More Wings...

and in more than one way!  I am working on my scrapbook for events of 2010.  I posted not too long ago the wedding pics and pages from my step-son's wedding last June.  There was another special wedding that same month-that of my "nephew", Zachary.  While it wasn't him (but rather his brother) who questioned my "aunt" status (I am an "honorary aunt"--his mom and I have known each other for uh-hum---let's just say A LOT of years and leave it at that! Lol!  They chose a private ceremony with just immediate family but I got to witness the happy event through the AWESOME photography of his REAL aunt, Deborah Hamilton (you can view more of her work at http://www.debhamiltonphotography.com/).  Thanks, Debby, for sharing these special photos with me!  It's amazing to see how this young man has grown into well, a young man of great character.   So-using more of the Close to My Heart Wings paper, stamps from the Take a Picture, Find Your Style Happy Journey AND the Bohemian Alphabet, along with layouts from the Reflections book, this is what I came up with:

The first page of the layout is similar to the one featured in the Spring/Summer catty on p. 25.  I deleted their personal information from the white journaling strips but in the "real deal" it has the date of their wedding, the place and then the city & state.  On the second page I chose to use 4 of the same photos for the sidebar sections (something my husband pointed out: "do you know you have 4 of the same photos on the same page?" Yes, dear, I do...!  I am debating whether or not to add a "swirl" to the left of the butterfly--what do you think?!  And while the photos don't show it, the large butterfly has a lot of dimension--this image is GREAT to cut out and "puff up" the wings simply by bending the cardstock!  This is one stamp I will use A LOT!

Well, I also made darling husband a VALENTINE for tomorrow-so I am off to tweak that a bit as I found fault with it as I was photographing it last night. 

Say a prayer for me-tomorrow is fasting blood work for food allergy testing. My concern is...I have to drive an hour first thing in the morning WITHOUT COFFEE! GASP! Praying, too, Theresa will go with me! Since I have to take the morning off, why not make it a girls play day?! Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping---and don't forget YOUR VALENTINE! Blessings, Sharon

TGIF Day!

Whew! If you read yesterday's post...you know that I finally got a minute to blog-and discovered that the page was "bare!" or bare-ly there! A lot of the cutsie things I used came from Shabby Blogs---and, unbeknownst to Theresa and I, they moved. And took all their cutsie things with them...right off our blogs! So I spent yesterday afternoon-and this am--tweaking. And "cleaning house" so to speak--as in what little cuties did I want back (the cute kitty HAD to stay-with the exception of the white spot, he looks like my Inky! Even sounds like him, too!), and what needed to go...on the blog, that is! Not sure it's there yet-but, then again-that's part of the fun of it-I can add, move, remove...as my whimsy feels like it.  It's the Queen's prerogative! Leave a comment and let me know whatcha think so far!

Hopefully tomorrow...I will have some pages to post! And I'd better get working on some valentines, too!

Time to get off my royal kiester! Until next time go check out the awesome banner Theresa made: http://artful-whimsies.blogspot.com/ She hasn't posted her FAIRY BANNER yet--it is AWESOME--and I want one! hint*hint*hint*! and, as always, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

GASP!

I just blogged for the first time in a week or so--and oHmYgOSh---whose been messing with my blog?!!! All my cute images are gone-I am seeing ugly tool signs...! I had no idea! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! How dare they?! I obviously need to do some work---and I realize the link in my last post isn't working, either! BOO HISS! Where's that magic wand! So, so sorry! Please bear with me until I can get it pretty again! Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping. Blessings, Sharon

Shutterfly & Me...

SHUTTERFLY....is one of my *new* best friends!!! I have used them in the past for prints, Theresa made and gave me a beautiful bound book of photos from our wedding...they do an awesome job! At Christmas, I mentioned I ordered our cards on a Sunday and I think they were here by Wednesday or Thursday of that same week. This week I ordered a gift for hubby for Valentine's day on Monday evening. It arrived YESTERDAY! And that was NOT paying outrageous express shipping charges! That was "normal" delivery! They are AWESOME-their print quality is excellent, their prices are fantastic---I just can't say enough good things about them. Check 'em out: http://shutterfly.com/.

