Creativity*Scattered

Tarragona, Valencia and Catarroja

2011-07-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

The last part of our vacation took us from Barcelona to Tarragona and then on to Valencia and Catarroja. (Part ONE and part TWO of our trip, plus a couple of my FAVES, if you missed them)

First, Tarragona:

If I *had* to pick a favorite place from our trip, I think Tarragona would be it. It's amazingly beautiful as the above photo clearly shows. It's right on the Mediterranean (as was our hotel) and has a fascinating history (yeah...my degree is in history, so I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to this stuff!). I also celebrated my birthday while we were there--so that automatically gives it bonus points, right?

My birthday dessert...fresas con nata (strawberries and cream) which was delicious! My candle wouldn't stay lit because of the wind.

Overlooking the Mediterranean and an old Roman amphitheatre. Tarragona was a Roman city (Tarraco) and there are a lot of Roman ruins around the city. I could have spent another day there checking them out, but my husband was a little bored with it after a couple of hours.

More of the Amphitheatre. Inside the center of the amphitheatre, there was also the ruins of a Christian church, which was really interesting. You can see the wall of it in the left foreground of this photo.

Roman Circus

Roman vaults

Finally, we went to Valencia for a couple of days. Yet another church.

View from our hotel.

We took a short train ride to the pueblo of Catarroja. My husband lived there about 9 years ago and heard all about how great this one little horchata shop was, but because it was seasonal, he never got to visit it. So we did, and it was rather tasty!

This is the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia. It consists of some museums, an opera house, and an aquarium. We hadn't planned on going here, but it was really close to our hotel so we decided to walk through. I'm glad that we did. It was pretty neat.

We had a really great trip. Spain was amazing. I had forgotten how much I love to travel!

Barcelona

2011-06-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Here's part II of our trip. Here's Part I, and here's just a couple of my favorite pictures that I posted last week

After a few days in London, we flew to Barcelona. I panicked a little at the airport, looking at the signs. I read Spanish reasonably well, but the signs weren't making any sense to me. I thought my Spanish was much rustier than what I expected. Then I realized that most of the signs were in Catalan. Phew. Not quite so rusty! Even though it's a Spanish dialect, reading the signs really threw me for a bit.

I loved Barcelona. It is a really beautiful city. We walked all over the city...and only got a little lost!

La Rambla

La Sagrada Familia

Palau Nacional/ Montjuïc

Estadi Olímpic in the reflection, Montjuïc

La Boqueria

Columbus Monument

Parc Güell

Parc Güell and La Sagrada Familia were designed by Antoni Gaudí. Look him up if you want to see some seriously funky architecture. Parc Güell was really fun.

Parc Güell

and maybe my favorite Barcelona picture, also Parc Güell:

London, Stonehenge and Avebury

2011-06-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

The London Eye

From inside the London Eye

Cleopatra's Needle

Beautiful blue skies in London? Yes, please.

White Tower

At the Tower of London

The hubs in Windsor. (He hates the word "hubs", by the way)

Stonehenge

Henge at Avebury

Avebury

Silbury Hill

Avebury

Trafalgar Square at Midnight

Somerset House

My husband and I just spent a few days in London, before heading to Barcelona for a week. It was great. We met his mom and step dad in London, saw the sights, saw a couple of shows, stayed in a great hotel right on the Thames, practiced my night time photography, then spent a day driving in the English countryside to see Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and it's sister site at Avebury.

I thought Avebury was really interesting. It's a huge place...much, much larger in scale than Stonehenge, but not as complete. It has a huge trench circle surrounding it and there is a very cute little village that was built partially inside the circle. I loved the church there. You can walk all along the trench and through the standing stones. Silbury Hill is nearby and is a giant neolithic mound with no known purpose.

The English countryside is gorgeous. I'm pretty sure I would move there without hesitation.

I'm Home...

2011-06-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

...from playing here...

{London}

And here...

{Barcelona}

...and I just want to go back, ASAP!

It was a blast.

{More pictures are sure to follow...}

This View...

2011-05-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

...is pretty much the view we had from my backyard when I was in high school. A couple of houses obstructed it a little, but you can't block those desert skies. This makes me a little homesick!

Window Herb Garden

2011-05-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

I love having a garden and I really want an herb garden. But since we are renting and have limited garden space, I planted 8 different kinds in pots and put them on my window sill. We have really wide window sills that are perfect for this. Not all of my plants are doing particularly well--some of them (mainly my dill and cilantro) aren't very well suited to a container in a window sill, but I still wanted to give them a try. I also have oregano, marjoram, lemon balm, parsley, thyme, and chives. I love it! Cutting fresh herbs when cooking is the best :)

Card Set

2011-05-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day, I made my mom a set of miscellaneous cards. My little sister and I had a "Girls' Day" and made a ton of cards and watched chick flicks that I've wanted to see, but can't get my husband to watch with me. I hadn't pulled out any of my papercrafting supplies for almost a year! I made about 10 cards and it felt so good! But now I have to put away my mess...and I'm totally procrastinating it. Anyway, here are the ones that I made for my mom's set:

Card 1- All Paper- Pebbles; Stamps- Stampin' Up; Ribbon- JoAnn

Card 2 & 3- All paper- Pebbles; Ribbon- JoAnn; You're the Best rub on and Canvas- Stampin' Up; Congratulations rub-on- Pebbles.

