Snowy Day

I love spending the day in my little design room , especially when it is snowing. I have a large window in my studio that overlooks my wooded backyard and it is beautiful when it is snowing, or sunny, or even raining. Maybe everything just looks better when I'm in my favorite place.
Well today was a super creative day for me. I love the layouts I made. One is finished and one will be finished just as soon as I can get back to the store to pick up some rub ons that I need. Here is the one I finished.

This is a picture I took when I went to the hospital to meet my Godson, Patrick. My good friends Liz and Erik didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl so the kids were anxious to find out if they were going to have a brother or a sister. When RJ found out he had a brother he was so excited. A few minutes later Erik saw him off to the side in the room tearing up. When Erik asked him why RJ said he just couldn't believe he had a brother. That sweet story and this photo were my inspirations for this page, Becoming Brothers.

I love the photo because the light is falling right on RJ and it really showcases his great expression.

I did a lot with the titles of this page. The main title is "Becoming Brothers." I used clear stamps to make the title. First I used a foam brush to apply a cream colored paint to the letters and I made the first layer of my stamp. Then, without cleaning my stamps I inked the edges of the letters with a brown ink then I stamped right back over the letters. Then I took a few swipes over the letters with my sanding block and voila. I didn't want to journal on this page but I had a little more to say so I added a secondary title. I started with "so sweet" in the upper left hand corner (the eye naturally moves from the upper left to lower right so designing with that in mind creates a good flow in the design.) I used these metal letters that I got years ago from JoAnn's. I attatched them to the page with glue dots. The elipsis is made out of 3 very small brads.

I used my new DYMO to make the second part of the small title. I used a little paint applied with a foam brush to just barely catch the top of the raised letter in order to highlight the letter. By placing the words down the right side of the photo I am continuing the eye moving in its natural direction from upper left to lower right.


I am so thankful to Erik and Liz for letting me be there for such an amazing time for their family. I was overwhelmed by the sweet blessing of Baby Patrick. I hope I was able to get across in my layout how absolutely prescious that moment was.

Wishes

I have been working on scrapbooking Christmas this past week. Don't hate me just yet... I'm only up to '05 in my Christmas album. I did this great layout with these pictures that when I originally took them they made me cry because they were so bad. They were not at all what I wanted. I wanted a great shot of the kids in front of the tree. Instead I got terrible pictures of Cullen trying to escape and Aubrey trying to hold him down. Not only was he not cooperating but my camera at the time had a 2 second delay which made it nearly impossible to get the shot I wanted. I think that is why I am so behind in this album. I was just so unhappy with the pictures from '05 that I just didn't crop them...until now.


I titled this page "Christmas Wish" because my Christmas wish was to get a great photo of the kids in front of the tree and at the time I felt that my wish had not come true. I guess it is all about perspective because now I love these pictures. I can actually hear Cullen's baby belly laugh when I look at these shots. I miss that laugh. He's still got it but it is much more grown up now. It took me 3 years but now I realize I got my Christmas wish. These pictures are priceless. All I needed was a little perspective.




I tried a new technique. Not sure exactly how I came up with it but when I made the title block I ended up pulling out stamps that I wanted to use only part of the image. The border was a whole stamp and I only wanted the border so I taped over the parts I didn't want, inked it quickly then pulled the tape off and stamped it. The word "WISH" was only the center of the stamp so I used my new little tape trick again and it worked.




Here I used one of my favorite little tricks. I used my DYMO label maker with a strip of red cardstock that I fed in where the DYMO tape goes and printed out my own little caption. I sanded it down a little then inked it a little with white StazOn. I love to make my own captions using my DYMO. It is so quick and easy and adds such a fun element but I don't do it all of the time because with one font it can get to be too repetitive. I have been wanting a DYMO with different fonts. I guess you could say I've been wishing for it and my wish came true.




I was so excited when I saw the DYMO Caption Maker at AC Moore the other day. It has 3 wheels that have different fonts. I have been wanting this tool for so long and now they actually make it. And its PINK!!! Now I'm wishing for DYMO to make more font wheels that I can get to add to my collection.


What a great week. But it gets even better. I have been on the waitlist for Karen Russell's Photographer's Workshop class and I finally got in to her summer session. I am so excited!!! Check out her blog listed under my favorite blogs. You will drool over her photographs.

My Design Studio

This is a blog about things that inspire me. I am a self proclaimed crazy scrapbook girl so I am always looking for inspiration. I'm not only inspired to design but also to organize. I love to organize. I love being organized. I heart my label maker;) So, to show you what I mean my first post is going to include pictures of my Design Studio. It has the perfect ratio of design meets organization. So here it is~

Even my OTT~LITE is pink:)

I was trying to come up with a name for my blog. I went to my scrapbook room for some INSPIRATION;) ... and there it was... "simply inspired"

The chalk board is painted right on the wall and is surrounded by different pink and brown ribbons. I write inspirational quotes on it. Right now it says:
"There are Dreamers and there are Planners; the Planners make their dreams come true."~Edwin Louis Cole
Everything is labeled
This is my new favorite thing. It is really a monitor stand from Ballard Design. My friend Stephanie got it and it didn't work out for her so now I have it. I love my Making Memories Carousel but it was always in my way. Solution, I put the carousel on top of the monitor stand and now I have my entire workspace back.