December Kits- Getting Ready for Christmas

The My Creative Scrapbook kits are up! If you have a pile of Christmas pictures to scrap, you are going to want ALL of these kits!! They are full of Christmas beauty and fun! Don't have a lot of Christmas pictures to scrap, no worries... the team has shown some wonderful pages that don't feature Christmas pictures to stretch your kits.








The Limited Edition Kit features Webster's Pages, Winter Wings. This one is GORGEOUS!!!

Fabulous New Kits!!!

Wow!! The November Kits at My Creative Scrapbook are over the top this month! It's one of those months that I can't even decide which one that I like better!

The Main Kit features Teresa Collins. I am always drawn to her papers and embellishments. Such beautiful papers! Pam has given you so many sparkles to work with, too! A perfect fit with TC papers!

This month, I did one of 'those' pages. You know the pages that I'm talking about. The pages the touch you, hurt you, heal you or remind you and hopefully help you. This month, I did one of those pages. When I saw the quote on one of the papers, I knew exactly which picture I was going to use. This one made me cry while I was making it, but I'm so glad that I did it. It's not my most intricate page but it is one that touches me.

This is my daughter Jade and one of her best friends from high school. Jade and Jacob shared their first date. The didn't date long, but became great friends. They had each other's backs and were always there for each other. When senior prom came along, they went together because they knew that it would be a blast to go with your best friend. Jacob and his twin sister died in a car accident last summer. It was a heartbreaking time for our daughter and also for our family and the community. He and Nicole will always be missed. I haven't scrapped a picture of Jade and Jacob together since right after he died. I made Jade a shadow box with a picture of him, but I tend to pass right over their pictures because it hurts to know that he isn't going to be around any more.

I also did another 2 pages that celebrate friendship with this kit. This kit just screams for pictures of friends!





For all of you Prima lovers, the Limited Edition kit is perfect for you! Pam has loaded this one down with Prima goodies!









Thanks for dropping by!

New Kits at My Creative Scrapbook and a Zva Call!

Be sure to check out the reveal at My Creative Scrapbook! These are some gorgeous kits!!! The Main Kit features Webster's Pages this month and it's loaded!! There are two sheets of each paper, vellum, alphabets and the brand new Webster's Cameos! These are so beautiful and such a great addition to your pages. Here is what I did with the Main Kit.

Next up is the Limited Edition Kit. It is featuring 7 Gypsies Victoria collection. It's another gorgeous one. There are also 2 of each of the papers in this one. It's loaded with Prima and it has some FABULOUS trim!! You just have to see this one! The possibilities of lots of different looks are endless with this kit. Here are some layouts that I made with it.

I also want to share a great contest and a design team call with you.

ZVA is doing a design team call and having a contest!!! Although I'm stepping down for now, I have so enjoyed my time at Zva for the last several months and want to encourage everyone to try out for the team! The Zva team is so wonderful to work with. Carolyn is great and I'm glad that I have gotten to know her! Kim is the DT co-ordinator and you will really enjoy working with her. Not to mention... let me tell you that getting a box of Zva in the mail is so fantastic!!! The products are simply fabulous!!! I guarantee you will LOVE them!

Here are the details that Kim has posted...

Are you a Zva Diva?Do you love gorgeous sparkling crystal accents or romantic sultry pearls perhaps? Zva Creative has that and much more. We are excited to announce a fabulous contest and we'd love it if you would join us!

What are you playing for?

5 winners will receive $50. in Zva Creative product

5 winners will receive $30. in Zva Creative product

10 winners will receive $15. in Zva Creative product

This is what you need to do to qualify:Simply upload your beautiful creations (layouts, cards, altered items, etc) into the Scrapbook.com gallery...you MUST link Zva products found within the Scrapbook.com store to your projects.

