My new venture with Anthology by Lisa Bearnson, and Youngevity products.

    

     With one local event on the records, and a busy summer ahead with ( a surprisingly EARLY Memorial Weekend this weekend, our son's cub scout campout next weekend, the end of the school year with all it's activities, graduations, etc.,   I will be trying to fit in progress on my little home based business.
     Merging and/or expanding fb pages, updating my blog, contacting friends and family as well as the public in order to tell them of the wonderful opportunites with Anthology, as well as the Health and Wellness benefits of the 90ForLife products that we are now utilizing, wow... it's a bit overwhelming.  Thankfully, there are SO many people in the Anthology/Youngevity FAMILY, yes, it feels like family, who WANT to HELP us succeed with this venture and transformation!!!
     Speaking of transformations, I have also signed up for the Healthy Body Challenge, and hope to lose 20 pounds, and rebuild some of the muscle that I have lost from no longer wading upstream for hours a day while streamshocking for Salmon and Trout, or setting and lifting nets every day.  Those nets were loaded with the wonderful bluegill, pumpkinseed, perch, large and smallmouth bass, dog fish, etc that we are so blessed with as part of our natural resources here in Michigan, which I was BLESSED with helping to manage for over 10 years.... How I miss my job with Fisheries Division. 
     But as people say, one door closes (my former relationship with a beloved scrapbooking and paper crafting manufacturer) and another one opens.... the new relationship with Anthology by Lisa Bearnson and Youngevity's family of products.
    Okay, am I getting a bit too sentimental?  Oh well, that's me.  What can I say?  I'm a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and SCRAPBOOKER.
    If you would like to learn more about Anthology by Lisa Bearnson or Youngevity, please contact me at:
                                                               231-845-2906
                                                   scrapstreams@yahoo.com
                                            www.scrapstreams.youngevity.com
                  https://www.facebook.com/groups/ANTHOLOGYwithDaleRoseStream/

A weekend crop continued... and my layouts that I completed or started while there, 14 pages in all! Utilizing mostly Inspired Inc and 3 Birds Design products.

Our AWESOME hostess, Jan!  Great smiles from a great lady!  The poor girl didn't get to play much, because she was always catering to us all weekend!

Sorry about the exit sign, Norma! lol  Great shot of you.

A highlight of the crop, for me, was when I was told Dakota could come for a quick visit!  I always miss my best cropping buddy when I'm away.  Thank you Michael and Wesley, for bringing her by on your way to the beach.

2nd evening's dinner... yum!  Pizzas and ice cream sundae bar.

The brownies with frosting were also killer!  How many hours do I need to walk,  in order to 'walk' this off???

Mary hand colored some gems to customize them to her project.

     If I haven't said it enough yet, we had a TON OF FUN during Jan's crop.  It was awesome that we had a variety of things to keep us not only crafting and enjoying a lot of great food, but throughout the weekend she held a lot of door prize drawings, plus a GRAND PRIZE drawing, a bag chock full of goodies!  She was also really generous with awarding us 'extra' tickets if we demoed a technique or a product, if we made something for someone (thank you teenagers!), if we brought chairs or snacks, and on and on.

Guess who won the GRAND PRIZE DRAWING... the scrapbooking NEWBIE!  I'm JEALOUS!

      Now for the layouts I completed, and some that I started...14 PAGES total!!!  Can you say "Who completed the most pages?"  HMMM?

Skating at Johnny's with the Cub Scouts.

The kit I used, which won't post in the correct orientation lol

Another Inspired Inc kit, this time for 4th of July, 2014.

Another celebration memorialized with a kit from Inspired Inc.  This time, it's Dad's birthday!

This still needs a little somethin' somethin'.... perhaps a doily, lace, and a few flowers.  It's in my bag for the next crop.

Thanks to Jan, who helped me amend my title.

      I mixed and matched products for the layout above, "Cats watching birds watching birds".  Some Prima flowers and branched embellishment, 3 Birds red tickets and flourish (more classics) on first page, and I believe the papers are from Around The Block.
   Now for some 'classic' (as in more than 5 years old?) 3 BIRDS products used to complete a few pages!  I used a sticker from the BLING EXTREME kit, one of the FIRST 3 Birds kits I ever purchased,  and papers from the SO MUCH SPARKLE kit.  The newest 3 Birds product that I used here was the white lace type border on the first page.  Even that is from a couple (or perhaps a few) years ago lol.  Let's just say I have a hard time parting with my 3 Birds products.  If you still love it, why sell or give it away, right?

