{big deal share}

Hello folks,

A little while ago, I was really awesome when it came to finding and sharing stellar deals on stuff! I still find deals, but I've been bad about sharing them with my pals!  Today's share was simply too hard for me to pass up. You can find all the details at MomsbyHeart.net.

Basically www.Stages.com is having a SUPER GREAT online deal, 50% off your entire cart (with code 505050), plus free shipping for orders $50 or greater (before coupon).

I'm trying to stock up on Xmas gifts now for the kiddos since I'll be busy on my research proposal in November and December.  Here is what I got out of this deal today:

Gund Happi Baby Explore and Find Caterpillar
Normally: $16.99, on sale for $12.74
Paid: $6.37

Gund My First Tools Play Set
Normally: $20.00
Paid: $10.00

Melissa & Doug Alphabet Train Floor Puzzle
Normally: $12.99
Paid: $6.49

Play-Doh Fun Factory
Normally: $7.99
Paid: $4.00

With tax I paid a whopping $29 for everything and scored free shipping!!

What a steal! I hope you find a good deal! They sell clothes for Men, Women, Children, and Teens, plus shoes, toys, jewelry, and other great stuff!

With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{creative space}

Hello again friends!!

After a fun-filled weekend of studying, getting my piggies did, replacing a flat tire, attending a lake front wedding, watching Snow White and the Huntsman, studying some more, and taking a 4 hour exam... I am exhausted. I'm sad that I didn't find time to scrap.  Believe me I sat down at my table, YEARNING to scrap, but I absolutely had to study for this exam.  It was the first one of the semester for me, so I was nervous (literally sweating profusely) and anxious (nearly pulling out my hair), but all in all it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.  It only took me 2 hours to finish the test complete with multiple choice and three essay questions. Now I just hope that I did well.

So I don't have any new scrapbook layouts to share with you today, but I do have pictures of my scrapbook room in its current state.  I would like to throw some paint on those walls: Lowe's Utterly Violet and hang up some of my layouts.  I am planning on purchasing some more Display Dynamics (lipless this time), a 2x2 expidit unit, a tool carousel, and a Clip It Up or knock off. AND a new chair would be nice.

Take a look...
This is my room. I hate the yellow.

Would you believe I got this great table at Goodwill for $20?
Yes, yes I did.

I love wire shelving units. This is where my cameo and cuttlebug live. I currently keep my patterned paper in these Iris containers (2) separated by manufacturer. The scrapfolio is what I store my kits in, and the other Iris containers contain finished layouts and 'homework' for my preschooler. The basket contains my cutting mats and scraps.

My 4x4 Ikea Expidit shelf. Love it. I use Iris photo boxes and store various embellishments in locker baskets, jars, bowls, a colander, a hen (yes, I said that), and a rubbermaid container. I keep all my stickers in the rubbermaid container, punches in 1 locker basket, and chipboard/mini albums in the blue basket. My cardstock is separated by neutrasl and color families in the display dyanamics.

Magazine and inspiration folder is stored here as well as my finished scrapbooks. My inspiration books are stacked under the colander.

A view from my table. Little man in his swing - he loves to nap here on the weekends :)
The dresser across the room houses tools to keep away from little hands, stamps, fabric, cards, etc. Also I finally have a big TV in my room with plenty of chick flicks!

Another view from my table. I love having some little embellies at my fingertips.

Ikea tiered plates - I keep mists and stickles on top, twine in the middle, and leftovers from kits at the bottom.

Washi tape jar - I wash all my jars after using them in the kitchen and they generally find a place in my scrap room or my husband's art studio.

Vintage Pyrex bowl - I think I paid $5 on this small bowl at a flea market. It was an impulse buy, but I love it. I keep all my cat eyes here on the tape for distressing and when I want to STAMP, which I rarely do.

And that is my room! I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I enjoyed putting it together, and I enjoy getting crafty in this space on the regular!

Do you have a craft space? I  would love to see it. Also, share your organization tips and techniques... I'm always looking for ways to reorganize. That's half the fun of having a scrap room!

With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{watson & watson} image heavy post

I don't that I've shared our most recent family portraits.  I think I'll do that today.

These pictures were taken by the very talented Kristin Smith, who is my lovely cousin! She is such a doll, and is currently a freshman at OU; go sooners, right?  Well even if you are not a football fan (like me), I sure hope that you are a fan of some of the most beautiful pictures captures of my sweet little family!












With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{citrus twist kit layouts}

I received a lot of papers with my Citrus Twist Kits subscription for August.  The colors were warm oranges and yellows infused with some pink and blue hues. 

When I first opened my kit, I was overwhelmed with excitement.  I opened the patterned paper add on, and there were such great versatile designs.  Then I meandered over to the kit, and boy was I surprised!! I looked at the papers first (I'm a paper girl, sorry). Then I looked at all the cutie embellishments.  I got colored floss, 2 sets of stamps, ribbon, Mister Huey's, Prima chalk ink, AC tabs, vintage finds, washi tape, library card/pocket and cute exclusive journaling cards.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was working off the sunday sketch from Citrus Twist Kits.  I am the queen of sketch stretching, or at least I think I am. I can stretch a single page to a double, and I can take a double and squeeze it down to a single page (however, I do this least often).

Well without further ado, here are the two layouts that I created over the weekend featuring my Citrus Twist Kit "Tropical Heat"!

The first one is the page that I stretched from the sketch that I posted yesterday, and the second is a follow up that will goes with it.


