Kreate by KeKe

Is two too much?

2011-02-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

Today I had a cupcake AND a slice of cake.

Both were delicious. My coworker was shocked by this. "Two iterations of cake in one day?" he exclaimed.

"No no no," I argued, "cupcake is not cake." They are soooo different! Except for, of course, that they both come from heaven.

But even if my argument is in some way faulty, I ask: is two pieces of cake in one day too much?

Yeah, I don't think so either.

Who Says a Cheetah Can't Change Her Spots?

2011-02-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

Let's face it... blogging is pretty awesome. For those of you who don't have a blog, rush out and get one immediately. It'll make your "I think I'm cool" points skyrocket. But the truth is, blogging about scrapbooking takes hours. Taking photos of each layout, cropping, adjusting images, uploading, downloading, freeloading, phew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

I miss blogging.

I miss thinking I'm clever when posts come together just right.

I miss that awesome feeling that I get when someone comments on what I wrote.

So I'm going to keep writing.

And I do hope you'll keep reading.

San Francisco Here I Come! Yayyyy! New Projects!

2010-10-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Attention: I have gotten my mojo back. It's true. Matt even gave me a high five for it. And while I don't have time for a tutorial, I just wanted to show you a few things I've been working on... Hope you like!

Here's a page from a recent trip to San Francisco for my madre's birthday... the coloring is showing up a bit funky, but the photos were edited using Picnik (duh) to get a grainy bluish effect.

And here's a few more from that same trip... showing us girls being, well, girls. The patterns on this page are pretty busy, but totally appropriate for the funny photos. Also, notice the strategically placed curly-ques!

BTW, can anyone name the movie that the above quote is from?

Do you wanna hear something really sad?

2010-09-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

I have not scrapbooked for over two weeks. I'm past the withdrawal stage and now I'm just numb. I still dream of patterned paper, satin ribbons, and piles of buttons. But my fingertips no longer contain the remnants of glue dots and the floor beneath my feet no longer has scraps of paper upon it.

Why haven't I scrapbooked for over two weeks?

I'm not really sure... I think scrapbooking was filling a void over the past several months. That void was not feeling satisfied with my job, not feeling like I had a "creative" outlet at work. Now? I create all day long every day. My brain is overflowing with thoughts, challenges, and ideas. It's a bittersweet feeling. I love scrapbooking.... but I love my job, too. And it's very satisfying to know that this brain (big brain) is tapped out at the end of the day now. Joy and sorrow, all wrapped up in one.

But.... a glimmer of light....

My patterned paper will wait for me. My Fiskars paper trimmer will stay sharp. My button collection will remain abundant. And my love for all things scrapbooking will NEVER go away. Maybe my scrapbook brain is just taking a nap for a little while.... sleep tight Kreate by KeKe brain.... WAKE up Ebsi Websites KeKe.

Here are a few favorites of the past year.

Sometimes they're demanding.... Picking and choosing your scrapbook subjects.

2010-09-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

People you love belong on the pages of your scrapbook. But sometimes they get demanding... very demanding. A few weeks ago, I sent my sister a text message and told her that her dog Jax was going to be the next featured "person" in my scrapbook. I thought she'd be delighted... I thought she'd be flattered... I thought she'd be the proudest mommy of the ugliest chihuahua there ever was.

I was wrong.

The text message I got in return went something like this: Why does my dog get his very own page before I do?!

Point taken.

And so, without further ado, here is Caitlin's very own page. Oh yeah, she's kinda gorgeous, isn't she?

My beautiful baby sister... loves to sit on benches with monkeys.

My beautiful baby sister... is the most artistic person I know.

My beautiful baby sister... looks amazing perched atop paper flowers!

Love you CK!

A blog post featuring... drum roll please.... ME!

2010-09-08T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a little snippet from my "day job"... doesn't it just sound miserable?

If you don't drink coffee, can you still eat it? Random questions and RELEVANT suggestions regarding blogging communities.

Friends, throughout my long history at ebsi, this question has plagued the good people of this company. But do we really want to talk about coffee today? I don't. What do I want to talk about? I'm SO glad you asked!

Today I want to discuss blogging communities. There are literally thousands of these. When I started blogging awhile back, I asked my friend Kalyn (who writes a south-beach friendly foodie blog called Kalyn's Kitchen) how to tap into relevant sectors of the blogosphere. Her advice (which I avidly followed... she has over 15,000 feedburner subscribers) was to tap into blogging communities that relate to you blog's niche.

Here's an example. I write a scrapbooking blog called Kreate by KeKe. There is a blogging community that is exclusively dedicated to arts and crafts called Creating the Hive.

"The Hive" (as it's called by it's fabulous members) is a place where professionals and hobbyists alike can import their blogs, share content, and build relationships with others who share their interests. Simply.an.amazing.idea!

