The Hug ... a Comedy Act

I love these pictures. It's a comedy act that ensues every time my sister comes for a visit (or we visit her) and she tries to give my son a hug. It's a reasonable request. We just always know that a hug is not something he's going to give her freely. She's got to work for it. The difference ... this time I was smart and I grabbed my camera and snapped some pictures. We can always anticipate what's going to happen and it's a good thing ... Karen will get her hug, the rest of us will enjoy a comedy act and my son will get to put on a show. A win-win situation all around!

And lets not forget ... I get to scrap a page about it! Tee hee!

Credits:

January 2013 Storyteller by Just Jaimee
Playground papers & flairs by Just Jaimee (April P&Co. Company Stash)
Eye Candy kit by Just Jaimee
Hey There journaling cards by Robyn Meierotto (April P&Co. Company Stash)

Finally ... a trip to Grand Ole Creamery

Here's the deal ...  I love my iPhone and I love Instagram. I've used so many iPhone pictures on my pages lately - photos that I haven't played with in Photoshop at all. (Love that!) Before I took iPhone pictures that was completely unheard of for me. I always tweaked my photos in Photoshop. Don't get me wrong. I still tweak the majority of my photos in Photoshop ... but sometimes I just want the look of Instagram and use them on my pages just like that. That's what I did on this page. Quick and easy. I love it!

Credits:

FroYo kit by Scotty Girl Designs @ Pixels and Company

It's a sorry statement on American television ...

We've been hold outs. Until just this week we haven't had cable. OK. We did have very (and I mean very) basic cable. All we could get were the local channels and then two or three other channels, like ION and CNN. That meant that for the most part there really weren't many (if any) TV shows to choose from when we had time to sit and watch.) I snapped this picture of my son back in February. He totally made me laugh (without trying to). It was a Tuesday evening and he wanted to watch something on TV but there was absolutely nothing on. He went upstairs in a bit of a huff mumbling "It's a sad statement on American television when I have to go study Spanish cuz there's nothing on TV!"

Seriously ... totally funny! (At least to me!) As a side note, it did make me happy that when there was nothing on TV he chose to put some extra time in to study Spanish. That certainly gave him some "brownie points" as we like to call them!

So ... now we've got cable and a gazillion channels. I just need to figure out what stations I want to watch. It's a nice change! (I'm sitting here watching "I Dream of Jeannie" as I'm making this post.)

On a scrappy note ... One Little Bird came out with a kit today called "Stay Tuned." I absolutely HAD to have it! I can think of several pages I want to create using it. This photo/quote from my son came to mind right away. Now I just need to snap a few other photos for pages I want to create using this kit! (And the journaling cards are perfect for Project Life!) What fun!

Credits:
Stay Tuned by One Little Bird at the Lillypad
Clear Essentials (staples) by Karla Dudley at Pixels & Company

Happy birthday to my hubby!

I wanted to share another page I created this morning to celebrate my hubby's birthday. Birthdays are fun!

I used a bunch of Pixels & Co. supplies for this page:
Photo Clusters by Wild Blueberry Ink
So Happy Together kit by Karen Funk
Birthday Bash elements by Karen Funk
Skinny Stitches by Scotty Girl Designs
Clear Essentials (staples)  by Karla Dudley

Snow Day! Fun with a snow fort!

It's a good day. It's my birthday and I took the day off. (I've never taken the day off before on my birthday. I kinda like it!) While the family is out today, I'm going to hang out and scrap. I created this page this morning and am mostly done with a page celebrating my husband's birthday earlier this month. Unfortunately, my external drive - where I keep all my digi supplies - fell off the couch and disconnected and apparently is toast. I can't get it to read in either of our laptops. Darn it! I guess I need to spend some time to run to Costco to pick up a replacement external drive. That was NOT in my plan today. Oh well!

