My guest designer toot...

I'm sooo excited to finally be able to tell you guys that I am October's Guest Designer for Jenni Bowlin Studios! I am a huuuuge fan of JBS, and I'm thrilled and honored that I got to work with her kits this month. This is one of the projects I completed, and more will be revealed when the gallery goes live on the 30th.
You can read more on the JBS blog here.

Thanks for letting me share, everyone! I've been so excited about this, and I had an absolute blast creating with the kits! They're goooorgeous!

Hope everyone's week is starting off great!

p.s. Tammy, please contact me by Wednesday so I can get you into Doris' class! I have no contact info for you. Thanks!

And the grammy goes to...

True Random Number Generator Result: 23

tammy said...

I just found you! Adorable little cuties you've got there! Would love a free pass to Doris' class! Love her style! Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations Tammy! Please e-mail me at stacimtaylor@gmail.com, and I will forward your info on to Doris. Enjoy her class!!

I have a Fancy Pants layout to share using the Rough and Tough line. I don't think there are enough cute boy lines out there, so I was thrilled when this line debuted at CHA this summer. It's perfect! I just got a big 'ole box of more Fancy Pants in the mail the other day, so I can't wait to get to work with my new goodies.

Speaking of getting to work, I made SIX projects this week for my guest design spot! Hubby happened to be out of town this week on business (he comes home in a couple of hours, yay!!), so I had lots of post kids' bedtime scrapping time! I think six projects in one week is definitely a record for me! I can not wait to share them with you guys and to let the cat out of the bag where i'm guest designing. Did I mention how excited I am about it? ;-)

So, my little man turns 5 next Friday, I can't believe it! His birthday party is on Sunday, so he's super excited! We're having a magic/carnival party... you know i'll be back with pics to share!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Did someone say giveaway?

Yes, I know i've been a little giveaway crazy lately, but I can't take all the credit. Actually, I can't take any of the credit, lol. The last giveaway was a class courtesy of the lovely Sherry Steveson, and this giveaway is a class courtesy of the fabulous Doris Sander!

Doris is at it again, teaching another one of her awesome classes! Doris is one of my all-time favorite scrappers, and it's because she definitely has that "wow" factor. Her new class, Product Pizazz 201 teaches you how to add that wow factor to your own layouts. This is the class description: Are you ready to add the “wow” factor to your layouts? Surprisingly, it’s the smallest details that can have the biggest impact on your designs. In Product Pizzazz 201 we’ll be polishing our layouts, taking them from fine to fabulous. You'll get your scrapbooking to the next level by using tiny embellishments, basic tools, and simple techniques.

There will be 8 lessons posted on Mondays and Thursdays over 4 weeks, starting September 28th. Here are some sneaks to get you excited, and you can click on the link above to learn more:
Leave me a comment on this post, and i'll pick a winner on Friday.

We had a lovely weekend full of lots of sunshine. I'm so loving this fall-like weather! Here are some pics of my cuties:




I am off to go get creative! :-) Hope that everyone's week is starting off great!

Oldies but goodies...

We had a thread going at AMM the other day in which we were posting our 3 favorite layouts. Since I have no new layouts to share today (or that I can share yet, I should say ;-), I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane. I'm not sure that these are my 3 all-time favs, but they're definitely 3 of my *older* favs. The first two layouts were done a year and a half to two years ago, and the last layout was done about 15 months ago.

By the way, since the journaling is such an integral part of the above layout, I'll share it here: On October 2nd, 2004, I couldn't help thinking that, on this day, everything had gone wrong. It started by daddy and I being sent home from the hospital the first time we went. As a result, by the time we went back, I had progressed much further then I would have liked without an epidural (I was 7cm dilated before I got one). My labor with you went on and on and on for a total of 25 hours. I pushed for 3 of those hours with nothing to show for it. When I was told that I was going to need a C-Section, I sobbed. I sobbed because I was living my worst case scenario - a long labor, hours of pushing and still ending up with a C-Section. I sobbed because I was disappointed and felt let down by my body. I wanted to have you the way I was meant to - not in an operating room. I sobbed because I was scared to death. Yet, in one moment's time, "the day that everything had gone wrong" became one of the best days of my life. You were here. You were healthy. And I was head over heels in love.

