Sting Symphonicity - digital scrapbook page

June 23rd, 2010 , the hottest day of the entire month at well over 100 degrees heat index. There I sat in an amphitheater sweating along with a couple thousand other people enjoying songs by The Police and Sting, performed by Sting and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. It was his Symphonicity Tour. Other than the extreme heat and the inconsiderate constant chatter or cell phone usage of people nearby, it was a decent evening. It certainly was a different type of concert than one from The Police Reunion Tour I attended in 2007, that was fantastic ! I think what I enjoyed most were the little stories he told in between several of the songs; it's always interesting to hear what inspires someone.

I created this digital scrapbook page, inspired by the layout from the CD cover art (Symphonicities, released today). I used My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! to create the digital scrapbook page. Unfortunately for me, cameras were not allowed so I do not have any of my own photographs to use. I found a couple to use at the review of the concert posted online here

CD cover art inspiration for scrapbook page

Thanks for looking =)

Decor Elements on my laptop

I finally broke down and applied a Decor Elements to my old laptop computer! I'd been thinking about it for some time, but didn't really want to decorate it if I was going to buy a new one. I kept going back and forth trying to justify the purchase of a new laptop vs. upgrading the old one. In the end I decided that the old laptop works just fine for no more often than I use it so I would save my money - and apply it so something more useful such as a new kitchen floor !

I've never used a Decor Elements (or any other die cut vinyl home decor piece for that matter), not even seen one in person but have read good reviews. It really was fast and easy to apply.

Be sure to read the instructions completely before starting the application process, don't just assume how to do it.

I will admit I'm not sure how long it will last since the laptop case is slightly textured and it is not recommended for textured surfaces.




This is the laptop before. There was a silver Compaq logo on the front that I could not remove. It is slightly recessed into the case. I decided to color over the silver portion with a black permanent marker so maybe it wouldn't detract from the daisy design as much. I'm not sure how the decor elements will hold up over that recessed portion; I rubbed on it really well and it is sticking for now.

The light blue "tube" is the decor elements on the backing papers. The tan tube is the shipping tube. It is really sturdy so I plan on reusing it for something else. Saving some of the kids' artwork in maybe........

After ! I don't use this computer very often, when I do it is at the local library. I wonder how many stares it will receive ?

Thanks for looking !

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
- Mary Engelbreit

Photoshop Elements action - reflection

While weeding through digital photographs the past two days I decided to take some time to look into "actions" for Photoshop Elements.

I bought myself the Photoshop Elements 7 program some time ago and just this past year subscribed to http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/. I am blown away by all that I am seeing that is possible with this program, I had no idea ! I really need to spend more time working with the program and watching the tutorials. The latest thing I came across after seeing a beautiful reader submitted photo, "actions" that make a reflection of the photograph. Sooooo simple to do once you download the free action from http://panosfx.com/. It would be complicated to do the entire process on your own I imagine, but with this "action" all you do is choose your photograph then select the action, it automatically does all the steps for you (there are a few steps that you have the option to customize). What a "Wow!" effect !

I don't have any fantastic scenic photographs like the sample I saw, but I did play with the reflection action on a couple of photographs I took that seemed like they would work with that effect.

I am fired up again to start playing with Photoshop Elements 7 and watch more tutorials at PhotoshopElementsUser =)

Thanks for looking !

"Enjoy the miracle of friendship"

Pet Pictures and My Digital Studio

I spent a couple of hours going through digital photographs yesterday, preparing to back them up - and pick out a few to do some digital scrapbooking with using My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! I whipped up this simple single page using one of the predesigned pages, super easy.

While working on the photographs, I munched on a few Dove Milk Chocolates. They are my favorite chocolates, not only because they are so yummy but because they have nice sayings printed inside the wrappers, such as:

"Be the silver lining in another's cloud."

Also, I finally put the instructions up for the Bella Pets Scrapbook Wall Art project I posted in June.

Thanks for looking !

Flower Pot Card

This was my first attempt at a flower pot card. I created this card for my mom for Mother's Day this year. The "pansies" were made with the butterfly punch from Stampin' Up! I punched the butterflies out of Whisper White card stock then water colored them with various colors of Classic ink. The flower pot was made from Creamy Caramel card stock. The insert uses Lovely Lilac and Whisper White card stock as well as Lovely Lilac ink and a stamp image from All Year Cheer. The leaves are punched from Green Galore card stock. All supplies (except the ribbon) are from Stampin' Up!