Digi Credits:

Everything available to Pixels & Company:

Daydream Believer by Wild Blueberry Ink
Taylor Borders by Ardent Sparrow
Dare to Dream paper pack by Karen Funk
Teenage Dreams Hashtags by Erica Coombs
Color Pop Action by Jennifer Valencia Photography
Digi Supplies Washi Tape Neutrals by Mye de Leon
Clear Essentials (staples) by Karla Dudley

Barbara's Digital Designs is on Facebook!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I wanted to share with you that I've created a Facebook page called Barbara's Digital Designs. It's a place on Facebook where I'll share my digi creations as well as where I'll share when I come across great digi or photography tutorials ... and of course great digi sales and new designers. Basically all things scrappy!  If you want to check it out, you can find it here or click the image below! Just click LIKE and we can stay in touch via FB!

Have a great day!

Barbara

I got my 2012 family book back from Blurb!

I got my 2012 family album back from Blurb this weekend. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It's pretty darn big ... 240 pages ... and I couldn't be more thrilled! It's so fun to have all that hard work (joyful hard work of course!) in print!

I wanted to share some pages with you. The photos I took of the pages of the book are a little bit fuzzy and the color is off but not too terribly bad. (Just know they're correct in the book.)

Thanks for looking!

Barbara

Making Beautiful Music

Credits:
Rock the Blocks | Crystal Livesay
High Key Black/White Photoshop Action | Jennifer Valencia Photography
Hello (Alphas - Elements - Paper - Stitches) | Creashens
Instalove Frames | Karla Dudley
Clear Essentials (staples) | Karla Dudley
This Day Stamps | Nancie Rowe Janitz
Wonderful definition | Katie Pertiet

2013 Project Life | Week 12: March 17 - March 23

Well ... spring has officially sprung but apparently no one bothered to tell Mother Nature. I'm looking outside and all I can see is snow and when I was out and about running errands with my hubby today I am most definitely needed to wear a winter coat. I am most definitely ready for spring!!! You know, buds on the trees, grass, birds, the whole nine yards ... hopefully soon!

Note ... Just Jaimee joined Pixels and Co on Friday! Whoo hoo! She's added 158 ... yes 158! ... digi products to the store and it's all 30% off until March 31st. Check it out!! I used Just Jaimee's January Storyteller 2013 digi kit to make this week's Project Life pages.

Credits:
January Storyteller 2013 Journal Cards | Just Jaimee
January Storyteller 2013 Digital Kit | Just Jaimee
Basic Journal Cards | Just Jaimee
Layered Life Photo Collages | Deena Rutter
Clear Essentials (staples) | Karla Dudley
Pocket Wisdom 1 (create a story) | Wild Blueberry Ink

Snapshots of Today | New Years Day Skiing & Snowboarding

Memories of a fun day skiing/snowboarding!

Credits:

Blueberry Seeds No. 2 Template | Wild Blueberry Ink
Winter Frost Paint (snowflakes) | Crystal Livesay
Made of Awesome (striped paper) Gennifer Bursett
Peppermint Papers (blue paper) | Scotty Girl Designs
Take Note Papers (white paper) | Karla Dudley
Going Places (photo corners) | Ardent Sparrow

My Fave - Snuggling on the couch with the kiddos!

The kids and I like to catch up on TV shows that we've missed by watching the episodes on the laptop (on Hulu or NBC or ABC or something). I love it! Snugging on the couch with the kids ... awesome!

For those scrappy minded people ... I used one of Scotty Girl Designs' (P&Co) new Tangram templates as a base for this page. Check it out ... it going to be available in store tomorrow! I also used a mish-mash of the March Company Stash kits at P&Co. It's so easy to put a page together using the coordinated kits. I can't wait to see what the color scheme is going to be for the April Company Stash!

Credits:
Tangrams Templates | Scotty Girl Designs
Pixels & Co. - March The Company Stash:
Teenage Dreams | Erica Coombs
Enchanted | Deena Rutter
Dare to Dream (solid papers) | Karen Funk
Leathers Katy (My Fave) | Gennifer Bursett
Pixels & Co. - February 2013 The Company Stash:
Hello Love Word Stickers (punch label) | Karla Dudley

Nothing but the net! {10th grade basketball}

Another fun season of intramural basketball!

I'm really enjoying Simply Tiffany Studios' Windows Systems Collections! They're so fun to scrap with!

