Stacey's Blog

GSO at DST Today!

2009-09-29T12:16:00.003-04:00

What a wonderful surprise to make the Gallery Standouts at DigishopTalk today! I've been really busy getting my photography business up and running, so I haven't been scrapping as much. The very awesome Dunia Acauan asked me to stay on through October as a Guest on her Creative Team and I was happy to say yes! I love ALL of her products AND it keeps me digiscrapping as well as in the digiland loop.

Here is my page.....it uses Dunia's new kit "All I Need is Love."

Love your Happy Face

In other news, I am still working away on my Project 365 - feel free to check it out and if you'd like to become a Facebook fan of my new photography business, there is a box you can click. My new blogsite (combines a blog AND website features) is up, but I still have a lot of work to do on it, including uploading my galleries. You can find my site HERE. I'm very excited about my new logo - it was designed by Tiffany at On the Spot Studio.

So..........lots going on. I'm commencing the portfolio-building process for my business and have my "first" shoot coming up this weekend right on the beach!! My dream is finally becoming a reality!

I'm in Memory Makers Magazine!!!!!!!

2009-08-18T10:04:00.004-04:00

I finally did it - I'm in a national scrapbooking magazine! It's the Sept-Oct issue of Memory Makers magazine - I'm at the very end of the Halloween section. My layout is a lot of fun - the photo showcases those of us who volunteer at school on Fridays for lunch. Most of the ladies were aptly dressed as "lunch ladies" with the hair nets and bad skin, lol.

Anyway - it's just a lot of fun to see the magazine on the stands in the grocery store and the book store. Unfortunately, it is the very last issue of this magazine which is a real bummer since it's my favorite. The unfavorable economy has hit the scrapbook magazine publishing industry pretty hard - and this is not the first to cease publication.

Some magazines stay on in "online" formats which I truly hate. It's a pain to read, and I can't take it to the beach or the pool. And I can't bring it with me to peruse while in the school pick-up line. I even forget that they're even online!

Oh well.

Other news.......I'm beginning work on a new photography website and business! I'm very excited about this new venture and am starting to build my portfolio. Stay tuned!

This is also the last week of summer vacation for us......where did the summer go? We didn't do all that much during the summer - really just the recent trip to California. Most days were filled with my son's tennis clinics and camps, as well as other camps, too. He had plenty of free time, though, and that seems to have been mostly spent on the computer playing interactive games with his local friends (or without his friends when their parents kicked them off their computers lol). But he's also read a ton of books (no surprise there) and completed an entire math workbook.

Happy Tuesday!

Week 29 "At the Beach" photo challenge!!

2009-07-28T20:32:00.007-04:00

I am so loving I ♥ Faces.com!!!! This week's challenge is for a photo on the beach...........well, er, I think I can manage that since we live on the beach!! Doesn't mean we get great photos. Plus - I really wanted a new photo to reflect the skills I've been learning along the way........

My son wasn't in the mood.....he's been dragged down to the beach for the last three days for "mini" photo shoots. But I really love this one of him letting the gorgeous white sand run through his fingers...................

Definitely check out this site -it's awesome!!

Week 28 Photo Challenge - Feet Week!

2009-07-20T13:56:00.006-04:00

I stumbled upon this FAB blog - i ♥ faces - and they have challenges every week! I definitely want to participate here!

Here is my entry - my son's crocs on the sandy, boardwalk steps:

Made Gallery Standouts at DST!

2009-07-14T17:11:00.009-04:00

I am in a holy heck shock - I made the Gallery Standouts at DST not once, not twice, but THREE times this month (so far, lol). Thank you so much to the great ladies who noticed my pages and posted to that thread! ♥

7/12: My Passion

For those of us who LOVE photography - this is a great kit! It's a collab between Kate Hadfield and Designs by Lili called Capture the Moment:

This kit can be purchased at The LilyPad.

7/11: Free as a Bird

I got to scrap a GIRL!!!!!!! Melissa Lewis, who is a major scrapper, won a gift of scrapbook pages designed by Lauren Reid's CT as a prize from a charity event. AND - the fabulous Kellie Penn had taken photos of the children in May, so we had some amazing professional photos to work with. Please check out her WEBSITE to see her gorgeous work.
And as another plus - I had a GREAT kit to work with! This is a new release from Lauren Reid called Freebird:

Isn't it amazing? It can be purchased at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

7/6: Cranky

Another fab-o kit from Lauren Reid Designs called You're Moody:

You're Moody is also available at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Lauren has another new kit coming out and all I can say for now that it is SPECTACULAR! It will be released on July 18.

