Sunday, November 29, 2009

New Layout

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Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill. Pattern Paper: Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey. Ribbon: Cosmo Cricket. Chipboard, Rub On and Mists: Maya Road. Chipboard Button: Jenni Bowlin. Brads: Target Dollar Spot. Fence Rub On: Martha Stewart. Stickers: Creative Imaginations.

I love that I was able to use up a few older items with newer paper. Love that!
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Just saying hi. I couldn't sleep so I decided to actually do something rather than toss and turn. I may regret that tomorrow but oh well.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is enjoying their weekend.

Thanks so much for the comments about the online photo sites and stories about the page protectors. I feel much less stressed since I can start putting the album together instead of having everything out and about. Slowly I am finding a system that works to take my photos, edit them and print them quickly. I am thrilled that I decided to do this since I know I am taking the time to take photos that I wouldn't normally take!

Well that's it for now...I plan on working on a few projects right now...hope to share soon!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ham and Project 365...

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There she is! I got it done and even made some corn pudding too. I haven't had that in ages and since Colin was at school I figured it was safe to bake eggs in the house.

On another note, guess what happened?

I purchased We R Memory Keepers 4x6 page protectors to use in my American Crafts Modern Album. They didn't fit. So I figured that I needed a different album yet I'm cheap so I purchased a Pioneer D Ring album with a coupon. I got the album home, put in the page protectors...they don't fit. I figured "Great, now I have to purchase the expensive album." Just because I am a quick thinker, I brought along a page protector when I went to the store to purchase the expensive WRMK's Linen Album. I tried the protector and THEY DIDN'T FIT IN THERE EITHER!

So I called WRMK's and they explained that they were probably a bad batch and that I should return them. Well I purchased them in Hershey which is more than a hop, skip and a jump away. When I explained that it would be difficult to get there they told me that they could ship new ones if I covered the cost of shipping. The SHIPPING COST MORE THAN THE PAGE PROTECTORS!

That was the best that they could do. *sigh*

Needless to say I now have American Crafts 4x6 Page Protectors.

And I actually like them better.

Take that WRMK's!

Friday, November 20, 2009

So I Need A Ham In 11 Hours...

So if you see me in the grocery store in my PJ's don't stare too long, okay? :-)

I'm actually not sure how I'm going to make this happen but no matter what I'm sure it will be nuts and adventurous. At least it keeps life interesting, right?

I do have a good reason for procrastination.

I have been trying to learn how to put two vertical photos on a 4x6 so I can use them in my Project 365 album. Once I get something like that in my head I don't let it go until I figure it out, on my own.

So I'm pretty sure I figured it out even thought there may be a better way.

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I resized both photos to 2x3 and then moved them onto a blank 4x6 document in Photoshop. I used the grid feature and checked "snap to grid."

Even though everything was resized it still felt like I was stretching the photos and distorting their proportions.

(Although not so much in this photo, that tree is really that wonky and I made it a point to not waste time cropping and editing photos for this project. So even though those trees bother me a little side by side like that, I am letting it go. See, progress).

So I have been scrapbooking even though I haven't shared anything in awhile. I have 5LO's currently in progress, a few new LO's that I should be able to share soon, a project that will be posted on the Collage Press blog next week and oh yeah...that ham to bake.

Yeah...I don't know why I'm on the computer either.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Project 365...

I officially started today but Friday is the day I decided to use as day #1.

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Nevermind that the photo that I am showing you is from Saturday, lol! I love that little bit of paint on his face! We went to Color Me In and painted pottery all afternoon on Saturday. It was totally fun and inspiring!

Expensive, but inspiring!

I have spent most of last night and tonight researching and deciding how I wanted to do this. I ended up purchasing We R Memory Keepers 4x6 photo sleeves and started printing the free download from last year's Project 365. I'll see if I can find a link to share with all of you.

The 4x6 page protectors do not quite fit in the American Crafts D Ring album so I plan on using a coupon and purchasing a We R Memory Keeper album for this project.

I'm excited and a bit nervous by the whole process. I really want to keep up with it and have already enjoyed putting together the first page. I'm excited to have a photo from each day even if there was poor lighting or not everyone was looking.

This will be a great way to keep up with all of the stories I want to tell but struggle with finding the time to scrapbook an entire LO. I can really see this as being my "storage binders" like in the Library of Memories class. I really want to make a greater effort to print photos this year so that everyone can enjoy them, not just the ones that made it into the scrapbooks.

So for those of you who did this last year and are in the home stretch, any tips?
Has anyone else completed this without the kit?
Are you planning on buying this year's version of Project Life?

Sunday, November 15, 2009

It Feels Good and Bad...

To stay up all night.

I haven't done this in awhile and I'm sure I will end up paying for this while at Hershey Park this afternoon.

Oh well at least I got some things done.

I worked with the new Home Front Line and my Collage Press stuff.

I "think" I figured out my photo dilemma. I processed 381 photos, just resized and sharpened using the batch process tool in PSE. I then deleted all of those extra photos from my organizer and reorganized my folders. I uploaded a few sample images different places to compare. Hopefully I will know for sure next week.