Here is your homework for the day:

1. Hop on over to Google

2. Enter "{your blog niche here} blogging communities"

3. Browse away!

4. Look for communities that have a lot of activity and users... but not such high numbers that you'll get lost in the mix. The key is to build relationships so that you can share blogging tips with others who love your niche just as much as you do.

Sorta reminds me of the phrase: Birds of a feather flock together!

Happy blogging!

Where's KeKe?

2010-09-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

What could be better than blogging?
What could be better than scrapbooking?
What could be better than blogging about scrapbooking?

I'll give you four choices:
a) Endless chips and salsa
b) 75 and sunny every.single.day
c) Getting a job where you get paid to blog, binge on social media, and teach people
d) All of the above

I will save you from the suspense. The answer is D. The reality is C.

What the "h" "e" double-hockey stick does that mean?

Friends, I have gotten my dream job with a website/blog-design/graphic-guru/social-media company. The good news: KeKe might just be the happiest camper in the western blogosphere. The bad news: blogging posts will be much less frequent.

...to be continued...

Happy 65th Birthday (for the 29th time)! Another card-making idea for beginner scrapbookers.

2010-08-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Remember my post about birthday cards? Well people, I've done it again. Done what, you ask. I've made another birthday card. This isn't rocket science ~ and I'm hoping that my lovely readers have learned to deal with "questions o' rhetoric" and dryyy sarcasm.

Soooooo, this time, the lucky recipient is my fabulous (fabulous = classy, elegant, always ladylike) Nanny. I think she's celebrating her 65th birthday for about the 29th time. I wanted to create a card that showed my Nanny the two generations of lovely ladies who have learned so much from her and aim to follow in her ever-graceful footsteps.

Here are some simple steps to fabulosity...

1. Using Picnik.com, I chose to create a horizontal collage. I found four pictures of Nanny, mom, myself and my sis and cropped them to similar size (2x2.5 - which is a particular setting on Picnik's cropping), then changed them to black and white. All the photo editing was done right on the Picnik website.

2. Then, still in Picnik, I created a collage. This is really simple to do and is basically just drag-and-drop. Picnik sets up the spacing and the cool black lines in between the photos. Save. Print. *Love*

3. Select the paper you want to use and fold it in half... again, I like top-to-bottom folding because it's easy to stand the card up. Set your photo strip off-center for the cool artsy effect.

4. Add some whimsical words or phrases... The three I used came from a sticker set (yes, these are awesome stickers that look like typewriter font and are even somewhat embossed) on Scrapbuck.com for, you guessed it, about a buck. Isn't life wonderful?

5. I also used my favorite butterfly punch and drew some squigglies and dots to give him some character. Also note, the butterfly adds some repetition and coordinates with the butterfly image on the main paper.

6. Add a few more embellishments and dots. I love little black dots (and little black dresses, and little black purses, but not little blackheads) -- they outline things really well without the harshness of a line.

ONE MORE THING: Why is it that we make cards? So we can give them away to people who will frame them and show them off in their house, of course. Try putting your beauuuutiful photos on the outside of the card; make it easier for the folks who are going to be displaying your wonderful creation.

Discreet Journal Pockets for Beginner Scrapbook Pages

2010-08-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

On Valentine's Day this year, Matt's mom asked her kids write "love-grams"... She hired this hilarious actor to come to dinner dressed as a cupid and sing love songs and distribute the love-grams. I kept the love-grams that Matt & I received, knowing that they would make a really great scrapbook page addition (and to help jog my memory of that awesome evening). Thanks Marsha, for being a wonderful host and putting it all together!

If you remember from my post "Scrapbook Kits & Coordinating Paper", I discussed velum tear-outs as one way to create a title. In this layout, I took that idea one step further and created a pocket to hold those love-grams. Here is the two-page spread (grrrr... I obviously had not yet learned my lesson about being a beginner scrapbooker and the difficulty of two-page layouts). Instructions for the pocket are below.

The other details of this page are pretty basic, so let's focus on the vellum pocket. (BTW: Vellum is slightly transparent, foggy looking paper that can be plain, or, in the scrapbooking world, come with cute pictures or sayings.)

1. I picked up a spiral book of vellum quotes at Michael's (approx. $7). They have books for all occasions. It's also smart to buy vellum tape which allows you to adhere the vellum paper without the adhesive showing through (approx. $4).

2. I picked a coordinating paper (for beginner coordinating paper tips, see Scrapbook Kits & Coordinating Paper) to serve as the back of the pocket.

3. Measure how big the front of the pocket needs to be based on what needs to go inside. Make sure you leave some flaps to wrap around the two sides to the back, and fold under the bottom. Use your trimmer accordingly. Crease the flaps well.

4. Finally, adhere the flaps to the back of the pocket using your choice of adhesive (note: vellum tape is not necessary here because the part that you are adhering will be on the unseen backside of the pocket). Insert love-grams or any other special note!

