Editing & Printing Tips

Here is my new favorite web find to help with scrapbooking. You will love it too, and MUST try it out! Picasa is a photo editing program that allows you to do all kinds of wonderful things to edit your photos, including fixing blemishes like the piece of food on Savannah's cheek shown below in the "before" images. Here are some of my first "edits" and a preview of Savannah's 3rd b-day photos. I tried to show a variety of things like cropping, b/w or sepia, sharpening/softening, color & contrast, etc. Thanks also to my friend Nicholai for helping take the pictures with me and telling me I HAD to get on Picasa. I finally listened.

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Once I have my photos edited, I prefer to order the prints through online photo centers like Walgreens or Wal-mart (you pick one that works for you). These are so great because I don't have to keep two children happy in a cart for 30 minutes while I try to go through my pictures on a machine in the middle of the store & try to figure out what I want. It's not fun, I promise. In addition to the convenience, it's also much cheaper to have the store mail them directly to your home. And, you can keep your photos organized in your secure account for free. So, what happens if your computer gets a virus, or dies, or whatever? You have a backup of every photo you've taken. It's also easy to email an "album" to friends or family so they have access to print them. So, get to work on your photos!

3 in 1 project

I made this fun project at my upline Deborah's meeting last month. Super cute, and it incorporates several simple techniques and materials. The bag holds a couple cards and the beaded pen as shown in the first picture. I was supposed to post this earlier but I forgot about it. Oops.

Blowing Bubbles

Wednesday morning in the mad rush of trying to get everything done that I needed to, Savannah kept pestering me to blow bubbles with her. I was busy though and kept saying "Not now." She eventually wore me down though, and I gave in and blew bubbles for her & Caleb. They both love watching the bubbles floating around and Savannah, of course, loves to chase and pop them. She was particularly determined to pop a bubble that was floating up higher and higher where she couldn't reach it. She became quite upset, but I pointed out to her that because she was so worried about reaching that bubble, she was missing out on all the other bubbles I was blowing. As soon as I said the words, I realized that my advice was meant for me. I am often so busy with some "bubble" or another, that I don't even see opportunities to play with my children and have meaningful experiences with them. So, here's to taking time to stop & blow the bubbles...and to journal about all the great memories. Did I mention how hard it is to take a good picture while blowing the bubbles?

Folded Basket

I love this beautiful pattern for a basket/box. It's easy and fun. I made this sample using a 12x12 sheet of navy cardstock and double sided decorative paper "Maine Blueberry" from Stampin' Up! and was tied with artichoke grosgrain ribbon. It can be made with any colors or in any square size. Now I just need to decide what to put in it! If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Deborah's Color Challenge

My upline with Stampin' Up! is doing a card color challenge every month. She posts a picture and lists the names of the colors. It's a fun way to challenge your mind to work with color combinations and see how you can get inspiration from things in the world around you. Here is my card for the month!

Cute Quotes

I was recently asked what some of the cute things are that Savannah says. Off the top of my head, I couldn't think of much, but I think it is just because half my brain cells have been fried by the above mentioned child. So, I've made a point lately to pay attention to her and try to remember what she says. I forget everything if I don't write it down immediately, so this is a shorter list than I intended, but I'm sure there will be more to come. I'll just have to write them down! I have a friend who carries a pocket sized notebook with sections for each child to document special memories in at all times. I'm not that good yet, but maybe I'll get there someday before my children are out of the house.



S: "Mom, the movie just said 'Enjoy the show,' and I said 'Okay. I will.' "




S: "Look Mama! It's Bryce."
R: "Who is Bryce?"
S: "Bryce is Daddy! But sometimes he is Daddio!"




S: "Will you go on a safari with me, Mom?"
R: "A real safari or a pretend one?"
S: "A real one."
R: "Real safaris are in Africa and that's far, far away."
S: "But you can drive us there!"


S: "It's you, Mom, in a white dress! And were you going to be married with a prince?"


B: "Do you get good grades at school, Savannah?"
S: "I don't get good grades! I get lunch!"


S: "Can I eat the spider's head?" (Referring to a tootsie pop we turned into a spider with pipe cleaner and googly eyes. She was really cute until she had a temper tantrum when I told her she had to wait until we got home to eat it!)


S: "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for this day. Grateful for my family. I know the church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Coordinated Scrapbook Paper

This is a really easy way to make your own background paper to be used in scrapbooking. Just stamp images in your chosen design & decorate as needed. When stamping backgrounds, the trick I've been taught is to stamp in a triangle pattern. I colored in these images with blender pens. I've made several designs this way, but this is the only one that I've put together to show you how you can use one 12 x 12 piece to create several coordinated pages. Just cut it up into several different shapes/sizes and mix with solids of the colors you want.

