Obsession.....by Michelle!

It's writing assignment time again over at Kat's pad! Here are the prompts if you feel like you just might want to play along this week:

1.) Describe your latest obsession.

2.) Ask a loved one to use 6 descriptive words to describe you and report your findings. How well do they know you?

3.) Who was your first bloggy friend? How did you find each other? Do you still correspond?

4.) Tell us about your pet! If you have a weird infatuation with your dog or cat we want to hear about it (or if they just plain drive you crazy)...but please don't compare them to children. It's just not the same.

I could write about all four but I am going to choose #1.

My obsession isn't really new, it is actually a long standing obsession. A twelve year obsession to be exact. My obsession is with buying scrapbook supplies.

It gives me great joy to buy new scrapbook supplies. So much so that each year I pay money to shop at the Scrapbook Expo. Last August I bought a ton of great stuff (that I really didn't need).

Funky paper like stickers, trendy patterned papers, chip board letters, sticky felt cut outs, brads with matching flowers, stamps, nestibilites........the list goes on. Usually when I buy a ton of new supplies I head home and lay them all out so I can stare at them. Makes me feel all warm and snugly inside.

Then the new supplies find their place in my hyper organized craft towers.

Would you like to know the most ridiculous thing about my ever growing obsession with buying scrapbook supplies? You do? Good.

The most ridiculous thing about my obsession is that I have the hardest time actually using the supplies I buy. Every year, as I head off to the Expo I realize that I still have stacks of supplies I bought the previous year that I haven't even touched.

It's really kind of neurotic of me. I buy a pack of shiny embellishments and I think to myself, "You know, if I use them then I won't have them anymore." Or if I have something really special, I feel I have to wait for the perfect page to use it.

Last year one of my resolutions was to stop hoarding my supplies and use them with reckless abandon. I'd say I'm currently at the cautious abandon level. 

I have a new rule. When I buy something new I have to use it before the next years Expo rolls around!  Baby steps people, baby steps.

Back to my obsession........I can only imagine how much it has cost me over the years. I told the girls that if I ever die unexpectedly that they are to call my friend Tina, as she would know how much everything is worth. They could sell everything on ebay and probably send both of the girls to college with the proceeds.

So do we have any other scrapbook supply hoarders in the house? Hoarding something different? Come on, let's hear all about it! I know I'm not the only wacko in the bunch!

Scrapbook Expo!

I totally forgot to tell you all about my latest shopping trip!  Ok, not that exciting to most I know......but I always get so excited when the Scrapbook Expo comes to town.  

Probably my favorite thing about the Expo is being able to stock up on my favorite Bazzil and Basic Grey paper packs. 

Imagine my disappointment when I arrived on the exhibit floor to find that the vendor wasn't anywhere to be found.  Actually, I think they were there, but they weren't selling paper, only bins of what was probably the remains of some ones scrapbook store dream gone bust.

Anyway, my moment of disappointment didn't last long.  I was over the moon when I saw that Spellbinders had a booth.  I have been wanting to buy some of their Nestibilities dies, but couldn't decide which ones to invest in.  I was excited when I saw that they had a show special, buy five Nestibilities, get four free.  Yeah!  Of course now that I have used them I only want more!!!  They are so much fun!

In the end I bought a ton of embellishments (something I never have much of), a few stamps, some chipboard letters, cool Rusty pickle goodies and I even bought the Score Pal that I have been wanting.  Now to find the time to actually use all my new goodies!!  

Scraplifting!

What is scraplifting you ask?  It is when you find inspiration in someone else's design and you lift it to use in your own scrapbook.  The first page isn't a scraplift.  It is the page I created after my two scraplifts (I meant for it to be last in the line up, but I can never remember what order blogger uploads the pictures).  I created this page as a rest for my eyes from all the crazy patterned paper I was using.

The "Twirl" page was lifted from the June/July 2007 Simple Scrapbooks magazine.  I absolutely love the fun design.  I didn't have any scalloped paper on hand so I made my own using a small Advil bottle!  I added some Stickles to the brown paper as well as the title to give it some bling.  I really love Stickles and could get carried away using it!  I also love the picture.  We were heading down to the OB street Fair (2007) and I was trying to take a picture of the trio walking down the sidewalk.  Kate saw me trying to take the picture, so she kept turning around trying to catch me in the act.  At first I was a little annoyed that she was messing with my shot, but I absolutely love how I captured her in mid twirl.  So turns out I won't have to beat her!  :)

The "Cake page is probably the biggest scraplift I have ever committed.  I saw this layout in the 01/08 issue of Creating Keepsakes.  I loved the layout that Megan Wallace created and even better, I had the same patterned paper that she used in her layout.  How fun is that??

As you can see by the very sad looking carrot cake, baking cakes is not my forte.  The recipe is my moms and she is the one who always bakes the cakes for birthday parties.  We all love her carrot cakes, and frequently request it for our birthday.  She must have been out of town for the child's birthday because that would have been the only reason I was making a carrot cake myself.  And no Mom.....I don't have your round cake pans.  :) 

SCS scrapbook challenge!

I found this great layout challenge by Sally over at Splitcoaststampers.  I am still a year behind on my scrapbooks for the girls and really needed some inspiration to get moving again and this layout did the trick!  

I tend to like to cram as many pictures as possible on a page so it was a challenge to only use three pictures from our Chicago trip!

I used the papers from the Basic Grey and Bazzill pack called Phoebe.   I love this designer pack and have used it a lot lately.

   

Even though you can't see it in the photo, I stamped some flourishes in white ink on the back ground of the blue paper and green title.  I also put really fine glitter on the title letters.  It gives it just that little bit of bling.  The flowers are epoxy stickers and the letters for Chicago, summer vacation and 2007 were done with my Quickutz.  

The photo's were taken on our bus ride to the aquarium, then lunch at Bubba Gump shrimp and last but not least is a picture I took out of the window at the tippy top of the John Hancock building.  The view was spectacular!