Gallery

I am going to start uploading layouts to my Two Peas account so that I have a place where all my pictures of layouts can be seen.  I have only done one so far...but if you are interested here is my gallery:

DeAnna's Gallery

Thanks for visiting!

The Perfect Collection

I really enjoyed Shimelle's class The Perfect Collection.  I used a collection that I had laying around.  I don't buy too many of them, but with doing this class and it being so successful it makes me want to buy more.  I had also already used a couple sheets of paper or parts of sheets, so I didn't have as much to work with but that's ok. I used up all of the paper that was left.  My project was when we took a trip to Duluth and went on the Lake Superior Boat tour.  The entire project ended up being 20 pages, but many of them had little to no paper involved.  I just used those 12x12 sheet protectors that are broke down to 6 4x6 slots to slide photos in.  I ended up with a total of 8 pages.  Anyway, I love them and I am so proud of myself for once again completing a project with the help of Shimelle :)

Here are the photos:

Just an FYI - the first two pictures look like Title Pages..they really are.  One of the pages is for my regular yearly albums and the other title page is for my "events" upgrade album...  Yes, I took Shimelle's  Cover to Cover class too...can ya tell??

I am excited because I have about 550 photos on it's way to me from a trip that we took last month to Wisconsin...I know 550 pictures of Wisconsin right?  Whodaguessed...but Oh My Gosh it was so much fun...and no..we were not in Wisconsin Dells...we were in a tiny city called Dodge.  Anyway, I plan to scrap that event in the same way.  I am going to use a paper stack that I got from Joann's called The Heirloom.  It's just laying around here and although I am not thrilled with the weight of the paper...I figure I need to use it as it is 180 sheets of paper taking up room on my shelf!

Happy Scrappin'!

Ella Publishing Exercise #12

So this is the last entry for the Ella Publishing Spring Training.  I thought this was a great class to sign up for.  Not only did we get to see a lot of new techniques but the exercises were not so overwhelming that I couldn't complete them or that I ended up giving up on...  I am proud to say that I completed them all :)  Which gives me a nice chance at some of their fabulous prizes...and I mean fa-bu-lous!  :)  Annnyyway...  The last exercise was paper piecing.  I decided to grab a bird and birdhouse image from the Silhouette and put it together for a tag that is going into my mom's mini album of memories.  I took the picture before writing the words as I would prefer to keep them confident...  but here are the images on the tag:

The colors I picked were based on a birdhouse that my mom painted when she was in the hospital.  She was so proud of the birdhouse :)

Ella Publishing Exercise #11

Ahh...I am so close!  So nice to have completed all of the exercises :) So exciting!  Ok, so this one I got to birds with one stone...First, I completed the monthly page that I needed to do for my 8 x 8 and second, I got the customizing challenge done.  This challenge was about taking letter stickers or other embellishments and customizing it to your page.  I took the white butterfly with blue polka dots and sprayed it with the tiger lily glimmer mist to help it correlate to my page.  It worked out perfect because this page was all about being orange and different tones of blue.  Here it is :

Ella Publishing Exercise #9

Using Layouts for card creations:  My inspiration came from the layout that I did for masking....I liked the idea of using the flags to put numbers or letters on so I used an idea that came from one of the Glitter Girl videos by Shimelle at Two Peas and a Bucket and used Washi tape to cover the flags.  Then I used stickers to add my word and the rest of the card came together:

Best part about this card is that I already wrote a letter inside and sealed the envelope with a stamp...It's ready to put in the mail :)

Ella Training Exercise #10

I know, I know, I skipped over #9...I will be working on that one next.  It's been a busy week so I fell just a little behind, but I have been keeping up with the exercises and got most of the exercises in my head as to what I am going to do....So with that being said, I am pretty proud of myself that I have kept up this well.  So #10 was all about misting.  I loved the idea of cutting something out with the silhouette and using that as my misting template.  I cut out some random flags and did one of my 8 x 8 pages with them.  Here it is:

