~Absolutely nothing to do with scrappin'~

HEHEHEHEHEHEEEE ya guys wanna see something funny but kind of freaky at the same time!

I was on my way to school yesterday and this lizard just sort of came out from under hood and started hanging out! Its something completely random that could only happen to me! Be forewarned though, it does contain a couple of colorful metaphors. So if you have little ones, ya might want to plug their ears as soon as you see the lizard take flight!




yeah I'm aware that the vid looks skinny weird. I shot it with my iphone and that's how it uploaded. Sorry :)

~BFTP Random Brag Book Type Thingie~

A little blast from the past since I can't seem to find any time to work on anything but Organic Chemistry! Soon fellow scrap crappers, I'll be free to create til my heart's content. But until then **sigh** I must study. Anyways, I was cleaning out the "paperwork" drawer. Oh don't give me that look! You know you are all guilty of having one or having something similar. I saw something at the bottom that I hadn't seen since well I didn't remember at the time. I thought about for a week and finally remembered when I made & what the process is. So sit back, grab a snack & I'll tell ya the story.
One day at Michaels...do you know how many of my stories start off like that? Anyways so at Michaels I saw this book of plastic overlays and solid colored card stock. I, up until that point had been mostly a sticker scrapper. In fact it pains me at times to look at some of my old stuff. I think wow wtf were you thinking girl?! So you heard it here first, Kat used to be strictly a sticker scrapper. Scary thought, huh? I decided that I really wanted to do something different and try different things so I picked it up the book and away I went.
Some time went by and I still hadn't decided what to do with those overlays. Then one day I decided that I wanted to make myself a small brag book type thingie. So I thought why not use those plastic overlays and see what materializes. I picked out a bunch of pictures and went to it. It took me awhile to figure out just exactly how to position both the pictures and the overlay. After some time, TAAADAAAAA!!!! it came together. I absolutely love this book. However I've never found an 8x8 book that I would like to put the pages in so I thought of creating a cover for it. However the plastic overlays are not attached directly to the papers. I did try an experiment with one where I attached it with an eyelet. I don't like it. It looks way entirely too random. Don't get me wrong, random is my life!! In this case though, I'm just not feeling it. I know I could just easily by pass this attachment problem by finding an 8x8 book to put these pages into. But what fun would that be?
So this is where I ask you my scrap peers, How in the hell do I attach the plastic overlays to the damn paper?!?!?!

~*~Safari Party Invites Part 1~*~

I'm in the process of making my kiddies Birthday party invites. This is taking a while since, first I ran out of Blue Giraffe ribbon (WHICH I LOVE, sold at Walmart..which of course I can not find again), then I ran out of the white animal print ribbon that has all the cute animals on it, then the orange ribbon then glue! SO with all that said, I have all 30 some odd invites papered. I will be making a big giraffe using my Cricut and Birthday Bash cartridge and placing it on the front of the card. I was going to make it 3D but since it will be traveling there is really no point since it will probably get squished on its journey. I also put green paper on the inside. I hope to get these done this weekend. And BTW I am praying that next time my bestest friend takes a trip to Walmart, she will be the chosen one to find this Blue Giraffe ribbon! (I will pay her back with Sonic Yumminess)

~*~Safari Party Goodie Bags~*~

So my kiddies birthdays run pretty close to each other, so this year I've decided to combine both parties into one! I have always love the way safari paper looked and well...safari animals are just too cute! To start, after Easter I bought some Easter Egg fillers on sale for about .20 cents for 6 items..do the math and I saved a whole lotta cash! I put them in Zip Lock snack baggies.

So after I filled 20 baggies, I folded a paper over the baggie and stapled it. I did this so that I could just glue my "label" sheet over the staples and hide them. A tip I picked up from my new FB friend Amy! Thanks Amy!

I then created the label using simple safari themed paper and I used my Cricut and Birthday Bash cartridge to create the different animals on the label. As many of you know, when you use the cricut...details on items don't normally come out very well unless you make them about 5' or bigger. The animals I made were 2 1/2 inches so I just used fabric paint and glitter glue paint pens to make some details on them. Also instead of typing out the date and what not, I just printed Party Animal on some tan paper and bada bing I now have 20 handmade goodie bags!

~Mother's Day Switch A Roo~

Laura and I have been creating for so long that it is pretty much a given that we give our mother's something homemade & scrappy for Mother's Day. This year we were racking our brains trying to decide what in the world were we going to do, pretty much coming up with a big goose egg! While sitting at Laura's dining room table I had a sudden flash. I had a wooden star book and have been dieing to do something with it. I remembered this little book I made a few years ago. So I decided to do something similar using the wooden stars. I told Laura hey I just had an idea about your mom's mother's day gift. Do you mind if I make it? She said sure! So I told her my idea and she was like LUV IT. So she turned it over to me.
A couple of weeks ago Laura found these instructions online for a this awesome little fold up accordion book. She used this old style like paper and embellishments. She texted me while making it and said I'm making Mami a mother's day gift so don't make anything! Omg seriously give Laura a prize!!! cause I had no idea what so ever to make!
So we played a little switch a roo with our mother's day gifts and it worked out great. Both of our mother's got great little homemade scrappy gifts per usual which they both are in LUV with!

This is the link to the photo gallery of the gift that Laura made for my Mami: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.110245775725967.22115.100002216355123&l=247594d6ff

This is the link to the photo gallery of the gift that I made for Laura's mom: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.113909592026252.27108.100002216355123&l=b6279547c0

Happy Mother's Day :)

