Party Time !

50,000 hits and a Birthday to boot !

Deanne Burke, is celebrating fifty -thousand hits on her blog "Am I A Scrap Addict" and her Birthday with a week long crop !

Happy Birthday to you , Deanne !

Deanne is true to her Blog name "Am I a Scrap Addict"

her love for Scrap booking and paper show in all her layouts and creations.

Not only, is Dea generous sharing tips and inspiration, she also creates sketches and offers 4 Sketches a month hosted on her Am I a Scrap Addicts " Just my Sketches "blog.

Stop by and see all the wonderful Cards and Layouts that her Design team has put together to inspire us along.

For those of us that need a little motivation to get those special Holiday Christmas cards completed.

Deanne offers you inspiration , sketches , challenges and tips to help you along on her blog " Christmas Cards All Year Long".

Christmas whenever the mood strikes...can't get any better than that!

Deanne is also one of three sisters of the "Sisterhood of Scrap" Blog.

If you have never happened upon the Sisters , I suggest you should take a little time , when you get the chance to see what the Sisters bring to the Scrapbook Community .

Truly the Sisters hold the concept of Sisterhood to heart.

Nice and friendly atmosphere to begin your journey in the world of Internet Scrap booking.

Dea is celebrating her birthday with a week of fun challenges , and has invited everyone to join in her celebration.

She has a offered a chance to win a lovely gift for those who participate in this weeks challenges and fun.

Stop by " Am I Scrap Addict" and join in the fun !

Today's challenge has been posted and may be seen here :)

Put on your party hats ...hope to see you there !

Happy Birthday ,Deanne !!

Crop Challenges

For some time now , I have been unable to get into creating pages for my Scrapbook Albums.

With all the everyday challenges that life brings forth, I found myself looking to the future and not to the past.
Now that things have settled back into place, the urge to preserve those past memories have come back.
Feeling a little stuck, I found myself join in an online crop this past weekend hosted by "Scrap My Memories".

And I am so glad I did ! What a creative group of women at SMM.
Very inspiring and now am ready to get a few more layouts done for the books.

This first layout was an all white layout..at first I felt intimidated by this challenge as my all white supplies are limited.
But after seeing the lovely creations the ladies were putting out, I decided to give it a go.
Truly inspiring this group of ladies are !

My Granddaughter Sophia



Close up of embellishments

My Granddaughter Addison

Two of my Three sons and their Families

The fourth layout may be seen one post below a heritage page for my Family Heritage Album.

Not only was the crop productive for me, I also am the lucky recipient of a prize Card kit from Scrap My Memories Store...very exciting.

Thanks ladies for all the fun !

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a happy Crafty Day :)

Happy ST Patrick's Day

Top of the day to you all !


The past few days I have found myself thinking of my Maternal Grandmother and the tale of the Widow Duross( my Grandmother's Grandmother).

For many years I would celebrate St.Patrick's Day with my Grandmother.
Thru out the years she would repeat the same family stories , somewhere in those years of celebrating the stories made there way into my memory bank.

Armed with some information I had on file, I have been able to locate the ship records on the widow Duross and her children.
For sometime I have been wanting to add a page to my family heritage album about the widow and have finally pieced the story together the best that I could.

James and Ellen Duross lived in the place known as Fivemiletown ,County Tyrone,Northern Ireland.

James harvested Flax (as found in the Flax growers list) and farmed the land.

In 1842 James passed on leaving Ellen and the children to make there way.

Within those five years Ellen found it harder to maintain life for her children as the famine ravaged their lovely country.

By 1847 (Black 47) Ellen and the children left Fivemiletown and made there way to Queens town,Cobh Ireland during the height of the Famine.

They traveled on to Liverpool , England as they waited for the ships to depart, (Famine Ships) traveling in steerage with a total of 216 passengers.

April 20Th 1847 Ellen and her children arrived to the Port of New York.

Making there way to Oneida Castle, NY where they set up there new life in America.

My Great Grandfather (photo in layout) was first generation to be born an Irish American.

Inside a Famine Ship



An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Digital layout credits here and here

Spending Time

Just recently my eldest son and his family flew home for a visit.So much fun to spend some time and reconnect with family.
What fun it was to watch Sophia as she became fast friends with her Papa's family.
Sophia and Addison get together for a tea party at Cousin Hannah's house.
I just love those little girls , so much fun !!



