Month: November 2011

11.11.11

Thinking of all those veterans who have served their country, all those in military who serve today. I will have to write a letter to my favorite US Army private today… in the meantime I encourage you to check out this blog hop:

Operation Write Home’s blog hop: http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/2011/11/111111-veterans-day-bloghop.html 

(note: I am not part of this hop – just think it’s a very cool one)

For now, I’m off to make 11.11.11 memorable with my two young ladies who are off of school today.

Holidays 2011 | getting started

12 days of Christmas is good. The advent calendars have 24 days. But this year, to share with you, I’m going for 25 days. But first, an introduction…

I’m about to launch a 25-post strong holiday crafting series here, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. These will be real projects, pages, and ideas that I am personally using this holiday season. Before I get that started though, I wanted to share a post about my holiday schedule. You see, I’m a firm believer in extending the preparations period so that the words “stressed” and “rushed” (almost) NEVER enter my holiday vocabulary. I believe any and all holiday offerings should come from a place of love and happiness!

So here are the rules I follow:

1. Christmas photo to be taken in early November. [full post on this as soon as I take mine!]

2. I buy my holiday cards, I do not craft them, mostly because I love pre-made cards and have no desire to mass-produce the 50-70 cards I’d need. I did it one year and I resented the cards – it is just not for me. I buy an assortment (on sale the year before) and address them/fill them out/add photo/seal them up a few at a time starting the first week of November. Usually as I watch TV or need a quiet break from other things.

3. All “to be mailed” gifts must be purchased, wrapped, and MAILED by Tuesday BEFORE Thanksgiving. The years I’ve let this one slide I have gravely regretted the hour+ the post office took! The days before Thanksgiving tend to be quiet in postal land. Take advantage!

4. Before I am allowed to fully immerse myself into holiday zone, I must write down my lists. Who I’m sending cards to, who I’m getting gifts for, what gifts I’ve purchased early, what my baking plans are, etc. The holiday prep can be overwhelming, but by organizing myself I’ve found I don’t spin in circles, forget as much, and having it on paper helps keep it manageable. It also helps me remember people I want to make sure and not forget (for cookies, whatever!)

5. The day after Thanksgiving is for decorating inside and out!! Tree, decor, the works! This day we really get things turned up with music, movies, and full on Christmas mode. We love to lay low, avoid crowds, love every minute together.

6. I enjoy myself, and treat even the mundane tasks as traditions to be enjoyed. By working from a place of happiness, I am always smiling this time of year!

The most important rule in my mind is that you choose what you do, how, and why. The spirit of the season is different for every person, and there’s no one right way to do it.

This year I want to focus on wrapping gifts earlier and doing more with each one (vs just special wrapping a few). Last year we took a vacation for the first week of December, which I allowed to disrupted a lot of my normal traditions and flow. I had a whole different outlook and approach – including skipping most of the baking and getting a late start on our decorating. I was fine with that – honestly I enjoyed mixing it up. But it reminded me why I go to the post office early, why I like writing my cards in November not December, and why in general I like to space things out more.

Because the true secret to my holiday happiness? Come December 10th, when a lot of people are running around and frantic to get finished, I’m sipping cocoa and reading a holiday novel or watching White Christmas. I’m baking a batch of cookies with my girls and doing something fun. I’m relaxed – because I give myself the time and space to be. THAT is truly a gift!! In fact, this Saturday we’re going to have a holiday craft day at my mom’s place to get things started!

I just purchased the Christmas Junque kit from http://www.rhonnadesigns.com/ – LOVE IT! You’ll see me using it a lot over the next six weeks or so. My “25 crafty ideas” series… well I don’t quite know if that’s the name I’ve settled on. You’ll see 25 projects – including how-to, videos, all kinds of good information – starting Monday. I will likely have other blog posts mixed in as well, so it’s not going to 100% take over my blog or be 25 days in a row. But everything I share? REAL. I’m going to share a lot of gift wrap, some home decor, hostess/teacher/small gift ideas, a mini book, some holiday tags, favorite recipes, and throughout these posts I’ll add in some of my personal favorite music, movies, and more. So I guess it’s more 25 days of holiday cheer than just crafty ideas!!!

