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December Daily...

Well, I have completed slacked off posting anything out on the blog...

But! I am hoping to participate in the December Daily project this year, and keep track of everything that we do during this wonderful season!!

So, to start off today's post - we are getting our first real snow storm since October here and "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" around here. It's beautiful outside, but of course, cold, which the puppies hate. I let my little man take the day off from school because I didn't want to drive in the slush, either, and we've stayed in PJ's all day long.

Working from home is fantastic and I'm so blessed to have such a great job and be able to work from home like I do, and this season, I am looking forward to crafting and writing about the holidays with my family.

~Jen

Today...

 

 

Today I went to the gym and had a personal trainer session (got measured and lost inches!).

Today I hoped that the pager would stay quiet.

Today I dreamed of doing photography full time and making money at it.

Today I forgot to return some phone calls.

Today I heard less noise in my office because I finally the window replaced.

Today I read my usual bloggy hang outs and Facebook updates.

Today I watched my kiddos rush around before school in order to watch TV.

Today I broke into my savings in order to pay off some debt.

Today I said "Ohhhhhh awesome sauce!"

Today I believed that I could get totally caught up (some day!).

Today I felt stressed about stuffs (what else is new?).

Today I wondered if I can really wear two business hats.

Today I bought my sister's Save the Date cards!

Today I cleaned all my dishes from baking lots of zucchini bread.

Today I was me.

DCWV: August Stack-a-holic Template Challenge

This is based on a Sketch Savvy layout for DCWV ~ it includes 3 pictures in the sketch, but I used one of the spots to add a journaling card. The layout was 2 pictures from my daughter's choir concert in Nov. 2010, so I'll add it to my Document 2010 album along with the last one I posted. :)

I'm also linking this to Shimelle's Challenge: Signature Accent because I noticed that almost every layout I created tonight used brads - this one may be harder to see, but the center of each flower I added is a different color mini-brad. I think that punching the tiny holes into the paper for the brads is extremely therapeutic. :)

~Jen

Shimelle: Scrapbooking Challenge: Grid it Up!

Another one that challenged me ~ at first, I was looking at the papers to 'grid'... and then I thought, what if I just square up my pictures?!?! My best friend and I took our kiddos to Skate City for skating on the day after Thanksgiving in 2010 so this one will also going into my Document 2010 book.

I totally used Shimelle's technique of painting on the page this time - the gray borders around the photos is actually pewter gray acrylic paint. I also stamped the plain blue border on top and bottom, as well as the 2 circles in the middle. Then I punched flowers out of the background paper and stuck glittered silver brads in them. Apologies for the terrible picture - when it gets this late in the evening, my little Sanyo point-n-shoot doesn't like to take clear photos any longer!!

~Jen

Shimelle: Scrapbooking Challenge: 2 Birds... 1 Page, Again?!?

The next challenge was the Crop Your Paper challenge - which I immediately thought of that Echo Park paper that I won from another 4x6 photo love layout I submitted (Well, I won a gift certificate and used it to buy the Echo Park papers). There are several papers that have lots of embelishments that you can cut out and use along with the paper (and of course, you can just flip it over and use the whole sheet on the other side as well).

But as I started looking at this paper, I remembered that I really wanted to use it for another wedding layout because the colors matched so well with our choices.

And as I looked at my photos... I also realized I had too many (as usual) to choose from. That's when it hit me - why not combine again and use the 4x6 Photo Love sketch from July so I can use all of the photos and my pretty paper!!!

So here's what I came up with:

~Jen

Shimelle: Scrapbooking Challenge: 2 Birds... 1 Page

Shimelle had 2 challenges in a row - one was a printable challenge and the other was a starting point challenge. Well... as I started looking at the printables, I found this coordinating paper that looked awesome (SEI Black Orchid) and the 2 became 1!!!

~Jen

Shimelle: Scrapbooking Challenge: The Half Page Challenge

Another Shimelle Challenge - this one was to create a page that only took up half the paper on the page. Of course, I easily found a paper that looked like it needed to be shown on more than half the page - SEI paper with some cute swirl designs. :)

~Jen

Shimelle: Scrapbooking Challenge: Add to the Story

I searched and searched and finally found one with NO journaling at all... so I added a little blurb to this layout from my 2000 Associates Degree graduation. :)

Original 2 page layout:

Added a folded journaling block:

Included more story inside:

~Jen

P.S. Wasn't my flaming red hair just rad?!?!?! LOL

8.14.11 Ballooning

My pilot didn't run this morning... but some other balloonists did ~ which made for some cool 'in the clouds' shots. This one in particular made me smile:

I love the colors on this balloon - but one thing we noticed this week was how easy it was to 'lose' it in the sky within the clouds. :)

~Jen

Tuesday {10}

I'm going to combine 2 posts into one - the Tuesday {10} & "For Today":

{1} Outside my window... It's a beautiful sunny but cooler summer day in Colorado.