To finish of the page, I added heart shaped embellishments and journaling in the center (made using a circle-cutter and by sewing a ribbon around the circle... more on those techniques later.)

Beginner scrapbooking tip: Pockets are a creative spot to discreetly place notes or journaling that has special meaning, and perhaps that you don't necessarily want everyone to read.

Friday Flip Offs!

2010-08-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's Friday and I'm ready for my flips!!! Thanks Gigi at Kludgy Mom.... this has become one of my favorite and most therapeutic weekly posts. FYI, Gigi has created a 6-week course to improve your blog and guess what? It's FREE-NINETY-FREE! Check it out for sure... it starts in a few weeks and should be very informative and helpful.

Flip #1: Waking up at 5:00 a.m. unable to remember a particular actress in this movie. WTH? Who even cares? Why would this be something that I just HAD to know at 5 in the morning. BTW, the actress was Claire Forlani... but Flip Off to my brain!

Flip #2: To my veggie garden. I planted you FOREVER ago... you were a "salsa" garden... I planted all the seeds at the same time. How was I to know that the peppers would take 3 months longer than the cilantro? Flip Off.

Flip #3: To the lady who was going 10 under the speed limit, then decided to turn her signal on for about 1/4 mile, then turned it off... I passed you and you were busy texting. Really? FLIP OFF

Flip #4: To summer. Thanks for showing up.... in August. Glad to have you back... now that it's nearly Fall. Where have you been sunshine? You're late to your own party. Flip Off.

Everyone pleeeeease link up... and Hive readers, please post your flips in the comment box! Happy Friday!

Black & White & "Read" All Over: Simple but bold cards for beginners.

2010-08-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Try making a card using a photo(s) on the front.

I made this card for my sweetie for our anniversary... Here's to one year... and many more to come. I wanted the card to be elegant, dramatic, and to make a bold statement. And considering the recipient is a dude, I decided flowers and butterflies might not be appropriate.

I lightened the exposure a bit on this picture using Picnik, but it didn't show up too well when I took a picture of the card with my iPhone, but you get the idea. The black background with a bright photo gives some nice contrast.

Obviously this is the same photo, but I printed it twice and chopped part of our heads off. It feels sorta weird cutting your own face in half.

I like to make the text of my cards simple. Hallmark has tons of cards with beautiful language, but in the end, don't you really just want to say "I love you. I mean it."? That's the point. I love you. I mean it. There you have it. Done deal. Finito.

BTW, I got the idea for this card from Lizzy Kartchner's book 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges. It's my absolute fav. She had the suggestion of printing the same photo twice... brilliant!

More simplicity and black/white was in order for the inside of this card. I wrote the gushy stuff on the inside of the card, which is for Matthew's eyes only... but I also put a cute little tag with our "love date". And, always a fan of repetition, I added another bold statement in the same font as was used on the front.

June 15, 2009: That was a really good day.

Fancy Photo Borders for Beginner Scrapbookers

2010-08-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

One of the ways novice scrappers can begin fancying up their pages is by creating cool borders and mats for photos. This next page showcases an awesome day at the Padres game with my three favorite guys: Matthews, my dad, and my brother.
The beginner kit that I bought included some fun stickers (see the "family" sticker). I really wanted this sticker to stand out on the page, but it sorta blended in with the other colors that were on the background and block papers. So I decided to extend the dark brown photo mat on one side in order to accomodate the sticker... easy, but so effective!

The next border I did was a little trickier. Now normally, I don't measure my photo mats to precisely fit the photo -- I'm just not that patient. "Eyeing" it usually works just fine. But for this mat, I had to measure because I was actually cutting the photo. Here are the steps:

1. Measure 1/2" around all sides of the photo and draw a connecting line on the back of the photo (ends up looking like a box).

2. Measure another 1/8" from where the line is towards the middle of the photo and draw another line (now you've got one box inside the other).

3. The space you have between the two boxes is what you'll be cutting out.

4. Use your trimmer to cut on the lines - being extra careful to keep the outer border in tact.
5. Select how much of the mat you'd like to extend beyond the photo (then trim the mat accordingly) and use your glue dots to stick in place. Tada!

6. If you are a measurer by nature, follow this link for some fantastic tips: http://scrapbookingforbusymoms.blogspot.com/

Finish up the page with some "home-grown" embellishments -- like having your artistically-inclined boyfriend draw a baseball for you, hand-drawing bubble letters old-school style and cutting them out (yes, I know some of the pen lines are visible), and use that left over brown mat paper to make a cute "x" shape behind a pre-cut dimensional sticker.

Novice tip: Many of the other fabulous blogs out there are for more advanced scrappers who have invested quite a bit of money into die-cut machines and the like. For us novices, if we hone in on some of those scissoring and lettering techniques we learned in grade school, we can actually end up with some pretty cool looking layouts... and for a fraction of the price. Being the impatient Aries that I am (year of the Rooster, too... I'm doomed), I'm always in a hurry to have all the "stuff" needed for decadent layouts. But I think any scrapper would agree, using whatcha got aint all that bad either!

