More Fiska-Fun!!

So what tool do I find myself reaching for time and time again? Have you been noticing? It is none other than my Fiskars border punches! They don't even get put away - I have the case containing my punches opened and an arm's reach away while I create. With Fiskars border punches there is no excuse to be bored with straight paper edges - you can dress them up with a border punch!

I am sure you have noticed the workout I have been giving my "Threading Water" border punch - no doubt my very favorite. (Hey, did you hear the new buzz...keep an eye on your local Michael's - "Threading Water" has been spotted!) Another favorite is the "Leave it to Weaver" punch. Not only is it wonderful for weaving ribbon, but I really love the look of weaving patterned paper. A short while ago Valerie Salmon shared an innovative way to use the "Leave it to Weaver" punch. By trimming off the top, she essentially created a border of "grass". I totally scraplifted this clever idea above in "Flamingo", which features Tinkering Ink for the Scrapbook Playground. Abby's feet were cut off in the photo, to resolve the less than perfect photography oops, I cut her silhouette out of the photo, and placed her "feet" behind a triple layer of "grass" borders to disguise the fact. I think it also makes her more flamingo like, don't you? (LOL)

Abby was excited about this layout - she had chosen the pink flamingo stickers some time ago after a visit to the zoo. She totally amuses herself by striking a flamingo pose, and ensuring that we are watching her. Such a silly girl! Abby loves having input on her layouts - no doubt these are her favorites. So while you are enjoying your scrap time, once in a while ask the kids, if you happen to have some around, if they have layout ideas they would like to see about themselves, or if they have something they would like used on a layout. Afterall, they are on a journey as well - and you may as well let them write a bit of their own story when it comes to preserving those precious memories!

Happy scrapping....and hey, next time you are in yoga class...strike a pose - like a flamingo that is! (LOL)

Scrapping the NOW!

See that photo above? This is a daily occurence as Abby and I are out and about. Whether in a park, walking to the neighbor's, school, or at home...finding dandelions (which is NOT difficult) makes her extremely happy. The taller they are the happier she is - and there are some really BIG dandelions this year! She loves seeing a yard or park dotted with 100s-1000s of the yellow flowers, and gets excited to spot a "dandelion forest". It is so cute - and a reminder on how enjoyable the simple things in live can be.

I have scrapped about dandelions before...picking these yellow flowers is a part of childhood for just about everyone I would expect. I do wonder at what point in life do we no longer become enthralled with dandelions. Will it end by the time she is age 6? Since they bring so much delight I feel there is nothing wrong with scrapping a yearly dandelion layout, or two. (LOL)

This week I had the opportunity to work with two digi kits perfect for scrapping the fluffy, yellow flower subject. The layout above uses Misha's Garden by MLW Designs - the kit is just stunning with a great variety of elements. I love the softness of the greens in this basically monochromatic green layout with the POP accent color of cinnamon.I wrote a poem dedicated to my daughter called Dandelion Girl.

She looks for dandelions
Wherever we go -
Excited to find a "puffy"
She can't wait to blow.
Some are not too happy
That she's planting more seed;
But to this little girl
Dandelions are not weeds.
Given by the fistful
They're as beautiful as can be
When given with the love my
DANDELION GIRL
shows me.

R. Shimniok (copyright)

This week Kjoi introduced new designer Inspired by Dominic Designs who offered a freebie called "Dandelion Dreams". I was so excited to see it, and downloaded it right away eager to scrap these photos I had taken earlier that same day. Have you ever wanted to drop everything you are working on to scrap a brand new photo? That is how I felt with these photos of our daughter enjoying a common childhood love affair.


Also, a new activity around our place this week is Kyle's new found interest in archery. He wants to become as good as Lucy in the new Narnia release - Prince Caspian. (An awesome, awesome movie by the way - highly recommend it, especially for boys ages 5 and up. The lack of blood is on the unrealistic side, but it makes for a great family movie for the younger kids as well.)
We borrowed a compound bow and some arrows from Kyle's uncle, who fortunately had not given it away yet to St. Vinnie's. Kyle started target practice immediately upon getting home last Thursday, barely able to pull the 40# bow back all the way. He started using my arm weights right away to build muscle. (LOL) By the end of the weekend he was hitting the foam target, AND the center of the paper plate upon which he had created a target wtih circles and points. His dedication to learning this new sport will definitely keep him occupied this summer...and steer him away from video games. Below is a layout created using the My Kiddo kit by Izzy's Crisdam Designs at Faithsisters.com. I love the rich colors of this kit and am eager to scrap other layout ideas with it. Check out the link for other great kits by Izzy.