{2} I am thinking... about how to get my work finished so I can head home from the office!

{3} I am thankful... for my job, my hubby, my hobbies, my kiddos, and an overall fabulous life.

{4} I am wearing... dark jeans and my St. Patty's Day shirt.

{5} I'm creating... more hot air balloon photos and this blog post!

{6} I am going... to South Park in a few weeks with the family!!

{7} I am wondering... how long it is going to take me to finish editing the tons of pictures I need to work on right now.

{8} I am reading... Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz

{9} I am hoping... that my son will call me since it's been 3 days and he'll be gone 2 weeks!!

{10} I am looking forward to... kiddos starting school again!!

~Jen

Randomness

I just got to thinking about how crazy and random my day was and also how much fun I had throughout most of it...

1 Trip to the office which was like a ghost town because it was Friday.
2 Starbucks runs because I needed coffee at both ends of the work day.
3 of us went to the 1st Annual Denver County Fair.
4 rides were ridden by the kiddos - Genesis, Spider, Bumper Cars, Star Ship.
5 coins left in my pocket at the end of the night.
6 tired eyes on the drive home.
7 cups of zucchini chopped up for muffins and bread loaves.
$8 parking.
9 pictures taken of kiddos getting their faces painted.
$10 to get into the fair.
11+ band members in the Itchy-O Marching Band, including my buddy, Paul.
12+ poses with Kenzie for senior portraits.
13 chocolate zucchini muffins made for the swim meet I am missing tomorrow morning.

= 1 kiddo puking off the side of his bed onto the carpet below & 4 swipes of the Spot Bot.

I can't wait to scrap{book} this.

~Jen

Tuesday {10}

Here's my latest PINS in the "To Be Made..." Category!!

Bunchs of fun projects that I will get to do someday :)

{1} Martha Stewart's Chalkboard Paint Wall Calender Grid:


{2}Garden Labels:



{3} DIY Beach Glass:



{4} PVC Sprinkler:



{5} Washer - Magnet tablecloth weights:



{6} DIY Paver/Brick Column:



{7} DIY Glass Candle Holders:



{8} Memo Board:



{9} Sequin Sunburst Mirror:



{10} And, last, but definitely not least (in fact, I think this is my FAV!!!) ~ Coffee Cup Clock:



~Jen

Winning!!

I have to admit, I love love love to win stuffs on the internet. As I've been posting, I'm participating in the 4x6 Photo Love from Shimelle's website. Well, I finally won a prize! :) I have commented on her site so many countless times (she has FAB giveaways!) and always hoped I get something and it finally paid off! :)

I just received a $25 TwoPeasInABucket gift certificate, which I believe took me about 15 seconds to cash in... I have been just DROOLING over this collection since it came out earlier this year:

Be Mine by Echo Park ~ my favorites colors all together with adorable embellishments, too. When I first saw it, I posted it on facebook and asked if anyone thought my husband would kill me if I used the paper to wallpaper our bedroom... so, I am ecstatic to say that it's on its way to my house!!

Thanks again, Shimelle!!

~Jen

Our Independence Day...

...which also happens to be my husband's birthday! Every year, I get to listen to him tell all of the kids whereever we are, "You know they do this just for me, right?" Hilarious. I also got to play around with my camera & tripod at Lake Loveland this year. This first one was actually a *mistake* ~  I was just playing with the settings on my camera and happened to catch it. :)

This one was just another really pretty one I shot:

This one really shows off the 'star' filter I had on the lens. :)

The last is a storyboard of the remaining fireworks I shot:

Happy July 4th!!!

~Jen



Shimelle's Sketch of the Week ~ July 6, 2011

Shimelle posted this sketch this week, and since we just finished our Avon Walk, I had this photo strip sitting on my desk ... waiting to be put on a page:



So I decided to make my first (of many) page for the Avon Walk:

I used several 'new' techniques on this page ~ first, to make those glittered hearts, I took my spray adhesive and then sprinkled the glitter on them. To keep the mess contained, I covered them in clear nail polish when they were dry. I also found my label maker (an awesome clearance find!) and created the "HOPE BELIEVE FAITH" banners. Lastly, I added my pink rhinestones with my new i-rock tool. I am so happy with how it turned out!!