Please e-mail your gallery links to mailto:zvacreativesbcontest@gmail.com You may participate as many times as you like. All previously viewed/published projects will be considered. Please do not e-mail actual images of your projects. deadline: Midnight(Pacific time) Wednesday, October 28. Please put "Zva contest" in the subject line of your e-mail. Submissions accepted immediately.

Winners will be notified by e-mail on or before November 1, 2009.Good luck and have fun!

AND if you are interested in joining our talented team...we currently have a design team call. Your contest projects can also be used towards your Design Team entry.

Here are the details:Our team will consist of:* 6 layout lovers* 2 card creatorsDesigners will serve a period of 6 months with a possibility of term extension for another 6 months. We compensate generously with our products and we compensate well for published work.

Open to all US and International designers who are at least 18 years of age.

To apply, here's what you need to do:Create a minimum of either 3 layouts -or- 3 cards -or- 3 of any combination. If you are diverse and dabble in more than one category, that is wonderful, but not necessary, please feel free to show us your other talents. You can submit up to 6 projects, but 3 is required. Projects may have been previously published and/or posted online.We prefer that you use Zva Creative products, but that is not a requirement for your design team entry.

Please e-mail your entry to: zvacreativedt@gmail.com by midnight (Pacific time) Wednesday, October 28. Please put "Zva DT Submission" in the subject line of your e-mail. Submissions accepted immediately.

Please include the following information in your submission email:* Your full contact info* Your blog link* Your online gallery link(s)* Link to your resume, if you have one (not required)* Attach images of your projects. Please keep each image under 500 pixels (100k)* A list of design teams you are currently serving on (includes manufacturers/wholesalers , stores, challenge blogs, kit clubs, etc.)* Message board(s) where you participate atThose selected will be notified by e-mail or phone and we hope to announce the new team by October 31. And the new DT term will start on November 1, 2009.We hope this will be a positive experience for everyone.Thanks so much...we can't wait to see your work!

I'll be on the lookout to see who makes this team!! Good Luck!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Robbie

My First Cover!!!

Let me tell you... I was bouncing around in excitement when I saw this!!

I had no idea that my layout was going to be on the cover of Scrapbooking and Beyond. What a FANTASTIC surprise!!! I must say that this was a big thing for me... yep, I admit that it probably made my year! LOL!! Poor Kelly was on the phone with a client and for the first time in 22 years, I interupted him. I just couldn't wait a single minute to tell someone and he happened to be the only one home!! Poor guy! Hopefully, he was able to convince his client that he didn't live with a nutcase!

I have gotten such a kick out of seing one of my layouts staring back at me from the newsstand. It is everything I can do not to point it out to random strangers in the store! I'm leaving that to my dad!! My mom tells me that when he sees it, he shows everyone and tells them that it's his grandkids on the cover. I'm afraid to ask if he tells them that his daughter made the layout. The answer just might give me a complex!! LOL!

My kids have enjoyed it, too. They have both had friends call them or text them to ask them what in the world they are doing on the cover of a magazine. Jade doesn't like the picture of her but I'm pretty sure that she will live! It's been a lot of fun and I just hope that I might get this opportunity again someday!

Be sure to check it out! There are so many wonderful layouts in it!! Some of your favorite scrappers are also in the magazine. The flourish series is featuring rub-on flourishes this time. You just have to see what Gabrielle Pollaco, Liz Qualman and Debbie Danielson did with their layouts!

Thanks for dropping by my blog!

Robbie

Oh August!

Yes, I know that it's September! However, I need to revisit August today. It just flew by without my even realizing it was gone! That's what happens when you are moving, your daughter is graduating from college, and you have to move your son back to college! Let's not forget 4 birthdays and an anniversary. That doesn't even count the 2 birthdays that are at the beginning of September. I guess you can see that it's been NUTS around here!! But... I'm baaaack.

