Our Baby Girl

How many times do you do use a particular sketch? Once, twice? Well, I am preparing for my workshop and my order hasn't come in yet...but I really wanted to try out this layout with something other than the papers they were designed for. And in keeping with my New Year's resolution, of working on all the baby albums...I started off with my granddaughter, Deborah's album. I am almost through with her first year...but have plenty to do for the boys' albums. I am using a combination of papers in this layout. Some are Close To My Heart, some are from K and Company and the rest is just from my stash.I made a gsd file of the flowers and cut them on my Wishblade, along with the title on the second page. This next page, "First Day," I completed about half of it last year, but had to put it up either because I was out of ink for my printer, or I needed new blades for my Wishblade. Either way, it didn't get completed till this past week. When Deborah was born, she had the worse case of jaundice. It was so bad, they kept her an extra day in the hospital. The pictures are from the first day she was in the incubator. Such a big baby for such a tiny bassinette. Deborah weighed 9 lbs, 10 oz when she was born.
Thanks for stopping by and permitting me to share. I'll have the workshop layouts completed in the next day or so, since my order was just delivered. YAY!!! So, until next time...Happy Scrappin'!! Leanne

Happy New Year!!

I know, I know...I am about 2 weeks late in wish all of you a Happy New Year. That just seems to be the way my life is going. I did want to share with you the layouts I started way back in November, but had to put away to prepare for my workshop and then all the holiday preparations. So, it wasn't till I got all the decorations put away, and the house put back in order, that I finally sat down at my table in the rubber room and finished up all 8 layouts. Let me explain what I did here. This first layout, is the same for all four of the grandchildren's albums. The next set of layouts are the individual layouts for each of them. The layouts and embellishments are all the same...the only thing I changed was the pictures.

I used a variety of products. Mostly CTMH's cardstock. I had cut alot out on my Wishblade and others I just had on hand.

Now, I've decided to work on all the baby albums. I have to convert Deborah's newborn page to a 12x12, so that is my latest project at the moment. Then I plan on doing the 6 month old page for the twins. Those will be the layouts we'll be doing at this month's workshop. I'll make sure I share them when I get them all completed.

I should get back to it so I can get them done. Thanks for stopping by...until next time...

Happy Scrappin'

Inky Hugs,

Look!! Santa's been here!!

Hey there!

Hope your holiday was as enjoyable as it was here at the Eisler's household. Santa arrived and delivered all the goodies for the children and had enough time to get back home and get plenty of rest before his own brood woke up.

The twins awoke about 8am and were utterly amazed to see all the goodies that Santa brought the night before. I think this is the first year, it registered with them about this particular holiday. As in every year, Dave played Santa and each time he handed a present to Jaden to open, Jaden would say, "Oh thank you!" in that sweet baby voice of his.

Kelli and Mike arrived with Deborah and Matthew, and our fun and festivities began. It brings back lots of memories of past Christmases of when I was a child. The excitement, anticipation of what each gift brings.

It was so much fun! It makes all the preparation for this time so worth it. Of course, I had my camera handy and snapping pictures right and left. So instead of plastering my blog full of Christmas morning gift opening events, I decided to try to put the pictures into a collage and post them. Now, all I have to do is just one page layout of Christmas morning for each of their scrapbooks, and not feel guilty of having to eliminate any photos. I should have thought of this long before now!!

Look at photos of Deborah and all her missing teeth. Don't you just love that?!? Now, the fun really begins...packing up all the Christmas decorations and storing them away again for next year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hope you enjoyed yourself.

Until next time....

Inky Hugs,

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Photo Cube

Greetings once again from the Rubber Room!

I so do apologize for not posting sooner. I can't believe its been a month since I've posted last. Not much has been going on here lately. I've just been busy with the "everyday life" kinda things. Nothing too exciting! You really don't want to hear about how my wash was coming along. Or how I hate to clean my house....so I won't bore you with the details.

But I do want to share with you my latest project I just completed.
My daughter Kelli, (waving hi!!) took the children up to Bakersfield, to "Picture People" and had this year's portraits done. They turned out so darn cute. I just had to do something special with them, besides putting them on a scrapbook layout. That'll come later.