      The photo above shows one of the papers I was considering for the layout below.  I wanted to feature Oreo. the tuxedo kitty we chose to adopt out after 13 months of trying to help him get along with our other 2 cats, and vice versa.  It still hurts my heart that we had to do that, in addition to the fact that the new family LOST him after only 2-3 days!  I reposted his adoption flier as well as other photos I had of him, Michael looked for him near their home on his way to and from work, he and Wesley looked on their way to their outings, and Michael and I looked on our way from Christmas dinner with his coworkers.  Finally, HE returned to them, nearly 3 months later! The husband had seen him 2 weeks earlier but thought it was the neighbor's cat.   I pray that if he is not comfortable with that family, that he finds someone who he IS happy with.
     Because I wanted to feature Oreo here, I chose to go with a black and white layout.  I knew I had a fair amount of papers and products from 3 Birds that might work well with the photos and story.

Yes, some CLASSIC 3 BIRD products!

More CLASSIC 3 BIRDS products used.

I decided to add a splash of orange to draw your eye to Squirrel, who Oreo was 'dusting' during his excitement!

I also wanted to work more black and white embellishments and a feather to help tell the avian-loving story.

     The only non-3 Birds products used on this layout were my adhesives (Hermafix repositionable dotto, and Glossy Accents for the heavier items, black pen for journaling, signing and dating my layouts, craft feathers from WalMart, and the perching chickadees which I cut out from a My Mind's Eye paper.   Even the foam adhesive that I used to lift the chickadees came from a 3 Birds kit.

   

   My last 2 page layout goes back a few years, to when Wesley's artwork was chosen to be used in the local library's CALENDAR!  More 'classic' 3 Birds products helped me document this, covering both the celebration theme and the topic of his artwork, our local CAR FERRY, which is the LAST coal powered ship on the GREAT LAKES and our LIGHTHOUSE.   I wanted to use the colors from his clothing as well as his sketch.  The "Celebrate" diecut title called out to me, plus it was RED, which worked perfectly for his shirt and artwork highlight colors.  I also had a BLACK version of the same diecut, so I layered them, again to highlight colors in the photos.  The marine life paper also contained the blue of the water in his sketch, as well as the blacks and reds.  Although it's not an artistic themed paper, I think it works well here, as it relates to the aquatic nature of his artwork.

    And there you have it... 14 pages! Ten were completed, 4 were started before I left!  WooHOO!

Here are links to some 3 Birds Design and Inspired Inc products, currently available on HSN.COM  .

http://www.hsn.com/products/3-birds-studio-all-seasons-themed-page-mat-kit/1826433 

 I used a 'classic' version of one of these kits just a few weeks ago, on my "MY HERO" Cub Scout layout.

     These can be used in either pocket scrapbooking or standard paper scrapbooking:

    

  http://www.hsn.com/products/3-birds-studio-for-all-seasons-themed-card-kit/7426366?query=7426366&isSuggested=True&

    

     Some of the kits that I've been using during crops to get a lot of pages done without having to search through my stash as much:

http://www.hsn.com/products/inspired-inc-top-page-layouts-kit/7310252

  

     What can I say?  I have a weakness for 3D embellishments, and 3 Birds and Inspired Inc have some great ones!

http://www.hsn.com/products/inspired-inc-3d-sticker-embellishment-kit/7426378

A weekend crop with local friends, old & new.

     I was invited to a crop at our lss (local scrapbook store) and had so much fun that I went back for the 3rd day, which was unplanned.  It started at 5pm Friday and ran until 11 that evening; Saturday 10-10.  When I arrived an hour late Saturday morning, I found out that they had been discussing coming for a THIRD day!  THAT'S how much fun we had! 
     Jan, our 'local' CTMH consultant hosted the crop, provided a lot of goodies and door prizes, and some great food.  We received extra door prize tickets for bringing chairs or snacks, plus random tickets for good deeds, ideas, etc.

Norma was the first to pay for the crop, so she got an extra special goody bag!

Part of the gang...

I made several new crafty friends that weekend! Mary invited several family members, and they were a hoot!

I

HMMM... TREATS? lol

The rest of the gang...plus me behind the camera of course.

Georgia made gorgeous vellum butterflies!

DOOR PRIZES!

Sharin' the craftin' love...

Georgia earned extra tickets by doing a bow tying demo.

Group hugs.... Our hostess Jan, Venisa, Georgia and Norma.

    

Another winter layout completed with Inspired Inc Top Page Layout kit: Part 4, Mixing & Matching w/ kits by 3 Birds, & LAKE MICHIGAN ICE.

