This is Me Being a Dork

I'm just a dork. Princess Lala had asked what our top choices are for kits and I thought she was going to give each of us a link, first come, first serve, so I requested, and waited. It finally occurred to me to check the forum and there they were, links to 2 kits. Call me master of the obvious. And I love this kit. It's Princess Lala's signature kit named after herself, Lala from Divine Digital. I love the pink and black. It's so Bella and my diva friends. BTW, that foot on the top with the ladybug on it is mine. (and sadly in need of a pedicure both then and now)

I wasn't going to work today but I had started this last night and despite a blister on my eye, I wanted to put the finishing touches on this and get it up. I owe it to Princess Lala.

*Extra credit goes to Steph for the paper tear. I am too lazy to figure it out myself and Ronee had used some in one of her Memory Maker layouts. Thanks for the tip doll!

Wasn't Going to Do It

I wasn't going to scrap today, in fact, I had let Sawyer use my computer and because he was on it, Bella got jealous. I pulled out her long hidden tea set for her to do something of her own. Once she got it set up, she came in and told him "Sawyer, you can be my lawyer". I knew a lo was coming! I grabbed my camera and here's what I did. (while they smashed the styrofoam that the tea set is stored in and sucked the little balls up with our new vaccuum cleaner- oy!)

I was glad to finally use Amy Tanabe's Homespun kit as well as more of Jennifer Reed's Cinnamon kit. (both freebies) Of course, the swirl is Michelle Coleman's Boho Chic, (store open in a couple of days, are you excited yet?!) and the Painted Heart is a freebie from her blog. There's a page from Jan Crowley's Jolly Brolly kit too. (I am going to use more of these for my Spring Break pictures.) I also snagged SAAB's corner curl template which I love.

Our finances are depressing so I am going to go digi shopping- for freebies. There is so much out there, I just haven't taken the time to find what I can. I'll remedy that today which will actually give me more work as I'll have to sort things into folders. Ah well, it's worth it.

First Real Day Out

So, today is our first real day out of school. Daddy's out running errands, personal and business, and with nothing on our calendar, we're kindof recovering from our day of sun and fun.



I needed to do more lo's with Sawyer and wanted to use the basic idea of a blueprint I saw so here's my creation o' the day. I adore Leah Riordan's Funky Flowers Freebie paired with some Clara Wallace ribbons, it turned out great if I do say so myself!


I was tossing around applying for the Memory Makers Masters '08 team. Ronee Parsons {I'm still too starstruck to call her "just" Ronee} has been an incredible inspiration. I applied for a position on her creative team {which is full, by the way so don't bother applying! }* and in the meantime and between time have been looking through anything I can find about her. The fact that she is a relative newbie yet is a Memory Makers Master '07 and is writing a book for them rocks my socks. Her unique creations and use of elements makes you stand up and take notice. {Sound like why I love Sarah so much too? It is.} And then behind the scenes, her communication makes her seem a lot like me and if she can do it, I can do it. I was a bit floaty thinking about just submitting and letting it go. But, reread the info on MMM '08 and thought "not now". I'll give it another year, learn some more, and see how I feel and where I am next year. And, it feels like a load off.


Off to eat, read, and take a nap.


*Ronee Parsons is still accepting applications for her creative team. In a snarky, sarcastic, just like me mood, I was tempted to post follow up post to her call on Digi Shop Talk, but didn't know how it would be taken by the general public or how it would "impress" Ronee. She thought it was funny (maybe I need a postion as an email buddy instead of one on her CT) so I'm sharing the humor.