My Shutterfly Vacation Album

2009-07-11T10:44:00.003-04:00

Click here to view this photo book.

Last year, I followed along with a challenge over at Scrapbookgraphics to complete a theme album in 12 months. We've had so many "little" vacations, meaning each adventure was not on its own enough to create a photobook. This was a great way to capture all the fun moments and memories and still have an awesome book.

New Photo Editing Class and Community!

2009-07-06T09:41:00.004-04:00

Today begins the newest photo editing class over at Jessica Sprague! It's all about frames and special effects. Many, many classes are being offered over at this site, so do check it out! Also, the site has implemented a "community" with many different groups (i.e. photography, bloggers, card makers, regional...) Most of these just got underway recently, so it's a great time to join! New groups are being added all the time.

And....since digiland was a little quiet over the July 4th weekend, you still have an opportunity to pick up your free July Desktop Calendar and 12x12 Quick Page (both designed by moi) over at Lauren Reid's new BLOG (see July 4th post below for more information).

Happy Monday! Off to the gym.

Lauren Reid is now at Sweet Shoppe Designs!!!

2009-07-04T09:44:00.008-04:00

Whoo-Hoo!! The suspense is over - the hip and talented Lauren Reid is now at Sweet Shoppe Designs!! Head on over there to check out her awesome designs and to take advantage of some sale prices!

And, as a gift to you - a FREE July Desktop calendar! This desktop features products from her latest kit, Freebird.

The free desktop calendar is available at Lauren's blog HERE. Enjoy!! While you're there, check out her latest information including sales and a freebie Quick Page, too!

Free Quick Page!

Happy July 4th to those of you celebrating, and happy Saturday to everyone else!!! We have a nice (but HOT) day here - going to play a little tennis and later will be making my famous ribs along with some corn, red pepper and creme fraiche ziti, and oil & vinegar coleslaw. Then we'll be heading across the street to watch the fireworks over Sarasota Bay. Local DJ Chris Grumley (he's a Brit different) will be spinning his tunes at Moore's Stone Crab restaurant so hopefully we'll have a chance to stop in a take a listen.

More with Four

2009-06-17T15:28:00.006-04:00

It is NOT easy to use only four products on a page. The Daily Digi hosts a challenge following the release of their latest "Digi Files" which showcases products from several different designer from the digi community,

I recently bought The Digi Files 5 - for only $5.00 - talk about a bargain! The four products from this bundle of goodies that we were instructed to use were Word Art by Stephanie2 (The Daily Digi), Papers by Amber Clegg (ScrapArtist), Stitching from Amy Hutchinson's contribution (After Five Designs), and Film Frames from Leora Sanford (Little Dreamer Designs).

This is what I came up with:

A fun, happy summer page!

A real benefit of checking out The Digi Files each month is to get a good look at a variety of designers without having to troll the internet for hours and browsing through so many shops. By the sampling the designers provide, I feel I have a a decent glimpse of their respective styles and whether or not their products would work for my pages. The Daily Digi showcases the designers as the month goes along, so if you're not sure right away if you would like to buy the $5.o0 bundle, you can always wait until some of the products are revealed.

I don't have any affiliation with this site - I just happen to love it! Whether it's photography, computer FAQ, spotlight on designers, or just general everyday life "issues," I find it has something for just about everyone. Pop over to The Daily Digi and check it out!

Final Portfolio, Portraiture 101 Class

2009-06-11T09:18:00.005-04:00

Yay - I recently completed the four week Portraiture 101 class taught by Candice Stringham (Creating Keepsakes magazine) over at Jessica Sprague's site.

For our portfolio, we needed to choose three of our favorite photos from the class. Here's my storyboard:

Candice Stringham recently provided a critique of my photos. She really enjoyed the left photo - she loved the cubbies as "frames" and the croppping and priceless expressions on the boys' faces. The middle was a good traditional shot with even lighting, but I could have used a more open aperature to blur the background so the leaves aren't as distinct. Lastly, she found the right photo to be a fun shot with also nice, even lighting. She did warn about sepia tones, though - mine here seems a little strong and sometimes it "muddies" your photos. This was the look I was going after - his dirty brown crocs on the old steps, but I can now see where I could have desaturated the photo more and by doing so, in keeping with the photo on the left.

