was just absolutely wonderful. It was an on-leash beach but we might have neglected that rule a bit (when there was no one else around hehe) We decided next time we're bringing the stake with our 30 foot leashes and let them play a bit (as long as there's no one around of course) after all, that would be they *are* on-leash, right?

so how am I doing with my "doing"? :oP

Stay sweet,
Mari

Sometimes..

2011-01-15T19:53:00.001-05:00

I gots another calendar page for you!!! This one is far more generic. I just wanted to capture something that Dean loves doing and really how much I think he loves it. I love this shot of him and the pups.

I used some of Cosmos Circa 1934 goodies along side with some KI goodies.. Loving the combo!

Stay sweet,
Mari

Santa Baby..

2011-01-14T19:35:00.001-05:00

I know the holidays are over.. and although I love the season I'm not too sad to see it go. That's what makes it so special. I've heard people say they wish they had Christmas all year round but then how special would it really be? We gotta miss it for a few months first, right?

I love, love, loooooove this picture of Dean and I (so don't be surprised if you see it again next year) hihihi

I'm loving these K.I calendar sheets..

Stay sweet,
Mari

It's true...

2011-01-12T17:11:00.000-05:00

I love this guy... can't you tell? He's my inspiration, my rock, and my biggest fan.

I made this as on of the 52 Challenges from Liz Kartchner for ScrappyB. It was the 45 minute challenge (number 11!) had a blast!
wanna read more about it? check out ScrappyB's blog with the skinny on this and other challenges :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Can't believe I forgot...

2011-01-10T18:34:00.000-05:00

... how much I loved this line!!!! I made these cards using the Je t' Adore line from Making Memories and I can tell you already that I'm itching to make more goodies with it. I have in mind some old (unused... Amy) square acrylic plates I have left over from my graduation party that I've been wanting to play with for a while :-0

Stay sweet,
Mari

My one little word..

2011-01-07T18:34:00.001-05:00

**thanks babe for the pic and the editing** I heart it :-*

I mentioned earlier that all of us at ScrappyB were doing Ali Edwards' one little word challenge

in 2011. I also mentioned what a hard time I was having picking my word. If it was for me I would have at least 10. But from what I've gotten so far from Ali's workshop the whole point is to focus on one thing. We tend to get overwhelmed with a whole list of resolutions in the beginning of the year that we often end up only accomplishing a few, if any.. So I worked hard to find the one word that had meaning to me this year. The one word that would get me where I want to be and as I was chatting with ma' babe I found myself thinking of "do". I just want to do. I want to stop thinking about doing, stop planning of someday doing something and just do it. I tend to think so much that I often overload my brain and end up doing nothing. Well that's just not the kinda doing I'm gonna be doing this year. I'm gonna do me. and I'm gonna do it as I think it.. if feasible. hehe

2011 is not the year for excuses. 2011 is the year for doing.

I'm really looking forward to sharing my journey with you throughout the year.

Stay sweet,
Mari

Upcoming classes at ScrappyB!

2011-01-05T18:15:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of classes I have coming up at Scrappy Boutique in Orlando, FL. For more info check out their site or call 407.856.8070 I'd love to see you there!!

A Love that Lasts Forever Mini Book

Sat. January 22nd 1:00pm
Fee: $40

Family Receipt Holder

Wed. February 9th. 6:00pm
Fee: $57

Stay sweet,
Mari

Told ya times 2 :oP

2011-01-03T19:43:00.000-05:00

So the third little box I made for my beloved ScrappyB was for our Chicago trip back in Feb. 2009. By the way, I can't believe it has been almost two years. One of the greatest trips ever.. but then again, Dean and I always have the best of times and sharing our love for travel and discovery is one of my favorite things to do.

the big building on the right is part of a flier from the Hancock building :)

I know I've said it plenty, but I love these little boxes!!!!!

Stay sweet,
Mari

This new year...

2010-12-31T19:10:00.001-05:00

Together with the ScrappyB crew I'm taking the Ali Edwards One little word class. I'm having issues picking my word. Picking one word is more like it. I'm too indecisive... Let's just say in multiple choice questions I'm more likely to select the "option A and B" answer.

Soar is not my word. [ :( ]
But it's what I was feeling like today. Made a 5x7 canvas just for kicks and loved it. No purpose creating is my favorite kind.

I keep adding to my list.. instead of narrowing it down to one word. Told ya I wasn't very good at this. Here's what I got going one so far. Please help!!!!! I need all I can get..
In no particular order..

dare
brave
discover
embrace
journey
today
priority

Today I'm really feeling dare. Dare can encompass all these other words. hmmm I might be onto something. Some reassurance would sure be appreciated!! :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Told ya..

2010-12-29T18:47:00.000-05:00

I love these things.

I could cry just looking at this "love" box. It has so much meaning to me and my relationship with Dean. If you haven't made one, try. You'd be surprised how special this little thing can be. It now holds some very special memorabilia that we have either collected or that Dean has given me in the past 6 years. And just every time I look at it, it brings back so many memories and with it, many many feelings. Feelings that may have been stored away in some drawer or box. I'm not gonna lie, it was a challenging, finding little things that will fit... but remember! you can take some of the little boxes out to make a bigger compartment. I know! clever, right? and to know we owe it all to Tim...

I wont go into details as to what every thing means in order to leave my sappiness level confidential :oP but know that I hold this box and its contents very dear to my heart, and might as well be my favorite thing ever. After the giver of the mementos, of course :oP

Stay sweet,
Mari

Merry Christmas to all!

2010-12-26T18:08:00.004-05:00

I'm so very excited about 2011. It's a new year full of possibilities and new adventures for me and my family. But stop me from getting too ahead of myself. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! I can't believe it has come and gone... and what a great one it was! First Christmas in our little home with brand new personal traditions full of love. I truly wouldn't have it any other way. I hope your Christmases were merry and filled with joy with those you love.

babe and I Christmas eve . I heart this photo.. hee

(cannot even tell you how excited I am to have a Christmas picture of the four of us!!) eek!!

I have had these pics to post since for.ever. but I guess better late than never. I got to play with Tim's boxes (that's what I will always call them as I can never remember their proper names) and absolutely love them. I want to make one for everything. Kinda intimidating at first. Cuz you know, not all of us have miniature people, cars, and what-nots sitting around the house :oP Soooo glad I conquered it and went for it.. made two more after this!

Merry Christmas to all..
Stay sweet,
Mari

Hi There!

2010-11-30T09:47:00.003-05:00

My most favorite time of year is right around the corner. I love all the lights and the Christmas spirit. It makes me feel all fluffy inside. This is our very first holiday in our little house and its starting to look a lot like Christmas! {and I'm loving it}

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving holiday!

Stay sweet,
Mari

98% nice

2010-10-22T16:00:00.000-04:00

More Christmas goodies.. Fancy Pants always comes out with an awesome holiday line and always so easy to play with. Here's a quick layout I made with some cute pictures of Blue :)

He really is a sweet as he looks here..

Stay sweet,
Mari

The Guilty One...

2010-10-20T16:00:00.001-04:00

I love pictures that tell a story, and I'm so lucky to have someone that takes the time to take such meaningful pictures like this one. A day before my class for the collins group event the dogs got into one of my sample books (the one with sticks on the cover) and destroyed it. I'm not gonna lie, I almost cried when I got home and discovered a bag full of pieces of my book. It all worked out in the end like it always does, but at that moment I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. When Dean got home he decided he was going to take a picture of Blue and Indy with whatever was left from the book.. Little did we know that a picture was gonna tell us exactly who the culprit was! I'm sure Blue took part on it, but I now have no doubt (as if I ever did :oP ) that it was Indy's conspiracy...

I used Basic Grey's Pyrus collection for this layout and I can't get over how great it compliments the picture!

I try to remind myself that when things like this happen. they will most likely be funny in the near future... I think this is pretty darn funny right about now! :oP

Stay sweet,
Mari

Christmas is in the air

2010-10-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

I know, I know.. it's really only October. But I just can't help it! Christmas simply makes me happy.. Basic Grey's Jovial is my favorite holiday line this year. I love everything about it, but I guess I'm a little biased with everything BG :oP

no I cannot see into the future, even less take pictures ahead of time! this was in fact 2009, not 2010... I really gotta fix that! :oP

Can I tell you how excited I am that I get to decorate for Christmas this year?!?!!? for my own place.. I can't wait!

Stay sweet,
Mari

Love Life

2010-10-15T16:00:00.001-04:00

Pink Paisley's House of Three release this past CHA was one of my faves! I was so excited to get it in the store and get to play with it... I used Distress Inks and Luminarte to give it some flair and absolutely loved it! This picture was from a couple of weeks ago taken at Downtown Disney on our 6 year anniversary :o) I love this guy... and the life I have with him...

Those were large white flowers from Prima that I colored with some pink Luminarte! just dabbed my brush on the petals to give it some dimension :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Moving...

2010-10-13T16:00:00.001-04:00

I have filled four big bins with tools and embellishments and it doesn't even look like I've made a dent to my scrap-room! Whoever said scrapbooking was a sickness was dead on. I really should go back and keep packing, but right now I rather be blogging :oP

Dean, Blue, Indy and I will be moving out on our own this week to this cute small townhouse between Waterford Lakes and Avalon Park. I'm stocked and nervous but mostly stocked. I can't even tell you how much we need this. Our own place. A change. It's gonna be good. :) This move has shown me just how unconventional and weird we are. And I love it.

