Monday, May 13, 2013

Go in The direction of Your Heart Frame for MJ

I work in the healthcare field by day (in case you didn't know),and my work has been "restructuring". Which basically means one of my friends (and possibly myself, I don't know yet) has lost their job. They offered her some options that just didn't work for her and her family so sadly I'm going to be saying goodbye to her on the 24th.

She's so upbeat and happy and brings much joy to me personally at work.  She has an awesome voice and ADHD. Which just means she is hyper and always singing. I love music but truth be told, have a horrible voice. My fourth grade music teacher once told my mother in front of me that he didn't understand how all of her other children could carry a tune except me. Ahem, well, it never stopped me from loving music. So there Mr. Turley. 

So this should sort of explain why I love hearing her sing at work. Because I don't have to hear my own voice. Although I do sing along. Anyways, my favorite past time has become getting songs stuck in her head. I know you're all out there in the blogosphere shaking your heads. Probably thinking- don't you have work to do. Have you people never watched the office? I mean come on, I shuffle papers all day and answer phones - so mind numbly boring. It is a job so I won't complain. So, I make the most of it and try to repeatedly walk behind her at the nursing station and hum or sing a snippet of a song I want to hear.( Or just annoy her by getting a stupid song stuck in her head, which is fun too) She once told me I was her muse and needed to take me with her wherever she went. I proudly took that as a compliment. 

 I've been very down about her leaving and wanted to let her know how much joy she brought to the office. So I made her this little frame. Ha, you thought this story was going nowhere. Fooled ya.


This was my first time really experimenting with the Distress Markers. And I have to say. Me likey. 
The frame was from Walmart. It cost a buck or two. So it doesn't come with any glass. I sanded it down and painted it.

Then I Modge Podged my paper on and sanded the edges again. Then inked the front edge, and a little on top. then started to add my embellishments. 

I got a new flower die, that I was dying to try out. Like the before and after picture? They are really fun to make too!


Then I decided it need more than just flowers and lace. So I dug around and found some Unity stamps that worked with the project. Funny how I threw them in at the last minute but I think the saying on the stamps makes the frame. Especially since my friend who is an LPN, has been taking classes towards becoming an RN.

I blinged up the flowers a bit with some blog candy I won awhile ago from Kathy. Of course I couldn't find my diamond glaze to glue the suckers down, so I stickled em down and like the little bit of sparkle so I grabbed the crystal stickles and put some on my finger and sort of brushed the ends of the flowers with my finger. Highly technical folks!



Then I decided it needed some butterlies. This is where the distress markers came in. I'm not a huge copic fan. Mostly because I suck at coloring with them and I like things a little more grungy and messy than a perfectly colored stamp. (although I am secretly envious of all you bitches that can do it)

So distress markers, a little spritz of water and my water brush thingy. Then I decided they were too bright. So I pulled out the white distress marker. I freakin love it. Had to even water it down a bit too. But so freakin cool looking. I mean just look at this stinkin little guy. He turned out Awesome or as my friend's daughter would say "Awesome Sauce". Which has become my new staple saying.


 Tadahh all finished. I did decide to make a picture backing for the whole. I used some left over thin card board stuff then decided it looked tacky.  Then I added some orange paper to the backing and it was perfecto. She gave me a big ole hug and teared up. I was glad she liked it and no she know's how much I'll miss her big fat heart.
I usually keep a notecard on each project so I can list what I'm using as I go. But I seem to have lost this one in the pile O crap on my desk. Forgive me. Soooo this is what I can remember using on this:

  • Theresa Collins Fabrications paper
  • Unity Itty Bitty: Direction of your heart stamp, and butterfly?
  • Distress markers
  • Spellbinders Foliage & Bitty Blossoms shapeablilities
  • Echo Park paper
  • Stickles- crystal
  • Liquid pearls -rouge
  • See thru stone thingies from Kathy
  • Boo Bunny Jewels
  • Lace was from 2 differents sets but I'm not sure which ones.
  • AppleBarrel Light Leaf Green acrylic paint
  • Distress ink
  • Glue dots
  • Miracle tape
  • and can't forget the good ole Modge Podge.
  • Ranger distresser
  • Sanding paper

Hope you liked it. Over and out.

