Memories Artwork™

Decorative Tag for Wine Bottle - Thank you gift

Let me start off by saying that we have an absolutely awesome pediatrician who really goes beyond his call of duty to help us. He's really helped us out a lot concerning Danny's ADHD symptomatic and returned our desperate calls during Christmas vacation and although he was actually on sick leave! I don't know of any doctor who will do that!

So, I was thinking....we need to thank him in a very special way. I thought, well, a good bottle of Tuscan wine and a Kristina Werner card that I recently purchased would do the trick. But as I saw that bottle of wine standing there, I thought... something is just missing. I need to dress that thing up a bit. Finally, I decided I would make a long tag, punch a hole through the top so that it would fit snugly over the wine bottle and then decorate the tag....which is exactly what I did. ;-) 

   

I inked the edges with Tim Holtz fired brick distress ink, then I took this fabulous Hero Arts vintage thank you stamp, embossing ink, and Tim Holtz Walnut stain distress embossing powder and embossed it, rubbed the crystals like he always says to achieve a distressed look and tied a piece of jute? Not sure what that is called. Afterwards, I decided to emboss around the circle with a 7Gypsies clear stamp and some gold embossing powder since I wanted it to look elegant as well as vintagy. It's simple, but classy, which is what I was aiming for. 

We'll be dropping it off tomorrow. I really do hope it shows how grateful we are to him for all of this support, but I think it will do the trick. ;-) I hope this inspires you to create something of your own as a gift for someone special.

Everyone have a beautiful Sunday!

Acrylic Mini-Album with basic instructions

My resolutions for 2010....documented within an acrylic mini-album..

     

   

   

Acrylic Mini-Album

Instructions:

There are different types of acrylic or other translucent materials.  In this case, I just got some thick transparency at a hardware store in A3 size and cut down the number of pieces I needed to 6x6 inches with a guillotine paper trimmer, which worked great. 

Then you have all of your pieces laying in front of you that you need. After that I wanted to vary the pages a bit. So, what I did was to cut various pages into shapes, but using a template I made from a Making Memories journaling pad. I used a permanent marker to trace the edge of the journaling page and then just cut it out. Since it was going to be covered anyway, the marker would be covered up. If you like you can ink the edges with staz-on ink or with acrylic paint in case you don't want to cover it with paper.

Generally, with acrylic albums, you're doing to want to plan out the pages carefully, maybe even with a sketch as you'll want to cover front an back pages equally, so as not to have adhesive, or the back of other paper or embellishments showing through the page. Sometimes, it's a good idea to use double sided paper and then you can cover any bits of adhesive with embellishments. At any rate, plan ahead so you don't run into problems there.

After cutting some of the pages into shapes, I also stamped some of the pages with stay-on ink as well for a variation in the background. Staz-on is the BEST!

Two holes are sufficient to hold the album together. I made sure to put in the holes before I started designing the album to make sure I don't cover up anywhere where I wanted the holes to be. You can use jump rings or ribbon or you can bind it with a regular binding system....whichever way you would like.

For the first time I used fabric in an album as a background. It looks as if it's sewn onto the album, but I just machine stitched a frame on the fabric and adhered with regular old tombow adhesive runner.  This worked surprisingly well. After that I needed to see what to place on the back side. Every double spread is matching in color to prevent chaos for the eyes. :-)  Generally, one page will contain a photo and the other some very important journaling.

On the page with my hubby and I, I stitched a heart on the other page before adhering the fabric, which I then also filled with buttons and pearls using gluedots.  The key I adhered with fabric glue and the keyhole with diamond glaze, which is really almost as tough as super glue, yet acid-free. I left the back side of the heart, because I liked the way it looked on the other side.

As for my resolutions, I'm thinking that if I spent so much time with this album, I just might stick to them better. Who knows?

Awesome family photos / videos by Michael & Tara Whitney!

I just wanted to share something with you.... a family video, no, not my family, but a wonderful family video that Michael Whitney filmed and Tara Whitney photographed. These two are just so amazing! Their work is so incredible that I wish I could just fly over to the states and have them take our pictures and film us right away!!!! What great memories!

The Cameron Family Film from MS - Client Proofing on Vimeo.

It's been awhile...

