New Layouts - April 23, 2011

As expected, my scrapping fervor has run its course. Here are the two layouts I've made this week.  The first is just a picture of Miller that I took at the park.  We had an egg hunt and picnic with our Mom's Group.

Miscellaneous Temps II and Fun with Opacity Masks by Scrapping with Liz
A Place in My Heart by Vera Lim; Your True Colors by Captivated Visions
Just a Note by Kasia

Those flag banners are all over the place in digital kits lately.  The day I was working on that layout (before I had added the banner) I was going through some Parents Magazines I had.  I wanted to finish reading them and get them out of the house.  Well, I came across a little photographed scene - a little diarama that they had photographed, as the opening image for an article.  This photograph had a real banner with real shadows.  I thought I should study it to create more realistic shadows for my pages.  But I put the magazine down, finished my lunch and went on with my day.  Then the next day I was working on the shadows for that banner and decided I needed to find that picture from the magazine.  I went through all three magazines at least three times and could not find it again.  I don't know if I had actually tore the page out and then lost it, or was it in another magazine that had already been thrown out?  Did I dream the whole thing?  I was so frustrated!  I'm still mad at myself for not putting that page into a safe place to study later.  I can almost picture the photo in my head ... it had a yellow backdrop ... I think it was on the left hand side of the page .... Ugh!!

And here is a Project: Love, Me page.  I'm caught up again.

Delight and Amiable by DeCrow Designs; Template - pagemaker duo
freebie by iscrap; An Umbrella Built For Two by Leora Sanford
and Emily Powers; Sweet & Simple Kit #8 by Gina Marie Huff

I'm out of leftovers!

The scientist isn't a fan of leftovers. Being the person who cooks 99.5% of the meals in my home, however, I'm a big fan of leftovers. In theory. I tend to go on cooking sprees. I'll plan out several meals. I cook the first one, which has leftovers. Then the next night, I cook the next planned meal, the leftovers from the previous meal being pushed toward the back of the fridge. The third day I cook the third planned meal ... the leftovers keep getting forgotten, and eventually they have spoiled.

I used to admire the idea of using leftovers to make a "new" meal. Say you make a roast chicken one night. Then the next night, you don't eat leftover roast chicken - instead you take the leftovers and make chicken soup or chicken enchiladas. A beautiful idea, but I have had trouble putting it into action. And let's face it: even though you are using leftovers, you are still making an entirely new meal. So you aren't saving as much work as you first thought.

Lately I have been doing the following, and I love it. When I make a meal, I make the full recipe (4+ servings). But I only cook half and put the other half in the freezer. A week or two later, I can take those leftovers out, thaw and cook, and have a meal with relatively little effort. I know, the domestic goddesses out there probably perfected this idea a month after freezers were invented, but it's new to me.

Here are the meals I've had success with. Well actually, these are the meals I've used for this technique. I haven't run into any failures yet.

• Chicken Pot Pie.  Instead of baking the full recipe in an 8x8 Pyrex dish, I cook about half in a Pyrex that's about 8x5, and I put the rest into two large ramekins with plastic lids, crust and all.
• Meatloaf.  I mix up a full pound of meat mixture.  I put half in a 1.5 pint Pyrex loaf dish/refrigerator dish and put the second half, raw, into a freezer bag to freeze.
• Vegetable Soup.  I make up a double batch of my favorite Tuscan Vegetable Soup (which barely fits in my big soup pot).  I freeze six to eight pint-sized wide mouth canning jars, leaving about 1/2 inch air at the top.  The canning jars I bought actually say Freezer Safe on the box.
• Broccoli and cheese Soup.  Same as above.
• Stuffed Peppers.  I mix up the meat mixture for about 4 servings, which starts with about a pound of beef.  Then I freeze about half of it in a pint-sized wide mouth canning jar - which is enough for two really big stuffed peppers.

I'm in love with getting two meals out of one preparation.  And since they get eaten several weeks apart, it  doesn't "feel" like eating leftovers.  But now I am all out of my frozen leftovers.  I have to start over again.  It was nice knowing there were meals basically ready-to-go in the freezer.  I just had to cook them and add some veggies or a salad.  So easy!  Tonight I am making my Grandma's meatballs and gravy.  I'll make a large batch and freeze half.  Hopefully I'll have another two-for-one meal to add to my list.

