My Scrappin' Evolution

2010 Summertime

2010-08-29T13:32:00.002-05:00

It has been FOREVER since I've posted two pages in one day - although this barely counts as one set was 95% done and I used a template for this set - but it feels good to have some more pages done and these happy photos scrapped for their books.

Template - August 24 Take Out Tuesday from Dana Attlan at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Kit - Melty Pops Freebie by Libby Weifenbach at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Stitching by Traci Reed at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Ribbons by Flergs MTFreebie
Cardboard action from Atomic Cupcake
Fonts - Susie's Hand, 4990810

2010 First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-29T11:10:00.001-05:00

This may be the last page of their official "baby" book. I still have lots of pages to do from the past two years, but I feel like this may be the end of capturing the time that they will not remember so easily.

Kit - Sahlin Studios Explore. Learn. Grow at Scrap Matters.
Fonts - Bell, 1942 Report

2010 Adore You

2010-07-26T23:25:00.009-05:00

I have not been very good about keeping up with my scrapbooking. I am paying more attention to my photography and finally have all my edits done and all my photos printed through May of 2010 - after being almost 3 years behind in my printing it was a good feeling to get that done.

I need to just make some time to browse current work and get inspired like I was when I saw this layout on a fellow scrappers blog. One of my twins only had her glasses for a few weeks and I knew this layout would capture this moment of change between my daughters perfectly.

Page Idea from Adore by Katherine Campbell Bley
Papers from Bohemian Summer Mini Kit by Michelle Coleman
Fonts - Bodini (brackets), CK Ali's Writing, Susie's Hand, Impact, Century Gothic, 1942 Report, Adobe Garamond

Special 1st Birthday Inviation by Sentiments by Sarah │ Summerwood Area Children's Photography

2010-06-08T22:18:00.001-05:00

I am so blessed to have this sweet little boy with a definite twinkle in his eye for a godson.

I shot these photos just before his first birthday, he wasn't crazy about the location, but we got some super cute ones of the Bulldozer with his bulldozer.

I can't wait to see this collage come from the printer tomorrow!! I wanted to go bigger, but his mom says they don't have enough room on the walls for so much cuteness, and big sissies might feel left out, so I had to be content with a 16x20 print.

The photos worked perfectly to create a theme for his first birthday invitations as well - check out Sentiments by Sarah for more custom birthday invitations.

Anticipation │ A view before Birth │ 2004, 2005

2010-06-01T08:05:00.009-05:00

So much for my goal of getting something posted here once a week.

I really had good intentions this year to try and get more done on the digital scrapping front, and my good intentions will continue.

This is a redo of some of the only hybrid pages I did when I first started their baby books and which prompted me to make the leap to digital. I got one set of the pages done and then never got the other scrapped (printed and cut, all it needed was to be put together and it never got done).

So here are my sweet babies during their 38 week journey in my tummy. The sonographer was really sweet about getting us pictures until the very last US when there was just no room left in there for you to wiggle about and for her (Lisa was her name) to do more than get the necessary measurements.

Flergs was one of the first designers I found when I started my digi-scrapping journey and I love her stuff still 3 years later. She is a very talented designer - her flowers are always my favorites.

Kit - DayDreamer by Flergs
Fonts - 2Peas Evergreen & Blackjack
Actions - inked edges & torn by Atomic Cupcake

Custom Photo Invitation │ Sentiments by Sarah │ Girl's 5th Birthday Invitation

2010-04-30T09:09:00.001-05:00

When I started digital scrapbooking back in 2007 I had no idea how far that process would evolve - My Scrappin' Evolution was certainly an apt name because from that meek beginning my life and my craft have certainly evolved over the past three years.

To that end I have decided that this blog will still continue to be my home to share digital scrapbooking pages and possibly free kits again one day, but it will also include more items from my work-at-home-mom business Sentiments by Sarah, as well as other tips on photoshop and photography - all the wonderfully creative things that twirl around my life as a mom of fabulous and funny twin girls.

To my amazement, time has flown by and those funny and fabulous twins will soon be celebrating their 5th birthday, a fact that they celebrate exuberantly daily. In addition to the their birthday list they are starting their Christmas lists as well.

If you have someone celebrating a special birthday and you'd like to invite friends and family in a special way, consider Sentiments by Sarah for a unique custom design. If you would like a you-print option, please contact me for details, as that option is not available on my website.