I apologize for not posting for a while now. There has been a bit of turmoil lately in my life. On the one hand my job is very stressful, especially during "event season", but I must say I am loving my job even though I have work up to my ears, so that I barely have time for scrapbooking as I work a lot in the evenings from home as well.

Then Friday a week ago, my husband's grandmother died, the day before I was supposed to attend an event for work, so I was panicked about what to do with the children since my husband had wanted to leave to be with his mom. I did find someone, but it took forever! The next day I woke up with a terrible headache and started vomiting. It was the stress of it all apparently, but I thought it was some type of virus as I had never had that happen to me before. So, pressure from work was on and I felt really bad about letting them down that day. There was just absolutely nothing I could do about it. The next day I attended, still feeling sick and a bit weak, but I made it through the day. Luckily.

On Monday, my mom calls and says, "Your grandma was next." She died that day... only 3 days after my husband's grandmother. What a fluke! So, wow... no more grandparents around. You begin to start thinking about your life, how old you are, whether you're enjoying it enough, what you could do better, etc. Ah, yes.

I also have a bit of custom work waiting on me to have time as well, plus cards and things that I want to sell at the artist's market coming up the end of November, so that is always in the back of my mind. I just wanted to show you a few things I was able to do. (click to enlarge)

 

Ooh, I see I need to make more vertical cards! My next batch! More to follow...

This is from some custom work I'm doing right now...just a few accents.

This tree stem I just kind of eyeballed and cut out. Then I rough-cut the top of the tree from green cardstock, embossed it with my cuttlebug, inked it with distress ink, adhered it to a scrap orange piece of patterned paper and cut around the tree to frame it a bit.

 

This was made using my cricut expression die-cut machine.

 

 

In case you can't tell.... that is an ice cream cone I made from scratch.

I love creating different accents for my layouts that fit perfectly to the theme or the patterned paper. So, even if I don't have anything bought that would match the page, I'm always finding new ways to make my own and it's really a lot of fun.

These are busy times and they will stay busy until Christmas vacation. I'll be off for THREE weeks! YESSSS! Can't wait. 

NOTE: Any custom orders for Christmas must be placed with me by no later than 1 December in order to arrive in time for the festivities!!

Christmas Cards & Journal Notebook Class

Hey Peeps!!!

Yes, I know... making Christmas cards again.... but I look at something and then get so inspired that I have to do something about it. It's like an itch. LOL Anyway... I made a few Christmas cards again and wanted to show you a few pictures of the journal I made in Karla Dudley's Journal 3 Ways Class. The class has already begun, but I'm sure she will be having more workshops. Now, I have to tell you, this woman amazes me! She has 5 kids, including 2 sets of twins...two boys, two girls and the oldest is another boy. Wow... is all I can say. Then she's got kids getting sick all over the place, but takes the time to shoot videos and show her students how to make cute journals. I have to hand it to her, Karla: My hat is off to you girl! You are just a cool gal!

Little "medallion" tutorial here:

So, I made these two cards with "medallions" on them that I made myself. The easiest way is to take a 12" strip about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2" wide, cut along the edge with either scallop scissors or zig zag, but it should be something that is uniform, no tearing scissors or anything like that. Next you want to fold the piece back and forth like an accordion, maybe scoring each line before you do that to make it work a bit easier and look straighter LOL. Then just glue the ends together with tacky tape so it doesn't come apart, then push down on the middle part to make it flat....go ahead, I promise it won't fall apart. But, in order to hold it together, you're going to need something sturdy to put on that middle part. Use a scallop circle, a big button, or a regular circle, a flower, anything you want, but you will have to make sure you use a good adhesive to make it stick. I used glue dots, which seemed to work pretty well. Make sure they're heavy duty and the cardstock is fairly heavy weight. Chipboard might be even better.  Then just use 3 D glue dots or pop dots to adhere to your card or layout. I really love the look of it. Next time I'm going for ones a bit smaller though. ;-)

On this one, I originally stamped the flourishes with opaque white stazon ink, but you could hardly see it, so I went over it with a white gel pen to make it stand out more. Truly had fun making the medallions!

Now to Karla's Class! She's so sweet and her videos were so cute. Making the journal was easier than I thought. Tomorrow is week two! Can't wait to see what she comes up with! :D Check out the journal I made today.