Quickie for the Holiday

At Sawyer's class awards, one kid got a perfect attendance award. It kinda irked me because while it's all well and good to encourage attendance, I feel like Sawyer and anyone else who got the throw up stomach virus or any other illness get a bit shafted for doing what they should (and are required to do via the school policies) by staying home. It got me thinking about other times when we've had something better to do on a school day and Sawyer's Alaska trip taken with his dad a couple years ago came to mind. So, it was the subject of my quickie lo this morning. Because of all the photos, I didn't want to add any extra embellies to it other than Ronee Parsons' Sand in the City and some paper clips from Clara Wallace Matter of Scrap. {I couldn't tell ya' what kit, I downloaded a mega pack when I started out and have like 15 kits from there all jumbled around}

We're headed to the lake house today. I act like it's mine but it's my best friend Mary's. It's actually going up for sale which makes me sad, but I understand why. {lake houses take a lot of work} Hopefully the smoke from the Okefenokee swamp fires will keep moving out. We were inside all day yesterday because of them. Sawyer's allergies aren't handling it well.

Happy Memorial Day. My grandpa is spending his first Memorial Day in heaven. WWII vet. I miss you grandpa.

Keeping Awake

Really, it's just sad to go to bed at 7:30, but I am sooo tempted. In order to keep awake, I challenged myself to use my favorite designers stuff to do a page.

You'll find in here Ronee Parsons Sand in the City, Michelle Coleman Boho Chic, and, of course, Sarah Grimwood's Bohemian Butterfly which has a special add on that you will get if you order now! (Do I sound like a K Tell ad?) I love this picture- I'm so glad it turned out. My camera is supposed to get good night shots so I was testing it.

Speaking of movies, I took the mini-me's to see Shrek the Third today. Why is movie popcorn so addicting? Then you eat so much of it and are bloated for the rest of the day. (God bless free refills after you spend an unholy amount of money on the producer pack!) I am forcing myself to eat a sweet potato now. Please don't tell me that popcorn is a good source of fiber. All nutritional value is lost when they let you apply your own artery clogging yellow liquid to your popcorn. I actually had it on my thigh and wondered how wrong it is to attempt to lick it off. (I opted for pretty wrong. If the licking didn't do me in, the contortion and subsequent humiliation would have.)

Swimming {in pictures}

Heather said that the paint bucket is a unique and thoughtful gift. Ah! But you didn't see his classroom teacher's gift...

There was a comment made a few times about Sawyer "needing" to get his teacher a new pair of shoes because he was stepping on her feet. I kept it in mind and just had to do this. It's a typical pair of shoes {and I'm sure that given time I could have embellished the heck out of them} that I gave to one of the classmates to take around and have everyone sign. Voila! And, I wrote "roses are red, violets are blue, what am I going to do without you?" on the inner part. Seeing all the classroom stuff like the magnet with Sawyer's name on it that he uses to make his lunch choice (she writes the 3 choices on the board and they put their name magnet under their choice- easy lunch count!) brought home in a Target bag made it real to me that we are losing her as a teacher and I just cried buckets.

This morning I pulled up some stuff in my computer and found oodles and oodles of pictures. They are ones that got lost in the transtion between paper scrapping when I was using what pictures were laying around printed and digital where I typically use something from the recent past. So, I am going to spend some time strolling down memory lane, before my baby was headed to kindergarten!, and note the ones that need to be used. Thank goodness I'm on a few design teams and have been offered a couple of guest spots! Now I'll have subject matter to use with their great products!

Oh, I must mention that we had a cookout at the neighbor's last night where we lost count of the wine bottles, Sawyer got bored, and Bella stayed the night with her best friend. I forsee a whole summer of nights like that. It was great.

What I've Been Doing

Sarah asked to see my cans...uh, wait a minute, my altered paint cans. I hate to admit that I didn't get pictures of the first 2 I did. I made them at 9:30 at night, finished sometime after 11 and just wanted to get to bed to get up to take them to school. They weren't nearly as detailed as this one.

