Monday, December 27, 2010

Holidays are here!

I hope everyone had a merry christmas, I know in our house it was very Jolly!

On Christmas Eve, my brother Danny and his longtime girlfriend, Ann got Engaged! Yay for an engagement shoot and Danny finally doing it!

I was surprised christmas morning to find out Adam got me an Imagine... without me knowing! But, sad news is I need to call HSN and/or Provo Craft this morning to have it swapped out; because it's broken! One of the roller/bar things that runs across the bottom (under the mat) in the back of the machine was sticking up and blocking the path for the mat, so it couldn't print correctly, and then once I noticed and 'fixed' that issue (by pushing it into the right clips) it won't cut now. :-(


Anyways, I'm excited for playing with one that works in the next few weeks.


Adam also got me lots of other great things, a Bind-it-all; Unity Stamps that I've already made this little gem with:

My mom is having a rough holiday season, so this card will be for her; I LOVE the quote. I also got a beautiful necklace I've been wanting, by Lisa Leonard Designs.This initial tags have a 'K' and a 'Z'.

I hope you had a great christmas also, and I will keep you posted on my journey to get a working imagine!

Dawn

Monday, December 20, 2010

Santa Flying Layout & Bokeh

So, it's been a while; as normal seems now-a-days. Last Friday, we opted out of the typical 'oh my G-- we forgot to take Zoe to see Santa, we'd better hurry this weekend!!' and took her on a Friday afternoon. Luckily, I'd gotten her 'dressed' that morning (which is totally out of our ordinary, since she normally chooses her own outfits; especially on a Friday since it's our 'short' day at work (Doodlebug Sportz for your paintball and extreme sports needs& Used HD Parts on Ebay for Harley Davidson parts).

So, we all know I broke the law here; by photographing a photo I had to pay for, but honestly they basically raped us for the one photo ($21 for a wimpy 5X7, which was more of a 4.5X6.5 anyways...) so here is my big girl with Santa! She was thrilled to tell him all about the 'teeny, tiny, little house' she wanted (being a doll house) 'like Phenyx has' she mentioned; hopefully Santa knows our good friends Phenyx & Keelen, eh?

I've made it into a Christmas Layout, using the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland Paper Stack and solid papers as well as some Tim Holtz Distress Inks and my Cricut Expressions, and Gypsy (with my FREE Christmas Cartridge I hadn't even looked at yet!) A HUGE thank you to Lauren, over at Lauren's Creative; because honestly; I had no clue this image was on the cartridge until I saw a layout she did using it with her adorable daugher on it.

Here is a close up of the sign I used, it's also from the 'Christmas' Cartridge that I got on my last Gypsy Upload for FREE!


I distressed the 'wood' of the sign using Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Walnut Stain Distress Inks, and then embossed it using the Cuttlebug Branches Folder.


Isn't this little image adorable? I had to copy Lauren on the faux stitching too... thanks Lauren! :-)

Totally off the topic, I've been checking out Kevin & Amanda's Blog lately, I used to use it for the Peas for Fonts Section, where you can get hundreds; literally HUNDREDS of adorable fonts for scrapbooking, signs, etc for FREE! Amazingly, Amanda creates them based on submissions people make and lets everyone have them for free! I use them all the time for things around my house and even at work when I need signs, and my handwriting isn't 'pretty' enough but normal Times New Roman or Tahoma isn't personal enough; feel me?
So, back to the topic ( I get excited easily... lol) and she did a post on Bokeh photography. Bokeh is actually just a 'background' if you will, and I was intriqued. Of course, being me I searched and searched on how to do it perfectly, and realized that she has the best description and directions anywhere on the web (better than my fellow photographers even!). So, using this tutorial; I took a few little shots of things like this--
Isn't it pretty? The christmas lights on the tree really make it sparkle. :-) So, a thanks to Amanda too; because she totally motivated me to try something new, and I may even use this in my photography shoots throughout the year now. By the way; have you looked at my photography site lately?
Thanks for stopping by today!
Dawn



Friday, December 17, 2010

Friday, December 10, 2010

Get Sketchy, Sketch #68

Hi Everyone!
I was checking out Get Sketchy earlier today, and saw this sketch.




I am supposed to be in the ScrapShop working on some cardboard (chipboard) brochure holders (if anyone has a Cricut File for this cut, I'd LOVE IT!) that my Dad needs for his business, Doodlebug Sportz, the leading paintball facility in the Pacific Northwest, but got in their and sort of spaced off.


Anywhoo, of course this was more fun...

Being that my last Papercraft Magazine was greys and valentines, I sort of mixed the two for this one.






Supplies:
Black Cardstock (8.5"X5.5")
White Cardstock (4 1/8th X 5.25")
Patterned Paper (from DCWV Summer's Dream Stack, 4" X 5 1/8th)
White Cardstock Strip (4"X1.75")
Metallic Pink/Red Piece (2.25"X1.75")
Black Strip (1.75"X1") Punched with Fiskars Sunburst Border Punch
ATG Gun
Branches Embossing Folder
Glue
Black Embossing Powder
Black Ribbon
Tag by Making Memories from the Michael's $1 bin
Cheers!
Dawn

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Book Party and a Layout!

So, today at my house I hosted an Usborne Books Party; and had a few friends over to shop. I found some great deals, and will be ordering as soon as I learn all about my hostess benefits from the sales and bookings from the party.

Usborne Books is the leading publisher of Children's Books Internationally. Have you ever heard of 'Everyone Poops'? Well, they are the publisher, and it can only be purchased through an Usborne Books Independant Consultant. I already own it, or I'd be buying it, but anyways I thought I'd share the link to my eshow here, in case any of you are interested in books for the holidays!

http://www.ubah.com/HOS187165

Here is a layout from today.


The wording is from the Cartridge Stamped, and I know... it's OLD!
The paper is DCWV Summer Dream Stack
Prima Flowers
Inked all over with Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Cheers!