Carpe Diem

Altered Trays

2012-01-22T14:11:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to photograph my craft room trays for some time. I purchased these wood trays from Hobby Lobby. I traced the sides onto scrapbook papers that I liked.

I sanded the trays and painted them with some acrylic paints, then let them dry. I cut out the scrapbook pieces, and used Mod Podge to adhere them (note: I chose to use it only on the bottom of the paper with a brush, as I did not want a shiny sheen to the sides). I then sanded the edges of the papers so that the finish was relatively smooth, and a little "weathered."

I decided which things in my craft room really needed their own space. I seemed to be acquiring a bunch of photo paper, so I chose that as one of the trays. I also use one for cardstock and one for random scraps for after I am done with projects. (eventually, the scraps go into my scrap drawers, but this gives them a place in the interim)

I had fun with my VAST and ridiculously large collection of letter stickers when labeling. These trays fit well with my modular shelving in the room.

A Closer Peek at OLW January

2012-01-08T21:39:00.000-06:00

I just put the finishing touches on January's layout for the One Little Word album. I love it. It's amazing to look at the gallery for this. There are so many different takes on the same instructions. Pretty cool. The digi scrapbookers are making me wish I had more time to invest in that. Still, I liked cutting, gluing, inking, and writing all the same. It's all good.

A Tale of Two Scrapbooks

2012-01-03T21:25:00.000-06:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...oops, wrong tale...

I finally have most of the supplies needed, along with a cooperating printer, for my year-long scrapbooking adventures from Big Picture Scrapbooking:

The We R Memory Keepers albums arrived. I tried to get them locally, but the 8.5 x 11" variety are not that plentiful, and it would have taken the local scrapbook store a few weeks to get them, so Barnes and Noble.com won out. However, do not be lured by their promise of free shipping for orders over $25...these orders did not qualify. I love the variety of color choices of these "faux leather" albums. When creating albums, I appreciate the three-ring binder option, as these are, however, I am learning that gravity is unkind to these types of albums as they sit on shelves. Just giving perspective to people considering these projects. No one says these are the albums you MUST use. It's just nice that all of the printouts fit the specs for the page protectors.

Each album required different divided page protectors. I am a huge fan of divided page protectors, as they eliminate the "layout" part of the equation, which is usually the part that extends my time on task. The Move More Eat Well album requires these page protectors:

The One Little Word album required these page sleeves:

It also requires these adhesive sleeves, which I am awaiting the arrival of any day:

I was introduced to mixing page protector sizes during Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class, and I must say, I like the idea that the book can be filled with many sizes and still look unified. The C-Line protectors are self-adhesive, which adds another interesting dimension.

Here are some shots of some of the things I have done thus far:

Move More Eat Well:

One Little Word:

I am very much enjoying both classes so far, and do not feel that either is asking us to do too much too fast. Very doable.

MMEW has included a written statement of intention, some photos, some quote cards, some measurements, and a reflection on our personal stories with healthy (or unhealthy) living. We also were asked to come up with 5 things that we rocked at, and ONE thing for the month that we would focus on. Cathy has also included some great links to some good resources and articles.

OLW has included the opening page (which is awaiting the CLine protectors) backed by a 4 x 6" photo of us with an overlay. Here's mine:

We then needed to focus on our word on small cards. We were asked to define it, to look in a thesaurus for synonyms, to find a quote, to discuss why the word was chosen, and what we "invited" from this word for the next year. I REALLY liked doing this part. The blanks you see will be filled with various "crafty" items related to the word.

So, there you have it. The reality of returning to work is coming in the next 48 hours, but the enjoyment from working on these has been great. Glad I chose to jump in!

A Crafting Date

2011-12-30T16:10:00.000-06:00

Today, my crafting buddy and CAS designer extraordinaire, Ann Cox, came to the Plato Craft Lab as part of her "gift" from me for Christmas. It was a great way to spend a rainy day! Here's what we came up with:

I made about 18 of these for Christmas gift thank you notes for my students. I love the notebook paper embossing folder I just got at Hobby Lobby (made by The Paper Studio!). Very quick and I like how they look.

Then came these awesome cards from Ann...

Looking at her bag, we gave ourselves a Valentine/color challenge:

The Bag

Ann's Take

My Take

And while we were crafting, the UPS man brought my scrapbook for my One Little Word project. I tell ya, Barnes and Noble is FAST! I just ordered it maybe two days ago. Got me quite excited.

And another?

2011-12-29T13:26:00.000-06:00

So, I hemmed and I hawed, and I thought, and I thought. And I decided. And I convinced Scott that if we did this together, it would be awesome. So, yes, you got it, the Platos will be doing their first "together" scrapbook. And year-long journey.

Yes, I am doing "One Little Word." And working on my Master's degree. And teaching. And mothering. Yes, it seems like one more thing on my "plate" (pardon the pun). Here's how I justify:

I am already trying to follow the basic ideas of this. This is just a matter of documenting.
We have both been sluggish and lethargic. We eat crap and then wonder why we have no energy.
This is monthly. I can commit myself to getting things down once a month.
Scott's journeying with me, and that's huge. His mere acknowledgement that he will go on this trip for a year makes it more exciting.
It's not a weight loss plan. It's not Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, or whatever other constrictive programs I have followed. It gives a nod to what we need to do in life: move more, eat well.
I have followed Cathy's journey on her blog since she began (formerly "Move More, Eat Less"). I love that she has changed the title to "Move More, Eat Well." The "Eat Less" part was what I knew I needed to do but, psychologically, seemed depriving, which sets me up for failure. Anyway, she has shared the good right along with the bad; the triumphs and the struggles. That is all this is. A place to do so.
This is my third class with Cathy through Big Picture Scrapbooking. She does a fabulous job with them, and it's well worth the registration fee.
I am always one step away from packing it in (always, not just now...the edge is always right there). I need to keep things in the forefront that keep me from doing so.

And there you have it. A good juggler can throw in a refrigerator and the plates will still stay in the air. Or so I tell myself. I will share a bit here and on my "family" blog, so enjoy! Or ignore! :)

And so it begins...

2011-12-28T19:40:00.002-06:00

Our only assignment so far as we wrap up 2011 is to find a word and create our title page. Sounds pretty simple? NOT really.

My search for a word began with a Facebook query of my cyber pals. I kicked around joining this journey with Ali Edwards, but wondered what word would see me through 12 months. On December 11, I proposed the following question:

I love how it says my question was posted "near Normal." As in Normal, IL, not the state of mind. Ha! Among the responses: thin, baby, balance (2), life, Jesus, happiness, grandbabygirl, hope, priorities, family (2), faith, children, peace, debt-free, redirection, fitness, fresh, tequila, organize, farts, perseverance, don'tsweatthesmallstuff, healthy, grateful, margarita, chocolate...as you can see, I have a wide range of friends with a wide range of sense of humor. I decided on December 13 that "strength" would be my choice for so, so many reasons.

Upon signing up for the class, the decisions then begin: What color album? Where to buy materials? What color for the cover art shown above? Do I follow Ali's recipe or do I stray and make myself more of a perfectionistic nuthead?

I looked up colors associated with the word strength, and one answer resounded: RED. Its placement in flags of nations indicates strength. It's considered a "power" color (although the "power" connotation of strength was not really in the realm of why I chose the word). Red it was!

So, do I overcomplicate things and recolor the .png file Ali provided, or do I just choose one of the available colors? Yup, I went with easy...and chose brown. Uh oh, of the red alpha letter stickers I have, can I write out "strength?" Even if I have to mix upper and lower case? Yes, but... not in love with the choices (I have very little red in my stash... not a signature color). But, JoLynn, you ninny. You have TONS of stamps! Ah, yes, Stampin' Up! Whimsical Alphabet Lower stamped in Stampin' Up! Ruby Red. Perfecto. Even used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to make sure I did not completely screw this up. Reread "perfectionistic nuthead" above.

So, now, that's ready. I think I will work on my unfinished "MeTAV" album before I get my first assignment and see what dent I can put in that baby. Stay tuned!

One Little Word

2011-12-27T12:06:00.000-06:00

Yup. I am again embarking on a class from Big Picture Scrapbooking. This time, I have enrolled in Ali Edwards' "One Little Word" class. No, I have not finished Me the Abridged Version. I will get there, I swear. Even if it is a two-year thing, I'm still me, and I still have lots to say for many letters of the alphabet.

I was intrigued by the idea of One Little Word and the focus it brought me when I kept thinking about it. So, what's my word, you ask? I have chosen "strength."

That is all for now. The announcement is big enough, eh?

Quick and cute

2011-12-05T21:50:00.000-06:00

Some SEI patterned paper, a trading card envelope template, my SU! tag punches, some Basic Grey brads, an SU! stamp and marker and...VOILA! A quick thank you gift card to some fellow teachers who helped me with some grad class activities. Sorry I can't be more specific with my recipe... I'm a bit tired.

Thankfulness

2011-12-03T19:24:00.000-06:00

During the month of November, every day on Facebook, I joined some of my friends in posting something for which I was grateful. Before it got too far past November, I went back and copied what I posted each day (those who are on Facebook know how quickly these can get gobbled up on your Wall and how much digging you have to do to find a month's worth of posts). I thought I might make a totally digital layout, and started with the Laying It All Out mini-kit by Katie Peritet. My issue? I love Thickers and various other letter stickers. When I went to use digital alphabets, I just couldn't. So, the above layout is hybrid, and I think I may be a hybrid gal. I altered the layout from a 12 x 12 to 8.5 x 11, as I do not have a 12 x 12 printer. The letters I used were Amy Tangerine Hello fabric Thickers. I just love the way they look. I will say this: I think American Crafts got the memo about their adhesive having longevity problems. The way they fixed it? Once that letter is down...it's down. It was some seriously strong, non-movable adhesive.

Here is the text of my journaling, if you care to read it. It was pretty tiny for the photo:

30 Days of Domo Arigato: I begin my month of gratitude for the magic that music is in my life. It reaches me at my lowest and my highest. It motivates me to get to Zumba and shake my boom boom (oh, and stay healthy). Thank you very much-o, Mr. Roboto. | Day 2 of 30: Today I reflect on my family. I feel fortunate that I have the great husband and kids that I have that make me laugh daily. I am also quite thankful for my mother, Bernice Paul, and my siblings and their families without whom I would not be who I am today. | Day 3 of 30: I am thankful for busy-ness. I rarely find myself bored. | Day 4 of 30: I am grateful for the incredible people with whom I have worked over the years. | Day 5 of 30: I am thankful for the friends I see IRL and those who share bits of their lives on FB. I have been blessed with great people in my life. | Day 6 of 30: I am grateful today for my ability to multitask. I need it hourly. | Day 7 of 30: I am grateful to live in a generous country. We just packed 19 flats of boxes for Clare House. It reminded me that I really have nothing to complain about. | Day 8 of 30: Today I am grateful for the people who speak up when they feel something is wrong. It is a hard place to put yourself, but where would we be without them? | Day 9 of 30: I am grateful to be able to cope with anxiety and depression after a 5 year battle. Taking things day by day. | Day 10 of 30: I am thankful for sunshine. Please stay with us today! | Day 11 of 30: I am thankful for every veteran and each of their families for their service and sacrifice to America. | Day 12 of 30: I am thankful for the change of seasons. There's something I love in each one. | Day 13 of 30: I am grateful for the physical ability to complete a 5K. Slow and steady... | Day 14 of 30: I am grateful for my bathtub. It is my oasis. | Day 15 of 30: Today I am grateful for technology. It amazes me how much things have changed in my lifetime alone. | Day 16 of 30: I am grateful for those who teach my children. | Day 17 of 30: I am thankful for the opportunities that my church offers for fellowship with other moms. Talk about an empathetic group! | Day 18 of 30: Sorry to sound cliche, but I am thankful for the Fridays (and faux-Fridays) that fall into each week. | Day 19 of 30: I am thankful for life's simple escapes: movies, reading, TV, Facebook. The real world is so overrated. | Day 20 of 30: I am thankful for my health. | Day 21 of 30: Today I am grateful for being a dual-parent family. Single parents, you have my admiration. I don't know how you do it. | Day 22 of 30: I am thankful that today has finally arrived! Breaking Dawn with my besties! | Day 23 of 30: I am grateful for the kids I teach. Each is unique and brings out something good in me I did not realize I had. I love nine and ten year olds. | Day 24 of 30: I am grateful for moments of relaxation. They feel pretty good and are few and far between. | Day 25 of 30: I am grateful on this day for being able to keep in check with why the holidays exist. | Day 26 of 30: I am grateful that I have "tools" to help with the struggles my children have. Hopelessness is not one of them. | Day 27 of 30: I am grateful for the excitement of a six year old at Christmastime. | Day 28 of 30: I am thankful for self-restraint. I showed a great deal of it today. | Day 29 of 30: I am grateful for warm clothes and a cozy house. | Day 30 of 30: Today I am grateful for the colleagues who gave me some of their time to help me advance my graduate studies...whether it's answering my survey or engaging with my process tools...Irving staff is awesome. THANK YOU!