Friday, May 3, 2013

A recipe for a meatloaf sandwich and a LO

So I googled meatloaf sandwich to see what images popped. Was thinking I needed a cute meatloaf sandwich picture for my blog. I found this 6 step recipe to a good meatloaf sandwich. I pretty  much agree with all of it except that I'm a purest and I don't use lettuce or cheese and no pickle is needed for me. Just white squishy bread, big hunk of meatloaf and lots of ketchup. Here's the link http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/04/17/six-steps-best-meatloaf-sandwich . Check it out and tell me what you think.

I will let you guys in on something. I make meatloaf just so I can have sandwiches the next day, because my daughter always groans when I make it. (Although she eats it, because the rule in this mama's house is that mom does not equal short order chef and if you don't want to eat what I make then you can make yourself a pbj sandwich)

But I'm digressing. I totally pledged to do more posts this year and keep up, but as know I'm a slacker. I really have a hard time at New Years resolutions. Anyways, I was feeling guilty for not posting so long. So I popped in some Fiona Apple and logged onto the new laptop (in my scrapbook nook). So yeah no excuse to not post now, huh?




OK so it took me about six months to finish this book for my friend at work who got married last year. This was one of my favorite pages. I really didn't take too many pictures except this double LO. I used a lot of Echo Park in this book.  Here's what I used that I remember (I usually have a stack of note card cut in half to write down what I use as I go. But I didn't for this project, because I wasn't really planning on photographing it) So here goes: 
Echo park Be Mine -paper
Coredinations (white and black) textured paper
two heart die cuts were on my cameo
Creative Memories corner punch
Memento black ink
Distress ink-spun sugar
also I fussy the tickets from the Be Mine pack and the sticker were also from that set. 

Pretty simple and easy.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to do a post on this really cute frame I made (if I do say so myself). It had way too many pictures to include in this post. Later gators.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

You+Me Card

Yes I'm a bad blogger. But I've resolved to do more posts and get more scrappy this year. Well, with that said here's a new card I've made for the weekly Crop Chocolate contest. Here's a link if you'd like to participate. https://www.cropchocolate.com/contests



The printed You + Me is from Echo Park as well as the grey paper from the Note to Self line. The embossed pink paper is from Carta Bella from the Alphabet Junction line. Fired brick Distress ink, and Making Memories Lovestruck ribbon. Oh yeah the embossing folder is Sizzix i believe. Everything from Crop Chocolate except the distress ink.

Pretty simple little card. It took me making a couple of cards to get into the swing of card making. I think i'm getting the hang of it though. Still having problems with the damn bows. They just never seem to look right to me. Anyways that's all for now. Over and out.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Top Ten Project for 2012




Ok so I haven't posted anything in awhile. But Dee Dee threw down a New Years top ten challenge and I thought -what the hell. I don't think I've posted a quarter of what I've done. Might not even have pic's of them. But I'll try. So here goes:


My daughter went to Disney with her Choir. This is the only thing I've gotten scrapped from it. Bad mom.



The spaceship card. I think I made this for a CC challenge. My first boyish anything I've ever made. Not that  I'm the girlyest girl (that could be furthest from the truth), but when you set out to make something for a boy. It's kinda hard.

This one I won a challenge at CC with. Disclaimer- this is not me! I'm not that cute, honestly (or ahem, young) This was made for my friend, Caitlin. She took both these shots with her cell phone, can you believe it?  Who knew you could print out cell phone shots and they'd be half way decent.

I shot her wedding this year. Allowing me to actually step into the digital SLR realm (so now some of my pictures of my LO's are actually nice- will be even better after I make a homemade copy stand/light box). So anyways, I made a scrapbook (or what you might think as the beginning of a scrapbook) for her wedding. She handed me the pic's 2 days before the big event, so it was a little skimpy to say the least. So after the wedding ,she handed it back to me. And, well it's still sitting in my scrap nook- I hate to admit. But this is one of the current one's I've made to finish it up. Aren't they a cute couple?