I think this layout best describes how I'm feeling today. Just thankful for the four of us. I used the ever-so-yummy Basic Grey Wander :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Halloween-ish

2010-10-09T16:00:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe Halloween is right around the corner!!!!! Oh my goodness!!! I might even have my very own first trick or treaters!!!! It's the little things.... :oP

I altered a small dress form that Stacey got from Old Time Pottery with some yummy LYB and tulle. I love tulle {except when you need to cut a bunch for a class.. then its not so lovely :oP}

Its displaying at ScrappyB near the Give Thanks wreath I posted earlier! :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Crate Paper Love

2010-10-07T16:00:00.001-04:00

For all you skeptics that thought there was no way to make a non-school layout with Crate's new awesome line, I give you this: :oP

I have to improvise at times since I have no school pictures waiting to be scrapped. And when I say "have" I just mean there is no way I'm passing up playing with this paper just because it's school themed. Where there is a will there is a way :o) Although, I must say, Crate made it pretty easy with some awesome patterns as always. I heart Crate...

Stay sweet,
Mari

Way cool :)

2010-10-06T16:00:00.000-04:00

What a nice surprise it was to see my cards featured on this blog :o) It was great getting to meet store owners from all over the country at the Collins Group... This is Scrapology from Texas!!

Thanks for sending this my way, Etta.. made me smile :)

Stay sweet,
Mari

... just playing :)

2010-10-05T16:00:00.000-04:00

About a month ago, before all the CHA goodness started coming in, I got to sit and play with my stash. Sometimes I get so caught up with new stuff that I forget all the things I haven't gotten to play with. I had two pics that I absolutely love so instead of saving them for the next best thing (as I would usually do) I went ahead and scraped them with some of my favorite not-so-new lines. Here are my two layouts:

Dean and Indy on some yummy Fancy Pants

Blue and I on one of my fave Crate Paper lines

Stay sweet,
Mari :o)

Creative Imaginations and Tim Collins

2010-10-04T12:10:00.001-04:00

I had the pleasure of working and teaching with Cheryl Mezzetti at the Collins Group Fall education and trade-show this past weekend (not as in yesterday but as in the one before :oP). This is what September was all about :o)

Here are all the projects I designed and taught at the event.

Give Thanks Mini-Book

Christmas Memories Mini-Book

A Love that Lasts Forever Mini-Book

3 Cards:

Halloween Headband

Halloween Door Sign

Christmas Wine Container - PS if you receive this as a Christmas present you must act surprised :oP

Now back to our regular schedule :)

Stay sweet,
Mari

October is finally here...

2010-10-01T20:20:00.000-04:00

September was absolutely crazy. I had so much to show you and so little time... I'm hoping to change all that this month. If not change, at least get to show you all I need to show you.. I think that's a start! :oP

Here's a layout I made with Sassafras' new Mix and Mend collection that I absolutely *LOVE* I added some sewing pattern tissue paper, lace and pieces of Prima's felted gates. I'm so not done playing with the line... Michelle Clement is my idol :oP {she designed this line for Sassafras} I figured this was a good way to start the month :)

oh it's gonna be a good month... how can't it be with these three? :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

...thankful

2010-09-23T15:10:00.002-04:00

I know we're not even close to thanksgiving yet, but today I'm thankful. I made this wreath for ScrappyB a couple of weeks ago but haven't gotten to share it with you guys yet! If you're a local and a die-hard scrappy shopper chances are you've seen it at the store.

I haven't been around much and I'll get to explaining the reasons soon {hopefully}. But for today this seemed appropriate. A quick post just saying how thankful I am for having people in my life that are so willing to help and always {always} make me feel better. A special shout out to my other half and partner in crime who has suffered more paper cuts than he probably thought he would get in his life. SOOOOOOO Thankful for you and all your help :o)

This post suddenly feels specially sappy :oP

Stay sweet,
Mari

Life...

2010-08-27T16:50:00.000-04:00

Well I'm sure by now all of you know how much I love Lost and Found and from what I've heard most of you feel the same way! :o) I have another project to show you today with the very same...

I've had this little hanger for a while now. My parents got it while they were renovating their closet and I just had to have it! and this is what I did with it...

I altered it to make this little sign. I love this saying and its one of those that you need to keep around so you don't forget. I know I do. I think think this will help me remember everyday...

I felt I needed to censor it :oP

First I painted the hanger white, then layered some crackle paint over it and distressed it using some vintage photo distress ink. The last touch was to add those fab gems which used to be brads so I just cut off the tips using *Dean's* Tim Holt'z scissors and then managed to cut my finger in the process. Oy.

and there it is hanging on the Lost and Found rack at the store :o)

Can't say I'm done playing with this line just yet :-X

Stay sweet,
Mari

Sept. Classes at ScrappyB :o)

2010-08-25T11:48:00.001-04:00

September is just around the corner.. literally like next week. Yikes! I'm not ready for September to come back (<-- that's a Stacey joke hihi) Anyways.. just wanted to pop in and do a quick post with the upcoming classes that I'll be teaching at Scrappy Boutique :o) Space is limited on all of these so if you like what you see make sure you call and sign up! I'd love to see you there and share some yummy cookies with you.. that's right, I bribe you with cookies :oP no complaints so far.. hehe

Simply Delightful 2-pg Layout
Wednesday Sept. 1st 6:00pm
$22.50

Olivia 2-pg Layout
Sat. Sept. 11th 1:00pm
$22

Oliver 2-pg Layout
Friday Sept. 17th 6:00pm
$22

Love Birds 2-pg Layout
Tuesday Sept. 21st 6:00pm
$23.50
*includes a small Prima stamp set for you to take home with you!*

Thats all for now.. but I got a couple more exciting ones in the works. Can't wait to show you!

Stay sweet,
Mari

Funky Pumpkin!

2010-08-23T20:41:00.002-04:00

We are getting Scrappy Boutique ready for Halloween! With all these amazing lines coming in you can't help but feel inspired.. Stacey picked up some pumpkins at Old Time Pottery so we could alter them for the store (Inspired by the awesome Cheryl Mezzetti). I figured one should be Halloween and one should be fall-ish. I got the spooky one done first and I love it! Not gonna lie, covering the openings was a pain but so totally worth it..

Here you have it my peeps.. pumpkin *numero uno* :oP :

*altered with The Moon Shine Crew by Reminisce*

Stay sweet,
Mari

Lost and Found

2010-08-20T16:20:00.000-04:00

Busy bee.. I have kept myself busy this week coming up with classes for September. Can't wait to show you! I got three news ones for you... and they are all with yummy Basic Grey :o) Need I say more?!

But I promised I was here to stay this time so today I have a Lost and Found layout for you! and I can tell you this much, I'm so not done playing with this line yet. This is just their pink and brown collection.. Can't wait till I get my hands on the red and the blue.. I know I already said multiple times how happy My Minds Eye made me at CHA but you must see for yourself! The embellishments are just to die for...

Stay sweet,
Mari

Funky Elegance

2010-08-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

I'm back... and for good this time hehe.. As the new products from CHA start coming in I start creating... and I love it! Today I'll post a layout using My Minds Eye's - Haunted collection. Come back soon for other layouts and projects using other yummy My Minds Eye product, including Lost and Found. Swoon........

I think I might have mentioned this on my CHA post but My Minds Eye really rocked this past release! Lost and Found made my top 10 and if Haunted wasn't a "Halloween" line it probably would have made it in too! They really kicked butt. It makes my heart happy :o)

I wanted to use Haunted for a non-Halloween related layout. I absolutely love the flock and lets face it, I might dress up my dogs and carve a pumpkin every once in a while but I'm just not overflowing with Halloween pictures hehe.. Although I wish I was when companies come out with lines like this! I found this picture of Amanda and Corey's rehearsal dinner of all the girls and thought it would be perfect for these papers. I love the colors and the feel of funky elegance the patterns give the layout.

Stay sweet,
Mari

I heart the twinkles! :oP

2010-08-09T19:37:00.004-04:00

Cheryl Mezzetti taught an amazingly beautiful book at ScrappyB last Friday. But what else is new? Everything she makes is awesome. I wasn't able to take her class this time, but I was lucky to work at the store while she was teaching... Before the class she demoed the great Luminarte Twinkling H2Os and I was in love! She said I could play with them since we don't have them in the store just yet (but no worries, they are coming!) and I said; say no more! I knew I wanted some.. but now I want them all!

This is what I made while I was playing... It's a little 6x6 altered project with yummy Basic Grey, May Arts ribbon and tons of Luminarte!

As a background I used a pink solid Basic Grey cardstock and then added some texture using Samantha Walker's white swirl die cut cardstock as my template with some gesso. What I love most about adding your own texture is not only the dimension it gives to the piece but also the versatility to make it your own. I used some twinkling h20s in different shades over the gesso and then added a darker pink frame around it with some more pink twinkles and a water bottle!

I can't wait to play with these some more.. I'm in love.

Stay sweet,
Mari

My CHA TOP 10

2010-08-05T09:37:00.012-04:00

As you can imagine.. I'm back from Chicago. :o) I've been taking care of things around here but now I'm ready to get back in the game! I can't wait to get back to creating... Although to be honest with you, I don't know if I can work with older products. Not after seeing all the awesomeness that's gonna be coming out! Stacey, Julie and I had a so much fun working hard to bring back the best with us. I'll have to post pictures of our adventures soon.. I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to go with them! So much was learned... While we were there we came to a fair conclusion. CHA is much like Vegas. There are no clocks, so you never know how long you've been in the show. You spend all your money. Its totally intoxicating.. Although if you ask me, I'd take CHA over Vegas anytime :oP

These top choices, as you will soon see, have no Christmas or Halloween. Summer CHA is always filled with those two themes.. and well, I'm not a big "theme" fan.. These choices were made from the 20% theme free product that was featured in the show. And I'd love to hear your thoughts on them and any you like that I missed! (even if they are themed)

So here they are.. In no particular order:

1. Crate Paper - Restoration Collection

2. Sassafras - Mix and Mend Collection

3. Teresa Collins Stampmaker

4. Pink Paislee - House of Three Parisian Anthology Collection

5. Imaginisce - New I-Top Accessories

6. Teresa Collins - Blingage

7. Basic Grey - Curio Collection

8. My Minds Eye - Lost and Found Collection

9. Prima - Scrapbook Jewelry

10. Tim Holtz - Configurations

There you have it.. my fave 10. Ten products that I CANNOT wait until they hit ScrappyB. What about you? I'm sure you've seen all the sneak peeks of all the yummy product that was released a couple of weeks ago. What are you most excited about?!

