Revisiting Summer

I decided today that because the weather has gotten pretty crummy lately (Welcome Fall...) I would concentrate on scrapping a bunch of summer photos from our weekend getaway to the ocean. I figured it would get some sunshine into our lives. Boy did it work! It's so pretty and sunny out today! And they were predicting rain and storms... Anyhow, today's sketch is one I am currently working on the layout for and am having trouble with. It's ALMOST done, but I like the sketch so much, I decided to share it before I was done.

I think in honor of the season that has escaped us, I am posting a photo of our dog Zeke at the ocean for the first time, chasing waves...

I love Monsters!

I just had to share a couple layouts I did of Charlie... I am so totally bonkers over all this little monster stuff that I may have to just go order more, because I can see I will run out all too soon. First up is one using the Daisy Bucket paper I picked up. Yes, those are a couple of Sassafras monsters on there, but don't they blend oh so well?

The second is a total Sassafras explosion. Here's where I can definitely see I will be needing more of them...As I said, it is a full-blown Monster addiction!

Some fontalicious fun :)

I haven't been able to play with my scrappy stuff nearly as much as I want to, due mostly to the fact that I have been working and doing a lot of house cleaning. I do have some fun fonts to share that I have found work exceptionally well with SCAL . The first is a font called "Butterflies", which is exactly as it sounds. Now, the font itself is a little too detailed for cutting, but if you switch it to Shadow Blackout mode, cuts some great butterfly silhouettes. For the layout on the right, I used some Sassafras that has a print on it that looks like elementary school writing practice paper and cut out the butterfly silhouettes. Before I took them off the cutting mat, I traced the cuts with a black pen. Then, I used these butterflies as my journaling spots on this page.
You can find the butterflies font here: http://www.dafont.com/butterflies.font

My second font is Called Unchanged Thoughts. It is a curly handwriting font. Now, most of the handwriting fonts you find are pretty thin and don't cut well, but this one is substantial enough that it cuts beautifully. Unfortunately, I have no examples to upload with this one as of yet, I've only tested it on a couple of scraps, but it works wonderfully :) You can find it Here: http://www.dafont.com/unchanged-thoughts$.font

I also have a couple cool sketches to share. I have been challenging myself to do some sketches that are really different, so you will see some with my examples and some without. It may be only because I haven't found a particular set of photos to go with that sketch yet. Let me know how you like them, and if you use them, please post your layout in my comments section so I can see, too :)

What a view

As I walked out from work tonight, I looked up and saw this gorgeous sky. Unfortunately, this photo from my cell phone doesn't do it justice.

I love clip art!

I was going to try to get all my new sketches up, but my computer thwarted my ability to do so by getting rid of all my digital scrapbooking picture tubes... we have no idea how. Anyway, I was able to make some more by way of clip art sites, and was also able to get 2 of my sketches up... and even the one with the example :)

I love this first sketch, simply because it is so fun and whimsical, and I think that if I were to adopt it for my own use, I think I would have to have 5 cats at the bottom, as well as a dog.

The second sketch, I did for one of the Daily Challenges over at Serendipity. This challenge was to somehow alter a clear piece. In this case, I used two- the larger shaped piece and the word "Live." Both are from a Fancy Pants Acrylic album kit that I bought and ended up using piece by piece on other things. I used a rub on on the larger one and then on both of them, I painted a swirl stamp lightly with black acrylic paint and gently stamped it on the back. After the paint dried, I also used some Stickles to cover the back of "Live." The paper is from Die Cuts With a View and the part under all the embellishments is actually a paper towel. I liked the look of the paper towel while everything was drying that I decided to use it. The journal spot is Teresa Collins. I used some Prima flowers and the felt dragonflies are cut out of a larger piece of felt from Queen & Co.


I have to admit, I went hog wild at House of Paper and ordered oodles of the new Sassafras. I think I am totally in love with those little monsters! And it will blend so well
with the Daisy Bucket monsters I bought... everyone I have shown that stuff to has said, "That's so Charlie." Guess whose album most of this is probably going into?

I did not leave Chloe out, though. There's plenty of rainbows and funky designs for her album, too. My next order of business is getting ready for the holidays and getting some more Halloween stuff (yep, I bought some... not necessarily enough, though)... and I need to get more into my fall and winter stash. I used almost all of it up last year!