I created our Christmas cards and finally figured out how to use the move tool in PSE.

While reorganizing files I realized that I had downloaded the Project 365 journaling cards thinking that maybe I would use them for something and completely forgot about them.

So yeah...I'm planning on doing Project 365 in 2010.

It's a good thing since I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting one.

I'm just sayin' :-)

Friday, November 13, 2009

I Need Photo Help ASAP...

So I have enjoyed scrapbooking out of order, learning Photoshop Elements 3.0 and printing photos at home. One major downfall of that whole process is I have 3000 photos currently in my Photoshop organizer. I have asked Matt to backup my files for me for Christmas. That is really all that I want this year. I want someone else to research the "best way" and do it for me. (Don't panic, I do have most of these files on a thumb drive and photo CD's but I would like to have them be even more secure).

So in the mean time I would like to print all of these photos. Yep, all 3000. I then want to put them in albums. I've realized that I am the only one who gets to enjoy them as I look through my files deciding what I want to scrap.

So I need suggestions.
1. First I need to learn how to batch process my photos in PSE. I would like to at least sharpen all of these before printing and then if I reprint later to scrap I can adjust more if needed.
2. I need to learn how to save my files properly in PSE. I have noticed that some of my images saved at 200DPI. This of course resulted in grainy prints. When I hit "save as" I save as a jpeg using the highest option. I currently do not resize to 4x6 or anything so that I can print whatever size that I want in the future with the larger image.
3. I need suggestions of an online developer. I really would like my photos printed on professional paper. I have ordered from Shutterfly, Kodak and Kodax Pro and haven't been happy with any of them. I also realize that I may be having color issues related to how I am saving images.

So where do you get your photos printed? How do you save your photos and have you ever placed this large of an order somewhere?

I'm definitely going to do a small batch for comparison before doing the whole thing. If I place that large of an order and they are crap I will cry. Mostly because I have just wasted money, time, ink and paper.

So any info is greatly appreciated. :-)

Monday, November 9, 2009

Well It Finally Happened...

After ages of leaving LO's in progress accessible to preschool hands, Colin finally decided that my LO needed "some help."

Colin: "Mommy where's the glue?"
Me: "I don't have any."
Colin: "Well what is this?" As he walks across the room and finds a tacky glue bottle.
Me: "It's glue but please don't use it, we are getting ready to leave."

We finish putting our shoes on and as we walk into the garage Colin says...

Colin: "So Mommy, what do you think of your scrapbooking? I made it special for you. I wanted to scrapbook with you so I made it special."

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So I walk slowly over to my counter and see how special Colin made my almost finished LO. He glued a string of scrapper's floss to the photo with coordinating buttons.

GLUE. He used GLUE.

So I walked backed to the car and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was tempted to ground him till college because he was so happy that he helped and that I liked it.

When I came home I removed the evidence and I may cover the spot of clear glue with an embellishment or possibly reprint the photo. Colin was upset that someone moved the buttons and I told him that the glue didn't hold it.

Colin: "Well I better get more glue."
Me: As shrieks of panic go through my body. "You know that would make a really nice necklace."

He is now happily making me a necklace that I WILL wear in exchange for him laying off of my LO's.

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Who knew scrappers floss was so versatile?

Did I mention that this LO is due tomorrow morning?

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Disney Planners

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This is last years planner. I used cardstock to write all of our important info that I would reference a lot during the week. Allergies, places to find special food, hours, reservations and height restrictions. I of course did this the night before so I used 4x6 laminating sheets to sandwich my cardstock and pattern paper to protect them from damage since they would be handled a ton.

Things that worked...
Everything was in one place.
It was easy to find in my bag.
It was cute.

Things that didn't...
The laminating sheets didn't make it through the whole week.
They didn't hold up to the rain.
Some of my handwriting was hard to read.

So here's the updated version...

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I made it smaller, I did it ahead of time and I focused my information by day so it was easy to tell which parks were open late each day.

I included a list of Colin's allergies, (it's easier to hand this over then worry that I forget to say something), park hours, where we could get Colin's special food in each park and all of our reservation and confirmation numbers. I forgot to take a photo of the back where you can see a coordinating pattern paper. After printing these onto cardstock, adhering pattern paper, cutting to size and embellishing I took them to Staples and had them laminate it.

This worked much better.

And it was still cute. :-)

Seriously This Week Just Flew By...

I realize that it was my first week back but still, are things really that crazy? It felt like as soon as I would get up and get going it was already time to start winding the day down and get ready for bed. It felt like it had been ages since I made something and I'm pretty sure it was starting to get to me, lol!

So I went to a little crop and my son's daycare today. I just brought a few things...still more than I needed, and worked on two LO's. When I came home and started putting things away I realized that my "do dads" had gotten a bit out of control. I have two bowls on my desk that I throw little embellishments in so I don't forget about them. Well, for the last few weeks I have been just dumping stuff in there and not actually using anything.

So they were a complete mess!

So I reorganized those which then led me to putting everything away from the crop. Then I realized that I had too many scraps in my scrap bag so I needed to sort that. And while I was thinking of that I realized that I hadn't organized my pattern paper in awhile or my cardstock....

