One thing I forgot ...

MASQUPEN - I heard about this on a blog and was definitely wanting to check it out. Happily, I found their booth. A small one tucked away. I imagine it was not visited by a lot of people, but as word gets out about this neat product, I think they could become a scrapper's-household name.

So a little history about it first. It's been around for many years. It's original purpose was to allow water colorists to keep desired portions of their paper white while painting over it. Basically you paint it on (it has a fine tip brush) to your surface (good on any surface). Then ink, paint, sand blast, etch, etc. over it. When done and your project is dry, simply rub the masquepen off with your finger and voila! Whatever was under the masquepen is left untouched.

Here Irene Tan makes a distressed background using it. Here she uses it to ink in layers. Here she masks using it.

One of the cool samples we saw in the booth was of a hollowed out egg decorated using Tim Holtz alcohol inks. The artist painted the masquepen in swirly designs, let it dry, inked the egg, let it dry, then rubbed the masquepen off leaving a beautiful design.

I am thinking I will try this technique on acrylic or acetate and apply it to my scrapbooking projects. You can also use it to mask off certain areas and ink over it with distress ink. Or what about painting over it. Seriously the product can withstand anything it sounds like.

I am so glad I stopped by this booth. It appears to be a difficult product to locate but their website has a link to retailers. I was hoping my local Michael's carried it in their painting section, but no luck. :( I should write them a letter.

More CHA Likes

Jenni Bowlin - I have heard a lot about her through various blogs I read. Never really sought her out until CHA. She's got cute stuff.

And who doesn't love Basic Grey! Every year they are on it! My fav was Marrakech but all of them were lovely. Porcelain, Wisteria, Lime Rickey = great! And they had great bling stuff too. Rub ons, stickers ... so sparkly.

And Prima! What can I say? I love them!!!! Their wildwood flowers are heavenly! They have some great transparencies, stitched papers and other way cool flowers too.

Little Yellow Bicycle didn't disappoint. They have an awesome line called Zinnia. And another neat travel line as well as baby girl and boy lines. I can't get enough of the baby lines. How cute is this project?

My Litte Shoebox looks super cute. Their booth was too crowded so I couldn't get in to take pictures. But the color combos caught my eye from far away.

Looking for a new way to use those Martha Stewart border punches? Look for this technique on some of my pages, not to mention gifts!

Bella Blvd is a small company with cute lines. Let's hope they can survive to become a big company. I really liked them. This line is called Family Tree. I guess it's been out a little while but it was new to me and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Anna Griffin's "Sierra" line really has me drooling. I love that it is on craft paper. Do you know that for the longest time I had no idea what the heck craft paper was? Well in case you are like me, it's the brown paper. So this line is patterned paper printed on brown as opposed to a white core paper.

I think that sums up my favorites. Now off to look at others' blogs for stuff I may have missed. So sad CHA is over. But now the fun comes from watching what SGT stocks so I can play with new stuff. Yea!!!!

CHA - What I liked ...

Heidi Swapp "Invisibles" paper that have lovely patterns on them that resist ink leaving their design behind them when you're done.

Her masks! OK, I have heard about these before but she demo'd them for us herself and I am in love. A technique I definitely will be using in the near future! Here she is doing a demo with both products.

GlitzDesign had an awesome distressing roller stamp that I can't wait to get my hands on. Read more about them here.

QK has some awesome 3D dies coming out. Go here to see more.

I really liked the entire Sassafras booth. Are they Sassafras Lass still? I don't have good pics of their lines but they are cute. You can see them here.

Really loved PinkPaislee. I have heard so much about them and took time to check them out. Here is their new releases. Nothing I don't like.

Now I need to go get ready for work so will have to post more later. Wish I had more of my own pictures but my came out too dark on some. Grumble. You'd think after 5 years of owning my camera, I would have it figured out!

Proof I have been scrapping

A layout about Hannah and her new bike.





A Christmas layout for Crystal's* son, Aiden.




A Christmas layout for Crystal's* daughter, Rylee.


* Crystal is a cousin of a friend of mine who has been diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. She is only 34 and has two young children. One of her requests, in addition to prayers, is scrapbooking pages so that she can record memories for her kids. For more infor on her, visit here.

CHA - We came, we saw ...

... and we did it all in one day. I had a good time. The talent that is in the Anaheim Convention Center during CHA is amazing. It's always fun to see how they use the product. These are just two pictures of some creative ways in which ladies used the new Basic Grey lines.

A wooden doll covered in paper. Yup, that's all paper that makes her dress.