Credits:
Window System Template Sets 1 and 2 | Simply Tiffany Studios
Made of Awesome (kraft paper) | Gennifer Bursett
Take Note (red & black paper) | Karla Dudley
Sports Bingo Cards | Jenni Bowlin Studios
Teen Add On Kit (tennies) | Splendid Fiins
Clementine Edition (cards) | Becky Higgins
Game Time (alpha) | Lori Barnhurst

Celebrating my new laptop!!

I got a new baby (ooops ... I mean laptop!) in February. I'm in love!!

Credits:
Simple Snapshots Template | Simply Tiffany Studios
Everyday Life Wire Sentiments | Karla Dudley
Life 365 Papers and Buttons | Karla Dudley
Date Stamps 2 Brushes | Scotty Girl Designs
CoCurricular (tag) | Audrey Neal (Gennifer Bursett)
Right Now (tape - recolored) | Karla Dudley
Coded Love | Karla Dudley
Muse (flower) | Karla Dudley

2013 Project Life | Week 11: March 10 - March 16

A fun week.
Volleyball ... a couple of visits from my awesome niece ... pretty much just regular life!

Credits:
Photography Quotes Wordart Set 1 | Jennifer Valencia Studios
These Are the Days | Karen Funk
Life 365 Word Sticker | Karla Dudley
Take Note (ribbon tie) | Karla Dudley

Take Note - Jeans Suck!

This sums up my son ...

Credits:

Rock the Blocks Template | Crystal Livesay
Take Note | Collaboration by Karla Dudley & Sabrina's Creations
Carried Away (epoxy button) | Creashens
Clear Essentials (acrylic heart) | Karla Dudley
Happy Holiday Buttons | Karla Dudley

Worker Bee (It's Elemental workshop at ReneePearson.com)

I created this page for one of my first week projects for Tiffany Tillman's "It's Elemental" workshop I'm taking at ReneePearson.com. I'm enjoying class & hearing Tiffany's tips!

And my son ... what  HUGE help he was to me at my office. I sure do love this kid!

Check out this list of supplies. I used all digi goodness from Pixels & Co. I hadn't realized how long this supply list was until I typed it out here. It's good stuff!

Cluster It Volume 4 | Mye de Leon
Elemental Snippy Alphas | Gennifer Bursett
In Good Company (brown paper) | Gennifer Bursett
Made of Awesome (tag) | Gennifer Bursett
Life Unscripted (papers) | Ardent Sparrow
Coffee Stains | Agnes Biro
Jumbo Sentiment Cards 4 (2013) | Karla Dudley
Right Now (today's note stamp) | Karla Dudley
Kraft Essentials (brown text paper) | Karla Dudley
Clear Essentials (acrylic shapes & staples) | Karla Dudley
Hello Love (flower buttons) | Karla Dudley
Life 365 Alphas (heart & U punch) | Karla Dudley
KD Everyday (font) | Karla Dudley
Penelopi (Noted epoxy button) | Karla Dudley
In Neutral Stitches - Basic | Robyn Meierotto
Keeping Tabs (Remember frame) | Robyn Meierotto
Noteworthy (grid paper) | Scotty Girl Design
Fastenating (paperclip) | Scotty Girl Design
This Year (metal arrow) | Scotty Girl Design
So Happy Together ("G" alpha) | Karen Funk
Dream Big Collab (folded ribbon) | Traci Reed & Simply Tiffany Studios

Morning routines

My daughter and I play cards together before school every morning. We enjoy our morning routine!

Karla Dudley's Muse kit was perfect for this photo. I love the soft colors and awesome textures! 

Credits:

Muse | Karla Dudley

Frame Essential Collection | Karla Dudley

Life Recorded (tag) | Karla Dudley

Today Brush Collection (daily routine) | Karla Dudley

Made of Awesoe (recolored washi tape) | Gennifer Bursett

Real Life | My daughter's bedroom

This is real life. My daughter's bedroom on a normal day. Sometimes it's cleaned up (not often!), but when it is spotless (OK, lets just say "clean"!) it really doesn't last long. I get it. Life gets busy.

