Let's Scrap Leap Around the World Blog Hop

This will remain on the top of my page until January 31. Scroll down for new posts :)

As one of the 50 international host blogs, I am gearing up now for the upcoming Let's Scrap "Leap Around the World" February blog hop!!  This is the largest scrapbooking blog hop I have ever heard of! This fun event will start at 10:00am on February 1 and end on February 29th at 11:59pm according to the main page clock on the Let's Scrap website (your clock may vary, so check the time difference).

I would love it if you joined me in this big hop!  There are several things you can do RIGHT NOW to be prepared:

• Make sure you are signed up as a follower on this blog.  Just scroll up to the right-hand corner and click on JOIN THIS SITE.  
• Click here to join the Let's Scrap website.  It's free, simple and quick!
• Find all those scraps of paper you have been setting aside for the last 5 years.  You will need them because the blog hop is all about making CARDS!
• Clean off your scrap table  
• Get ready to make a massive amounts of cards, each from a different sketch, so lots of variety!

OK, a few more details.  You did read correctly: there are 50 blog hosts!  Once you have joined Let's Scrap, at each blog, you will get two chances to win some blog candy (aka: booty, prizes)!  Do the math!  You will have 100 chances to win free stuff...and good stuff, too!  This is also the perfect opportunity to restock your card stash!  The first chance comes when you join/follow each blog and leave a comment.  The second chance comes when you use the card sketch on each blog to create a card, layout or other project based upon the card sketch appearing on each blog--they are all different! You then must post your creation in the Let's Scrap website gallery, then go back to each blog and leave a second comment linking back to your gallery post.  Don't be overwhelmed...you are doing only one card at a time!  Our hope is that you will visit every blog, but, remember, you have the whole month of February to do this.

I am stop number 1, so keep an eye on me and we will hop the month away! 

Liebster Blog!!!!

I received the Liebster Blog Award from my dear friend, fellow DT member and inspirational scrapping buddy Cathy Van de Bruinhorst at http://cathysobsessions.blogspot.com/!!!

I have heard of this award from seeing it on other blogs, but I was shocked to be a recipient! What a wonderful feeling to be acknowledged by your peers!

The origins of the Liebster Blog award are somewhat 

unclear but general consensus is that they originated in 

Germany. Liebster, meaning - favorite or dearest to 

showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Upon 

accepting this award the recipient must then pass it on to 

five more blogs.

I received this award along with 4 other wonderful and talented scrappers. I am honored to be listed among them

• Kay Wallace at  http://kaywallacescrapbooking.blogspot.com/
• Debby de Wilde at  http://drdewilde.blogspot.com/
• Michelle van Wyk at  http://homespunscrap.blogspot.com/
• Jeaunes Vilijoen at  http://jeaunes.blogspot.com

I have many blogs that I enjoy following, but these are a few of my faves with less than 200 followers. 

I give a Liebster Blog Award to:

Andrea Green http://papercandie.blogspot.com/

*Andrea is just full of such fun and it shows in her beautiful work

Katy Drogos http://iliketocutandpaste.blogspot.com/

*Katy has such wonderful ideas, tips and tricks that she shares on her blog

Sharon Fritchman http://thatgirlfritchey.blogspot.com/

*Sharon has a great scrapping style and I love the colors and products she uses

Lynn Shokoples http://scrappyhappymom.blogspot.com/

*Lynn has such  beautiful pages that are just perfectly embellished

Betty Hornbrook http://scrappingfleas.blogspot.com/

*Betty has such an awesome spirit and it always shows in her work

I could really say so much more about each of these ladies, but I am very excited to pass this on to them!! 

Have a great day all!

Cheers!

~Mindi

Timeless, LOAD 15

Yes, I realize today is the 26th and I am only on #15. I may not do 31 pages, but I am getting more done than I would have.

So, this page has a story. I was going thru Mike's pictures and COULD NOT resist to do a page with these beauties!

I had all sorts of awesome titles in mind about mullets and "business in the front, party in the back" etc. I found this chipboard, and realized it was perfect! I sent Mike a text message with a picture of the page. His reply was "Real mature...or not I guess. Shoulda put the old tux pic next to the new tux pic". I am going to pause here and say I love this man to death and the fact that he has input and really good ideas for my pages makes me swoon. So, here is the new version of the page

I have to admit, I really do like this one better. As much fun as it was to laugh at his mullet pictures, the tuxedo's are great with these papers. So, Kudos to Mike for being my "artistic director" of sorts!

papers are DCWV All Dressed Up

EK Dahlia punch

Studio G-chipboard title and glitter I put on it

Celebrate it ribbon

random sequins for fun :)

Have a great day all!

Cheers!

~Mindi

It's Wednesday, new sketch at Let's Scrap!

