I Love How You...

I did this layout to give to my sister as a Christmas gift! The purpose was to thank her for all that she does for me and to let her know how very much I appreciate her being my sister! She really loved!

I used K & Company's Blue Awning paper for the entire layout. I added some eyelets and a piece of ribbon to the top so she could hang it on the wall if she liked. She said that she would hang it in her craft room, since that's where she spend a lot of her time!

Thanks for the visit,....and remember, layouts make great gifts! Make one for someone today!

Jacob Black

After doing a Jacob layout for one of my daughters friends, my youngest daughter said she would love a Jacob layout too!

I am totally Team Edward , but found that this layout was not too bad to look at! She chose the pictures she wanted on it and I decided to go with all black and white on this one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Beautiful You

This is my dear friend Jocelyn in another of her senior pictures. They used the Picnil editing program to make her black and white and color the background flowers yellow. I tried using colors that would really make the flowers stand out!

There are several layers to this layout and I did find it very difficult to punch the flowers with this thickness. I should have planned that process out beforehand!


The paper is from K & Company in the Wild Saffron line along with a couple sheets of colored card stock.
The letters are printed off my computer.

Thanks for the visit!

Merry Christmas

This is a layout I did for my brother and sister in law as a surprise gift for Christmas! I had to get a picture of the girls while no one was around and lucky for me, They just happened to need a babysitter one day! I told the girls my plan, and they loved the idea! I gave them the finished layout, wrapped and complete with a hand made card a few days before Christmas! Then I prayed that no one would spill the beans! They didn't say a word! Whew!!!!

Layouts make great gifts for family and friends and can be a valued keepsake for years to come!

Thanks for dropping by!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to take a moment to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the upcoming year!

Though it's been a rough year for many families, my wish is that 2010 will bring about new hope and needed change to get people back on their feet again.

My prayers are with all of you holiday season for good health, happiness and prosperity!

Thanks for visiting Bootscraps this year and for making this one of my funnest project so far!
Hope to see you all again in 2010! I'll have a lot of new ideas and creations for you!

Live Laugh Photograph

Photography has become as much a part of my life as scrapping. I've always taken a lot of pictures, but never really concentrated on what was scrap worthy and what wasn't. After all, who wants to see 150 pictures of my kids opening birthday presents on a layout.

I've learned to be more selective in my picture taking over the last year or so. I've done more photo shoots, choreographed shots and just plain surprise shots than I ever did before. I have found pictures such as these are far easier to scrap than random, unposed shots are.

Not to mention the fact that I just love photography. It still amazes me that a single picture can tell a story all by itself.

I take my camera everywhere with me. You just never know when an opportunity will show itself.

Take some time soon to try out some new techniques you may have never tried such as photo shoots. Instead of taking a picture of the family this holiday wildly scampering around the house, get them all together in one place and take that family portrait you've been wanting. Get outside and catch the snow falling in a wonderful winter shot.

Whatever you decide to photograph,...just do it. It's life in three easy steps:

Live Laugh Photograph

Thanks for the visit and Have a Very Merry Christmas!!

Angelic

This is my niece Ruby in a picture from last summer. It's one of my favorite pictures of her.

This was a complicated layout using a pleated edge on the shaped background piece.

To do this, I cut strips of paper 1 1/2 inch wide, pleated them and stapled them to hold them in place. Then I used hot glue to affix them to the edge of the cut background piece. It does take some adjusting to get it to lay right, but it looks so pretty when you finish!

All papers are from K & Company in the Charlotte line.

Thanks for the visit and come back soon!

Glamor

This is my daughter Erica in one of our photo shoot pictures from last year. I have always liked this picture with that one tiny strand of hair in her face,..makes her look like a 50's starlet to me!

This layout was done using scrap pieces of K & Company paper and some light blue vellum. The background blue piece and the flower are made with newer paper from the K & Company Christmas pack.
Letters are from EK Success.

I made the picture frame by cutting a circle and using the swirl punch on the edges to cut around it. Use this link to see a tutorial.....http://bootscraps.blogspot.com/2009/04/april-27-2009-how-did-she-do-that-this.html

Thank for visiting and come back soon!

