Gwen

StencilGirl Blog Hop: Eileen Hull / Sizzix!

This week the StencilGirl creative team showcasing stamps and Sizzix dies by Eileen Hull!

I was pretty excited about this, because I'm kind of going back to my roots with some stamping and scrapbooking. We got to work with some of Eileen's acrylic stamps and Sizzix ScoreBoards dies. For today's post, I'm using the Picket Fence stamp set, and diecuts from the Sizzix ScoreBoards Mini Album XL Die, and the Sizzix Bigz Flower Layers with Heart Petals Die along with a few stencils from StencilGirl.

And without further ado, here's today's project:

I used the mini album ScoreBoards diecut to make... a mini album! It's been a while since I've done any scrapbooking and I had some photos I was excited to use. And I do love me a mini! Not only that, but I wanted to show how easy it is to use stencils and stamps to create your own patterned paper when you want to make a theme album and use the same colors and patterns to tie everything together.

Here's a little tutorial on how I decorated the cover and assembled the book. (The final album photos are in a thumbnail gallery at the bottom so you can see how I used the stamps and stencils on the inside pages.)

To start, I picked out a color scheme I wanted that would go with my theme and photos (yellow, blue, dark blue, ivory, and kraft) and then painted the outside of the album with Golden Titan Buff as the base. Then I laid down the Heart Grid Stencil by Terri Stegmiller and pounced Golden Hansa Yellow fluid acrylic paint through the opening with a Sofft Art Sponge. 

Once that dried, I put the stencil back in place and then stamped over it with one of the background pattern stamps from the Picket Fence stamp set. Two great things here: first, the stencils are thin enough that they don't interfere with getting a good impression when you stamp through them. Second, the background stamps are designed so that you can create a larger background pattern by matching up the edges. So I just stamped over the stencil like I was creating a large background across my cover.

And when I finished... pull back the stencil, and voila!

I repeated this on the other half of the cover, and then took my Fude black pen and did a little outlining of the stenciled shape.

And then, even though it wasn't in my color palette, I really needed a pop of color, so I used Liquid Pearls to color the hearts.

Next, time to do the inside covers. I painted the background with Golden Cerulean Deep Blue fluid acrylics, let it dry, and then stamped all over the inside cover with a cream ink and the polka dot background stamp from the stamp set. Then I layered the Heart & Flowers stencil by Margaret Applin over top and pounced my Hansa Yellow paint through the openings. Once that was dry, I outlined with a fine line applicator filled with Titanium White fluid acrylics mixed with a bit of airbrush medium. Finally, I masked off around the larger opening and then stamped through that again with more polka dots.

You can see how the this turned out in thumbnail gallery below.

Next, I worked on the inside pages. I cut several sheets of white and kraft cardstock into 10.5"x4.5" strips, folded them in half and creased with a bone folder, and then stacked them inside of each other and clipped them in place. I created a template showing where the holes were going to go (make sure you mark the top,) and used that to poke 5 holes in the fold of the pages.

Next, I took my stamps, stencils, and inks and went and sat in front of the TV while I decorated the inside pages. I alternated stamping and stenciling and also switched back and forth between yellow and blue inks, just working steadily through them until all of my pages were decorated with patterns. I continued to use the Heart Grid Stencil, and also added the Inky Hearts stencil (also by Terri Stegmiller) and the Random Squares stencil by Jessica Sporn.

From there I grabbed my dried cover and used my template and centered it on the spine and used an awl and a self-healing mat to drill the holes. Then I just used a embroidery needle and some bakers twine to bind the book (make sure all of your pages are right side up first. I'm not speaking from experience or anything. lol.) I took the needle through the top hole from the outside, and then just went in and out down to the bottom and then back up again so that there were no gaps between holes inside or out. You'll come back out again through the top hole, and I just tied it off, but you could add some beads or charms or something here - I've done that before and it's a nice effect.

Next I added the photos to the right hand pages and then I just went through my stash and found embellishments and journaling spots that went with my colors and theme to do the rest. Finally, it was time to finish the front cover. I took some flowers cut from mat board and stenciled and stamped them, inked the edges, and then added some blue and yellow ribbons to the back of the largest flower.

You can see here and in the inside pages where I took yellow and blue paint markers (the one below is from Krink) and filled in some of the openings in the stenciled and stamped images. It really made a difference and helped them look more like patterned paper. I loved the effect!

Then I stacked them with glue dots and finished it off with a yellow enamel dot and adhered the whole thing to the front of my album along with a blank label to help it pop off the background.

And that's it! Here are the inside pages:

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That's my project for today! I hope you enjoyed it :) 

Updated with the winner - congrats Auntie Em!

Here are the blogs to make sure you visit today, and check out StencilGirl Talk every day to make sure you get the full list for the week!

• StencilGirl Talk
• Gwen Lafleur <-- You are here!
• Mary C. Nasser 
• Anna-Karin Evaldsson
• Michelle Zerull

Happy hopping!

A Family Portrait

Nicole sent this picture a few weeks ago and I about died laughing. It was taken last Fall when Adorable-Niece-Aubrey was getting her first pony ride. As you can see, she was super psyched about it.

And a few close-ups... all the better to see the joy on her face.

