I was honored when Vicki asked me to be a guest blogger. I have known Vicki for almost 20 years and first met her when she worked at the local scrapbook store. I used to go in and buy handmade tags that she created and beg for more every time I came. I told her she needed to submit her creations as she was amazing! Her talent was lost in that little scrapbook store. NOW look at her, she is a superstar in the art world.. I think I should ask for her autograph as she is known nationwide. She never ceases to amaze me with her creativity. Speaking of being a superstar, last year for National Scrapbook day she came to my store (Precious Treasures) to teach classes. As a prank I had everyone act like paparazzi when she came in and had her autograph one of the books she had written. It was so funny!
Vicki is the most genuine person I know. What you see here on the blog is the real Vicki(amazing huh) I admire her so much and want to be just like her when I grow up. LOL
My daughter started at UNL this past week and I made these flowers for her dorm room.
Guess who taught me how to make them? Miss Vicki, of course! At our store we have a HUGE bulletin board of photo's of people who inspire me and all the Diva's of scrapbooking. Vicki's photo is on there in multiple places.
This is Vicki's sister Jan. Big hearts and creativity run in their family.
This is when we turned Vicki over to the Diva-Side of life. :) Isn't she just adorable?
Here we are again... Monday already. lol It was a busy busy weekend for us and I am in need of a nap and it's not noon yet. lol probably not a good sign right? So much went on that it seems impossible that it was only two days. I think everyone is trying to enjoy the last days of summer.. and cram in as much as we can. Hope you all had a good weekend. _______________________________
I'm sharing a framed piece I did for a product spotlight on the Fancy Pants Blog for "Our Family Transparencies" . If you click on the link you can see all the other DT projects using this these.
Here is the " Our Family" entire line.
These FP frames are awesome!
One of the things that started of the weekend (which seem like it was a week ago already) lol was a little going away party some of her friends had for her at the lake. (Yes.. she will be moving out of state)... so we are a little sad about that ..but SO happy for all the great new opportunities she has in her life). She is an amazing person... and so are her friends. I have known alot of them since they were just kids... now some them have little ones of their own.. and it is just hard to believe. lol It was great to stop by and say hello, if even for a short time.
Gorgeous Day to be out by the lake. I'm sure you can tell from the photos.. that everyone enjoyed it.
Ahhh.... these three darling have been best of friends for years and years. What characters..they are so fun together.
Love this girl!
I am making a promise to myself not to let myself dwell on feeling sad because she will be a bit further away.......but excited for her to be on a fun new journey!!
(That's what my head knows.. I just have to keep reminding my heart)... oh.. aunt vic
Okay.. if you didn't see the post below about they color challenge.. check it out.. I'd love to have you play!!
A few people asked about playing if you don't have a blog.... you can totally still play! If you don't have a blog and want to share your project.. send it to me and I can post it here.. along with other peoples links to their blogs on Friday.
hmmmm... .. again the subject of COLOR is on my mind. Funny how the simplest things in my daily life .. bring me to decide what I'm going to blog about. Today it was mouthwash and Aloe Vera. lol
I know that sounds weird ..but I was brushing my teeth this morning and the light sunlight was shining on the bathroom counter. The green and blue in these bottles was SO vibrant and beautiful it just kept catching my eye. Silly as it might sound.. they really were pretty. Again that made me start thinking about how much color influences what create...( maybe even how we feel?)
I have certain colors I tend to lean towards when creating. And after doing this blog post.... I've decided to challenge myself ( a... and you)to step out of that "Color Comfort Zone" and try using some different colors ( and or different color combos). You know .. I've been trying to drag you along with me, on this mission to step out of my safe zone. ha... Really I have to say I love a challenge.. and I love to push myself to try something new. I've challenged you before to try a different style.. something different for you.. and that was fun. right? lol Okay... so how about a color challenge? Read on..... at the bottom at the post you'll see some color combo's for the challenge.
But before then... I thought I'd share with you some info I found about COLORS. I was editing photos today, with this challenge in the back of my mind... so I decided to incorporate some of the COLOR in my photo files.
The Color Psychology of Purple Purple is the symbol of royalty and wealth. Purple also represents wisdom and spirituality.
The Color Psychology of White White represents purity or innocence. White is bright and can create a sense of space or add highlights. White is also described as cold, bland, and sterile. Rooms painted completely white can seem spacious, but empty and unfriendly. Hospitals and hospital workers use white to create a sense of sterility.
The Color Psychology of Blue Blue is described as a favorite color by many people and is the color most preferred by men. Blue calls to mind feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, and orderly. Blue can also create feelings of sadness or aloofness. Blue is often used to decorate offices because research has shown that people are more productive in blue rooms. Blue is one of the most popular colors, but it is one of the least appetizing. Some weight loss plans even recommend eating your food off of a blue plate. Blue rarely occurs naturally in food aside from blueberries and some plums. Also, humans are geared to avoid foods that are poisonous and blue coloring in food is often a sign of spoilage or poison. Blue can also lower the pulse rate and body temperature. .
