Where Am I?

Blogging is hard. Those of you who maintain blogs have my reverence and awe.

I'm here. Just busy. I still want to share so many things & I have many ideas but unfortunately no time to implement them.

So...I've created a tumblr. Microblogging for the moment because it's less self-imposed pressure. I may fully migrate to tumblr but I'm not quite ready to give up on this blog. (Usually I just delete and start anew)

So..if you want to see what I'm up to when I'm absent from the (macro)blogosphere then check out my sidebar. See where it says
"A Little Ado about A Lot of Things"?

That's my tumblr. Don't want to look at the sidebar?
Here's a link: http://caprimom.tumblr.com

See ya around!

Themed Thoughts: Girls’ Night Out

Today, my first newsletter article popped up in the…well..newsletter. :) For weeks I searched through the Boutique for products that will help you whip up a fun & flirty layout all about those nights when you get dolled up and head out for a night of fun with your girlfriends. An event that probably happens more often for you than me because I’m pretty much housebound with a preschooler and toddler. So check out the newsletter today to see the article in its entirety. Today’s a good day to pick up some of the items I discovered among the Boutique aisles as it’s the last day of the Sweetheart Sale. And on top of the sale discount, there’s a 10% off coupon code too. Here’s a link to the newsletter: ScrapGirls News | Tuesday, February 15, 2011: A Letter to an Angel. Don’t be shy, click on it!
Until next time peeps!

ScrapGirls Newsletter 2.14.11 | Extra Chit Chat

It’s another Monday, but this is an extra special Monday since it’s Valentine’s Day! I hope you’re all soaking up the love today. Sorry for the lack of extra chit chat the last few Mondays but such is life, it gets busy and the old blog gets neglected. :)

As usual, the newsletter is packed full of awesome layouts and great tips, some of which I’m going to try. Plus, Paula Wright completely reaffirmed my reason for scrapbooking in her “A Designer’s Life” column. Check out the newsletter in its entirety here: Monday, February 14, 2011: Then and Now.

Remember how I said this Monday is extra special? Well today marks 4 years of togetherness with my super sweet love dove. It truly has flown by and we’ve had our share of ups and downs as most couples do I’m sure. I look forward to having many more of them with him—well, the ups. Who looks forward to the downs? Anyway, all that was to say, that my layout in the newsletter this week is extra special because it’s all about the conversation that started it all.

"Sweethearts" | Supply List + Links below

In the newsletter, I explain how I made the multicolored border around my layout. It was super duper easy so check out the newsletter for a mini-tutorial on that.

Those little conversation sweetheart candies were the inspiration for this layout. The colors, the journaling, and even the title were all a play on those cute little hearts with the short but sweet sayings on them. Because I had very specific colors in mind, I used ScrapSimple products. They are completely customizable so you get the best of both worlds—a product that has been designed for you and the ease of customizing it to fit the needs of your layout. The acrylic hearts are a combination of Brandie Valenzuela’s Dynamic Brush Set: Bokeh 1501 and Syndee Nuckles’ ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Resin 6401 Super Biggie. The same style has been applied to the flowers which are from Brandie’s Brush Set: Handy Dandy Doodles 2.

So, I hope you enjoyed the extra chit chat! Sooner or later, I’ll be updating the old blog with some new material. Look out for posts about the status of my Project 365/52, a couple exciting new products available at ScrapGirls, and in non-scrapbooking related news, an update on my natural hair journey and a frustrating transition for my youngest babe.

Until next time peeps!

"Sweethearts" Supply List
Brush Set: Grungy Text by Brandie Valenzuela
Brush Set: Handy Dandy Doodles 2 by Brandie Valenzuela
Dynamic Brush Set: Bokeh 1501 by Brandie Valenzuela
Lettering Delights Mother's Typewriter Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Spackling by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Bokeh Blur by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Paper Textures by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Resin 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok
Available Commercial Use products
Brush Set: Grungy Text by Brandie Valenzuela
Brush Set: Handy Dandy Doodles 2 by Brandie Valenzuela
Dynamic Brush Set: Bokeh 1501 by Brandie Valenzuela
Lettering Delights Mother's Typewriter Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Spackling by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Bokeh Blur by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Paper Textures by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Resin 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok

Dateline–not the TV show ;)

It’s the beginning of the year and across digiscrap land, heck, just scrapland in general, all you hear about is Project 365|52|12. Well, I started thinking about it around late November/December. Should I do it? If I do, how am I going to do it? etc etc. I decided I would but I needed to keep it really really really really simple. The key to that was to pick just one kit to use for the entire album. After much deliberation, I settled on Caroline Kaiser’s Document It Collection Biggie. I chose this kit because it has 16 different papers and a whole bunch of embellies and I absolutely fell in love with the alpha. It was created with P365/52/12 projects in mind so it was really a no-brainer. I couldn’t wait for the new year to arrive so I could start using it for my album.

