About Me

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DFW, Texas, United States
I'm the luckiest woman out there. I'm blessed to be married to my best friend. I have two amazing children, one son-in-law and the most adorable grandson ever with grandson number two due February 2013!!! My passion is people and preserving their memories for generations to come.
Questions, Comments or Concerns:

Email me at craf_t_scrapper@yahoo.com

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Saturday, May 31, 2008

Good Looking Couple

Aren't we just a good looking couple??? Rob and I decided a night on the town after the week we've had between issues with our teenagers and issues with work. So, we got made up a little and headed out.

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We enjoyed dinner out and came home - to teenagers!!! Pray for my sanity while they grow up - please!!!! Right now I need it. I've seriously considered stock in lime to bury them in the backyard - cept my backyard isn't big enough....gggrrr!!! Seriously, pray for my sanity, I really really really need it right now!!!!

Happy Scrappin'!!! Over and out ya'll................Photobucket

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Acrylic Albums

OK, I've seen these acrylic albums out there, bought a couple and just stared at them on my shelves. I've wanted so badly to do something really special with one and couldn't come up with anything. So, while thinking of something to make for my friend Jenn who is pregnant, I met Dee Dee online through the forums at The Crafty Scrapper, a local scrapbook store near where I grew up. I visited her blog and wow, did I get the inspiration I needed from the pregnant paper bag album she made!!!!

So, here is my acrylic album inspired by Dee Dee, I hope I did her justice!!!!



Have a great day!! Happy' Scrappin'.............over and out ya'll Photobucket

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

I think about all I have and all in life that I take for granted. All of these things come by the grace of God and our service men and women who fight to protect our freedom to live as we do. I was looking through some pictures today online and it brought the emotions out in me as to what Memorial Day really represents.

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It isn't just a day off from work for us to get together and cook out, party and enjoy ourselves. It is a day of remembrance. We should take a moment out of our busy lives tomorrow and say a little prayer asking for God to watch over the men and women who fight every day for our freedom. They do not do this because they HAVE to, they do this because they WANT to.

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They unselfishly put their lives on the lines for us. Some come home, some don't. I am blessed in my life to be related to several great service men and women who have helped protect our freedom. My husband, United States Marine Corps, my sister, United States Navy, my brother in law, United States Navy, my grandfather, United States Army (RIP) and several uncles and great uncles.

Take a moment to thank those around you for their dedication and service. Take a moment to say a prayer for those who are away from their families, enduring extreme weather and the hidden enemies who's main goal is to take our freedom away from us. However you do it, just take a moment to remember and be thankful.

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Please have a safe and happy holiday. Happy scrappin'......over and out ya'll.................Photobucket

Thursday, May 22, 2008

My Daisy

I just had to post a couple shots I got of my darling Diva Daisy day before yesterday. She is such a spoiled little girl!!!!

Here she is hanging out on the couch - sleeping on her daddy's blankies!!! LOL

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And here she is looking out the front window of my office - she loves to people watch as someone is always walking by on the sidewalk out front. Once in a while another dog will walk by or a bird will fly to the window sill and she'll sit and whimper and whine at them as if she is saying "Hi friend" - she's just so cute she'll sit here for hours if you let her!!!

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Thanks for checking stopping by!!!

Over and out ya'll.................Photobucket

Gate Fold Card - How To

Gate Fold Card How To

After several compliments on my gate fold cards and questions of how I made them, I decided to make a how to post. I was inspired to make these cards from a make and take on National Scrapbooking Day at Archiver’s – here is the card I made there:

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These cards are really very easy and fun to make. I don’t have photos for the how to just yet but will try to get some taken and update this post with them very soon.

Let me start out by saying if you own a Scor-Pal you will use it on these cards and get your money worth!!!

1. Decide on the size of your card. I make mine 4” x 5” when completed. When cutting your cardstock you will double the length of the cardstock in order to create the gates. So, for a 4” x 5” card you could cut your cardstock 4” x 10”.

2. Place your cardstock on your Scor-Pal and score at 2.5” and 7.5”. If you do not have a Scor-Pal then measure and mark w/a pencil and score with a bone folder then fold.

3. Emboss the gates on your card by placing them into the embossing folder JUST up to the point of the fold. Run each gate through the embossing machine and embellish as you like – ink, chalk or lightly sand to give it a different finish. You could also use the color core cardstock and sand to give it the two tone effect.

4. Cut your inside pieces for your sentiment. I double layered mine so I cut a piece of patterned paper 3.75” x 4.75” and adhered it in the center of the card. For the second layer I cut a piece of solid color paper 3.25” x 4.25” and stamped the image using a watermark pad so the image does not overpower the sentiment and signature. Adhere this piece centered on the patterned paper.