New Layouts - April 16, 2011

March is over! March was my busy month, with Miller's birthday, getting ready for Digiscrap-Apalooza and with my guest gig at the digichick.

I had a good time in Vegas, meeting all of the Scrap Orchard ladies. I got to meet Liz (of Scrapping with Liz - one of my CTs), and that was really the best part. I am a horrible traveler - it just isn't my thing. So I had issues on that side of things, but I'm so glad I went. There is even talk of another convention next year! I would love to go again, but location will probably be the deal breaker for me. I would love to take some family with me next time, plus I'm not a good traveler, so if it is too far away, I just won't be able to go. But here's hoping! (I'm hoping it might be in California, but if I could take my mom or sister I would go to Vegas again.)

I enjoyed my time at the digichick. The people in the staff forums there were so welcoming, and it had a really family-type atmosphere. Everyone was really nice. It was my first experience with a store team. I've always envied people who were on store teams their access to so many designers' products with relatively low requirements. Right now I am on two teams, and I've decided that that is enough for me. I actually don't have any kind of monthly quota with my teams. At the digichick, I really wanted to make the most of my time there, and made layouts every week. But I felt pressure (totally self-inflicted!!!) to make layouts fast, and I felt rushed.

So after getting back from Vegas, and getting settled down, and getting the whole preschool thing figured out (yes, I got a spot for Miller in a great preschool for fall, and even a summer camp too!), and finally finishing our taxes, I've gotten back into scrapping. And I mean really into it.; I think I have made a page a day for about the last week!  That's a lot for me.  I don't want to stop, but I just know this kind of productivity and creativity cannot last much longer for me (based on past experience).  Here's what I've got:

This was just a picture from playing at the park, Miller with his best friend.

Template - fei-fei-s stuff Oulined No. 4; Lemonade Stand by Paislee Press and
Taylormade Designs; Papers by Three Paper Peonies and Biographitti
Alpha from Everyday Life by Gina Marie Huff; Frame by Bren Boone

The potty training is coming along, so we only use one diaper a day or less.  I will miss the boxes that the diapers and wipes come in - we've had fun making the boxes into things like cars, planes and robot outfits.

Photo Clip Masks by Scrapping with Liz; Play by DeCrow and Sahlin

I had actually started this layout a while ago and then put it on hold.  It went through several re-dos, but I finally finished it.  The scientist recently commented that in all of the old Spider-Man shows, the villains always seemed to be scientists or academic-type people, and what type of message is that giving?  I worked that idea into the journaling.

Scrap Orchard Advent Template by Zinnias & Swallowtails
Various Kits by Gina Marie Huff

Miller's hair has gotten long.  He doesn't want it cut, but it drives me crazy.  That's what this layout is about.  I want to do a follow-up layout, though.  While I was in Vegas, the scientist got Miller to get a haircut, and it's a funny story, so hopefully I'll get to that one soon.

Freeway Map 16 by Roadside Designs; Painted Layers by Scrapping with Liz;
Everyday Life #2 by Gina Marie Huff and Cinzia Designs.

I was sitting on the couch with Miller (the photo was actually from a different time, but it fit the story well), and he literally said the words that are there on top of the photo.  A direct quote.  I think it is to our credit that the wost word I've ever heard him repeat is "dammit."  This is my favorite layout for the time being.

Everyday Life Kit by Gina Marie Huff; The Space Between 14 template
by EH Studios; photo action by My Four Hens

Miller is a cat person, thanks to our cat Bob. It's so sweet when he goes up and gives Bob some love. People always think Bob is a funny name for a cat. Maybe I should do a layout with the story of how he got his name.

Everyday Life #2 Kit by Gina Marie Huff and Cinzia Designs; Bow from
Everyday Life by Gina Marie Huff; Frames from Advent Freebie by
Three Paper Peonies; The Space Between 14 template by EH Studios
Photo action by My Four Hens

And three more Project: Love, Me pages, in the iLive theme.

