Scrapbooking And A Little Bit Of Everyday Life
the little light studio site took a little break over the summer, but they're back in action now with lots of fun things planned. i created a cool project for a tutorial a while back, that will be up on the site soon. afterwards, i had a lot of scraps left over from that project, and decided to make a few cards to use them up. you can read more about it and see the photos of all the cards, on the little light studio blog. here's a little peek for you 🙂
a while back, i was asked to make some accents for the tips & tricks column in creating keepsakes. the inspiration was the blue ribbon awards that you see at the fairs. i had a few cool new tools to work with, and came up with these five accents that were featured in the september 2010 issue. you can find the directions and supply lists for all of the ribbon accents HERE, in the online content of the issue.
today, on the jillibean soup blog, it's all about projects. and one of them is mine 🙂
i created two banners for the jillibean soup booth at CHA, back in july. one of them was a christmas banner. and this banner was an everyday banner, using the new pasta fagioli collection. forgive me, this isn't a great photo of it. i couldn't find a spot to hang it in the house to get a good picture, and was rushing to get it mailed out in time.
for each pennant, i cut a triangle from pattern paper. then i lightly adhered that to a piece of kraft cardstock, and trimmed the side edges with scalloped scissors. it was easier to use the scallop scissors and get it straight, with the pattern paper flat on the cardstock. then i took the pattern paper off of the cardstock, and used pop dots to re-adhere it to the scalloped edged cardstock.
want a tip for making a perfect triangle? this is something that i would usually over-think. but i found an easy way that works for me. for this banner, i cut my pattern papers into 4×4 inch squares. you can do whatever size you want, but start with square pieces of paper. along one edge, use a ruler and a pencil to make a mark in the middle of the paper. so for my 4 inch wide piece, my mark was at 2 inches.
you will want to cut from the pencil mark, to the opposite corner. and then from the pencil mark to the other opposite corner as well. did that even make sense? lol!
i don't normally trace it onto my paper. i just use the trimmer as my guide. but i wanted to show a better view of where the cuts will be. although you could certainly trace the lines onto the backside of your paper, just to be sure that you're cutting it right.
i use my trimmer as my guide on where to cut. i just line up the pencil mark and the opposite corner right along where the blade cuts.
and you should end up with one of these. a perfect triangle. if you do NOT end up with something looking like this, please don't blame me and my instructions. just try it again. lol!
another not-so-great photo. to finish off each triangle, i added a journaling sprout to the center of the triangle using pop dots. and then added my corrugated alphas to the journaling sprout, with pop dots also. i love my pop dots, and i might even have a legit addiction to them! i used a long length of brown polka dot ribbon, and strung some wooden bobbins onto it. i then used mini wooden clothespins to hang the pendants from the ribbon, spacing them inbetween the bobbins.
i have a fun home decor challenge up on the making memories blog today. the challenge involves using vintage groove jewelry by making memories in a different way. not to make something pretty to wear. but to make something pretty to display in your home. check out the MM blog for all the details 🙂
this past monday was the girls first day of the school. back to the paper and the books. back to the backpacks thrown on the floor. back to making lunches every morning. back to homework and tests. school makes life hectic and busy. but school also gives us a routine and some structure to our days. and that has been much needed around here. usually, i take the girls "first day of school" photos AFTER school. the lighting is better, we're more relaxed, and we have more time. and i'm sure i'll re-stage the "first day of school" photos again in the next week or so, so i can get additional ones. but it was kind of nice to take out the camera, and snap a photo of each of them as they walked out the door.
alyssa is in high school now! her first day as a freshman. last week, they had some activities that helped prepare them for the start of school. she's in the band (that's her clarinet case she's holding), so she went to a mini-band camp. they had a round-up day, where they turned in forms, ordered PE uniforms and yearbooks, got their schedules and locker assignments. then last friday, they had a 4 hour freshman orientation. i think it really helped to get to learn the campus a bit, and see where their classes were ahead of time. made the first day a little less nerve-wracking. she's got friends from last year in most of her classes. she's got a pretty heavy schedule, with some tough classes. but i know she'll do great. because she's in band, she's actually taking one extra class. so she's in school for 8 full hours. and we're doing some car-pooling with one of her good friends, which really helps since we have to drive them to and from school.
and sarah's in the 6th grade now. her last year, before junior high. when i say it that way, i almost feel like she'll be off at high school before i know it. lol! this is also the first time that her older sister isn't at school with her. so she's walking on her own in the morning. it's right across the street, so it's not far. but makes her look so much more grown up, when she walks out the door. we were kind of bummed that she didn't get a class with any of her best friends. but she doesn't seem to worried about it. she hasn't had any homework yet, but i'm sure it'll kick in next week.
