Crafty Earth Designs

Less than 12 Tags of Christmas

2011-12-05T22:14:00.001-05:00

If you have never checked out the 12 tags of Christmas that Tim Holtz creates, you really should. Each day for the first 12 days of December, he creates a tag that is a work of art. Simply amazingly beautiful. Each year, I have told myself that I am going to create 12 right along with him. And each year, I make 0 tags. Last year, I tried out some of the techniques that he shared, but not a single tag was completed.

Let's be honest here. I love being crafty and making stuff. And each year, I go way overboard at Christmas. I start a ton of projects that never get finished. I put up more decorations and make more treats and squeeze just a little bit more onto my to do list.

For 3 days, I have been saying that I am going to make a tag similar to one that Tim made. Tonight I made it happen. Going into my crafty-time, I said that I was going to make 5 tags and catch up with Tim....then I said 'forget it'. I want to enjoy the process. Whether I make 1 tag or 10, I want to have fun and love what I make. So this year, I will complete the 'Less than 12 Tags of Christmas'. Yep, I know I won't finish 12 between now and Christmas. I may not even complete a single other tag. But I had fun making this one. And I like it (although I would really like to stamp 'NOEL' onto some cardstock and add it to the bottom corner...but I might not get to that) and even if I don't do more this year, maybe I will add to my collection next year.

I wanted to keep my design as close to Tim's original tag as possible, but I was short a few things that I needed.

For his background, he used alcohol ink on clear transparency. I originally cut some clear plastic packaging down to a tag size and covered it with Denim alcohol ink. The next step was to stamp onto the dried alcohol ink with the black Archival Ink...but I don't have it. I didn't think it would work, but I tried it with Staz-On ink...(FYI...it doesn't work the same way). Then I tried stamping by coating my stamp with ink blending solution - that doesn't work either - you end up with a blob instead of a nice, crisp image. So I re-coated the plastic with alcohol ink and decided to save that for another project.

I took a standard shipping tag, stamped the sheet music stamp in VersaMark ink, then heat embossed it in white. Add on some Fired Brick Distress Ink with an Ink Blending Tool. Use an edge distresser to rough up the edges, then add Aged Mahogany to darken them up a bit.

My next problem was the wreath. I don't have the die that he used. I searched all my dies and cricut cartridges (I found a wreath on Christmas Cheer, but it was too smooth and bubbly for what I wanted). Then went through all my stickers for anything that looked like leaves or holly. Then I got creative. I inked up about 1/4 of a 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper with all the green Distress Inks that I own (Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, and Forest Moss) then used a maple leaf punch to punch out as many as I could (more than 40 in case you are curious). I cut a 'hoop' out of scrap paper and started glueing the maple leafs to the circle (I used glossy accents) in two rows - one facing inside the circle and one facing out. I let it sit for a minute to dry a bit, then inked the edges of the inside and outside with Forest Moss Distress Ink.

Add the bow, ribbon through the top, and some pearl rhinestones, and voila!

Revolutionizing...

2011-11-25T22:07:00.000-05:00

I have been a bit behind in the times. Until a week ago, I still had an old flip open cell phone with a broken camera. I finally took the plunge and upgraded - the top half of my old phone was hanging by a thread and wouldn't last much longer.

Mark my words, this new phone will revolutionize the way I scrapbook. Now, I am not typing all this to push Apple products in your face (although I must say, I do love this phone). I am sure an android device would work just as well. But the 8 Megapixel camera and apps like Instagram make taking photos a no brainer.

I almost always have my phone with me....hence, I almost always have a camera with me. I have already snapped 60 photos since I have had it (well, 60 that I kept). In the previous month I had only taken 22. And I can crop the photos, fix red eye, add vignettes, and use actions right on my phone. No more waiting to do all that until I get around to uploading my photos to my computer.

I haven't printed any of the photos that I have taken yet. Hopefully this week I will find sometime to get them printed and scrapbooked. Anyone else use their phone as their camera?

Behind?

2011-10-25T15:44:00.000-04:00

Do you ever feel like you are 'behind' in your scrapbooking? After returning home from our honeymoon yesterday, I uploaded the 469 photos I took over the roughly 10 days that we were gone. Add to that the 300+ photos from the wedding...

I have never felt like I was behind in scrapbooking. Yes, I have a stack of photos that are waiting to be put in pages and last year's vacation is not 'in the books' as of yet, but I didn't feel like I was behind. Give me a couple good 'crops' and I will be 'caught up' with nothing to scrapbook. (A problem I fear more than being 'behind'.)

But with roughly 800 pictures to sort through, edit, print, and then scrapbook (no, not all 800, but I still have to look at them all to decide, right?)...it's a bit overwhelming. I originally printed all 300+ wedding pictures and put them in photo albums. One night when our shows were on, I spent the commercials putting colored tabs on the photos that I liked. Each color had it's own meaning: convert to B&W, crop, fix colors, enlarge, etc. A lot of the photos got no tabs. Some got multiple. Now all I have to do is open those photos and edit them and get them ready to be printed. Then of course, print and scrapbook.

I don't think I will do this process for the 469 photos for the honeymoon. It cost nearly $50 to print the wedding pictures and most of them won't get used 'as is'. I think I might just edit them 'as needed' when I scrapbook at home. Print only the ones that are speaking to me when I am about to scrapbook them.

Any tips for the editing/printing process for a large project like a wedding or vacation album?

Today, I scrapbooked. And it was good.

2011-10-05T20:39:00.000-04:00

I have been putting 'scrapbook' on my to-do list lately, but at the end of the day, I have made sure to do lots of cleaning and banner making and packaging. And I make it to 'clean up my scrap room', but never make it to do any actual scrapbooking. But today, I did it. I made time for it.

The kitchen is dirty. I wanted to wash the rugs in the bathroom. But those things can wait until tomorrow. I needed to do something for myself. And to be honest, it was one of the fastest pages I have ever made. And yet, I used 5 pieces of cardstock, 2 patterned papers, ribbon, metal embellishments, brads, distress stain, and glimmer mist. How did I get it done so fast?

♦I listen to the Paperclipping Roundtable while I work on Etsy stuff. What is the roundtable? It is a podcast (available on iTunes, which I totally recommend because you can easily download and listen to any of the 86 episodes whenever...I used to put them on my iPod and listen when I went for a walk) that talks about scrapbooking topics (from color, to design, to recent trends, to organization, to tips, etc....) with guests from the scrapbooking industry. If you haven't checked it out before, I HIGHLY recommend it.
Anyway, how does this relate? One of the past episodes that I was listening to, someone mentioned kuler.adobe.com which is a website for finding color palettes and choosing colors based on the color wheel. I checked it out and 'favorite'ed a bunch of color palettes that I liked. I chose one of those to use. Choosing colors is one of my most difficult tasks. Check...done.

♦I chose my photos and printed what I wanted to use, limiting it to only 4. Normally, I have 30 photos of an 'event'. I edit and print the 'good ones', cropping them down before they are printed (most of my pages include 90% 4x6 photos, just for 'speed'). Now I have 15 photos that all are good photos and tell some part of the story I want to tell. And it takes me FOREVER to narrow it down enough for them to fit on a page. With the page I was working on, it was before I had a digital camera...all I had were 2 photos of the event. The other two I found online and printed. And that was all I had.

♦I gathered my supplies first and figured out if I was going to use them, and where I was going to put them before anything was attached. Normally I decide what photos are going to go where. Then I mat them, and set them where they will go, then build around them. This time, since I knew what colors I would be using, I went around my room and grabbed my patterned paper, my brads, and some ribbon - anything that I might use that went with my colors.
I have a pile of recently purchased supplies (I decided that I wouldn't put them away until I used them...even in the smallest bit) and I went through there and found some items to use. Some items that I picked out, like the ribbon, inspired me to grab other products that I normally wouldn't use (and in fact haven't used in a while) like the metal ribbon buckles that I have had in my stash for literally years.

So, while you are scrapbooking (or cleaning your house, or driving to work, or whatever), take a listen to a PRT podcast episode. Get some inspiration from the panelists, and let me know what you think!

The Weekend Lens

2011-09-27T23:20:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite 'articles' from Ali Edwards' blog is The Weekend Lens. Just a quick post with some photos that capture moments from the weekend. Here are a couple snapshots from this weekend:

Oh how I have waited for this day! We moved in to a 'finished' room!

Such a sad little queen at the Renaissance Festival.

Practicing our mad skills with throwing stars.

He's making a list. And checking it twice.

Loved that I got the shot...after not getting the shot 4 times.

The Details....and a Product

2011-09-23T21:44:00.000-04:00

Hey there! I just wanted to add some details about yesterday's card that I shared (which is now floating in Postal Service sorting land). Most of the products used on the card were from Tim Holtz.

The little gear or sprocket of whatever you want to call it
The calendar and number 54(cut from a piece of patterned paper from his Lost and Found paper stack)
The screw top brad
The mini paper clip
Clock stamp (although I bought this when he first released it as a clear stamp and not with this set as a cling mounted rubber stamp...which I prefer)

And a few different Distress Ink pads were used:

I also used the Storybook Cricut cartridge to cut the little flourish (that I colored red with distress ink) and the journaling block (that I colored green). This is probably one of my most used cartridges for non-letter die cuts. It has a font on the cartridge which I use, but if I am going to cut a shape, this is my go-to cartridge. It has a lot of fun flourishes and flowers and critters. I cut a bunch of shapes randomly out of manila colored cardstock and keep them on hand to ink up and add to cards and projects as I am crafting.

***on a side note***Okay...so as I am listing all the stuff I used, I am realizing just how much money I have invested in Tim Holtz products...especially since I didn't use anywhere near half the stuff I have from his collections. Yikes! Better get crafting! And yet, at the same time, I really really really want to run across this in the store someday when I haven't already used a coupon (just so I can justify the purchase, since I honestly don't use much Tim Holtz products in my scrapbooks...mainly just for cards).

Oh, and another product that I can't wait to find on store shelves...this line from Echo Park. Now this I would really use in my scrapbooks. It is right up my alley.

I love "grungy"!

2011-09-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share a photo of the card for Stevie's dad. Tomorrow I will get a supply list added with a little bit of info about making it. But for now...here it is.

A Quick Glimpse....

2011-09-21T23:34:00.000-04:00

...at a mini book that I started yesterday. It will be a gift for Stevie with all the little made up words we use...like 'scronis and queso' and 'finners'. Yep...we use those almost everyday.

I'll share more pictures as it is completed. I also finished a card for Steve's dad - hopefully I will get some pictures taken tomorrow!

Hello Again...

2011-09-20T20:01:00.000-04:00

Whew! With all the wedding planning going on, my good intentions of posting something...anything...seemed to be another thing on the list for 'tomorrow'. Which then got moved to the next day, and the next day....

But now that the wedding is over and I am getting everything caught up, I am finding tons of time for crafty projects. The week of the wedding, instead of a traditional bachelorette party, I asked to have a crop day at our old scrapbook store (the one Sarah and I went to ALL the time when we were in college). In just a few hours there, I completed 4 - 12x12 pages and started 4 cards before I had to head home to return my parents' vehicle (mine was getting fixed, which cut the day a little short).

