Happy Leap Day!

I saw on a blog that an idea for Leap Day is to get pictures of people leaping. Thought it was a cute idea and so I tried to get the girls to leap for me. It was harder than I thought to tell them to go ahead and jump and actually have them DO it! LOL Jessica wasn't in the mood, although she was happy to do some jumping jacks...unfortunately the picture is blurry! So, you'll have to be content with a couple of pictures of Amy. She was showing off her new found ability to actually jump rope as well as being overall goofy. And yep, took these today. She's wearing shorts because it felt warm enough to her to do so (it was in the low 60s today). Guess she is just as excited as anyone to have spring get here. Oh and I hear tomorrow we may get close to 70, with a chance of SNOW on Saturday night. HUH? That's Colorado for ya!

Hope you had a great "extra" day. Amy was off of school (district wide teacher work day). I got my teeth cleaned-and look, ma...no cavities! LOL We went to the Dollar Tree and Joann's afterwards, then a quick stop at Archiver's (sorry, Kathi) to use a coupon... Then home for lunch and some games with the girls and the above mentioned leaping adventure.

No creative projects today...everytime I tried to sneak time on the computer the girls decided it was time to fight and generally distract me. Maybe this weekend!

Shadow Box digi "Layout"

Here is something I have had in the works for a day or so. Actually, it's sort of the backup of what I intended to create, but I really like the end result.

The story behind the creation of this is kind of convoluted, and those who know me will probably chuckle as I explain. You all know how I have fallen in love with Kay Miller Designs and Nitwitcollections. I recently started checking out the combined gallery they have for layouts using either or both designer's products. (The designers are good friends). WEEEEEELLLLLL...one of the layouts posted was a shadow box showcasing Nitwit Collection items. I thought the layout was adorable and I wanted to try my hand at it. But I had to find that shadow box. So, I tried searching for the designer (Raechel Knight). Found her blog and found the store where she sells her products. But the only shadowbox I saw was used to showcase the product. Nowhere did it say that the box came with the item. I tried emailing her, but to date haven't gotten a response. I tried finding an email for the creator of the layout posted in the gallery, but none was listed. I ended up posting a second comment under the layout asking the creator if she'd be willing to contact me with where she got the shadowbox. In the meantime, I even posted on the Jessica Sprague message boards and got a couple of responses for products that were open boxes (although not what I was specifically looking for...cool enough for me to purchase). The gal who created the layout I liked DID email me! But the shadowbox was only available if you were a paid subscriber to the site. The cost was reasonable, so I signed up for a month (and have access to lots of downloads) grabbed the file for the shadow box.

At the same time, there was a new challenge posted on the Spraground (as the girlfriends are now calling Jessica's website) using a 9 square grid to create a layout. I wanted to try the challenge, and decided to use the boxes I just picked up (not the shadow box, since it's not a grid). I wanted to practice extractions as well. So that is what I worked on most of today. It was looking okay, my extractions were fine, but I couldn't get the shadowing to look right. Just as I was going to save my work....I shifted in my seat and my shoe hit the reset button on my computer! (can we say a collective OOOOOOOHHHHHHH NNNNNNOOOOOOO). Sigh....I had worked painstakingly on the extractions...and they were gone. I was disheartened to say the least and also kicking myself for not saving two minutes earlier. Since I wasn't liking my shadows anyway (something I will need to figure out) I decided to go for plan B, which was to create something using the shadowbox.

You still with me? :o) Thanks, if you are!

Now, after all that, here's the layout...



I used the shadowbox from Raechel Knight, from a subscription program at Scrapbook-Bytes.

The papers and elements are from a huge collaboration effort by Mary Fran at Nitwit and Kay Miller. The whole kit is called Happily Ever After and there are several components one can purchase. I used things from several of the components.

Whew! A lotta work went into getting this end result. I did learn a few things, not the least of which is to save more often. Yes, I know I should and usually I'm good about it, but I was engrossed in making my extractions look better. (paperscrappers-this would be the equivalent of cutting out only the person or object you want from a picture... a silhouette I think it's called). I know how to do the extraction now, even though I ended up NOT using any in this layout, so that's good. And as I said, I really DO like how this came out.

Thanks for reading if you got this far!!!!

Special Delivery

This is gonna be quick, because Blogger doesn't appear to be working well and I wanted to share.

I've been percolating how to scrap these photos for the past few days. Then tonight I saw this template when I was checking out something else out at Scrapbook Graphics and I loved that arrow. Janet Phillips designed the collection called Misfits #4.

Tan paper is from Nitwitcollections Frost n Flakes kit, the other elements/papers are from Snow Day.