We have an action packed Memorial Day weekend ahead. I will be too busy making memories with my family to scrap, but that is what life is really all about - making memories while we are on the journey. Enjoy making yours!

Hickory Hill Bird Hike

Embrace what God gives ya! That's my motto as I trekked Hickory Hill Conservancy, in Cross Plains, hoping to catch sight of the elusive Pileated Woodpecker. It was not to be, for me, but the person coming down the hill as we were going up described a bird he had never seen before, and it was undoubtedly a female pileated. There was lots of tractor and chopper activity as well...and pileateds' are rather skittish birds (per my husband, I wouldn't know).

We heard and saw a number of indigo buntings, perhaps a yellow throated warbler, and heard so many sounds I wish I had had a voice recorder so we could play back and identify the birds. When I can't "shoot" birds I "shoot" wildflowers instead...so primarily I just wanted to share some fauna focused photos from last night's hike.





After the hill we ventured to the creek that meanders downtown to enjoy the trail and seek the hawk's nest I had seen on Saturday. The leaves have filled out the trees immensely in the past few days, and I could not believe that I could not find that nest - it was so plain to see a few days earlier! Oh well! More pictures...




As you can see, Kyle was bored with birding by then and preferred blasting the swarms of gnats with his super soaker, and used the cold, bubbly creek for refills. (LOL) We did spot a first...what we believe to be a hooded warbler at the end of the trail hopping around along the banks of the creek. In fact, I need to wrap up this blog entry as I plan to head back there before work in hopes of getting more identifying marks. Per the field guide behavior description - the guy we watched for some time fits this bird to a T. I am just not remembering the yellow patch around his eye - time to verify! Remember, embrace what God gives, even if it is not what you expected or hoped for!

The Little Things & Beautiful Wings

Spring really is about all the little things….things which bring me so much pleasure! The most colorful of the song birds have returned and we have been enjoying them for weeks. We have several orioles flaunting their bright orange clothing in order to attract a female that is also stunning in her more subdued, yet definite orange coloration. I have always thought we must have the best looking pair of orioles nesting on our property – for surely the female is as bright as they come! I have seen others…and they don’t hold a candle to her beauty. However, it is not to say she doesn’t have a line up of males hoping to catch her eye. In the past several days the males have gone from chasing each other in flight around our yard to outright aerial battles. I was witness to one not 12 feet from me yesterday as I was outside watering plants, and I was surprised to see such aggressive behavior from a pair of male orioles. As they almost locked “talons” the two were falling to the ground with the more dull-colored male on “the bottom” with his back to the ground. Just before hitting the ground he managed to get free and flew off. This round definitely went to our brilliantly colored male, and if history repeats itself, this male will be the beau for the beautiful lady. (If only I had had my camera, with video capabilities, to capture the action…time to wear my camera around my neck at all times when I step outside.)

In addition to the rose-breasted grosbeaks (our daughter’s favorite) and Rubies, the Indigo Buntings (shown above) returned last week. The past couple of days we have actually seen them eating on the ground under the black oil sunflower feeders. This is the first time I have witnessed this, as primarily they are attracted to our bird baths only. We also have been putting grape jelly out, and in addition to the orioles the bluebirds have been hanging out on top of the house antenna singing their beautiful song. Last night I caught a glimpse of a blue warbler splashing in our bathing rock – I love it when the warblers visit us in spring! Cardinals are also nesting outside our daughter’s bedroom window, and my prayer is that God protects them from the neighbor’s cat that I saw prowling our backyard the other night. I have not seen a cat on our property in quite a while, so I was hoping the birds would be safe, but the animals that prey seem to know when and where to find easy meals. This never makes us happy, and I wish all who let cats roam outdoors would at minimum put collars with bells on their felines.

I have wanted to share about the songbirds that brighten my life in spring, but also a layout about one of my favorite times of day – bedtime for our daughter. She and I have such fun at bedtime – we read, usually sing a song or two, act silly and laugh a lot. I know I am not exactly settling her down for sleep, but it is just too much fun to be serious about going to bed. (LOL) Dahlia from FaithSisters.com challenged us to create a layout about the little things that do matter. We pray to God for so many “big things”, but consider the little things – He hears all our prayers. I hope that the Lord will grant my prayer request and keep the cardinal, nest safe this year. We prayed that God would bring fast healing to the sore inside Abby’s mouth, self-inflicted after chewing her gums when numb from a dental appointment. She is now healed, praise God! We pray for her scrapes and bruises and many little things that are big to her. And we pray for the big things as well. What is important is that we pray with our children and let them know that God wants to hear from them on their own time as well. For Dahlia’s “Little Things Do Matter” faith discovery challenge I created this layout:

All elements are by Izzy’s Crisdam Designs, Sabry Card and Nikki Painter, all of FaithSisters.
To see other layouts created for this challenge visit the Faith Discovery Gallery.