~Jen

SEI July 2011 Challenge

SEI's latest sketch:



Since I just finished my June SEI sketch, I decided to finish up July as well, and keep with the same theme and finish another June 2010 layout for my Document 2010 project. :) Now I've got another two matching pages!

~Jen

SEI June 2011 Challenge

SEI's sketch for June:



I decided to keep on my Document 2010 theme and continue with June ~ Hawk & Ashley's wedding! I finished it this afternoon and got a great shot of it in the good light... here:

But after looking at it... I decided that I needed to add some doodling. :) And then I realized my cheapie camera would actually create an 'auction' style photo and the only downside was that it was late in the evening, so the flash kinda ruined it... but you can at least catch some of the details!

I used both the Oasis line and Dill Blossom line... they go together well!!

~Jen

iheartfaces Photo Challenge ~ Let's Hear It For The Boys!

The title of this week's challenge immediately made me this of this photo:

So I had to enter it in the iheartfaces challenge this week! I took this picture of my son shortly after he had the chance to ride at the National Western Stock Show for Mutton Bustin' - as the announcer said - "If you slap your child in a grocery store, child services is all over you, but if you pad them up and stick them on the back of a sheep to hold on for dear life, it's call entertainment!" He had a blast doing it, and all of the participants got trophies:

~Jen

Shimelle's Sketch of the Week

This one was a little tough... mainly because the majority of my pictures at the moment are 4x6!! I had to dig through and find a larger one - so I settled on an 8x10 of me with my sister. We took these at a grocery store before Mother's day in 2007 - totally random. :)

Here's Shimelle's sketch ~ and mine:

I loved adding the 3D butterflies and lots and lots of jewels. I also followed Shimelle's tip and used brown distress ink on the borders of all the squares and the title block. :)

~Jen

Today...

Nancy @ Paper View posted this and I decided to respond with my list:

Today I went to take my son to his dad's.

Today I hoped that I would have enough time to finish my layouts.

Today I dreamed of moving away.

Today I forgot a few items on my shopping list.

Today I heard the poor dog behind us whining at midnight from his outdoor kennel.

Today I said "Not again!!"

Today I read all of my favorite crafty blogs.

Today I watched my first TV show since we got back from the hospital last week.

Today I believed that we can get my sister's fundraising done for the Avon Walk next weekend.

Today I felt exhausted, but still stayed up too late.

Today I wondered how long it will take me to finish my Document 2010 book!!

Today I bought 2 "camelback" backpacks for our Avon Walk.

Today I cleaned dog pee on the carpet, again.

Today I was me.
~Jen

Shimelle's Sketch of the Week

I really wish I hadn't run out of time before we left on vacation and gotten these posted *before* it was mid-month... but oh well!! This one seemed perfect to help me finish up the other side of THIS soccer page... again, we are back in August 2010!!

The only thing I really changed was instead of using landscape - oriented photos, I used portraits... :) One thing I am learning about my documenting / scraplifting / sketch-using scrapbook pages - I need to take more pictures oriented the same way of similar details and such for pages like this!! Ah well, there goes my perfectionistism again :)

Also, again, sorry for the yucky picture... iPhone @ night isn't the best result.

~Jen

Shimelle *Bonus* Sketch!

I really wanted to try this one out because of all of the little circles on the sketch... it just seemed so fun and whimsical to me!! So, I found a picture of my best friend and I, taken during my wedding planning at Lionscrest Manor during their vendor day in 2006. Since one of my other goals has been to finish a 'wedding' scrapbook... I figured I was still within my goals on this one, too. :)

Here's what I came up with:

Don't forget to check out the original sketch over HERE.

~Jen

4x6 Photo Love: May 2011

I am LOVIN' this class ~ and this month is no exception! Shimelle set up May's 5 4x6 layout on 2 pages this time, HERE.

As I am *still* working on my Document 2010 (I swear... I *will* get this project completed if it kills me) ~ I decided to scrap Ryan's July 4th bday that we spent at Colt & Cherry's house.

Sorry for the terrible picture... things have been crazy around here (a story for another post) so I just snapped these from the iPhone this go 'round.

~Jen

Document 2010 ~ 2 page layout from Sketch Savvy

Still working on Document 2010 ~ I think I am about 1/2 way done finally! In June last year, I graduated from Bellevue University near Omaha, NE, so we made the trip out there so that I could walk with my class. Finishing my degree was just one more thing I wanted to check off my list, and I finally got to do that. :)

Based on a sketch from Sketch Savvy:

~Jen