She mad a beautiful bride as well!!! I was soooo nervous. First wedding I've shot in about ten years or so. Last time was with film so this was a big adjustment. No medium format camera. No cropping negatives for the lab, and thank god for a built in diopter because I lost my brand new glasses the month before!  Now I just have to master this photoshop stuff. Oy.



Camera tag that I was just fooling around with. Made for no particular reason. But I love how it came out. Stamp of course is Unity.
My cute little Skullie tag. I'm not sure why but I went on this tag kick for awhile. I blame it all on Dee Dee because her tags are always so damn cute. This one started with my just stamping skulls on some left over scraps. Sometimes I do that when i'm sort of circling the scrap nook and not knowing what to do. I start rearranging and find scraps and practice stamping. So he turned out cute and I found an extra purple tag I'd made a loooong time ago. Does anyone else have a box of left over die shapes, like me? I've been rummaging around in mine a lot lately. So I used a checkerboard stamp from Quickutz and this old wooden stamp that I think I got in a mark down bin at Jo Ann's. 


Also we can't forget the Love Birds tag. Made of yes, you got it. More scraps.I count these last  three tags as one of my projects. 


Aha found another one. This makes five so far. Dang I might make it to ten. Did this for a CC challenge. Texture I believe it was.


Ok this one was born from me playing around stamping again. I'm not a huge card maker. I still find it really hard to make them A2 size. So this one is like a 5x7 or something in that range. I find bigger cards easier for me. Maybe because I've only done 12x12 LO's for so long. 
Did this recently for a friends sixtieth birthday. Notice the celery green ribbon! 



Do half finished projects count? Started cutting the cardboard for these two Halloweens ago. Embellished them this Halloween season. Maybe next year I'll decide on letters for it? BTW this is how my desk normally looks. Just kidding, I figured by posting a half finished project it will force me to finish, but who am I kidding. I'm a grade A procrastinator. 

Case in point: the next few photo's I shot on my folding chair at the computer desk, right before I took the album to work. Why, because I finished the album at 2 a.m. in the morning the night before. These are just a few of my favorite pages from Maggie's album, which was made for my boss. She just had a baby the Saturday before Christmas. And boy she's a cutie. 



 Ok I have to explain why the paper is cut. I'm kinda embarrased, to admit. If i'm using two paper's to frame the photo I cut the middle out to conserve paper. My friend who used to sell creative memories taught me this. But when I'm making a book for a present I usually don't cut the middle out of the top paper and I got confused and cut the wrong one. OoPs. But wth she won't see it after she puts a photo down. I almost hated giving this one to her as well. I love these little houses from Basic Grey. Too stinkin cute.

 I added this second photo on this one because the color was so much closer to the original. I hate it when my flash blows out the photo. This is why I need to build a copy work stand. Also the ghosts are stamps on scrap's that I fussy cut.

 Is it stupid to put the size of photo that should fit in the area? I started doing it, then stopped. Because I thought it looked tacky.

and that concludes Magdalena's album. I had my friend from Poland, who ironically is named Magdalena as well, translate a few phrases in polish. I didn't get time to snap a pic of that one. My boss is originally from Poland. She said she loved it. Yeah!!! I have to do all I can to suck up with cut backs coming lol.


I'm so excited I found the memory card with my brother's photo shoot on it.  In attempt to find more projects, of course. But this shoot was one of my projects, so I'm including it. I'm so happy that he found someone new who loves him and his daughter. 

Here's another work in progress. My sixteen year old. She the one in the middle standing next to the boy who looks like he's standing very straight. ( I would say standing like he's got a stick up his ass, but I like him so I won't say it) This is her show choir group called "Magic" I could bore you and post a million you tube links but I won't. So glad she finally found a nice group of friends and something that she really loves- music. 


Guess next year my resolution should be more projects  (or at least photograph them)Thanks for coming stop again and Happy New Years!