I'm still here folks.

 Sorry I have been missing but... Life happened.. And I love every minute of it.

 My family is so grown up I can hardly stand it.

Easter Baskert Tutorial

Blast from the past!!!

My Easter Basket from Stampin' Up Artisan Award Entry 2009


It's that time of year again to start thinking about Easter projects... I have revised the tutorial I wrote a few years back and it's posted on the SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS website starting today...


Link to the Carrot Easter Basket tutorial on SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS.
HERE.

Beate said this may possible is the longest tutorial they have ever posted... I really tried to combine and pair down some of the steps. Sorry all but you will love the result. If you just can't wait for the Carrots to be in-stock in the stores you can alter the project for St. Patricks day or for any other holiday for that matter.. How fun if you made it into a picnic basket Ooooo so cute.... I didn't get a video tutorial made SOOOO SORRY . I just can't get my camera and the Mac to work together.. We did just recieve an new little gadget called a BLOGGIE TOUCH from SONY but we haven't had time to try it out yet.. It's the SONY version of a FLIP camera... We will be trying it our on our Cruse in 2 weeks.... YAAA!



Let me know what you think of the new tutorial and please leave me a message with a link to your Easter Basket if you make one... I can't wait to see what you all come up with....





Huge Thanks to Beate for asking me to do the tutorial for her.. What an honor.. She is the first blog I ever read about card making.. So she is totally my Idol... How she does it all I will never know... I just know she ROCKS and I LOVE her for it!!!





ENJOY!!!





HUGS

BROOKE

Happy Valentines Day!

It's that time of year again.. but this time I am down to only 1 kiddo in grade school. We LOVE making personalized valentines. It's always been a whole family event..

Did you notice this is two holiday posts in a row??? Stay turn this week I will be posting another holiday post on Wednesday.. YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE...

Thanks for stopping by

HUGS

BROOKE

MERRY CHRISTMAS

FROM MY FAMILY

TO YOURS

Crimson Floral Christmas 5x7 folded card

Create modern Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

FREE photo Christmas cards...

Have you heard!!!

Shutterfly is having an AMAZING deal you do NOT want to miss...

If you like a good deal then keep reading you will not want to miss out..

This year don't forget to include a photo in your Christmas card.. I know by the time I hand make all my cards I don't have a lot of energy to get really clever with the photo. Do you have a hard time picking just one photo? I do! Why not make a Collage of photo and let Shutterfly do all the rest of the work for you.. They have great templates to choose from.. You can even find a template to coordinate with the theme of your hand made card..

This is one of my favorites this year..

If you have 4 kids like I do then this might be a great choice for you.. You can use a family picture and then highlight each child and have a spot for mom and dad together... Hmmm. You wait you will die at how many great choices they have. I think I counted 193 choices in the traditional photo card size... They also have larger sized which we have done the last few years and LOVED them.. Each card will come with an envelope as well.. BONUS!!! This is a huge factor for me when I am shopping for photo cards..

Here are a few links to great gifts for this years Holiday season... I really want to make a hardback book.. My dear friend has made several and LOVES using Shutterfly for books..

· greeting cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/5x7-folded-greeting-cards

· photo Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

· personalized mug to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs

· birthday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

· invitations to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/invitations

· Valentines cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/valentines-day-cards-and-stationery

· Choose your favorite product from our Cards & Stationery page

Click HERE for a link to free cards...

Good luck with your photo Christmas cards this year.. I know I will need it making my choice..

Thanks for stopping by.

HUGS

BROOKE

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #100 Pride and Prejudice

Welcome to the 100th challenge.

What an amazing adventure this ride has been.. I still remember my sweetheart telling me a girl named Sankari called for you.... I think my jaw hit the floor.. What? I said.. She sill call you back again later? I had met this beautiful girl through Kristina Werner's Color challenge. We had shared sweet exchanges with one another and we had both noticed that we had been listing what movie we had been watching at the bottom of our posts.. When I finally got the return call I was just completely excited and in shock at the same time... Once I heard the voice on the other end of the phone.. I felt like I was being reunited with one of my oldest and dearest friends ever. We talked for hours and hours.. AMAZING!!! At this point I find it really hard to have more than a couple days go by and not here that ray of sunshine on the other end of the phone.. I truly have the dearest and sweetest friend ever... And do you want to know the hardest part of it all.. We have never meet in person.. I know!!!! We live SOO far from each other. WE WILL MEET heart to heart some day.. WE WILL...

I love you forever

I love you for always

as long as I'm living

my dear friend you'll be...