Font is called Artist

Click on the picture to enlarge it...


Thanks for visiting. I didn't get much time to create today, but my house looks pretty decent at the moment. I have another layout I want to work on tomorrow...hopefully I get the chance....til then, hope YOU find some time to create something soon.

Interested in a Beginner Jessica Sprague Class?

Then go to her website tomorrow (Monday, Feb. 25th) evening at 9pm Eastern time and sign up for her Up and Running With Photoshop class! This is the first one I took and it started my journey into digi scrapping. Better yet, don't wait until tomorrow to check things out. Go there now! See all the fun things going on in the Forums and Gallery. You don't need to be in a class to have access to the General Stuff! Click HERE to get to her website.

Don't hesitate too long, though...the classes fill up fast!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming....

Natural Beauty Digi Layout and Ramblings

Thanks for all the well wishes after my post about having a humdinger of a headache. I did indeed park myself on the couch, tried to nap, but kept getting woken up by everyone else, so I mainly dozed. Then hubby took the girls to Burger King for dinner. I wasn't really hungry but said he could bring me back something to eat. They were gone quite a while and came back sans food! He said it didn't taste very good and asked what I wanted to eat. I said a pb&j. He said REALLY? I love them! So he asked the girls which one would like to make me a sandwich. Amy jumped up and volunteered. That was probably THE BEST pb&j sandwich I EVER ate. Know why? Because it was made with loving care by my daughter! It must have been sprinkled with some magic as I felt a lot better after eating it.

My sweet Amy also told me she was sorry she gave me her cold when I tucked her into bed...guess she thought I was getting sick, too. Awwwww.....


I didn't get off the couch for the remainder of the evening and went to bed a little early. Thankfully, when I woke up this morning the headache was gone! (told you there was magic in that pb&j).


I saw on a blog something about how many people have your name and I was intrigued so I checked out the site (I'm always leery of these types of things, thinking it is full of spybots and other unsavory computer gnats). I typed in my name and it appears there are something like 165,000 plus people with the spelling of my name in the US (and 99.9% of them are female-ya think?). There are 334 people who have my last name. AND there is NO ONE in the US with my full name. Wow...does that mean I'm sorta unique?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Anyway it was fun to see. Here's the link if you want to check it out for yourself. How Many of Me? (In case the image doesn't click right)

And if you read all that (or skipped it to get to the layout) here you go!

A lot of digi scrappers love photo actions. I've held off on jumping on the bandwagon because, well, I sorta like the pictures I take and think they look okay in their "natural" state. That's not to say they are professional looking, because they aren't at all, but I think I'm lucky in getting some eye pleasing (well to my eye anyway) shots. But, lately I've been thinking of converting to black and white and sepia tones without having to try to remember what all numbers I need to use. So I went to Scrapgirls.com and picked out a basic photos action. (for non digi people, after you install the action to PSE, when you click on a button, it does all the steps for you to change the photo). So the photo in this layout is black and white with color. I thought it looked really neat and wanted to scrap it. So, I chose to use Kay Miller Designs (yes...I know...again) All Organic page kit. I used a template of hers as well (from Collection 12) The font is Digs My Heart from dafont.com.

I like how it came out and wanted to share.
Thanks for looking!

Beautiful Rose Layout-Orton Effect

Over at the Jessica Sprague message board, the gals entertain themselves while waiting for a new class by offering challenges or posting a neat technique. Kimi, of Kimi Creations posted directions last month on how to create the Orton Effect on her blog. And the girlfriends on the "Spraground" have been sharing their efforts with this effect. I'm a little late to the game, but this is my attempt.

This rose is from Steve on Valentine's Day. I'm not sure I really got the effect to look right, but I do think it looks interesting. Sort of a blurry painted effect, I think. At least I attempted something a little different and a little bit out of my comfort zone.
Credits:
Paper-Emily Merritt-Heart Attack papers from Little Dreamer Designs.
Frame-Katie Pertiet-Over the Edge Flourish from a Jessica Sprague class, but you might be able to find it at Designer Digitals
Brads-Shabby Miss Jenn-from Xmas Market kit at Shabby Miss Jenn Designs
Fonts Beautiful Caps (for the capital letters) and Beautiful ES for the rest of the word. (Thanks, Becky)

With that, I am going to hang out on the couch. I have to admit to having a headache that won't quit today. So, I'm going to rest my pounding head. I don't know if I'll post anything else today. If don't, thanks again for visiting!

