every little bit counts

The season of giving, gratitude and joy upon us. It is also often a very busy and hectic time of the year, creating a challenge for those of us with lengthy To-Do lists. However, no matter how busy we all get, it really is important to remember that when it comes to charity, Every Little Bit Counts.

To demonstrate this simple truth, a call went out across the digital community to designers everywhere inviting them each to contribute only one element to a charity collaboration for the Sick Kids Foundation.

The end result is an eclectic collection of unique elements, ranging from classic to quirky and everything in between.



The Every Little Bit Counts collection will only be available until the last week of December. 100% of the profits will then be donated to the Sick Kids Hospital Foundation.

Find out how you can receive this very special collection for only $5 and let your little bit count towards this very worthy cause.

still just a boy (and the font challenge)

This is the layout I created for November's 'I Can Use That Font' Challenge at ScrapbookGraphics. (click the layout to go to the gallery)
 
(Almost every used from the Born to Be Bad kit by Studio Rosey Posey)

Please come join me in this month's font challenge for a chance to win a $10 coupon to the Studio Collective! 

scrappers give thanks

I just read about this project on a fellow CT member's blog and thought I'd share because it seems to be for a wonderful cause, and I definitely plan to contribute some pages. I hope you all will join in, too!  

From the Scrappers Give Thanks website:

The 2010 Project

The 2nd annual Scrappers Give Thanks project has a goal of assembling 2000 participant-created 4×6 pages into 100 ten page (double-sided) mini albums to be delivered to 10 children’s hospitals across the country. Submitted pages should be scrapbook-style mini artworks containing positive words, happy images, jokes etc. and may be in digital or tangible formats.

Specifications

The Scrappers Give Thanks mini albums will be assembled with 4×6 page protectors and o-rings. To ensure a consistent look and feel, participants must adhere to the following specifications:

• Single-sided 4×6 pages
• Vertical orientation only (4″ wide by 6″ tall)
• Include age-appropriate positive messages and/or images
• No glitter, embellishments greater than 1/4″ thick or copyrighted images

Examples

Visit the Scrappers Give Thanks Flickr group to view great examples from our creative team and fellow participants. The following digital submission is an excellent example of a fun page designed to bring cheer to kids:

Submission

Digital contributions should be emailed to jennifer@scrappersgivethanks.org as attachments. (Please do not zip.) All digital submissions will be printed by Scrappers Give Thanks through our printing partner, Persnickety Prints, and thus should be created at 300ppi and saved as a high resolution JPEG.

Paper submissions should be mailed to the following address no later than November 20, 2010 and MUST include an email address. Entries must be received by Wednesday, November 24 to be eligible for the giveaway.

love, love, and more love

I'm totally slacking in pretty much everything at the moment. Boys have been back in school this week, thank goodness! Although Jace was out Wednesday and Josh is home today. Totally unrelated illnesses and symptoms, too. It's always fun wondering how many more of us will get sick. Even though I've had a few days to catch my breath after being full time mom for two weeks, I am still behind on housework, laundry, creative team responsibilities, email, projects for my husband's business. Seems to be... the story of my life. How many times have I said that? Ha! How many times have I complained about not being able to balance everything? LOL Geez, it's embarrassing to think about. So enough of that. Moving on to the good stuff.

First, tooting my own horn. How many of you have seen the Fall 2010 Edition of the Altered Hearts Zine?

 

Two of my recent layouts (love them & life with 4 boys) were picked up for this edition, and I have to say I'm honored to have my work appear alongside the other talent featured in this zine. Wow. If you happen to acquire a copy for yourself, look for me! Also, SherrieJD, who is the editor (?) of the zine and a fabulously quirky designer is having a newsletter drive. Once she has 1000 subscribers, everyone gets a $5 coupon! So hurry to her blog (find the newsletter link in the header) and sign up!

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I'm happy that after the recent closing of ScrapArtist, Dianne Rigdon has now opened shop at Two Peas in a Bucket! Congratulations and good luck with your new store, Dianne! 

Here's my layout using Dianne's latest release, Journalique. The photos used were just sort of random ones that we took last Friday, and even though they're just candids I really love them.... (click layout to see it in my DST gallery) 

  
Last Friday was a really wonderful day, not to mention my husband Jason's birthday. Sweet to have a way to remember it, even though he's not in the pictures (he was at work)... we were leaving the house to go get a few of the ingredients I needed to make this carrot cake and this icing for him. The cream cheese icing was the best I have ever made myself, and possibly ever eaten! The cake itself ended up being slightly over cooked, in my opinion (I reduced the oil and added applesauce as one of the comments suggested - that may have been the problem?). Still edible, and quite tasty, just a little dry. What I was most proud of though was the fact that Jason ate at least five pieces of this cake over the course of a few days. LOL He is not a big sweets eater, so the fact that he liked my cake and ate a lot of it made me happy and proud. I wish I'd taken a picture of it, as well as a picture of him blowing out his candles. Ugh. If you have a microscope and can read my journaling above, you know I am already aware of my laziness in taking photos. Sometimes it's due to laziness, but other times I just want to be in the moment (and then later regret not pulling my camera out). Rambling on...