Since I have been home, I completed 2 more 12x12 pages for the vacation album I was working on, made more than 2 dozen banners for my Etsy shop, finished the 4 cards I started at Pages In Time along with 4 more, started a mini album, and (with some help from my hubby) built some shot glass storage racks. Phew! And all this creativity is just stirring up more!

I really had SO much fun with this layout. I used paint, chipboard, distress ink, metal, patterned paper, chipboard...something from every area of my scraproom came out for this page!

I rearranged my scrapbook room to better suit my needs. I moved my 'business' stuff (the packaging related stuff and my inventory) to one side of the room, and my personal stuff to the other. It really helps to have everything in one area instead of having to shuffle all over the place to find things.

I am labeling (with the date the picture was taken) and puting away my 'to be filed' photos that have been piling up. When I am going to work on a big project, like a vacation album or my soon-to-be-created wedding album, I like to edit and print all of the pictures I *might* use as 4x6 pictures. As I complete the pages, I pick the ones I want to use and either use them as is or change the size in Photoshop and reprint. The photos that I printed but don't use all get labeled and stored chronologically. I am looking into learning Stacy Julian's Library of Memories method of sorting photos (I'm not too good with dates, so looking for pictures of a certain vacation is kind of a pain when I have to search through 100s of pictures from 5 years to find them.)

I haven't worked on putting together my Week In The Life album yet, but with all the progress I have been making on crafty projects lately, I expect to get that started soon. I hope to have pictures up tomorrow of some cards and my new mini book. Off to craft....

Week In The Life : Day Seven

2011-08-05T20:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I am a little behind in posting this, but here are my photos and such for the last day of the Week In The Life project. Stay tuned for the pages of the album (but don't hold your breath, it may be a while). On Sunday, I took 86 photos! Most of them were of a not-so-everyday sort of event - a concert. But I did remember to take more photos of everyday stuff too (now that the project was coming to a close, I was getting in the swing of taking pictures of more things, go figure).

And a quick recap in unedited photos:

At the concert...rockin' out.

Lighting is bad, but the middle sign says 'Journey with special guests Foreigner and Night Ranger'

So many less dishes when it is just me.

Doing some laundry.

A glass of water while I workout.

AND...we're finished!

Slicing up for potato salad.

My new breakfast addition. Yum!

Laundry...same load.

Making some banners so I can make some cash.

My first pepper.

I snapped a pic of this earlier in the week...Wowsa has it grown!

My compost bin.

Folding Stevie's laundry.

On the way to the concert.

Tailgating!

Concert at Pine Knob (aka DTE)

Week In The Life : Day Six

2011-08-01T22:28:00.000-04:00

Saturday! Finally finished the invitations and school is becoming more routine. Etsy was still going strong though, so I spent a lot of my time with that. Total pictures for Saturday: 32. Not quite as many as I expected. But I missed a few things that I wanted to take pictures of and spent a lot of time inside working on Etsy stuff again. I did add some more receipts and notes to my envelope of ephemera for the week though. And I scrapbooked some!!! In no particular order, here is a quick recap in photos:

A 6 x 12 journaling piece for a vacation page in a divided page protector.

Stevie actually took this one of me when he got out of the shower.

I love when he gets into my little projects.

Stevie left in the morning to head down to Indianapolis.

And away he goes...

After today's running around. I wished I would have taken a photo on Monday.

But I do have a couple for this week.

My goodies from Michaels...mostly stuff for my Etsy shop.

But I got some journaling labels and a new rubber stamp.

And I got this bad boy to organize my banners better.

No longer just sitting in a photo box...they are organized by occasion and colors.

Some YUMMY loaded baked potato salad. Got the recipe from Healthy Cooking magazine.

My scrapbook page. First one completed in a while.

Got in a good workout this morning.

Removing the pine sap from my car. Rubbing alcohol works WONDERS!

Week In The Life : Day Five

2011-07-30T18:18:00.000-04:00

I am having second thoughts about whether this week was a good week to complete this project or not. I am not usually as busy as I have been this week with wedding invitations and Etsy work and real work and school, etc. The majority of my daily sheets is covered by work, school, etsy, sleep, and wedding invitations. Every day. I don't know that I am really documenting anything different on day five than I did on day one. But, nonetheless, I plug along.

I took 43 photos on Friday. Many of them are duplicate in style or topic from earlier in the week. As repetetive as this is, I guess it is a true documentation of my week.

Another day's orders.

I bought a pencil sharpener for Stevie at the book fair.

Our pool.

Tiny. But oh so refreshing.

I'm not sure what type of squash this is, but it is growing like a weed.

Pretty cool to see how fast it has grown this week.

Mmmmm. Late night snack.

The first jalapeno in my garden.

Working on the truck before the road trip.

Yep, it's late and I am tired.

I can't look at this picture without yawning.

All dirty. Finishing up the brakes.

More cutting for another order! Woot! Record sales this month!

Week In The Life : Day Four

2011-07-29T20:55:00.000-04:00

One day closer to the weekend. Despite the fact that I spent most of the day Thursday on work, sleep, and wedding invitations, I still meant to take a week-high 49 pictures! Woot! I am trying to get some things lined up for the weekend so I keep this good work going.
Thursday's highlights:

Another stack of orders to go out.

Wow this looks like a pile of trash. But we really sleep on that.

Mmmm...breakfast.

At work,

Thursday is my drive-thru day.

Stevie getting his truck ready for his little road trip.

Garden

The first produce of the year!

Working on invitations again.

On with the address label.

All in a nights work.

Stevie still out getting messy.

As I sat there working on invitations, I got at least 6 mosquito bites on my feet!

Week In The Life : Day Three

2011-07-28T23:19:00.000-04:00

Well, as much as I was proud of myself for all the photos for Tuesday....I am pretty upset with myself for the photos of today. 7 Yup, just seven. And that includes the blurry shots that are terrible. Not even seven usable shots. Gotta step it up tomorrow. On the plus side, I am saving LOTS of ephemera.

Typing my paper for class.

Making a lunch to bring to work.

Ran to Meijer on lunch. And brought some Etsy work to finish up.

Steve's normal after work location - on couch with laptop.

More work on that paper.

Week In The Life : Day Two

2011-07-28T23:13:00.001-04:00

Eh...so, I am a little bit behind, but no worries.

Monday, I took 26 photos. Not too many, but a vast improvement over the number I take in an average day.
Tuesday, I took 42 photos. Now that is what I am talking about!

Tuesday is my day off from work, so I was a little nervous about what I would have to document. But, it can't be any worse than 8 hours at work where I can't really take pictures.

Tuesday Recap in (un-edited) Photos:

Mmmm. Crystal Light Pink Lemonade.

To Be Shipped.

Ready to Start the Day!

Ugh...Groceries. Wanted to take a picture of the bags in the trunk. Forgot. :-(

All Full!

Cutting paper for banners for Crafty Earth.

Packing lunches for Stevie.

Stevie has been playing the game every night for what seems like a month.

Packing up orders.

My recycle box at the end of the week.

Week In The Life : Day One

2011-07-26T15:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Day One of this year's version of A Week In The Life. It is definitely one of my favorite projects. I love looking at how our day-to-day life has changed and stayed the same.

Last year, I was geocaching, gardening, packing lunches for Stevie, and working at the Credit Union. Stevie was shopping for a new vehicle. Sarah was just leaving for Iraq.

This year, I don't geocache as much, my garden is growing like crazy, I am taking online classes, still making lunches for Stevie and working at the Credit Union. I just bought a new vehicle. Sarah is in Germany for a little bit. Wedding planning is in full swing as we are at about 45 days until the big day!

I downloaded Ali's journaling pages to help me out with the project (one spot I fell short on last year was journaling). Last year, I averaged about 20 pictures a day. This year, I plan on doubling that (or at the very least, improving).

Here is a small recap in photos of my Monday:

A stack of banners waiting to be completed.

Outgoing mail.

Off to work! (need to figure out lighting)

Steaks and Margaritas at Outback Steakhouse! (Thanks Aunt Bug)

Wedding Invitations in progress

Sold! Now just need to pack it and ship it!

One thing I am trying to remember to include is screen shots from my work online (both for school and Etsy) since I don't have photos of me in front of the computer.

See you back here tomorrow for Day Two!

Celebrate Summer!

2011-06-21T21:55:00.000-04:00

Thunder is rolling in and I need to get some crafty work done for my Etsy shop, so I'll be quick...

I made a custom banner last week (one of my favorites so far) and I just have to share it...

Celebrate...

    More sunshine.

   Wearing sandals.

   Outdoor sports.

   Late night runs to get Ice cream!

   Sitting on the front porch and watching it pour....

Yep...I am off to sit on the front porch and watch the rain. Or maybe I will slip on my new rain boots (thank you Stevie...I ♥ you super big) and go play!

What do you celebrate about summer???

This Weekend...

2011-06-05T22:06:00.000-04:00

This weekend I:

Made 38 cards for Operation Write Home
Found 3 Geocaches (two with Sarah in GR and one close to home...definitely need to get out again and do this more.)
Sold my old car and watched it get hauled away on a trailer
Made 4 banners for my etsy shop
Ate lunch at a park with Stevie
Put almost 400 miles on my new car
Helped 2 students (1 college, 1 middle school) with math

Busy Little Bee

2011-05-25T21:28:00.000-04:00

I don't think there has been a single day in the last few weeks where I haven't done some sort of paper craftting. I made a 'Just Married' banner for my wedding in September and decided I should make some more and list them in my Etsy shop. It seems everyone else loves them as much as I do. So far I have shipped them to Missouri, Hawaii, South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, Minnesota, France, Croatia, and Australia!

I have a whole stack of new ones to take pictures of too, including mini banners for photos like "Thank You" and "Save the Date". I just need the weather to cooperate so I can go outside and take pictures of them!

But tonight....I scrapbook!

Another New Banner!

2011-02-20T20:05:00.000-05:00

Whew! I am on a roll with these new banners. I really enjoy making them - relatively quick, fun, AND I get messy with painting. Love it! This banner? A congratulations banner in with blue argyle lettering!

AND I have two more banners in the works.

Cleaning out some stuff in my scrapbooking room. Making money while doing it. And getting to be creative and play. Does it get any better?

Re-Opening

2011-02-11T20:47:00.000-05:00

Now that I am back to working only 2 jobs (soon to be just 1) and closer to 40 hours a week, I have time to dedicate to Crafty Earth Designs once again. I truly enjoy creating cards, scrapbooks, banners, and other paper products that can be enjoyed by people all over the world.
I listed the first item in my newly re-opened shop on February 2nd, made my first banner for the shop and listed it on February 8th, and sold it today!

I have quite a few projects in the works, from desk accessories to mini books, cards, and photo cubes. Each day, I work on my projects a bit more, getting them until they are "just so" and then are ready to be listed.

I hope you will take a look around the Crafty Earth Designs shop on Etsy and keep your eyes peeled for new crafts!

I would like to introduce...

2010-12-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

...the new me. As soon as I saw the December photo for my Fitness Journal, I had to share this. I am not even done with November's page yet ( I need some more cardstock) but I just had to put together the before and after. WOOT!!!

Not bad, eh? Just need to do a little muscle toning. SO excited!

Homemade Christmas Gift #2

2010-12-13T21:24:00.000-05:00

This year, a few of my Christmas gifts are homemade and most involve scrapbooking. Stevie has figured out that I post pictures of his gifts on here and he is a little sneak, so his gift has to wait until he gets it, but I made some other gifts.

