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Monday, June 28, 2010

Backyard Nudist



OK, apparently not only has my embellishing mojo gone on vacation but it's taken my storytelling mojo with it.  I just couldn't figure out how to start this post.  Sheesh! 


I'm sure we all have pics of the little kiddies au natural in the yard, LOL!  Before we had our pool The Boy liked to play with the hose on the patio and watch all the bugs crawl up out of the grass.  His little toddler tushie is so adorable but couldn't just splash it all of the internet, of course, so you get the censored version. 

Made this with more of the Ninja Addicts' "Sing for the Moment" kit.  Seriously my fave one so far.  The colors are just perfect. 



Hope you're having a great summer so far!!

Heidi

Thursday, June 24, 2010

He Creates

The Boy is obsessed with Legos right now.  I say right now but he's been obsessed for a couple years now.  It's just that his skill is improving markedly.  Now his creations have defined forms, moving and removeable features, and names. 

This one's named the Robot Chicken:


This one is a roving toy with a tethered escape pod.  The escape pod fits into a crater on the toy's back when in flight.  (Hey, I'm not making this up!  I get extensive, in depth descriptions of each toy's abilities, powers, and story complete with full-volume demonstrations.) 


Both of the above pics were "posterized" on Picnik.com which The Boy thought was very cool!


Of course, it's Thursday so this was created with this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch.  (Can you tell it's one of mine?  LOL.)


Be sure to check out the blog to see the widely different interpretations of my sketch.  I love it!!!


I LOVE the look on The Boy's face here - mingled concentration and sheer joy.  The only thing that's missing that's usually present is his tongue.  His tongue sticks out and darts around in direct proportion to his level of intensity, LOL.

That pic in the middle is a (not so good) shot of a shelf in his room where many of his current fave creations reside.

I love this Cosmo Cricket paper.  It screamed creative play and exploration to me.  I just love the drawings of the concentrating men, lol.  I carried the circle theme throughout the layout with eyelets, grommets, and brads.


This pic is of the HUGE tote he has FULL of Legos.  I don't even want to think about how much is invested in that box.  You know Legos - they're ridiculously expensive.  But the joy they bring makes them worth it.  (p.s.  The little pic at the top of the layout shows 5 sets he hasn't even put together yet!  Summer projects!)

I created this layout with the current These Are a Few of My Favorite Things prompt in mind:  Favorite Toys.

I also submitted this for Scrap Freak's June GDT contest which is also about Boys & Their Toys this month!!!  Check it out.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Mad Roots 4 Our Official Baller



The current Pink Ninjas prompt is "roots".  

It's amazing just how many different ways there are to interpret that word.  Just take a look at how many different ideas came from the Ninja DT alone! 


We are so proud of our little guy playing basketball.  He may not yet be the best player but he enjoys himself and he's getting better every day.  (Literally...he's doing basketball camp every weekday this month!) 


These pics show him dribbling and shooting (a Swish! no less!!) in one of his games!  I loved how the two pics lined up so well.  The shooting one is popped up on foam a bit.


So, of course, I had to go with "rooting" for my little baller!

~title detail~
This Basic Grey paper was perfect in and of itself but I thought the large main area just cried out for some sort of stitching so I stitched a basketball on it (like it's being overlapped with the titles).  It's kind of hard to make out with the pics laid on top so here's what it looked like:

~ stitching detail front ~
And here's the back so you can see it's really stitched (and how messy my machine stitches, lol).

~stitching detail back ~
I finished it off with some wooden star beads since he's our little star (sappy, lol!).

~beads detail~
So, here's your challenge...show us your interpretation of "roots".  C'mon!  I dare ya!

- Heidi

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Diana

So, at the crop I went to this past Saturday, where I met up with a couple of fellow Sketchy Thursdays DT members, Julie and Antonia, we decided since we couldn't actually have Diana there with us in real life, we'd scrap about her. 


I first "met" Diana on the Vintage Plum forum a little over a year ago.  She posted that she hosted a challenge on her blog called "Sketchy Thursdays" and invited people to come play along.  Well, I did, and I was hooked!!!  This girl has some amazing talent!  Not only with sketches but her layouts and cards are sheer eye candy.  As I got to know her a bit more I knew she was the complete package...she's the downright sweetest person there is, too.   So I bugged her and bugged her to make Sketchy Thursdays its own site and partner with me and the rest, as they say, is history.  LOL.  So, of course, this layout is based on one of Diana's amazing sketches. 


Come play along with us on Sketchy Thursdays this week for a chance to win a $50 credit to the Crop Chocolate store.  I kid you not!


