Not quite a scrapbook

Donna Downey project #1 for August
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile.

I bit the bullet and decided I need a bit of inspiration for August. Oh, sure, I've got layouts to work on, but I've always wanted to take a class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and Donna Downey's all-year class offers a 1-month option.

I paid for the month, then saw the first project (a decorated jar) and groaned. I want to do layouts! You know, scrapbook stuff!! Well, I said to myself, think outside the box for once. And you know what? I really had fun with this. Especially considering I DIDN'T SPEND A DIME. Everything you see on this jar is out of my stash (even the jar).

Not sure what I'll use it for just yet. There's the Journal Jar concept, and the V. Oprah Gratitude Jar (Jesus alert: that 2nd link is V. Christian). I'll probably just stash candy in it ;)

So...this weekend is the big Auntie Amy show in Novi. I look forward to this one all year. Apparently she is a pain to deal with, however, thus the Stamp Scrap Art Tour rebels last month, and a handful of companies who are displaying their wares only at Scrappin and Stampin in Livonia (where I took my first scrapbooking class, waaaay back in 1999). There's a big open house there tonight, and I'm debating whether to go to that (free make-n-takes!) or whether to just go cropping.

My Stampin Up demonstrator just dropped off my order, including one of their new layout kits, so I have plenty of scrapping to do. Maybe I can do both...but I have to be up EARLY tomorrow to get to Novi by 9:30a.