Quilt Holes

'The Quilt Holes'

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls.

Before each of us laid our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles; an angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life.

But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares was. They were filled with giant holes. Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult, the challenges and temptations I was faced with in every day life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.

I glanced around me. Nobody else had such squares. Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened.

My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air.

Finally the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light, the scrutiny of truth. The others rose; each in turn, holding up their tapestries. So filled their lives had been. My angel looked upon me and nodded for me to rise.

My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn't had all the earthly fortunes. I had love in my life and laughter. But there had also been trials of illness and wealth, and false accusations that took from me my world, as I knew it. I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again. I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance in my life. I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me.

And now, I had to face the truth. My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was.

I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light.

An awe-filled gasp filled the air. I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes.

Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me.. Light flooded the many holes, creating an image, the face of Christ.. Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, 'Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My struggles.

Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through, until there was more of Me than there was of you.'

May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing Christ to shine through!

Igloo Contractors

New Layouts!

This is my niece Ruby in one of my favorite pictures from her photo shoot! It might be because this is the one that is most like her...fun! I did all the swirl dot work by hand! Time consuming, yes, but gorgeous when complete!
This is another picture of my niece Ruby from her recent modeling photo shoot. I could just scrap her pictures all day! Of course, they took about 250 of them, so that might be pushing it a little!
I had my daughter Brittany take a few pictures of me in some of my favorite winter fashions! From the looks of the pictures, she may be a great little photographer!

Elfed!

You' ve been Elfed !!!





Life is all about asses.
You're either covering it,
Laughing it off,
Kicking it,
Kissing it,
Busting it,
Trying to get a piece of it,
Or behaving like one.

Snow Angel

This is my friend Ashley in one of her gorgeous profile pictures.

I used all card board for this one and tried something I've never done before. I did a little mixed media on this using a mix of the card board and a piece of lace that I stained with alcohol ink in cranberry.
I used a Tim Holtz mask flourish on the underside and rather than using ink, I used black paint. I used small flowers in the bottom corners as stencils and painted around those too. Then I added glittered snowflakes to all of the flowers.

On the lace piece, which is very hard to see in pictures, I glued bows and snowflakes, all in pinks.

I used a clear glitter paint over the entire layout to give it a frosty look!

Thanks for stopping by!

Team Jacob

Jacob, you're asking? What happened to our number one Team Edward fan?

Oh, she's still here!

I made this layout as a gift for my daughter to give one of her friends at school! Her friend is Team Jacob now after converting over since the New Moon movie came out! Traitor, I say!

Another easy layout using black card stock, stitching and swirls done by hand. I made this into a wall hanging by adding eyelets and ribbon to the top.

My daughter's friend really loved her gift, and though I am, and always will be, a true Edward fan,...doing this layout was very easy on my eyes!

Thanks for dropping in!

Some Like It Hot

LOk,...what can I say?! Rob Thomas from the band Matchbox 20 is just hot! My daughter Brittany and I were watching some of their videos and decided to capture a few of Rob's shining moments for prosperity! Then, after staring at these pictures, the phrase Some like it hot kept popping into my head! And this layout was born!

This was an easy layout using only black card stock with black and white photos.
The flames were cut on my Cricut with the Sure Cuts A Lot system. By using SCAL with your Cricut, you can cut almost anything! SCAL uses SVG files to create beautiful designs in minutes using the Cricut.

If you haven't checked out the Sure Cuts A Lot software, you really should! I couldn't live without it1

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Two new layouts

This first layout was a very interesting one for me to do. A lot of great things happened all at once,...I was a featured artist on Scrapbook.com and my blog hit number one in page views for the very first time. Another scrapper quickly corrected me though and pointed out that I had featured once before , nearly a year ago, however I missed that one! So, I will hold this time dear to my heart since I actually saw this one!

The basis of the layout talks about pride and the difficulties I have in being proud of myself. I have had many accomplishments in my life, but have always had a hard time being proud of them. I'm glad to say...I'm getting better about that!
This layout's title is a spin off from the Wrangler Jeans commercial for Real. Comfortable. Jeans.