A few of the items I used on my layout are things I've actually gotten from Diana.  The printed paper is a from French play that I got from Diana's Etsy shop


The gorgeous blue and green poppy paper and the adorable blue tag were gifts from Diana.  She's the sweetest! 

I'm just sayin'...  ;o)

Luv ya bunches, dear Diana!!!  Someday I hope the hugs won't have to be long distance!!!!!

- Heidi

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Footprints In the Sand

Wow!  I've been so busy I've not posted in 5 days!!!! 

I got 4 more rooms in the house organized and cleaned thoroughly over the weekend.  I know, I know.  Doesn't sound like such a great accomplishment but you should've seen those rooms before!  I'm not a naturally neat person so this is HUGE for me.  My goal is to have the rest of the rooms in the house organized and cleaned by this weekend.  (We'll see...)   I've devised a plan for keeping the kids on top of cleaning up their toys throughout the day and even for transferring toys from one room to the next.  We'll see how that goes, too.

I also got to play at a crop this weekend with Julie AND Antonia from the Sketchy Thursdays DT!!!  This was the first time I'd met Antonia and she is SUCH a DOLL!!!!!!!  She probably thinks I'm a total dork, though.  I get all quiet and pensive at crops.  I think I feel pressure to produce (especially when I'm sitting next to whip-4-layouts-out-in-a-couple-hours Julie, lol!).  Plus I keep thinking about all the things that would've gone perfectly "there" but that are at home.  I feel so lucky to live nearby such fabulously scrappy people!!!


It's time for the next poem challenge on Scrap That Poetry.  This time we've got "Footprints In the Sand" by Mary Stevenson. 

As I was reorganizing the scrap room I also reorganized my pictures and got reaquainted with so many from the early years of the kids' lives that I'd forgotten about and have yet to scrap.  The boys' first trip was when he was 11-months-old to the San Diego area.  I actually took a picture of his little footprints in the sand!


I chose to use the lines, "My precious, precious child.  I love you, and I would never, never leave you."



I feel like this layout isn't finished but after hours of trying to figure out what was missing, I couldn't seem to find anything that fit.  I even have some of the La Jolla Beach sand that I wanted to put on the layout but couldn't seem to fit it in.  Oh, well.  I'd also planned to color in the metal heart ribbon slide but decided the raw metal color looked best.

We've got a full day ahead of us of basketball camp and cheer & tumble class.  But first we're heading on over to Michael's to pick up the kids' very own scrapbooks.  We'd decided right before summer started that they were each going to start making their own scrapbooks.  I promise I will let them make the pages as they want and will not interfere (mostly, lol).  And now they're just that much more excited and inspired because of Joseph who played along with the Favorite Things Favorite Shoes Challenge.  He's 6 also and he has his own blog!  So, of course, the kids are going to have their own, too.  They plan to make their debut with their Favorite Things Favorite Toys entries!!!!  I'll keep you posted.

We would LOVE to have you come play with us on Scrap That Poetry!!!  You have until the end of the month to play along with "Footprints In the Sand".  Check out what the DT made for your inspiration.  They are fabulous!  And many of the layouts have very touching stories behind them so be sure to click on over to each blog.  I'm going to rant a little here...  we have over 130 followers on STP right now and consistently over the last few challenges have been getting only 5 or 6 players.  Seriously?  Come on, people!  I CHALLENGE you!!!  Play along with us!!!!  ;o)

Have a great day!!

Heidi

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Sketchy Favorites

March 2011 issue

I love EVERYTHING about this layout. 

I know, I know...it's pretty simple.  But it encompasses some of my favorite things right now...

I LOVE this Sketchy Thursdays sketch by Diana (who happens to be one of my favorite people):


OK, so I knocked it on it's side...but that's what's so awesome about this sketch - it's great from any angle!

I love the subject of the layout, my favorite shoes.  Again, simple.  I was motivated to commemorate these shoes by the These Are a Few of My Favorite Things blog run by another one of my favorite people, Julie!  They're giving away TWENTY-EIGHT (28) prizes for the "These Are My Favorite Shoes" prompt which runs through the 14th!!!!!  Why???  Because the site is being featured in an article in Scrap Street Magazine!!  Woohoo!!!!  Congrats!!!!!

