have you ever been

heres the update i promised!!! get ready cuz i got lots of pictures!!! lets start off with the new stuff we got in yesterday: my minds eye!!!

my minds eye released 3 new collections and we have all 3! Breaking Free is a very fun, summery collection that is also great to use year round!

Pretty Please is the prefect collection for the girliest girl!

then there is Andrea Victoria, a collection so elegant, it will have you reaching for a ballgown in no time!

and we cant leave out the accessories!!! we have tons of die cuts, transparencies and rubons!

imaginisce has done it again! they came out with an adorable new line of paper called "wild things!" i took one look at these papers and boy did i feel like going to the zoo!

what better reason to go to the zoo than to scrapbook it with cute paper? (stamps too!)

now that thats all done and out of the way...wanna see my current project? here we go!

remember i told you about that board i have in my room? its a foam core board that i covered with paper and put pictures of the things that inspire me. i have decided that i want to make a mini book version of it!

the binder part is a catalog that we got a while ago, it measures about 9x9. i took a zoomed in picture of the flower cuz i just love the giant-ness of it! its the perfect color and it feels so pretty when you touch it :)

and the inside cover was fun too! once i trimmed the cardstock down to size i embossed a huge corner stamp on it. you stamp with versamark embossing ink, then put clear embossing powder on top and heat set it. when it melts, it will be clear and glossy but it does make the color of your cardstock a few shades darker.

after the embossing, i glued it down to the book and wrapped the cover with 2 ribbons and tied them in the front with a knot. (i like knots better than bows)

here is my first page. none of my pages will have photos until i finish the book cuz i havent decided how to arrange the "categories of inspiration" i copied this layout from the dirty class that i taught recently. it is sort of a mini version of a layout that mama made and i really liked it. the circle paper is velvet and its like heaven to touch!

the second page also called inspiration from my class project :) i loooooove these colors so much! they go so well together! i want to redo my bedroom in these colors but that may take a while.

i made a matchbook brag book recently and it got me jones-ing for more matchbooks! they are so much fun to make and they are easy to finish. i decided to make a matchbook in my album! so i have a mini book in a mini book! how cool is that? a book in a book. if only i could do a book in a book in a book....

heres a close up shot to show you the detail of that embossing. have any of you heard of tim holtz's distress powder? it looks like ambossing powder but its not. you use it just like you would embossing powder, but when it melts, it doesnt become glossy. its sort of matte and it feels like sand paper.

and showing off my new clock stamp. i love love love this stamp and have been looking for it for ages!!! we have more on order, so let me know if youd like one.

i left the matchbook to only have 4 pages, this way it wont be too heavy and weight down the page. i ripped just the top of the page to give it a vintage book feel.

and of course the many more pages to go. some of them are half pages so it will be like those farm doors where the top and bottom open separately... (i would love to have one of those doors in my dream home, it would lead to the backyard)

and thats my update for you! again i am so sorry for leaving you bored for an entire week :( but here i am! i'll try to be better this week!!!

ps, hoping doodle bug will come in this week, i'll let you know!