Digital Scrapbooking

My daughter has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award and we are preparing for her ceremony. I want to have an album highlighting her years and achievements as a Girl Scout. I have tons and tons of pages in our family albums with trips, cookie sales, awards, ceremonies, and friends. Too many for one album. So I thought I'd gather up my favorite pictures from her Girl Scout years and put together one album. I don't have a lot of time to get this done so I thought I'd try a little digital scrapbooking. I clicked on Studio J ( http://cathryn.ctmh.com/CTMH/Content.aspx?id=%2fen%2fsitecore%2fcontent%2fOBA%2fProducts%2fStudio_J.aspx).

Within an hour, I had eight pages done! Here is a two page layout on her trip to England.

So quick and easy. I don't know if I'll the whole album this way, but I am thinking about a few more pages. Studio J is helping me not be so stressed about the upcoming ceremony.

First Day of School Idea

How do you commemorate the first day of school? I always take a photo of all 3 of my kids together in the front yard. Last year I also took a picture of them walking away. I always liked to take a picture of them at school too but now that my oldest is in high school, it is a little embarrassing for her to have her mom follow her into class for a photo.

Today a friend posted this idea of facebook:

This is not any child I know. But I liked the idea. I don't think I am willing to buy a chalk board for the photo shoot but my white board might work just fine. I do have to wonder if any of my kids will actually hold up the board since my youngest is almost 12. Our first day of school is in another week. I will start working on the kids and getting them used to the idea.

Cricut Help Guide

Great videos on how to use the Cricut Artiste Collection.

The Cricut Artiste Collection is just $99. Click shop with me to order.

Christmas Card

I promised a Christmas card about 2 weeks ago but forgot to post it.  So, here it is:

I used the Pear and Partridge paper pack (X7162B) plus a little bit of colonial white paper.  The stamp set is Merry and Bright (C1510). I stamped the card base with white daisy ink. Since this is a pigment ink, it seems to sit above the paper. The sentiment is stamped with olive ink.  I used a few sparkles- red, pink and purple assortment (Z1326). Sparkles are really a must on any Christmas card, I think. And then I used a small piece of the burlap ribbon (Z1760). I like the burlap. I seem to be using it a lot.

There is my first Christmas card of the season! I will be hosting a Christmas Card Workshop coming soon. We will make 15 cards (3 each of 5 designs) so we can get a lot done at one sitting. If you are interesting in hosting one of these workshops, please let me know. My calendar is booking up.

Hoping you are having fun with ink today!

Avonlea Layout

Here's a quick page using the Avonlea paper:

No stamping or ink on this one. Just quick cuts and sticking it down. Sometimes, we need to go quick. This turned out really nice even though it took me less than 10 minutes to complete (that included gathering the supplies and pictures). I used the Avonlea Paper Packet (X7155B) and the Avonlea Complements Canvas Shapes (X7155C). I love when my quick pages turn out so nice.

I was drawn to this pack because the journaling block in the canvas shapes pack reads, "On this day." These pictures are from the candle light ceremony and sing a long celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts in the United States. On the "On this day" block, I wrote, "On this day... 100 years ago, Juliette Gordon Low stated the first Girl Scouts of the USA meeting in Savannah." Perfect!

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It's You Day Stamp Set

You can get this wonderful double stamp set for just $5 with a purchase of $35 or more.