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"!

Basic Grey Ambrosia Pumpkin Patch Layout

After seeing my pumpkin patch pictures, I was really excited to create a layout for them. First, I thought about using some of Reminisce's sparkly Halloween paper. But when I put the pictures on it, I just wasn't inspired. Then I caught a glimpse of our new Basic Grey Ambrosia. I thought the oranges in my pictures just cried out for the variety of oranges showcased in the Ambrosia papers. I printed my photos in 5 x 7 and wallet size at Costco and used 8 different Ambrosia papers on this page. I cut simple rectangles and arranged them around my pictures. Then I used the Cricut at the store to cut the swirl design from one of the papers. And to finish off my page, I used black vinyl Thickers letters.

Now I've got to get to work on the other half of this double-page spread. I'll use the same background paper, Clementine, and I have about 8 more wallets that I plan to put on the page. For my layouts, I like to get everything together and then take some time to mull over all my ideas. This is probably why my projects take a while to materialize, but I enjoy the design process so much, I'm not bothered by it at all. I know that once I finish the layout, it will be something I love. I'll be sure to post the other half as soon as the inspiration for the design comes to me! :)

My Reminisce Creations! #3

I wanted to create a project that my daughter can add to and make her own. I started with Reminisce's Making the Grade Collection papers and stickers for Grades 1, 2 & 3. I used a 4 x 4" cube and painted all of the sides with black acrylic paint. I mounted corner-rounded squares on each side, using two squares from each grade paper, one of each side showing. I placed Delaney's 1st grade photo on the 1st grade side and let her choose stickers that showed what she liked best in first grade. I'm so excited to see what she chooses for her 2nd grade side, the photos will be here any day!

My Reminisce Creations! #2

I couldn't believe how wonderful the Reminisce's Girly Girl Collection matched Delaney's personality. She's a little diva and the sparkly pink paper is just right with her little ballerina costume! I used the as many of the Girly Girl papers as I could fit along with some World Win Cardstock, teal vellum tags and American Craft Ribbons.

My Reminisce Creations! #1

This is one of my favorite layouts. I used Reminisce's Shades of Autumn Collection along with some bronze brads, World Win Cardstock & American Craft Ribbon. I love using pattern in my layouts, so this paper was perfect!

So Many Blogs, So Little Time...

Hi there! I'm sitting at gymnastics now, hoping to send out the Whimzee's newsletter before my battery runs out...we'll see! I just started the new blog for the store. Twila & I are so excited to get it started & hear what everyone has to say and what ideas they have to share. While I was working the other day, a very nice customer came in & shared a ton of blog addresses with me. It's so fun to check them all out. There's one drawback though, I just can't stop! The last few nights I've been up way too late watching the Olympics & surfing the net. I do want to share a couple blog's though. Ali Edwards's is the essential scrapbookers blog, don't miss it! http://aliedwards.typepad.com/ (Ali's got awesome ideas, writes great books & loves Twila's favorite adhesive...)

Also check out this one, Nichole Heady is the Designer & a co-owner of Papertrey Ink, her blog is full of ideas (for both scrapbooks & cards). In this entry, she uses the Adirondack Acrylic Paint Daubers we have in the store to create a mini-album. I was excited to see this one since I wasn't sure how to use the Daubers.

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2007/11/3.html


PS- I got kicked off the wifi at the gym, my battery was down to 14% & I was typing while holding a squirming Jake in one hand...so I figured these were all signs that I should finish this at home! :)

My Latest Experiment in Papercrafting

I wanted to share my latest project with you. I created this clock from a Colorbok kit I purchased a while ago at Tuesday Morning. I wasn't too excited about the papers that came with it. They were very old fashioned and not too colorful. So I looked through my huge collection of scrapbooking papers and came up with this Anna Griffin print. It looked nice and seemed perfect for my mom's sewing room. I gave the clock to her as a birthday present last weekend. She loved it! Instead of the one photo shown in the sample, I used two photos, one of my kids and one of my nephew. It will be nice for her to be able to look at it & see all of her grandchildren. The kit came with the clock and its parts and also the ribbon, rub ons and embellishments. I was especially happy with how the photos turned out. I am a beginner using Photoshop, but after a few hours I figured it out. I finally got the result I was looking for, aged, with a canvas like texture. Now I can't wait for another chance to try out what I learned on this project.

Great Vacation!

Our beach vacation was wonderful! The weather was very nice which is great for the Oregon Coast! We stayed at the Surfsand Resort in Cannon Beach. I think it's the very best place to stay at the coast, with children anyway. Without your kids, do try to stay at the Stephanie Inn in Cannon Beach. The Stephanie is owned by the same company as the Surfsand and it's a great place to spend a special weekend, like your anniversary. But now that we have kids, we've moved to the Surfsand for our beach getaways. In addition to being a great place for kids, they take dogs. So if you've got a pooch who loves to swim in the ocean this is your place! Delaney calls it "our beach." She found 5 sand dollars this trip and was so excited. We've never been able to find any in Cannon Beach before. I've got a bunch of pictures on my parenting blog at http://www.pregnancyplanet.net/community/blogs/posts/LaneynJakesMom

In case you want to check them out, here are the links for the Surfsand and the Stephanie Inn.

http://www.surfsand.com/

http://www.stephanie-inn.com/

Keeping up with the times...

Well, I've gotten so many requests from my friends that I'm setting up a facebook page tonight. I guess I finally decided to keep up with the times! I'm surprised how many people I know already have a page. Maybe this way I'll know what some of the people I saw at my 20th reunion are doing. That will be cool! If I'd done this a few weeks ago, I might even have recognized some of them! I'm hoping to be able to keep up with all these new internet projects I'm taking on!

I've still got to get my pictures for the Whimzee's newsletter into the computer so I can work on it on our beach trip this weekend. I guess that's just another project to put on tomorrow's list!