~I ♥ Kat Book~

The last time I went to visit Laura she took me to AC Moore. We raided their clearance bins like a crack-fiend looking for their next score! Seriously do not get between me, laura and a clearance section! We sat down in the aisle and started going through them. They had a massive amount of chipboard & clear plastic albums. I found one that said I ♥ Cat. A light bulb suddenly went off in my head. I turned to Laura and said what do you think if I made the C into K and made an I ♥ Kat book for Lauren? Then I would put pictures of Lauren & I in it. Laura was like that sounds awesome, DO IT! So I put the book into the cart and thus the adventure began. Once we got back from AC Moore I was going through paper to decide what kind of motif I wanted. I saw this pink and black paper that reminded me of fishnet stockings. That light bulb went off again and I was off and running again. I got all the paper glued onto the book before I had to go. Once I returned home though I had to put it away and focus on school. Well my summer vacay started a week ago and I decided to try to get as much done as possible, which included the I ♥ Kat book. I decided to go very Madonna/street walker/80's route. I bought some lace trim and some black & silver ribbon. I also used an old broken silver necklace and used it as an embellishment. You should never be afraid to use something as an embellishment that is not found in the scrapbook aisle. I used pink glitter glue to finish the edges of the pages. I learned after doing this book that I want to start finishing edges of my chipboard books with something else other than glitter glue. It's starting to get old *le sigh*
So this book is a sort of prototype. I thought a few other people ♥ Kat so if this one worked out I could make others. Like one in a Laura style for Laura and one for my Brother or my Sister or my Gramma. It was a cool little book and I think anyone could do the same thing. You don't have to have the chipboard letter book, you could do it with a regular book. So think of someone you ♥ and that ♥s you back and then make a special book!

~Taste The Rainbow~

My friend Philly works in a bakery and decorates cakes. She is always posting pictures of the things she creates and I am always impressed with what she can do with frosting & fondant! A few months ago she made a cake that looked like a Skittles package complete with little skittles. All the sudden I was struck by a moment of great brilliance! If you can have a cake inspired by Skittles why not a scrapbook inspired by Skittles?!?! So I quickly started playing around with ideas and trying to work the concept out. I wondered around a couple of LSS's and finally it started to come together. For the pages I wanted them to be sturdy. One of the LSS's I went to have individual letter pages to create a custom chipboard book. I used them for 2 different Christmas presents & they worked out great. So for the Skittles Book I revisited them. I used the letter S for the front & back cover. I used a bit smaller letter I for the rest of the pages. Each page is covered with glitter cardstock of each of the Skittle colors; red, orange, yellow, green & purple. Since I really had no pictures to work with I created picture palettes for the future photos. After awhile I hit a brick wall, scrappers block! So I turned the book over to Laura's capable hands and let her take a whack at it. Well it worked cause once she added her awesome skills & ribbons, she sent it back to me. I then was able to figure out what to do with the front and the back covers. I just decided to keep it very simple. The letters on the front cover are the stars of the show and I didn't want to take away from that. Plus I didn't want it to be over done. I wanted the book to lay flat so I glued everything down flat. So glad its completely done!! I'm so thankful that Laura helped me out by taking over the process. I couldn't have finished it without her! So what are we doing with this book. Well my original intention was to send it to Philly, but now I might just keep it for myself! LoL

DCWV Giveaway!

Check out this Link to win! Best of luck!

http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2011/05/happy-nsd-giveaways-galore.html?showComment=1304704155337#c4830283001706026603

~Kat's Quest For Organization Part 2~

Well today is the BIG day, the grand reveal of what I've been doing for the last week! After several failed recording attempts and youtube not being cooperative I AM FINALLY POSTING THE GRAND REVEAL OF MY SCRAP CRAP STORAGE! It has two parts because during the first take I fell through the sticker storage cube. UUUuuumm yeah don't ask LoL...so I stopped filming to assess my wounds and then I started again. I'm going to let the videos do the talking cause well its easier that way...so as Heidi Klum would say "let's start the show!"

Part One



Part Two






yes I realize that it sounds like Jim instead of Tim...was trying to hold back a sneeze! LoL

~WOOHOO FOR ME~

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!
~so how am I going to celebrate? well I thought about just scrappin' the day away because well I absolutely ♥ scrapping. Plus starting next week I won't have another chance to scrap for 6 weeks!!!! However Mami keeps telling me to go out cause I'm young and that Sal should be taking me out. I know Sal doesn't want to go anywhere for reasons I don't really want to get into in. SSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I've decided to meet everyone half way! I'm going out this morning to spend money on myself! Which also includes buying a couple of scrap crap items that I would normally not buy. Then I'm going to come home and SCRAAAAAPPP my heart out. I'm going to finish Laura's mom's gift and finish the I ♥ kat book. Hopefully Mami gives me the best gift and decides NOT TO COOK! Keep your fingers crossed for me.
~I recently took video of my scrap organization with my iPhone. Which I have to to tell you the iPhone takes great video & sound! However the picture is on its side :-/ so I have to re-shoot.
~I also found something in my junk drawer that was a blast from the past. Which I'm going to post and hopefully someone will be able to give me some advice on how to finish it.
~Laura uploaded her ribbon storage technique up on our facebook but I will be posting here on the blog. I already wrote the entry I just need to add the pics. Which in my frenzy to scrap as much as possible has been put on the back burner!
~Laura & I also switched Mom's for Mother's Day. We'll be posting an entry soon to show off what we did. Like as soon as the paint finally dries on my project!!!
Anyways fellow scrap crappers...time to go get sticker shock from the gas pump and get my day started!!!
~kat

~Ribbon Storage & Organization Laura Style~

Laura has quite possible the biggest collection of ribbon outside of Michaels! She has tried a variety of methods to keep her ribbon organized. Everything from those boxes with the holes along the side to just throwing them into a container. Eventually they would get all tangled, frayed, lost and it was just craziness! Which usually we like craziness bbuuuuuttt in scrap crap organization there is no room for craziness. I started researching how everyone organizes their ribbon and was really coming up empty handed. I mean don't get me wrong the ideas were stellar but just not feasible for Laura. One day around Christmas time last year I was on the Joann's site and the clouds opened up, the angels sang and I saw it! The Ribbon Ladder! I was like OMG where have you been all our lives?!?!?! So I ordered it and my order was processed, reordered, canceled, reprocessed and then canceled again. I was really starting to get frazzled! I then finally found one at the Joann's near my house. RELIEVED I called Laura and teased her about it! She had no idea what I got until she opened it! Even though her collection is much larger than what the ladder accommodates, it's still a great piece. The spools are lined up and easy to reach. She also has a ribbon rack on her scrap hutch that was full within 5 minutes of bringing it home! Then she has a few containers that are full of random ribbon pieces.

We're still on the lookout for one thing that could accommodate her entire ribbon collection. However when we do find it, I doubt that she'll have room for it until she gets that scrap trailer that Travis has been threatening to buy her!

