authentique

My friend Margie is nothing if not a busy bee.

She is always up to something. Designing new products. Traveling the world. Getting locked out of her house.

She just released her newest line of paper products.  She is working for a new company called Authentique.  They will debut their new lines at CHA later this month. They are almost ready to launch their website. For now you can check out the Face Book page.

As always, she sent me a fun package with all her new stuff.  "To play with." she said.

So I played. I made soldered jewelry charms with some of the smaller die cuts. I made a gift box to put them in and give them to someone deserving.

Margie is one the people in my life that really keeps my creative juices flowing.  When we get on the phone to work on Spark plans, we always end up on some huge crafty tangent. We swap craft ideas like baseball cards.

We are kindred spirits in that way.

Congratulations Margie on your latest achievement. Your papers are beautiful as usual.

I love you girl.

simply the sweet life

Well now here we are on a Monday morning. Just like that. Good grief. What happened to last week? 

I guess I was so busy getting ready for CHA that the days slipped past me.

Here's what I have for you today: 

Please click on over to Simply the Sweet Life magazine and check out the Valentine's ideas in the Winter issue. One of which comes from little ol' moi.

Also, here are some pics from Margie's booth at CHA.  They aren't grand photos. The lighting in the convention center was crappy.  But you'll get the general idea.

The little masterpiece below was made by Jen Jensen.  I like to call her "The Desert Rose" because she lives in a very small town in Southern Utah. She's like a little hidden treasure.

I created a kite for the booth using Margie's "Jubilee" line of papers.

I stitched the paper together to form a patchwork that looked like fabric.

The tail wrapped around the wall. I used everything from muffin cups to tickets on a roll in the tail.

My good friend Jen Vu tagged along with me for the weekend. We had such a fun time together. She also created the most amazing bird cage using the "Vintage Whimsy" line.  I didn't get a usable photo of her project but it was a site to behold.

12 days

Let me make one thing clear. I'm not a scrapbooker.  I have many uber talented friends in the scrapbook world.  They are designers and artists and trendsetters and I love the things they do. But I'm not a scrapbooker.

The Boy's baby book has yet to be put together.  The Bird and Frankie have little to no hope of having their books ever even started.

Ey. It's a sad state of affairs.

But over the Thanksgiving holiday I spent a day with one of my most favorite people in the world who also happens to be a maven in the scrapbook world.

You've heard me talk about Margie before.  She has several lines of paper and embellishments on the market.  She teaches all over the world.  And she's freakin' hilarious.

We spent the afternoon together in her cottage crafting and she let me loose on all her scrapbooking supplies. And let me tell ya, that's some good times.

We made The 12 days of Christmas memory books.

Now that my book is finished, I am so happy she motivated me to do this.  It is going to be a special year for our family. We have all of our children here. We will celebrate Christmas as a complete family.

I want to remember this year.  The year I bought my daughter a baby doll and my son a Lego set.  The year we have two babies to play in the wrapping paper.  My life is hectic, but I realize that my children will be grown before I know it.  I want to remember them exactly as they are this year.

I gave each child their own page in our memory book.  I'm going to write what I love about them this Christmas around their photo.

Thanks Margie for inspiring me.  I know I'm a beginner, but you always make me feel like I'm just as good as you.

As if.

I'm dying to get the photos taken and into my book.  I know it will be a treasure when my kids are grumpy teenagers that just want money for Christmas.

I also want to wish a very happy birthday to the most wonderful person ever born. My husband.

Dearest,
I could go on and on about how much I love you and why you are the perfect person for me, but I know you. And I know what you really want to hear is that I think you are one sexy specimen of a man and I will ravish you when you get home.  So there you have it. So let it be written, so let it be done.


Come home early.

toil and trouble

My good friend Margie Romney-Aslett is a designer who has her own line of products for paper crafting.  She also has a kit club that she runs with her daughters.  Every month The Girl's Loft sends out a kit full to the brim with fun crafting supplies.  The kit for October featured Margie's Halloween line "Toil and Trouble".  The girls sent me a kit to play with because they think I'm the shiz. That's what I like to think anyway.  I finally found a couple of hours when the babies were sleeping to dig into my goodies.

I made candy cones. Okay, they may not be original, but hey, who doesn't love a candy cone?  And candy cones made with Toil and Trouble products? Uh. That's a yes. Any day of the year.

And now, as if this post isn't festive enough, I get to give away an October Girl's Loft kit for you, yes you, if you be the winner.  Believe you me, it's a package of fun.

You can see all that the kit contains here.

You can enter to win said kit by leaving a comment.

You can have a second entry by tweeting this exact comment- @suaviloquy I really want to win @thegirlsloft kit because it rocks and so do you.

I really do love being Queen of this domain. Everyone should be the Queen somewhere.

As Queen I decree that a winner shall be chosen on Monday, October the twenty-fifth in the two hundredth and tenth year of our Lord.  Let it be written. Let it be done.

the girls' paperie

There's been a wee bit of crafting going on as the rain falls.


Oh yes there has.


One of my besties, the uber talented and funny Margie Romney-Aslett, will be debuting her new line of scrapbook paper next week at CHA.



You might recognize Margie as the cover girl for Making Memories. Well, she's movin' on up! She has her own line of paper and embellishments that she designed. She partnered with Advantus to create The Girls' Paperie.



Because I'm such a supastar Margie sent me a box full of her new papers to play with. I made another paper wreath like my Christmas one. I used Margie's papers and it will hang in her booth at CHA next week.

Some of you asked me to give instructions on how I make these wreaths. And I will do that...

tomorrow.

For now, relax and check out Margie's blog and the business she runs with her daughters. It's pure eye candy for crafters.

vintage hip christmas

Do you know Margie Romney-Aslett?

You should.

She and her two daughters, Megan and Brooke, are the brains and brawn behind The Girls Loft. If you are into scrapbooking or crafting in general, you must check out the site and also take a look at the new e-book they just released with Ella Publishing.

I got a sneak peek at the book a little bit ago and let me tell ya, it's chock full of really great ideas for the holidays. If you need a little decoration inspiration it's just the ticket.

AND it's only $5.99.

AND you can get 25% off this week if you enter this code: CRAFTY09.

Go here and get your copy!



Seriously.

Just get it.