This is SEI's Aunt Gerti's Garden kit. The can is for my son's special ed teacher. I'll tell you a story to demonstrate why she deserves such "riches". They just had the first grade poetry recitation. 4 first grade classes all on risers singing, coming in and out to do different poems. Cute, but very difficult for someone with sensory integration issues. (the heart of autism- kinda like being at a busy intersection where the light is out and no one really knows what to do- yeah, that's how Sawyer's brain processes things) So, in one part of a song, there is a bridge and the kids linked arms and swayed back and forth. No biggie, right? It was for Sawyer. He couldn't process people being in his space and making him go this way and that. When I went for rehearsal a couple weeks ago, they had agreed that he could take a step back and "hula" on his own while the kids linked in front of him. Well, at the poetry recitation, to my shock, he didn't step back! He hooked arms and swayed! THAT took a LOT of work on the part of the special ed teacher and him. I was so happy I cried. {Yeah, I was the only dorky mom sitting there crying because the kids were linked arm in arm!}

SO! Aunt Gerti's Garden with it's "Bloom" theme and lots of I Adore You logos seemed appropriate. Oh, have I mentioned this is the lady who picks Sawyer's teacher next year?! I put a TON of Hershey's kisses inside with a note saying "you're so wonderful, I just want to KISS you".

It's so different using actual paper. I need to cut and it's not just a simple rectangular or circle marquee. Then again, creating texture is just inherent to the form so you don't have to drop a shadow here- it happens naturally. (and I'll admit, I turned this one a few times to watch the shadows play) I only thought about including the paper I used on the lid of the can on the can after I had done the brown flower and polka dot layer. OOPS! By the time I could add another strip, it left some of the polka dot layer showing. SO, a scrap and Prima flowers to the rescue. It was overkill to use them on the other side so I used Craft Bond (the WORST stuff in the world!) and Rockettes from Little Black Dress Designs. I had run into their stuff at the Great Lakes Mega Meet last year, they have the BEST adhesives. They also have funky things that you can really get creative with. Check them out! It came out soooo cool!

Oh yeah, and in Bella's teachers cans I put popcorn with a note "thank you for the kernels of wisdom". They loved them!

Off to graduation.

No Love For You!

Just so that y'all don't think I have no love for you, I did a "quick" lo. I challenged myself to do this in a half hour. And hour later I've changed from brass and wood to black accents. I saw this in a lo as it was happening. My son jumped in his Nanny's kayak a couple summers ago and was paddling by himself before we knew it. (within that afternoon) Last summer he took the canoe out by himself. And at Cub Scout crossover, a friend let us borrow their kayaks. I thought the guys were going to go in the same 2 man craft, but when I looked down, there they were, 2 separate silhouettes on the lake. Awww.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for us. That's why I'm quiet. I did do 2 altered paint cans last night and will do another tonight for teacher gifts. I had everyone at Bella's preschool buzzing about them. "Can you just walk into Home Depot and ask for an empty can?"

{Yawn} Much to do and no time to sleep.

Extra credit goes to Correen Silke for her Spa Holiday staples {small, but they're there!}, Veronica Ponce's Cottage Bluff Title Block, Erica Hernandez' vibe quote, Shelle Pukas' B&W Welcome kit frame {used correctly this time!}, and Leah Riordan for the notebook paper from her Funky Floral FREEBIE! I will be using the incredible paisley paper soon!

Worked On Them

Yep, gotta love Sarah. I do. I've gotta make a blinkie that says I have a Grim{wood} outlook.

So I played with the kit some more and here's what I've come up with.

This is the rearrange of the Ghirardelli page. I like the pop the flowers give on the end of the title block and you can finally see the circle paper underneath Bella's picture. I was trying to maintain the rule of 3's so I felt the need to have 3 flowers and butterflies and tried to use them to triangulate Bella. Wow, I forget about her being so small! I miss holding her head with the baby fine hair between my hand and the warmth of her head.

And, since we're on the subject, here's the other, more subdued lo I did, of Bella, of course, with the Bohemian Butterfly kit. I have to admit that I made myself laugh at the title. I'm allowed! I'd say that the key to great lo's is great pictures, but I've seen and used some pictures that weren't so great and made them wonderful.

I did not make the Dream Team. I'm sad but okay with it. Their loss! I have something else in the works and also got word that I did make another design team as well.