Then I get Rebecca Ludens' newsletter from about.com. She mentioned she has all sorts of gift ideas and gave us a challenge and the links to a few ideas. I am always looking for inspiration and different ideas. Don't you? Especially now, during this holiday season. I always try to make one handmade gift for children. So, this year its the cubes.

Let me back up a bit, like 3 years or so. My husband is such a handyman. He loves his power tools. He is always out fiddling around in his workshop. I decided to do snoop one day. Why? I guess I was just bored and looking for trouble! I saw in his workshop this long piece of lumber. It was really long and measured 3"x3". I thought, I need that piece of wood. So, I promptly went to my husband and asked what plans he had for that piece of lumber. He told me and so I asked if I could have the leftovers if there was any. He knows not to question me when I get that gleam in my eye. So, he made sure he saved the leftovers. Not only did he save the leftovers he cut them for me as well. He cut them into 3"x3"x3" cubes. He managed to cut 6 of them for me.




He brought in those little cubes to me, and the wheels started turning. I was thinking of all the different things I could do with these cubes. I had so many ideas, I couldn't settle one just one. So, when that happens, I put it aside for a while and then come back to it. That was three years ago. I've been sitting with these cubes up on the mantle, waiting for my one idea, one great big spark of inspiration.

That's when I received Rebecca's newsletter. I read through all her newsletter and that's when I saw, she had done a photo block. http://scrapbooking.about.com/od/pagestarterideas/ig/Scrapbook-Cubes/Now she used papers on hers. I thought about using CTMH's Notebook papers...but changed my mind at the last minute and decided to just paint it.


So, here is what I did:

1. I sanded the blocks with a heavy duty sandpaper.
2. I painted the block with an acrylic scrapbooking paint.
3. I stamped using acrylic paint and CTMH's "Spot On Background" stamp set. Just the top and bottom. At this point I was still going to

use paper on the blocks, but when the paint dried, I really like the wood grain coming through. It was at this point not to use the papers.

4. I distressed all the edges with CTMH's Cocoa stamp pad, to give that distressed look.
5. I printed out my pictures (after cropping them down to just "head shots").
6. I cut out the scallop circle, using my Nestabilities.
7. I printed and cut out each of their names using the font "Fling" on my Wishblade. I also used my wishblade to print and cut the pictures.
8. I started on one side and worked my way around, using whatever embellishments I had on had.
9. I used a heavy duty push pin, and made holes in the wood, filled with Scotch Quick Drying Glue, filled each hole and then pushed brads in it. Its more of a decorative look than anything.
10. For those brads that were too big to press into holes, I cut off the prongs of the brad and glued them down with Liquid Glass, as well as using my Liquid Glass to attach the other embellishments.


I have another block to do, but I am still waiting on the pictures my son had taken of the twins. Hopefully, he'll be picking them up this coming Saturday. Then I'll be able to hop right on it and get his block done. Once I get it completed, I'll be posting here.


Thanks for stopping by. So, until next time...

Happy Holidays!!

Inky Hugs,
Leanne

Can you believe this....

Hi again!

Can you believe this? Three days in a row I've been able to get on here and post some artwork. You know, I am the world's biggest procastinator! If I would only...well, lets not go there! I don't want to bore you.

I did these cards for my good friend, Jenn. We were ooooing and awing at the stamps online, and without Jenn knowing it, I ordered a couple (ok ok...a couple is two, I ordered three) of the cutest little stamps from Elizabeth Bell. These lil darlings are from Elizabeth's "Sweet Ebony" collection. I have several links to share with you about Elizabeth Bell and her
Sweet Nellie stamps, which I will do at the end of this post.

Here are the three cards I sent to Jenn. The stamped image on this card is called "Basket Full of Apples." Isn't she the most precious! I used papers from CTMH's "Let's Get Together" paper pack. I made the flower from gingham ribbon and a flower loom I purchased off ebay. Ribbons came from www.reasonableribbon.com.

