Progressively Speaking...

My dear friend, Heidi Kelley, and I had some fun this month creating a second progressive layout for Couture Cardstock. In April, I created a page and She had to finish it... and this month it was her turn to create the page and make me finish it!

Just kidding... it was fun... really! :) So, this is what she sent me:

And this is how I finished it:

I just love how it turned out. the colors, combined with the misting and stamping that Heidi did, led me on sort of a "jungle" design path. I used papers from K&Co, and it all just kind of came together perfectly. :)

Have you ever done anything like a progressive layout? Would you? :)

~Alyssa~

Just Chillin...

So yesterday, I got ambitious and decided to make cinnamon rolls. I got even more ambitious and decided to make them using the Pioneer Woman's recipe. At the top of the recipe it says "8 servings." Once I got started though, I read this, further down in the recipe: "This recipe makes approximately 7 pans of rolls." WHAAATTT?! LOL! So I had LOTS of rolls to share with the neighbors and friends at church today. They were delicious though, and I recommend the recipe. You may want to downsize it a bit, however. :)

One layout to share at the moment. It's a photo of my children, getting along quite well, and chilling in the pool. So sweet!

I used Couture Cardstock's One Sheet Wonder for the background. It took the mists beautifully and hardly warped at all. The paper and rub-ons are all Crate Paper, from a few different lines, but mostly the Brook Collection.

Smiles,

~Alyssa~

Hambly, Anyone?

Here's a page I have been waiting to share for a while now. It's made with Hambly, some paint, and a sheet of Couture Cardstock. I took the photo with my phone when my son reached over and grabbed my hand while we were hanging out at a picnic table. LOVE those moments! He's 3 and growing way too fast... I know there won't be too many more of those before he is way too cool to hold mom's hand, lol.

Happy WEEKEND!!!

~Alyssa~

So much fun...

I had fun today! I just PLAYED. No assignment, no color restrictions (obviously, lol!), no sketch. Just me and my little space throwing everything but the kitchen sink at a piece of Couture Cardstock.

Here's what came of it all:

Ahhh... it feels nice to play! :)

~Alyssa~

A project and a car....

Well, we bought a new car last night! If you had asked me 24 hours ago... I would have had no idea that this was going to happen, especially not so very fast! We listed our Corolla on Craig's List at 2pm. By 6 pm, someone was here looking at it, and it looks like they are going to buy it. If they decide not to (tonight) I have 4 other people in line to come and see it. Wow!

By 7:30, we were in Lafayette, test driving my new car. I love it! It's a gold 2001 Ford Focus Station Wagon. The color is fun and it is fun to drive. With the cash from the sale of the Corolla, we didn't have to take much from our savings to pay cash for this one. Yippee! A nicer car and still no car payment. Gotta love it. :)

Yesterday on the Prima blog, we shared wedding projects. Mine uses a photo of my sister, who got married 3 years ago. Pastiche was perfect, and I used the last full sheet I had (gasp!) to create this layout.

Thanks for coming by. I have a fun layout using some Hambly to share with you tomorrow!

~Alyssa~

A Font Challenge

Today and tomorrow, Heidi Kelley and I are bringing you a fun font challenge at Couture Cardstock! There will also be a chance to win each day, so check it out here.

This is the layout featured in todays challenge:

All the details about the layout and more about what a font challenge is are on the Couture Blog post.

Tomorrow, I will be here. Whether or not I have something to post will depend on how serious these upset tummies my two game changes have really are!

~Alyssa~

P.S. My CHA projects are well underway, I am about halfway there. I am getting excited to see the new releases and sneak peeks atart rolling in. What are you most looking forward to seeing?

The Couture Color Room, and some news.

Today is my turn to bring you one more luscious palette form The Color Room, partnering with Couture Cardstock. The coordinating colors are listed on both sites. :) You can enter your take on the palette to be entered to win a Couture Cardstock prize pack (US residents).

Also... I made the YSS team again! Yea! You can see the list of new and returning designers HERE. A special congrats to my friend Heidi Kelley. I am looking forward to the 6 months ahead!

~Alyssa~

To My Dad

My first project is up on the Prima blog!

Check out all the awesome Father's Day projects HERE.

~Alyssa~

Couture Cardstock blog swap!

Couture Cardstock and Cosmo Cricket are blog swapping! Head to the Couture Cardstock blog to start checking out all the fab projects. This is mine (details on the Couture blog):

There will be more projects using Cosmo Cricket every day this week on the Couture blog, so keep checking back!

~Alyssa~

The Color Room

This month, Couture Cardstock is partnering with The Color Room. We are telling you exactly which Couture Cardstock colors complete each palette! Today on the Couture Cardstock blog, I bring you palette #10.

This month, Couture Cardstock is partnering with The Color Room. We are telling you exactly which Couture Cardstock colors complete each palette! Today on the Couture Cardstock blog, I bring you palette #10.

