3 Years and more

Laina here today!

February is the 3rd Anniversary of Work In Progress Kits. Trish has poured her heart and soul into this business. She has made Work In Progress into a place each one of us loves to visit and be a part of. Trish shares her enthusiasm for design and life stories with all. If you haven't had the opportunity to meet her in person, I can tell you, she really is as nice as she seems. Actually more. To honor her and all of her hard work, the entire WIP Design Team is scraplifting our favorite layouts by Trish.

Last week, Shelly shared her scraplift of Trish's layout here. Janelle shared hers yesterday.

I chose to lift Be Still My Heart by Trish. It was a featured layout over at Two Peas in January. Don't you just lover her photography and rich color combos?


Here is my version of her page using this month's kit plus some cool embellishments from my stash.Trish and I both are Martha Stewart border punch addicts.

Look for the rest of the team's lifts throughout the month. We are celebrating the WIP anniversary...how about a giveaway? How about a 3Birds Kit I designed for HSN?

3 Birds Va Va Velvet Fancy Flourish Embellishments Include:

• Circle box
• 108 adhesive-backed velvet die-cuts
• 39 flocked die-cut chipboard shapes
• 332 cardstock die-cuts
• 42 flocked cardstock die-cuts
• 6 flocked patterned paper
• Flocked transparency sheet

All you need to do is pick a layout of Trish's and scraplift her like the team did. Post a link to your page in the comment section of this post by February 28th. We will randomly draw a winner from all who enter and post the results March 2nd! Don't worry if you don't have a scanner, just take a snapshot of your page. This is not a photography or design contest! It's just to have fun, show Trish how much we love her and get you scrapping!

and many more

As we continue to celebrate Work In Progress' anniversary, I too took one of Trish's layouts and attempted a lift. Using January's project kit, I used the Elle's Studio journal tags to emulate Trish's repetitive circle elements on her layout. It was a great way to use those sweet tags.

Here is Trish's::


Here's mine::

Happy Anniversary, WIP! It's been a real treat being apart of the team!!!

Jen's Kitchen

I got a lot of inquiries regarding my friend Jen's kitchen when I posted about her scrap room last week. Here are a few details...

You can see a small "before" photo of Jen's kitchen here, in the upper right hand corner of the layout. This was actually taken after the lighting had been installed, and the walls were painted (they used to be blue).

I'll be the first one to admit I was wrong, too. When Jen told me that she was going with a deep taupe paint, black painted cabinets and a black backsplash, I thought it would be way too much black (her granite countertops also contain a lot of black.) Go figure...Andrea was right. Oh, hush. Want to know why it works? Lighting. Light is what transformed this space. She used to have one flourscent light in the center of her kitchen, along with the window. It is warm and inviting and beautiful.

Here is a close-up of the distressed cabinets and the glass backsplash. The copper colors in the tile really reflect light, and it is beautiful.

These photos were completely unstaged and taken during a crop at Jen's house (thanks for letting me post these, Jen!). I'm working on getting photos of my favorite spot in her kitchen--the office area (not seen in any of the pictures yet!). Stay tuned. This may lead to a series. :) Who doesn't need a little organization and decoration?

Off to grab my paintbrush. Seriously.

Two more layouts with the February Project Kit...

I loved working with that die cut paper. I'm into circles right now...
I got the idea from a layout I saw over at 2Peas. I liked how hers had the circles. So I used a punch to create my own...

With the leftovers from the first layout (circle paper), I created this layout...

I loved cutting those Karen Russell protectors up. Don't ask me why--I just thought they were fun and cool and they forced me to work with something I normally didn't use...

You know I love those Martha border punches...

Have a wonderful Sunday!! If you're not watching the Super Bowl, I hope you get to squeeze in some scrap time with friends...

Enjoy!!

Playing with packaging...

Spackling + Packaging (cut to 12x12) = a layout!

I started by turning the packaging over and tearing away to see some of the corrugated board underneath.

Then I used an offset spatula as "textured paint."

Once it was dry, I began building my page...

Everything except the swirled jewels (Prima) was used with the February WIP Project kit. I even managed to use some of the Prima packaging (green scalloped tab). I've noticed a lot of companies using packaging that can double as product (Making Memories and Jillibean are among my fav.)