~Ribbon Organization & Storage Kat Style~

As you know I am working on organizing my scrap crap. However I was hit with a bout of food poisoning. Yes I'm fine, kind of getting use to it! (LoL long story...) Anyways, since I was sort of confined to the couch I decided that I work on tiny organization projects that would not require me to move too far from the bathroom. Since my scrap paper file drawer is waiting for missing parts to arrive, I decided to start with my ribbon. I have just recently decided that ribbon and I can get along, esp when it has that sticky stuff on the back! So I've started to amass a small collection of ribbon. Nothing like the size of Laura's ribbon collection have you but definitely big enough to start getting out of hand. Laura inspired me to get this clear paint bucket to hold my ribbon. However it was not big enough. So the paint bucket was stuffed and I had rolls of ribbon here and there. I decided enough was enough and got my organization on! So what I did was to remove my ribbon from the spools. I then rewound them and used a pony tail holder to wrap around it. Sometimes rubber bands catch and causes fraying. I had these colorful pony tail holders that well are just too freaking small for my hair and are considered "no pull". So I thought ribbon & no pull pony tail holders...WINNING! Then for the ribbon that was too small to be bounded by a pony tail holder I used a small binder clip. I was able on the thinner ribbon to put two in each clip. I LOVE IT! I did keep 3 on spools. One being a ribbon with wire in it, one that is more like cording and the other was 10 YARDS!! so yeah they stayed on their spools. Another spool in there is Laura's ribbon and I didn't want to take it off because of how she organizes her ribbon. Then for the pieces of ribbon scrap I just threw in the bucket. I mean what else are ya gonna do?

The bucket as you can see now only looks half full. You know what that means!!! I can get more ribbon!!! **snoopy happy dance** In ♥ with this bucket! I'm so glad Laura talked me into it!

Ready for a cup of Tea!?

Tea Parties are a cute theme for Any party! My friend Nicole is hosting a Party in a few months and sent me on a quest to make cute Tea Party Cookie Trays. Here is a list of Material used:

• Pails - $1.47 Each at Hobby Lobby
• Flower Bundles- .97 Cents each at Walmart
• Silver Charger Plates- $1.99 Each at Hobby Lobby
• Flower Foam- $2 at Walmart
• Silver Ribbon- .97 cents at Walmart
• Hot Glue

These were so simple to make and it was a lot of fun making the flower bouquets. Nicole wanted to use a white table clothes..with silver accents and bright colorful flowers...I think the Silver Chargers and pails have a weathered look to them like they have been out in the sun and the flowers give it a nice pop!

Runnn!!! Monster!!! Part 2!

So the Monster book is all done! Can I explain how great it feels!? Took forever to cut out each page..but here's my secret..I know its going to be a little hard to turn the pages and what not since its literally all enclosed in a book..so I used the cardboard inserts you get from the Kits you buy and used them! I am always on a quest to try something new in scrappin'..with this book, I used stuff from the Jewelry department..a key chain from a new pair of shoes..and good ole' fashion printing on regular paper! For a complete list of what I did on each page and what materials..Please check us out on facebook =o)

~Kat's Quest For Organization~

Ok its the end of the semester and time for my summer vacay! **snoopy happy dance** I promised myself that if I made it through the semester that I would go on the ultimate quest to get organized! Well I made it! My GPA a little beat up but nothing I can't fix so now it is time to take on my quest.This is most ALL my scrap stuff...I would say like 98% of it. I mean seriously who has ALL 100% of their scrap stuff in one spot all at one time!?!?!? Anyways I gave myself a $100 budget. I bought two new cabinet like pieces and 3 new plastic 12x12 storage boxes. I still have $40 left! I wanted to have some money left to play around with just in case while in the organizing frenzy I had a sudden inspiration. Oh yeah I know how I am and it will happen, guaranteed!

So this is where it is all going...in the back of the Katmobile. Yes I know you asking WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THAT:?!?! Well simply we're are really tight for space inside. The bedroom is already cluttered to point of almost suffocation. Plus I usually don't scrap at home because of well reasons I don't want to particularly discuss. Just trust me when I say I do a majority of my scrapping away from home so being able to be mobile is SUPER IMPORTANT to me. The overall goal is to have all my scrapping stuff available to me whenever I want it but still be able to haul Mami's groceries home on Saturdays! So later on this afternoon hopefully I'll have some great tips, ideas, possibilities for those scrappers with limited space.

~Find Us On Facebook~

Thought I would take a few minutes and do a little shameless promotion of ourselves! You can find us at twitter @blubellybutton or just click the twitter gadget thingie there and follow us!! AAANNNDDD you can find us at Facebook @ well just hit the facebook badge there to the right and be whisked away! Right now our fb page is a regular fb page, it gives a little more control over how we communicate. Also our facebook includes photo albums of all our projects...or at least all the projects we have photos of. So that way it's not all cluttered here. We'll still feature our little videos but if you want to see photos up close I suggest you go to facebook. Don't have facebook? Then just leave us a comment we'll hook you up :-)


Now you are probably wondering, there are two of you!!! How do we know who is posting? Well it's easy on here b/c you can see at the bottom of the post who the author is. But on facebook and twitter its a little more difficult. So at the end of every post on fb & twitter you'll see a little signature.

Kat = ~Kat
Laura = ~LK

Not too difficult right? And if we forget to sign, well its pretty easy to tell us apart by our writing styles, amirite?

ALSO if you like us, we'll like you! If you follow us, we'll follow you. Juss cause we're cool like that! Or maybe it's about karma...no no it's cause we want to support everyone that supports us...well no it's cause we're cool like that...how about it's about supporting everyone that supports us because we're cool like that...oh yeah definitely that!

Easter Frames

So I decided to take these oval frames I found at Michaels for only $1 each and turn them into fun frames for easter. I bought the fake daisys and easter eggs at my local dollar store..you know..a real dollar store where everything is just $1. The eggs came in packs of 5 or 6 and so did the flowers..I just cut them off there stems. Well I used some paint and some hotglue...and lucky for me I only am suffering from one serve burn this time! I think they need something more to them..but my burn is making me not think properly right now, and well I think the flowers are a little over the top..but pretty...so I just don't know...any suggestions would be mucho appricated-o here! =o)

~*~Hoppy Easter!~*~

So I decided to mess around with my Cricut machine today...made a easter basket and some eggs...and tada! This is what I made!...I just used random Easter paper..some Ribbon, glue and Purple Rhinestones. Oh also I used a Happy Easter Sticker from Michaels.