In the meantime, I am STILL playing with Studio J and LOVING it. I have 8 layouts done and plans for at least 2-3 more before I order! I am playing with Picasa as well which is a FREE photo editing/storage/collage capability program--I think if you just Google Picasa you will come to the site and page to download the program. I love it's collage options-it's a great way to get a lot of photos on one page.

I need to do a little housework, some cleaning still in the craft room--and then some scrapbooking time to prep for this month's groupie class. We'll be making the WINGS page shown on page 28 of the Close to My Heart catalog (view it at http://www.okistampqueen@myctmh.com) as well as a complimenting page layout from the Reflections book by CTMH as well. These books are really super! I have to confess that my copy has collected far too much dust but no mo'! It's being put to some heavy-duty use. Each page gives you the # of photos with THREE options! Did I mention that the cutting guidelines are all right there, too?! Doesn't get any faster, simpler OR easier! ; ) And my orders from CTMH have been coming much quicker thanks to Fed-Ex. While I do have a special connection there (Theresa's husband, Bob, has sometimes been my Fed-Ex guy), they seem to be moving orders much faster than their competitor. They also arrive earlier in the day!

Better get to it. The sooner I flylady-the sooner I can play! Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping. Blessings, Sharon

OHMYGOSH!!!

So--I know-I just posted about STUDIO J---scroll down--and I was going to check my blog for the "life events" from 2010...and I did. And I am SO EXCITED I can't stand it! Instead of having to go back through months and months of photos...I was able to simply click on the photos in my blog and save them to another file that I can use when I go play with STUDIO J! That cut out COUNTLESS HOURS of searching and editing and....OH WOW! That just made my day! I easily have "the best" of 2010 at my fingertips ready to play! Hmmm...maybe that flylady thing can wait another day! ; )

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings, Sharon

Left: Oct. 2010-my goddaugter helping me clean the craft room...hmmm..working REAL HARD! lol. If the "tiara" fits...any other captions you can think of? (yes, that's a SLINKY on her head-don't ask me why-she's 11-need I say more?! Gotta love the girl!)

Where have I been...

and, more importantly, what have I been doing?! Well...I decided that I want to take Studio J --Close to my Heart's digital scrapbooking program--for a test drive! The only thing BETTER...would be a MINI COOPER! And, well, a life-time supply of pop-dots! I don't even remember which day this week that I signed up--but once I did-I was ADDICTED! I love it-absolutely love it! First you pick the papers you want to work with--and they even have some of the no longer available retired papers on-line! Then you get a ton of different layouts you can choose from. Next, you upload your photos that you want to use. Ok-so this is easy but there are a few quirks with the photos: the editing capability in Studio J is limited-so it's best to edit your photos in your fav photo editing program before you upload them into Studio J. NOW comes the REALLY FUN PART! You can add journaling-titles in variety of fonts-ribbons, metal embellishments, quotes, stickease, buttons, bows, small, medium or large embellishments-there is quite a variety! You can change their location, their color, their size. If you like it, leave it. If not, just click the "trash can" icon and away it goes! I have created my Jan. 2011 pages (a layout consists of two side-by-side pages) as well as some from my step-son's wedding last year. I've been so enthralled with Studio J that I missed my blogging time and really only checked back here to look back and figure out what happened in the missing months of 2010 (you know those where nothing REALLY big happened...but you want to document what did...!)! So I thought I would take a minute and at least tell you what Studio J can do. Once you've finished your pages-you hit that wonderful "add to cart" icon! Close to My Heart prints the pages-the whole kit and caboodle-designer paper, photos, embellishments!-and mails them to you. You even get the PAGE PROTECTORS to put them in! Tuck them in there and put them in your book. Good to go! I AM SO LOVING IT! So--it is one-dimensional--but, intermingled with other pages with pop-dots, real ribbons, etc-I think it will make a nice mix. It will also cut down on some bulk in my books, too (Theresa still teases me about the desk calendar I made & used so many pop dots it won't close!) And, as my dh suggested, I am sure you could add your own "real" embellies to the Studio J pages if you wanted to. As soon as I get them, I will post photos. Until then-go check out Studio J yourself-go to http://okistampqueen@myctmh.com for more info.

It's a cold, wet, rainy, gray day here for sure-I've got to do that flylady thing, some desk work and then I am playing with Studio J! Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon