When you have a day off you write a blog post!

I took the day off from work! Going to spend the day with my husband doing some errands that need to get done. He is so not looking forward to spending the whole day with me!

One of the things we are doing is going to look at some flooring. We decided to rip up the carpet in my workroom. It is old, stained and getting stinky. Owning a cat doesn't help!

So I came down and started looking around at what would need to be done and started to panic. But as I was perusing my space I saw something I thought worthy of a blog post. I share things...it's what I do.

A long time ago I had a Thirty Two Gifts party and I got a lot of free stuff. One item was this little square bucket kind of thingy. I believe if you go on their site that is the exact name. After I got it I had no clue what I would do with it so a quick search on Pinterest and tadah!

Here it is from the top...

You know all those Crystal Light containers you have been saving? What you don't save them?
Anyway it turns out that six of them fit perfectly in this little wonder! Each container holds my most frequently used tools so they are always right there and I don't have go rummaging through drawers to find them.
And the top picture shows the little pocket in the front where I keep a pad of paper and some pens. This is for my husband who constantly would come down into my room and state "With all this damn paper in this room why can't I ever find a simple note pad and pen?" So now I keep one there with some "regular" pens as he is not one to want glitter or colored notes.

All kidding aside this thing really has worked out well for me. Oh there are all kinds of wonderful shiny cool things out there I would love instead but for now this works and he has his pad of paper and pen. All is right with his world.

You don't bring me flowers

That's OK I'll make my own!

I saw a picture on the Silhouette board of this bunch of flowers done by Nicole Mantooth and I just had to make one myself! I love the 3d projects I can make with my Silhouette.

I just picked several flower designs from my library and different leaf and branch files. A little resizing here and there then assembly. I hot glued a floral cloth wire to the back of my flowers and glued a bit of thin floral green wire to the backs of the stems so I could bend them a bit to make more realistic.
A bit of foam in my simple vase, arranged the everlasting flowers and I now have this gorgeous bouquet to look at everyday!

Someday I wonder what my life was like before I bought my Silhouette machine but I bet I got more housework done!

Getting all up in my creative side!

I have always wanted to do some art canvases but every time I looked at a blank canvas my head would spin around backwards. I would say to myself  "you were an art major you can do this" and pick up a brush or open a pot of paint. Then I would put the brush down, close the pot and put the canvas back in the cabinet. So sad...

But I finally started and decided to not care what I was doing. Pressure off!

My first attempt was a complete copy of another artists work ssshhhhhh, but the next one was all my idea. Can I hear an Amen? No ok...well let me show you...

I love that song and I equally love that stamped image from Stamping bella so how perfect were they together? I think just perfect. I tried not to over think the process and just get the stuff down on the canvas. I used my Silhouette to cut all the letters out and also the stamped image. To do that I stamped the original image onto paper and then scanned it in to my computer. I then opened it in Photoshop and resized it to what I wanted. I saved it as a jpeg and then opened it up in Silhouette. Once I traced it I created an offset, cut it out and set to coloring the image with my Copics. Phew that was a mouthful!

I have to say this one was fun and I really like how it turned out. There are flaws oh yes there are flaws but I am not going to point them out to you! There was some plan changes along the way which included wasting a piece of Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap but we won't go there. She is cute in the end and isn't that all that matters?

I purchased a package of 5 of these 8x8 canvases at Michael's so hopefully I will do more. I may stick with the song theme as that helps me come up with my own idea....and with that I just thought of another! See!!!

Creating a digital Project Life template video

Hello,

As promised I made a video showing you how I created my version of a Project Life digital template.

I use these We R Memory Keeper page protectors which have 9 pockets that hold a 2.625 x 3.5 cards.
Most of the digital templates I found had smaller size blocks so I had to create my own.

If you have any questions let me know...I would love to help.

Project Life Year II and how I made it easier on myself this year

I jumped on the Project Life bandwagon last year. I did not do a weekly spread but a monthly spread. I have a husband and a cat and a pretty boring life...how could I fill up 52 weeks worth of interesting?