The angle of the photo I took, makes it look crooked, but it's not, trust me. ;-) I got this free Katie Pertiet border swirl brush from Designer Digitals. Go check it out!

These are the inside pages using Karla's swirls from the class. Love those swirls! Can't get enough of them.

Here are the pages with the journaling brushes that Karla designed. Don't you just love her handwriting? I mean, okay, mine is not the worst handwriting, but I just loooove Karla's... kind of looks similar to Ali Edward's style of handwriting.

So, folks, that's all for now. I've really got to get to bed! ughhhh....busy week... what am I saying? Months!

Nite all!

Jackie

Christmasy items - cards and gift boxes

I know, I know....Halloween has not even happened and I'm already going on and on about Christmas! Sorry...that's the way it is. At any rate, I was googling and stumbled across some pop up cards that inspired me to make this one.

just simple, but ok

this part was a bit more difficult as it was my first time making a pop-up card, but I love the look of it so I may try out some more and post. I saw a video from an Australian stampin' up lady and I believe her name was Robbie, but I'm not sure!

Then I googled for gift boxes and once again, landed on Kristina Werner's blog where she had a video of an origami box with a matching lid. I never thought it would be that easy! Aren't they just cute?! Cool! Please check out her blog for more inspiration.

 

Google origami gift box and you'll be sure to find her video on the box.

Of Halloween Minialbums and Christmas Tags

Good evening all... or should I say nite nite? ;-)  Well, I haven't done much this weekend, besides work some for my day job, grocery shopping, taking the kids to the indoor playground, washing clothes, cooking, etc....BUT, I did get in some scrapping, YESS!!!

I wanted to show you this sweet little pumpkin I made. I got the idea from Jennifer McGuire who posted it on www.twopeasinabucket.com and I thought it was so adorable, I just had to try it out! It's very easy! (Her photo is a bit nicer though....love how it's always mirrored at the bottom. Wonder if I can do that in photoshop. ;-)

 

The one on the left is Jennifers and mine is on the right.

I've started on the cover of a Halloween mini-album...something that I've been wanting to get around to for a long time and when someone on Simea's Design Team asked for Halloween stuff, I thought, NOW's the time! So, with some papers from the Basic Grey Eerie collection and an SEI mini chipboard album, I got to work...or rather "play". ;-)

Then, I checked out Kristina Werner's blog, since she always has such awesome video tutorials on her cards, and I found the most awesome acrylic Christmas tags! You MUST go visit her website!! So, I decided to put my cricut diecut machine to work once again, cutting out tags out of thin acrylic. Worked like a charm! ;-) So, I made these cuties. I just luuuuv acrylic, don't know why. It just gives it a clean elegant looking touch.

Just love these! Can't wait to attach them to a Christmas gift (which is still a loooonnnng ways off!).

I also needed to gift wrap my daughter's gift to her kindergarten friend for her birthday, but I didn't have any giftwrap at home, so I did this.

I'm so into kraft colored paper (this is actually post office wrapping paper) and butterflies. This butterfly is from a clear stamp set by Amy Butler and I think I've fallen in love with this butterfly....it's so awesome, there's so much detail. I stamped it with fluid chalk ink, cut it out and pop-dotted it. Very simple, but it has a great effect.  "Laura" liked it. ;-)

I'm still working on some custom work, which is also fun, but very time-consuming. ;-) So, I'll have to touch base with you some time this week! Stay tuned! ;-)

Scrapbooking things over the weekend

I was experiencing a bit of withdrawal from scrapbooking, but I really need a creative break after finishing a large wedding album that I really put my heart into.... here is a peak:

In November I will be attending an artist market and I'll be selling all kinds of Christmasy items, such as cards, tags, frames, gift boxes and minialbums (if I make it that is..lol). So, I got started with a few cards this weekend (I know...ughhhh...it's only September and the weather is still so beautiful!). Anyhoo....here are some of the cards I made... one of them is not a Christmas card. I just saw a German stencil I picked up at a hardware store and got an idea. ;-)

This card above was inspired by Kristina Werner Design. You should check out her blog, just awesome!!

