Dan's Room is Clean

Today's Project 265 photos are the "after" photos from cleaning out Daniel's room. First the befores:

























Now the afters:





















We took 17 bags of clothes and toys to GoodWill on Saturday. Granted some of the clothes came from my closet (4 or 5 bags), but there was a lot of stuff in there he was no longer using!

My Craft Room is Called Steve

You might ask, why is my craft room called Steve? We promised Daniel a few years ago that he could have the third bedroom (after his brother moved out) for a video game room. He got a TV for Christmas that year, which is not hooked up to cable, and a TV stand. His Wii and PS2 are hooked up to it and he inherited a beat up recliner from my Aunt via Alex.

Then the store closed and all my craft supplies had to come home. Daniel was very gracious about sharing the space with me and we moved out the recliner (it was falling apart) and moved in a couch and my craft supplies.

So we're trying to figure out what to call the room since it has multiple functions. It's a craft room, an office, a gaming room, a hangout, and even a guest room (Alex slept on the floor in a sleeping bag over Christmas). My husband suggested Fred. Then Daniel said "Steve."

And it stuck.

New Phones

All we wanted to do was find out how much it would cost to get a new battery for Blair's cell phone, because it wouldn't hold a charge any more. But it turned out we were both entitled to an upgrade! So we walked out of the store with two brand new phones for nothing. Of course we had to spring for the bluetooth headsets, but they were a steal at 20 bucks apiece. Ooooh - new technology!

Cozy

Day Two of project 365 for me. I tried to catch my kid unawares as he watched TV.

ATC Spinner pt 24

Join us every week as we explore the world of ATCs.

From top to bottom:

- “When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies” James Matthew Barrie, Technique Tuesday chipboard, Making Memories hinges, Tim Holtz Crackle Paint, K&Co layered sticker (two photos)

- “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Alexander Graham Bell (I had it erroneously credited to Helen Keller); 7 Gypsies printed ATC, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Boxer paper clip

- Hambly transparency, October Afternoon patterned paper

- "I saw Elvis. He sat between me and Bigfoot on the UFO" Lumiere paint, BEEDZ silver micro beads

Project 365

Hey, I don't know how long I'll last, but I thought I'd try the take-a-photo-every-day thing. I read about it in the latest Memory Makers (Jan-Feb 09) but apparently it's been around for a few years (see www.flickr.com/groups/project_365). It's sounds like a good way to get better at photography and to dig up new and interesting things to scrap about.

Today's photo is of Dumbledore doing his "paw" trick. We love the way he pats our hands when he does this - it's a very delicate touch. After I took the photo, I cropped it. Here's before and after cropping.

My Purse

I went to a friend's house for a crop a few weeks ago, and rather than try to organize enough to pack a crop bag, I decided to bring my laptop, photo printer and a couple of tutorial books (Digi Scrappin 101 and 102 from Design Originals). I played with the lessons in the books and I made these 4 digital mini-layouts for my Braggables purse and wallet (actually a small purse).



I made each photo black and white and then turned it sepia and upped the contrast a little. The flower is from ScrapGirls and was a freebie that coordinates with this (http://store.scrapgirls.com/product/11353/) collection. The frame is also a freebie from Scrap Girls that coordinates with this (http://store.scrapgirls.com/product/10061/ScrapSimple-Paper-Templates:-Typo) collection. Finally, I used the Bleeding Cowboys font and picked up a green from the frame with the eyedropper to coordinate the color. These were real simple to do. I printed them on 4x6 paper and trimmed them to fit the windows.

Birthday Card for my Husband

Here's a birthday card I made for my husband featuring Doris Castle's Pure Love page kit, which was included in the book/CD Digi-SCrappin' 102 Brushes and Actions. This book from Design Originals (the ones with the panda bear logo) was a very straightforward, easy to use introduction to brushes and actions in photoshop elements. There have been a couple of versions of elements released since the book was written, but it was pretty easy to figure out what to do when the instructions weren't quite right.

To make the background I copied the blue from one of her elements using the eyedropper tool. I layered the word overlay on top of that, then the other elements (a frame, a heart and a journaling block). I looked for a font that had the same feeling as other elements in the kit that had words.

I created the project in an 8.5x11 canvas, printed it and mounted it on a cream colored 5x7 card. I found the quote on the internet, attributed anonymously He loved it!

ATC Spinner pt 23

Join us every week as we explore the world of ATCs.

From top to bottom:

- "It's lonely at the top, but you eat better."
Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Tim Holtz Distressables Elements digital images

- Paper Trunk patterned paper, Fancy Pants rub-on

- Paper Trunk patterned paper, 7 Gypsies Texture Rub-on

- 7 Gypsies ATC tab, K&Co Life's Journey Stickpin

ATC Spinner pt 22

Join us every week as we explore the world of ATCs.

From top to bottom:

-"Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you long to return." Leonardo da Vinci; Lumiere paint, Melissa Francis Vintage Architecture

- "Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after." Anne Morrow Lindbergh; Deco Art Paper Perfect

- "An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys." 7 Gypsies printed ATC, vintage mother of pearl buttons (they're from my grandmother's button jar!)

- Paper Trunk patterned paper, Hambly transparency, Luxe Designs Rub-on

- "No ray of sunshine is ever lost, but the green which it awakens into existence needs time to sprout, and it is not always granted for the sower to see the harvest. All work that is worth anything is done in faith." Albert Schweitzer; mesh

ATC Spinner pt 21

Join us every week as we explore the world of ATCs.

From top to bottom:

- "There never was a child so lovely, but his mother was glad to get him asleep." Ralph Waldo Emerson, CTMH stamp, embossing powder.

- "Shin: a device for finding furniture in the dark." Steven Wright; Tim Holtz Distress Inks, October Afternoon patterned paper

- October Afternoon patterned paper, Fancy Pants rub-on, Tim Holtz Distressables Elements digital image, Lumiere paint blobbed on a craft mat and partially dried, then blotted up with the card

- Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Hambly transparency, Tim Holtz Distressables Elements digital image

- 7 Gypsies ATC tab, K&Co Life's Journey Stickpin

ATC Spinner pt 20

Join us every week as we explore the world of ATCs.

From top to bottom:

- 7 Gypsies ATC tab, K&Co Life's Journey Stickpin

- "Who of us is mature enough for offspring before the offspring themselves arrive? The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults" Peter DeVries, quoted by Barbara Coloroso in Kids Are Worth It; tiny clipboard

- "To love beauty is to see light" Victor Hugo; Hero Arts Shadow Stamp, Hero Arts Shadow Ink

-
Paper Trunk patterned paper, Hambly transparency, staple, twine

- "You can't force a child to be independent, you can only force him not to depend on you" Pat Yearian; 7 Gypsies printed ATC