thankful thank yous

 i adore RhonnaDesigns chalk kits so very much.
her newest addition is called Chalkboard Autumn Art Bundle.
and it's a steal of a deal for gorgeous chalk art.

had a few thank you gifts that needed making...so i went quick fast in a hurry and made tags using her chalk art work.

first i created a new canvas in photoshop elements and sized it to 3x4.

then i brought in one of the black png images like you see above...'attitude of gratitude'.

it comes in black, so i recolored it to white...to look like chalk.

i dragged that image over the 3x4 canvas and resized to fit.

then i dragged several of those to an 8 1/2 x 11 document and printed them out!

then...

i took plain lunch bags...

used the heidi swapp polka dot stencil and sprayed it over with the black velvet color shine.

then i sprayed gold lame on zig zag ribbon and hot glued to the top of the folded over bag...

then i trimmed a few pieces of black pop card stock and notched on the end...

layered those over the zig zag trim, added a twist of tulle and stapled the 3x4 autumn art piece to the front.

like i said...quick fast and a hurry...

and a pretty way to wrap up my oh so yummy carmel corn.

so many opportunities to say thank you to friends and teachers and leaders this time of year...

and i already know that these little gifts brought smiles to many.

because i love journals

hello friends...
today i bring you one of my favorite little creative outlets...

i love making journals.
because i am always making lists.
one of my favorite places to keep my lists is in what i call my home management journal.

i also love RhonnaDesigns.
because they are always so versatile and beautiful always.
i found a way to use her new Flowers Stickers + new InstaFontsQuotes3 and InstaGeoFonts.

I opened one of the Junque Frames Kit in photoshop elements.
it is sized to fit the front of a traditional composition book.
A Simple Photo Edges frame was added to that and I slipped one of the digital journal cards from A Year to Follow Your Heart under the frame.
The quote from InstaQuotes3 was added...because life can be so daily and I need to be reminded to hope on and to journey on...i love that about Rhonna's quotes...always perfectly stated.
The Flower Stickers were placed on top of the frame and a drop shadow was added for some dimension.
A few of the fonts from the InstaGeoFont were colored in pink and added to the background for subtle texture and color. love those little touches. love playing with color and her fonts to really customize them and make them perfect for any project i am creating.

now...grab a composition book from the dollar store.
binding for your Cinch or Bind It All.
and a box cutter.

cut the binding off the composition book.
at this point cover the cover with your printed rhonna designs digital art.
don't forget to cover the inside of the covers as well as the back cover.
before you bind it add pockets or tags or journal cards to your hearts content.
then using your tool of choice, bind your new journal.

and enjoy being uplifted and inspired daily by the beauty of your journal as well as the quote you chose that speaks perfectly to you.

now i am off to manage my home and my life.

find your wings and fly

Today I am guest blogging over at Craft Warehouse.
I had the best of times creating with Find Your Wings and Fly collection by My Mind's Eye designed by my friend Rhonna Farrer.
It has her signature style all. over. it.
So...for a whole lot of details as to how this layout came together...
head on over for details to these pics...
and tell them I said hi please!!!

spring circus planner ~ rhonna designs

Rhonna Farrer just came out with a couple new collections for My Mind's Eye...
did you see it?
Gosh she can rock the patterns.
That woman amazes me all the time.

Seeing the patterns prompted me to pull out her Spring Circus to pretty up my planner for SNAP.

The Chevron Tent pattern was printed on white card stock paper.
It was trimmed to size and adhered to the binder.

A few of the other pattern papers and banners from the Spring Circus kit were trimmed like little banners and attached to the seam binding dyed with Color Shine Mustard. That was a perfect match for the yellow chevron.

Taking the new Insta Snap kit, I made little tags with the black png files.
How you ask?
These are instructions for photoshop elements:
Navigate to the Insta Snap kit and open the BLACK PNG FILES.
Double click your chosen image.
Using the color picker, choose a color to re color your image.
In the EDIT drop down, click FILL LAYER.
In the FILL LAYER window, in CONTENTS, make sure you have clicked on the correct source for the new color.
Make sure opacity is 100%.
And be sure that PRESERVE TRANSPARENCY is clicked.
click O.K.
The InstaSnap image should be changed to your preferred color.

I then drag and drop the image onto an 8 1/2 x 11 document.
When you have all the images you desire on the document, click LAYER, and FLATTEN.

Then print.
trim.
and you have your little InstaSnap tag just the way you want it.

This planning binder holds notes, schedules, goals, and to do lists for my up coming trip to SNAP. The SHE quote is just what I need to remind me of goals and dreams accomplished in the last year since last SNAP, and to continue to unlock my can't and turn them into cans this next year. The possibilities are endless. Writing dreams and goals down can be scary. Seems only recently I have been able to bring myself to do this. I have created a habit, of such. At the same time, when plans fall through, I seem to be able to readjust quickly. Perhaps there is power in knowing I can write down new ones and go to work.

Next time I will share how to place the colored InstaSnap image inside the Insta Lovin' Frames for printing out.