What a great class - I learned a LOT. I don't even touch the "auto"setting on my Canon Rebel XT anymore - I love playing with the aperature and shutter speed. The only difficulty was getting my husband and son to pose over and over again - needless to say, they were not the most willing subjects. That, especially when combined with the need for the right lighting, was a bit frustrating. But, we did get some really good shots.

Some of the test photos are on my Project 365 blog. Keeping up with that blog has been a real incentive to keep practicing and taking photos everyday.

Great class!! I recommend Portraiture 101 or any digital photography and editing classes available at JessicaSprague.com.

Summer Scrappin' Challenge at Hodge Podge Art

2009-06-05T12:01:00.004-04:00

Hodge Podge Art has a "Summer Scrappin' Challenge" going on over at their blog. Requisites are to scrap a summer memory, use bright colors, and incorporate a good amount of journaling.

My husband and son are ALWAYS playing war games in the pool....a couple of rafts and squirt guns and they have a blast. Here is my page using the Backyard Bliss collab by Kate Hadfield, Gina Miller, and Rachel Young:

My "So You Think You Can Scrap" Contest Entries

2009-06-04T17:31:00.007-04:00

Well, here they are. I didn't make it to the last week (week 6) because I had too much going on and it would have been a real stretch. Anyway, I am glad I entered the contest in spite of knowing full well that I didn't have a hope or prayer of winning - what it did do was to nudge me outside of my comfort zone. Some of the kits and colors weren't my style (and we didn't have to use them unless we were entering bonus pages), but I did want to use them since the designers developed them especially for the contest. Each week's "theme" kept me from wandering back into my comfort zone, too. Music? Well - I finally scrapped a page about a silly song I sang to my son when he was a baby! Special moments? My son's first two haircuts - now scrapped! So all in all, I got some needed pages done. I even made it in the top 10 one week (Week 2)!

Week 1
Shyness

Week 2
80's Memories

Week 3
First Two Haircuts

Week 4
Who is the Munchkin Man?

Week 5
You Color My World

Thanks for looking.....all images are clickable for credit information. And a huge congrats to the winners - talk about amazing talent!!

GSO at DST!

2009-05-24T14:33:00.004-04:00

My layout featuring pics from our Spring Break cruise made the Galley Standouts at Digishoptalk.com on Thursday, May 14!

All the products are from Lauren Reid Designs over in the shoppe at Little Dreamer Designs.

Thank you Erin!!!!!

I'm on Lauren Reid's CT!!!!!!

2009-05-05T16:01:00.007-04:00

Lauren announced the new CT members today, and I was sooooooooooooo happy to be included on the list!

Her products are awesome and I can't wait to start! Her store is over at Little Dreamer Designs - which is a fantastic place to shop as well as to join in on their blog challenges.

Here is a page I did using Lauren's "Read It Again" kit to once again document how proud I am of my son's outstanding reading acomplishments:

I look forward to being a member of her team!

So Proud...............

2009-04-29T19:05:00.005-04:00

Alex really wowed us last week with his speech delivery as a school finalist in the Tropicana Speech Contest! He came in first place in his 4th grade classroom, then he competed against the other 1st place winners from 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. The first place winners of the combined 4th and 5th grades, as well as 6th grade, go on to the county contest.

Well, we were so proud as it was that he was first in his classroom....but after the finals, he won third prize out of the combined 4th and 5th grades! Not bad for a first time, and being only in 4th grade. He did a GREAT job!!

Here's the video..........it's a bit long in the intro because the 6th grade was delayed in getting back to the building. His speech was about our outing to Muir Woods during last summer's vacation to California.

Way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mystique Designs is now at Scrapbookgraphics.com!

2009-04-23T12:38:00.010-04:00

The girls are now selling at Scrapbookgraphics which happens to be the very first site I enjoyed as a newbie digiscrapper. As time went on and I joined several different CTs, I gravitated away from the site but always missed the great people and fun challenges over there.

Here are the first two kits in the store at SBG for Mystique Designs along with a page or two of mine......

