ba-da-Bina!

More bling...

2012-01-08T09:18:00.002-06:00

More rhinestone designs...

2011-11-04T10:17:00.002-05:00

Texas Rangers Bling Shirt

2011-10-21T09:20:00.002-05:00

Had to make myself a Texas Rangers bling shirt!

More rhinestone fun....

2011-08-16T18:52:00.001-05:00

This was a custom order from my Etsy store:

Go Roos! Rhinestones are addicting...

2011-04-20T16:02:00.004-05:00

Rhinestones are addicting. Friday is school spirit day at my daughters school, so I made her a shirt. I had some new crystals to try out and had some blue in my stash. Worked out perfectly as our colors are black and blue... Check it out - I love it! Gotta make myself one now. :)

All this creativity lately inspired me to reopen my Little Me Beads Etsy store.

Rhinestone Designs

2011-04-13T21:06:00.005-05:00

Since I'm not using my Klic-n-Kut for paper scrapping anymore, I started using it for making rhinestone designs. Just getting started, but here's a few that I've done.

Just ordered a boatload of rhinestones so I've got some playtime ahead of me. Yay!

P.S. The alligator was created from a doodle by the Scrappin Cop. (See my links...)

Record snowfalls in TX, seems a good time to scrap...

2010-02-13T08:32:00.004-06:00

Credits (Hope I don't miss anyone; I was all over the place with this one!):
* Yin Template 109 (slightly modified)
* Felt action by Atomic Cupcake
* Felt snowman by me - see older posts for the download
* Icicles and snowflakes paper from the Snow Stuff and Falling Snow kits by Tracy's Scraps (Tracy Drane)
* Far background swirly paper and 'winter' circle tag from the Seasonal Sampler - Holiday and Winter kits by Shabby Princess
* Glitter swirls, snowflake in the 'O', and journal tag from the Icy Days kit by Trixie Scraps

Long time, no post. :)

2009-09-13T22:19:00.002-05:00

FINALLY finished my sorority scrapbook for 2008-2009, so I'm back to working on my own personal pages again. Yay! I'm committed to doing the scrapbook this year as well, but have opted to do a simple photobook this time. I've been very diligent so far at keeping that current. Our chapter year just began, but I already have pictures of 6 events(!!!), but again, am happy to report they are already put into an ongoing project on Shutterfly.

I was going through and showing DD her baby book (what is done of it so far) and she seemed to really get a kick out of looking at it. For me though, it was a reminder that I have numerous placeholders waiting for completed pages, so I've started on that this evening...

Credits: Background pages by me, "Visitor's" alpha by Ellie Lash, template by Yin, and sanded overlay by Rhonna Farrer.

Star Spangled Fourth

2009-06-29T17:06:00.003-05:00

Last week marked the 2nd anniversary of Jessica Spragues website. There were daily freebies and challenges, of which I participated in only the Day 7 one. :) Oh well, I scrapped with my mom on Friday night, so I guess my mojo was flowing this weekend as I actually did 6 pages in three days. Not my best, but it was at least something. :) I was inspired by the Day 7 template freebie and this awesome sparkle freebie over at BusyScrappin. Here was my finished layout for the Day 7 challenge:

Font is Century Gothic
Brushes are "2005" from the DateDots set by Amber Clegg Designs and "Fireworks" from the Home of the Brave set by Sande Krieger
Template by Molly Schneider aka sweetmollymac
"Sparkles" background by L.Kizer aka Busyscrappin.

Thanks for looking!

Disney on Ice

2009-03-30T22:30:00.006-05:00

We went to Disney on Ice last Thursday, and I scrapped it on Friday. That may be a new record for me. ;) Credits: Simply Yin template #91, and background paper by Britt-ish Designs.

Circle words...

2009-02-25T16:45:00.008-06:00

I've been working on my Beta Sigma Phi scrapbook. Part of that includes a calendar page for each month. Since space is limited, I made these circle words to highlight certain events. You may use them as well. Included in the download is a .png for each circle, a preview page, and also the .abr brush file (created in CS4). The full size of each circle is approx 4.5 inches in diameter. There are 41 circles total - some are Beta Sigma Phi specific, but the majority are things like birthday, holidays, etc.

