Waiting...

Here I sit, waiting for my flight. Delayed, always delayed! I am really hoping and praying that I make my connection from Chicago to Nashville. My companions are already there, I am happy to say. I just wish I was already there and that I didn't have to deal with the stress of connections and shuttles and customer service representatives, and travelers and airport food. I got here and realized that all I have eaten this entire day was string cheese. (I did have a few peanut butter M&M's but those don't count as real food do they?) Unfortunately this airport has nothing to eat, unless it's out of a vending machine, YUCK! I will just have to wait until I get in late tonight to eat. I managed to find a granola bar in my carry on bag to eat, so that was a good thing. I had just one of those crazy busy days trying to get ready to leave. I was literally RUNNING from room to room in my house trying to get everything accomplished that needed to be done. Running the last minute errands...post office (it's a daily stop now with all of my international customers) bank, last minute groceries, gas...it just didn't end. I hadn't even packed until after lunch today...if you know me at all, that is completely UNLIKE me. I am just praying that I didn't forget anything. As I mentioned yesterday I didn't get my pictures in the mail until I got home last night around 9:00. So I was frantically trying to sort and organize what I needed to bring with me and what could be left at home. That will be my project for the flight. Organize and sort and figure out which pictures are for which class.

I am being called for my flight now so I will check in shortly. Just pray that I make it, because now they are saying that ALL of the flights out of Chicago are delayed also. Which will make it easier to make my connection, but I will be getting in LATE tonight.

Have a happy afternoon!

A VERY good day...

Well it was one. A VERY good day that is. We drove to Chicago this morning to pick up my sweet mom from the airport. The kids did great in the car, and I was thanking the Lord for that portable DVD player! It was so great to see her, and the kids were so excited. We headed next to the IKEA store there and I got to experience it for the first time...what a treat! I took pictures of course and was totally inspired the whole way through. I think we spent around 3 hours just wandering and letting the kids play and play in the childrens section. My mom said it felt like you were walking around HGTV. There were so many things that we had seen on some of the design shows there. I completely understand why too. Everything is VERY inexpensive and seemed to be good quality, and they had anything and everything under the sun you could want or need for your home! I especially loved their textiles section and all of the brightly colored fabrics. We were all beat by the time we had made it all the way through (it was HUGE) and so we headed for home. Upon arrival I found that my order from ScrapbookPictures.com had finally arrived. Just in the nick of time too! I leave tomorrow for the Scap Etc. event. I am getting excited but still have so much to do. I will make it though, and I know I am in for a real treat!

Since I will be out of town the 16th-20th I will not be shipping any kits until Monday, April 21st. I will be checking email and will get back to you if you should need anything from me, but nothing will ship until the 21st. I think I am definitely going to gain some inspiration just by being there. The creative juices will be flowin'.

Also for my out of towners YES I took the plunge and cut off ALL of my hair. Okay, maybe not all of it, but lots and lots of it. I officially have short hair now. It is taking some time to get used to it, but once I figure out how in the world to fix it, I think I will like it. I like change. It is a good thing for me, a good "stretch" so to speak. Frankly I just get bored with having the same hairstyle/length. I couldn't tell if my mom approved. We'll see. Sorry for the lame pictures, but it's so hard to take pictures of yourself!!

It's nearly morning here and I have a FULL day ahead, I may be regretting my play day today when morning comes. Have a good night!

Pages...

Here are the pages I made last night at the crop...I haven't received my order from ScrapbookPictures.com yet..ugggh! So these are literally the last 2 pictures I had to work on!

I am really into texture right now and so I used this netted fiber sheet behind my picture. I think it gave it a beachy/tropical kind of feel to the page. I used patterned paper and cardstock from the March kit. The alphabet is Making Memories as are the buttons. (I still need to sew the fibers through the button holes.) The cardstock photo corner and star are by Daisy D's. I made these layouts in 8X8 format. I read an article by Heidi Swapp once that talked about how she makes many of her layouts this size because they are easier to complete and the embellishments seem to "fit" better on a down-sized layout. This is my first album in this size and it has been fun to work with. I use it as a "favorite photos" album. I like the fact that I have something smaller that isn't all pictures of one event, but rather it spans 2 years of photos right now. It's kind of fun to look through it and see the big change in the kids and I like that it holds formal and candid shots side by side.