Fancy Circles by Scrapping with Liz; Everyday Life by Gina Marie Huff

Template 17 by Roadside Designs, Everyday Life by Gina Marie Huff

Delight by DeCrow Designs, Swirl from Moments by Cinzia Designs

New Layouts - March 26, 2011

Here is what I have been up to .... I don't do much hybrid scrapping.  The closest I get is printing a page and slipping it into a frame to hang on the wall, or in this case printing some simple cards.  I loved how they turned out, though.

In the Birdhouse by Mari Koegelenberg

In the Birdhouse by Mari Koegelenberg

In the Birdhouse by Mari Koegelenberg
Mad 4 You by Mari Koegelenberg and Elise's Pieces

Here's a nice little page that celebrates the hobby of scrapbooking.

All About Me collab kit by the digichick designers
buttons from Sweet & Simple Life Kit #3 by Gina Marie Huff

This page is about the exercise that I've managed to keep up with for several months.

Paisley Stamps by Scrapping with Liz; Summer's Last Kiss by DeCrow Designs
cardstock and The Sun Will Come by SuzyQ Scraps

And here is a Project: Love, Me page, the last in the iLaugh series, although I might add a few more pages of my own ideas.

Cardstock from HoHoHo by Miss Tiina
Garden Whimsy by Studio Flergs and Sugarplum Paperie

Finally, I hosted a "Spreading Sunshine Challenge" at Weeds & Wildfowers as part of the 4th anniversary celebration over there. We each shared a photo for another person to scrap.  This is the page I made for Blanka.

Funky Basic Cardstock; Everyday Life #1 and #2; Sweet & Simple Life #3
a few Life365 Hodge Podges all by Gina Marie Huff

And here is the page Lissa made for me. Isn't it a perfect birthday page?!

Sweet and Simple #7; Life Is Good alpha; Life365 papers and BorderIt5;
Starter kit; Happy Birthday wordart all by Weeds & Wildflowers designers

Wow, that was a lot of pages! I've been busy! All of March has been busy with planning Miller's birthday party, planning our Team activities for Digiscrap-apalooza, and with my guest CT gig at the digichick. It's been busy, but fun.

Blurb Book Review - all of my 2010 layouts in print!

I'm finally here with pictures (and a review) of my Blurb book.  Here is a quick-run down of my book:

• I made a 12 x 12 hardcover book with image wrap cover and premium paper.
• I used the online book creation tool, Bookify, which has a 160 page limit.
• Instead of doing full-bleed pages, I chose to use the large square layout that is within their software, and I chose the border to be black.  I didn't want to worry about trimming for full bleed, and I also had several two-page spreads.  I thought the border (which actually measures at 9/16 inch wide) would be a good fit for my needs.  See photos below.
• I chose a white spine to match my front and back covers, which also had a white background.
• All of the jpgs I uploaded were 3600 x 3600 pixels, saved at a quality of 10 in photoshop, except for the front and back covers which were 3702 x 3675 pixels (this was the size of the cover images that I made last year, and I just did the same.)
• Shipping was really fast. I received the book 6 days after placing the order, several days earlier than their estimate.
• I love my book.  The quality is great, although there were two issues that I saw:  warping of the cover, and print quality of thin text.  See photos below.

Let's get to some pictures. Here is the cover.  The white background actually has a very subtle texture, which is barely visible in the finished product.  I had actually anticipated this, and almost decided to go back and make the background completely white, but out of laziness I didn't bother.

My title page

Some colorful pages

Some black and white (mostly) pages

Some more pages

Some more mostly black and white pages

My last page, which I call my Time Capsule

The binding

The spine

I had estimated that the 1/2 inch border all the way around would allow two page spreads to be visible without any part of them being hidden in the binding.  I was pretty close, but some of the black border does show in the middle.  It doesn't bother me.  I wasn't expecting perfection.

These next two photos show the two quality issues I have with my book.  First, the front cover has some warping.  My book was delivered on a rainy day, and I've wondered if the humidity was a factor.  This photo was taken about a month ago, and today the warping is not as pronounced.  Perhaps it will continue to flatten.  The Blurb book that I printed last year had no warping.