The page ended up with 7 banners so I just thought up of 7 things and wrote them down.  A year from now, I know that I will be glad I did. :)

Ella Spring Training #8

This is definitely a good exercise for me....I am always afraid to use too many patterned papers or different colors together.  So, I did as was instructed in the exercise and found a design site with some pretty colors.  I actually had a sticker in mind which was the basis of my color.  It's the April sticker from the Year-o-graphy calendar cardstock sheet which is two tones of orange.  Which...is also my favorite color and I have a hard time using it because I always want to use black with it and it ends up looking like a Halloween page :)  So, I loved this picture of a kitchen done in orange and blues.

Love it!  Love it! Love it!

I know the picture doesn't do the colors justice.  They are really beautiful together.  There are two tones of blue, one a sort of sky/grey blue and the other is a navy blue.  I think it sort of looks black on the page, but it's navy.  And then the oranges.  

The reason that I picked that sticker is because it's time for me to do my monthly page in my 8 x 8 album.  I started doing an 8 x 8 album each year in 2009.  It's basically a "story" type scrapbook where I scrap pictures or no pictures, but there is always a story and most of the time the story relates to my feelings behind it.  This year, with all the hype around project life, I decided to go ahead and start doing a monthly page.  Basically I just add whatever I can think of for the month on the page.  I happen to have this cardstock sticker sheet that just works perfectly to get me through the year so I make sure that I use the month sticker and anything else on the sheet that I can find.  I just love this exercise in combination with these stickers because it made it so easy for me to come up with what colors I wanted to use or find from my stash!  I really think that I will use this over and over again in my creating :)  

I won't have time to finish my page today because I have to head to work...but hopefully I will post it when it's done :)  

Ella Publishing Spring Training #7

The next exercise is all about effective embellishments.  I am ok with embellishing, but I am quite the flat embellisher.  I love the way that they look on a page and some scrappers can really make a page look amazing with lots of ribbons, flowers etc.  I just can rarely get myself to do it :)  Anyway, I took a layout which was inspired by a layout by Shimelle Lane (http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1017/scrapbooking-sketch-of-the-week/) and came up with this page.

Again...Ugh...I wish that I had a better way to take pictures of my layouts, but there are three sections of embellies...One in the top corner, one of the side of the pictures and then a third on the bottom side/corner.  I used all similar items.  I really lie the way this layout turned out :)

Ella Publishing Spring Training #6

Ok last one and then I am up to date on the exercises!  So proud of myself for keeping up!  Exercise #6 was about low light situations....  I have low lights all over in my house and I am not very good with adjusting the ISO etc.  So, here are a couple pics that I took:

I just love my puppies...(they really aren't puppies anymore...but I call them that anyway!).

Ella Publishing Spring Training #5

The second exercise was about shooting a picture by a window.  In my house...I get very little light....even by my window.  I also had a really hard time trying to get a subject by the window....so I took my fancy dragon statue and used him.  Again, my lighting is baaad....but here's the picture:

Even though I have bad lighting...I believe I love every picture that my Nikon takes.  I feel like I just can't go wrong with this camera.  :)

Ella Publishing Spring Training #4

The latest training has been about photo shoots...The first one was to get some expression shots which was geared a little more toward children, but I made it work with my 20 year old son :)  His expression is basically....I don't want to be awake, I don't want to go to work today and I don't want my picture taken...Yes, he told me that was the expression he was giving me!  Here it is:

I am sure he just looooves having this picture on my blog!  Maybe he should have given me a happy expression instead :)

Ella Publishing Spring Training #3

The next step in the process was to contain the items.  My items were already in a functional container and it's the type that I typically like to use; Open and not Visible:

So, yeah...it;s the same picture as the last posting, but it's what works for me!

Happy Wednesday!

