I can’t bear to throw away any paper, even the smallest scraps. I have a large flat basket that sits right under my desk and once paper is cut all the extras go straight into the basket.  I am proud to say I reach for my basket often. I make frequent use of my scraps by making lots of cards. I tend to be a slow scrapbooker and I really enjoy making cards because they give me a sense of completion. Today I dug into my basket pulling out many of my favorite patterns and made two cards. 

(Supply List: Bazzill cardstock, October Afternoon Cardstock and stamp, Ink VersaFine, Ribbon from SEI, Rubon from Scenic Route and JoAnn’s Eyelet)

(Supply List: Bazzill cardstock, October Afternoon patterned paper and die cut, American Crafts Stickers, Rhinestones from Kaiser Craft, pop dots)

So what are you waiting for go get your scraps and put them to good use on your next layout, card or mini album. I hope you have a fabulous wonderful Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed that my MMM prize package arrives today I can't wait to dive into all the goodies.

          Cheers,

I was so excited when I saw a big truck pulling up my drive way and then Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!! Did I say Wow!! I cannot believe all the wonderful goodies that were in the big box! Thank you so much to Memory Makers and all the sponsors, not only for the fantastic prizes, but for the wonderful special touches and the presentation of the prizes. This one by Prism was one of my favorites!

This morning a truck pulled up to deliver my great BIG box of MMM prizes - the hubby had to help the guy bring it in it was so heavy (150lbs!)  I nearly tackled them on the way in LOL!  I about passed out when I opened it and saw this:

My excitement only grew as I started unloading all of the wonderful goodies.  The pictures don't do these awesome prizes any justice, there is just SO much. 

A huge, huge, HUGE Thank You to Memory Makers and all of the incredible and generous sponsors:

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, ANW Crestwood, Core'dinations, Die Cuts With A View, Dove of the East, Helmar, K & Company, Karen Foster Design, Me & My Big Ideas, Miss Elizabeth's, Pioneer Photo Albums, PreserveIt Frames, Prism Paper, Ranger, Tamron, Therm O Web (Mambi), Three Bugs In A Rug, We R Memory Keepers

Happy Monday everyone! I cannot believe it is the beginning of September already, which means it is getting closer to October when Greg and I go to the Outer Banks for our 10 year anniversary! The Outer Banks is a very special place to us, it is where we spent our honeymoon and we took the boys there two years ago. This layout is from that last trip, just a special moment I captured of Greg and Nate taking a walk collecting seashells. Most of the product on this page is older and I point this out for a reason. Most of us have a certain paper or embellishment that we have been hoarding (for me it was the Foof-a-la patterned paper, bought whenever I saw it on clearance) and I challenge you to get it out and USE IT! Plus once you use up some of your old favorites you can reward yourself with some new favorites ;) I created the swirls with an everywhere hole punch you usually use for setting eyelets and then backed the whole layout with a piece of blue cardstock. Have a great week, Christine :)

Hi. Anabelle here. :) If you haven't yet noticed I love incorporating texture and dimension on my pages! With all of the fun products out there these days, there's lots of ways to do that. One of my tried and true techniques is to handstitch on my work. It takes a little extra time, but it's definitely worth it. I created this page today and used several different stitches on the borders. (This layout is about our little hamster Egg. We got him when my son was 2 and he named him after his favorite food. Anyway, Egg went to the great beyond in July.)

If you look closely, you can see how I incorporated several stitch types on the borders. In this shot, I used oversewing to stitch the border of the vertical stripe on the left.

Here is the stitching I did on the tag. I used a backstitch for this one.

And finally, I used a running stitch around the border of the page itself.

If you google 'sewing stitches' you will find lots of sites with visuals on how to do each of the stitches. Seeing step by step pictures really helped me learn how to do them.

I have a couple of pieces of advice if you decide to do some stitching. First, use a needle and make the holes first. I do this by laying my page on a mouse pad and piercing it that way. Next, stitch each layer before you adhere it to the next one. That way you don't have to pierce through too many papers.

So, grab some embroidery floss and a needle. Stitched layouts are only a few moments away!

Thanks for stopping by ~Anabelle