The font used for these is Pea Shirley and you can get it at Fonts for Peas.

DOWNLOAD HERE

For personal use ONLY; commercial use is NOT allowed.

...and the calendar template (in case you're interested) can be found HERE.

PreKindergarten Days: a 2-page layout

2009-02-22T11:03:00.012-06:00

K has been sick this weekend, so I've had lots of time to scrap...

Here's a layout I did with a bunch of photos given to us at her pre-K graduation in May. I did this layout as part of another challenge. This one was to use something from each letter in the word: president.

P=encils
R=ulers
E=raser
S=cribble
I=nked Edge
D=iploma
E=lephant / Ee
N=otebook Paper
T=itle Tapes

Credits:
Pencil, ruler from "School Days" by LilyBelle Scraps.
Paper, Eraser, Stitching, Scribble from "School is O So Cool" kit by O'Scraps.
Fonts are PeaShirley (Fonts for Peas), dbValentineAnimal (Lettering Delights), Century Gothic.
Labels from AtomicCupcake label generator.
Page 2 (all photos) was part of a template by Yin Designs.

Thanks for looking!

Two Many Legs?

2009-02-21T10:53:00.006-06:00

Here's a page of K that I scrapped last night. I'd forgotten about these pictures - it's her trying to put her jeans on. She wasn't quite two years old yet and just couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. I did this for a challenge where I had to use the number 2 and two photos. Look at the photos closely... does she have "two" many pant legs or not enough legs? :)

SpragueLab Contest: Question 1

2009-02-19T13:28:00.005-06:00

Anyone that knows me, knows that I have been spending a large amount of my free time over the last year learning Photoshop. I love the practical uses of the program as well as the creative uses! It was the creative uses, as in digital scrapbooking, that led me to Jessica Sprague's website. Her video tutorials and classes have launched me far ahead of the curve where learning PS is concerned. Since I recently upgraded from PS7 to CS4, I have been taking in a ton of lessons from Lynda.com and trying to focus on the photo editing aspects of PS. Photoshop to edit photos, who'd a thunk it?! :) So in my never-ending quest to learn all I can about PS, I am trying to win a free Photo Editing class from Jessica Sprague.

So, question one is:

What is one of your very FAVORITE photos of a person that you’ve ever taken?

Here is my favorite happy little photography accident:

It's a picture of K, taken at the kids playground inside of Chick-Fil-A. Except for cropping it down a bit, this photo is straight out of the camera (SOOC for you phototogs). I love everything about this picture - the colors, how the background compliments her outfit, her eyes, the pose, the expression, everything. I honestly do not think I could have staged this photo any better if I had tried. On the contrary, my typical attempts at posing photos are absolutely HORRENDOUS! :)

It's a two-for-none!

2009-02-18T19:17:00.011-06:00

That's right, two freebies for the price of NONE! :)

First, a quick page of the layout I posted yesterday...

DOWNLOAD QUICK PAGE

...and then a template from the same layout.

DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE

ALL freebies on my blog are for personal use ONLY; commercial use is NOT allowed. Thank you!

New kit - Embossed Valentine

2009-02-17T15:35:00.010-06:00

I'm a few days behind in getting this out... Anyway, my inspiration was a formal event that DH and I attend every year. Hope you enjoy.

For personal use ONLY; commercial use is NOT allowed.

DOWNLOAD ELEMENTS
DOWNLOAD PAPER SET 1
DOWNLOAD PAPER SET 2

Valentines!!

2009-02-12T20:32:00.003-06:00

So, I'm still working on my kit... actually I have quite a bit of it done, but I'm just not ready to share YET. :) It's a Valentines theme, but oh well - if you're like me, you don't actually scrap events in real time. ;)

Anyway, so I made these little Valentines for DD's class. It was fun - of course! I had asked K if she wanted me to make her Valentines or if she wanted to go to the store and pick some out. She chose for me to make them. (wahoo!) Unfortunately that was just this week and I really didn't have time to do them up entirely like I would have preferred. I wish I could share them as a freebie, but the animals are not S4O friendly. :(

These are designed to wrap around the treat of your choice...

Animals are actually a font called dbValentineAnimals by LetteringDelights.