I think the biggest news around here is that we moved!!! After 17 years in the same house, this move has just about done us in. Who knew that we could accummulate so much JUNK!?! Our entire family has had many discussions on our 'need' of things. My mom says that we deserve each other because every single one of us is a packrat. LOL!! The only real problem with this move is that since we have moved to town, we have fewer places to stuff our stashes! In the old house, we had a garage that no one has been able to park in in years, a barn and a shed. Well, there just isn't that much space here! So, the Herrings are getting ready to have a HUGE sale. The rule has been... If you haven't used it or seen it in 10 years, it goes! If you forgot that you owned it, it goes! Nope... I don't care if you think that somewhere in the distant future you might need it. Trust me, you wouldn't remember or be able to find it anyway!

We LOVE our new house though!! It has so much more room IN it than the other house! It also has beautiful old trees covering it. It's 1 1/4 acres which is perfect for us having moved from such a wide open space. We are so thankful to have found it and it really suits us! Here are a couple of pictures of it.

Yes, I've managed to squeeze in some scrappy time, too. Not a lot, but I had to do a bit to stave off the withdrawls. Here are a couple of my favorite pages from the last couple of months at My Creative Scrapbook. Pam continues to knock my socks off each month with fabulous kits!

This one was made with the August Main Kit. It featured My Mind's Eye papers! I'm wild about this paper!! Love these colors!

This one is from the September Main Kit. It features the yummy new Pink Paislee.

So that's August in a nutshell! On to September!! Hope that you are having a wonderful one!

On Wishes...

I was going to say that I wish I was better about blogging, but... I'm going to get better someday! Yeah right.... For anyone who is still bothering to drop by, let me just say that it has been a crazy time! Last time I blogged, I had been on retreat and had surgery. I'm all better now, but things have been so crazy since then. My dog had surgery AGAIN, my mom had emergency surgery, I moved my son home for the summer, moved my daughter to a temporary apartment, found a house, bought furniture, gave a party, would you believe that I even had jury duty today??? What are the odds of that? But, life is good! Everyone is on the mend and having a great summer!

So, right now, my biggest wish is that I had someone to help me sort and pack! We haven't moved in 17 years, so this is turning out to be a huge job. For those of you who don't know, we are moving into town. I'm actually kind of shocked about it, but also looking forward to having less land to keep up with. I'm going to miss baby goats and chickens crowing in the yard, but I will be enjoying the deer in the yard at the new house. Would you believe that my dad drove by the house the other day and called to tell me that there were 14 deer in the yard? TRULY!!! You just can't make that up! It seems that the current owner of the house feeds them. There are babies, too! I can't wait! I have been wishing for a new home for years, so this is a wish granted for sure!

A wish that I've had for a long time that is related to scrapping is for 'any color crystal that I want'. As most of you know, I'm on the Zva team and I get all their gorgeous products in the mail. What a fun thing that is! I had read something from Kim Hughs, another dt member, about how she uses Copic Markers to color her clear crystals. Now, I probably shouldn't admit this, but I didn't know what the heck Copic Markers were. Naturally, after searching, I couldn't find any locally to buy. So... experiment time... Guess what? Sharpies work like a charm!! I was so excited to figure this out! Everyone has a handful (at least) of Sharpies. If you are the rare person who doesn't, just drop by Walmart. Wish granted!! Don't you love that?

Here are a couple of layouts where I changed the crystal color. On this one, all the crystals were clear. I love red!

On this one, I just changed the lettering from clear to orangy-brown to go with the crystal strips.

So now, I have to start wishing that someone will take pity on me and help me with my blog!!! I decided that I wanted a white background and went to change it. Did I remember to save the template? NO! Gone forever! lol After the move, I'll be working on this again. I wish I knew how to do digital so that I could make cool stuff for it. For now... clean and simple is what it is!

Thanks for dropping by!

Robbie

Retreat, Recovering and Scrapping

So much to share since I've blogged last. I went on a scrapbook retreat in Atlanta with some terrific ladies from Scrapbook.com. It's funny how you talk to people online for so long and they become your friends even though you've never met in person. It was so terrific to finally get to meet them and spend time with them! They are all as wonderful in person as they are online! We had a great time and shopped more than any of us probably should have. It was quite an adventure and I'm so glad that I scheduled my surgery around it!! LOL Yes, I really did tell the doctor that I had to do it the next week! So, I got home on Sunday evening and had surgery on Wednesday!

