Jillibean Soup: Projects

March was my last month on the Jillibean Soup team. I've had a great year with them. It's such a great group of people! Jill, Kimber, Jen, and Laina are all so sweet and caring! I can't wait to see them again at the next CHA.

I thought I'd share my Jillibean projects from the past few months.

I will miss working with their products on a regular basis. Actually, so much so that I've already ordered some from an online store!

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Weekends in Photos: So Random!

I didn't take a lot photos this weekend. That's because I spent most of it in bed. Pretty much all day Saturday. Reading, napping, reading, napping. It does the body and soul good! So on Sunday, I forced myself out of bed, and we took the kids to grab some dim sum in the San Gabriel Valley. For you non-SoCal folks, it's an area in LA with amazing Asian restaurants. Did I say amazing? Yeah. I don't eat Chinese or Vietnamese food outside of that area. Really.

I had to bribe the kids with boba to get them to not do Calvin faces for this shot.

Later on, the little and I headed out to take some practice shots. I've been trying forever to take good panning photos, and it's a real hit or miss. A good friend of mine, who's race car photographer, was kind enough to explain it to me. It sounded simple enough... But it's not. So I did more googling, and found this article. The author suggests to practice by swinging a kid and turning with the kid. Well, my smallest kid is NOT small, so swinging him was out. But I did get him to hold my free hand, and we spun together, resulting in this photo, which I love! I love how his hair is taking flight, how happy he looks, how the background is swirling around him. Love this frozen moment of happiness. I need more practice.

We also have a new family member: Billy, the pacman frog. He's not the cutest critter around, but I'm beginning to warm up to him. I tried to pet him today. He tried to bite my finger. I guess we are not friends yet.

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More Cards! Lily Bee!

Happy Friday! This is the week of cards! I'm actually going to send some out, because what fun is making cards if they are not used? Never mind I really dislike going to the post office...

These first two cards were made using a Silhouette. I created the chevrons using the accompanying program, and it was pretty darn easy. Backed them up with some patterned paper, used some letter stickers, and presto: two cards made.

patterned paper: Lily Bee Design Double Dutch 6x6 Tiny Tablet

patterned paper: Lily Bee Design Buttercup 6x6 Tiny Tablet / stickers: Buttercup ABC Cardstock

This other one took a little more work, but I really love how it turned out. Bright colors with a nice deep navy patterned background. I think I'm going to make them in various color schemes with various sentiments. The banner is actually a stamp from the Double Dutch set. Love it!

clear stamps: Memorandum, Buttercup, Double Dutch / ink: Colorbox Picante, Citrine, Razzberry, Blue Jean ; Jenni Bowlin Lemon Drops

Hey, thanks for dropping by. Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

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Technique Tuesday: Cards

I feel a little weird posting Technique Tuesday projects on a Thursday. Maybe I should save them for Tuesdays? (Who cares... you mutter under your breath.)

Well, it's Thursday and here are a few cards I made with their fab stamps.

featuring Petite Posies mini set / ink: ColorBox Pigment ink in Berry, Jenni Bowlin in Lemon Drops, and some unlabeled blue ink / thread: DMC

featuring Hearts by Ali Edwards set / ink: ColorBox Pigment ink in Scarlet, Stampin' Up Classic Ink in Going Grey / thread: Gütermann

My go-to technique is hand-stitching. Usually I draw a picture or use a computer font as a guide for my stitching. But I'm loving using stamps for that. So easy. Love how it adds more texture into an otherwise flat stamped image.

Thanks for dropping by today!

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Lawn Fawn: Cards

Lawn Fawn has been debuting their new March stamps on the blog, and giving away big prizes. (So don't forget to go by and leave a comment for several chance to win.)
Here are two of my contributions to the party!

featuring Grand Greetings set / patterned paper: Lawn Fawn Petite Paper Pack / ink: Versafine in Onyx Black (my favorite black ink pad!) / punch : Martha Stewart Crafts Heart border punch

featuring Flying By set  and Love N Breakfast set / ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black / markers: Letraset ProMarker (my favorite markers) - it was featured by the cute folks from Moxie Fab!

For the hearts card, I used Martha Stewart Crafts' heart border punch. It punches a few different sizes at the same time. Very handy! Some of the hearts are just glued directly onto the card, and some have pop up dots behind them. For the paper airplane card, I cut the sentiment from Flying By apart and added the "I love you" from the Love N Breakfast. The little heart is also from the breakfast set. Cut the airplanes out, and popped them up. Easy peasy!

Thanks for coming by! See you again soon.