Another novice tip: Journalling doesn't have to take place in a conventional box. On this page, I scrawled some thoughts and wrapped them all around the page.

A little faith...

2010-08-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you gotta just have a little faith... I'll take a lesson in faith from sweet Bun Bun, perched in the bicycle basket, high, high, high above the ground.

I need some faith right now... Faith that my life path is headed in the right direction... Faith that every dark moment leads to something light... Faith that the universe is aligning the way it should... Faith that I'll never forget lessons of humility.

So I'll learn from my Bunny, I'll perk up my ears, I'll keep my eyes open for what lies ahead, and I'll be sure to hold on tight, because it might be a bumpy ride.

Faith, hope, love.

~ KeKe ~

So many mistakes, so little time... Embracing mistakes as a beginner scrapbooker

2010-08-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

Oopsie daisy.

I made so many mistakes on this page. Can you tell? Here, I'll point them out to you and show you how I covered them up... or didn't, in some cases.

First of all, I made this page for my mini-scrapbook dedicated to Bunny. That scrapbook is tiny, like 5"x5". So how big did I make this page? 8"x8", because duh, an 8 inch page will for sure fit into a 5 inch sleeve. Not so much, actually. So, now I need to make it into a 12x12 page, but that's for another day.

2nd mistake: I used a little black marker to trace the scalloped edge and I went out of the lines twice. I'd for sure be kicked out of 1st Grade for this type of error. But *tada*! I covered up the mistake using a heart!

3rd mistake: I used an edge puncher for the photo mat and have QUITE obviously not mastered the skill of making the corners match up. I didn't fix this mistake. I.didn't.even.try.so.there.

I also went out of the lines on the bottom scalloped edge. Let's highlight that mistake with a big yellow arrow. Quick fix: put a flower stem close to the mistake... sorta like the "taking your eye off the ball" theory. In law, we call that a red-herring. (Gagging that I know what that means, and gagging that I used a legal expression on a scrapbooking blog.)

So people. The short but sweet lesson for today: Embrace mistakes, hide mistakes, don't hide mistakes, whatever you do with them, mistakes are part of what makes paper scrapbooking unique. I never said I was perfect. But, if you were thinking I was, just stay in that dreamland... it's a warm, happy place... I'm there myself.

Today I'm linking up with Christine at MBC Scrapbooking!

Thanks for hosting a crafting link party, Christine! Please link up if you have a craft or DIY project. Don't forget to add Christine's button!! Happy Thursday =)

Flippin Off and Feeling Good!

2010-08-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th... just a perfect way to start the weekend. I personally am going to wear a crash helmet and mittens all weekend, for safety sake of course.

Gigi from Kludgy Mom, you have created a gift that keeps on giving... weekly therapy that costs nothing but a few keyboard strokes. Thank YOU!

For readers from Creating the Hive: I'm still working on figuring out if Blog-Hops are possible through the Hive, but until then, please leave your Flip Offs and your blog link in the comments section on the Hive post... or visit Kreate by KeKe or Kludgy Mom for the link code.

And now for the flips...

1) To my healthy 2-espresso-shots-per-morning addiction: You didn't fail me yesterday, did you? I didn't have you by 8:30 a.m. and my head felt like it was going it implode. You're demanding and a real pain in the you know what. Flip off for being such a necessary evil.

2) The laundry pile... that's seeping, no spewing over the basket, onto the floor... essentially, I have laundry crawling up every wall in my house. I hate laundry. I detest it. I always have. I always will. Flip off.

3) People who talk on their cell phone while driving but use the "speaker" setting and think it's "hands-free". Folks, if you have to still hold your phone in your hand, it does NOT matter that it's on speaker. Where are the police in this great state of California to give you a $350 ticket? Better yet, why don't you learn the law and FLIP OFF.

4) While we're on the subject of drivers, the carpool lane is for carpools. You sneaky, sneaky people who have no passengers but still use the all coveted carpool lane can FLIP OFF. I'm just mad because I know if I tried to do it, I'd get caught. Boooooo!

Okay I'm feeling MUCH better! Please link up and have a wonderful weekend!

So many mistakes, so little time... Embracing mistakes as a beginner scrapbooker

2010-08-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Oopsie daisy.

I made so many mistakes on this page. Can you tell? Here, I'll point them out to you and show you how I covered them up... or didn't, in some cases.

3rd mistake: I used an edge puncher for the photo mat and have QUITE obviously not mastered the skill of making the corners match up. I didn't fix this mistake. I.didn't.even.try.so.there.

Thanks for hosting a crafting link party, Christine! Please link up if you have a craft or DIY project. Don't forget to add Christine's button!! Happy Thursday =)

{Squiggly brackets}..... mysterious, magical, monumental symbols for beginner scrapbookers

2010-08-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Can anyone please tell me what these things are called? { }

Are they brackets?

