I am a scrappin’ fool lately and I *love* it! I missed it more than I’d realized (have I said that before??). Well I did. I actually finished 2 pages this weekend which has to be a weekend record for this s-l-o-o-o-o-w scrapper. Here’s one of the pages I finished that actually covers 3 *count ‘em THREE* challenges in one LO. I’ve been wanting to jump in on all the great challenges posted here and there in the scrapbooking world for so long so I guess I made up for lost time with this one. Or at least tried. :) The main theme of the LO is from the Hodge Podge challenge to scrap your favorite feature. The design was loosely based on a Scrapjack LO from back in March I believe that I’d saved in my blog-roll by Adrienne Looman (love her stuff) and I also used the word ‘my’ in the title which is the word this week for the One Little Word challenge. That one was sorta a bonus since I really just happened to use that word in the title without having the challenge in mind but I think it still counts, right? Anyway, you can find the credits (and my other weekend LO) here (of course).

Other than that, nothing too eventful going on. Lovin’ the fact that gas prices were under $3 today. Was completely on empty so ozone action day or not I had to fill up. Hoping to do some scrapping in my air conditioned apartment tonight. Really need to get that fixed on my car soon ‘cuz 94 degrees makes me pretty cranky without A/C.

Got some cute pics of Pixel at a local park Friday night that I may try and scrap. For now there’s a couple posted in my flickr. She’s gettin’ bigger. She doesn’t really seem much heavier really than the 5 lbs. she was when i got her but she looks about twice as tall already. She did awesome this weekend on the house training. Like really awesome and she’s learning the ’sit’ command pretty good. She goes to the vet again this week so I’ll have to ask about getting her signed up for puppy training as soon as she’s old enough. She’s a sweetheart though and super cuddly. More playful and rambunctious when I have people over which is frustrating but I guess it’s ‘cuz she’s such a social character. She get SO upset when neighbors walk (or even drive) by without stopping to give her attention. If they’re within eye sight she seems to think they couldn’t possibly go about their day without at least saying hi. Crazy pup. Gotta love ‘er. :)

Busy work week, lots of project ideas to work on in the studio in my *spare* time, girls night with Jill (and hopefully Kimmy), another afternoon at the beach (although I’ll be starting from scratch again on the tan), and hopefully a little scrapping thrown in here and there while I’m on a roll. :) Oh, and picture takin’. REALLY gotta get back in the habit of taking at least one photo a day. That’s the goal for this week. Might need a theme. Hmmmm.

Kay, hope I didn’t lose you on that completely random rambling post. So much more I had planned on gabbin’ about here but once again I’m worried I’ll lose ya’ll with my 3 page posts. Be back soon. :)

Loving being more involved in the digital scrapping community (or I guess the scrapbooking community in general). I forget how much I enjoyed commenting in the galleries and encouraging others and how great it feels to get encouragement back. I have to say again I am still LOVING the community feel at SisTV. I’ve posted in a few other galleries recently and in the past and have never found a place nearly as supportive (in my experience) or as inspiring as this gallery. I can’t say enough about it. It’s funny though how posting a LO that gets no comments makes me question whether it needs something more or it just really isn’t that good. Most of my LOs at SisTv with no comments only had a handful of people look at them so I guess I could say that only a handful of people didn’t like it. Right? OR a bunch of people didn’t like it enough to even click on it. Hmmmm. It’s most discouraging when like 45 people have viewed a LO and couldn’t find one good thing to say about it. Yikes! I know I shouldn’t let that be discouraging but I guess that’s one of the down sides to being involved in the galleries. I know I’m not alone in this feeling. I’m gonna challenge myself to comment on at least 10 or more LOs in the galleries each day and I’m going to try and remember that I scrapbook to preserve memories and if I was happy enough with a LO to post it in a gallery then I should feel great about it whether 20 people comment on it or 1 (or even zero).

