Paper crafting {Goodness}
{Pics of our trip coming soon} {If I don’t stop coughing soon I am going to FREAK OUT} {I updated the layers answer on the This Is Me Digi Layout} {I got my much anticipated Threading Water border punch from Fiskars FINALLY!!! I went right to work punching papers and playing around with it…. } {I found a WAY FREEKIN COOL new set of embossing folders and a die for the Cuttlebug – Build a Flower} {I GOT TO PLAY} Tuesday night I was up late finishing this “Family Favorites” Cook book project for my new sister in law, Jill, (Brent’s brother, Jared, is getting hitched!) and made quite the mess! A few years back I started making this cookbook for some family and friends’ bridal showers and weddings. I made one for myself ages ago and it’s come in quite handy when budgeting for groceries, staying on budget, and planning meals. I think I have shared this idea of the cookbook (my original is way uglier… lol… and I’m gonna re do it and make MINE cute…) but I don’t think I have shared it on the blog… this one’s a new version of it and I think it’s way cuter!! You know sometimes when you’re asked, “what’s for dinner?” and you get stumped…. You’ve had tacos twice this week, spaghetti three times last week, and grilled cheese or mac n’ yac several times this week…. OK, Ok, maybe YOU don’t have these issues, but I sure do. LOL! Anyway… I keep blank 2 week menu planner forms in it and a list of all the meals we like to eat (which makes planning out the menu easier than pulling ideas out of your… crockpot), some of our favorite recipes (so I don’t have to hunt through cookbooks), and other misc odds n ends that relate to making my life as a chef EASIER, TASTIER, AND …well just mo bettah. {Did I mention that I LOVE my Threading Waters punch??? *sigh*} Supply List:Paper TrimmerThreading Water Border Punch – FiskarsPatterned Paper – American Crafts,Solid Textured Cardstock – BazzillBuild-A-Flower Embossing Folders & Die Set – Provo CraftCuttlebug – Provo CraftFoam Tabs – American CraftsPewter Brads & Photo Hangers- CTMHRibbon – American CraftsAdhesive, misc buttons & ric rack
Today’s Thought Is Brought To You By The Word “Pigsty”…
“Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find that you have crossed the mountain.” —Unknown Author Today’s Thoughts for Thursday is brought to you by the word “pigsty”…… I will pick up the pebbles in this mountain and find new homes for them and eventually tonight I will get over my mountain of junk so that I can get back to creating. It may not look so bad in the pics, but there are tons of little pieces of paper and odds n ends of things that need to find homes, not to mention the hoards of goodies still in my CH tote (from my trip) that need to go back to their homes…. and the front wheels fell off my rollie cart in the background and it tipped and all the goodies in the drawers got all jumbled up and now need to be sorted again… and…. and…. I’m just gonna cross that danged mountain…. pebble #1, pebble #2…….
Digi In Deep : Digital Layout – This Is Me
Heya friends! I went out of town last week (I will share pics tomorrow) and haven’t had a chance to play on the blog yet this week. I’ve got some fun {paper crafting} projects I am working on after I get work tackled today and will share with you as I finish them. In the meantime, I have this fun layout I just completed for my Digi in Deep class with Jessica Sprague. It’s called “This Is Me” and is LOADED with layers of digital fun! I actually had a BLAST with this lesson and can’t wait to have a little time to work on practicing the skills from the lesson. There was really no “primping” for this pic… Thank you Jessica! She instructed us to take our photo in the bathroom mirror and “don’t worry about looking hot, you’re going to be blurry anyway.” (….or something to that effect.) I quickly pulled on a bright shirt and threw a headband on to tame the “morning mane” and probably shot 60 pics until I got one that would work. Took some really fun shots, too. I might have to scrap them later! Some of the skills we learned were: making the scalloped circle frame, adding grungy text as a texture layer, making ghosted (acrylic) flower images, FAKING OUT aperture in Photoshop (the clear finger and blurry me), layering a colored photo over a b&w photo and picking up the color from under neath with a ZILLION layers, scanning your fingerprint, etc… WOWZA! So Fun! The quote for the inspiration of the “caption tags” is: “The grand essentials to happiness in this life are somethign to do, someone to love, and something to hope for.” ~Joseph Addison {Click on photo to view larger} Can you guess how many different layers are in this layout? Like I said, there are TONS of them. See if you can figure it out – err, I mean guess – and I will let you on Friday morning. (Jeanne T and others in the class… shhhhhhhh… please don’t share, yet.) Inky Smiles!Erin 4/18/08 – UPDATE: There are two documents in this layout – a photo document (the focal photo and the frames) and the main scrapbook layout page. The layers are as follows: Photo document – 53 layers, Scrapbook layout page – 46 layers, Total layers = 99 layers!
