just a couple of layouts to share today…will be back with photos next week

Here’s another layout that didn’t make the final cut for my book Paper + Pixels: Scrapbook Layouts. It’s a pretty simple layout in terms of technique, but it takes advantage of transparencies (like the last layout did), except that these transparent sheets are self-adhesive, which really works well for frames and other digital elements. I especially like to print really fancy, flourish-y (how’s that for a new word?) frames onto these transparent sheets and then attach them to my layout. Then I just layer my photos over the top. It’s a quick and easy to shake up a fairly common look, and the detailed frames can really take on a more grungy distressed feel with this technique.

Also, here’s a quick layout share for you. This one was done for {we are} storytellers - I used the new collab by Emily Merritt and Designs by Lili, Once Upon a Dream:

If you haven’t grabbed the following, you’ll want to before the month is up!

The June kit at Songbird Avenue is still for sale — this month featured guest designer Vicki Stegall.

Make sure to grab the June issue of Digital Artist Magazine, featuring a great kit by guest designer Leora Sanford too.

Morning Glory and Rain or Shine are both available now at ScrapinstyleTV, so check them out!

Finally, there are a lot of fun new kits up at {we are} storytellers. Here’s a quick one I made with Amy and Angela’s Joy to the Fishes kit.

view credits here

Normally, my Top 10 Tuesdays are a little different, but since I need to really play catch-up on the old blogeroo today, a general “10 things that are going on right now” will definitely have to suffice.

1. All of my new digi goodies are officially up in the SIStv digi boutique. Plus, I should have some new stuff ready to go next week — at least, that’s the plan, man.

2. I’m super excited about this — deann and I have been able to pick up an OLD conversation and revive it, which is always interesting. I’m excited about teaching writing again. I’ve already posted a quick lesson on the blog — you can read more here. It’s a simple technique, but it’s one that gives you great results every time.

3. Speaking of {wst}, it’s Page Turner Tuesday. Make sure to check it out!

4. SISiversary was a blast. I was more than a little nervous about it — this was the first class or anything like that that I’ve ever taken, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Ashley Wren’s Evidence class was really cool, and Sarah Bowen had us making the coolest albums ever! Both girls were great teachers — patient, funny, and so very helpful, so a big kudos to them!

5. Cathy and Jayne deserve their own number! I didn’t get to hang out with Jayne for long, but she was just so sweet and real and funny and amazingly cool. And Cathy — wow. She’s just amazing. She’s very soft-spoken and really sweet and just incredibly talented. I’ve known Cathy online for quite some time now. I first came across her work when she applied for a guest spot with Paper Salon. I remember seeing her layouts about Sofi and just being blown away by her talent. Not long after that, I started dabbling in digital design and had a CT call, and Cathy applied. Of course, I put her on my team ASAP, and from there we’ve worked on a multitude of projects together. She’s definitely one to keep your eye on — she’s just going to go on to bigger and bigger things in the industry, of that I’m sure. She’s already hit the mark with a couple of great teams — can’t wait to see what’s next for her.

6. I got my proofs for my new paper line with Dream Street in the mail late last week. I’m really excited about this line and can’t wait to show some peeks. You’ll have to patient a while longer though…it’ll be another couple weeks at least. I’ve been thrilled with how well Birdie Bits has done.

7. I’ve decided to finally finish the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray. I’ve had the third book on my shelf for a while, but kept passing it by because I knew I needed to reread the first two, since it’s been so long. So I started A Great and Terrible Beauty last night. Hoping to get through the other two by the end of the week. (OT: I’ve set a goal of 200 books this year — I’m at 94 right now. I was hoping to get to 100 by the end of June, but it’s looking like I might be a few behind. I’ll have to play catchup over the next couple of months.)