and while i'm really glad to be back on a schedule and have more of a routine around here, i really do miss them while they're at school. they were so great over the summer, helping me with the daycare kids and entertaining them. and now i'm on my own again. i'm the sole entertainment around here, and i'm with kids that really can't hold a conversation with me. lol! so i'm adjusting still to that. and we're adjusting to being crazy busy again. awana's at the church starts next week. and while we've been having soccer practice for a few weeks, games officially start up this weekend. but we welcome the craziness 🙂
i finally finished up my digital layout of sarah. i started playing around with this last friday night. all i actually had left to finish was the journaling, and adding the tall yellow birdie. no idea why that took me so long to do. but here it is.
i love digital templates. they give you such a great starting point in making your layouts. you simply pull up your papers and photos, and drop them into the different spots in the template. you don't have to worry about figuring out your photo sizes or anything. sure, there's a few tricks to learn to getting your photos in the spots and sized just how you want them. but once you get the hang of it, it's so simple. and there's nothing better than finding a great digital kit, that has all the coordinating papers and embellishments all in one spot. all i did was find 3 photos that i wanted to use.
and then i pulled up this digital kit that i was dying to use. notions blue & co full digital scrapbooking kit, by jen allyson for design house digital.
and started with this digital template that looked perfect for the design i had in mind. layered template no. 19, by cathy zielske for designer digitals.
then i just played around, until i got the papers and photos how i liked them. the title was done, and it fit my story. so i left that as is, but it is something that you can change. i added a few embellishments. the banner in the upper corner, the notebook paper, the birdies, the stitching, and the staples. easy peasy 🙂
just taking a minute to say "hey" 🙂
yesterday was the craziest, busiest day. the girls went back to school. and i didn't have any daycare kids. so i thought maybe i would get some stuff done. needless to say, i got nothing at all done and was running around like crazy all day and all night. lol! i'll be back to blogging tomorrow 🙂
i was sooooo close to having a new digital layout to share with you. there are just two things left to do on it, but those are two things that seem to be taking me forever to finish. soon, i promise. will you settle for a paper layout 😉
this is another one of my layouts that i created for my bella blvd submission, using their man of the house collection. it only made sense to do a layout about the man of our house, joe. i know i have used both of these photos on other layouts, individually. but that's no reason i can't use them again, and this time together. the colors that the girls and i were wearing in our family photo didn't quite match the colors of the papers, so i changed our family photo to black and white. i like mixing color pics with black and white pics every now and then. in fact, my good friend and a brilliant scrapper erin clarkson, did a blog post about this technique HERE.
i am totally aware and grateful that i got a good man for myself. he really does work hard for this family and to provide for us and take care of us. he works 6 days a week. 5 days at his day job. which is really a night job, since he works nights. he gets what sleep he can, and then is out helping coaching both the girls soccer teams. he only signed up to be an assistant coach for alyssa's team. but seeing that sarah's team didn't have the help they needed, he stepped up and is doing all he can to be their assistant coach too. and he spends another day out umpiring baseball games to bring in some extra money. and that's just right now. when baseball season is in full swing, he umpires like crazy, taking all the games he can get. right now, it's just games on sundays. and on his one day off, he does his share around the house. i give him props, since he does a huge amount of the housework. one of the things that he's taken over is the floors. vaccuming, sweeping, mopping. and he constantly complains about all the hair that he finds, which isn't unusual in a house with 3 long haired girls. lol! but he puts up with it. and we thank him for it 🙂
supplies:
man of the house distinguished paper by bella blvd, man of the house billboards paper by bella blvd, man of the house bits of bella paper by bella blvd, man of the house alphabet and bits stickers by bella blvd, quickutz polka dots embossing folder, making memories metal star, making memories pewter mini brads
for my long time blog readers, i'm sure you'll all attest to how often i would do my "random" posts. where i would just spout out totally random things and thoughts. i sort of got away from doing those sort of posts on the blog over the last year or so. and i'm starting to think that facebook is to blame. on an average day, i update my status 3-6 times. sometimes less, sometimes more. and it's random stuff. updates on what's going on, or what i'm doing that moment. something funny the kids did or said. or total nonsense, that no one probably cares about. lol! and then friends will comment, and some funny conversations come out of it. so i really am getting all my randomness down. it's just on facebook, and not my blog. so i thought i would share a handful of my facebook status updates from the past few weeks. an easy way to give you a peek into what sort of randomness has been going on around this joint.
sarah and i found the cutest decorative wrought iron green owl, while out shopping today. he was filled with some potpourri in fabulous colors of brown, white, and yellows. he had to come home with me. now i'm realizing how stinky that potpourri is (duh, laura. it's potpourri). my pounding headache has decided that i might have to send him back to the store he came from 😦 for the record, he's still here and not so stinky anymore. lol!