I always feel like I don't really have a scrapping style - i've never been able to define it when people ask (can anyone help me out here? ;-). It's interesting to me, though, that although these layouts were done a long time ago, I feel like the style of the layouts (whatever that may be, lol) is still what I do today.

So it's Friday - whoo hoo! We're spending the evening with my parents and bro/family, which is always fun. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend filled with lots of good times :-)

My sunshine...

Yes, she is...

Journaling reads: Your infectious smile brightens even the darkest of my days. I love you! Love, mommy

Everything is Fancy Pants (On a Whimsy line) except for the bling on the sun, and I covered the chip letters with some funky stuff (was it called Magic Scraps?) I borrowed from Heather at the crop (thanks, Heather! :-) This is one of my favorite FP lines - love how fun and whimsical it is... perfect for little girl pages!

Yesterday was a good scrappy news day for me - I got two layouts requested for the Feb. Scrapbook Trends, and it's the first time they've ever requested more then one at a time for me. It's amazing how e-mails can make your day, lol.

Yesterday was Noah's first day of his last year of preschool (that was a mouthful, huh?). I'm so bummed that I had to work, as Mondays are one of my work days. Tony took the day off so that he could take him, though, and he even got some pictures for me (I trained him well, lol). I'll post some next time :-)

Off to get ready for a board meeting at Noah's school... Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Exciting news and winner of giveaway!

Before I go into my exciting news and also let you know who won the giveaway, I wanted to share what we've been up to over the last few days:

Chloe got her second haircut ever (her first was when she was 10 months old and we got bangs cut) - this is moments before:
During:
And after - hard to tell, especially since she's leaning forward, but she got about 3 inches taken off, and most importantly, it's finally even, lol!
Goofing off:


Now, onto my exciting news. My first piece of exciting news is that I am going to be joining the Design Team for A Million Memories! I am SOOO excited about this! AMM was my first scrappy "home", and not only are there amazing girls who hang out there and design there, but I truly adore the owner, Michelle. It's also super exciting for me because so many of my CMK friends have migrated over there over the last few weeks, and now I feel like I have many of my online scrappy friends together in one place. Thanks, Michelle, for adding me to your amazing DT family!!

My second piece of exciting news is news that I can't actually share yet, lol. But, I was asked to guest design next month for a company that I reaaaally love, and i'm super duper excited about it (anyone keeping count of how many times I use the word exciting or a variation of it? lol). So, I guess that one shall remain unshared exciting news for a while longer ;-)

I spent the day at a crop today scrapping with my friends Lisa and Heather and had a blast. Will be back soon with one of my layouts to share. Since scrapping all day long is really hard work ;-), I'm signing off now, but not before I congratulate this person on winning a spot in Sherry Steveson's awesome class:

True Random Number Generator
Result: 18

Tara Powell said...

Fun!
Thanks for offering this Staci & Sherry!

Whoo hoo!! Big congrats, Tara!! Please e-mail Sherry at ssteveson@ec.rr.com, and she will get you a pass into her class.

Well, my friends, I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend!!

Another giveaway...

Hey all! So, I have another giveaway this morning that I think is very exciting! You all have heard me talk about my friend Sherry Steveson, and Sherry will be teaching an online class starting on Sept. 16th. The class is based on her "When life gives you lemons" book, and is about "making sweet pages from sour photos." It's a six week course that runs from Sept 16th-Oct 24th. Leave me a comment in this thread, and I will enter you in the drawing to win a pass to the class (value of $25) courtesy of Sherry. You can check out the details of her class here.

Good luck everyone! I'll pick a random winner over the weekend :-)

Do you remember your first concert?

I remember my first concert. How could I not? It was Madonna's "Who's that girl" tour in 1987. I was 12. A woman who worked for my dad (who was in her 20's) took me. I got all glammed up with my mini skirt and rubber bracelets and teased hair. It was a total total blast!! I so wish my parents had been into photography so I could have had some photos of that! My second concert was INXS about a year later - I actually won tickets to that on the radio (one of the only things i've ever won, lol)!

