Capture the Details

"Will you be my Valentine?" R.A.K. giveaway

In just about two weeks that plump little cherub and his bow and arrows will be making an appearance. TIME TO SPREAD THE LOVE!!!!!

Leave a comment on this post and tell me one thing/person/place that you love and you will be entered in the giveaway drawing. I will pick three winners to be my special Valentines! (one winner per prize)

 

The Valentine items are designs from my Etsy store. You can see more pictures of them here, here, and here.

Leave a comment now through midnight EST February 1, 2009 to be entered. I will randomly pick a prize to go with each winner.

Good luck!!! :-)

ice, AGAIN + Oh, wow! Wednesday

How many more days 'til spring?

too many, in my opinion

Winter has it's beauty when everything has that fresh-fallen snow/ice look to it, sure, I'll give it that. But otherwise it is just so bleh and drab. All the trees and plants are sleeping in their grey brown beds just waiting for longer, warmer days when they can put on my favorite show - SPRING. I love the flowers and colors and warmth and smell of spring. :-) makes me happy happy

So, outside right now it is freezing rain. Again. I think every storm we've had this winter has included freezing rain. I am longing for my favorite season, but I am also trying to see the beauty of this one.....

 

...like crystal ice coating everything and a misty fog rolling through the back yard....

 

...and dull-colored birds gripping tightly to slippery branches.

please, Spring, hurry!

..........................................................................................................................

Now, with all of that said above, how about we move on to this week's edition of Oh, wow! Wednesday?

I dug deeeeeeeeeep into the archives for these beauties. This is my (drumroll, please) First Ever Scrapbook Page.

are you ready ------- tah dah!

 

I can remember sitting on the floor in my living room watching Law & Order and working on layouts when Sarah was teeny tiny. I had a few measly sheets of paper and of course lots of stickers and the required set of decorative edge scissors. That was about all there was back then. Oh - and those little paper people -remember those? Paperkins, I think they were called. Well, I made my own paper person: Pregnant Paper Patty...

 

HA!

This layout is the third one I made....

 

- love those stickers! And cutting people out - remember doing that????

ah, memories

We've come a long way, baby.   :-)

priorities

   

The upstairs bathroom is almost done.  Trim, caulking, a last coat of paint on the door and touching up my blebs, as I call them, are all that remain to be done. Then the finishing touches like towel bars and art work to wrap it all up.

So, today I am dealing with this little guy...

...and giving one last coat of paint to the bathroom door so we can put it back on (the kids keep asking when are you putting the door back on????)(I guess they must value their privacy!)(We do have another bathroom downstairs with a door  ;-)  )...

I am thankful for this handy blue tape to keep me from going 'outside the lines'......

 

....and I am thankful for whoever invented this handy little paint can lid lifter-offer thingy......

 

... and I am going in there next to fix my blebs....

 

whoops!

And all the while these colorful  guys of a similar nature are calling me to come create something with them but I can't until I finish the bathroom......

 

Must. Finish. Bathroom. First.

I will leave you with one more daily detail. This one happens to be from the lovely Miss Sarah. I wonder if she's ever heard of the saying 'art imitates life'? She and Ben have been Lego addicts lately and she came to me a couple of days ago when Todd had the toilet removed so we could put down the new linoleum. In her hand was this.....

 

A Lego toilet.

art imitates life

:-)

new....

I'll be adding these tonight to my Etsy shop......

-Cardstock Cut-Outs- 'play hard' and 'embrace growth'

(click on image for a larger view)

 

I have a quick layout using the 'play hard' cut-outs....

 

cute!

 

 

 

Check it out later tonight! :-)

You know that famous quote from the Battle of Bunker Hill...

"Don't fire until you see the white of their eyes"?

Well, with my new camera I feel like saying "Don't shoot until you see their chapped lips."

I had the digital SLR beginner class today and I have been playing around with my camera this afternoon. I feel more comfortable with it now since I now know what a lot of the buttons and settings are for! I still  have sooooooooo much more to learn and that will come with taking pictures (and signing up for the intermediate class!).