~BFTP Mother's Day Gift~

I made this book for Mami for Mother's Day. The book and the rub-ons are a coordinating set. Which is weird for me because I usually tend away from matchy matchy stuff. If I get kits, I usually mix and match them to other things to create something different. However this accordion book just jumped out out me and so did the rub-ons. They were bright and not geared toward anything in particular except happiness. I printed up pictures of the whole family, some of my favorite photos. I wanted to make sure I put the pets as well because Mami considers them family. She always likes it when I include them or make any kind of something with them. I still see coordinates to this set in the clearance sections at Michael's and Jo-Ann's so if I happen to see them again I will take note of the name so I can place a brand to my materials.

~Laura check out this ribbon usage!!~

Laura how much do you love this ribbon usage!?!?!

My sister in law and niece made this book for Mami in celebration of her 76th birthday.

~BFTP Bella Book~

I used to have a great German Shepard named Bella. ♥ her but I gave her away to a guy who had lots of land for her to run around on. **sigh** anyways she was ALOT of fun. One of her favorite activities was swimming and playing fetch. There is this little beachy area at this little lake by our condo and I would take Bella there to swim. I would throw coconuts into the water, she would run in, swim to it, fetch it and bring it back to me. It was a pretty cool trick. So one afternoon I took everyone out to show off her trick. We took some photos. A few days later I was walking around a LSS and I saw this little chipboard book. I picked it up and said I'll find a use for it. I sat down to scrap and decided how cute if I made a tiny book of Bella fetching the coconuts. I went through my cache of paper to find all my watery paper. I made some labels from clear sticker paper. The little dog paws were something I had in my sticker cache. I had this little puppy put together in about 30 minutes. I made this book before I discovered the greatness that is glitter glue. So the edges look a little unfinished...eehhh well you live and learn!

~*~DCWV Contest~*~

Hey Fellow scrappers! Its Freebie Friday at DCWV! You all know you love this brand...so stop on by to their link and post a comment...don't forget to follow their blog and/or Facebook page!

http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2011/04/warehouse-sale-giveaway.html?showComment=1302879273671#c4190032780963560054

~*~ First Christmas Book~*~

So have more than one kid who's First Christmas' was in different years? No need to worry! Just combine them! I did that with this Christmas book. My daughter's first Christmas was in 2007 and my son's was in 2009. Instead of making a 12 x 12 book for each, I did this. I used a plain red album...put this awesome first Christmas sticker in the picture window on the cover...and surrounded it with ribbon. The last page of the book...well I ran out of photos...so I meant to write "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night"...but no room..so I shortened it. As for materials..I have honestly been saving Christmas paper for the past 3 years so I don't know even know where it came from. I also been saving stickers for 3 years as well...whenever one is on sale I pick it up.

~Florals...WTF, mate?~

~This morning I've been looking through the blogs and pages of the main scrap crappin manufacturers. You know the ones! I'm not going to mention names but if you keep up with them or at least see their products at your local scrap crap store you know exactly who I am talking about. I've noticed that florals are super popular right now. I'm not much of a floral gal but Laura has really gotten into using flowers. Nothing wrong with liking flowers. I ♥ flowers in the real world sense. I love to learn about plants. In fact last fall I took a botany course and even though I had to learn 416 plants and I almost died, I still ♥ them!

Nymphaea odorata seen on a field trip

~ I do like to use flowers occasionally in my layouts. Sometimes they are necessary. Nothing says bright, sunny, happy, colorful like some strategically placed daisies! I get it flowers will always be a part of any scrap crappers aesthetic. However, the use of them recently has me worried or more like the OVER use of them. I was looking at the entries for this contest held by a very popular scrap crap manufacturer and was like wtf, mate? The entries all used flowers and LOTS OF THEM!! And many of them on top of each other creating sort of a geyser of flowers on the page. Some of them were works of art and I applaud them. Others however looked like the floral department of Michael's threw up on their papers! I'm not a minimalist by any means. Sometimes I feel the need to create a clusterf**k of scrap crap craziness on pages. But this floral thing, would you really just spend over 30 bucks on flowers, put them all on one page and then put it in a book to be seen occasionally? Maybe for a nice framed paged and that's a big maybe! Another thing that jumped out at me or maybe a more correct observation was what was not jumping out at me, the picture! Scrappin is supposed to be first and foremost about the memory. If all I'm seeing is the floral design, how does that give justice to your memory?
~I know Laura and I have made some pretty clusterf**k of goodness pages in our time but only when it was deemed necessary. And hey maybe this fellow scrap crappers feel the need to create an explosion of floral goodness all over their papers. I can only say in my floral druken stupor...WTF, mate?

¿Materials Used?

I know I'm supposed to be studying but I had a sudden **oh crap** moment. I noticed that we're starting to amass a collection of posts. Our original intention was to create a sort of menagerie of our awesome scraptacular crap and to spur others' to push their creative limits. I have come to realize that maybe in order to help push that boundary we might need to share what materials we used. Laura and I are the type of people who look at a picture and say "Omg that is so cool! I wonder how I can make my own?" Then we run to our scrap crap store, wonder the aisles like someone lost in a desert until something jumps out at us. Then we jump in our barrel and go over the creative falls. The other method to our madness is when we see something cool we just pick it up. Then eventually we find a use for it. Over the years we have collected a massive hodge podge of scrapabulous craziness! Sometimes its still in the original package, sometimes its not. Sometimes we get in such a zone that last thing we are thinking of "who makes this embellishment, ribbon, brad, eyelet, paper, etc?" I would also like to point out that we don't tend towards one manufacturer or another. We're more concerned about how much we like it and how much does it cost? Chances are if its over a certain price, we won't buy it unless A. we have a coupon or B. its on sale.