Card 4 & 5- All paper- Pebbles; Thanks rub on- Pebbles; Chipboard label holder- Stampin' Up (painted black); Brads- JoAnn; Ribbon- Offray brown grosgrain; Flower Stamp- Stampin' Up; Sparkle embossing powder- JoAnn; Versa Mark stamp pad.

Tractors

2011-04-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

Isn't he the cutest? I was able to take his picture today, along with his whole cute family. This was one of my favorites. He was enthralled with a tractor going by.

Crazy

2011-04-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after a beautiful 70* F Saturday, I woke up to this:

Really?? REALLY??

I like snow. I really do. From November to February. Then, I can tolerate it in March. But April, May, sometimes even into June? I hate it! Especially when we're teased with two beautiful, warm, sunny days immediately preceding a ridiculous snow storm. I know I'm in Utah, but still! Now our backyard is full of branches that fell off the trees under the heavy snow.

Hopefully it melts quickly.

Favorite Baby Photos of 2010

2011-03-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

I LOVE taking pictures of babies...especially brand new ones. These are my favorite baby photos (and some 1 & 2 year olds...they're still babies, right?) from last year. A few of them are babies with their grandmothers. Something about that just makes for such a great picture. Some of them are of my own little one :)

Favorite People Photos of 2010

2011-03-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know it's March, but I wanted to share some of my favorite people photos from 2010 (I think I'll do a separate baby category another day). 10 of my favorites, in no particular order:

MIA and Cake!

2011-03-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

I took a break. A long break. Much longer than I had planned, but I needed to simplify my life for a bit. Then I realize that it's been 5 MONTHS since I posted last. Ridiculous, no? Now I'm back! And I have a yummy recipe. In high school, my friends and I used to make this cake all the time. I have no idea where we found the recipe, but I'm sure there are lots of variations out there. We had a few different names for it, but sometime after I had left home, my mom asked my brother David to "make that cake." So now we refer to it as "David, Make That Cake." My husband, who dislikes most baked desserts, loves this. I think because it's kind of gooey and has the "frosting" baked right in. And, it's super easy!

David, Make That Cake

Cake:
1 chocolate cake mix (my personal favorite is Pillsbury's Devil Food)

Mix cake batter according to the directions on the box and pour into 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup chocolate chips over cake batter.

Cream cheese mixture:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Pour over top of cake batter and chocolate chips. Bake according to the directions on the cake mix box. (Usually about 35 minutes @ 350*)

So yummy!

Grand Tetons and Yellowstone

2010-10-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

We took a weekend trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone last month. So beautiful. Here's a few of my favorite scenic shots from the trip.

Jackson Lake

Lower Geyser Basin

I like the eerie quality of the black and white, but I also love the reflections in the water in the color version.

Another view of lower geyser basin

Morning Glory Pool

What's your creative style?

2010-08-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a quiz from Psycholologies (QUIZ) to help you determine your style.

Mine? "Creativity enriches you"

Creativity is separate from the real world for you. But it’s a magical world in which you like to immerse yourself. When you’re involved in it, you get the wonderful sensation that there are no limits, that anything is possible. What you are really looking for is harmony — you want to feel you are a part of what you create. Planting flowers, writing poetry, embroidery or putting together a photo album, these are all suited to your sort of quiet creativity. You want to fall in love with what you create. You also think of creativity as a part of you in which you can take refuge and feel protected...

Pretty accurate. Except it left out the part where I get insanely frustrated when what I create doesn't meet my expectations...Yeah, I'm a little bit of a perfectionist/control freak about that sort of thing.

Anyway, what's yours?

Lake-scapes

2010-08-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

I went fishing a few weeks ago with my husband and my kids. These are a couple of shots that I took that day. Sometimes a camera just can't do justice to the beauty nature...or maybe it's the photographer insufficiency...It was so gorgeous that day. I just wished I could capture the view exactly as it was.

The end of June...

2010-07-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

So, I took a picture 23/30 days in June. Definitely room for improvement :)

Independence Day Cookies

2010-07-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

My grandma used to make Kool-Aid Cookies when I was younger. I thought they were the coolest ever. Now, I have a new favorite--I love homemade Oreo cookies. Recently, I saw a picture of red, white and blue cookies and thought they'd be fun for the 4th of July. So, combining the Kool-Aid Cookies and homemade Oreos, I made these babies. They're delicious!

Red Cookies:
1 white cake mix
3/4 c shortening
2 eggs
1 package of Cherry Kool-Aid (or any other red Kool-Aid flavor)
Red food coloring (I use Wilton's No-Taste Red food coloring)

Mix all together and bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Don't overbake!

Blue Cookies:
1 white cake mix
3/4 c shortening
2 eggs
1 package of Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool-Aid
Blue food coloring

Mix all together and bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Don't overbake!

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick of butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Mix all together. Spread on cookie and sandwich with 2nd cookie of opposite color.

Mine were kind of small, but it made 54 sandwiches. (108 individual cookies)

Hope you have a happy and safe Independence Day weekend!

Blog Revamp!

2010-06-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

I'd love to hear what you think about my new blog design. Oh, and if you decided that you'd like to "follow" me, well, I'd love that too :)

Also, if you're interested, I'd be happy to design blog header/elements for you, too. Or logos. Or announcements. Or whatever.

Week Four.

2010-06-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Did much better this week! I did 6 days. I think I may switch it up a little bit in July and do things a little differently. I have a couple of different ideas and I'm not sure what's going to work best for me yet.

Week Three.