And the colors on this layout are one of my fave combos - green, white, & yellow.  It just makes me happy.  And guess what???  Every single thing on this layout is made from the June Ninja Addicts kit "Sing For the Moment"


I had such a hard time narrowing down exactly which embellies to use because they're all perfect.  I'm pretty sure they made this kit especially for me.  ;oD 


OK, everything on the layout is from the kit except this one little pin:


There are even some other fave things in my picture.  The view of the tree from my scrap table which is home to the crankiest starling ever - he's so much fun to watch, my clean scrap table (!), my yummy green iPod, and a completed layout (it's always nice to have finished ones, eh?).   Oh, and I think by now you know how much I love picnik.com.  The picture was edited and the text added using picnik.  So simple!!


So, there you have it.  Lots o' my faves all wrapped up in one neat little layout. 

I would love to see you come play along with us over on Sketchy Thursdays.  And check out what our DT made for your inspiration.  I love how varied we all are in our styles and interpretations. 

And don't miss out on playing along with TAAFOMFT!! 

Have a great day!

Heidi

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Sometimes Ya Gotta Whip Out the Ninja Face

Woohoo!!!!  It's Pink Ninjas Wednesday!!!!!!!

The first prompt for the new DT is #39 "mugshot".

I love playing with the Pink Ninjas because they remind me that I can step outside of my normal persona every once in a while, even if it's only in my mind. 


Faintly stamped underneath the title are my normal faces, the ones I don every day:  maid, chef, chauffeur, teacher, nurse, lifeguard, mediator, tailor, groom, personal shopper, event coordinator, secretary, paparazzi, psychologist, jailor, coach, babysitter.  Sometimes it's nice to know that underneath all that I know that I am a Ninja at heart, LOL!


Check out that ROCKIN' flower!  That's a Precocious Paper original, baby!  

And I've been buggin Ninja Master Ally for some of the cool lace packing tape she uses on all her packages.  Until I get a roll for myself I'm saving all the bits off the packages she sends me, LOL!  You can see a little bit of the yellow shipping envelope underneath the lace.  Ha ha!

Check out what the rest of the NEW Pink Ninja Design Team made for your inspiration!  Truly an amazing group of girlz!!!   And you might notice the return to the "regular" prompt style.  We're just gonna give you an idea and you run with it however you desire.  So, come on!  Play along with us!!!

Heidi

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Reorganized!

As promised, here are the pics of my newly reorganized scrap and play room.  It's nothing architecturally impressive or beautifully decorated...it's functional. 

And organized.

(HERE is the post with the before pics.)

I have an actual work area with more than a 6x6 bit of empty space!  LOL.  We'll see how long that lasts. 


Top shelf is stuff I don't use often. 
The next row has all the Stampin' Up! sets that I don't think the kids would ever use (they're stacked 2 rows deep here), next to those are my embellie chests (there's another one in the back of the orange one showing, and a couple of large flat ones that are hard to see), and next to that are boxes of naked chipboard sorted by theme. 
The next row houses all my Cuttlebug folders and machine, clear stamp sets (the binders hold Technique Tuesday sets and yes, they're completely full), and the first of 6 chests of individual stamps and small sets.  The next row is another 3 chests of stamps. 
The bottom row is patterned paper.  The first box holds individual sheets sorted by theme (there's another rack full of these, too), the middle box is themed pads (like DCWV), and the right box holds Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Stampin' Up!, SEI, & Crate Paper collections. 
Underneath the shelving are a couple boxes of other scrapbook sets from SEI and QVC. 
Hanging off the top are my apron (which I rarely use), a ring holding templates, a ring showing all my punch shapes, and a ring holding some old American Crafts ribbon sets.  I don't know why I can't seem to use these up.  I've had them for years.  My daughter has taken lately to wearing it.

(yes, she has underwear on)

That rolling cart holds the rest of the loose patterned papers organized by theme.  The green tote to the right holds other collections, mainly of My Mind's Eye.  The box on the left has alcohol inks, paints, and blank card supplies.  On top is my ScrapRack stuffed full of embellies organized by theme. 

This is 3 ScrapRacks hooked together.  I think it's almost 5 feet long.  (Yes, I know.  I have waaaaaaay too much stuff.  For years, mainly when the kids were small, I was a shopper but not much of a user.  I've probably got enough cutesy baby embellies to make 20 books easy.)

The two racks on the left are cardstock.  The white chests hold the rest of the individual stamps and small sets.  That box next to those holds my Ninja Addicts kits!!!!!!  (And woohoo!  My "Sing for the Moment" kit JUST arrived.  As soon as I finish this post I'm gonna break into that baby!)  The basket on top is full mainly of clip-on butterflies.

