God grant that I should live to fish
     until my dying day.
And when it comes to my last cast
     I then most humbly pray,
When in the Lord's safe landing net
     I'm peacefully asleep,
That in his mercy I be judged
     As big enough to keep.

                  A Fisherman's Prayer

 

Anyone who knew my Dad knew he loved to fish. Even more, he loved teaching children how to fish. When I saw Mo's Digital Pencil Too image, Fishing, I knew I would have to play with it. Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #17 (about wood or would) spurred me on and gave me a deadline.

Mo's image captured my Dad so well. He fished with live bait, often in a small boat just like this in the lakes and ponds around Owen County, Indiana. So, you'll have to indulge me a bit because I can't possibly share this card with you without sharing a few precious pictures of Dad.

In the background, helping my kids wet a hook in his backyard pond.

Captain of our boat . . .

 

Here are the Copic markers I used for the water and sky with the Copic air system:

And here are the markers I used for the rest of the image:

• Embellishments – Tim Holz Ideology Foliage
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above)
• Paper – Stampin' Up! cardstock: Summer Sun, Not Quite Navy, Basic Black. Neenah Classic Crest Solar White. Karen Foster Fishing Lures.
• Stamps – Mo's Digital Image Fishing
  
• Tools – EK Success border punch

Love you always, Dad.

 

 

Go Colts!

(Thanks Cuz' 'Lanie for sending me this. I'm a born and raised Hoosier transplanted to Texas. We Colts fans are outnumbered by Saints fans here in Austin, where Drew Brees grew up.  But my good folks in Indiana didn't forget me.)

Remember last time I told you I have a big announcement – well here 'tis. I'm so freakin' excited.

 

I get to be a big deal over at the new Soul Scrappers community. Erika Martin created a worldwide community to help scrapbookers learn and share more about their craft but also to help us all put more of ourselves on our projects. And, check it out, she asked me to be part of her design team, "Soul Team." I get to write tutorials, run digital scrapbooking challenges, get my little projects featured – oh yes, my head is bigger than the house right now.

 

This week I wrote my very first tutorial and today I'm running my first challenge – Cool Beans!  Editing the opacity (or transparency) of pictures in digital scrapbooking pages is one of my favorite techniques, so, you know, that's what we're doin' – gettin digi wit it and getting transparent.

I haven't had a chance to share this one with you yet because it was"out for publication' on Erika's Journaling 101 online course (which, by the way, is incredible!). It's become one of my favorite pages because it commemorates the special relationship my Caitlin had with her Grandma.

 

And here's a page I made this week for the challenge with pictures from our Summer trip to the Tetons in Wyoming.

Winners of my challenge get to put this cool badge on their blog. Erika actually made this from hand (it's not a digitally composed graphic). Yes, I'm so stoked about this!

 

Here's my challenge: Tuesday Digital Challenge DC2 – Getting Transparent. It includes links to Photoshop tutorials, my tutorial for users of Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Scrapbook (Making Opaque Pictures in MDS), and a link to the challenge photo gallery, DC2 – Getting Transparent.

Come join us, but soon, the deadline for the challenge is Monday, February 8. Don't tell anyone, but I want one of you guys to win.

Shew, I have so much to tell you, so grab a seat and get comfy.

Have you figured out yet that I'm obsessed with Mo's Digital Pencil images? I can't seem to get enough. They're whimsical, poignant, funny . . . well, you can find an image for just about any mood you want to set. This one makes me just want to pinch those delicious chubby cheeks.

When I was a little girl I was constantly pulling at the corner of my eyes trying to convince my eyes to look like pretty China doll eyes. Don't laugh. I was convinced it would work, and, hey, I wasn't much older than this little baby girl. When I saw the Copic Creations Challenge this week was to create Ethnic Skin Tones(Challenge No. 20), I knew I wanted to take a stab at creating Asian skin tones. Well, okay, I'm not sure I succeeded, because my China doll doesn't look much different from my baby girl. Oh well, at least I gave it a stab. 

Here are the markers I used for the China doll (YR0000, YR00 and YR61 for her skin).

And here are the markers I used for the baby girl (E0000, E00 and E21 for her skin).

If you want a better idea of markers to use on Asian and other ethnic skin tones, be sure to check out the challenge; there are links for some great ideas and tutorials.

Once again, I really went to town mixing up challenges. They're just so much fun and they're such a great jumping off point for designing. I used the sketch from the Card Patterns Challenge #48.

And, I got my color theme from Mo herself, at Mo's Bronte and Belle Challenge Blog, Challenge #15.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot . . . here's the card!