It's this normal everyday kind of stuff that I really want to document. The little things that we otherwise might not remember. Might not remember ... hmmm ... I remember my bedroom as a kid being pretty darn messy at times. I remember seeing a photo of my bedroom when I was a kid. Stuff was everywhere. I even remember a lamp laying on its side and me not feeling like picking it up. Try as I might this morning I could NOT find that photo. Darn! If I could have found it I thought it would be a perfect addition to this page. A then and now - messiness through the generations - kind of thing. Oh well. I remember the picture in my head and I've told my daughter about it. (OOPS ... maybe I shouldn't have told her about it. Maybe that's why she keeps her room so messy. Doubt it!)

Happy Saturday!

Credits:

Frame Essentials Collection | Karla Dudley
Life 365 Buttons (living life) | Karla Dudley
Life 365 Alpha | Karla Dudley
Clear Essentials (staples) | Karla Dudley
Ashbee (camera) | Karla Dudley
Karla Dudley's Everyday Font
Simply Me (note paper) | Mye de Leon
Tween kit | Splendid Fiins
Stamped Circle Punch (real life) | Splendid Fiins
Make a Mess Painted Mask | Splendid Fiins

This kid cleans up good!

I love this kid. He surprises me sometimes!

Credits:

Layered Looks Add On Pack Template Kit | Simply Tiffany Studios
Elemental Frames volume 1 | Gennifer Bursett
Skinny Sitches | Scotty Girl Designs
Euphoria paper pack (white paper) | Creashens
Kissed by the Sun | Wild Blueberry Ink
Soccer Buddy (string) | Gina Miller
Evidence Date Stamps | Splendid Fiins
Thrift Store Grab Bag (yellow button) | Kitschy Digitals
Candy Pop (metal button) | Lisa Sisneros
Dapper Dan (thought balloon) | Design by Dani
Gabbi (teal button) | Shabby Princess
Love my Boy (tag) | Pink Paislee

My 2012 Album is on order at Blurb! (Blurb vs. Shutterfly)

Yay! I'm so excited. I officially put my 2012 "Year in the Life" family album on order at Blurb today. How will I be able to wait until it gets here?! I really do wish I had it in my hands right now!

I've ordered a couple of books with Blurb now and have been really happy with their product and their customer service. They're my new go-to company for album printing. I've always upgraded to their premium paper but this time I thought I'd try their top of the line "Pro Line Pearl Photo" paper. It's really heavy (140#) and cost a bit more but I was thinking it would be even more durable and I was anxious to see what the photos/scrapbook pages look like on that paper. I'll let you know what I think when my book arrives.

Background ... Until I switched to Blurb I'd been doing my printing of my bound books with Shutterfly. I've been happy with Shutterfly as well but Blurb books are just a bit easier to create. Another BIG thing about Blurb is that I'm not limited on the number of pages I can print in a book. With Shutterfly I'm limited to about 105 pages. Blurb books can be huge!  One thing to note though  (that I just found out as I created this album), there is a page limitation when you use the Pro Line paper - but that limit is 240 pages. Not so bad. I did have to take a couple of pages out of my book to accommodate the 240 page limit, but not very many. My album sizes seem to get bigger every year so who knows, I may have to break up my books again next year. We'll see how it goes in 2013!

Anyway ...  I just just wanted to share my excitement with you! I'll post again when my album arrives and let you know what I think about such a big book and whether the additional expense for the Pro Line Premium paper was worth it!

And ... a post from me just wouldn't be right without a photo, so I'll share with you the front and back covers that I designed. I created the back cover last night (it's pretty simple but I still like photos on the back) and the front cover I shared a couple of weeks ago ... but I'll share it again!

Back Album Cover:

Front Album Cover:

Supplies for the back cover:

Take Note (paper) | Karla Dudley (Pixels & Co.)
Photography Quotes Wordart Set 1 | Jennifer Valencia Photography (Pixels & Co.)
High Key B/W Photoshop Action | Jennifer Valencia Photography (Pixels & Co.)
Family Element Cluster (frame cluster) | Kayleigh Wiles Studio DD

Supplies for the front album cover:

Take Note | Karla Dudley
Worth Repeating No. 6 | Katie Pertiet
Frames | Katie Pertiet

Digi Scrapping with Friends (& a new kit at P&Co!)

