December Surf

Bruce and I spent a wonderful afternoon in Ventura, CA yesterday. We topped it off with a walk along the beach at sunset, and snapped some spectacular shots. I couldn't resist creating a layout with some of our best photos.

Thirty-One-derful Years!

Each year of our marriage, I have made an ornament, with a number on it, signifying how many years we have been together. This is the thirty-first one! As I mentioned in a previous blog, I'm trying to document many of our ornaments, because so many of them have a story. I decided to create a layout this year, with 30 of the ornaments on it, and the story behind each one. You might notice there is no #6. I have no idea why I missed that one year, but since that time I've been very careful to never miss making our yearly ornament. The first ones were simply basic, fabric ornaments with perhaps a little embroidery, topstitching, or other ornamentation. When we moved to Rhode Island, I began tying my ornament design in with the toys we were designing at the time- using some of the stuff that we were using for prototyping. Eventually, as I learned Illustrator and Photoshop, my ornaments took on more of those skills, using drawings and photographs.

Robots Robots Robots

My 17-year old daughter Annie is as nuts as I am... she loves toy robots, and since I have a robot collection, I created a cute calendar for her for Christmas. I just posed the robots, shot about 20 photos, and then used a variety of filters & effects, and just played. Here are a few of the photos I used.
I might mention, I got 2 new robots for Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

My wish for all of my family and friends, is for each of you to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas- the peace and joy that the Savior of the World alone can bring. May all of you enjoy a beautiful Christmas with loved ones! May your dreams come true, and may the New Year bring happiness and serenity. Things may look bleak in the world today, but we can enjoy contentment in our own homes, and in our own lives. Have a wonderful holiday!

EZ Bookmaking

Many of you asked how I was going to put Aidan's ABC book together... being cheap, and also a control freak, I simply printed the book out on heavyweight, double sided matte photo paper (Staple's brand,natch). I laminated the front & back covers with laminating sheets, then took it to Staples (natch again) and had it spiral bound. It cost a grand total of $2.39 for the binding, I already had a life supply of paper, and used a fair amount of ink. So even with all that, it was a pretty inexpensive gift.

Weekly Bright Idea!

I have several multi-photo frames in my home, and it occurred to me that it would be fun to substitute the regular photos for holiday pictures! I simply took a few photos of the Christmas tree, and put them in the frame, hiding the other ones behind the new ones. When the holidays are over, I can switch them again. I will simply keep the Christmas photos behind the others, ready for next year! This frame is in my bathroom of all places, and looks cute with my Christmas tree theme I have going on in there!

Christmastime in Southern California

It's so beautiful here this time of year... the hillsides are getting green, some of the trees are turning orange and yellow- and many flowers are in bloom. We've enjoyed nearly a week of non-stop rain. The weather has been chilly and brisk- perfect for this time of year. Tuesday Bruce and I went to Santa Barbara for a doctor's appointment, and when we were through, we found this beautiful botanical garden in a lovely area near downtown. It was named for a woman named Alice Keck Park- who was active in Santa Barbara charity and cultural work. Every part of the garden is designed for low-water usage, and is considered a demonstration garden. It's my new favorite place! It rained off and on in the hour we spent there... and even when it was raining, the sun was shining. The light was incredible, vibrant and intense against the gray sky. Click on the image to get a better look.

Santa & Me!

I don't think I've created a layout for at least a couple of weeks... between THE ABC BOOK, and the holidays, I think my last one was done for Thanksgiving. Pathetic. Here's my little creative venture for today... I've scrapped this photo before, but it just seemed to work here. The holly photo was taken yesterday when Bruce & I spent the day in Santa Barbara. Wait until you see some of the photos we took... those of you who live in snowy climes, like Las Vegas, will be so jealous! But that's another story. Today's layout celebrates the Christmas of 1957, when I was 6, and trying to decide why Santa just gave me a hollow cardboard tube disguised to look like a candy cane. The picture was taken at the Broadway department store in Van Nuys, California.

A Weekend of Music!

My weekend was non-stop music! From 8 am Saturday, when I attended a dress rehearsal for our church Christmas choir concert (it lasted until nearly 2 pm!) to a Saturday evening Christmas gig with my band, to church choir practice after church on Sunday, to an additional rehearsal Sunday afternoon and then our two back-to-back Christmas concerts Sunday evening- it seems that I was either singing, directing, playing or performing the entire weekend. I'm still humming Christmas music! If you listen carefully, maybe you can still hear a faint melody...