Here is one of them! An inexpensive gift idea that is pretty simple to make too! I 'scraplifted' the idea from Creating Keepsakes magazine. The only supplies you need to make the display: 2 book rings (mine are 2" that I bought from Staples) and the picture frame from IKEA.

The picture frame only comes in an off-white / ivory sort of color, so I bought some metallic silver spray paint and painted the frame and book rings so they would match. The picture frame comes with plastic for the middle (to protect the 4 x 6 photo that the frame is intended to hold) - I just removed the plastic.

The white die-cut paper was cut with my Cricut using the Storybook cartridge (if you have a Cricut and don't have this cartridge - get it - it is in my top 3 most used cartridges. LOVE IT!) and I believe the shape was cut at 4" size to fit perfectly in the frame.

For Christmas, my future mother-in-law wanted some pictures of me and her son to display at work. I took it a step further and made this little flippy photo display (with the ribbon added on top, the pages don't lay flat when you flip them, but I think I will still keep the ribbons on there). Each page has a picture of me and her son and is decorated with patterned paper, bling, and ribbon.

Now who wouldn't want to show off pictures of this cute couple on their desk at work? I think she will really like it!

Holiday Crafty Goodness

2010-12-12T16:06:00.002-05:00

With the holiday rush in full swing, a spare moment to sit and relax and share crafy creations seem to be more myth than reality. But, lo and behold, a Sunday with a spare moment to share some projects I have been working on.

Memory Glass Christmas Ornaments

I have been wanting to try to make these for a while now. It was slow at work one night, so I grabbed some memory glass from the demo area and played (aka - made a mess but loved every minute of it) with alcohol inks. I made two sets of two ornaments - one set in red, green, and gold; the other in various shades of blue and silver. This morning, I put together the first set (still looking for my silvery tape for the edges to finish the other set) and oooh weeeee, I am in love.

I used 2 memory glass pieces (2" x 2") and applied alcohol ink with the applicator tool and felt. After it dried, I sandwiched the two together with the alcohol ink in the middle, then stamped the word on the outside with Versamark ink, being VERY careful not to smudge the word. Sprinkle on some black embossing powder and heat.

I was all out of memory glass frames, so I took some copper foil tape and went around the outside. The top was a bit tricky. I bent a memo pin to make a loop so I could hang it as an ornament. Start taping over the 'stem' of the memo pin (if you look close at the 'Joy' ornament above, you can kind of see the bump going along the top left edge of the glass), go around the whole ornament, then cut the tape so it will overlap the pin again a bit. I cut the last 1/2 cm of tape so I could go around either side of the memo pin. Then just smooth out the edges.

I really wanted to make the ribbon match the ornaments, so I took plain white grosgrain ribbon and colored it with fired brick distress ink. Use your applicator tool with foam to squish the ribbon into the ink pad and pull it through. Keep repeating this until you get the color you want.

Check out the blue ones! I can't wait to find my silver foil tape so I can finish these. What an awesome handmade gift!

I was really contemplating just doing one piece of memory glass per ornament, but look at the difference with one piece of colored glass (left) and two pieces sandwiched together (right).

Okay, so the pictures of the blue ones don't really do them justice. Just keep watching for the finished pictures of those. You will be blown away and want to run out and get somememory glass and alcohol ink (if you don't have any already).

In honor of Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas, I wanted to make some of my own Christmas tags. Not necessarily gift tags, mind you. Just beautiful works of art. On tags. Well, I visited his blog to check out what he was up to, and was in awe of the techniques he was showing over there. I just had to start creating. I got out some paint, an edge distresser, embossing powder, distress ink, and stamps. And now I have a background so beautiful that I can't bear to cover it up with anything! LOL

Back to wrapping presents! If I have a spare few minutes later, I will be sure to share the Christmas garlands that I have hanging in my house and the wreath that I have hanging on the door. Oh, and the present I made for my future mother-in-law!

Just a Quick Post...

2010-11-21T22:52:00.000-05:00

Gosh, is it almost Thanksgiving? I have been so busy lately, time is just flying by. Thought I would pop in for a quick post and share a card that I mailed out a few weeks ago. I made it at work one night when I was feeling a need to get my hands dirty. I pulled out a bunch of Tim Holtz Distress Inks and some stamps and played around - no "assignment" to work on or guidelines to follow...just played. Felt good.

Get out!

2010-11-16T22:55:00.000-05:00

We have been remodeling our pre-1950s house (the township doesn't even have records as old as our house) since we bought it last year. As we start each project, we are gung-ho! Then as the weeks turn in to months and the hours of manual labor could better be measured in days, we really just want to be done. Our latest project was no different...this one was holding up heating our house and we saw some mornings dip into the 40s inside the house. Brrrr!

Before:

This is a photo taken from in the doorway of the bedroom : closet to the right that sticks out into the room; old windows; REALLY old baseboard heaters; paneling on the walls and ceiling; gray carpet.

This photo is taken from the other direction - just a smidge farther left is the door. Yep, there is a random cove in our bedroom. Or should I say "was".

Oh, GOODBYE weird paneling ceiling! (And nasty blown in insulation!)

After!

This is the wall where our bed used to go - now 'his and hers' closets (the doors will go up once I finish painting).

Oh beautiful new drywall and baseboards and window (that still has plastic over it with my 'i don't want to paint the ceiling anymore' art).

And this used to be the closet. Now where out bed will go with wall sconces (that aren't quite up yet) for reading lights on either side of the bed.

Totally loving the new wall color. Can't wait for the day when I can say "GET OUT of my scrapbooking room!" and get us moved into our bedroom.

Time to Vote

2010-11-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

At midnight tonight all of the entries must be in for the challenges on Crop Chocolate's 48-hour online crop. Even without having a single day off this weekend, I managed to complete 3 of the 8 challenges (see previous blog posts to check out descriptions of the challenges and see larger pictures of my creations). Voting is in progress now and goes on until midnight MST on Sunday, November 14th.

If you have never ventured over to the website, here are instructions for voting for me :-)

(Although I highly encourage you to check out some of the other projects. There are some seriously talented ladies on Crop Chocolate.)

Go to http://www.cropchocolate.com/
Click 'login' in the top right corner
Fill out the 'New User Registration' and click 'submit'
Click 'login' in the top right corner
Enter your email address and the password you selected
Click 'my account' in the top right
Click 'social profile'
Fill in a 'screen name' (this is what people see when you vote, not your email address) and submit
Hover over the 'Community' tab along the brown toolbar - a menu will drop down - click 'contests'
Scroll to the bottom - there are 3 contests I completed - they are on pages 3, 5, and 8
Click on the page number
Scroll through the projects on that page to find the one that is "Crafted by: Linsey"
Click 'Like'

*When you click 'Like' it will bring you back to the main contest page and let you know that your "like" has been counted. Scroll back to the bottom and select the page # of the other projects to vote for.

For all you scrapbookers, if you haven't checked out Crop Chocolate yet, I highly recommend them as a retailer. They have great deals, incredible customer service, and awesome shopping policies that you won't find on any other deal-a-day website.

'Remember' Banner

2010-11-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

Finished just in the nick of time! Need to jump in the shower and get ready for work, but I just had to share the banner I made for a challenge on Crop Chocolate's 48-hour online crop. I think I am in love with it. I hung it up temporarily on a bar that I hang new product from in my scraproom so I could take my picture and post it...but now I don't want to take it down!

And a close up of one of the letters:

Products Used: Cricut fonts: Storybook and George; Scalloped edge punch; Cardstock; Patterned Paper: Sassafras; Ribbon; Eyelets; Cupcake Liners; Crop-a-dile Big Bite

Get into the groove!

2010-11-07T17:50:00.001-05:00

It seems like forever since I last got out some paper and stickers and got to play for ME. This weekend is the 48-hour online crop and shop at Crop Chocolate. Every few hours, they post challenges with some sweet prizes (crop cruise tickets, a cricut, and some gift certificates to their store). And for the first weekend in a while, I only had to work once at each job...meaning a nice easy peasy weekend of work, cleaning, and scrapbooking / card making for myself.

Work...check.
Cleaning...check...sort of. :-)
Scrapbooking...okie dokie!

The first Challenge I decided to tackle was Challenge #1 - to scraplift an ad that they gave us (a Target pharmacy ad). I love the grid look that it had, so I went with it and made this page for Stevie's 'Year in Review' album that he will be getting for Christmas.

The second challenge that I took on was Challenge #5 (who says you have to do them in order) - to scraplift a layout / card / decor project that someone posted on the message boards. I picked this cute card by Lorelei...and made this cute card.

Well, back to work for a bit to complete more challenges and scrapbook pages and cards! Then off to the grocery store... :-(

Shopping...

2010-11-05T13:52:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share one of my favorite websites for shopping for scrapbooking supplies: Crop Chocolate.

Unlike most deal-a-day shopping sites, Crop Chocolate allows you to have a shopping cart where you can save your incredible deals for up to 30 days, they ship for free with purchases over $60, and they post multiple deals per day. I have bought some absolutely INCREDIBLE deals here, and they still have 'decadent deals' where they offer new product at a small discount.

This weekend, they are hosting an online crop. Gather some supplies, bring up their website on your computer, chat with the incredible family of shoppers, participate in contests and challenges, and of course, do a little shopping! Go check it out!

Date Night

2010-10-24T23:07:00.001-04:00

Stevie and I have been SO busy lately, between work and wedding plans and remodeling the house, we have been struggling to find "us" time, let alone time for ourselves. So a few weeks ago, I created "Date Night". One night per week, Steve and I go on a date. Not necessarily something spending money or going out, but something together. We went for a picnic at a park we had never been to, a Detroit Tigers baseball game, Dave & Busters, Olive Garden, snuggled up watching movies, played a new game, and went to the batting cages. Each week we alternate who plans the date and last week was my turn. So I bought two pumpkins and set it up for a nice carving session followed by pizza and movies.

One cute, happy pumpkin and one scary, angry pumpkin. Guess who did which pumpkin?

Two years running now, Steve did an adorable, huggable pumpkin. And two years running, I picked the pumpkin with a "scar" and used it on the face of my pumpkin. See the resemblance from last years pumpkins?

Quick and Easy Christmas Cards

2010-10-18T10:02:00.002-04:00

Phew! Even with my crazy hectic schedule, I managed to create 2 more quick and easy Christmas Cards. If you haven't started making your cards yet, now is the perfect time - before the holiday season gets full of shopping, decorating, and parties.

This first card needs only a few things - Holiday Home acrylic stamp set by Stampendous, Peeled Paint and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, cardstock, ribbon by maya road, and patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket. The card was adhered using a tape runner and glue stick, except for the ivory piece of cardstock which was attached with 3-D Dots.

The second card is just as quick and easy and uses only a few supplies: vellum, cardstock, Versamark, white embossing powder, a brad, and 'Sugar Coated' (glittery) cardstock. First, I used an Accu-cut machine to cut a snowflake out of the Sugar Coated cardstock (I don't own one personally, but my local scrapbook store, Scrapbookers Inc. allows customers to use their machine as long as you buy your cardstock from them). Stamp the word 'Peace' onto light blue cardstock with Versamark, coat with white embossing powder, then heat with a heat gun. I matted the light blue on vellum, then attached with 3-D Dots. I attached the snowflake with a brad. Quick and easy enough to whip out a bunch for everyone on your list!