This page has more patterened paper from the March kit, a piece of graphic orange fabric, a Heidi Swapp journaling spot and "&", the chipboard "WINK" is also Heidi Swapp. I used the Making Memories tiny alphas to finish my title. If the "With a Wink & a Smile" title doesn't make sense then you must see the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" or listen to the soundtrack. Love that movie! It's a classic.

Hope you're having an excellent weekend!

This week flew...

I cannot believe how fast this week sped by. I have been busy with Freehand Scraps, and signing Tanner up for T-ball, and creating, and getting ready for my trip next week. Sorry for my blogging absence. Tanner was so funny, he has a friend from school who is participating in both soccer and T-ball this spring, so I mentioned to Tanner that if he wanted to we could sign him up to play one of them. (I don't think I have it in me to do both!) He chose T-ball, and I couldn't be happier. No offense to any soccer lovers out there. But at his age, it's just a LOT of running around and not a whole lot of scoring. On the bright side...it is good excercise! He can't wait to start and was convinced that we were going to play at the registration. Funny guy.

(By the way, Tanner just informed me that he thinks I'm a "genious" because I super-glued his green parrots legs back on that had broken off. I think that we should all have this attitude...wouldn't everyone feel happier in general with such appreciation for the little things?)

I have been working on getting baby gifts off in the mail to my sweet friends and their new/almost here babies. I posted a picture of an elephant I had altered and thought I would post the matching card I made with the March kit.

I love it how the elephants trunk hangs off the bottom of the envelope. Since it's being mailed inside the package you can do fun things like that!

I am still waiting on the pictures to get here from ScrapbookPictures.com...ugggh! I even paid a few dollars more for the quicker shipping so that I would have them in time to organize. I am going to a local crop at a church tonight and will be so bummed out if I don't get them! I have a mini book half made (but with no pictures) of Chloe's 3rd birthday. It was a Hawaiian luau party and some of the pictures truned out great! I will share that project here soon! Cross your fingers that the mail carrier delivers them TODAY! I am off to the post office, the employees there are my new best friends. We see each other so much! Hee hee.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Heidi

Ahhh Monday...

Busiest day of the week! But also seems to be the day I get the most done. I finished up the last few pieces of the May kit today...I am getting so excited about it! Almost ready to ship it off to the designers. Woohoo. I also made a major order at my favorite photo processing site...ScrapbookPictures.com. It took me hours and hours, and in the end I had a total of 522 pictures in my shopping cart. Holy smokes! But I must admit that I havent't made an order for almost a whole year. (Not counting Christmas card pictures.) I can't wait to get them, and I am even a little impatient. I am looking forward to it tremendously. I was really "forced" to do it because in a little over a week I am heading out to the Scrap Etc. event in Tenessee. We have had this trip planned since last summer, and so have been doing homework assignments (photos & journaling) for months now. It is a little overwhelming actually. Unfortunately, I hadn't had any photos printed for it, so this is the reason for the giant order. Sometimes I think that having a photo printer at home (I use it mostly for last minute things or if I'm in a time crunch) is directly related to not making an order for a whole year. At Scrap Etc. I get to take classes taught by Heidi Swapp, Jenni Bowlin, and Wilna Furstenburg. I am so excited about it, and just getting to have a girls weekend with my best friends will be such a treat for this single mom!

I promised to share some more of my projects from our April gallery...so without further ado here is another layout made with the transparency by Luxe Designs. I just loved it when I saw it, and it turned out to be perfect for the wedding dress photo.