I thought about scrapping and how I scrap real life things. It all just seemed to fit!

I've been getting a lot of questions as to what the frame around the picture is made of. The answer might surprise you! It is a piece of white card stock punched on the edges with the threading waters punch from Fiskars! If you look really close at the edges, you can see it. I just used a gold pen to draw a curved line to form a coil look. I colored the inside black to finish the "frame".

Thanks for stopping by!

Babys Got Blue Eyes

I just love this picture I took of Brittany at my sister's farm. Their old barn is a perfect back drop for photos in a very rustic setting. On this particular day, there just happened to be a large round bale of hay, broke open a bit, with this one piece sticking out..just begging to be chewed on!

Printed paper is by Melissa Frances.
All other embellishments are done by me.

I did some quilling on this and I think, for not doing it in some time, that it turned out better than expected.
The hinges were cut on my Cricut Cutting Machine with a little help from Sure Cuts A lot and Inkscape. I couldn't live without them!

The roses are paper and are demonstrated in an earlier post shown here : http://bootscraps.blogspot.com/2009/06/two-flowers-one-technique.html

I used the Picnik program to enhance the eye color a bit. She has some very blue eyes to begin with, but I wanted to saturate the color so they would really stand out!

If you are ever interested in checking out the Picnik editing program, here is the link:

http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome


Thanks for visiting and stop back soon!

Has Anyone Told You?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5PLdIns4aw

Please take a moment to watch this inspiring video! Copy and paste it and add it any form of media you use to connect with people.

We could all use a little validation now and then!

Thanks,
Carol

Mood Swings

This rather odd looking layout came from a moment of total chaos! The holidays, and sometimes life in general, can take you from smiling ear to ear to pulling out your hair in a matter of seconds!

I used four different photographs and spliced them together to make my face. Each quadrant depicts a different emotion.

I did a lot of crazy stitching on this one to emphasize stress levels!

The bottom sheet is a foil piece from Sandylion.
The letters are from Heidi Grace.

I did a lot of little detail work on this one with pens in white and pink.

I hope you can keep it together this holiday season and every season!

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

Age Of Innocence

I honestly think I could scrap every single picture in my niece's photo shoot!

I edited this one slightly to make it more of a close up than the original and made it black and white. I think the color change works very well with the blue and black combination in the layout.

The background piece is from Heidi Swapp. These come in white and you can color them with ink in a variety of colors to make a really unique piece.
The other papers are plain solid card stock and a swiss dot piece for the circle.

I used a piece of lace ribbon tied in sections to make a really pretty bottom border.

The swirls are hand drawn and were done with a white Gelly Roll pen.

As I've mentioned before, editing programs are the greatest for changing the color of a photo, size and overall appearance. Try out Picnik if you are looking for an editing program that offers many options! It's the one I use and I highly recommend it!

Thanks for the visit!

Photo Shoot Layouts!!

Well...I have completed two layouts so far of Ruby's new pictures. Her Mom just posted more, so I have a feeling....I'll be in my scrap room for a while!

Both of these layouts were done using K & Company paper from the Charlotte line. These papers have a wide variety of greens and pinks...perfect for making very beautiful layouts!

The Photo Shoot!

My niece Ruby just completed her professional photo shoot for her portfolio! These are some adorable pictures! Her Mom said she didn't freeze up, but just did what Ruby does! She's a natural, but we already knew that!

Thanks for stopping by and come back really soon!

Falling To Pieces

Scrapping is not only a hobby for me, but a form of therapy.
This layout depicts my everyday struggle with pain, life, situations and emotions. Some days it seems that everything is just coming undone..that life is unraveling at the seams. It's in these times that I feel my faith is being tested. How much can one person endure before falling to pieces? How much pain is enough? It is in these moments when I am feeling down that I need to look UP more than ever.


tfl!

Just a Reminder

As the holidays are approaching, I thought I would re-post a layout and story that is so significant to us all. As you look at the layout and read the words..go also to my playlist and choose song number 4. This is the song that I used as the title and the reason this layout means so much to me. Be kind this holiday season...you just never know........