Parentheses?

Squiggly vertical lines?

Hold please, I'll ask Google.

(returning three minutes later)... Here is what Wikipedia says: curly brackets, squiggly brackets, definite brackets, swirly brackets, birdie brackets, Scottish brackets, squirrelly brackets, braces, or gullwings: { }

Whatever you choose to call them, they are used A TON in the scrapbooking world. I wasn't quite sure what made them so damn important until I created the layout above.

The photos were perfectly in place...

I had my title and letters all picked out...

I knew I wanted to create a little flower garden in the bottom corner...

But there was no cohesion between the title and the rest of the elements... (back to Google for a definition of cohesion: [kəʊˈhiːʒən] n. the act or state of cohering; tendency to unite)

It then occurred to me that I needed some way to frame the title of the page (queue music and enter squiggly bracket things stage left)

I don't know why squiggly bracket things are so magical, but they pretty much are the cat's meow, the unicorn's horn, the best thing since sliced bread. They have a strange way of bringing it all together when something just seems to be missing. Give them a try... you'll be hooked on the squiggles faster than the disappearance of Coach purses at a 50% off outlet sale...

...and here are a few more layout pics, for the die hard fans.

Negative Space is a Positive Thing! A beginner scrapbooker's guide to using stencils to "positively detract"

2010-08-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

Today I want to tell you about the great world of negative space. As scrappers, we are so often piling on embellishments to add dimension. But dimension can also be added by taking some stuff away. This is sounding a little like a math tutorial, but hang in there. In this layout, I cut out a large heart from my main 12x12 page and put a smaller dark piece of paper behind the cutout. I guess I could have just put a heart on top of the paper, but then I'd have nothing new to blog about. So here's the finished product:

The first thing you need to do is really, really, really plan your layout first. You don't want to cut a huge hole out of your main page and then have to throw it out because the hole is in the wrong spot. Once you've got your layout planned, lay each of your pictures down (but don't adhere yet) and lay your stencil down on top (even if it overlaps the pictures). Use a pencil to lightly add a few tick marks to where your cutout will be (on the heart, I marked the point at the bottom and the two places where the curves were widest). Once you've made your markings, remove the unadhered pictures and lay your stencil back down and cut out your shape. I suggest you cut the shape out before adhering everything else so that the only thing that will go to waste if you mess up is the blank 12x12 paper.

If you want to get fancy schmancy, and risk becoming a nine-fingered scrapper, you can sew a grid pattern onto the paper you are using to fill the negative space. Do the sewing first (before you attach it to the 12x12), and also be sure to trace your shape (using the same stencil, of course) prior to sewing, so that you are sure to sew a large enough grid pattern. Adhere it to the backside of the 12x12 and see your negative space now filled with an awesome pattern.

I also did some slight inking around the edges of the heart. It occurs to me now that it looks like it's bleeding, but oh well.... Hopefully some gore will be good for ratings.

Here are a few other features of this layout. I combined both text and pictures for the title. No, no, the title isn't "I Left My In" - although that would make perfect sense - the title is "I Left My Heart In San Francisco".

Matthew and I took a trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley as a joint celebration for our 1 year anniversary and his sister's big 3-0 birthday. What an amazing trip! The sun seemed to follow us everywhere we went and I'll do a future post showing more pictures of the Napa portion of the trip.

I spent a LOT of time on this layout and even hand sewed the buttons on top of the butterfly (courtesy of the fantabulous punches from Marsha) and hand sewed a button on top of a paper flower on top of another button. The time spent doing these things was definitely worth it... and I'm finding that some layouts require a bit more TLC than others.

I also used a border punch on the side of the bottom picture and sneakily made a pocket behind the picture so that I could insert the anniversary card that my sweetie gave me.

Truth be told, this layout probably took me about four hours. Time consuming, yes, but hey, it's not like I have any cooking or cleaning or gardening or random-other-non-scrapbooking-chores to do, right? Let's get our priorities straight here, please.

Best.Organizer.Ever: A beginner scrapbooker's dream.

2010-08-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

For months I've searched for the perfect embellishment/tools/everything else organizer. Friends, I have finally found one. It's by Creative Options (who are not paying me to review this product, nor did they send me any swag) and it's basically a tackle box on crack.

It's a multi-tiered self-contained box, sturdy but also light enough to carry around.

The main compartment contains three shelves which each house a smaller plastic organizer with compartments that can be altered to your needs. Here is what the inside of each smaller orgainizer looks like...

Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons...

Letters, letters, letters...

Tape, buttons, and pens.

And on the top, there is another large compartment for miscellaneous larger items that don't fit in the smaller units.

Love, love, love.

Seriously.

