I experienced a moment of glee when FedEx showed up at my doorstep yesterday with a large American Crafts box with my address on it. I knew that inside would be Crate Paper's Story Teller & Pretty Party embellishments. Their arrival from China was just a few short weeks ago, so I'd been anticipating them. Around dinner time, I removed the new embellishments from the box and set-up them up for a quick photography run. Thought you'd enjoy seeing them...especially the bronzed copper frames {Made from thick, light-weight epoxy, not metal}.
Supplementing the buttons this time around are floral cabochons brads in various shades of pink. The complimentary mix coincides well with Pretty Party's "precious girl" theme.
Story Teller is similar to a lot of collections out there right now. It cater's to the everyday moments that are vastly popular with Project Life followers. It's also a great neutral collection to have hanging around to use on projects about traveling, family, and other "general themes". And did I mention that it's color palette includes "Navy Blue"? Oh my goodness, I can't get enough of the color these days...and Emerald. Beautiful.
If you hadn't noticed, Crate Paper expanded it's embellishment collection. Sadly, the planned upon Washi Tape release is no longer. Certainly bummed about the news, but these cute clips more than make-up for it :) And so do the new wooden frames!! Yeah! My favorite of the bunch!
Finding time to be creative is still a major challenge for me, though to make it happen, I've been scrapbooking nearly every night into the wee hours of the morning. Normally, which I'll openly confess to, I'm not much of a late night scrapbooker, but I'm desperate and trying to make the best of the situation. Currently on my desk is a layout-in-progress and a bunch of colorful product piles. I love to surround myself with scrapbook supplies while working on projects. Like a map, I go to them for direction as they often lead to the next great idea! I also like to have a lot of options - honestly, I couldn't scrapbook the way I do without a vast and varied selection of fun items to pick from...
I call this a "die-cut/tag/journaling card" pile. I go through each of my color coordinated die-cut baskets before beginning a new project. I focus on only those baskets that support my project's color palette. Takes about fifteen minutes to get through the process, but it's worth it because it forces me to use "what I own". Plus, pretty displays like this one are a nice surprise once the selection process is finished. Seeing it all come together is satisfying within itself.
And always on my desk is this bird/butterfly filled bowl. You can never really have too many of them as far as I'm concerned. ;)
You know I can't leave this place without showing a small assembly of photos of my little guy. This morning, Ethan took out his old fix-it kit. When I asked him what he was making, he responded, "I'm making the letter "F", mommy. Wanna see? It's really cool! It even plays music - here are the speakers. Look!" Sure enough, there it was, the letter "F". A big ol' grin came over my face. He'd actually built a figurative object, and of all things, a letter! He's so much like his dad...laugh. I love it. And wouldn't you know it, he brought the letter with him to daycare today to show grandpa. I'm sure my dad loved it as well.
I know that some of you have inquired about what I use to edit my images in Photoshop. Well, here's the secret; Kubota Artistic Tools. A photographer friend introduced them to me a long time ago, and I've been hooked on them ever since. They're intended for the serious photographer. The actions themselves are extremely smooth, easy to use, and combine beautifully. They're also built into a separate dashboard that acts as a mini search engine for locating all your favorite Kubota actions. The board is slick, too - Just pull it open after starting photoshop and you're set to go!
The reason I mention this is because Kubota is having a huge sale now through April! I'd heard about it via email this morning. All action sets are nearly 50% off! Trust me, this is a really good deal. I went about picking up Viva La Vintage and Pow Wow as soon as I got word of the price. They're reliably good...and are worth the cost.