2010-06-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

So...I didn't do so hot with Week 3 either. Another really, insanely busy week! Plus, I had to have my wisdom teeth taken out last week...so I have an excuse, right? The last picture of my sleeping daughter was at the end of the week and is perfect to show the kind of week we had. She finally just crashed on Saturday afternoon. I managed to remember 4 days again. I kind of like this 6 picture layout...not sure what I'm going to do when I actually have 7 pictures to use! This week, I'm trying to have a little more variety--not just photos of my babies :)

Week Two.

2010-06-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

So, week 2...yeah...didn't do so good. Weeks 2 and 3 were some of the busiest weeks that I've had in a really long time! I took a lot of pictures, but not every day. I think this week I was able to manage about 4 days.

Week One.

2010-06-06T23:50:00.000-07:00

All the photos give a glimpse of what June has been like so far. Well, maybe not the one of those cute squishy cheeks, but I take lots of pictures of those! I decided to go for the weekly post. It'll keep me motivated...hopefully...

New Photo Project

2010-06-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

So, I've been wanting to do a Project 365 for a while. I was going to start in January, but well, I was a little preoccupied with growing another person and then taking care of him. That "project" made me get a little off track. Plus, every day for a who year? Yeah, just a little bit overwhelming! So, since I get overwhelmed, I'm going to start out by doing a "Project 30" for the month of June. So far, yep, a whole three days in, I'm going strong. My camera has been out all of the time. I need to find my little point and shoot camera so that I can use that too, because although I usually have my dSLR with me, sometimes it's just a pain to lug that thing around.

I'm trying to capture what our life is really like...not just the exciting parts, but the real, everyday kinds of things. My husband took this of me with my babies last week while we were hanging out in the back yard. I love it!

Now, I'm trying to decide how to post the pictures that I take every day. Posting them every day would definitely fail, so now I'm trying to decide between weekly and monthly and just posting all the photos for that respective week or month in a collage or something. So, for all 3 of you that are reading this...What do you think?

New...

2010-05-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

My newest niece...so sweet...

Wink Fotos Workshop

2010-04-27T00:42:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to a photography workshop by Emily Clark of Wink Fotos. She posted some stuff about the workshop on her blog, although maybe I shouldn't mention that...there are a couple seriously dorky pictures of me. Anyway, Emily is a lot of fun and so was the workshop. I kind of decided to sign up impulsively, but that's probably good, because if I had to think about it, I might not have done it.

So here are a few of my favorites from the workshop...

Which do you like better? This one, or...

...this one? I can't decide!

This one might be my very favorite

This is Emily, showing us how it's done.

(Not sure if it's a blogger problem or a Photobucket problem, but lately my pictures NEVER seem as crisp and clean once I upload them as they do in my files. Any insight? It's driving me nuts!)

Macro

2010-04-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer Woman had a photography assignment this week that was all about macro photography, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites that I've taken over the past year.

Busy...

2010-03-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much lately (okay, nothing at all!) because I've been busy taking care of this new little guy and his big sister...

Isn't he sweet??

I do have some new posts in the works, so don't give up on me yet :)

Christmas Treats

2009-12-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

Throughout December I went a little crazy making sweets. It was good that I was able to share most of them and only eat a few of each by myself! Here's a few of the treats I made, along with links to some of the recipes.

1. Ginger Cookies

2. Peppermint Marshmallows

3. Chocolate Star Cookies

(Sorry, not sure where this recipe came from--I've had it forever!)

4. Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing (More help HERE)

5. Short-cut Caramels

I also made these:

English Toffee and

Hot Cocoa Mix

All of them turned out surprisingly yummy even with my lack of baking skills!

Gift Wrapping Ideas #4: Pop-top Cans

2009-12-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Last idea for Christmas (or anytime!) wrapping:

Pop-Top Cans! Using soup/fruit/etc. cans with pop-tops and opening up the bottoms, leaving the pop-tops intact. After washing them and filling them with treats of my own (homemade caramels and hot cocoa mix), I decorated them with scrapbook paper, tags that I designed in Photoshop and ribbon. I kept mine pretty simple. I've seen these in a few places over the years but Blue Cricket Design has a good tutorial HERE.

Gift Wrapping Ideas #3: Gift Tags

2009-12-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

I love cute gift tags! You know, I don't feel too bad writing with a Sharpie directly on the package when it's for my 3 year old, but generally I like my gifts to look a little nicer when they're for anyone else. So this year I whipped a few up in Photoshop and printed them on watercolor paper so they had some texture. Here are the four that I came up with:

Really simple, but don't you think they look a little better than the alternatives of Sharpie-labeling or stick-on tags?

If anyone wants a copy of the file that I made so you can print these out yourself, just let me know!

Here are a few other ideas that I love:

Another super simple idea that's just my style via Pepper Design Blog. You can find the details HERE.

I LOVE these! You can actually print these cute tags out and use them yourself. Just go to Creature Comforts HERE!

Probably my favorite of the group and a little less simple are these cute fabric tags from Inchmark Journal. You can find instructions for these awesome tags HERE.

Gift Wrapping Ideas #2: Papier-mâché Boxes

2009-12-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

I had a few boxes left over from my Advent Calendar so I used them for some small gifts.

First, I painted the boxes with the same red (Apple Barrel "Burgundy") that I used on my calendar. Then I measured the sides and the top and cut some cute Christmas scrapbook paper just smaller than my measurements and adhered it to the sides and top with Mod Podge. Gotta love that stuff!

It looked a little boring so I used a brown ink pad and inked the edges of the paper, as well as the exposed edges of the box.