Women of Life Cards (from Papertrey Ink)

In the days leading up to a new release of stamp sets at Papertrey Ink, projects are shown that showcase the upcoming stamps. This month it was PTI's 1st anniversary and lots of announcements were being made. One of which was that there were designers who created stamp sets. The designers showcased artwork using their stamp set. I fell in love with the projects (and therefore the stamps) shown by designer Melissa Bickford of the Just Dandy blog. The stamp set is called Women of Life. I used this set primarily because I was "inkspired" by her creations. I also used a stamp or two from Polka Dot Basics. If you check out the Just Dandy blog, you can see the cards she created that inspired me, as well as her directions. On some of the cards, I chose to make a standard sized card, as opposed to a square sized card.

I typed the descriptions first and then show the card.

For this first one, I also used my new Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder. Colors are Holiday Red, White and Black. (colors from Close To My Heart, as is the ribbon). This card was modified from the designer's because I prefer standard sized cards for mailing and also because I don't have the Nestabilities embossing shapes, which is what she used. I did cut a square out of white, edged it with Holiday Red ink, and then adhered it to a slightly larger white square to add some depth.
This next card uses Desert Sand and Indian Corn Blue, and White Daisy (CTMH). I cut the white flower with my Cricut, using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. I inked the edges with ICB. Melissa used a silk/paper flower, but I didn't have one large enough. The brads are from my stash.

This next card uses Indian Corn Blue, Sweet Leaf and White. I stamped the flowers in white on the ICB cardstock and then used my white Souffle pen to add the dots. The centers are stamped using ICB ink. The ribbon is some I had in my stash...I think it was ribbon from a gift I received and the stick pin is from JoAnn's when they were on clearance last summer. Guess my ribbon is more wrinkled than I thought. Sorry about that!
This next card is 3 1/2 by 8. I used the Polka Dot Basics set to create the dots on the Sweet Leaf base. Very cool because I didn't have to try to line up or offset the dots, just the edge of the stamp and the randomness works perfectly. I popdotted the two larger flowers. I used my Making Memories tag maker to create the tag. Ribbon is Black Organdy from CTMH. The pink square is Hollyhock. The larger flowers are stamped with Hollyhock and the smaller ones with Vineyard Berry. (CTMH colors)
I modified this last one as well. It's now a standard sized card. I used Sweet Leaf, Blush and Baby Pink (CTMH colors) I pretty much followed what Melissa shows on her blog, with the exception of heat embossing. Well, I take that back. I TRIED heat embossing some pearlized embossing powder I had, but it didn't give enough of an iridescent look. So I took my glue pen and smeared glue over the embossing and added Prisma Glitter. You can't tell very well, but I stamped the flowers using Baby Pink and Blush ink. In her description of the card, Melissa shows how she uses her scallop scissors to create the mat. I tried it and it almost worked! She said that she adds a brad, button or flower to hide any messiness in the final cut. Guess who needed to add a flower? LOL I found that bauble center at Michaels today. They have bags of these colored rounded acrylic discs near the silk flower area. I've seen blogs where designers are using these "gemstones" and I thought they looked neat, so of course I had to hunt them down. After stamping and glittering, I used a micro tip black pen to add the dots.
Inside the card.
I had fun working with this set this afternoon! Thanks for visiting! Up next I'm going to post the layout I created yesterday and forgot to post....

Snow Princess and Snow Angel...

Apparently I'm in the mood to scrap the pictures from last January. As I mentioned, it was the beginning of a winter full of snow. The pictures I used today were taken the same day as the sledding ones I used yesterday. I was thinking today of how much snow we had at this time last year and today we just have a couple of patches here and there. Yesterday it was in the 60s!

This first one is one of my favorites of Jessica. She looks so sweet and happy! I am on a roll with Kay Miller Designs and until I get over it, you'll be seeing lots of layouts with either hers or Mary Fran's (of NitwitCollections) designs. Kay posted a layout in the joint gallery for Kay Miller and NitwitCollections that I absolutely loved. You can see it here. I decided to scraplift her design. The colors of the kit she used didn't work with my photo, but I sure do like how the colors in the page kit Snow Princess worked! I started out with one of Kay Miller's templates, but ended up modifying it quite a bit (I mainly just wanted the large circle). Then I created larger circles based off the main one and filled each layer with color &/0r a background paper. To get the snow princess around the circle, I used a text path I picked up from Jen Caputo at Scrapbookgraphics. The font is Pea Nancy. It is a 12 x 12 page with a lot of white spaceOf course I had to create a layout with just Amy and this is what I came up with. This layout uses pieces from kits from NitwitCollections; Winter Wishes, Frost n Flakes and Snow Day. Again I did start out with a Kay Miller template and modified the heck out of it. For this one I wanted the mat with the outline for Amy's picture. I didn't really want to use the same colors as Jessica's layout and found that the papers picked up well the red in her jacket and made the color in her cap (as well as her cheeks) pop!
I am brimming with layouts I want to create, but with limited time. Ah well. I'll do what I can when I can. :o)

I picked up Jessica Sprague's newest special edition of Creating Keepsakes this evening. It's called Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking vol. 2. I'm looking forward to working my way through it.