The Color Psychology of Black Black absorbs all light in the color spectrum. Black is often used as a symbol of menace or evil, but it is also popular as an indicator of power. Black is associated with death and mourning in many cultures. It is also associated with unhappiness, sexuality, formality, and sophistication. In ancient Egypt, black represented life and rebirth. Black is often used in fashion because of its slimming quality.
The Color Psychology of Yellow Yellow is a bright that is often described as cheery and warm. Yellow is also the most fatiguing to the eye due to the high amount of light that is reflected. Using yellow as a background on paper or computer monitors can lead to eyestrain or vision loss in extreme cases. Yellow can also create feelings of frustration and anger. While it is considered a cheerful color, people are more likely to lose their tempers in yellow rooms and babies tend to cry more in yellow rooms. Yellow can also increase the metabolism. Since yellow is the most visible color, it is also the most attention-getting color.
The Color Psychology of Brown Brown is a natural color that evokes a sense of strength and reliability. Brown can also create feelings of sadness and isolation. Brown brings to mind feeling of warmth, comfort, and security. It is often described as natural, down-to-earth, and conventional, but brown can also be sophisticated.
The color psychology of Red Red has guts .... deep, strong, dramatic. A geranium red. A Goya red ... to be used like gold for furnishing a house ... for clothes, it is strong, like black or white. - Valentino Red is a bright, warm color that evokes strong emotions. Red is associated with love, warmth, and comfort. Red is also considered an intense, or even angry, color that creates feelings of excitement or intensity.
The Color Psychology of Green Green is a cool color that symbolizes nature and the natural world. Green also represents tranquility, good luck, health, and jealousy. Researchers have also found that green can improve reading ability. Some students may find that laying a transparent sheet of green paper over reading material increases reading speed and comprehension. Green has long been a symbol of fertility and was once the preferred color choice for wedding gowns in the 15th-century. Green is often used in decorating for its calming effect. For example, guests waiting to appear on television programs often wait in a “green room” to relax. Green is thought to relieve stress and help heal. Those who have a green work environment experience fewer stomachaches.
The Color Psychology of Orange Orange is a combination of yellow and red and is considered an energetic color. Orange calls to mind feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, and warmth. Orange is often used to draw attention, such as in traffic signs and advertising
The Color Psychology of Pink Pink is essentially a light red and is usually associated with love and romance. Pink is thought to have a calming effect. One shade known as "drunk-tank pink" is sometimes used in prisons to calm inmates. Sports teams sometimes paint the opposing teams locker room pink to keep the players passive and less energetic. While pink's calming effect has been demonstrated, researchers of color psychology have found that this effect only occurs during the initial exposure to the color. When used in prisons, inmates often become even more agitated once they become accustomed to the color
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Well, you can take all that for what it's worth..lol.. but I thought it was interesting anyway. As I look around my room... It obvious what colors and color combos I lean towards. lol
You don't see it as much here.. in this room..but all my life "green" has been my favorite color. Not all greens..but I love certain shades like "olive green" or the lighter shades you see in these photos. PINK is also a favorite... (I know..you could have guessed right?) lol. I also love that pretty Robin's egg blue color...but otherwise not a huge fan of blue over all.
As for some of the other rooms in the house ( that I am happy with right now). Livingroom-golds(camel hair), browns, punches of turquoise and dark red. Kitchen- Yellow, Red, accents of vintage blue, Bedroom, Brown and Robins egg blue. Bathroom -sage green and white .
Vintage ,pink, blue and green would defiantly been a favorite combo... but I also totally love Fall colors. You will rarely ever see me use purple. Not a favorite.
I'd love to hear what your favorite colors are.
Okay.... I've told all my COLOR secrets... now back to the challenge. I'd love to have you challenge yourself and play along. If you do... and you want.. send me a link to your blog and I'll link you here on my blog next Friday when I post what I make using one of these different color combos. It can be a layout, card, altered project.. whatever. It doesn't have to be anything over the top .. or super time consuming... just a little challenge for fun.
just send me your link by Thursday night (Sept 2nd) and I'll link to you in my blog on Friday the 3rd.
I just went through my photo files and pulled together some color combos.. so all you have to do is pick one (or more), make something using the color combo you choose and send my your blog link.( Let me know which number you choose)
I hope you'll play. It's open to everyone.
Challenge yourself with color!
Sure hope I've convinced you to play along.
Remember ... I'd love you to tell me your favorite color or colors.
Midweek already? Seems like if it's already Wednesday I should have gotten more done by now. hmmm Woke up this morning feeling like I have a bit of a bug. Hope it passes quickly. I have lots I want to get done.. no time for feeling icky. The weather has been so nice and cool, we've been able to have the windows open! Love that! Thought I'd share a canvas I did for theFancy Pants Blog ,using "Wishful thinking Strips".
I love love love this photo of "A". She is such a doll! She used to be kind of shy, but it was so cute to see her with the other kids when we were all together, and how she was hamming it up for the camera with them. She is defiantly the apple of my brothers eye. He's an awesome Grandpa.