This week's sketches

Will be posted later on... I am waiting for the stickles and paint to dry before I can put my example for one of them together. On the plus side, I have 5 new sketches to share!

Be on the lookout for lots of Sassafras on my pages... Chiara finally got the new lines at House of Paper and I ordered every single one of them!

I added some new blogs to my blog list as well... a new favorite manufacturer- Daisy Bucket, as well as some blogs I've been following and have overlooked putting on my list :) I am hoping that more places start carrying Daisy Bucket because my local scrappy store is the only on that carries it and they were almost out when I got there! Check 'em out if you already haven't.

Two posts in one hour... Wow! It's a record!

So, rather than just going in and editing my last post, I'm going to be a total blog whore at the moment.

I have, in the last two weeks, been having a ton of fun playing around with my Sure Cuts A Lot. For those of you who have no idea what I am referring to, it's that program that allows you to cut any font on your computer with your Cricut. I figured I would get it because my little cut buddy is over a year and a half old and has no warranty to speak of, so ProvoCraft's warning that it would void my warranty is of no consequence to me anyway.

Anyhow, I think I have used it on every layout I have done in the past week, after I got the hang of it. I think I may never have to buy another cartridge again.

For those who are still contemplating taking the plunge, let me just say, it is soooooo worth it!

In the interest of my new little obsession, however, I think that I will begin posting some links to fonts that I try that I really like, as well as warnings for ones that don't cut quite so well...

My first one... warning. Though it may look innocent enough, do not try to cut anything out of the Zombie Holocaust font. I used this one for a page on the World Record breaking Zombie Walk we participated in and it took an hour for my cut buddy to cut the words "Walking Dead". This is because (and I guess I didn't look carefully enough), this seemingly plain, innocent font has HUNDREDS of little, teeny, tiny dots on it, which my Cricut felt obliged to painstakingly recreate with its cutting blade. There are other fonts in the world that look just as snazzy as this one, and Cricut likes those much better. If you contemplate cutting this one out, my advice is DON'T DO IT! It may work with those little pens you can buy for it, though...

No new sketch today

I have been so busy runnning hither and yon that I can't even think straight! Right now, I have had absolutely ZERO time to be creative.... and I need to make dinner soon (though nobody is biting at my ankles to get it done, so I'm guessing nobody has had any horrible hunger pangs yet).

I have also been working on taking my Photography site and converting it to a blog, which will be thousands of times easier for me to update. If anyone wants to check it out... (Big shameless bit of self-promotion coming...) it is at photographybyjilloriente@blogspot.com. I can't hyperlink it (HA!) because I'm using this handy-dandy quick-blog form thinggy on my iGoogle page, so just cut and paste the address into your browser. What? You think I wouldn't make you work for it? Anyhow, I have a few more photos that I want to get uploaded, so check back often. I plan on having plenty of content on there to see... eventually. :)

Today's Labor...

Is the bi-monthly grocery shopping trip... I love that you can load coupons onto your club card, and print others online, but boy is it a pain in the butt when your printer doesn't want to print. And then there's the expense of paper and ink. You;d think they would give you even better coupons since they save that expense themselves.

OK, gripe over.

Yesterday, we went to my sister's house for my niece Abby's 4th Birthday (which was Disney Princess Themed). Boy, she sure cleaned up on the Princess stuff! I don't think she got anything that wasn't princess! I COULD post a picture of my brother-in-law trying on the tiara, earrings and one of the dresses (which only fit over his head...) but I'll save that for Manda to post on her blog ;)

The sketch without an example...

This one just popped into my head and I have no photos to go with it...

I'm also out of buttons (at least in the colors I use often, which would be the BRIGHT ones :)

Does anyone want to post their layout based on this sketch? Hmmm?

First day of school

It seems like Summer just started and here we are at the first day of school. I have to admit that I have already felt Fall in the air. We had a hot time for a while, but this has been a fairly mild, albeit dry, summer for us. I haven't photographed the kids' school pictures yet, but they were both good enough to wake me up this morning before they went to the bus to let me take the annual "First Day of School" picture. THe last couple years have only been separate, with Chloe in high school and Charlie in middle school, but next year, they will be together again (yikes! Both my babies in high school!) Anyhow, here's what they looked like before they left the house this morning:

I think Chloe was still tired... Charlie was pretty awake, though.