Daily Facebook Reflections During November 2011

One of My Favorite Sites

2011-11-24T20:53:00.001-06:00

Have you been to write. click. scrapbook. ? This site is one of my favs. I love when they provide some digi-templates for your use. For example, they offered this Photoshop template...

and these samples of what to do with it...

They also have some awesome giveaways. Check it out!

World Cardmaking Day 2011

2011-10-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

A glorious day. Great weather. Great food. The stamping ladies. And lots of awesome cards prepared by my dealer, Karen.

Some photos:

Ashley and I working on replicating one of Karen's creations

Kate and Julie working on a delightful Christmas card

Ah, the intensity!

Thanks, Ann, for taking these lovely photos!

Freebies

2011-09-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

I love when things are free. Every now and then, you can pick up some awesome digi-elements that are free.

I thought I would use this post to share some of the freebies from the past few issues of Scrapbooks Etc. I really love this magazine, as it is filled with all sorts of crafty goodness. When I say filled, I mean FILLED. I always find at least one thing that I want to use when I get an edition of this. I have pared down a lot of my magazines, especially ones that were straying from my own personal style and into shabby chic craziness (not that there's anything wrong with that...just not me). This is the one subscription I won't let pass.

Freebie #1 Citrus Digital

Endure a few pop ups for subscribing (or take them up on subscribing!) and click for a download of each element. There are 28 different elements to download, including alphabet brushes, etc.

Freebie #2 Cool Basics

Fourteen different elements, mostly digi-patterned paper. Very cute and generously free.

Freebie #3 Collage Downloads

So much easier than back in the day when you had to have a great template and a steady hand for cutting! All sorts of ways to include multiple pics into a layout.

Freebie #4 Paper Piecing Patterns

This is what Scrapbooks Etc. is known for. Each edition has templates for some really nice paper pieced embellishments for pages.

Scrap Challenge

2011-09-18T19:45:00.000-05:00

A new store opened in Bloomington where the former Scrapbook Friend'Z used to be: The Scrapbooking Studio. Of course, on day 1, it was urgent that I go over and check it out. I didn't realize anything was going in there until the Facebook post of a fellow scrapper/stamper drew me in. Lo, and behold, at the same moment, Karen Kelly was thinking the same thoughts...we ended up there at the same time. As we left, we half-joked that we should challenge ourselves to use what we were buying there today. Challenge myself I did!

This was a really hard page to take a decent photo of, because it is on embossed vellum. I bought this vellum AGES ago at a scrapbook store in town (may have been Pocketful of Memories, for the locals). I just love it. The photos are from Max the Brave's climbing wall excursion at the Irish Pumpkin Festival this weekend. I had to stand back and take pics because I think they were close to ejecting me (I crossed the "no parents" line once for fear he was going to smash himself against said wall...needed to leave it to the professionals!).

I used some of my favorite lyrics from the song "The Climb," made popular by Miley Cyrus. I used the ever so tall Maple Thickers that I had seen on the American Crafts blog hop this weekend. The lyrics of the refrain I scribed by hand along some of the leaves. Not sure I am in love with the haphazard nature of how they fell on the page, but maybe that's a tie in to life's haphazard nature. Unplanned, but I am sticking to it. I backed it with a neutral textured 12 x 12 sheet from SU!...not sure of the color.

Holding on

2011-08-02T23:50:00.002-05:00

How I do so love summer. I didn't always. The years when summer meant Scott and I were separated for months were filled with counting down the days until we were back together in lovely Central IL. They were spent sweating my rear off on the city playgrounds and then working at Bon Ton at night. They were spent with phone calls where we talked about nothing because all we really wanted to do was hang out with each other. The days before Skype and cell phones and e-mail, when every mile of an 800-mile distance was acutely felt.

Now, I adore summer. Contrary to popular opinion, it is rare that teachers have "off" over the summer. First, it is not a paid vacation. I am not given money for days I am not required to attend. However, having a schedule that is a bit more flexible is nice. And I love spending time with my own kids. Some summers feel wonderfully long, and others feel horribly short. This one is somewhere in between. We have had LOTS of time, ending the year prior to Memorial Day. During that time, some of my friends and I have helped each other realize that the time we have is a wonderful gift. We truly need to seize the day.

One of my pals called August 1 "July 32nd", and it stuck with me. All day today, I kept calling it July 33rd. A scrapbook page was calling.

I took the photo today at Fairview Pool. It doesn't look like 100 degrees, does it? When I printed it and went to trim it, I thought that it looked cool trimmed like a Polaroid. So, I kept it that way and wrote the date on it like I used to write on the bottom edge of a Polaroid. The crocheted flowers were a last minute thing. I felt like something was needed in that space, but there was no more substantial room for words. Then, I wrote phrases of things I was holding on to, cut them, inked the edges, and adhered. It really did not take long at all, and I love that I have archived the things I have. I was hesitant about a patterned paper background, but I think the Cosmo Cricket paper works the idea of summery pool days well. Now, I can go to sleep. Maybe.

InstaLove Free Template

2011-07-12T00:25:00.001-05:00

Cathy Zielske, new owner of an iPhone, has recently shown an interest in camera apps (small, happy shriek). She designed and shared a digi template (for free) specifically designed for pics snapped and edited with Instagram and such. I made this page in no time flat, thanks to the template. Fun, fun pics. I am having a great time snapping them! Even though this looks stark white, the page is intended as an 8.5 x 11 page.

Read her whole blogpost here.

Kindergarten

2011-07-05T19:06:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, Cathy Zielske, after the demise of Simple Scrapbooks (moment of silence...), jumped into the wonderful world of creating digital scrapbooking templates. I have been what is considered a "hybrid" scrapbooker for several years. I still love cutting paper and adhering photos and such. What I have learned, however, about the traditional form of scraopbooking, now that I have had books for a few years:

#1 Pictures printed from my printer, even though it's a photo printer, fade. I LOVE off-sizes of pictures, so getting the ol' 4 x 6" huge discount processed photos does not mesh with most of my scrapbooking design desires. I find it limiting. I believe that I have probably acquired a better printer and better paper over the years, but my earliest self-printed photos are fading. Sigh.
#2 Embellishments like to come unglued. Adhesives are not always true to adhering. Things fall off pages.
#3 Embellishments dislike page protectors (or vice versa?). Scarpbooks that are bumpy and lumpy do not like to store well.
#4 D-ring scrapbooks, which I love-love-LOVE, are not friends of gravity when they sit on a shelf for a while. Ever had a binder that just sits on a shelf fora while? And then you open it and everything's crooked? Yep. That's what I mean.
#5 No matter what, my craft storing areas in my house have been merciless. When it was the basement, it was too humid. Now it's the loft, and the afternoon sun is brutal.
#6 Traditional scrapbooking always requires lots of room for me to spread out. I don't always have the time to tidy up after myself.

Enter Designer Digitals,with a HUGE selection of everything digital including designers like Cathy and Ali Edwards. I would buy a few things, like paper and such, and then still print them out in the end.

A bit ago, I purchased this template after seeing what Cathy did with it. It was a while ago, and I can't find Cathy's blog posts on it, but as soon as I saw what she created, I bought the template. I decided that I would use this to document Max's schooling and perhaps go back and place some of what I can find of Ignatius' schooling in there as well.

So, what do you need to do this digi stuff? Some sort of photo editing software, such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, or, for the budget-consious, Paint.Net (freeware). You also need a relative comfort level with these or the ability and desire to learn. Once you know a few simple steps to the programs, you are golden. No graphic designer degree required...I promise! Designer Digitals has tutorials, I took a community education class at Heartland Community College, Cathy puts tutorials on her blog, and Jessica Sprague has excellent online classes.

I am still on the fence between digi and traditional. These few pages were a LOT quicker to produce than would have been so for a traditional scrapbook. They look great, very clean, very simple, very Cathy. Some digital elements look JUST like embellishments, such as brads and ribbons, if preferred. Cathy presented this as a hybrid when she did it. It could easily be printed for an 8.5 x 11" book if I wanted to go that route. We shall see. I have these pages saved as a PDF file. Please click on the images for a larger view.

The freedom of CAS

2011-06-18T22:13:00.000-05:00

Now that it's summer, I allow myself to catch up on my craft blogs. They allow me to find in fact OTHER blogs to add to my Google Reader. A few of the crafters I follow participate in the CAS-usal Fridays weekly challenge. I decided to participate this week, as color blocks is the general category.

I first laid eyes on the gorgeous card on this blog post from Laurie at Soapbox Creations. Oh for cute, eh?

It led me to the CAS-ual Fridays site. This is what happens to me. I get stuck in this crazy link fest from one site to the next. It's all in good fun, though!

CAS is an acronym for Clean And Simple. It's the kind of card that doesn't need its own box for you to mail. There are very few layers to it, and even less in the area of embellishments like ribbons and such. Yes, it speaks to me.

As you may know (or as you are about to realize soon enough), tomorrow is Father's Day. The card I completed for my hubby was one inspired by the CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week.

Serious sticker love going on here, that's for sure. The blocked stickers are from Stampin' Up! The word stickers are from K & Company. I mounted them on kraft cardstock and added my own little handwriting flair on the inside. I used my handy pen and ruler to make the word "Dad" stand out from the rest. In about 10 minutes, this card was done. That was the best part.

I also handed a blank card to my older son. He usually makes his dad a freehand card. Drawing is his thing, and Scott loves his creations.

Little Miss Thang

2011-06-14T11:43:00.004-05:00

A few friends, and friends of friends, have gotten together to form a group on Facebook that I have entitled "Accountability." It started with a challenge that I posted as an event during Lent. I just needed support in my exercise and weight loss endeavors, and thought that others might enjoy a challenge. When Lent ended, I felt that I still needed that place to go to vent, rejoice, ponder, etc. Being a group-junkie, I began "Accountability."

We have done a lot of discussing of how we view ourselves on this group, as well as a Facebook Zumba group that I started and rely upon. The other day, we were talking about body image, and how our brains play tricks on us when we look in a mirror, especially when we have been heavier (for some time) and then we lose weight. I must say, thank God for my husband. He points out when he sees physical changes (for the better) in me when I am oblivious to them.

So, I decided someone I know needed that same encouragement. So, I made her this card:

Isn't she adorable? I have most definitely underutilized this Bella. She was happy to see some ink. I am also starting to enjoy the vertical fold (I guess that's what I will call it) of cards, as opposed to the book fold. Just something different.

Recipe:
Size: 4 1/4 x 4 7/8"
Stamps: Tennibella and Little Miss Thang from Stampingbella; Stampin' Up! Just So Sayings
Ink: Adirondack Earthtone Pitch Black; Copics
Embossing: Sizzix Texturz Friend Plate
Embellishments: Stampin' Up! Felt Flowers and brad

Ah June

2011-06-11T11:38:00.002-05:00

The first few weeks of June are super stuffed with birthdays and anniversaries in my family. Sometimes I am good about cards, other times not so much. Today is Scott's birthday, and whipping him up a card is something I truly enjoy. Alas, in the photo, you cannot tell that I colored in the 4 and the 6. Here goes:

Recipe:
Size: 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps: Stampin' Up! Bring on the Cake and Whimsical Words
Cardstock: Stampin' Up: Crmb Cake, Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding, Stampin' Up! So Saffron (or its equivalent); Papertrey Ink White
Ink: Adirondack Earthtone Pitch Black, Stampin' Up! Crushed Curry marker
Embossing: Sizzix Texturz Plate - Weave

And another....

2011-06-09T18:00:00.000-05:00

Just today, Becky Higgins posted yet another lovely iPhone camera app: Camera+. First of all, the app takes a pretty sweet photo...better than just taking it with the iPhone camera app. It gives you a 9 x 9 grid in your field of vision, which helps greatly when establishing your focal point (rule of thirds, baby!). I used what is called FX Effects --> Magic Hour for the photo of Max below to even out the contrast. This effect had a slider that I could use to determine the degree of the effect.

The best part: for a limited time, the app is 99 cents! Woot! Now my Nikon is completely nervous.

