lindaalbrecht

A day late and a dollar short

Okay, I'm actually lots of dollars short after our shopping spree yesterday.  That's my excuse for not posting on Friday like I had said I would-- my husband and I decided to finish up our Christmas shopping.  We didn't.  Oh well, there's always next week and who doesn't like to battle the last minute shopping crowds in the mall? :-/

So today is packed full, but I wanted to jump on here to announce the winner of the Christmas Bingo Album kit.  Ready??????????????

Congratulations Bobbie!!!!!
Posted by: Bobbie | December 16, 2009 at 05:51 PM   Please email me with your mailing address and get ready for some fun.

I did another project for The Allyscraps Blog.  Please check out the other lovely projects on their blog also--they have a great design team and guest designers, like Morag Cutts--you should see her last blog post project.  It's a sweet little Christmas countdown calendar using my favorite Eskimo Kisses by BasicGrey.  It's the cutest!

My project is a sparkly Christmas stocking filled with sweet little winter time goodies.

The stocking is made from chipboard and covered in beautiful paper from Fancy Pants.  The little snow guy is part clay and part styrofoam and the star is paper mache.  I plan to draw up a pattern and write up the instructions for the stocking part, so if you want the template, please request it in the comment section of this post.  It may take me a couple of days to get it off to you, but I'll get them out asap.   
 
One more thing... this is up for sale at The Scrappy Gourmet.  It's so much prettier irl...sparkly little touches too.
 


Merry Christmas everyone!
Linda  
 
 

December's mystery

Okay, does December go faster than any other month or what?  Ten days until Christmas Eve and I am not ready.  I wonder how December does it?  I mean really, it's got to be one of the great mysteries of the world how the days get shorter during this month of the year.  Maybe part of it is the cold and less hours of daylight... I do tend to lose energy after the sun has set which means fewer hours to accomplish stuff. 

Anyway, I'm feeling a little put out about it and may just have to ask for a pardon this year from Christmas.  Only for a week or so... but then, maybe that wouldn't be enough anyway because I'd blow the extra days by napping too much.  Oh how I love to nap in the winter under a nice warm quilt. ;-)  Well, enough complaining... I need to get back to work soon. 

Things got a bit delayed on this next project, but it should be up for sale at The Scrappy Gourmet.  

This sweet little Maya Road house box album set is covered in Melissa Frances papers.  Of course you'll use lots of one of my favorite embellishments-- silver pipe cleaners-- plus other pretty trims found at The Scrappy Gourmet store.  Also included are those Kaiser Kraft Rub ons.  You'll get plenty in the kit to do other projects too.

The pages are simple and sweet with room for your favorite Christmas photos.
I haved loved those pretty papers from Melissa ever since I first saw them and can't get enough of them at Christmas time.


 Since I brought up time and the loss of it, I have to show you what I have been working on while I am waiting for an hour before one of my son's Hockey games.  He does warm ups and gets ready for his game, I do this:

I have an obsession with my mom's old photos.  Photos of grandparents, my mom as a child, my sisters and myself when we were young..... I just love and cherish them so much.  I try to use them when I can in layouts or minibooks, but I decided to put my favorites in their own book so that they are all together.  I can't wait until it's all done.

I'm using a mixture of scrapbook papers and supplies, fabric, old buttons and lace, lots of stitching, beads, and trinkets. Those laces are all from a 98 year old friend of my mom's.  Some of them are from her travels to places like Sweden and Germany.  Lucky me!
The scrapbook papers and embellishments are from the new BasicGrey "Origins" line, Cosmo Cricket, Bo Bunny, and My Mind's Eye.  Love. love. love!
 
In my last post, I mentioned a GIVEAWAY!!!!  This time I want to give someone the opportunity to WIN one of my kits.  Remember this?


Leave a comment on this post and you will be entered into the drawing to win this kit which includes a 12 page 5x7" album, all of the trims and embellishments, plus instructions and full color images of each page for easy assembly.  All that you'll need is your own Christmas memories in photographs.

I will draw a name on Friday, December 18 (this week!) and will post it the same day.  Good luck everyone.

Merry Merry everything!
Linda
 
   

You can tell it's December!