More Christmas Crunch Project Pictures

See my post on My Christmas Crunch Class for more details. Here are just a few more items to choose from.

Circle Ornaments

3 x 6 Simply Scrappin Kit Christmas Cards

Mini Gift Bag

Halloween Treats

So Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, although I do love pumpkins and dressing up my kids in adorable costumes (although I have to give credit for the costumes to my sister Mona since I always borrow the ones she's used with her children). And, okay it's true--I have a weakness for free candy too. I've never bought any cute Halloween stamp sets though because most people (the normal ones) don't send out "Happy Halloween" cards and I rarely have Halloween parties. But, this year I caved and got a set just for fun. So, I had to make sure I used it! I made a quick example of an easy Halloween scrapbook layout, and some treat bag toppers for the Phantom goodies we'll be delivering to some neighbors tomorrow. Just a couple cute ideas. I hope you enjoy and have fun with your own Halloween activities.

Christmas Crunch Class

As a demonstrator with Stampin' Up!, my favorite thing is to do is classes. So, here is a little advertising for my first big class since I've had Caleb.

My Christmas Crunch Class will be on Saturday November 8th from 10:00 am-4:00 pm.


This is my favorite and most popular class. It will be an open house style to better accommodate your schedules, but put it on your calendar now so you don't forget or overbook! Come make Christmas cards, ornaments, and/or small gifts. I have posted pictures below of most of the items being offered. In addition to the pictures on this post, other "gift" projects you may choose from include the Stamped Tiles, a bag of Decorated Magnets, and Stacks of Cards (3x3 or 4 1/4 x 5 1/2) as shown in previous posts. I'll put up other pictures as I get them ready, so continue to check for updates.

Cards: 10 for $10.00, 20 for $17.50, 30 for $25.00
Ornaments: 10 for $5.00, 20 for $8.00, 30 for $12.00
Gifts: specific to each gift, so let me know what you're interested in for the cost

Please register for this class by October 29th. Specify what specific cards, ornaments, or gift projects you would like to make and the quantity of each so I can have all the materials prepared.

This is a popular class to invite friends or family to join, so feel free so share this information and an invitation for them to register for the class with you.

Contact me with any questions and to register! Thanks.




Season's Greetings Ornament Card


Snowflake Ornaments Card


Christmas Tree Card


Small Treat Holder Gift



Snowflake Flurry Ornaments


Let It Snow Card




Striped Ball Ornaments

Treasure Boxes

Fresh Cut

Stampin' Up! has an adorable stamp set and die-cut note cards. Here's just one example of an easy card you can make.

Savannah's scrapbook

I've been neglecting Savannah's scrapbook for a while now, but I knew this would happen. So, I planned to simplify hers once she hit two. Now I try to only do a 2 page layout each month. That way I'm not overwhelmed by the amount of work, but I still feel like I'm getting a good representation of how she's growing. The part I really need to work on is getting the Titles/Journaling onto the pages while I'm doing them.

I used some cute rub-ons to decorate these pages. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Decorated Magnets

This is another quick & easy project. Stamp an image & cut or punch it out. Glue it to the flat side of a polished stone. Glue a magnet to the back & hang your favorite pictures. It's better to use bright or bold ink & images.

Simply Sent Card Kit

For those who like to make cards without a lot of thought involved in the design, Stampin' Up! has some Simply Sent Card Kits that make the work easy. Here are a few cards made from one of these card kits that I will be featuring at an upcoming event. What's fun with these cards is that they include some chipboard--a fun accessory to add a little dimension to the cards.

Stamped Tiles

So, I've done a card post, a scrapbook post, and now here's my first 3-d project for you. These are some examples of stamping on tiles that I made last year. They can be displayed on a picture stand or hanged on the wall with a ribbon. To make, you stamp your images using SU! craft ink and cover ink with ultra thick embossing powder. If you mess up while stamping, just wipe off and start over. We melted the powder by baking them in the oven. Super easy & fun.

Caleb's Scrapbook

I'm not very far yet, but here are the first few pages of Caleb's scrapbook.

You'll notice that on most pages I try to include several photos. My scrapbooks generally tend to be about the pictures and the stories, not about the pages.

I've been told by several people to make sure you have duplicates of ultrasound pictures because they fade with time. I took pictures of mine so I can print off new copies if needed.

I like printing a few pictures in sepia or black & white periodically.

I like tying facing pages together with something to make them look related. You can use colors, papers, ribbons or other accessories, etc.

If you're wondering what the blank spots are for, it's the journaling! I haven't printed off my journaling for these pages yet but will add them later.