Nicole had said she enjoyed this photo as a family portrait because it was so indicative of personalities at that point in time. I have to agree! Priceless moment. And note that the pony is totally unphased. lol. Gotta love it.

Recent Project Update

I thought I'd jump in quickly and post some of the recent projects that haven't made their way onto the blog yet... just one giant catch-up post!

First up, a bunch of Zentangle pieces / doodles that I've done over the last few weeks. I usually start these in church and then finish at home or I do them in my hotel room when I'm in Chicago. There are a few of those in this bunch...

Next up, a paper layout! I've had this one in progress for a few months and finally finished it up last week. This is from when Francesca and Roberto stopped by to visit me while they were touring the mid-atlantic region.

I have some better pictures on my camera, but if I wait around to do a post with those, this layout will never get shared :-P

Finally, I decided last minute to join Patty at a class up at The Inspiration Station where we learned how to make paper beads - we used Zentangle patterns on them and created a few necklaces. It was lots of fun! I'll have to make more of these.

I'm really glad I decided to go to the class... we had a good time. I don't know if I'd wear these much, but the flag beads could make a really cool 3D collage piece!

Anyway, that's the latest... I have a few things in progress, but I don't think I'll get to them soon... big adventure to go on first! And with that, I'll get back to my mounds of laundry :)

TTFN!

Trying to get caught up...

All right, so I've been told that I need to post because my blog has gotten boring (ahem... thanks Patty and Tracie!) So, I'm trying... things got super busy for a month and then predictibly, just as I was starting to have some time, I got sick. So now it's been another two weeks and I'm finally feeling like myself again, so I thought I'd try and post a few things.

First up, I did this layout a month or so ago but didn't post because the kit wasn't out yet. So this is using a new (relatively... lol) kit from Gennifer Bursett called More Cowbell (how do you not love that?)

This is a series of pictures I took of Adorable-Niece-Aubrey while they were up visiting me over Columbus Day weekend. We were having breakfast and she was just too funny - they worked well with the kit so I grabbed them to use... they capture her personality perfectly.

Next is a paper layout that I did last week using a few pictures of the kids playing together at a park. Just a simple one while I worked on getting my mojo back. This uses bits and pieces of several recent Studio Calico kits.

And a close-up:

That's it for layouts... be back later with more.

Digi layouts and a Great Mail Day

Almost forgot to post these! I've done a few digital layouts lately for some new releases by Gennifer Bursett over at Pixels & Company.

First, using No Tricks, Just Treats and Painted Canvas Papers, I did one of Aubrey at the pumpkin patch using some photos Nicole sent me.

Second is using another awesome new kit called Far and Away (and if you get over there fast, it's free with purchase!) This one is a self-portrait of William and I when we were in Virginia in August.

I have some more, but I can't post them yet, so I'll probably share those next week.

In the meantime, can we say SPECTACULAR mail day today?

My Studio Calico December Daily kit came today, and it's so awesome... I love the handbook, and the kit goodies are fabulous. I tucked it away from now, but it won't be long before it's time to pull it back out! (Maybe by then I'll actually break down and buy more printer ink. I think that's going to be a requirement for me to be successful with this project. lol.)

Also, a Michael's gift card and an absolutely AMAZING box full of chocolate goodness from Jacques Torres. I've never tried any of his chocolate, but always wanted to - I drool over it every time I see him on TV.

It was all so pretty that I didn't want to muss anything by eating it! But I decided to at least have a taste... I started with the 60% dark chocolate bar - just a little bit. And it.was.amazing. My mom is trying to convince me that the box needs to stay like this until she comes to visit. Dare to dream mom. Dare to dream. lol.

Anyway, I have to be at work early tomorrow for meetings, so I'm signing off.

Two new layouts and some recent photos

I've been feeling the urge to scrapbook again lately and I've done a few new layouts. The first is using a few pictures from my first trip to Chicago. I really wanted to use that background paper - the city with the river running through it reminded me of the city, so I added some vellum to lift the photos up off the background a bit.

I used a mix of old and new embellishments to finish it off.

And the second layout, one I just did tonight using a cute photo of Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh and Adorable-Nephew-William.

They just got new haircuts - William is looking so grown up with his new 'do!

And a few photos from two weeks ago - Francesca came for a short visit, and then I had an equally short trip out to Chicago to speak at a workshop hosted by one of the vendors I work with.

Lighthouse Point in New Haven:

Stony Creek and the Thimble Islands in Branford:

My hotel room at the W Chicago:

That's it! I have all of my photos printed for August / September Project Life, just haven't gotten around to finishing the pages. I also have some art journal pages and a canvas still to share... hopefully I'll get to that before I head out for my Dyan Reavley classes this weekend :)

Scrapbook Layout and a Golden Demo

This last week I had the urge to take a break from the arty stuff and do a scrapbook layout... it's definitely been a while! My printer is almost completely out of ink - to the point where I'm not sure I could print an entire photo. Being too lazy to edit and upload photos to get printed and too cheap (at present) to order more ink, I dug out some old Instagrams I had printed last year. These are from a night out for karaoke and dinner with the Peanut Gallery while I was still living in Utah.