Happy Friday!!! Mini Calendar Art Share
This is the project from the sneak peek I posted yesterday. I am still searching for the perfect photo of Brent and Sadie to put on the inside left page above the paper strips and then it will be finished. I am thinking that I might have to hope for some nice weather tomorrow and take a photo of my two favorite people together. 🙂 Had some time to create while resting up and I made this little mini calendar using a free downloadable program from www.red-castle.com. The download took a few seconds and I opened the program and played around a bit to figure out the dimensions that I wanted for my calendar and then printed and cut out the calendar pages. I started with March 2008 and it goes through March of 2009. I just LOVE this paper from Crate Paper and have another monogram project that I am working on to share later. It seems that I can’t get enough of rhinestones, either… hehe! Supplies Needed:Bind It All MachineBind It All 1/2 OWires4×4 Kraft Covers from BIA/ZutterAmerican Crafts RibbonPapertrey Ink Ribbon (5/8″ pink grosgrain)Maya Road Philadelphia (?) chipboard letterPink Rhinestones from Me & My Big IdeasDouble Sided Cardstock from Crate Paper (Twirl Collection)Fruit Punch SticklesEmbroidery ThreadPaper Piercer & NeedleAdhesiveLiquid Glass (CTMH)
Thoughts For Thursday – Endurance
A couple of thoughts for you today (specifically the bolded parts): “That that will not kill you, will make you stronger.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.. . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt I’m feeling a little overwhelmed in my Digi In Deep class, not because the class is too hard (but boy is it fast paced), but mostly because I have not had the (undivided attention) time I need to devote to really focusing on the tasks and really absorbing and learning the techniques we’re learning. I know that I really need to just focus and spend some uninterrupted time just focusing on what we are learning and really try applying the techniques to layouts and projects to other than the lesson layout. I was talking to my sweet friend Jeanne this morning about the class and shared these quotes with her. She liked the last part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote & pretty much summed up what I feel and couldn’t get into “just the right words”: “{It} tells me to keep persevering in this creative journey even though I feel like a fish out of water!” Is there something in your life that’s challenging to you? Can you rethink it and try again? This week, try something new or start something you’ve been wanting to do but have been nervous about…. As was stated by a particular little train engine….. “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…..” TOOOT! TOOOT!(that was a train….. I promise!) PS. Here’s a sneek peek for something I’m going to share tomorrow… Just searching for the right final element to put on it.
Digi: In Deep First Lesson’s Layout – Geocaching
Digi: In Deep from Jessica Sprague began on Monday and I am just now finishing Lesson 1. I had to work Monday and Tuesday (training our new secretary who’s taking over part of my old job) and didn’t have a lot of free time to play around. I can’t wait to open Tuesday and today’s emails from Jessica to see what neat tips, techniques, field trips, freebies, or challenges, they might contain. Every day we get a new email from Jess with cool stuff in it.It only took me HOURS to do this layout, but it was so much fun! It took hours and hours because I would stop and pause my lesson as I followed along and learned all the various techniques or rewound to make sure I got it right when I didn’t fully get something immediately. DID lessons are faster paced and packed with more information than my last couple of classes. We cut apart flourishes for the title and added to the title, cut complex shapes and masks, “cut” without cutting, recolored objects (buttons), masked paper without loads of extra layers, created scallops, and so much more. {Click On Photo To View Larger} Geocaching (pronounced “geo cashing” ) is one of our new(er) hobbies… mostly Brent’s, but I enjoy tagging along, too. If you want to learn more about Geocaching, visit www.geocaching.com to learn more. Be careful, it’s an addicting, and could potentially become an expensive hobby. The text in the “vellum” journaling block says: “You wanted a GPS unit for ages. You did your research, saved your money, and finally purchased one. Sadie and I tagged along on your adventure and spent a fun spring afternoon walking in the woods and searching for a cache. It was fun to watch you crawling through the brush looking for the cache that was right under your nose.”
Digi Layout – Family at Yellowstone
I’m gearing up for my next scrapbooking with Photoshop class (Digi in Deep) with Jessica Sprague and went back and practiced a little from our previous class lessons & it’s been shared on Jessica’s class forums, but don’t think that I have shared this layout yet on the blog. (If I did already, I apologize for re-sharing – loL!) This layout is from our Week 3 lesson in Now We’re Rockin’. It was so much fun to make!!! We custom created and tweaked existing elements to create the fun elements used on this page and I learned how to blend photos into the background. We layered load s and loads of brushes on top of each other to create the fun effect aroudn the main photo and red brush frame. These photos were taken at our favorite place in the world to spend time away from home, Yellowstone National Park. We went to Yellowstone with my parents in Sept 2006 for several fun days. I hadn’t been there with my parents since I was 9 months old. My dad was our lucky charm that year because we saw TONS of bears, including a way cool grizzly bear crossing the Yellowstone River by Fishing Bridge. ( I need to find the photos to post them, so very cool!)