I don't know if any of you knew, or are even interested in this, but there was a lunar eclipse tonight. It was a bit tough to see in our neck of the woods due to cloud cover, but it cleared up enough just as it occurred that the girls got to see it and they were so excited. Amy, who is currently enthralled with all things space related, kept saying over and over...this is incredible. This is awesome. We got the binoculars out and tried taking pictures. It wasn't working until Steve had me try it with the tripod. Not quite good enough. Then he remembered that my camera has a timer feature. That worked pretty well. Here are some shots from earlier this evening. Amy had to get her current library book out about space and the planets. She was comparing the pictures in the book to the moon she was seeing.

Jessica found the moon using the binoculars.

These photos were taken using our tripod, the timer, and the nighttime distant landscape setting on the camera. Not too shabby for a somewhat cloudy night and a couple of real amateur photographers!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you find time to create a little something today.

Snow Fun

I didn't think I was going to be able to create a layout today like I had hoped. But I sat down after we got the girls to bed and this is the result. It's not even a layout I had planned to do, but somehow it just happened! Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, don't you? These photos were taken after our back to back blizzards in late December-early January 2007. I think it's pretty self explanatory. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. :o)
Credits: Kay Miller Designs Template from Collection 7 (modified the placement of the photos in the layout) and the page kit is called Arctic Antics. The font is Pea Nancy.

Thanks for visiting!

Icicles Layout and an Enabler Alert

Ever look at a word and it just looks like it isn't spelled right? That would be the word icicles for me today. I have even spell checked it! I'm such a dork sometimes! LOL. Anyway, here's a layout I was able create this afternoon. I was in the middle of doing laundry and taking a break from the housecleaning I was doing. The girls were playing rather well together after our playdate this morning. I'm continuing to promote my love affair with Kay Miller Designs! There is a joint gallery for Kay Miller Designs and NitwitCollections and I decided to take a look around. Oh boy! I saw a layout there with an icicle as the subject and I remembered this picture I took of the icicles off our porch at the beginning of the back to back snowstorms we had in late 2006-early 2007. (how many times have I typed icicles now and it STILL doesn't look right to me. LOL)

This layout is the result of that inspiration. I used a template (#84) from Mrs Wresh and the SnowPrincess Kit from Kay Miller Designs. Font is Mammagamma, which I'm sure I pulled off the internet somewhere. :o)
And now here's my enabler alert for those of you who have Cuttlebugs and a Hobby Lobby near you. Kathi posted recently that there were some new Cuttlebug dies and embossing folders coming out. Weeeeeeeeelllllllll...of course I had to hunt and see if I could find any locally....and I was successful this evening! The Hobby Lobby near where I live has the Swiss Dots, Perfectly Paisley and Floral Fantasy embossing folders. AND Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon this week....I was too impatient to buy just one a day with a coupon, so I used the coupon on one and bought the other two outright. (can you believe it) I just knew if I didn't pick them up right then, when I came back they'd be sold out. (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). So, there you go! Just passing along the info. It's up to you what you do with it. (big grin and mischievous giggle)....

Thanks for visiting! I'm going to go scope out some more of the gallery I discovered....Hope you create a little something today.

Enabled Verification on the Blog

This will be my last post for today, but I wanted to let you know that I have enabled the verification feature on this blog. A comment was posted earlier (which has been deleted) where the commentor wanted me to click on a link. A friend emailed me concerned that it might be a virus. Obviously I didn't click on the link, but it isn't the first time I've gotten a strange comment, so I thought enabling the verification feature would help prevent future problems.

Thanks for understanding. I hope it won't dissuade people from leaving comments, although I realize it's an extra step now to do so.

Sunshine Sisters

Another layout thanks toKay Miller Designs. I modified a template from her Collection 12. The kit is called Light of My Life. These colors just plain and simply make me smile.
Thanks for looking! :o)

Happy Feet!

Well, here is the finished layout. I went in a new direction as you can see, but I am much happier with this version! I was looking through my Kay Miller page kits and at first looked over this one, but when I went through again later, I saw the happiness border and it clicked! Then I thought...oh... Happy Feet...that's a great title! And it flowed from there. I have completely fallen in love with Kay Miller Designs and Nitwit Collections. They just make me happy!