 

And THEN, I made another something inspired by Lisa Tutman-Oglesby and her fabulous ideas. You should go check out her blog as well. Very inspiring!  This was made very quicky, using modge podge to adhere and then cutting off the excess paper around the edges. You have to work very fast with modge podge as it dries very quickly. Slap on a few stickers and violá! There you have it! An entirely new and personal notebook.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for more!

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello School

So, in between I need to do a layout or two for myself or else I'll go nuts! :D I just recently received Jenna's latest Kindergarten photos and as soon as I saw the patterned paper, I knew it would be a layout soon. It just fit so nicely. Anyway...this is truly a large transition for me as well as for Jenna. Both of my children will now be going to school and I realize just how fast time is really flying. I worry today what the future has in store for them and I hope that I'm doing things right as a parent.

Jenna is soooo excited about going to school.  At least a few times a week she opens her school bag up and inspects the contents over and over and then carefully places everything gingerly back inside. I start to think bag to my school days and the elmer's glue, the coloring pencils, the children's scissors, the notebooks. *smile*  Those were the days when there were truly no worries.

Creative Mommy - beautiful girl's party invitations

I just wanted to post these invitations from a mommy, Michaela Abdel-Fattah, I met at the Kindergarten my kids attend, since she is so darn creative and I'm always flabbergasted at the invitations she makes for her girl's birthday parties. She puts a lot of heart into them and she is just a really nice lady. I like her a lot, so I wanted to show you her beautiful creations! Please take a look at all of the little details, such as the glitter, the flowers, the shading, the feathers... just awesome!! Feast your eyes on these fairytale invitations:

 

The "Princess Invitation"

 

The "Unicorn Invitation"

 

The "Fairy Invitation"

Love Always - A Wedding Layout

Yeah, I'm so proud of myself for sticking with one subject for once instead of doing a thousand different things (like a typical ADDer)! I made another wedding layout using the other half of the patterned paper that I used to cut out the shape on my "Perfection" layout.  It's not as elegant as the other one, but that's just fine with me. I don't want one layout to look exactly like the other! :D This was really so easy to make too! A few flowers, brads, stamps and there ya go!  It's all about where you put them that matters, right?

Another Wedding Scrapbooking Layout

Hello all... I'm a bit frustrated at the moment and it's times like these when it feels really good to scrap.  So, I decided to continue on with the wedding photos.  I really have to get them done anyway and a DT challenge to use decorative scissors, so that is what I did.  And this is what came out of it.

Cute little chipboard box!!

A client of mine asked me to make some chipboard boxes and gave me an idea from Betty's Creations. Cool idea... I just wish I could find a way to keep it closed! ;-) Please be sure to visit her website for more wonderful ideas!

Materials used:

CreaMotion patterned paper, black cardstock, thin chipboard, modge podge, cuttlebug, cuttlebug butterfly diecut & embossing card, tim holtz walnut stain ink, tim holtz sanding block, cricut expressions machine

Christmas 2008 - Layout

So, I finally finished up week 8 of Cathy's class...only four more weeks to finish! YIKES. At least I'm scrapping useful things, such as our Christmas vacation!

Birthday Card for one of my favorite people

This birthday card I made for my husband's aunt Hasi.  I put my heart into this card, because I just love her so much.  She's just about the sweetest person I know.  And I knew she would appreciate it, because she's crafty herself with sewing and patchwork.  I was to happy that I could give her some joy with this card on her 70th birthday.

click on photos to enlarge

Two layouts - two best FRIENDS

Layout and concept provided by Cathy Zielske, Design Your Life workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com

This is week 7 of Cathy's class and i'm still not getting tired of it! I just love her layout designs. They're awesome.

Halloween 2005 BOO

Another layout in Cathy Zielske's class at Big Picture Scrapbooking inthe Real World Color section.

 

Celebrating No. 1

Okay folks, yeah, I know....this was uh, 4 years ago? Whatever..so sue me. I've still got a LOT of catching up to do, even though I've done about 700+ layouts since I started scrapping, there are so many photos left to scrap. YIKES!

At any rate, I am utilizing Cathy's class for this, so not only am I becoming pretty darn good at design, but I'm also getting my photos scrapped. YEAHHHH!

So, here it 'tis...