Happy Birthday my sweet Girls - Mommy loves you SOOO much!

photos by Mom (me)

Brenham Bluebonnets │ Kingwood Area Children's Photographer

2010-04-09T15:35:00.005-05:00

I made my first trip to Brenham this past week with two girlfriends and their sets of twins and my own set of twins (it was a lot of kids). The goal was to take photos of one set of twins and their younger sister in the massive fields of bluebonnets.

I was quite excited on the trip up because the cloud cover was creating a giant softbox in the sky, which makes it much easier to take "as you are" photos of little kids who aren't of the mindset to be directed. But naturally, as soon as we pulled into the first field of flowers the sun popped out and we all started sweating.

Amazingly, everyone stayed in pretty good spirits despite the heat and despite the first field not being solid blue like it had been for the mom last year. Bringing my girls along proved to be a bit tricky as they have a tendency to use me as a chair anytime I'm close to the ground and I missed a few shots because they hopped on my legs the first time I crouched down to take pictures. They were quite content once we got them playing with the baby though.

I wanted to share some of the photos I was able to capture of these beautiful kiddos. What a challenge, but I love the end results.

2010 Me and My Girls

2010-03-14T20:11:00.004-05:00

I don't know that I've ever gotten a page scrapped the day after taking a photo, but I'm determined to get more pages done and more than that I'm determined to get myself in more photos with the girls...even if I don't look the way I wish I did.

On this day the girls decided they would lay down on top of me on the couch, which in itself is not that big of a deal, but they will be 5 soon and its not something that will be part of our lives much longer.

I'm usually not one for converting to B&W, or clustering items, it doesn't come naturally to me, but I really like Natali's designs and got this kit and was determined to use it.

Kit - Ordinary by Natali Design (DigiShopTalk March Gold Kit)
Fonts - CK Ali's Writing and Times New Roman

I ♥ Faces │ Fix it Friday

2010-03-12T09:50:00.019-06:00

Couldn't pass up trying the Fix-it Friday this week.

The photo was pretty underexposed so I did open it in Camera Raw and adjusted exposure. This revealed a bit of noise, so I ran the photo thru my community Noiseware (free for PC users) version just to clean it up a bit.

In CS3
* I cropped the photo, tilting it a bit and bringing it in tighter.

* I added a new layer and cloned the skin under her eyes to brighten the dark circles

* I did 3 different level adjustment layers with masks to correct the exposure on the little girl 1)her overall 2)around her forehead and eyes 3)and her arms

* I did 3 different hue/saturation layers and 1)masked her shirt popping the pinks a bit, 2) masked her lips, just giving them a hint of more color and 3)masked only a portion of the pinball game so we could more easily see what she was studying

* Then I did an overall color balance layer to warm the photo

* Then I masked just her face and did a curves adjustment to warm her up a bit more by dropping the cyans and raising the yellows just a little.

*then I did one final curves adjustment to lighten the overall photo, masking back the background to minimize its distraction.

I find it so amazing that its hard to see the little changes in each step, but the overall effect is such a big difference from the original.

This is always good practice for snapshots I sometimes get to include in my photo card work.

off to check out other fix-its and how some of the contributor's achieved their fixes - you can see more here

2009 I Hope You Dance

2010-03-07T16:31:00.003-06:00

This looks SO straightforward...I wish I could say I whipped this out in a matter of minutes, but oh no, it took me several hours. But it's done and it's done in one day which is so important to me right now. I actually ran an action on the photos which is something I rarely do, but felt it went with the theme and the soft colors of the paper.

Papers from Sweety Spring by Miss Vivi
Flowers from Kayleigh's Kalediscope by Flergs
Action - Colorized by Pioneer Woman (some layers were disabled, opacity changed)
Font - 1942 Report

1/2 of rework of Little Baby to Little Lady

2010-03-05T10:31:00.004-06:00

This layout was one of the first ones I did digitally, only I did it in powerpoint intending to do hybrid (years ago for me) so I had to start over in PS to get a printable version. I just love having this much information about the girls and I know they will really treasure it when they have their own children.

There will be a facing page that takes them from 2 years thru 10 years - right up to a little lady.

This is also a great example of how much they have looked alike & different over time.

Background papers from Wild Sorbet by Michelle Coleman
Title Alpha - Bohemian Summer by Michelle Coleman
Stitched flowers from Bad Sewing Machine XIV - Flueriffic by Traci Reed
fonts - Jayne Print, 2 peas Old Type, 2 peas chatter, old typewriter

I ♥ Faces │ Fix It Friday

2010-02-26T12:35:00.007-06:00

Felt the need to do a little edit this morning of someone that didn't belong to me.