Falling in Love with Easy

2011-06-08T12:11:00.001-05:00

So, let's discuss how long it would have taken me to find the right Photoshop actions to alter this photo. How many steps did it really take me? 1. Uno. Un. O-N-E.

Hello, Instagram app for my iPhone.

Instagram comes with a variety of actions that can make your pictures unique. This one is called Nashville, and I like it for two reasons. I love the frame that makes it look like a slide. I also love that it changes the contrast so that the photo looks older. Sometimes, vibrant colors are overrated. What I want this photo to do is capture a memory that is fleeting. I would not use this action for everything, but for this picture, I think it's perfect.

Another app I love is one I used with this photo.

It's called PS Express, a mini Photoshop. I actually purchased the full-blown app rather than just use the free one, so you know this is serious business. Here's what I love: I can take a cruddy picture on my iPhone: poor light, hand shaking, too much movement, whatevs. I can crop it, straighten it, rotate it, flip it, alter exposure/saturation/tint/contrast, make it black and white, use actions for sketch, soft focus, sharpening, and reducing noise, and choose effects (more actions) and borders. All from this "app that could." Then, when I am done, I can save it to my phone or upload to Facebook/Twitter if I desire.

I used soft focus on this pic of my guys at the park.

My poor Nikon D60 is getting a little jealous. Every now and then, I pull it out. But, for the everyday when I cannot lug that sucker around, I love my iPhone and these apps.

Summer 2011: Day 1

2011-05-31T15:34:00.001-05:00

This summer break took its sweet time getting here. One of my goals is to get back into my craft groove, be it cardmaking, stamping, scrapbooking, whatever. Why? Consider Exhibit A: cobwebs from my lamp in my craft room. Ridiculous. I hope to evict Charlotte from my home, or at least start collecting some rent from her.

Today's installment was a card for Max's teacher who is having a baby in August. A parent thought we should throw her a little shower. Since I have not been crafting in quite some time, my stash of baby cards is at an all-time low. I initially wanted to create a shape card just using the shape of a onesie. I got pretty far, until I screwed up the sentiment stamp (grrr). So, rather than trashing the whole card, I decided to pop half of it up on a yellow background. She's not sure if she's having a girl or a boy, so I tried to stay neutral, although the scallops scream GIRL! The binkie and the button were a last minute add-on. I just felt it needed a little more punch. She loved it.

On a somewhat related note, I have to give some serious props to my husband. As much as I tease him about garage sales, he nailed this one. He got a Sony Cyber-Shot 3.3 megapixel camera with 6x zoom and video (pretty rudimentary, but it'll do) for (wait for it...) $5! I took the photos above using the close-up macro on this camera. It's lightweight, easier to drag around than my Nikon D60, and takes better on the go pics than my old Nikon Cool Pix. It works a LOT like the Sony Mavica (one of which I still have... with the mini CD...but it's QUITE bulky) which I used for some time. It was like riding a bike. :)

Day 1 - Embracing my Signature Style

2011-04-25T23:22:00.001-05:00

For Day 1 of Spring Training, we were asked to analyze and consider our signature scrapbooking style. Here's a Wordle to show my results:

Go to the Ella Publishing Blog to see more about signature style. It really was a cool process and it helped me find commonalities I did not realize existed.

The most common thing I found is that, as much as I love the control involved in printing my own photos, they fade WAY too quickly. I was saddened to see the fading on some layouts that were simply a few years old. I need to embrace a way to get photo lab pictures in custom sizes, which will take a little more forethought than I typically put in to the printing process. Is it the paper? The printer ink? Hmmmmm....

Spring Training of a Different Color

2011-04-25T21:53:00.000-05:00

Angie and Wendy at Ella Publishing Co, (one of my favorite sites), have begun Spring Training for scrapbookers! You can sign up for their Spring Training for a mere $40, and get daily, 20-minute exercises that allow you to hone your craft. I signed up in an attempt to get my scrapbook juices flowing in time for a summer full of archiving! Join us! Check out my super cool gadget to your right--->

It's Officially Been Given

2011-04-07T22:23:00.001-05:00

I finished a scrapbook last week, and have been wanting to post it, but was waiting to give it to my friend. She just had her first baby, and the 8 x 8 book is full of advice from her friends who are moms as well. Good people!

Crafty Shirts

2011-04-03T15:38:00.001-05:00

My friends and I ran a 5K today. Well, to say "run" for me is funny... I jogged and did a little bit of walking... but I am really proud of all of us. We were dealing with 30 mph winds... talk about taking your breath away. All for a good cause: my son's future high school and the place of employment for one of my favorite crafters, Ann Cox: Bloomington Central Catholic High School! What a great fan base, too! There were people cheering us on pretty much the whole way.

So, why is this on my craft blog? It was all about the shirts! One of our gang of runners is a sister to a woman who does some seriously cite creen printing. She designed a shirt for us. Since we are all friends who are addicted to Zumba, the front of our shirts say, "Zumbalicious Runners." The backs of them say, "I danced my way to a 5K with Zumba Fitness." They are adorable. So I bought one "normal" one and then we cut up the second one. Yes, I said we CUT them UP. Basically, we created tanks out of them.

Here's the deets: First, we cut off the collar along the seam. Then we cut off the sleeves along the seam, although Karen made some stringy tassles with her sleeves that I thought looked adorable. Then, we did something similar to the tie fleece blankets that are very popular. We cut and tied strips along the side. We added some black ribbon in there and ties the tops of the arms with black ribbon. More pictures will follow, but I just think they turned out so darn cute!

Because of my butt to gut ratio, I bought a 2XL and cut longer strips along the side. I would suggest getting one size larger than your comfort level of T-shirt when you do this. We got sooo many compliments. :)

What Depression Is...

2011-03-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

I am not writing this post to have a pity party for myself. I am writing it thinking maybe someone out there knows someone out there that this will help. It is what I deal with. It is not feeling a little sad. It is not the "blues." It is depression. It is the reason why this blog has been so stagnant for so long.

I have been diagnosed with depression for four years. Up until then, I knew people who were clinically depressed, my husband and older son among them. After my break, I found out many people who were near and dear to me also dealt with depression. Everyone's depression presents itself in its own way. Everyone has a way of coping so that life can move on, though ever so differently than it did before.

Before, I was able to provide a superhuman illusion of working mother. I could be super-teacher, super-mother, and crafting queen (literally Stamping Royalty for Paper Crafts!). I had two boys who were being assessed for autism spectrum disorders...just one more hoop in the juggler's hands. Life was about work. Life was hard. I knew it would be. I was given no promises. My crafting was my outlet. There was a whole audience of people out there who did not know me personally, but from whom I took personal pleasure in their kind words about my projects posted on my blog and at Splitcoast.

Because the depression hit like a tsunami, I was on leave for several months to get things in order for my boys and myself. During that time, crafting was key to my healing. I followed a path back to the "gateway drug" of scrapbooking (thank you, Cathy Zielske and Becky Higgins for showing me that scrapbooking could be as simple or complex as we make it). I was able to work out the grief I was feeling over recent deaths of loved ones and the death of what I believed my son's lives would be. I am completely blessed by the friends and family I have who made that time a time to heal for me.

Alas, the medication I was taking to help with the depression, plus a lack of caring for my physical health, allowed for a 60 pound weight gain. I was getting mentally more stable (according to me), but my physical health was not the yin for my yang. I decided the meds needed to go (a scary moment), and I needed to take control (because that's what I do).

I started Weight Watchers again (halfheartedly... only because I knew what I needed to do...), and I began to exercise. Not just exercise, but Zumba. Not alone, but with my friends. And suddenly, the depression started to subside. It was like an hour of dancing with the girls three times a week. And I lost 35 of the 60 I gained. And most of the time, the depression seems like a bad memory of a car accident that you survive and learn from. It happened. So eager to use past tense verbs...

Still, the demon of depression stands in the corner... waiting. Yep, I had a week off for Spring Break. No crafting. Plenty of school work. I made an entire science unit for the SMART Board and prepared for a presentation. I completed report cards. I went backwards to the idea that, once my obligations were done, then I would "get" to craft. I went back to running the marathon rather than recovering from the 5K (metaphor, although I have been running a lot lately), as my six sessions with a counselor uncovered. I went back to telling myself that I can do what I enjoy AFTER my obligations are met.

I straightened my craft table so that, when that spirit moved me, it would find a place to create. I exercised 5 days straight. Then, I got knocked on my rear with sinuses, right when I was gearing up for a craft resurgence.

Just because I am blowing my nose every two minutes does not mean I cannot craft. Here's that demon again. It serves as one more excuse, pinning me to my first floor. I have an entire, gorgeous room full of hours of entertainment. I have a six year old who frequently paints and cuts and glues who would love to craft with me, and who runs to the room every time he hears my Cricut. I am stopped in my tracks.

A friend of mine lost her father a little over a year ago and just recently lost her mother. She spoke with me at work about just sitting in her bedroom... not doing anything... just staring. It made me catch my breath. That is how depression manifests itself in me. The freight train is running, but there are no tracks. I know I should/could be doing something, but I stare at a non-changing Facebook page or pour over infomercials believing that a Genie Bra will, indeed, change my whole outlook.

The thing about scrapbooking is that you are NEVER done. Never. It works against that push inside of me that says, "It must be finished!" I don't think that's a bad thing to be in my life, truly. It can help me with that feeling that everything must be completed in order for me to enjoy life.

This post holds no promises of a card a day or a scrapbook page a week. What it holds is reflection. It is, in its own way, my journaling for a page to come. And an explanation to those that might still read this little blog 'o mine. I'm walking this crazy walk through the fog waiting for it to lift. As it does, I am hoping it leaves me some adhesive and cardstock.

Hello Fabulous Idea!

2010-12-31T22:24:00.000-06:00

Reflections on Project Life 2010

2010-12-31T15:10:00.000-06:00

One year ago, with lots of excitement and a little mix of nerves, I ordered Project Life from Becky Higgins. Project Life came after her Project 365, which centered on the photo-a-day concept of capturing life. While I knew keeping up with a photo-a-day scrapbook would be an exercise in futility, I liked that Project Life had more versatility. I could really set it up however I felt like it, but I could get some quick, clean pages done in a very short amount of time, without having to worry too much about design. It was initially set up as a chronological book, with month dividers and the idea that you would make a DPS a week. However, you did not have to follow that if it did not work for you.

As I look at my book, which is a little over half full at this point, I realize that a little over half full is pretty stinking good. I created 53 pages in a year's time, and that is what I call close to a small miracle. After printing many of the pics on my printer at first, I switched over to getting them printed, as it was far cheaper once I got the hang of cropping them for lab printing. Once you have the pics, the layouts come quite easily. In a way, I felt constrained design wise, as the collection of journal cards was varied, but, alas, somewhat feminine, when I was doing many of my pages about my sons. However, it helped me get over myself and just archive... no worries about embellishments (unless I wanted to) and the like.

So, here's to you, Project Life! I am excited about the newest installment, which has photo pockets for vertical photos (that has been a struggle for me.... I'm not solely a horizontal gal). Here are the latest bunch of layouts I created as we wrap up 2010:

Sadly, the Thickers I was using for the next DPS (see letters CHA) had completely lost their adhesive backing. No stick, but thick.)

Rather than reinventing the wheel for journaling on these next two double pages, I copied the journaling from my blog and pasted it into self-made cards using MS Publisher.

Recalling my stamping roots for this page. All Confirmation photos taken with my iPhone4 and tweaked with Photoshop just a bit. I forgot the Nikon!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T11:21:00.000-06:00

Uh oh!

2010-12-24T10:27:00.005-06:00

INSERT WHAT JOLYNN IS THINKING HERE.

Yes, it is I!

2010-12-21T21:33:00.000-06:00

I know, I am like a monk lately as far as crafting goes. I have been doing dribs and drabs here and there. But I enjoyed this craft very much, and I thought I would share. It all started with my Secret Santa. I loved getting someone I knew well, however, the challenge became that I had to hold back on the "crafty," as she would immediately know it was I. I held back until today, when I gave her a gift card in a snow cap cardholder. When she saw me at lunch, she made a comment that perhaps her Secret Santa was someone she knew who was crafty. I had been found out! Well, at least it was almost the last day. :)

She mentioned she liked "fun" pens, and you would think that, being the holidays, I could find "fun" pens. Not so. I had made beaded pens before with microbeads. Having left my stash of beads in my classroom, I moved to plan B...Bella's Baubles. The pen I used is more purple than it looks in the photos. You take a fun pen (I used a gel pen) and wrap it in super sticky double-sided tape, Then start adding the baubles. It's best to let it "cure" at least a night.