This darling little girl stamp is called "Garden Girl. When I purchased this stamp, I was busy in my garden, trying to grow some vegetables. This year, I wasn't as successful as I have been in the past. I have a couple of pictures of Deborah and Kelli working in the garden when we first prepped the garden. I think using this little gal on the page would make for a really cute layout.

I used CTMH's "More To Adore" paper pack and CTMH's markers to color her in. The ribbon came from http://www.just4funcrafts.com/. I also used my Cuttlebug folder "Swiss Dots" and embossed the half circle. That really adds some dimension to the card.

This little cowgirl stamp name is "Giddy Up Pony" from Elizabeth Bell's Sweet Ebony Collection. When I first saw this adorable little girl, I immediately thought of my grand daughter,

Deborah, and the cowgirl hat and boots, her Popi and I gave her for Christmas last year.

I am not sure where the papers came from. I just pulled them out of my stash of scraps. The cardstock is CTMH's barn red and bamboo. I use Friskar's border punches for the borders done in black and bamboo cardstock. I made the flower with my flower loom and attached it on a chipboard flower from CTMH. I also use my Cuttlebug folder "Swiss Dots" to the background. I cut the heart out with my sizzix "Big Shot and set an eyelet in the top.

I sent some stamped images to Jenn as an RAK, and if you visit her blog, www.just4funcrafts.blogspot.com, you can see some of her artwork. Jenn is the most talented artist I have seen. I get alot of my inspiration from her.

Now back to Elizabeth Bell and the links I promised to include in this post. There is a blog for Elizabeth Bell, so click on this link, www.sugarnellie.blogspot.com to go to her blog. If you would like to see some artwork/cards using the "Sweet Ebony" stamps, click here: http://www.zhibit.org/elisabethbell/sweet-ebony-cards-2. There are pages and pages of artwork. And to view or purchase any of the "Sweet Ebony" stamps, click here: http://www.funkykits.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=47_46.

That's about it for now. If I knew how to make this links into a one word link, I would, but I haven't a clue as to how to do that. As you can tell, I am still a bit computer challenged.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed yourself and have a Terrific Tuesday!

Until next time...

Happy Scrappin'!

Inky Hugs,

Leanne

A little bit behind the times....

Greeting again from the Rubber Room!

I am so pleased you stopped by. Its a very common thing for me to be a day late and a dollar short! I say this because here we are about a week and a half before Thanksgiving, and I am about to share the layouts I did a couple of months ago, at the beginning of the school year. I am also a year behind getting Deborah's album done. One good thing though, is they are done and into their albums. Two done, gazillon more to do. LOL I keep telling myself, baby steps. But you

know...those baby steps are being stampeded with photos screaming, "Scrap Me!!"

These first two layouts are of my granddaughter Deborah on her first day of Kindergarten. She can be such a "ham" when a camera is pointed at her. Papers are from Close to my Heart, Silhouette paper pack, flowers are prima flowers with itty bitty brads from CTMH. The die cut apples and backpack and title block in the left page, was something I picked up from WalMart a few years ago.

These two layouts are of my grandson, Matthew and his first day of preschool. I enjoyed doing Deborah's layouts so much, I decided to do the same for Matthew's pages. And his bright red shirt, just lead me to use primary colors for his pages. The polka dot paper at the top is from CTMH's Giggles and Grins. and the other is the last of the paper pack "School Days" from CTMH. I had some school themed stamps and stamped and colors various images on the "crayon" pattern paper. Too much open space for my taste. I made the little title block to match that like Deborah's. The shaker apple on the left page, has the alphabet beads, spelling out "Matthew's First Day of Preschool." The apple diecut on the right side, is from my stash. and the crayon die cuts, I did on my Wishblade.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed yourself. Stop back again sometime.

Until next time,

Happy Scrappin'

Inky Hugs,

Leanne

You're a Star!!

Hey there everyone!! Welcome back to my Rubber Room. I am so glad you dropped in for a bit. I want to share with you a card I made for my brother this afternoon. I received an email from my SIL telling us that my brother, Don received an award last night from the Engineering Department of the University of Louisville. My brother taught there for many years, till he retired a few months ago. Don had to say a few words after receiving his award so he thanked the IE (I think that stands for Industrial Engineering) department for giving this award to a civil engineer. That has to be an inside joke, because I don't understand the humor! Do you? :) Anyhow...