If you're a central Floridian make sure to check out ScrappyB's blog for an update of all the products that will be coming to your favorite LSS!!! I can't wait for all the boxes to start coming in and start playing!!!!!!!! Soooooo excited!

Also, check out Scrapbook Update's Top Ten picks.. Some awesome different product and great in-depth reviews!

Leave a comment! I'd love to hear about your faves :o)
Stay sweet,
Mari

Gotta love May Arts...

2010-08-05T08:43:00.003-04:00

May Arts had a "Calling all Bloggers" challenge on their blog in July.. I almost didn't make it with all the craziness of last month but I did! WOOT! They have posted all their entries on their blog.. you can check mine here. I made an altered plate and a card :o) I'd love for you to take a peek and leave some love if you'd like :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Upcoming Class in Tampa! :o)

2010-07-24T13:45:00.000-04:00

So I won't bore you with more words.. I think the previous post is probably enough babbling from me for at least a month! hehe

Just wanted to share some upcoming classes I'll be teaching for Scrapendipity Retreats in Tampa next September. Anyone can take the classes... you do not have to be in the retreat to come in and fill your creative head with new ideas techniques. BUT! make be sure to check out their great deals. I believe there are only 10 spots left for 48 fun filled hours of cropping! Fun that I'm sure you don't wanna miss.. :o)

I said no more babbling... so here they are :o)

Love and Laughter 2pg. Layout
Saturday September 25th
1pm $22
This layout is great for any occasion! Its bright colors make it a perfect page for fun summer photos. Join us for a fun-filled class with great techniques to add movement to any layout.

Behind the Lens Mini Book

Saturday September 25th
10am $30
This is a great little book to showcase some of your favorite shots. You'll be using some very yummy BoBunny Mamarazzi paper and embellishments combined with great distressing techniques to make this adorable little book.

Make sure to check out their website for more info on these classes and/or to sign up and other class options from various very talented instructors as well as their crop package :o)

Hope to see ya there!

Stay sweet,

Mari

Back home

2010-07-22T16:54:00.002-04:00

Only for a couple of days.. Stacey, Julie and I head out to Chicago tomorrow morning and I can't wait! But I really do wish I had a little more time back home. I haven' really been able to spend much quality time with Dean and the dogs since I've been back. :(

For those of you wondering how my last trip went, embrace yourselves and read below. I will walk you through some of my high points and low points of this adventure!

I could write on and on about all I did for the four days I was away... but I wont bore you with the details. Instead I will share the knots and bolts! How's that? :o)

In the order of events:

Dean and I got to the airport fairly early. At least an hr and a half before my flight. We got my boarding pass, checked my luggage and had about an hr left before departure. We though we had enough time to grab some breakfast together, so we did.

With half an hr before departure we figured I should get going and get through security. We said goodbye and I was on my way.

Who knew going through security would take so long?! You're probably right.. any person in their right mind would know. It took me 25 minutes to get through security. That makes it only 5 minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off. Yeah, I was freaking out too...

I also didn't know I had to go to the terminal on this thing that was apparently broke. Oy. I'll spare you the suspense and just tell you that I made it right on time. Believe it or not, I wasn't the last person on the plane hehe

The flight from Orlando to Nashville was absolutely perfect. Two hours of pure bliss. I had all three seats to myself. Sat on the window seat and spread out throughout the rest. I read and wrote and listened to music. It seemed too short. Here I hoped the rest of my travels would be this nice.
I made it to Nashville with 2 hrs to spare before my next flight

I read some more and got me a yummy hot chocolate to pass the time

I was on time for this flight but was still one of the lasts to get on the plane.

I guess that's what A,B and C stand for on your boarding pass. It's not so great not having assigned seats in a full plane. I had to ask people to move to make room for me and that's when I discovered I'm not a very good judge of character.

All these two ladies could talk about were other people. I'm sorry but I don't really care if you don't like Mary, Britney or Joan. And you shouldn't either. There are other things to talk about in life besides crap about others.

I might be deaf for a while... Had to blast off my music in order to muffle their conversation.

The only good thing about this 5 hr flight was seating on the window seat. The sky was so clear you could see everything below. This was one of my favorite sights of the trip. As we approached Washington all you could see were mountains covered in snow. I fell in love.

Got to Washington around 1pm their time and took a shuttle to the fairgrounds. I'm sure the driver was amused about my "ooh's and ahh's" every time we went up or down a hill. :oP

Hung around for a while meeting everyone and getting familiar with the classroom and the classes that I was teaching.

Got back to the hotel, got some dinner and passed out till 4am their time the next morning.

Breakfast wasn't until 6

During breakfast I learned that you are not supposed to put hard boiled eggs in the microwave. They will explode.
First of 4 classes started at 9am but got to the fairgrounds around 7am.. Plenty of time to set up and get comfortable with the kits.

Got back to the hotel around 6pm, ate some left overs and watched a movie. BTW the hotel had free cookies and DVD rentals 24/7!!!!

Needless to say I went back for more cookies

The next day went pretty much the same, without the egg explosion thing.

Although I did discover you could see the peak Mt. Rainier from my window!

The shuttle picked us up at 6am Sunday morning

The Seattle airport was packed.

The had to call me on the PA system to board the plane as I was the only one missing.. To my defense, it was only 8:30 and they weren't scheduled to depart until 8:45. I was just trying to charge my phone :oP

The plane ride back was pretty much like the ride there. Except I had to sit in the middle, and i don't know about you, but I think that's the worst possible seat when you don't know the person on either side. I mean where do you lean?! All I could do was count down the hours till I saw my three loves again.

Nothing beats getting home to a set of open arms and 2 wagging tails.... and a tub of Nutella hehe

Yikes! That was probably much more you wanted to know.. hehe No details, my butt!!! :oP If you stuck around YOU ROCK!!! :oP

Hope you're having a great week!
Stay sweet,
Mari

As promised...

2010-07-15T20:21:00.002-04:00

"Here's my matching apron!!!!! I stayed waaaay passed my bed time to finish this before my trip... and I still haven't finished packing. Somebody do something! :oP Thanks babe for finishing this post for me... Love ya! *kiss* I miss you already"

This message was left on the screen for me. I promised her that I will post this and I will. I found this saying that matches perfectly the way I feel currently:

It is loneliness that makes the loudest noise. This is true of men as of dogs. ~

Eric Hoffer

I miss my baby very much, so without further ado I present to you...The one..the only...THE Apron

Busy with a pretty good chance of AWESOME...

2010-07-13T18:20:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow at 6am I'll be leaving to Washington State to teach a class at the Scrapbook Expo! It was designed by one of Basic Grey's very talented designers and I could not be more psyched. It was super last minute and it definitely took me by surprise but I'm so thankful I'll be able to experience so many new things for me. I'll take all the positive energy you can send! I really wanna rock it :o)

I get back on Sunday (expect a full report) and then I leave again on Friday for CHA with Stacey and Julie. Now don't even get me started about how excited I am about *that*! We're gonna have a blast ordering all sorts of yummy product for the store... Stacey always does an awesome post with all the orders, so make sure you check Scrappy B's blog to see the great selection of goodies that will be coming to your LSS!

Here's a new tote bag for my July adventures! This one was about to fall apart hehe.. I made it with Basic Grey's Sultry fabric collection, Prima flowers, Webster Pages rose ribbon and ZVA creative bling :o)

p.s I'm making something to match it and I can't wait to share! I'm hoping to have it done tonight but I keep telling myself there's other bazillion things to do and I gotta get up at 3:30am! I'm having a hard time prioritizing here... :-X

Stay sweet,
Mari

Forever with you...

2010-07-13T18:09:00.002-04:00

I wasn't too in love with this line but I must say I'm really happy with how this layout came out! It might even be one of my faves.. :-X This is proof though, of what I've said all along. Even if you're not head-over-heals in love with a Basic Grey line, buy it! At least a few sheets of paper.. I don't know what it is they do but anything done with their product just end up beautiful. Here is my Cappella layout of a nice picture of Dean and I from Amanda's wedding.

I love him.

Stay sweet,
Mari

Blue is Two!

2010-07-12T09:38:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE! Blue turned two on Saturday! We had balloons, presents and doggy cake. He had a blast, and no worries, Indy did too! :oP Here are a few pics from the not-yet-but-soon-to-be renounced doggy photographer Dean:

I can't believe it's been two years since we met this not-so-little-anymore guy. Since then he has filled our lives with laughter, play, the occasional worry but most importantly with unconditional love. God, I love him.

Hope you had a great weekend!
Stay sweet,
Mari

So very handsome

2010-07-07T17:15:00.000-04:00

I absolutely love this picture of Blue.. Dean took it not long before Max and Whiskers came out and when it did I knew that it would be the perfect paper for it. I'm so happy with how this layout turned out, I mean it was after all with some very yummy Basic Grey and a truly beautiful shot... I'm so excited to share it with you!

Thanks for looking!
Stay sweet,
Mari

oh Basic Grey...