Soooooo…..imagine my utter delight when Caroline asked me to do a layout to showcase a new product that expands upon the collection!!! Caroline created two embellishment template sets that gives you even more options for adding the date to your layouts: ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Dateline 1 & ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Document It Dateline 2. I love that it includes different font styles and because it’s a template, you can use it in so many different ways—let your mojo run wild!
So here’s my layout:

"Happy New Year" | See end of post for supplies

I was inspired by the product name here. Datelines made me think of headlines so I played on the “what’s black, white, and re(a)d all over” concept. I can’t wait to use these templates in other ways. This layout will be in my P365 album and so far….it’s the only layout I’ve done. Yep, I’m already behind. I forsee some power scrapping in my future!

Have you decided to tackle the behemoth that is Project 365/52? If so, how are you doing so far?

Until next time peeps!

“Happy New Year” Supply List
Document It Collection Biggie by Caroline Kaiser
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Dateline 1 by Caroline Kaiser
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
Available Commercial Use products:
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Dateline 1 by Caroline Kaiser
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward

ScrapGirls Newsletter 01.10.11|Extra Chit Chat

Another Monday is here! That made me think of Office Space (do you have a case of the Mondays?) bwahahaha! Anyway, another Monday and so begins a new week of wonderful ScrapGirls newsletters. FYI: The newsletter is published SIX! days a week and each day there is a freebie. Also, on Tuesdays, there's a recap of the previous week in case you don't want to receive the daily installment. Here's the link for today's newsletter, just in case you haven't read it yet. Monday 01.10.11: It'll Be an Adventure And I do advise reading it. I learned so much today from all of the tips shared by the Layout Artist Team. I'm especially itching to try Charlene's method of dealing with tricky digital reflections. Also, Kerry Veale's designer spotlight was amazing. I'm in awe of how she has gracefully coped with a very difficult life change.

And without further ado, here's my layout featured in the newsletter today. All about crazy gingerbread houses. We had a normally sane house this year. Just didn't have the same spunk!

"Our Crazy Gingerbread House"|Supply List + Links below

Here's my blurb from the newsletter:

"I wanted the berry sprig to appear tucked behind my photo but on top of the green ribbon frame. However, the green ribbon frame was on top of the other layers and I didn’t want to have to rearrange a lot of layers. The solution: using a layer mask. First, I placed the berry sprig layer under the ribbon frame layer. Then, I added a layer mask to the ribbon frame layer (Layer>Layer Mask). Next, I made a direct selection (CTRL+click on berry thumbnail) of the berry sprig layer. This ensured that I would only brush away the part of the frame that covered the berries. Making a direct selection makes it easier and faster to use layer masks to extract finely detailed embellishments."

The main collection I used here is Paula Wright's To You From Me Collection Biggie. It's a lovely Christmas kit full of traditional colors & patterns. I really enjoyed scrapping with it. The only thing that didn't work from this collection for this particular layout was the alpha. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely alpha but it was too traditional for the title work I wanted to do. I wanted the alpha to be a bit quirky, just like our crazy gingerbread house so I used the alpha from Trish Yochum's Main St. Holiday Collection. The letters 'C, R, Z, & Y" were a different color originally; I simply adjusted the color using Image>Adjust Hue/Saturation. This is one of the main advantages of digi-scrapping. Of course, if you're a paper scrapper, you can change the color of your alpha stickers by using paint or covering with patterned or solid paper. Not as easy as a click of the mouse, but not impossible either. 


Well, that's it for today! Hope you enjoyed! 
Until next time...


"Our Crazy Gingerbread House" Supply List
Comfort and Joy Collection Mini by Thao Cosgrove
Lettering Delights Monique Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
Main St. Holiday Collection by Trish Yochum
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Bow Borders by Paula Wright
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Mega Lift I - Squared Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Photo Borders 6501 by Sarah Batdorf
To You From Me Collection Biggie by Paula Wright
Available Commercial Use Products:
Lettering Delights Monique Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Bow Borders by Paula Wright
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Mega Lift I - Squared Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Photo Borders 6501 by Sarah Batdorf

ScrapGirls Newsletter 01.03.11|Extra Chit Chat

Happy Monday! Today I'm sharing my latest layout to appear in the ScrapGirls newsletter. You can find the newsletter here. As always, I encourage you to check out the entire newsletter. The layout artist team does a great job and there's also a freebie!