I silhouetted a few of the flowers from one of the patterned papers and then even added a few leaves around the scrolled frame. I used the Bazzill bling cardstock as my backgound which just fit so perfectly with the photo. I had someone ask me about adhesive and how to attach it to the background. All I used were mini glue dots, they are small enough to hide behind the embellishments and really strong to keep it all in place. The biggest challenge is getting a good photo of it without glare! LOL.
In other Freehand news...the newsletter went out this weekend! If you would like to start receiving it, there is a sign-up box on the home page. I am planning to do a design call in May. So if that is something that you are interested in...be checking for details to come on how to enter your work. We would love to have you inspire us!

Have a great night!

Gallery inspiration...

Well Amanda Smith, designer extraordinaire, has posted her darling acrylic mini-book on her blog. It's just a small peak at her gallery for April's kit. I am in love with this darling book about spring. You can check it out here: http://amandalsmith.blogspot.com/. You will not be disappointed. I can't believe that this is her first attempt at a mini book, she did such a great job. Don't forget that the gallery should be updated tomorrow. So you can get some inspiration!


Here is another one of my projects that I made using the "blOOm" kit.

This is exactly what I envisioned using the zebra pencil for! I decided to make a little wall hanging and just made loop tabs with the ribbon for the pencil to slip through. I sewed the photo to the black and white fabric and also to the Scenic Route yellow patterned paper. Then I just adhered it to the Luxe designs giant polka-dot paper. I did get asked what I used to write directly onto my photo. I have a white paint pen that works great! I like the tip size on it, it's not too thick and not too thin and it covers without you having to trace over it more than once. It's by Sakura Pen-Touch and it is permanent, quick-dry opaque white ink, the tip size is fine point 1.0mm. Love it!
So in other news I am totally caught up in American Idol this season after not watching any of it last season. (Maybe I secretly wish I was a singer. LOL. Speaking of it, that would be a good idea for a scrapbook page?!) I have a timer on my DVR that records it automatically for me...so nice to be able to FAST FORWARD through all of the commercials. The Weds. results show is right during Biblestudy so if it weren't for my little DVR I wouldn't get to see who gets the boot. I cannot even pick a favorite I like so many of them right now. But last night when Brooke was in the bottom 3 I was in shock! I would buy her album TODAY! I love that she plays the guitar- and is the sweetest person on that whole show! So GO Brooke!

Have a great night!

April's in BLOOM...

Okay I just have to say "Yea!!" The site has been updated with the darling April kit.
Check it out here:
http://www.freehandscraps.com/index.htm

As I mentioned in yesterdays post, the gallery won't be updated until the 3rd or 4th, on account of my web guy being out of town. So I plan on sharing some of my gallery today and in the days to come so that I can talk about techniques, and the ways I used the kit. I get lots of emails asking questions about the projects so this is a great place to answer those.

I also have some super exciting news...Stephanie Ackerman my guest designer for April has asked if she could design every month for Freehand Scraps!! Oh aren't we lucky to have her on the "team." She is the founder of Home & Heart magazine and is the "doodle" queen if you ask me! If you haven't gone out and grabbed the premiere issue...run, don't walk to get your hands on it!

Onto some of the projects I made...

These are my dear friends Christy and Justin on their wedding day. Her wedding colors were pink and yellow so they were a perfect match to coordinate with this month's kit. I just cut random square and rectangle shapes from the different patterned papers and used my sewing machine to stitch them on, alternating zigzag and straight stitches. I added one of the Jenni Bowlin tickets and a flower made from the Heidi Swapp tulle, a strip of the funky fabric uncluded and then just a title. Super easy and simple, but I think still elegant enough for wedding photos.

Look at that sweet photo...they are still just as much in love today as they were the day they said "I do!" Thanks Christy for the priviledge of getting to create some projects with your beautiful photos. What an honor.
Here is a project I made using the zebra pencil...I had envisioned using it as a way to hang this project. I used the cool fabric and even used my white pen to journal right onto the photo. I am liking the way it turned out. I also love that new American Crafts paper with the scalloped edge. SO many possibilities!!

So I just know that you will enjoy playing with this kit. I'll post more of my projects here in the next few days. Happy April Fool's Day!