it's the most wonderful time of the year...

2008 Christmas Art Journals

2009 Christmas Art Journal

Happy Tuesday, lovely people! You guessed it...I'll be putting together a 2010 Christmas journal this year :). Will also be taking preorders this year. But instead of sending an email my way to get on the list, I'll be listing it in my Big Cartel shop so that you can actually check out with it and be sure that I got your order. There it'll make it into a nice safe folder in my email and when it's time to ship these preorders, they'll be there. Also, you'll be able to order other things too with it (if you choose) and it'll all ship together. These journals will be available for preorder upon next shop update (Monday, September 13) and will ship mid October:).

next shop update

Monday, September 13 :)
I'm almost finished with my sample album :)

These mini art journals will be available at shop update along with at least 7 new embellishment sets :). Can't wait!! I'll be putting together some destash baggies of scrap stuff in the next week and will also list in the BC shop. So excited to purge!! I hope munchkin will let me do that ;).

PS. shop is open again!! I've decided that I'll just keep my Big Cartel shop open for now. It's just too much work to manage the Etsy one too. Sorry for you Etsy lovers :(.

Have a great day!

finally some scrapbooking time :)

It's been super hot these last few days here in Vancouver, BC so the 4 of us were all hanging out in the master bedroom with our air conditioning on Sunday afternoon/evening. Eddie kept munchkin occupied in between feeds and I got to play with the new mini art journal. I decided to use the green one instead :).

These were some of the supplies that I gathered for putting together this album a few days ago: masking tape, scrap paper, 7Gypsies stamps, dollar store date stamp, pens, scissors, double sided tape, Stazon ink, mini photos, some (not yet released) Evalicious embellies and of course the mini art journal.

Stuck all the supplies/materials inside this cute little green box I got from Michael's. Now I lug it with me to whichever room I happen to be in.

I've already done 15 days worth in a few hours time. It's so super easy with this mini. Will post once I get the entire month of June done.

Gotta get back to the crying babe now! Have a great day!

making mini photos

I received a comment about how to make my mini photos so thought I'd make a post about it. For my new mini art journal, I printed a bunch of mini photos to include. Mainly because it fits nicer with the journal and because it's cheaper than if I were to print all of it in 4"x6" and then crop it. There are about 100 photos that I printed. I won't be using it all but that would've cost me $39+ where I get mine printed (at 39 cents a print). Instead it cost me about $10. This is how I do it (with Photoshop):

1. Click on File->New
2. On your settings in screen that pops up, change pixels to inches on your width and height
3. Enter the numbers of your width and height. I did width=4, height=6 when I'm dealing with my photos in portrait format (vertical).
4. Under resolution, make sure it's set at "300 pixels/inch" because that's what your photos are most likely set at (unless you're doing iphone photos)
5. I just leave the rest alone and it's usually fine (we'll call this your "New Blank Canvas"
6. Open your photos that are in portrait format (not landscape) that you want to convert to minis
7. Convert all your photos that you opened in step 5 by clicking on
Image->Image Size. Under document size: width=2, height=3. Make sure that pixels/inch is set at 300 also or this photo won't "move" to your blank canvas. Oh, if you choose to save these images, do so as a copy or you'll lose your original photo size. I just leave mine and don't save.
8. When done converting your images to 2"x3", click on/select the "move" tool that is on the top right of the tool bar. Then click one of your new mini photos and drag it onto your new blank canvas and position it on one corner then repeat until the new canvas has 4 photos in it.
9. Save your new blank canvas

Did I say at the beginning that it's tedious? I'm not sure if there's an easier way. If your photolab has a choice to print wallet size photos then go for that but the one I used didn't so I had to do it this way. If there's an easier way, please let me know!!

love our Sleepy Wrap

Read Kaitlin's blog post a few weeks ago and decided to purchase one. We have the Baby Bjorn that a friend gave us (thanks Naomi!) but with my mastitis and (constantly engorged) boobs, it wasn't the option for me because the straps would press against them in the front. So for the last 2 months, I've been holding her on/off in the upright position and not getting much done in the meanwhile. I dreamt of being able to make stuff while wearing her cause I felt guilty for leaving her in the bouncy chair or lying down (didn't want her head to get any flatter). With this wrap there's no pressure on my breasts at all. Sure Myelle screamed bloody murder the first time I put her in it so I was deterred but she's been super fussy and crying her little heart out the last few evenings that I stuck her in it on Sunday. She was crying so hard anyway right? I don't know if it was from having to go in the wrap or some other reason. As soon as she was snugged in, she went out like a light :). Halleluja!! I've been using it everyday to take her for morning and evening walks since. Doesn't she look so stinkin' cute and cozy?

inspired by imaginisce

one of the new embellishment themes that I wanted to do was a birthday one so I was thinking of colour combos when I received an email from a lss on their specials - 40% off all patterned papers. The email also featured the new Imaginisce line - Bday Bash. I packed up Myelle last Wednesday and drove to that store and picked up a few sheets of these yummy papers. Have you seen or used their pp? It's stunning stuff. It's not just plain heavy weight printed paper. They always have something funky on them. This line has glossy embossed images on it. LOVE!

**side note: I just have to share that I totally ran the stroller into this flimsy display easel that they had set up and watched in horror as everything came crashing down in slow motion (it was my first time in there with my new baby and stroller).

So with my new pp, I made this mess (plus more):

Almost there:

And this is the end result:

the new birthday wishes mix up embellies - will be available really soon in shop (September shop update).

another peek

a new little 4"x6" album that I've been working on...the "Today" mini art journal. A collection of pages made up of different materials - vintage, found, scrapbook, and gift wrap paper, tags, transparencies, wood veneer. Some new, some left over from other projects. Most pages are handpunched, handsewn and predecorated and is ready for you to add a bit more creativity to it. There'll be 2 colours. I chose the red one to work with to document the first month or so of life with my new sweetheart. These will be available in the September shop update :). Please be on the lookout for them! So excited!!

Now on to printing some mini photos of the first few weeks with her...