"2011 Resolutions"|Supply List + Links below

Here's my blurb in the newsletter:

"When creating a holiday layout, don’t feel confined to using holiday themed collections. I associate New Year’s with feelings of happiness, excitement, and fun so I used Sheri Johnson’s Cabana Paper Solids and SummerTime Collection. Although these supplies are geared towards summer themed layouts, they allowed me to create a bright and fun layout perfect for New Year’s."

I had a lot of fun playing with Sheri Johnson's Brush Set: Halftone Circles and Brush Set: Distressed Halftone Circles to create the background here. I simply brushed a few different layers with different brushes from the set and then clipped various papers from the Cabana Paper Solids pack, added a few styles and some New Year's themed embellies. I spent a lot of time playing with different blending modes and I used a new trick (well, new to me). Some of the blended areas of the background weren't as smooth as I'd liked so I merged all of my background layers and then ran a Lens Blur on that layer. I retained the original layers of the background so after running the Blur filter, I lowered the opacity of the "blurred" layer and that really helped the blending seem more organic.

Until next time!!

"2011 Resolutions" Supply List
Brush Set: Distressed Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Brush Set: Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Cabana Paper Solids by Sheri Johnson
Digital Stickers: New Year's Embellishments by Valerie Randall
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders II Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Blended 8201 Super Biggie by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Greyscale 6401 by Amanda Sok
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Shiny Silver 11001 by Doris Castle
SummerTime Collection by Sheri Johnson
Commercial Use versions of these products are available:
Brush Set: Distressed Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Brush Set: Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders II Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Blended 8201 Super Biggie by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Greyscale 6401 by Amanda Sok
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Shiny Silver 11001 by Doris Castle

SG Newsletter 12/20/10|Extra Chit Chat

It's Monday again! If you haven't already, check out the newsletter today. It's full of hybrid crafting ideas--perfect for these last FIVE (count 'em--1-2-3-4-5 *scream of panic*) days left until Christmas. They're all pretty fast and easy to complete. Here's the link to the newsletter: Monday, December 20, 2010 | Christmas Story Jar - Part 8. 

I had lots of ideas that I still haven't gotten around to yet; hence the earlier scream of panic. However, I did get this card done. I loved using Caroline Kaiser's I Heart You Collection Mini to create the card. I thought the hand drawn illustrations were so cute and I can't wait to use the Valentine's Day themed embellies in February. But now it's Christmas, so here's my hybrid creation--and it's hybrid in the strictest sense of hybrid. Originally, the card was made of pixels on my screen and then I printed it out so now it's on paper. Feel free to add traditional scrapbooking supplies to further dress up your hybrid creations but realize that it's still hybrid even if you don't.

Okay, I'm really going to show you the card now:

"Merry Christmas" Card | Supply List + Links below

Here's my blurb from the newsletter:

"When looking for items to use for Christmas-themed projects, don't be afraid to look at collections with other holiday themes besides Christmas. Here, I used papers from I Heart You Collection Mini which is a Valentine's Day-themed collection. But because the color palette is the traditional red and green often used for holidays, it works great for my project. After choosing the papers I wanted to use, I selected a few embellishments from other Christmas-themed collections to finish off the card."

I don't know if it's because of the holidays, but I don't have much extra to say. My brain is fried. Just remember that just because a product in your digi stash is themed for one holiday, doesn't mean you can't use it for not only everyday pages, but for a different holiday as well. Try to look at the elements of the kit with fresh eyes. For instance, I saw that the swirls on the red background paper would be nice to use here. It's really hearts surrounded by white swirls but I strategically cropped the paper so you wouldn't get that Valentine's/lovey dovey feel. Or the green paper with the red glitter streaks screamed "CHRISTMAS GARLAND" so it became a part of my Christmas tree.

Okay, so I had more to say than I thought...

Signing out for now. Until next time...

Happy Holidays to all of you!!

"Merry Christmas" Card Supply List
I Heart You Collection Mini by Caroline Kaiser
Main St. Holiday Collection by Trish Yochum
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Christmas Photo Collage by Syndee Nuckles
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Micro Glitter 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok
Available Commercial Use products:
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Christmas Photo Collage by Syndee Nuckles
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Micro Glitter 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok