Scrap with Ally

Must-Have Monday - and the giveaway winner!

Thanks, everyone, for all of your fantastic questions and comments on my last post! I'll get to the giveaway winner in a moment, but first, it's time for Must-Have Monday!

My featured item for the day is felt trim. This is being made by so many companies these days that it's hard to pick a favorite! Prima has released some beautiful new designs lately, and of course, I love the designs from Queen & Company as well!

I used gray felt trim from Prima on this layout, and I love the result. The layout is super-simple and features only a few basic elements, and I was so happy with the way that the felt trim just added such amazing detail to the page.

Next up on my wish list? I love imagining the possibilities with this gorgeous trim, which also comes in black:

Queen and Company - Self Adhesive Felt Fusion Ribbon - 1.6 Inches - Celtic - Cream
Scrapbook.com

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for - the winner of the Rose Moka giveaway! Determined by random number generator, the winner is Jo-Ann, who posted:

i love the birdie on the altered box! i love birds, owls and cupcakes! What is your favorite embellishment? Posted by: J0-ANN | August 23, 2008 at 06:34 PM

Jo-Ann, it sounds like you & I have a few things in common! I am absolutely in love with owls and birds, and I have a strange love of cupcake embellishments as well - which is funny, because since I live a gluten-free life, I can't actually eat them! I recently created a layout about gluten-free cupcakes, which I'll be sure to share in an upcoming post.

Jo-Ann, please e-mail me your address so that I can send out your prize!

A note to everyone else, I'm planning another giveaway in September, so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks to everyone who submitted such great Q & A questions. I'll be posting the answers over the next few weeks, so stop by often to find the answer to your question! :)

Introducing Rose Moka...

Last month, I had the joy of designing with some of the latest papers & stickers from Rose Moka Design, a new company based out of Canada. Their papers are high-quality and feature some of the most beautiful, innovative designs I've seen in a long time.

In addition to the Waiting for Gracie layout I shared last month, here are a couple of other projects I created with the kit:

I loved creating this fast & fun page, which came together super-quickly. These days, I'm all about creating pages in 30 minutes or less, and these great products helped me create a page that I love in no time at all!

This altered box is a new favorite project of mine! It's been over a year since I've created an altered item - hard to believe, I know! I created this box to sit on my desk at work and hold some of my favorite happy notes and such.

Now it's your turn...

Want to create some Rose Moka projects of your own?

As part of my new blog design & features, I plan to do a series of Q & A posts. So just leave a question for me, about scrapping - or anything - as a comment on this post, and you'll be entered to win a small package of Rose Moka papers & stickers!

The winner will be announced on August 25, my next Must-Have Monday! Be sure to check back to see if you've won. (To be sure you won't miss the announcement - and to be sure you don't miss any future giveaways - you can subscribe to my blog using the box in the right sidebar.)

Speedy Scrapping Challenge

Once again, I invite you to come on over to Scrapbooker's Club House for our Olympic-themed online crop.

In honor of the USA swim team, I invite you to take my speedy, swim-themed challenge. Find all the details here.

Must-Have Monday: My Favorite Albums

And it's already time for the next installment of Must-Have Monday!

Featured this week: My favorite albums, and once again, they're made by American Crafts.

I absolutely adore these 12"x12" customizable 3-ring albums. I use these for about 90% of my scrapbook pages. I am a big fan of the "Family Fun Library" system made popular by Stacy Julian, and I use these albums to hold the bulk of my pages: "All About Us" layouts in blue albums, "People We Love" layouts in pink albums, "Places We Go" layouts in brown albums, and "Things We Do" layouts in green albums! The pink and blue albums definitely get the most use, with the brown album really needing some new pages - apparently I just don't scrap enough about places!

I love these albums because they are so durable, and I can customize them to match my own style. Way to go to American Crafts for creating another great product!

Celebrate something extraordinary

In honor of the Olympic Games, I invite you to celebrate something extraordinary today.

Come on over to Scrapbooker's Club House and check out my challenge in honor of gymnastics.

Must-Have Mondays!

Welcome to the very first installment of Must-Have Monday! From now on, every Monday I'll be sharing one of my "must-haves" with you. Most of the time, you'll find a review of a favorite scrapbooking product, but sometimes I may choose to share just one of my favorite little pleasures of life. To celebrate the first ever Must-Have Monday, I'm going to share both! When it comes to scrapbooking, one thing I really just can't live without is foam alphabet stickers! My favorites are the Thickers by American Crafts. (I just purchased this font and can't wait to play!) A few of my favorite layouts using Thickers, both from about 6 months ago:

Though American Crafts Thickers are my favorite, I also enjoy creating with the cheaper foam alphabet stickers that are often found in the kid's section of craft & hobby stores. They usually come in clear plastic buckets for around $6.00. Many brands are available, though Creative Hands is my favorite. This layout, from January, is probably my favorite using those letters:

And, as promised, something else I can't live without: I seriously love McDonald's. I eat gluten-free, and so fast food can be hard for me to come by. But our local McD's always does a great job of getting me the double cheeseburger "no bun" meal that I've come to love. And now McDonald's is supporting Olympic athletes. Could I ask for anything more?

8.8.08

Those who know me well know that I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time. Words cannot express how much I love the Olympic Games. Ever since I was a young girl, I have been obsessed. I LOVE the Olympics! And finally, the opening ceremonies are less than a day away, which just rocks!

In honor of the Olympic Games, Scrapbooker's Club House will be kicking off a fun 2 weeks of challenges this Friday, August 8th that will whip your creative muscles into shape while allowing you to tour the world from your scrappy chair! It'll be a blast!

Come join the friendliest site on the internet to exercise your scrap-happiness!

Mark it on your calendar: August 8-22, 2008. Find all the details here.

My favorite Olympic sport? Gymnastics! But I follow this sport year-round, every year, so it's even more exciting to watch. My pick for Gold? The USA's own Shawn Johnson.

Make no mistake, the competition will be fierce. And I don't think people should be counting out Nastia Liukin, an equally talented US gymnast. But if Shawn Johnson hits the way she can, I just don't think anyone can beat her.

Gymnastics. Olympics. Scrapbooking. Who could ask for anything more?

News & A New Design!

Hey everyone!

I hope you like the new look of my site! I've changed a few things around, and have plans to add more content soon!

A bit of exciting news...I've just joined the Design Team over at Scrapbooker's Club House! I've spent a lot of time there since the Celebrity Sketch Extravaganza, and decided to try for a more permanent presence! I hope you'll stop by, there are a lot of fun & exciting things planned for August! :)