Here is a group picture of us.

This is the ONLY page that I did the whole weekend! The truth is that I didn't even finish it there either! If someone would explain to me why I bothered to even pack my scrappy stuff, I would appreciate it. Also, did I mention that my luggage didn't arrive with me? Naturally! The airline did deliver it when it arrived, so it's all good!

I used lots of Zva on this one. I also used Crate Paper Lemon Grass. This paper is so versitile and I'm almost out! Note to self... gotta get some more! This is the kids playing in the mud when they were little. The journaling says... At the end of the day a child should smell like dirt.

It's been almost two weeks since I had surgery. Thankfully, my recovery has been so much faster than I expected it to be! I'm so thankful! I think the loss of my energy has been the hardest part of the recovery. I'm not a sit still kind of gal and it drives me crazy to be so worn out so quickly. On trip to town for about an hour and I have to come home and take a nap!! WTHeck??? At least I got some scrappy goodies while I was out! My DH actually took pity on me this weekend and took me to Archivers! Woo Hoo!! I think that I'll keep him! What a sport and he didn't even complain when I so sweetly (picture rolling eyes here) asked if I could go to Michaels, too!

The only good news about sitting around is that during my recovery, I've managed to get a lot of scrapping done! Here is a page that I did for Zva. Gotta LOVE those embellishments!

This is Jade before senior prom. She was on her way out the door to get her hair done and I just had to snap a picture. The look is just so 'her'.

Finally, I'm planning a trip to Houston to go to CKC! I'm so excited and I'm going to be staying and hanging out with Scrappy Susan!! I'll share the adventure when I return! I have never been to any kind of scrapbook show or convention so I can't wait! Anyone have any helpful hints? I know to bring my credit card, my debit card, my checkbook and cash!! LOL! I have that hint down pat!

Hope things are going well with all of you!

Happy Easter!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter! It has been a bit unusual around here this year. I had surgery on Wednesday, so it was a quiet Easter at home. My kids came home from school to spend the weekend with us. It is always so wonderful to have them home. It's such a change from past Easters. Would you believe that this is the first Easter without a basket for them? I know, they outgrew it long ago, but it is always such fun to give them a little treat. I miss the times when they were little and an Easter basket was a HUGE thing! I recently scrapped this picture of Jade on her first Easter Sunday. I kept this one fairly simple. I really wanted it to be bright and fun like the big smile on her face. I LOVE these Zva eggs. They are so adorable and glittery. I thought they added the perfect amount of fun to this layout. I also used some of the precious felt Zva flowers on this one. My layout was so bright that I decided to add some chalk ink to my flowers to make them match a bit better. The flowers took the ink perfectly!

Hope you have had a blessed Easter!

Robbie

So Excited!!

Well, I know that ya'll will find this a shocker! I'm actually posting again quickly! I just had to share with my friends. I have had my very first publication!!! Yipee!!! I'm so very excited about this! The best part is that I'm being published along with some wonderful ladies who are such talented artists!! Liz Qualmann, Gabrielle Pollaco, Debbie Danielson and I are all taking part in this! Thanks Liz for including me in this fantastic opportunity! We have a 4 part series in Scrapbooking and Beyond. Be sure to check it out. It's called "A flourish for every season".

I also want to say that this wonderful picture of my great niece Maddi was taken by my sister in law Terri Bauer. Thanks Terri for sharing your pictures with me!!!

Here is my layout...