A tree covered in Basic Grey buttons.

As I go through more of my pictures, I will try to post some of what I liked. There's some good stuff out there. The trend that Susan and I noticed making a comeback is distressing. Rough paper edges, torn paper, etc.

First post of 2009 - Help a friend of mine.

OK so a friend of mine, te talented Miss Jennifer Priest, entered a scrapbooking contest for QuiKutz and is one of 10 finalists. She's currently in 2nd place and needs several votes in her favor to catch the leader. I would not post this on my blog if I didn't truly think her project is the best of the 10. So, if you're in a giving mood and feel like spending a few minutes, click the link below and vote. You will have to sign in (they ask for the standard name and email). It's safe to do so. Then you can just unsubscribe if they send you any emails. QuicKutz is a cool company on the other hand if you're into scrapbooking. Perhaps you may enjoy their emails.

http://www.quickutz.com/qk2/myqk/memberProject.aspx?projectId=3146

Hope you're all feelin fine in 2009. Hah! Dorky, I know. Perhaps in the coming days, I will be able to post some pics of the family as well as projects I have been working on.

A Couple of Christmas Pics!

Picture with Santa. This was harder to get than I needed it to be, but it turned out great!

Christmas morning with their stockings.

Makaela checking out all that Santa brought.

Hannah opening what seems like her millionth gift!

Makaela enjoying her presents the next day.

Snow in the Tehachapi mountains. We lied to get up past the road closure team and had the sledding hills ALL to ourselves. Go 4 wheel drive!

On the road up.

Hannah and Joel hiking up the hill. She kept wanting go higher.

Mommy and her special big girl. We thought it too cold to bring Makaela.

Hannah going off the jump. She figured out her pants made a good sledding surface.

Me going off the jump. A little more air than Hannah.

And Joel going off the same jump. Whoa! is all I can say. He was hurting after this one.

Kids!

This made me laugh so I had to share. I asked Hannah to run up the stairs and put something in my bathroom for me and she turned and looked at me and said, "Mommy, I can't run up the stairs cuz I don't have long legs." I forget how literally kids take things at this age. :)

don't give up on me yet!

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! I hate that about other blogs and hope you can forgive me. I am posting this one from my phone since we are still without Internet in this new house. Yes, we are moved in as of 2 weeks ago though still very much living out of boxes. It has been crazy. We hosted our annual Christmas party for our college friends (over 40 people) on the 20th. So I had to get the house in somewhat of a habitable space so everyone could be comfortable not to mention well fed. Don't worry, we do potluck for this shindig. But then it was Christmas #1 at my dad's on the 24th. Then #2 here at the house with the girls on Christmas morning. #3 at my mom's mom's house in the afternoon, #4 at my dad's mom's that night, and then #5 up at Joel's parent's this whole past weekend. I feel like I have been in a large state of chaos for the past 2 months what with moving out of old house into my dad's and then into our new house from there. Fortunately the hurdles of moving and holidays are behind me and I can attempt to focus on unpacking. I wish I could say I have pictures of various Scrapbooking projects/ gifts to post but none are complete. Not even my Christmas cards. They're still a work in progress. But darn it all, I WILL be sending them out, even if they are a week or two late!!!

Joel, Hannah and I had a great time today in the snow up in Tehachapi (where the inlaws live). Here in So. CA, we don't get much snow so I am in awe when I get to experience it firsthand. Hopefully my phone and Blogger will let me upload a pic from my phone so you can get a small sense of what I saw. It was beautiful!!! I promise to post more pics from the digital camera soon. I just need Internet (ahem ... Joel?).

Hopefully I can post again soon, but if not everyone please have a Happy New Year!!!

So Thankful ...

... for so many things.


For God.


For a beautiful and loving ...

For daughters Hannah, Makaela and the best husband, Joel.

For wonderful friends.

For health.

For food on the table.

For a job.

For the ability to buy a new home.

For a roof over our head when in between homes (thanks Dad).

For the chance to wake up each day and decide to become a better person.

For my dog, Buddy.

For lessons learned.

For lessons to be learned.

For perspective.

For laughter.

For tears.

For emotions.

For choice.

For freedom.

For a military who serves to protect that freedom.

For creative talent that directs me to the theraputic hobby of scrapbooking.

For you who take a small interest in my life by reading this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving. May you be as blessed as I am and may you have the power to recognize your blessings.

That "FAMILY" project was designed by Cindy Farbach. I LOVE it. It was a class she taught a couple of weeks ago at SGT. I can't stop staring at it. The colors are so me and I just know it will bring me great inspiration.