I took bits and pieces of Studio Calico kits and combined them with stuff from my stash to do a quick layout. It's pretty eclectic, and I really like it. Here's a bit of a close-up:

Today I met up with Patty to head to West Hartford for a little shopping and exploration and then to go over to Jerry's Artarama for a Golden demo and, of course, more shopping. We went to a really fun store called Charming Charlie where we found some fun jewelry and accessories and then across the street to Munson's Chocolates for some locally made goodies. After that we went to Rizzuto's to have lunch - an amazing Carrot, Ginger and Apple soup and then some pizza that ended up going home for dinner. I would go back there again - delicious.

Then it was the main event - the Golden Demo at Jerry's.

The demo was two hours and was taught by an artist named Roy Kinzer. He was entertaining and knowledgeable, and the time flew by.

We got a really great packet of information and I took quite a few notes. I learned a lot about things I could do with the supplies I already have, as well as more about new and new to me products. It was really great. Very visual and super helpful.

For a free demo, it was really pretty amazing. And to top it off, they even gave us a Golden goodie bag with samples of 4 different paints and small tubes of 2 different mediums. I'm feeling ready to try and branch out a bit more and keep improving what I'm doing. Hopefully they'll do some more of this type of things so I can keep learning.

It was a good day :)

Hello Sunshine

Um... have I actually posted every day this week? It's a miracle! I'd like to say I'll keep it up, but likey not. lol.

Today, however, Gennifer Bursett released a great new kit over at Pixels & Company called Indian Summer. I wanted to do something with it so I opened up my folder of pictures from vacation. These are the first pictures I saw, and the colors matched the kit perfectly. This is Adorable-Niece-Aubrey, being quite particular about her fashion choices.

It was funny because Nicole said they have a hard time getting her to smile for pictures. I found the solution! I used my phone to take pictures and flipped the camera so she could see herself. It was cheese city after that! She is one funny little girl.

Well. I'm off to take a new class tomorrow at a store I haven't been to yet up near the MA border. I'm super excited about it... it's a doodling / Zentangle class called Dr. Seuss' Garden. Should be fun! I'm hoping to sneak in a trip to Jerry's Artorama on my way back home... never been there, but I keep hearing good things about it and it's kind of on the way. Sounds like a great Saturday to me!

More Happy Little Moments

Last year (or the year before?) I took a class at Studio Calico called Happy Little Moments. Last month they had a 2nd class - More Happy Little Moments where I did a second altered book. This time, since I thought I was moving to Chicago (which still hasn't been ruled out - it's just not happening immediately), I wanted to do something to remember all of the things I love about my 113 year old house here in Connecticut. So that's what I did in my book - focusing on the little details that made me decide to take this house (which definitely doesn't include the lack of air conditioning, the musty old-wood smell from the bottom staircase, or the plethora of bugs and spiders I've found! The daddy long-legs love that musty staircase.) But there's plenty to love - enough to make it all worth while. Well, that and a portable air conditioner for the master bedroom in the attic. lol.

So here's the cover - I got an old Hardy Boys book with a glossy picture on the cover, so I put on a few coats of gesso and then gelli printed on both covers and the spine and then added a collaged house on top. It turned out great!

I worked on it on and off through June and finally finished the inside pages this last week. So here they are! A little peek at my house.

That's it! It was a fun project. Lots of stitching, modeling cream / paste and gesso. I'm pretty happy with it, and now I'll have a nice momento of my time here whenever I end up moving on.

 

 

June Project Life

Well, I was a little later than I wanted to be getting this together, but the beginning of the month was super crazy! But I finished it up the other night and finally got some pictures so I can post it.

Here's June in a nutshell!

(The little monster on the left is a sticker I got a the booth where I bought my monster - Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn. I wanted to include him but he didn't fit on a page and I stuck it there for a second to get him out of the way and liked it. I'll see if he stays... the backing is still on for now.)

And you may have noticed the top card on this last page - my Summer To-Do List. I made this digitally with elements from Gennifer Bursett's Scarlet Letter papers and elements.

Note the 2nd and 3rd items... that's part of why things got so crazy there for a while. My company is opening an office in Chicago as the headquarters for our new global digital team, which I am now on. At first they asked me to move there, and then they realized that I'm going to be 95% virtual regardless of where I work, so they decided not to put me through a relocation (which also saves them a ton of money!) Fortunately, I had a feeling that I shouldn't start doing anything for the move until they finalized everything and made the official announcement. So no worries! I think it would have been a great adventure, and I'm not ruling out having it happen at some point, but for now I get to stay in Connecticut which is great. I've started to meet people here and I love being so close to my family, so I think it's a win-win. Now I can focus on the rest of my list... and can I tell you how excited I am for the Donna Downey weekend next week? I'm taking 3 of the 4 workshops and I'm already starting to get my supplies ready. I can't wait!

And now... on to the next project!

Quick Digital Layout

I haven't done any digi scrapping in a while and I'm long overdue! Gennifer Bursett released a very cool kit in collaboration with Robyn Meierotto, and I couldn't help sitting down to do something with it. I just grabbed the first photo I found that would work and had at it.

Adorable-Niece-Aubrey is definitely a silly head sometimes! Especially when she's wearing tights on said head. lol.

The kit is called Endless Summer - I'm hoping to get in a few more layouts very soon. But first, back to the Dirk Cussler I'm reading... I've gotten sucked in. This is my 4th in a row as I go back reading some of the old Dirk Pitt books. So fun.

