the design team from pink pineapple got together a group and created an circle journal. never done one before in my life. ever. i gotta admit, it might have been one of the hardest projects i have ever created. correction, it *was* the hardest project i have ever created. ever. and the pages i have to put in others journals?? cant do it. i dont know what it is, so let this be a big fat sorry in advance to the fellow members of the design team. sorry dude, i swear next time around, ill stay outta the circle journal. your your sake as well as my own. anyway, my theme is *inspire me*. i hate journaling, so i didnt write anything about the fine lines, or guide lines for that matter,,, just whatever you think when you hear *inspire me* ~ if you wanna inspire me, go ahead. if you wanna tell me what inspires you, thats cool too. whatevs dude. here is the beginning stages of my circle journal,,,the front and back, inside and outside cover were totally inspired by this class,,,,
love you, love ally

finally ~ a moment to answer the fun questions i got from you!!!! for starters,,, i got a question asking to share where i store my layouts,,,, i waited a bit for this one hoping that i could give better pictures, but seeing as thought my newest piece of furniture isnt up and stocked yet,,, i gotta *wing* it,,, those of you whom have followed this blog for them very beginning ~ first off *thank YOU* second, bits of this might bring you a tad bit of deja vu from my early 7 march 2008 post ~ my ode to the mini,,,, although now that im back in action rocking out layouts ~ this is simply an updated version,,,, alright, so in my *perfect* world, i would have an album for my punk rock scrappers design team layouts, one for my scrap outside the box design team layouts, 52 sketches 52 weeks,,, and so on,,, you get it right?? well, i kinda *do* do that,,,, i keep my classes from pink pineapple in the same album. i like the *feel* to be consistent in each album. get it?? do you do that too,,, or am i nuts?? i have my layout albums from when i first started scrapping,,, as you can see the dude has got a ton of layouts ~ the girl baby ~ not so much. once i had sofia i fell in love with mini albums and took off from there,,,, the charcoal is *family* yes ~ theyre full,,,,a picture from the inside of my pink pineapple class album. the outside {which i didnt photograph ~ sorry} in ~ PINK!!!!i have a few of the american crafts corduroy albums. some 8 1/2X11 some 12X12. these albums are my fav as of late. super easy to add refill pages to. i have one for my *youer than you* collection, one for my baby brothers navy layouts ive been creating and one for a combo of my punk rock scrappers layouts, effer dares layouts, scrap outside the box layouts. i plan on purchasing more albums so that each *group* has their own album, as of now, they are grouped by challenge blog. :-D
mini albums ~ i store here and there. i have an entry way table that has this cute little bird cage which houses a few minis,,, i also have a few treasure chests that contain more of my minis. its like a treasure chest full of memories and i love it!!! oh ~ and there are totally a few that are stacked up on my desk. they havent found a home yet.... i think i need a scrapmojo album. :-D
nexxxxxxtt,,, jessica had a few questions for me,,, and since i love it ~ ill move right along to hers,,,

1} how did you start scrapping??

well, like *most* of us, i got invited to a creative memories party. didnt know much about scrapping, had a six weeks old baby boy and thought it sounded like fun. i was truly, truly inspired and wanted to dive right in, but daniel didnt let me put him down for long enough to *shop*, *play* whatever,,, i day dreamt about scrapbooking and eventually made it to a scrapbook store and started by taking card classes. i was pregnant with sofia when i really, really started scrapping. i love it,, i always say that i wish i had started sooner,,, i really, really do!!!! oh ~ i just thought of this,,, i shoulda taken pictures of my early layouts too,,, didnt even think of it till now,,, that would have been kinda funny,,,,
2} what inspires you most??

people, music, photos and challenges.
people like elise {i know that you knew that i was gonna say that :-) }

and more people like carrie. :-D totally inspiring. 3} if you could work/design for ANY company line, which one would it be and why??
geezz,,,, jess ~ this is a good one. like design team?? im gonna pick three.
sassafrass lass ~ my favorite line, each and every cha. my favorite ~ favorite,,,,

prima ~ because i love everything they have to embellish ~ i use prima on everything and their papers are getting better and better and more and more amazing after each cha release.
hambly ~ its always been my staple. always. it adds such a different element to each and every creation.