More ZVA, too! I can't get enough of these! I have a couple of new layouts that I've done for Zva Creative recently, too. If you haven't had the chance yet, you really need to get your hands on some of these beautiful products. Scrapbook.com is carrying them now! How cool is that? Very cool!This is one of Alex's senior portraits. I love how much interest the crystals add to this very simple design. This photo is by Amy Weison. She is fabulous! She did both of my kid's senior portraits. If you live in the Austin area, be sure to look her up.

Here is another layout of Maddi. Surprise... I actually took these pictures myself at Christmas! LOL!

I've been scrapping away and am determined to get better about my blogging, so I'll be back with more soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Coming up Flowers

I've been having a blast with the kits at My Creative Scrapbook this month! Everything at MCS is coming up flowers this month!! WOW!! You know that I'm happy if I can have flowers! Pam has really packed in the flowers in every kit.

The Main Kit is gorgeous!! It features My Minds Eye Bella Bella. Such beautiful papers fresh from CHA. This kit is loaded with flowers, too!! It has a complete tin of Prima and a whole package of BoBunny flowers! Don't forget to check out the gorgeous Prima butterfly. IRL, this butterfly is so sparkly!! AND... it has brand new Zva crystals straight from CHA. You're going to love how easy these new Zva crystals are to use!!!

This is a picture of Jade and I years ago. I used lots of glitter on this one. The Thickers were altered by adding dots of dimensional paint. (Thanks Gabi for the great idea!) I also changed the color of the lace. I inked it with chalk ink and then added holographic embossing powder. After embossing the lace, you will have a bit stiffer product that is really easy to attach.


This is my mom (center) and her sisters when they were little girls. I wanted this one to have a bit of a heritage feel. To achieve the look on the flowers, I first inked them. I then used a watermark pad and heavily added clear embossing powder to them. After embossing with this combination, your flowers have a kind of porceline look.

The Creative Kit is just adorable this month. It features one of the new Cosmo Cricket releases, Girl Friday. So cute and the chipboard accents are really GREAT!! Pam has also added some terrific extras to this one. This kit has an entire bottle of Prima Got Prints flowers. There are so many fun possiblities with this one!!

Another picture of Jade when she was little. I just added a bit of ink and glitter to this one. The kit is so cute that you don't have to do much to end up with a sweet page!

Everything here is in the kit. Lots of great extra embellishments! Another page of Jade. She was it this month! lol


This is just a little sign that I made with the Creative Kit. I was in a terrible mood that day and this was a little reminder to me! The frame was made by using ink and more holographic embossing powder. (by Ranger) I filled in the circles with dimensional paint and the letters are a mix of the CC chipboard and ones that I cut out of the paper.

I also received the absolutely GORGEOUS Limited Edition kit!! WOW WOW WOW!!! This one is over the top!! It features Prima Flirty Little Secrets!! It has the new stitched paper, paintables, pearls and the most gorgeous flowers!!! It's LOADED with Prima! If you love Prima, this is the kit for you!!! Due to popular demand, MCS is now doing subscriptions for the Limited Edition kits!! I've already heard what's in next month's kit and it is going to be just a fabulous!!

Here are my pages from this kit.

This is Kelly and I on our trip to Puerto Rico last month. Can you believe that you get an entire bottle of the Essentials?? LOTS of flowers and lots left over to play with later. I added lots of glitter and a touch of blue ribbon.


This is Jade with her Valentine's Day date. They came to a dinner that we hosted and I got this cute picture of her and Chase and thought it was perfect for this paper. I folded some of the flowers to to make them look nice along the vine ribbon. I am really in LOVE with this line of paper!! The colors are just fantastic. Check out the Woodstock Cherry flowers... yep, they're in the kit, too!!

My last project for the kits this month was this little card. I made it using a Prima Paintable from the kit. I used some extra plain tranparency to put it together. If you look closely, you can see that I painted behind the pink dimensional dots with green acrylic paint. You just need to do this on the opposite side. Then your color shows through while keeping the beautiful details visible on the front. To give yourself a place to write on the inside of the card, just add a square of paper.

Be sure to check out the kits!! Pam is now taking pre-orders for April's kits. There are so many more great things to come at MCS!


