Back to Routine - and some layouts

Whew!  There's nothing like dropping off your child at school after a week of snow days.

Don't get me wrong.  We had a wonderful mini vacation - filled with snowball fights, long walks, card games, movies, playing kitchen, reading, and of course me playing referee between the sisters (and sometimes the dog) when they started bickering.

But this mama is ready to get back into the routine of real life.  I'm ready to run errands, and catch up on chores, and knit peacefully for more than 2 minutes at a time, and BLOG!

Over the break I did have time to make a bunch of new Studio J layouts.  I'm now completely caught up through  October 2010 - with my goal of being caught up to present day before the baby comes (in 7 +/- weeks and counting).  As a bonus, CTMH is having a sale this month for members - buy 9 layouts, get 1 free!  So I got 2 of my 20 layouts for free.  Woohoo!

Here are a few of my faves...

New Layouts

One of my goals to accomplish before the baby comes is to get caught up on my scrapbooking.  Over the break I was able to create another 20 layouts (using the marvelous Studio J) and am now completely done through June 2010.  This feels pretty amazing!

Here are a few of my favorite layouts from that batch...  It amazes me how much the kids have grown - even in just one year!

New SJ Feature

One of my favorite new features of Studio J is the template "No Limits".  For a long time, I've been both a SJ digi scrapper, and a photoshop digi scrapper.  I've had my layouts from SJ printed through Close To My Heart, and the photoshop layouts printed through Costco, or other printing services.

But I've always been much more satisfied with the printing quality of the CTMH pages.  That's where No Limits comes in!  It's a totally blank canvas, and I can load whatever jpg files I want into it.  So now, I can take my photoshop layouts, save them as a jpg, and then load them into the No Limits SJ template.  Voila!  All of my digital scrapping needs printed in one convenient place!

Check out this layout that is coming with my next SJ order.  I got the idea from a scrapbook magazine over 6 years ago!  Unfortunately, Samantha was already a few months old, so I didn't have the opportunity to do it with her.  But when we adopted Ruby, I jumped at the chance to put together this photo op every month.  It's harder to do then I thought it would be.  We often had to take 30 or more photos just to get 1 usable shot, but in the end it was totally worth it.  :)  I love seeing the growth progression of our sweet baby girl.  I hope to do a similar series of photos with our new baby coming this spring.

You should be able to see a larger image if you click on the photo.

A few more layouts...

Here are a few more of the pages I've made recently using Studio J.  They are all from 2009, back when my girls were MUCH smaller.  Enjoy!  The last 4 layouts use *NEW* papers from the Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  I used Dreamin' for the Father's Day layout, Elemental on the painting pages, Roxy for the gymnastics one, and the pumpkin farm pages were done in Mischief.

New Studio J Layouts

Last week I hit a wall creatively with my knitting, and I just needed to take a break.  I decided it was a good time to catch up on some scrapbooking.  I tried putting together all the pages created for our 2009 family albums, but there were too many gaps.  I had scrapbooked the Samantha's family birthday photos, but not her party photos.  I had done most of Feb-June, but once Summer hit, and we adopted Ruby, there were gaping holes in our family history except for the pages I had scrapped of her.

So, I played catch up.  And it felt great!  I created 20 layouts (40 pages) in just 2 days (about 6 hours total).  And now, I'm proud to say, that 2009 is complete!

Here are some of my favorites... If you click on the photos, you should be able to see them larger.  I can't believe how much Sam has grown in 2 years!

I will post a few more this week.  :) 

Vacation Photos!

I've been busy scrapbooking via Studio J this week.  Here are some of my favorite pages from a few of the trips we've taken since May.  If you click the photos, you should be able to see them larger.

We went to Long Beach, WA for Mother's Day weekend.

These pictures were taken on our trip to Cannon Beach, Oregon in June.

4th of July with friends.

A few pages from our Anniversary trip to San Diego in July.

Leaving on an airplane...

I had big plans to post about Valentine's day, and a few other cool things, but unfortunately my eldest daughter has been sick the last two days, and I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Creative University.

I was able to finish a HUGE project yesterday.  It's been in the works for 2 years, and I completed the very last page yesterday afternoon.  That feels amazing!  In 2009 I did "Project 365" and took one photo a day, every day that year.  The last time I worked on this album was at Creative University last year!  And since, I decided not to bring my laptop with me this year, I knew I just had to finally get this project out of my "to do" bin for good.

Most of my pages looked similar to this one - with just a few photos, and a description of the events. 

 I can't believe how little Ruby was!

In an effort to just "get'er done" I decided that for Oct, Nov, and December, to just limit it to a 2 page spread.  The templates were from Mandagirl (see the link for her site on the right), and just2things blog (which no longer exists).  The papers and embellishments are primarily Shabby Princess and Zoe Pearn.

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!  And I'll write more upon my return!

:) N

We're Alive!

Hello Everyone!

Yes, our family is alive and doing well.  :)  We had a great Thanksgiving, Christmas, and hope to have a lovely New Year's weekend.

I had to take a break from blogging for a while with all of the craziness of the holiday season.  With craft fairs every weekend, Christmas programs and parties to attend, and the regular hustle and bustle, it just wasn't possible for me to keep up with everything.

Hopefully now that things are slowing down, I can get back to blogging.  Thanks for sticking with me!  Here's our family on Christmas morning.  (These were our thank you cards).

Teacher Gifts and other Gift Ideas

Before I get too involved in this post, I want to remind you all about my 150k hit blog candy!  Read all about it (and post a comment) at yesterday's entry.  :)  The drawing is only two days away!

