Love This Release!!!

How can I say that Melissa has done it again and still feel excited???? Well she has!!! Seriously these new stamps are amazing from A Creative Journey with Melissa! You need to check out her new website as well. Easy to use. Lots of new products including blocks with grids at a price that will beat any Big Store coupons! I was blessed enough to be able to work with Photo Booth Fun and Hello Spring! Want to see how you can win Photo Booth Fun? No blog hopping. Just read this blog and you will find out how!

They are both clearly different stamp sets and are so versatile! Here is Photo Booth Fun

Yeah a PHOTO BOOTH STAMP SET!!!!!!! Seriously almost every kid party, wedding, and mall has photo booths or set up area like a photo booth! There are lots of props to create some fun memories and this stamp captures it all! So I made three projects with it! One was a photo booth from a wedding we went to for my husband's cousins Jacque and Franco. It was the first wedding we had gone to with a photo booth. They had lots of hats, glasses, ties etc! My husband who HATES having his picture taken actually did it with me! So did his sister Jenny! We loved it. I hope you like the layout!

With this layout I used ink from Close To My Heart: Black, Flaxen (goldish color), Glacier (blueish color), and Grey Wool. The gold ribbon came from my ribbon stash..just random. The gold splatter was from Lindys Stamp Gang Glitz Spray: Cactus Gold. Isn't it beautiful???? I took a close up of the words from an old dictionary. It has definitions for wedding and wedding ring etc!  Isn't that cute???

My next project was a fun fun one from another Photo Booth at the New York New York Hotel in Las Vegas. We are not those peeps that take the kids to Vegas, but the last two years my daughter's high school has made the Jamz Nationals. This year they placed 5th. We were so proud of our small school and their big team especially since they had a last minute injury that took out one of their key squad members. Here is a picture of the team:

Mine is middle row and far right. She is the co-captain
 

We also took our 12 year old son with us. He has never been to Las Vegas and was in awe of everything. His ADHD was in overload. While in NYNY we saw a photo booth! I knew I had this stamp set and so wanted to make a page a photo booth from our trip. Hope you like it too!

I used random solid paper and the star paper is from DCWV Rock in Roll that I received the whole set a few years ago from my friend Sandy (who is a design team member too)! I think it was perfect. I love all the words and phrases that I was able to use from this set as well as the swirls that came with it too!

Ok I need help with my exclamation marks today!

To win this stamp set...describe a layout, card, PL, altered art etc that you would use this stamp set. Contest ends Saturday March 14th 12:01 am

Here is my fun and really easy stamped card that I think is so cute! I used the same ink colors as the Photo Booth Fun layout.

Isn't it so cute???? Mustaches are still so in and I think if you do it in a creative way you can make it really sophisticated too.

The next set is Hello Spring! I really loved this set cause it let me try out a new toy. I bought the new alcohol pens Chameleon Pens. They are so cool cause you only need one pen to get a zillion shades. Here is a how to video made by them that can be found on my Pintrest page. Here is the stamp set!

So to play I stamped a bunch of the same images and colored colored and colored! I love the shading differences. All you have to do is figure out where you want your light to be. I think you can see it more in my carrots and bunny. The rest is mainly colored solid.

Here is my first project. Everyone needs a cute Easter card!

My second project is a fun little treat bag!

The paper I used for these layouts are from Echo Park line Happy Easter. This was two sided paper Easter Words and used both sides. Do you like the "Hello" "Chickadee"? Isn't that cute????

My next two projects are done on a little canvas. I thought it would be fun to make something I can either put out or hang up.

Here is the first one:

What do you think??? Well here is the second one. Please realize that I stamped on canvas that has no structure behind it. So it is not as clear of a stamped image as I always get with A Creative Journey with Melissa stamps. All other images of words stamped here was 1st time stamped. No "seasoning" required with Melissa's stamps. I always suggest you stamp on a nice solid surface with all stamps for nice clear images. If you are on one of those plastic tables that have give to them...use a mouse pad underneath. It will help! Now that I gave you a warning here is the second project on canvas:

Isn't it cute???? I had painted the branches and just straight colored in the bird, nest and eggs. No light or shading in on them.

Now for a few more releases!!!!



Spring and Summer Holiday Celebrations

 





Weather Related

 



 

 

They are so cute! I can not wait to hopefully create with these as well!

