I'll be the first to admit that I have to be the most impatient sewer ever! 30 minutes into a project, I want it done. So, don't look too closely at any of my projects, that impatient traight of mine often shows itself in the *quality* of the sewing!
And that the idea of a December Daily is to capture DAILY happenings.
And to do that, you kind of need to do it DAILY.
Well, yah.
Been a tad bit busy.
I thought about scratching it off of my To Do list this year, but I had such a fun time putting one together last year that I couldn't cross it off. So when I went out of town last Thursday to teach at the Expo in Tampa, I thought that would be a perfect time to put the bones of the mini book together. So I lugged 3/4 of a suitcase full of stuff.
Can I just say - I have no idea how you ladies go to a crop! How in the world do you ever decide what to take?
So I left with 3/4 of a large suitcase full of scrapbook stuff and after 3 nights of making a BIG mess in my hotel room, I came home with the cover and a few pages of this year's December Daily done and 3/4 of a suitcase full of scrapbook stuff (minus a few mere pieces of paper and embellishments - good thing I took 3/4 of a suitcase full just in case...).
Here's this year's cover -
Opted for an 8x8 this year. Last year I used thick, clear acetate from Clear Scraps for the front and back covers. Really like how that worked out last year, so I did it again this year - it gives a little bit more sturdiness to the mini, and that proved to be a good thing last year after I upgraded to my 3rd size of O rings - 3 inchers!
You can get a better feel for the cover in the 2nd picture - I added some of the embellishments to the clear acetate and then others to the patterned paper underneath the clear acetate.
Here's December 1 - I found myself with Que at the vet at 8 am that morning. Over the weekend he had pulled about 50% of the hair from his tail. The outcome? A prescription for kitty downers - the vet figured nothing was wrong (minus the fact that it took the vet plus 2 lab techs to hold Que down in order to check him out), just a little anxiety.
Here's December 2 - front and back. I'd like to include more photos of decorations around the house in this year's book, and this is the start.
I'll be back tomorrow to share the 3rd, 4th and 5th. I figure after this weekend, I'll be caught up on the days I've missed so far. And if all goes well this weekend - between the sledding, getting the Christmas cards printed and mailed, making Christmas cookies with the boys, and going to Nick's company Christmas party on Saturday night - I just may get the rest of the shell pages done.
When I was teaching earlier this year at the Expo in Ontario, California I met Erica in one of my classes. Erica owns yourscrapbookstash.com - an online store selling kits along with lots of great scrapbooking products. After class we talked for quite a bit about her store, the industry and scrapbooking. She talked about a fun idea for a recipe book that she had for a kit and how she thought our Nook and Pantry line would be a perfect fit for the project and asked if I would design a project with the kit if she put it together.
Fast forward a few months later and voila! Here's the recipe book I put together -
She has a great collection of products in this kit, including 8 Nook and Pantry papers, a sheet of Element Stickers, 2 sheets of Alphabet stickers, Nook and Pantry Take Notes, Chipboard Alphabets, baker's twine, Maya Road kraft envelopes, fun recipe cards from Elle's Studio, a Maya Road Chipboard Calendar with acrylic base and more fun little goodies. The kit is loaded!
Here are a few pictures of the inside -
You can find the kit here under Kits by YSS.com along the left hand side under Manufacturers.
For the past 5 years or so we've decorated the boys' bedroom doors the on their birthday-eve, after they've gone to sleep. We 'wrap' it to look like a giant present and then attach fun goodies to the door. They look forward to it every year.
This year I did his door on his birthday-eve-eve. I'm in Tampa for 4 days teaching at an Expo (last trip for the next 7 weeks - yay!) so I'll miss his actual birthday. Between Nick and my mom, they'll keep him super busy with birthday celebrations over the weekend until I get home on Sunday for our family celebration.
Took this yesterday morning at 6 am with my iphone, so it's not the greatest photo ever. Did a little editing with a fun iphone app called Camera Bag.