• Fibers: Stampin' Up! Satin Ribbon
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above)
• Paper – Stampin' Up! cardstock: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, and elegant Eggplant. Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper in Almost Amethyst. Neenah Classic Crest Solar White.
• Stamps: Mo's Digital Image I Love It CG
• Tools: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Before I leave you, I have some very exciting, Stop-the-Presses news to share. One, is just a hint to stay tuned next week for a big ole' fun announcement. Oooo, that's just a tease, but that's all you get for now. 

The other news I have for you is that the Catty Cruise Line has weighed anchor again. The Catty Cruise is a blog hop of some of the most amazing paper craft artists highlighting the latest Stampin' Up! catalogs (aka Catty's). You will not want to miss seeing their beautiful creations – they're stunning. They're also very sweet and dear friends of mine, so be sure to leave them some love (comments), and tell them Linda sent ya.

You can jump on to the Catty Cruise at their home port, here, or just click on the icon below.

Anchors Away!

Oh Happy Day! It's the weekend. The Indianapolis Colts are still in the playoffs. My babies are home. And, I got to color and play today – that's always a happy day!

I made this card for the Embellish Magazine challenge. Such classy colors aren't usually my style. I'm a jeans and sneakers kind of girl. Once again, I kind of loosely interpreted the challenge – goin' against the man, man . . . pushing the edge . . . that's me. But check out these images to kick off the challenge, aren't they stunning?

You still have time to join me in this challenge. The deadline is Thursday, January 28. Just click here to check out the digital patterned paper for the challenge,  beautiful projects by the design team and the cool prize package.

 

 

I used one of the adorable images from Mo's Digital Pencil. You won't find this image on her web site, though, because it was a gift to Mo's Paper Craft Planet group when we reached 500 members. Come join us, and you can download the image here.

 

• Embellishments: Vintage buttons from my Mom's button jar
• Fibers: Stampin' Up! 1-1/4" Striped Grossgrain in Old Olive, linen thread
• Ink – Copic Markers, Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper – Stampin' Up! cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Elegant Eggplant, and Kraft
• Stamps: Mo's Digital Image (link above) and Stampin' Up!'s Everday Flexible Phrases
• Tools: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Stampin' Up! Medium Jewelry Tag punch

Go Colts and have a Very Happy Day!

 

Yes, Pantone Inc., the New Jersey-based authority on color for design professionals, named turquoise the color the year today. Pantone says: "Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing." Wow. well, we gotta celebrate that!

 

Okay, I have to tell you I'm not too sure about this card. My daughter says its "great." She's got a design degree so I take a lot of stock in that. My husband says, "It's not your best." So, I'll let you all be the judge.

I made this for this week's Our Creative Corner Color (OCCC) where Joycelyn challenged us to use Blue and Green hues. I also turned to this week's Card Positioning System sketch challenge (CPS150) for my layout. (Yes, it's a loose interpretation.) Using challenges like these really helps me stretch myself – you know, all part of my moto of "Vigor and Vim in 2010."

 

 

In addition to celebrating the color turquoise, this card also pays homage to the Russian Nesting Dolls (aka Matroyshka or Babushka doll). I love that Babushka is the Russian word for grandmother. What a great thing to celebrate. Grammies rock the world!

 

 

Here's the recipe for my OCCC/CPS150/Babushka/Turquoise card (yes, I really get a lot of bang out of my cards).

• Embellishments: Stampin' up! (SU) Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, SU Fleurettes II Accents & Elements

• Fibers: SU Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain (retired)

• Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic Markers E0000, E00, E02, R0000, R81, R85, G20, YG63, BG 49, BG45, and BG10.

• Paper: SU cardstock: Old Olive, Taken with Teal, Pink Pirouette (retired). SU Designer Series Paper Holiday Treasures. Neenah Classic Crest Solar White.

• Stamp:SU  My Matroyshka

• Tools: SU Scallop Trim Edge Punch, Nestabilities Label II Die.

I'm having a nice-couch potato weekend watching football with my man and cruising the net – still recovering from a crazy work week. Why did I become a nurse again? I mean, seriously, I was 40 when I got my RN. You'd think I would have had more sense. (Really, I love it, I just like to whine every now and then – makes me feel important.) 

So . . . here's some cool stuff I've stumbled upon today . . . for your cruising enjoyment.

Taylor Usry just wrote a fabulous article over at Craft Critique comparing cardstocks and how they respond to different effects such as printing digital images, sponging, stamping, and punches. She looked at Prism's Prismatics textured cardstock, Stampin' Up's line of cardstock, Bazzill textured cardstock, Georgia Pacific White cardstock, Neenah Solar White, and Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select. There's good information in the comments, too. Just click on the icon below and scroll down to the January 14, 2010, post.