However both of us have thought quite a bit, well for at least 5 minutes anyway and have created a short list that we like to call:

☻~The Blue Belly Button Scrap Crap Must Haves~ ☻
1) Glitter -We ♥ Martha Stewart Glitter. We have tried ALOT of glitters & we like the consistency and the color richness. How do we get it? Michaels or Jo-Ann's 50% off coups!

2) Scrapbook Tape -We've been using a tape from Elmers. We ♥ Dotto but it gets expensive. However the Elmers is a good alternative. Where do we get it? At Walmart, $2.50 for 2!

3)Scissors -We splurged on these the first time we bought them. They are Fiskars Softouch Micro-Tip Scissors. Yes I know $15 scissors but a 50% coup makes it easier to swallow. We ♥ these scissors b/c they stay sharp, don't fray the paper edges & are great for precise cutting. Our hubby's jack those suckers all the time!

4) Glue - We use a lot of Elmers stick glue. The one that starts off purple and dries clear seem to work the best for me. I use it on paper and pictures. Laura uses it mostly just for paper. It's cheap! We usually buy it towards the end of the summer when all the school supplies are on sale. We stock up and it usually lasts us til Christmas ;-) We also LUV Elmer's Spray Glue for putting paper onto chip board. Super fast and holds great. We find this on sale randomly or just use a coup.

5) Ribbon -Laura ♥♥♥ ribbon and I've only recently developed a respect for it. We raid the dollar bins at Michaels all the time. Think most of the ribbon we have is by Celebrate It. Its usually always on sale at Michaels. The other ribbon we use is this ribbon I've found at Jo-Anns that already has the sticky on the back. ♥ that stuff. Its a $1 for a spool. Its on a little rack always at the end of an aisle or on an end cap.

6) Chipboard albums -Ok basically we just find these randomly when they are on sale or on clearance. We've used Bo Bunny, Maya Road and a few others. We'll try to make it a point from now to post which manufacturer made our chipboard book. Though we have been making quite a few on our own.

7) Paper - WE ♥ PAPER! We are paper whores! If its on sale we stock up! Then we organize based on whatever organization method we are using at the time. We're RARELY know who has made our paper! If we do know, we most likely will mention it b/c I would imagine we would be some serious proud of ourselves!!! However don't even ask, you'll get the giant question mark!

8) Stickers -WE ♥ STICKERS! We are sticker sluts! If they are on sale we stock up! We actually have more of a clue to what stickers we are using than what paper. If you ask, the question mark might be smaller than the paper one!

9) Crop a Dile - I ♥ it!! Laura just recently discovered hers. I love it as a hole punch and I love it as a setter. The eyelets and brads we get are all random. We usually get them when they are on clearance at Tuesday Morning and Big Lots. We don't even attempt to know who makes them!

10) Last but not least decorative scissors & shape cutter...They are a must have. I don't know what brand Laura's decorative scissors are but I know the ones that I have are the ones you can buy in the bins at Michaels for like a $1. The shape cutter is from fiskars, I used a 50% coup and bought the set that came with four template plates.

Oh and don't forget the BABY WIPES! They are awesome for cleaning up and attracting glitter!! Buy'em in bulk saves you moolah!

So there you have it! Our list of must haves. We're actually really good at finding deals and knowing what store is going to have the best price on things. We are thrift junkies! If you want advice on where to find the best price on something, just ask! Chances are we know!!! We will try from now to make a more conscious effort to make a materials used list, but we're not promisin' nuthin'!!!

~The Norm Book~

Norm is a person that was made up In Kat's head one night. Her hubby and herself share this funny joke about having Norm in a can..you pop him open and Bada Bing your household chores are done! Well a few years ago..I made Sal (Her Hubby) Norm in a Can! Norm is made out of clay..he even has a hammer! Well last year, I wanted to make a book about Norm and his adventures! So Norm went to College! FIU to be exact!...I am also not a clay making kinda gal..and Norm lost both his arms after this book was made...poor norm...

Addendum by Kat: I'd like to make a correction here. I did not invent Norm in my head. Norm is Norm Abram, an incredible carpenter that has his own PBS show "The New Yankee Workshop" and also known for "This Old House". Anyways the gist of the story is I had this really weird dream one night and woke up laughing. I told my hubs about it and he thought it was hilarious! So now its sort of an ongoing inside joke between the two of us. My dream was that I was coming home from somewhere and I see a whole bunch of stuff had been done on the house. I find Sal and I was like OMG how in the world did you get all this done? Sal tells me "Well with Norm in a Can of course!" So then he sort of launches into this commercial for Norm in a Can. Yeah if you knew Sal you would be laughing harder cause my hubs is like super serious! I woke up laughing :-) So I ended up telling my mom about it too and she thought it was hilarious. So for the next Christmas she was going to make Sal a version of Norm in A Can, however she passed away before she had the chance. So Laura decided to take it upon herself to make Norm in a Can. Sal says its in the top 5 greatest gift list!

~The Christmas Tray That Should Have Won~

At least I didn't lose out to a tutu!

Michaels Store had a Contest back in December...the challenge was to use a Charger plate, scrap paper, and any type of glue...This whole tray was solely inspired but that ornament! Crazy I know..but I saw that ornament and I had to have it..and the whole tray came to my head and bada bing..I knocked this Tray out with in a few hours..I used 2 charger plates, an Ornament, a clay pot..a pot topper (snowman), paper, ribbon, glue, Glass mini Gems (found at Bed, bath and beyond) and 3 mini Plastic lotion bottles. Sadly I lost to a lady who made a paper house on top of a plate..yea..I know what your thinking! I said the same thing! I'm kinda a sore loser about it cause well..her's was a paper house!? And mine had duel purposes...I mean seriously..have you ever had a cookie tray that also served as a candy cane holder!?

~BFTP KEY WEST STYLE~

Way back in 2003..My hubby (which as been My high school sweetheart since we were 16) and I took a trip to Key West after after he finished his senior year of High school.We stayed at Duval Gardens Bed and Breakfast on Duval Street. We were close enough to all the action but far enough to enjoy some peace. We went snorkeling, and para sailing 650ft up and of course checked out all the museums. This was one of the best Vacays we ever took...and well of course it was scrap worthy!

Thanksgiving Cards

Wanted to make some Cards for a Family Thanksgiving..I spent a lot of time making these...but never got around to filling them out. So now they are just lost souls in a sea of My scrap crap!