I put a coat of Mod Podge over the entire thing, inside and out.

Then I found some scraps of matching ribbon and tied some gift tags that I had made onto the ribbon with a little thread. I ended up inking the tag as well because it looked a little stark next to the box. This was a super easy project (like most of mine) that made those small gifts a little more special. I want to make a bunch more, but since I have no more gifts to wrap, I guess I'll have to stop (at least for now)!

Gift Wrapping Ideas #1: Origami Boxes

2009-12-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

I am a little bit particular about wrapping gifts. I love wrapping, but it definitely brings out the perfectionist streak. I am always looking for fun and creative ways to make my gifts a little prettier. This year I had quite a few little presents to wrap, so I decided to make origami boxes for them. I think I have made about 10 boxes so far, but here are two of my faves.

There are lots of tutorials out there on how to fold these, but you can find a good video tutorial HERE. There's another pretty good photo tutorial HERE. I learned to fold them a little differently, but they end up the same in the end. I used patterned paper for the top of the box and cardstock for the bottom to make it a little sturdier.

Super easy! (Plus it's a great way to put a dent in my stash of scrapbook paper--then I can tell my husband that I NEED more! :)

My little girl helped me pick out the paper for this smaller one for my 12 year old sister. She told me that there had to be pink and that we had to use "sparkly" ribbon.

This week I'll post a few more easy ideas for making your gifts a little more personal with creative wrapping.

First Real Snow

2009-12-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Paper Bag Ornaments

2009-12-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

For at least the past 15 years, my family has had the Christmas tradition of making a new set of ornaments each year. We've made things like snowmen from tongue depressors, felt gingerbread men, ribbon angels and button wreaths. I loved that our tree, while not the "perfect-looking" tree, was chock-full of all of the decorations that we had made over the years.

It's my very favorite Christmas tradition and since my husband and I have been married, I've been able to get him to help me most years. We skipped last year because we were insanely busy (we didn't do any Christmas shopping at all until the 20th!). This year my little girl was old enough to help, too (she's 3). I love working on crafty projects with her.

This year we made these little guys. I love them and I especially loved their price tag! The only thing that I bought in order to make them was a clearance stamp set at Robert's that I'm sure I can find other uses for!

I had seen similar ornaments on a few different websites, but the ones that I liked best were HERE on Elise Blaha's blog and HERE on Design*Sponge.

First, I stamped the paper bags. After making a couple with paper bags, I decided that kraft paper would be much easier (no folds or seams to deal with). I had my little girl help me stamp. It really doesn't matter how perfect your stamping is, it looks good anyway. I used Stampin' Up's Craft Stampin' Pad in Whisper White.

After that I cut my paper into 1 inch strips.

Then I cut those strips into pieces 3.5", 4", 4.5" and 5" pieces. You could really make these any size you want, just start with a middle piece and then cut 2 pieces each in 1/2" larger increments. This is just the size that worked best on my little tree.

Then I put all of the strips together with the smallest in the center and the largest on the outside. I put a small eyelet in each end and then tied a piece of jute twine through the eyelet.

So there you have it!

I also made a few out of patterned paper that I had on hand. I think these would look awesome with two-sided paper. I attached these ones a little differently.

Instead of eyelets, I used a stapler and put a ribbon in between the papers before I stapled it. SUPER EASY!

The way the light comes through these is really pretty. I let my little girl hang them all on the tree, which meant that they are all in a bunch. When I suggested that we spread them out she said, "No, they just want to be by their friends."

Advent Calendar Boxes

2009-12-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to get myself organized so that I can start posting some of my favorite Christmas projects. I've been making a lot of my Christmas gifts this year and it's been a lot of fun! I've also been making quite a few decorations. One of my favorite things at Christmas is Advent Calendars. I stumbled on this one on Ali Edwards' site earlier this year and was so excited! I had a bunch of these Papier-mâché boxes laying around.

http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2007/11/christmas-proje.html

So I decided to make my own version with as much stuff as I had on hand as possible. I did buy paint (Apple Barrel "Burgundy" and Jo-Ann Craft Essentials "Spanish Olive") chipboard numbers and a few boxes, but otherwise I was able to use up a lot of my craft supplies.

First I painted my boxes. I debated on whether or not to paint some of the boxes a chocolate brown, but laziness won out in the end and I just left them their normal kraft color. I really like them though. The numbers were probably the hardest part. It's really hard to find stickers or chipboard that is all numbers, and I didn't want to have to buy 10+ sets of alphabet stickers (Need lots of 1's and 2's!). I finally found a set of chipboard numbers fro Colorbok, although all of the fonts were different and random, I decided I'd work with it. I painted them white and then I also used some white Foam Thickers from American Crafts, some stencils and a few were hand numbered by yours truly :)

Another challenge? Attaching them to the wall. Because I'm not living in my own house at the moment, I decided that I didn't really want to put dozens of holes in the walls. So instead I bought a sheet of 1/2" foam core, cut it down to a manageable size and attached the boxes to it with thumbtacks. And no, my thumbtacks don't match; and yes, it is bugging me, but with the lids all on I'll be fine :) I wasn't about to buy a bunch of thumbtacks that I didn't need. I'd much rather use that little bit of money for crafty things! So now I'm debating whether or not to attach the foam core to the wall with foam poster tape or just setting it on one of my painting easels. We'll see...

