Saturday, June 26, 2010

Time to go back to work

I have had 3 very busy days off from the hospital  but it is time to go back to work (darn it) just when I am starting to get creative again with the 2008 family album.

BUT we did go and see “Wicked” on Thursday and that was soooooo worth it!

Last week we had to get the air conditioner repair people out here because we had a leak in the lines, no problem I think it was a 20 minute fix and then when we came home from seeing “Wicked” the garage door would not open.  The spring broke when we left so here we are at 1:00 in the morning crawling under the garage door to find out what happened.  Friday the garage door repair people came out to fix the spring and to show me how to maintain our garage door system. 

While all this was going on I managed to get laundry done and get about 6 layouts done at the same time.  Oh and I downloaded the rest of Kaela’s 7th grade photos (196) to Snapfish for processing.  Hey maybe I did do more than I thought, just when I thought I was being a bum. :-)

As you guys wake up and start your day I am going to bed. I have to work tonight but on the bright side it is overtime and that means…SCRAPBOOKING MONEY!  I really do have a one track mind!

On my next day off I will complete the layout that I am currently working on, the stitching it taking me a while and get some photos up for you.  Have a safe weekend and I will see you here next week. 

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Look What “Paper Crafts” Started

Call me a late bloomer but 2009 / 2010 is the year that I really discovered that I like and I am getting better at card making. So in a quest for more information I ordered all of the CTMH card confidence books and I signed up for two magazines.  They are:  Card Maker (my favorite) & Paper Crafts. While CTMH is not represented in these magazines very often I felt they would open up my creative side just a little more.  

The first couple of issues of Paper Crafts had me frustrated because while they have very cute card ideas they were hard for me to scrap lift because   I could not get the dimensions and cuts correct and I felt like I was wasting good paper on designs that were out of my level of “know how” for lack of a better term. I even told Mike not to re-new my subscription because I just did not have the talent to do the artwork justice.  

So the new issue of Paper Crafts comes in the mail on Monday and I am browsing the issue before I clock in at work only to find myself making notes of what cards where sparking  my interest enough to try again. I guess my creative side wanted another crack to reach higher.  Want a peak?

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Here is the little bitty card that started the whole ball of wax.  This is the best photo I could get of the card.  My camera just refused to take the shot any closer on any setting.

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It was 3:45 pm when the inspiration hit me and I yelled at Kaela that we had to go to Sonic now!  I only had 15 minutes to get my drink before happy hour ended.  I knew that when I started I would not want to stop and I would need the big drink to keep me awake.  She was game as always and even jumped in the car without shoes just to get her fix too.  I guess I am not doing laundry today… oooops.

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This is me tweaking and re-working with the products that I had on hand.  I think the paper pack is from about 3 years ago and the coffee stickers I bought even before I was a consultant (over 5 years ago)!

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Here is an over view of all of the cards I made with stickers and a paper pack that is YEARS old.

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This a a lot of cards for me, using just left over supplies and a 3 inch scallop punch. I added bitty sparkles and buttons to the final card when I thought it might need an extra punch.    The more I look at them the more I like them.

Crop Night is TONIGHT so I think I will find a couple more designs to work on while having fun with my girls.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Scrap or Swim?

Summer is here and the question begs to be asked.  Do I play in the pool or do I ignore summer and just scrap my little life away?  The pool seems to be winning!  So while I have been playing hookie per say I have managed to get some layouts done.

This is the FAMILY 2008 Album and you will notice photos that you have seen before.  When we take big vacations I always make a whole album just for those vacations and in 2008 we took 2.  So even though I have used some of the same photos the layouts are different. 

Please excuse my sloppy crop on the photos this time.  My camera has gone wonky and I could not see clearly in the view finder.  I am hoping I am just tired and that nothing is wrong with my camera. Keep you fingers crossed.  Now on to the layouts:

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I was less concerned with using “current” paper because let’s face it, these photos are already 2 years old.  i just focused on what paper looked good with each set of photos.

Here is a challenge: Break out your old catalogs and see if you can find what paper packs I have used so far.  Leave me a comment and I will let you know if you are right.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Back - Up Your Photos!