 

Always,

Brans

New Website! New Release! MORE FUN!

I am so excited!!! Melissa has revamped her website A Creative Journey with Melissa! You will love the new look! You will find tutorials being added, easier shopping and great ideas for your products to get those creative juices a flowing! Check it out now for some awesome specials and check it out Wednesday for the new product release! I just turned in 6 projects that were so easy to do! So also check out this Blog on Wednesday for those designs as well as my Facebook Page Brans Crafts ! I created a few projects with my brand new Chameleon Pens! So glad you could stop by!

Cant change it up Thursday

I'm sorry to post that I have been sick this week. Today I am not going to yoga cause I felt horrible after last week and could barely participate. So I hope you all take your vitamins and use your hand sanitizer!

Change It Up Thursday

Sorry I am so late posting today! Today was jammed packed! I took my kiddo to school and my friends kiddo cause she is sick. Hey I try to help when I can! So I did go to my yoga today but did not go Saturday. My daughter's fundraiser really needed me there. Then Tuesday my yoga instructor was sick with the flu. So I was lucky that she felt better today! So I finally was able to get to do yoga! It was a wonderful stretch and really pushed me. I rushed home after and took a quick shower and then work and then basketball practice for our son. My Thursdays are packed!!!!! So for change it up I wanted to point out that I am still caffeine free and soda free!

So my change it up??? Instead of a sandwich or fast food for lunch and dinner I have had salads this week. I add chicken, spinach salad and frozen corn with balsamic vinegar dressing :-)

So what have you done this week????

I really need to scrapbook. Maybe Sunday????


Always,
Brans

OUCH!

So today I am in sooooooo much pain! I guess it is to be expected but I had no pain after Tuesdays class but now after Thursday. UGH! I can not stop though. I will be going to GASP two yoga classes on Saturday! I will be taking beginning yoga and gentle yoga at One Core in Rosamond, CA. Saturday classes are taught by someone else. So I have a bit of anxiety. I hate new things! Anyone else?

Have you tried any new things lately? It could be anything from trying a new technique with scrapbooking? New dish you cooked?

So I am still no soda and caffeine and only drank water yesterday! Lots and lots and lots of water. Someone recommended to try at night to get a large container of water with mint, lemon and cucumber. Might need to try that ASAP! I will take a picture and post!

1st CIUT

Change It Up Thursday (CIUT)

 

 

So I have made some life choices in the last two months to better myself and take better choices of my body. I believe on Thursdays I will let you know how my change for my life and body are going. I don't like to weigh myself. I like to go off of how my clothes are fitting. Makes us girls feel much better than a number! Well let me give you a little backstory. I used to be really skinny. I mean too skinny. At 19 I was 5'8" and 105 lbs. I was healthy and could eat anything.

 

After my two girls I kept 10 lbs each. It looked good on me. Then the boy came. Darn those boys! LOL! I kept 20 lbs from him. Also after baby #2 I ended up have horrible Endometriosis and already suffering from Fibromyalgia but undiagnosed. So 6 months after baby #3 was born I chose to have a full hysterectomy. A great decision but not for my weight.

 

 

My body hated me after my surgery. I am now at 170 lbs. To boot I have a short torso so it is all in my gut. UGH! My husband is amazing and loves me for me and doesn't care about my size. THANK GOD!

 

A few weeks before Christmas I got the dreaded flu. YUCK! Due to the flu I stopped caffeine. I was not a huge caffeine person. A cup of coffee a day and a coke a day. Figured I already hit the withdraw might as well leave it behind. It was not hard. So I was still drinking sprite until about 1 week before Christmas and stopped that as well. Figured I would be less tempted to have coke if I stopped it all. It was easy! Now my problem. I hate water. I will get back to that in a minute.

 

I asked for a gym membership at a new class oriented gym in my local town for Christmas. I got it! Due to my job and family plans I was not able to go until this past Tuesday. All I want to take is Yoga. Something that is easy on my joints and helps my core. So I took the beginning yoga class. I LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! The instructor was so sweet and cute. She asked if we had any medical issues and I told her I had fibromyalgia. She had it as well and that is why she took up yoga! Kindred spirits! WOO HOO!