The kids came home from school and I used them as guinea pigs for my new knowledge. I am amazed at the details this camera picks up. These are a bit blurry - I'll get the hang of things!

 

(^Sarah posing all nice -nice)

 

(^Sarah being pensive)

 

(^Sarah being goofy)

One of the things that I am excited to be able to do is play around with depth of field. I love a shallow depth of field where you focus in on a child's eyes... or, on the Lego Batman he is holding...

 

(^Ben's lips are so chapped he looks like he's wearing red lipstick)

So, dear family, I know I was all in your face before with my camera, but be prepared for the *new and improved Paparazzi Patty* - she slices, she dices and she now has a shallow depth of field!

:-)

two things

#1 thing. Today, the bathroom became colorful. The primer is on, the ceiling is done, the trim around the door is done, sooooooooo - time for the fun part!

C O L O R   :-)

With the help of my trusty spot light and step ladder I painted around the edges and corners....

 

and then rolled on the rest....

 

Tomorrow is coat number two. (Sorry about the lousy photos. The bathroom is small and dark and there is really no good way to get a full shot.)

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#2 thing. This little girl is getting awfully big. Ten months old and ready to take that first step before long......

(you can click on the image for a larger view)

 

....layout created with elements from Marks Paper Company's digital kits (with the exception of the stitching). 

:-)

Oh, wow! Wednesday

A local radio station does this - on Wednesdays they mix in an occasional song  from 'back in the day' and they call it Oh, wow! Wednesday. As in - Oh, wow! I haven't heard this song in awhile! So, I am giving them credit for the idea and adding my take on it.

   

I was digging through one of my drawers last night and I came across a manila envelope that holds designs that I made when Sarah and Ben were small. I would have their pictures taken every three months for the first year of their life, and then every six months for the next year or so (they change so much during that time!). I would make up something fun to send the pictures to my family and friends and I saved one of every design I made. These two are hands down my favorites.

So, give me an Oh, wow! on this Wednesday..... (anyone remember these?)

Sarah's three month picture went out in the Sarah Chronicle. I designed a tiny newspaper.... I wrote articles and worked her picture into an article....

(if you click on the images to make them larger you may be able to read the newspaper)

 

 

 

This design was for Ben's three month picture.... I scanned in the outfit he was wearing in the photo, front and back, and then pieced it together with a little pocket on the front to hold his picture....

  

   

 

Finally, for our last Oh, wow! of the day, two pictures to compare. Both of these are for my church's parish directory - one taken back in 1999 when Sarah was a blue-eyed, bug-eyed baby, the other taken in late November of last year. (Notice Sarah is wearing the same outfit as in her newspaper photo. I made the dress and hat for her and it is still my favorite outfit of hers. It's hanging in her closet and I look at it every so often and sigh.)

 

Oh, wow!

:-)

Sarah Schaffer's Guide for What to do if You Hate Homework

(a poem....)

If you hate homework then listen to me,

'Cause I've got all the skills you could need.

Not doing your homework is simple procrastination,

A lazy thing to do that's taking over the nation.

So leave your homework in your pack,

And go have a delicious, unhealthy snack.

Then make up a convincing excuse,

And lay down to take a relaxing snooze.

When your mom tells you your work isn't done,

Just tell her you're sleeping and having fun.

And when you end up doing it (I do every time)

Just remember your homework is equal to slime.

There you have it. She had to write a poem about homework and this is what she came up with. LOL! I asked her why the person has to have an 'unhealthy' snack and she said a person who doesn't want to do homework probably doesn't eat right either. Okay. Right. :-)

'stuck on you' heart magnets

These were fun to make..... I'm adding them to my shop today. There will be three different sets available.

 

...find them here, here and here...

Remember....

    

wherever you can. It's good for the environment and it's good for your creative thinking!

:-)

go Eagles!

 

Eagles football by Ben

:-)