I hope she'll like it. It's accompanied by a Jimmy John's gift card, some pretzel M & Ms and some Butterfinger bells. Ah, the holidays!

Creative Antics hits 800

2010-12-11T22:23:00.000-06:00

Good pal and craft fanatic, Ann Cox, is having a fabulous giveaway in honor of her 800th blog post. Interested in possibly winning a $25 gift certificate to Two Peas? Head on over and wish her well. She does a great job with consistently posting on her blog (as opposed to others you might know... ahem).

Evolution of a Box

2010-10-28T20:44:00.000-05:00

Yep, I have been away for a while. When school is in full swing, it is hard to etch out crafty time.

Halloween can sometimes require some craftiness, as it did this year. Max wanted to be a car wash. Not just a car. A car wash. His recent perseveration. So here are photos of its evolution.

We started with a plain box and made a few alterations.

We then spraypainted with primer and metallic gray, as Max wanted it to look like my beloved Swagger Wagon (Toyota Sienna).

The next parts were fairly tricky. I'm not sure I am 100% in love with the results, but I tried. I printed off headlights and taillights for a Sienna onto cardstock. I used Tacky glue to affix them. I used page protectors for scrapbooks and leftover laminating film from school for the windows. Scott used black electrical tape to give the "windows" definition. I used Liquid Applique to give the appearance of "suds." I used small white balloons to give the suds a bit more size and depth.

And here is "Car Wash Boy" himself.

We'll see if he keeps it on at all during tomorrow's festivities at school.

Styroartist

2010-09-05T18:49:00.003-05:00

I had these pictures developed when I got a big batch developed for Project Life. Well, I have this "issue" with putting vertically-aligned pictures in the Project Life album horizontally. Just. Can't. Do. It. So I figured these, and a few others, would be good 12 x 12 DPS layouts.

There was a degree of scraplifting for this page, so, without further ado, let me give credit to Rebecca Cooper, whose book Real. Life. Scrapbooking. helped give birth to this page. Here's the layout that inspired it all:

...and here is my "styroartist" page that came from it...

I used 12 x 12" textured cardstock from Stampin' Up! Not sure about what color that might be... Maybe Groovy Guava... Alpha-stickers are Basic Grey's Mini Monogram Stickers. The patterned paper was something I won from The Scrap Review: Cosmo Cricket Snorkel Collection - Current. I could not believe how much it matched Max's pattern when I was going through my paper stash. The brown hues of textured papers are also SU! Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa. The blue base is Enchanted Evening from Papertrey. The stamp used for the journaling came from Autumn Leaves Stampology clear stamps designed by Katie Pertiet. I used SU! Buckaroo Blue ink. I used it to do some inking on the edges, as well.

There are some subtle differences between Rebecca's layout and mine, but her page anchored my design elements. Had to make it a bit more "dude-like." In all, I like it very much. It's tough to come up with your own design for 4, 6 x 4" photos. I like how one of the photos gets to "stand out" from the others.

DigiMessing

2010-09-05T00:37:00.003-05:00

I love "real" scrapbooks. I love my kids being able to look through a book. Something tangible. I loved looking through photo albums as I grew up. It's like comfort food for my mind.

I must say, though, I really love the ease of digital scrapbooking. It feeds my need for design... everything looks cute in digital. With Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements), I can make a page in minutes, with the right elements saved on my computer. The image above I made in maybe 5 minutes, not counting the time for downloading. It's three layers: background paper and two .png files, all layered in Photoshop. And it's cute. And the elements for it were free downloads from Scrapbooks, Etc. Crazy, right?

The thing about digi is I need a kick-butt larger printer, like a beautiful Epson (to the tune of $300-$400) to print them out in a fashion is worth the ink. I can use my 8 1/2 x 11 HP Scanjet, but now that I saw what the Epson can do, I am, yes, coveting it.

For now, I think I am what one would call a hybrid scrapper. I still like the layered elements in real life. But digi is quite fun indeed.

New School Year

2010-08-22T21:11:00.001-05:00

It's been one hectic August, to say the very least. Ignatius started eighth grade on Friday, with a little dash of high school Algebra on Thursday, and Max starts Kindergarten tomorrow.

I made this card 2x, once for Max's general education teacher, and one for his special education teacher. The Knight is an image from his elementary's website... he's their mascot. I loved the "Teachers Rule!" play on words with the School for Changito set. The inside of the cards used SU! Smile Some More set. The card also included a Borders gift card with a "learning" theme. The card uses the school colors (for those of you thinking, "Wow, look how JoLynn has come a little out of her color neighborhood."). Only when forced do I use an orange base. :) The blue is, I believe, Blue Bayou, or at least that's the ink I used.

Deep breathing. I am so much more nervous than Max even knows he should be. Hope it's for the best. Starting Kindergarten is stressful enough without a disability. Just gotta go with God...

My Go-To Set for 2010

2010-08-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

Signature Greetings by Papertrey is quickly becoming part of my stamping Hall o' Fame. There are so many uses for this set, and it fits cards from the casual to the more formal. Definitely getting my money's worth.

Today's card is clean and oh-so-simple. My good friends let my 13 year old tag along to Six Flags last week, sparing me the agony of a day at an "amusement" park. Don't get me wrong, I like Six Flags, but I would have had to take my 5 year old, too, and that was not at all appealing. OVERSTIMULATION to the maximum!

I knew I had this roller coaster sticker, and I figured I could make a fairly easy, yet still fun-loving, card based on it. One story from the day was that Ignatius and Erik waited 2-1/2 hours to get on the Raging Bull roller coaster, so I figured a coaster theme would be appropriate.

I am also loving Chalk Box's Creamy Brown Cat Eye. Talk about versatile! It is a simple way to make a card pop. I inked the coaster hill, as well as the outside of the card, with it. I used SU! Chocolate Chip for the sentiment. The cardstock is SU! Bordering Blue, and I think the brown is textured SU! Creamy Caramel, or its Bazzill equivalency.

I remember a few years back I was a member of a card club, and the leader of the club said using stickers was becoming passe. Every time I use a sticker, her voice pops in my head. It was such a ridiculous statement, especially considering the explosion of Thickers and rub-ons. If I can incorporate a cute sticker in a fun way, then call me passe, baby!

Button, button...

2010-08-04T22:12:00.000-05:00

I thought I would give the Everything But the Kitchen Sink Challenge a try this week. They asked for us to use buttons. There are some really creative submissions at the challenge site! Here's mine:

I have to say, I backed away from buying buttons at the CHA Super Show because I have tons of them and I just forget to use them. So, I was happy to pull out the stash and give them a whirl with this card. I decided, and undecided, and re-decided... it was bordering on obsessive as far as what I wanted to do with this card. I pulled out some old SU! DSP, some SU! buttons, the Top Notch Sizzix die from SU!, my paper cutter, my SU! scallop punch, my SU! 1 1/2" circle punch, Glue Dots, and adhesive, and went to town. I used some Cat Eyes for inking as well.

Tell me, why is it that when you want an adhesive to stick, it doesn't, and when you want an adhesive to be a little generous, it's like cement? All I have to say is I have some SERIOUSLY adhesive Glue Dots in my stash. Once something went on this card, there was no movement, despite my best efforts. Weird twist of science...

For those wanting to cut several pieces of patterned paper as I did, if you decide to use six strips, each strip is 3/4" wide.

This is one of my favorite sentiments, a la A Muse. Just like my You're da Bomb! card, this sentiment is something I would actually say, so I am excited to get to use it. I think this one is going to a co-worker who is coming back to school amidst absolute chaos in her home. I am amazed that she can keep herself together. Truly God is lifting her up!

A challenge on a few levels

2010-08-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to participate in a challenge while I still had some time. I will be getting things ready for my classroom soon, so my craft time is fleeting... I know the realities of the school year. Sigh.

This card is for the wee Memories Scrappy Saturday Challenge. Yeah, I know it's Tuesday. Things go a little slowly in the Plato household.

I made this card for my new student teacher. For those of you looking from the outside in, student teaching is exciting and frightening all at the same time. You are FINALLY going to get your feet wet, well, soaked, doing what you trained at least 3 1/2 years, and spent thousands of dollars, to do. You kind of know what you're doing, but not really. I love student teachers because they are so excited and their ideas are so full of life. They remind me of why I am, and continue to be, a teacher.

I tried to find a sentiment that would inspire, or that would be funny, or that would completely fit the situation. I finally just came up with one from SU! Warm Words: welcome. That's really what it's all about. I want her to feel welcome to the school, my room, my students. I want her to feel welcome to try things, to embrace successes, to learn from failures (yes, you heard it here... teachers mess up... and we know it... and we're not perfect... and many of us are OK with that because we are human).

The challenge asked us to use chipboard. Man, I have way more chipboard that I will ever use. And, at one point, I was a hoarder of really chunky chipboard! I found this medallion that came with an SEI mini album and was left over from the kit. I coupled it with some SEI Dill Blossom patterned paper, some SU! Sahara Sand cardstock, attached it with a Basic Grey brad (which is one of my favorite parts of the card) and used some SU! Sage Shadow taffeta ribbon for that linear part of the design so near and dear to me. I used my Fiskars scallop blade on my cutter for a cute little edge. SU! Tempting Turquoise ink was used on the sentiment to pull the blue in a bit more. I put an additional strip of patterned paper on the inside, as I am digging the tie in of the inside of cards as of late.

Enjoy!

There's a little giveaway going on...

2010-08-01T19:51:00.001-05:00

Check out this site for cards ideas, a chipboard challenge, and a giveaway! How fun is that?!

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...

2010-08-01T10:13:00.003-05:00

I had to prep some cards for a shoebox swap I am attending. If you have read my blog in the past, you have heard and seen about my adventures with shoebox swaps. It's just a fun time to prep some cards for other crafters. We usually end up gathering sometime in the summer for this event. We could design one card and provide enough supplies for each participant to do two cards with that design, or two designs and each participant would make one. I chose two designs, mainly because one of my designs will be somewhat labor intensive.

I went with the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" philosophy. Hey, it's been 18 years since I was a bride, so why not? The first card hits, something old and something blue. I started with a totally different card concept... and I mean way different. That became too complex, so I decided clean and simple was necessary (especially since I made this card after my first one). I pulled out my Encore Ultimate Metallic silver ink for this one. I stamped using A Muse's Bomb stamp, and the inside of my card uses the same ink with their Da Bomb! stamp (beware: after a while, this ink fades... not a good choice if you're keeping something in your stash). I loved these stamps the first time I saw them because this is one of my pet phrases. After stamping on a piece of 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 black cardstock that had been corner rounded, and allowing it a few minutes to set, I pulled out my SU! Crystal Effects to give the bomb some sheen. I also used my Waterfall Stickles on the sparks to pull in some of the blue from the base of the card, and to add some more dimension. I used SU!'s Bashful Blue (and then realized that was my only sheet, so many of my fellow swappers will be using SU! Baja Breeze, which is just slightly darker in hue) for my base for a 3 x 3" card. You can't really tell from the photo, but I affixed the black panel using Dimensionals, which gave it a little lift from the blue.

I went fairly girly with my next card. It, too, is the culmination of a few different tries. I love how it turned out. My something new: I am using my new Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding cardstock and my new Dawn McVey Signature Greetings set also from PTI. I have the whole set in the shoebox, so my fellow swappers can choose a sentiment they need. Something borrowed is the idea of crumpling patterned paper for flowers. I crumpled some SU! Bella Birds DSP, then punched some flowers with my SU! Daisy punch (another oldie, but goodie). They have a fabric-like feel to them when punched from crumpled paper (click on the photo for a closer look). I affixed the flowers with some brass brads (I think they are from Hobby Lobby). I used SU! Barely Banana for the panel, which I paper punched as well as inked with SU! Perfect Plum ink. I also used the SU! Scallop punch for the panel. I mounted the Barely Banana panel on another panel of Bella Birds. I stamped the sentiment using SU! White Craft ink... a staple of mine when it comes to sentiments on darker paper. I placed a panel of Barely Banana inside for note writing. I love the heaviness of the PTI cardstock. While it's not the best when you want to cut out an image (a little too heavy...scissor boo boos become glaringly apparent), it's a fabulous 4.25 x 5.5" base.