Isn't life grand? I've met a bunch of really great people through digi scrapping websites, including at www.JessicaSprague.com. I got to know these awesome women through the forums and galleries and then eventually a bunch of us met in real life (IRL) at Spraguefest this past September. It turns out several of us live really close to each other and we've now starting to schedule IRL scrapping days at each other's houses. How fun is that?

One of the women in this picture (Lisa) and I were both on the creative team (CT) at Jessica Sprague but this past fall J*S disbanded their CTs. That was a sad day, but we're back together again on the CT at the awesome new digi site ... www.PixelsandCompany.com. It's such a great opportunity. There's so much talent (and so many cool people) hanging out over at P&Co! 

So ... back to scrapping details! Karen  Funk (@ P&Co) has an awesome kit coming out on Friday . It's called These are the Days and it's full of wonderful warm colors and fun elements. I used that kit (and a few others from P&Co) to create this page last night. (see list below) 

Credits:

These are the Days | Karen Funk

Storyboard 1 | Karla Dudley

Teenage Dreams (# tags) | Erica Coombs

In Good Company (rubberband tie) | Agnes Biro

Clear Essentials (staples) | Karla Dudley

A Picture of You is a Poem without Words

Just because I love this photo ...

For this photo I used Jennifer Valencia's High Key Black and White Photo Action and and her Photo Quotes Word Art. The stitches are from Scotty Girl Design's Skinny Stitches Shapes coming out Friday.

Credits:

High Key Black & White Photo Action | Jennifer Valencia Designs
Photo Quotes Word Art Set 1 | Jennifer Valencia Designs
Dream On (Black Paper) | Mye de Leon
Date Stamps 2 | Scotty Girl Design
Skinny Stitches Shapes | Scotty Girl Designs

2013 Project Life | Week 10: March 3 - March 9

Oh, what a week.

Digi Supplies:
Take Note | Karla Dudley 
Life 365 Framed (Happiness is this) | Karla Dudley
Photo Tabs 2 | Wild Blueberry Ink

Mousepad Gifts (Does this count as hybrid?)

I wanted to share with you a couple of mousepad gifts I made for my mom and for my mother-in-law and father-in-law. I thought they'd be fun "little somethings" to share with them.

If you're interested in creating a mouse pad, I had mine printed at Costco. They have a full page template design option for you scrappers (or for someone who wants to include a full size photo for their mousepad.)

Helpful tip if you design a mousepad at Costco ... They indicate that their mousepads are 8-1/4" x 9-1/8" inch. That size did not work for me. Through a little trial and error (this time I was smart and did my trial and error to determine size BEFORE I designed the entire thing! ... I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. LOL!) The size that worked for me was 7.5" tall x 9.127" wide. (See below.)

NOTE ... the images above are what showed on the preview screen at Costco. When I got the mouse pads back they were trimmed significantly smaller than this. (Maybe this wouldn't have happened if I'd have kept the exact size they gave ... I'm not sure though because the Costco previews were the images I posted above.) While I'm really happy with the quality of the images on the mouse pad I'm a bit disappointed that the sides were cropped off so much. If I make a mousepad again I would definitely leave a LOT more room around the edges. (For my images on the left and the right, the images were croppped right up to the frames and the top and bottom were also cropped right up the frame.

Credits:

Vintage Findings paper pack | Jen Alysson
Photo Frames & Staples | Katie Pertiet
Moments of Special (celebrate happiness) | Vinnie Pearce
Stamped Brushes (family) | Carina Gardner

A love of gaming!

This is definitely my son right now ...

Credits:
In Stitches Template 4 | Robyn Meierotto
Take Note | Karla Dudley
Stamp Sheet Boy | Karla Dudley
Life 365 (Buttons | Karla Dudley
Carousel (tape) | Shabby Princess

Having fun with some resort cleanup!