I'm going to take the day "off". It's my last before the kids end of the year activities (and my last mom's breakfast) and then the kiddoes will be out for the summer. The fires from the Okefenokee swamp fires are in the air here in north Georgia and since I went to bed late and woke up early, I'm feelin' kinda like closin' the windows and taking a nap.

Put Down the Photoshop and Back Away Slowly!

I did it. I accomplished my goal for today...

And with that, I'm closing Photoshop for the day!

Ready to Pop!

I can't stand it! I jumped on the DST blog train again this morning trying to get help on my Ghirardelli lo (see below) and got swept up in the color challenge at the Digi Boutique. Pink, black, and grey? Do you hear my name in there?! So I bit!

Because I played, I picked up the blinkie. I also got news that I am getting a new blinkie, but I can't/won't say anything more.

My real goal for today was to learn how to make blinkies. Maybe I should go do that!

Extra credit goes to Ronee Parsons, a scrap goddess, for her Sand in the City paper, Jennifer Reed for the stamp journaling circle from her Cinnamon kit, Daniella Peuss for the Diva! kit that borne my title, and Kim Hill for the fab frame which I took a lot of liberty with!

Something New

I am in love with this kit. It's Bohemian Butterfly from Sarah Grimwood. I love the color and the funkiness (is that a word?!) of it. But, as I played with it, I realized it's much busier than I typically use and I'm not sure how to deal with it yet.

I don't check out galleries until I've created my own design just so that I don't scraplift when I don't mean to. But, I want to go and see what has been done with this one.

I had a problem in the paper world when I started using patterned papers. I thought patterns could really only be used for backgrounds with solid mats under the pictures. Then I realized that if you have busy backgrounds, it makes the "quieter" photos stand out. And I think that happens here.

I have so many more thoughts on this but I'm going to shut up and let YOU tell me what you think. Really, let me have it. Please. It's all in the name of making me a better scrapper.

extra credit goes to Coreen Silke for the rhinestones from her Spa Holiday kit and Sarah Wallace for her faded black and white checkered background

Blog Train

Since I'm trying to get people over here but also give them things to look at, I wanted to do another lo before I posted. But, it's done and I'm sending the link to Digi Shop Talk.

I figure since Kim Hill was kind enough to send me over a welcome to the neighborhood gift, I should use it. From CG Essentials, I loved the background paper and the butterflies worked perfectly with the theme! I mixed the Orbital Stamp from Jan Crowley and my beloved Michelle Coleman's Clear Alpha from the Emma's Sundress kit at Little Dreamer Designs. {I've mentioned how much I love her work, right?} I wanted to use her acrylic hearts (like the one in my header) but I think it would have been too much.

This one was a true winner because my hubby walked in with my favorite, a Moe's Homewrecker (burrito for those who are so deprived as to not have a Moe's around) while I was working on it and said "that's really pretty". Bella likes it too, but that's because she's in it.

I thought about trying to use a path to put the butterfly part on but then though nah, a) I'm too lazy to figure it out and b) it gives it charm.

Have a great weekend!
CK

Cornfused

I am looking at all the blinkies in everyone's siggys in forums and wonder a) how many digi sites are there really? and b) do I have time for every single one of them. I want to check them all out but by the time you register for 5, you're registered for 20, and suddenly you can't keep track of who you are where and your password to get in.

I also wonder, with so many designers out there, is it really possible for me to design something I really like? I'm sure I can plunk together some simple kit that is basic and I'll be semi proud, but I can't see myself making anything that I'm truly proud of.

Oh, and, as I was adding blogs to my list of favorites, I saw that Little Dreamer Designs isn't announcing their Dream Team for another few days......AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! I'm gonna go crazy!

As my southern sister said "tomorrow is another day".

Welcome to the Wonderful World of ME!

I suppose it's time for me to step up. They say fake it 'til you make it so I suppose I'll pretend to do that in hopes that someday I'll really be the cool digital diva I wanna be. Okay, well, maybe digital diva is a bit strong.