2010-07-05T09:50:00.000-04:00

There is no doubt my favorite layouts consist of your products. I find I enjoy my time the most while playing with Basic Grey. From colors to patters to endless possibilities. I just love it. It simply makes me happy. I can't wait to see their new releases this CHA winter. EEP!

Here's another layout I made using their Oliver line:

Photography by Dean Milenkovic

Since this is a layout about Blue, how about a little update on how he's doing? We lowered the dose again in the beginning of the week to one a day. You can totally see the old Blue starting to shine through this "blue" Blue that has not been himself for the past month! We will continue to lower it until gone and hope that this is it for this phase and he will be his healthy, happy self soon! Hoping for the best..

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
Stay sweet,

Mari

Baby Haley

2010-07-01T16:23:00.000-04:00

Babies (and kids) scare me... I'm an only child of what you would call a small family so I haven't been around them enough to know what to do or act or even know how to talk to them! I know it seems silly.. I guess I'm just intimidated or maybe just worried I will do or say something wrong.

I've known Amanda for years and knowing what a family girl she is I expected this day would come soon.... I'm soooo excited to be a little part of Haley's life. Sure I know nothing... but I'm willing to learn :o) And hopefully soon enough I can even babysit! One thing I've learned so far.. they are not as fragile as they look. Which is a good thing, it lowers my fear a significant amount :oP

I know some of you have already seen these.. and that's probably because I can't stop talking about how cute this little girl is... Meet Amanda's baby girl, Haley. She's jut a month old and the cutest thing you have ever seen.

American Idol

Mommy and Haley

Till we meet again, baby Haley. Which should have been this week but life gets in the way :o(

Stay sweet,

Mari

Kits and Classes at ScrappyB!

2010-06-29T18:35:00.000-04:00

So excited to share that I'm not only starting to teach at ScrappyB but I'm also making kits to sell :o) The kits are all pre-cut and ready to assemble with a few tips and tricks to help you along the way. Right now I have put together a Dog and a Cat kit with the Basic Grey line; Max and Whiskers. Here they are:

I love my dog 2-pg layout kit

I love my cat 2-pg layout kit

I've also designed a new class that it's now added in the schedule for late July :o) This is perfect for documenting your everyday life. Document what you regularly do each day of the week, or if you're like me and each day is a free for all kinda thing just take a one picture each day for a week. It would be great to look back and see what your typical week looked like and consisted of at this time in your life :o)

A Week in our Life 2-pg Layout
Saturday July 31st.
1:00pm $24

For more info call Scrappy Boutique at 407.856.8070 :o) I would love for you to join me! If you were at my Pure Bliss Canvas class you know yummy Serbian cookies are in order.. hehe

Stay sweet,
Mari

Life and Oliver...

2010-06-28T08:33:00.004-04:00

There is one thing I'm sure of. Everything happens for a reason. This past month has been like being in a crazy roller-coaster of uncertainty. Mind you I really like roller-coasters, just not this kind. Not knowing has always been my biggest fear, and at this point in time I know nothing. I have no plan. I've never had no plan. It's weird. If there is one thing I know is that I am surrounded by beautiful people that support me and encourage me to just keep going. And I'm so very thankful for that.

Basic Grey makes my day, any day :oP I got to play with their new line Oliver at our fabulous staff crop yesterday! Check it out:

I gotta run now, but come back soon.. I got some classes and kits to show you hehe.. Wish Blue and I luck today. One more checkup and hopefully we can be done with these pills.

Stay sweet,
Mari

Upcoming classes... WOOT!

2010-06-08T20:49:00.001-04:00

There's so much going on right now! I can't believe I haven't posted these upcoming classes... I'm going to be teaching at Orlando's very own Scrappy Boutique! Scrappy B is my home. No seriously, it is. It has watched me grow and I have grown because of it. I have met such wonderful ladies and made lifetime friends. I can't express with words my gratitude to this store and everyone I've gotten to know from it. It's my happy place. I'm so very excited to be teaching here and I hope you are too! Here are some classes I have coming up late this month and early to mid July...

Pure Bliss Canvas Page
Friday June 25th
6pm $22

Flutter 2-page layout
Friday July 9th
6pm $22

Bloom Mini Book
Monday July 19th
6pm $40

If you'd like to sign up for one (or all three hehe) of these classes be sure to call 407.856.8070 to reserve your spot :o) I'd love to see you there!

Stay sweet,
Mari

Honestly speaking...

2010-06-03T08:40:00.000-04:00

I've gotten nothing done this week. Zero, null, nilch. It's been crazy. Dean talks a little about Blue's situation here, in case you are one of those inquiring minds...I know in my heart he will be ok. We just gotta get that platelet count up!

I was hoping this to be a more creative week but you know, life gets in the way :oP so I'll leave you with this layout I made for Scrappy Boutique for NSD.. Can't believe I hadn't posted it yet! I absolutely love how perfectly these pictures match this paper. I love it when that happens.

Got a fun little surprise over at the Creative Imaginations blog today though! come take a peek :o)

Hope everyone is having a great week!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Be true

2010-05-31T16:47:00.003-04:00

Well hello there! It's taken me forever to get back on track after Inspired. Its funny how you can be away just a week and come back to what it feels a sea of to dos...

I've been working on some classes for SreappyB that I can't wait to share with you! but for now I'll leave you with this burlap canvas I made earlier . I heart pink and orange and I absolutely heart this picture of Dean and I. I've known I wanted to do something special with it and now I get to hang it. Woot!

for now though, it will be at ScrappyB as a sample for these awesome 12x12 burlap canvases. Be sure to take a peek next time you stop by :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

I am feeling... Inspired :o)

2010-05-25T01:38:00.000-04:00

All right. So its been a whole week since I've been back. It's probably about time I get this out there. Better late than never!, right?! I really wanted this post to be special and spend some type writing about the classes and what not. I guess that's why I've put it off for so long. I'm not much of a writer. So bare with me. Hopefully you'll get some insight on an awesome Inspired weekend.

quick side note - I just *had* to get an Inspired t-shirt. I wore it Friday, the first day of our core classes.

Thursday at 9:30am was registration. We all got one of these cute badges with our name, where we came from, and the letter of our group on the back. Love it!

I've decided to start with the core classes. In no particular order, except for the one they got uploaded to this post hehe :oP

Core Classes - Friday May 16th and Saturday May 17th:

CD Muckosky's class was our very first on Friday morning. 8:00am bright and early! She had made this awesome book filled with freeing techniques. Well, we only had three hours to play lol. So the book is nowhere near finished. But one thing is for sure, this class opened the possibilities to just about anything. Many of us are so concerned about our finished product that we limit our creativity in fear we will mess up the bigger picture. Well, there was no bigger picture here. It was pure play for the sake of playing and I loved it. We stamped with random stuff, experimented with gel medium and gesso, played with packing and masking tape and misted just about everything using anything you could find around you as masks. What did I take from this class? Be free. CD's free spirit Inspired me to try something, anything... because after all, it's just paper, and you never know what you might discover.

Angela Bannatyne's class was so much fun! we played with UTEE and melting pots to cover some silver beads and make them any color you wanted. I made them pearl so they would compliment my orange and yellow beads. Let me tell you though, this requires skills. That's if you want your beads to come out round after coating them with the UTEE. As you can see mine are egg-shaped and I'm ok with that :oP

Oh my lady, how much fun it was making you. Regine Dossche's class was an absolute hoot! It was our very last class Saturday night. You could totally tell it was getting to be that giggle for no reason time. It was great to learn more about making sculptures, and although I probably wont be making any in the near future, it was definitely fun to experiment and try new things. It's what Inspired is all about :o)
(Maura, thanks for an awesome laugh when we went to pick our ladies up. It was one of those good hearty ones that are not easily forgotten :oP I would try to explain but it was the kind you can't ever remember what you were laughing about lol.)

She is now sitting next to my Victoria's Secret blue dog. Dean says she looks like a dementor from Harry Potter. I'm ok with that too...

Suze Weinberg let us play with wax. Which I can say, since Dean's incident earlier this year made it a little scary. The hotel must have been on its toes with all these paints, wax, powertex and what not lol. This was a really fun technique to learn. A little challenging though, having to keep everything flat because of the wax. Those of you that have stuck around long enough know I have a hard time with flat hehe. I'm loving that vintage look though, I thought those Graphic 45 papers would be great for this project!

Pam Garrison - I heart Pam and her style. When I saw her on the list of core instructors I almost had a heart attack. She's an awesome collage artist and doodler and I absolutely love her work. This was another one of those freeing classes. You know the type that says paint here and there and play with these tools. Again, just for the sake of playing and experimenting, with no final product in mind. This was my favorite one of all. It might have had something to do with being the first time I sewed on paper without breaking the needle! WOOT!

Dara Troshane's class was our first on Saturday morning. You had the option to paint or collage on your wood board. I wasn't feeling much like painting so I whipped out some of my Basic Grey and made a little something that said follow your heart. It now sits as my reminder to do just that. After you had finished your piece you were to cover it using cut glass. Much like a puzzle, it took lots of time and patience. It's meant to be grouted but I decided not to. I like it just the way it is. :o)

What I love most about each and everyone of these classes (except probably the lady, her I pretty much copied) is that they are my own. These awesome instructors went over a sea of techniques and it was up to us to interpret them into our own art.

Mini Workshops
I was crazy enough to sign up for 11 mini workshops, plus one I signed up over there for my only free spot! that made a total of 12.. YIKES! I figured if I'm going all the way there I'm going full force. And I'm glad I did. I got to meet some awesome instructors and learn some great new crafts I've always been interested in knowing more of. I would do it all over again if I had the opportunity :o)

Alright this is already the longest post ever so I will keep these short and sweet. Teacher name and a gist of what the class was about. Hang in there with me :oP

Susan Edmonson - Posie Pins
Aren't these adorable? We learned to make this using wool and a little thread. Love them!