When we were up at the resort over the 4th of July this past summer a giant storm (and I mean GIANT storm) passed through the area. At one point my son and my sister went out to pick up some of the tons of fallen branches. I think they enjoyed the clean up at least a little bit! It was a beautiful day ... who wouldn't love being outside on a beautiful day? (... and I liked getting pictures so add that to the mix!). While my son and sister picked up branches, my daughter went out and drove the golf cart to drop off all the branches (she hauled a few branches too). I took pictures (that counts, right?!) so it was a family project!

Credits:
It's a Start Template | In the Making Designs
California Girls | Gennifer Bursett
Life in Color (stitching) | Julia Makotinsky
Big Chipboard Frames | Lisa Sisneros

2012 Album Cover for Blurb!

I got up bright and early this morning and put together this page for the cover for my 2012 album that I'm going to print at Blurb. I was looking at the cover I'd designed for one of my prior year's albums and on that book I had used a family photo along with individual photos of each of us taken during the year so I decided to do that again this year for my cover. I've got a bunch of family photos of us this year but I thought it would be nice to use one with Great Grandma. (The photo was taken when we were celebrating her 95th birthday!

Credits:

Take Note (paper) | Karla Dudley
Worth Repeating No. 6 | Katie Pertiet
frames | Katie Pertiet

Just Because I love this photo ...

I'm sharing with you tonight a page I created just because I love this photo. I used all P&Co products, including a couple of awesome new products released at Pixels & Co. today ... Karla Dudley's Take Note kit and Robyn Meierotto's In Stitches Template 3.

Credits:
Take Note | Karla Dudley
In Stitches Template 3 | Robyn Meierotto
Stamped Favorites | Wild Blueberry Ink
Leathers Katy | Gennifer Bursett

I can do it. I know I can!

I created this page to showcase my determined daughter. When she wants to do something she's gonna give it her all. This time it was her determination to learn to eat with chopsticks. I love that about her!

I also created/designed this page with a couple ideas in mind: To participate in one of Pixels & Co.'s March Challenge and to use the awesome Dream Big collab kit that came out today (Friday 3/8). (Love that kit!)

The March design challenge was super fun. I chose the executive level design challenge which meant: (1) I used their provided template, (2) I used chevrons in three different ways (I used it in a patterned paper, on a piece of washi tape and on a brush), and finally (3) I rotated the template AND used three different patterned papers. Fun!

Credits:

Dream Big Collab | Simply Tiffany Studios & Traci Reed

Hello Love (ticket) | Karla Dudley

Life 365 Frames (This is so you) | Karla Dudley

So Happy Together (chevron washi tape) | Karen Funk

March 2013 Design Challenge | Pixels & Co.

Study Time

Credits (all at Pixels & Co.):

Window System Collection One | Simply Tiffany Studios
Opposites Attract (cards) | Karen Funk
Card Love (Capture the Everyday) | Karla Dudley
Co-Curricular | Gennifer Bursett & Audrey Neal
Leathers Katy (leather arrow) | Gennifer Bursett
Check It (card) | Gennifer Bursett
In Good Company (leather string) | Agnes Biro
Office Tags | Gennifer Bursett
Made of Awesome (chalkboard paper) | Gennifer Bursett

Dude, you're so flippin funny!

I sure love this kid. He makes us laugh every day!

Credits:

Nillie | Karla Dudley

Storyboards | Karla Dudley

Game Time (A collab by Tiffany Tillman and Traci Reed)

Tiffany Tillman and Traci Reed are coming out on Friday with an awesome collaboration kit called Dream Big. I had a chance to scrap with the kit tonight and I absolutely love it! I may just scrap another page using it tonight!

Anyway ... check it out at Pixels & Co. on Friday!

Credits:
Dream Big Collaboration | Simply Tiffany Studios and Traci Reed
Clear Essentials (staples) | Karla Dudley

2013 Project Life | Week 9: February 24 - March 2

Week 9 Project Life ... check!  I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I really enjoy Project Life!

It was a good week!

Credits:
Becky Higgins Project Life - Turquoise Edition
Becky Higgins Project Life - Clementine Edition