My quick-grab embellies on my desk.  Ooh, do you see Josie

This corner has a couple cabinets housing things I can lock away if I want, such as my Cricut and other machines, spray paints, and a stash of jelly beans among other things.  The papers in the vertical file are all my newest, fave, wanna-use-them-now patterned papers.  Next to that is my specialty inks chest.  And I finally made myself a ribbon rack for easy ribbon access.  See the hubby's boxing nuns on top of the pool cues?  LOL.

Mostly the rest of it.  The bottom shelf is going to hold all my pics.  They're in the other room right now waiting for me to finish organizing them.  I've got some organized according to the Library of Memories method, in albums (see the green & brown ones?).  The rest will just be in boxes in order.  The LOM method doesn't seem to suit me anymore. 

Here we have loose ribbon sorted in jars by color, jars of flowers and buttons, and misc. tapes among other little tchachkes.

On top is my Stampin' Up! ink carousel.  Then we've got drawers full of "dimensional" alphas (like corrugated, chipboard, etc.).  The bottom set of drawers has painting supplies, heat embossing, Stickles, specialty paints (like Shimmerz & Lumiere), PearlEx, glitters, mica, metallic medium, watercolors, and chalks.

Finally, I have 3 free rolling carts that just get moved around as they get in my way.  They house my most-used alphas, bling, mists, masks, borders, microbeads, & oil pastels.  There are also drawers of dry embossing tools, and texture medium & clay.  I have a drawer for "found objects and textures" which has things like corrugated coffee sleeves, bubble wrap, aluminum foil, fabrics, meshes, etc.  And there are drawers with misc. tools, staples (incl. my Fastenator), and adhesives.  On top is a little box full of paper scraps and misc. items I think I may one day use.  This is what's left after I went through the original, much bigger box and threw out lots of, well, crap.  I'm a hoarder.  Can you tell?

So, whadaya think?  I'm sick, no?  But at least now it's an organized sickness. 

And, as mentioned, this room is also the kids' playroom.  So they get the other half.  This is a very large room.  It was designed to be the formal living and dining rooms but who needs those???  We knew when we built the house that it'd be a playroom so we walled it off with double doors and installed Pergo.  It was my husband's playroom in the beginning...

Now I have a very large elephant in the room to work around.  Although I have to admit the hubs was teaching the boy how to play a couple nights ago, now that it's been unearthed from the mounds of scrap stuff.  We've even got kid-length cues for them.  I house boxes full of cars, musical "instruments", and dress-up paraphernalia underneath. 

Here's where they can watch tv or dvds or read. 


More books, lots of games, and then I've given them access to lots of my scrap supplies.  I've promised them over the summer they can start making their own scrapbooks. 

 
I've given them access to most of my Stampin' Up! sets.  Someone should use them...  Note that all of the SU! sets are stacked two deep.  I was my own best customer when I was a demo.  They've also been given access to all my punches (in the purple tote), some foam stamps, and those white chests hold border- and picture mat-sized cardstock organized by color. 

Here's their work table with all my specialty scissors, and buckets of pencils and glues. 

The first drawer is full of crayons, colored pencils, and markers.  The second has stamps, templates, tools, rulers, etc.  The bottom is coloring books and notebooks.

I gave them all my large-sized cardstock scraps (in the top bin) and lots of patterned papers that are outdated to my taste (bottom 2 bins).  It doesn't look like much in these pics but each bin has probably at least 5-6 inches of papers each in them.  They've been instructed this is still considered special paper which is not to be used to make confetti or "wrap" pretend presents, etc.  They have an ample supply of cheap construction paper for those shenanigans. 

The rest of their supplies are in that cabinet.  I've used one with doors so I can lock it in case other small children come by.

The bottom 2 shelves are supplies they can use at their whim.  There are jars of beads, yarn, dry pasta tubes, rolls of paper, pipe cleaners, and stickers among other goodies here.  The top two shelves are items that they can use but only with permission first.  I had a ton of "extra" ink pads I'd collected over the years that I hadn't been using because I mainly use my SU! ones so they have a fully stocked ink chest.  There's ribbon, fabric, tons of felt, glitters, buttons, googly eyes, bells, beads, feathers, cheesecloth, craft sticks and many other fun things up there. 

OK, so there you have it.  My scrap & play room. 

Let's see how long it'll stay clean. 

I'm off to tear into that Ninja Addicts kit and do me some scrappin'!!!!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Winner of Torendi Bam Pop Chipboard Giveaway

The lucky winner of the Bam Pop Chipboard Giveaway sponsored by Torendi is...




Julie, send me your addy so we can get your Bam Pop Chipboard out to you!  Lucky!!!!



Thanks again to Torendi for having me on their DT these past few months.  I wish them all the continued success in the world!!

Heidi