I liked the 8 1/2 x 11 approach and I used the We R Memory Keeper 9 pocket page protecters. The cards/pictures I created using my Silhouette. I made a rounded rectangle at 2.625 x 3.5 and made a bunch of copies. I would then import my pictures, size them to the rectangle, crop and cut a sheet at a time...BUT...my Silhouette is giving me a hard time lately. It keeps jamming up when cutting and the software keeps freezing up especially when doing something with this many pictures and multiples of shapes. I carried on though, cursing every time I made a layout. I finished 2013 and have to say I really loved doing this and decided I was going to take another go at it but something had to change!

I am a basic Photoshop user and know how to make a digital template or two so I decided I would make a template in Photoshop instead of Silhouette and cut the cards/pictures by hand. This only meant I could not have rounded rectangles (as I would not be using my Silhouette to cut the shapes). Once I got over the horror of it all I went to work on the template. I could only fit 6 shapes on my 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper but again, I will get over it. Now I just open my pictures, size them up a bit then do a clipping mask and WALA! (wala is too a word).

Here is an image of the template though so you can see what I shoot for. If anyone by chance would be interested in the template I would be happy to email it to you.

Here is part of my January page in Photoshop before I printed it.

See the top middle image? My husband bought me the pasta making attachment for my KitchenAid Mixer! Holy Pasta Making!


Back to project life.....so after I have the page printed I can simply cut it on my paper cutter or use a blade as each rectangle lines up perfectly. In the pockets they go...no rounded corners but I am trying to get over that ;)  I do the same thing with my journal-ling and other filler cards to fill all the pockets. Sometimes I do a 2 page spread and other times just 1 page it just depends what I have to say that particular month.

I will try to create a You Tube video of my process this weekend if I can get the darn software to cooperate. We have issues we two....

Sunday Funday

This morning was a play day. My husband had a meeting so I had the house to myself, except for Handsome the cat. I got up, went into my studio and took out my Gelato's. I haven't had much of a chance to play with these since I bought them this year. I watched a couple of You Tube video's and went to work. I used the swatch kit that came with the Gelato's and chose the embossed card stock. I played around until I got what I liked then kept adding things, like that strip of washy tape that I have yet to use on anything and some Mister Huey's Calico White to splatter some white on the background. Ran around the edges with my Distressed Inks and called that done. I have a hard time stopping when I do these things so I was happy when I knew enough was enough...before I ruined it!

I cut out 2 branch images on my Silhouette and glued them together for strength. I colored them with the Gelato's, this time using a bit of the white to create a light tip to the leaves. You can't tell from the picture but it is there. I wanted to include one of my favorite sayings on this piece so I typed it up then printed it out on Claudine Hellmuth adhesive canvas. I then mounted it on a piece of chipboard for stability and used the Distressed Inks around the edges. I adhered the branch with glue dots and put adhesive dimensionals on the back of the saying, added a Ranger paper clip and placed everything down.

This was a fun project for me and so out of the norm. I am not usually "artsy". I have been wanted to try my hand at an Art Journal so now this might be the start.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Time flies when you're having fun....NOT

I haven't done a blog post since what last April? Really? I was out of work until June so I had to have had the time right? But then I went back to work...and this job sucked the life and time out of me like nothing I have ever felt. Oh, and I quit in December! Holy cow I quit my job without having another one in tow. *sigh*

As I navigate the job market yet again I have had time to be creative and is that not what this blog is about?

I actually finished my Project Life 2013 album. I had a great time making this album and plan on continuing this year. I don't have any new pictures to post but trust me when I say it is great and I am happy...only had to change it up 1 time and for me that is a big deal. I tend to redo and redo then redo again.

I spent a snow day today doing some Copic coloring. It has been a while since I did that as well. Actually felt like a beginner all over again. Someone is getting this little image for a birthday card. *ssshhhh*

I am not happy with the color combination. The slip was supposed to be more pink than red. Cute image though and it will make a nice birthday card. I will try and remember what markers I used and will add them to this post.

I have been spending quality time with my Silhouette now that I am unemployed. Found this little number from a friends Pinterest post. I made one for me and now have a request for 2 more! You can find the file in the Silhouette store. It is called 3d Winterberry Shadow Box w/Birds. I resized the design to fit my 8.5x11 mat...easy enough to do. And yes Sally yours is on the way!

There are many more creative things done this past year even though work did not allow much time, but I am grateful for this time to step back and play.