I have scrapbook work to do, but nothing like a little distraction for fun.

for my fix-it

I adjusted the white balance just a smidge in Camera Raw to warm the photo

In CS3
* I cropped the photo to a 6x4, ended up with her eyes dead center, which I know is not the best, but I think its ok for this one

*I did a levels adjustment layer and masked just the areas I thought were severely shadowed, then lightened the midtones and brought the blacks in

* then I did a curves adjustment layer for the same masked area to correct the color - she seemed a bit green (maybe a cast from the grass?)

* then I did a hue/saturation layer on a sky with a big soft brush to make the cyans bluer - I just like blue skies

* finally, I bumped the saturation of the whole photo just a smidge

with more time, I would have fiddled with the skin on her elbows a bit

off to check out other fix-its and how some of the contributor's achieved their fixes - you can see more here

I ♥ Faces │ Week 7 Dancing

2010-02-16T09:19:00.006-06:00

this is my first entry for I ♥ Faces, and as much as I would have loved to take a new photo of the girls dancing, this one just makes my heart sing.

One Year (and now they are almost 5)

2010-01-28T12:51:00.003-06:00

This is one that has been sitting waiting for me. It was one of my old hybrid projects that never got finished and I am determined to get those redone completely digital. It started off as a powerpoint presentation and I think I could have actually printed it from there as a jpeg, but I have learned a bit more about photo editing and think I improved my photos the 2nd go around, the original post is here.

Page idea from a layout years ago on 2 Peas in a Bucket
Paper kit – Sweet Sprinkles by Shabby Princess
Tape – Mellykat
Staple – L. Riordan
Fonts – 2 peas duck duck goose, pea johanna

2009 Christmas Gift

2010-01-10T15:42:00.006-06:00

Well, six months was longer than I had intended to be away, but I see people are still visiting my blog so hopefully they are still taking away some good things.

After my stint as my mothers of multiples newsletter editor and historian (scrapbook gal) I kept myself busy with my business - www.sentimentsbysarah.com. It has been fulfilling work and I love how my little business grew from my passion for photography and scrapbooking. I have a few new goals for 2010, but I won't mention them here as only time will tell if I will actually follow through with them.

I have started to use CS3 and while I have become frustrated from time to time because the commands are not the same as PSE I can see long term I will eventually use just one program, this set of pages was created using both. I was finally able to use the warp command on some of the drop shadows which was so fun and relatively easy.

Michelle Coleman Holiday Jingle
Heidi Larson Glitter Flakes
fonts - SF Happines, Two Peas Old Type, Two Peas Hot Chocolate

2009 Rodeo

2009-07-19T17:15:00.003-05:00

Hey - I'm Back!!!! and I have a new goal - one new layout a week until I get caught back up from my year long newsletter editor & scrapbook girl for my mothers of multiples club. The summer has been super busy, and we are just one month away from starting school which is when I really hope to get busy catching up. I also started my own work-at-home business and I have had a few orders here & there, but I really hope to start working in October when people start thinking about Christmas cards. When I bought my new computer and I had to upgrade to Photoshop Elements 7.0 - I'm still adjusting, 5.0 was so easy to use and to load actions & styles. Today I decided that I needed to warm up my scrapbooking muscles again - I had to alter some of the colors in the papers to coordinate better with the girls clothes, but not much else here on the creative side.

Page Idea from ...and He's Off by cindys732003 @ SSD
Kit Bohemian Summer by Zoe Pearn - the May Digishoptalk Gold Member Kit

Long Lost Sarah

2009-04-12T17:59:00.009-05:00

Ahh -finally a moment to post my latest LOs. My computer was attacked by some virus/worm junk in March and that slowed me down considerably. I am still trying to recover some items, but did not lose any of my scrapbooking supplies or products for which I am very thankful.


Template 96 by Yin Designs Kit - Close to my Heart by Zoe Pearn Font - Trebucht


Template 41 by Yin Designs Kit - Summer Cottage by Shabby Princess Fonts - Bernard, CK Journaling	Template 22 by Yin Designs Kit - Spring Denim by Scraps from Sarah Belle Fonts - Rosewood, Segoe Script


Kit - Dani Mogstad - All You Need is Love Font - Highland Park	Template 9 - Yin Designs Kit - A Very UnMerry Birthday by Dani Mogstad Font - CK Journaling

January MoMs

2009-02-03T14:06:00.014-06:00

Another month has flown by. I have spent the last four hours setting up all the MoM layouts to print and trying to upload them - and my JAVA app isn't working so it's taking even longer than I wanted.