Howdy friends! It's Wednesday night, heading into a loooooong 4 day weekend here with Thanksgiving tomorrow. Looking forward to tackling a loooooong list of To Do's this weekend. Also looking forward to lots of time with family and friends.
One of the things on my list of things to do this weekend is to get all of my class tools together and organized for 2010. These last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind with kitting and teaching so things are WAY more unorganized than I'd like!
Part of that process has been uncovering extra class kits left over from several different classes I've taught this year. Class kits that are just sitting here taking up room. Not doing me any good.
Good news, they're for sale! I'm listing 3 different class kits below - photo of the finished project, description and price. If you order more than 1 class kit, I'll take $5 off the price of each additional class kit.
Xmas Traditions - $30 Traditions - they're what the holidays are all about. From making gingerbread houses and Christmas cards to setting treats out for Santa on Christmas Eve, these annual rituals bring back memories of holiday's past and those to come. Whether your Christmas traditions
have been passed down from generation to generation, or they're brand
new, traditions are the cornerstone of the holidays. With this kit you'll create a jolly 6"x6" mini book documenting your favorite
Christmas traditions using BasicGrey's Eskimo Kisses line.
Summer Fun - $43 As we're heading into Winter in the Northern part of the world and shoveling snow in the bitter cold, my thoughts can't help but drift to the warm, long, sunny days of summer and the fun things our family does to pass the time. With this product-packed kit using Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel line, documenting your favorite summertime activities or vacation may be just the thing you need to pull you out of the winter doldrums!
You Make Me Happy - $25
What makes YOU happy? A person, a place, a thing? With this kit you'll play with stamping/inking, pen work, cutting &
distressing techniques to create a 12x12 double page spread about what
makes you happy, using BasicGrey's Indian Summer line. This kit includes 2 full sets of chipboard alphabets, Woolies, and papers from the Indian Summer line.
All kits include color, step by step instructions. Kits are limited in quantity.
If you're interested in purchasing a kit or kits or have questions, shoot me an email at laylekoncar@yahoo.com
Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. friends. Not from the U.S. - happy Thursday to you!
I have some fun layouts to share that I made using the November kit from Crazy Daisy Kit Co.
Ooh, I loved this kit! It was chock full of owls. I'm a bit of an owl fan. Have been since I was a little girl. My Grandma collected owls her whole life, so I guess you could say it's a trait I inherited for her. That and my hankering for red wine...
But I digress.
Owls and blues and browns and oranges. A great mix of colors and products for fall. Even some classic BasicGrey Ambrosia, mixed in for good measure. Ooh, now that's a line that I wish I was around for when working at BasicGrey...
Awesome!
I've actually created a Shutterfly book before ... but I haven't taken
the time to do another ... it has something to do with the fact that
more than 75% of my time is spent deciding which pictures to use and
editing them correctly ... it's a lot of time ... but a coupon just
might be the right incentive :)
Ok, that statement could go into 1 million different directions, better narrow it down, and quick, before your minds start running away...
And some of you - I'm scared where your minds just ran!
Let's try that again. I've always wanted to make a photobook.
One of the things on my 'rainy day' to do list (yes, I have one of those lists too). Never seems to be rainy enough to get to it, though.
Until today.
Yes, yes, I know. I scrapbook. It's my job. But come on. There are
FAR too many photos to ever scrapbook. Ever. And sometimes it's just too
daunting to take a look at a subject - like a fabulous vacation - and
even think about scrapbooking it and the 84,562 photos that go along
with it. Are you with me?
That's where a photobook arrives to save the day.
A few months back I was contacted by Shutterfly and asked to review their photobooks on my blog. They sent me a code for a free photobook so I could play and then tell you guys what I think. And then give a few away. So here goes.
Hello? Rainy day, why haven't you come sooner?!
Seriously.
Maybe I've been living under a rock.
The Shutterfly photobooks are the coolest things. Ever.
And I'm not just saying that. Shutterfly asked me to give an honest, unbiased review. And that's what I'm about to give you. Straight up.