See all those zeros? Oy. LOL And I know I mentioned this in my earlier post and I swear this link wasn’t there when I looked before. I searched and searched for a link like this in other’s bio pages but suddenly the other day I noticed it so now you can click on that link and see all of the albums listed separately and most importantly you can view people’s favorites album. Mine is jam packed with some great stuff and I love that now I can see what inspires some of the scrapper’s that are so inspiring to me. Another great feature I noticed that I hadn’t before is that if you click on a LO in the gallery you can actually click on it again to view it even larger and if that’s not detailed enough you can click AGAIN and zoom in even more. How cool is THAT?! That place just keeps getting better and better.

I also have to mention that one of the sweet ’sisters’ I’ve ‘met’ through SisTv is Cenee and you have to check out her bio page and see how MUCH she looks like my sister Amanda. I honestly could’ve sworn it was Amanda when I first saw her avatar in my private mail box. Love her name too and her gallery is amazing so go leave her some love. :)

And speaking of galleries you’ve GOTTA check out the new garden at 2peas. Jennifer has some amazing new LOs in there and she’s right, some of my all time faves are in this batch too. I filled up my book of scraps as I went through the LOs. Totally inspired to scrap but have a busy weekend schedule ahead and too gorgeous of weather to spend it indoors so we’ll see if I get any scrapping done in the next few days. I’m hoping to at least do some.

One thing on the agenda is to paint my new tv stand and end table. I haven’t decided for sure what color to paint them. I’m thinking probably a distressed black but in the past I’ve found that an actual black ends up not being at all what you want to start with. Anyone have any pointers on what paint color I really want to get that old distressed black furniture look? Shabby Miss Jenn you MUST have the perfect shade. ;) The other option I’m considering is red but that can be very tricky to get the right shade too. Hopefully by tomorrow morning I can settle on a color and spend some time out in the garage painting away. :)

I’m determined to take more photos this weekend too. I’ve been meaning to all week and it just hasn’t happened. Pixel is growing so fast and I’m missing all those cute stages and the funny stuff she does and I need more pics of the new haircut because that last one really doesn’t do it justice at all. 

Kay, off to work. Happy Friday everyone!

The afternoon at the beach yesterday was GORGEOUS. The weather was perfect. Quite warm but at the lake there was a perfect breeze that made it completely bearable. Unfortunately we went for location and chose a beach closer to home which meant teen-age central. Seriously, I think the ladies in the photo above were the only other people on the beach over 20. Ugh! Not so great for the self-esteem, let me tell ya. The sad thing that I was thinking yesterday was that as much as I was looking around wishing I had a body like theirs they were probably all doing the very same thing. Not at ME mind you but at all the other perfect bodies on the beach. If they only realized how beautiful they are but at that age girls rarely do. Sad. Personally I wouldn’t go back to that age for anything. If I did I’m sure I’d do alot of things differently but I actually much prefer 34 to 17. Anyway, I’m really hoping to spend another afternoon at the beach soon and capitalize on the little sun that I got yesterday before my tan is gone again. We’ll see. And hopefully more pictures next time so I can actually have enough to scrap a beachy LO.

Thought I’d post a link to my etsy shop here since I’ve started posting bags over there and I’m trying to decide which shop works out best. I’ve marked down a few of the bags too so go check ‘em out. :) And I posted a couple new bags in Jill’s too. More coming later tonight.

Back to work. Happy wednesday everyone.

I know I’ve mentioned this site before (probably a few times) but I love it so much.

I love the gallery…

I love that it’s full of amazing pages that inspire me to create more.

I love how supportive the other scrappers are.

I love that when I hover over a thumbnail in the gallery it expands so that I can see the LO better before clicking on it. I love that when I DO click on it the LO is a great size to see all the little details but even better, depending on the size a person uploads, I can click on it again and see even MORE detail.  Or how some people upload additional detail shots that I can click on along the bottom of the LO. This site has been so generous with their gallery uploading guidelines. I LOVE that.

Or how ’bout that anywhere on the site that I see a tiny avatar of another scrapper I can hover over it and see an actual reasonable size version of the avatar. And if I click on that avatar I’m taken to a page perfectly designed for me to learn a little bit about that person.