Kit - Miss the Bus by Britt-ish Designs Fonts: EK Periwinkle, Kid Print

Kit -All I Want by Sweet Shoppe Designers Font CK Journaling


Kit - Merry & Bright by Zoe Pearn Alpha - Bedazzled Squared Off by Traci Reed Font - Kayleigh

Kit - Personal Muse by Jana McCarthy Font - CK Journaling

December MOMs

2009-01-02T10:36:00.013-06:00

Here's December's installment of MOM newsletter pages. As a historian didn't step forward this year and I couldn't really think of another way to showcase all the photos that everyone sends every month I've just been scrapbooking them to include in the newsletter so I guess I'm the "unofficial" historian for the club too. They always bring me great joy - but I'm ready to go back to working on just stuff for us/me.


Template 8 by Yin Designs (modified) Kit - Feeling Festive by Eve Recinella Fonts: BoysRGross, BlackJack, CK Journaling	Border from Around the World by Ilona Havenaar Black paper from Backs the Dark Side by Amanda Heimann Fonts: Amazone, CK Journaling

Kit - Whimsical Wonderland 2 by Monica Guerra Leiria Font: CK Journaling	A Very Merry Unbirthday by Amanda Slagle

Template 20 by Yin Designs (modified) Kit - Merry by Designs by Krista Stitches by Britt-ish Designs Bobby Pin by Mira Designs Fonts: Wide Latin, Brush Script, 2 Peas Evergreen

Template 47 by Yin Designs Pattern Paper from Winter Gifts by Summer Driggs Bow from Bow Beauties 6 by Royanna Fritschmann Action Tear & Ink by Atomic Cupcake Fonts:Santa's Sleigh, CK Journaling

2008 Christmas Card Photo Shoot

2008-12-15T20:24:00.005-06:00

Whoo-hoo! I finally got a scrapbook page done! Even though it's been 3 months since I scrapped anything for my girls, I seem to be stuck in the popular style of the worn page laying over the background. I created the papers and then spent too much time digging through all my new kits - I've been so busy I haven't become familiar with all my latest stuff - and then got bits & pieces from different places and had to recolor everything except the satin bow which just happened to be the right color green to match the paper I made. I know there isn't any green in the photos, but I think it sets them off anyway. There were lots of good photos of Alena this day, so there should be more pages from this annual photography session. I really wanted to create a mini kit for the holidays and made some cute papers for someone's Christmas cards, but I've run out of time to make any elements. Oh well, maybe next year.

Pattern Paper Overlay from GettinFancy 15 Overlays by Royanna Fritschmann
Worn Overlay from Instantly Worn Freebie by Lori Barnhurst
Satin ribbon, button and glitter splatter from Persimmon by Zoe Pearn
Swiss Dot Ribbon from Whimsical Wonderland 2 by Designz by Kristi
Stitched Bow from Wub by Christy Lyle
Lace from Lots O Lace Snippets by Gina Caberra
Clip from Cute Clips II Snippets by Gina Caberra
Tag from Whimsical Wonderland 1 by Flergs
Font: CK Handprint

MoM LOs - do I do anything else these days?

2008-11-30T21:14:00.007-06:00

As much as I always love my finished newsletter I am reminded how much effort I pour into it each month when I come here and realize that I have not done a single LO for my girls in 3 months (nor created any kits in MUCH longer). I had hoped to finish this newsletter early and do some girly LOs over the long weekend - but that goal was not achieved - perhaps before Christmas.


Template 68 by Yin Kit :Wub: by Robin Carlton, Christy Lyle & Manda Bean Fonts:Blue Century, CK Journaling

Template 30 by Yin Designs Paper - Tracy Lee, Shimmer Primaries Fonts:Qhytsdakx, CK Journaling	Template 34 by Yin Designs Paper & Element from Sugar in Heaven by Jeann G Fonts: Jane Austen, Portia

Template 36 by Yin Designs No Wolves in These Woods by Coralie Designs Tree Template by Cindy Schneider Font: EK Periwinkle

Kit :Wub: by Robin Carlton, Christy Lyle & Manda Bean Frames by Yin Designs Font:EK Periwinkle	Frames by Yin Designs Paper by Scraps from Sarah Belle Post Its by chibi_fr Font:CK Journaling

MoM LOs

2008-11-01T15:06:00.013-05:00

Once again no LOs about my kiddos - how did I get those three done in September anyway? I got some great pumpkin carving pictures though that really need a LO so maybe I'll find some time this month to at least do that one.

Here's the latest LOs for my newsletter. Have you all found blurb.com? It's for publishing your own books - you can even import your blog. I'm so excited and can't wait to try it - the prices are great.