The process was super easy - step by step - to walk you through everything.
You upload your photos.
You pick a book size and whether you want a hard cover or soft. If you choose hard cover, you can choose from leather, suede, satin, cloth, hard photo, or padded photo cover.
You pick a style - you can choose from hundreds of pre-defined styles or create your own.
You pick your text, size and text color.
And off you go.
Adding photos to your book is super easy. You just drag and drop from the photos you've uploaded to Shutterfly.
You can select the # of photos you want on each individual page - from 1 up to 14.
You can even select from many, MANY different backgrounds for each page. Same for photo edges.
Although I decided to edit my photos in Photoshop prior to uploading them to Shutterfly, you can even edit your photos during the photobook process.
You can crop, rotate, & reduce red eye. You can change the photo to black and white, sepia, saturate the photo with more color, apply a soft focus and even apply an auto-correct so it does the editing for you.
I'd say the process from starting the book to receiving the order confirmation from Shutterfly for my finished book was about 4 hours.
Now before you freak out and say you don't have 4 hours, listen up.
At least 3 (or more!) of those hours were spent deciding which photos I wanted to use and editing them in Photoshop. I could have easily pared that down to an hour, at most.
If you're really strapped for time (or looking for something quick and easy), there's a feature called Simple Path. With Simple Path, you just upload your photos, pick a Photobook size and theme, and then Shutterfly auto-fills the pages of your book for you in chronological order, automatically selecting the photo layouts and backgrounds.
I kept my book super simple to focus on the photos - black pages with large photos, white borders, no text. But you can get as creative and colorful as you want.
Prices range from $12.99 for a 20 page 5x7 soft cover book to $54.99 for a 20 page 12x12 hard cover book. And right now, Shutterfly has a special for 20% off their photobooks AND free shipping with orders of $30 or more.
Soooo.....
Do I recommend it? Yes.
Would I do it again? Yes.
Will I do it again? Yes.
I have so many cool ideas running through my head right now of great photobooks to make. Some for me, some to give away as gifts. Just in time for Christmas
For you digi gals - this is right up your alley! Just create your own awesome pages and upload them as photos.
Need inspiration? There is a HUGE community gallery at Shutterfly where people have uploaded their photobooks to share. You can even copy a book - the design, style and format - all you do is add your own photos and text.
Now for the good part.
Intrigued?
I would be.
I have 2 coupons from Shutterfly to share with 2 random lucky winners! One 5x7 and one 7x9.
Just leave a comment on this post by midnight MT Friday, November 20th and I'll draw and announce the 2 lucky winners on Saturday the 21st. Fine print - *coupons must be used by November 30th*.
It's looking to be a nice, lazy, relaxing day. Ran all of my errands yesterday, 4 hours worth. That way I can stay in my jammies today....
I wanted to share another layout I made using our new Origins line -
Many, many months ago, Lisa from Inspired Blueprints (a super sketch site) contacted me about being a guest designer for their site. With all of my teaching and travels, I kept having to put her off, but finally this weekend I was able to play!
I rarely use sketches. Don't know why, I just don't. But whenever I do, I always ask myself why I don't use them more often. They're a great way to jump start a layout.
Here's the sketch the layout was based on -
You can check out the Inspired Blueprints site here to see other fun interpretations of the sketch!
Back to the layout. I think one of my favorite things about Origins is that so many of the patterns remind me of vintage, kitschy kitchen wallpaper!
I've been playing around with editing my pictures in Photoshop lately (always trying to learn more about that monstrous program and all it can do!). A year or so ago I picked up some free, awesome, Actions here at the Pioneer Woman website. If you haven't checked out her website before, you must.
Oh yah, and be prepared to spend some time there while you're there!
I combined a few Actions on the photos layout to make them look a bit older to go along with that vintage, kitschy feel.
The signs in the pictures are signs that we see every year when we head up to northern Idaho for a week in the Summer. Every time I see them, they bring back the best memories.