I filled each box with a note for an activity for my little girl. There were things such as:

Driving around to look at Christmas lights
Picking out a tree
Playing a game
Watching a Christmas movie
Making gingerbread houses
Singing Christmas songs
Helping me make a treat, etc.

I also put a chocolate Kiss or other candy or a small gift (princess stickers and lip balm in the three biggest boxes that look empty). So there you have it...my first Christmas craft!

A Couple of Photos

2009-11-16T23:47:00.000-08:00

I swore to myself that I would stop neglecting my blog. That lasted all of two posts. {Sigh} I have lots that I want to post, but not a lot of time at the moment to devote to it. I recently spent about 4 days at my parents' house crafting with my mom and taking lots of photos. Most of the crafty stuff was Christmas gifts, so I'll have to wait to post those projects, but I have a few others to post in the next week or so. Here are a couple of my very favorite photos that I took while I was there (the second one is of my little sister):

Gotta love that bokeh!

Crocheted Capelet

2009-10-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

I have been working on crafty projects non-stop for the last couple of weeks. I finished these at the beginning of that spurt. I saw the pattern for this cute little sweater and decided that even though I am not very good at following patterns, this one was simple enough that even I could do it. Sure enough, each of these took me about 3 hours to finish. My little girl picked out the blue and I also wanted to make a purple one to match some other things that she has. SO EASY!

And here it is on my little model, as she's dancing away

Blog Neglect...and a Cute Sewing Project

2009-10-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

For a while I lost all will and desire to do anything even vaguely creative. All of my creative energy and time was being spent reading ridiculous amounts of history texts and writing long papers on those. Now that I am finally finished with school (until I decide I'm bored and go back) and have had a few months to catch up, I've been immersing myself in new projects. Hopefully this means that I will stop neglecting this little blog of mine.

Many of these are to get a jump on Christmas gifts, so I won't share them yet, but some are just for fun. A few weeks ago I saw the cutest dishtowels in the $1 bins at Target (well, the $2.50 bins) and decided that I ought to try to make a Halloween dress for my almost 3 year old little girl.

Pictures aren't great--

but I think it turned out kind of cute, especially because I spent a total of $2.50 on it. (I had the ribbon left over from a previous project, so no need to buy more!)

T.O.P. July Monthly Special--Fragmentary Portraiture

2009-07-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, I waited til the last day of the month--but at least I'm still within it this time! Here is the link to the Take Out Photo July Monthly Special.

I know this picture focuses more on the candy, but I do love that she was holding onto it for dear life. She is such a candy fiend, but rarely has any at home. Have to love parades in July! I think she was afraid it was going to get taken away. I think it qualifies as "things directly attached."

I love the little dimple in her elbow...it's one of my favorite things.

Take Out Photo May Monthly Special

2009-06-24T21:41:00.001-07:00

I'm a little slow--I've been meaning to post this for a while. I took these for the May Monthly Special at Take Out Photo. The assignment was "Color."

I know this isn't very colorful; I tried converting it to black and white, but it looked so much better with the little bit of color that it has.

Callie's Bridals

2009-04-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

My beautiful sister-in-law Callie got married last weekend, so a few weeks ago I took some bridals of her. It was my first time doing bridals, but I think they turned out pretty good. These are just a few of my favorites, but I may have to post some more later. Thanks for letting me experiment with your pictures, Callie!

We were just about finished when it began to rain so Callie ran across the street and down the block and waited under here until we came to let her in her mom's building. My little girl loved that she got to hold a flower and hang out with Callie all day!

Little Fingers

2009-03-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

Life's been a little crazy lately and I have lots of stuff to post, but very little time with which I can post, but here's a little photo that I like. It was taken while frosting Valentine's Day cookies (yes, I realize that was over a month ago) and although it's not the greatest picture, it does showcase one of my favorite things:

Proof that my 2 year old, the one who won't finger paint because she hates to get her hands dirty, really does, occasionally, feel that something is worth getting her cute little fingers dirty over.

Take Out Photo Monthly Special--#2

2009-01-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Take Out Photo January Monthly Special

2009-01-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

I like this picture of my little brother and I especially like that his

breath in the cold air is just faintly visible.

Kristin & Tyler

2008-12-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

This little girl is the most photogenic baby ever! I took their family pictures last week. Her momma is my husband's cousin and is just as photogenic with a gorgeous smile. So not fair!

On this one I used the Vintage action from The Pioneer Woman. She has a couple of sets of free actions that are really fun, and some more practical ones but I had never used this one for anything. It never seemed quite right for anything else, but I kind of like it for this shot.

My new favorite...

2008-12-12T00:30:00.000-08:00

More Shawn & Nadia

2008-11-22T23:12:00.000-08:00

So, I had never tried this texture business, and I'm still not sure how much I like the edits on the shot above, but it was a fun experiment. What do you think?

I love this picture, even though the lighting was really awful and all that--his expression is priceless. Good thing this was the last shot I took!

Shawn & Nadia

2008-11-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Nadia asked me a few weeks ago if I would take some family pictures for her little family. I haven't had time to edit all of them, but here are two of my favorites that I couldn't wait to edit. Isn't their little guy cute!?

Family Pictures

2008-10-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we took some family pictures with my husband's dad & sisters. This is my favorite picture of my cute niece. She was so sad. I love the tear on her cheek.

By beautiful sisters-in-law

Cousins & Tutus

2008-10-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my sister-in-law was in town with her two little girls. We don't get to see them very often so we decided to take some family pictures. We wanted to take a bunch of the girls together, and their Auntie Callie made some great tutus for all of them. So here are my favorite, even though it was very hard to narrow down. It's way easier to get good shots of a 7 month old than 2 rambunctious 2 year olds!