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Lawn Fawn Bright Side

As you probably already know, Lawn Fawn introduced its first patterned paper line this past CHA. Bright, sweet colors, and cute flowery patterns. Plus the most perfect patterned kraft papers. It's real kraft (not just printed to look like one), and it's the perfect color: not too bright, not too dark. There are also letter stickers in a 12x12 sheet with four sets of alphas on it, 3 small and one big. A 6x6 pad of paper, and hemp cord! You can take a closer look (and order) your own stash here.

Here's a layout I created recently with the new goods:

I just got a Silhouette, so I had to use it on this layout! I cut out the words first, then stamped around it using a polaroid stamp. Backed the words with bits of the Petite Paper Pack. Added the photo, and adhered to the page with pop up dots. The border around the journaling is from a new set called You've Got Mail. See that background kraft paper? Zig zags! LOVE!

There's lots more Bright Side inspiration on the Lawn Fawn blog today. Plus giveaways! So go by and leave a comment to win some yummy stuff.

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Happy Friday!

Love Fridays.

Okay, so I took this photo yesterday as the sun was setting, therefore it was Thursday. But it's really cloudy and gross today. (See that dome on the right? Rodeo Drive. Nope, I don't shop there.)

What's going on around these parts:

Lily Bee has a new team! Congrats new and returning designers! 

I guest blogged at a couple spots these past two weeks.

Technique Tuesday: a vacation mini-album.

Creating Keepsakes: how to line up those letter stickers.

And don't forget to enter my CK March/April issue giveaway. Just a few hours left.

Hope you have a great weekend! I have one plan for this weekend: camp out at Din Tai Fung so I can get a table, because damnit, I will eat some xiao long bao before Monday!

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March/April CK Giveaway

WINNER!

Congrats, Val! I've sent you an email. :)


Happy Monday! And Happy (almost) Spring!

The Creating Keepsakes March/April issue is out, and I have a copy to giveaway!

Here's one of my projects in this issue. (Click on it to get a bigger peek.)

As seen in the March/April 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Copyright Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

I'm not usually a mini-album person, but every so often I create one, and I always love the end result. Which makes me wonder why I'm not a mini-album person? This one celebrates each person in my family as a baby. It lists each of our birthdays, and something in history that happened that day. Plus the birthdays of someone else famous. The fun thing for me was to see our baby photos side-by-side, and seeing how much my kids look like me. My husband always says they are copies of me. Ha! So true.

Onto the giveaway!

Please leave me a comment here before Friday, March 23 (midnight EDT), and I'll randomly pick one person to win this super cute issue! Please leave me your email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner.

Here are more chances to win! Check out these other blogs:
Scrapbook Society
Mou Saha
Cindy Tobey
Laina Lamb
Patty Cieri


Thanks for dropping by!

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Cards: Lawn Fawn and Jillibean Soup

I am a super slow scrapbooker, but I'm even slower when making cards. Without photos and journaling, I get a bit lost, and over think more than my usual. So one of my goals this year is to have fun making cards. Just going for it. Wish me luck!

These first two are Jillibean Soup. The new lines are so cute. And while the globe stamp is not new, it's fab. You can find it here.

And this one is Lawn Fawn. Have I mentioned how much I love those zig zag stamps? Yeah, I've only used it a million times since I got it. And I'm not sorry!

No need to be jealous, you can get your own set here. Have a happy Monday!

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Weekend In Photos: Hollywood Reservoir

I've been making a list of places here in Los Angeles that I want to explore. This Saturday, we had a nice brunch at King's Road cafe. And after our tummies were filled with pancakes, french toast, bacon, and soy latte, we headed to the Hollywood Reservoir.

Can't go wrong with bacon.

It's in between the 101 Fwy and Griffith Park. It was built in the 1920s, and once you are up there, you can barely tell you are in the city.

We drove until the end of the road, got out, and it didn't look like much. But after you walk past the chain link fence, you are welcomed with the best view of the Hollywood sign in the entire city. Ever!

Photos taken with my iPhone.

There's not much to do up there other than look at the sign, and look towards the westside of the city. But it's so calm and quiet and pretty.

That first cluster of buildings is Hollywood.

It's so far up (in LA-speak) that we could see Topanga Canyon.

The dam has since been reinforced on the inside (to make sure it won't ever leak into the neighborhoods below.) On the side of the structure, there are bear head gargoyles. Love the details!

Totally coming back here again. With a real camera next time! (And sunscreen.)

Someone had a real sense of humor when adding this control plate. Why not take the mundane and turn it into something happy.

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