THANKS FOR SHARING THIS JOURNEY WITH ME!!!

I love you my Sunny Sankari.

You won't want to miss her fabulous project here. She will truly amaze you..

-----------------------------------

My project inspired my the 100th challenge

Jane Austen's

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

First you have no idea how hard it is to narrow it down to one inspiration.. I think we chatted for hours on what to pick for you all... We just love so many things about this move... AND THANKS to all of you who voted for this movie.. It's only the best movie EVER!

When I was chatting to my sweet DH about what to make he really dove into this challenge.. He suggested that I make something about Elizabeth's muddy boots and hemline.. He though it really reflected what she was all about.. A bold young lady who wasn't afraid to do what ever she wanted even if she was told it wasn't what a young lady should do... But yet she was still refined and elegant... I love that idea but really couldn't wrap my brain around what I would make with that in mind.. So we chatted a little more and though that the letter exchanged between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth was a really great place to start...

If you can imagine with me you might even agree that Ms Bennett(Elizabeth) would have most defiantly keep the letters she had received from Mr Darcy. She would have savored every work wether she agreed with them or not. She would have analyzed the penmanship and tried to make out what kind of a gentleman he really was... I think she would have keep them with her when she traveled as well. She would have made a special box to keep them in fashioned out of some of the trimmings that she and her sisters would have had on hand to make bonnets and bows... I would like to think that the secret piece of lace was from a dress that she might have been wearing and maybe even been noticed in my Mr Darcy... My sweetheart and I also agreed after her visit to Pemberly that she would have kept this picture in her keepsake box as well. She would have had to draw her picture but we will share one of our favorites from our trip to Pemberly... My Sweetie also quoted "And to think... Of all this I might have been mistress"

p.s. If you haven't guessed yet.. My Sweetheart and I BOTH love all things Jane Austen... Luck me...

OOOOOhhh the heart-ach these two cause.. I love every minute of it...

This last year when my grandfather passed we were able to have a few of my grandparents for keepsakes.. When I noticed these little Jane Austen era pictures I totally wanted them.. I remembered these as a little girl. My Maternal grandmother had made them for my paternal grandmother... What a sweet connection I can now think of them both as I look at these pictures and share my love of Pride and Prejudice...

Please Join us this week and make a creation inspired 100% by this wonderful movie. Please do not use any other card challenges or challenge elements from another challenge with our 100th project unless it's a layout using one of our sponsors sketch's. Then enter to win some fabulous sponsored giveaways from:

GINA K, TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS, VERVE, and JUSTRITE STAMPS...

Join us HERE on the

CINEMA SATURDAY CREATIVE CHALLENGE

Thanks for stopping by

HUGS

BROOKE

Cinema Saturday 100 challenge vote

And the choices are (drumroll please..........)

1. Avatar - this blockbuster hit has gotten over 58 nominations - amazing!

2. The Notebook - classic passionate love story - and talk about that kiss!

3. Pride & Prejudice - our very first movie challenge was Pride & Prejudice and it was the love of Jane Austen that brought us together!!!!

4. Always - in honor of Audrey Hepburn (she is our heroine - so classy and elegant!)- and it was to honor her that we created the Audrey Award. This was Audrey's last movie.

Join us on the CINEMA SATURDAY CREATIVE CHALLENGE and cast your vote...

Don't forget to check out the list of 100 movies we have created to projects for... Can you believe that we have had 100... That's amazing... 100 one of a kinds cards and projects...

Thanks for stopping by...

HUGS

BROOKE

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #98 - Dead Poet's Society

What a great movie full of legendary quotes... "Captain my Captain" and [quoting Henry David Thoreau] "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." and so on.. You can check out sooo many great quotes here that you can use for your inspiration.. My card is full of inspiration from this movie.. I started with the color scheme and used a more masculine one since the school is an all boys school. I used a script background to represent the words of poetry from Mr. Keating's (Robin Williams) class.

The sentiment reflects all the changes and new knowledge that all the boys are experiencing. The stripped D.S.P. even made me think of a mans shirt. Then the finishing piece of inspiration on my card is the felted wool butter fly.. The butter fly represents the main character Neil (Robert Sean Leonard). Neil has alway done what his father and everyone else wants him to do. He finally finds the courage to see who he really is and take great joy in doing so... You could say it is a transformation of sorts but not without a price . Neil is a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly.. I also chose this piece of felted wool because it reminded me of a blazer that the boys might wear for their uniforms. Don't forget the corduroy button that you might find on a professor/teachers jacket. Sooo many great things you can find in this movie for inspiration.. I could make another card just about the play that Neil preforms in...

