jbs mercantile april peek!

this one was created entirely with the april papercrafting (main kit).  it is entirely lovely and easy to work with.  check out the jbs inspiration blog for more details!

quickie calvinball update:

calvinscraps - 31
calvinblogs - 20
calvinbonus - 18

total - 69

florida photos: kids

kid photos today!  trying to get more florida photos blogged this trip as the family likes it.  :)

the boy cousins were out of town the first part of our visit, so g got to spend some quality time with baby riley, the other only in the family.  i think as only children, they must speak the same language as they always get along so well.  g really seems to like the role of big brother cousin and riley soaks it up.  (cell phone photos aren't always fabulous, but they sure capture a lot of moments that would be missed otherwise).

at the beach.  it was coooooooooooooold this day, but you just can't keep children out of the water.  g was being all responsible and protective of riley; she was wide open though.  (i was showing my old this day.  my camera finally went kapoot, so i had a hand-me-down model that i'd never used before.  i was so stressed out trying to figure out why my pics were all coming out blurry.  i couldn't seem to be able to figure out how to lock the focus like i like, i didn't know if it was because my close up vision has gone south and i couldn't see the viewfinder well, was it the sun glare?  egads!  got home and calmed down enough to realize the lens was on manual focus and i was shooting in autofocus.  duh!).

the day of riley's party.  first they did a little playing at the park.  (this view is just as "florida" to me as the beach one.  north florida is synonymous with pine woods.

then, of course, someone must hunt for creatures.  these two managed to nab an unsuspecting lizard.

it was crazy windy, so we had to call uncle greg aka "grandaddy" to bring a tarp.  stephen and troy tied down one end.  (don't worry, stephen's a professional!  he was in fsu's flying high circus back in the day!) . . .

and avery and aunt linda put up the other end (aunt linda has never been in the circus, but she can do anything).

after the birthday events there was more park play.  i think they were seeing how many kids could sit on gabriel in the tunnel . . .

and more hunting for unsuspecting creatures . . .

peepers this time.

and i think i shall scrapbook this one and title it "four greats and a grand."  being the youngest of five and with fourteen years between me and the oldest, i was just as close in age to the first crop of nieces and nephews as i was to most of my siblings.  so now my kid is a grandchild, but in age mixes in with the first crop of great grandchildren.    whatever they are, be it grands or greats, they are way too cute and well loved.  :)

haiku 324

winter sun morning skies
the day creeps closer 
across the horizon

christmas in march! a mini-album

i cranked out my 2012 december daily yesterday!  finished off the journaling and cover this morning!  14 points for calvinball baby!  woot!

this one was made from the jbs mercantile november mini-album kit.  i really wanted to use it cuz it was so cute, but i saved it for my december daily and then got too busy in december to do it.  i really wanted to document this christmas though with my dad still in the v.a. and g and i heading to florida to spend christmas with him and the family.  

 title page.  and a sampling of the inner pages . . .

the page on the right is from the tabbed divider pack for the mini-album, both from pink paislee.  i used a blending tool and several colors of ink on it.

i used the diptic app i'd mentioned earlier to quickly print all the photos.  saved me tons of time.  it was glitching on me at first, but i finally figured out from reading the reviews that you have to clear it out each time before uploading more photos then it work fine.

i absolutely adored the stamp set that kerry lynn yeary designed for the kit.  the little candy label on the left was my favorite stamp from the set.  i stamped and cut out 21 of those little suckers before i was done.

you may have noticed from glancing at the pages, that i really just labeled each photo and didn't journal much.  i decided to include a pocket here on the last page and write down my thoughts about the trip and that christmas in a more cohesive manner.  i've never really thought to do that, but i liked it.

calvinball pointage - 14 points for the mini!  woot!  2 points for blogging today and yesterday.  oh!  and i also just finished a layout for a point plus a bonus for scrapping photos within a week of taking them.  18 points so far this weekend!  BAM!

current totals:

calvinscraps - 31
calvinblogs - 16
calvinbonus - 18

total - 65

a ribbon giveaway courtesy of calvinball

since i have no new projects to share today (the horrors!) and since i am desperately trying to catch up in calvinball and since i can get a point for blogging and a bonus point for hosting a giveaway, well here's my giveaway (trim only - basket, clothespins, and deck not included)!  < < < you can breath now thanks to that punctuation mark ;).