After much online searching, mental anguish, and overall hand-flapping, I found this little gem. The website lists several retailers, or you can purchase online through Amazon. But I wanted to see it for myself before making the purchase. One day, I went wandering into Michaels (okay, so actually I drove several miles off the beaten path, on purpose) and right there in the front of the store, on the first shelf you see in the dead center, was the case. And then (can I get an Amen?) I saw a 40% off sign. I immediately ran over to the clerk and asked her to pinch me, I was for sure dreaming. But nope. I was just experiencing a rare moment of shopping bliss when you find the perfect item and IT'S ON SALE. My debit card has never been swiped faster.

THEN, I got to go home and dump out all my stuff all over the place and *RE-ORGANIZE* it all. Cue angels singing and light shining down from heaven.

This beginner scrapper has arrived!

Flipping-off on Friday!

2010-08-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, Friday Flip-offs. How I've missed you... I've missed the past few weeks and it's soooo nice to be back.

Thanks to Gigi, who recently featured me on her blog, and who is the fabulous creator of the flips. Her blog is Kludgy Mom and I highly recommend checking it out.

Let the flipping begin:

1. To my sudden need for all things chocolate. Where is this craving coming from? Why can't I just crave carrots or apples? Why does it have to be Snickers and Butterfingers? Craving, FLIP OFF.

2. To my little chihuahua Bunny. My darling, you are seven years old. You have always gone to the bathroom in a litter box... why have you insisted (these past SIX months) on using the carpet as your place to do your business. It's so NOT ladylike. I love you, but you and your behind can FLIP OFF.

3. To the California DMV website. Thank you for announcing that the wait was only 36 minutes on Wednesday. I flew down there like a bat out of hell to pay my registration. Apparently in your world, 36 minutes really equals one hour and 36 minutes. Time to revise your "system". FLIP OFF.

4. To the health insurance system. I'm quite a diligent and organized person, but trying to get you to process a claim dispute which was submitted four months ago seriously makes me want to poke my eyes out with a dull pencil. Enough already. I pay you, you pay the doctor. That's how it works. Get.it.thru.your.head.Blue.Shield. And in the meantime, FLIP OFF.

Now it's your turn to link up! And have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!!

Inflatable collars, power tools, and one determined chihuahua: story-telling through scrapbooking.

2010-08-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

Scrapbooking has to be one of the very best ways to tell a story. Imagery combined with words, some fancy paper, and embellishments... really, what could be better? The lesson for today: think of a story you'd like to tell and create a layout that illustrates that story. I promise, you'll NEVER forget it. Here's my example.

This layout tells the story of little Miss Bunny whose greatest goal in life is to sneak out of the gate and run free, as nature intended. The gate at our house used to be suspended several inches from the ground and the bottom was unfinished... resulting in scary dagger-like poles which Buns would nearly impale herself on every time she squeezed under that gate to chase after another dog or small child. Vicious chihuahua!

Matthews, who loved Buns the moment he met her, decided it was time to fix the gate. Here is why Matthews is amazing: He first dismantled part of the gate to take to the hardware store so they could match the paint. Then he bought a long piece of aluminum, used a spray gun to paint it, and then sawed it to the perfect length to cover the unfinished bars at the bottom. All the while, Bunny looked longingly out the gate, knowing her days of running free would soon be over.

KeKe (me) has known the Buns for seven and a half wonderful years. I am not fooled by that sausage-like physique. I know that she can turn herself into a flattened pancake in 0.2 seconds if she wants to pull a Houdini. I said to Matthews, "I'm pretty sure she'll be able to fit under it still..." "No, no," he reassured me, "this will do the trick." But alas, just as we were installing the final screws, another dog walked by and Bunny showed Matt what she's made of (which is Silly Putty, apparently). The look on Matthew's face was priceless... but not quite as priceless as the photo of him holding the paint gun...

Ooooh, such a scary man with those power tools. So, after Bunny slid under the newly modified gate, we did what any smart human would do: we took BOTH gate doors off the hinges and lowered them by about three inches. Take that, Bunny! With the gate now sitting literally centimeters from the ground, we knew, we just knew, there was NO way she was squeezing under it. Silly humans. Bunny, apparently, can also squish her skull and shoulders and fit THROUGH the gate. You have got to be kidding me. I had no idea this dog had so much talent. We sat on the other side of the gate and tempted her with a few Cheerios (her favorite treat, BTW) and she sailed through the gate like a dainty mid-leap ballerina.

I appropriately named this layout "The Great Escape".

These past few months, we've had to keep a watchful eye over BunBun, knowing that even with the gate shut, she could leap through. The only thing that surprises me is that she doesn't try to jump right over the top of the gate! The final solution, an inflatable dog collar, turned out to be the simplest... and may have saved us from going through all the commotion to fix the gate. But hey, it makes for a great scrapbook layout, right!?

Here's is a fabulous photo of Buns in her inflatable collar, and Matt, in a make-shift inflatable collar (so that Bunny has a sympathetic fellow fashion victim, of course).