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Here's another of my recent layouts using some of PixelWorks latest releases at The Lily Pad (click layout to see it in my DST gallery)

 
It was just a phone picture of the two of us taken at a wedding of one of his friends, but we have so few of us together... this one means a lot. We're one month away from our 15th wedding anniversary. Sometimes I'm just blown away by that thought.

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We have a very busy weekend planned, won't be much time for cleaning, but it some of it needs to be done before everyone is home again. So I am off to get busy. Thanks for reading, and hope you all have a wonderful weekend, too.

love them

We are just about at the mid point of the boys' 2 week fall break. They are keeping me active (think I've lost 5 lbs! for real!), busy, frustrated, entertained, happy, irritable, down in the dungeon that is in the laundry room... and so on. I've lost my cool a couple times. The 17 yr old is moody and grumpy and thinks he's in charge. My 13 yr old and 8 yr old are constantly bickering, fighting, wrestling. My 7 yr old thinks no one likes him, wants to play with him, or ever pays him any attention. Ugh. To top it off, Mama (that's me!) has been a hormonal mess the past week so writing all this just makes me want to cry.

Through it all, through all the ups and downs, the good times and bad times, one of my biggest wishes has always been that my boys know how much I love them. Because I love them a whole freakin' lot!!! Even when they're not getting their way, and even when I refuse to buy them that one thing that they really, really, REALLY want...  "if you love me, you'll buy me this". Even when I take the keys, or the phone... I love them. I am "mean" because I love them and need them to learn something. Hopefully when they're grown they'll remember all the books I've read, all the hugs & kisses I've given, the walks we've taken together, singing together in the car, all the long talks we've had, homework I've helped get them through, and on and on.

So anyway, when one of the Frameworthy challenges came up, and the challenge was to use some hearts (I have tons!), I browsed through the inspiration we were given, and with all of the above on my mind, this was what I came up with one sweet and quiet night after my rowdy bunch were in bed...

And yesterday, I was so delighted to see that it was pointed to on the Gallery Standouts Blog. What an wonderful surprise! I needed that ego boost for sure!

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The two posts in one day was not intentional. LOL, I forgot to set a publish date for the last post. But when I realized that and came in to double check everything and proof read one last time, I realized I even forgot to zip, upload, and link the file. Ugh. Out of practice much? LOL

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We are hoping to head out to a pumpkin patch and enjoy some kind of fall fun this afternoon.

scary stuff: impressions of fright

This kit contains some frightening stuff, but this is one sweet deal! (click image to see bigger previews in the shop).

 

I used this freaky, fun kit to create this layout...

Everything used is from Impressions of Fright, except for the vortex, which I created (download at the end of post).

Journaling
Halloween 2008: This was the last year that Jace and Joey dressed up as something “safe”. Both were too freaked  out by the idea of being some kind of scary character so after a lot of brainstorming, Jace decided that he wanted to be a boxer and Joey was Alvin the Chipmunk. So, I lovingly created both costumes for them, and they were just as cute as could be! Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep the goblins from coming to our door, so by the time we left for a Halloween bon-fire they were both frightened and on edge, but at the same time a little excited about what kind of monsters they’d see next! 

I have always loved making the kids costumes, even if I am not technically making them, but pulling random things together to create some kind of character. I have always felt like we were cheating when we used a store bought costume. They always seem so expensive for what you get. Plus, who wants to be one of one thousand Spongebob's roaming the streets on Halloween night? 

Last year, Halloween of 2009... we didn't have any room in our budget to spend on Halloween costumes. Fortunately, with only two that really wanted to dress up, it wasn't quite as stressful as having to outfit all four boys. The morning of Halloween we started weighing our options, which were very few because everything the boys thought up... would have required a trip to the store. Ahhhhh! Eventually I raided the bathroom closet and found an unused package of Halloween make-up and one white sheet. I came out and said "OK, you two are going to have to decide who wants to be a ghost and who wants to be a zombie-slash-ghoul-slash-something that has a painted face." They both sort of whined and moaned and acted like the very idea of dressing up as a ghost or zombie was actually going to turn them into a monster. I gave them some time to think about it, and eventually they gave in to the idea. After all, they weren't going to go trick-or-treating without being dressed up as something. So I cut up my favorite white sheet and made a ghost costume for Joey. And then we found some old clothes for Jace to wear and ripped them up to shreds, dripped fake blood all over his clothes, and applied the make-up to make him look like "the walking dead". They were a pretty hilarious sight by the time we were done, but I was a proud Mama for having dressed them up without spending a dime. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of them in their costumes last year. I can't remember why. I assume either my camera battery was dead or it was one of those times that I decided to stay completely in the moment. Nevertheless, it was a fun Halloween for them and one I will always remember.