Margie Romney-Asslet - Cuff class
Well I didn't get that far. But I did learn how to make all these different type of fabric flowers! Which will soon enough go on my apple green fabric belt :oP
I also took another class with Margie (all good tag mini album) with some of her own yummy product from the Girls Paperie (Paper Girl) I didn't get too far on this one, hence the lack of picture :-X
Margie is super sweet and has an awesome sense of humor. There wasn't a time I wasn't smiling during her classes.

Anna Willet - an embroidery primer
Remember how I said I added an extra class at the last minute? This was it.. and I LOVED it! So glad I tagged along Amber and Angel. Anna did an awesome job. Couldn't believe it was her very first time teaching.

Donna Downey - Apron. Modeling it: Blue.
I'm not quite finished with this just yet. But I'm already loving it. My favorite thing about this class? Every-single-person that took the class came out with something different. Donna is an absolute wonderful teacher. She encourages you to just play. A little word of advice, if you ever take a class with her, don't ask her about measurement of exact placement of stuff. To all these she replies: "Yes" - made me snicker every time.

Cari Fennell - House Book
What an honor it was to take a class with Prima's so talented Cari. She is as sweet as can be. Loved this book. This is what you would call flower layering at its best. It was such a nice surprise to find Jo and Debbie in this class! Wish I had seen more of them throughout the weekend...

Janice Kalin - Fabulous Felted Flowers
One thing I have to say about felting: Very therapeutic. I wish I knew about this back when I was working at Full Sail hehe

Cari Fennell - Camera Bag
Another of Cari's beautiful creations. Loved playing with glimmer mist and getting to hang out with Jo and Debbie again. I might be using this as a mini purse.. too cute :o)

Stephanie Ackerman - The Inspired me
Stephanie is such a sweetheart. She baked chocolate chip cookies for us and everything.. She taught us how to make her awesome roses. They are super easy. I'm gonna be making them out of all my scraps! Oooh! and I had the pleasure of sitting next to Stacy Julian in this class.. She's a hoot. Loved them both!

Cari Fennell - Art Tin
Yup.. I love her stuff lol. I took all of her classes. :oP This was just too cute to pass up! How cute is that little necklace we made with small blue gems? she's too clever...

Donna Downey - Inspiration Journal
I loved, loved, looooooooved this class. It was definitely inspiring. Donna basically told us of a couple of things she wanted us to include in our page, such as a button and some fabric and she encouraged us to take it from there. This was just a fun, freeing class. That's my favorite kind.

So... what do you think? That's if you're still with me, I know it was a mighty long post lol. If there's anything else you want to know about the event feel free to ask. I absolutely loved it and hope to do it again next year.. maybe I'll even be able to drag a few ladies up with me! hehe

Just a quick note to Angel, Amber, Maura, Kelly and Terri... Thanks for making it such a great weekend. I'm so glad I got to know all of you better and hope we can do it again soon! We definitely had a lucky table going on :oP It wouldn't have been the same without you!

Hope I left you a little inspiration from my trip..
Stay sweet,
Mari

Friends are the family you choose...

2010-05-20T03:30:00.000-04:00

Slacker alert... Slacker alert! That's right that's me. I have been nonstop since we got back; been to the vet, work and trying to get some projects done. And right when I think I can devote some time to the blog I realize there's more stuff going on, like a meeting with a printing company in just a couple of hours! I have most of the class pictures uploaded in a post but need some text to go with it, otherwise you'll just be all sorts of confused like I am right now lol. I figured I could at least check in since I can't sleep with a layout I got done for the store before I left... Hope you're still hanging tight, I like having you around :oP

I couldn't have to come up with a better title for some pics of Eileen and I than this cute BoBunny one. I love her to death and am so very happy to have her in my life and be able to share moments like this with her. We had a blast!

Come back soon.. :o)
Stay sweet,
Mari

14 little things I learned on my first day at Inspired :o)

2010-05-11T09:18:00.003-04:00

If you wanna leave in the middle of the night you might wanna set your alarm. Otherwise you'll end up waking up *hours* after your scheduled departure.
Half an hr is kinda tight to get ready when you're going out of town
Even at 21 your parents will get all overprotective and resort to sleeping on the couch so they can say goodbye.. And well, hover as you're trying to hurry
Velcro and my pretty flower ring don't mix
Trying to find a black dog at 4 in the morning - not easy
Doing your makeup in the car is cool... Unless you're trying to do it in the dark. No idea what I ended up doing to my face
Stopping at Cracker Barrels along the way would be fun... If we were driving during working hours.
I-95 has two sets of numbers
Not all Cracker Barrels have doggy gear :o( But we did find one that did and got a "Crime Lab" T-shirt. WOOT!
I felt starstruck for the very first time while meeting Donna... I know, silly.
If the GPS is not cooperating it is likely I did something wrong - like skip a step
While taking photos in the middle of the road check for cars. Repeatedly.
Not all hotels have free wi-fi (seating in the business center trying to get this posted :oP )
And last but not least, ATCs are meant to be flat.

The story behind the ATCs... One of the things I really wanted to do at Inspired was meet new people and hopefully future friends. Something I have a hard time doing on my own. I'm not one to approach someone out of the blue and start a conversation. Although I really wish I were. When I saw a bunch of ladies were swapping ATCs I had to join in! I thought.. what a great way to meet some wonderful creative ladies and share our info... To my defense, I've never done this before and if you've hung around this blog long enough, you know I *heart* 3D and my pages are always at least 1.5" tall lol. Anyway... so are my ATCs. YIKES! The way I'm looking at it? It'll def. give me something to talk about while swapping! and no, they will not fit in the common baseball card holders, but hopefully they are cute enough to hang on to anyway hehe

enough babble... these are it:

I made half with Blue and half with Indy. Speaking of which, I miss them like crazy! :o(

Off to see if I can get myself to man up and mingle :oP
Stay sweet,

Mari

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-08T09:02:00.001-04:00

I hope all moms out there had a great mothers day today! Filled with love, hugs, pampering and your kids, of course :oP
I always try to make something for both my mom and Dean's mom on this day, but let me be honest, I'm running out of ideas after all these years! Since canvases are my new love I figured I couldn't go wrong to make one for each of them with some of their pictures. I used Graphic 45's Le' Romantique and some yummy embellies including Websters Pages' rose ribbon which happened to go perfect with this line :o)

Here's the I one I made for Dean's mom. He found the perfect picture for it too! That's him, his mom, and her mom. I know it meant the world to her... totally worth it.

and here's the one I made for my mom with a picture of her and my grandma. It's really neat to find these pictures and know exactly where they were taken. This one in particular was at my great-grandma's front door. Can you believe its been 12 years? (since I've been to her house, not 12 years since this pic was taken hehe)

**Thanks Lisa for the canvas inspiration once again! I'm loving them. :o) **

One last time for today... HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!! hope you had a great one...

Stay sweet,
Mari

Happiness is...

2010-05-07T21:31:00.001-04:00

Tired from packing and working but wanted to share a layout with you tonight :o) TGIF!!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Stay sweet,
Mari

Canvas + Webster pages = Love

2010-05-05T20:57:00.004-04:00

I've been wanting to make a canvas for a while but I just kept getting involved with pages and pushing it aside. I guess I just needed a little push! well... all I really needed was someone else making a canvas to be totally on-board on pushing everything *else* aside lol. Lisa was working on some during our Fab NSD crop that I totally fell in love with. You can check them out on her blog here :o) and that was my push! A day later I was making this one below and two more for mothers day that I will share on Monday (Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise hehe)

For now, I'll share this one I made with one of my favorite pictures of the puppies. Can you believe how little Indy is in that picture? He's actually smaller than Blue.. God I love them!

Thanks Lisa for the inspiration! I can't wait to make more.. now all I have to do is find more wall space :oP

and some artsy shots, of course, by my personal photographer - Dean :o)

I can't believe Inspired is just *days* away! So much to get done before we go... so little time. Tomorrow we're taking the car to get it all ready for the trip. Can't wait! Oh! and I hope to post pictures of the ATCs soon. First time doing them but so far so good :o) I can't wait to meet everyone and learn tons of good stuff hehe... I will have to keep you updated as the event goes and show you all the awesome projects such talented ladies come up with... just blows my mind :oP

Stay sweet,

Mari

A Crealde layout and a blurb about NSD

2010-05-03T20:16:00.003-04:00

So... how was your NSD?!?! I spent Friday afternoon at Scrapendipity Retreats teaching (Thanks Brenda for having me!) and Saturday day and night at ScrappyB's NSD crop working with the best girls ever... It was such a great weekend. Everyone seemed to be having such a great time! Food was amazing (thanks Joyce!) and the company irreplaceable. Hope everyone had a great time too!!! I would love to hear about what you did :o)

Here's a layout I made with some pictures Dean and I took on our first day of our paper making class. I can't believe 6 weeks have gone by and we're all done with it! We learned so much in such short time and I can't wait to start implementing it in scrapbooking and jewelry making and just about everything! hehe

Happy Monday!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Painted by Hue - Kioshi LO #1 :o)

2010-04-29T20:23:00.002-04:00

Oh Kioshi how I love thee.. I gotta get back to getting ready for tomorrows class in Tampa but I wanted to drop by and post this new layout using some very yummy Basic Grey. Have you played with these papers yet?! The patterns are just amazing! This is definitely the first of more Kioshi layouts to come :o)

Here's the layout followed by some detail shots:

All right, back to work! Wish me luck.. hehe

Stay sweet,
Mari

P.S - Happy Birthday Wy!!!! LOVE YA!