Also, Kjoi Studios introduced a new designer today – Inspired by Dominic, and she is offering a freebie called “Dandelion Dreams”. I snatched it right away – as just yesterday Abby and I were walking a nature trail and she was enjoying all the white, fluffy dandelion heads and blowing them to watch the seeds float in the breeze.

I look forward to showing you my completed layout with this kit. Enjoy your journey and enjoy the little things in your life. God put them there for you.

Celebrating ALL Moms

Let's face it - May is the month for moms. A day is set aside to honor these valiant women for all their love and diligence in raising their children, and rightly so. Dad's get their turn next month!

On this psst Mother's Day nature reminds me that motherhood extends beyond our humanly realm - this time of year moms abound in the form of feathered and 4-legged varieties as well. I see foals suckling and scampering around the Amish farm as we visit my parents south of here. I found little tufts of fur in a clump of irises as I cleaned out a flower bed on Saturday - a sure sign that mama rabbit had made a nest there.

As we traveled to Madison's east side for dinner at Red Lobster (YUM!) on Sunday, we discovered a pond that happily provided a safe haven for a number of goose families. The pond even had little islands in the center - and I would think a goose could hardly pick a more safe place to raise their young.

A goose family with 6 goslings were patroling the edge of the parking lot and as we neared, mama goose put her head down and encouraged her children toward the safety of the water. Papa goose stood tall and warned us with a "Hissss!". So glad for the protection of the car as I rolled my window down to take pictures. It is not the best way to capture wildlife, but a wise way - I did manage several photos I love and am excited to get them scrapped. The first features Misha's Garden kit by MLW Designs, downloaded from KjoiStudios. The rich, and earthy colors are perfect for this mama goose and her gosling.

How was your mother's day? I found little notes written by my husband in "my regular places" ....i.e. taped to the back of my Sonic-care toothbrush, at church when I opened my Bible to the lesson of the day - each a nice surprise. I have yet to take pictures, but I better hurry as my toothbrush note is getting damaged from the water.

Our son made me a "magazine" at school featuring the "best mom of 2008" award and our 5 yr old made me a picture, or two, or three... (LOL) She also gifted me with some tulip petals that had fallen of the waning flowers outdoors, and of course the bright and fluffy dandelions - who could ask for more!? I hope your Mother's Day was filled with blessings as well!

Bird Hike Photo Shoot

Embrace what God gives ya! That's my motto as I trekked Hickory Hill Conservancy, in Cross Plains, hoping to catch sight of the elusive Pileated Woodpecker. It was not to be, for me, but the person coming down the hill as we were going up described a bird he had never seen before, and it was undoubtedly a female pileated. There was lots of tractor and chopper activity as well...and pileateds' are rather skittish birds (per my husband, I wouldn't know).

We heard and saw a number of indigo buntings, perhaps a yellow throated warbler, and heard so many sounds I wish I had had a voice recorder so we could play back and identify the birds. When I can't "shoot" birds I "shoot" wildflowers instead...so primarily I just wanted to share some fauna focused photos from last night's hike.





After the hill we ventured to the creek that meanders downtown to enjoy the trail and seek the hawk's nest I had seen on Saturday. The leaves have filled out the trees immensely in the past few days, and I could not believe that I could not find that nest - it was so plain to see a few days earlier! Oh well! More pictures...




As you can see, Kyle was bored with birding by then and preferred blasting the swarms of gnats with his super soaker, and used the cold, bubbly creek for refills. (LOL) We did spot a first...what we believe to be a hooded warbler at the end of the trail hopping around along the banks of the creek. In fact, I need to wrap up this blog entry as I plan to head back there before work in hopes of getting more identifying marks. Per the field guide behavior description - the guy we watched for some time fits this bird to a T. I am just not remembering the yellow patch around his eye - time to verify! Remember, embrace what God gives, even if it is not what you expected or hoped for!

Fiskars Rocks with Midnight Kisses

I love Heidi Grace's Midnight Kisses line for Fiskars, and it was the perfect product choice for an elegant tag album as a gift for a friend recently married. When I volunteered to make this album I immediately knew I wanted to use Midnight Kisses. As fate would have it, the colors of the bridesmaid dresses in the wedding was midnight blue with red accents. Coincidence? I think not!