Text font is Kayleigh.

Kit is Kiss Me by Ellie Lash.

Teaser....

2009-02-01T23:45:00.005-06:00

I'm working on a new kit. (Ha, I say that like I do this everyday!) Anyway, I'm still adding elements and paper, so in the meantime, here's a little teaser...

Special thanks to Deb at The Scrappin Cop for the heart gem and to Atomic Cupcake for the awesome Wrought Iron action.

For personal use ONLY; commercial use is NOT allowed.

DOWNLOAD HERE

It's raining (snow)men!

2009-01-06T16:56:00.003-06:00

Been playing in Photoshop again. :) Here's a couple of snowmen - one flat image and one puffy felt image. Both snow-fellows are in the same .png file.

Thanks Atomic Cupcake for the felt action!

For personal use ONLY; commercial use is NOT allowed.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Out for delivery!!!

2009-01-06T08:43:00.002-06:00

WAHOO - I love it when I visit the UPS / FedEx / USPS site and see these words!

Two years ago we bought a 56" DLP TV. We knew full well that at some point the bulb would go out and need replacing - but did we have a spare on hand for this inevitable event?! Heck no! So on CHRISTMAS EVE (!!!!) DH sat down to watch TV and was greeted with a very loud POP! Could there have been a worse time for it to go out? Apparently not - it seems you can only order replacement bulbs online from websites that you've never heard of before. No one local carries them! So being the holidays, those mom and pop websites you've never heard of are all closed. Wah! So we placed our order through Lamps-DLP.com on Dec 26, knowing that the soonest it might ship was the 29th. It did indeed ship on the evening of the 29th and we have been patiently waiting on UPS for delivery.

...and TODAY IS THE DAY! :)

Complete exhaustion!

2009-01-02T20:55:00.004-06:00

Well I hope that everyone had a safe and happy New Years holiday!

We're just back in from a night at the Great Wolf Lodge. We'd got a great price on a room and luckily it's only 45 mins away. We arrived there yesterday at 2 p.m. and left tonight at 7:30 p.m. I don't know if I will be able to move tomorrow, but it was sooooo much fun! We were going non-stop and really enjoyed the water park and the Magic Quest game (in spite of the ridiculous price!) I wasn't planning on getting DD a wand, but it's so hard when you see nearly every single other kid running around with one! It was the only thing she asked for and in retrospect I am glad I finally opted to allow her one - we both had a ton of fun with it. Also, we'll be able to use it when we go again. I don't know when that will be, but I'll be watching for the next amazing deal!

Now, it' nearly 9 and I am off to bed! Whew! :)

Happy New Year!!

2008-12-31T23:43:00.003-06:00

Well I finished the tooth pages. They were cute, and I did get to use some of the new path editing skills I learned a few days ago.

Dave is already passed out on the couch and I think my little monkeys have finally gone to sleep themselves. Yep, that was a plural monkeys! We're keeping my BFF's little girl tonight - its the girls first sleep over and probably the beginning of something I may wish I hadn't started so soon. :) They act just like sisters most of the time - its really kinda funny. K was acting a bit jealous - she's been very overly sensitive lately. I'm praying its just a phase!

Anyway, it's now 7 minutes to the New Year, so Happy New Years all!!

Christmas, surprises, and stuff...

2008-12-28T21:08:00.010-06:00

We had a great Christmas this year. Nearly my entire immediate family was present at my Mom's house. I'm one of six grown kids, so thats quite a feat! We even had my aunt from CA who came in and surprised my mom. (See picts!) That went off without a hitch and I cannot wait to scrap the page. ...and I will, as soon as I think of a clever title. :)

Mom kept my DD overnight and since the house is clean and I have another week off to look forward to, I played most of the day. I recently upgraded to CS4 from PS7, I decided to go do some of the awesome tutorials featured on Savitri's blog: ScrapBit. I have tried to do many of her tutorials in the past only to discover that PS7 couldn't do this or that. So anyway, I had an absolute blast trying out new things today! Not much accomplished to show what I learned, except that I am beginning to feel more and more at ease with CS4.

Enough yapping - I did work on a couple projects - mainly a couple layouts of DD's first lost tooth. I'm off now to finish those...