May Project Life

Holy cow... it's JUNE! How did that happen?

The flying of time notwithstanding, I did fit in keeping my Project Life book up to date. January - April filled a book, so I started a new one - another 6x8, but a Studio Calico Handbook this time. Here are the spreads for last month:

Highlights: too many cupcakes (but delicious!), Skyping my mom's birthday party, some really good burgers, fun crafty classes including gelli printing and getting into Zentangle, Angela, Steve and the kids coming up from NYC to play (the PEZ factory!), changes at work (ongoing...), and some good books and movies. It was a good month!

100% of my Heart

Just popping in to post another layout I did recently that I never got around to sharing.

Another photo from Easter with all of the kids. I was doing a challenge to use numbers on a page and decided to try one of those pie charts. I see them everywhere but, as usual, I'm late to the trend party!

I miss my kiddos... need to make plans to get back home for another visit.

On a roll!

Just popping in with another layout. This was for another Studio Calico NSD challenge - this time to use stamps to create your own background paper. I really like how this one turned out, but the weather here has been kind of dank lately, so I didn't get good lighting on the photos (what's new?)

The pictures aren't that dark and grainy in real life. These are from Easter... and my favorite thing? Facial expressions are priceless. Especially the top one with Eraleigh and Aubrey looking askance at William while he fussed. You can really see their personalities here. Such cuties!

I'm also taking the Pop off the Page 2 class this month (more like following along really... lol) and was inspired to add some of that layering to the page. I really like this look but don't usually do it, but I think it turned out well.

And here, I tried to get a picture of how I did the stamping. I used several different sets and did lots of layering. I'll have to do this again - it was fun.

That's it for now... I'm off to play. I'm taking Julie Balzer's Gelli plate class online and just got a new brayer so I can really experiment. And tomorrow, I'm back at the scrapbook store in Westbrook to try a Zentangle class! Should be fun :D If it's going to be a rainy weekend, it might a well be a crafty one too!

Your eyes do not deceive you.

Not only two posts in a week, two posts with layouts.

I'm still doing some of the challenges from NSD at Studio Calico and last night I did one to use stencils without mists. So, I pulled out my recently acquired mono / Gelli printing skills (I use the term "skills" very loosely. lol.) and used the Studio Calico Sundrifter stencil with acrylic plates to make some cool background paper. And to go with that paper, I could only use photos from the Muse show last month.

The monoprint is the one with the blue and gold. I added some silver Inka Gold rubon waxy stuff and some red liquid pearls.

I added some brads, sequins, and metallic puffy stickers from the stash, along with a glitter and washi tape border.

This was fun. Maybe I'll actually start doing layouts again. Who knows?

Aside from that, I've been in serious Instagram withdrawl over the last 2 days. I can see my feed, but every time I try and post a photo it crashes. What's up with that? Last 2 app updates = epic fail. Anyway. Off to play a little more and finish the laundry.

April's Project Life pages

I've been using National Scrapbook Day to do a little scrapping. April's project life is done! And I even started May!

So without further ado, here are the pages for last month... plus one that I decided to add to the end of March. Not really that many, but it all evens out.

(I didn't realize that the "O" had fallen off before the photo until I was editing these. I found it and stuck it back in after I took pictures, but I'm too lazy to re-do it. But it's there!)

I also did a layout for 2 of the challenges at Studio Calico - one to use buttons, and one was to use 5 patterned papers on the layout.

The lighting was bad when I took the pictures last night, but you get the idea. A few close-ups:

That's it for now! I'd like to do more of the challenges, but with this and the mixed media night I went to on Thursday, I may have hit my limit for now. lol. We'll see, I guess!

Project Life - March

Finished another month! I'm on a roll. Although I have a lot of photos for April, so I'll probably get a bit behind again over the next few weeks, but this is the most caught up I've been in a long time! (Ignoring the fact that I haven't finished my book with August-November of 2012 yet. Take the wins where you can get them!)

So with that, here are the Project Life pages for March:

I really love doing this format (6x8). I love that I can be creative where I want or just use photos and journaling cards. I love being able to just stick in inserts, and not feeling like I have to be tied to a certain layout or number of pages per week... I used a lot of space here for Easter weekend and I don't think I would have doing the 2-page 12x12 spread for each week. I'm glad I found something that works really well for me.

And now, I may start printing photos for April before the month is even over. Getting crazy over here!

Project Life - February

I know. Not only two posts in a month, two posts in a week. Getting crazy here. (And probably won't post again until mid-May. lol.)

Discovered that my cold came with a double dose of pink eye... been house-bound since Saturday, with the exception of a trip to the doctor. But I'm contagion free as of today and should be back in the office tomorrow. Good thing! I hate working on my laptop without my mouse (#firstworldproblems) and tomorrow's the Muse concert, so it's a good thing my body's cooperating on timing! But let's face it. I would have risked giving half of New England pink eye to be at that show. lol. Glad it won't come to that.

In the meantime, I finished most of February's Project Life pages over the weekend... put the finishing touches on the last ones last night.

Without further ado:

During the month, I found a quote on Instagram that I loved, so I took a screenshot and saved it in my photo stream and then printed it to go on the back of my journaling. Also included a big envelope to hold the Valentine's cards and notes.