Yes, it's definitely December because I've got so much to do..... not only because of Christmas preparations, but this is always a busy month planning for the Winter CHA show.  Scrapbook manufacturers are rushing to get together new product and they need plenty of samples to "wow" the retail merchants.  

I don't have all of my decorating done yet either.  I wish that I did... but I am close.  If  I didn't feel the need to cram a few hundred bulbs into every open nook and cranny of the house maybe I would be.  I love it though.  I love the lights and the sparkles that fill the house and the smell of a real tree.   Every year when I open the boxes filled with decorations, I feel a little rush of excitement. 

I plan to have a few things to share soon, but wanted to pop in to ask you to head on over to the  Allyscraps blog.  I am the guest designer for the month and they sent me some fun product from their store to work with.

 This is just a small portion of my project for the week.  I used some Maya Road chipboards and beautiful Fancy Pants "Christmas Magic" product from the Allyscraps  store.  This product is gorgeous and really has a magical quality to it.  The Christmas Magic rub ons are my favorite!  So if you can, please head over to see the rest of the images of my project at the Allyscraps blog, then visit their store for some great product lines.   

Well, I'm off to work on more decorating.  I will be back soon and will be offering up a little giveaway next time, so stop by in a few days to see what it is!

Have a peaceful holiday season,
Linda  

Time to be Thankful

 
 
With the week to come being full of giving thanks, I wanted to check in here to say thank you to all of my readers/friends that visit.  I remember fighting the choice to say yes to this blogging thing but honestly, I have been richly rewarded in many ways.  Like the birds passing the cherry, we all share and feed each other's journey with nourishment for our artistic souls.

This little blog has rejuivenated my faith in the kindness of people.  It's inspired me to be more creative, more productive, and it's a happy reminder of the common bonds that we as members of the human race have.  So, thank you, thank you, thank you..... my heart is full.

A special thank you to the sweet and extra kind women that were my hosts and in my classes that I taught in Massachusetts this past weekend.  You were such fun and truly some of the nicest people that I have ever met.  You lifted my spirit and I hope that we meet again someday.   

If you have a moment at this busy time I hope that you'll visit the Tattered Angels Blog to read my  post and view my projects.   Here is a few samples of what you'll see.

I explain over there how I created my projects and which of the Tattered Angels products I used in my 4 projects.  It's my first blog post as a designer for them so it would look good if you popped in to say "hi"  :-)

 As promised in my last post we drew a name from the comments to receive the "Gathering Sign" that I made with the November Mosh Posh Kit.

The winner is:

SaraG  who posted November 06, 2009 at 09:06 AM  Congratulations!  Please email me with your mailing address and I'll send it off right away.  Thanks to everyone else who commented--you make me smile.

 
Lastly, I want to let you know that this project is now for sale at Frost it Pink.


It's a nice mixture of Melissa Frances product, Websters Pages, Prima, and Maya Road.  Check out Frost it Pink for more images.

Then over at The Scrappy Gourmet store my Snowflake Album and Ice Skates box is up for pre sale to be shipping around December 1.  It's been up for pre sale for a week now and there's only 16 kits left, so if you wanted one before and didn't get it, check it out quick!  

Time to get back to catching up after my weekend away from home.  Have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!

Linda
 
 
 
  

 

November

It was a white frosty morning here.  The air was crisp and clear, making for a cold wait at the bus stop for Cort.  I usually sit on the front porch, open a window, and listen to the kids down on the corner as they chatter about their day,  but not this morning.   Even the cat thought better of hanging out on the porch today.  

Luckily, the night air on Halloween was a little bit warmer than today's, so my 2 favorite trick or treaters had nothing to complain about.

Louie, our grand dog, went for the cute look with his Halloween costume.  Cort went for the creepy.  A good time was had by all.  We ended the night with chili, hotdogs, and appetizers at my sister's house.  She also had a yummy hot cider drink that was delicious and spicey.  

This week I have a few projects to share with you that I made with the  November Mosh Posh kit.  I was invited to be their guest designer and was happy to see that the kit was made up with Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg papers, BasicGrey Indian Summer Woolies, BasicGrey letter stickers, a cute little chipboard pumpkin coaster book from Maya Road and some Making Memories goodies.  Some of my favorite things!