Finally,  there is a slight issue with some of the text.  I often chose hand-written fonts with very thin lines, and the printing process created text with uneven or jagged edges.  It was difficult to photo and is more pronounced in life.  But I think this photo shows the effect fairly well.  It does not bother me immensely, but I do notice it when I look at the pages.  It was only noticeable on really thin fonts.

Overall, I LOVE my book.  I am happy with the black borders, although I was a little worried about that when I ordered the book.  I had seen a few other books printed with black borders and thought it looked fun and dramatic.  You can also pick a white border, and I believe they have several colors to choose from.   In fact, I changed the border to white for my calendar pages at the end of my book:

I think I actually like the black border better than the white border!

I will continue to use Blurb for all of my book printing.  The biggest beef I have with them is that they occasionally run promotions (like 20% off), which supposedly they send out in their newsletter to let people know about them.  I am signed up for their newsletter and have never received notice of these promotions.  I missed the Valentines Day 20% promotion, but I was able to use the NEWBLURB coupon code for 20% off.  I had placed a previous order, but I think the NEWBLURB code can be used once per customer.  So if you place an order, I'd say give that code a try.  It saved me about 25 bucks.

Next Friday I will be in Las Vegas for Digiscrap-apalooza!  It will be the first time I have been away from my son for more than a couple hours.  And he has slept in the same bed as me from birth, so this is some serious separation that's coming up.  He's four and I'm thirty-five, so I think we can handle it, right? Yeah, right.

New Layouts - March 18, 2011

I've been so busy! I didn't even post my new layouts last week. So I've got quite a few for today...

This is another "self portrait" for my Project: Love, Me album.

Fabricology by Viva Artistry

This is a page I've been thinking about for a while, and the Digi Dare #218 finally got me to put it down on "paper." I used to be a little bit anti-preschool, but now I've changed my mind, only to find out that it is pretty difficult to get in now - like I needed to get on the waiting list two years ago difficult.

ABCs and 123s by Sugarplum Paperie
Buttons and number strip from Amiable by DeCrow Designs

This is just a simple little page about getting my son to eat something other than tuna sandwiches and cheddar cheese. Why is it that he'll give a new type of chocolate bar a try, but a nice ripe peach?? Now way.

Juicy Fruit Kit by Designs by Kat and Designs by Julie Bullock
Juicy Fruit Templates by Scrapping with Liz

I made cupcakes for my son's birthday party last weekend. I wanted to make spider cupcakes (and I did, they just weren't very ... photogenic), but ended up with spiders and bugs. These butterfly cupcakes were very pretty.

Memoir by Danielle Engebretson

Before I got pregnant, I suffered from severe headaches, which completely and immediately went away when I got pregnant. They stayed away while I breastfed for 2 1/2 years, but they gradually came back as we were weaning. But since then they have improved again. It is so nice to be mostly pain-free now, and the headaches I do get are fairly predictable and manageable with over-the-counter pain meds. Thank you, God.

Everything Under the Sun by Sugarplum Paperie and mgl scraps

This is a picture of me when I was probably 2 or 3 years old. It is one of a few photos that my dad fished out of some frames at his house, so that I might have more scrapping fodder. Thanks, Dad!

Quilt Shape Templates by Scrapping with Liz
Everyday Life 2 by Gina Marie Huff and Cinzia Designs

I think that puts me up to date. Anybody out there going to Vegas for Digiscrap-Apalooza? It's just two weeks away! I'm nervous and excited. Go Team Purple!

New Layouts - March 5, 2011

Guess what!? I got a guest CT spot at the digichick for the month of March! I can hardly believe it. I applied totally in the spur of the moment, and based on past experience with CT calls, I didn't expect to be chosen. But I was! I've already been busy making pages.

Here are two pages for my Project: Love, Me album

Destination April by Kellie Mize

Fun with Photos Templates by Scrapping with Liz;
Destination April by Kellie Mize

And here are some more pages, documenting every day life.

Everybody Skate by Danielle Engebretson

 

Template by Scrapping with Liz;
It's About Him and It's About us (alpha) by Captivated Visions

XOXO by Gina Marie Huff and Simply You, Simply Me Design
elements from Sweet & Simple Life Kits #2,#8,#11 & Life365 by Gina Marie Huff
Photo action by My Four Hens