I got a copy of photoshop from a photographer friend of mine. It was waaaaaay above my head so I let dust settle on it. A year ago at Christmas, I picked it up with a tutorial about using layers- wow! That opened up a whole new world! I did some stuff, but not nearly what I would have liked and then got busy doing other things. I applied for a position on a design team for paper scrapping and was disappointed as well. Ah well.



Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I put up a lo on my scrapbook.com gallery and found a lo by Michelle Coleman that I was drawn to. So drawn, in fact, that I popped into her gallery. Ahhh, the swirls and laces, and creative touches that are so dreamy. I was in love. So, naturally I followed links over to her site, Little Dreamer Designs and found that they are accepting applications for a Dream Team. Results on that come today and I am trying not to get my hopes up. I would love to be able to use her latest and greatest as inspiration and use them to make great layouts. While working on a lo specifically to apply for her dream team, I really allowed myself play with my tool box in photoshop and am excited about the places my lo's are going. But, maybe I'm not Dream Team material yet. Then again, I think that someone needs to be brave enough to cast someone without a lot of experience so that people can see the growth in their designs and see that you don't have to know everything to do a great page.

I got my June issue of Memory Makers and it had an article about digi design. It said that DigiShopTalk is the place for people in the know to get tips and trade tools. Feeling like I've kinda hit my stride, I headed over and registered for an account. I also found the calls forum and wrote about a couple of CT's I would be interested in. I am being particular. I'm only applying for ones that I like the look of. I don't need to have too much on my plate and don't want to feel stuck to use something because I "have" to. No offense if I didn't apply for yours, at this point there were deadlines. Also, if I don't apply, it may be because it's not my style and I'd rather see someone who fits that style design with it to feature it better! Make sense?

But, the cool thing is that there was a post about needing a Creative Writer. Well, being a writer, this is right up my alley. I would love to be a CW for a few lines and somehow make a living being a scrapbooking writer. What fun would that be?! So, in the interest of that, my goal here is to use tools that I get, give my honest opinion of them, and show what I've done with them.

To get to know me a bit, I've attached my "So Me, So What?" lo. In essence, I am 34 years old and going through a "phase" (I hope it's not a phase) where I feel like I'm really getting back to unapologetically being who I am. I'm not your traditional stay at home mom, wife, friend. I am open minded and don't like negativity. I will call you on it after awhile and sooner if it brings someone down. I grew up in Michigan where we have a cottage that we're trying to sell. We got it when my husband was in the corporate arena and his job became based out of Detroit. We did not want to move back now that we are settled in Atlanta, so we bought the cottage to spend summers in. However, the corporate world of mortgage took a downturn so hubby was laid off and decided to start his own business last year. It's, um, topsy turvy, but he's starting to make it work and I'm very proud of him. It allows him to be home more with me and our children, Sawyer 7, and Bella 4. Sawyer has PDD/NOS, a high functioning form of autism. He's very social, funny, but doesn't quite have the social grace or understanding of why we should care about certain things. Sometimes it actually makes sense. But, it's the world we live in. Bella is a whole 'nother animal. I won't be surprised if she's in honors everything but right now she's just a diva as you'll learn through my lo's. My friends are my family. My very best friend is Mary who inspires me and reminds me that it's okay to step out of the norm. She is as close to me as my sister who I am maybe too close to. Stuff like that happens when you help raise a sibling.

But, I digress. I love that I am a scrapbooker because it makes me see the great things in life. While I sit on the bed folding the umpteenth load of laundry, I remember that I have a family that wears these clothes and if I didn't have the laundry, I wouldn't have them. Instead of freaking out when my daughter has paint on her clothes, I take a couple pictures for posterity and celebrate her creativity. It definitely makes life more interesting.

I have friends waiting on me for coffee so I have to go. You'll know if I make the Little Dreamer Designs Dream Team because I'll shout it from the heavens.

Later Taters!
CK