Halloween 09

Halloween was freakishly fun for us and by freakishly that is exactly what i mean, take a look

This is so out of the ordinary for me but I must say I think between me and hubby we did a good job. (And see that pink streak? I just got it and I love it so it will be there indefinitely being replaced when needed ) It is so cool to be able to dress up like this once a year, something totally different than what you normally do. We had alot of fun and the girls got alot of candy. We went with friends and my 2 girls and their lil boy had a ball! It is so wonderful to watch kids having fun!

Meet Hannah Montana and my lil punk skeleton girl :)

Mike has always had to work on Halloween but this year he was off so he had a blast this year!! And we are so very thankful that he was able to be with us!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!!

Saturday Spotlight

Please give a warm welcome to Kaitlin , owner of Ormolu Designs We have talked on and off for about 1 month now and she is so nice. I am very happy to have met her.

As a child I loved paper. I collected it and made things‐ all kinds of things. I also liked
the idea of having my own store‐ so I ‘built’ a store under the stairs in the basement.
I would invite the neighborhood kids over to my store to ‘buy’ things‐ but
realistically I would give them my creations. So, I guess in a way doing stationery
design was something I always wanted to do. In fact, I think if you asked my parents
they knew all along whatever I ended up doing was going to involve art and paper.
I also got seriously addicted to scrapbooking when I discovered it in 1999. It was the
perfect way of combining everything I loved to do and I started designing my own
custom tags for my albums and for classes I was teaching at my local scrapbooking
store. Additionally, I was attending college for Interior Design. While obtaining my
degree in Interior Design I found I enjoyed designing the presentations more than
designing the spaces. I knew I was doing the wrong thing when I was stressing over
which font to use in my portfolio rather than perfecting the pieces in it. I started an
Etsy store just for fun and soon found that I really loved designing products.
After college I got more serious about designing. I have since gone green by printing
on only 100% post consumer recycled papers with soy inks using wind power. In
designing my products I try to combine all of my ‘loves’‐ scrapbooking, antiquing,
graphic design and interior design. So, many of my items have been inspired by one
of these things.
My current projects I am working on (when I have time) are mostly interior design
related. We are getting a new addition to our family (a baby boy!) and right now we
are working on getting his room ready for when he arrives. I also am working on
documenting this time in my life and getting ready and organized for the big day!
Kaitlin
www.shopormolu.com
http://www.ormolu.etsy.com/

Here are just a few pics of some of her creations, you know you wanna head over to get a start on your shopping for your Christmas LO's :)

Thanks for taking a peek:)

New LO

Well I was suppose to have a Tuesday Take today bet she went on the take LOL...just kidding, hopefully she will be with us next week, so I'm still not telling u who she is :)

In the meanwhile here is a new LO from me, Love My Daddy. Normally I use everything premade, but I had these plain chipboard tags that were calling my name, so I dressed it up suing some things from an older Piggy Tales collection, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. I was very impressed at the way it turned out. And that picture in the center just melts my heart, there is something about a love between a father and a daughter that is just so special. Plus she was the first one so there is a unique bond there.

Anyways on to the LO lol

That is for today, time for me to hit the hay LOL

TFL!

Saturday Spotlight

This is something new for me and my blog! I am doing Saturday Spotlight and Tuesdays Take on different creators. In hopes of helping people get their creativeness noticed as well as plugging my own blog :)I hope that you will join me in the future and maybe get inspired!! I have been wanting to do this for a while and just now got up the nerve to finally get it underway.

ok on to our very first Saturday Spotlight :)








Her name is Amanda and she is awesomely talented! I happened to find her blog when she was just about to open her Etsy shop. I started following her and here we are :) Her creations are awesome and she has started off with 1 of my fave holidays, Christmas. But enough of my jibber jabber lets hear about her ;)


I am 32 years old, have been married for 9 years, and have been scrapbooking since 2003. I grew up in Charleston, SC, went to college in Rolla, MO, took my first real job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, transferred with my company to Santa Ana, CA and then to Tampa, FL, where I currently reside. Based on recent history, it's not likely I'll live in Tampa forever, but we are finally thinking about buying a house. I married my high school sweetheart, but only after a long "off" period while we went to college 2,000 miles apart.

I once swore I would never scrapbook, back when all I knew of scrapbooking was that it was expensive and formulaic. However, out of frustration with a box of random photos and boredom with my current craft endeavors, I took a beginner's scrapbooking class and haven't looked back since. In 2007, I began dabbling in mixed-media techniques and started to develop my own style. My husband calls it "deconstruction". I usually don't use an item the way it is intended to be used, I look at an item and ask myself, "now, what ELSE can I do with this?".