that is the most absurd PG&E bill ever. it's $230 higher than it was last month. tell me i'm not the only one that this happened too. or tell me that i AM the only one, and that this has to be a horrible mistake 😦
i played the part of cinderella tonight, complete with a bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush. 1/3 of my kitchen floor is now cleaner than it's been in years. we'll see if i get to the other 2/3's of the kitchen … and the laundry room … and the entry way … and the 3 bathrooms.
facebook has been suggesting that i be friends with someone for months now. so today, i give in and send a friend request to this person. turns out … this person has too many friends already, so i got denied. kind of funny 🙂
we are now fully stocked up on bath & body handsoaps and antibacterial soaps. gotta love a good sale, combined with a great coupon, and even an extra freebie tossed in 🙂
someone remind me to take some matches with me the next time i go go the post office. someone needs to light a fire under every single tush working there. seriously … i didn't know it was possible to move THAT slow, when the line is 12 people deep 😦
i think phineas and ferb is the most hilarious show. although the girls think it's strange that i laugh at things they don't. like "mad map folding skills". or everytime they say "danville" 🙂
i just love this time of night. it's 1:00am, and it's so quiet and calm. the rest of the world around me is sleeping. there's just something magical about being a night owl 🙂
we survived a long day at great america. rode all the roller coasters, and even managed to get joe on a few of them. lol! he had to go straight to work and work the night shift … so i hope he can stay awake all night. as for the girls and i … we're beat and getting our sleep 🙂
orthodontist. bank. target. load up on school supplies. extras to donate to the teachers. icees for the girls. starbucks for me. lunch is on the stove and then we can relax.
i can't decide what to work on tonight. editing photos, scrapbooking, writing up my project that needs to be mailed out, typing up a blog post for tomorrow, filling out alyssa's high school paperwork, laundry, or sitting and doing nothing at all? i have a feeling it will be a random mix of all of those at once. lol!
i had to put myself in a time-out to chill out a bit. spent way too much time in the car, driving and waiting at the high school. told the girls to give me half an hour, and i'll be ready to do the back to school clothes shopping 🙂
i'm bored. don't get me wrong … i have plenty of things to do. just don't feel like doing any of them.
joe and sarah left for soccer practice. i'm taking alyssa to the high school for round two of mini band camp. back home to figure out dinner. back to get sarah, and then we're headed to the parent part of band camp. we think it's crazy now … just wait until school starts next week. lol!
we made it through round-up day at the high school. got her schedule. and saw way more freshmen in one spot than i can handle. i'm so glad that my girl has great friends, with good attitudes and respectful manners. if they stick together, they'll do just fine 🙂
our new little girl molly came today. molly took out a zillion toys and seemed very excited about each one of them. we think she's pretty cute 🙂
sarah just pointed out the fact that i seem to have shared a lot of layouts about alyssa on my blog. so we went back and searched … the last layout of JUST sarah, was back in march. she's quite annoyed by this disturbing fact. i am to share NO more layouts of alyssa, until i make 3 new ones of sarah 😉
i'm so, so, so close to finishing a new digital layout of sarah. was hoping to stick it up on the blog tonight. will have to wait until tomorrow.
alyssa made it through freshman orientation. now we just have to wait until 5:00, for the class lists to be posted for sarah's school. crossing our fingers she has some of her best friends in her class 🙂
getting ready to put together 2 kitchen chairs. crossing my fingers that these aren't wonky and wobbly, like the last ones.
i had a new layout go up on the jillibean soup blog today.
we did a ton of school projecs last year. but alyssa did a few experiments for science class, that i thought would be fun to make a layout about. the two main projects here are the mouse-trap race car, and the bottle rocketship. although i guess i had my information wrong. when alyssa saw that i had written that science was one of her best subjects, she was quick to correct me. she said "that's the one class that i ever got an A- in". lol!
i used the new atomic soup collection, which is a really fun science and school themed collection. i used the minced molecules pattern paper, which has the really cute test tubes. and then i used a few scraps of some other patterns, to make my paper covered brads with my itop tool. i also used some of the soup staples pattern paper on the bottom of the layout, and some embossed cardstock from coredinations (with the jillibean number pattern) across the top.
i added a few of the atomic soup journaling sprouts. i really love how the new sprouts have the images and patterns on them. i added some tiny alpha stickers to one of them, with alyssa's grade and the year. i meant to add a little dash in between the 09 and the 10, since it was for the 2009-2010 school year. will have to remember to add that later.
Laura Vegas 