Yawn!

2010-10-15T23:27:00.000-04:00

I could really use a nap right now. Actually it is past bedtime. And considering that I am working all 3 jobs (nice weekend break, huh?) tomorrow, I really should get to bed. But first, a quick post - working on more Christmas cards (can't remember the last time I actually did a scrapbook page for my own album) to share soon. For tonight, a mini card. One of my favorite random thoughts that made a funny little card. Enjoy!

Fitness Journal Catch-up

2010-10-04T10:38:00.001-04:00

Well, it is almost that time again...time for me to take my picture, weigh-in, and measure. Which was a perfect reminder to me that I STILL haven't posted the last 2 months. Tsk tsk tsk. So here they are, a few months late, but here nonetheless.

Wow. Look at those abs that I am starting to get. I guess I never looked at the picture that well. Woo hoo! I am pretty excited now!

A trip down memory lane

2010-10-01T22:45:00.000-04:00

When I interviewed for my scrapbooking job, I was asked when and how I started scrapbooking. I was suddenly inspired to pull out my very first scrapbook. Some of the pages were re-done over the years, but some remain untouched. And they will stay that way, even though I look at the pages and pick them apart, they still have a sentimental value. And they seem to tell not only the story of Christmas or Birthdays, but they also have a little snapshot of myself at the time I created them.

'Oh, back when I was a spring chicken, we didn't have products like Stickles or Crop-a-diles. All we had was cardstock, stickers, punches, and the few clip-art images on the computer." Ha ha ha. It seems funny now, but when I started out scrapbooking, there really wasn't much. You truly had to be creative to come up with page design ideas. Now there are famous scrapbookers who design their own lines of products. There is so much product to choose from that people have a hard time choosing and instead of inspiring creativity, it stifles it! (Not that I have any plans of giving up my scrap room or any of my wonderful and highly necessary products anytime soon. LOL)

It is amazing to see the innovations in an craft industry over 15 years. Simply amazing.

*Finally got the Fitness Journal pages scanned. Almost time to put another one together. Hopefully they will be up tomorrow night!

Playing with Stamps

2010-09-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

What is better than making Christmas cards in September so you are prepared when the holiday season rolls around? Getting paid for making them. :-)

My first project when I started at the scrapbooking store was to play with some of the Christmas stamps we had on hand to make cards. (Not sure if we are going to use them as classes, make and takes, or simply to put on display for people to check out.)

The first one I made is a bit more simple and probably appeals to a larger audience.

The second one I made has a LOT of distress inks and is very technique based. If you don't love inking things up, you probably won't make it. If you don't like the distressed look, the card probably isn't your favorite. But it features a couple different techniques for applying distress ink to projects.

For now, this one is sitting on display next to the racks of Distress Inks. Can't wait to do more playing this weekend!

My First Page Kit!!!

2010-09-29T22:43:00.000-04:00

I was so excited when I went in to work at the scrapbooking store last night and they asked me to do my first page kit. A bit nervous too though...they wanted me to do a page kit about tailgating. I have never been tailgating before...so I have never scrapbooked about it either. And I really don't do sketches and have never used a page kit before. Despite all that, I let my creativity roam and finished a page by the end of the night. I wanted to keep it simple enough that a beginning scrapbooker would have no trouble with it, yet it would be easy for a more advanced scrapbooker to add some personal touches and more advanced techniques.

I figured it would be a while before anyone in charge would look at it and approve it, but when I went in to work tonight, page kits were already in process of being made! They loved it! And now, at Scrapbookers Inc, you can buy my very first page kit! I am so excited I could go tailgating!

Check back in tomorrow to see another of my Christmas cards!

Christmas is Coming!

2010-09-27T21:39:00.000-04:00

Less than 3 months to Christmas! Isn't that crazy?!?!?

One of the many things I love about working at a scrapbooking store is that I get paid to design stuff...like Christmas cards. I play with the newest patterned paper and rubber stamps and create stuff.

Here is a little sneak peek at one of the Christmas cards we are going to feature in the store.

I used our die-cut machine to make the tree, some Distress Inks, lace ribbon, cardstock, Staz-On, and a little bit of bling. Pretty simple, quick, and easy...yet I really like how it turned out!

Tomorrow at work, I need to cut out more Christmas trees, do some stamping and buy some of that cute lacy ribbon so I can put together a whole set!

Back to the Basics

2010-09-20T10:29:00.000-04:00

Working everyday at one or more of my 3 jobs makes for a REALLY long week. I wasn't sure this one was ever going to end. But it did, and Saturday night (after work of course) I finally had made time to scrapbook. Nothing too fancy - I wanted a simple page that I could finish that night - yet I wanted to be proud of it when I finished. Lately I have been scrapbooking just to get the page off my table and not really getting into what the page is about.

I pulled out one of my favorite kits - A Walk in the Park by Echo Park - and with nothing more than the kit, some cardstock, and basic tools, I made a page.

All of the stickers and patterned papers are from the kit. The title is cut with the Printing Press cartridge and my Cricut. No incredibly difficult techniques...just getting back to basics. And I love the results.

Fitness Journal

2010-09-13T21:37:00.000-04:00

Behind again. I really don't like to think of myself as 'behind' on scrapbooking. Some memories have been recorded in my scrapbooks, some haven't yet. And when the inspiration hits, those too will be recorded. Yep, I have a stack of photos begging for pages in my albums. But I don't feel like I am behind. I will get to them. And if that happens tomorrow or in two years, so be it.

My fitness journal is the one exception to the rule. When the 1st Tuesday of the month rolls around, I like to get my measurements and picture done. And I like to have the page completed (without the photo lately since I am out of photo paper) by the time the next month rolls around. I had Steve take my picture last Tuesday, and when I was uploading it to my computer, I realized that I hadn't done last months journaling.

So I had a date tonight with my journaling template. Both months are now printed. I had to cut out more stars for the pages and need to be on the lookout for the pack of paper I used because I am now completely out of background paper. But, the pages will be completed tonight (without the photo...until they are delivered from Snapfish). And I will no longer be behind. Phew!

Once the pictures are attached, I will post the layouts!

Doing a fitness journal too? Thinking about it? Cathy Zielske has started a Flickr group for everyone to share their fitness journal pages!

Oh, God Help Me!

2010-09-11T09:51:00.000-04:00

I saw a job posting last week for part time help at my local scrapbook store - sales associate, teaching classes, designing projects for display in the store - pretty much a dream job. I applied, interviewed, and as of last night, I have a 3rd job. So excited! God help me if they give me a discount though. I may need a 4th job to pay for my 3rd. LOL

A Brief Farewell

2010-09-08T21:17:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post tonight. Steve and I have instituted a 'date night' one night a week. A quick run down to Walled Lake to play in the batting cages and grab a burger turned into a couple hours or enjoying each other's company. So glad we decided to take the time to stop and take a break from the nightly rush to clean or work on the house to spend time with each other. I look forward to Wednesdays now!

Now that Nancy has finished her final day as one of my co-workers and has recieved the card I made for her from the credit union, I can share it with you. Nancy, you will truly be missed. Best of luck with your future endeavors.

I used some of my favorite inks, tools, and stamps from Tim Holtz. I love Broken China and Vintage Photo Distress Inks - they are definitely in my top 5 favorite colors.

A Walk in the Park

2010-09-03T21:47:00.000-04:00

A co-worker is moving along on her own path next week, so I made a couple of cards to pass around at work and brought them in earlier this week to have everyone sign them...the same day someone else went out and bought one. But they decided to use one of my cards...and this little fella' came back home with me.

I just LOVE Echo Park's line A Walk in the Park. I have made a handfull of cards with the set already and I have tons of stuff left. I just love the cheery, sunshine-ey look to the paper. Makes me want to go for a walk in the park.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wonderful Grunginess...and a Mini Card

2010-09-02T21:45:00.001-04:00

I almost forgot to share the other tag I made over the weekend. I am starting to get geared up for Christmas. Ahh...I love Christmas. My favorite part? Making a little something to give to people. Stevie gets a mini album. Every year. I make some small decorations and hang them up around the house. A mistletoe candle from Yankee Candle Co. burning anytime we are home. A handmade wreath on the front door. Yep I love it.

Not that I am trying to rush fall...there is an apple orchard just down the road a couple miles that has some of the most delicious warm apple cider and donuts on earth. I am one of those annoying people who boast about their Christmas shopping being half done by the beginning of November....but I am also one of those people who still haven't finished by the week before. I get too caught up in decorations and pretty wrapping and making handmade Christmas cards (that I have never actually made enough of to send out) that I never finish until a few days before the gifts are given.

On to the tag...

Step 1 - Rub Distress Ink directly on Craft Sheet. (I used Fired Brick and Peeled Paint.) Spray with water, then rub tag across ink. Flip the tag back over and use a heat gun to dry the tag. If you want more color on your tag, repeat the process.

Step 2 - Stamp sentiment and tree in black StazOn ink. The stamps I used are from the Fa La La set by Making Memories (purchased from Crop Chocolate)

Step 3 - Using the applicator tool, add Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the tag to give it a little 'grunge'.

Step 4 - Paint the edges of the tag gold. I used Ranger's Adirondack Paint Dabber in Gold. Let dry (you can use a heat gun to speed this up)

Step 5 - Add a dot of Stickles to the top of your tree for the 'star' (I used Copper Stickes, but there are a bunch of fantastic colors for this).

*I added a little squiggle stamp to the right side (also from the Fa La La set of acrylic stamps) that is stamped in Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

And just a quick peek at another of Stevie's mini cards from his lunches...

Size: 3" x 3"

Another simple card today. The most work for this card? The flower. The flower on this mini card was originally white. I used distress inks to color it, then rubbed some stickles on it to give it a nice glittery sparkle.

SketchMania #5

2010-08-31T15:23:00.000-04:00

Not my favorite page that I have done recently, but no regrets. The page is done. The moment documented. I have been on a "use my stash" kick lately and have required myself to abstain from purchasing new scrapbooking products for one month.

Hidden in my stash from a few months back when I started shopping at Crop Chocolate, I picked up a set of embellishments from the Passport line my Making Memories. And then it sat. Oh, I went on vacations and even had some past vacations to scrapbook about. But nonetheless, I didn't use it. Why? I love the papers and canvas letter stickers. I couldn't possibly waste such lovliness on a mediocre page.

Well, forget all that. When on earth will 'the page' come along? Who knows. Forget saving items in your stash for 'the page'. Use it. Admire your work. Maybe someday a brilliant page worthy of incredible supplies will come along and you will be bummed that you already used that supply, that perfect set of stickers or the exact ribbon you want. But isn't this about the photos and the story...NOT the supplies.

Anyway, off my soapbox and on to my scrapbook page. It is pretty simple and had I not been watching re-runs of Rizzoli and Isles, I most certainly would have finished much faster.

Running! and a Mini Card

2010-08-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

Good morning! Hope you all had a restful nights sleep! I certainly feel refreshed this morning! I have been tossing around the idea of going running in the neighborhood lately and just simply haven't done it.

#1 - Our "neighborhood" is a maze. Only 2 roads actually lead out. One I take everyday. One I have only ever taken once and it was during a random wandering walk with my friend Lauren (with whom I have taken many random wandering walks that last anywhere from 1 to 8 miles, depending on how lost we get). The rest of the roads may come out onto another road that I have never been on, or (more likely) may be a dead end. ( <----That is Lauren over there. I am pretty sure this is actually the day we walked around the lake and took road #2 leading out of our neighborhood.)