Sister-ly love...

My husband stuck a smartie in his niece's mouth for comic effect, but I don't think her momma was very happy with him!

The two older girls somehow conned grandpa into playing "Ring-around the Rosies" with them. I think that all three of them have him wrapped around their little fingers.

Take Out Photo Monthly Special- October

2008-10-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt at the "Monthly Special" from Take Out Photo. This was a fun one and I learned a great new technique that I'm sure I'll use again and again. It's amazing that even though I took a couple of digital imaging classes that were all about Photoshop as an art major, I still learn new things almost every week. These are some pictures that we took a couple of weeks ago of my daughter and my 2 cute nieces that were visiting for a week. It was awesome to have them hang out with us for a little while.

Callie & Rayson

2008-10-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

This is Jerry's beautiful sister Callie and her fiance Rayson. I took their engagement pictures a few weeks ago. These are some of my favorite.

Mark

2008-09-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

This is my little brother Mark. Everyone says we're exactly alike. I used to think that was a real insult, but he'd definitely getting more tolerable! Haha... He is going to be a senior this year, so my mom has been asking me to take some senior pictures of him. This was my first attempt at doing anything like this, and I definitely learned a lot. I got some good shots, but my biggest problem was that Mark procrastinated moving the water lines until the very last possible minute, and I had to wait for him to finish and then shower and get dressed before we could do pictures, so the light was getting kind of iffy.

Thanks, Mark, for being my guinea pig! We'll probably do this again so we can get some better shots. ANYWAY--if anyone reads this, I'd like to know what you think and I would also like to know if anyone has some great ideas of a spot to take some pictures in the Salt Lake/Provo areas. If you have any ideas, please, please...let me know!

**I don't know quite what the deal is, but they're showing up a little grainy and weird when I uploaded them today, maybe its just my computer, but they seem weird...

Color Challenge

2008-08-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't done any of Kristina Werner's color challenges for a very long time. I have hardly scrapbooked all summer long, mostly because I've been using my creative time with Photoshop, instead of with paper. Anyway, I needed a card for a bridal shower the other day and this challenge last week really caught my eye, so I decided to give it a try. Anyway, I haven't quite decided if I like it or not, but I do really like the colors.

Patterned Paper- Doodlebug, Inc.; Ribbon- Wal-Mart; Black Cardstock- Pebbles in my Pocket; Brads- JoAnn's Scrap Essentials; Versamarker; Embossing Powder- Stamp N Stuff- Detail White.

A few mini-cards

2008-08-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

I made these a few months ago when we had lots of friends having babies and I needed some little cards to go with their gifts. If anyone knows how to tie a perfect bow, I would love to know that secret because my bows look a little crazy (see top picture).

Ranch Pictures

2008-08-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago when I went to visit my parents. They live on a small cattle ranch in Colorado. I think it is a beautiful place, especially when there is actually enough water to keep the fields this green.

My new favorite photo...

2008-07-24T00:46:00.000-07:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this shot of A. I love her eyes and I love the little bit of something(?) on her face. If you can't see it in this little image, click on it to see it bigger.

(This is showing up a little fuzzy and dark on my screen for some reason. Anybody else??)

Take Out Photo Monthly Special- July

2008-07-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

I took these for the Take Out Photo monthly special. The challenge was to photograph architectural details. I took quite a few shots, but these two were some of my favorites.

More Photos

2008-07-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite picture of A. This is the shot, un-retouched. It turned out really well without any editing. I love my new camera! It just came on Monday, so these are some of my first shots with it. My only issue with is so far is that it tends to over saturate some of my photos, especially any pinks or reds. I would much rather it be slightly over saturated than under saturated though. Now I can't wait til I can afford a few more lenses!

This is after I played with it a little in Photoshop using actions from Pioneer Woman. She has a set of free actions that, for the most part, I absolutely love. I love them even more because they are FREE!

This is A's cousin. Isn't she pretty? She's always happy and smiling. Although I hate to use a flash because I love natural light, this one is so much better than my last camera. It still leave a little bit of a glare though.

Oh, how I love this girl's eyes! I desaturated everything else just a little bit so that her eyes pop a little bit more. I also love her crazy hair in this picture. It's getting so long and some days she really hates getting it done. Not to mention that I can't stand to put it up when her curls in the are showing. I was hoping she'd have a little more curl, but she only has a little bit in the back.

I love, love, love this one. A was telling me that the light was bright. She always has to say "oooh, bwight!" and cover her eyes whenever we go out in the sun, or a light is particularly bright.

Flower Photos

2008-06-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Flowers in the backyard. I took these pictures last week on my point & shoot Fuji. They turned out pretty well I think.

A few scrapbook pages...

2008-06-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

These pictures aren't that great because of lighting issues, but here are a few pages that I did at our last family scrapbook night. I'm surprised that I even got this much done!

Take Out Photo Monthly Special

2008-06-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I accidentally stumbled upon THIS blog. I can't remember how I came across it, probably looking for photography stuff or Photoshop stuff. Those seem to be the two things that eat up all of my time online lately. Anyway, there was a grid challenge on it that looked like fun. I have done a few grids before but he had a couple of tips that were new to me that were very helpful. I have to admit I am a sucker for things with order (way more so than most people) so a grid format is something I do quite a bit. I didn't do anything too creative with them this time, I've done more creative ones in the past, but I like the way they both turned out.