Maybe it's just that I remember that I 'think' I do. Jack whizzed through 3rd grade 3 years ago. Sam's in 3rd grade now.
One of the things that stands out for me about third grade are times tables. Learning memorizing my multiplication tables. 0 through 12.
Sam's in the midst of it now. And he's been having a tough time. He started in 2nd grade and is still working on them now. We tried flash cards, we tried doing them over and over and over and they just didn't hold an interest for him.
A few months ago a friend at work told me about a software game she bought for her daughter called Timez Attack. I forgot about it until a few weeks ago when Sam was home for the week with Swine flu. As he started feeling better, he started getting bored. Really bored.
So I went online, bought the full version of the game and downloaded it.
And he started playing.
And he's been playing since.
And he loves it.
And yesterday he had a test on the 2's at school, and he got 100%.
If I had known about this game when Jack was in 3rd grade, I would have bought it then. It's that good.
The game is a video game with a cute little green monster that takes the kids through each level - 1 through 12. You have to get 100% on a level before you can move to the next one.
As far as Sam is concerned, it's a video game. He's working on passing Level 4 now. On a Saturday...
There's a free version on the website that you can download and try. If you really like it, you can pay for and download the full version. Works on both Mac and PC.
It's that time again, time for a BasicGrey release!
We're super excited to introduce our 2 newest lines - Origins and Sugar Rush!
Origins™is a
naturally unique blend of enticing colors that are basically, purely beautiful.
Good-for-you greens meet lively lemon yellow and artful, earthy browns in this
double-sided paper collection that incites happiness and comfort. A healthy
back-to-basics dose of creativity never hurts!
Pucker up and prepare for Sugar Rush™, a double-sided paper-crafting
collection of bubblegum pink and zesty orange with delicate and decadent blue
and green icing. Add your own ingredients for a burst of savory style. Tasty
treats. Sophisticated sprinkles. There’s nothing sugar-free here.
Along with our standards like Chipboard Shapes, Brads, Buttons, Woolies, Take Notes and Pops, we introduced 8 (yes, count em - 8!) new product types in these lines, including Bloomers (fabric flowers), Pieces (die cuts) and Writer's Block (sticky notes, die cuts and a little notepad).
There's so much to see in these new lines, I could post pics BUT... this post would go on forever and ever. Go check out the BG website to see Origins and Sugar Rush in all their yummy goodness!
Here's a layout I made using Origins -
Can I say I love this line? OK, I will. I. LOVE. THIS. LINE. Love the colors, the grid, the florals, well pretty much everything about it!
And how about that picture of Sam?! I took it 2 summers ago. When our designers started working on Origins and I saw the big yellow daisy in the line, I knew this photo would be perfect with it!
On this layout I used our new Micro Mini alpha stickers (the little yellow ones) - love the size! And the brown alpha stickers have a faint grid pattern on them, love it! Also used the Chipboard Shapes, Stitched Brads and Glazed Brads.
One of the greatest things about Origins - it works super well for boys
too with the greens, yellows and browns. A super, versatile,
all-purpose line.
Here are some other Origins layouts that Kelly Goree did so you can get a feel for the different aspects of the line.
And a super cute Sugar Rush layout Kelly did as well -
Super relaxing event for me. I taught 4 classes while I was there - 3 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. Amy planned it really well for the attendees from my perspective - they had several 1-2 hour long breaks each day to relax, finish projects, etc. From what I could tell, quite a few people left with all projects finished on Sunday. If you've been to an event before, you know that's pretty rare.
Or maybe it was the English women (and 1 Scottish), boy were they ever motivated to finish!
I met so many fun women at this event. Everyone was so friendly. I love to listen to the accents over there, I could just sit and listen the day away.
Halloween is not something that seems to be widely celebrated over there, but these fun ladies really embraced it! One of them made Halloween aprons for them all to wear and they munched on (and shared!) Halloween candy throughout the event.