Have a great weekend!

My Printer's Tray

This Project Kit sat on my table, staring at me for a week. I stopped and started and tinkered and played...
I'm happy with how it turned out, and now I can't wait to do another. Here are some of the details...

Special shout out to Laina and Mary Ann. I'm now completely obsessed with those darned embossing folders. The white cardstock used on this project was embossed and then punched. Oh, the possibilities!!

Have I expressed my affinity for Martha and her punches lately?

I also managed to create 3 layouts in addition to this project and I'll post them tomorrow. Also on deck is the "Favorite Photos of 2010" project this weekend.

Enjoy your Friday!!

Happy Anniversary WIP

Here is a little tribute to Trish...who rocks. Her cool version and my poor mans attempt at her greatness.

get scrapper block?

i tend to get it alot. the best thing for me is to pull out my scraps and make some cards.
they tend to be fast and easy and get the mojo flowin.
next time the scrapper block hits ya try it! you may be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
here are some of my 'scrappers block' creations,

Bind it all

Do you have one? It is one of my favorite and easiest tools to use! There are so many things you can make, and being a fan of mini books it lets me be more creative.

At Christmas time I put together this mini and put stamps and gift cards in all the envelopes for my mom.

With my February Valentine’s Kit I made this mini by cutting a thin acrylic with my stampin up “top note” die and binding it together with my bind it all.

Using left over scraps from the kit I cut paper in the shape of the top note die to help me decorate the album.

There are even more ideas at the Bind it all site here and at Two Peas here

A Girl Can Dream...

...and this, this would definitely be a dream...

This is a photo of my friend Jen's scrapbook room. You may recall this post about my fondness for her professional organizer. Can I just say that I can admit when I'm wrong? And I was wrong, big time...

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was this room. Truth be told, Jen was the one who convinced me to put my scrapbook room on our main floor four years ago when I was pregnant and getting booted out of my old scrap space. I thought she was crazy, and I told her so frequently. Sometimes, a friend can see what you can't, however. Since our "formal" living room had a garden door, I slowly grew to like the idea. It ended up being one of the best decisions I've ever made for our family. Since I work from home, my space also had to work as an office. I would highly recommend it to anyone now...

When Jen was reorganizing her basement (the old scrap area), I told her I thought she should make her scrapbook room on her main floor, in a smaller room off the formal living space. Of course, she thought I was nuts. Slowly but surely, the idea grew on her, too...

And so it began.

The following are pictures of Jen's scrap space now. I have to say, it is just perfect. She is an art teacher by profession, and once she laid her eyes on that wallpaper, she knew she had to have it. So her...

The organizing hardware and drawers are from The Container Store. The storage system she used is elfa (30% off right now!) and it is sturdy and holds everything. She has 40+ drawers in this space, along with a computer, printer, Cricut and vertical paper storage.

Hanging file folders house her alphabet stickers...
She has an entire drawer of just masking tape. Gotta love those dividers...

I love the open shelving, too. Jen has a lot of cool containers that she loved, and she's still able to use them with this system.
Every drawer is labled, and withing reach. I had to try on the new place for size and scrapped at her table, just to be sure, of course. I didn't want to leave.
She paints a lot. I love this vintage rack...
And lest you think that the rest of the house is a disaster, I give you this. (She's going to kill me for posting this--I love you Jen!)

I'm so proud of her, I can't even begin to tell you. Here are some snapshots I took of her home on a recent scrap day there...

For the record, I was wrong about painting the kitchen cabinets, too. They are so beautiful--the picture doesn't do them justice!!

I sure hope this inspires someone out there. It has done so for me. Believe me when I say that this journey of moving on after her husband's sudden death has not been easy on Jen or her children. Life does go on. She is living proof that determination, hard work and desire can motivate one to get it together.

Here's to hoping some of that motivation can rub off on me...

Thanks for sharing these with us, Jen. I love you to pieces.

(But I still can't bring myself to doing an "I love Andrea" layout quite yet. :))

For those of you who have made it to the end of this incredibly long blog post, please be sure to check out the DT Gallery here.

How's that for an inspirational Monday?