#2 - I don't run. I hate to run. Well, I hate the "bouncing" feeling of my not-so-tight abs and such. I hate feeling out of breath. The farthest I have ever run as an adult is 3/4 of a mile and the last time I did that, I was 40 pounds lighter. I thought about biking in the area, but people in suburbia are too busy to slow down for people on a bike and I really want to bike like 10 miles and to do that, I would have to get out of the "neighborhood" which means borrowing Steve's truck. I don't want to spend half an hour preparing to exercise. I just want to go out and do it.

Enough excuses. Just do it, right? After I show you today's Mini Card.

A real simple one today.

Size: 2" x 3"

This was originally a sheet of white cardstock. I wanted to test out my new colors of Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels - Jazz Blue and Meadow Green. I sprayed quite a bit on (enough to puddle) then moved the paper around to get it to mix and swirl just how I wanted. Then I used my heat gun for a few seconds to speed up the drying time. The heart and 'i love you' sentiment is a rub-on from the Sabrina line from Making Memories (purchased from Crop Chocolate).

Quick, easy, and cute. Gotta go exercise! Have a great day!

Grungy Tags

2010-08-30T10:17:00.001-04:00

I pulled out a stack of tags this weekend along with all of my distressing supplies and made up a few sample tags that showcase some of the techniques that can be done with the distress inks. Here is the first of my two favorite:

Step 1: Apply paint (I used Ranger's Adirondack Paint Dabber in Snow Cap) to a flourish stamp (the one I used is from Tim Holtz' French Market) then stamp the image onto your tag. To speed up the drying process, use a hear to ol for a few seconds.

Step 2: Ink your tag with Peeled Paint Distress Ink using the Applicator Tool and Cut N Dry Foam. Apply in a swirling motion all over the tag until you are satisfied with your background color. Apply Vintage Photo Distress Ink on top of your color to give it a more 'grungy' look. To get the darker edges, start with your applicator tool on the Craft Sheet and work in a swirling motion along the edges of your tag.

Step 3: Apply Vintage Photo Distress Ink to a stamp with lines of text, then stamp over the whole tag.

Step 4: Spray a little water onto a washcloth or paper towel to get it damp. Rub it over the flourish that is stamped in white paint. This will remove the distress ink from the image so the white paint will show through.

Step 5: Stamp 'LOVE' sentiment (this one also comes from Tim Holtz' French Market stamp set) in Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Step 6: To make the heart, I used a craft punch, inked it in Fired Brick Distress Ink, then crinkled it up into a ball. Unfold it, the add some Walnut Stain Distress Ink and attach with liquid adhesive (adhesive tape usually won't stick until all of the distress inks have dried).

Mini Card Week - Day 1

2010-08-29T17:56:00.000-04:00

While I was photographing the pile of Steve's mini cards and the box I made to put them in, I decided to take out some of my favorites and give you a little glimpse at what he gets in his lunch. These are NOT masterpiece cards. They rarely take more than 5 minutes for me to come up with an idea and put it together. Sometimes when I do a themed card week, it is even faster and I whip up 5 or 6 mini cards in under 15 minutes. They are meant as a little something to let him know that I love him and to wish him a good day at work.

This is one of my favorites (and probably one of the cards that took me the longest to make).

Size: 3" x 2"

The background is brown cardstock with flourishes (Tim Holtz acrylic stamp) stamped in VersaMark ink.

I layered two different ribbons: the first is a tan grosgrain (left over from Halloween when Stevie went as a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich...yep...seriously) and the other is an older grosgrain from a set by American Crafts.

The 'love you' sentiment is a rub on from the Frank sidekicks set of Minimarks by American Crafts.

I adhered the teal cardstock to the mini card, then positioned the frame (which has been in my stash so long I have no clue who made it years ago when I bought it) around it.

Distressed Card Box

2010-08-25T10:37:00.001-04:00

I picked up a Distressing Kit by Making Memories from Crop Chocolate and used the box to store the mini cards that I put in Stevie's lunch everyday.

Step 1- I smeared some of the Ochre Stain from the kit all over the box. Nothing pretty or careful about it - just concerned with coloring all sides of the box (some of the corners were a bit tricky, so I squeezed the bottle to get a little puddle of stain and took a foam brush to squish the color into the corners).

Step 2 - I grabbed some Distress Ink by Tim Holtz and went to town. Vintage Photo is my 'go-to' color for adding some grunge to a project. I added a little bit of Walnut Stain to the corners to make it look 'dirty' and old.

Step 3 - Stamp! I grabbed all of the vintage-ish stamps that I have - a few sets by Tim Holtz for Stamps Anonymous and a couple travel themed sets. All of them are stamped using Distress Inks in: Fired Brick, Broken China, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain.

Then just let the ink dry and admire your beautiful work!

A Mini Card a Day...

2010-08-24T13:08:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite things to do is make mini cards for lunches. A little handmade bit of sunshine to enjoy half way through the work day. Stevie's work is closing down his office building in Auburn Hills soon and moving the employees (that haven't been laid off) to their office in Pontiac so I told Stevie to bring home his mini cards from his lunches and store them here (he had been keeping 4 or 5 on his desk and the rest of them locked in a drawer, shuffling them around every few days so he has new bits of happiness to look at each day).

I guess I never realized how long I had been making him lunch box cards. Look at the pile!

Take a guess at how many cards are there. I actually sat down and counted them. Not a quick task. And mind you, he left some at work and I have made more since then (cause you just can't have lunch with out a little card with a note or random story). Grand total in the pile: 123 mini cards.

I needed somewhere to store these little cuties, and the box I had picked out will not fit anywhere near 123 cards. One of my recent purchases from Crop Chocolate included a Distressing Kit by Making Memories. I took the kit out of the box it came in and used the kit and some Tim Holtz Distress Inks to 'grunge up' the box. I'll post pictures tomorrow. I think I need another box soon!

A Wedding!!!

2010-08-20T13:04:00.000-04:00

I am going to a wedding tomorrow! Not mine. :-( I am going as a guest with a friend. But I am still excited. I haven't spent time with Dan since his wife left for Iraq, and I am thoroughly excited. Looking forward to an afternoon and evening of good food, fun, and dancing! Three things that certainly should be combined more often!

Cute Treat Bag

2010-08-15T15:41:00.001-04:00

I was browsing around the web yesterday, bouncing from one blog to another, when I found these adorable little treat / gift bags on 4 Crafty Angels. I had to stop what I was doing and make some. I ended up making 3 identical (as close to "identical" as handmade comes) bags for little Christmas goodies. I just need to attach a little to / from tag and fill it up...voila! There is a tutorial video over on her blog that is easy peasy to follow.

Supplies: Patterned paper (My Mind's Eye), white cardstock, Christmas tree stickers (Making Memories - purchased from Crop Chocolate.com), ribbon.

Scrap with Stacy - Blog Candy

2010-08-14T19:37:00.001-04:00

I have long since been a fan of all things grungy and distressed...all things Tim Holtz. If you love all things Tim Holtz, bounce on over to the Scrap with Stacy blog. They have some incredible blog candy to be given away to 2 lucky winners and every last bit is Tim Holtz. Hurry on over, your entry must be in by midnight on August 23rd!

Why I scrapbook...

2010-08-11T10:58:00.000-04:00

To remember moments like this one...

We were grocery shopping and when I saw they had toothbrushes on sale, I had Steve pick one out. He came up to me with 2 and said, "Which one is more bad ass?" I about died laughing. Never in my life have I thought of a toothbrush as bad ass. Classic Steve. Just thinking about it makes me smile.

Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzil), Patterned Paper (Daisy Bucket Designs), Journaling Paper (Making Memories 'Just Chillin'), Journaling Sticker (October Afternoon), stick pin (Making Memories 'Chloe's Closet'), Chipboard Arrow, Letters (foam Thickers from American Crafts)

More Cards

2010-08-07T16:13:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday I shipped out my first package to Sarah, a friend of mine who is overseas right now with the military. She had requested that I send her some blank cards so she could write more letters home. I quickly went to work and whipped up 20 cards and sent them out to her. Since then, I have been making at least one card a day so I will have another set when I send out the next package to her.

I received some 12 x 12 die cut paper from Making Memories in my first shipment from Crop Chocolate and I still hadn't used it. I was pretty excited about it when I put it in my cart, but when I got it and opened it, I was sure I was only going to use one of the designs. I gave myself a challenge to try to use the others and these are what I came up with.

I really like them! I made 3 total cards out of one sheet of paper (with some scraps left over that weren't big enough for another card). The "bling" in the middle of the flower in "thinking of you" really gave it that little 'pop' that it needed too. Quick and easy to make - I did all 3 in just a few minutes (once I decided what I wanted to do). Kind of hoping one of these makes its way back to me, lol!

Use your stash

2010-07-31T13:20:00.000-04:00

I am certainly guilty of being a scrapbooking supply collector. I love all the cute patterned papers and embellishments...but sometimes I buy them and then they are too cute to use. Or I save them for that 'special' layout that I never seem to make.

A Chocolate Daily's final challenge was to use your stash. So I grabbed some photos for the vacation album that I am working on, and started to flip through my neglected stash of patterned paper...until I found some Hambly overlays that I *had* to have for Christmas. I did use some new stuff (paper and stickers from Echo Park), but almost everything else has been in my stash FAR too long. The flower brads - Christmas 2 years ago. The library cards - hmmm, I would guess about 2 years. I know I had them at the last house. And my final stash item, is the "PLAY" letters - to be honest I have had these for SO long that I haven't a clue where I bought them or how long ago, but I am going to guess around 5 years (if not longer). Phew. It felt so good to get some use out of stuff that I was collecting dust. And I am very happy with the results.

Cards!

2010-07-31T12:49:00.001-04:00

Thursday night, when I got home from work, I checked the mail first thing, before I even went in the house (which is part of my routine simply so I actually remember to get the mail) and waiting for me was a letter from a dear friend of mine who is serving in the military. She is deployed right now and will be gone for a while. I have been trying my best to remember to send letters and cards to her, but I am seriously slacking.

Anywho, in the letter, Sarah mentioned that she brought a bunch of cards with her, but is already running out (just a few months in) and requested that I send her a stockpile. Da da da DA! Super Card Maker to the rescue! Ever since I have been in overdrive making more cards in a few short days that I usually do in a month. Did she request handmade cards? Nope. But what kind of a scrapbooker and paper crafter would I be if I let her send out just any old store bought cards?

I raided my stash of cards and created 10 cards Thursday and Friday night. Now I just need to find a box to send them out in.

Another one of my creations from my card craziness...Christmas cards! Yep, I know that it is July, but I thought that it would be a nice idea to create some Christmas cards a little at a time and then send them over in the beginning of November so the soldiers can send some home to family and friends.

This little guy was the result of the Challenge #3 from A Chocolate Daily...AKA: I love you like an itchy Christmas sweater.

Fitness Journal Update

2010-07-28T20:18:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhhhh! I started putting together my Fitness Journal back in Febuary (a little bit late, but I managed to put together some journaling and found a before picture that was close enough to Day 1) after I saw it on Cathy Zielske's blog and fell in love. Fast forward to summer time...and suddenly the discipline to take measurements and pictures and write a paragraph or two suddenly fly out the window somewhere with the rest of my spare time.