Ella Publishing Spring Training #2

So the next exercise was to sort my "keeps".  My basket is full of random items that I don't have a place for.  So, it was a little harder for me to sort these items, but I do think I did pretty well.  I sorted out all of the ribbon in the basket; then all the chipboard; then all the stickers and rubons; then all of the other random embellies.  There are a couple of tools in there that I don't have another place for, but that's ok.  I know where they are.  I did remove my circle cutter that was in there because after I sorted everything, that really didn't fit in the box.  Ok, so here is the end result:

Much better than the original!

Ella Publishing Spring Training

I am now on the Spring Training adventure at Ella Publishing.  The first exercise was to take something that wasn't working for me...or that needed some work..., dump it out and put it into piles.  My piles were quite simple:  Keep, put away and give away.  I have been through this bin so many times, but I have never actually dumped it out and completely gone through it.  So...Here is the end result...My KEEP pile:

I am pretty proud considering that is was about an inch higher in the container when I started and I have also filled the box of giveaway stuff that I am sending to someone.  So....all is good for me :)  Now, I just have to wait and see what we do with our keep items!

Scrappy Moods!

The weekend got past me and then I got sick.  No more postings for Shimelle's weekend fun...in fact I haven't touched my scrapping supplies all week.  Just too sick and too busy.

Now, I am taking a new class by Shimelle, and getting into a bunch of other online crops.  It's almost National Scrapbook day so everyone's in a scrappy mood!

Challenge 6 - From one to another

Wow Shimelle's fun weekend apparently will have 20 challenges and I am only on my third one! Yikes! I have no idea how many I will get done, but hey....I have scrapped three pages so far this weekend so happy happy!

This challenge was to take a layout and scraplift it, but to change something drastic. Shimelle gave us a couple of links and I really liked this one:

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/gallery/member/315687-nary/1817760-all-patched-up-websters-pages/

What I did to drastically change it was to not use any pictures....only words. Here is my version:

Again....my photos of my layouts are not the best! What do I do! I need a better set up I guess. I am just too lazy...I toss my mat off my table and 'snap!" :) Ok...well I am hoping to post another soon!

Shimelle Weekend Challenge #4

Challenge number 4 was to scrap with grey, yellow and another color. http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1445/scrapbooking-colour-challenge-yellow-grey-one-other-colour/ I picked a sort of reddish pink color. I really like the way my page ended up :) Yay!

Here it is:

One of these days I will get better with taking pictures of my layouts, but for now...it is what it is :)

Shimelle.com weekend Challenge #2

Ok, so I won't be posting these challenges in order...Oh well! Here is my submission for challenge number 2 which was mixing collections. The papers on this page are from: K & Co Cut and Paste, Jillibean Soup Pasta Fagioli, DCWV paper from my scrap bag...not sure which collection and I can't find the paper pad right now...yes my scrap room is a mess! and the 4th is K & Co paper from the Designer Box.

Shimelle.com Weekend

The fun has already began over at Shimelle.com. She is truly inspiring to say the least and there have been so many postings to read through from a ton of people that are also really inspiring. Challenges are up...I am so doing these! Yay!

Happy Hump Day!

Today is my day to relax...which is good because I worked very hard over the weekend. The kitchen is quite the mess and my scrap table could use some work...but oh well. For now, I have an hour before I have to get ready for work...so I am going to listen to some paperclipping roundtable and work on a page. I got in an order from Two Peas in a bucket the other day with all sorts of goodies so I am dying to just play around with supplies....so here I go!

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Easter!

What are your plans for the day? My family is coming over and we are going to eat and hopefully play games. The pork roast has been cooking all night and the ham will go in soon. Yum!

I have been cleaning all weekend and am hopeful of a scrappy night tonight. Who knows...I may be too tired.

Ok I am off to do some more cleaning.

Happy Easter to everyone!

Yay!