Don first graduated from Illinios Institute of Technology in Chicago, with a Civil Engineering degree. He then earned an M.B.A. degree from the University of Louisville (1983) and a Master of Engineering Management degree (1999). Don is also the author of a textbook on construction management. Dr. John Usher present the award to Don. Shannon Graves is a chemical engineer and the alumni ambassador who organized this year’s event. Those are the people pictured above.

The card I made to send to Don is 5" x 7". Colors are Cranberry and Black. I used the star paper from Game On paper pack from Close To My Heart. I also used the stamp sets, Star Struck and Shining Star. Embellishments are from the gold My Accents and black My Accents. The ribbon came from my stash, and I think I purchased it from www.reasonableribbon.com.

Thanks for stopping by,

Until next time!

Happy Scrappin'

Inky Hugs

Leanne

And so the "Tis the Season" begins...

Greetings from the Rubber Room!

I can't believe its been over three weeks since I have posted anything. My deepest apologies for not posting sooner. Don't you just hate it when life gets in the way of your passion? I am not grumbling too much...but that creative to do list is growing! So what have you been up to in the past few weeks?

Well, I did manage to get all four of the grandchildren together and off we went trick or treating. Jaden didn't care too much about going door to door, but loved dressing up in his costume. A friend from church gave Kevin a couple of Halloween costumes for the twins, a couple of years ago. Kevin and I thought for sure these costumes would make it to this year. It would have, if the twins didn't go through a growth spurt not too long ago. So, our little Jaden looks like he was poured into his suit. He didn't care...he just enjoyed the day. And Benny walked around with his head cocked to the side, because the bird costume's hood (which was the bird's head) was just way too heavy. Deborah dressed up as another princess this year, Princess Jasmine and Matthew wanted to be a fireman.

Here are the kids right before we took off to go trick or treating. Of course, while trying to take pictures, do you think the children would hold still to capture one pic of all them smiling at the camera? LOL I got one but without Benny! I said, "What happened to Benny?" And here he is as I am trying to get him back with the others. I couldn't resist taking a pic, dirty face or not. I couldn't resist the snapping a pic of that adorable face starring back at me through the camera lens.

So, that was our Halloween night. I can't wait to get started on the scrapbook pages for this year. I am busy trying to get all 8 pages (that's a 2 page layout for 4 albums) of Halloween 2007 done. They are presently sitting on my table waiting to be completed. But first, I have to set them aside and start of the project for this month's workshop.

The gals asked if we could do something a bit different and other than scrapbook pages. What better way to get into the Holiday spirit than to do start making Christmas cards. Now, I have been browsing the internet, and CTMH's bulletin board, looking for inspiration. I found lots of inspiration through my memberships on many yahoo groups, other consultant's blogs, and the bulletin board. Its gotten to the point to where I am a bit overwhelmed with all the talent I have found in all these places.

I just placed my order with CTMH, because I found I am in need of a few newer stamp sets. So, when that order arrives, I'll be able to buckle down and get busy. Once the cards are completed, I'll then post them here. But meanwhile, trying to get into the festive activities that this time of year brings, I made this wall hanging. I got the inspiration from my friend Laurie from Louisiana. She did the same thing, but with different papers. The colors I used are CTMH's Clover Meadow, Honey and Cranberry. Patterned paper is from Daisy D (scraps from a project I did last year). I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder "Swiss Dots" and cut the letters and tags on my Wishblade. Most of the embellishments are from CTMH or Just4funcrafts.com and the ribbon came from Reasonableribbon.com.

Until next time.... Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Scrappin'

Inky Hugs,

Leanne

November Blog Candy Blowout!

Hey everyone!

Go on over to Sheetload! They are having an awesome Blog Candy Giveaway for the month of November. Look at those goodies that you can win. 4 Lucky winners, I hope one of them is me! So go on over and check it out!