My husband is a nerd, he is my nerd but a nerd none the less… we have been “talking” about different ways to backup our computers for a couple of years now with no real results.  It is just by sheer luck I have not lost all of my photos by now because I probably have not put any on DVD in about 6 months.

I have been listening to http://www.paperclipping.com/category/roundtable/ since it began and a couple of weeks ago they had a product pick being http://mozy.com/home I sent Mike an email asking him to look into this company as a possible solution for our backup needs.  Here is where the waiting began……

So tonight I am listening to PCRT again and they had a  reminder about backing up your system and the idea of a National Back – Up Day.  Well I decided to put on my big girl panties and just do this my self.  So I now have an account and I am able to back up my entire computer automatically, and without worry of losing my photos forever.  I have my account set up to back up my computer at night when I am least likely to be using it (stop laughing I know it is 4:30 in the morning now!)  so it is a real no brainer to getting this done.  If I can do this by myself so can you! 

SOOOOOO, here is what I need from you, please, please stop scrapbooking for one day and back-up your computers. You can use an online service or your own system I just feel like it is time to stop for one day and get this done.  Life happens and I do not know about you but if something happened to my photos I would be crushed and even that did not stop me from being lax in my backing up of data.  Consider it a life insurance policy for your memories.   Now that I am done with backing up my computer I am going to resume my scrapbooking fun. 

As a reminder:  CROP NIGHT IS THIS SATURDAY at 6:00 pm. 

See you there!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Palo Duro Canyon 2010

We are baaack!  What a wonderful week spending time with my family in Palo Duro Canyon, Texas.  We took the little pop – up camper with us for a hot, fun filled week of just family time.  Mike and I had some much needed time together with the teenage child and I have about 600 new photos to scrap!

DSC_0075 Mike and Kaela on a cliff taking photos, I was standing in a spot I could not fall off of taking my own photos with the “big” camera.

DSC_0155Home away from home.  Our little spot in the Canyon.

 

DSC_0230ROAD TRIP!

The whole family joined us for a trip into Amarillo for a day trip. This is Cadillac Ranch.  I think I have a group of monkeys in my family.

 

DSC_0258 This is a cave that we found out Mike climbed in as a child.  I will have to make a copy to give to Barbara as a gift.  It would be cool if we could find the one of Mike as a little boy in the same spot.

DSC_0280The Canyon at sunset

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P1000618Horseback riding in the canyon, Kaela is behind the little girl in green and Mike is in front taking the photos.  Me, I am hanging on for dear life!

P1000838  Time to say Good-bye

 

While we had plenty of adventure during our little vacation it is good to be home.  I have laundry to finish and a Mexican dinner with Mike and Kaela then it will be back to work for me on Sunday. 

Just as a reminder:  June 19th is Crop Night!  We had a blast last month and I can not wait for Saturday night to get here!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

May Crop 2010

Well if you missed the May crop night you missed a party!  It was the first night upstairs in the new crop area and while I am not finished decorating the space it did not stop us from having a great time.  While looking at these photos I realized that Tiffani was the one taking the photos but she is not in any of them…. WE will fix that next time.

IMG_3375 Amy and Lynn

IMG_3377Delfina with me sitting in the center

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IMG_3383Kimberlee is getting ready to do a ton of paper piercing!

IMG_3388Lynn had the idea of  putting card together after seeing an example in the catalog (page 13) These are the cards that Delfina did off of Lynn and the catalogs examples.  They both did the same type of card with 2 different sets of paper.  LOVED IT!

Tiffani and I finally fell into bed at 5 in the morning still feeling like we could scrap some more but fully knowing that the sun was about to come up and we needed some sleep.

On that note I can not wait for the next Crop Night on June 19, 2010! 

Will I see you there? 

Tiffani’s Bridal

As some of of you know, a dear friend of mine was married 3 months ago.  Tiffani came over this weekend for the May Crop night and I was able to scrap one of her bridal photos that we took.  I am very pleased with how it came out and she said I could share.

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It is very simple but I also think it is very elegant.