Challenge on the Nikki Sivils Blog!

The  last day of the month is always challenge day on the Nikki Sivils blog and this month's challenge is one of my favorites- to create a project using the "My Friend Birdie" line! I love, love, love this line. It is soooo cute and I can't stop using it! So my project I created this cute little "Tweet Hearts" Card.

You can play along with the challenge too. Just create a project using "My Friend Birdie" and leave a link on Nikki's blog. One lucky participant will win some Nikki Sivils goodies! You can find the details and see what the rest of the DT created HERE.

Scrapcetera Kits

I have a brand new venture I am really excited about! It combines both my love of scrapbooking and shopping so what can be better than that?

Last month at CHA I was approached by two local ladies to start putting kits together and teaching at their stores. I told them I would think about and the more I thought about the more I thought I wanted to try it out. I got all my paper work together and am now working out the details of teaching at their stores. Fall is my favorite time of year and I am so excited about the first kit I put together- HOT APPLE CIDER. Why Hot Apple Cider? Well hot cider always reminds me of fall so I couldn't think of a better name.

I don't want to keep this fun kit restricted to just local girls so I am offering it to everyone. You can order a single kit or a subscription and their will be add-ons coming soon too! This is a lot of work for a current mom-to-be and mom of a 19 month old so I am also having a design team call for a little help ;)

Here is a preview of my first kit and you can find details on the DT call or ordering on the my new website: http://www.scrapceterakits.com/.

Thanks for looking! {Sarah}

October Card Kit
Hot Apple Cider

Click HERE to order one today!

Project Ideas

Happy Birthday Card

Designed by Sarah Eclavea

Finished size: 5.5 x 4.75 inches

Hi Friend Card

Designed by Sarah Eclavea

Finished Size: 5.5 x 4.75 inches

What a Monstrosity

Designed by: Sarah Eclavea

Finished Size: 5.5 x 4.75 inches

Pumpkin Card

Designed by: Sarah Eclavea

Finished Size: 4 x 3.5 inches

A sketch challenge!

Did you know there is a sketch challenge going on over at the Nikki Sivils blog?

To enter create a layout or card based on this sketch by DT Diva Anna Bowkis.

To enter provide a link to your project in the post on Nikki's  blog HERE. Good luck! The winner will be announced on August 30th and receive some wonderful Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker product! What could be better than that???

SO Blog Hop winner...

I had 26 posts total to win the cupcake tags/ toppers I had up for grabs during the Simply Obsessed blog hop. I put numbers 1 -26 into the random number generator at random.org and it chose #6. I then counted down to the 6th post......


And the winner is....

jillofallcrafttrades said...



these are adorable and so colorful!
August 12, 2010 11:25 AM


Email me your mailing address (scrapcetera@aol.com) and I will get those out to you soon!

Thanks to everyone for the comments during the blog hop and the Bo Bunny dt post. I appreciate everyone's support and rallying more than you know!!

The Treasured Hunt is here!

It's here - Treasured Scrapbooking's biggest contest of the year - The Treasured Hunt!


This will be a four week contest. To enter, upload your very best layout into the Treasured Hunt gallery-Eligibility Entries category by 9pm (EST) Friday August 20th. The Design Team will vote and the top 25 entries will move on to compete in the contest. Following is the timeline of the contest:

Eligibility Round - deadline Friday, August 20th-11:59pm (PST)
Sun Aug 22 - Top 25 contestants announced

1st round
Tues Aug 24- 1st challenge announced
Mon Aug 30 - deadline to upload entries 11:59pm (PST)

2nd round
Tue Aug 31 - announcement of 15 contestants moving on/2nd challenge posted
Mon Sept 6- deadline to upload entries 11:59pm (PST)

3rd round
Tue Sept 7- announcement of 10 contestants moving on/3rd challenge posted
Mon Sept 13 - deadline to upload entries 11:59pm (PST)

4th round
Tue Sept 14- announcement of 5 contestants moving on/4th challenge posted
Mon Sept 20- deadline to upload entries 11:59pm (PST)

WINNER ANNOUNCED - on or before September 24

After the 25 contestants are chosen, weekly challenges will be posted on Tuesdays and entries must be posted in the appropriate challenge gallery by the following Monday at 9pm (EST).