 

 

It was a great class. So today I am heading out to it at 10:30 am. Saturday I want to go to the Beginning Yoga and the Gentle Yoga but my daughter has a rummage sale at school during that time. I might still go. She is 17 and I can be there in the morning.

 

 

So water...I seriously can not stand to drink water. It is boring and has no taste. Give me some iced tea and I would be happy. Well I brought a water bottle to my Tuesday class and totally drank the whole thing and then another 2 bottles throughout the day. I knew I should drink lots of water for my muscles so they do not get stiff. Well yesterday I drank another 3 bottles! So I am so happy to keep going with it. Crystal Geyser will be my best friend! No iced tea yesterday at all. I did though have a Starbucks Vanilla Frappe though. LOL. Hey we can't change overnight without a slip here or there.

 

 

Let me stress this is not a New Years Resolution. I started this before New Years. I do not believe that life changes occur overnight. So I am not living my life one day on 12/31 and a different way on 1/1. So if you want to make some changes on your way of life...start today. Do it slowly. You will more likely have success from what I have read. Comment. I want to follow you and your journey as well. Inspire each other!

 

 

Always,

Brans

Loving CHA 2015 Mega Show

So I was ecstatic to be able to go to my second year of CHA Craft and Hobby Association 2015 Mega Show in Orange County CA. Luckily for me I am pretty local. I am about 3 hours away.

Well I started my morning at 3 am. I wanted to look pretty. LOL! Curled my hair, put on makeup and dressed comfy cute...you know the cute jeans with brown boots and an adorable light shimmer light brown shirt. Got in the car and prayed I would not get in another car crash (that was my last year going to CHA). I was so luckily to drive and meet Melissa from A Creative Journey with Melissa. That was an hour of pure HECK driving. Ugh...welcome to California traffic. Once Melissa and I  met up she treated me to some awesome coffee (I am caffeine free for 2 months and soda free for 1 month) and these awesome blueberry soda cakes! So after an hour of me driving...Melissa took over in her car and drove for 2 hours!

We got to the show 1 hour before our classes started. I ended up taking three classes before the floor opened at 11 am and then took a floor class at 3:45 pm. To read about my morning classes please click here.

Once I walked onto the floor I immediately walked to the Teresa Collins booth and the Teresa Collins ScrapBox booth right next door. I am inspired that Teresa is bringing back acetate and vellum but making it new and fresh. This is not your 2002 acetate trust me! Expect her signature gold in her lines. You will not be disappointed. Now for my dream!!!! The ScrapBox designed by Teresa! It is stunning! It has a decorative topper, beautiful clean white, interchangeable front glass to put your own material or paper or photos in, and her gold touches! Just LOOK LOOK LOOK:

I then saw the most beautiful wings created by tabs from Scrapbook Adhesive. They are truly stunning!

Next I was drawn to CN Crafts AKA Chickaniddy. I am obsessed with their Yippee line. Some of my favorite papers is Picnic Party and Walking on Sunshine. Their enamel shapes with this line is so adorable! They are very price friendly!

While at CHA it is inevitable that you run into someone that you know. Usually that someone is due to the industry. Well I was apart of an amazing scrapbook group for over 2 years about 10 years ago. We met once a week and cropped, drank wine, and did swaps to create kits. We shared kids birthdays and created life long friendships. Since I moved 1 1/2 hours away out of Los Angeles I don't get to see them very much. I was so surprised to see Lea Oliver! She is as beautiful as ever and retirement looks good on her!

I soon stumbled upon a stunning display. If you watched Maleficent you knew you needed to look at this display and booth. The display was by Cousin and I was drawn into the only jewelry booth at the whole show.

So the group I spoke of above gave me a bit of a nick name. They called me the "Ribbon Wh*re"! Seriously they did! So when I say the May Arts Ribbon I almost fainted!!!! They had this one line that I was drawn to. It looked like a patterned dyed stretched burlap. Then I touched it. It was soft and moldable. Came in about 8 colors but someone else was obsessing about them too so I don't have all the colors in this picture.

So the booth with the Dear Lizzy line just made me happy! It was packed inside...DUH so I was going to go back later and did not get a chance. So sad :-(

The next booth I ran into was the one that contained the Imaginise Milk Paint. Doesn't it look beautiful? My creative juices were so flowing seeing these paint powders!