These ladies were a hoot! Two of them have known each other for 24 years, and the 3rd has been part of the group for 15.
And yah, SO tempted to really put Photoshop to the test and erase me out of this picture, but oh well. That's the tole that no sleep for days on end, jet lag, and serious H.U.M.D.I.T.Y. can do to a gal.
Check out the wreath that this cute lady made during the crop using Eskimo Kisses!
On Sunday night after the event, I went to dinner with one one of my new friends. She traveled from Scotland to attend, on her own. Seriously, dinner with her was one of my favorite parts about the event. We spent 2 hours eating and chatting. I grilled her as much as I could about Scotland. One day, one day.....
Another lady originally from Australia shared her wedding album with me that she made. Enjoyed seeing that and hearing all about her wedding. So fun to have some time to really chat with people.
And talk about polite & friendly! Holy moly! That's something that struck me when I taught in England last year and again this year. Here's an example - a few signs I found posted around the property. Seriously, do you believe it?!!
Back from teaching in London. Another whirlwind trip. One of these days I'm going to extend my stay and make the most of my 36 hours of travel time to get there...
One of these days.
I once read somewhere that it takes you roughly 1 day to recoup from jetlag for each day you are gone. If that's the case, today is the day. The day that I am fully recovered. I would say so, judging from the time I woke up this morning. 5:30 am. Rip, roaring and ready to go...
So I've spent a good chunk of the day creating and working with a fantastic kit from a kit club. More to share on that later this week though. Just let me say that it's been a great day. Excited to share!
Back to London.
Whirlwind trip is an understatement. I left Thursday, arrived Friday afternoon, left London Monday afternoon and arrived home Tuesday in the wee, wee hours of the morning.
And had a great time while I was there.
I went over to teach at the Scrap Fever event. It was amazingly relaxing as far as events go. Amy hosted the event, the owner of WIllow Tree Crafts.
The event was held at a castle hotel called Latimer Place.
Very, very cool. And very, very old. Old. Old. OLD. As in the kind of old that we can't even fathom in the U.S. As in built in 1194 (or earlier, 1194 is the first date they can find of the castle on record).
Although I didn't have much time outside of the event, I did manage an hour to run around the grounds snapping pictures. And when I say run, I'm not exaggerating. There was so much to see that I had to hurry to even make a dent.
What a beautiful setting! Smack dab in the middle of the english countryside in Buckinghamshire. Green, green rolling hills. Huge trees with the leaves changing. An AMAZING view of the Chess Valley.
I took lots and lots and lots of photos. Here are my favorites. These pictures can't even begin to capture how truly beautiful it was.
This was the view out my hotel room. Truly amazing. Especially every morning when it was raining and foggy (yes, it rained every morning) (yes, it was humid) (yes, my hair was a total mess the entire time).
Fall was a beautiful time to be there with the contrast between the green, green grass and the changing leaves. I'm sure Spring and Summer are just as beautiful, especially the gardens.
I'll be back tomorrow to post Part 2 - more about the event.
Thanks so much for all of comments and emails with well wishes for Sam! It means a lot.
He is doing SO MUCH better. SO MUCH. He hasn't had a fever for the last 2 days, hasn't thrown up for the last 2 days, and seems to be back to his chipper self. We've kept him home from school again today just to be safe, so he can continue to rest and get better. It's looking like he'll be back in school tomorrow, just in time for the Halloween party.
PHEW!
In other news around here, Nick took Que to the vet last week. Imagine his surprise when the vet told him that we could not have Que spayed.
It turns out she is a he.
So he was neutered instead.
So much for a little balance in the Koncar household, still all boys and me!
Finally a few minutes to post about the Simply Inspired event I taught at a few weeks ago in Louisiana -
What a blast! Seriously! ElizabethThank put on such a great event. Thank you Elizabeth! And Norma and Leslie (her parents that were super hosts) and all of the TA's and helpers and students! I had fun, the teachers had fun, the students had fun, everyone had fun!