8. Everything is put away in the new house, and we’re really enjoying it. Of course, we’re still working on all the little things. Cami still needs more hangers for her closet, and we’ve got some toys and such to still put away. The rooms all need curtains (they have mini-blinds — but since we didn’t have this many windows in the apartment, we’re facing a shortage of curtains right now). I’ve started hanging up little bits and pieces on the walls and really making things look the way I want. I just framed and hung this print (looks like I can only link to her main site — so I’ll take a photo and post it later) above one of the bookshelves. Love it.

9. Heading out for Memphis this weekend. We’ve got family coming in, so it’ll be nice to spend some time with them. Plus, we get to see Eric and Linda’s new house. Then Chris flies to Montana on Sunday — I think he’s excited about that as well.

10. Did some scrapping while I was at SISiversary. Thought I’d share here. I’ll post a link to the gallery for each one, so you can read the journaling easier.

Still Talking

Summer

Character Counts

Just a note: My digi goodies didn’t make it into the store this week. I jumped the gun and KA was totally swamped with SISiversary preparations, so look for them next week. I’ll make a big announcement to remind you, and if you check back early next week, you might find some fun freebies too, just to make up for the delay.

going to the fair, to see the senorita, with flowers in her hair….oh shake it shake it shake it, shake it all you can, shake it like a milkshake and drink it from a can…”

{OT:I love that little song. Cami’s class performed it for a music recital that her school (grades K-1) held — the entire recital revolved around playground rhymes and songs. It was so much fun to watch everything they’d learned. }

So anyway, we’re already in Kentucky, but yep, we headed to the fair last weekend. I’m accustomed to our county fair back home always being held the week before school starts, in August, so it’s weird to me to see the fair going on during the first week of June. The girls had a blast at the carnival, though — here are some fun pictures I grabbed. Enjoy — I’m heading out to Nashville for SISiversary 2008. It’s gonna be a blast!

Transparent items are still all the rage, both in paper and digital scrapbooking, and companies are finding ever-increasingly creative ways to use this versatile item in their products. But creating your own transparency is really easy, and you’d be amazed at how much punch a simple pattern printed onto a transparency can add to your layout.

(Forgive the glare — I didn’t take this in the best light, and it’s packed up right now in a box because we are moving soon.)

This is a layout I did of my sister while I was working on assignments for my book. I really loved the patterned paper by Urban Lily, and the frame was the perfect spot to place a photo. But it still seemed to be missing something. So I decided to print a large grid onto a transparency, erasing a portion for the main photo, and then layer that on top of the patterned paper. In order to get my colors to match, I just found an image of the patterned paper online, saved it and then opened it in Photoshop. I used the eyedropper tool to select the color and then applied a fill layer clipping mask to my grid. Then I enlarged the image of the patterned paper (it doesn’t matter if it gets really blurry or pixelated because of low resolution) to 12×12 and laid my grid image on top. Then I simply erased the section where the photo was going to be placed and deleted the image. I made sure to use a soft brush so that the edges weren’t crisp — it looks better if there’s more blending.

Lucky for me I have a wide-format printer. Several companies have transparencies that come in 12×12 sheets — some even come with adhesive already applied. It’s a really good idea to pay attention to the type of printer that you have so that you purchase the correct transparencies (some will only work with laser printers, while others will work just fine with inkjet printers) and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. I can’t stress that strongly enough, anytime you are working with printable mediums. It saves you a lot of time, money, and frustration — believe me.

Anyway, once I printed it and let it dry, I just layered it on top of my photo and patterned paper. Then I added another row of photos and some rhinestones. I applied butterfly rubons to some cardstock and layered those on top too, folding them to create dimension. They are actually placed on top of the butterfly images that are on the patterned paper.

I’d love to see your layouts using transparencies. Leave a comment and a link to your layouts and I’ll choose one and send you a copy of my book, Paper & Pixels: Scrapbook Layouts, chock full of hybrid techniques and exclusive digital kits.

I’ve got two great new kits going up at ScrapinstyleTV today; make sure you stop by and check them out. I’ve posted the previews below, and I’ve got a couple of layouts posted with them as well. Plus, I think Git R’ Done is going to be making a comeback to the Digi Boutique as well (fingers crossed!)