Christmas Card Freebie - Gone Vertical!

2008-12-17T21:56:00.007-06:00

For those of you who liked the card from yesterday, but needed a vertical option, here you go...

Created from Katie Castillo's Holly Jolly Kit. Pick up the whole kit for just $1.50 (and a bunch of freebies) from Katie's blog Just So Scrappy.

For personal use only; commercial use is NOT allowed.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Christmas Card Freebie!

2008-12-15T09:17:00.012-06:00

It's my first Christmas since going digital, so naturally I had to make my own card... I turned the card into a 4x8 "quick page" that you can get below. Just add your own photo and text.

I used Katie Castillo's Holly Jolly Kit. I just LOOOVE this kit - so many whimsical elements (and TONS OF THEM) but in the traditional red and green. You can pick up the whole kit for just $1.50 (and a bunch of freebies) from Katie's blog Just So Scrappy.

For personal use only; commercial use is NOT allowed.

DOWNLOAD QUICK CARD HERE

At your request: Blue and Brown Papers...

2008-12-14T11:42:00.006-06:00

Ask and you shall receive... here are some brown and blue polka dotted and striped papers. With a Bazzill style weave texture.

For personal use ONLY; commercial use is NOT allowed.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Pink and Brown Papers anyone?

2008-12-11T20:15:00.006-06:00

Just got a new laptop and upgraded to CS4 (from PS7). I cannot even believe the difference - it used to take about 3 minutes to save a file with my old system, now its done and waiting on me within seconds. SOOOOO nice! Anyway, someone on Two Peas posted that they wanted pink and brown striped and dotted paper, so I thought I'd play. And always, when I play, I share. :) Enjoy.. now I may have to think of some elements to go with this and actually make it a kit. Hmmm..

Personal use ONLY; commercial use is NOT allowed.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Life's a beach!!!

2008-11-11T19:31:00.005-06:00

Trying to inspire myself to work on my latest cruise pages... plus Atomic Cupcake's freebie this week is the cork action. I (heart) actions!! :) Thanks AC! Please download and enjoy...

DOWNLOAD HERE

Mini-kit freebie !!!

2008-09-06T15:44:00.006-05:00

I've been trying to dabble in designing, but lacked a theme or color scheme, so while I have a ton of papers and things that I have made, I didn't have anything close to a kit. Earlier this week I discovered My Scrap Shop and they have a monthly Design a Kit challenge for thier members. This month's theme name is Boy Oh Boy and is based on the colors from the Cosmo Cricket paper line Cogsmos. I don't have any boys, but really wanted to see what I could come up with. Enough yapping, here it is:

I hope you can use it, and if you do, please let me see!

DOWNLOAD HERE

P.S. Funny how its the same colors as my blog...

Photo ShaZAM!

2008-07-12T22:45:00.004-05:00

Photo processing technique compliments of Jessica Sprague's Photoshop Friday post. First photo is SOOC, second is the edited version. Taken at my daughters birthday party today...

Gearing up for GASC and another template freebie!

2008-06-04T22:06:00.005-05:00

I'm going to GASC Thursday through Saturday. I'm taking some classes and going to a crop with my mom and SIL. Should be fun!

Anyway, I did another template - it's based on a paper page I did a few years ago. And I used it to create a digi page of my favorite subject. :)

Sample layout completed with Elegant Word Art by Bethany and Popsicle Paradise kit by Nikki Chamberlain (Just Passin' Thru). Zip file includes layered psd and tif files. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD HERE

A tale of a digi-convert and a template FREEBIE!

2008-03-27T20:47:00.004-05:00

So, around the middle of February, I decided to try digital scrapbooking. I was only vaguely familiar with how to use PhotoShop, but it'd been sitting on my PC taunting me for months! So with the help of many friends on Two Peas in a Bucket and just recently, the Up and Running with Photoshop from Jessica Sprague, I am moving full steam ahead. In 6 weeks I have completed and printed 27 pages! I haven't done 27 pages in probably three years. So yes, I am a complete digi-convert. (Of course this couldn't have come at a worse time - I just finished designing and organizing an entire scraproom. Anyone wanna buy some paper?!) :)

So anyway - I am trying to finish a book for my sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, and decided that rather than spending time searching the net for a calendar template, I'd just make my own. So here it is for you also to enjoy! For personal use only, please.

