Yummy Apples!!

I finished assembling all of the apples last night!! Here are all the ladies who will be getting them--thanks so much for your comments!!

Tina
PJ
Renee B.
Heather
Julie
Alzammar Fam
Janet
Sherry in AU
Nancy
Tammy i

Hear Me Roar!!!

**Update--class has been cancelled. Kits will be available for purchase at the store instead**
Join me this Sunday August 3 from 1-4pm when we'll be making this super cute layout at Collective Journey in Redlands, CA. For just $23 you can make this super fun page using Basic Grey's "Archaic" line of paper. We'll also play with Quickutz dinosaurs, creating scales using Tim Holtz Crackle Paint. Come in from the heat and enjoy a relaxing scrap class!


Now Get This: I will also include an extra single page layout for anyone who signs up for the class between today and Sunday. That's a whole other layout for FREE!

So you can't make it to the class but want a kit? Just call the store and sign up over the phone, letting them know you want a kit. I'll leave your kit there the day of the class and you can come pick it up at your convenience. Out of state? Email me and I'd be happy to ship it to you.

This layout was also recently featured on Basic Grey's Online Idea Gallery so don't miss out on your chance to make one of your very own. See you there!

"Hear Me Roar" Layout Class
August 3, 2008
1-4pm
$23
Ph: 909-793-2200
Collective Journey

Create More. Make Friends. Learn Something New.

That's what Book Club is all about! Do you ever wish you got more projects done each month? Would you love a night out with art-loving friends, full of inspiration and creative fun? Well, Book Club is for you! Our next cycle of Book Club will begin in September, featuring Donna Downey's A Photos First Approach to Designing Layouts.

At each meeting we play with new products & try fun techniques during a make n take. Then you take home a fun packet of goodies from each meeting for you to create with on your own. At the next meeting, everyone shares their creations! We are a fun-loving, easy going group so if you don't get to your project that month, no worries! Just come enjoy the inspiration from everyone else - it's all about fun and sharing. The point is to go home inspired and feeling creative! Oh, and did I mention you get the IDEA BOOK to keep too?

STILL not sure you want to join? We are going to have an Open House on Sept 3!! Come experience a meeting of Book Club for yourself. We'll create a make n take and the current Book Club members will share their experience with you. Entry to the Open House is $8 and if you decide to join Book Club that night, you'll receive an $8 discount off the membership! So come join us for some creative fun.

To sign up, contact The Scrappin' Table.

Book Club @ The Scrappin' Table
September 3, October 1, and November 5, 2008
7-9pm
$60 (includes idea book + 3 meetings)
Ph: 714-961-8011
The Scrappin' Table

Just a reminder: Book Club in August will meet on August 6th from 7-9pm.

Computer Printed Journaling Strips

Journaling is one of those things about scrapbooking that is a real challenge for many people, including myself at times. There are so many things to consider: handwriting vs. stickers. vs. computer journaling...using quotes, telling anecdotal stories, keeping it simple, documenting a conversation...ahhhh, it can be overwhelming!

Here's a little something that might make your journaling much, much simpler. In many of my classes you might have noticed I incorporate computer generated journaling in the form of quotes and fun sayings. Usually these are cut into "journaling strips" and adhered to the page - it's a look I have come to love and count on. Here's a page where I used some computer printed journaling (lower right hand corner of page):

I also made journaling strips for a beach themed quote on this "Sunkissed" layout kit I sold at Collective Journey:

It's pretty easy to do and when you're in a bind about how to do your journaling, strips will never fail you! Here are the steps to creating journaling strips for your pages and projects:

Please note: I am using Windows Vista so my screen may look a little different than yours if you aren't using Vista but all the instructions are exactly the same.

Computer Printed Journaling Strips

Supplies:
Paper Trimmer
Computer (Windows) and Printer
Ink if you like to ink
8.5 x 11 cardstock

1. Open a new Microsoft Word document. Type in your quote or journaling, selecting the font you'd like to use and font size.

2. Highlight the journaling:


3. Click on the FORMAT menu at the top of the page:


4. Select PARAGRAPH from the menu. A box will pop up that looks like this:
5. In the lower middle section of the box is a drop down menu for LINE SPACING. Click on the drop down menu and select 1.5 LINES. Click OK.

You can see how the text will change by looking in the Preview Box right above the OK button.

6. Now your lines all spaced far enough apart that you can cut the journaling strips apart without cutting off any of the tips of the long letters (like g, j, l ,k , t and so on).

7. Move the text around to get the journaling strips the desired length so they will fit on your page. You can use the ruler across the top of the screen to check the length of each line of text. Print the journaling on cardstock.



8. With your timmer, cut off the left edge of the paper.



9. You can use your trimmer or a good pair of scissors to cut in between each line of journaling. I like to leave all the strips attached to the page until I am ready to glue them down so that I don't lose any small pieces. It also helps me make sure my journaling stays in the correct order so it makes sense! LOL

10. One by one, cut the strips from the page.

Ink the edges as desired and adhere to your project. Now you've got perfect journaling strips!!

Did ya feel it?

The earthquake! It;s Matt's first and like a true scrap nerd I am trying to think of ways to scrap it... I'll post the LO when I am done!! You can't see them, can't predict them, can kind of prepare for them with supplies so what else is there to do but have fun with it.