4} When your not scrappin', what else do ya do??

another good one. i chase two crazy monkeys that call me mama :-D. i love to work out ~ love it!! i have never been much of a home body. i love disneyland, the wild animal park, sea world the zoo,,, everything. if i want to stay local ill take the kiddos to bates nut farm. its a local joint here in VC and we feed the goats, sheep and geese. ill often bring apples to feed to the mini horses so they arent left out because they cant eat the corn. i love shopping and i love, love pink pineapple. like crazy, i love them!!! :-D i like to take my kids to the duck pond in temec and we also have some fun neighbors that have a wild collection of animals that the kids and i will go visit as often as we can with out wearing out our welcome. whatever it is, i love to do stuff outside, but i like to keep busy. i cant go outside and *sit*. i cant go back inside and sit either for that matter,,,, i always go, go, go,,,, always have been that way,,,, oh, and i loooove cooking. always up for some new recipes if you have any ~ share!!!
alright ~ finally missy toni.

When do you find time to work all this scrapping in?

heee,,, :-D my mother in law and my mom help out with the kids. before this past friday {my mother in law left this last friday for a coast to coast bike ride}, but before that shed watch the kids for me at least one day a week. that day i would scrap!!! my mom helps me with the children when i need her too. in between the grandmas, ill also scrap at home. i often have my children help out. they cut the paper for me, count buttons or sit with me at the kitchen table. while i scrap, they put together puzzles. its a great system and we have so much fun together!! they kids love it ~ and to be completely honest, i love it too!!! i do.

this was so much fun!!!! i love it, and i love YOU!!! thank you!! :-D did i miss anything??~peace~

as i had mentioned, {a while back now} my mother in law turned 50 this last month. we had a party for her on the saturday after her birthday and i made a book for some precious photos and room for people to sign their love to her. i couldnt find the album i had in mind so i made myself. from scratch. i stitched the edges of the pages and cant express how proud of this little piece i am. its perfect!!! and it was a hit. the cover was inspired by an class that carrie is taught at the pink.
i love this feeling,,, when a project is all you pictured it to be,,,
have a good day
~peace~

my ode to the mini ~ mini album that is ~ not to be confused with the mini dress ~ mini tank ~ mini skirt ~ or any other mini article of the clothing that might look like a train wreck on my post baby body!! let me start by saying, i love me some 12 X 12 albums. there is no denying that,,, here is proof.... and YES, most of those albums are full to the brim with pages (layouts), but there are two albums that need more pages.
so anyway ~ i actually started my amazing journey of scrapbooking using solely 12 X 12 layouts and albums. but soon after my journey began, i came in contact with my latest obsession ~ the mini album!! so often when i am creating a mini album in the craft area of my favorite scrapbook store, i am asked by customers ~ whom are looking for inspiration ~ "who is that mini album for". my response?? "ME". people seem to think that if its a mini, its automatically a gift. now dont get me wrong, i do give mini albums as gifts ~ and with out fail, they are a tear jerking hit, but i mostly create minis for myself ~ or me and my family. and when i do create a mini for a gift, i create two at a time,,, one for me ~ and one for the lucky recipient of my latest creation. that goes for classes that i take too, i will buy an extra kit if i feel like someone else might want a copy. the next question?? "well, where do you store them?"..... scroll down and i will show you a few spots that have become homes for my mini albums......here is my entry way to my house. we have the typical entry way table, and on the bottom shelf, you will notice a little bird cage. i loved this little bird cage in the store (target) and knew it would work perfectly to showcase my favorite (at the time ~ because i do rotate) mini albums.
a candice mclean mini album class happens to be at the front of the little stash at the moment.

another location for my much adored mini album collection is this beautiful ~ if you ask me ~ trunk i got for 40% off at joanns. i love this little location because when we have guests, they know where exactly to go to check out my latest, and they do. they will spend hours searching through all of my albums loving every minute of it. the best part is that each album is themed, and that memory is right there in the palm of their hands.
and of course, because i also like to place them here or there, that is exactly where they land... on my desk, or on top of my printer, sometimes they stay put there for a while, and thats okay too.
so ~ there is no need to be scared of the mini album any more. they are the new up and coming trend that is sure to stick around for years to come!!

~ciao~