~*~Parents Scrap Frame~*~

Another Frame! Arn't the colors on this awesome! (If you can't see it well cause of the flash..well its all purple!)

~*~ Parents Scrap Pages~*~

So I was planning on giving these as gifts to my parents..put them in nice frames and whatnot..but my mom insisted on me keeping them...so Either she dislikes them..or just doesn't want to deal with hanging them on the wall...cause well..I give her TONS of scrap crap of the grandkids so yea...Im going with number 2! Anyways I love these pages..again, they are very simple but I'm a paper scrapper'...I like to use many different papers instead of embellishments, cause well I just can't afford the fancy crap..Anyways hope you all like these as much as I do!

~*~Baseball Scrap Page~*~

So you recently viewed my baseball book I made...well what Kind of friend would I be to make myself something baseball-ish..and not make the friend who took me there something!? So I made this page and got a shadow box frame for it..I LOVE it! Simple and sweet..and with her busy lifestyle she can just hang it up and enjoy it when shes heading out the door.

~Blast From the Past~

Ok so I was walking by the entertainment system earlier today and I saw 2 things that I have made that I had completely forgotten about!! Plus I saw a scrapbook that my niece and my sister in law made. I ♥ the ribbon on it. So I'm going to share it.
These three random things inspired me to create a new feature on BBB "BLAST FROM THE PAST". I haven't told Laura yet but I'm sure she'll LUV IT!!! From now on this is how we will feature previous projects from the past. Hoping this will help keep us a bit more organized and being able to differentiate between newly finished projects and projects from long ago!

~*~Interchageable~*~

Ok fellow Scrappin' Crap peeps...I have noticed this but don't know if anyone else has...In case you were wondering..why a post says on the bottom "posted by Kat" and the photo box says "Made by Laura" or vise versa...well...my computer is beyond shot..and so Kat uploads my photos for me...and also we are just Interchangeable so it makes total sense to us. I just can't imagine not being interchangeable with my bestest friend! Our scrap crap probably wouldn't turn out as awesome as it does!

We ♥ Buddha!!!

My older Brother Jesse has a dog named Buddha. I will announce to the world that I..Laura...just don't care for animals too much but unless they are at the zoo...cause well...zoo animals rock...anyway back on topic here..but I owed my brother a belated birthday gift so why not make him something totally strange and unique! And besides my bestest friend Kat had an awesome selection of dog scrap crap! This was just about the same time I saw my mom posting new photos of Buddha and Jesse on facebook and 'ding' that little elf in my head rang his bell and yelled "Dude make a Buddha Book!"...Not one to make the elf mad I said Okay!! So the Buddha book was born. Its very busy but I love it! The back page dog house and the letters DOG were made using my brand new kickass awesome Cricut machine.The photo on top is a wallet size photo of my brothers family and you can't see it to well in the photo but the sticker under it says "A dog says I love you by wagging his tail"...or something like that. Hope you fellow scrappers enjoy my newest book!

Jesse's Xmas

So I did the same type of Christmas gift, as I gave my mom, for my older bro Jesse. However I put the more up lifting and funny photos in his book. Jesse is light hearted and loves to joke around so I thought showing off how funny my kiddies can be would be perfect! Towards the middle of the book I think I could have done more but I ran out of stickers and ideas..lol.

~America's Pastime~

Somehow Nicole convinced Laura to attend a baseball game. I however still have not figured out how...must have said something about her being able to get tan **ponders for a sec**
Anyhoo, Laura found this super cute 8x8 book that looks like a baseball to scrap the occasion. Buuuuuut she couldn't bring herself to start it. Laura is not what you call a sporty girl so trying to get her excited about a sport where no one beats the crap out of each other **sigh** well you get the picture. The pictures though were very cute and so was the book. So being the sporty girl I am, I started it for her. Since I wasn't there it was a little rough to try create a mood. I think though I did pretty good trying to capture the fun spirit of 3 girls involved. My favorite pages are the ones where I cut out the players and made it look like they were standing on the grass. I got the idea from those old time metal games, where the pieces were upright and had magnets on the bottom. Then you turn on the machine and they start moving all over the board. Don't ask me what made me think about that. I'm random like that. The day was almost over and I still had to drive back to Miami so I had to stop. That book sat for well at least since this time last year I believe. Today Laura got bit by the finishing bug and decided she was going to finish. You can totally tell that two different people worked on this book. Though it looks like a cohesive book, you can see the different aesthetics that Laura and I have. It really turned out to be a really cute book. Most of the embellishments were from a baseball scrapbook kit and the paper was from a sporty paper kit. Which by the way we both have bought on different occasions! Laura had some random baseball themed buttons that we used as well that turned out to be perfect.

~Lauren's Clutch~

This past Christmas I wanted to make my niece Lauren something scraptacularly awesome! I wanted something really different that had the ability to be super sexy flirty fun all at the same time. I decided to make a scrapbook that was in the shape of a purse. After looking at all the chipboards available I decided that the ones shaped like purses were totally unacceptable! I wanted something that was really one of a kind. I found this super cute picture of a clutch online. So I did what any self respecting scrap crapper with zero drawing talent would do. I right clicked that pic and pasted it into excel. I then played with the sizing until I found an appropriate size, printed it and TADA it became my template for the book. I then cut out all the pages for the book based on that template. Some papers were a heavier cardstock so it needed some reinforcement. Others were super thin so I had to find some random cardstock to make it stronger. I then went to facebook and jacked some of my favorite pictures of her. Yeah I know it probably wasn't the best way to get her pics, but she's my niece and I wanted it to be a surprise...so I said to hell with ethics! I then started to experiment with things I have never used or rarely used. This includes gems, glitter glue and ribbon. I believe it was this book where I developed a respect for ribbon with the sticky on the back! Can't get enough of that stuff!
For the cover I went through several ideas and a couple of hours of wondering through Joann's. I then found myself in the scrapbook paper aisle getting ready to settle for something when I saw it! SUEDE PAPER!!! It came in a variety of colors but I fell in LUV with the light brown suede. Laura loves the combination of pink & brown and quite honestly I can handle pink when it's with brown. So I grab up a few sheets of the light brown suede paper. I then went looking for a button. I found the little butterfly with pink and brown tones in it. I thought PERFECTO! I then wanted something for the back of the purse. I found myself wanting something bling bling worthy and wondered over to the iron on rhinestone appliques for clothing. I thought why wouldn't this work? So I bought and made a mad dash for the check out line before I spent anymore money! I started working on the book and everything just clicked! The paper, the pictures, the embellishments, everything just worked!! This book is a one of a kind custom made just for Lauren scrapbook. No one in the world has this book or will have a book like this. So yeah I would appreciate it if you just looked and not reproduced.
I think what this book taught is that if I can imagine it, I can make it!!
(god that's sounds like something sappy ass that Laura would say! Get out of my head DA!)