 
Thanks for taking a look today, and feel free to stop by Citrus Twist Kits to see their current kit "Life's Little Details."
 
With Love,
Gabrielle Watson
 
P.S. I still have TONS of paper and embellies left over from my kit, so you'll be seeing more layouts in the future from "Tropical Heat"

{scrappy weekend}

Despite the fact that I have an exam coming up, I took 12 hours out of my busy weekend to scrapbook with some locals gals!!

I had such a fun time.  I didn't get as many layouts completed as I had hoped, but I was also taking care of little Sawyer while making beautiful layouts and entertaining new friends.

As mentioned in last week's post, I started a crop group in Denton, TX that meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month.  Well we had our first 'meet up' and it was amazing.  All the seats were filled, everyone was so insightful, and I felt so motivated by seeing my new friends creating beautiful mini-albums, printing pictures from their iPhones, and making lovely pages for their family and friends.

I finished 3 layouts, using two different kits, the September kit from Gossamer Blue, and the August kit from Citrus Twist Kits!! This is my first month to receive and use kits from these two lovely companies, but I feel so invited and welcomed by them! Their kits are SO, so, so MY STYLE. They are a fantastic mix of colors, materials, and brands! <------- SERIOUSLY!

7 Reasons I love Citrus Twist Kits:
1. LOTS of patterned paper and brand mixing with coordinating cardstock
2. Great set of embellishments this is great because it is often stuff I wouldn't ordinarily buy for myself
3. Exclusive goodies the August kit came with exclusive journal/note cards, stamps, and canvas flowers
4. Chalk Inkers and Mister Huey's I never buy these products on my own, but I love to use them
5. The price is right! It truly is such a bargain for all that you are getting in a kit
6. Options for add ons
7. Design team layouts for inspiration

7 Reasons I love Gossamber Blue:
1. Great patterned paper and brand mixing with coordinating cardstock I love brand mixing, and it's so much easier when someone does it for you
2. Lovely embellishments like one big and one small alphabet stickers/thickers
3. Fancy digital files with each kit for your Silhouette machine
4. The price is right! It is a great deal for what you are getting
5. Options for add ons
6. Lookbook I seriously love lookbooks; not only are they snazzy but they are inspiring and little sneaky peeks of what's in store for next month
7. Super design team inspiration

I uploaded the pictures onto my computer, and I was trying to share them online before going to bed last night, but something didn't quite work, and I can't see them in my albums for some reason, oops!

I'll be posting pictures tomorrow, so you can see how I used my kits, and how I stretched this single page sketch from Citrus Twist Kits!

Whee, how was your weekend? Did you get creative, spend time with family, study for an exam (like I should've)... did you see a movie maybe?  My husband bought Cabin in the Woods, and can you say, freaky? Ick. Not my kind of movie FO SHO :)

Tonight: I have plans with my textbooks, flash cards, babies, and a can of soda to help keep the midnight oil burning! I think I'll scrap for a minute or two (during study breaks of course). I just gotta keep sane despite the INSANE life I've chosen for myself! Thanks for reading and have a lovely one folks!

With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{my, oh my}

Well since you last heard from me... a lot of things have changed.

I have a beautiful 2 month old son named Sawyer James; he was born in the early morning hours of June 18 (2:45 AM), yes that is the day after Father's day this year (best gift ever).  My wonderful 3 year old girl is becoming quite the handful, but she is a loving and helpful big sister.

We are completely settled into our home, and now we are deciding on which plants we plan to rip out first... I'm thinking the terrible bushes in front of the house. Currently they are not serving any purpose, and they are weed ridden and totally misshapen.

I have officially returned back to work as of August 10th.  It wasn't too hard a transition for me as I work 8 minutes from my house, so I visit my little guy during lunch each and every day where I get to have special bonding time while nursing.

While I was on maternity leave, I got scrappy a few times per week. It felt so amazing

I am officially in graduate school.  I am taking 6 hours each semester, so I stay busy, but not overwhelmingly so.  I am a first year grad student though, so I'm sure it gets harder each semester. Right now I'm not drowning. I'm just keeping up with my readings, discussions, assignments, and I'm developing my research proposal for my thesis.

And as of late....I've never felt the need before nor thought that I could afford it, but I joined three kit clubs. I have decided to stick with two of them for the long haul, but the other one I'm going to opt out unless there is something that I want to buy, then I will opt in again. I think this will be great for me because it gives me access to papers and materials that I wouldn't ordinarily purchase for myself.  I've been exposed to such great brands already like Fancy Pants, Heidi Swapp, and Prima Marketing.  Although I've known of these brands for some time, I've never actually gone out of my way to purchase their products before, and BOY I was missing out!

I'm currently subbing to Citrus Twist Kits, Gossamer Blue, and Scraptastic Kits.  All three are awesome and are a great deal considering the amount of product that you receive for the total cost (kit + ship).

Overall I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive. I'm still getting scrappy, and even though I'm graduated from UNT, I'm still in school :)

Also, if you are a local of North Texas, I have set up a crop group that meets at my place on the 3rd Saturday of each month.  I'm a social scrapper at heart, so I'm REALLY excited that I have a large enough place where I am comfortably seat 8-10 scrappers at each crop! I will be supplying the bottled water, die-cutting machines (Silhouette Cameo & Cricut Expression), tables, chairs, and space!! I hope that you can join me sometime! You can RSVP for a crop at my house at this website: www.meetup.com/scrap-happens-north-texas/

With Love,
Gabrielle :)