CHA Supershow

2010-07-31T14:49:00.011-05:00

A Swagger Wagon full of crafty ladies traveled to the CHA SuperShow in Rosemont yesterday. For those of you going, "Huh?" CHA stands for Craft and Hobby Association. They have their convention and trade show I believe twice a year for their members, and the summer one is typically in Chicago, IL. After that, they have what they call a Super Show, for which you do not need to be a member of CHA. Members of CHA are typically merchants of some type. For example, Creating Keepsakes, Jessica Sprague, The Keepsake Element, Fiskars, Kaiser Craft, etc. People who make their living in the biz are members, and they go to convention to showcase new product.

The Super Show is a huge vendor fair. Some people have booths to show product. Others sponsor make-and-take projects for attendees. Still others come with inventory to sell. This happens every year, but this is the first year some of us committed to taking a road trip (a little over 2 hours of a drive for us here in B-N). We had so much fun! We each had our own purposes. Ann spent some time meeting up with her cyberbuddies "in the flesh." Michelle is a relatively new crafter and was indoctrinated into the world of craziness known as the vendor fair. Kate is always up for a good crafting time, and she is so much fun to take on a trip. Belly laughs galore! Karen, as well as the rest of us, wanted to spend some quality time with Papertrey Ink booth, and also got to meet up with one of her idols, Beate from Splitcoaststampers! We brought along a special guest, know as Flat Krystal, to represent our buddy, Krystal, who could not make the trip. She was a hit!

Now for the photodocumentary. Enjoy!

Mama Kate in the back seat with Flat Krystal.

Priorities! We stopped at Sweet Tomatoes in Lombard for some yummy lunch.

Flat Krystal enjoys some sweets.

Enjoying good three-dimensional friends.

Checking in. How do you like that? Imaginary attendees get in free!

No, Toto, we are not in Bloomington anymore!

Flat Krystal gets to meet up with some Papertrey superstars: Dawn McVey and Michelle Wooderson!

Flat Krystal and Karen meet up with Nichole Heady herself!

Some very cool, free stuff from Papertrey! The card was a make and take using a stamp set for CHA called Four of a Kind. If you purchased >$100 at their booth, you got the set for free. The pad and pens were a freebie. The flower is a make and take pin using Papertrey felt, buttons, and paper. We used some Papertrey cutting dies with this project as well.

Yup, quite a lot of time was spent with Papertrey! All very much worth our while.

Ann meets up with cyber buds, Sankari Wegman and Courtney Baker. A lot of celebrity under one roof, I have to admit!

Yeppers, that's Karen meeting Beate! It was an exciting time to see the person behind so much great Splitcoast stuff!

Speaking of Splitcoast, they set up some really cute make and takes. The one on the left was made with a stamp that Unity Stamps made for the event. The bracelet was made with Grungeboard, Adirondack inks, a cute paper flower, and a button. Fun!

Flat Krystal with Beate and Paper Crafts celebrity Maren Benedict as well!

Yes, it is I, lowly JoLynn, with none other than Jessica Sprague! This was the make and take from her booth. Awesome.

A freebie mouse pad from Jessica. She also had a 20% off coupon for one of her classes, and a rebate for an Epson printer that I am seriously considering purchasing. Meeting her was quite enough for me, though! After that, it was all gravy!

And, to top the day off... Dinner at Portillo's! My first time.

BUT JOLYNN, WHAT DID YOU BUY?
Well, I was very conservative with my purchases. I truly have plenty right now. I didn't need to go hog wild. I made some Papertrey purchases, of course. From there I got a couple packages of their white cardstock, a package of Plum Pudding, and a package of Enchanted Evening. I also purchased the twill ribbon that matched the colored papers. I really like Papertrey's ribbon. It has a nice weight to it.

I wish I could say that the online versions of these colors were accurate. They're in the ballpark, but both colors are actually a deeper richer version of what is shown. That's why it was nice to see them as I was making my purchasing decisions. Based on the above swatches, I would not have chosen either color.

I also purchased Signature Greetings, designed by Dawn McVey.

Cute, I know!

At another booth, whose name escapes me at present, I purchased some Corrugated Craft Alphas by Jillibean Soup.

The next several images show the Nestabilities I got at this same booth. They were selling them for $19 each, and buy 3, get one free. Could not pass that up! I need to grab a new Quick Kutz case for them!

I was a very well-behaved spender, in my humble opinion. And that was our day. Sigh. Quite a lot o' fun.

CHA Supershow Bound

2010-07-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

Yeah! It's July 30, and the craft ladies and I are headed to Rosemont, IL, a mere 2 1/4 hours away. Why?

Yes, it's today! The CHA Super Show. For as close as we have lived to this each year, this is the first year we all decided we should go. At the end of CHA, for which for must be a member to enter, they have a huge vendor fair of sorts. We are attending day 1 of the Super Show.

Photos and stories to follow! First stop: Sweet Tomatoes in Lombard! Yummo.

MISA's last hop and S-A-S

2010-07-23T19:26:00.010-05:00

Yesterday, I got to do one of my favorite things: go to my amiga, Karen's, house and participate in Stamp-A-Stack. She provides the designs, the papers, the adhesive, the atmosphere, I provide $$ and my wonderful disposition, and I walk away with my crafty juices revived and with 10 cards (2 of 5 designs).

You have heard me say before that she's a busy gal, and updating her blog has not been high on her priority list (and with good reason), therefore, I present to you her five designs from our time together. I don't have specs, but I do know that she used sets and papers from the new SU! catalog.

And now for something completely different...well, maybe only partially different, but then I would not be able to use one of my favorite Python lines...

The last two persons being awarded the title Most Influential Scrapbooker by Ella Publishing. I have to say, I had not heard of Shimelle Laine, but now that I have, WHEW! She is a stitch! I spent a long time on her blog, as she hyperlinked her giveaway post with many worthwhile detours. I'm definitely going to start following her! FUN-NY! She also does quite a bit of business with online workshops, so I may have to check one or two of them out. If you're hemming and hawing, just watch her video about why she scrapbooks. I swear, it will be worth a few minutes.

And last, but without a doubt NOT least, a person whose Simple Scrapbooks magazine led me into a whole different stratosphere of belief in what I could do as an archiver of events, the brilliant Stacy Julian. A list without Stacy would be like a list without Becky Higgins. {Oh wait! Yep, that was totally planned. I am a little miffed about BH's absence on this list. I cannot lie.} In all seriousness, Stacy went from Simple Scrapbooks to Big Picture Scrapbooking, which are both responsible for my stalker-level appreciation for Cathy Zielske and many a scrapbook page for my posterity. Thank you, Stacy.

She has some pretty stinking cool stuff on her post, but the coolest of them all is this>>>

Seriously. It says "admission is free." See why she rocks? Yup.

Keep on hopping....

2010-07-22T11:39:00.000-05:00

Today's leg of the tour takes us to two women that have seemingly different styles. I have seen Margie Romney-Aslett's stuff here and there. She's more vintage, and, for lack of a better word, "girlie," than I, but she definitely has talent. Her site, The Girl's Loft, was created with her two daughters, and offers kits, ideas, and lots of other goodness.

If you have done anything in the world of digital scrapbooking, even just read about it to see if you wanted to get your feet wet, you have heard the name Renee Pearson. She was once the editor of Digital Scrapbooking magazine, but has moved on to offering many online classes and such. Like Jessica Sprague, she offers quite a bit of learning for the Photoshop novices among us (like moiself).

So, go to their sites and leave some comments! They each have 10 fantastic giveaway prizes!

Blog Hop Madness!

2010-07-21T14:09:00.001-05:00

First, a blog-o-versary! Congrats to Ann Cox, whose Creative Antics blog has kept us entertained for two years running. Love her Clean and Simple cards! She's having a giveaway, so take a stroll on over and leave her some good wishes while you're there browsing through her wide variety of cards.

Second, the MISA Blog Tour Continues! Yesterday, the two highlighted scrapbookers were Noell Hyman and Jenni Bowlin. I had not heard of Noell before, and I must say, she has a LOT out there in cyber-scrapland. It's worth it to take a nice walk through her blog, and get to know her business, Paperclipping. Is there really anyone in the world of crafting who doesn't know Jenni Bowlin? Vintage with a capital "V." In my scrapbooking yesterday, on Max's graduation page, that little BINGO card with the word GROW on it? Yep, that's Jenni. She was a little late updating her blog yesterday due to travel, so her giveaways are still going until Thursday. Noell has chosen her winners and has posted them on her blog.

Third, today's superstar scrapbookers: Jessica Sprague and Maggie Holmes. You might remember Jessica from this little ol' blog last summer. I took a free class of hers...I didn't finish because life got in the way, but...it...never...expires. Yes, you read that right. It was free, and she's not going to boot me off because it takes me a year to finish everything I do lately. Yes, she's listed as one of my favorite peeps to the right as well. She does FABULOUS online tutorials, and she is reasonable in what she charges for her digital media. Stop by her blog, and she even offers a coupon for $5! And, for those attending the CHA Vendor Summer Supershow July 30 in Rosemont, IL, she has a code for $$ off registration for that!

I am sure I have seen products from Maggie Holmes, but I am a blank as to what they were. She mentions having layouts in Creating Keepsakes, so you know I have seen them at one point or another. Apparently from her blog, she is very knowledgeable in the area of photography, so I sure should get cozy with that blog! And, lo and behold, she has autism links on her site. So she loves someone with autism spectrum disorder, too! I'll be diving a bit more into her areas of interest, but for now, hop on over to her blog and make a comment for a chance to win!

Project Life Smorgasbord

2010-07-20T20:40:00.002-05:00

I did a LOT of scrapbooking today. I started in the morning, when it was raining and bleh, and then I continued here and there throughout the day, because, come on, who is given time to just work straight through? It did feel quite marathonish, however, in all good ways. So, here you are (drum roll...). Click on the pics for a closer view:

Giving credit where credit is due

2010-07-20T11:46:00.003-05:00

I have done my share of commentary of my feelings toward Steve Jobs. That behind me, I have to praise this little piece of sunshine... my iPhone4.

I know. It's just a phone. Yes. But, allow me to give you a piece of my thought process over at least the last year. I have kicked around getting a point-and-shoot that I could carry with me, as having the Nikon strapped around my neck is not always convenient. When I want pictures that POP, absolutely. But when something comes up in my every day, not so much. I have an older Cool Pix, but was never 100% happy with my use of it (I think the camera is fine... it was my use of it as a photog that lacked... or at least that's my story). I was also looking at purchasing a Flip video camera for those ever so cute things that happen in life that require everyone on Facebook to see. My first gen iPhone had no video, so I was looking in to other options. Note on cost: a point-and-shoot was looking to run me between $150 and $200 if I got a decent one on sale. A Flip video... depended on the ads for the week... usually ran between $100-150 depending on the quality of video I wanted.

Sometimes, friends, it's good to wait.

My iPhone 4 is about as big as a standard iPod. It takes amazing pictures. It has the same limitations as a typical point-and-shoot as far as optical zoom. You want a good zoom that's not super pixelated when printed at 300 dpi? Use the Nikon not the point-and-shoot. However, I just printed some day-to-day shots and, I have to say, WOW. Just WOW.

The video is pretty great, too, although I must say we have been pretty spastic with it. You have to be cautious as to how you hold it... you can actually video upside down (ask me how I know). And, it saves the video in HD in .mov format. What does that mean? Large file sizes that have to be converted if you plan to edit, unless you use iMovie itself. However, it works for our purposes.

So, there you have it. One of the reasons, as a scrapbooker, that I love this phone. $199 rather than $300 for two different pieces of equipment, and the same bang for the buck. This merely scratches the surface of what this little baby can do!

Ella Publishing

2010-07-19T14:12:00.004-05:00

Back in January, I mentioned a new love of mine: Ella Publishing. I dig Ella and the name it is making for itself in the industry. Plus, I can see the smiling faces of the gals whom I used to see on the pages of Simple Scrapbooking (sigh).

Ella has named its first nominees for the "Most Influential Scrapbooker Awards." Now the fun begins! On Ella's blog and the blogs of these wonderfully talented scrapbookers, for the next few days, they will have a blog tour. They introduce the scrapbooker with a brief bio and send you to the scrapbooker's site. That's where you can take a peek at the site/blog, as well as have a chance to win some SERIOUSLY fabulous prizes. Ella's blog itself also offers some fun. To comment on Ella's blog, you need to log in. An account is free and painless, and very much worth the time.

So, the first person to be honored today? Yes, rock goddess, Cathy Zielske. If you have followed my blog, you know I am a HUGE fan of Cathy's. Yeah, let's see how many tags I have for her...oh, yeah 41 (this will be 42). All of the designs for the layouts you see using this tag are her layouts. Cathy's blog is humorously delightful to follow. It's about her life, not just scrapbooking. She frequently offers some freebies just for commenting, but it's like icing on the cake of following her blog.