I hope you’re going to enjoy it as much as I am – and I’m just getting started!! I’d love to hear any tips or “rules” you follow to make most of holiday season.

Rookie Year [award idea]

Today ends my rookie season as team soccer mom [oh, and Elizabeth’s as a soccer team rookie!] with a pizza party and awards for the girls. It was the coach’s idea to give them a photo (Framed), and this is what I came up with:

In Photoshop Elements I edited each photo. I sized it to 4×6 and “reverse black & white” tooled the photo which means I selected the girl + soccer ball, then de-saturated the color on the rest of the photo to about 30-40%. This made the girl pop – and really become the star!

Then I opened a new 5×7 document and drew a bunch of scratchy lines all over the file background (with brushes). Then I added the photo (4×6), added a ‘scratched edges’ .png that would add grunge around the layers, and added a drop shadow to help that picture “pop” from it’s mat. Finally I used a Varsity font to write out the girl’s name. To add pop to that – I just used my paint bucket tool to add green to the previously transparent thin outline around the letters.

Re-creating for each girl was easy – just the photo + text had to be redone. The other layers I left exactly as-is in that 5×7 document. The hardest part? Searching through photos from 10 games to find a good action shot of each girl – facing me. That took a LONG time.

I had visions of adding their number, maybe decking out that plain black frame more… but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I like it simple. and really – sometimes simple IS best. My work here is done, and it was fun to use my digital scrapbook skills for good in my motherly duties.

I’m retiring my soccer mom chair and being totally ok with my Wednesdays and Saturdays being freed up. For now…

just me & my [sizzix] big shot

This month the Scrapbook Update staff is talking Die Cuts for our round-up topic. You can check out Melissa Stinson’s blog and Nancy Nally’s blog if you want to see what the other SBU’ers have to say about the subject. As for me, I’m going to talk about how die cuts fit into my crafting, what I look for in die cuts, and share a new project too.

I use a Sizzix Big Shot that I purchased from amazon.com. For about $50 (free shipping too!) from amazon it also includes a pair of cutting pads and a multipurpose plate that is needed for small dies or embossing folders. Truly – a great value! While Sizzix makes fancier machines, and this one requires some good old fashioned elbow grease I am totally satisfied with this machine. I also have a Slice by Making Memories that I was given as a gift from a dear friend. I find that I like it, but simply don’t use it very often. At about $55 for a starter set from amazon.com it’s reasonably priced, and there are a lot of options customization wise with electronic machines like this or Cricut, Silhouettes, etcetera.

Yet – it doesn’t appeal to me. I know there are arguments FOR an electronic more customizable die cut system – they just don’t really apply to me. Probably because what I want in a die cut machine is for it to cut anything. You see, I purchased my Big Shot with the express purpose of eliminating all those expensive fabric and mulberry paper flowers I was buying. I figured out that just 8-12 packages of those lovely flowers cost the same amount as the Big Shot + flower die I wanted. CRAZY! Now I make the flowers I want, in the exact colors I want from whatever material I want!

The sizzix steel dies mean business. Chipboard, grunge paper, fabric, felt, multiple sheets of patterned paper – it’ll cut almost anything I could want!! Not just that, but I can layer a grunge paper base with tissue tape, patterned paper, or anything else and then run it through my machine. Totally cool! My most used dies are:  scallop lace circle, and Tim Holtz dies –  tattered florals, hearts, butterflies,  leaves –  and my new favorite – the distressed doily on the edge die!

Today I’m going to share a brand new project using that new doily die. When I first get a die I grab some scrap paper and test it out. I see what happens if I put the paper in all the way, if I do partial cuts, and just get the feel for it. My idea for this die is to use in place of partial doily accents on my scrapbook page. So often I use about a 1/2 doily – and I’d love to use acid free paper instead so by die cutting my own from cardstock – well I’m so excited! Now imagine my delight when I realized that not only can this die create a partial doily, but it can also create a doily-like pocket.