Good morning all! Hope everyone has been well. I have been busier than a dog trying to bury 3 bones, but I did get a page done! I used this week's sketch at Let's Scrap


and this is what I created

This is my darling son on his 5th birthday. Yes, it was 2000 so he is 16 now, but I love these pics we had done with he was just a little bugger! The papers are My Mind's Eye Lost and Found as are the embellishments. Brown stock is DCWV, ribbon is Craftsmart from Michaels and I used my sewing machine.
As most of you can tell, I am a more simple scrapper, clean lines and neat, so this sketch was super easy for me!

Have a great day all!
Cheers!
~Mindi

Exciting News!

I have been slightly absent from my blog for a couple weeks now. I haven't gotten much scrapping done either, but I have been productive! Besides organizing the awesome Let's Scrap Leap Around the world blog hop, I am so much closer to opening my scrapbooking/papercrafting store!!! It has been a long road and a lot of planning, but finally everything is coming together! It is a mix between terror and sheer excitement!

I do have a Facebook page set up for it. I would love to hear from all my blogger friends! Even "like" it while you are there ;) Even if you are not in my local area, I would love to hear what things you like to see at your local store!
Butterfly Papercrafts

The picture is a mini oil painting that my wonderful and super talented BFF Susie did for me! Keep a look out, because once the physical store is open, I will be doing online orders!
Cheers!
~ Mindi

LOAD challenge #10

Very excited to finally be in double digits!! I am still quite a bit behind, but if I can keep going today that would be awesome! I used Let's Scrap sketch 1-4-09

My honey is a drummer, which I think is totally HOT! LOL I haven't gotten to see him play yet, since his drums have been stored since we met. They do take a lot of room to set up! This is the first band he was ever in. I played with the top photo with Photoshop so you could at least see the shape of his head! I do love that it is a smoky, blurry bar picture, adds to the awesomeness! 

supplies

all papers are unknown from my stash

drum set - Jolee's Boutique

cardstock stickers (rock n roll and lightening bolt) The Paper Studio

orange stars and title cut with Cricut

font-Blood Omen from Acid Fonts (free site)

I used my Cri-Kits gel pen to write the title then with SCAL I used the shadow function to cut it out. Then I made the shadow bigger to cut the orange. I lightly colored it with black colored pencil so the paper texture would show. It kind of matches the bubbles on the paper.

I am kind of on a roll today, so back to scrapping I go! Have a scrappy day!

Cheers!

~Mindi

New sketch at Let's Scrap today!

Since it is the third Wednesday of the month, today's sketch is a card sketch created by the talented Debby De Wilde

and here is my card, which I am rather proud of :)

The scanner kind of killed some of the shine, but oh well. I am not a super flowery kind of gal, so I had way to much fun making this! I do find that it is a little harder to make masculine cards. This is actually going to be given to my husband for our anniversary in March. Funny, cuz he was giving me input as I was making it teehee!!

Supplies
background DCWV Rockstar 8x8 stack
chain - EK punch, Graphix Metallic foil board (it is actually shiny silver)
glitter paper unknown stash
outline on title and star - Zig Writer, Chocolate
metal and embosser- Cri-Kits
font- Blood Omen from Acid Fonts (free site)
misc - Cricut, SCAL and sewing machine

It is EVIL cold here, so I am hunkering down and gonna try to get some scrapping done today! Stay warm everyone!
Cheers!
~Mindi

You make me smile! LOAD 8

Hello Everyone!! For more info on the LayOut A Day challenge, click the blinkie on my sidebar! I was challenged by some of the gals in the chat group at Let's Scrap to make a layout about coffee. It is really neat to see the brands and types of coffee from all over the world. This is my favorite coffee that I can get locally. I used Let's Scrap sketch from 6-24-09 and just the left side.

I figured since it was Snowy Mountain Mudd, I would take a picture of it in the snow LOL I used photoshop and added the poster effect to it. Background cardstock is DCWV Main Street, all other papers are random stash. I used my Cricut, SCAL and Cri-Kits markers for my title. The font is BaaBookHmkBold and I believe it was pre-installed in my computer. The coffee mug stamps are Stampin Up! and I used Versa Mark ink with Hampton Arts embossing powder. I can't remember the brand that the coffee mug brads are, but I didn't have brown. So I embossed it with bronze A'la Mode powder. The green twine is Trendy Twine and I don't know the maker of the brown. I also used Tim Holtz distress ink in vintage photo and peeled paint.

Just for fun, I thought I would show you the mess I made creating this one little page!

I have been super busy with the plans for the blog hop! It is going to be an incredible amount of fun! I will be posting updates and details, so stay tuned!

Have a great day!

Cheers!

~Mindi

Tombstone Miscellany

Good Morning All! It is 4 degrees here and covered in snow. Nothing unusual for Montana at this time of year, but still is yucky!

It is Wednesday, so that means a new sketch at Let's Scrap! Here is this weeks wonderful sketch from Cheri O'Neill


and here is my creation

My background is DCWV Main Street Stack. My solids are Wausau. I used Tim Holtz distress ink Peeled Paint for the title. The twine, metal buckle and saddle were inherited from Granny's stash when she passed. 