Today I put together the month 4 (May) and 5 (June) layouts and sat down and wrote the journaling for month 6 (July) even though I still haven't taken the picture that I should have taken on the 6th (and now that I peeked at my desk calendar, I haven't done the measurements yet either.) I am sure that the vacation this month had a lot to do with that, but geez, I need a kick in the hiney. Cathy used to post her fitness journal page each month, which would remind me that I need to get my act together and do mine...but I haven't seen hers lately...Cathy???? Where is your page???? It's like a big reminder on the calendar, but this one I actually look at. Oh, phooey...I just looked, and it is up right here.

Well, here is month 4:

Journaling reads: I think I am finally ready to get back to it and stop pretending to want to lose weight. Another month of posting a weight loss lower than I would like – only 3.4 pounds. To be honest, I really didn’t think I earned that much. But even with a lower weight loss than I would like, my total is now 18 lbs and I am 25% of the way to my goal!

I have stepped up the exercise this month and earned an average of 15 points each week. Anytime I get a new book or magazine, I make myself do free step on the Wii or ride the stationary bike while I read.

I have also started geocaching. When Lauren comes over, we go for a walk (between 4 and 8 miles) and try to find some caches in the area. It truly has gotten me out of the house and exploring more than I would have. Here is to a new month, a higher weight loss, a healthier me, more activity, and higher self esteem!

And (*drumroll please*) here is month 5 with a Day 1 side-by-side comparison. Not bad, eh?

Journaling on Month 5 reads: I need to stop being so hard on myself for my weight losses. Instead of “only 3.6 pounds,” I really should be more positive. I almost wish I hadn’t averaged about 2 pounds a week the last time I tried to lose weight. I keep comparing this time to last and then feel bad when my latest accomplishments don’t stack up.

But I am still plugging along, still making changes, still trying to move more and eat less, still making a conscious effort to put healthy things in my body so my body will be healthier. I can do this. I will do this. Slow as it may come, I will one day look in the mirror and love what I see.

I sluffed off a bit in the exercise arena this month. It has been raining nearly every weekend. Walks are becoming less frequent and the tennis matches that we were really beginning to get in to aren’t happening as much anymore. Can’t it always be sunny and 65?

SketchMania!

2010-07-26T23:22:00.002-04:00

If you love sketches, check out SketchMania at UmWowStudio! I made this card for Sketch #3 using my A Walk in the Park kit from Echo Park. LOVE this kit! I just got it in the mail today and when I saw it, I knew I would have to open it up as soon as I got home and play.

I raised up the "Good Luck" square with some pop dots and added some bling. Voila!

"A Chocolate Daily" Challenge #7

2010-07-26T18:34:00.001-04:00

I made this layout for an album for by wonderful boyfriend's scrapbook for his birthday this year. In all honesty, I just grabbed a bunch of my favorite items and some goodies that I bought but hadn't had the "perfect" layout to use them on, started playing, and I LOVE the result!

Supplies: white cardstock, ribbon, grungeboard flourish, acrylic stamps (Tim Holtz), brads, staples, Star Dust Stickles, corner rounder (to make scalloped edge)

I really liked the look of adding red to the layout, but the only red ribbon I had was bright red, so I took my Ink Applicator Tool (Tim Holtz) and Walnut Stain Distress Ink and worked some "grunge" into the ribbon until it was the shade I wanted for the layout.

Gifts

2010-06-16T18:28:00.000-04:00

My most recent creations have been using the Tins from the Vintage Findings collection from Making Memories. I made one for Steve for our 3 year anniversary, filled with pictures and notes, and another for my mother's 50th birthday full of pictures of the family. Below are some photos of the tin and card I made for my mom.

Supplies: flowers (Making Memories), metal word plate (Making Memories), brad (Paper Studio by Hobby Lobby), paper (Scenic Route), rub-ons (unknown)

Supplies: patterned paper (Scenic Route), cardstock, ink (Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Fired Brick), acrylic stamp (Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday)

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill), chipboard letters (Heidi Swapp for Advantus), flower (Making Memories), "happy birthday" rub-on (American Crafts), acetate frame (Colorbok)

Wonderful Weekend

2010-06-01T21:17:00.000-04:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend - I certainly did. It even started off with a quick chat with one of my best friends, Sarah. She is in the Army and was actually waiting to get on a plane to Kuwait. It was quick, but it certainly was wonderful to hear from her before she left to go overseas. Spent the weekend at home with family and friends relaxing.

Started off today organizing all of my digital elements into files: Alphabets, Elements(Embellishments), and Papers. Once I finished (which certainly wasn't a quick task), I made a digital page using Photoshop Elements. I have watched a few tutorials online and decided to jump in. What do you think?

I am still keeping it simple, nothing too exciting. Just a background, some patterned paper, a couple simple elements, a journaling block, and one brush (the stars on the right). Not bad for my first attempt, right?

Fitness Journal - Two Months

2010-05-21T22:02:00.002-04:00

I finally got back to working on my "fitness journal" again. I assembled the layout for "Two Months" and finished the journaling for "Four Months". Trouble is that I ran out of photo paper when I was working on the Week In The Life album, so the pages are going to have to sit unfinished until I get a stack to send off to the developer's or I break down and purchase more photo paper.

I was on a roll though, getting pages together for this album. I have to stick with this one. Oddly enough, the disgust of putting on paper that I didn't get the scale to budge much over the course of a month really motivates me to do better the next month. To make sure that I stick with this project, I have been pre-making the pages. The background cardstock is already put in the album for each month. I have the ________ Month titles all made for the next few months, and all the letters cut for the titles for the rest of the year. Yep, I am prepared. All I have to do is type some journaling (which I have a template saved on my computer) and take a picture, then stick 'em all down.

For those of you that are wondering, the star and letters are cut with my Cricut. The star is on the George and Basic Shapes cartridge and the letters are from the Opposites Attract cartridge.

Week In The Life - Complete!

2010-05-18T14:22:00.002-04:00

Finally, three weeks later, my Week in the Life album is complete. Sort of. I still haven't found some profound inspiration for the title page and I need one more journaling card / embellishment for the last day of the week (Sunday). But, for the sake of finishing before I turn 90, it is done.

Day 1 - Monday - I was "out and about" the entire first day, so I made a map on Google of where I went, saved receipts, and wrote a bit of journaling to fill in all the spaces. All of the patterned paper that is used (behind embellishments and across the top of the pages) is Basic Grey.

Day 2 - Tuesday - my shopping, cleaning, errands day. I dug out my tripod so I would make sure that I would be in my album too. I had more stuff that I wanted to write about here - about how I make Steve's lunches every Tuesday - one granola bar, one peanut butter cracker pack, one applesauce, one apple, and one mini card - then they go in the fridge and he adds a turkey sandwich in the morning before he goes to work. When I do this again, I think I will need more room for each day.

Day 3 - Wednesday - Another day that I found I had too much to say and not enough room. I want the future readers to know WHY I chose to put a picture of a banana peel and some strawberry tops in the album. I want them to know that I am into composting and recycling and growing my own vegetables. But all I had room for was my schedule for the day.

Day 4 - Thursday- Finally a day where I have room to write and the majority of the day was spent at work. I had to write on the back of some of the pictures today - particularly the one under the picture of grocery bags. Steve and I have this goofy dance that we do to the theme song of Bones. I had to have Steve pause the tv so I could set up the camera on the tripod and set the self timer just to get the picture. I made sure to explain it on the back.

Day 5 - Friday - Another day that was mainly spent at work, but luckily it was a beautiful day out so we could get stuff done outside and I could finally have room to talk about gardening, since I have been taking pictures all week long.

Day 6 - Saturday - The day absolutely flew by. I took tons of pictures and wished I had room to include more. We were up until 4am Sunday...which is why...

Day 7 - Sunday- There are hardly any pictures here. We slept in. We spent over 2 and a half hours driving home. We both either took a nap or fell asleep while doing something. Hence the lack of writing and photos and the empty spot on the top. I had to take a picture of the TV just to get it filled in like it is now.

Notes-
* Next time, take more pictures. Don't just mean to do it. Do it. Who cares if you are in a store or at work. They can deal with one week of pictures. I found myself not taking photos at some places to avoid strange looks of 'why on earth is she taking a photo here?" instead of getting the picture.

*Next time, I want to try to change up the layout. I like the look of the baseball card pages, but somedays, one wasn't enough. I think I need to get past the idea that each day has to have equal space in the book. Somedays I do more than others. Somedays aren't THAT exciting while others give me pages of stuff that I want to remember. It is ok. Embrace it.

*Next time, do more journaling each day. Maybe even a journal entry. Yep, I mean keep a diary like when I was 7. Not everything has to be included, but it makes it much easier to remember when there is a paragraph of info instead of a few bullet listed highlights.

*DO THIS AGAIN. MAKE THERE BE A NEXT TIME.

Mini Card of the Day

2010-05-17T21:15:00.000-04:00

It was such a gorgeous day on Saturday and Sunday that I spent both days outside working on my garden, landscaping, painting, and helping Steve build shelves in the garage. But, no worries, mini cards return today. I also finished my Week In The Life album. Pictures should be done tomorrow so I can upload those and show how it turned out. AND I have a few more pages done for my Fitness Journal to share.

Today's Mini Card of the Day-

How to make your own Mini Card-

Find an illustration for the front of the card. I got this one in a journaling card set from My Mind's Eye. The birds, flowering branch, and square are all printed in brown on a manila colored square.
Take a Q-tip or nib and use it to color in the picture. I snagged a Q-tip from the bathroom and just dabbed it onto my ink pad then colored in a swirling motion. The birds are colored in Broken China Distress Ink and the flowers are Dried Marigold.
Draw over the images you just colored with an embossing pen, sprinkle with clear embossing powder, then emboss with a heat gun. This step keeps the color that you added to the bird and flowers stay that color, regardless of what color you make the background. Distress inks will wipe off the clear embossing powder, letting the color added in the previous step show through.
Color the background. I used my ink blending tool to add Shabby Shutter Distress Ink to the background then added a little Vintage Photo to the edges.
Add a sentiment. I stamped the "I Love You" (I have had this stamp forever and have no clue who makes it or where I bought it) in Peeled Paint Distress Ink.
Cut cardstock to make a card and attach the illustration to the front. The journaling card here measures about 3" square, so I cut a piece of manila cardstock to 3" x 6", folded it in half, and adhered the journaling card to the front.

Thursday's Mini Card

2010-05-13T22:50:00.003-04:00

*I got some journaling done for Week In The Life while I was on my lunch at work today. Still not finished yet, but getting closer. As it is coming together, I am getting super excited about this project. I am finding that I am running out of space to put all of the wonderful things I would like to document for some of the days.