Pages will be judged on photography, creativity, originality, relativity to challenge theme and overall design. Winners for each round will be determined by the Design Team and myself.

Please pay close attention to the requirements of each challenge! Ask questions if you need clarification! Any deviation from the challenge requirements listed will result in disqualification. This is only to be fair to those who follow all of the requirements. We ask that all entries be posted only to the Treasured Scrapbooking gallery until the end of the contest or elimination.

PRIZES!! (Now to the good part!)

GRAND PRIZE: Prize Package worth over $250 of scrapbooking supplies and a $50 gift certificate to the Treasured Scrapbooking store!!

2nd prize: $40 Treasured Scrapbooking Prize Pack

3rd prize: $25 Treasured Scrapbooking Prize Pack

All submissions must be original designs. Layouts submitted for any round of the contest (except the original eligibility entries) must be posted only in the TS gallery until the end of the contest or elimination and must not be published, posted or entered in any contest, in any magazine or on any website until the end of the contestant's participation in the contest.

Exception: layouts may be posted on your personal blog/Facebook page.

You must be an active member of TS to participate in the contest. Don't worry newbies...this doesn't eliminate you...as long as you actively participate in the forum/gallery once you join, you're good to go!!

I am very excited about this contest and can't wait to see all the awesome entries! Good Luck everyone!

*note: number of entrants moving on in any round may be adjusted due to number of entries.

Treasured Scrapbooking's August Card Kit

It's August 15th so that means school is starting in a week, but that's not that exciting. Especially for us teachers who like having time with family during the summer. The good news is that the 15th is reveal day for the card kit at Treasured Scrapbooking!

Love this month's kit. The fun colors and patterns remind me of summer and I need to hang on to as much summer as I can!

I created four cards a layout with this kit and still have tons left to make more cards. Check out the TS store before they are all gone!

The 2010-2011 Bo Bunny Team!!

Scroll down for the Simply Obsessed Birthday Blog Hop!! There's still lots of time to participate!!!

I woke up this morning, called my husband, ate some toast and of course looked on the Bo Bunny blog. This is the first thing I saw. A map where all their new DT members are from. I thought, hey someone made it from Illinois. Good for them!

Then I scrolled down and saw this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our new USA team members:

Becky Williams

Robbie Herring

Debbie Sherman

Sarah Eclavea

Frances Sylvia

Hey that's me!! I am the newest team member from Illinois! I cannot believe it! And I have to congratulate all my fellow Nikki Sivils girls! You girls are awesome and I am so happy to work on another team with you. And I see lots of scrappy friends on the list too! Congrats to all!

You can see the complete post HERE.

And here are the projects I submitted for my application. Some are older and some are newer, but I love them all so I thought I would give it a go.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my excitement with you!

Happy {3rd} Birthday SO!

It's Simply Obsessed's third birthday and we are having a blog hop to celebrate!

The DT and forum members have been hard at work putting together some birthday goodies just for the occasion! And since SO likes to party, the blog hop isn't all we have in store!!! Oh no!! There is also a crop going on this weekend hosted by DT member Jenny! But wait there's more!!! It wouldn't be a birthday party without presents now would it?? So join in the fun, hop along on the blog hop and participate in the crop. You may just win a birthday present from the SO store. Remember to leave a comment on the blogs along the way!

The fun all starts at the SO blog so if you are just joining us you can start HERE.

If you are have been hopping along you should have come from Nicole's Blog.

And now on to my project. I love cupcakes and it wouldn't be a birthday party without them in my mind! So I created these cute little cupcake tags! Each tag is 2" in diameter, has a cupcake or ice cream cone stamped in the center and is hand colored by me with water color pencils. I have to say I love water colors. I tried copics and they just weren't working for me! Plus I can buy a whole box of water color pencils for the price of one copic marker. They would be perfect for adding to cards or layouts.