During February, I also signed up and put down the deposit for my next trip - I'm headed out on a 3 week adventure to South-East Asia early next year and so I included the travel package they sent with the trip overview and information and added a little journaling to the envelope.

Last page is just some random, everyday shots of little things. (I adore that letterpress card from Kelly Purkey on the left... I almost didn't use it but decided to fight my hoarding instincts for once.)

That's it! Thinking I might start editing and printing photos for March tonight. We'll see... that might be too much productivity in such a short time period.

Catching up

It's time for my monthly blog post! lol. I've had a terrible time keeping up - I've been busy or traveling or sick or whatever, so I've decided to not worry about it and just pop in to update when I can.

Last week I was able to fly down to Virginia for the weekend to visit the family for Easter. It was a quick trip, but I was so glad to go - I haven't been home for Easter for 7-8 years, and I haven't ever been able to spend it with the kids, so this was really fun. We hunted eggs and played and watched movies and everything. And you know I've been able to go home a lot when I didn't even go to Wegman's! Anyway, here's one of my favorite photos from the weekend:

We had a little hug fest. I was mobbed. It was cute.

This week I've been busy at work and sick on top of it - I don't know if I caught it before I went home or got it while I was there or on the plane or some combination, but I'm feeling better... hoping it goes away quickly so I'll be ready to go see Muse next weekend! In the meantime, I've been listening to General Conference this weekend. We don't get it on TV here in Connecticut (at least not on cable), so I've been watching the sessions on my computer in my scrap room. While listening, I've started catching up on this year's Project Life. I'm doing a paper version this year, working in a 6x8 album. The one for the first part of the year is a Simple Stories album and page protectors. Supplies are mostly from Studio Calico kits with some Seafoam, some digital Midnight PL kits, and some Kelly Purkey from Simon Says Stamp.

Title page:

I decided not to try and do weekly this year. It was too much last year and I moved away from it at the end of the summer when moving to CT and starting the new job got to be too much. I like this a lot better - I'm doing it kind of like I do my travel journals - just sticking stuff in the binder and using the divided page protectors. I'm liking it so far.

Here are the pages for January:

I also managed to get all of the February photos printed and put into pages. I'm working on adding the journaling and doing a little embellishing. I might have to stop after that... I wouldn't want to do anything crazy like get caught up. lol.

28 Days of Love... quick update

So I'm trying not to get a full 14 days behind this time... lol. So I did a few more pages in my album. I also realized that I skipped a layout last week.

There weren't any Bright Ideas class challenges on these pages, so just 28 Days challenges. Left was someone I didn't know 10 years ago (photo and journaling on a tag that pulls out of the pocket) and on the right was something I do every day (I picked "go to work" which I'm sure seems weird, but it's totally true!)

Now for the 4 catch-up pages (I'm still a few behind, but it's better than nothing!)

Days 15-16:

On the left, the prompt was someone I spend time with - I picked my nieces. They're hysterical and so fun. For the Bright Ideas challenge, it was to create texture - I used gold mica paste and modeling paste with a mask to add a little texture to the background, plus used the sketch from the challenge.

The right side was "my favorite color" (turquoise / sapphire / peacock blue) so I used a picture showing how often I use it in my house. The Bright Ideas challenge was around using grids.

Then days 17-18:

The left was "something I listen to" and for the Bright Ideas challenge, I used a mask and the same stamp repeated over and over. I really like the effect - I'll have to do that again! The right side was "I love happy mail" so I used a photo of the stack of boxes that came from UPS after they were able to get back through after the blizzard (3 of those were household items from Amazon. Not really too fun, but after a blizzard it was all exciting!) The Bright Ideas challenge was to use a large photo (on a 4x4 page that wasn't hard) and I used the class sketch.

And meanwhile... it's been a crazy-busy week at work. We've been in scrum training all week. While I've done it before at previous jobs, it's brand new to most everyone else I work with. The trainer we brought in was very good and this was a lot more fun than what I've done before, I also learned a lot - filled in a few holes. We got to play with Legos a lot to practice the sprint process. Eventually, we built an entire Lego Skate Park. It was lots of fun.

Last night we went to BAR in New Haven for a group dinner - yummy salad and pizza and just a fun evening hanging out. Tonight after we finished training, our little team went to this awesome Indian restaurant that's just a few blocks from my house (Darbar). I've wanted to go for a while and I'm glad we did - it was delicious!

I had chicken Korma - medium spice. It was very good...

Of course, Ryan decided he wanted to go spicy, so he ordered the Chicken Vindaloo Spicy - the server was like, that's very hot. Are you sure? And he was. So I had my camera ready for his first taste...

(I really enjoy that Ryan hams it up for the camera.)

He was so disappointed... he even felt a little jipped... it wasn't that spicy! We all tried it, and I don't think it was any spicier than mine. But we all loved our food and had a good time. It was nice to unwind after 3 straight days of intense training. I'm looking forward to getting back to normal tomorrow :)

How does this not make you smile?

I'm taking a new class at Studio Calico called Bright Ideas with lots of great ideas and challenges and I actually managed to do one! This one was to make your own stencil and use it on the layout so I made a stencil with some some of the cut files from the class and then used the sketch for the challenge.