It's October 5th as I am writing this, and still no word of what anyone wants to be for Halloween this year. Bless their hearts, I think maybe they're afraid to bring the topic up!

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In my last post, I said that my next post would be something besides layouts. Because I try to be a woman of my word,  I want to give you the vortex that I used in the layout above.  Play with blending modes to get different effects.  I know.... I know. It's pretty simple, but I'm working my way up (maybe) to sharing more freebies from my blog. But anyway, I think this would look neat with some words or rambling thoughts being sucked into the center of the vortex... if you do something like that with this or a vortex of your own creation, I'd love to see how you worked it into a layout!
FYI: created @ 300dpi & overall size is under 2000px X 2000px
Download HERE (link updated Nov. 10, 2010)

pumpkin guts

Never fails, when we're carving our jack-O-lanterns, as soon as the top comes off the pumpkin every boy is scrambling to be the first to get their hands in to see who can pull out the most disgusting glob of pumpkin guts. Joey's expression in the framed photo below cracks me up. He was four at the time, and had just put his hands in a bowl of pumpkin guts. Can't you just hear the  "ewwwwww, slimy!!!" ;) 

 
This page uses PixelWorks new BYOC goodies for October (click layout for full credits)

I'm really looking forward to our annual pumpkin carving night this year, as are the boys. I'm already hearing about what kind of faces they're going to carve, more so than I'm hearing about Halloween costumes. We aren't fancy about it - normally we create our jack-O-lanterns' faces from drawing/cutting them freehandedly, but last year we finally tried some templates (from a book that came in a kit I bought on clearance years ago). And then Jason usually roasts some of the pumpkin seeds. So, see... nothing fancy, just a simple family night at home with all of my guys. Most definitely always fun (although messy) times!  If it weren't for the clean-up, this would be my favorite fall activity.

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No work on the blog yet...

Yesterday morning, Joey woke up and said "I feel great!", and it seemed to be true so he went to school yesterday. He was sick again last night, and again this morning. Ugghhh. Bad Mama moment. Totally gave me déjà vu. To the other Moms out there - I'm sorry for contributing to the spreading of germs. Then to add to my fun... Jared vomited in the bus room when he got to school this morning so they called for me and asked if someone could please come pick him up. I was like... "do I have to?" LOL. Poor kid. He's sleeping peacefully at the moment. Two kids down, two to go. Jason and I are holding out so far. I've been feeling a little funky since yesterday afternoon, so I'm trying to take it easy and NOT GET SICK. Ugh. Mostly I'm just tired. Now I wish I hadn't procrastinated and got some work done on my blog makeover because now I have two sick ones at home, which means having to stop what I'm doing every five minutes for one reason or another, and I would really love to just go lay down... if I wasn't scared of falling asleep and sleeping the entire day, I would do that. Fingers crossed they get over it quickly. Not a good way to start not only the weekend, but the beginning of their two week fall break.

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Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

more layouts

Sheesh! Suppose people will get tired of me and my layouts, huh? LOL I'm on a roll this month. I've sort of gone into overdrive creating layouts for PixelWorks. It's been fun, not complaining. I just don't know how people who are on 5, 6, 7, or 8 times seem to keep it all balanced so well (there's that *B* word - the one that haunts me)! Anyway, I haven't posted them all on the blog, but if you're interested in seeing them all, here's my gallery @ The Lilypad.

Here are my latest two layouts, done for a couple of the challenges over at TLP... (click the layouts for credits)

"things I love about fall"

"why?"


Thanks for looking! Comments, constructive criticism, etc... are always more than welcome!

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I appreciate the nice things that were said about my doodles. I guess I am my own worse critic (aren't we all?). The action used is for CU, and since I'm on the team, I need to ask and check the TOU to see if it is OK to share what I have made. If it is, then I will share. :)

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I'm ready for a blog makeover! It occurred to me earlier that it is time for me to overhaul the look of my blog. I had hoped to work on it tonight, but my baby came home with an upset belly, he's not sleeping well tonight, and I think he'll end up missing school tomorrow. He just so happens to have a field trip to a farm/pumpkin patch so needless to say he is upset over that, too.

So, I think I will take it easy tomorrow, and in between nursing the little guy back to good health I am going to try to find some ideas and figure out what I want to do. Not really a whole lot you can do with blogger anyway. :) But I'm so eager for a change!!!