Template: Collection 13, Happy Hearts page kit Kay Miller Designs
Fonts: Pea Tracy and the heart is a doodle from Ali Edwards Fresh Fonts cd.

I've just downloaded some new kits from these sites so you'll see more soon!

Thanks for visiting! Create something to make you happy today.

Need Some Help on this Layout...

Here's a layout I'm working on. I really like this template and the glittery heart thing. But I don't know what to title this one. And I'm not sure if the green is too bright. Was trying to mimic the green in the socks. I tried Footsie Lovin' and We "heart" Socks...but I'm not feeling it. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I'm Back! :o)

And that can only mean....YES, I finished pulling together what I needed for taxes and dropped everything off at the preparer's office this morning. WHEW! I worked most of the day yesterday on it, finishing right at my normal bedtime, and boy am I glad that's over! :o) What a great sense of accomplishment I feel. It's extra special because now that I am no longer a consultant, I know I will never have to pull all that stuff together again.

And since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd get busy today and work on the gifts for the teachers. I know I mentioned and showed that fortune teller candy holder before, but I decided it was going to be more work than I had time to devote to the project. I really should have done those sooner. (Remember, I have to make 5, since Jess has 3 teachers, plus the preschool director). So, instead I chose to cover Reese's Peanut Butter cups and put them in a tin, like I did at Christmas.

I was also "ink"spired by a card Kathi posted recently. You can see it here and read how she created it. I followed her comments. I put a bit of a different spin on it as you can see, but the basic technique is the same. It's hard to see, unless you click on the picture to make it larger, but I used "celebrate today" from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages stamp set. The hearts were cut using my Cricut and the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. The larger heart is 2 1/2 inches and the smaller one is 2 inches. Thanks, Kathi, for the inspiration!

Next up are the tins I made. I chose to use Holiday Red in keeping with the traditional Valentine color. The paper around the tin is a retired Background and Texture paper from CTMH. I cut the hearts using my Cricut. I think it was 2, 1 1/2 inches, and 1 1/4 inches. The stamped circles on the peanut butter cups are punched using a 1 inch circle and matted on a 1 1/8 inch circle. The ribbon is from my stash, which means I have no idea which store I bought it from. The tins are ones I found at Archiver's. (sorry, Kathi-lol) Kathi doesn't live near an Archiver's for those who wonder why I say that. I guess I shouldn't mention that it takes me oh about 10 minutes or so to get to the Archiver's near me...
Here's a top view. The stamping on the white heart is a label stamp in Papertrey Ink's Sweet Love set. I got the idea for doing this from Nichole's blog. I added some small red dots, instead of the white she uses. The tins fit 10 peanut butter cups.
I had the girls help me finish up the projects. I got most of it done while both girls were in school, but still had to glue the circles on the peanut butter cups. So, I let the girls do that part while I worked on the cards. They were quite enthralled with the task. :o)

Oh and in addition to working on this and finishing it up this afternoon, the girls and I made strawberry muffins for Amy's Valentine's Breakfast in the morning. I took a bunch pictures and hoped to work on a layout today, but alas, that isn't going to happen today. Maybe tomorrow.

So, today I took Amy to school, got the oil changed in the van, dropped off the tax stuff. Took Jess to school. Went home and worked on the gifts until it was time to pick Jess up. Let Jess play after school with her friends. Went home. Had lunch with Jess, picked Amy up from her early release day, worked on the muffins, worked on finishing the gifts, helped both girls finish up their Valentine's, got dinner together, cleaned up the kitchen, ran out to the store for some Valentine's goodies, came home, got the girls to bed, sat down to watch SuperNanny and then typed this. And I wonder why I am so tired tonight? LOL

But I know my day isn't much different than yours, right?! Oh and get this...it was a beautiful near 60 degree day today. Tomorrow? SNOW and it probably won't get out of the 20s! Sigh...Mother Nature sure can be a tease...

G'night and maybe tomorrow I will have a layout to share. Right now, I'm going to head to bed.

One last thing...
Thanks for all the positive comments on the video tutorial. I guess you liked that idea, huh? We'll see about doing some more then. :o)

Valentine's Gift Idea

Just got these done and will be off to the post office after I upload this post. But I wanted to share this idea I saw on Nichole Heady's blog. She is the owner of Papertrey Ink. I didn't want to use the nuts theme that she used, but thought it would work well with nuggets and Reisens candies. (saw the idea to cover the Reisens on Nichole's blog as well). Click on her name to go to the actual post with the great directions on how to create this fun little box. I added 4 nuggets and 4 Reisens candies stamped like you see in the picture. I put them in a glassine bag that I got from Papertrey Ink.
These are for two young men (cuz I don't feel right calling them boys anymore) who are the sons of my dear friend, Kelly, in CA. Hopefully they have enough of a masculine feel.