In the words of Neil: "For the first time in my whole life, I know what I wanna do! And for the first time, I'm gonna do it! Whether my father wants me to or not! Carpe diem! "

Card sketch inspiration by Julee.

I hope you have a great time creating a card for this challenge.

HUGS

BROOKE

Conference Time

I am getting a head start this year on Activities for General Conference. We are lucky enough to have a Semi-annual world wide meeting for

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".

Broadcasted from here:

L.D.S. Conference Center in S.L.C., Utah

About this:

The Teachings of Jesus Christ.

We are able to watch it right in our very own homes on T.V. every 6 months. To keep the little kids interest over the 2 days and 8 hours of viewing I have found a few activities to keep them focused.. I guess I know what I will be doing for the next few days... Getting activity packets prepared.. We also love to play Conference Bingo at our house.. The kids listed really closely to hear the message and find the words on their bingo chart. Maybe it's all the sweets but I hope to think it the tradition.

If you want to make a packet for you family here is a great link.

If you are wondering what a General Conference is you can read and watch it here.

Hope you enjoy.

HUGS

BROOKE

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #97 ~ Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

My little journal inspired my the ya'ya's scrapbook.. Who doesn't LOVE Buttons!

The beginning of the Ya, Ya's.

The Secret Journal of the Ya, Ya's

The ladies all grow up. Collage

Doesn't this movie just scream collage for a card challenge.. This movie is just a huge potporri of drama.. Each person brings huge drama to the table with the challenges they are going through in their lives.. The Ya' Ya's are the reason they are all surviving to day.. The Ya', Ya's are the Ultimate best friend group EVER. They tell it like it is and you still love another for it... If you haven't watch this you have to... This movie is a great example the old cleche' you never know someone until you walk in their shoes" Join Sidalee(Sandra Bullock) and the Ya', Ya's and find out what made them who they are today..

See you soon with my challenge creation...

HUGS

BROOKE

Recipe:

Chipboard book~ 7gypsey's

Acrylic paint Delta

Ink~ Tim Holtz

Paper~ Cosmo Cricket

Buttons~ Stampin' Up, Making Memories and ?

Twine~ Craft store find

Stamp~ Woodgrain Stampin' Up

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #96 ~ Iron Man

I am "NUTS" about you.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUMAN"

I think my favorite part of the Iron Man series is watching the chemistry between Tony and Pepper... Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow or defiantly two of my favorites.. Robert can totally pull off the arrogant wealthy social-light and Gwyneth is so good at playing a strong but elegant women. The little robot reminds me of Tony Stark's soft side.. He is forever taking Pepper Potts for granted and has to ask for her forgiveness. The 3 hearts are Tony and Peppers of course. The little metallic heart is Tony's Iron Man heart.. Pepper is always trying to keep all of Tony's hearts in check.. The color scheme is Iron Man inspired of course.. All the Silver reminds me of the FIRST Iron Man attempt all metal..

Thanks Karen for a great Sketch Challenge to get the Mojo going...

Check out Karen's challenge here.

WHAT A FUN CHALLENGE!

I was "NUTS" about it.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE FUN!

HUGS

BROOKE

Recipe~

All "Stampin' Up" except the embossing folder by "Cuttle Bug".

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #95 - High Noon

This classic western is easy on the eyes that's for sure.. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly can we say ATTRACTIVE!

Classic old movies also feature the good ole' Harry Morgan (Col Potter of M.A.S.H.) and Lloyd Bridges.

Cards sketch inspiration from Ms Julee over at Mojomonday.blogspot.com

Thanks for always getting my Mojo up and going Julles.

My inspiration came from the classic colors of a western with a Princess twist. I can help but see Grace as a Princess in what ever I watch... In the movie Amy(Grace Kelly) is most defiantly not a princess but a simple quaker girl.. She is totally against all violence and doesn't want her new husband Will (Gary Cooper) to be the Marshal anymore. It take the whole movie to convince he that the wishes of his wife are the way to go.

Join in the fun and create your card inspired by this weeks movie..

here

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge

HUGS

BROOKE

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #94 ~ Sleepy Hallow

Card inspired by the movie~ Sleepy Hallow.