So it's now 1AM and my room is much more organized and functional.

Unfortunately, I'm too tired to function in it!

So tomorrow friends...I shall have photos to share, some scrappy projects and random witty remarks to start this next week off right!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A Recent Share...

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I just added this to my gallery in the last few days and thought I would share it here too. The Past Due stamp is from Studio Calico, have I mentioned lately that they make my favorite stamps? Seriously, this LO came together really quickly...the ones I like the most always do for some reason. I have been keeping my eyes peeled for more of these brads that I used on this LO. I got them in the Target dollar spot over a year ago and never used them. I have no idea why I didn't because they are fab but who knows? Probably because I forgot that I had them. I really need to have a limited number of things on hand so I can remember everything that I have. I have been organizing and purging my space lately, definitely helps me remember what I have. I'm also thinking about moving some stuff upstairs. It's great to have a dedicated room but during the day it seems so far away. It would be nice to be able to create during an impromptu soccer game in the living room.

A girl's gotta multi task :-)

Especially considering the holidays are almost here and I just started thinking about the dress I will probably make for my husband's Christmas Party. Which is pretty impressive for me since I still have about a month to go. I thought about buying one but it is much for fun stressing Matt out that it won't be finished in time.

That's pretty good for me :-)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Disney Recap...

Let me start this post by saying that this trip was exactly what I needed to recharge my batteries. Which is interesting since going to Disney pretty much depletes any existing energy while there. This trip was no exception. It was incredibly hot...(so much for mild weather), crowded and exhausting.
But oh so much fun!

We arrived on Sunday. I must say that taking a later flight and being organized helped a lot. We left without a hitch and didn't run into any speed bumps until later that evening when we were all excited and hungry. After our first little big kid meltdown we decided to skip the parks Sunday night and went swimming.
Yep, we swam until almost midnight! I kept telling Colin that this was crazy and that we should be sleeping. But we knew we were going to sleep in the next day and figured we might as well swim when we don't have to worry about getting burned.

On Monday we decided to hit up Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom...homemade shirts and all.

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Doesn't he just look so relaxed?

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort which was definitely our favorite Value Resort. The transportation was great and we hardly waited very long for any of the park buses. We did spend some time checking out some other resorts while park hopping and I have to say the Animal Kingdom Lodge definitely has a few perks...

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How about seeing one of these out of your window. I took this photo on the safari but when we stopped at the lodge to use the bathrooms we saw a few while waiting in the lobby. Now tell me that's not cool.

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I did manage a few decent pictures in front of the castle but this is the only one that I have on my camera. I have a couple on our Photo Pass card and now will just stalk my email to see if they will send me a promo code for it to be cheaper. I just can't justify the expense when I have almost all of the same images on my camera.

I really wanted to write down all of the funny things that Colin said but for some reason I got too busy and forgot.

The few that I remember are...
"That's what I'm talking about, baby!"
"No Mommy you hold onto to those...we will need them to take another vacation!" (said in response to me asking him if he wanted to throw pennies in It's a Small World)
"I can't make my body settle down."
"You were lying, that ride was scary!"
"Mommy, I'm sooooo gonna dunk you under water!"

But the best was Colin ringing the bell on one of those bikes that you see on the boardwalk that seat 2-4 riders. Well we rented one at Disney's Boardwalk Resort and my stomach still hurts from laughing and the ab workout that I got while peddling. It's a good thing Colin was so good at his job because I am sure we would have run someone over. Not to mention that he was too cute for anyone to yell at him for making them get out of the way!

Other highlights...

We had two character breakfasts and I bribed Colin with race cars to take photos with the characters in Animal Kingdom. They were so cute since everyone was wearing their Halloween costumes.

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We walked around Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival and had a snack during a Boys to Men concert.

Again, tell me that's not cool.

We rode the monorail 865 times and HAD to sit in the back of the bus each and every time that we rode it. Although we did better this trip in that he didn't have a complete meltdown when others were sitting in the back.

It feels like we did a ton but also feels like we hardly did anything. Oh well, it's not like we won't ever go back. As Colin says, "we can't throw our pennies in the water because we need to save them to take another vacation. I just looooove vacation!"

So I'm sure we will be saving pennies....and nickels, and dimes, and quarters and bills for awhile so we can all have a break to recharge our batteries and to see the mouse!

Now if I could just think of a witty phrase for our next set of tee shirts....

Sunday, November 1, 2009

RAK Winner...




Meggan said...
Hope your enjoying your family time :-) Thanks for this awesome RAK!

CKMB scrapbooknmommy
Meggan

October 26, 2009 12:30 AM

So Meggan email me your address to kck182 at comcast dot net and I will get some newly released goodies your way :-)

Next post...Disney Photos!

Hopefully....

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Your Halloween was filled with more treats than tricks :-)

I'm currently editing photos, doing laundry and choosing a winner for the giveaway. I will update this evening with the winner and a bit of a recap of our visit to the mouse.

I LOVE getting an extra hour in the fall.