TWIGS AND WOOD :o)

2010-04-27T19:56:00.003-04:00

I think this is as 3-D as I've gotten so far and I love it! I love the dimensions and the shadows it creates when you bend, layer and stack 4+ pop dots to get some height :oP One thing's for sure. This layout is not, in any way, fitting in a page protector... So what I've decided to do is tie some of the burlap ribbon and hang it! then I'll make a 12x12 copy at ScrappyB's awesome Scrapbook Central and slide it in my book! Problem averted. :oP

I used BoBunny's Roughin' it and Creative Imagination's wood and twigs. Here's the layout, sans the hanging ribbon which I didn't have at the time of the picture hehe:

I die-cut some leaves using Creative Imaginations' wood and layered some BoBunny leaf cut-outs over them :o)

This week is flying by! I'll be back tmw with more to share :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

How about Love...

2010-04-25T19:59:00.003-04:00

Yikes! I can't believe the last time I posted was Wednesday! such a slacker... To compensate my lack of updates, layouts and all, I decided I would share my new favorite layout hehe

I used Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl line, and took some inspiration from Rent's song: Seasons of Love. I'm loving those Jenni Bowlin circle letters and all the new EK punches (That's what I used to get the zipper effect on the green strips of paper :o) and the scalloped edges too!!)

Here's the final layout followed by some detail shots:

As always, you can find all these goodies at ScrappyB, as well as the layout as a sample for the line :o) Come take a peek...

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Beautiful Bloggers

2010-04-21T21:00:00.002-04:00

I got awarded the "Beautiful Blogger" award from Amanda... she's so sweet and an awesome scrapper and blogger as well. As a matter of fact some of her layouts just got in to be published in next years Making Memories magazine. Way to go Amanda! She's awesome.

Terms of the award: Must list 10 things about yourself, thank the person who gave it to you and pass it onto 10 wonderful bloggers:

Here are 1o random facts about me:

I'm an early bird and most def. a morning person
LOOOOOOVE food - salty and sweet alike. Must have something sweet after anything salty but must be careful of not eating too much sweet because it then calls for something salty - and the cycle starts all over again :oP
My doggies and my honey are my life. Being together is definitely more than enough. They make my day
Pattern paper makes me happy. I could do without all the embellies. Just give me paper and I'm a happy girl :o)
I love taking naps. Would take one after lunch everyday if I could. Maybe that's a sign I eat too much during lunch :-X
I don't really have a favorite color... It varies between pink, orange, blue and green depending on my mood. Right now apple green is def. my fave
I love to travel and trying new things in new places
I'm an only child.
Chocolate ice cream or shakes make me sick. Ever since I tried making my own in a so called magic blender and got terribly ill from it...
Chuck is my favorite TV show at the moment. It makes me laugh like there's no tomorrow.

That's all about me though! Phew that was *hard*. :oP

I'm passing it onto these 10 awesome bloggers and artists (In no particular order :oP ) that I absolutely love and that are among the many that keep my Google reader full hehe:

Off to leave comments on their blogs :o) Lets keep this going! I would love to learn more about all of you...

Oh! and in recognition of Earth Day (which was yesterday - whoops!) I want to share something Dean made and I can't wait to scrap!

Stay Sweet,
Mari

Call me Sugar

2010-04-21T19:51:00.004-04:00

Can you believe this is my first October Afternoon layout?!?! I absolutely love their product, I guess I just never got around to it but now I'm on love :oP Their papers are so easy to use come together so nicely.. I love how their new Thrift Shop line compliments this picture we took at Savannah last year.

These little clear bubbles are from the Tim Holtz button packaging. Aren't those cool?!?! It makes me want more buttons - but not for the actual buttons hehe

**You can find all these goodies (and much more) at ScrappyB. The patterns are beautiful and the colors breathtaking :o) If you're in the area stop by and take a peak at the new yummy October Afternoon**

I also wanted to share some pics of the doggies that Dean took today... since lately none of the layouts have been about them :o( I do love them though... they're so handsome!

I hope everyone is having an awesome week! I have to make at least one more layout tonight and I'm just not feeling it :-X Mojo please come back!

Stay sweet,
Mari

True Love

2010-04-19T21:12:00.002-04:00

Today is going to be a wordless Monday.. I know I've been slacking on the journaling department lately (both on my pages and here :oP) but I wanted to show you that I haven't been slacking on the layout making!

Here's this weeks first layout with the beautiful BoBunny - Hello Sunshine:

Hope you're having a great week! Thanks for taking a peek :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

On the Sand

2010-04-16T17:17:00.002-04:00

There are so many beautiful new lines out there and it seems like I'm never going to be able to catch up! I'm just taking a deep breath and taking it one at a time hehe... Fancy Pants came out with four absolutely lovely new lines (one of them being the line I'm using for my next class in Tampa *woot*) Anyways.. For this layout I used their Rusted Sun line. I absolutely LOOOOVE the versatility of their papers. Beautiful patterns + beautiful colors = beautiful layouts. :oP

The pictures I used for this layout are some I've been meaning to get to for a while. They're from a couple of years back when Dean and I went on our first road trip alone to Amelia Island. I should probably write the date on there somewhere lol. I got some many stories about this trip, many lessons learned. Note to self: journal more. :o)

Here's the layout:

and some detail shots, as always :oP :

I don't want to be late for Cheryl's class so I gotta go! She's teaching the cutest travel book tonight. Love her.

Stay sweet,
Mari

Easter Doggy

2010-04-13T10:57:00.006-04:00

I got one more Dear Lizzy Layout for you!! Dean and I (well mostly Dean :oP) did a quick Easter photo-shoot with the pups on Easter Sunday. Here's one of Blues Shot... Dean did all the digital work for it, and I just made the layout :oP

(note - there's no black bg on the actual layout :oP )

Short and sweet post for today.. I've been paring pictures with paper all day and can't wait to start actually working on some layouts!

Hope you're all having an awesome week!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Exciting news! - Teaching in Tampa

2010-04-13T10:51:00.008-04:00

I'm so excited to finally share this with you - I'm going to be teaching a class for Scrapendipity Retreats in Tampa on April 30th!! Thank you Brenda for having me... I'm really looking forward to it! :o) Come join us, we're going to have a great time! The class is open to everyone... Retreat croppers *and* the public! Woot!

Here's a picture of the layout I will be teaching:

The official description of the class goes something like this: This double page layout is filled with quick and yummy techniques! I'm a pop dot girl - so we will be applying tons of them while bending your paper. Your layout will instantly get a 3D moving feel. We will also use numerous flower, cutting, layering and inking techniques in combination with Fancy Pants new "About A Girl" line. This digitally inspired layout is ideal for your colorful spring or summer photos.

The classes are limited to 10 people (which is great because that means i can dedicate my time to you personally) - so we've decided to offer it at two different times. The first session will be from 3:30pm to 5:30pm followed by a 6:30 to 8:30 session.

For everyone in the Tampa area or really anyone in Central Florida willing to drive (hint hint) who would like to see me teach and have a great time, you can sign up here.

I met Brenda, owner of Scrapendipity Retreats and sponsor of Tampa Bay's Scrapbooking Guild last month during their meeting. I'm really excited to be working alongside of her and to have the opportunity to teach some wonderful Tampa Scrappers.. Classes are something that I really want to get into so I'm really psyched about this! And for you Tampa girls make sure you check out Brenda's awesome packages for cropping here.

So if you like what you see come join us! I'd love to see ya there :o)
Stay sweet,
Mari

Lets get Vintage!

2010-04-10T22:43:00.002-04:00

It's been a looooong day... but a productive one for sure! Today I wanted to share this quick layout I made using the Dear Lizzy line. Check me out and that white background! hehe - The more I play with white the more I like it. The layout is pretty simple but I think the accents is what makes it. Dean says it has a vintage feel, and I agree... I used Glossy Accents and Stickles on the flowers to pop them out, and curled the leaves to give them more dimension.

That rose ribbon is to die for... I can't wait to play with it some more :o)

Hope you're having a great weekend!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Random tags :)

2010-04-09T19:51:00.002-04:00

I got into tags.. and then right out of them :oP

I really loved making them so I decided to give them another shot today.. These came out sooo much different than my first attempt. I decided to play with the colors more this time around and stay away from the brown. And this is the result:I'm not gonna lie, I'm not *in love* with these like I am with the other ones. BUT it was fun to get out of my comfort zone, try some new things and use some of my stash :oP I mean, seriously... what's up with that old school looking beach one on the left? hehe

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm working on a couple cute projects and I can't wait to show you!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Mari's notes...

2010-04-08T19:07:00.003-04:00

Hi there! I'm so excited to be able to share something fun with you today :o)

I made this little book from scratch today and could not be more happy with it! I don't know if I've already mentioned it, but Dean and I are taking a paper making class and book binding is one of the things we went over today. Our teacher taught us how to bind pages together using wax thread (I need to practice this some more lol) - and although I'm sure she meant for us to use handmade paper for the whole project (since that's the whole purpose of the class and all) I went on a completely different direction :-X. Let's just keep that between us :oP

I hope to write all kinds of different stuff on here.. Mainly quotes that I hear or read for future projects - like some fun new tags!! I made this little guy using some craft paper, handmade paper, cardboard, canvas, watercolors, and some Prima and Basic Grey goodies :o)

I think these would make such a great little gift... It's really not as time consuming as it looks and you can totally personalize it! Little books = my new favorite thing :oP

Off to make some tags!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're having a great week!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Where have I been?!?!