 

 

Those papers are so cute and the kit is pretty generous for the cost.  Go check out the monthly Mosh Posh Kits for a dose of inspiration and fun.  Thanks again, Mosh Posh, for letting me work with your kit.

 Hey, do you like free, cute fonts?  Then you need to go and check out Kevin and Amanda's Blog.  Scroll down and along the right side you'll find a link that says "Free Fonts!".  I've been wanting to share these with you for awhile, but kept forgetting.  Kevin and Amanda (well, I think mostly Amanda) blogs about some fun and interesting things.  She shares computer tips, recipes, and photos of their sweet little Boston Terrier's.  Oh, and if you like digital scrapping, Amanda will be drawing for some free digi kits on THIS POST !!  And they are cute ,cute, cute! 

Remember this kit?

It's up for sale right now over at The Scrappy Gourmet.  Pre orders went up on tuesday and the scalloped edge binder kit is already sold out.  If that's the one you'd like, email them and let them know and they'll get back to you about it.  Otherwise there are plenty on hand of the straight edged binder.

 
Lastly, I need to thank everyone who participated in the Little Pumpkin Head project.  Everyone that sent me images and links to their project did such a wonderful job.  I'm so impressed! 

As promised, we drew a name from the entries and AMY you win the BasicGrey prize!  Yayyy!!!!
You can view Amy's Little Pumpkin Head here:  
http://amy-justforlooks.blogspot.com/2009/10/going-to-grammys.html
Amy, please email me with your mailing address.  Thanks!

Speaking of prizes ;-)

..... who wants the "gathering" sign shown above?  The one with the wire handle.... comment and I'll draw a name next week then I can send it off so that you have it in time for Thanksgiving.  Don't you just love a give away?!!   Me too.

Happy fall wishes,
Linda

 
  
 
 

Some things just make you feel so good!

 You know, we all have those "things" and this time of the year definitely brings on warm fuzzies for me.  I love the things that we do to bring on the comforts of home, because we tend to spend more time inside now.  I love a candle burning at night...it's relaxing and cozy.  Often I even burn a candle in my den during the day when I am creating because it is such a comfort to me that it makes me relax and meditate a little bit more so that I can listen to my senses.  I think that my creativity level is much better in the cooler months.

Have I ever mentioned that I am a white color girl?  I adore every shade of white.  It soothes me and my decor reflects that.  The white and soft colors in my home make me have that "ahhhhh" feeling when I sit down and take it all in.  Bringing our passion for whatever colors or elements that we love into our homes is a such a simple thing that we all do to make us feel good.

I love to also create with products that make me feel good.  If it doesn't feel good then it doesn't spark my soul to be creative.  Not too long ago I wrote a post called Sunshine and a Little Snow and in it I shared some projects that I created with Tattered Angels  products.  Well, let me tell you (if I didn't stress it enough in that post:-) I fell in love with it all.  It has become one of those "makes me feel good" things for me.  Luckily for me, I was invited to join their design team and I am so excited!  It can be incorporated into the things that I do for my other teams and kits and that is so cool.  It's like a double benefit!

Last week I received a wonderful box of product to work with, so I just had to make something.  You know how that is... you get something fun and you just have to do something with it.  This applies to all things in life, don't you think?

 For this piece I used the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists in the Golden Terracotta, Forest Green, Coffee Shop, and Candlelight colors.  I made the banner with chipboard and a piece of Graphic 45 paper from their Domestic Goddess collection.

The Glimmer Chips (chipboard leaves) are coated with the Golden Terracotta, Candlelight and a little bit of the Coffee Shop along the edges.  These mists are amazing to work with and make shading so easy.  I also sprinkled on a few Utee crystals while the Glimmer Mist was wet so that when dry I could heat emboss the Utee and make the appearance of wet drops--like when you go out in the morning and the leaves are wet with dew.  I also did this to the little picket fence piece.