Today's Mini Card of the Day-

How to make your own mini card:

Cut your paper down to size. Again, I cut this one down to 3" x 6" then folded it in half. The cardstock actually started out as a light grey.
Ink the background. I first used my ink blending tool to cover the background in Vintage Photo Distress Ink, then I added a layer of Walnut Stain Distress Ink.
Make water droplet marks. Using a spray bottle or Mini Mister, spray water into your hand over your mini card until there is enough water to drip onto your project. The water will start to soak up the color you just applied. Once the desired look is achieved, dab the excess water off the card with a towel and heat the card with a heat tool.
Stamp a flourish in the center of the card. This stamp is another stamp from the French Market set of acrylic stamps by Tim Holtz. I stamped the flourish in Walnut Stain.
Add your sentiment to the bottom corner of the card. Amazingly enough, I don't have a small stamp that says 'love', so I used my Making Memories Magnetic Stamp Base and Rummage Letters Set to make my own. This is also stamped in Walnut Stain Distress Ink.
Finish off with metal heart. I happened to have some Embossed Metal Hearts by Making Memories in my stash, and I like how it finished the mini card.

Wednesday's Mini Card

2010-05-12T21:31:00.000-04:00

As soon as I finish this post, I am going to sit down and get some journaling done for my Week in the Life album. True story. It will be done by this weekend. Scout's honor.

On to today's mini card of the day...

How to make your own mini card-

Cut your paper down to size. For this mini card, I cut a piece of tan/manila cardstock to 3" x 6", then folded it in half.
Stamp a heart in the corner. The stamp I used is made by Studio G and is stamped in Walnut Stain Distress Ink.
Ink the background. I first used my ink blending tool to apply Fired Brick around the heart stamp area, then inked the rest of the card in Broken China. Once the entire background had been inked, I added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the background and some Walnut Stain around the edges.
Stamp your sentiment in the middle. This stamp is from the Urban Grunge set of acrylic stamps by Tim Holtz. It is stamped in black Staz On ink.
Heat with a heat embossing gun to completely dry the card.

Mini Card of the Day

2010-05-11T22:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I still haven't finished my Week In The Life album yet. I trimmed all of my baseball card sized pictures to size, printed my larger photographs, and have them cut. All I have left to do it the journaling (which if often the hardest part for me) and some simple embellishments. But, nonetheless, it is still not complete.

After watching Tim Holtz at the MegaMeet in Novi, I have had a hankering for some distressing. I have made mini cards to go in Steve's lunch for the past 5 months or so. This week's lunches each have a card that have been made with distress inks. Here is the first mini card I made-

How to make your own mini card-

Cut your paper down to size. For this mini card, I cut a piece of tan/manila cardstock to 3" x 6", then folded it in half.
Ink the background. I first used my ink blending tool to apply Fired Brick followed by Walnut Stain. To lighten the color a bit, I sprayed the background with water, then blotted it dry when the color was lighter. Heat your card with a heat gun to dry it. If the color is too light, add more ink.
Stamp a flourish design on the background. The stamp I used is from Tim Holtz' French Market set of acrylic stamps. I stamped the flourish using Fired Brick Distress Ink.
Stamp a crown in the middle of the card. I applied gold acrylic paint to my rubber stamp (just dab the ink onto the stamp until you have an even coat) then stamped onto the middle. The harder you press, the more the paint will squish out at the edges (see the picture below). I used my heat gun to speed up the drying process.
Fill in the "jewels" (or create your own). Grab a bottle of your favorite color of Stickles or glitter glue and make little dots to create jewels on your crown. For this card, I used Patina color Stickles

Mega Meet

2010-05-10T20:46:00.000-04:00

If you ever have a chance to go to a Scrapbooking Convention....go. Seriously. I got to go to my second one this weekend and I absolutely loved it. Sadly, I went by myself, but I love being on the show floor, walking around with hundreds of other people who love the same hobby I do, shopping, learning new techniques, and checking out products you never knew existed.

My highlight? Watching Tim Holtz work. Truly magical. I wanted SO BAD to go to one of his classes, but they sold out SO quick. Just watching him do demos was awesome. Pick a product, any product and he will take it, show you how to use it, give you ideas for what to put with it, and no matter what, it looks incredible. I don't think the man could make an ugly project if he tried.

Just starting out, explaining how the Alterations dies work, what they cut, etc.

I would love to get one of those little mini suitcase things. It has this incredible vintage feel and yet is super functional for holding all of the metal wonderfulness that Tim Holtz designs. (Would love it even more if it was already full of goodies.) : )

*Just got my pictures in the mail today. I hope to get them all cut apart and into the baseball card pages tonight, then have my Week in the Life album completed tomorrow.*

A Fitness Journal

2010-05-06T22:42:00.003-04:00

I have been following Cathy Zielske's blog for a while now. I was SO excited to see her Fitness Journal when she started in it January, that I decided to scraplift the idea and create my own documentation of my weight loss journey (hoping to myself that maybe I would keep the weight off longer than 3 years this time if I had to take a photo and some measurements that will forever be archived in an album).

I picked up a paper pack at the store (one that is already pre-coordinated for me), changed my photos to black and white, cut out a bunch of stars and letters on my Cricut, and voila!

One thing that I really like about this is that the pages are simple. I actually made up the first 5 months of pages when I made the 'Day One' page. Now at the beginning-ish of the month, I take my picture, type my journaling, print, trim, and glue. Done. No crazy, time-consuming design or embellishments. Simple, quick, and easy. And quite motivating. I really hated typing in my March stats, saying how little I had lost - so I lost twice as much in April. Talk about motivation!

PS - after taking my photos, I noticed that I didn't round the corner on my picture on the 'one month' page. Fixed it. : )

At The Printer's

2010-05-05T21:22:00.001-04:00

I finally got myself in gear and spent some time in Photoshop creating my 5 x 7s that are made up of 4 wallet sized photos for my baseball card pages in my Week in the Life album. I finished them this afternoon and ordered the prints. After seeing the price to have the enlargements done for me, I decided to print the larger whole page photos at home on my own printer. I happened to have a coupon to get some free 4 x 6s printed, so I will have lots to scrapbook when the photos arrive.

New to Photoshop and need some help learning how to put your photos into a grid? I learned from watching this video that Cathy Zielske did as a guest writer on Ali Edwards' blog. The first couple times I tried it, I had to pause the video after each instruction, but now it is easy as pie. I recommend printing off the pdf to follow along with (didn't even realize it was there until this week when I needed a refresher). And even if you don't have the exact same version of Photoshop that Cathy is using in the video (neither do I), the steps are basically the same, you just might have to click a different button or the button might be in a different spot. Either way, the video is perfect for non-digital scrapbookers who want to try making a digital page or want to print photos in a nice pretty grid. Now go on, give it a try!

Welcome Back

2010-05-02T22:40:00.001-04:00

After the Week in the Life project of taking oodles of photos each day, sitting down and writing a synopsis of my day, and then blogging about it, I needed a break. A break from documenting and a step back into the living. To be honest, I still haven't printed my photos or started my pages all that much. That is my goal for this week.

Tuesday (which is my day off and grocery shopping day), I will stop and get my pictures done at a one-hour place while I shop. I would like to get some planning done Monday night so I know which photos to get enlarged and which ones will need to be cropped to baseball card size. Ali even went a step further and put 4 minis together to make a 5 x 7, so when she got her photos printed, she got "more bang for her buck" and didn't have to purchase two of each of here smaller baseball card sized photos. (to check it out, click here)

In my "break week", I have picked up yet another hobby, geocaching. The basic premise is that people go out and hide containers all around the world with stuff in them (always a log, sometimes prizes for the find). You use a GPS to direct you to the general area of the container, then start your treasure hunt. When you find it, sign the log, trade for some goodies if you choose, then put the container back for the next treasure seeker. I found my first cache last Wednesday and I was so bummed when I found it because I realized I forgot my camera in the car. (isn't that just the scrapbooker in me) Here is a quick look at some of the places my new hobby has taken me...

This is in a park near our house. See that creepy "light" next to my head...no clue what it is. Oddly enough, the second photo didn't turn out either - it was all grainy and blurry. My GPS was acting odd in the area too. A little creepy?

This is a ghost cache or virtual cache. I headed here and had to get some information about one of the buildings in the "Historic Waterford Village" that they are re-creating, then email it to the person who created the cache. Probably never would have found this otherwise.

This is a cemetery in Grass Lake. If I had taken the picture before we found the cache, you would be able to see it from here. Luckily I had Steve with me to help me re-hide it better.

A Week In The Life: Day Five and Six

2010-04-25T15:48:00.000-04:00

Now that the week is nearly over, I find that I am doing much better at remembering to take photos as much as possible. Check out the numbers!

Total pictures taken for Friday: 85

Total pictures taken for Saturday: 103

I was fortunate enough to have opportunity to celebrate my friendship and wish the best to my dear friend Sarah who is an x-ray tech in the Army Reserves who is deploying for Iraq soon. I know I haven't made opportunities like that a priority nearly enough lately and I am truly thankful to be able to spend time with her this weekend.

Some highlights from the weekend:

Making breakfast before work Friday morning.

Some flowers growing in the backyard.

Looking for a new truck for Steve.

The card I made for Sarah with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

A stop for some Fudge Brownie Only 8 with chocolate covered sunflower seeds at Sweet Treats.

My first ever try to make bath bombs. They turned out super fizzy and had an awesome green apple scent.

The last of the leaves and brush from the fall.

Playing the longest game ever of speed quarters at Sarah's party.

A Week In The Life: Day Four

2010-04-23T22:23:00.002-04:00

Steve worked from home today, so I had him help me with the "getting ready" photos. Probably won't ask him for much help anymore. Typical boy...enough said. I also remembered to take a couple pictures while I was on lunch today at work. I have a feeling my total for Friday's pictures will be the most yet.

Total pictures taken for Thursday: 40

It just so happened to be payday this Thursday, so I have my check stub showing my direct deposit. I also had a phone appointment and made a quick run to Meijer on my lunch. I saved the receipt from the store and the note with the appointment time on it for my scrapbook.

I have been writing down little "play by play" notes of the day (the big stuff anyway). Some of them have general times next to them (like lunch time or when I woke up) but not always. I don't think I will include them in the scrapbook (as Ali Edwards plans on doing with hers) but they will at least serve as a little reminder when I go to put my book together next week. Hope your 'Week in the Life' is going well!

Here are some highlights from Thursday:

My "usual" breakfast - Egg Beaters, ham, onion, green peppers, and low fat Cheddar. Yum!

Home from work and making a butternut squash soup. Not sure what I did wrong, but it was too runny.

Hmmm, took a lot of food pictures. My dinner was an Asian wrap with ham.

A sinkful of dishes. Clean. After making two dinners and tomorrow's lunch. Phew, I have had enough.

Brushing the teeth before bed time.

A Week In The Life: Day Three

2010-04-22T22:05:00.000-04:00

I really need to take photos in the morning during the "getting ready process". I find that on days that I work, I only manage to get at most 5 photos done by 5pm if I don't take pictures before work. I did get Steve to take a couple pictures for me today. Woo Hoo!

Total pictures taken for Wednesday: 26

How on earth do those ladies take over 100 in a day? (The whole not working a 9 to 5 job probably helps). I really wish it were easier for me to document that part. I have sneakily taken a few random snapshots of where I work - the drive thru, the computer area, the suckers we hand out to kids - but nothing of me actually doing work.

I am hoping to get a TON of pictures this weekend. I ordered a GPS online and can't wait to get it and go hiking and geocaching when it arrives. And on Saturday, a dear friend of mine is having a going away party. She is getting deployed soon and it will be my last chance to see her for a long time. I am hoping and praying that this will be a safe and pleasant experience for her.