Let's see if I can remember what all I used.
Ink colors
Garrett's: Barn Red and Outdoor Denim
Devon's: Autumn Terracotta and Chocolate

Stamp sets are all from Papertrey Ink...Borders and Corners {square}, Limitless Labels and Sweet Love

I cut some scallop circles, then matted with a cardstock circle and topped with a stamped white circle. I used my file label punch for the toppers and hugs and kisses comes from.....Limitless Labels-which I had to look up because I couldn't remember!

And now I'm off to mail the package. I have to work on pulling together my CTMH stuff for taxes, blah, so will not be able to create anymore until I get that done. UGH... Wait, maybe I'll use it as incentive to get done faster. Yea, that sounds good......

How About Some Artwork?

While I was waiting for one conversion to take place this weekend (which took a hugely long amount of time) I decided to use the wait time productively and went out to my craft room. Here are the things I completed. Enjoy!

Kathi posted a card after seeing a version of it in Papercrafts magazine. Now I get that mag and I honestly didn't remember seeing the card. I looked again and found her inspiration card. This is my version of the same card. I used Die Cuts With a View blue textured cardstock, buttons from Walmart, Ribbon from Michaels, Souffle white pen. I pierced holes for the stem and added the white ink for the faux stitching. I cut the 1 1/2 inch scallop circles on my Cricut using the Mini Monograms cartridge. The 'thinking of you' is from a dollar set I found at Micheals.

This next project was found on a blog. I cannot for the life of me remember which one. I'll find it and edit this post with the name. Anyway, it's pretty cute and oh so easy! It's pretty self explanatory too. When I edit this, I'll add the dimensions for you as well. It holds 6 Hershey's kisses. The heart stamp is one I got recently at Archiver's (sorry, Kathi). I even embossed a circle stitching using my cuttlebug and embossing folder.

Kathi always inspires me. Here's my version of a card she had posted on her blog. Be mine is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set

Another blog inkspiration (love this word...from Kathi) that will have to be updated.

Well, I probably shouldn't be posting artwork if I don't have all the credits ready, huh? Oh well. Check back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll have added the pertinent info.

This will be my last post for today.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you find time to create today.

A Different Kind of Tag

I know I've said it before, but one of my very favorite blogs to check out is Kathi's Corner. I knew she had one for a while, but before I started using Google Reader, I would forget to go look. (I know, shame on me-now that I know what I was missing) Now that I have the Reader, even though she doesn't have a subscribe feature, I can subscribe anyway and have access to her posts. Well, Kathi tagged me with a different kind of tag and I am honored that she thought of me. I truly admire and respect Kathi for all her creative projects, as well as the humor and love she shares in her posts. I'm happy to call her my friend. Thank you, Kathi!

Here is what she had posted on her blog:
The idea behind this tag game is different from other tag games. Rather than look inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for three blog friends. By participating in this endeavour we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We’re going to see how far the bloggin’ blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a bloggin’ blessing may upload the above image to their sidebar if they choose to do so. In addition, be sure to go to the blog of those you are blessing and leave a comment on their blog to be sure they check yours!

There are SO many people who bless my life that it is going to be difficult to limit it to just 3. Of course, if I can, I will tag Kathi back, because she deserves it. I also immediately thought of Kim B, at Clearly Inspired, because we started this blogging journey together almost, and have supported, cheered and helped each other through the various learning curves involved. I look forward to her posts as much as I do Kathi's. This next person might seem a bit odd, but I want to tag Jessica Sprague, because she has blessed my life through her website and online classes on digital scrapbooking. Through her, I have really rediscovered my joy in scrapbooking for pure pleasure. Through her I have come in contact with some of the most supportive ladies on our "playground." These ladies are warm, welcoming, friendly, quite the enablers, and oh so knowledgeable! I'd love to tag all of you wonderful women! But I am going to specify one, and I hope by doing so, my girlfriends would agree and not feel left out. My final tag will go to LivE. Throughout my journey into digital scrapping and foray into the Jessica playground (also known as the messageboard), LivE has stood out with her enormous heart, humor and joy. She has a beautiful way with words, is a wealth of knowledge, and has the most generous heart. She creates digital kits and shares them freely. All this on top of being the mom to FIVE boys! She is uber talented and I feel blessed to have gotten to know her "virtually." Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

Okay, I could tag all my Close To My Heart sisters as well, there are so many that have supported and cheered me on. However, I don't want to leave anyone out!