So now...
do you have plans, goals, and dreams that need their very own home?
Go and make it all happen.

rhonna designs chalk art cards

I really do adore the Insta Chalk Art Kit from RhonnaDesigns...
the quotes are perfectly uplifting.
the graphics are gorgeous.
I have even taken a few and created 12x12 canvases with them to hang on my new studio wall.
And I love to share them with others by way of cards and tags.
Made a few tags up recently using the Chalk Art Kit. Along with the free background (um...hello...yes..the fabulous chalk background is free!!!)  from the shop, I printed Chalk Art tags and then added them to some larger tags with notched pattern paper and dyed seam binding. Just made them up pretty to send in the mail.

These sentiments have a little help from the Vintage Bliss collection from Simple Stories, Teresa Collins Memories, plus Color Magic Seam Binding dyed with Color Shine Primrose and Tropicana Teal. Because I am not capable of doing any thing these days without a little Color Shine.

The cards measure 4 x 6.

Simply put, layers of pattern paper were used until I liked what I saw.

Lots

Notched paper.
Washi tape.
Butterflies.
you get the idea.

And some of the most beautiful Chalk Art design out there right now.
Thank you Rhonna for making it so easy to uplift and inspire others.
This is just one of those kits I will use over and over again.

find your wings and fly

good morning, friends...
excited to share some upcoming news with you.

rhonna designs chalk background + instaquote2

rhonna from rhonna designs will be teaching an online instagram class in the very near future.
this class includes exclusive rhonna designs instafonts available only through the class...

like this quote from instaquotes2. plus the little icons from instabeauty.

this one includes fonts from instadays + instasmash.

i love to find ways to use the instaluck images.

and this is one of my recent favorites using the instaquotes2. 

all these images were created and edited with only my phone.

and i don't even have an iphone!!! imagine that.

i hope you are following me on instagram: jamiepate

if you are having fun with rhonna's other instafonts, please tag me and she me what you are up to.

i will be sure to let you know when this class is made available.

and hope to see you there...

now go...create something beautiful today.

on my way...

 

chalkart insta kit from RhonnaDesigns

i am so happy.

i am so excited.

i have adventure ahead.

i have always wished/desired/wanted (can we say dreamed?) to attend CHA...

and it all just came together so beautifully this past fall to make plans to do just that.

 

 

 

 

but not only that!!!

even way better than that!!!

i have the opportunity to meet every member of the Heidi Swapp Media Team...

irl!!!

(that's in real life, people.)

 

 

 

 

i am sure we are all like giddy school girls as we all make our way from the four corners of the earth to invade land in Anaheim California for this event.

i mean...literally.

Kim is coming from Brisbane Australia...

 

Lindsay from Canada...can we say 'eh?'...

 

Jen from Oregon...

 

Maggie from Chicago-land....

 

and of course Heidi will be there from the great state of Utah...

and little o' me from Colorado.

sigh...

still much to do...

to do list slowly getting crossed off...

and speaking of #CHA2013...

have you been watching for any of Heidi's sneak peaks...

she has several new collections coming out...

here is a peak at a few::

 

serendipity.

 

color pop.

 

 

just a few sneaks. 

many more on her blog...

and a giveaway was announced yesterday.

do you have a favorite?

would love to know.

 

have a fabulous rest of the week.

i will pop in here tomorrow with a recent layout...

and hope to be posting from CHA.

follow me on instagram  (see top of menu bar) to see what's happening in SoCal.

project life 2013

  welcome to project life 2013...

i love fresh starts.
and project life is another fresh start for me.
this will be my third year creating this album.
as i have said before...this project is a committment...
but one that is well worth the effort.
i love. my family love. my friends love looking over these books.
i keep these albums out and very accessible.
so we are looking at them all the time.

the first inside cover page is a hybrid or sorts.
the pattern paper was created using RhonnaDesigns stamps and fonts.
the family photo was the inspiration for the color.

the silhouette cut of 'our life' was made using the Bebas font and was inspired by what Adrienne did here on her cover page. i was even loving that diagonal paper too. you'll see how i did that.

for the upper right polka dot paper i did this::
opened a 6x4 document in photoshop elements.
i kept it white.
i then opened the polka dot stamp texture from the TexturesBrushKit .
i stamped the document with a grey color.
i printed out on textured white cardstock.
it looked like this::

ignore the clock. decided not to use.

arrows and hearts from studio calico + arrow clips and binder clips + notched paper and labels and words add a bit of detail to this page. i love embellishing like this.

the gold paper was made the same as above except when I created the 6x4 document, i then filled it with the gold color and stamped it with the honeycomb stamp from the TexturesBrushKit.
it looked like this when done::

the paper shown in the lower left pocket was made from Rhonna's new InstaPOP fonts and stamps.
again, another 6x4 document was created in photoshop elements and kept white.
then i added the png image from the InstaPopKit.
before adding it to the 6x4 i changed the color.
it looked like this when done::

finally i made the black and white diagonal pattern by adding the SpookyPrintablePaper to the 6x4 and then tilting the pattern.
it looked like this when done::

it's like making my own pattern paper. love the flexibility of this.

the tag was made by adding the png image from the InstaGoalsKit.
i added it to a blank document.
printed that out on copy paper.
then i taped the manila tag over the image.
and ran it back through the computer again.

and that little guy is just about as fun as that black&white stripe.

so glad for this project.
so glad for what it means to my family.
so glad for the habit created to make it happen every week.

i hope if you have discovered this project life concept of documenting your life that you find it as fulfilling as we do.