Next came one of my favorite booths...I am officially obsessed with Crate Paper and their Craft Market line. The designer Maggie Holmes is beautiful inside and out. The sales staff was so personable and truly inspired me with all of the coordinating products. Craft Market had some stunning papers. My favorite is some of their specialty paper such as the Gold Glitter Pattern. Their muslin bags would be so cute to decorate with their products for gift tags etc. Hope to touch this line soon on my scrapbook table!

So next booth is one of the most colorful booths at CHA and always is. Love Love Love the Doodle Bug Booth. They had three sets of paper lines that I was inspired to use. Especially since they are Spring and Summer style and it has been in the teens at night in my home!

Another beautiful and color filled booth is Echo Park. I normally ask before I take a picture. I think this is their designs and artwork and hate when someone thinks it is ok to "steal" that. So I forgot and took a picture. Their rep said excuse me mam no pictures. I started apologizing and she started laughing. She was messing with me and I loved it! She read me so well! LOL! Their Happy Easter by Laura Passage & Nicole Seitler as well as Soak Up The Sun by Alisha Gordon made me want to scrapbook that exact moment!

So while waiting in line for food...BTW I had a great healthy sandwich LOL...we realized that Joy MacDonall was behind us! She was the host of the PBS show Crafting at the Spotted Canary! She is so beautiful and flipping funny! The person you saw on TV is the person you get while waiting in line for food!

One of the last booths I spent time in was the G45 Booth. One thing about the G45 booth is you always get an experience. They even have their reps dress up!

A few other booths that I did not take pictures of but adored and had great conversations at:

I loved the Modge Podge booth. Those two are hysterical and so creative! I made a cute jar that I am going to finish and give to my daughter Julia. It will look beautiful in her old world inspired Paris room.

The next one was Pink Paislee. I loved their paper and cute embossing folders with Citrus Bliss. Only thing I wish is that they did an embossing folder of the flamingo!

The Deco Art booth was inspiring and I was able to play with the Metallic Lustre. It was great! You can use stiff brushes with it or even you GASP fingers! You can put it on thick to cover an ugly paper or light to enhance a beautiful paper! I just love it!

Paper Wizard was so great. I just love their theme kits. I especially love that they have Cheer stuff! What is great is that it is a family run company. You do not see that often anymore.

The Sizzix booth is awesome of course! They had a great MC with lots of Scrapbook stars!

Scrapbook Customs was awesome too. I have actually received product from them recently with my daughter's high school for papers!

Last but not least is the Martha Stewart booth. It was lots of fun. I made a cute mini book decorated cover with her stencils and paint. I have never seen a better stencil than hers.

My last class was one on the floor at the end of our day. It was with Chameleon Pens. Oh wow I love love love these pens. Each pen does about 10 hues. So each pen is about $6 and the big set with 20 pens is $99. With other pens each pen is a hue so that would be $8 a pen (minimum) x 10 hues than x 20 pens! That would be a minimum of $800 for the same effect with a lot of training. These are so easy! I did a leaf with finding my light in 1 minute! BTW she did that hair in 1 minute! Here are a few pictures.

So I hope I was able to get you excited for the new products coming out in your local family owned scrapbook stores.

Always,

Brans

CHA 2015 Mega Show

Wow is all I have to say! Yeah right! So I was able to go to CHA for one day, Monday January 12th. I was able to meet some amazing people! The booths and products were so yummy! To top it off I got to take some classes as well!

I was so lucky that Melissa is so amazing! She signed me up for 3 awesome classes! My first class I took was Affiliate Marketing by a company called CJ. I learned a lot if you want your blog to make money. I do not think that is for me. I like to just share what I do and have lots of fun! My second class was my FAVORITE! It was by Theresa Cifali and was "Making the Most of Instagram". Oh wow did I learn a ton!!!!! She displayed 3 top performers in Instagram. One had a huge following. Another was target audience focused. The third was a craft site that was very product focused. I learned how to really work my Instagram and increase my following. My third class was Creative Blogging. I really liked this class. It had a fun teacher who was not tech savvy (same as me) and but knew what she was talking about. Helped my focus and realize I need to revamp this site! So changes are to come...BUT before that I wanted to let you know that tomorrow I will be posting pictures and tell you about my fun time yesterday!!!!!