So head on over to Ella and Cathy's blog and see about winning some great stuff! The giveaways take place for a limited time for each scrapbooker. I'll try to share the spotlighted scrapbookers on this site as well. Might even inspire some scrapping out of me!

Project Life

2010-07-11T21:31:00.001-05:00

I was laying pretty low in Project Life, alas, and I was feeling behind. Then I saw the amount of pages I HAVE completed, and I embraced that. Gotta keep the "glass half full" mentality, as it makes me happier than the other alternative.

Tonight, I finally got a Zumba page completed, which has been on my docket for a while. I used some pics that Krystal had taken way back in January/February (for the life of me, I cannot recall... I know it was a Monday morning when we had off. I think it was in January.) and uploaded to Facebook.

My favorite parts of this page:
-Pictures of my peeps
-Zumba ribbon (formerly wrapped around a Zumba beach towel gift from KK)
-A sample "playlist" of songs from classes
-The fact that school was out and we were at Zumba at 8:30 AM on a Monday in the winter

More July crafting, and some "new" furniture

2010-07-11T11:21:00.011-05:00

Last week, I participated in some summer inservicing for math. As much as I wanted to craft, there just wasn't the time. I did, however, get to attend my dealer's Open House for the new Stampin' Up! catalog. I thought I would showcase her awesome make-n-takes from this event. I do not have the specs for the cards, so, Karen, if you are reading this, feel free to comment on that.

I took my photos of the cards on one of my new end tables. So I have also included some pics of our living room. I am in the middle of deciding what to do with the walls (vinyl decals dance in my head), but I thought I would share my furniture story.

We sold our almost-20-year-old furniture at our garage sale this spring. We have had an empty room, which has driven my husband close to crazy, but didn't bother me much. As he was driving around the neighborhood on Thursday, he noticed a neighbor setting up for a garage sale. He spied our new furniture and rushed home to show me photos.

This entire set was bought for $300. It's a couple years old, and there are some wearing and tearing, but in all, I think it looks pretty great. The sofa retails for $1000, and the love seat retails for $800, so right there, I think we got a nice deal. The coffee tables are really sturdy, so I know they were not cheap either. Anyway, I thought it rocked, and I will try to show, as the days go on, the metamorphosis that occurs with the room. We had the hardest time figuring the arrangement. You may notice my husband's other garage sale find, the wood divider, has been brought in. There are pockets of the room that, to me, just look empty (by the windows). I think, after 8 years, we are finally going to put window treatments in the windows. I LOVE how the windows look, but I think it causes our summer electric bills to be outrageous.

Enjoy!

This next one is Max's favorite card. He kept walking around the house with it. I kinda like it a whole lot, as well. Simple, yet very cute. Showcases some new colors.

Is it just me, or...

2010-07-05T20:54:00.004-05:00

...do other people let photos that they want to frame pile up? Yeah, it's probably just me.

Today in "crafty July," I spent some time doing some framing.

We went through a period of time when, if it wasn't the cleaners, it was Max bumping a picture from my craft area onto the ceramic tile foyer 15 feet below. I took some of those pics and combined them in a collage frame (not very much like me, but I like the way it combined some pics in one frame). I also framed some 8 x 10s of the boys that were waiting for a frame. Now, all I need is to hang them.

A little digi-scrapbooking?

2010-07-04T18:59:00.005-05:00

We have been on the go for the past several days, so my craftiness has consisted of taking photos and video of our excursions. I have some blog archiving at this site. Many of my pcs and videos are on Facebook for my friends there.

Happy July 4th to all!

July 1 - The crafting crazies begin

2010-07-01T21:44:00.006-05:00

The time has arrived. It is, indeed, the first day of July, and I am making good on my goal to complete some type of craft each day. Today? A card to start July off right.
Each year, when July arrives, my country celebrates its birth. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: July 4th is one of my favorite holidays, if not my #1. It's summer. I'm relaxed. I still have some summer ahead of me. Life is usually pretty good.

I also take time to remember and pray for those who risk their lives for the world's freedom. Those who are overseas trying to keep peace in conditions we cannot even imagine. To those individuals, I dedicate today's card.

For this card, I partially CASEd my idea from a card on the cover of the new SU! catalog. I like how they used the Sizzix die but had different strips of paper. I had in mind less of a pattern and more randomness... I had read strips and star patterned paper... but my inner sense of linear order won out.

Size: 4.25 x 5.5" (or really close)
Cardstock: SU! Textured Night of Navy and Basic Gray
Patterned Paper: from a slab I bought at Hobby Lobby
Twill Ribbon: Stampin' Up!
Star Brads: one of the first embellies I ever bought... no idea who the manufacturer was
Stamp: SU! Teeny Tinies
Ink: Stampabilities Pigment Ink
Die: Sizzix Top Note by Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! Catalog 2010-2011

2010-06-29T18:00:00.002-05:00

As a Stampin' Up! customer/hoarder, I get all tingly getting a new catalog. Enter the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog. Yeah! Of course, there are things that I have wanted over the course of a few catalogs, and there are things that I really like that are new. So, here's my "covet" list (because "wish" implies something far less, well, covetous).

Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper, p. 174
Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper, p. 175
Fine Flourish Stamp, p. 140
Fabulous Phrases Stamp Set, p. 149
FYI Stamp Set, p. 148
Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Sets (love this font!), p. 162
New Color Coach, p. 165
Sweet Treat Cups, p. 170
Decor Accents Date Keeper, p. 170
One Great Year, p. 179
Simply Adorned Charms, p. 189
Circle 3D Ornament Bibz die, p. 206 (school need when we do icosahedron ornaments!)

I really haven't fallen in love with any of the new colors yet... but give me time...

July

2010-06-28T17:28:00.003-05:00

I have thoroughly and completely enjoyed the entire month of June. Truly. With the exception of one area: my crafting. So, I hearby declare July a month of crafting. Each day. Something. Be it ever so small or frighteningly large. This statement is pretty vague so I am stating here and now on this blog what I specifically plan to work on:

Me, the Abridged Version scrapbook: started a year ago in September, this is one of my FAVORITE scrapbook projects. I must spend parts of July completing this.
Project Life: Um, hello. If the pages in my Project Life album aren't easy enough, then I am just NOT a scrapbooker. Must do some catch up there.
May I see some ink, please?: I will make cards with stamps I just HAD to have, yet have never used.

Ambitious? Yes. However, my craft room is gathering dust, and my summer is 1/3 gone. Let's get 'er done.

What? Two in one day?

2010-06-19T21:24:00.004-05:00

Necessity. Yep.

Here's the best night shot I could get of Scott's Father's Day card.

Way too much overthinking on this one. Holy moly!

I used the SU! Thoughts & Prayers tree... the one I love so much it's on my dining room wall. At first, I thought I would stamp it all one color, as coloring all those little leaves is not an exciting thought. But I just didn't think, on a card, all brown looked "peppy." Enter the markers! I used SU! Chocolate Chip for the trunk and branches (caution: I had to use the thinner side for the thinner branches) and SU! Garden Green for the leaves. I almost went CRAZY and used several leaf colors, but I controlled myself. The sentiment was from a Verve set called Happy Thoughts. Hadn't used that one in forever. It's actually two separate stamps, which made me nervous I would screw it up after all the leaf coloring. However, it came out looking pretty swell. I used SU! Kraft and Garden Green papers and some GP white. I distressed the green and white layers with a paper distresser and inked the edges of the Kraft layer with Chocolate Chip. The base layer is on "pop dots," making nighttime photography fun! I tossed in some paper piercing for that added manly effect.

Wedding Shower

2010-06-19T13:23:00.003-05:00

Ironic. Last Saturday, I was at a wedding in the middle of a shower (well, OK, thunderstorm). This gorgeous Saturday, I'm attending a wedding shower. What a difference a week makes, eh?

This card is a CASE from several different cards on Splitcoast that I saw as I browsed last night, most especially this one and this one.

I tried to keep things simple, yet elegant. The bride's colors have some hue of purple, so I chose SU! Perfect Plum. I also decided to use an off-white color... just feeling creamy today. The card is slightly larger than your typical 4.25 x 5.5" as well. Don't ask. I used my Cuttlebug (and it looked at me in surprise and said, "Who are you?") for the embossing on the dress bodice, used some pearl stick-ons for more texture, followed by a cute little bow at the waist. The stamp is from Hero Arts and I used Brilliance pigment ink in Moonlight White, as craft white would have clashed a bit too much with the vanilla nature of the card. I think it turned out pretty cute, and it really didn't take much time at all (if you subtract my typical OCD issues....).

Guess I can show you now...

2010-06-14T16:25:00.005-05:00

I was holding off on posting this, as I was unsure if the bride reads my blog, and, if so, I didn't want to spoil her surprise (because, come on, if it's the week of your wedding, you have nothing to do but browse craft blogs).

Well, let ME tell YOU... this Bella can't even hold a Christmas light to the actual bride. She was STUNNING, and I AM biased. I tried to come close to her color choice, but I think it was closer to Tempting Turquoise, and I used Taken with Teal. Close enough, in my humble opinion.

The background is wrapping paper from Target (I used it on her shower gift and card, also). I really like it on cards. It adheres nicely, and I think it looks pretty cool. Her invitations had a balance of gray and turquoise/teal to them, so I went with that flow. Coloring took place with Copics and Stampin' Write markers. The main stamp is bridalpartybellas from stampingbella.com. The paper is SU! Basic Gray and Taken with Teal. I used some "pop dots" for depth. To make the bride "pop," I filled her dress with Stickles. :) Fun.

Birthday card for my birthday boy

2010-06-11T20:28:00.003-05:00

Here is a card I created for Scott's 45th birthday. It's amazing how hard it is to take pics of these cards when I have not done so for a while. Very WHITE.

The colors of the card match the Bed, Bath, and Beyond box in which was his new Braun Series 5 electric razor. Poor guy has been using a razor for years that is slowly dying. He thought the box was Michelle's wedding present, so he was totally duped. Then he wanted to do the, "Oh, this cost too much," thing. Yeah. One razor every 10 years really breaks the bank. :) He's that way, though. I told him to just say, "Thank you," and let it be. He did.

Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
Paper: GP white, SU Perfect Plum
Stamps: SU! Whimsical Words and All About Occasions
Ink: SU! Perfect Plum and Craft white
Punch: Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper
Embellishments: Stampingbella Grape Juice Baubles

I'm back!

2010-06-05T21:12:00.005-05:00

Yeah for summer! My schedule has slowed down tremendously, school's out, my kids are home with me (and I'm one of those nutty parents that enjoys that very much), and, after a dose of crafting with my gal pals yesterday, I am ready for a creative summer. I have so much to catch up on!

I decided that I will use the thing that gets me motivated the most-- music-- to inspire me in my creations this summer. June is a CRAZY month in my family. Birthdays and anniversaries galore! My niece is even expecting my great niece this month... another June birthday for the fam! Geminis unite!

I had been listening to the song "All I Believe In." What you might remember about me is I am what you might call a "Twihard." Love the Twilight books. Like the movies. Love RPattz and am totally Team Edward. See how off-track I got just saying Twilight? OK, well, this song is on the soundtrack for New Moon. It's so peaceful. Give it a listen (ignore cheesy video...spend time reading the description of the artists if you wish).

So, with that in mind, I had hearts in my head. Next weekend is the wedding of a friend as well as my own anniversary (18 years). So, I felt inspired to hit one of those two occasions. I think I'll be using this as Scott's anniversary card from me.

Cute, simple, sweet.

Size: 4.25 x 5.5"
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic Gray and GP white
Ink: Stampin' Up! Craft White and Basic Gray
Stamps: Stampin' Up! Always and Whimsical Words
Also used: Pop dots for one of the hearts and paper piercing

I did not drop off the face of the planet...

2010-04-26T19:19:00.003-05:00

...end of April = AMAZING amount of stress. As soon as this lightens a bit, and I can clear National Board stuff out of my craft area, I will be returning... I MISS my crafting!!

Spring Break - Yeah, baby!

2010-03-23T19:23:00.004-05:00

Ah. Time for crafting. Alas, I have some writing to do this week as well, but scrapbooking happened first, for a change. Here are my February additions to Project Life. Not as plentiful as January, but, hey, it's a short month. Another bout of good news is that Becky added a gallery to her site, so those who wish to browse the work of others can do so. I am adding these to her gallery as well.