And to celebrate Simply Obsessed's birthday I will give one set of six tags as a RAK to someone who leaves a comment on this post (there will also be another set in my ETSY store ;) ;) ;)

Now on with the hop!! Next stop is Barb's blog!!

And we hope to see you at Simply Obsessed this weekend for the crop!!

A few new cards...

Smile.... Using the American Crafts Everyday line.

And Hello Card... Using the brand new Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker Hello Birdy collection.

Check out the...

Nikki Sivils Blog!!!! I am the blogger for the day!

And here's a little sneak peek of the August Treasured Scrapbooking card kit. Love this kit. It was really fun!!

A few new challenges

The first of the month always brings lots of new challenges! So without further ado here are a few (hey that rhymes too!)...

My August challenge for Treasured Scrapbooking is to create a trifold card. I thought of this challenge because I have never made a trifold card and wanted to try it. So I guess I can say I challenged myself too-LOL! If you upload your cards to the TS gallery and forum you will be in the running for a gift cared to teh TS store.  Here is the sweet, simple card I came up with (and you can find it in my Etsy store soon too!):

And I also have a color challenge at Simply Obsessed. My challenge for August is use the colors blue and yellow. I chose to use the BRAND NEW Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker line "Blueberry Hill". I just love how fun and bright this line is. And as much as I love Blueberry Hill, it's not even my favorite! Have you seen "My Friend Birdy" yet or "Tree Love"?? Or "Something for Everyone"?

If you upload your layouts to the Simply Obsessed gallery and forum you will be in the running for a gift card to the SO store. Here is mine:

Thanks for looking!! And Please check out the Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker blog on August 5th. I will be the guest blogger for the day!

Quick Hair Clips

I made these quick (very quick!) little hair clips for my friend's daughter. I made some for Frances too, but she won't let me touch her hair so I don't have a picture of that! I didn't think much about them, but they are getting hits like crazy in my gallery!! Seriously like hundreds of hits a day. Sometimes it's the simplest things that get the most attention.

To make these I used American Crafts felt embellishments and Goody Hair clips. I wrapped a piece of fabric around the clip and then sewed the felt to the ribbon. Please don't judge me by my sewing skills! It does look a little rough in the picture above! But once the clips are in your hair you can't tell at all. And I couldn't just give my friend the clips so I made a little card to attach them to.

Have a great weekend! - Sarah

A new card

I just listed a new card at my etsy shop. Isn't this little bird adorable! I used Bo Bunny papers for this one and the colors are perfect for summer. I don't know about you, but I am trying to make summer last a little longer! I can't believe school goes back in three weeks!!!!!!!!!

Nikki Sivils Tree Love

Nikki Sivils just released another super adorable line debuting at CHA next week! It is called Tree Love. Now autumn is my favorite time of year and I take so many pictures. I still have lots to scrap from last fall! I can just picture all the super cute pages I am going to create to with this line. Here is a little sneak. To see the rest you'll just have to visit Nikki's blog. I think that Beaver is my favorite!!

Along with the sneak Nikki is giving away one each of her new lines debuting at CHA next week. Just go to her blog, leave a comment and check back tomorrow to see if you are the lucky winner. Good Luck!!!

Queen Bee August Kit

It's reveal time at Simply Obsessed. The August Queen Bee kit is gorgeous!!! I can't believe how beautiful the yellows, teals and grays look together. Heather did a great job matching everything together. And don't forget about all the embellishments. Wow!! I created two layouts and a card and still have tons left over. I still haven't even used the clear border strips, prima flowers, making memories frame or Fancy Pants journaling tags. So yeah, I am going to be making some more layouts with this kit!

For my first layout I chose this picture my husband snapped of Frances and myself at the riverwalk on a Saturday afternoon. I didn't even know he took the picture and when I was looking through the photos later that day this one made me a little teary eyed. She is growing so fast and it is sad knowing I won't be able to hold her like this forever. I punched holes in the cork to make a button and put some twine through, then used the diecuts from the add-ons for my journaling. Then I cut up the Prima Pearls so I would have enough for my next layout.