Now I need to eat some oatmeal and get ready for my yoga class! Yes stop laughing! It is part of my life change! I will talk about that later this week too! Maybe Change it up Thursday????

My New Love is EBATES

So I have a new love. It is Ebates! I absolutely am trying to figure it out why I did not join it earlier.

I click on Ebates. Then type in my favorite store. Ebates takes me to that stores web site. I then shop and pay like normal! It is that easy!

They also list coupon codes for many of the stores. I have saved money at Walmart, Target, Toms, NoMoreRack and so many more! If I am going to spend money anyway...I might as well get some back!

All you need to do to start saving is click the below link. You will automatically get a $10 gift card with your first purchase through Ebates!

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=2a3t2xyUGdkdL%2B3yyvA9IQ%3D%3D&eeid=26471

Happy earning!!!!!

Woo Hoo Sign Language Numbers-American Sign Language Blog Hop!!!!

Oh my gosh I am so excited to have this stamp set! I was excited when Melissa from A Creative Journey with Melissa came out with the Sign Language Alphabet-American Sign Language and then she came out with Sign Language Numbers-American Sign Language ! So here is the fun part...There is a blog hop this month highlighting lots of stamps and new releases! If you hop to everyone's blog...follow their blog and answer their question in the comments you can win some AMAZE-BALL PRIZES!

You want to do this hop cause there is no release for January! So here are the stamps being released and highlighted.

• Sign Language Numbers - American Sign Language
• Sentiments for All Occasions
• Everyday Alphabet Outline Upper and Lower Case Stamp Set
• Everyday Alphabet Outline Numbers and Symbols Stamp Set
•  Everyday Upper and Emoticon Stamp Set
• Everyday Alphabet Lowercase and Numbers Stamp Set

Now for the blog hop you going to go to the first person on the list!

Melissa

Sandy

Haidee

Alena

Amanda

Leticia

**Brandie**

 

 

 

So my question is: Do you know sign language or ever wanted to learn sign language?????

 

Make sure to leave your answer in my comments and follow my page (if you do not already).

Then hop over to Melissa and hit all the ladies up and do the same!

The winner of the blog hop will be released on 12/13 at Melissa's blog.

The blog ends on 12/12 at 8 pm! 

 

**If you refer someone to my blog by sharing this blog hop...make sure when they comment their answer they let me know you told them to come to me. I will also have a prize I will send you as well. So make sure you share on Pintrest, Facebook, Twitter, etc! You can win a prize from me AND Melissa! My prize will be a $10 Michaels or Joanns gift card of you choice! Design team members are excluded. Sorry ladies.**

 

Melissa's giveaway includes:

Sentiments for all Occasions stamp set
Sign Language Numbers - American Sign Language stamp set
Sizzix Embossing Folder set
Prima Flowers

WOOT WOOT!

 

 

Now for my projects!

 

One thing with many brand new stamps...you have to "season" them before you use them on a project. By seasoning stamps you usually have to stamp them a couple of times to get a nice clear full image. Stamps from A Creative Journey with Melissa you do not! The cards below were stamped with the Sign Language Numbers-American Sign Language only 1 time!

 

 

Here is my favorite Christmas card I have made this year. I loved it cause it has a cut out that is connected by 2 trees that are embossed for some texture. It is a simple card but has a lot of punch. What do you think???

 

 

 

 

Now do you see how cute this is???? So here is a close up of the stamp that was only stamped once!

 

 

 

See how clear and crisp it is????

 

Now for my second project. I wanted to make a card for my niece who will be 3 next year. It cracks me up cause most kids hold up the typical 3 fingers. When she says 3 with her hands...she does it the American Sign Language way!

 

 

What it is so cute about this card is how simple it is. I used two cute girl colors a pink and a soft plum for the backround. The cupcake is on a wobble so it will be fun when she opens it and wobbles all over! The "You" and "Are" are also from A Creative Journey with Melissa and are the Everyday Outline Upper and Lower Case stamp set.

 

I hope you enjoyed my creations this month. Remember after you follow my blog, answer my question...then hop over to Melissa's and do the same for the rest of the ladies! Don't forget to share so you can win not only a prize from Melissa but from me as well!

 

Always,

Brans