Margie and I were traveling companions. Lots of time to talk and chat and talk and chat and talk and chat. The poor lady next to us on the flight from SLC to Houston, she was probably thinking we would never shut up. If she was, she was right, we never did.... And that carried on through the entire trip. Especially on Saturday night. Until 3:30 am. Until I dragged myself off the floor and headed to my room to pack to leave the hotel at 5:30 am...
Did you know they have drive-thru Daiquiri places in Louisiana?!
I thought that was so cool!
A bunch of us hit the drive thru a few nights while we were there.
(don't worry, we waited until we got back to the hotel to start sipping....)
Elizabeth (the owner of Simply Scrapbooks and the one who put on the event) was so nice and offered to let us teachers (Rebecca, Debby and Terri) sit in on all of the classes. So much fun! We all thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been a long time since I've been on the student side of things and it was a huge breath of fresh air!
Here are a few shots from the classes -
Debby has some great photos from the event on her blog here.
We even managed a few little outings while we were there to do a little shopping. My favorite? A little antique store/mall called When Pigs Fly - so much to see there, so little time. We did a quick fly by, but managed (of course) to pick up a few fun things to bring home!
So I'm fairly certain this post is going to look really skewompus and off, but it's going to have to do for now - sorry about that!
Speaking of flying, I'm off the airport again in a few minutes. Headed to the UK to teack at the Scrap Fever event!
When I came home from Simply Inspired on Sunday, I was beat. BEAT! It was such a fun event, met so many new and wonderful friends. I had every intention of posting all about in on Sunday night, then Monday, then Tuesday....
You know how that story goes.
I will post about it at some point, gotta get things settled at home first.
Yesterday morning Sam had a lacrosse game, left the house with Nick at 7:30. Jack and I followed later to watch the game, then my mom took the boys for a few hours to see a Lego exhibit. She brought them back down later in the afternoon to get ready for Nick's family's annual Halloween party. When she brought him home, she said he had started coughing a few hours earlier.
We thought nothing of it because he felt fine other than a pesky cough and went to the Halloween party. A few hours into the party he started slowing down. He threw up while we were there and came down with a fever.
He was home in bed and asleep at 8:30.
He woke up this morning at 5:30 - fever, chills, sore throat.
I took him to the after hours pediatrician this afternoon and his doctor is 99% certain he has swine flu.
The dr's office is amazing - we were in and out within 10 minutes. They have taken a lot of precautions to keep the flu down, including removing all magazines, books and toys from the waiting room and recommending that patients with fever or cough wear a mask.
I say his doctor is 99% sure because we did not have the test done. I learned a lot about the swine flu in the 10 minutes we were there. Like the fact that the test is not so good - it comes up negative 30 to 40% of the time when it is really positive. Sam has all of the symptoms. His dr. also saw 10 kids from his school with it on Thursday.
She talked about Tamiflu, but said that they've been asked by the CDC to reserve the Tamiflu for high risk kids with asthma and/or diabetes.
So poor Sammy. Fever, chills, cough, sore throat. He's sleeping right now. He'll be out of school for a week. Lots of rest, fluids, and the Motrin/Tylenol cocktail to keep the fever down and watching him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't get worse.
As for the rest of us, lots of Emergen C mixed with Oregano oil, constant hand washing, and lots of crossed fingers and toes...
One of my lists - the list of states I've been too.
Right now, that list is at 42. I've been to 42 of the 50 states in the U.S.
Tomorrow that list is about to be updated to 43.
Tomorrow I'm headed to Louisiana to teach at the Simply Inspired event.
Even with all of the crazy travel I have been doing over the last 2+ months, I'm really excited about it. Excited to meet new friends, spend some time with some existing ones and do a little crafting while I'm at it.
So here's to lists.
And here's to checking things off of said lists.
And here's to Louisiana, #43.
Leaving you with this pic of one of the trees in our front yard. No color editing in Photoshop needed on this one. Amazing colors. I love this time of year.
Awesome book! Thanks for the chance to win one!