All of the gals in our study group sent me a quote, scripture and/or message to be used inside the tag album for our friend. The hardest part of this album was typesetting everyone's messages to fit the text within the small space, and have it look uniform. Coordinating papers made creating the album itself a breeze!


In addition to the quote pages, I offered the bride several blank pages for her and her new husband to include their own favorite quotes, or perhaps scripture used in the wedding. I also used midnight blue cardstock on several additional tags for the addition of photos.


I discovered several shortcuts along the way, and thought I would share instructions here. Namely, by folding strips of patterned paper that go on both sides of the tag, not only do you save a cutting step, but it offers a wonderful finished looking edge to have the crease of the fold on the edge of the tag.


Midnight Kisses Tag Album

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Heidi Grace Midnight Kisses for Fiskars
• Definitions
• Pinstripe
• Bold Flourish
• Décor Stripe
Chipboard: Frame and Heart by Heidi Grace Midnight Kisses for Fiskars
Other: Raw Chipboard trimmed to 3x6” for front and back cover
Cardstock: plain white, Worldwin coordinating colors: Blue and Red (CBRD 12U), white embossed heart stock by The Paper Co.
Brads: Heidi Grace, Making Memories (gem brads used on front)
Ribbons: Heidi Grace Décor Ribbon Assortment -Midnight Kisses for Fiskars
Flowers: red (used “velvet” flowers plucked from a Bordeaux bush purchased at Michael’s)
Other: Binder rings, black ink
Tools: Fiskars deluxe trimmer, self healing cutting mat, craft knife and “Threading Water” border punch

How To:
1. From plain white cardstock cut desired number of tag pages to 5.75”x2 7/8”
2. Using pencil and ruler, on each tag indicate 1” mark from inside gutter margin, and ¾” mark from outside edges, both front and back of tag
3. On light blue cardstock print quotes or other text – live area for each tag page is 4” wide x 2.825”, and trim to size, inking edges in black
4. Using guide marks, position quote blocks on each tag and adhere
5. Cut one inch strips of pinstripe patterned paper, trimming into 5.5” sections
6. Crease in center and apply adhesive to floral side (note that by folding in half it eliminates a cut step and also makes flush alignment to tag easier)
7. Position stripe patterned paper onto tag, with fold going over top edge of tag (trim any excess along bottom edge of tag)
8. Trim floral paper into 2.825” x 1.75” pieces – folding lengthwise in half
9. If a brad/red floral embellishment is desired hole punch paper, add flowers with brads, flattening prongs
10. Apply adhesive to striped side, and position floral onto tag, and with fold going over outside edge of tag
11. Run red cardstock through Xyron machine, if available. Cut cardstock into approx. 1/8” strips and position over seam where striped paper meets solid blue (this offers a balance of red)
12. COVER: Trim from raw cardstock two pieces 6” x 3” and create covers as desired. Designer used:
a. From Décor Stripe paper cut red dotted pattern strip, ink edges and apply to inside margin of front cover
b. From Definitions paper trim 3” tall section of one column width, adhere to cover butting against red dotted paper.
c. Cut ¾” x 3” piece of pinstripe paper and position on cover.
d. Print tag album title on white cardstock and trim to shape of chipboard bookplate (slightly smaller than actual frame so adhesive of frame will stick to cardstock), heavily ink edges with dark blue
e. Mark holes for brads to secure bookplate, punch holes and secure bookplate, adding chipboard heart if desired
f. Apply flower to front cover if desired
g. On inside of cover, cover brad prongs with white heart embossed cardstock; apply to both covers, with pinstripe paper for the inside margins
h. Finishing Touches: Threading Water punch was used to punch ¾” strips from floral paper. Apply one strip to outside edge of tag cover, paying attention to scallop design and uniform appearance on ends
i. Apply adhesive to back of second strip and line up holes and scalloped edges, trimming ends. Burnish two scalloped pieces together. Ink outside edges.
j. Mark hole punch positioning on each page, punch, and bind album with binder rings
k. Tie ribbon on rings to finish the look.

Once I had the quotes printed on the light blue cardstock the entire album took me less than 2 hours to create - less for you now that you have these instructions. Another idea for this album would be to make 4x2.825" cards available at a graduation or other type of party, and ask guests to write a message to the guest of honor; later assembling the cards into a gift tag album! The Definitions patterned paper also has definitions for family, friendship and more, which makes it very versatile for a variety of tag album subjects. Enjoy!