I drank the Kool-Aid

I finally did it. I jumped on the Project Life bandwagon. What is Project Life you ask? To quote Becky Higgins web site "The Project Life "way" of memory-keeping is so crazy-simple, it has become known as "revolutionary" in the scrapbooking industry. All you need is one of our Core Kits, a Binder, and a Big Pack of 60 Photo Pocket Pages. By pairing your pictures and words with these basic products, you will be able to tell your story, in your own way, resulting in a complete album".

I had coveted this project for a few years now but thought I couldn't do it. First, I have a cat and a husband no kids what kind of stories could I tell. Second, doing it weekly was way to much of a commitment for me. Then one day I was at Michael's checking out the new Heidi Swapp products and saw this small chipboard album. Inside were tabbed dividers and little pocket page protectors. I had to have this album--for what I did not know--but by the time I got home it hit me: I was going to do a mini Project Life album! *angels singing*

Oh it doesn't stop there. I was going to do a page for each month how easy is that. Each page protector only had 3 or 4 pockets for pictures or journaling cards anyone could handle that right? Well after I did my second month I said "this won't do, I must have more space". Holy cow I had been abducted there was no use turning back. I still did not want to do it weekly but I wanted bigger pages so I could put more pictures or journaling cards etc. But, as my buying craft supplies has been curbed due to my unemployment status, I had to think creatively. I actually went shopping in my craft room. I had these 8 1/2 x 11 9 pocket page protectors from and my One Little Word project (which I never finished...sorry Ali) which I thought would be perfect! Nine little bits of stuff for the month. I have to confess I did take my 40% off coupon and run to Michael's to get a new album: plain brown chipboard my favorite, nothing fancy.

I don't have an iPhone (my husband won't let me get one!), and I don't carry my Canon around with me, but I do have the cutest little Sony Bloggie video/still camera. I love that little sucker. So I can look cool like all the iPhone users and take a picture on the fly for my album. Not the same as my Canon but when in Rome....

I also went to work on my Silhouette machine creating journaling cards. I created a rounded rectangle that is 3.5 x 2.625. This is the size of each picture and any cards I put in there. I am thinking I will follow this up with a short YouTube video on how I make these journaling cards. Easier to see than to explain.

So now it is April and I am hooked. I just take pictures throughout the month, print them out as I want, tuck them in the pockets then when I am ready I do some journaling or add bits and pieces (movie tickets etc.)
I even did 2 pages for March as it was a busy month. So you see, there are no hard and fast rules for me on this project.

Here is a sample of some of the pages so far. I love the calendar card for each month..the March spread doesn't show one as it is a second page.

 

I made up the "currently:" journal card from one I saw online (I am known for my thievery). This is also a first as I actually used my own handwriting on the card! GET OUT!

I will try to get a video done soon on how I make the journaling cards but, as I don't have a good video editing software, it takes me forever--so don't hold your breath! If you really want to know just let me know; I would be happy to explain.

(this post was edited for grammar by my niece Meg who has 2 masters--it's like having a plumber in the family!)

Clam Chowder Extravaganza

Well....I spent the day making clam chowder...and posting it step by step on Facebook. I believe I annoyed enough people so I can end my day happy. However, one of my nieces said I needed to start a blog and post this extravaganza. After I told her "I do have a blog" I then smacked myself in the head and decided to write a post. Novel idea I know. So without further adieu....

New England Clam Chowder....step by annoying step.

Place 30 little neck clams in pot and add 3 cups of water, simmer until they open. Throw away the sucker that doesn't open.

Remove clams from liquid, line a small fine mesh strainer with a coffee filter and strain the broth into a bowl. Remove the clams from shells. Place in a bowl covered in plastic wrap so they don't dry out and set aside.

Dice up 4 slices of salt pork (you can also use thick sliced bacon if you want), 1 medium onion and 3 ribs of celery. Take a break.....have a glass of wine if necessary.

  

Saute the salt pork until crispy golden brown about 10 minutes on a low heat. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside. Leave all the greasy good stuff in the pan.

If you remembered to bring in your thyme for the winter, cut some and chop up 2 tsp.

  
Add onion, celery and thyme to bacon fat and saute low for approx 10 min. Then add in 2 tbs of flour and cook for approx 1 min.