Yin Template 27 Decon's Closet by Flerg's Hinge from Autumn Air by Micheline Martin Alpha from One Little Wish by Sarah J Designs Font - CK Journaling

Yin Template 22 Tattered paper from Spookilous by Simply Sweet Designs at SM Font - Smiley Monster	Yin Template 56 Papers from Harvest Road by Shabby Miss Jenn Worn Overlay by Penny Springman Fonts - Tangerine, CK Journaling

Yin Template 19 Papers from Girls Just Want to have Fun by Tamra Burwick Font - Baby Boston, Arial Rounded	Yin Template 5 Papers from Tough Fluff by Grumble Scraps Fonts - CK Script, Century Schoolbook, CK Journaling

Modified Yin Template Papers & Butterfly from Haute Spring by Zoe Pearn Font - CK Journaling	Modified Yin Template Paper from Serenity by KSharonK Designs Ribbons from Straight Set by Natalie Braxton Alpha is Hand Stamped Alpha by Michelle Coleman Font - CK Journaling

MoM LOs

2008-10-11T15:12:00.015-05:00

I've had these ready since the end of September and here it is time to start on the next newsletter and I'm only finding time to post these. I haven't made an extra second to even work on LOs for me.


Simply Yin Template 63 Bookworm by Gina Cabrera at DDE

Simply Yin Template 19 Kindergarten Krafts by Miss Mint Fonts: Bernhard Condensed, CK Handprint	Simply Yin Template 40 Beautiful Day by D. Corbitt Fonts: 2Peas Evergreen, CK Journaling

Parker by Gina Cabrera at DDE July 23 Cookie by M. Strand at SSD Font: Arial	Happy Birthday by Digital Design Divas Glitter by Flergs Font: Smiley Monster

Simply Yin Template 44 (much altered) Strawberry Delight by Flergs	Simply Yin Template 63 Personal Muse by J. McCarthy Switcheroo Brads by Karah Fredricks Font: Hiccup

I really still hope to make a fall/halloween kit, I just have to find some time sans kids.

Lovin' Lambie

2008-09-24T20:33:00.004-05:00

Some more cute photos of the girlies from just after they turned one - they still love that lamb and he is so adorable. They were from the Kohl's Cares for Kids campaign at the time of the girls baby shower back in '05.

Another scraplift of course, don't know what I'd do without inspiration from other folks. I love the effect of the felt action on the title word lambie and then adding the black stroke outside.

I really want to make a little halloween kit - I have colors inspired by my girls' new witch costume and a few ideas, now just to find time to execute. This weekend is going to be a mad dash to do the newsletter. Hurricane Ike certainly put me behind schedule, but at least my power was restored after 7 days. Many of my friends here are about to enter their 2nd week with no power - ick!

Page Idea from Life's a Beach by babycake @ SSD
Papers, ribbon wrapped heart & alpha all from Bohemian Summer by Michelle Coleman
Ric Rac from Sugar from Heaven by Jeann Gaidecki at TDC
Actions - felt & inked edge by Atomic Cupcake
Alpha - CK Penman & Hiccup

Girls Just Gotta Have Fun

2008-09-06T14:54:00.008-05:00

A big thanks to Brittney from Britt-ish Designs for the big assist in getting this LO done. This was another photo that caught my eye on my screen saver and I decided it would be the next one to scrap and then when I went looking for inspiration I found this great LO by Brittney at DST and it was perfect because it let me use 3 pictures instead of just one - and then I realized that some of her kits would fit the color scheme perfectly! I did have to alter some of the colors a bit, but the gingham ribbon and the alpha (fun) are is the only things that I completely recolored.

DH & I love these photos and these are the few that we have that we didn't take. We had a fabulous babysitter back in VA and she snapped these while she was there one day. I loved that toy too - it was the perfect baby gate between the game room and my office.

Page Idea from Small World by Designer Brittney at DigiShopTalk
Kits - Leave the World Behind & Dreams Do Come True by Britt-ish Designs
Flower from Little Athlete from Scraps from Sarah Belle
Green Polka Dot Ribbon from Give It to Me Straight by Amanda Heiman at TDC
Blue Ribbon from Straight Set by Natalie Braxton at The Lily Pad
Label Alpha from Label Maker Collection by Dani Alencar at TDC
Swirls from Floral Swirl Brush by Pixels & Ice Cream
Stitches from Basic Stitches by Britt-ish Designs
Date Tag from Label the Date by Mira Designs at TDC
Fonts - Schmutz, 1942 Report