I love that the bio pages have fun questions to get to know the users beyond just seeing their scrapbook pages. I love that if they have a blog or website there’s a link right in their bio to get to it. I love that I can see who inspires THEM thru their list of ‘favorite sisters’. Or how poeple can leave little messages right there in the bio page the same as you can in an individual LO.

I haven’t figured out yet how to view others pages as albums. I know I sorted my portfolio by albums but I seem to be the only one who can view them that way. But it’s a new site so I’d imagine they’re still sorting some of those things out.

I love that when I log in and view my profile page it shows me right there if anyone has commented on any of my pages since I last logged in. I love that somehow people seem to comment on pages long after they’re posted. In my experience in other galleries people typically comment only on the most recent LO posted. And even then it seems like after a few days you’ve likely gotten the last feedback you’re going to get on that LO. At SisTV I seem to receive feedback even on pages I’ve posted almost a month ago when the site first opened.

I love that in that same profile page I can also see any new pages listed that my ‘fav sisters’ have posted since I last logged in so that if I don’t have time to browse through the gallery I still don’t miss any new pages from my friends or those scrappers that especially inspire me.

Oh, and the other day I noticed that the location in my profile was underlined and realized that if I click on it I can actually see a list of all the ’sisters’ who listed Michigan as their home state. There are quite a few AMAZING scrappers who live not that far from me. I swear I’m not at all the stalker type but it’s kinda fun to find out that a few of those LOs I’ve been raving about in the comments were created by people who live right near by. I know, I’m wierd like that. :)

Seriously though, they’ve thought of everything here. And I haven’t even mentioned the little videos that are really what this site is all about. I didn’t think I’d really get into them but I’ve watched almost every one. The most recent one is even about ideas for taking your scrapping outside with it being summer and nicer weather. The ideas they talk about don’t really apply to me but I HAVE been spending a lot of time sitting out on my deck with the laptop. :)

The only thing missing is a slew of digi-scrappers posting in the gallery. Right now there’s just a handful of us. So GO, check it out, set up a bio and start posting LOs and link me here or email me so I can add you to my favorites and send ya some love. You will seriously love it there.

And no, I’m in no way affiliated with the site. Wow wouldn’t that be a dream gig! I’m just their number 1 digi-cheerleader. :)

Kay, gotta spend some time in the studio this morning and get the car washed and vacuumed out and then it’s off to the beach for the afternoon. Gotta find my sunscreen and load a book and some new songs to the ipod. Current song at the top of my listening list is the new one by Incubus called Dig. Here’s the video since this post is lacking in the images department and ya know how that bugs me. :) 

Ooh, I can post one of these though for this morning (beach day ya know).

Oh and I almost forgot, I finally finished Kimmy’s blog header yesterday. This is what I came up with.

You can find the credits listed in her side bar and she even posted again. Check it out. :)

Have a great Tuesday!

It’s completely out of character for me to be this crazy about anything about myself but I really am loving this new haircut. I figure it’s okay to ‘cuz it’s not like I can take any credit for it. I just happen to have the best hair stylist on the planet. This photo totally doesn’t do it justice, nor is it even in focus but I should mention that the photo before it had remarkable sharpness on the rose bushes behind me. :) I’ll have to get more this week while the cut is still fresh but the cut, the color, everything about it is totally me. More me than any cut I’ve ever gotten. I love the blunt bangs and there’s even more of them than what you can see in this photo. It’s the funnest thing. If I pull back the longer pieces around my face like in a bobby pin *ta-da* more blunt bangs! How cool is that?! And even though it’s not long on my neck in the back and not too hot to wear down it’s still long *enough* to pull back in either pig tails or even a ponytail. Plus I can round brush it all under or flip one side up a bit so it’s asymetrical (which I’m a big fan of). Or I can tuck it behind my ears for a completely different look. All that plus enough short layers to give it volume (cuz I hate my hair flat). Seriously! Hopefully people like it cuz I tend to wear my hair pretty much the same for like YEARS and I don’t think I’ve ever liked a cut quite this much. :) Oh, and the color, finally a good combination of red in the top layers and deep dark brown underneath. I like it contrasty and it seems like it’s always too subtle. This time it’s perfect. Only thing that could’ve made it a touch better would be maybe a few subtle highlights at least during the summer but we didn’t have the time. Betcha didn’t expect a huge paragraph just about my hair did ya?! Can you tell I’m excited about it? :)