Thanks for reading and maybe by the next time you stop in, there will be a new look. Wish me luck!

doodling + scrapping

Today the Studio Wendy Playday was featured over on the Studio Matters blog. I'd already helped test Wendy's ACTION: AI Doodle Tracer, but didn't have a lot of time to play around with it so was eager to put it to the test again and see what I could come up with for her Playday. I am completely aware of the fact that I am not really artistic in the least when it comes to drawing or even doodling (so please be kind! LOL), but my younger boys especially appreciate my attempts so I thought it would be neat to include some of my own personal doodles in their layouts (one day we can all look back and laugh together! LOL) Wendy's AI Doodle Tracer makes the process of transferring my doodles to something I can use in PS especially easy and quick, so I know this won't be the first time I use the action to create doodles/elements for my personal use. I can't imagine what the results would be for someone who is actually a talented artist!

First, here's an example of my original doodles and the finished results once extracted and finished out to create usable scrapbook elements. My good, black Sharpie marker has mysteriously disappeared so these were done with a blue Sharpie and changed to grayscale before running the action in Illustrator.

  

Below is my finished layout using my doodles (click to go to the gallery and see full credits):




On one hand, it's a little embarrassing to show how bad I am at drawing, but on the other I am quite proud of the finished results. The doodle elements are 100% clean and crisp. If I'd used my old method of tracing/extracting, I wouldn't be so confident in making that statement. Once I have more time to really sit down and try a little harder I'm going to see what else I can come up with, and I think it would be neat to have the boys draw some things for me to run the action on, just to see what happens. Once I do, I will be sure to share the results here. With a two week fall break fast approaching, we will have plenty of time on our hands to be crafty and do artistic things :)

Thanks for reading! I am off to scrap for a few minutes before hitting the sack.

september's "I can use that font" challenge

I should have blogged this earlier in the month, but as everyone who reads this blog knows... I am a complete scatterbrain and failure at blog authoring. Although, I suppose it's better to do something late, rather than never. *sigh*

With that said, there are still a few days left to get in one the font challenge that I'm hosting at SBG so PLEASE come join us for a chance to win a $10 coupon to the Studio Collective. You know you wanna! :) 

Below are the layouts I've created using this month's challenge font, Sway:

My little Jace, last year. He's like a mini version of his Dad sometimes, but a whole lot more sensitive and sweet! LOL I've actually already shared this layout on the blog, but I failed to mention it was for the challenge. I love it so much though, so it's worth sharing again! Click to see it in the gallery, and a full credit list.

"Just a few of the things I love about you..."
Journaling:
Your gentle touches
(you often touch my arm, my nose, my hair
when we are having a conversation)
Your sense of humor
(You’re kinda silly! Here you are
pretending to eat a bunch of leaves)
You are creative, artistic,
and inventive!
You talk a LOT!
(everyone always says you are so quiet!
You actually talk a lot when you are home)
journaled bits around photos...
-love the dimples in your hands
-I love your sparkly hazel eyes!
-I love your freckles

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My second for the font challenge is also not brand new, but this is the first time I'm showing it on the blog. This is layout for my cute little mess of a nephew's first birthday. I can't believe he will actually be TWO soon. Time flies by much too fast! Click to see it in the gallery and for the full credit list.

That's all for now! Hopefully there will be more to come later! Don't forget to come and play along in this month's font challenge for a chance to win a $10 GC! Just visit the challenge thread for even more inspiration using this month's font, Sway.

Thanks for reading!

attitude

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference" - Winston Churchill

So true, huh? Originally, I was on a mission to find a quote that worked for the photo used in the layout below, but since I came across this quote again it's been my mantra - and so, I've been taking into consideration how my attitude affects everyone I come in contact with. Oozing friendliness and positivity isn't really who I am, but I'd like to not feel the way I do when out and about. So I'm trying to smile more. Usually people will give a little smile back! That feels better than the blank looks I usually get at the grocery store! LOL I even talked to strangers at Jared's cross country meet a few days ago. I know this probably sounds weird to anyone who isn't the introverted type, but for me it's a big step. And it's all for the sake of overcoming my shyness... one baby-step at a time.  
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Credits: Divine Debris by Studio Gypsy; fonts are Phoenix, Tiza, and 01196f

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Living with two teenagers (two male teenagers no less) is not so fun sometimes. On one hand, it's great to have two people who think they are a lot stronger than me and will open jars, carry heavy things, and do "difficult" tasks. They inform me of all the things I don't know (ha ha), and squeeze me nearly to death every time they hug me. LOL, those things are all kind of endearing and entertaining. I can even tolerate some of their bad habits and smells in the hopes that one day they will grow out of some of the not so pleasant stuff and eventually be molded into fine young men. But the BAD ATTITUDE that comes and goes. Oh.My.Gosh. Ugh. When does this end? My younger teenager is usually not so bad, but I can sense it building. The proof is in the above photo. He was irritated with me because I wanted to take his picture and he was hot and not in the mood (and I'm like "so, do I ever care if you're in the mood to have your picture taken?" LOL). Some days it is a struggle to not let the evil looks and bad attitudes affect my own state of mind, because then it's harder to say "this kind of attitude or behavior isn't acceptable" if I've lost my own cool. All this rambling to say that the above quote also applies to my teenagers and how I react to their bad attitudes. In the end, I hope they'll learn that it feels better to keep a positive and happy attitude towards the ones they love... even when they're being annoying!

tooting my own horn

Toot! Toot! Beep Beep! I have great news to share!