Add reserved clam broth and 1.5 cups of water to pot. Add the diced potatoes. Cook about 15 min. until potatoes are tender. Lower heat and add 2 cups of half and half. Warm through but do not boil.

The next step is to chop the clams but once I started I had to stop and make a call...to my big brother the Executive Chef. Why you ask? Because as I was chopping the clams I noticed some icky green stuff in the bellies. Conversation went something like this "Hi Billy".."Hi Jane"..."So I am making clam chowder"..."That's nice"..."Question, when I started chopping the cooked clams I noticed so icky green stuff in the bellies. Am I supposed to keep that stuff or get rid of it"..."Well some people would keep it, but knowing you I would get rid of it". Thank you and goodnight.

Chop the clams (choose to keep the icky green stuff or discard) and add to the broth, salt and pepper to taste. Heat back up to temp and serve!

So in looking for a crouton recipe to top my soup I came upon this blog http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/07/fresh-new-england-clam-chowder-with-brown-butter-garlic-croutons/ DO NOT LOOK I BEG YOU DO NOT LOOK. You looked didn't you? I so want to be able to take those kind of shots....sigh

ps: so after eating this soup here are a couple of thoughts. It was not thick enough for me. DON'T START YELLING ALL YOU PEOPLE FROM NEW ENGLAND! I don't mean THICK...I mean thick enough. So next time I may make a bit more roux on the side just in case. I would also add more clams. I would add the potato a bit later in the recipe.....just so they don't get too soft. Oh and add a bay leaf!!! But other than that I liked this recipe.

December Daily 2012

Well I finally did it. I have wanted to do a December Daily album for the last couple of years but never made it happen. As a friend of mine said "I struggle with the daily part of December Daily". So true. So each time I failed miserably but oh not this year! I will conquer this beast.

My best friend and I spent the day together in my workroom putting together our albums. Having them all ready is a big plus. All I need to do it take a picture, jot down a story and move on. I don't have a photo printer at home (hello Santa!) so I am going to print them out at CVS once a week...no biggy.

My album doesn't have a lot of room for journalling so what I did was created a This Week page where I can sum up the week. Each picture will have some kind of words to describe what was going on at the time.

This is my cover page

Here is day one. (Yes mom I know Advent did not technically start on December 1st this year!)

The advent calendar is a Kerri Bradford design Christmas Countdown.  This is what it looks like all together.

The frame I purchased at The Christmas Tree Shop for about $5.00 I think. Took the glass etc out and my DH took some dowels, painted them black and drilled holes into the sides of the frame and tadah!
I have each little box hanging using Ikea Deka hooks. My husband has a sweet tooth so each one if filled with a tiny piece of chocolate.

Day two is still in the camera but I will try and catch up later today. Who knows...I may actually post here every day! Don't get your hopes up :)

I did tell you I steal ideas right?

I know I have told you this before but just in case you don't remember...I hardly ever come up with my own ideas! There I said it. I feel so much better now. You see I have a lot of blogs I read where I get ideas and don't get me started on Pinterest! Holy cow that site can suck up all your free time. So I see things I like and I copy them. Isn't that why people post them? I wish I had an ounce of the ability to come up with my own ideas but I struggle with conception.

So to continue with my affliction I saw this little number the other day on the Silhouette blog from A Little Hut and I had to make it! When someone already invented the wheel who am I to say I could do better right?

Putting together the actual cage takes some patience if you don't have teeny tiny fingers so just take it slow. I used 1/8" Scor-Tape on the scored edges then pieced it together....again with a bit of frustration but in the end it was just fine.

The ghosts I cut with my Silhouette. I took the ghost shape in the Silhouette software and removed the eyes and mouth so I had just an outline. Cut this out of my favorite American Craft black cardstock...stuff cuts like buttah! Then I cut the original ghost shapes that included the eyes and mouths out of white cardstock. Glittered the white piece then glued it to the black cardstock. Easy peasy.

The Boo banner was cut using Claudine Hellmuth sticky-back canvas. I printed out the letters B O O and ran the sheet through my printer then cut them out. The banner is just run through my sewing machine to create the string. If you have never used this sticky-back canvas you must! The things you can do with this is endless.

Other than that just some other little pieces cut and attached. The spider is from a recent Kerri Bradford All Hallows Eve kit I
                                                               purchased. He is glittered also.