I hope there will be more to come - as I have several ideas bumping around in my head. :)

The template:

The sample:

DOWNLOAD HERE
and ENJOY!

POTD: 2-wheelin Granny!

2008-01-06T19:32:00.000-06:00

My mom and her husband stopped by today for a visit. It's a ridiculously warm day today and they were out riding his motorcycle. This is the FIRST time in my life I have seen the woman on a motorcycle. :) Her husband asked me to take a picture, so of course, I was happy to oblige!

Pumpkin Days!

2007-10-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

We took DD to Family Pumpkin Days at MainStay Farm yesterday. It was a blast! (The super slide was soooooo fun!) Anyway, here are some of my favorite shots...

POTD - Aug 27

2007-08-27T21:41:00.000-05:00

This is the "old" Bank One building in downtown Ft. Worth. For anyone who remembers when the tornado hit downtown in 2000, this is the building that suffered extensive damage and was shown over and over again in the news. It was an eye-sore and sat empty for a few years after the tornado, but was finally refurbished and turned into "The Tower".

POTD - Aug 23 - Miss Independent!

2007-08-23T22:36:00.001-05:00

On our way to "school" this morning, K asked me to stay in the car and let her walk into school by herself. School is a private daycare ran out of a home, so I agreed that she could walk in by herself, but that I would be watching and waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. After my initial sadness that she is already growing up too fast, I remembered I had my camera and decided to capture the moment. She walked up the steps and then turned around and waved at me and then continued towards the door. (Was she making sure I was not following???) She turned and looked at me one final time and then disappeared behind the teacher waiting inside the door...

POTD - Aug 22 - Faith

2007-08-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

The above image was edited on 8/23 based on CC. Thanks! These are the famous angels from the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas. I've always thought they were really beautiful and really enjoyed trying to get the right angle on these. This was straightened slightly, cropped, and has a touch of blue added to the photo to bring out the clouds. HHCC welcome.

POTD - Aug 21

2007-08-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

My biggest weakness is taking pictures of K (shes 4). I very, very rarely get it right - its so hard to get a natural expression from her - help!

These were both taken in portrait mode using the kit lens.
Top: 42mm, 160, f5.0, ISO 100
Bottom: 42mm, 200, f5.0, ISO 100.
Edit after CC: This is the SOOC version. The more I look at it, the more I am okay with it. What do you think? Hmm, still plan on trying to get her to pose for me again. Will have to wait til tomorrow... TFL!

POTD - Aug 20

2007-08-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

Here's what I came up with today. I passed over this bridge when I took a little detour home last week and have been itching to go back ever since...

Here's my Macro Monday picture also - gathering of ducks from my daughters Lucky Duck game...SOOC

POTD - Aug 19 Fun in the Sun

2007-08-19T19:56:00.001-05:00

We went to a party at my friend M's house yesterday. She had rented an inflatable water slip and slide. I'm not sure who was having more fun, DH or K...

I didn't take many pictures because the spray kept coming over and misting me and I'm such a nervous nellie still about my camera. Didn't want it to get wet! :) Thanks for looking.

POTD - Aug 17 - Bonus!

2007-08-17T20:52:00.000-05:00

I pass this scene twice a day. I had a few spare minutes yesterday, so I stopped and took some pictures. I edited these with Brenda's actions. (Was my first time to use Photoshop to actually edit a photo! Go figure.) :) Would love some HHCC!

First: Original

Second: Color Boost + Vintage Wash + Vingette

Third: B&W

POTD - Aug 17th

2007-08-17T13:51:00.001-05:00

Last day of swimming lessons 2007. Jumping off the diving-board.

Hello world!

2007-08-17T13:33:00.000-05:00

Well, what better way to enter the world of online blogging, than by using the ever-popular 'Hello World' text from the first day of every programming class I've ever taken!

I'm starting this blog simply because I love to read other blogs, and also because I am wanting to have a place to share photographs and solicit creative critism as I learn how to use my new Canon XTi DSLR.