~The Most Epic Picture Frames~

Check out these most epic picture frames that Laura made as a Christmas gift. She made them for a our fun-loving friend Nicole. SUPER FREAKIN CUTE, right?!?!!? I think so!

Laura has some serious mad talent!!

Grandma Brag Book

I love giving scrapbooks and homemade gifts for Christmas...no matter what someone is interested in..a home made gift always puts a smile on their face and shows that you were willing to take time out of your busy day to think of them. I wanted to make my mom a book of random photos and came up with this. Its small enough also, so that she can just throw it in her purse and use it as a kickass Grandma Brag book!

The Utterly Awesome Kat Book!!

So I had the sudden urge one day to make my bestest friend A scrapbook...not just any book..I wanted to make it all myself. So my hubby was on board with this project and bought me a saw. I purchased some thin plywood and went to town cutting shapes...as you can see, they aren't perfect but I love them anyway. Not only was I trying to make her a book that was completely home made...I also wanted to step out of my comfort zone. I am always looking to expand my scrappin' abilities because I get tired of my pages starting to all look the same. It took awhile to cut, sand and paint the sides of the wood..but putting it all together was rather easy..I had the idea in my head and everything fell into place. The only thing I think I will change on it is the binder ring. I think a bigger ring will let it lay a little flatter. So Enjoy!

~*~Our List of Scrap Crap~*~

So I am thinking if I post a list of our Scrap Crap here...there will be less of a chance of us losing it!..Cause yea...we are horrible at keeping lists..don't get me wrong..we are great at making them..just bad at keeping them where we can find them!

So here is a list of Projects that have been started and need to be finished:

1. Skittles Book
2. Christmas Book
3. Baseball Book
4. Miley's Book
5. Tj's Book
6. 1st Holiday Book
7. Miley's Baby Shower Book
8. Tj's Baby Shower Book
9. Monster Book
10. I <3 Kat Book
11. Football team book
12. Kat's Book
    

Here's the list of projects wanting to get started on:

1. Beach Pail Book
2. License Plate Book
3. Dog Book
4. Thomas Book
5. Marine Book
6. Music Book
7. Disney Book
8. Cupcake Book
   

Wow...Most of these are my books! LOL...I need to stop slacking and start Scrappin'!!!

~In dire need of an update

I know, I know! We need to update about our projects but well we've been busy! I had to get new brakes and I have an anatomy test in two days! (CRAP A DUCK!) and Laura, well Laura got the cricut so she's unavoidably experimenting right now! (and who can blame her, right?) Plus we are feeling some serious disorganized right now. I think we've not only acquired a lot of little stuff that has piled up but we've just had so many crazy ideas that we can't keep up! Once I get pass this anatomy test I will be getting myself organized. As for Laura, well my trek into organization will inspire her to get organized and then we'll be at least near the same page?!
Anyways here is a list of what is going to be showing up soon!

1) An update on the skittles book
2) A sneak peak of the I ♥ Kat book
3) A movie about Vitamin D that I made for my Human Genetics Class
4) Laura's 100% custom made book for me! which by the way I've seen & its awesome!
5) Laura's Xmas book
6) A book Laura made for her mom for xmas
7) A list of the ideas we've had that we are going to try to make reality
8) Laura's experimentations with the cricut
9) My take on organizing your scrap crap when you have little to no storage space! (aka how to use the back of your explorer to store your scrap crap & still haul your groceries!)
10) I dunno but probably something we've made in the past that is just undeniably SCRAPTASTIC!

oh crap 3 minutes to get to class....peace out fellow scrap crappers!
~kat

Runnn!!! Monster!!!

Okay as I blogged before, I was working on a surprise book! Well it is inspired by Harry Potter and its the big book of Monster book...you know...the book that trys to eat Harry! Anyway The outside is done and the inside is lined...now its time to work on the pages! I'm so excited the outside is done!!!

nom nom nom!!

~Work in Progress....

I wondered onto here and realized that we haven't been on here in awhile! I then realized that neither of us has been working too much on crafting. I've been busy with tests and Laura has been busy with the kids. However I did get some crafting time in today. I decided awhile back that I wanted to make a book that was inspired by Skittles candy. A friend of mine works in a bakery and she decorates these amazing cakes. She made a cake awhile back that was a skittles package. The light bulb went off in my head and I heard the rush of the waterfall! I decided to make a book inspired by a skittles package. I wanted it to be an interpretation of a skittles package and not an exact replica. I got some glittered cardstock to use as the background pages in the same colors as skittles candies. I think cut out a bunch of some circles and glittered them the skittles colors. I then used white shirt paint to draw an "S" in the middle. The front cover I made a custom sticker on clear sticker paper. I had a hard time with air bubbles but Laura assures me that it makes it look more like a real package. So I'm hoping she's not just saying that to make me feel better LoL. I decided to make the skittles book a birthday themed book. I decided this when I was at Joann's looking for the glittered cardstock. I saw these birthday hats by K&Company and was like "WE HAVE A WINNER!!!" I knew then the skittles book would be a birthday book. The first two pages of the skittles book are red and let you know immediately you have opened a birthday book. It has a photo palette in the shape of a cupcake. (Which is actually a funny story within itself.) The 3rd & 4th pages are the orange pages which I have not worked on yet. The 5th & 6th are yellow and just missing their yellow skittles. Sort of a just a random pic kind of page. The 7th & 8th pages are green which i have not worked on yet. The 9th and 10th pages are purple. The purple pages are for PREZZIES!! The photo palettes are shaped like little presents complete with bows made by Laura! (cause uumm me & bows just don't mesh well...**sheepish look**) The back cover..I haven't quite decided the background yet but I'm sure I'm going to use clear sticker paper to create it. Then I will put 5 larger skittles and put their flavor names under them.
I most likely will give this book away as a gift. To who? Have no idea but I think it is just the beginning of my junk food inspired books!

