Showcase Scrapbook Page

This little picture, a 2" x 3" is the one I can't seem to find my 4" x 6" copy of.... This is also a Christmas morning photograph. This is one of the pictures that, upon viewing it, it is impossible not to smile. Shay looks like a garden gnome in his fleece forest green hat. His cheeks are so round that they look like apples! The journaling text was written on a piece of metallic vellum that I placed over some distress crackle paint stamps. It doesn't show terribly well in the photograph, but the hearts are visible through the vellum. If you click on the picture, you can see the page in detail and read the journaling text. The plan for the larger photograph is to pair it with one of him in his Santa hat with some text about Santa having left an elf behind....
And as you can see, I'm still studiously avoiding that Thank You card....

The Very Best Present Is You

Okay... so I finished that Christmas morning page today....
On Christmas Morning...
the very best present is you.



Though it photographs poorly, I love the effect of the Glossy Accents on the string of word tags. It gives them dimension and a full sheen. I still think UTE might have been easier but I'm happy with it overall. The hardest part of this project was keeping the cardstock from tearing on the small packages. Those ribbon cuts are narrower than 1/16 " thick and they are delicate. I owned my cricut for more than a year before I even took it out of the box... the curse of having too many projects on the list and so little time to get things done. I actually broke it out for the first time for my son's first birthday. I was unable to find Winnie the Pooh decorations, so I made them. To think I used to trace shapes and then cut them by hand!

Detour from thank you card to scrap page

Well... I've hit that spot in the process where I know what I want to do but don't feel like doing the work.... we all get there I think... mostly it's the effort it takes to find everything I need for step two (more like step four, but who's counting?)

So I took a little break from that project to make a scrapbook page of a Christmas morning picture of my son. I spent an hour or so looking for the picture I wanted to work with and still haven't found that but found one I did want to work with and had an great idea for it. The page is not yet finished as I'm waiting for the Glossy Accents to dry.... hoping that it produces the desired effect. I have a feeling I should have gone with UTE and the heat tool, but we'll see. This was also a fast project... about forty minutes from start to finish except for the dry time which will likely be near an hour. Having spent so much time away from actually making things, I had forgotten how much fun it is and how satisfied it leaves me feeling. My son has just reached the age where he will let mommy do something for a little while without feeling neglected. I do have to work with the constant refrain of "See? See?" which is his way of saying "I want that." or wait until he has gone to bed... hence the very late posts.

A little time to create...

Frantic... mornings spent juggling getting ready for work and my son who now seems to be adverse to clothes. Leave him alone (in the playpen, of course) for ten minutes and all clothes including the diaper are off... Feed the cat, feed the dog. Let said dog out to do her business twice. Make lunch to take to work, make a bottle of milk of the baby... oh... and don't forget one of your coworkers has a birthday... strapped for cash (who isn't these days?) and strapped for time... what can I do quickly that still resonates? Other than not be able to work the imaging in the blog quite right... a quick birthday tag card... distress inks, Pearl Ex powder, ideology mask and the color text from www.colorstrology.com. Handmade envelope for the tag, quick ribbon and postal tag (not shown in photograph)... total time including drying: 40 minutes. Super big hug from coworker! with the surprised "You made this? All of it? For me?" Yes... the thing about making something for someone is that there is always a risk that you will miss the mark... This time however was a spot on hit. Another quick and frantic project that is proving to be more time consuming though is a thank you card for other coworkers who bought a gift for my baby. Photos to come when I get it actually finished.

It is terribly late as I write this and I have yet to step into my craft room and do any real projects today. I did spend a good bit of time reading "All about the words" about scrapbook journalling and found some of it really interesting. I especially enjoyed my visit to the http://www.colorstrology.com/ website to find my birth color which is Aspen Green... looking at other people's work always inspires me to do more of my own but as a working mother I find it difficult to carve out the time to create. At work tomorrow we demo the Yudu personal screenprinter and I'm looking forward to that. Today, other than pointing you to colorstrology, I'm afraid I have nothing to share but coming soon I'll post some pics of the work I'm doing these days and share some of the things I'm learning.