At the end of last week, I was... um... kind of invited ... to join Michelle Godin's (aka PixelWorks) creative team! Some people, who shall remain nameless, helped in this cause, which is slightly embarrassing LOL, but I am not going to complain because I feel have "known" Michelle for a looong time and I absolutely adore her work! It's extra exciting because I am already friends with a lot of her CT and she has just opened up her shop at The Lily Pad, where yet another friend from my circle of friends like to hang... makes it all extra cool. Anyway, thanks to my secret CT pimp. I think you are da' bomb! heehee ;) And thank you to Michelle for allowing me to be a part of your team. I hope I can do your designs justice!

Here are the first two layouts I have done with Michelle's September BYOC pieces... click them to go to the gallery.

 
Credits: Varsity Chip Alpha by PixelWorks; The Teen Scene - Doodles n' Things by PixelWorks; The Teen Scene - Papers & Frames by PixelWorks; The Teen Scene - Boy Papers by PixelWorks

 
Credits: Varsity Chip Alpha by PixelWorks; The Teen Scene - Doodles n' Things by PixelWorks; The Teen Scene - Papers & Frames by PixelWorks; The Teen Scene - Girl Papers by PixelWorks; The Teen Scene - Boy Papers by PixelWorks; Ready 2 Go (bow) by Tania Shaw, not currently available

I do believe we are going to be very happy together! Haha!

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And now... I have three more of my layouts, using goodies from ScrapbookGraphics.

 
Credits: The Long Haul by Jessica Bolton; PooChi by Jessica Bolton; Grungy Neutrals by Studio Gypsy; Robokit by Ztampf!; Cherry Crushed Denim by Veronica Spriggs; Canine Dreaming by Tangie Baxter; Vintage Paper Lace by Tangie Baxter; Creative Fusion OUAT Scribe Elements by Studio Rosey Posey; Discovery by Studio Rosey Posey; To Do kit by Miss Vivi; Magnificent by Manu; Stitches Funny by Natali Design; Font for title is Shifty Chica, and journaling font is Typo American

 
Credits: {Take 2} Expressions by Studio Gypsy; Story Starters/blog freebie ("you are my..." ) by CD Muckosky; Pastiche for the Boys (brackets) by Jessica Bolton (retired); Font is Neutra Display

 
Credits: Hesitation by Miss Vivi; To Do Kit by Miss Vivi; Messy Machine Stitch Straight by Emily Merritt; fonts are Sway, typo american, and susie's hand

Journaling: 
Your gentle touches
(you often touch my arm, my nose, my hair
when we are having a conversation)
Your sense of humor
(You’re kinda silly! Here you are
pretending to eat a bunch of leaves)
You are creative, artistic,
and inventive!
You talk a LOT!
(everyone always says you are so quiet!
You actually talk a lot when you are home)
journaled bits around photos...
-love the dimples in your hands
-I love your sparkly hazel eyes!
-I love your freckles

That's all for today! I have a very busy afternoon/evening/night ahead so I really shoulda been off the computer and preparing for it about an hour ago!

my guest gig is almost over... last call!

EDITED TO REMOVE INVALID LINKS: I wrongly assumed my guest shop would be open through the end of the day. Two hours after I wrote this I was informed that my links aren't working. Apologies to those who clicked and didn't get where they wanted to go. Guess I should of done the last call yesterday or sooner. 

My Guest Studio at Scrapbook Graphics will be closing at the end of the day, or as soon as the switch is flipped off, so if you are interested in purchasing any of these designs before they are gone for good, hop on over and pick 'em up! Not that I will never sell my designs again, but I don't have a permanent home for my designs - real life is just too crazy/busy/stressful for me to make the necessary commitment to being a full-time designer at this time. I totally looooved being a Guest Designer at SBG though! Felt a little nostalgic to be back at my first digital scrapbooking store, getting reacquainted with old friends, and making some new ones, too! I want to be just like all of them when I grow up! Heehee! Fortunately though, when the month is over I won't be going far. I'm lucky enough to still a part of the ever fabulous SBG CREW.

Here is what I had in the shop this month...