Once it was all together I put a battery operated tea light in the cage. It is so cute lit up at night.

Halloween decor is in full swing in our house. Why I don't know, we don't get any trick or treaters and lord knows my husband is not into holiday decor so I do it for me!

Do you decorate for Halloween?

A scrapbook page

I have been in a scrapbook funk lately. I have been so busy making cards and all sorts of other projects but have not made a page in a very long time. I started the page below of me and my grandmother a few weeks ago. I had purchased specific papers that I thought would work but as a lot of scrapbookers know it doesn't always work out the way you thought in the end.

So, I started all over with new paper and a whole new sketch in mind. In fact this is the first page after all these years of scrapbooking that I can actually say I did completely on my own without copying someone elses page or sketch. I don't know how it happened but I just started with my base paper and a 6x6 pack and just started laying things on the paper. I used my Silhouette to cut the bird flourish, the leaves and the scallop strip. Good old fashion Stampin Up scallop and circle punch were used for the flower. I used word strips for my journalling. I have always wanted to use that technique and wasn't sure it would fit this type of page but I am happy with it.

The last thing I did was the title. At first I had your basic frame with the title in it....hated it, changed it then changed it again. Finally I just let it sit for a while. Then I remembered my See and Stamp Transparent Stamp sets and thought what the heck it can't hurt! Ended up really liking it. It isn't really a focal point but I like that. In the end this page made me step out of the box from what I usually do and I have to say it was fun.

The picture is terrible! No matter where or how or what I did I could not get a good picture of this page. I wish I had a bigger scanner....or better photography skills!

Over the years I have changed my scrapbooking style going from hand torn paper and brads (oh the horror!) to hybrid pages and now using my Silhouette. I am really enjoying using the Silhouette. It lets me add dimension to a page without buttons and bows and the dreaded eyelets!

Last but not least you may be asking...Jane who? Where has she been? She has been busy and found no time to blog. I had the best of intentions really I did. But I have made a promise to myself...and you the 2 followers of my blog...that I will attempt to post once a week at least. Deal?...deal.

Nice to talk to you again.

Nice rack you have there

So I have this rack. Well a couple of racks on the wall in my craft room. They were built by me and I think complete genius. But...I needed another one because this genius didn't make the last one big enough.  I thought "I will only need it to hold these 3 punches". Yeah right.
So now I made a new one just to hold my nice Ikea jars that will hold bits of ribbon and other colorful things that don't have a regular place to be. The shelf (or rack) is built but there it sits....waiting for paint. Paint that existed when I made the other shelves (or racks) but paint that cannot be found now. Somewhere on the paint can designated shelves (not racks) in the garage was THIS can of paint but not there now.
These shelves (or racks) are white but not just plain white..they are kind of off white but not beige...just not pure white. And as the shelf (or rack) is small I don't want to go to the hardware store and buy a whole quart when I need about 4 maybe 8 oz.'s!

*sigh*

So there sits my shelf (or rack) and my poor Ikea jars just waiting to sit on their new shelf (or rack). Oh don't be fooled by the primer coat of white on there. That is not what I was going for!

Anyone have a bit of left over white but not pure white but not beige paint I can borrow?

Holy Smokes what have you done now?

OK I know it has been an awful long time since I posted and I promise to do better. I know, I know I have promised this before but I have a good excuse. Well good is not really the right word as my excuse is work. Yes that 8-5 thing that pays the bills. It is killing me lately leaving little time for any fun.

And that brings me to the title of our little post. I JUST APPLIED FOR A DESIGN TEAM POSITION for Oozak. What the heck am I thinking? I have no business doing this. I am not good enough. I never think I am good enough. I don't have enough time to post on my blog or barely feed the cat. What am I thinking?

Wait....what if? What if I am good enough. What if they actually picked me? What if I could do this?

What do you think?

I change my mind

My One Little Word http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/onelittleword.php better wasn't working for me. I just didn't feel it. Better seemed so harsh. Like that school gym teacher who would yell at you when you couldn't do the damn chin ups! Like my 4-H leader who would have a fit if my sewing wasn't perfect. Although I have to say my sewing is near perfect...chin ups are still the impossible dream.