Complete instructions can be found here
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/flowerpotpocket/

Thanks for looking !

Americana Basket Skirt and Brownies

I used to go to yard sales regularly looking for gently used children's clothing and items. I rarely go to yard sales now that the kids are grown; besides I don't need any more "stuff" no matter how good of a deal it is. I found this woven basket on one of those yard sale trips many years ago. It originally had a handle on it and I put pinecones, etc in it for a Christmas decoration. One of the kids broke the handle on it playing with it, but I didn't throw it away hoping I'd find another way to use it.

We had been invited to an Independence Day boat party the summer following the breaking of the basket incident. I decided to make brownies to take and thought of that red basket. I was able to get one more use out of it by making a "skirt" for it to dress it up a bit and hide the crack on the side.

I guesstimated the width and length of fabric that I needed, making a really long tube out of it. I then stitch a seam along the top to run elastic through sewed the ends together and had a basket skirt !

Above is a photograph of brownies I made in 2008 for our Independence Day celebration. That particular year the Mississippi River was flooding, turning our front field into a pond. We took advantage of the situation by having some friends and family over to watch fireworks over the newly created pond. We had lots of food on hand, one of the favorites were these patriotic brownies! I used my folk heart paper punch to punch out the stars. I cut strips of paper with my paper trimmer. I placed them on the top of the brownies, lightly sprinkled over them with powdered sugar then carefully removed the paper pieces to reveal a "flag" design. Everyone loved them !

Thanks for looking

Happy Fourth Of July

Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Real Red card stocks and inks all from Stampin' Up!

God bless America stamp image, retired from Stampin' Up!

Grosgrain ribbon and heart brad from my craft stash

I've seen several versions of this card so I am not sure who the original designer is to give credit to, but thank you for sharing your project whoever you are.

Brown Paper Bag Americana Heart

Making "wall hangings" out of brown paper bags was an economical and easy project for the holiday bazaar that I ran at the elementary school years ago. They were cheaper and easier, though not as sturdy, than using wood cut with a scroll saw. This is one of those brown paper bag projects.

Cut out two of the shape you want. Paint and embellish as desired (I used acrylic craft paints). Glue (or sew) along the edges, but leave a small portion open to insert stuffing (or shredded up plastic shopping bags!). Finish gluing or sewing. You can add twine, wire, ribbon, raffia, etc to make a hanger for your item. You may want to sew/glue the ends of ribbon into the seams of the item for a more finished look. I made also small versions of this repurposed paper bag craft to be used as Christmas tree ornaments for the holiday bazaar.

TIP: Dip an old toothbrush lightly into acrylic craft paint then run your thumb along it to splatter the paint onto your project.

Thanks for looking, have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend !

Americana Clay Pots Wind Chime

I made this years ago; now looking at it I think I'd make it three pots long and paint horizontal stripes on the lower two pots (the way it is now, it reminds me of a candystriper jumper or maybe barbershop singer vest). I've made several types of clay pot bells over the years, so many ways to paint them - and they are cheap, too !

I used indoor/outdoor acrylic craft paint on this project. I didn't seal them with anything first, I just painted a couple of coats as needed. The star was stamped with a cut up kitchen sponge dipped lightly into acrylic craft paint. The stripes were hand painted with a paint brush.

After the pots are thoroughly dry, string them together with twine and wooden beads to create the bell / wind chimes.

Thanks for looking !

Have a happy and safe Fourth Of July weekend!

Americana Bunny Figurines

Happy July ! I am going to share a few Americana / Patriotic projects the next couple of posts in honor of Independence Day!

The first project are these two adorable Americana bunny figurines I painted. I found them at a yardsale several years ago. They were unpainted and made of a polyresin type of material. They had $10.00 written on the bottom as their original price, but I paid $2.00. I know, I know, die hard yard salers would have haggled on the price, like trying to get them for 25c (they were rather ugly unpainted). I'm not like that. If I go to a yard sale and see something I like, I buy it knowing that it is a fraction of the original cost anyway, why haggle on the price ? Besides, if the person really would have accepted 25c for the set of two bunnies for instance, they would have had them priced for 25c and not $2. Not to offend anyone, I know that haggling is part of the fun for many yard salers. It's just not me.............

Anyway, I bought these two unfinished bunnies and painted them with acrylic craft paint and antiquing medium then coated them with a sealant. I was proud of how they turned out when I completed them in 2001 !

Wishing you a safe and happy Fourth Of July weekend !

Thanks for looking.