My Starting Point

Hello! Happy Thursday! I am so glad that it's only a couple more days until the weekend. All I want to do is clean house and play with my scrappy stuff! I wanted to try and start sharing some of the layouts that I have been doing lately, but I thought I would start with something different. I have been taking a class over at Two Peas In A Bucket called "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Scrapbooking" http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/classes_and_events/workshops/ . It's a class by Shimelle Laine. She also does what she calls Starting Points on her blog http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1432/scrapbooking-starting-point-set-to-music-wedding-scrapbook-page/ . So from everything that I have been learned from her and others over the months, this is a starting point that I found I tend to use sometimes and wanted to share:

The end result was this:

I love it :)

Anyway...I am still keeping up with my weekly routine which means I need to go get busy with papers...!

Wow, I suck at blogging!

Ok, so there's a reason for this blog right? I don't have too many followers, but I think sometimes....hey, I still have that blog that I created some moons ago....I should really do something with it!

I honestly have been doing a ton of scrapping since Christmas time. I love scrapbooking so much now and it's thanks to all the garden girls, Nichol M. (http://www.nicholmagouirk.typepad.com/) and a special shout to Shimelle Lain (Shimelle.com)...even though she is a garden girl, she has really been my inspiration. It all started with seeing her 4 x 6 photo love videos on You Tube, then her sketch to scrapbook videos...and then...the real kicker...taking her Journal Your Christmas class. I couldn't believe that I filled an entire 12 x 12 album in that time period with pictures, memories, and stories that I just love. What an awesome class. Since then, I have taken several from her and have loved them ALL.

I have really been loving so many of the new product that are out there too...which for me is good and bad. I have a tendency to buy something that I love, use it once and then it gets lost among all of the other new stuff that I buy. So, I am trying to actually scrap more so I will use more. I am about to go on another buying freeze again...one more order sitting there at Two Peas and then I am done for awhile.

Other than scrapbooking I have been working on keeping my house in order. Brian and I have been decluttering and our next project is the downstairs bathroom so we can use it while the upstairs bathroom is being remodeled. For my main part of the house, I figured out the few things that were the worst and then planned them out for the week...so in my house, the papers, dishes, laundry, scraproom and floors are the worst. So...I do my scraproom on the weekend (usually Sunday), wash laundry on Saturday and Sunday, dishes on Monday (I will also do throughout the week if needed, but the Monday plan means all dishes...no if ands or buts), Tuesday is putting laundry away, Wednesday is my open day in case I didn't get my chores done on the other days and then Thursday is paper day and Friday is floors. It has worked amazingly for me because when you do it every week it gets easier and easier to do. Much less time consuming to get rid of one week of mail versus a month or two. Maybe I am crazy and everyone else has already figured out a plan like this, but for me it's so amazing I just want to share it with the world :)

Ok, well it's Tuesday so I am off to fold laundry. Maybe soon I will post some layouts.

Got my Mojo Back!

I just recently got my inspiration back. I don't know where it comes from sometimes....Anyway, I have been doing some layout scrapping lately (mostly in my nieces 8 1/2 x 11) book. She is graduating this year so I need to get her book done. I also recently bought some of the storage shelves from Mike's to help organize my scraproom. I am super bound and determined to start doing more and using more of my stuff. I am 100% positive that if it's sitting closer or is more organized and easy to get to that I will use it. So, I have been working on that.

Anywho...I am off to go create :)

Here is my latest card and the link to the video that gave me the idea:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOBpHjyWHgM

Christmas in September

Well, if there's one thing that I am consistent with...it's being inconsistent. I haven't posted here in forever....and why am I posting now? I don't know....bored I guess! Anyway, I have this plan with Holiday cards this year. I decided that about once a week, I am going to watch some Christmas/Holiday card videos and if I see one I like and think I can make, I will give it a try. This way, when it's time to send off holiday cards, I will have a bunch done already. My favorite card maker -m Kristina Werner http://www.youtube.com/user/starofmay did a card series last year so I have started with those videos. Tonight, I made two cards from the videos I watched. One of them, I did a bit different and the other is pretty close. I like card #2 the best :)