Check out the details and close-ups on the Couture Blog.

Today is my birthday. I am 29 (for the FIRST time, I promise)! Not too much celebrating today, but we are going out to dinner on Thursday. And my children ordered me a box of Thickers and Glimmer Mist (they know me so well, lol!) We are off to a pool party for the kiddos in a few minutes... but I don't have to work tonight (just found out!) so at least I can scrap for a while. I hope your day is wonderful.

~Alyssa~

I Made the Prima Team!

**YSS Giveaway winners are in the post below**

SOOOOOOOOOOO..... BIG News! I made the Prima Marketing Design Team!! I am so excited, and thrilled, and honored. This is one of my "Dream Teams" so this is a total thrill.

You can see the full announcement HERE.

I can't wait to get started and work with this amazing team of ladies:

Alyssa McGrew - http://alyssasscraps.blogspot.com/

Amanda Muirhead - http://amandamuirhead.blogspot.com/

Anabelle O'Malley- http://anabelleom.blogspot.com/

Birgit Koopsen- http://birgitkoopsen.typepad.com/

Candice Reszko- http://truedivinehand.blogspot.com

Daniela Dobson- http://danieladobson.blogspot.com/

Jaime Warren- http://jaimewarren.typepad.com/

Jamie Dougherty- http://jaylynnscraps.blogspot.com/

Janine Koczwara - http://www.janinekoczwara.typepad.com/

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer- http://www.balzerdesigns.typepad.com/

Ingvild Bolme http://www.ingvildbolme.com/

Karola Witczak - http://karolakraftuje.blogspot.com/

Leena Loh- http://findingnana.com/

Liana Suwandi- http://maples-lianasuwandi.blogspot.com/

Nic Howard - http://nichoward.typepad.com/

Stacy Cohen- http://stacycohen.blogspot.com/

Trina McClune- http://www.trinamcclune.typepad.com/

Cari Fennell- http://meandmymaryjanes.blogspot.com/

Iris Babao-Uy- http://irisbabaouy.typepad.com/creativecorner/

Congratulations to all of you! I an honored to be working with you, and REALLY looking forward to the year ahead!

~Alyssa~

Winners!

Time to announce the winners from this week's Stash Dash! Each of the following ladies has won a $10 gift certificate to Your Scrapbook Stash! You all generated an amazing 122 "ballots," and I throughly enjoyed each and every one of your comments, so thank you!!

#84 - Jenni (from VA)

#116- Tracy G (from South Africa)

#98- Isa Donna

Congrats, ladies! Please email me at upordown777@yahoo.com and I will forward your gift certificate codes to you right away!

~Alyssa~

Final Day to enter to win!

Today is your last chance to enter to win some Stash Cash! Check out each of the DT blogs and get yourself entered. :) Drawings will start on Friday... :) There are going to be lots of happy people shopping in the YSS Store this weekend. (yeah!) All the DT members blog links are at the bottom of this post. (Rules for my giveaway are in yesterdays post if you haven't seen them yet! :)

Today I am sharing a layout I completed using Couture Cardstock and Prima's Pastiche Collection, now available in the YSS store.

Here are the DT links:

Carrie: http://scrapblog.sydkad.com/

Liz: http://thescrappiest.blogspot.com/

April: http://yourscrapbookstash.blogspot.com/

Wendy: http://captureeachmoment.blogspot.com/

Lady Grace: http://scrappinworld.blogspot.com/

Erica: http://she-travels.blogspot.com/

I will draw my winners tomorrow. Have a great day!

~Alyssa~

YSS Blog Hop Day 3!

I hope you are enjoy the Stash Dash! :) There are more goodies and more chances to win happening on all the Stash Girls blogs today. Check them out here:

Carrie: http://scrapblog.sydkad.com/

Liz: http://thescrappiest.blogspot.com/

April: http://yourscrapbookstash.blogspot.com/

Wendy: http://captureeachmoment.blogspot.com/

Lady Grace: http://scrappinworld.blogspot.com/

Erica http://she-travels.blogspot.com/

Today, I want to share a wall hanging I made with Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely, available in the YSS Store:

Don't forget about my giveaway: here's how it will work on my blog. I have 3 $10 gift certificates to theYSS Store to giveaway on Friday. So for each day, today through Thursday, you may leave one comment per day to be entered to win! You may also earn another entry for becoming a follower of my blog (if you already follow me, you already have an extra entry). In addition, if you leave me a comment linking to somewhere that you posted about my blog giveaway, I will give you an extra entry! That gives you 6 possible entries (4 comments, 1 for following, and 1 for linking to my post). Tomorrow will be your last chance to win, and I will announce the winners on Friday.

~Alyssa~

YSS Blog Hop Day 2!