Anyway, i'm thinking a children's performer doesn't exactly count the same for "first concert" status, but boy did Noah have a blast when we took him to see Ralph's World two years ago! It was in a small venue in Annapolis, and we had fabulous seats (it was first come, first serve). He put on an awesome show and totally made the kids feel special. Good times! Everything on this layout is Fancy Pants except for the bling. I kept it on it's backing and cut out around it, so that I could let it hang off the page. (Don't forget you can click on the photos for a larger view)



So, when it comes to number of photos on a layout, how many do you scrappers prefer? I have noticed that i'm very varied when it comes to number of photos. I have plenty of layouts with just 1 photo, and plenty with a lot like this one. I guess there is no rhyme or reason to my scrapping, lol!

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a wonderful long weekend! I had a wedding shower for one of my good friends yesterday, and then my mom and I went shopping for a dress for the wedding. It was nice to get in some girly time with my mama! We've also had lots of downtime this weekend which is nice. The kids and I are off to run some errands, so I hope everyone has a great day!!

Book Reviews

I was lucky enough to get my hands on two wonderful scrappy books recently, both by my sweet friend Sherry Steveson. I thought i'd do a little book review for you guys today in case you're looking to add some new books to your collection.

The first one, When Life Gives You Lemons, has such a great topic that it makes me want to slap myself for not thinking of it first ;-) Although photography is a passion of mine, I am by no means a fabulous photographer. I definitely have my share of "lemon" photos. Sherry's book encourages you not to pass over those poor quality photos, but to include them on your layouts by finding unique ways to play up their strengths and downplay their faults. Her book gives you ideas and techniques to overcome common photo blunders. This book seriously liberated my way of thinking, as there have been many times i've passed over a photo even though I really wanted to scrap the story behind it. I thought the book had so many wonderful ideas for including poor quality photos that I would have never thought of without Sherry's help!

Sherry's second book, The Scrapbook Embellishment Handbook, is a thorough reference book to help you use your embellishments in creative ways. I love that Sherry gives examples for using not only "newer," more trendy embellishments (such as chipboard and acrylic), but she also shows ways to make "older" embellishments (such as eyelets and fibers) new again. The book covers acrylic, brads, buttons, chipboard, die-cuts, digital, eyelets, fabric, fibers, flowers, letters + numbers, metal, ribbon, rub-ons, stamps, stickers and tags. One of my favorite parts of the book is the gallery at the end which shows a "basic" layout and then gives two examples of how to "step it up a notch" and use embellishments to add to the overall visual interest of the layout. Sherry's book is a handy reference that I know I will pull out again and again!

Soooo, it's Friday, whoo! And it's a holiday weekend - even better! :-) We don't have too much going on this weekend, actually, so I hope to get in some R & R! Anyone have any good Labor Day plans? Hope you all have a great one!

Getting my scrap on...

Yay, last night I got to get my scrap on! :-) After all the clearing out i've done this week, I was finding papers and products that i'd forgotten about, so it was fun to just pull out a bunch of stuff and mix it all together (one of my favorite things to do, lol!). I finally scrapped these photos of Chloe that I printed out ages ago of her trying solids for the first time as a baby. It's hard to tell in the photos, but I used the circle as a mask and sprayed glimmer mist over it, and then I used foam adhesive to raise the circle up over the masked area to give some dimension to the layout.
Paper is Pink Paislee, Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon, MM; diecut circle is Collage Press; transparency is Hambly; letters are MM; file folder is Teresa Collins; pearls are Kaiser and food stickers are 7 Gypsies.

I'm going to a crop in less then two weeks with next-door Lisa and down-the-street Heather - I can't wait! I feel like it's been awhile since i've been able to sit down and create for multiple hours at a time! :-)

Last but not least, i've got a couple of pictures of my ballerina before starting her first dance class of the season this morning:
and my stormtrooper who felt like dressing up for a bit before we left:

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Hope your week is treating you well so far!