Don't you just love a story with a happy ending?

Memories by Christine - A Fabulous Guest Post on Creating Calendar Layouts!

2010-08-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

I want to introduce you all the Christine. She writes a fabulous blog called Memories by Christine that talks all about....drumroll please..... SCRAPBOOKING! I am so inspired by her creativity and she graciously offered to do a guest post. So without further ado, take it away Christine!

Hi everyone! I'm Christine, your guest blogger for today:) My blog is Memories by Christine, and it features scrapbooking tutorials, page ideas, and my artfire studio(similar to Etsy) of custom albums and more! I'd love for you to stop by:)

Kendra asked me to do a calendar page tutorial for you today. Here, I'm using an 8x8 page. You can use this alone in a small 8x8 album, or add it to a larger and embellished 12x12 album with more room for photos.

Start by placing the 8th inch line of your ruler at the bottom edge, and make a small pencil dot at each inch. This is for the 7 days of the week.

Unfortunately for type A people like me;), an 8x8 page isn't exactly 8x8. You'll have some extra centimeters there. That's okay! Your last (and 8th) section will be a little larger. Repeat all of these measurements and markings at the top of the paper, then line up your ruler to make columns.

You'll have this now- see how the larger portion goes at the top. This will be where the month lettering will go.

Each calendar month is different regarding the amount of weeks. I'm doing 5 weeks here, so use those math skills. Approximately 8.5 inches divided by 5 is...1.7 inches per week. Measure those out and pencil mark them on both ends of your page.

Connect your measure marks and you'll have something like this:

Turn the page sideways, label, and embellish as you see fit:) You can use just the 8x8 for a smaller album, or add this to a larger 12x12 page like I did here.

For another look, I cut up a white 12x12 page into 2x2 squares and arranged them on a patterned 12x12 for a quilt effect.

More examples of my calendar pages are here. Thanks for reading and happy scrapbooking:) Thank you, Kendra, for letting me be your guest blogger today!
Love,
C:)

Puffy tape: Dimensional delight for beginner scrapbookers.

2010-08-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello, hello. It's only 10:15 a.m.... is it lunch time yet? No, I guess it isn't. So, I guess I'll do the next best thing besides eat an early lunch: I'll blog about puffy tape. Yum!

Puffy tape (aka "Mounting Tape" by Scotch... I call it puffy because it's more fun to say) is incredibly easy to use. It's double-side sticky and comes like a regular ol' tape roll, but one of the sticky sides is covered, making it easy to first stick the tape on the backside of paper or photos and then decide where you want it, prior to adhering.

Puffy tape earns fabulosity status because it adds such great dimension. Also, keep in mind that it can be double- or triple-stacked on top of itself to give it a bit more height. On these clouds, I did just that... one strip of tape on a couple clouds and then two strips of tape on a couple other clouds -- so they stagger nicely without touching. (I wish I could take some credit for the clouds being hounds-tooth rather than just plain blue, but guess what? I didn't have any plain blue paper, so I improvised... and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.)

I also used some puffy tape on a few of the sunshine rays to give it that "sun breaking through the clouds" effect, which Matthew loved, btw. Oh, and another btw is that on Sunday I was scrapbooking while he was watching Formula 1 racing (and, yes, we were both indulging in a Bloody Mary) and he made a suggestion on the layout that I was doing... then he said OUT LOUD, "I am so good at scrapbooking!" Where, oh where, is that hidden camera when I need it most?

These clouds were made using a large flower stencil, and I then cut the flower (but not totally perfectly in half), in order to make the clouds different sizes.

I will admit to the vanity that is apparent from having a layout featuring this many pictures of moi, but hey, I had to try out the new iPhone camera --- especially the reverse lens feature... and the sky happened to be beeeeautiful blue that day... and Matthew was surfing... so KeKe started taking pictures.

What's a girl to do?

It's now 10:57 a.m. My stomach has officially won. It's lunch time.

You can picK you friends and you can picK your nose, but you can't picK your friend's nose: ScrapbooKing tips on exploiting the letter "K"

2010-08-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here's an idea for a totally unique layout... try using a HUGE letter as the main background, and coordinate the title accordingly. This "K" is actually a punch out from an alphabet kit that I have. K happens to be my favorite letter... I'll give you one guess why.

Anyway... I have a few prerequisites when choosing friends. If your name starts with the letter K, you get to bypass some of those. Luckily, my friend Kelsey's name starts with K, otherwise that girl would have never had a chance. *Kidding, Kels.* Kelsey notoriously picked me up at a nightclub about three years ago by complimenting my blonde curly hair. I had spent the better part of an hour to get the "I totally don't care about my hair but it looks perfect anyway" look. How could I not be friends with a girl that had such incredible taste?

I figured it was about time I did a layout dedicated to my very bestie in the whole world.

