Digi-Jolene

Well, I have been quite the digital learner during the last few days. I not only finished my first Jessica Sprague lesson, but I finished the bonus lesson too. And I don't want to brag or anything (well, maybe a little) but I aced the little test at the end. I also learned about organization and found myself learning about and buying ACDSee software to organize my growing collection of digital stuff. Here's the bonus page I made.
Once again, it was finished for the most part and I just followed along with the instructions. Not alot of creativity was used here. I certainly can see myself as more of a "hybrid" scrapper. I love the options with digital but I'm not big on flat pages. I AM big on the idea that I can put together some great pages in less time, because, while I LOVE cutting and using glue, I have come to the realization that I am, in fact, a busy mom who would like to focus what little creative time I have on other projects too. Not to mention, I need to become a little more technically savvy. Don't want to get left further behind, you know. For those of you who are worried that I am going totally digital...I promise that I will continue to play with real, live paper. I could never give that up. I have loved paper my whole life and I don't see that changing.

Looky What I Did!

One of my goals for this year is to learn how to become proficient on the Photoshop. My parents gave me Elements 7 last year for my birthday and I have only the very basics down. So I bought a book (thank you mom!) and an online course from Jessica Sprague. This is my first project. Now in all honesty, she has most of this done for you and you just follow her instructions to add in all the details, but, still, I'm pretty proud of myself. Yay me! I made it through lesson one of my course.
If you're ever finding yourself wanting to be more Photoshop saavy, Jessica is your girl.

A Valentine Surprise

Every Friday, (usually) I can be found working at my parents' house. I have the BEST parents ever! And we have always made sure that we know how much we love each other in our family but Valentine's Day has always been extra special. Well, last night, (can't have a great idea until the last minute, you know) I had the idea to make something for them. The plan was to hang it on their door so they could be surprised when they came home.
I have had STEPHANIE Ackerman's little banner piece on my brain all week and her paper roses are to die for but I haven't seen where she has told you how to make them. I decided that I MUST find a tutorial on making these incredible roses. I did a little Googling and found THIS little gem. It turns out making the pattern is a little complicated but once you've got that in place, then you are on your way. I didn't use the pipe cleaners or florist's tape that they used and I crumpled, distressed and rolled out the edges to make them my own. I LOVE them!
Plan on seeing them on absolutely everything that I do for a while. OK, well, maybe not everything.
Sorry the pictures aren't that great. It has been overcast all day and I couldn't get any pictures unless I used my flash. My beautiful, swirly jewels really don't appreciate flash photography. Those gems are from Michaels, by the way. The book print paper is Jenni Bowlin and the black and white dots are brand new My Mind's Eye, I took it right when the sweet lady at the store put the freshly opened stack on the shelf. Is it goofy to receive glee from being the first customer to touch this paper? Well, so what, it made me happy. The roses are made from My Mind's Eye and Bo Bunny Press (old). The black glitter chipboard letters are Making Memories and the little glitter heart I made from a chipboard button covered with Best Creation glitter paper. Add some ric rac and ribbon and voila, you have a Valentine Surprise. It was so much fun that I didn't even mind the fact that I finished it at about 1 a.m. and had to be up at 5 a.m. Which means...bring on the Diet Coke...I need a wake up. Or maybe my kids will let me have a "power nap". Well, a girl can dream.

Dreaming....

Okay people, is there anyone else out there that would find attending Donna Downey's "inspired" artist workshop an absolute dream come true? How I love Donna's art and you should see the people she has teaching. Take a look HERE. It looks like the best 3 days ever. And just as a little disclaimer, I have never met Donna, nor has she paid for my endorsement. I just happen to think that if 1) I didn't live all the way across the country (it's in North Carolina, where it's much warmer, I'm told) and 2) I had the pesos, I couldn't think of too many better ways to spend 3 days of my life. I probably wouldn't even be able to concentrate on my art because I think I would just sit there in absolute awe. Well, time for me to wake up from my sweet little dream, but I hope that if someone out there gets to go to "inspired", I'd be HAPPY to hear a report (and see all of your projects).

Resolutions Are Not For Me!

I love goals but NOT resolutions. Basically, it's the same dang difference but I guess it's just the idea that bugs me. A resolution will be broken by the 14th of January, in my experience, and a goal keeps plugging along during the rest of the year. I like the feeling of goals in January and setting the tone for the year though, so I have a quirky little thing I do. I just write my goals after the 14th of January...that way they are not resolutions! Make sense? Little nutty, I know, but that's the way I think. This year I am writing my top ten goals for the year in a teeny little composition notebook that I have altered. Here is the little doodle I made for the front cover. It's kind of zentangle-y and doodle-y mixed together. I need color in my life so I used my colored pencils to fill it in. Today, I am hoping to work on the back cover but I have a killer migraine so we'll see. Well, my little one is practically BEGGING for a hot dog. Not sure why. I won't even go into how I feel about those gross things but kid's must not have developed taste buds because they seem to think that hot dogs are the greatest thing ever! So I'm off to nuke one for this cute little guy.

I'm An American Girl!

I have had my eye on the Paper Posies pad from American Girl Crafts for a while now. I admired them at Michaels for a couple of months. Since I was working on Christmas projects, my budget couldn't swing it but I finally got to bring one home a while back (thank you, Heather) and I have been dying to get a chance to use them. Oh the colors, the glitter, the flowers, the butterflies, I LOVE this die-cut pad! It's been a long time since I worked on a 2S4Y sketch and I knew I HAD to use my American Girl flowers. This card is based on Kazan's sketch.
The flowers (three, stacked up) and leaves are from American Girl crafts. The patterned paper is We R Memory Keepers and Cosmo Cricket. The letter stickers are Making Memories. And that's pretty much it. Hope you love those flowers as much as I do. You simply must run out and pick yourself up some. Hurry before the new CHA stuff comes out and your list of "must haves" becomes unruly. The CHA sneaks I have been seeing around are making me giddy. Can't wait!

You Want To Know What Would Make Me Happy?

I'll tell you...although I feel a little exposed saying this...I have always wanted to have one of my little projects published. I have sent in many but thus far I haven't had any luck in the published department. I guess I haven't figured out the tricks of the trade yet, but my favorite magazine ever is CARDS magazine. It is awesome. It's a little pricey, so when I do break down and buy it, it's really a treat. The people over at CARDS even have it available on the internet for much less money but I just LOVE touching the pages and turning them and being excited about what's on the next page. CARDS even has a blog and they post weekly challenges. I've never actually done one before but I've always had it on my "need to do" list (it's one long list, I tell you). Today, I was going to finish cleaning my basement but I just wasn't feeling it. My husband suggested that I work on a project instead (don't you just love that guy?) and I thought about it for about 3 seconds and decided on the project. I mean basement or project, what would you choose?
The CARDS challenge was to use trees and/or branches and here's mine.
I have a crazy amount of scraps left from the calendars project so if this looks kind of like you've seen it before, that's why. The paper is Fancy Pants, My Mind's Eye, Crate Paper, and Doodlebug. The glitter paper is also Doodlebug. All of the letter stickers are from Making Memories and the jewels, hemp and button are just some I had hanging around. My husband thinks it's funny that I just have a "personal stash" of hemp. Sounds a little like the DEA will be dropping by. Well, I better go make some dinner just in case they do stop by. I'd hate for their trip to be a total "bust" (ha! Get it!) At least they can have some speggetti, as my son calls it.