I saw this movie last year on t.v. for the first time and my first thought was WOW Christina Richi is so pretty as a blonde. She really has grown up. This was one of her big breakout rolls as a young lady and not as teen/child.. And Jonny is well Jonny in this movie.. There is somethings to say about a Depp/Burton movie.. You know it's going to be a little twisted and dark. The color in this movie are mesmerizing and has that same deep or should we say "DEPP" undertone that we have grown to love in the Burton/Depp movies... If you are going into this movie thinking you follow along the same lines as the Disney store from 1949 then think again.. This has so much for DEPPth. If I was to create another card for this movie I think I would make a card with very sublet color and use more grey tones.. So many option for this challenge.. Enjoy getting in the Halloween spirit enjoy the show.

Join us this week on CINEMA SATURDAY CREATIVE CHALLENGE

and

Get into the Fall/Halloween Spirit.

This weeks challenge requirement is to use a "Halloween Tree" anywhere on your project.

Thanks for stopping by

HUGS

BROOKE

What a SUNNY day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

SANKARI

Today is our Beautiful Sankari's birthday and to celebrate we are having 3 different activities.

1st~ Make a Birthday Card and link it to SANKARI's blog. (here)

2nd~ Sneak Peek Friday on our CINEMA SATURDAY CHALLENGE BLOG. (here)

Make a guess on Cinema Saturday's movie and leave a HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish.

3rd~ When you are visiting our Cinema blog link your card there to show off your b-day card.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

SUNNY SANKARI!

Thanks for stopping by

HUGS

BROOKE

Little Red's Summer Picnic ~ My Cute Stamps

Little Red's Summer Picnic...

(Red's Strawberry is the apple stamp paper~pieced into a strawberry..)

How Cute is this little Red image.. I was the lucky winner of little miss red a while back from one of my favorite stamps company's "MY CUTE STAMPS". Holly has really great images for kids and adult cards.. I have made some really cute cards using her images. The recipients have all commented how CUTE the image's are.. I even made a card for my mothers retirement using Holly's stamps.. You need to check our

Holly Brooke Jones over here on her blog.. And her store front here.

Warning you will LOVE what you see..

When I was looking for a sketch to get me going I looked on Karen SWEET SUNDAY sketch and I had that Ah Ha! moment.. PERFECT! Thanks Karen and her guest sketch artist for a perfect match. Check out the sketch challenge and make your own card HERE!

All my Stampin' Up and Sizzix Flowers dies and Stampin' Up Ribbon were also a must.. I used the Birds and Blooms, and Flowers #4 dies. When I went to grab the twine to attach the Summer Picnic label the little red and white bakers twine was staring up at me. Perfect touch don't you think! The flowers were topped of with Ink and Rhinestone brads.

Red was colored using Copic markers..

Thanks for stopping by

HUGS

BROOKE

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #93 ~ ANNIE

This is one of the first movies I remember going to as a kid... I got to the VILLA Theater a GIANT screen... It was a classic old movie house with red curtains and everything.. I remember the opening credits still.. The songs from this movie will forever be in the heart of girls everywhere... While I researched this movie I found out that Aileen Quinn is the same age as I am.. That means we were both 9 when she made this movie... Most of the little ladies never did go on to do any other movie.. This was there 1 hit wonder... I would say they were all immortalized and will remain in the heart of kids for years still to come.. My kids have all loved this movie and I am sure their kids will too. Grab the little ones and snuggle up together and watch this classic.

I pick this little snippet because it was my most favorite part of the movie when I was younger..

We even got to do this very scene in dancing and all in Jr high for choir...

(don't forget if you don't have access to this movie you can watch all 13 segments of it on YOUTUBE...)

Brooke's project inspired by the movie ~ ANNIE

When I was searching for Friday's sneak peek photos I finally decided on my inspiration for this card... Annie's dress! RED with black and white trim. GOOD LUCK to you all there are soooo many cute thing to get inspiration from.. I really wanted to incorporate the locket as well hence the little hearts on my card.. The I love you is for the sweetest and funniest part of the movie.. The sweetest part of of course the "I LOVE YOU DADDY WARBUCKS"! & "I LOVE YOU ANNIE".. The funny part is the way the little orphans tell Ms. Hannigan "We love you Ms. Hannigan" And she never believes then... The Congrats is on the grand uniting of a family... CONGRATS on the adoption of Annie.

Some of my favorite player in the movie...

Carol Burette~ Ms. Hannigan

Tim Curry~ Rooster

Bernadette Peters~

Aileen Quinn~ ANNIE

Albert Finney~ Daddy Warbucks

Geoffery Holder~ Punjab (or the sprite guy as we might all remember him as.)

Hope you enjoy the movie...

HUGS

BROOKE

Recipe:

Stamps~ Stampin' Up

Ink~ Stampin' Up

Paper ~ Stampin' Up

Punches~ Stampin' Up Square, and circles.