For my second layout I choose this photo of Frances running through the grass. I snapped this while she was running away from me and then edited it in photoshop. I layered lots of the patterned paper and made more buttons out of the cork circles. Then I added the rest of the prima pearls, some of the diecuts from the addons and some stitching.

And for my last project I created this card from one of the diecuts.



Kits ship the first week of August and there's only a few left in the Simply Obsessed store!!

A new challenge and a crop!!

Let's start with the crop first! The Just Beachy crop is underway at Simply Obsessed. There are games and pre-crop challenges this week and the official crop starts this weekend!! Simply Obsessed crops are always the best too!

Now for the challenge. It is my turn to post a challenge at scrapbook challegnes so I chose to do a card challenge. My challenge for the month is to create a mini-card or set of mini-cards if you are so inspired! I love how cute mini-cards are. They are perfect for attaching to the tops of gifts and bags or just placing in a tiny little envelope.

I created this set of six cards using the brand new line debuting at CHA summer from Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker- Blueberry Hill. I love the yellows and blues of this line. It is so summery and fun. I thought the scalloped card shape from the Wild Card cricut cartridge would by whimsical and fun too and go great with these papers. I was not dissapointed with the result.

To be entered to win the June kit from Scrap Attack Scrapbooking create your mini-card (4 inches or smaller- mine are 3 inch diameter) and upload it to the Scrapbook Challenges gallery. Good Luck!!

Nikki Sivils Sneak and a give away!!!

Nikki Sivils just released a sneak of her line "My Friend Birdie" debuting at CHA summer in just a few weeks. I LOOOOOOVVVE this line!!! And there is a give away on her blog today too!!! So head on over check out the sneak and leave a comment to be entered for the give away.

Here is a layout I made with the new collection. It is a random collection of things Frances says that make me laugh. I didn't want to forget them so I journaled them next to this adorable pic of her. She talks so much now I am going to have to make a version two soon!! Just the other day I asked her say love you and she said "bove boo". Come on, isn't that just the cutest?????

The journaling is kind of hard to see on the pic so here it is:

blue-bee: Blueberries, your favorite!

bading duit: bathing suit
wimming: swimming; what you do in your bading duit
cupie: cupcakes or muffins
Kod-YO: Kody the dog
Yorge: Curious George, your favorite.
Ungie: hungry, usually said all day long
orrry: sorry, you say this to the doggies often
waty: watermelon or just water
Manda: your teacher Miss Amanda
buddon: buttons
wing: swing, which you love to do
dide: outside
burd or burdy: birds
do, do, do, do, do: what the burds say according to you
straw-bees: strawberries, your second favorite
waty can: what you water the flowers with
Mommy & Daddy: your Mommy and Daddy.

And I am going to be working at the Nikki Sivils Booth at CHA summer. If you are at the show stop by and say hello. I will be the short, pregnant one with really curly hair. :)

Monday's Sketch

I have been a little behind with posting (and creating with) the Monday sketch from Scrapbook Challenges- SORRY!!!

I think things got a little away from here with vacation and all the fun stuff going on in summer. So here it is- sketch 209 from Scrapbook Challenges:

And here is my take on the sketch. I didn't have four pictures I wanted to use on the layout so I omitted the two horizontal pictures from the sketch. Instead I used just two big vertical pictures in place of the two small ones on the sketch. Then I used the banner in place of the stitching from the sketch. And I love those new fabric thickers. The color and font was just perfect for this layout.

You can see what the DT with the sketch HERE. And there are lots of great examples this week!

Treasured Scrapbooking July Card Kit

The July Card kit from Treasured Scrapbooking just went on sale today. Here's a little peak of what's included in the July kit- Destination Unknown:

I created four cards and a layout from the kit and I still have plenty of stuff left to make more!! And Elisabeth, the other card DT member, made three cards and a layout. Included with every kit is an instruction sheet with photos so you can make the projects shown or you can be a little creative and make your own cards. Here's a few things I created with the kit:

You can see more projects from the kit HERE.

And there's a only a few card kits left so if you want to purchase one you can do so HERE. Just tell Erin Sarah E sent you!