Here's some specifics on this layout. I chose very simple journaling... The pattern of the "K" is pretty busy and I wanted one elegant statement that says it all about Kelsey: "Beautiful inside and out."

For the fancy-shmancy ribbon underneath, just take a long strand of ribbon and use a glue dot roller to adhere one end. Then continue to double it back on itself putting a dab of the glue dots on each fold so the ribbon stays put. To create some dimension, don't glue the ribbon down completely, just glue a few key spots and the rest will stay nice and fluffy (like Kelsey's hair).

Next, stick on some rhinestones... these gold and silver blings happen to work perfectly for a layout featuring Miss Kelsey, whose newest nickname (courtesy of another hot blonde, Melissa) is Sparkling Cosmo.

We all know how addicted to flower embellishments I am... so here's a quadruple layered beauty for your viewing pleasure:

And now for the real fancy shmancy of the layout: the layered paper on the left.

Here's how to do it.

1) Cut a wide strip of patterned paper. I picked black and white to coordinate with the "K" and also because I didn't want to detract from the flecks of yellow by picking another color.

2) Choose a semi-transparent tissue-like paper and tear a long strip. This particular paper was given to me by Jacque who picked it up during her recent trip to Japan. (Yaaaaaay for Jacque: she also knows how much I love receiving scrapbooking supplies as gifts.)

3) The reason for choosing a transparent paper is so that you can lay it on top of the patterned paper chosen in Step One. The pattern will show through the transparent paper. Adhere it to the patterned paper using glue dots or vellum tape, if it's super transparent.

4) Using the same patterned paper from Step One, cut a long skinny strip and lay it over the transparent paper. This gives you a nice woven effect and tons of texture.

5) Slap that extra-large letter over the top, and you're done! Unless, like me, you feel like your letter doesn't stand out quite enough (and I really wanted the "K" to P-O-P off the page), so I outlined the left side with a black marker. Popping achieved.

And finally, some fun trivia about Kelsey:

1) She's a dancing machine. I'm serious. A dancing MACHINE.

2) Her laugh is more contagious than pink eye in an elementary school.

3) She will listen for hours and hours, even if the same story is repeated 13 times.

4) She's a smart cookie and a dentist, to boot.

Love ya girlie, and miss you tons!

Boxing isn't the only place for punches: beginner scrapbookers can receive them as gifts!!

2010-07-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Do you know what makes me happy? Scrapbooking (okay, scrapbooking while drinking wine and sitting on the couch next to my Sugar Pie). Do you know what makes me jump up and down and clap my hands like a little girl? Receiving scrapbooking supplies as gifts! So imagine my delight when Matt's mom, Marsha, surprised me with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR punches. I had used punches at the Scrapbook Expo back in May but they weren't the kind with levers and were pretty hard to punch. They're also pretty pricey. Ipso facto, KeKe no buy-o no punches. HowEVER, KeKe receives punches like no other (perhaps I should be a cagefighter).

Marsha is either: a) a secret scrapbooker; b) a seriously talented bargain shopper; c) extremely generous; or d) all of the above. Ooh ooh! I know, pick me, pick me. She's "D" all of the above!

The punches Marsha found for Miss Hannah and I to use were at Marshalls and literally a fraction of what you'd get them for at Michaels. The kind she purchased were by Martha Stewart and have a lever on them -- making the punching very easy on your hands.

So it just occurred to me that we have three very similar words in the above paragraph: Marsha, Martha, and Marshalls. Coincidence? I think not. When this trio comes together, the stars align for some serious scrapbook pages.

Punches come in a variety of shapes, which makes for supercallafragalisticexpialembellishments. These flowers were made using paper flowers (from Scrapbuck.com) and the punch shown above.

Punches also come in patterns so that you can make cool borders around your photos. (Also try trimming all around your main 12x12 page for a fabulous effect.)

I used this type of punch to make a fancy border for some fun photos of Matthew and I at the fair last summer. I got the puncher a little too close to the green and it made some holes that I didn't want to be there... so I covered them up with blue rhinestones and presto-perfecto! (Edger punches are a bit like using stamps... practice makes perfect, so try them out on some scratch paper first.)

For the title, I used chipboard letters by K&Company -- also purchased on Scrapbuck.com (for a whopping $1.50). At that price, you can purchase a bunch of them rather than spending a bajillion dollars on a die cut machine, which by the way, requires you to also purchase cartridges for all the different fonts. Way.too.expensive.for.KeKe.

I also chose to do journaling on a secret tab that I secured by placing it between the silver and blue photo mats (this means when you're gluing the mats together, leave a little space where there isn't any glue so the tab can slide in).

What's written on the journal tab is between me and my Sugar Pie, but let's have a closeup of that ass-grab one more time for good measure:

Thank you Marsha, for the fabulous gifts and for actively contributing to my scrapbooking addiction. ;-) BTW, Miss Hannah absolutely loves them, too.

Now go forth and punch!