Ah...Paradise...

This week in Denver:

Monday: Snow
Tuesday: Below Freezing Temperatures
Wednesday: Even Lower Below Freezing Temperatures
Thursday: Snow
Friday: Brief Reprieve
Saturday: Snow

A good day to remember vacation:

(Studio Calico Mister Huey's mist and wood veneer stars and alphas; October Afternoon patterned paper)

(Echo Park and October Afternoon patterned papers, October Afternoon label sticker, American Crafts alphas)

Since I'm Not At CHA

This was the first year in four years that I haven't attended the Winter CHA show (that's Craft and Hobby Association for all you non-scrapbooker/crafters out there). I am recovering from a tonsillectomy (don't ask me how many times I got strep between March and December, just don't) and my son's birthday was also this past weekend, so the stars just didn't align for me to go this year. However, I have been following the sneak peeks, and thus far, here are my must haves (besides October Afternoon, of course!):

Hometown Summer (Pink Paislee/Collage Press Studio)

Seriously amazing. Perfect mix of colors, clean lines, classic patterns, and a whole lot of fun. I'm so glad to see Collage Press designs are back...and even better than before!


Emma's Shoppe and Toy Box (Crate Paper)

I haven't jumped on the Crate bandwagon...until now. I love both of these lines so much, especially the book papers from each. 


Countryside and State Fair (Studio Calico)

 
They had me at the die cuts. As for the lines as a whole, I love the mix of clean lined patterns, vintage patterns, and whimsical patterns. 


Social Club (Cosmo Cricket)

 
This made me think of "Mad Men" and I instantly loved it.

I am sure that if I were actually at CHA I'd have found lots more products and lines to add to this list (especially a ton of American Crafts Thickers!) - but this is what I've gleaned from sneaks.  How about you? What lines are catching your eye from this CHA release? Help me add to my shopping list! :)

October Afternoon Sneaks!

October Afternoon is releasing three new lines. For the official peek at the new lines, head to the October Afternoon blog. I had the chance to work with two of the new lines: Rocket Age and 5 & Dime.

Rocket Age is a great mix of basic patterns and fun retro-themed space papers, both kid-friendly and more grown-up. While Rocket Age lends itself well to layouts about space, there's lots more that can be done with it, from using it for the 4th of July to Halloween to Valentine's Day to politics (and everyday projects as well!). Here are five projects I made using Rocket Age:

5 & Dime is another fun line - lots of basics (polka dots, ledger, grid, etc.) with some fun florals and retro patterns. My favorite piece of paper from this line is called Root Beer Barrels and has 49 circles on it. You will see some of those 49 circles punched out and included on almost every single project I made with this line. :) 5 & Dime is really versatile as you'll see below. I used it for Easter, birthday, a bakery-themed everyday layout, and a non-occasion-specific gift tag.
 

 

As soon as I can I'll post more projects!

Top Ten 2010

I know, I know, it's way past January 1st, but I'm keeping up the annual tradition anyway. So, with no further ado here are my ten favorite layouts from 2010, in no particular order:

 

 

 

Double-Page Design Winner!

Here we are at Friday morning, and the winner is...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1 

Timestamp: 2010-11-26 15:59:16 UTC

So...J, please email me at vmasket@comcast.net to claim your prize!
 

Double-Page Design

Looking for new ideas for double-page designs? Well...look no further than Double-Page Design!

This new eBook from Ella Publishing features twenty-one double-page spreads created by members of the Write.Click.Scrapbook. team (including a vertical two-pager created by yours truly!). There's a nice mix of paper and digital layouts, including anywhere from five to thirteen (yup, thirteen!) photos.

So...want a chance to win a free copy of Double-Page Design? If so, please post a comment here telling me what your biggest challenge is in creating double-page spreads. Be sure to leave your comment by this Thursday at midnight Mountain Standard Time. I'll do a random drawing from comments posted here and will announce the winner on Friday morning.

Perfect Fall Day

It's gorgeous out: warm, sunny, blue sky. In honor of today, here's a layout I did last month after our apple-picking trip:

Bazzill Basics cardstock, October Afternoon patterned papers and label sticker, 

Fiskars apple punch, American Crafts Thickers