This post is probably coming a bit late, as most kids are out of school, but it might be one to tuck away in the ol' noggin for next year.  In the two years that Sammie has been "school age" (preschool that is), I have found it pretty difficult to find meaningful and thoughtful gifts for her teachers.  I like to give practical gifts, but those don't always convey the depth of our feelings for the teacher.  I think we hit the bullseye this year, however.  :)  I got the idea from my friend and fellow knitter, Deb!

Market Bags!

And wouldn't you know, my monthly knit-along group (not the one I teach, but THIS ONE that I participate in through my favorite knitting store Twisted) had a market bag pattern this month!  SCORE!

I knit these two bags up pretty quick - they only took about 2 hours each.  Then we filled them with fresh apples.  I asked Dave for a good apple recipe, and he reminded me of our favorite breakfast dish - Apple Pancake Sam (and YES, that's the actual name of the recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book!).  It was perfect. Not only a delicious dish, but the name of it would remind her teachers of our precious little Sammie Girl.  

Here is a close-up of the 4x6 Recipe Card I included with the gift.  I used the Summer Cottage digi kit from The Shabby Shoppe.  After printing the cards, I tucked them in a CTMH Flip Flap.  It worked perfectly!

Now if market bags aren't your thing, you might want to consider the My Creations Memory Keeper Box.  They are made from sturdy white chipboard, and have a magnetic closure.  They are perfect for keeping treasures, cards, 9x9 Accordion Albums, and more!

Here is my latest one.  (I have a customer who purchases these as birthday gifts for all her friends.  She orders one for each friend having a birthday every  month.  Isn't that thoughtful?).  I used some left over Stampin' Up papers, and the stamp is from The Greeting Farm.  The embellishments are all CTMH.  I always include a matching gift card holder with my boxes.  At Christmas, we gave Sammie's teachers personalized boxes filled with baked treats, and a gift card to an office supply store. 

I used my cell phone for these images, so they aren't super crisp.  Sorry!  :)

Hopefully this has helped sparked some creative ideas in the gift giving department!

Ruby Layouts

I made a few more Studio J Layouts tonight and had to share.  I just love this program!  I think I've yet to use the same paper packet twice for my layouts.  :)

Remember: "You never pay to play with Studio J!"  I just made that phrase up, but it's true!  You can use the complete, FULL version of Studio J by clicking here.  

Upload your photos, pick a layout, some papers, and give it a try!  You only pay for the layouts to be printed and shipped to you.  And you can save your work and come back later.  Purchase 5 or more layouts and get FREE page protectors.  Purchase 10 or more layouts and get FREE shipping!

Another Ruby Layout in Studio J

Here's another Studio J layout I made this weekend.  I love how fast I can put together these great pages, and how there are so many different paper packs and layouts to choose from.  Even though this paper packet was retired over two years ago, it is still available for me to use now!

Studio J Layout

It has been a while since I posted any Studio J artwork, and all updates that we are receiving from corp say that Studio J is coming to YOU very very SOON!  Yippee!!!

Here is a layout I whipped up this morning!  Ruby just loves her Johnny Jump Up!

I need to send a new batch of scrapbook pages to Ruby's birth mom, and I love that with Studio J I can print multiples of my pages.  Also when I have a set of 10 layouts ready to print I can ship them for FREE to Ruby's birth mom, and then print another 10 for me (and those will also ship free!).  In addition, each of us will receive 10 free page protectors.

With Studio J the discounts build when you buy in bulk.  For every 5 layouts you purchase, you get 5 page protectors free.  And with the purchase of 10 layouts you get free shipping too!  That's a pretty significant discount when you start adding it up.  And, as a consultant I get commission on my purchases.

If you think you might like using Studio J, you may want to consider becoming a consultant.  You'll get a discount, commissions, and with the purchase of just 10 layouts per month, you'll easily make your minimums!  Sign up in March and you'll also get all 4 of the Summer Stamp of the Month sets (a $100 value) for FREE!  Email me if you have any questions, or would like to discuss this opportunity in detail.

CU Classes

These are the two classes I'll be teaching at Tresa Black's retreat: Creative University.  It's coming up at the end of this month and I just can't wait!  Yippee!!!  Now that we have the final class count, I can start ordering and prepping my supplies.

I used all CTMH supplies for both classes - including the "You Rock" paper packet, lots and lots of different "rockin" stamp sets, flip flaps, watercolor pencils, and more.  If you want a detailed list of supplies let me know and I'll list them.

Family Snuggle

I took this silly picture of my girls, and just had to put it in the Olivia quick page by Shabby Shoppe.  Hope you like!  Have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Our House!

So all this week we've been getting our house ready to show.  We've been cleaning, and packing, and scrubbing, and painting, and well... you get the idea.  We're exhausted, but our house is gorgeous!  Now we're just praying for a buyer.  :)

Our Realtor dislikes making flyers, so I offered to make them for her.  It was really fun, and I even offered to make them for her other clients too.  Who knows - this might turn into something!  LOL... for now I'm just excited to get back to crafting and knitting.  This week has been a killer.

I've blurred out the personal info, but if you are in Lynnwood, WA and want to come see it let me know!

When You're Smiling...

Here is another layout I did recently with my digi supplies.  I used template 40 by Manda Girl (see my side bar to visit her blog), and I used the Shabby Princess Summer Cottage Kit.

It's a two page spread, but I saved it as 2 files instead of one large 12x24.  Hopefully you can still get the full effect.  Enjoy!