PaperFections

Back-to-School Day & PTI

Hello All -- I sent my kiddos off to school this morning and then promptly downloaded the photos I took and somehow a big chunk of the day was taken over with digi-scrapping! :) Here's just one page I created with Shabby Miss Jen Designs' new School Time album. Over the weekend I got a little organizing done and wanted to share how I've been storing buttons ... specifically Papertrey Ink's beautiful buttons! They come packaged in a little zip lock baggie. Since my other buttons were stored on shelves in jars, I decided to give Making Memories' small storage jars for their Embellishment Center a try and much to my delight, Papertrey's package of buttons fit perfectly into these jars! Ahhh, they're all nice and labeled and within easy reach now! Now I'm off to actually try and USE some of those pretty buttons! Read more →

Just a Quick Post

Sorry to interrupt, but I think I may have messed up my RSS feed and wanted to check it out. If you are reading this in a RSS feed reader, then great! If not -- well, I guess I did mess it up and I hope you'll find your way back here for a visit and reconnect to the new feed address. You can do that by clicking on the generic orange "Subscribe in a Reader" button in my top right sidebar, under "Subscribe to PaperFections" (just scroll down a tiny bit). Alternately, you can subscribe via email and you'll receive an email notice when I update my site. My apologies for any inconvenience! I hope to be back tomorrow with some artwork to share! Read more →

Tagged!

You can blame it on Anna, Val & Lori! You see, one tagged the other and so on ... It's a little game of tag layed upon me by some friends. I was supposed to go to my 6th photo folder and pull up the 6th picture. That folder was coincidentally the same as Lori's -- my BlackBerry's photos, and here's the 6th photo: My oldest daughter (8 years), last June. I think we were at the car dealership for some routine maintenance. Gotta love those in-phone cameras when you are a Mom -- never miss a cute moment! And yes, those beautiful curls are natural -- but you wouldn't believe all the people that used to ask me if I permed her hair when she was a toddler with a huge mass of tossled short curls! Get real, people -- perm a 2-year old's hair?!! And just so her sister doesn't get upset, here's the 5th photo from that folder: ... my youngest daughter (almost 6) a few days earlier at swim class! Now I'm supposed to tag 6 more unsuspecting friends: Asela Cammie Debbie Jenn E Melanie Wendy Here’s what you do, girlfriends: •Open your photo folder on... Read more →

Coffee Anyone?

Okay, so this post isn't DIRECTLY related to papercrafting, but it certainly helps me DO my papercrafting!! I've owned this type of Keurig coffee maker for 2 years now: Dear, sweet hubby got it for me for Christmas and it's honestly the best gift he's ever given me (other than our sweet girls, LOL!). I use it multiple times every day -- not just for hot coffee, but also for iced tea, cocoa and just as a hot water tap. Keurig's customer service is FABULOUS -- I had an issue with my machine after about a year (warranty technically expired) but they sent me out a free, new machine! And no, I haven't been paid to endorse this product, I just love it!! So I wanted to pass this along to you -- If you'd like the chance to win one of these machines, SplitcoastStampers.com is GIVING one away in a drawing. You can read all the details and enter for a chance to win HERE. Good luck and you're welcome! :D Read more →

12 Days of Christmas Celebration

(The photo is of my girls on Christmas morning, so please excuse the wild hair!) Just when you thought Christmas was over, we've got another 12 days to celebrate with you over at the CLASSroom! You'll want to visit us every day for some fantastic projects using the products we are giving away as well as some wonderful new product releases! The First Day of Christmas has started HERE on the CLASSroom and there are some important announcements on Ellen's store site HERE, including a discount code to use this coming Monday, December 29 -- just in time to use some of that holiday cash you might have received! Read more →

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! This was our Christmas card this year. The photo came from our Halloween trip to Disney this year, where we all dressed up like the Pirates of the Caribbean! I hope your day is filled with family and wonderful memories! Read more →

Elfy Christmas Wishes!

I'm still holed up with the achy back, unable to sit at my desk and create, but found this (post below) and had some fun today . . . Merry Christmas from my Elfy family!! Read more →

Fun Stuff

I seem to have thrown out my back and am in bed with a few pain killers & muscle relaxers in me, hoping they'll do the trick so I can finish up my Christmas shopping this week while my girls are still in school. So I probably won't have any new artwork to show you today (we'll see how I feel over the next couple of hours), but found this while blog hopping this morning in bed with the laptop and thought some of you might find this interesting -- I did, but it might just be the meds! My hubby mutters this ("There's only one of YOU") under his breath occasionally, but now I have proof: HowManyOfMe.com There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name? Yep, I seem to be one of a kind, LOL! You can click on the link above and try it for yourself. And here's a cute poem I've seen in a few places over the last week . . . I'm sure none of you can relate, can you?! :) Twas the Night Before Christmas Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree. I'm wondering... Read more →

Happy Thanksgiving!