One of my fellow nurse co-workers sent me this video (hey, Anita!). I love it. I think I may just watch it anytime I need a little pick-me-up (well, like today). Besides being a lot of fun, it's also for a wonderful cause. Turn up you speakers and get ready to rock out with the Pink Glove Dance!

 

 

Rock On!

Okay, yes, I'm still posting about our Christmas . . . can you believe it? If you know me, well, you're not surprised. I move slow. But, hey, January is kicking my butt at work, so, you know, a girl just does what she can. Any hay . . . I got an e-mail from a fan (whaz up, Melissa) asking about how to save projects from Stampin' up!'s My Digital Studio (MDS) into .jpg files, so here goes.

After you finish designing your gorgeous project, you go up to the top tool bar and select "Share Project."

That will get you a drop-down menu. From the drop down menu, select "Export to JPEG."

MDS will pop up a screen that will walk you through the rest . . . It's pretty straight forward after that.

Here's the final product. This is one of the pages I did for Erika Martin's on-line Journaling 101 Scrapbooking class. The journaling text (yes, I actually journaled) says

A McClain Family Christmas
    A snowman ornament for Ben and a Santa ornament for Caitlin
    Christmas Dinner
    Grandma’s Santa collection
    The Pickle Gift
    24 Hours of The Christmas Story
    A book for Grandpa
    Christmas Cookies
    The Christmas Star

And, just for giggles and grins . . . here's just a quickie slide show of our quirky Christmas 2009. As you can tell from my scrapbook page and maybe even a little from the slide show, our Christmas celebrations are all about our traditions – we have quite a few we honor each year. It's not built for variety, but it soothes our sentimental souls.  

Thanks for letting me recap my Christmas 2009, it was definitely a fun one. Now, onward and forward to 2010 . . .

                                All you need is love.
                                All you need is love.
                                All you need is love, love.
                                Love is all you need.
                                         – John Lennon, 1967

As promised here's my answer to the next Copic Creations Challenge (CCC), Challenge #19, Fur. What a fun challenge.

If you click on the image, you'll see I added a little Crystal Effects on the puppy's nose, and a tiny bit of Flower Soft on the bird's nest.

I used the sketch from the Mojo Monday 120 challenge to make this early Valentine's card.

Okay, admittedly, I may have tried to accomplishment too much with this card. I'm afraid it may have come out a little on the busy side. When I showed it to my daughter she said, " Wow, my eyes don't know where to go." – not a good sign. Oh well – it was still good practice and the tutorials on the CCC site were, as always, great.

Such a busy card takes a lot of ingredients . . .

• Embellishments: Stampin' up! Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, Nut Brown Flower Soft

• Fibers: Stampin' Up! Ribbon Original Flirty (retired)

• Ink, Copic Markers –
  • Dog: E00, E29, E31, E37;
  • Eggs/Dog Collar: BG45;
  • Cat: W00, W1, E5, W7;
  • Bird: R85 & Y21;
  • Sky/Grass: B20, G24, BG10

• Paper: Stampin' Up! cardstock: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip and Tempting Turquoise; Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper Love Me (retired) Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

• Stamp: Mo's Digital Image, Coexist

• Tools: Stampin' Up! Circle Cutter and Coluzzle system, Martha Stewart Picket Fence Edge Punch, Nestabilities Classic Scallop Circle, Cuttlebug embossing folder.

I created the sentiment on my computer using Quigley Wiggly font and RGB code R68, G28 and B28 to match the Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip paper.

I'm loving these challenges. Hmmm . . . which one shall I tackle next?

I love this picture of my sister – isn't she adorable! Such a hot chicky lady! And now it's official, she's a smart, hot chicky lady. She even has the certificate in safety management now to prove it. My adorable sis just graduated from Indiana University, showing all those young twenty somethings how it's done! I'm so proud of her.

I didn't get to be at her graduation, dang it, but I did get to see her in early December just before she graduated. Her only request for Christmas/Graduation was to make a Build-a-Bear together. So, that's exactly what we did.

I had so much fun helping Sharon with her bear (yes, complete with hard hat and boots), and I'm so proud of her, I made a scrapbook page about it. This was an easy-breezy page to make with Stampin' Up!'s "My Digital Scrapbook" software. I just made a few tweeks to one of their pre-designed pages.

I like making scrapbook pages with white backgrounds, because, for me, the most important elements on the page are the pictures – and the white background helps the pictures stand out more. It's also fun to make one of the pictures opaque and include it in your background, something you can't do very easily with traditional scrapbooking.

Sharon's dear boyfriend, Gary, lost his Dad yesterday morning after a hard fought battle with lung disease. I never got to meet Marion "Bud" Burkhart, but we love Gary, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so I know he must have been a very sweet man. Please keep them in your prayers this week.