Oh, and since we did not get our new homeowner's policy into effect before the quake (after a couple weeks of working on it) we now have to wait 30 days because a moratorium has been put in place. Craziness! Luckily we aren't injured and have no damage. And the scraproom is intact! Woohoo!

Missing Out

Sometimes I feel like I am missing out. I hear that so-and-so is doing this and another is person is doing that and then start to feel like I am missing out on something. I know I can't do everything - there simply is not enough time in the day or money in my bank! That doesn't stop me from wishing I was a part of this, that, or the other. But you know what?

I am not missing out. I've got my own things going on, my own things to appreciate, my own family to take up excessive amounts of time! LOL Sometimes I get so caught up in all the hub-bub--oh, I wish I could go to that crop but I don't have the time, I wish I could be on that Design Team with those people who are my friends but I just didn't make it, I wish I wish I wish... It is so easy to just get down and down and stew in the middle of yuck-ville. I've been reading alot lately in some of the groups I am in online about how people are depressed. It is a real downer. Maybe it is something about summer, I dunno...it is just sad to think so many people are struggling with just being content with what we have, not what we don't have.

I am a busy body. I need to do stuff all the time. So the minute I start lamenting about what someone else is doing, not only am I NOT doing what they are doing, I'm not doing anything productive PERIOD!

This week I had two big instances where I felt like I was missing out on something I saw someone else doing. So you know what I did? We rearranged my scrap room and added some new tables and wall display items (we're still working on it). I started unpacking more boxes and cleaning my house--that can always use some work! And then I got myself set up on our Wii Fit so we could start to get in shape. I logged in 14 mins today! Not bad for not having exercised for close to 5 years... Then I decided to enter the Memory Makers Masters contest. Put that energy to work and DO something!! I did two LOs tonight, only two more to go and the inspiration page...woohoo!! And my Girl Scout community service project is in serious need of attention--we need to collect ALOT more cans than we have for local food banks. I don't even remember what I thought I was missing anymore...

So there you have it--Jennifer's wisdom for the week! I crack myself up...a sure sign I need to get to bed! LOL

Silhouette Love - I'm Giving Some Away!!

I love my Silhouette! It is awesome, I can cut just about anything...I can go on and on about it. If you've known me some time, I went back and forth between wanting the $1500 Pazzles or the Wishblade but last year I got my Sil!

Knowing how much I use it, I was really honored when Collective Journey asked me to come to their Quikutz club to demo the Silhouette tonight. I had a blast and it was great to see the ladies get as excited as I was about all the possibilities with the machine. I even saw a few old friends (Hi Karen & Naomi) and made some new ones too. Several ladies went home with their own brand new machine tonight as well. It is really quite fun....

I also learned alot from the club meeting. Quickutz now has a way to print off labels for your dies, just go here: Easy Reference Card System. And check out all these New Products! I definitely want some of the colored vinyl and the pens for the Silhouette.

And now for the giveaway. No, I am not giving away a Silhouette--I wish!! As part of my demo in the store I cut a BUNCH of super cute apples, just in time for back to school:


Post a comment and I will send you a RAK with an apple, fully assembled and inked. Just post your email addy in a comment here and I will contact you privately to get your snail mail addy (US only please). I've only got 10 to give away so you'd better hurry!!

P.S. If you're wondering why my posts are so text-y this week my camera died and I can't find the AA batteries to save my life...I need to get over to Costco to get some soon!! LOL So sorry for the wordy wordy posts...

A Funny Story

You know what they say, "Kids do the darnedest things". Well, it's true. Here's a story I need to find a way to scrap:

Katie spent last week at my parents' house playing with the nephews, running errands with grandma & grandpa, horseback riding, baking, gardening, and just doing summery things. One day, the kids all got up early to start doing work around the house (grandpa pays them like $20 just to pick up one piece of trash). More supplies were needed for the project they were working on so Grandpa took the two eldest grandkids, Katie and my nephew Keelan, with him to Sears.

Well, right when they got to Sears the day started to heat up. Katie asked Grandpa if she could go to the restroom. When she came out of the restroom quite some time later, she had this huge bulge of something sticking out of her pants pocket. She tried to tuck it under her shirt but it was just too large. Right at this moment Grandpa is having visions of some nasty wad of toilet paper, some gross dirty underwear... he's convinced that there is something nasty that Katie is trying to hide in her pocket. He reluctantly asks her what was in her pocket.

It was her pajamas?!

Katie was in such a rush to go outside that morning that she put her clothes on over her pajamas. of course, being a grandpa, he didn't notice that she looked all puffy and bulgy with two sets of clothes on. Katie had overheated in Sears and had to take them off so she went to the restroom to do it. Trying to be stealthy, she tried to shove them all in her pocket!! So Grandpa tells her to stuff them in her purse. Next thing you know, one of those Asset Protection people is staring them down!!

This incident is just so stereotypical Katie I can't get over it. All I wish is that they had taken a picture but in my head I can totally see this whole drama play out, my dad getting red with embarrassment, Katie trying to solve the problem...just hilarious!!

So how do you scrap something like that?!