I used this picture that Nicole sent of Adorable-Niece-Aubrey> I laugh every time I see it.

The lighting for the picture was terrible as usual... it looks lots better in person.

Hopefully this weekend I can start and catch up on my 28 Days of Love album... assuming I have power after the main part of this blizzard hits tonight :-P

A little digi scrapping

Although I've decided not to continue Project Life in digital format, I'm still doing a little digi scrapping. Gennifer Bursett has been working on a fabulous new digi site - Pixels & Co. and I'm excited that I get to continue doing some DT work for her kits!

She has a new one out called Made of Awesome that's just too fun... I've had these portraits of me with my adorable nieces since I got home from Christmas, and I decided to do a layout with the ones of me and Eraleigh (I'll need to do another one with the photo of Aubrey and I soon!)

I'm kind of loving this. And I'm loving that I'm watching hockey while I do this. Yay for hockey being back! And now, I'm off to watch the rest of the game on my big TV from the comfort of my couch and my warm blanket :D

A quick layout

Just popping in with a quick layout... I think it's been a few months! I had these Instax photos from Christmas... I forgot to take more, but I wanted to use them somehow since they didn't make it into my December Daily.

Bits and pieces of various Studio Calico kits, some scrap paper and some fabulous Dear Lizzy patterned vellum. Hopefully there's more coming!

December Daily - Finished!

Whew! For a while there I wasn't sure I was going to finish this thing... I had about a week there where I just didn't want to pick it up again. But I just decided to not worry about it and finally I came back around.

So. Here are the pages for the 24th:

I saw a larger sized diecut like this online - it was by Ormolu, I think. I knew I had a globe shape in my Silhouette library, so with a little ingenuity, I knew I could make something similar. Of course, I had to increase the difficulty level by making it smaller, cutting it from POW glitter paper, and using a super thin font (Raleway.) But it worked!

I just used gel medium to adhere... I kind of like the semi-opaque look it gives the transparency, so I deliberatly covered the whole thing. I saved the Silhouette file so I can use it again.

And Christmas day... I went ahead and did 4 pages with 2 inserts.

I decided to just do 3 pages of photo collages... I got in 18 photos, and they kind of tell the story.

The first was Christmas morning at Nicole and Brian's seeing what Santa had brought.

The rest are at my parents' house.

At the back, I included an envelope with a few bits and pieces from the rest of my stay, but I decided to end on the 25th. At some point I may do a layout or two of some of the other things we did... we'll see.

As for the December Daily, I liked the 4x6 size, but I like doing a bigger album much better. I stick too many extra things into my album, so I like having a larger surface area and not having to try and get creative with my inserts. But I do think this one came out pretty cool... full of memories!

Yay! Now I can get back to finishing last year's Project Life and starting this year's. My Studio Calico project life kit (and my other SC kits) came today, and I'm excited to dig into them :)

December Daily Catch-up part 1 & some sewing!

Hello January! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I've been back in town a week but there's just been too much going on and I haven't had a chance to sit down and catch up.

I did these pages last weekend after I got back from Virginia, but never posted them. Oops!

December 22-23...

I have to say, the trip home is so nice now! I can catch at 10am flight down to Dulles... which means I don't have to leave before 7am to get to Hartford, but I'm in DC in time to have lunch with my family and spend the rest of the day. It makes it so much easier! So I got my bags and met Mom, Dad, and Grandpa out at the pick-up door and we headed to Wegman's for lunch and to do our Christmas grocery shopping. Then mom and I just ran errands all day... and stopped for manicures :) It was great to be with them, but I hadn't slept a lot the previous week, especially the night before so I was so exhausted I begged out of going to a movie and went up to bed at 8:30. lol. But it was fun to be down and see everyone and get settled in a bit.

The 23rd...

This is actually the journaling for the 22nd - the next day is on the back. I also saved the program from church - there was a beautiful music program in Sacrament meeting - it was quite a treat... there are some really talented musicians in the ward.

After church, we got out Dad's new Cuisinart Griller and since they'd given me one for Christmas 2 years ago, I showed them how to use it and we made paninis for lunch. Then as we were cleaning up, I asked Mom if she thought anyone was going to come over that afternoon and, I kid you not, 10 seconds later the garage door opened and in walked Rick, Erin and the kids. They weren't planning to come until Monday, but got too excited and came up a day early. It was great to see them! We had to rush to wrap a few presents before they saw, but then we were able to play and chat for the rest of the evening. Then I packed up and headed over to stay at Nicole & Brian's until after Christmas.

So that's those two days... still working on catching up!

In the meantime, I pulled out my sewing machine. That's twice in 4 months! A record, I'm sure.

First, I got 3 handmade pillow cases I'd ordered from an Etsy Seller in New Delhi that I needed to make pillow forms for. I pulled out some fabric I already had and made those, but needed more polyfill stuffing. So New Year's Day, I went over to JoAnn to pick that up, and thought while I was there I'd look for material to make the curtain I'd been meaning to make for my back door (which is the main entrance to my house.) I had been planning to do something with sheers, but found this instead:

It's kind of a taupe linen embroidered with turquoise flowers. It was so perfect... and the fabric was made so either side could face out - perfect for going in a window where people will see the back when they come to the door.