Some highlights from Wednesday:

Driving to work (takes a lot of concentration to take the picture while driving. HIGHLY recommend having a passenger take a picture if you have one).

Trash day!

My compost bowl with todays yummy scraps. Hmmm...have to remember to take that out tomorrow.

Found this little guy under the deck with other goodies from the previous homeowners.

Finished off the night by planting some of my sprouting squash plants outside in my new garden.

A Week In The Life: Day Two

2010-04-21T20:49:00.001-04:00

Well, as far as documenting goes, Tuesday went much better than Monday. And so far today is going better as well.

Total pictures taken for Tuesday: 24

This is by far above the normail numbers of pictures I take in a day. And it is certainly plenty to fill the pockets that I have lined up for each day. But if you compare it to the number of photos that Ali took (128) and the number Cathy Zielske (who is also doing a Week In the Life album...you can follow on her blog) took (an astounding 259), well, it seems that I haven't documented nearly as much.

Some highlights from Tuesday:

Started off the morning with some laundry (day off = cleaning day).

In the afternoon, I worked in my garden (photo courtesy of a mini tripod and self timer).

I came in for a break from the heat (which I am super thankful for) and made Stevie's lunches for the week.

And finished the day making litle lunchbox cards for Steve.

I will say that it is quite dificult to take pictures of your day when you are at work. After seeing the photo comparison between myself and "the pros", I was honestly making a concious effort to take photos today. I had a short half-shift at work though, which kind of prevented me taking pictures for a few hours. I am sure people coming in to make a withdrawal or cash their checks do not want their pictures taken for my book of documentation.

I really need to get Steve on board for taking more pictures. Not just this week, but always. My camera is always in my purse (so I know where to find it) and he knows that. I really need to encourage him to take more photos. I have noticed that I am missing from my scrapbooks. I have so many options when it comes to doing pages about Steve. Need to get him on board.

Week In The Life: Day One

2010-04-20T11:46:00.001-04:00

Well, yesterday was day one of my week in the life documentation. And things did not go as well as I had hoped. Total pictures taken: 0 Yep, not a single photo. I got ready in the morning, headed off to work (I can easily take pictures there later on in the week), and had my good friend Lauren over. We went for a walk (about 7 miles when all was said and done 3 hours later...got lost...oops!) and tried a little geocaching with no finds, and then grabbed a snack at 11pm at Mexico Lindo in Waterford.

Plans for the scrapbooking page:

Don't worry. No pictures for a scrapbooking page has never stopped me before, it just makes it a bit more challenging.
Save receipts, etc. I may not have pictures at Mexico Lindo, but I have a receipt. I may not have watched the Netflix movies that came in the mail, but they came in the mail on Monday = part of Monday.
Learn from Monday. I started off this morning snapping some pictures of laundry. I saved my shopping list and receipt from Meijer. I plan on gardening and working outside since the weather is perfect today, and I will bring my camera out with me.

Plans for the entire scrapbook:

Album: 8.5" x 11" 3 - ring (haven't bought this yet, but I have an idea of what I am looking for)
Each day: One 8.5" x 11" page (preferably an enlarged photo with some journaling / a title printed right on the photo) and one baseball card page filled with bits of paper / journaling cards / smaller photos from the day.

Hope your Week In The Life project is going well!

A Week In The Life

2010-04-15T22:26:00.000-04:00

This year, for the first time ever, I have decided to do a "Week in the Life" album. I have been a huge fan of Ali Edwards for years and followed on her blog as she creates an album each year documenting the now for one week. This time around, I am going to document my life.

For one week, I am going to take dozens of photographs of everyday stuff that I typically don't pay much mind to. I am going to save scraps and bits of paper (receipts, mail, packaging from purchased items) that would usually find their way to the trash or recycling bin. I am going to document everyday stories of life now.

I like to imagine that someday, my children will be awed by the day to day things that I do now, just like I am intrigued by the differences between my life and my mother's. The differences between pasttimes, prices, schedules, jobs, even the points in our lives that we were at. (By the time my mother was my age, she was married with her second child on the way. I am not married yet and couldn't imagine taking care of kids yet.) Even the changes in technology in the last 25 years...sometimes I wonder what my mother did for recreation when she was my age - I guarantee she didn't get on Facebook every night to check her friends' statuses or send an email.

Join me for one week of documenting life, the now, the current events in your life.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-04-14T21:54:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is my dads birthday and for the first year ever, I decided to make him a card instead of buying one. In past years, I have always simply bought some funny, light-hearted card instead of making him a handmade card like I do for almost anyone else. After all the hard work he and my mom put into raising me, I guess the least I can do is spend some of my time making him a card instead of just pulling one off a shelf.

To make the card, I used a sheet of plain tan cardstock, cut it to 5" by 5" and rounded the corners. Then comes the Distress Ink. Using Weathered Wood and Broken China, I inked the background until it was solid blue (different shades and amounts of ink all over, but still...blue). Then I added some Vintage Photo in spots and edged the card in Walnut Stain. When I got the backgrond colors the way I wanted it, I grabbed my French Market clear stamps (also by Tim Holtz) and stamped the diamonds in Vintage Photo and the Flourish in Walnut Stain.

I used my ever so wonderful Cricut (that I honestly don't know what I did without for so many years) and cut the letters. *TIP- I left the letters on the cutting mat, excess paper and all, and inked the letters right there. The letters were stuck to the mat so they weren't moving all over the place on me, and the excess was still there so I didn't get ink all over my mat (although I still made a little mess).* I used Shabby Shutters and Vintage Photo to ink the letters, then edged them in Walnut Stain to make them stand out more and attached them with pop dots.

With a few hours to spare...

2010-04-13T11:12:00.000-04:00

I managed to finish the album that I was doing for Steve at 10pm, the night before his birthday. It was so close to his birthday anyway, I gave it to him a few minutes after I finished it. Here are a couple shots from my favorite pages.

The background paper and the patterned squares here are actually parts of the packaging from some of the Passport line from Making Memories. I used some of the actual tags and stickers that were in the packaging on some of the other pages. The flowers and buttons are also Making Memories (5th Avenue set of Blossoms and Buttons).

Have I mentioned that I love all things Tim Holtz? I used his stamps to make the background (the diamond pattern, the Eiffel Tower, and the "Artist" are all from French Market set). The black flourish at the top is made from Tim Holtz Grungeboard that I painted with black acrylic paint, then smeared Stickles on to give is a nice glittery finish. I couldn't find the right color ribbon (the red was actually more of a blood red) so I took some distress ink and rubbed it on just like I would if I was altering paper. Add a few brads, staples, and a picture...voila!

I just did a quick collage of stuff on this one. (I was nearing page 25 and I was a bit tired...still turned out pretty nice.) Pulled from my stash a bingo card (Jenni Bowlin Studio), patterned paper (Basic Grey), and other embellishments (Making Memories) and stuck them on a sheet of cardstock. Simple, easy, and cute.

I was pretty proud of this album. It has by far the most pages of any album that I have given him. And it was a random collection. Not all pages had pictures. Not all pages had writing. Some pages were clear, some pages were made solely of a picture and had no paper, some pages were made of tags or library pockets. When you flipped the page, you could see the back of the sewing or brads from the previous page. And you know what? It's okay.

I like the different-ness of this album. It is like 25 separate stories, each with their own little message, all pieced together for one big book of coolness.

25 pages for 25 years

2010-04-09T21:15:00.000-04:00

Oh, it is my wonderful Stevie's birthday on Monday. Ever since we have been together, he asks for the same thing from me as a gift - a scrapbook. It doesn't matter if it is a birthday, anniversary, or Christmas...he wants a scrapbook. SO for his 25th birthday, I started a random collection of thoughts, pictures, stories, etc. My goal is to get 25 pages for his 25th birthday album. With the vacation weekend though, I am running a little behind. I am only on page 17! He was going out of town on Saturday so I can get some work done on it, but now that is cancelled. Ah! Now it is crunch time, and the stress is making me less creative. Will I make it to 25 by Sunday night?!?!?!

Please hurry Snapfish!

2010-04-06T14:41:00.001-04:00

I uploaded my photos from our vacation last night, edited them, and sent them off to Snapfish to get them printed. I can't wait to get them back so I can start scrapbooking about them.

Some of the highlights from our trip:

Michigan Central Station

(now an abandoned building that has been victim to vandalism, but I am certain that it was a beautiful attraction in it's day. I certainly hope they can restore it someday and use it again.)

Steve and I played LOTS of miniature golf

(note to self: go buy some new pants that stay up better.)

The Toledo Zoo

(took lots of great pictures of animals...until the battery died on my camera. Thank goodness I remembered the charger!)

Batting Cages

(I was so excited when we found a mini golf with batting cages. I wonder if there are still any open leagues by us. Just a little batting practice made me want to play.)

COSI Center

(We played for hours at COSI - the science center in Columbus, OH. I really enjoyed the Titanic exhibit. It was absolutely incredible to see real artifacts and hear the stories of passengers from the ship.)

All in all, it was a wonderful mini-vacation. We were go - go - go all day long, then realxed each night with a swim in the pool and a soak in the hot tub. Just wish I could take those home with me. LOL

Sandal Weather

2010-04-02T10:30:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note before we hit the road for the weekend...

I stepped outside this morning to take the composting out to my compost bin, with nothing on my feet but blue and yellow sandals and some chipped nail polish. Couldn't help but smile as the lightly dewed grass brushed my feet. It is supposed to be in the mid 70s today - perfect weather for some miniature golf and playing outside...just what we are going to do.

Hope you have equally wonderful weather this weekend. And have a blessed Easter.

Lunch Box Love

2010-03-30T21:17:00.001-04:00

I love to make little mini cards and put them in Steve's lunch everyday. Somedays he gets just a simple little card that is a folded over piece of cardstock with a sticker on the front and a quick note inside. Somedays he gets a fully inked, Tim Holtz type grunge-ified card with multiple layers and hidden pull out tags. Often I write about something random...how the sticker that I found made me think of something, or I had a dream about being an elephant trainer, or I wish it was time for vacation. Never more than a couple sentences. Just a little something for him to read while he is eating his lunch at work (or if he is working from home...as long as he makes his turkey sandwich in the morning).

We have a short week this week (we are headed out for vacation Friday through Monday) so I only have to make 3 cards this week. Which means I had more time to spend on each one. I was actually quite proud of myself for the first one I finished. I was looking around for a cool color of cardstock in my scrap bin when I found a transparency...tada...card time!

I cut a piece to 8" x 4" and folded it in half. Adhered a 3.5" x 3.5" piece of white cardstock to the middle so I could write him a note. I cut a piece of patterned paper the same size and put just a dab of glue on it to hold it in place while I poked holes through it for some brads (to do the main job holding the paper on...and look super cute as the centers of the flowers). Then I added some rub-ons to the front to spell "HI". Voila! Cute and easy mini lunch box love for my Steve.

Welcome!

2010-03-29T18:54:00.000-04:00

Today is day one of my blog. Thanks for stopping by! After tossing around some wonderful ideas of what I want to do...all of them seem to revolve around scrapbooking. (Doesn't everyone's?) I have been scrapbooking for a LONG time and always love getting newbies started on their first pages (which typically leads to an addiction that I claim no responsibility for). I love to share my knowledge and creativity with others - so here we are! Day one of tips, techniques, and projects from my imagination to you!