My day job is engineering for a consulting firm, I have a B.S. degree in Geological Engineering, an M.S. degree in Civil Engineering, and plans to eventually pursue a Ph.D and teach at the college level. I like to see myself as a kind of personal superhero...."Engineer by Day, Mixed-Media Artist by Night" (complete with costume change from business casual to painty jeans and tank tops).

Inspirations:

What inspires me? I get my inspiration from all over, from random things I see or hear everyday, to the materials I work with, to the big things, like emotional struggles, beautiful sunsets, the sound of the ocean. Here's a quick list of people that inspire me:

Everything I do - My husband, who believes I am capable of anything, even if he doesn't always understand what it is I am doing.
Scrapbooking - CD Muckosky
Music - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dance - So You Think You Can Dance (no, actually I don't, but I like to try)
Photography - My husband, completely untrained, but takes AMAZING emotional photos
Mixed Media - Donna Downey, Carol Frye, among others
Art - Lawrence Yang

Process:

My process changes for every project.

- Sometimes I just have a product I want to use, so I build a project around it. (See this project using LYB "Love Letters" paper line http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/2009/02/valentines-project.html)
- Sometimes a challenge prompts a project. (See this project, created in response to an art journaling challenge http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/2009/03/art-journaling-102-amp-up-layers.html)
- Sometimes, I just have a gorgeous or meaningful photo I want to showcase. (See this project, first layout in post http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/2009/09/method-playground-design-team.html)
- And sometimes, I just have something I want to say (see these layouts http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/2008/10/layout-for-when-youre-feeling-confused.html and http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/2009/05/just-figures.html)

Where I create:

I have one bedroom in our 3 bedroom apartment as a dedicated studio/office. You can see (slightly outdated) pictures of my scraproom here http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-scrap-space.html. I love my room, it has been organized completely to match my style of creating, which means almost everything is in reach. When I get to really creating, I've been known to glue myself to things, so it's very important that I be able to reach the adhesive remover from my chair. My only complaints about my room are 1) not enough windows (4 or 5 skylights would be nice) and 2) that the walls don't expand to accommodate my growing supply stash. I can't wait to buy our first house.

Random Thoughts:

Favorite color: black, everything needs a little black
Favorite technique: making stuff up, adding texture
Favorite layout size: none, I use them all
Favorite embellishment: fabric, spray ink, paint (sorry, that's three)
Favorite medium: none, I use them all (paper, acrylic, fabric, etc.)
Cat or dog: Definitely cat, dogs are too.....exuberant
Where I'm likely to live next: Altanta, GA or Charlotte, NC
How I work out: ballet, yoga, hip-hop dancing
How I spend my money (besides scrapping): pedicures, eating out, movies, outdoor adventures (white water rafting, kayaking, snorkeling, etc.)
Favorite place to vacation: Hawaii (big island), so far
Other hobbies: Reading, sci-fi and fantasy mostly


I encourage you to check out her Etsy and keep checking it, there are some awesome creations there and I know that there will be more to come!!



Of course her blog is techniquespeak.com and by clicking here you will find your way to her Etsy shop.



Here are just a couple of things that are my fave from her!! And they are linked to here blog entry about each item.



Would these not make nice Christmas gifts :)

Don't forget to tune back in Tuesday for my Tuesdays Take :)

Have a great weekend!

Altered Coasters Wall Hanging

I made this a while back but I think it is great to revisit things sometimes that we have created. Go back to when we first started and see how our styles and taste have changed, while mine have not, pink and black are still my fave colors :) I do find myself trying toadd more to my LO's, embellish more, journal more, really put my heart into it know what I mean? I am trying to find my happy medium as some would say and I don't think that we ever stop trying that is what keeps us going :)

Some Things Never Change

I thought this LO(well the pics anyway LOL) was just to cute not to share. These are taken about 3 years apart......it never failed that Nikki would end up on the bed with Jeannie, I am surprised that Jeannie got any sleep. There were times that Jeannie would get up and get on Nikki's bed, I don't blame her Nikki was a rough sleeper. But those days are gone now as we have gone to bunk beds, now she gets up and gets on the couch after coming to wake me up just to tell me she is ;) and I get aggravated with it, or at least I did until I got to thinking about how fast they are growing up, and that one day these lil things are what I am going to remember the most. So I have been trying to have a little more patience and understanding. In the famous words of Tracy Lawrence, You're Gonna Miss This.

Awesome mini album tutorial!!

Go right to check it out! It is gorgeous!!!

http://www.scrapbookingsuppliesrus.com/blog/article/view?article_id=10035