I did lots of stitching on this. You know how sometimes you REALLY enjoy working on a project? That's how I felt about this...just enjoyed the process.
All Fancy Pants papers, felt and buttons.
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Have I bragged on my kids lately??? lol Well, I am really proud of the Adults they have become. Jarad has so many things going on , I don't know how he keeps up with everything. He is now training to be a volunteer figherfighter. This involves a huge time commitment with alot of classes. I am so pleased that the kids are taking it upon themselves to be a part of their community.
Of course I'm super proud of Wes also. He has an amazing work ethic. I always think of how proud my dad would have been. My dad was always a stickler about that. lol
Both our boys are passionate about music. They quite possibly came by that naturally because Dan and I both love all kinds of music..but it's different with the boys.. they actually HAVE musical talent. lol They both can sing and both play instruments.
I'm really a lucky momma. I love those guys.
************************************************************** Now I have to tell you a story about something kind of funny. When I was visiting at my sister Donna's in Arizona a while back, I had gone for a walk and noticed these pods on the ground. I thought they were really cool , so I decided I wanted to take some home. I brought them back and set them in the back room with my suitcase and other things at their house.
A while back my sister was cleaning and noticed something way back against the wall under some things in the back room. She was a little freaked .. wondering what the heck they were. She couldnt see clearly way back there ..and could only see these dark little things..that looked like they had "tails". eeekkk You can only image how her mind was reeling.
( my sister is an immaculate house keeper ... so I'm sure she was freaking out).
After getting a flashlight so she could see back there and something to get them out ... she realizes that it is just a couple of these pods that had come off and somehow fell back under there from my pile of stuff.
Being the funny girl that she is ....
I get "these" in the mail yesterday. lol ( yes.. crafting runs in our family)
I showed them to my dogs and Molly about went crazy. She crabbed it out of my hand before I could pull my hand back.( she is QUICK) I had to chase her all around the house to get her to drop it.
Oh.. the shenanigans that go on around here. Good grief! lol
Happy Monday everyone! When we first decided that this Crafty Secrets DT Challenge was going to be showing off our "new products" .. I knew right away what I wanted to use. I am in LOVE with the new "Artsy Banners" set!
There are just SO many things you can do with it! I started uploading photos samples and projects I had done for this post, with explanations, and realized quickly it would be much easier to show you in a video. So above is a video show you these different ideas for using this set along with some helpful hints. Below I'll post some photos and links to the products I'm talking about okay?
The tags above.. show you samples of how easy it is to make backgrounds using these stamps. I just used the tags for sample swatches..but you could easily do this on entire 12x12 sheets if you wanted. I love how the tags look, so I'll defiantly be using them.
You can see here , how you can stamp with colored ink on a while background or with black on a colored background.. to get different looks.
Here is a simple card done with the print background. (red ink on white paper) with the text stamp.
Using these stamps to create the project above was fun. I only used brown ink , and started by stamping on a AccuCut die, as a base for my bird image from Crafty Secrets. I used the borders and other stamps to finish it off.
This set has great stamps for envelopes!
I also show you in the video how to stamp on crepe paper, and hints on storage and making it ahead for quick use to save time.
Cool look .. stamping script, sheet music or text on naked chipboard.
Something as simple as a plain glass jar.. looks cute done up with these stamps and banners ..stamped on patterned paper.
Here is a little embellishment made using the pennant shape and a button for a center.
Above you can see how you can stamp these separately, or stamp one on top of the other and cut it out to make a fun scalloped border like I did on the sample below. ( the one above was done with the "text" stamp and the one in the sample below was done with the "script" stamp from this set.
Below you can see a couple of photos of a fun little banner you can make incorporating letters from the "ABC Top Hat'set.
I just did the word "Create" but of course you could do anything. I was thinking how fun it would be to put to small dowels in the top of a birthday cake and string this from one to the other.. saying celebrate or the persons name. Or on for a baby shower.. strung up with those tiny clothes pins.
On the video you can see some helpful tips on how to do this really quickly.
The letters fit inside perfectly. Really fun!
I hung this across this frame to be able to show you ..but I kind of like it.. so I think it might just stay there. lol These also look great on cards, layouts and altered products. (which I'm sure you'll be seeing in some of my projects soon.) lol
All of the Design Team members will be showing off what they have created with new Crafty Secrets products today..so be sure to check them out. There are the links to their inspiring blogs.
We are also welcoming a new talented Design Team member Mary Hamer to join us! Welcome Mary!
Posts
My daughter started at UNL this past week and I made these flowers for her dorm room. 
At our store we have a HUGE bulletin board of photo's of people who inspire me and all the Diva's of scrapbooking. Vicki's photo is on there in multiple places. 
This is when we turned Vicki over to the Diva-Side of life. :) Isn't she just adorable?
At our store we have a HUGE bulletin board of photo's of people who inspire me and all the Diva's of scrapbooking. Vicki's photo is on there in multiple places. 
This is when we turned Vicki over to the Diva-Side of life. :) Isn't she just adorable?
I am making a promise to myself not to let myself 
This set has great stamps for envelopes!
B