The big meal was cooked earlier today and shared with family. Our Dallas Cowboys won the traditional Thanksgiving Day game (while I napped!) . . . good times and good memories. I hope you all enjoyed the day remembering what you are thankful for and shared it with those you love . . . I know I did! My girls wanted to make some art for me to share with you all today . . . I hope you don't mind! I think this one is self-explanatory (gobble-gobble): This one is a large harvest moon, fall tree, and pumpkin: And this is what dear hubby is doing now: Looks like I have my work cut out for me tomorrow! A few reminders: - Taylored Expressions is having a sale this weekend: Use coupon code THANKFUL4U (all caps, no spaces) upon checkout to receive FREE SHIPPING on orders over $40 (before tax and shipping) through Sunday the 30th. Please feel free to pass on this code to your friends -- the more the merrier! Happy Shopping! There's also a sale on THESE JustRite products at Taylored Expressions -- Buy One, Get One Free (on selected product). So you can shop for... Read more →

Papercrafts Gourmet

Papercrafts magazine is coming out with an exciting new edition called " PC Gourmet" . . . and yes, it's filled with wonderful paper crafts AND good food recipes! Here is a sample of one of the recipes and projects you will find in this issue, designed by Papercrafts Pro, Alisa Bangerter: Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits , from Alisa Bangerter This is a perfect recipe to pull out if you are short on time because there is no rolling or cutting. The cheese and garlic add extra kick to a plain biscuit, and kids love them. They are the perfect accompaniment to serve with soups or stews, and aregreat served with a salad. INGREDIENTS 2 c. flour 2 tbsp. granulated sugar 4 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1/2 tsp. salt 2/3 c. butter or margarine 1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese 1 1/4 c. milk Chives (optional) DIRECTIONS Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is fine. Add cheese and mix well. Add milk and stir until just moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Sprinkle top with chopped dried or fresh chives if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for approx.... Read more →

Creative Explosion!

I think my creative muse took a vacation this weekend and I couldn't get anything done. But today she returned and exploded on my desk! I'll be back tomorrow (Wed) and each day the rest of this week with some new project details! Read more →

Another big blog giveaway for World Alzheimer's Day

If you haven't heard or read about what Carolyn King is doing over in her corner of cyberspace, you really need to check it out. She's gathered a bunch of wonderful products from fabulous companies you all know and love and is giving away the whole bundle at the end of this week. If you enter to win, you'll be helping to raise the spirits of some dedicated people who care for Alzheimer's patients. You can read all about it on Cammie's Blog. Have a wonderful Sunday and remember that you only have until 12pm EST today to enter to win my giveaway here! I'll be back to announce the winner tomorrow morning! Read more →

Invisible Mother

A friend sent this to my inbox this week (thanks, Joy!) and I thought it might lift someone else's spirits as it has lifted mine this week, so I wanted to share . . . It's a bit lengthy, but a good read of encouragement as to how we are affecting our children's and others' lives around us, even when we may not know it. I'll be back tomorrow with Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge and then a surprise announcement for you on Monday! ==================================== It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time... Read more →

Housekeeping

Sorry for all the possible FeedBlitz notices and multiple Google Reader pings you may have received from my site today. I did some housekeeping (better here than in my actual house, LOL), moved some things around and changed my blog banner yet again -- told you I get bored easily ! In an attempt to have my site load a little faster for you, I tried uncluttering my sidebars a little and have now relocated some items. You'll now find pages with helpful links for Spellbinders and Copic located in the upper left sidebar, under my photo, listed under "Pages". I hope to be back later Wed or Thurs with some artwork to share . . . happy Hump Day! Read more →

Award

Sweet Sue nominated me for the award that you see here, and I'm very honored! Here are the five rules that go with this award: 1) You must pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language. 2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog. Click on the name to visit the blog. 3) Each award winner has to show the award that she has been given, by the one aforementioned. 4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award (I'm not sure what language the site is written in, though, so best of luck reading it!). 5) To show these rules. It's always hard for me to do this, because I don't want anyone to feel slighted and because it's hard to choose someone that hasn't already been chosen 50 times! But I'll give it a shot and perhaps these are some blogs you haven't seen (or lately!) and you'll... Read more →