Jake @ Whimzee's

I took this photo of Mr. Jake while I was wearing him in the Baby Bjorn. We had stopped by the store so I could take photos of all the new merchandise for the newsletter I'm designing today. The tables were totally covered with new merchandise and I didn't bring Jake's jumper, so I put him in the front pack & got to work. He loves the carrier and likes to sit both toward me and away from me. It's fun to see his reaction to all the things going on around the store. He loves to watch the ceiling fans, the TV and he loves to "chat" with customers. When I noticed him looking at me and saw the piles of stock in the background, I thought it was the perfect time to document a normal day for us. The little guy is in the store quite a bit, not as much lately as he was, but it will be fun to remember what it was going on in my life when he was this little! So get out your camera and take some photos of "normal" happenings in your life....not just the big events & celebrations.

Coming Soon on the WhimzeesGirlsOnline Blog

This is my latest project! I'm really excited about how it turned out! I've posted this photo on my other blog, http://www.whimzeesgirlsonline.blogspot.com . This weekend on my Thanksgiving trip to Medford, I'm going to write a step by step class to help everyone dive into their first acrylic album. So check that blog next week for all the details!

And have a great Thanksgiving!

10 Minute Mini Album

I forgot that I hadn't posted this cute little album to my blog. I took pictures of it as I made it and wrote instructions for a quick DIY class on the store blog I write. So if you want to check it out follow this link http://whimzeesgirlsonline.blogspot.com. I made this as a gift for my mom. It was the perfect thing to make with all my extra wallet size photos. I had the wallets printed at Costco to use in my Basic Grey Ambrosia layout and the extras were just lying on the table at the store, crying out for a home!

I can't wait to try this idea with some Christmas photos of the kids!

Creative Cafe 4th of July Layout

I created this layout when the Creative Cafe collection first arrived in the store. It's still my favorite! The photos were taken on the 4th of July last year. I wanted to use a red, white & blue theme, but I also wanted to be subtle with it. Delaney was so proud that she & our neighbor girl had painted her nails red after the neighborhood parade. She jumped in the hammock to pose for me and to escape from the 105 degree sun that day.

I printed the photos in black & white, so the hammock stripes wouldn't compete with all the patterns in my paper. Mixing coordinating patterns is one of my favorite layout techniques, so I love black & white and sepia tone photos. Using neutral tone photos allows you to go wild with the colors on your page without worrying that your photos won't match with your layout. And since it's so easy to change photos to black & white or sepia on Costco's website, I take all my photos in color and change them later depending on which papers I choose. This photo has great color, I just didn't want to use it on this page. So next time you're printing out photos for a scrapbook layout, take a minute to consider the papers you'll be using on your page, a black & white photo may just make your "nice" page a "stunner"!