Where was I? Oh yeah, I am changing my One Little Word.  I decided to go with my first choice. Change. Although I specifically did not want the word change because it scares the crap out of me. Change can be bad...really bad. Change to me means crap just happened. But I am going to bite the bullet and embrace this word for all it is worth. I can do this. What is the worse that could happen? Will I be unable to deal with the changes any more than if I had never picked this word? I doubt it. I will deal with whatever life throws at me as I always have with grace, dignity and a whole lot of wine.

Bring it on change....bring it on!

What word?

Today is January 7th and so far my One Little Word has gotten very little attention. I almost forgot what it was the other day. One Little Word? Oh yeah....b-e-t-t-e-r.

Apparently better is not something I am able to be. Maybe I am expecting too much. After all how can this word expect me to change my whole life! Who does it think it is? Make me try to be better...better than what? Better than I was last year? Better than the year before?  Better cook, cleaner, better sewer...wait no...nobody is a better sewer...sorry everyone but I was taught by the best! I will not rest until my seams are perfectly straight and finished just so! But I digress....b-e-t-t-e-r.

What would I like to change? Here it goes:

I want more patience
Want to be more flexible...AND NO NOT AS IN YOGA!
More time for me. Not being selfish here...just that sometimes it really needs to be all about Jane.
Healthier...not that I have any health problems just want to be...healthy..although to be healthy would require Jane to move more and Jane doesn't like to move much. Sorry about the 3rd person reference.

Move more? Really?

Baby steps Jane...baby steps....it's only January.

One Little Word

I am committing to Ali Edwards Big Picture Classes One Little Word this year. My word? OK since you asked. My word is better. It took me a while to come up with this word. I had to think long and hard about what I wanted this year. No resolutions per say but changes -- little changes -- things that would make my life better. See there it is -- better.

The definition of the word is 'greater, of superior quality, in a more appropriate or acceptable way, to a greater degree, more completely or thoroughly, morally superior, more virtuous, improved health'.
OK now I can't guarantee the morally superior or more virtuous but the rest I am all up on!

My plan is to come out of 2012 with a better feeling of self.

This is only a once a month commitment and will try to post as I go along. Maybe this will even help me become a better blogger! See the word is cropping up everywhere.

Here's to 2012. You never know what the year will bring.

And then along came Christmas

Well I think this has been the longest ever that I haven't posted. To the 3 people (yes that is one more than usual) that read my posts I am most sorry. With all the Christmas stuff going on...which comes in the form of shopping and planning and cleaning and shopping and dreading and shopping...I haven't had much time to post.

But I did get my cards done and would love to show you. I took a Mo Manning design called Ragged Angel and colored 4 up on a sheet of X-Press It  paper then had it copied at Staples. Sorry folks there was no way I could color 40 plus individual images and get them out by April of 2012!

I used an image from The Graphic Fairy for the sheet music. I opened it in Photoshop and reduced the opacity to make it lighter then cut to size and attached it to the card base. The rest is Basic Grey Christmas paper from different sets, some bakers twine and a Silhouette cut snowflake courtesy of Kerri Bradford. The inside has a sentiment from Papertry Ink.

I have to say the copied ones were only slightly different than the original and no one will know! Unless I tell you....which I won't....can't make me.

Now I know there were other people who did not get this particular card. Seriously I wasn't kidding...it would have been April before ANYONE got a card if I made everyone the one above. So I had to do something and here is what came out....

and.....

Thanks to my Silhouette it made easy work out of both of these. The Christmas Tree card was a Kerri Bradford design, Hero Art's stamp for the background and the same Papertry Ink sentiment and DONE! The Noel card was again a Kerri Bradford design with a little bit of Basic Grey paper and a Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing plate and call me finished!
Ah.....all is calm all is bright!
Now bring on the biggest stressful day of the year! Yes that is right family is coming over! WOO HOO! Bring on the fun!

Merging digital stamps

Just a quick video showing you how to merge digital stamps.

This and That

I thought I would share the card I made for one of my neices recently. Again I have to say that coloring Mo Mannings images are just so much fun. As Meggie likes to cook I thought this image was perfect for her.



The areas to color were pretty small so not much shading but still I like how it came out.

And here is just a little image for fall. I haven't made a card with it yet. I have it tacked up in my office to look at everyday getting me in the spirit of the season.
Happy Columbus Day weekend!