These are all pictures from our honeymoon that I liked, but couldn't really see making pages for each one. The honeymoon album is going to be huge anyway!

So, starting on the right

Mike on the mechanical horse inside the OK Corral

Me with the gentleman who plays Wyatt Earp and looks ALOT like Kurt Russell!

3 cowboys from Helldorado town, one using his "cowboy communicator" lol

Me with "Trashy Tricia" on a ghost hunt

Mike standing in front of the bar that used to be Campbell & Hatches, I think

the Hipp-alo (hippy buffalo) seen at the OK Cafe

butterfly at Sonoita Vineyards

Scolds, or gossip bridle at Rose Tree Museum

sign in front of Trashy Tricia's dress shop

Mike, day 1, forgetting he is on vacation

Grizz the blacksmith, making our horseshoe

Mike's hand next to my ribs at The Longhorn

I will tell ya, I would (and will) go back to Tombstone as soon as I get a chance. We had so much fun! 

Have a great day all, and stay warm!

Cheers!

~Mindi

DCWV January Stack A Holic

Greetings to all! I have been a little MIA lately. Putting together a blog hop with 50 hosts is a lot of work!! It is going to be great reward tho! All the gals are really excited, including me, and all working hard on some awesome examples to post!

I haven't gotten much scrapping done, but I did get my page for this month's DCWV challenge finished!

I used the High School stack and a piece from the Metallic stack for his name. This is the first page ever I have sewed on! My dear friend Susie brought me over a sewing machine and I had to play with it right away! The chipboard is Colorbok. I inked the gold with Pamass gold ink and the brackets with Tim Holtz black soot. I did add just a dab of gold on top of the black. "Cliff" was cut with my Cricut using SCAL.

I haven't had this stack for very long, so I will have to go back and do Freshman next LOL

I hope everyone is doing well and avoiding the dreaded winter cold. Until next time,

Cheers!

~Mindi

Let's Scrap Leap Around the World Blog Hop

I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am to be organizing and hostessing this blog hop! We have 50, YES 50, super talented and really cool ladies hosting for this! Each hostess will be offering blog candy and 2 chances on each blog to win! That gives you 100 possible chances to win! 

HOLY COW! 

It will be from February 1 to February 29, so mark your calendars and be ready to make some cards and win some candy!!! You only get a chance to Leap Around the World every 4 years :)

Cheers!
~Mindi

LayOut A Day (LOAD) Challenge from Let's Scrap

Well, it is January 3, and I offically have 3 pages done. I am ok with breaking even!! If you click the blinkie on my side bar that says LOAD, it will take you to Let's Scrap and tell you all about the LOAD!!

So, I don't have a lot of time this evening, so here it is

Hope you got a chuckle out of my goofy hubby!

Have a great night!
Cheers!
~Mindi

Blog Hop from Let's Scrap

Hi blogger friends! Just wanted to give you a heads up! As a Design Team member at Let's Scrap I have the privilege of organizing and being a hostess for a blog hop!

There are a lot of talented ladies that will be hosting with each one offering some wonderful prizes!

You will have 2 chances to win on EACH blog!! Join us February 1-26 for tons of fun and inspiration! More details to come, but make sure you bookmark this hop, as it is going to be huge!

Cheers!

~Mindi 

1st Layout of 2012!

Hi all! I hope that you had a wonderful New Year's celebrations whether it was wild and crazy or cozy at home! I would be part of the cozy at home crew! I am taking it easy on myself this year with the Resolutions! I hate to set myself up for failure! My scrappy resolutions are to be better about writing the completion date on the back of my LO's and to try more new techniques. My home resolution is to try new recipes from the tons of cookbooks I have. Easy cheesy!!

So, here is my first page completed in 2012!

This picture was taken the day we arrived at Tombstone Arizona for our honeymoon. The cowboy that was watching us and laughing told us that the county has spent thousands of dollars replacing these signs because people kept stealing them! I think it is a cute sign, but not cute enough to want to go to jail! LOL 

My awesome husband Mike bought me ALL the Cri Kits accessories for Christmas, and I gotta say I love them! I wrote on the background cardstock, the journaling and the dates with my Cricut! It is nice to have all the fonts exactly the same! 

I used a go coffee holder for the journaling and behind the dates.

Yes, I put the cardboard in my Cricut! I am telling you, he can sure pick good gifts!! Love him!

I am very excited that I completed 120 layouts and 154 cards in 2011! I have to admit, I am going to start making cards for the craft fair earlier this year, since the bulk of those cards were made in a 2 week period! ACK! I am hoping to get 200 layouts in 2012 since I really didn't scrapbook in 2011 until May. The beginning of the year there was crafting, but it was all wedding stuff. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful and prosperous 2012!

Cheers!

~Mindi