Not too thrilled with the colors I used, but what the hay...

 

Okay...last one for today..

So, I'm caught up and completed all my assignments for these week at the DYL Class. I'm so proud of myself! I'm having a real ball with this and it's really changing my view of design.  I'm actually adapting these principles onto my own layouts and I feel that my layouts look so much better!

Layout and concept provided by Cathy Zielske, Design Your Life workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com

I'm on a roll... "In the month of June" - DYL Class, Week 5, Sketch 2

Layout and concept provided by Cathy Zielske, Design Your Life workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com

Using lots of white space and that's okay! :-)

Little Mouse - DYL Class, Week 5, Sketch # 1

Layout and concept provided by Cathy Zielske, Design Your Life workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com

Love how this turned out! This week it's about "space"...using white space effectively...love it!

Sorry for the crooked scan...it really isn't crooked! I promise!

We stand behind you...

Layout and concept provided by Cathy Zielske, Design Your Life workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com

I know that there are people out there that don't believe there is such a thing as ADD.  They believe it has something to do with discipline, or that "boys just are that way".  Sorry, do their "boys" also have the problems Danny has faced since Kindergarten?  Having trouble concentrating, being distracted most of the time so that it's difficult to get dressed, brush teeth, pay attention to cars on the street, go to the bathroom, listen in school, obey rules, fit in with other children?? Do they?? I'm sick and tired of listening to parents who just do not understand ADD and are not willing to believe it is real.  Yes, it is real.  My son's brain does not produce enough dopamine to get him "going".  These people look at me like I am not fit to be a parent when they see my son being impulsive or aggressive.  They stare at me when I try to intervene at the playground in order to stop other children from being hurt.  They don't understand that it's actually for their own children's safety.  They think I should just "let him"...the thing is, if I "let him", he's liable to hurt someone. Not willingly mind you, because he is unable to think before he takes action.  That is what being impulsive and ADD is all about.  So, please...parents that don't understand ADD, don't tell me what I should do, because you cannot possibly know what all of us are going through, including Danny.

Here are some more layouts from Cathy's Class

Despite the stomach flu, I'm having a great time in Cathy's class.  I know, I've already said that a few times.  So, sue me! ;-) Check out the layouts.  As always.... Layout and concept provided by Cathy Zielske,

Design Your Life workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com

My Blood & My Kin

Layout and concept provided by Cathy Zielske, Design Your Life workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com

Now this layout I like again. :-) These are my nephews Patrick & Luke with my niece Zina. Gotta lovem'!

More layouts...

I love Cathy's class, can you tell?  It's so wonderful.  The designs are so simple yet the results are just amazing!

P O U T ...

So, okay...I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm sick again....:-( I have had a sore throat for 3 days and it just seems to be getting worse. This is really, really getting on my nerves. Especially since apparently Spring has arrived here in Germany...at least for today. In spite of it all, I went shopping yesterday for food and shoes & handbags. ;-) I will throw a few photos in later. But, I was also CREATIVE! YEAH! I made this for a challenge (actually I was going to make it anyway) and really had fun with this. These photos are so typical of Jenna...and her pouting. :-)

 
   

My ADHD Kid....

I've been wanting to create this layout for a long time. I was always waiting for the right pictures and then my co-worker came to visit and took some photos that were perfect.

My son and I are struggling with ADHD.  That fact that we both have it makes it quite a bit more difficult to deal with.  Not only am I trying desperately to organize myself, but have got to organize 2 children, a full-time job and a household as well.  I'm on meds, which help calm me and my thoughts to help me structure myself. Although, we as well as the Kindergarten know he has a problem, we have not been able to find a doctor to diagnose him. It's probably because they only see him for a few hours and at these appointments Danny is always quite attentive and does exactly what he's told, because everything is new and exciting to him.  But, once a routine sets in that he doesn't like (like brushing teeth, getting dressed, eating properly, cleaning up his room, etc.) then it proves very nerve-wrecking and difficult to motivate him to do it....especially without the dawdling part.  It's hard for me, because every morning it's the same game.  I have to tell him to do everything about 15 times, plus get myself and Jenna ready and make sure I get them washed, fed, clothed and off to Kindergarten on time as well as to the tram on time to get to work.  Needless to say, I'm a nervous wreck by the time I get to work. But, I cope the best way I know how. I stay calm up to a point, but then I regularly explode.  I know it's awful and I feel so guilty about it, but it's just day after day after day of having to say the same things over and over and over again to the point of overloading my thin strand of nerves. Every day I try anew to stay calm.  On some days it works better than on others, but I try my best.  Sometimes it's not good enough, but there is the ADHD factor that also plays a role in my life and is sometimes not considered.  Or sometimes, it's conceived as me using it as an excuse.  Nope, I don't.  I am the way I am and I try to cope as best I can. Thank goodness for my husband, who pulls me down to the ground when I'm about to lift off or am half way to the moon. Thank you honey. I love you. And Danny, you are my everything, even if Momma isn't as patient as she'd like to be.  I'm there for you always...Love Mom....

