I DID IT MYSELF...

 ...well, almost.  I did have an assistant and advisor.  I got this idea by seeing someone's video on U-Tube and thought this would solve my rubber stamp storage problem.  After all, if you can't see them you don't remember you have them and then you don't use them.  I thought this would put them on display so I might use them more often.

First I had to buy the wood.  I used 1 x 3s and some edging trim

Home Depot cut the trim for me free of charge. The 1 x 3s came finished in 2' lengths.  That was easy.  I then glued the edging to each piece.

 Then came the painting.  Luckily I didn't have to buy paint as we already had some enamel paint in the house.

 

 then used elbow shaped braces on each end and scewed them to the wall.  

And, this is the end result.  All of my rubber stamps are now in view with a little room for more. 

 

All Boxed In

I finally finished the trays I've been wanting to do of my daughters. I wanted each tray to reflect their differences.  These are 7 Gypsies trays that I found at my Jo-Ann's store.

Back with the next challenge from True XOXO Scrapbooking. 

This challenge #39 is all about houndstooth. So, here's how I incorporated houndstooth in one of my latest layouts.  There is a little bit of houndstooth in the second layout but it is yellow and under the word "surprise" and a bit hard to see.

This layout is all about the color combo of reds and yellows for Cocoa Daisy  I threw in orange as well because, well...because that's what you get when you mix red and yellow.  I also broke out of my "stamping box" and used my Cocoa Daisy leaf stamps to create some leafy embellishments.

And, as my m.o. right now, I'm really loving burlap on my layouts.  Thanks for stopping by!

FIREWORKS

New challenge at True XoXo!  I think this is my first one from this site.

It's called "Baby, You're a Firework".  That's it.  The inspiration is fireworks, plus you get to look through past posts and find a layout that inspires you somehow..

So, this is my response to this challenge:  my fireworks inspiration shows up in the bold pops of color in the strips and the sparkling gems. 

I was inspired by the layout in general- especially the multi photos and the journaling strips

And, this is the layout by Christa from which I drew inspiration:

TOP 10 OF 2012

Someone at Cocoa Daisy was asking members to pick their top 10 layouts of 2012.  I went back and counted and found that I made 28 layout and a mini album last year.  Then I had to go and narrow it down to 10.  

I picked these for various reasons.

 This one got me a red ribbon (second place) at the KY State Fair in the Birthday division.

  

This one because I scraplifted it from someone and I think it came out great! :D

 I liked this one because I stepped out of my comfort zone for this challenge.

I love the photos of my husband as a baby and I love the printed burlap.  I was really pleased with this one.

I just love how this one came out...the mixture of the burlap and the crispness of the blue and the chilly photos.

I won a challenge at Cocoa Daisy with this one of my little niece

 this layout used a photo of a message that my husband left in the sand for me.  I really like my layering here.

 this one because it reminds me of the long road I traveled with my surgery.

 I liked this one because, well...because it was in NYC! :D

 

 finally, this one because I re-did this layout that I did several years ago because I didn't like the papers I used on the first one.  I am much happier about this outcome.