The ABC Book is finished!

My ABC book for my grandson Aidan is finally done... you can see the completed book a few posts below in a slide show. I can't wait to print it up & put it together! Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas! Thanks to Julie Campbell for the adorable umbrella photo.

Weekly Bright Idea!

After years of accumulating Christmas decorations of every kind, I finally realized that many things I have, and many things that others have, just isn't my style. This year, I had an enormous event that inspired me to do something a little different for my holiday decorations. Last night I hosted a portion of a 'progressive dinner' for the women of our church. It's the event of the year for our organization, and each year, the hosts are expected to decorate their homes to the hilt. I'm not a 'hilt' kind of person, most of my decorations are older, and many I'm frankly sick of! I've been cleaning and decorating for nearly a week, and last night was the culmination of all that effort... the dinner! I decided early on, that I wanted to 'retire' some of my out of date decorations, so this year, I put away at least half of my stuff. I wanted my house to look more like ME than the catalog of Crate & Barrel, or Martha Stewart's magazine. Maybe more like Mary Englebreit's Home Companion! So, I used my collections to spice up my decor. (such as it is). Since I collect toys & ephemera, I put together several groupings of old toys. One in a 100 year-old doll trunk, one in a vintage suitcase, and some others under the tree. (We have an artificial tree, and there are no gifts under it yet, so the trunk looks all spindly and pathetic). Bruce and I arranged some of the toys under the tree to look like days gone by. I also arranged several baskets full of vintage Christmas ephemera- old Christmas cards, postcards, carol booklets, etc), and the coup de grace- a bulletin board I covered with vintage fabric, and stuffed full of old 50s Christmas cards, photos & mementos. It came out so cute!
I think decorating with your own personal collections can be so much more meaningful than just the designer stuff from the stores- you could fill a glass bowl full of sea shells, Stack up some of your antique books on a table, fill a basket full of unusual yarns, or fabric bits... maybe in holiday colors. I'm beginning to feel like Mary Englebreit already!

Bragging Rights!!!

My cute li'l grand niece Nikki really IS photogenic! Here's a link to a feature spread on her & her preschool classmates in Baby Couture Magazine! They're all pretty adorable, but this auntie is VERY biased, and I think Nikki is the cutest of all. Click on either one of the magazine covers when the link opens. Her spread starts on page 58-59.
You can tell which one is Nikki because she's holding a sign with her name on it!
BabyCouture

Weekly Bright Idea!

When I was a very little girl, our family moved from Oregon to California. We spent two years living in two different rental homes before finding our permanent home in South Pasadena. During that time, someone broke into one of our garages and stole all of our Christmas ornaments. My Mom was heartbroken, as you can imagine (although it gave her an opportunity later on to buy all new 'modern' ornaments, which were very 'fifties cool!) Although I don't anticipate having our ornaments stolen, I do see the value of documenting some of my favorites through photography. I love to look at photos of Christmases past- Bruce and I have been married for over 30 years, so there are a LOT of ornaments that we have made, collected, and treasured throughout the years. Some have crumbled away with time (remember those salt dough ornaments?) Plus the countless precious things made by tiny fingers! From time to time I 'retire' some of my ornaments, tastes change and some don't pass the test of time. Each year I make one ornament with a number on it- commemorating the years Bruce and I have been together. I haven't made this years' yet, but it will have a '31' on it! My bright idea is to take some photos of your tree or special holiday decorations- those things that bring back memories of past celebrations or occasions. Make notes of their significance! I hope to make a layout this year of each of the 31 ornaments I have made.

A is for Aidan

I've been working on a Christmas gift for my little 3-year old grandson Aidan. I thought it would be fun to create an alphabet book for him, using photos and a simple, clean design. I'm trying to use only my own photos, but I am sure there might be a stock photo or two in the mix by the time I get it done. I'm creating a slideshow of the pages I have completed... I hope by the time the slideshow gets to the bottom of the page, I'll have it completed! Please stop by and see how it's coming along!

*Thanks to my friend Tanya Gooch for providing some of her stuff for me to photograph!

A is for Aidan

Drawing Cute

I recently received an assignment to do some cute art- I can't tell you any more than that, but it's unrelated to the scrapbook industry. I enjoyed combining my illustration skills with Photoshop to play a bit with some very simple drawings. The idea was to do each of two themes in totally different styles and approaches. Let me know what you think!