Created this layout using a Sketch by Deanne Burton..She is hosting a blog contest on Just My Sketches Blog.
Also this sketch by Deanne, is this Saturdays Sketch Challenge hosted by The Sisterhood of Scrap.
Two birds with one stone so to speak .

Thought I would create a digital Layout for the Challenges. It has been awhile..need to keep it fresh in my head :) all products used are Weeds & Wildflowers Digital Kits.
Sketch by Deanne Burton.

Couple of Small projects & Embossing tip

Most of my spare time lately has been pretty well planned out for me..but I have been able to squeeze in a few projects here and there.

This little guy is my first attempt at using Coffee for a stain and also creating hooded eyes.
My daughter- in-law thinks he looks like a potato and my husband would not like to run into him on the street...how bad is that !
I figured that maybe he needed a heart with hugs on it and a kiss and a hug to his backside in hopes that somebody feels sorry for his homely little self and dishes him out some love :)
All digital products to create this layout are from Weeds & Wildflowers.



Last of the cards that I have been creating for A Scrap Addict Sketches.
It has been a great time being part of Deanne's Design Team.
I look forward to all the new teams creations.
Thanks Deanne your the best!

Via a request for tip on embossing on my canvas project.

I would suggest for your needs to use a Versa Mark pen the fine tip end..no worries on the tapping off...just turn over and give it a thump with your finger ..should clean off pretty easy.

For a hard back Canvas just give it a tap with your knuckle this should do the trick

Also if stamping on a

stretched and mounted canvas, use your hand on the back of the canvas for support when pressing down stamp for a clean image. Hope this helps :)

Hope all is well in your Crafty World and thanks for stopping by :)

Rag Doll

Finally, a little spare time to sit down and share.

My grandmother would spend her winter months sewing .
At any given time you would see her with some type of thread or yarn in her busy hands.
Whether it was tatting , embroidery ,yarn ,doll dresses you name it she created with it.

Her stitches were perfect with speed from her hands.
I imagine working in a glove factory in her early years did help in improving the speed at which she was able to create.
Under Grandmother's watchful and helpful eye she guided all the women in our family to learn how to sew.

My first lesson to learn was mending socks.
Having painted faces on Grandmother's Darning eggs helped to hold all our attention.
As we grew older so did the lessons she would share.
I still find myself looking for a needle and thread in the winter months as some old habits are hard to give up.

I love the look of Primitive Art and decided I would try my hand at it.
Here is a little project I created while teaching myself some of the tricks to Primitive cloth creations.

Lets see...there is tea dying , Using Ranger Ink, painting, embroidery, creating hair from Rags,stitching a 3d nose and drying techniques.


I used an old shirt of mine and some lace from a set of my grandmothers old curtains (just to old to hang :) for the dolls dress. Touch of embroidery for the smock.


A close up of her face and hair. Not having any yarn for her hair ,I used strips of left over cloth from my doll pattern.

I need to finish her shoes with laces, still have not decided on how I want them to look.

Here are some links I found helpful in helping me to create this doll.

Pattern Jackie's Girls by Annie's Cupboard

How to Needle Sculpt a Nose tutorial by Traci Dunn Courtesy of PrimMart

Embroidery Stitch Videos Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread Blog

Basic Tea Staining Olde Country Cupboard

Coffee Stain and Prime Sunflower Tutorial courtesy of Free Craft Articles

contributed by KKL Primitives

Tutorials for doll making by Traci Dunn

If you really want to see some wonderful Primitive Creations out there...check the ones showcased on the Ditty Bag...such creativity and talent in the World of Primitive Crafting.

Just a little thanks to all the crafty folks out there,who spend the time and willingness to share all the helpful tips and Craft tutorials found in the cyber world !

They help bring Crafting back to the kitchen table for sharing.

Take Care and a Crafty Day to you all :)

Hello,It's been Awhile

stopping by to say hello.....hello :)

Hard to believe a month has come and gone since my last post.

Just wanted to let friends and family know that we are fine and holding our own as we have moved into the New Year.

As far as crafting and Scrap booking.
I have been working on some small crafty projects here and there when time will allow.

Looking forward to sharing projects and links when I get the chance.

Till then stay warm and happy Crafting.