2010-04-07T09:51:00.003-04:00

I know what it looks like.. You're probably thinking I've been slacking, but that's not it. I promise! I've just been trying to get a bunch of stuff sorted out.. Unfortunately not in the creative side but in the boring business side :oP I'm itching to work on some layouts and projects. So hopefully I'll have something to post soon :o)

We did manage to make 40 charms for the Inspired swap and have them shipped out all in a matter of days! (the picture above shows Dean's part in the production process :oP) I don't think I'm supposed to show the final product before Inspired. :-X

I'm also taking a bunch of classes at Scrappy Boutique this week and the next.. One with Angela and some with Cheryl! I can't wait :o) Hopefully I get to show you some of those too!

Gotta run! We're leaving for our meeting with the printer in 5 and I still gotta fix my hair... :-X

Stay sweet,
Mari

Tampa Bay Scrapbooking Guild March Meeting :o)

2010-04-02T18:42:00.006-04:00

Earlier this week Dean and I headed over to Tampa for this months Tampa Bay's Scrapbooking Guild meeting, I met Teri during the treasure hunt and heard all about the meetings and classes and events that they hold (oh! she's also going to Inspired! WOOT!) I was really excited to participate in one of the meetings and when Dean heard Nancy Nally was going to be the speaker this month he was totally on board! We met at the cutest little place called Milk n Honey Tea Room.
Check out this arch they have set up in the room.. so stinkin' cute!

Here are some of the board of directors and sponsors! Teri, Pat, Lynn, Tess, Maura and Brenda... ( I sure hope I got everyone right hehe) oh!- and the oath they made us take was hilarious! truly a scrapbookers anthem.

and here's Nancy! Her presentation was awesome.. filled with information about trends, and ge got to see how it is she became who she is today in the scrapbook industry. It was really interesting to see how the economy influenced the trends we see taking place in the industry today. Thanks Nancy for coming to Tampa and sharing your knowledge with us! Come back soon :o)

Show and tell... I was not quite ready to actually stand there and talk about my work. So that was a challenge in itself, but it was great to see everyone's work. That's one of my favorite things about meeting new scrapookers. It's so interesting to see their styles and techniques! oh! and apparently I use too many pop dots hehe

They had awesome giveaways too! I won some Zip Dry WOOOOOOT!!! My very fave (thanks to Cheryl :oP ) and Dean won som eco-friendly paint, which I can't wait to play with!

Nancy giving away a 12x12 Graphic 45 paper pad:

Nancy and I:

and last but not least... the whole gang!

It was really great meeting everyone.. and although I will not be able to make all meetings due to distance, I will try to participate in this guild as time allows.. It was definitely a great time! Thanks ladies!!!

Stay sweet,
Mari

and the winner is.....

2010-03-31T18:55:00.001-04:00

Drum roll please!!!!! The winner of a 7Gypsies 4x6 white photo tray is......

Emily B!
Congratulations Emily! You're the new proud owner of a photo tray (hehe I'm having way too much fun with this). So Emily, make sure you send me your info at artsycraftyme@gmail.com :o)

I want to thank all of you for stopping by my blog.. I hope it becomes one of the frequent stops you make on your cyberspace journey hehe. I'm definitely gonna have more of these soon. They make me happy :)

and as promised... Here's my finished photo tray :o) I can't even tell you how excited I am to have this finished. Honestly this week has been so crazy that I probably wouldn't have finished it if it wasn't for the giveaway. So let me hear a woot woot for our first drawing :o)

I'm really loving how this turned out.. I think it's mostly because it has so much meaning to me. It's gonna be great looking back at our lists years from now and seeing what we wanted or liked. Not only that, but it'll be a constant reminder of our dreams and goals...

I'm beat... we just got back from St. Augustine. I'll tell you more about that soon. Although I can say one thing I learned for sure. *must* have Dean take pictures of me from all angles before leaving the house to see how I *really* look. Gym tmw six o'clock. :-X

Thanks for playing! We'll have to do this again soon :o)
Stay sweet,
Mari

Green at Heart Part 3:

2010-03-29T20:11:00.005-04:00

Two single layouts and one double layout later I can happily tell you I will be putting my Green at Heart scraps aside for a while and move on to Kioshi WOOT!!
I didn't want to rush the journaling on this layout so I left it blank to post. Another St. Augustine layout from a different St. Augustine trip :o) This time is was our very first official road trip. Out first stop was our happy place... we got some ice cream and hung out at the fort for a while before heading to Jacksonville and then to Amelia Island. This spot has such great meaning for me... and I really love me some St. Augustine Mud Ice cream :-X

Have you left a comment to enter the 4x6 photo tray giveaway? If not do so here. I'll be picking and announcing the winner on Wednesday :o)

Stay sweet,
Mari

Green at Heart Part 2:

2010-03-25T20:51:00.002-04:00

Number two thing I love about Basic Grey is their versatility. I just never want to stop making layouts with their product lol... I even already have a two pager in the works from one of our trips to St. Augustine hehe

Here's the layout for today. I really love this picture of me and Blue and I'm really happy with this layout :o)

we didn't get home till late today. No natural light = crappy picture. :o(

Tomorrow I'll try to take some pictures of the paper we made in our class today.. It was so much fun! I can't wait to incorporate this new craft form and all the knowledge that comes with it in scrapbooking! I'll let you all in that too hehe

Hope you're having a great week!
Stay sweet,
Mari

Finally!!

2010-03-24T20:05:00.005-04:00

I've had these pictures printed out for over a week now...I would look at them and the paper that looked so great and I'd be dying to play but something always got in between me and my Basic Grey! :oP Today I said no more! Today I was a happy girl :o) Made a few layouts with this line (Green at Heart) Here's the first one:and some detail shots like always... (courtesy of Dean)

This is the thing with Basic Grey; EVERYTHING will come out looking awesome. Their papers coordinate so well that very little effort is needed (although that didn't stop me from spending more than a couple of hours on this layout :-X ) I love Basic Grey. It makes me happy...

Tomorrow Dean and I will be starting our paper class at Crealde School of Arts and then we're gonna swing by the Photoshop expo, so I doubt I'll have time to make anything new... Worry not! I'm saving Green at Heart layout number two to post tomorrow. :o)

I also have to start my photo tray soon since I have to have it ready to post with the winner of the white blank tray mid next week! If you haven't left a comment yet to have the chance to win a 7Gypsies 4x6 white photo tray for you to play with go here. I'll be announcing the winner next Wednesday!!

Stay sweet,
Mari

P.S You have no idea what troubles I went through to get this posted. The Internet on my computer was acting up and Blogger was not able to save all of my text before it started freaking out. I'm a Mac in a house full of PCs - that's just not fair. After many attempts to revive the Internet upstairs I decided to do the not-savvy but clever thing and take a snapshot with my IPhone, bring it downstairs and type it all over again (thankfully Dean offered to dictate) I'll leave you with this... in the process of trying to get this posted, and getting everything ready for tomorrows class, I managed to staple my finger. Now, how the heck did that happen? ...I have decided to stop questioning myself... :oP nighty night!

Artsy Crafty's FIRST Giveaway WOOT!!!!

2010-03-22T18:11:00.004-04:00

I'm so excited to share ArtsyCraftyMe's first giveaway! This is my way of saying thank you for stopping by and taking a look and to hoping you'll keep coming back! hehe

All you have to do is leave a comment below to get entered to win this awesome 7Gypsies photo tray!

**Contest winner will be announced Wednesday March 31st. Comments will be open until then**
If you have any questions feel free to email me at artsycraftyme@gmail.com :o)
I hope to make a lucky winner very happy! Let the games begin... hehehe

The story behind the giveaway: I've had their older version of this photo tray for a while now (the black one that has more squares) As soon as I saw this new white one I felt like I had to have it! But then I thought that wasn't really fair, I mean one empty photo tray is one thing, but two? So I decided to compromise. While this giveaway is going on, I promise to work and *finish* my black photo tray. That way I can make someone else happy also, with a blank photo tray to make their own! Here's what I have so far for my photo tray...

I'll be posting the finished project along the name of a lucky reader on March 31st :o) Can't wait!

So once again, thank you for stopping by - it really makes my day knowing that I get to share my creations with you. Good luck to all!

Stay sweet,
Mari

For the love of tags!!

2010-03-17T15:59:00.006-04:00

It's true I'm in love... Making these tags is so much fun! To be honest, they're quite liberating. They don't have to have a purpose, or a destination. I can make them just for the love of art and I'm perfectly fine with that. Now, don't ask me what I'm planning to do with or how I'm going to display them - cause honestly, I'm not really sure, and at this moment I'm not too concerned about it. I'm just happy with them the way they are and will definitely be doing more soon!!! :o) Who knows, maybe I'll make a lamp shade with them. Or I'll take Dean's advice and make curtains... or how about this fun display and instead of using pictures I'll just hang my tags..isn't that the coolest thing ever?!?!?! I *love* Umbra. It is definitely my new favorite, after making tags of course. :oP Dean and I stopped by Sam Flax earlier on the week and saw sooooo many cool frame ideas. Seriously how do people come up with this crap? Just amazing. I invite you to check out their stuff. I bet you'll be as amazed as us. :o)

Here's a compilation of the new ones I've made. If you wanna see how the whole tag craze started, check out this post.

With all this tag talk I almost forgot about Basic Grey! I printed some pictures I want to use with Green at Heart and I can't wait to play! Dean and I are helping my parents with some trade shows until Sunday so I'm not sure when I'll get to it. Hopefully sooon!!! I'm really psyched about this paper :o)

Hope you're having a great week, thanks for visiting!
Stay sweet,
Mari

The true adventurer

2010-03-15T22:24:00.007-04:00

Dear Lizzy! WOOOOOOOT! I really wanted to post this page today, but this time change is killing me so a quick post and run its gonna have to suffice :oP Playing with the Dear Lizzy line was so much fun! So many things to cut, pop out and play with - def. my kind of paper :o)

Here's my layout:
(I must say Indy is getting a lot of attention in my scrappin lately... Some Blue pages will be coming soon :o) sometimes I'm just glad they have no idea whats going on hehe)

check out that little hammock I made with a piece of burlap hehe:

and of course - a shot of Indy in the car with his latest layout:

That's all I got for today.. I'm beat. A quick prediction before I leave you - I can see some Basic Grey in the near future... YUM

Stay sweet,
Mari

Quick post today..