5. Scallop the edges of the gates. A friend of mine, Cristal, showed me how to do this using a small corner rounder by EK Success that can be purchased at Target for under $5. After I scalloped my edges I used my Crop-A-Dile and punched holes in the scallops - you can place eyelets, ribbon, etc in the holes or you can leave the scallops intact and faux stitch them or whatever you like.

You can go to Cristal's Blog for a great how to with pictures on creating scalloped edges using this corner rounder.

6. I inked the edges of my cards – you can leave them plain or if you used color core cardstock they will already have an awesome two toned effect. You could also easily emboss the fronts used an embossing pen, highlighting the raised embossed design and putting embossing powder on the raised image and heating – I bet that would look awesome, will have to try that next time I do this….LOL. You can also chalk the edges.

7. For the belt you will need to cut one strip of patterned paper or colored cardstock 1” x 11” if you made 4” x 5” cards. For other sizes double the width of the card and add 1” for your strips – you may have to break it down into two strips if the card is wider than 5”, if so for a 6” wide card you will cut two strips 7 inches to give enough room to attach the strips in the back and the front.

8. Once you’ve cut your belt center your card on the belt and wrap snugly around the card leaving a small amount of room in order to slip the belt on and off your card and secure using adhesive, eyelets, ribbon, hinges, etc. I usually use a repositionable adhesive at first to make sure my belt will slip on and off before permanently securing – I’ve wasted enough paper not doing this……….lol.

9. Embellish your belt however you like. I used EK Success paper punches in a flower shape and punched two flowers in coordinating cardstock to give it a layered look. Attach to your belt in the center on the front – I used a pop dot to give it a little bit of dimension. In the center of the flowers I put a gem but you could use stickles, leave it plain, however you want. If you don’t want to use a flower you could always use any other punch or even a stamped image and cut the image out. The possibilities are endless on embellishing your belt.

10. Finish off your card by stamping, handwriting or placing a sticker sentiment on the inside. Fold the gates closed, slide the belt on and voila!!

Here are the cards I made:

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I hope you found this how to helpful. I will try to get pictures added real soon.

Happy scrappin’………over and out ya’ll!!!!Photobucket

Monday, May 19, 2008

And the rest of the story..........

As promised - here are the other 2 books from this weekend. The second one Cait
helped me on because I was pressed for time - well at least I thought I was, ended up having plenty of time but better be safe than sorry!!! Thanks again for looking!!!

The first book uses We R Memory Keepers Precious Metal line and the second Heidi Grace.

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I'm sure you guys get tired of seeing all these books but I really love to do them and they sell so fast I don't even get to list them on Ebay or Etsy - I have no other items that sell before they hit the shelf besides these!!!

Happy Scrappin', Over and Out Ya'll...................Photobucket

Long time no post.......

WOW!!! I can't believe how long it has been since I posted!!! So, what have you all been up to??? Nothing to exciting going on here - still in escrow so we don't know if the property is going to sell or not. Should know by the 31st though - things are looking like it will but you never know.

Scrap wise I've been semi busy - still not getting any layouts done but I'm hoping to get out of that rut here as soon as I get some of my orders completed. I did manage to get 4 more of the board books completed this weekend to fill some of the orders. I also got 10 cards finished up this last week for a swap that I am in. I STILL need to finish the bookmarks but haven't gotten to it yet........my brain doesn't function well under stress.........LOL.

Here are two of the 4 books done this weekend - both of these used the new BG lines: Archaic and Boxer. Sorry for the horrible pictures - I took them around 11 last night right before going to bed and the lighting was horrible!!! Thanks for looking:

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I have two other books I will try to get posted tonite - I just ran out of time last night editing them to post so will try to get that done after work tonite.

Here are the cards I made for the card swap - I did them in two color schemes for the inside but overall they are the same card:

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I made another card today for my nieces birthday but what a dodo I am - I made it and sealed it and stuck it in the mail before realizing I didn't get a picture of it!!! It was rather cute - I used Lily again from Pink Cat Studio and utilized some more of the DCWV Nana's Kids scraps.

I think that is all for now - will try to post again tonite on the two other books - they are just darling!!!

Take care and happy scrappin' everyone!!!

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Followers

Just to cover all bases...................

I am not the best scrapper out there. I don't claim to be totally original, I lift from many places and in many forms from color combinations, to product usage, to technique and so forth. I try to be fair to all scrappers out there and mention them when I lift from them - now keep in mind, there are so many people out there scrapping, card making and altering items that naturally more than one person will have similar ideas. When I mention lifting, or casing as some call it, I mean when you intentionally take a design you see and duplicate it exactly or only change up the coloring........KWIM???

With that said..........

All content, including text, photographs, and concept design elements are © Karen Brooks unless otherwise noted. Content within this blog is shared for personal, non-commercial use and inspiration only and shall not be used for personal gain or entry into contests or for publication. That wouldn’t be very nice now would it???

Thanks and happy scrappin'!!!!