The Accident:

The Winter Olympics:

Max's Birthday Party:

The end of a great beginning

2010-02-15T13:30:00.007-06:00

Hello to all!

Today ends One World One Heart, the blog tour for artisans. I had 227 comments, and I do intend to visit all 227 blogs, despite the fact that I couldn't visit all of them before today. January/February is a crazy time for teachers, alas. I got involved in the event to give my blog a bit more visibility, and also to get to know some other bloggers out there. I look forward to continuing my worldwide tour.

Now, for the moment you have been waiting for: according to Random.org's random number generator (shown), the winner of my blog candy is comment #64:

_________________________________________

Click on her comment to get to her colorful blog! Congrats and thanks to all who commented! Good to "meet" you!

A few more days before we wrap it up

2010-02-13T09:20:00.002-06:00

How cool has it been to have "guests" from all over the world during One World One Heart! Click on this link and make a comment if you are a blogger wanting a chance at some seriously cool blog candy...

I will draw my winner at 12 PM Central on Monday, February 15, 2010.

My first video tutorial suggestion

2010-02-07T22:01:00.002-06:00

pattystamps on YouTube has a lot of good My Digital Studio tutorials. I like her tutorials so far because they are not heavily pixelated... you can pretty much see everything she is doing. If you are considering purchasing what I shall lovingly call MDS, watching a few of her tutorials will give you an idea of whether or not you want to take the financial plunge.

Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio

2010-02-07T13:44:00.002-06:00

Taking advantage of Sale-A-Bration and a delightful Christmas coupon from my "dealer," I purchased Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio. I'll try to document here my journey with this software.

Karen, the "dealer" in question, purchased it first, and created a scrapbook for Zumba creator, Beto Perez. I liked the look of what she accomplished. I also liked the fonts and images that were available through the software.

So far, I have installed it. That didn't go so smoothly, but I do not know what to blame it on. It could be a lack of compatibility between the software and Windows 7. It could be my laptop, which is known to be possessed from time to time. However, the install disk worked right up until the very end and then locked up. I rebooted (as I couldn't even get Task Manager to come up), and re-ran the install, and it worked fine. Then the same thing happened when I tried to install the content CD. I rebooted, and the second time was the charm. Very weird.

So today, I will start to play with it a bit, maybe look for a tutorial or two. I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

At Last!

2010-02-06T22:44:00.006-06:00

Time to work on some scrapbooking! I decided to wrap up some January pages in Project Life before moving in to February. I really completed a lot in this album in January. Let's see if my fervor carries in to the following months!

Double-page spread: Ignatius' 13th Birthday Party

Page 1:

Page 2:

For the last double-page spread, I used one side for Ignatius' first Scholastic Bowl match:

I used the other side for images from Haiti. I really felt it was important for me to journal to my boys some things I felt they should know about Haiti, both before and after the earthquake. Mainly, I wanted the messages of hope, determination, and generosity to come through. I want them to remember that there are people...children...in Haiti who will continue to need our support long after the photographs have faded from our memories.

Argh!

2010-02-04T22:34:00.002-06:00

This has been a crazy two weeks, during which I have had NO time to craft at all. I hope that will change this weekend, as I have a TON of scrapbooking ideas that I want to create. I also want to check out some of the great blogs for OWOH!

One World One Heart

2010-01-25T06:48:00.006-06:00

Today begins the One World One Heart blogging extravaganza. The theme: Magic Carpet Ride.
Welcome to my blogging visitors! Good to have you here! For the next month or so, I hope you come back to visit, particularly if you enjoy cardmaking and scrapbooking, as those are the two things that I post the most.

When I thought of this theme, two things came to mind. One was the song, "Magic Carpet Ri de" by Steppenwolf (1971). Go ahead, click on the link and give a listen! The other thing that came to mind was Disney's Aladdin movie. Wasn't Robin Williams hysterical?!

That brings me to my blog candy. Respond to this post by leaving me your name and blog address (or your e-mail contact, if you prefer). Here are some possibilities for responses:
1. Are you lost in the 60's and 70's? What were some of your favorite songs from that era? Mine: The Beatles all the way. You should see me on the mic on Rock band. Truly in my element.
-or-
2. What's your favorite Disney flick? Why do you like that one? Mine: Bambi. A tale of perseverance through personal loss. And Thumper is adorable.
-or-
3. What brings you to blogging? Me: I love sharing my business with anyone who wants to read it.

Now, for the fun part. On February 15, I will use Random.com to choose the response number that will win my blog candy: The SEI Juliette collection you see here. Click on any image to see it closer.

Feel free to follow my blog (check the area on the right for that) if you like what you see.

Have a great time "blurfing," and I hope to check out your blog (after work today -- bleh) as well!

Designer Digitals helps Haiti

2010-01-23T18:33:00.002-06:00

Click here to see how this kit is raising money for Haiti.

Hip To Be Square

2010-01-23T13:08:00.002-06:00

This is my card for the Cards blog challenge. The challenge was to include squares in some way in your card.Size: 4.25 x 5.5"
Paper: Brown cardstock (not sure of the manufacturer), Basic Grey Archaic; cream cardstock
Ink: SU! Close to Cocoa; Copic markers
Stamps: Cornish Heritage Farms Pretty Birdies

A little teaser

2010-01-23T11:22:00.004-06:00

One World, One Heart begins this Monday. What is it? Basically a way for bloggers from around the world to meet. For more information, feel free to read the info at the site that coordinates it all.

For those who love blog candy, that's one of the major parts of One World, One Heart. As a participant, I must post my blog candy info starting on Monday, however, I thought my readers would like a weekend sweet treat... so here's a sneak peek... tune in Monday for the whole shebang!

And E-F...

2010-01-18T11:20:00.003-06:00

Here's E-F... I had a lot to say with F, so it came close to being chopped.

Now, I must focus on some school-related stuff, so I will be talking a brief break from this album. I also have a crafty open house and stamp-a-stack at Karen's, so I better slow myself down and enjoy!

Moving right along

2010-01-18T07:59:00.001-06:00

Here's my C-D spread for MeTAV. Some pretty intense journaling on this one...

It's about time...

2010-01-17T21:56:00.006-06:00

During the summer of 2009, I committed myself to Cathy Zielske's "Me The Abridged Version" class. Since it took place during September, I knew I was not going to realistically get it done then, as that is the worst month a teacher can commit to anything but starting the school year.

Well, all of my Becky Higgins hubub has made me dig back in to what Cathy lovingly penned "MeTAV." I have been doing the journaling as the months have progressed. I am not finished, but I thought I better get some pages published before these things were no longer true about me.

I absolutely LOVE how this first spread turned out. As you can see, the scrapbook is MOSTLY journaling. The spreads will follow the same layout with a few alterations here and there. This means that, now that #1 is down, the rest should be easy peasy. She gave us quite a few .psd templates, but also some Word templates. I used the Word template for the journaling, as Photoshop and I are not always friendly.

Anyway, the layout and ideas are copyright Cathy Zielske and Big Picture Scrapbooking. The words and photos came from my head, clip art, and the Internet. I am using calibri font in MS Word 2007. The brown I am using is R: 66 G: 33 B: 0. I am using Bazzill white cardstock and some American Crafts page protectors. This is an 8.5 x 11" scrapbook with no embellies, which made scanning a breeze. I guess I could add embellishments, but that's not the point. The point is to document information about me in an encyclopedia fashion so my kids have something to hold on to. Well, and you know I'll go back to it and reminisce. Cathy used SEI Dill Blossom patterned paper, and I decided to do so as well, as I have a stack of it, and, quite frankly, it's awesome paper. As I get closer to the end, I will videotape what the whole book looks like. For now, these posts are about the pages... and maybe some inspiration can come to others.

Karen and JoLynn's Excellent Adventure

2010-01-16T17:39:00.010-06:00

Project Life, baby. Karen and I had an afternoon of scrapbooking fun with Becky Higgins' newest product. Look at that craft table! Worker bees!

Today, I focused on my title and end pages and a DPS about carousel rides. The carousel rides did not take place in January, so I decided that my months will be split according to DPS's I do in that month, rather than photos that occur in that month. Less pressure, you know?

Today's DPS was a little challenging in that 1) my photos of Max on a carousel were really blurry, and 2) my photos of both the boys were taken with my iPhone, so the quality was not great. The other thing was that I didn't have the abundance of photos that are typically needed, so I had to decide how much journaling to do vs. how much decorative space to make the page complete.

Enter the journaling cards. The ones that can be folded or left open were ones that I used on both sides. At the end of setting this up, I realized that if you try to put the tabbed journaling card on the left side, you have a bit of a dilemma... the tab shows up on the page before it, but not on the page that it goes with. So, I took out the good ol' Exacto knife and cut through the page protector to solve that problem.

Luckily, I had a date stamp that resembled Becky's that included 2008, as the photos of Ignatius were from December 2008.

One thing I'm finding myself obsessing over seems to be that the decorative cards I use cannot have a totally random nature to them. I must have some unifying themes... color, basic design element, whatever. It's really insane, but I embrace that as my own personal illness with this scrapbook.

Full spread:
Page one:

Page two:

Hurricane Maximilian

2010-01-15T15:34:00.007-06:00

Today's installment of Project Life is brought to you by Hurricane Maximilian. There was so much destruction in his path that he gets an entire DPS dedicated to it.

I stayed true to Becky's cards and stickers for this one. Documenting the ravages was more important to me than stressing over the layouts.

Full spread:

Page 1 closer:

Page 2 closer:

Valentine Challenge

2010-01-10T11:38:00.005-06:00

On the Cards blog, the next challenge is one where we are called to be inspired by this card. We could use any part of this card as our springboard. I decided it was a good time to make the hubby a valentine. I used the basic layout: an off-center tag with a sentiment, some white space at the top, a panel edged with a scallop. Because I needed to "man" the card up, I changed quite a few things of the original. I still included hearts because, yes, they are appropriate for my husband. Back in the day, when I was 19 and we were just starting to date, hearts were plentiful on my part.

I changed the color scheme a bit and went with cardstock over patterned paper. I used SU! Creamy Caramel and Ruby Red. The tag was a punchout from an SU! '05-'06 catalog. The tag sheets were based on color family, so this one was from the Earth Elements tag sheet. For the Ruby Red panel, I decided to pull out the Cuttlebug and do some embossing with my Textured Script embossing folder. Then, I used my SU! scallop edge punch for the textured Bazzill brown cardstock strip. I also used my SU! tag punch for the "Be Mine" sentiment, which was stamped with SU! Craft White. For the stitching, I paper punched the holes and then hand stitched some twine I got in an SEI kit. I felt the rough stitching was more "guylike." I used my Corner Chomper to round off my corners (similar to the sample card, but I did all four corners).

Size: 3 3/8 x 5 3/8"
Cardstock: SU! Creamy Caramel and Ruby Red, Bazzill textured brown
Punches: SU! scallop and tag
Ink: SU! Ruby Red
Stamps: SU! Party Punch and Weather or Not
Thread: SEI
Tag: SU! Earth Elements Tag Set

Cards Blog

2010-01-09T20:03:00.002-06:00

...is da bomb. Thanks, Ann, for directing me to it. They have great ideas and challenges. And, oh, yeah, they posted my thank-you card for last week's challenge. :)

Freedom card

2010-01-09T17:04:00.004-06:00

I was tinkering with submissions for publications... the hard part with that is that they typically want you to create, say, a July 4 card when there's 7 inches of snow on the ground. You really have to have some serious inspiration (or a stash that works).

I used some of my new purchases and some older scraps for this card. I really like how it turned out... doesn't necessarily need to be July 4 to get this one...

Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4"
Cardstock: SU! Kraft, Basic Black, and Real Red
Cardstock "Coupons:" Rusty Pickle
Accessories: adhesive pop-ups; paper distressor; paper puncher; black embroidery floss

Ella-fun-tastic

2010-01-08T18:42:00.004-06:00

Oooh, I have a new place that I {heart}. Ella Publishing. You have to register (for free), but I am just scratching the surface of its goodness...Join me...Well, you'll be forced to hear more, I am sure...

You're a friend

2010-01-07T20:53:00.004-06:00

Quite unexpectedly tonight, I made an exciting discovery. The Nestabilities set that I just purchased, Labels Nine, works as a punch for the frame in SU!'s Great Friend set. I was sooooo excited. It's not perfect, but it sure is close enough!

I was feeling some white/navy vibe... call it the snow that surrounds us... and I threw in a little chocolate, as I have been eating quite a bit of that today as well. Heh heh.

Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Cardstock: Georgia Pacific white; SU! Night of Navy
Patterned paper: SEI Poppy
Stamps: SU! Great Friend
Inks: SU! Chocolate Chip and Night of Navy
Ribbon: SU! Chocolate Chip Satin (15/16") and Sheer Creations sheer white
Accessories: SU! Dimensionals; Nestabilities Labels Nine

A Two DPS Kind of Day

2010-01-07T17:02:00.006-06:00

Today I worked on two layouts. One was created from photos from today. The other had been in my mind since mid-December and now has been created!

DPS #1: Outtakes of our Christmas card picture photo shoot.

DPS #2: All about our snow day today.

For this one, I used the flipside of yesterday's DPS, where I used SU! Felt Flurries. More bang for the buck... kind of like a see-through fireplace!

Now, off to Pilates!

Project Life - DPS 1

2010-01-06T23:20:00.009-06:00

Today, I thought it would be fun to shoot pics of the ordinary morning stuff that surrounds me as I transitioned from Winter Break back into teaching. I was pretty tired tonight, but I also wanted to get this idea out of my head, so, here it is... DPS #1 of my Project Life scrapbook.

Most of what I shot was done in my car, which is where I spend a great deal of my time in the AM. There are many cool facets of the Project Life concept. It is set up so that you can do a "photo-a-day" type of project (which is way too much pressure for me), or you can do pretty much anything you please. You can use 4 x 6 photos, or there are nifty cards that can go into the 4 x 6 pockets. The album has divided page protectors, which actually takes a lot of pressure off as far as "layout" goes, although I will say I was a little OCD despite that. If you'll notice, the journaling cards all had to have the same basic pattern... because I am that way...

Here's a closer look at side 1:

The photo of me was taken by Ignatius (and cropped by me, of course). I thought taking a shot of my iPhone tunes would be fun, until I realized how much of my car dust showed up on the pic. I just did a little Photoshopping to it, and it really turned out OK.

Page 2:

Two things I want to point out on p. 2 are shown closer below:

I used SU! Felt Flurries in one of the dividers, as I really wanted a winter tie in. I love how the colors go with the colors of the journaling cards. Additionally, the card entitled "This Boy on This Day" opens up and contains a great deal more journaling. I like that option. Also, you can see how I used the arrows provided with the kit to show which journaling cards relate to certain photos.

Now, I can go to bed. I think, knowing me, I'll get a bit fancier with my spreads. This is a pretty basic DPS, and it was cute and quick. And that, I believe, is the whole point of Project Life.

Project Life makes its arrival!

2010-01-05T09:36:00.002-06:00

Upon my doorstep
Surrounded by wind chill
Beside the door
Out of the FedEx truck
Into my house
Up to my craft room
Project Life has arrived!

Ah, sweet shopping

2010-01-04T13:57:00.002-06:00

I am actually going to try to post a video of my shopping finds. Scary! We shall see how this goes!

Danke Schön!

2010-01-02T23:00:00.003-06:00

With every season comes a time to say, "Thanks!" Here is a prototype of my Christmas "Thank-You" cards. A few variations on the theme: 1. different felt snowflakes in various colors (red was also a contender); 2. different placement for the sentiment (center, left, right). Otherwise, it was pretty much the same recipe:

1. SU! Bordering Blue panel cut to 5-1/4 x 4-1/8" and inked with Bordering Blue
2. SU! Felt Flurries layered and attached with fabric glue to the upper-center portion of the panel
3. Sentiment from SU! Enjoy Every Moment set stamped in SU! Craft White ink
4. White border created with ruler and American Crafts The Ultimate Gel Pen in pastel white
5. Panel attached to 5.5 x 4.25" card

I like it! Now, to actually write them out and mail them!

A Challenge

2009-12-30T13:29:00.006-06:00

I was in need of one more birthday card. I saw that Ann was hosting the latest challenge at the Everything But the Kitchen Sink Challenge. Perfecto!

The challenge included the use of wrapping paper. I pulled out some of my Martha Stewart Confetti wrapping paper from EK Success for a birthday card for my grandmother's 97th birthday. I wanted to stay simple and let the pattern speak for the card. So, I decided to use my SU! scallop circle punch and the idea of repetition. I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from the SU! So Many Scallops set using the method of coloring the stamp with markers (SU! Yo-Yo Yellow, Old Olive, and Going Gray). I punched that and then punched several shapes from the wrapping paper.

To give dimension, the sentiment and one of the other shapes is popped up on a Dimensional. I had to back the wrapping paper scalloped circle with cardstock because it was too flimsy alone to be popped up on a Dimensional. I inked the main panel (SU! Going Gray) and the scalloped wrapping paper shapes with my Going Gray marker. For three of the scallops, I added some corduroy brads. I mounted the Going Gray panel on to some Georgia Pacific white cardstock.

Simple. Doable. I like it.

Two-card Tuesday

2009-12-29T20:44:00.005-06:00

Hey, I might have to make this a habit. It's a catchy title.

Today, I had some of my crafty ladies over, Ann and Karen. We had one of those, "We should get together and craft over Christmas break," discussions, and it actually happened. Yeah us! Later, our friend Jessie brought over milkshakes. Yeah squared!

But, I digress. I had an idea that we should bring a scrap of paper for others to make cards. You know you always have a scrap laying around somewhere. Ann brought over this cute SU! patterned paper from the Pink Flamingo collection. The red floral part is actually the flipside of the yellow floral. I went with the idea, originally, of staying monochromatic. Then I felt some green (Color Box Olive Pastel) ease into the act to edge the circles. It was all flat circles until I saw Ann mass-producing these cute circle flowers, and I knew I had to try one. I have no idea where the button came from, but it seemed to fit just fine. I also inked the edge of the outside of the card with the Olive Pastel and stamped the sentiment (SU! You Make Me Happy) in the same ink. This card makes me happy, especially since I used SU! Summer Sun cardstock on a wintry day.

Yes, I made TWO cards. That's what happens when I hang with these people. I decided to use the other half sheet of SU! Summer Sun cardstock. I had gotten the paisley (Traditions Floral Paisley from The Paper Studio) out for my other crafters and ended up using it myself! I liked that it had a hint of the yellow in it already, and I accented with some SU! Basic Gray. I also used my Fiskars scallop blade to add some fun along the edge. I do not know where I got the ribbon, but I think it matches quite nicely, though I was tempted to use a little Basic Gray taffeta. The sentiment, stamped in SU! Craft White, was from the SU! On Your Birthday set. Making this reminds me to get some cards out to my January 2 birthday relatives! I am always late with those!

Sew complex

2009-12-28T21:11:00.002-06:00

Okay, well, I did complete several stitches. That's a good thing, Martha would say, yes? I can't seem to get the machine to make different types of stitches, but I threaded the needle and the bobbin and got it going... enough for today!

Questions remaining: What are the best settings for paper stitching? Why does the back of my stitching look awful? How can I get the machine I have to create different stitches (I turn the dial that I believe should change it, but that's not occurring)?

Tomorrow is another day...

Sew ignorant

2009-12-28T20:07:00.002-06:00

OK, this break, I decided that having two sewing machines in my house and no clue how to use one was unacceptable. My smallest goal: to be able to do some stitching on paper crafting. My largest goal: make an article of clothing. My need: to figure out how in the h3#l to get the mechanism to do what it is supposed to do.

I looked for video tutorials, but, even though they said they were for "beginners," there was a lot of hidden lingo and assumptions. Plus, even though machines have similarities, they are not all the same.

My next step was to search Singer's site for the manual for my machine. Success! It is a free download... $15 if you want a hard copy. I did print it myself, as reading online while looking at a sewing machine is a bit challenging. Now, I am off to figure this out. More to follow.

Winter Break has its rewards

2009-12-26T17:27:00.011-06:00

Between yesterday and today, I finally had the "mass production" drive to get my Christmas cards finished and mailed out. I surprised even myself. So, after going to the post office, I decided a trip to Hobby Lobby to help my depleted adhesive stash was in order.

Lucky me, adhesive was 30% off. Also, there was a Tombo MonoAdhesive 3-pack refill for $10. Sweet. Was I honestly going to stop there? After all I had worked through? Of course not! After all, I still had the 40% off coupon in my wallet, and since adhesive was on sale...

I came upon a We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper. I had seen Kristina Werner use hers on pretty much every video she does, and I like the idea of something that can round more than a piece of patterned paper. This is also a nice tool because it will cut at two radii, 1/2" and 1/4". I thought I would do some pics so you could see the ease of its use.

Step 1: Open the guides.

Step 2: Place paper in size you desire.

Step 3: Chomp. I show in this pic the differences in the rounding of the corners.

Step 4: Empty the waste bin. I love that it catches the corners!
Another find that I was excited about helped me to solve this issue:

I had storage "issues" with my Nestabilities purchases. For a while, I stored them in empty CD cases that had adhesive-backed magnets in them, There were two problems with this: 1. The magnets did not always hold, so the dies were not really secure. 2. I stored them in a place where it was a pain to take them out. Therefore, I did not use them as frequently as I could have. 3. They took up more room than I really liked, as I could only fit one set per CD case.

Enter the Quick Kutz Magnetic Storage Book (30% off today... woot woot). Take a peek:

Yep, it's a magnetic book... slim... it closes... and I fit 7... S-E-V-E-N... Nestabilities die sets in one. It retailed at HL for $12.99. If you are familiar with Quick Kutz, all of those dies are small, thin, and metallic, so I think their organization/storage people deserve a raise for this one. Brilliant.

I also purchased some Thickers... yep... 30% off, too. I noted that The Paper Studio has their version of Thickers available, and they were cute, however, they were falling off the sheet as they hung there. Bad sign for someone wanting them to stick in a scrapbook.

Look soon for more postings by me. I want to wait until a few things I have been working on actually get to the people for whom they are intended before I post here. I am anxiously awaiting the Project Life kits from Becky Higgins. Can't wait to get going with that!!

One World, One Heart

2009-12-22T21:56:00.003-06:00

...let's get together and feel all right...

In an effort to make 2010 as crafty as possible, I decided to commit to the following. Got a blog? Join in! Thanks, Ann, for the shout out to this event. It's as hippie as this conservative girl gets. :)

Cranking it out

2009-11-28T22:39:00.003-06:00

I finally had extended time to work on my sister's scrapbook. Photos to come soon... after I know it's been delivered. Just didn't want it to seem as though I am doing nothing crafty. Au contraire!

Seriously?!

2009-11-27T19:50:00.002-06:00

So, with Thanksgiving break comes the ability to waste a little time without feeling as guilty as typical. I hadn't been to Beate's blog in... forever... when something caught my "sparkling" eye. Seriously.

Check out the site. Oooh, man... this is a crazy set, but it involves Twilight AND True Blood, so it's a bargain, right?

Dude!

2009-11-25T09:48:00.001-06:00

Lisa Bearnson is leaving Creating Keepsakes. Holy crap.

http://www.lisabearnson.com/blog/

Thanks to her for starting a magazine that I look forward to seeing in my mailbox.

Peace

2009-10-31T14:17:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, I mounted my "create" definition in my craft room, and Scott and I mounted the Thoughts & Prayers tree from Stampin' Up! in the dining room. We have been hemming and hawing about what sentiment should go with it. Today I took several plunges. First, I had never cut vinyl lettering with my Cricut. Let me tell you, it was like buttah. It was so easy I want to use it on cards and scrapbooks. Seriously. I also had not yet used my Jasmine cartridge for the Cricut. What a pretty script!

I cut out "Peace" at the 5 1/2 dial size, and I took "to all who enter here" to the 2 dial size. I used Provo Craft's vinyl and transfer tape. They say you can hang it without the transfer tape, but that would have been a recipe for disaster with this script. You have to line up the letters once you cut them out, and the transfer tape was indispensable in that task (as was my hubby's level app on his iPhone).

I really like this very much. When you enter my home, it greets you on my dining room wall.

Now, what else needs some vinyl...?

create

2009-10-23T22:09:00.004-05:00

My first experience with vinyl wall-hangings. Let's just say that, if you want to experience these, choosing something with fine print is a challenge for the first time. It was much like a giant rub-on, and a lot of the same principles apply. You just have to have a patient hand. I was glad I bought the Stampin' Up! scraper, as that came in very handy. This particular wall cling is produced by Stampin' Up!. It's in my craft room above the bar and decorative hooks I purchased at Ikea. You can't really tell, but the cling is a chocolate color. They do not recommend hanging it on a textured surface, but it worked fine clinging to our wall, which has a texture. We'll see how it does in the long run.