While you are there, be sure to check out the challenges! We are having a lift the design team challenge right now. The prize is terrific!! You guessed it... lots more Prima flowers. Here is a picture of the prize.
See you at My Creative Scrapbook!!

Wow! It's been a crazy couple of months!

Well, as usual, I'm so behind on my blogging! Some day maybe I'll be better about keeping up with my blog! We can hope! lol I know that if that happens you might just die of shock! You know that when your friends tease you about your blog that it's probably time to get it updated! Not naming names (Jane) but aren't you proud of me? This has been a crazy time and when you add traveling for Christmas and then vacation to the mix... well, let's just say that I've been trying to keep my head above water! We did have a wonderful vacation, though. We spent a week in Puerto Rico and really got to relax. We go with our company, so it was so wonderful to re-connect with our friends and enjoy the tropical climate. The only problem was coming home and having to pick both of our kids up at their different colleges because they were both so sick and wanted to come home. I'm so thankful that they want to come home though, so you won't hear me complaining! They are both well now thankfully!

ZVA CREATIVE

I have had so much great news lately that I just need to share! First off, I was recently asked to be a Design Team member for Zva Creative ! Yipee!!! It was so exciting! For the first time ever, I had samples at CHA! Here are a couple of the things that I did for the show. (I did more, but I'll need something else to blog about so I'll share more later! lol) If you haven't gotten a chance to use this line, you really need to get your hands on some! They are so beautiful! The flowers and crystals compliment each other so well! You're going to love them!

This is Jade after a very long photo shoot. I got tickled when I got this picture back. This is the look that I get at home when she's 'done'. It turned out to be one of my favorites from the shoot. All the flowers, the brads and those fabulous crystals are from Zva Creative.

This one is of my great nephew Preston. I love this picture that his Nana sent me! He's so new that is little cord is still attached. On this one, the crystal strands, the brads and even the crystal title are from Zva Creative.

WEBSTER'S PAGES
I also was so honored to be asked to be a guest designer for Webster's Pages this month! Webster's is my favorite paper line right now!! I love the gorgeous papers and the journaling cards are wonderful!!! They sent me the "Hello Beautiful" line to work with! Wow!! It's so beautiful and it really reminds me of gorgeous fabrics. Just perfect for altering as well as scrapping! They also sent me a package of their trims. Trust me, these will not disappoint either! Another beautiful product from Wester's Pages! Here are a couple of things that I did for them.

This page is my husband and his siblings. I took this picture a while back and I was really happy to get to have one of all of them together. All the paper here is from Webster's, even the cutout details that are paper. I did add a bit of the inspired line on this one. I couldn't help but add some crystal flourishes from Zva! I think that they complimented the page beautifully. The butterfly I made. I didn't have one that matched, so I cut up a Prima flower and added some wire from another butterfly that I pulled apart. It was a quick way to get exactly the color I wanted.

I pick this up on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It was so UGLY but I really loved the shape of it. All it took was some gorgeous Webster's to make me love it! I did the arrangement of the ivy and roses and even tucked in some butterflies that I cut out of the Webster's papers.

MY CREATIVE SCRAPBOOK

Last, but certainly not least, we had the reveal at My Creative Scrapbook! Wow! Check out all the fabulous work that the design team did this month! This month the kits feature Little Yellow Bicycle, Fancy Pants and Teresa Collins. There is something for everyone! Here are two layouts that I did with the Main Kit.

This one is a picture of my husband and my kids years ago. Everything seen here is in the Main Kit at My Creative Scrapbook. LOTS of fun goodies!!

This one is a picture I took of my inlaws a few years ago. Everything here is also in the Main Kit. The only things I added were alot of ink and glimmer mist.

So, as you can see, I've been scrapping alot! This month has been a lot of fun, but very busy!! I'll be back to share more soon!! Really, I will! lol

Thanks for stopping by!

Robbie