The Long Haul was my totally brand new kit for the month. Don't let the camper and canopy fool you. Despite a couple of theme-y elements, this kit is completely versatile! It's on sale, 31% off! Example layouts and additional (and larger) previews can be seen in the product description. (image is click-able and will open in a new window) 

  

These products are from last year - I added them for the Oldies but Goodies week, but decided to let them hang around for the rest of the month. The are on sale from 44%-54% off regular prices. (all images are click-able and will open in a new window)







I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all my long time friends, supporters, cheer-leaders, and to my customers. Your faith and support over the years means more to me than you could ever know. Thank YOU!
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If you hung around Scrapbookgraphics throughout the past month, you are aware of all the fun that was had during the Summer Soiree celebration. Who went to the all day scrap chat? LOL *raising hand* I did! I did! I spent most of the day there. What a blast! But the party isn't over just yet! You still have most of the day to get in on some fun challenges for chances to win prizes! Prizes range in size from total store access to adorable posting bonuses for playing along. The challenges are EASY, too. The best part is that you have pages done to add to your family album or pieces of funky artwork to add to your portfolio.
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Now on a more personal note... all I can say is WOW. I can't believe it's the last day in August already! I am attending the first set of parent-teacher conferences for my boys this afternoon. Already?! Yes. The month has flown right on by, and although I have a lot of half-finished and barely started projects leftover (which make me sort of feel like an unaccomplished slacker), I am excited for what September will bring: a family get together or two in honor of Labor Day, the beginning of cross country for my younger teen, fall baseball for my two youngest boys, cooler weather (or so we hope), my baby's 7th birthday, my older teenager will start a new after school job (fingers crossed!), and hopefully more good things! I want to keep it simple. No real life drama, please! I don't want to make empty promises, but if I can get my act together I will attempt to wrap up some of these half finished projects that are digi-scrap related and possibly add them here as freebies. Not much else I can do with them, eh? ;) Just need the TIME and motivation to finish those.
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Last, but not least, if you are the praying sort my family could use your prayers. My Aunt Sherry (Dad's sister), who never smoked, was recently diagnosed with lung cancer after going to the emergency room for chest pains, they discovered blood clots in her lungs which led to the discovery of a tumor. The tumor is too close to her aorta for operation, so she has begun chemotherapy. Her PET scan last week revealed that the cancer has metastasized to her liver and bones so she is in stage IV. Aunt Sherry is seriously one of the toughest women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and loving, so she will fight this with everything she's got, but she could certainly use your prayers, wishes, and good thoughts. Thank you very much! 

guest designer @ sbg, new designs, and old designs

I am a huge slacker. Can't believe is is August 13th, and I haven't gotten around to blogging about this yet, but I have some kinda big news folks! If you are an active member of the digi-scrap-o-sphere then you have probably, no doubt, already heard about the recent activities @ ScrapbookGraphics. If not, then check this out... (image is clickable)



I have to smile every time I see my name on the list! Right there squeezed in between all those talented, creative souls. The festivities will last all month long, and even though the party has already started it isn't too late to jump into the mix. Join one of the games or challenges. You have a chance to win cool prizes! There are also some great giveaways coming soon, so keep watching SBG on Facebook and/or Twitter to stay informed.

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I've just added my first guest kit to the shop @ SBG!

 
 
 
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A little about how The Long Haul came to be...before Maya  even invited me to be a guest for August, I saw this post on Etsy's blog. Something about the campers stirred something up inside my head, and it immediately crossed my mind that I needed to open Illustrator and see if I could make my very own lil' camper. A few days went by and then Maya invited me to be a guest for August. I knew right away what direction I would be heading in with my first kit. To tell the truth, in the beginning it was going to be a full camping kit, but I changed directions after I was a few elements into creating it. I only wish it hadn't taken me so long to pull it all together. In my defense, we have had quite a lot of other things going on which kept me from being able to devote much time to design. But my boys are off to a good start at school and things are flowing somewhere smoothly for the time being.

*If you like what you see and are interested in purchasing The Long Haul, better hurry up and pick it up before the month is over, because it won't be available afterwards. I am not ready to jump back into being a full-time designer, and therefore I don't have a permanent home for my digital goods.

Now to inspire you, here are a few layouts created by my wonderful scrapping friends.


Model Camper? by Kim


Journey Together by Melinda


Memorable Moment by Melinda

 
in it for the long haul by Melissa C.


Memorable Moments by Raji



Long haul by Tania


Photography by Flor

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What else is going on over at ScrapbookGraphics? Check out this amazing sale... so many wonderful deals in there!


Click the image or HERE to go straight to the Golden Oldies sale category. Look for my three Golden Oldies, too! I put up Unamused Boys V2.0, Primarily Educational 2, and Freestylin' Fall. And once you're done shopping you can go HERE to read everything else that is going on at SBG right now. In addition to Twitter and Facebook mentioned above, the SBG Studio Matters blog is another place to go for current, up-to-date info on our Summer Soiree.

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That's all for today! Happy Friday the 13th!

i'm hosting a font challenge!

I almost forgot, and it is technically not Thursday anymore, but I am back with another post... as I promised to myself. ;) It'll be a short one!

This month I am hosting the "I Can Use That Font" challenge over at ScrapbookGraphics. I went with something with a little bit of a funky western flare. Here's the layout I created for the challenge:

(credits here)

Come play along for a chance to win a great prize ($10 GC to the Studio Girls Collective)!

