Snow Day!

I used Authentique Journey for this layout of Greg. I just love him grinning with the girls playing behind him in the snow.

My little one hated snow and cold, and could barely be drug outside by her older sister wildly professing her love for the winter scene. B would be out for a minute or two and then beg to go inside. A, however would be happiest staying outside until her fingers are completely numb.

Greg loves his little girls and indulge me by taking them out while I make the crew homemade hot cocoa. Our house is rarely calm and these brief moments in front of the fire with cocoa make me feel blessed. I love our crazy life, it makes the sweet moments so special.

Garnet #5

I just loved putting together this layout from summer. Our dear friends went with us to Idaho, and we stopped in Ellensburg, WA on the way. My daughter and Heather hammed it up together for a quick photo. Our families had so much fun together. I feel blessed to have such amazing friends. What makes your friends special?

New year

A new year always is a time to take stock, appreciate what you have, and make plans to change what you don't like about your life. I struggle with resolutions because it seems like a recipe to fail. As you know, I'm not afraid to fail, but I'd like to be smarter about my goals this year.

I think my biggest problem is keeping momentum when life gets in the way. 2011 definitely found ways to give me lots of excuses, and ultimately, that's what they are. Instead of focusing on the negative, I'd like to share some of the wins in my failures.

- I walked a 5k. All of it. I'm not to pretend I am hard core, but the course looped across the finish line, and it would have been easy to stop, but I didn't.

- I got my crafty, artistic life awakened. I turned away from it when I had a rough patch, and it was a loss. This year, I sketched, painted, drew, scrapped, and learned to crochet. I am so grateful for the renewal of my artistic side.

- I am slightly more organized than last year. It isn't perfect, but it's better, and that's something.

- I lost a little weight. Enough for my pants not to fit. That's pretty cool.

- I've learned to try and let go of negativity and embrace positivity.

- I've made an effort to make sure the girls are in swim lessons, and they love it. We only missed when Cakes had a school concert.

Small wins. But mine. All mine.

Artist trading cards (ATCs)

I made these for a swap. Each heart is hand drawn, and the cards are collages with a plain Kraft paper, and two text pattern papers, the darker is 7 gypsies.

I am excited to see what the other artists created. The challenge in making ATCs is adapting a technique to a 2.5x 3.5 in size. Many patterned papers are too large for the format, creating a unique way to share talent in a compact size.

Have you tried ATCs?

Boulder Innovations

I loved making this magnet board. I wanted to have something to post notes to my husband. First, I used glass pieces and used Aleene's Collage Pauge to adhere paper to the back. Once the collage glue dried, I attached a magnet with a low temperature glue gun, and trimmed any excess papter. The wood magnet was painted with Daniel Smith acrylic paint, then I used collage glue to attach the paper to the front. I added rhinestones for fun. I painted the board and then collaged the paper onto the main board, and once dry, affixed the metal which already had adhesive. I used a rotary tool to slightly distress the edges. The ribbon is attached with wood staples, and hot glue to keep the ribbon flat. A prima flower added the final accent.


I love how this fun project turned out. Collage is a great way to expand your papercrafting repertoire!

Supplies:
Paper- Authentique Free Bird: Comfort Multi Color Dot, Blush Rose Floral, Warmth Blue Vine
Ribbon- May Arts (Leopard) and American Crafts (Green)
Flower- Prima
Magnet Board- Boulder Innovations
Rhinestones- Createology
Decoupage Glue- Aleene's Collage Pauge

Free as a bird

Check out this amazing LO of Budge I did using Authentique. The papers are from the Gathering and Free Bird collections.

Free Bird papers
Warmth Cream Quit Wreath: FBS130
Familiar Multicolor paisley: FBS121
Comfort Multicolor Dot: FBS108

Gathering papers
Grow
Foundation
Harmony

I had the amazing opportunity to meet Bret, Samantha, and Melodee from the Authentique team. We were able to convince Melodee to drive us to their warehouse for a tour after her awesome paper bag album class this weekend. Everyone from the Authentique team is so incredibly warm and nice. We drove out well after 7pm and were greeted enthusiastically by Samantha and Bret. I kept waiting for the "polite" to wear off, as I could not imagine anyone being that nice for real. However, after quite a while, I realized that they are truly kind people passionate about their work.

The Authentique team works out of a warehouse space that is in two fronts that are split by a parking lot. The office front looks like any industrial area, nondescript and rectangular. Their offices are marked simply with the logo on the glass door. The plain exterior does not prepare a visitor for the warm interior of their office. The walls are a rich mocha, and it is decorated simply with dark wooden furniture and comfy chairs in a seating area. The walls display framed printer's proofs of recent paper lines, and several displays are loaded with newest collections. Samantha and Melodee recounted admiringly how Bret hand makes and paints each display.

Behind the office is a workroom, above which is the "man cave" where Bret and the team sneak away for naps when long hours catch up with them.
Through a small door put in so the team could avoid walking outside in the rain to get to the other side, pallets of Authentiqe boxes sit waiting for delivery. The next room holds stacks of paper packs organized by collection. This room smells incredible from the aroma of new paper There is a design room, behind which is a workroom with racks on the wall which are hand filled by the team and wrapped for delivery to your local scrapbook store. Melodee jokes about how the fun wears off filling them late nights during busy times. Across the lot, a meeting space and offices are being decorated and set up.

Samantha and Bret spoke glowingly about Tara, the designer. They also detailed how their products are printed locally, and that the weight of the paper is largely due to their choice to use USA printers. In a world where so much is outsourced, it was flooring to see a company using local companies
Bret showed us a flyer printed for distributors with authentic excitement.

I have never felt more welcomed or appreciated by a company. Thank you so much for sharing your life's work with me, it was one of the best experiences of the weekend.

Hurried.

What to do when you have to wrap a gift on the fly with no paper? Punch two holes in a brown bag an tie with twine. Works great for male recipients. Simple is sometimes best.