So, I will close this for now and let these fine ladies know I have tagged them.

Trying a You Tube Version

I want to compare Blogger's video vs You Tube...

First Video Tutorial!

Wow, I finally got something to work this weekend! I created my first video tutorial after being inspired by Dawn's Stamping Thoughts blog and Kim's Clearly Inspired blog. Dawn adds video tutorials to her blog and I think it is a super idea. So much so, that I spent a lot of time working on this little project the past day or so. First, I discovered my digital camera saves videos as Quicktime files and those aren't compatible with the Movie Maker program that is already on my computer. After much searching, Steve found a program that converts the files to one I can use in Movie Maker, so I could "edit" ie, add captions. Once that was done, I thought I was set to upload the video. Ahhhhh not so, grasshopper! There was one more step that I didn't know about. Once I figured it out, I was good to go. I could upload to You Tube, but saw this nifty icon on my blogger task bar and thought I'd try it out.

The card I am showing is NOT my design. I cased the video tutorial Dawn has on her blog. Now I know not everyone has the time to check out all the blogs out there, so that is why I thought I'd try it for my first tutorial. I did use Close To My Heart products for the most part. I also used a stamp from Papertrey Ink.

So, after all that, here it is. I hope you enjoy it! I want to thank Dawn G and Kim B for inspiring me to do this. Who knows, if you like it, maybe, just maybe I'll do some more! :o) If you hate it, just be gentle with me, k?

Some Pictures of My Craft Room

Since I've been pretty wordy today, I thought I should show a few pictures, even though they are not artwork. Remember I said I worked out in my craft room last weekend? Well, the first picture is what it looked like when I got started. My goal was to get that large table in the foreground out. It is official now, I am no longer a Close To My Heart consultant and I felt like I didn't need to have the extra seating any longer.
Before:
Yes, I admit this looks pretty scary, doesn't it? Well, I can admit to being a plopper when it comes to my craft room. I also let the girls play in here and you can see some of the remnants of things they were playing with. This is looking straight onto the tables after you walk into the room. The door to the outside is to the left and the door to the rest of the garage is on the right and the door to the little office is directly behind me in this shot.

After:
Look at all that open space! Granted, I haven't done too much in terms of going through what is on the shelves, but the big table is out and I've moved the other two tables, which allows me some breathing room in here! This shot is taken standing slightly to the right of the previous shot. Actually right next to the door, you can see the sunshine glare on the left side. :o)


Here is the new look. This is taken from the doorway as you enter my craft room. Please don't mind the messy walls. My girls like to tape up their artistic creations and when they get taken down after a while, the paint appears to come down with the artwork. Someday I'll fix that. The box in front of the first table still needs to be sorted, but it's out of the way for now. The two silver buckets near the wall and the pile of stuff behind them holds my girls art stuff. I have a Pampered Chef tool caddy still full of scissors and pens from when I had workshops. The other silver buckets are for trash.
Here is my new work area. Before I was closer to the wall. I decided to try it where I wouldn't feel so closed in. I guess the girls were used to me being by the wall because they were confused when they saw me sitting at the end of the table. The plastic baskets are stamp sets I'm thinking of selling. You can see my old trusty CD player/stereo unit. Gosh, that thing is WAY old, but it sure plays CDs better than the new one I tried this summer. I took the new one back. This player doesn't play cassettes too well any more, but CDs don't skip and that's nice! Tucked in there is my Cricut and Cuttlebug, close at hand. I keep my blocks out so I don't have to rummage for a needed block when I am stamping. You can see I do actually work out here by the looks of that stamping off paper. LOL. I took another shot of both tables just for grins. That glimpse of the door is the opening to the rest of the garage.
And last but not least the "other side" of the room. Here you can see the door to the office area. Man, you couldn't WALK in there before. I took pictures, but they are really too scary. I cleaned it up so one could walk in there, then hubby proceeded to put stuff back onto the floor blocking it once again. Sigh...

Anyway, the shelf below the colorful albums is going to be cleaned off. There's a stack of magazines I don't need/want anymore and other odds and ends that need to find their way out of the room.

It may not look like it, but it is better in there than it was before. You should see the pile of trash sitting outside! This is always a work in progress.

Thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my space. If you have any hints or tips for improvement...I'm all ears!