Ribbon ~ Stampin' Up

Black gems~ Imaginique

Glitter Glue ?

Pear Stickels..

Digi-scrap and first day back to school.

Ok everyone.. You are witnessing 2 miracles. 1st I scrapbooked !!! 2nd I finally got time to play with my "My Digital Studio" software from Stampin' Up...

To make the scrapbook process a little less painful I decided to re-create a page I had already made in paper... I only had to make a few changes and get creative with others... If you are new to any scrapbook program and want to NOT use a template/drag and drop method I highly recommend the digi-redo method like I did..

BIRTHDAY DINNER

I will take a picture and post the original...

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

On another note...

My youngest baby started 1st grade today...

I took this picture on our walk to school.. What a tough guy... Looks like a LION, but such a LAMB... I am going to miss my little buddy SOOOO much...

I am almost to tall for my desk...

My baby girl started Jr High yesterday for the 7th graders only. Today she got to spend the day home with me by herself. Who told her she could grow up!!!

I love her new glass she got for school. Her eyes sparkle.. Especially with the touch of Mascara that a new Jr High girl get to wear now... Notice the peace sign around her neck.. She is totally Obsessed with Peace Signs... What a DOLL!

Today My second BABY started High school... He has been so excited all summer just thinking about it... When he got home today he said it was really cool... He is so sweet he said "Mom I am going to work so hard because form this year on it REALLY counts and I want good grades to get in college".

OK Here is the KICKER... Today my first born baby started his SENIOR YEAR!!!! That can't be possible.. I remember Kindergarten like it was yesterday... Boo Hoo.. I still can't believe that he could possible be old enough to have memories of High School and of Life that I did just yesterday RIGHT???? I am not that old am I???

This picture was taken right after school. I did miss my little man. But I don't think it will sit in until a couple of days.. Probably next week.. DH took of the next few days so I don't have to be alone... My littlest was so worried that I would just sit home a cry all day because he wasn't here anymore. He thinks how could life go on with out him here... What a sweetheart...

Todays Miracle No tears and a picture to prove it... Next week we will see...

Thanks for stopping by and sharing a few Miracles with me...

HUGS

BROOKE

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #92 Napoleon Dynamite

Sense our challenge this week was to make a pocket/container card I decided to make Napoleon a little backpack card for the first day of school..

This is Napoleon backpack that he found at the D.I.(local thrift shop) he thought it was FLIPPIN' SWEET... (Which is a total UTAH/IDAHO~ ism..)

If you want to make a backpack just like Napoleons you can find the template here on splitcoaststampers.com

What would Napoleon fill in this said backpack of his... Well CHAPSTICK of course because "My Lips hurt real bad" as he would say... Napoleon being the groovy nerd that he is would take the time to pick out very special pencils.. So I found some that honored Napoleon...

"OH MY HECK" (another UTAH/IDAHO~ism). Napoleon would have also pick out a few items for his locker.. These magnets should do the trick. That way he can have a picture of his favorite brother KIP who reminds him daily that he had mad computer skills and "Don't be Jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day" Napoleon...

Have you ever seen a LIGER? I have.. We have a stuffed on at a museum here in Utah.. I remember seeing SHASTA as it was called when I was little.. "Liger's are Mystical creators you know". ( at least Napoleon thinks so)

This movie is one of those cult movies you just don't get the first time you see it.. But even days later you find yourself laughing at a line or scene from the movie and you get sucked into watching it again and laughing your head of... This movie cracks me up the little town of Preston, Idaho is just over the border from Utah.. So basically this little town was just like any little town in Utah.. Any yes the saying are really said.. Like HECK YA instead of HELL YA. You wouldn't want to swear now would you.. LOL. One of my favorite scenes of all time is Napoleon doing the dance for Pedro's campaign.. Laugh you butt(as we would say in Utah/Idaho~ism's) funny. John Header is such an amazing character actor.. How could you not laugh you pants of while making this movie...

HUGS

to you all.. Can't wait to see what your favorite saying from this movie are...

BROOKE

Join us over at Cinema Saturday and create your own NAPOLEON project.

Recipe:

Card Stock ~ Stampin' Up

Pattern Paper~ We are Memory Keepers

Stamps ~ Stampin' Up

Ink ~ Stampin' Up

Adhesive~ Stampin' Up sticky strip, Score-tape~ Scorepal

Ribbon~ Stampin' Up

Eyelets~ Making Memories

Backpack Template~ Splitcoaststampers.com HERE.