 

Winter creation....

Finally, I have mustered up some energy to be creative....hopefully. Why am I always doubting myself? I guess it is normal, but it's also unproductive....so, "I like my creation", hope you do to. This photo was in a regular wooden frame hanging in my hallway. I know....Shame on me for not doing something with it!" But, now I have and I'm sooo glad I did. I feel so much better that I have created something today. ;-)

One of my goals this year is to watch less TV and do more scrapbooking or other creativity! I'll have to write about my goals here pretty soon so I can also keep track of my progress.

Enjoy....if you like.

WOW! I'm 40 now!

  It's unbelievable and I'm still having a difficult time believing I'm 40 now! I sure don't feel 40... as a matter of fact I feel more like 80, constantly being sick, unable to do my TaeBo, stress at work, stress at home, whew. Can't wait for that vacation to come around if you know what I mean. It's a tough world out there. Sometimes I wonder how other people do it?

Seriously though, I don't feel like I'm 40, but more like 28. I can still be goofy and silly, and laugh at just about anything. The only time I notice I'm getting old is when teenagers call me by my last name and say Ms. Aarrrrggghhh! I can't stand it. Ms. Schimmel....how old does that sound?? tztz

At any rate, I guess the saying is true. You're only as old as you feel.  That, of course, depends on how you're feeling at the time. Most of the time I do feel 28, so I'll leave it at that. ;-) Most people can't believe I'm 40 already anyway.  It does have its advantages. For instance, you are an actual grownup, have children, a husband, in-laws...and you don't take any crap from anyone anymore.  At 25 I used to let people boss me around, let people be mean to me, because I never knew what to say or do. Today, I think....what is the worst thing that can happen? Are they going to eat me alive? Probably not. Will they slap me around if I tell them off? Not necessarily, so hey! I don't need to take crap if I don't want to!

Another advantage is: I know what I want. I like my job, my bosses, my co-workers. I love to scrapbook and do my TaeBo workouts. I love being around people (well most of them). I want to give my kids love, support and anything else they might need. I want to get ahead in my career. What could be cooler than doing investor relations for mining companies? I mean, these people actually find GOLD, SILVER, DIAMONDS...you name it! I am not kidding either. There is still so much untouched or underexplored earth out there, it's just incredible and exciting to say the least.

What would I do without scrapbooking? I just wish I had more time for it! Before I started working I would be at it almost daily. Now, I'm just a little exhausted when I get home and the weekends are there for the kids and washing & ironing. Oh well. But, where there is a will there is a way. I have been working on my scrap studio and will be featuring some more photos or layouts shortly. I wanted to make it more inviting and pleasing to the eye, so that I can't wait to get up there and go at it!

What did I get for my birthday? For one thing an iMac! YEAH! Can we say "SO COOL!"? I'm loving it too. It is absolutely the coolest computer! I also received some beautiful roses from my cousin, from one best friend a card that played "Word up" by Cameo and my other best friend made me a beautifully scrapped birthday card and a minialbum about the scrapper's passion and then she gave me.. a cute little box of hugs. I don't think I've ever received something so thoughtful and sweet. Thank you my dear friend. This is something I will treasure forever!

So....I think I have chatted enough hear for one evening and my ears seem to have gone deaf all of the sudden (from my wonderful virus I caught from my daughter). Time to take the antibiotics!

Ta ta.....from the not-so-40, 40-year-old!

Jax