Card #1:

The link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJEdfPRyRxA&p=FE9E857BCEFC2F17&index=1

Card # 2:

The link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qlQcf0Z_90&p=FE9E857BCEFC2F17&index=12

So, if I stick to my goal, I will try to post them out here :)

DeAnna

Yummy blog candy :)

www.injoystampin.com

Hi everyone! I haven't posted on here for awhile, but I have been really busy with making cards and tags and all kinds of things. Haven't really worked on much with mini's lately, but hopefully I will get my mojo back on those. Here are some pics of things I have worked on :)

Pic #1 - A tag I made for a friend of mine over on the beach:

Pic # 2 - Birthday card I made for a friend on the beach

Pic # 3 - Tag I made for a beach friend's birthday

Pic # 4 - Tags I made for the March tag swap

I have actually made a lot more cards, but no pics of them right now. I am trying to work on my card and tag making skills...

Anyway...this is my update! I am hoping to get a lot more scrappin' done this weekend with my neice Ashley and Savannah (my son's girlfriend/my pretend adopted daughter) :)

See you all on the beach :)

Hi everyone - Hope everyone is doing well. I am going to be hanging out with my neice this weekend and hopefully doing some serious crafting with paper =) I need to start working on my son's graduation stuff too.....I can't believe he graduates this year. It's just crazy! Anyway, if anyone has any tips or ideas on where to go for inspiration on graduation announcements/invitations please let me know. I have been searching the web but not finding too much yet.

I am also looking for a template for a graduation hat. I know I saw a video or something of someone making one and it seemed so simple - but it was like a year ago and I have no idea where I saw it. I want one to put on the card.

Here is my latest card:

Ohh there's some new blog candy! This one looks really cool!!! Check it out!

http://alatteinkinfun.blogspot.com/2010/01/im-farmer-blog-candy.html

Tanya is giving away some awesome blog candy! Go here to check it out!

http://timeforscrappin.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-giveaway.html

Hi everyone! It's been a bit since I have posted something and I wanted to get in on Lori's blog candy....so, I have been thinking of what some of my "firsts" are.... Well, for one, this is my first month of doing a mini album swap ever...and I have also done my first image swap and my first tag swap. I have been really excited about all three of them. I have finished everything except the mini album which I am super excited about. In the mini, I used a metal clasp for the first time which I am so proud of! I also made paper flowers for the first time about a week ago and have used one in the mini.

About 4 months ago, I got involved in a scrapping community called "Life On The ScrapBeach". This is the first time ever that I have become involved in an on line community like this and I am so glad that I did. I have met some super awesome crafty and talented people on there and have learned so much.

So, those are a few of my firsts just within the last 4 months.

So I have been working like crazy on the mini for the February TWS swap and I decided to try and make some of my own flowers. I think they turned out pretty good, so I wanted to share!

I decided to join the tag swap and the TWS mini album swap for February. I figured I could get the tags done before the mini album partners were announced and I could be ready to get going on the mini.....Well, as usual, I have made the tags and I don't think they are good enough!! So, I made different ones! Now, I don't know which ones to send! I like them both...right now I am thinking the white ones are better...not sure though. Here is the red tag:

(That's my mom's picture in the background!)

Here is the white tag:

Any thoughts? I also have some little charms on order. I might add those to the tags once I get them and see how they will work....

So, I guess my little plan of being done with the tags first didn't work! Oh well....try again next month! =)

First Posting

Ok, this is an experiment for a research paper that I am currently writing for my Organizational Communication class. I don't get into this sort of thing, so I thought I would try it out myself to see what blogging offers. I am really here to check out a few details about blogging....Will I decide to keep the blog...? Who knows. I don't have a very good attention span for this sort of thing, so I have no idea.

Anyway, now I have to wait for my hun to try and post to this blog so I can continue experimenting.....