I like them a lot. In fact, I like them so much that it often creates storage problems in our house. Right now, we have five overflowing bookshelves in our house, plus three piles of books on the floor in various corners — AND the entire top shelf in our closet is full of books. Let’s not even discuss the fact that I’ve gotten rid of over half the books I used to own, and that I still have this many. (It may have something to do with the books on the shelves that I haven’t read yet, but I still can’t seem to stop buying. I’ve got a problem. I know.)

Anyway, I thought I’d link you up to 10 of my favorite books - just because.

1. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury — Bradbury is just an incredible writer. He LOVES what he does, and it really comes through. No one can capture the magic of childhood like Bradbury.

2. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger — This one blew me away when I read it. I’ve since read it four or five more times. I know that not everyone loves it, but to me, it’s one of the most amazing stories ever written.

3. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley — This is the book that did it. The first fantasy book that I ever read — bought it at a Scholastic book fair. I’ve read it every year since them. Love love love it.

4. Tam Lin by Pamela Dean — Love it for the fairy stuff but more than that, it just captures college. Totally and completely pulls me in to that world every single time. (I prefer the version with the Thomas Canty art on the cover, not that it matters — that’s not the one I linked up, btw.)

5. Last Call by Tim Powers — Holy wow. Smart stuff — I’m amazed at the number of disparate things that Powers can bring together. Plus, these “alternate history” books really get me juiced. So cool.

6. Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff — another great fantasy-type novel set on a college campus. This one is just incredible too. I didn’t want it to end, at all.

7. Possession by A.S. Byatt — One of those huge literary books that pulls in all kinds of amazing details. If only all books could be this layered, this detailed, this sweeping…

8. American Gods by Neil Gaiman — I love Neil Gaiman. I would marry him if I could. I don’t even think my husband would mind. He pulls me in right from the start and I don’t want to stop reading. This one’s a definite keeper.

9. The Riddle-master of Hed trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip — You just don’t find more beautiful prose. McKillip weaves these images together that just boggle the mind — sheer storytelling magic.

10. Someplace to be Flying by Charles de Lint — Stumbling across de Lint’s Newford novels was like finding a treasure chest. When people ask me about “urban fantasy,” this is the novel I hand to them.

One of the most distinctive noises that I can remember from my childhood is the patter of fresh green peas spilling out of the pod and into the large metal bowl balanced on my lap. There’s a metallic ring to the process, along with the slighter sounds that accompany the process: the snap of each end of the pod being broken and then the scoop of your thumb down the center, pushing the peas out ahead of you. I used to love to shell peas at Teen and Sam’s house. Teen and Sam were an older couple that babysat me when I was younger. I guess I was a year old or so when I first started staying there, and then, when my sister was born, she stayed there as well. We stayed there every day until school started, and then we stayed there afterschool until the summer rolled around. They were essentially like grandparents to me.

In the summertime, we picked vegetables — green peas, snap beans, cucumbers, sweet corn (and more, I’m sure) from a large garden that one of Teen’s nieces had. We’d come back to their small house in town, loaded down with brown paper bags full of produce, and then we’d sit out on the front porch in the metal chairs and shell peas or snap beans.

Teen also had a wringer washer on a concrete pad in the backyard, so summertime meant washing clothes there instead of at the laundromat. I remember thinking that it was the coolest thing in the world to watch her feed the clothes through the wringers, the water sluicing down the sides and the clothes coming out almost stiff on the other side. They’d drop into a basket and then we’d hang them on the clothesline to dry.

Looking back now, it’s obvious that Teen and Sam didn’t have much as far as money was concerned. But that didn’t matter to me at the time — and it still doesn’t. They taught me more than I’ll ever be able to fully articulate about living simply and simply living, two concepts I’m still trying to integrate more fully into my own life. I don’t think I could’ve asked for two people to love me more than those two did.