     Last winter the Ludington area received 110"... yes, that's ONE HUNDRED TEN INCHES of snow!  This year, it seems we are getting more wind than snow, at least they are in town.  Wesley & Michael went to the State Park to take part in an evening snow shoe walk on Saturday, with the path lit by mini Coleman lanterns.  Unfortunately, there was so little snow that the snow shoe walk turned into a regular snow BOOT walk to the beach. There was a bonfire before hand, and Wesley & Michael also continued their own walk within the park later in the evening..
      Friday, they were going to head out to 'look for snow', in anticipation of the potential snow shoe walk....  they ended up going down to the beach and bringing back 3" thick pieces of beautifully clear LAKE MICHIGAN ICE.

     On their way home, Wesley told Michael "Let's see mom scrapbook THAT!"  You can BET I will.
  
     Before they left for one of their adventures, Wesley & Dakota were playing outdoors.  I asked Michael to take a few photos for me (I was in the middle of another project downstairs) because I had a layout I wanted to create.  They were still playing a few minutes later, so I took some more.....you can never have TOO many photos to scrap, right?

      I used the Winter Wonderland layout kit by Inspired Inc, using all but 2 pieces of the kit. 

      I ADDED one piece of 3 Birds Sticky Sparkly Glitter & Foil Set, part of their GRACEFUL SEASONS COLLECTION.  The foiled red "Smile" which sits beside the two 2.5 inch photos near the center of the two pages fits those photos and the mood of their activity that afternoon.  I like that the foil not only catches your eye, drawing your attention to the 2 smaller photos, but I like that the foil also helps liven up the page, since there are so many other dark colors within it.  I also layered some pieces cut from banners from an earlier 3 Birds border kit and placed them below the chipboard "winter".  I LOVE to sort through my stash and find things that match the colors in my photos. 
     I also LOVE to mix and match kits as well as collections, so to any of you who are purists in terms of using kits or working with only one company's products, I apologize.  BEWARE:  I DO THIS QUITE OFTEN... You've been warned lol.

Creating layouts with 3 Birds kits at local crops: Part Two.

      This layout was created during the Crop & Craft for Missions fund raiser.  It's rare that I get even one page completed during the local fund raisers, since I'm not only there as a vendor, but I also ESPECIALLY enjoy chatting with friends and walking around throughout the day to see what others are creating.
     Another blast from the past in terms of kits, but here it is combined with 2014 photos and more of the earlier 3D embellishments offered by 3 Birds.
     This Labor Day Michael and Wesley walked the Mackinac Bridge with THOUSANDS of others, as part of the Annual Bridge Walk between the two peninsulas.  I chose not to go, thinking it would take about 3 hours to complete the walk, and I didn't want to hold them back.  Plus, if I went, I wanted to take my beloved Dakota with us.
     It turns out that they completed the walk in under an hour!  I also believe that they said others brought their dogs with them for the walk, so I WOULD be able to take Dakota... I told them that it sounds like we need to go with them next year.
     As usual, Michael & Wesley took a side-trip, this time to Sleeping Bear Dunes.   Wesley had seen the signs for it on their way to the bridge that morning, and since they were done early enough, off they went!
     They got home late, especially when you consider that Wesley's 1st day of school was the next day, but they really enjoyed themselves.

Using Inspired Inc Top Page Layout Kits... installment 3.

     Today's installment covers a different type of walk than Wesley, Dakota and I usually take.  This particular day I decided to take Dakota to our local dog park, 'Bark in the Park'.  Rather than merely going inside the doggy park to roam around and play with others dogs if present AND well behaved, we decided to explore part of the adjacent walking path which winds through the woods between the dog park, local cemetery and the Lincoln River.

    This is another situation where I needed to create a companion page in order to include all or at least most of the photos that I wanted to use.  I searched my stash of papers, cropped corners to match those of the kit pieces, and used some of the remaining kit items to pull the pages together.
     I also had to adapt the layout to fit the number, sizes, and orientation (vertical vs horizontal) of the photos I wanted to work with.
     I'm not crazy with the outcome, due to the fact that the blue camera pattern paper is busier than I usually use, and more of it is exposed therefore making it more visible, but the theme works well with this story, and the blue and black coordinate with Wesley's clothing and Dakota's coat.
    

Completing more projects utilizing kits from 3 Birds: Part One.

     During two of our local fund raising crops, Crop For A Cure & Crop and Craft for Missions, I was able to crank out a few more projects by using some of my huge stash of kits by 3 Birds.