Thoughts for Thursday – Patience
John Quincy Adams said: “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” My version is (or has been previously): “Give me patience and give it to me now.” Well, not really. There was a time in my not too distant past when it was and where I was always in a hurry for everything and got so frustrated waiting… and waiting… I think that my experience in infertility has helped me deal with the “must have now” mentality. While I am not looking for a pity party, I do have to recognize that a heaping dose of humility was dished up for me when I stood in line for little ones… But, good things have come from this experience… One is that I’ve finally learned to take time and slow down and enjoy life along the way. I feel a lot less stressed out over things and am able to appreciate what is going on around me. I’ve been given a lesson in practicing patience over this past month. It’s been a loooong month. You may remember the post “Movie Star” that I posted a little over a month ago. Here’s a reminder: I can’t keep it in any longer. I’ve been trying to be all quiet about it because I’ve been trying to be patient and not be nervous. So far, so good. I have felt confident and at peace about this choice and really haven’t been a bundle of nerves until today. I think that is because tomorrow is Big Day #1. These cool little gifts were made for a few friends (Amaryllis, Liz, Alisha, and Jeanne) who wrote letters of recommendation for me. I am so appreciative that they would do this for me…. and with relatively short notice.. just a few days. (I hemmed and hawed and prayed about whether or not to apply and then just finally took a leap of faith.) I have one more letter to do for Alisha, but I’m having the hardest time choosing papers for it. {Click on Pictures to View Larger} Ok, ok, ok, stop twisting my arm! LOL! I applied for my DREAM JOB. The Fiskateers and Brains on Fire put the call out for FIVE (there were originally just our FAB FOUR, but we’ve been having so much fun as Fiskateers that they are adding a 5th) new Lead Fiskateers earlier this year and boy was it tempting! Like I said, I hemmed and hawed and prayed about doing it… and actually did it! Basically (there are a lot of normal responsibilities and duties – but the most fun part is) I would be a Crafting Ambassador for the Fiskars Craft side of the Fiskars company and help lead and inspire {read HAVE FUN with} the FABULOUS group of Fiskateers. Tomorrow is Big Day #1 (and possibly Sad Day)…. Tomorrow Brains on Fire and Fiskars will announce X number of finalists to go on for interviews. Then, sometime April 22nd, the new 5 Leads will be announced. I am scared, nervous, excited, all at the same time. I figure, I have done what I can (met the deadline for applications, resumes, letters of recommendation, made my video presentation) and now it’s out of my hands. No matter what happens, I am happy that I have had the opportunity to even APPLY for a dream job, have AMAZING friends to help me with it, and be a part of something so amazing!! My name is Erin Grotegut and I am Fiskateer #1798 😛
Life is Orderly (Dial Up Users Beware)
I haven’t had a chance to post this FABULOUS piece of artwork that was a birthday gift to me earlier this month from my sweet, sweet, friend Alisha Trussell. My life now has a plan and some order! LOL! I’ve been searching high and low for a planner that I could glam up and make MINE for ages now. Well, look no further, Erin… this showed up in my mailbox with the remaining cards from this swap from ages ago….. Everyone else had their swaps and I was feeling bummed that I didn’t have mine….. then this box showed up with this AWESOME gift!!! I can’t believe how much time went into this planner. (Like the awesome scrapbook that darling Terri Howard gave me last August!!! WOWZA!!!) I feel so blessed and humbled to have friends like this. Alisha made this using her Bind It All Machine, Basic Grey “Infuse” Paper, American Crafts Ribbon, We R Memory Keepers Ribbon, CTMH Photo Hangers & Brads, a Clip from Making Memories, her Cuttlebug machine & the Textile folder, the flower was cut with her Cricut, misc chipboard letters, and vinyl from WalMart for the cover. I tried to get the best pics I could, but pics do not do justice to how pretty this planner is in real life. The month at a glance pages are separated by being on colored cardstock and they have a cool little photo hanger from CTMH with a ribbon tied on to create a “tab” for easy access. She even created the inside pages herself and printed them out with coordinating ink on her printer. (Sorry, I do not have the template for the inside pages.) She included a cute little clip from Making Memories that can be clipped at the top of the current week pages so you can flip to your current week easily. SOOO CUTE!!! Alisha cut a piece of vinyl (the kind you use to make table cloths and such) to fit the front and back cover to protect the planner and attached it with brads on the right corners. The left side has been lined up and punched with the BIA machine and bound with the wires to the planner. Two pocket pages in the back for slipping little notes and necessities in.
Sneak Peek Revealed
SWEET! Korin posted my project up at Sweet N Sassy Stamps so now I can show you here! Here’s a fun and simple card that I made using the Adoption Day Stamp Set from Sweet N Sassy Stamps. This particular phrase can be used for any relationship that you want to celebrate. This is a fun card that I made for my sweetheart (shhhh! Don’t tell him!) I’ve layered up several pieces of textured and patterned cardstock, run some white cs through my Cuttlebug and scrunched up some ribbon for a cool effect. The flower still needs something around the sentiment, but I am not sure what ….. Inky Smiles!Erin Supplies Needed:Adoption Day Stamp Set – Sweet N Sassy StampsBerry Sorbet Hybrid Ink – Papertrey Ink6×6 Berry Sorbet Patterned paper – Papertrey InkGarden Green CS – CTMHPink & Green textured CS – Pebbles in my PocketMisc buttonsOffray RibbonLiquid Glass (to adhere buttons) – CTMHScalloped scissors – FiskarsPolka Dot Cuttlebug embossing folder – Provo Craft