2010-03-12T20:06:00.003-05:00

My internet has been wigging out all day, so I want to post and run before it goes down again :o)
I made this layout earlier on the week with some Crate Paper I picked up on our bus trip. I *heart* Crate Paper. Thought these pictures of Dean and Indy being silly in the office worked great with it :o)

now that I look at it - a title would be awesome sideways on the white! hmmm.... must think of cute title :oP

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend :)
Stay sweet,
Mari

Cuddle buddies

2010-03-11T16:44:00.002-05:00

I was coming down the stairs one day and I caught them sleeping like this... So I quietly ran back up to get the camera so I could capture it. They're too good though, I guess Indy heard me and moved. I could have positioned them back to what I had seen before just so I could take the picture, but I refused - its just not the same knowing that you posed a photo... To my surprise a few minutes later they were back like this! This time I made sure I snapped the photo quickly and quietly :o)

I made this layout using Nikki Sivil's new line Willow Bee. You can see her entire collection here. Ah, I *heart* clouds... they make me happy :o)

We watched Hachi today and I cried like a baby... something about Dog movies really get to me. Let me just say I'm a sucker for unconditional love and loyalty and there nothing like the one a dog can offer you. Like Blue is with Dean. It's just beyond words, an unbreakable bond.

Stay sweet,
Mari

He Loves Me.

2010-03-10T18:53:00.004-05:00

I got a new layout for you today with some yummy Little Yellow Bicycle! At first I wasn't too crazy about the paper because they are not really my colors, you know? But then it was one of those times when you just get this idea and you *must* do it. Once I knew exactly what I wanted to do, there was no stopping me. I can't even tell you how pleased I am with it way it came out. It even made me wonder if it was too vain to love something you made so much... I love the picture, I love the meaning that it has for me, I love the composition of the layout and I even love the colors! :oP It's healthy though, to an extent, to love something you made this much. It's an extension of yourself, right? So be proud of what you make, and don't be afraid to show it!

and some detail shots :o) :

these are white Prima flowers... I needed them to stand off the page more so I outlined them with some pink smooch. The little flower is the center of the big one. Oh! and the yellow crocheted flower is part of the Dear Lizzy collection! (which is on my list to play with sometime soon, hopefully)

Hope you like it too and maybe even sparks a little something in that creative mind of yours for a future project :o) Thanks for looking.

Stay sweet,
Mari

So in love with this... so liberating!

2010-03-07T20:36:00.005-05:00

I can't even tell you how excited I am right now. I've known that Tim Holtz is awesome for a while now and I've been obsessed with his ideo-logy products since forever and I've even gotten to play with alcohol inks once or twice, but this excited? - never. Not till yesterday ,that is, when I finally sat down and opened his new book and discovered a new world of possibilities.

So I will leave you with a bunch of pictures.. just different shots of the 4 mini-projects below. Wish I could stay and chat but we embarked earlier on a mini office remodel journey which we will like to finish tonight :o)

and here's the book that has changed my life:

What I love most about all of these and the many more that will come in the near future is that you can really do ANYTHING and there are no mistakes, EVER. Everything you do can be built to be something beautiful and 100% YOU. So far I've incorporated 6 of the many techniques covered in his book. I can't wait to keep going and see where it takes me - Let the journey of discovering my true self begin! (Once we finish the mini remodel journey that is! :oP )

Stay sweet,

Mari

Indino the gardener...

2010-03-07T19:40:00.006-05:00

Cosmo Cricket WOOT!!!!! So excited to finally be able to play with it. As soon as I saw their Garden Variety collection I thought of Indino. Dean calls him the gardener since he loves to dig holes in the dirt, take out dead plants, roll around in the grass and just admire natures beauty... If we would let him he would stay outside all day, just pondering. I love him.

and some detail shots, of course:

Here's the layout with the guest of honor:

and here I'm sure he's thinking "WOW all that just for me? They must really love me... So pretty :) Now, can I have some treats, pretty please?"

We celebrated Indy's first Birthday tonight. His official birthday was last Sunday but I didn't get home till late from the bus trip so we had to postpone it. We had pupperoni filled balloons and treat filled pinatas and squeaky toys :) I think we did pretty good.. Both him and Blue seemed happy.

So excited to share some mini-projects I made using Tim Holtz A Compendium of Curiosities book.. Come back tmw to take a looksie!

Stay sweet,
Mari

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-03-05T16:04:00.004-05:00

No... I wish hehe but I did make a layout of some pictures we took from my last birthday. I used some of the new My Minds Eye Quite Contrary paper and embellies. I'm so in love with these colors.

Here, take a looksie :o)

and a few (or a little more than a few) detail shots:

I'm feeling lot better (less overwhelmed) about all the new goodies I have now to play with... Next, I'm gonna play with some pics of Indy being the gardener that he is with Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety Collection. Can't wait!

Have a great weekend!!!!
Stay sweet,
Mari

2010-03-04T20:02:00.003-05:00

I don't know what's up with me this week.. I haven't been able to sit still and work on one of the many things I have to play with. Who gets me? Before I was stumped because I had run out of product that inspired me and now I'm just plain overwhelmed. I'll have some really cool projects to post tmw and maybe I'll even share some pics from our bus trip this past weekend. So many things I haven't shared yet... so many new product I can't wait to show you! Oh! I even took a sewing class this week and I finally learned how to properly use my machine. Manuals are not for me, apparently... We made a pillow case and I picked the same fabric that Eileen used to make me my most beautiful blankie that folds into a pillow! Next, I'm making PJ pants to match (And I'll get to wear them on our 10hr drive to Inspired - but lets keep that a secret :oP )

You know, I can't really post without a picture.... BRB, off to take a picture of a quick layout I made today with some older product and a picture of my pillow!

Dean found this picture while browsing though iPhoto and I just had to scrap it right away! I had forgotten I had taken it and it just brought me back to that trip and Blue's first beach experience. I had so much fun making this page. It was stress free and relaxing like they all should be! From now on I will try my best to just let go :o)

AND here's my pillowcase!!! (sans the pillow)

and a close up of the patterns:

If I were to do it again, now that I know what it takes and the procedure I would need to follow. I would most likely add a burgundy trim between patterns to make a bigger contrast... I love it though, wish I had an excuse to make more, anyone need some pillows?

**sorry about the crappy pictures... there's only so much editing I can do to make them more accurate. Natural light is your friend**

Come back tmw! I hope to have something done with some new product...
Stay sweet,
Mari

In a jewelry making mood :)

2010-02-26T08:35:00.003-05:00

I was in a jewelry kinda mood last night... I've been neglecting jewelry making for months!!! I guess I was just having too much fun scrappin :oP So before I'm off to work the crop and then off to my weekend trip (WOOT! I'm so excited! I"m going to try to post something while I'm away - but if I don't, I might be having too much fun :oP Still bummed Wy is not coming with us.... we will miss you Wy!!!!!)

I made these simple earrings... I think they are very cute and would work great with a little black dress :o)

and I also made this very crafty and trendy necklace to wear on Sunday with a cute black shirt:

I guess you can say this is a Tim Holtz inspired piece, I used his chain and one of his keyholes as the base of this piece and then dressed it up with some beads, a ribbon made flower (like the ones I made for the tote and some very fun new rose ribbon I got from ScrappyB... I must admit, the ribbon is kinda itchy, but it's cute enough to make me have to wear it hehe

I'd love you're opinion on these. I'm not very good or experienced in jewelry making but it doesn't stop me from having some fun with some colorful beads and mix in some scrapbook supplies :oP

Have a great weekend!
Stay sweet,
Mari

7 Gypsies Rollie-thingy

2010-02-25T16:22:00.004-05:00

Because apparently that's the only way I can ever remember to call it! As soon as I saw the new MME collection I knew I wanted to use it for this project. I mean, "Life is good" as a die-cut that I can just clip up like the rest of my pictures its just perfect! So I picked up a few sheets and some embellies that I could use with the thousand pictures I wanted to fit here. I wanted it to be a random collection of good times, of the dogs, Dean and I - just shots that make me happy :o) In order to be able to fit them all I had to print most of them in a smaller scale and then do some combining to make them all fit, I'll show you on some detail shots below.

On the right I used 7gypsies cute dangly clear charms with some rub-ons. I was so surprised to see how easy and nice the rub-ons came out :o)

On the left I fit two pictures by using 2 jump rings to attach them. I wanted to give them more of a flowy feeling than adhering it to cardstock and it turned out to be great!

and I just wanted to add these two very cool shots cuz Dean did such a great job taking pictures of our newly finished rollie-thingy today!

Oh! I also got to make some jewelry tonight!!! I'll post some pictures tomorrow. but let me at least give you a hint :oP I made a necklace that matches my new tote! *very excited*

Stay sweet,
Mari

artsy.crafty.me

Very exciting news!!

My Lil Grad

Nutella Day :-O

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Love 'em

*be you*

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Pink Paislee Sweetnes...

hello.

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Do...

This darn check....

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At the beach in December

Sometimes..

Santa Baby..

It's true...

Can't believe I forgot...

My one little word..

Upcoming classes at ScrappyB!

Told ya times 2 :oP

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Told ya..

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98% nice

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...thankful

Life...

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So very handsome

oh Basic Grey...

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TWIGS AND WOOD :o)

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Call me Sugar

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be you