     This is one of the many diecut page kits that 3 Birds has offered since I discovered them around 2009.  Since I am a 3D embellishment lover/hoarder as well, and have so many pieces which coordinate with their color schemes over the years, I took advantage of the situation to create a quick (it usually takes me hours to complete a layout), balanced and fun layout.
     Not only was this our first vegetable garden at this home, it was Wesley's first opportunity to grow his own pumpkins.  We were quite surprised to see that we were able to get not only one or two, but 4 pumpkins.  The pumpkins were small, but it was a nice learning experience for Wesley as well as Michael and I, as we learned a bit about how well some things may or may not grow in relation to its location in our yard, the amount of rain we did NOT receive this year, and the cooler than normal temperatures we also experienced during this odd summer season.
     We planted 3 types of tomatoes, locating them on the West side of the raised bed so that the corn was less likely to shade them out.  What we learned about the tomatoes:  they grew like MAD in relation to the other plants, and therefore are going to have their OWN bed next year!
     The peas tasted WONDERFUL and were the family favorite, with us fighting over the few that we were able to harvest.  The tomatoes growing like weeds shadowed them out, plus we definately need to plant more pea plants next year.
     The corn didn't do diddly.... too little heat as well as rain (yes, we watered the garden almost daily)
caused our corn to only grow a few feet, not being any where near 'knee high by fourth of July'.  Local farmers struggled with the same problem, but we were able to buy a fair amount of locally grown sweet corn from the 'Larsen Girls', granddaughters of my scrapbooking friend, Judee Larsen.
     I accidentally picked one of only 2 peppers that grew this summer, upsetting Michael a bit.  I didn't check the label of that particular plant before picking the lovely green pepper which was calling my name.  When mature, it was supposed to be red....oops.  I got to enjoy it since it never fully ripened, and Michael was no longer interested in it.
    Next year we plan to build at least one more raised bed like this one which Michael and Wesley built for me.  As mentioned above, we will definately be giving the tomatoes their own bed, perhaps with corn getting it's own private 'suite', and lots more peas being planted.

Completing lots of layouts by utilizing Inspired Inc Top Page Layout Kits: Part 1

     It will take several postings in order for me to catch up on posting my many projects which I have attempted to post since last year's struggles with my blog, but please be patient with me.
     One of the topics that I have been trying to cover were the MANY pages that I was able to complete by utilizing the TOP PAGE LAYOUT kits, presented on HSN by Lisa Bearnson, who has created this line by working with several different product companies/manufacturers, and offering them under the name of Inspired Inc.
     I have been using kits for YEARS, especially after discovering 3 Birds on HSN.  They are one of the many companies that Lisa Bearnson (cofounder of Creating Keepsakes Magazine) has partnered with in order to create and offer some great products for us.
     Wesley's 10th birthday party last winter was one of the events/topics that I was able to document utilizing the many kits available through Inspired Inc., either through single shipments or autoship.  I opted for the Autoship program, thus I received 3 more deliveries of 10-12 two-page layout kits every few months.  The original kit was offered in the spring/summer of 2014, with the other shipments coming in June or July, September and November.
     Each follow up shipment was organized by a theme, such as Holiday Happenings which was shipped out in November.
     Some or all of these images may have appeared in earlier postings (actually begun months ago but unable to post them until later dates due to blog problems), but I want to cover the fact that I was able to complete so many projects by taking advantage of these kits    
     I don't usually go sledding with the guys, but not only did Dakota get to go (meaning additional opportunities to document her joy in participating in a snowy play date), but it was Wesley's birthday party, which I ALWAYS document.

    

     

 

     I was also able to scrap some of the activities that Dakota and I did with Wesley, either school related, Spring Break entertainment and treats, or how we spent some of our lazy, summer days together.

  Wesley's 'spring break' saw unusually cold, snowy weather, but there's ALWAYS justification for ice cream! When I saw the mint and black in this kit, I knew it would work for my photos, being the colors of my mint chocolate chip ice cream, but the other colors in the photos didn't work so well, so I simply turned my photos to b/w and wow... what a great improvement!  I used some of the stickers from another Inspired Inc kit to record the "Who, What, Where & When" in the upper right hand corner. 

     Wesley is outgrowing his battery powered dirt bike, but it still provides the occasional fun adventure!  When Wesley accompanies Dakota and I on our walks in the neighboring cemetery, I often ask him if he wants to practice his soccer dribbling and other skills, or ride his bike or dirt bike rather than just walking with us.  He often entertains himself in a manner common among kids or particularly boys, by finding a 'walking stick' or other natural items to distract himself from the fact that we are getting some fresh air and exercise.
      The 'All Hallows Eve' kit was all I needed for this year's family Halloween portraits!

Our family dressed up as Star Wars characters this year; I didn't get to go trick or treating because I had to set up for the Crop For A Cure the following day.

 For the layout below , I used the "Thankful" kit plus I added the "autumn" & leaf borders and a few individual pieces from the 3 Birds Best of Fall kit seen below.

     Rather than using this kit for a traditional Thanksgiving event, I used it to document how thankful we were to be able to borrow a neighbor's GOLF CART to pull our leaf rake, since our lawn mower is on the fritz.  Again, my photos are not all the same size, orientations or numbers, but it worked really well!