No New Art Yet...Apparently I am Sick (ill, not twisted)

Well, maybe a little twisted...LOL

Okay, here's the deal. I must NOT be in tune with my body or something because my husband tells me that at night, when I am asleep, I have been having coughing attacks. I have NO recollection of this at all. One day last week he said I coughed so much, I even woke up one of the girls. He was amazed I didn't know what he was talking about. I chalked it up to being tired after dealing with sick kids. Well, apparently last night I had another one. Again, I have no recollection of this. So I am coughing up a storm IN MY SLEEP! I cough a little during the day, but nothing major. I don't have a fever, my throat doesn't hurt (although it did a little bit last week) and I generally feel just fine.

But, he thought I should have it checked out, so I went to the doctor this morning. And came away with a prescription for an antibiotic and cough suppresant pills! HUH? The doctor told me my ears are inflamed, my throat is irritated and I have a bronchial thing going on. Well, alrighty then. How is this possible when I feel fine? I don't know! I mean, I'm NOT surprised I have something going on, especially after how sick the girls were, but I am surprised that I don't have any symptoms (that I am aware of, after all I have only Steve's word that I am coughing so much at night-although I cannot fathom why he would make that up). Maybe I don't really feel fine and I am just not aware of it? Who knows? It just seems so odd to me to be told that I'm not well, when I feel well.

Dang, I had to tell Steve he was right! LOL

Sigh...

Here's the Tag Info

I mentioned last night that I got tagged by Kathi, but I didn't have the energy to respond. I'm feeling more energetic this morning so here goes:

These are the rules: You must post the rules before you give your answers.You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details.

My middle name is Marie

Motivated to create is what I am when I find a new technique, tool, or inspiration on a blog or website.

Antsy when I cannot access my internet.

Reliable and responsible (for the most part) when I commit to something, you can count on me to follow through to the best of my ability.

Intelligent (at least I hope so) in that I like to learn and research ideas.

Excitable when I want to get something going or done, usually I want it completed yesterday.

I am going to tag: Kim, Becky, SusanD, Jackie, and Carol

Amy is back in school today, and so far, no phone calls. (whew) and Jessica says her ear is feeling better (whew again)

Thanks for visiting and please don't let me know if I am way off base! LOL

I got Tagged by Kathi but...

And I just don't have the energy to do the tag tonight, so I will work on it tomorrow. Thanks for thinking of me Kathi! :o)

About an hour after I dropped Amy off at school this morning, I got a call from the nurse telling me Amy was in her office. Apparently the pink eye flared up again. :o( When I took her to school she looked fine, but when I went to the school to give her some drops, I could see the crustiness forming and her eyes looked red. Poor thing! Well, I didn't want to leave her to expose the rest of the class any more, so I brought her home. Within a short time after coming home, her eyes looked a lot better. So, we'll keep doing the drops till the end of the week and see how she is doing.

Jess told me that her ear was hurting again, too. Argghhhhh. Well, I had some sweet oil in the cupboard, so I'm going to try using that (warmed up and put on a cotton ball) and see if it helps. It could have a placebo effect because she said it felt better when she went to bed. A mom and I were chatting at Jessica's school and we remembered that when we were young, we didn't go to the doctor for ear infections. Our moms heated up some oil and stuck cotton balls in our ears. I hope it works because I don't relish going BACK to the doctor again.

I was going to try to do something like the tag tonight, but Steve got a new video card for his computer today and that means I get what he takes out of the other computer put on the one I primarily use now. That always takes more time than you think it will. I have been fiddling with the settings to see if I can get the screen resolution to look more like it used to, but I haven't quite found the magic number yet. It may be that I need to just get used to a bit different look.

I'm sorry I don't have any artwork to share. I'm working on organizing my digital stash. Something I've neglected. While you don't have the physical mess of scrapbooking goodies, if you want to find your digi stuff, you do need to have it organized so you don't have to hunt for it. If I had been keeping up with it, I wouldn't have a sore shoulder and arm from tag, tag, tagging away. LOL I seem to be finally working on some organizing projects that got put aside last month.

Thanks for visiting. :o) Hope to have something new to show you soon!

New Blog Banner

Hi there! Betcha thought I'd be posting a new layout. Um NO! Taking a little break from that. I worked on a new blog banner. If you care to check it out, and want to, let me know what you think. Nothing spectacular, but sort of festive for the month.

Credits go to: Mrs Wresh at Scrapbook-Elements for the banner template. Papers might look familiar and are from Kay Miller Designs' Love Bug Kit. Font is Scriptina

I'm really pooped tonight since I worked hard out in my craft room today. Moving, flinging, purging...stuff I wanted to do in January, but got sidetracked by the kids getting sick. :o)

Thanks for stopping by...hope you find time to create today!