I thought about just doing it plain, but thought I'd take a quick trip through the trimming aisle to see if there was anything that would work, and I found this fun pom-pom trim that matched almost perfectly. It's a tad funky, but it works for me. And I found thread that was almost perfect as well - you can barely see it.

So I got home and finished my pillow forms, then set to work on curtains - measure and cut, then sew. And, I'm proud to say, that for the first time EVER, I filled and threaded the bobbin without getting out the machine instructions. It's a miracle!

And here's what I made:

I decided to gather them in the middle - I had some wire and glass beads that I'd bought a while ago planning to do this exact thing for my bedroom curtains in Utah. Since that didn't happen, I decided to use it for this and it worked great! I can still take it off to just let it hang.

Then I made the one for the window in my main staircase.

That one couldn't have come out more perfect so I'm really pleased. I smile when I see them both... it's just the little things :)

And a view of my couch with all my colorful new pillows on it - definitely no longer beige and boring!

The big one in the back is from Target (there are 2 - one on the other end). The long one with the blue Suzani pattern and the square sequined one are Pier 1. The other 3 are the ones I got from India. The red was just what it needed, and the other one ties in the green from my Target pillows. I have them more spread out now... I keep messing with it :) But all the color and pattern makes me really happy.

That's it for now! Off to make dinner and then hopefully get more caught up on my December Daily so I can start working on finishing last year's Project Life mini album and starting this year. Lots to do!

The Mayans were wrong.

I'm not exactly surprised, but it did make a great title for today's December Daily spread!

Just vinyl Thickers adhered to chipboard, then some Doodlebug letter stickers. I painted over all of it in gold and sprinkled on some gold glitter while the paint was still wet. (I had originally planned to do this page for the 12th, then decided to do the 21st instead and add the thing about the Mayans so I had to switch things. You can kind of see where I fudged it, but it doesn't bother me :)

And a little journaling card insert followed by a few pictures from the day.

After work, Cassi, Steve, and I headed to New Haven to have dinner at Prime 16. I've wanted to go try it for a while, and it didn't disappoint! We had an order of fried pickles with chipotle dipping sauce that we shared, then I got the Half Bacon Burger on a pretzel roll... the beef was stuffed with applewood smoked bacon, then topped with more bacon along with cheddar, pickles, and tomatoes, with a garlic aioli on the side and the roll was amazing. It came with truffle parmesan fries. Holy moly. It was like one of the best, if not THE best burger I've ever had. I couldn't talk for the first few bites. I just had to savor. And if that wasn't enough, Cassi was in the mood for cheesecake after we saw it on the menu, and I saw they had bread pudding which I love (peanut butter and jelly this week!) so we got those and all of us had a few bites of each, then boxed up the leftovers. (And now two burgers in two days... I've met my burger quota for the next little while for sure!)

It was a great night... we had a lot of fun, really enjoyed the food, and we were glad to have a little holiday get together before we went our separate ways until after the New Year.

So with that, I'm just doing some last minute stuff to be ready to go spend time with my family. I'm going to put my December Daily and blogging and everything on hold for the next week or so while we celebrate. I can't wait to see everyone!

Merry Christmas!

4 months

Yesterday was the 4 month anniversary on the job. Normally I don't keep track like this, but I'm kind of anxious to hit 5 months and surpass the time on my last job. lol.

Busy day... celebrating, lots of projects, working hard to get some stuff out the door before the break... by the end of the day I was just exhausted. I'm super ready to have a little time off to relax. And fortunately, that time isn't far off!

I included a few pictures from the day - all food - not really a surprise. It was Jenn's birthday so we went to lunch and had cupcakes, and Christine brought in little Christmas gifts for everyone (she's so thoughtful!)

I included the cute card from Christine's gift basket...

And a little Doodlebug envelope that I decorated to hold some typed journaling for the day.

And in the back you can see the gold insert I originally did for the 11th. I decided to move it since I wanted to use the back of it for the 21st.

The book is getting full! Good thing it's almost Christmas :)

Check one more off my Christmas list

The number one thing I wanted to do this season was to go over to the town green to see the lights and the tree they planted there. I happened to see the truck with the tree strapped to it driving into the center of town last month and I was so excited! They had a tree lighting ceremony and a parade that went right past my house while I was home for Thanksgiving. Since I missed that, I didn't want to miss going to walk around the center of town and take pictures of the lights.

Fortunately, thanks to my handy dandy nerd list, I remembered to do it! (I'm not kidding. I almost forgot... that's why I need that list!)

Last night after work I went home and dropped of my laptop, changed my shoes, grabbed my camera, and walked two blocks to the town center. (I'm not kidding... it's literally two blocks!) It's just so picturesque that I can't quite get over it!

All the street lights are decorated...

And then the town green with the huge tree (and menorah) with the churches and town hall lined up along the back.

(The big glowing blob is the menorah.)

It was quiet, still... so peaceful and beautiful. And I managed to kind of get the bokeh effects I was going for! And a sliver of the moon, hanging just over top of the tree.

Looks like my lens has a slightly funny shape - I almost get hearts instead of circles when I do the bokeh. I think it's pretty cool looking.

Then as I headed back toward my house, the bells of the church rang out the hour behind me... I just love that. Because I'm so close, when it's quiet I can hear them inside the house and I stop to listen every time. I've always loved bells and I'm so thrilled to live where I can hear them regularly.