I took this picture while on my Honeymoon in Hollywood in 2008. Being from a small town in Michigan, I had never really seen a homeless person before. However, each time I did, I was reminded of this song by Joan Osbourne...What if God Was One of Us? What if God visits us every now and again in the form of a homeless person to test our faith and compassion? Would it make a difference? Would we treat this homeless man different if there was even a chance he could be God? Just a little food for thought.....

These are the lyrics to the song:

If God had a name, what would it be
And would you call it to his face
If you were faced with him in all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets

And yeah yeah god is great yeah yeah god is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
He's trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in Rome

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if god was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
Just trying to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just trying to make his way home
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in Rome.

Take a moment today to help someone....
open a door for someone.....
say Good Morning to a stranger....
donate something to Goodwill....

You just never know!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and come back soon!

Live the Life You Have Always Imagined

This is my friend Jocelyn in yet another of her cute poses from her profile page. I wish her all the best as she graduates and truly hope she does get the life she always imagined !!

I used a lot of different elements on this layout from inking to stitching to punching holes in it.
Because the layout was photographed laying down , it's hard to see that the holes are not covered in the back. It is a very cool effect!

All papers are from K & Company in the Ancestory line.
Flower is by Flora Doodles.
All scrolls and the butterfly were cut using the Cricut.

Thanks for the visit!

Papa's Patches

My Dad passed away four years ago. While packing up his things, my sister found his old red wool hunting suit. She decided to keep it. She made each of us a stocking for Christmas and used the suit to make bright red stars for the front of it. Though it's still very hard getting through the holidays without my Dad, I will always have a part of him with me, not only in my heart,..but on my stocking with Papa's Patches!

Thanks for stopping by!

Puppy Luv

This is another picture of my friend Jessica, only this time, she has a partner! His name is Mr. Bojangles and he's just the cutest, most photogenic little puppy I've ever seen! I decided to make this a real soft, sweet looking layout using flowers and ruffles.

The paper is from K & Company in the Charlotte line. The roses are handmade by me using the same paper. The ruffles are also paper just folded and glued to the back. This layout is attached to a round card board back so it can be used in a portrait stand. Jessica really loved it when she saw it!

Ice Blue

I just love the look of blue and white for winter layouts. They always look so cold.

I used the photo that I created on Picnik as shown in the previous post. By changing the look of the photo, you can create many different layouts using the same pictures.

Thanks for dropping by!

Edit with Picnik

Here is a picture that I recently had taken. I've used Picnik to change the picture a couple of different ways. The top photo is the original. Blah!!
The second photo is color enhanced using the color tab in the Picnik program and saturating the color to make it deeper. Then I used the create tab to choose from several options. I used the Effects tab..then the Ortonish tab to create a soft unfocused appearance.

The last photo is once again saturated in color to make my eyes really blue. I then Used the effects tab, then the tint tab to turn the picture black and white. By using a small brush, the program let you "erase" the black and white to reveal the bright blue eyes. This is my favorite program to use for editing. If you haven't tried it, you really should!

Thanks!

Jesus is Watching You

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said,

'Jesus knows you're here.'

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze.

When he heard nothing more, after a bit, he shook his head and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard

'Jesus is watching you.'

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice.

Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.






'Did you say that?' he hissed at the parrot.

'Yep', the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you that he is watching you.'

The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?'

'Moses,' replied the bird.

'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird Moses?'

'The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus.


Jesus

A Christmas Carol

Okay.....I know it's a cheesy title, but face it...if your name was Carol, you would have done it too!

This layout is done using K&Company paper in the Ancestory line and the Christmas pack.
The letters are from Heidi Grace and were colored black to match the layout.
The small snowflakes are punched using the Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch.
The flower is handmade (I really need to get the tutorial up for that!) and painted with Scribbles in Glittering Crystal.
The ornaments on the left are cut out of a sheet of the K &Company Christmas paper, and bent to give them shape!

This was a fun layout to do and I hope it helps to get you in the Christmas spirit!!

Thanks for the visit!