leave me a lovely comment of your choosing along with a means with which i can contact you and i will randomly choose one winner from amongst all you fabulous people who stop by here to read my sometimes  semi-mindless, but not always so, meanderings.  < < < breath again ;).

florida photos: two cuties

i can't let a florida trip pass without posting some adorable little girl photos.  baby riley flew over the pond from london, england to celebrate her birthday with us, and she and baby deanna were such willing subjects for my camera lens.  yes, g and i still call them babies even though riley is now four and deanna will be soon. they're still our baby girls!

there weren't even any catfights for me to photograph this trip!  they're growing up!

fabulous lighting!

 and they turn in unison!  so cute!

and since there are two of them with two different aunt doris scrapbooks, i get to scrap these pretty pics all twice if i want to!  hurrah!

had to include this one with deanna glancing back as we were all remarking on the fact that she looks just like her mama in it.

oh!  and calvinball!  i finished a page this morning,  i've blogged twice, and after carefully perusing the bonus points section i'm awarding myself a bonus point for planning another scrappy playdate!  i've already discussed the menu plan with the other calvinball players.  i know they all wish they could come over and enjoy the eats.  come to think of it, i wish they could come over too!  that would be some scrappy party!

current totals:

calvinscraps - 16
calvinblogs - 14
calvinbonus - 17

total - 47

project life: sketches

well friends.  this one is my favorite so far.  i love the bright colors, but in a soft muted kinda way.  i love the variety of photo sizes and that i used ephemera/journaling cards in more of the pockets, so it's not as photo heavy as usual (not that photo heavy is a bad thing!).  this one just feels balanced and cute to me; a look to strive for in the next one.

on this page: again i've used leftovers from my march jbs mercantile kits.  coordinated leftovers are just right for project life!  i finally worked up the nerve to write directly on the photos (with a fine point sharpie).  i took pictures of g on the deck on a couple occasions in this spread and the siding on the back of the house is way too perfect for writing on (in the photos, not irl!).  i like the look and will most likely be using it lots.

on this page: i decided to use an american crafts vertical 4x6 page protector for this side as i had several full size verticals i wanted to use, including that vintage "long distance" label from this month's antiquarian kit.  how perfect is that to remind myself of conversations with my dad about his old black and white photos?  ( i added a copy of one in the pocket to the left).

i busted out some jbs goodies that i've decided are way perfect for project life.  these jbs chipboard letters.  they aren't too thick and are customizeable.  i used the micro dot and ledger packs.  you can see them in the red and yellow "supercup" title, the green "march" title, and the multi-colored "dr. seuss" title.  so fun!  and now i need MORE!

here's a little glimpse at my process.  not that i'm a pro at this or anything, but i thought there might be a few more ocd resisters out there who may be curious as to how i'm working on such a regulated project without letting the obsessive compulsive beast loose.

i don't do it daily or weekly.  the only reference i consciously make to the passing of time is to put a new header in when i start a new month.  you can see from this spread that those monthly headers get stuck in wherever a new month happens to start.  i will eventually start stapling tabs to those pages as well.

i leave my book out all the time and work in chunks.  (i'm lucky to have a designated craft room now with two large tables).  when i'm ready to print out and slot more pics i first look at my camera and instagram pics and make a list (on that little post-it there).  i then flip through my digital camera files and my daily planner to see if i've missed anything, but the bulk of my photos come from my cell phone as that is where our daily life gets recorded most.  once i've got my list, i start making little pencil sketches and filling in the photos and such so i'll know what size to print them.  i actually like this part.  it's like a little puzzle.  the photo editing is the least fun of the whole process, but i let myself be lazy about editing the cell phone pics as often as i can so it's really not been a burden.  once the pics are printed and slotted i'll start piddling with papers and such.  since i leave it out all the time, i can do one little thing whenever the urge strikes.  i might finish a page in a day, but more often than not it will be over the course of several days as the notion strikes.  no stress!  i'm actually done with january, february just lacks one spread, and the first half of march is sketched out.  and it's been FUN.  can you believe it?