About a block from my house is a great little cafe that we go to for lunch sometimes... I've never been outside of work, but since I don't want to cook or buy groceries before taking off for the holidays, I stopped to get something off their very excellent salad bar (and maybe a slice of peanut butter pie. Don't judge. It was delicious.) Then walked the last block back home. As I walked I just thought how totally cool it is to be in this location... it's perfect for me. It's not so big and busy that it makes my introverted self want to head for the hills, but I can just walk into town to go to the store or grab food or go to the library... hang out and read a book in the town green... whatever. I'm not quite over the novelty of it yet.

When I got home, I had left on the lights of my tree so I could see them as I came up the steps to go inside. It just made me happy. So I cuddled up on the couch with my dinner and a movie and enjoyed the rest of a lovely evening. And it wasn't even a Hallmark Christmas movie! (it was a Lifetime Christmas movie. lol.)

So anyway... that's the story and photos from last night's December Daily entry.

The way the lights are in my house, I have a terrible time avoiding the glare... especially on the right side where I used a transparency to back the frame insert - the photo isn't attached - it's in a sleeve behind the frame page.

I made the frame just using the rectangle and offset tools in the Silhouette software and then I typed the words (Pacifico font) and welded them to the frame and cut it out of American Crafts POW paper. I love that stuff!

Now I just need to do about a week's worth of work in two days and get everything ready for me to go home for the holidays. Plenty to keep me busy, that's for sure!

December Daily Day 18

I'm going to admit something kind of nerdy.

I have a list.

It's a list of things that I want to do this holiday season and I check them off... the list in and of itself isn't too nerdy - lots of people have them. It's that without the list, I would just sit in front of the tv watching Hallmark movies every night if I didn't have it.

So one thing on my list was to make an attempt at doing some bokeh effects with my camera and the tree lights.

Eh.

I thought about cutting out a shape and attaching it to my lens filter to get heart shaped bokeh, but given my success rate with Christmas experimentation so far this year, I decided to cut my losses with this semi-successful photo. Even without the full bokeh effect it still looks pretty good.

So, that's my photo for yesterday's entry.

I love those gold doilies.

And then lots more journaling about... you guessed it! Work!

And then I got a few Christmas cards yesterday. The one from Brent and his family was awesome, but wouldn't fit in my book, so rather than ruin it with creative folding / hole punching, I decided to leave it out for now. I might tuck it in the back later.

But... the Christmas card from the Marriott School came too and it fits - Chad sent me one, along with a nice little note. I was excited... they don't send them to just anyone (unless you have connections!) and they're quite coveted as they're known among the other business schools for being extremely creative. They have to one-up themselves every year. This year was awesome, as always!

That's it for now... another crazy-busy day at work ahead... (naturally!)

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire?

Eh. Not so much. But it wasn't my fault!

So here's the deal. I've always wanted to try roasted chestnuts. We sing about them every year... and last year when I was in Istanbul they sold them in carts everywhere in Taksim Square and I swore I was going to stop and get some. And I didn't. So then, I decided that since I hadn't gotten them, I'd get some and make them for Christmas last December. And I didn't.

But they're nuts. They keep, right? So I put them in the fridge (I figured that, like most nuts, if you put them in the fridge they don't go rancid. Shelled nuts, at least.)

They stayed there until August when I hauled them across the country and put them in the fridge here.

Last night I pulled them out... I'd picked up instructions on roasting chestnuts at Wegmans last month. I patiently cut X's into the flat side of every one. I laid them in a single layer on the sheet. I put them in the oven at the right temp and set the timer.

They smelled amazing.

I was so excited! I took them out, they looked like they were supposed to. Curled open at the X, piping hot and smelling wonderful.

I let them cool enough to peel, opened one and took out the kernal and tried to take a bite.

Rock. hard.

I tried another one. And another. And another. I think I tried to peel five before I admitted defeat.

Note to self: fresh chestnuts seem to be required. doh. (maybe that's why I had to literally saw the Xs into the nuts? It did seem like it should be easier.)

But I tried!

Next year. Sigh.

On to my documentation of the day...

I used one of the cut files by Marcy Penner from the Studio Calico 25 Days class to make a little envelope - you can't see well, but it has a little "open" arrow / word cut into the front, and I lined the inside with some heavy vellum screenprinted with gold stars (Kelly Purkey). This holds the shipping receipt for the box I sent to Melody and also the list of presents for everyone on my list... the back has a receipt from Two Peas with a fun little message.

And then, a photo of my failed chesnut roasting experience.

Live and learn, right?

At least it makes a good story!

December Daily Day 16

Quick update... yesterday was pretty quiet. I had pictures of the little treat bags I made up with the Candy Corn Chex Mix, along with a photo of me wrapping presents on the floor of my craft room.

I figured the pictures were pretty self explanatory and it would be a nice change to NOT have a ton of journaling... so I just used that cute Kelly Purkey stamp with the 4 food groups from Elf - candy canes checked for the Chex mix, of course!

That's it! Now it's time to go get ready for what I'm sure is going to be a crazy busy week trying to get stuff done before the holiday. But busy makes the time pass more quickly, right?