back in the saddle

hello friends...doing a little design work for work in progress again. and while life is more hectic than i have ever experienced, it has been a joy to do some story telling and laying out of photography and paper. love both of those and enjoyed working on this kit for trish and company.

i'll post more next week.

have a fabulous fall weekend.

embracing today

i have to say...it's been a little tough to embrace life. because life has just been very, very hard. when my husband called to wish me a happy anniversary today, i returned with "shouldn't there be a question mark at the end of that?"
he says: "anniversary!".
at least we can laugh at it. because if we did not laugh, we would cry. o.k...so there has been a little of that going on too...but i digress...

when there is a pumpkin in the house as cute is this little mr., who can cry? he makes me smile all the time. he makes anyone smile who meets him. now that's a way to win friends and influence people.

hoping you are embracing today!
~j

on my desk

december daily 2010
getting supplies ready
preparing a cover
excited for this album once again
fast becoming a favorite of the year
how about you?

~j

fall around the house

Fall ushers in the real decorating around the house. It just seems the season to change everything up and make a statement about a change in the weather, in the schedule, in the focus of life. Summer is not as structured around here. Whether it's our routine, or the statement in the house. It is just a casual time. But the routine really takes a shift here in September. And the house reflects that. It helps my state of mind in many ways to decorate more specifically. While the outside world is blazed in beauty, it will soon all dry up and the colors will disappear. But the house will still celebrate the fall colors, and will segue into the holiday of Thanksgiving. November 30 that all changes as we make our shift to Christmas. I have a theory :: I call it the Garden of Eden theory. We women, especially, are ever attempting to return to the Garden of Eden, and do so by pursing beauty in our lives. It is always more complete when my heart too is a source of beauty, and not just my home.

I just wanted to share a humble little tour of my home. Nothing spectacular by any means. I mean, Better Homes won't be showing up on my door step anytime soon. But we call it home. And I for one am ever so thankful we have a place to call home, be it ever so humble.

This piece goes way back. I enjoy putting these seasonal collages together. A personal touch. Makes me want to go and make more.

My bestest friend (the one flying in on Friday) made this for me probably about two decades ago. The creative girl made this for my home. I love it so much.

Would love to have you join me for pumpkin-chocolate chip bread, coffee, and chit-chat. But for now, the blogging world will have to make do.

Thanks for visiting.

etsy fall love

it's nathalie's fault...she posted some etsy love...and made me go there and look...and inspired this here
fall-inspired-etsy-window-shopping-spree. not only did it inspire this post, but my finds simply inspired me toward beauty.

1. antique letter pumpkin / MadeByMePollyB :: so very vintagey and fallish all together. sorry i have no wall space for it. 2.butterflies on vintage postcards / piddix :: because i love butterflies. enough said. 3. burlap give thanks banner / sherisewsweet   :: burlap is finding it's way in my home big time. 4.parisian chandelier tag / taniasidora  paris. love. tags. love. 5.postage pillow / WordGarden :: again, nathalie's fault...she posted another from this shop. i simply want them all!!!! 6. turmeric neck rag / textilemonster :: love this!

what's inspiring you today?

hello fall.

it finally actually feels a little fallish this evening.
it's been a long summer here in these parts.
i look forward to some crisp air that is moving in this week.
remind me of this when it's 20 degrees crisp...i might not be as excited then.

leaves are falling

apples have been picked

it's just time to be fall.

this week i am eager to bake.
christmas shop.
crochet with my bestest friend flying in on friday.
go out and eat an adult meal with her.
plan several up coming birthday's in our family.
think december daily.
and attempt as always, to slow down...enjoy my family...and simply be with them.

wish me well.
what are you up to this week?

and finally...

wanted to share one other element to my memory keeping and story telling of the little mr.
it's project365 the sawyer edition::

again with the ali edwards design. sorry, but i'm a bit of a groupy about her digital elements.

and especially for keeping track of a years worth of photos of this new life.

now don't get me wrong, i have already dropped a few days here and there...

i hate it when that happens...

but life just gets so busy that it happens. and it's part of the story.

(yeah i know...it's from august....but frankly...all of september is still in the camera. let me know if you wanna see that too!...whenever i get it caught up.)

thanks for letting me share.

thanks for visiting.

more baby stuff

Saw this idea here over at two peas by be. Her layout here that saved her baby's hospital cap told me to do the same. I basically lifted the whole idea. Part of the keep it simple theme.

Finally have the story of his birthday on paper. It is basically a bullet point approach to what I remember of the events that were my labor and delivery. Again, kept very simple with kraft paper, a tag, and some twill that I used to mimic masking tape. (That's because I did not have blue tape, but really wanted some for this page...use what ya got!)

Again, so thankful to be on this side of pregnancy!

~j

digitally simple

As I tell the story of the little mr.'s first day of life, I knew I wanted to tell it via photos. Many photos. Few words. With the help of Kate Teague's Just the Photos3 , I simply told the story of today with her easy layered template. Once those were in place I added my own date text, as well as some Ali Edwards digital elements.

One of the first digital stamps I purchased from Ali Edwards was The Story Word Art. It has become another one of those go to tools for me. Especially when I want the story simply stated. The stamps that are included in this kit are timeless, and always seem to add the right touch.