And Saturday morning I got a package from Maegan and Zoe with the sweetest gifts for Pixel. Thank you SO much Maegan. And thank you sweet Zoe for wrapping it so darn cute. I was so excited to open it that I forgot to get the camera out to photograph the package itself. :( Loved it though and so did my niece who was staying overnight. :) I did get some photos of Pixel wearing her new blingin’ collar and playing with her new ‘Chewy Vuiton’ purse. It’s completely replaced Eeyore as her favorite toy. I couldn’t get a picture of it yesterday but she actually carries it around like a purse. It’s too cute. Here’s a picture of my stylin’ pup…

Let’s see, other than that I ended up having my niece and nephew overnight Friday night, went to Fazoli’s with them and my ex’s mom for lunch on Saturday, went on a fun shopping spree at Target thanks to the generosity of some sweet local girls that I’ve been doing some digi-scrappin’ stuff with, did some sewing, some chatting with friends online, dinner at a great local restaurant and Coldstone ice cream afterward (both wonderful), a quick trip to the mall yesterday and a lot of hanging out with my 2 favorite dogs (had Koda pretty much all week while Scott was up north fishing). Oh and yesterday I had a hummingbird buzzing around that beautiful planter from the post below. I’ve seen them lots at my parents house but this is the first time I’ve seen one at my very own place. Sometimes it’s the little things, right? :)

Wow, I actually had lots more I wanted to blog about but this post is already ridiculously long. I’ll probaby be back with more later. :)

My lens was very kind to me. My roots seem far more obvious when I’m curling my hair in the morning so I’m hoping this better represents how they look to the rest of the world. Thank goodness I get them colored tonight and cut since pigtails is about the only decent looking option lately and it’s not exactly appropriate for work. This is just one of about 130 photos from last night including some amazing shots of our dinner at Marro’s that are worthy of a scrap page all their own. Y-u-m!

And the other night I hauled out my wacom to do check marks for a LO I was working on. It’s one of only a handful of times I’ve used it since I got it probably 2 years ago now so I decided to look it up and see once what they’re selling on ebay for now days and decided holy smoley what do I need to keep this thing around for if I rarely ever use it. I think I’d probably use it a ton more if I used a desktop to scrap on but I sit on a love seat with my laptop and usually a dog sleeping next to me so there’s not a lot of room for it. I’m sure I had some grand plans to create digital elements or something to sell online but that idea never really took off. SO, since I HATE ebay and I know a majority of my blog readers are digi-scrappers and graphic designy type people I thought I’d first post it here in case anyone is interested. It’s the 6 x 8 size with all the extra bells and whistles of the intuos line of tablets and is in like-new condition (which is sad really). It sells new for over $300 so for $200 it’s a steal and includes everything pictured here plus a disk with all it’s drivers and everything you need to get set up using it. If anyone is interested just email me or comment here and maybe I won’t have to go through the trouble of figuring out how to list it on ebay. :)

Update: the Wacom tablet sold on Saturday to Nina in Norway. I’ll be shipping it to you right after work today Nina. :)

I’ll be having my niece and nephew overnight tonight (after the haircut and color) and maybe going to see the movie Shrek. Hopefully lunch at Fazoli’s tomorrow. :) And then I’ll be busy sewing in the studio quite a bit the rest of the weekend. Working on some fun new designs and finishing up a couple orders. I’ll be posting in the boutique again on Monday and I thought I’d offer free shipping again on any orders for the bags that are currently listed. If you’re interested in any of them just email me or leave a comment here and I’ll get back to you right away. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!