The tree is stamped with one of the screens from the Blossoms Glimmer Screen set.  I stamped it with the Arctic Blue mist which appears almost black.  The owl is stamped with a pigment ink and is from the Graceful Journey clear stamp set.  I added some gold embossing powder to his eyes and a couple of black pearl gems to make them pop.  I just love his haunting look.

 
Speaking of candles(or candle holders), I went to Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago and found this on sale: 

Oooooooohhhhhhhhhh.......... I think that I gasped when I saw it.  I H.A.D. to have it and after all it was on sale.  I don't know there is just something about it that makes me soooooo happy.  Originally I had planned to bring it home and paint it white (imagine) but for now I like it just the way it is and it contrasts nicely with all of the other white stuff in the house.  
Ahhhh..... love.

Amongst everything else, I am working on this project for a kit at The Scrappy Gourmet.  
Lots of lovely Melissa Frances and a sweet Maya Road house album. Melissa Frances products are another one of my "just makes me feel so good" things with all of their shabby, vintagey and soft elements.  I plan to have this project done very soon and it will be up for sale at TSG with plenty of time to create before Christmas.  This would be such a nice gift for someone or for yourself  if you can't seem to part with it. ;-)  Hey, I know how you feel... if it glitters, I don't want to part with it!

The BasicGrey Nook and Pantry Recipe Keeper that you can see the start of HERE will be for sale on the site on November 1st.

I could go on and on and on about my feel good things as I have many more, but we can save some for another time.  For now, this is a reminder for all of us to bring what we have the opportunity to into our lives.  In that we can find peace and comfort.  Then throw in the blessings of family and friends and really, don't we just have it all?  

"The heart of autumn must have broken here and poured its treasure out among the leaves."  Charlotte Fiske Bates
  

  
 
 
 
 

 
 

Bring Autumn back!!!!

Holy moly, it is cold!   Feels like winter is here--but they're saying it will be a mild weekend--maybe even upper 50's.  Yeah.  Let's hope so, because I am not ready to retire my flip flops quite yet.  Maybe we will have an Indian Summer now after an inch of snow, ice, and a few hard frosts.  You have to have a hard frost to call it "Indian Summer"... that's what my husband the weather guy says anyway. 

The other night an avalanche of leaves fell from one of our Ash trees.  Have you ever heard the quote, "Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."  by Emily Bronte?  There was no fluttering here...I think that it was more like a soft thud.  Ash trees definitely do not like a good hard freeze.

I guess that I have officially moved on in to the winter season, creativity wise.  This is one of the classes that I will be teaching at Right at Home Scrapbooking in North Attleboro, MA in November. 


 

I used a lot of Melissa Frances products (Christmas papers, Glitter Christmas pop out chipboard, silver tinsel, White bottle brush tree, and Bingo Board page.  The chipboard letters are from BasicGrey and I used a few Accucut dies too (little bird, circle and coaster).  

There a lots of ribbons and trims too.  We'll even be making some hand stitches on twill and felt.  The photo above does not show everything as there is a total of 18 pages for photos. 

I'm trying to savor Autumn a little, even if the weather and the crafty projects don't want to let me.

On the black antique wash base that sits on the back porch.  Mmmmm.... I love the colors.

A Halloween greeting on the front porch and yes, this is about as scarey as we get around here;-)

A funny little witch on top of a box of treats.  She doesn't scare me.... I still won't stay out of the candy!

Now, I just need to go outside and find autumn.  I know it's out there somewhere!  Maybe this weekend if the weather cooperates I will go to one of my favorite spots for color and take a few photos of Mother Nature. 

Thanks for stopping by..... I hope that you're enjoying autumn in your corner of the world.  If you want to see some really gorgeous autumnal images go to Flickr, type  Autumn in the search box and enjoy.

Linda (who talks a lot about the weather.....hmmmm.....)

  

Sunshine and a little snow...

It's a beautiful day here in MN.  It's so nice to see the sun... finally.  For most of September we prayed for even just a few drops of rain, then for the past 2 weeks there has been nothing but grey skies and rain showers.  Nice to know that God is listening ;-)

I said the unmentionable word "snow" (for October anyway) in my title also, but I'm talking the kind that is made with white paint, Snow Tex, and glitter.  I was honored to have been invited to be a guest designer for Tattered Angels and was sent some of their winter products.  Oh my, amazing stuff!