Welcome back to the YSS blog swap. It's day 2, and I have some projects from Cosmo Cricket's new DeLovely line to share with you today:

Don't forget about my giveaway: here's how it will work on my blog. I have 3 $10 gift certificates to theYSS Store to giveaway on Friday. So for each day, today through Thursday, you may leave one comment per day to be entered to win! You may also earn another entry for becoming a follower of my blog (if you already follow me, you already have an extra entry). In addition, if you leave me a comment linking to somewhere that you posted about my blog giveaway, I will give you an extra entry! That gives you 6 possible entries (4 comments, 1 for following, and 1 for linking to my post). So, here we go! Good luck to all my wonderful readers. :)

Each of the other DT gals has some Stash Cash to give away too, so don't forget to head to each of their blogs!

Carrie: http://scrapblog.sydkad.com/

Liz: http://thescrappiest.blogspot.com/

April: http://yourscrapbookstash.blogspot.com/

Wendy: http://captureeachmoment.blogspot.com/

Lady Grace: http://scrappinworld.blogspot.com/

Erica http://she-travels.blogspot.com/

See you tomorrow for an altered art project!

~Alyssa~

YSS Blog Hop!! (Giveaway inside!)

This week it is time for a Your Scrapbook Stash Blog Hop! Here is how it is going to work: EVERY DAY this week, each of the DT members will be posting projects, giveaways, and other inspiration to their blogs. EACH DT member has 3 gift certificates to the YSS store to give away, so make sure to check out their blogs to find out their giveaway rules and enter to win. :)

Today, I want to share one of my favorite projects from each of my fellow DT members as I send you to their blogs. Make sure you get the to the bottom of this post, as that's where my giveaway info is! :)

First, I love this adorable project from Carrie Labani. This strips are terrific, and the whole thing is just too cute for words:

Erica Weinstock brings us this terrific project using Crate Paper and a fresh design:
April Yap stuns with this summery layout. I just love those trees and that amazing title work!

Holy Moly circles! Lady Grace Belarmino takes circles to a whole new level with this layout:

Liz Chidester brings perfection to a spring layout with this amazingly detailed layout:
Birds are all the rage, and Wendy Kwok shows us how to use them masterfully on this cute layout:

Each of the ladies names are links to their blogs, so head to each of them to see what they have posted.

Now, the giveaway info! Here's how it will work on my blog. I have 3 $10 gift certificates to the YSS Store to giveaway on Friday. So for each day, today through Thursday, you may leave one comment per day to be entered to win! You may also earn another entry for becoming a follower of my blog (if you already follow me, you already have an extra entry). In addition, if you leave me a comment linking to somewhere that you posted about my blog giveaway, I will give you an extra entry! That gives you 6 possible entries (4 comments, 1 for following, and 1 for linking to my post). So, here we go! Good luck to all my wonderful readers. :)

Tomorrow, I will be sharing some projects using the new Cosmo Cricket DeLovely, now available in the YSS Store!

~Alyssa~

The Best Thing...

You know those crazy, random thoughts you get when you are half asleep? Well, this layout was one such random thought. When I sat down to execute it a few days ago, I was a little nervous. There are so many components, and all of them only in my head. I decided to start with Couture Cardstock, and the wonderful palette of the Color Room #9.

I chose one of my 3-year-old son's shirts as a pattern. I traced the collar and cut it out, using Snow. I cut a strip for the front, and folded each side under, and another "Y" shaped piece for the neckline area. Then I tool each piece and added the stitching with my sewing machine.

After adding brads for buttons, I created the ruching with satin ribbon by applying an line of Fabri-Tac onto a separate piece of cardstock, and scrunching the ribbon into it. Once it dried, I cut it out and applied it in two strips to my layout, attaching the button panel over it. I attached the collar, choosing a piece of GCD Studios paper underneath to pull out the blue from the palette. I added in the pink using some paper from Tinkering Ink and Crush cardstock. I used a chain from one of my older necklaces to complete the theme, and added a ring of cardstock with a photo in it for the necklace "charm" The swirls were made with Courtesan cardstock.

Thanks for coming by and checking it out! Tomorrow starts a very fun YSS Blog Hop with prizes on every DT blog (including mine), so come back in the morning for your chance to win some Stash Cash!

~Alyssa ~

Quick to Laugh

It's my turn on the Couture Cardstock blog again! Today, I am sharing this layout:

All the details can be seen HERE.

It's almost the weekend!

~Alyssa~

Springtime Delights

Recently the kids and I joined my husband at his work for a picnic lunch. We ate near a small hill, and after lunch the kids have a blast just running up and down the hill. I could tell that they were delighted by the warmer weather and the chance to simply run in the grass.

For this layout, I chose a fun color palette that is not one I normally use, but it worked so well with these K&Co papers and some new Maya Mist I received that it just kind of all came together. I love how fresh it feels to me.

~Alyssa~