Sneak Peek!

OOOhhhh my fellow scrappers! ...Wondering what all these goodies are going to turn into??? Stay tuned and you will find out soon!!

Included in photo- 3 Wooden Plagues; fabric paper; belt clips; binder square rings; glue; paint; a false book; foe fur; and lots of O's!

~THE GREAT PUMPKIN!!!~

By far my favorite holiday to scrap is HALLOWEEN!!! Halloween usually has the best stickers, papers, embellishments and pictures of any holiday. At least it is in my book. I made this after Halloween 2010 for Laura. I have had the idea for a long time before that, to create a pumpkin shaped book for Halloween. I wasn't planning on any Halloween festivities but I knew I had to make this book. It was sort of damming the river and making it almost impossible for me to have any other creative "flowage". The idea was sort of creating a situation of creative constipation. I knew that Laura would be doing Halloween type stuff with her fam so I figured well not only could I clear the path buuuuttt I'd be doing a favor for my bestest friend at the same time. I'd be giving her the opportunity to not have to add a project to her ever growing list of crap to scrap! See it was a win-win for everyone!
The first thing we had to do was get together because I knew I was going to need her help on this project to finish quickly. I had her come up with the pumpkin shape to use as a template for the book. The back page is a heavy chipboard and the front page is made out of a glittery card stock. The rest of the pages are regular grade scrap paper cut into the shape of a pumpkin. We had to create both fronts and backs. It was a process! I then proceeded to cut each page except the back page, down the middle. This made it to where we had the binding on each of the sides of the pumpkin and the book opened from the middle. Don't really know why I insisted on this, but I think it gave it a different sort of look. I documented the whole Halloween process from pumpkin patch to hauling in the candy! I laid out all the pictures so all Laura has left to do is embellish. However it looks pretty rockin' even without embellishments! With both of us cutting and gluing it took 20 hours to create this book. This does not count the 2 hours we took to go on a midnight taco bell run or the 2 hours the next morning we took to hit Joann's for more glue (was it more glue? I dunno it's all kind of hazy LoL!) We spent about 15 hours throughout the night and then when we returned from Joann's we spent another 5 until I had to go. Moral of the story: always scrap with a friend who can cut better than you!

~Kat's Unique Book Gift~

Do you have a lot of random photos that make the people who are in them plead with you to delete? Well I do and I got this really great idea to use all those "funny" random photos as a special and unique Christmas gift. While wondering around one of my LSS trying to find inspiration, I saw a display for individual pieces of chipboard shaped like letters. Then I heard the rush of the waterfall!!!! I decided to spell out the person's name and use all those funny random photos I have of her. She herself is a scrap-crapper and I know she has enough of those perfect kind of pages. So I decided well let's make a book to show the imperfect fun side that we all know and love! A lot of the papers I used were from Bo-Bunny, which is one of her favorite lines. The embellishments were a mix of rub-ons and jewels. This is the project where I learned that I LUV those sticky jewels! Word of caution though, when working with those plastic acrylic pages be prepared to use muscle with the rub-ons.

~Kat's Zoo Book~

Last Mother's Day I thought it would be fun to spend the day at the zoo with one of my favorite little guys. When I sat down to scrap the trip I wanted to go outside my comfort zone. I used the Animal Crackers stack from DCWV. It was a real make it work kind of moment because the paper was way busier than what I usually choose. Then once i got into a groove with the paper, I started to run low on animal stickers. I found in my scrap crap these realistic animal stickers. I remember thinking what was I thinking when I bought these! But then I decided why the hell not!!? I stuck them onto a piece of card stock, cut around it and then used 3-Dots to make them pop off the page. Oddly enough it worked out great! I also had problems with gluing and taping on the glittery paper. I've tried several different types and brands. I think I finally just ended up using elmer's stick glue.

Gingerbread Book

I used glue dots and glittered them for the eyes, buttons for well...the buttons..and fabric glittered white paint for the icing. I made each family member into their own gingerbread. I had a photo of their faces on the head part and then used pictures of their families on their bellies. My mother-in-law loved this book when I gave it to her Christmas!

PaRtY!!

Our creativity doesn't stop at just scrappin' crap! My friend's baby girl was having a Minnie mouse party. I came up with the first bag to be used as a goodie bag, Kat helped me out with the Minnie head bag. Aren't they cute! They are made with 8 x 11 paper so they actually can hold a decent amount of candy. And no Cricut machine needed here!...all our hand cut with an exacto knife.

Valentines Day!

So instead of making some Valentine Day cards for the grandma's and great-grandmas...I decided to make some frames! Again, I am a huge fan of the wood unfinished frames...they are only $1 at Michaels...can't go wrong with that! So using paper I got out of the Target $1 bin, ribbon and wood love sign from Michaels and foam stickers from Joann's...I created fun frames as an unexpected gift for V-Day. As a little added detail I had small thin V-Day ribbon which I glued in the lip of the heart!

Thanksgiving Frames

So I saw these little scarecrows at Michaels one day..they are actually on sticks. So I brought a plain wood unfinished frame, painted it..added some fall leaves and twigs and a bright flower. I broke off the stick off the scarecrow and for a finishing touch I bought 3 different colors of that paper ribbon stuff and completed the frame by making a cute little bow.

Halloween Frames

Fabric paint works great for creating webs on clear frames. Another good scrap item to have around is leaves. I found these leaves at Michaels, they are black with purple glitter on them. I just super glued them on the frame. The word 'spooky' and the bat are made out of wood which I just added a touch of glitter. The rest of the items are just random stickers and foam stickers I had in my collection of scrap crap.

Wedding Book

I made this book for my older brother who plans on getting married. I call it a sexy book since the silver and black just pop from the pages. I hand cut all the poster boards to make this book, and the inside pages are abut 1 inch smaller then this front page and back page. I thought the front and back cover were perfect to show everyone that your don't need a lot of color or embellishments to make a statement.

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