On this one I used pictures that my sister-in-law took of her baby. I changed her name to be on the safe side. I really like the way this one turned out, but how could it not with such a pretty baby?

SO Excited!

2008-06-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting a digital SLR camera for over a year now. I had been saving my money to get one, but with moving and trying to sell our house I didn't feel like I could justify spending the money on one. But finally, after hours and hours of research, (and generous birthday money!) I bought one! It is a Nikon D60. I am SOOOO excited. I ordered it online after looking at it in a couple of stores and I got a killer deal on it. Now I just have to wait patiently for it to get here. My husband was getting so sick of me trying to justify it that he told me to just buy it so that he didn't have to hear about it anymore. I love the point and shoot camera that I have (a Fuji A900--it's a really great camera if anyone is looking), but I really wanted something that I had a little more control over and something with more versatility. Hopefully it comes soon!!!

A couple of photos

2008-06-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

My baby girl has the most incredible bright blue eyes. This photo really brought them out to begin with and then I used Photoshop to desaturate the rest of the photo, so that her eyes really stood out. I didn't have to do a whole lot to her eyes to make them stand out. Aren't they gorgeous? They melt her daddy every day. No wonder he love to feed her chocolate!

I don't have a great camera (as you can tell!), though I definitely have one on my wish list. I am definitely a Photoshop junkie, as my husband will tell you, and always looking for new techniques. I am still not great at using it but I have loved Photoshop ever since I took my first graphic design class in college a few years ago.

More Dishcloths

2008-06-04T15:27:00.001-07:00

Once again, the one that I used a pattern on is the one that I like the least. I am getting a lot faster at making them though. I am a pretty slow crocheter most of the time, the green one I did in about 45 minutes, which is way, way faster than usual.

Simple Congratulations Card

2008-05-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

I think that this card took me less than 10 minutes. All I did was cut out the card, cut the patterned paper and the two brown strips, put the congratulations rub-on on and tie the ribbon. I think that it turned out pretty good for such a simple card. The thing that took me the most time was deciding which ribbon to use!

Card measures 6" x4.25".

White Cardstock-Paperbilities; Brown cardstock- DCWV; Patterned paper & rub-on- Pebbles, Inc.; Ribbon-Michael's

K Werner Color Challenge #9

2008-05-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

Yep, another Kristina Werner color challenge. Love them! Wasn't so sure about these colors though. It made me want my Prismacolor pencils (which are currently packed away in a box somewhere!). Anyway--Here is my card--

I am not into Stampin' Up, although I may have to buy a few sets soon because they are so cute, so all of my colors are just my approximations of their Stampin' Up equivalents.

Yellow & Red Cardstock--Unknown; Turquoise, Orange & White--Pebbles; Olive paper--DCWV; Precision Pen size 01--American Crafts; Red colored pencil--EK Success; Versamark Ink; Embossing Powder--Iridescent Sparkle, JoAnn's.

I also made a second card. Click HERE or scroll down if you are interested!

K Werner Color Challenge #9 Take 2

2008-05-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

So you know that I can't make just one card for a color challenge! Here is my other card. I like it, but not quite as much.

Red & yellow cardstock--??; Green patterned paper--DCWV; Turquoise paper--Pebbles; Flower--JoAnn's; Ribbon--Michael's; Rub-on--??

My First Digital Layout!

2008-05-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

So here is my first digital layout. I was a little hesitant to start doing any digital scrapbooking because it seems more like work to me, sitting on a computer. Anyway I decided to take the plunge because I have been trying to talk my mom into starting to do it for quite a while. So, mom, if you are reading this, you should start doing it. I know you would like it a lot more than traditional scrapbooking. The best thing about it is the "delete" key! Jerry's aunt & grandma & cousins have a monthly scrapbook night and at the last one I kept thinking to myself that I wished there was a delete key for that. I think that I had been doing a lot with photoshop in the days leading up to that night and I had Photoshop on the brain. Anyway, this was fun, but it definitely won't take the place of my gigantic paper stash! It'll just add to my ever-growing list of hobbies!

Annoyance!

2008-05-12T15:41:00.001-07:00

Anybody else having troubles with their "Add" button showing up on their page elements page? So annoyed. Kind of hard to add things to my sidebar when it doesn't show up.

K Werner Color Challenge #8

2008-05-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

Here's another K Werner Color Challenge. I love the clean, crispness of this combo. I just realized that it is May and I was in serious need of some cards for graduation and this color combo seems to fit well with that theme. So here's my entry--

On this card I used paper covered chipboard flowers and then I embossed them with a translucent, glittery embossing powder. I love the effect, although it doesn't show up very well in the photo. I love the "congratulations" rub-on too.

And here is another one that I made. I actually made the bottom one first, but didn't like it as much as the top card, so it's just extra...

This patterned "congratulations" paper fit so perfectly with this card. This is one of those cards that I had no idea what I wanted the card to look like until it was almost finished. For going into it blindly, I actually really like it. The other card was much more planned and was based on a sketch I had drawn a few weeks ago, but it didn't turn out quite the way I had planned.

(I'll post the "Ingredients" a little later...I don't have time right now.)

K Werner Color Challenge #7

2008-05-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

I love these colors! In fact, they are similar to the colors of my bedding. I didn't have a blue quite as soft as the one in the inspiration photo, but I think that this works. (Click on the image above to go to her blog.)

Very simple, but I like it.