On the second page of the digital layout is a stamp called Capturing the Moments of Life. It was a freebie element she gave away, but I cannot find the link to it right now. If I do, I will post the link.

I kept the background of this layout white and clean. After adding photos, and digital stamps, I uploaded the jpg to Persnickety Prints.

This company is fast becoming my new favorite resource for printing enlargements. I have an epson I use at home for printing photos, but when it comes to enlargements, and even 12x12 digital layouts, I think I am going to stick with them for fantastic print quality.

When the prints arrived in the post, I simply placed them in my 12x12 3-ring binder album, and had what I think is an awesome look at the beautiful day when number five came to be in my arms.

Thanks for stopping by today...tomorrow the baby story continues.

~j

10 things

1. i just had to post today because i wanted to see today's date.
2. he is so stinkin' fun and adorable. don't know what i did to deserve him.

3. it actually feels like fall today. wind is a blowin'. leaves are a fallin'. temps have stayed in the 40's and 50's today.
4. that reminds me...ready to pull out some soup recipes. love soup in the fall.
5. family time and cupcakes. celebrated my neices birthday today with these decadent chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. yep. actual cookie dough in the middle.

6. ali edwards is inspiring me to start thinking about my december daily. i am thinking about going super simple (duh!) and go mostly digital and using her 6x8 overlays. her project post is bounding with many ideas and my mind is churning with ideas for putting this fourth book together.
7. i'm getting pretty good at typing with one hand while baby is in lap.
8. so glad i came upon these calendar overlays. they were hard to come by last year. calendars are a favorite requested gift for christmas. eager to get them started, wrapped and shipped early december.
9. i have been reflecting lately on the important women in my life. they keep me accountable, inspired, joyfull. and really blessed. my sister is one of those important people. so thankful.

oct10

10.  o.k...amazing race is now on...my girlies are here to watch.  happy 10.10.10.

~j

we interrupt the regularly schedule program....

to embrace! embrace the camera, you all.
 go here and visit emily's blog and see what's up with that. a great way for those of us who are always photographing those of them, and to get in FRONT of the camera for a change....and you all know who i am talking about!



so if you practice embracing today...link me up, k?

~j

hello sweet baby.

 actually getting a few projects done around here. ah! it is so great to open my album of this little mr. and see a few pages peeking at me.
above is what i consider a very simple baby announcement. i took the shot. formatted it in a 6x4 canvas. added simple font and announcement information, added an ali e digital stamp, and smiled. the photo alone makes me smile every time. happy with this.

 it then became the title page to his baby album that will be my album to keep. eventually i will start his, as i have with the other kiddos. but for now i need to tell his story back to me. make sense? time is flying by so fast. i just don't want to forget his littleness and his pure innocence. did i say i was in love with him?

cardstock. embossed cardstock. typed and sewed cardstock. done. i am falling in love again with simplicity.

more peeks at his album later this week.

thanks for stopping by!
~j

baby wall art

 it's so often true...there are some images you just don't want tucked away in an album. such is the case with this sweet face a few days after he was born. everytime i would be in the nursery rocking and nursing him these last 6 weeks, i would think of this empty shadow box i had, and inspire myself as to what i would do with it.
and i knew i just wanted to stare at him more...
so i took fabric swatches left over from decorating his room...
and stitched them down quilt style on a piece of cardstock...
printed up a 2 day old photo of him in classic black and white,
including one of those stinkin' sweet feet!
left a border around them...
added a tag with sweet white velvet words...
and loved it.
simple.
you will be seeing just how simple my documenting his story can get.
i mean...it's not like i have alot of time::
taking care of him round the clock
homeschooling 3 vivacious girlies
helping a high school male adolescent find his way
taking care of a husband who works way too much
not to mention everything that happens outside these four walls.
seriously...watch the simplicity flow.
my in-laws are in-house this week too...but i am hoping not to be too absent from this here blog.

argh! so sweet.
thanks for visiting. leave me a note, will ya?
~j

paris in the fall

these photos are dedicated to many things...
my blogging friends nathalie and alexandra. beautiful paper artists. and beautiful french women. so glad to have made their acquaintance via the blogging world. they never cease to inspire. {nathalie just returned home from visiting france...thus another reason for my missing paris}
to a wonderful trip taken four years ago this fall with fabulous lifetime girlfriends. we ate wonderful fare. observed beautiful buildings and scenery. enjoyed enduring friendships despite getting lost and constantly needing a map.
these photos are dedicated to photography itself. an art form that continues to intrigue me, seduce me, and inspire me endlessly.
but then what is photography without great editing tools?
all the above were tweaked in photoshop elements by way of duplicating layers. removing color. adding hard light blend. adding rhonna farrer's vintage photo tool kit. setting them to overlay. simply by playing and mixing it up abit. i bought this kit quite some time ago. it is definitely a go to kit. i highly recommend if you love to play with editing and creating fun works of photographic art. several of these photos i printed out on textured paper, framed in re-purposed frames...hung them in my 'paris' bathroom. perhaps i should show off the finished projects as a post.
photo credits: top photo by betty pollom. the rest are moi's.