I took a no.8 Tag and covered it with adhesive, and patterned paper. I cut off the excess patterned paper and put the now patterned tag onto my die cut, making sure to line up the edge of the tag with the edge of the foam. Then I ran it through my Big Shot.

The doily edge pops up – but doesn’t fully punch out this way. I glued a piece of patterned paper to the back of this tag (just at the very edges) and this will form the back side of my “pocket” now ready for stuffing with notes, gift cards, and any other little treat! But first – I want to add more dies!

The snowman I die cut from a scrap of vellum. That’s another thing I love – any size, shape, or funky scrap of paper will work! I used just a little bit of glossy accents to adhere him – and I used a squirt of perfect pearls mist (in perfect pearl) and I edged him with faded jeans distress ink. The tag itself – I couldn’t resist taking my brand new Tim Holtz limited edition stamp set out for a trial run around the edge! LOVE!

The snowflake (vellum) dies are cut from that same snowman die. The paper snowflake dies are from Pink Paislee’s die cut package from their Snow Day collection. [sooo cute!]

What started out as a test run for a new die cut turned into some festive fun that will become a gift for someone special this holiday season.

My favorite aspect of this tag (aside from AWESOMENESS that is the fact that i can do gift card holders with this doily die – and that this trick would totally work on a card!!)  is that vellum snow man. He reminds me to look beyond patterned paper and cardstock for my die cutting, and have more fun with my crafting too.

Supply list for tag:

InLinkz.comenabler alert: new Tim Holtz winter seasonal distress ink set available from simonsaystamp.com and scrapbook.com

I hope you liked today’s tag and look at how and why I use a die cutting machine. It’s definitely inspired me to write more about this tool that gets used near daily here in my studio.

As for the holiday nature of the project – well stay tuned. My “25 days of Christmas” project extravaganza is starting within the week!

a first peek…

I have another Disney post 1/2 done – but this has been a wild weekend! I will have to finish that page in the next day or two. How was my weekend? FABULOUS!

First I had an AMAZING time down at www.stamperscorner.net in Elk Grove, CA teaching and having a blast getting fingers messy and creatively just got such a  re-charge. LOVED it. I even got to meet THE WANDA GUESS. Yeah, as in that awesome cardmaking blogger who blows my mind. I want to create with her and have her magic rub off on me. I made a card today on my own – it wasn’t magic. I guess I need to spend more time in her presence!!! Wanda was awesome, so sweet, and seriously I just wanted to pick her brilliant crafty mind all day. I LOVE WANDA!!! [in a totally crafty way. not in a creepy way]

Then lots of family time, and oh yeah. DEADLINE TIME. I’m talking about my BPC class. The one that I’ve been working on all fall (and a bit of summer too)… the one that’s gonna be a 12 week class starting in early February 2012. The class that I *finally* named with a lot of help and feedback from some awesome people. it has been “that 12 week 2012” class for MONTHS now. I’m not gonna tell you its name just yet… but would you like a first peek?

That peek is just a simple little tag… that has become my favorite project featuring my new favorite stamp that i didn’t know I owned. (whoops) I will tell you this too: By the time I’m done with this class it will have over 50 videos in addition to the usual hand outs and active classroom environment you’re used to from me. I will also tell you that this class is not just my biggest class – it’s my most technique focused one ever. We get really deep into specific products, techniques, approaches, and so much more… I’m really excited. Ok FINE! you’ve twisted my arm here is a second peek too…

Right now I’m building the early weeks of class and I’m just ITCHING to break out the crazy funky mixed media collage work and wild layouts… but it’s not time for that just yet. That comes later in class. Right at the moment I’m double checking my handouts and uploading like crazy so that Brandi (aka AWESOME BPC EDITOR!!) can edit my weirdness into the greatness that is any BPC class.

I’d better get back to photo editing and double checking all my week 1 & 2 materials…

in the meantime – happy crafting!!!

[if you get any weird emails or energetic voice mails from me I fully blame the fact that I’m hopped up on Earl Grey tea at the moment]