Here's another recent layout of mine. All this white space is sort of out of the box for me. I always feel as though I have to fill up the page with stuff. Sooo happy with this one though!


(credits here)

Now, it is time for some much needed sleep.

monday again and news to share

Well, it's Monday again, and I have some news to share!

I'm now happy to announce that I am on the Studio Crew for Scrapbookgraphics. I was surprised (and so very honored) to be asked to join the team last week, and of course I couldn't turn down the opportunity. I have missed the SBG people since I left the site as a designer in 2008 (wow, it's really been that long, huh?). It feels good to be back home and working on the crew side this time. I'm totally looking forward to getting reacquainted with the old timers and getting to know the newer CT folk.

This is my first layout, done for the Wendyzine Scraps Play Day, which will be up on the blog later today.


[credits: Spotlight It by Wendyzine Scraps, Shadow It by Wendyzine Scraps, Splatter Graffiti (black) by Tangie Baxter, Robokit by Ztampf, Fonts are Bramley Std, Doodolonomy Fred, Malgecito <--- my new current favorite title font, find it here]

Quickest layout I have done all year! Normally I use my own shadow styles, tweek them as needed. So often, I spend far too much time on shadows when I just want to be done with the layout. Wendy's Shadow It actions were fun, easy to use and the shadows came out awesome without any tweaking at all. Nice change of pace, and I know I'll be using these often! Also, even though I have fallen off the 365 bandwagon and have yet to get back on, one huge advantage to taking a photo every day and adding a caption, however lengthy it may be, makes for instant journaling for your scrapbook layout. What a time saver. I love that. Another reason for me to work the 365 Project back into my life.

The allergy/cold thing I had going on on Friday has nearly subsided. Since no one else has been sick, and I very rarely come down with a cold that I haven't caught from one of the boys, I'm leaning towards an allergy flair-up of sorts that may have progressed into bronchitis. That's my self-diagnosis. Ha! Still have the cough keeping me up all night long, and every time I have to run up and down the stairs I start hacking, but otherwise feeling a lot better. It's nice to be able to breathe through my nose. I'm having my first coffee since Friday morning, which has cured the splitting headache and lethargy, thank goodness!

Such a busy day we are going to have today. As usual, on Monday there is laundry to be done, cleaning to do, groceries to be bought, dinner to think about putting together, and the list of other stuff I probably won't be able to tackle goes on. Also today, if the rain doesn't hit us too hard, Joey will have T-ball practice tonight and immediately following his practice, Jace has to be at the ballpark for a game. Ack! When to have dinner?!

OK. Time to move my rear end!

impossible to scrap just one

I'm beginning to believe that it is impossible for me to create just one scrapbook page at a time. Just one page and then stop, close Photoshop, and move on. Seems like an easy enough concept, but my creative juices get to flowing and it seems silly to stop while I'm in the zone. This pretty much sums up everything I do though. Once I get started on something I don't like to stop until I feel like I have accomplished something BIG. It's always all or none with me and I feel pretty frustrated when I can't finish something, so I never start or I put it off until there's more time. Unfortunately, there'll never be more than 24 hrs in one day though. I would probably be more productive in life, as a whole, if I could learn to control this "bad habit" and just do a little here and a little there of everything. That's the same thing as learning how to balance it all, right? Funny how even when I know what is wrong, it's so hard for me to put a fix on it. Ahhhh, I'm rambling on about the same ol' stuff again.

So back to scrapbooking. I have three new pages to share.

First, another page for my Stinky Inky Poo. And this time I controlled the urge to use her name in extra large letters as the title. Hehe. This was her first bath in the big tub. We found out that she already knows how to swim. She starts to doggy paddle as soon as you hold her over the tub. It's hilarious! 

Since our main bathroom is the ugliest Pepto Bismol pink you will ever see, I changed the pictures to B&W. Black and white works great for Inky photos because she is... well, black and white. Dianne Rigdon's Homey papers and elements seemed to be the perfect pop of color that I needed to finish the layout off. Gotta love scrapping for my doggie because it gives me a chance to use girlie stuff that I can't get away with using on layouts for the boys.

(credits here)
 


And below is a two page layout that I created for all of my "Mule Day" parade photos. I feel inspired to create more two page layouts with tons of photos more often. It's a nice feeling to have almost every picture I took that day scrapped and accounted for.

(credits for left page here, and credits for right side page here)

 

What else is going on in my world? 