Gift Stamp & Make a Wish Stamp- Studio G; Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon-Michael's; Turquoise Colored Pencil- EK Success Memory Pencil; Brown Brads- JoAnn's; VersaMark Ink; Cocoa Ink- ColorBox; White Embossing Powder- Stamp'n Stuff; Brown & White Cardstock-??.

More Color Challenge #7

2008-05-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

So, I went a little crazy with the K Werner Color Challenge this week. Anyway, here are a few more cards that I made based on her challenge.

The Book Thief

2008-04-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have been reading like crazy this week and have read 3 books within a week, one of them being The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This is an awesome book. I was a little lost in the first couple of chapters, and had to re-read them, but after that it was great. It is very cleverly written and the choice of narrator is one of my favorite things about it. I think that it is the first book that has ever made me cry. It is a very moving book. Definitely a little different from the other 2 that I read this week, one being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (good, but LONG), and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (also pretty good, especially funny to me was the part when they go through Utah on the railroads and meet the Mormon Elder. Cracked me up.) Next on the list is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. I have a long car trip tomorrow so I may have that one finished sometime this weekend, if I can get my husband to drive!

Color Challenge #6

2008-04-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time with these colors. Still kind of hate them together. I went super simple with this card and I think that it took me all of 5-10 minutes. Probably because as I said before, I am not a fan of the colors together, ESPECIALLY that grayish color with the yellow. But I do have to say that I absolutely love my new heat gun for all of the embossing that I do! (I don't think that you can even tell in the photo that the "Thank You" is stamped in Brown and then embossed with sparkly embossing powder). Anyway, no more holding my papers over the stove! Yea!

Cardstock and "Thank You" stamp is all stuff that I have had on hand forever; Flower - JoAnn's; Embossing Powder- JoAnn's; Button- Favorite Findings.

KWerner Color Challenge #5

2008-04-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Here's my card for Color Inspiration Challenge #5 from K Werner Design. Not my favorite combo, but definitely a fun challenge. I have been wanting to use the blue ribbon for a long time. It was a random spool that I found in the bottom of a clearance bin at Wal-Mart. I've had it forever, but this is the first time that I have used it on a card. (I know the picture is not the best quality & the colors are a little off, but hey, that's what you get in the middle of the night!)

Yellow & Brown Cardstock- Couldn't tell ya!; Green patterned paper- Target $1 Bin; Thank You Stamp- Studio G; Embossing Powder- JoAnn's; Cocoa Ink- ColorBox

Flower Card

2008-04-24T00:59:00.000-07:00

I love this flower stamp and have been looking for a way to use it for quite a while. The color in the photo isn't great, but I love the plum colored cardstock. I am definitely going to have to get some more of that color!

Blue & White Cardstock - ?; Flower Stamp - Autumn Leaves; White Embossing Powder - Stamp'n Stuff; VersaMark Ink; Plum Cardstock -Bazzill; Ribbon- Sweet Treat Ribbon from Michael's

Happily Ever After Card

2008-04-18T23:19:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt at making a circle card. Slightly frustrating! I had a hard time getting it right as far as the fold and just the structural things go. Anyway, after a couple of tries I finally figured out the best way to do it. I love the colors on this one. Oh yeah...I finally bought a heat gun so when I emboss I don't have to hold my paper over the coils on the stove. Hooray! It made the whole embossing thing so much easier!

I'm still thinking on this card that it needs a little bit of white to break up the dark blue. I don't know, maybe polka dots or a stripe or something? What do you think?

Crocheted Dishcloths

2008-04-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

I had been looking for a new project this week and thought that I'd like to crochet an afghan. I didn't want to start one though, because I have one halfway done that is packed away right now due to our move. Then I found out that a cousin's fiancee was having a bridal shower so I decided to crochet some dishcloths to go with her gift. Now I am DEFINITELY not the best crochet-er, and I hate to follow crochet patterns. I did one of them following a pattern and it is my least favorite. It turned out really small, (probably because I crochet very tightly!) and I think the other two that I did my own patterns on turned out much better. I think that they all turned out pretty well considering my remedial crocheting skills. I especially love the colors.

Color Challenge #4

2008-04-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

This is the latest color inspiration challenge from Kristina Werner. I would kill to be sitting lying on that couch right now with a fantastic book! Oh-well...maybe someday! Anyway, these are all colors that I love so my biggest challenges were the time crunch and the fact that I was trying to make a thank you card suitable for a girl or a guy. I made this card in about 15 minutes, which is pretty speedy by my standards.

Teal, Brown and Cream cardstock: Pebbles in my Pocket; Green patterned paper: Chatterbox; cream brads: JoAnn's; Thank you Stamp: Studio G; Turquoise Ribbon: Michael's; VersaMark ink; White Embossing Powder: Stamp-n Stuff.

Neat Photos from Colorado/Southern Utah Trip

2008-04-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

This old cedar tree totally fascinated me. I love the top picture because I love the contrast of the bright blue sky and the good old red dirt of southern Utah. I like the edited version below too.

Same tree, different angle

One of my very favorite mountains anywhere.

Color Challenges 1, 2 & 3

2008-04-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

Color Challenge #1 from kwernerdesign.com

Color Challenge #2

Color Challenge #3

New Blog

2008-04-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

So...I decided that maybe not everyone that views our family blog wanted to see my cards and other miscellaneous stuff on our family blog, so I decided to make a second blog dedicated completely to my various creative adventures. So here it is...We'll see how it goes...