Painted by Hue - Kioshi LO #1 :o)

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!

Painted by Hue - Kioshi LO #1 :o)

TWIGS AND WOOD :o)

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

TWIGS AND WOOD :o)

How about Love...

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

How about Love...

Beautiful Bloggers

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:

1. I'm an early bird and most def. a morning person
2. 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
3. My doggies and my honey are my life. Being together is definitely more than enough. They make my day
4. Pattern paper makes me happy. I could do without all the embellies. Just give me paper and I'm a happy girl :o)
5. 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
6. 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
7. I love to travel and trying new things in new places
8. I'm an only child.
9. 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...
   
10. 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:

1. Jen
2. Jennifer
3. Stacey
4. Britt
5. Camilla
6. Lisa
7. Stacey
8. Jenn
9. Michelle
10. Sue

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

Beautiful Bloggers

Call me Sugar

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

Call me Sugar

True Love

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

True Love

On the Sand

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

On the Sand

Easter Doggy

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

Easter Doggy

Exciting news! - Teaching in Tampa

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

Exciting news! - Teaching in Tampa

Lets get Vintage!

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

Lets get Vintage!

Random tags :)

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

Random tags :)

Mari's notes...

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

Mari's notes...

Where have I been?!?!

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

Where have I been?!?!

Tampa Bay Scrapbooking Guild March Meeting :o)

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

Tampa Bay Scrapbooking Guild March Meeting :o)