The Boys:
Jace and Joey are still going strong in baseball/T-ball. Baseball has taken over our lives! Have I mentioned that lately? LOL They are loving it and having a great time though so I can't complain. As far as Jared is concerned, I had a very bad Mama moment last night! He left his phone in his jeans pocket, and you guessed it... I washed his phone. So it's currently buried in a bowl of rice in the hopes that all the moisture will be absorbed. He just got his own phone for his 13th birthday in February, had it taken up at school (and they kept it for almost three weeks) the first week he had it, and now this. Someone needs to be a little more responsible. Eeek. And I need to remember to check pockets! You'd think after killing 3 ipods I'd know by now. Sigh. Last but not least, Josh, our 16 yr old, is getting his license today. Well, I am taking him to take the road test at least. We always said he wasn't going to get his license until he was 18, but I think it's time. He needs to find a job by this summer (not to mention buy a car), and while I wouldn't mind taking him back and forth to work, him being able to drive will certainly come in handy.

365 Project:
I've all but fallen off and been run over by the 365 Project bandwagon, but I'm trying really hard to catch up and jump back on and get back into the habit of taking a photo every day. Since May is my birthday month, perhaps I will put extra effort into it. I'm not giving up just yet!

Cooking:
I burnt my hand THREE TIMES on the oven rack last week. Twice on my middle finger and once on my thumb, which caused a pretty nice blister. News flash: ovens are hot!!! Another sigh. I still plan to share some of my dinner creations here. One day, one day...

That's it for today.
I'm going to challenge myself to blog at least one more time by the week's end, even if I gotta do it from my phone again darn it!

i miss glue.

It's true. I've had this little nagging thought in the back of my mind for a while now. Maybe it's always there, only I have gotten so used to suppressing the urge to squirt glue for so long that it hasn't bothered me so much. But lately, since I made the decision (just about a week ago) that I want to convert the downstairs "kitchen" into my "studio/office", that little voice just won't shut up. It is saying "hurry up and make some progress already so you can CREATE!"  Folks, it has been a looooong time since I've gotten my hands dirty! And I really miss the feeling of peeling Mod-Podge (my #1 adhesive of choice) off my fingers, elbows, and clothes! Most of my scrap/crafty stuff is already stored in the cabinets in the area I want to convert so not having to move a lot of stuff is a bonus. Not to mention that having a real office combined with a real craft space, (not just a corner of the dining room where my desk is currently crammed and piled high with papers, baskets and sorting racks - a failed attempt at organization) would be NICE. We have a tiny house as it is, so it's a shame to let that good space go to waste. Now, if only we'd win the lottery!

Below are some of the altered/hybrid projects I've created in the past. These are all old images, scrounged up from my Photobucket account, but I thought they'd be fun to share again since my old blog posts are gone. Keep in mind that these are all old projects - I was altering and doing a little hybrid stuff before it was cool. Hehehe. But like I said my hands are aching to get dirty again one day soon! My head may explode with ideas before the time comes.


Above: One of my favorite hybrid projects, despite being very simple. I used a plain black mini scrapbook. Covered the book with papers by Shabby Princess of The Shabby Shoppe, added the tabs from the kit to the inside and a few ribbons. Originally I was going to put in snapshots of the boys, but after our boxer, Missy, passed away ... we filled it with pictures of her. It has actually held up nicely considering how much it has been used.


Above: I made this accordion album as a birthday gift for my mother, and filled it with black and white photos of all of her grandchildren.The picture really doesn't do this book justice.


Above: This is not an altered or hybrid project, but one of the last few 100% hands-on paper pages that I created. Paper, ink, and paint, oh my! I miss it all! And those two adorable baby boys are the reason I really had to switch over to almost 100% digital. I was tired of little hands swiping my ink pads, tubes of paint, etc... and creating a disaster with them. LOL. So easy to blame the young'uns, huh?


Above: I made this altered clock as a super quick Christmas present for my Dad. I wish I'd laid off the distressing of the photo a bit, but it still turned out awfully cute and was a nice touch for Dad's office. I keep saying I'm going to make one for myself. One day, one day....


Above: An altered box that I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas many years ago. It was filled with handmade cards, too. After all these years, I still love, love, love me some Basic Grey paper. I haven't bought any in a very long time, but I have enough of the old stuff to last the rest of my life. No lie. :) Finding this box reminds me of another phase I went through, but can't find any good photos for (I'll have to dig out some dvd's to see if I still have them): altered cigar boxes. Those things are cool, and very useful for storing alpha stamp sets, and other little odds and ends. Once my new space is ready, quite possibly in 2020, the first thing I'm doing is sending my husband out to all the tobacco places to collect more boxes for me to alter.


Above: This photo of an altered wooden frame is actually one of this years 365 photos. I was looking for something to take a picture of, and this is what Joey suggested. I remember this being quite a messy project with all the layering of paper strips and Mod-Podging, but also one of the most fun. Another project that I wouldn't mind trying again and again.

Editing to add one last project I scrounged up...

 Above: Quick and easy hybrid altoid tin using Shabby Princess' Smarshmallows Piece-A-Cake Altoid Tin Album.

Thank you for taking this little trip down memory lane with me. We will have to go again some day when I am prepared with more photos, not just what I can find in my Photobucket account.