Here is one of my projects:

I painted a frame with white acrylic paint then used their Winter Crystals Glimmer Screens to stamp with embossing enamel onto the frame.  I then sprinkled on some white embossing powder and heat set.  Then I sprayed on the Glimmer Mists.

First I used Frost (blue) and Olive Vine to add the color then I sprayed the outer edges with Candlelight and Coffe Shop to get a glimmery distressed and aged look.  It was so fast and easy to do this entire frame.

I applied some BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses rub ons (aren't they sweet?) and Melissa Frances lace and a white resin applique and buttons.  Next I sprayed the chipboard skates and wreath from the Tattered Angels Frosty Memories Glimmer Chip set with Glimmer mist to color them up and last I added some Snow Tex to the pieces for a lovely just snowed effect.  Of course you have to add some clear glitter to the wet Snow Tex for the sparkles.

This was my favorite project of all... I made this with Tattered Angels chips, glass, letters, Bingo boards and calling cards.  What fun!!!!

A layout.....

I used some of the Candlelight Glimmer Mist again on this to get an aged effect around the edges of my BasicGrey papers.  That red stripe is no longer available, but I tend to hoard papers that I love and I thought that it was perfect for my project.  The top paper is from the new Eskimo Kisses line and is called "Rooftop".  So cute.

I also used a Glimmer Mist called "Marshmallow"(did I say used.... more like saturated my paper in it!)  It is the "frosty" effect that you see on the layout.  Love..... sigh......and check out all of the Glimmer Chips and that Bingo Board.  Too perfect.  I want more.

Then there is this.

I used the snowflakes from the Glimmer Screen "Winter Crystals" set to mask onto some patterned paper.  The paper was a pale blue so I just added more layers of blue "Frost" Glimmer Mist.

The cute little Vintage House is from Melissa Frances  and so is the cream and red "Holly Paper".

There you have it.... a little snow from me to you!  Go check out Tattered Angels for more wonderful product.  You won't be sorry.... and don't forget about BasicGrey and Melissa Frances too.  They all go together perfectly.

Oh... one more thing.  A little sneek peek of my BasiGrey Recipe Keeper can be found HERE at the Scrappy Gourmet "What's Cookin'" page.  This doesn't  even begin to show you everything, but aren't those papers so retro and fun?  Reminds me of my mom's kitchen when I was a kid.  Check back at The Scrappy Gourmet in a few weeks to see the completed project images.  I'll give you a heads up when that happens.

Enjoy your day!

   

Another Autumn project

Autumn.... there is something about it that makes me want to be creative.  I want to add touches of gold and pumpkin to my decor.  A little muted red is nice too and I love incorporating it into my art.

You can find my latest project over at the Melissa Frances blog.  There's always something happening over there... so much inspiration.

Pretty much all of the product is from Melissa's collections.  If you head over to her blog, you will find the supply list and instructions for this piece.

 

One other project that anyone can whip up quickly are these little Halloween Ornaments.

I made these for a Creative Cafe Art Bar project. If your local Scrapbook store has an Artbar, look for them to making these felt ornaments throughout October.  All but one of them were made using an AccuCut circle die and then handcutting small portions away to make the shapes.

If you don't have a Creative Cafe Artbar near you, email me and we'll work on getting some instructions to you.

Okay, I'm off to spend some time relaxing with my family.  I haven't done enough of that lately.  A little TV, a warm quilt, the cat snuggling up on my lap, and some hugs from my son sound pretty good on this cool Autumn night. 

Questions about the pumpkin project

Hi!  I'm just popping in quick this morning because I've had a few questions about the pumpkin project in my last post.

I usually respond to the commenter personally via email, but my email program isn't letting me open up some of the typepad emails.  Grrrr...... anyway, if you asked a question and you don't get a response from me, please check the comments in the "Little Pumpkin Head" post below and I will have answered your question there.

So sorry for the hassle.  We are having a glorius autumn day here and hope that you are too!

"Everyone must take some time to sit and watch the leaves turn."  Elizabeth Lawrence

Linda