ABC of Life Mini Album

Tinkering Ink is one of the sponsors in May for the Scrapbook Playground design team. (Stop by the Playground to see all the super projects the team has created!) As soon as I received an entire alphabet of large die-cut letters I was instantly inspired to create an ABC album. A while back I recieved the Signals catalog. I never buy anything, but almost always tear out a page or two to potentially inspire a future paper crafts project. One such "ABC" list of how to live came in handy for all those die-cut letters, and I created a cute mini album that would make a perfect graduation or mother's day gift.

This project consumed most of my Sunday. In hind-sight, I would have drove into Madison to purchase coordinating cardstock and skipped the stippling process. Although fun - it really added to my time. Especially since I did it twice- thinking I would only do the edges and cover with patterned paper, but then realized too much patterned paper would be distracting. SO my tip - if you want to create this project start out with cardstock in your preferred choice of color(s)! Alternating colors, versus going with solid white or black, adds a visual appeal when flipping through the book and seeing the same punched border edge take on a new color. Minor, I know, but it is fun!

Still need a quick gift for an upcoming celebration? To help you out I have written instructions. You can alter the size of the album depending upon the size of your die-cut letters. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time using LARGE letters on a layout - I rarely use monograms. I do believe I make a few more of these albums and make use of those large alpha die-cuts sitting in my stash!

ABC of Life Mini Album

Page Supplies:
Cardstock:
- 15 pieces trimmed to 5.75” x 5.25” (adjust size per the size of die-cut alphas chosen for this project)
- 28 4” circles in solid coordinating colors
- White sheet of cardstock to print out words
Patterned paper: (author used Tinkering Ink Al Fresco collection)
- 57 ½” x 5.25” strips of patterned paper in choice of pattern(s)
Sheet of die-cut alphabets
Paint (optional) – solid cardstock in white, black or coordinating color may be used
Ink – black for edging, colored for edging on “word” blocks
Pen – Sarasa .007 tip gel, black
Fonts: Social Animal (stamped look) and Candy Randy (downloaded from the internet)
Cover supplies: 3 large shimmer chipboard letters and brackets by Making Memories and Doodlebug, cut out design from patterned paper
Tools:
– border punch (author used Fiskars “Threading Water” punch
– circle cutting tool
– Binding tool – Use bind-it-all or secure with 2 O-rings

HOW TO:
1. Use border punch to trim long edge of all pieces of trimmed to size cardstock (note: use scrap paper of size being used to determine placement in border punch so that edges finish as desired. Use guide marks on punch to align each piece of cardstock in the same start position so all pages match)
2. use a stipple brush to paint cardstock if desired (eliminate this step if desired by using black, white or mix of solid colored cardstock – if mixing colors you will need 4 of each color)
3. Cut strips of patterned paper ½” wide and trim to height of album page, ink edges, adhere to each page allowing a 3/8”-1/2” margin to allow for binding, and approx. ¾” from edge of border punched design
4. Ink edges of all circles and position to overlap patterned paper strip along inside spine, leaving approximately 1/8” margin at bottom of page and along inside edge of outer patterned paper strip
5. Position all die-cut alphabets as desired – note that you may wish to tuck a “word” printed on white cardstock under an edge
6. Print words on white cardstock. Author used 48 point stamped font style for key alphabet word, and 24 point all caps for subsequent words on a page. Trim words into blocks and ink edges with contrasting color. Adhere to each corresponding letter. (Tip: author printed out a list of all phrases for visual reference to assist in assembling each page).
7. Carefully outline all alphabet letters with a fine-tip black pen.
8. Additional pages may be added to album to allow for photos. Author used black circles to be used as photo mats. Rectangular mats with rounded corners, and placed at an angle would also look nice on this project.
9. Create cover as desired. Utilizing chipboard alphas, or additional die-cut alphabets, allow for a quick design. Usiing foam 3D adhesive squares under the “b” add dimension and add interest to the cover. Print sub-title on same page as “life” words, using same font for consistency.
10. Bind mini-album as desired and enjoy!

Alphabet List:
Accept differences
Be Kind
Count your blessings
Dream
Express thanks
Forgive
Give freely
Harm no one
Imagine more
Jettison anger
Keep confidence
Love truly
Master something
Nurture hope
Open your mind
Pack lightly
Quell rumors
Reciprocate
Seek wisdom
Touch hearts
Understand
Value truth
Win graciously
Xeriscape
Yearn for peace
Zealously support a worthy cause

The Fiskars "Threading Water" border punch used as an edging for the pages in a rainbow of colors adds a very cool visual interest to this project. I hope you give it a try!