Here are two pages I created from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:

Sweet Dreams

Good Night

And here are two with My Little Sea Adventure..............

Bucket Brawl

By the Sea

Thanks for taking a look and do take a peek over at Scrapbookgraphics to see the latest kits from Mystique Designs!

More Cruise Photos.......

2009-04-11T13:29:00.029-04:00

I really did take a ton of photos - GAH! I had both cameras with me and it was sooo nice not to have to lug my Canon DSLR with me everywhere (no doubt it takes better pics but my little Sony Cyber-Shot did a respectable job). The one place I did bring it was to the beach at St. Maarten where we watched the planes on final aproach RIGHT OVER US and that was risky because of all the blowing sand.....but I stayed out of the way and kept it snug to my body under the hem of my t-shirt.

Here is the video again (from my previous post)........you have got to see this! Click the arrow button to start............

And here is the photo of US Airways landing............

Warning sign on the beach by the airport.......and yes, when jets took off it was loud and the sand would fly!

More photos.................

Our son's favorite routine - Sprinkles machine after lunch

Street in San Juan

Volleyball

Ice Skating on the ship!

Bus in San Juan

Pilates' Reformers - What a class, whew!

We looooved our assigned table in the dining room........

Leaving St. Maarten

Arrival in Labadee, Haiti for a fun day at the beach

Beautiful view of the ship in Labadee

The Aqua Park at Labadee. Yes, those are "icebergs" out there, plus trampolines and slides.

Having Fun with a Friend at the H2O Zone

Formal Night Photo

I hope you all enjoyed the photos.......we had a marvelous time and love to take cruises. To me, it's the easiest of all vacations (and no driving, cooking, or cleaning for a week!!). Once you're on board, there's so much to do and see AND you get to travel to a few fun places without having to pack and unpack, or worry about accommodations.

Tons of Fun on our Cruise!!!

2009-04-10T20:47:00.011-04:00

I'm going to start here with St. Maarten.........sort of the mid-point of our cruise. Instead of shopping or sunning, we hired a cab driver to bring us to the beach that is just adjacent to Princess Juliana Airport. It was SO COOL!!! We have watched some of these videos on YouTube, but here is one of ours!!! (Click the arrow to play)

There's nothing quite like being there.....................................

Now for some fun pics from the same location................

WOW -this was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Made Mystique Designs CT!!

2009-03-16T18:34:00.005-04:00

Wow.......I didn't expect this! This great duo has made a lot of folks in digi-land sit up and take notice - including one very major store. Can't reveal that now, LOL. Anyway, as I jumped on board just the other day, they had two new kits up - both gorgeous! First is:

There are also some gorgeous quick pages from the Little Wonders kit:

Amazing details in this kit! Here is a page I designed..............

Little Wonders

The next kit, which debuted today (!!!!) is Sweet Candy. And sweeeeeet it is!

Here's my page.........

Captivated

All images are clickable and my layouts contain credits.

Other than that news, I finally went clothes shopping today......we are going on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean for spring break and my clothes closet is not looking all that great these days! Got a GREAT Lauren Mercier palette of eyeshadows, blush, and lip gloss that's perfect for traveling (plus a nifty carrying case with room for other supplies plus some mini brushes) at Saks........okay so that's not clothing LOL. I did discover Ann Taylor Loft to be my new best friend.............lots of perfect things that I really needed. I'm going back this week.......Dillard's had lots of sandals and flip-flops but I was running out of time.

Thanks for reading! We have a super busy week going on, with my son being in his All-School musical, GREASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The older kids - high school-and middle school - have the major parts, but he's in a group that comes on stage three times to do songs. Should be great!! We had dress rehearsal yesterday (Sunday) 12-5 and the cast looks awesome. It's amazing how much work goes into these musicals - right down to the sound and lighting. Will have plenty to post as the work progresses! First performance is Thursday evening.......with shows Friday and Saturday evenings, and then a Sunday matinee.

Catwalk Challenge at Catscrap!

2009-03-12T14:37:00.007-04:00

I'm having fun keeping up with the Catwalk Challenge over at Catscrap. The fab designers each independently created a kit, paper, or element pack but used the same color scheme so that in the end, all the kits and products would coordinate as one gorgeous collection.

Grand Prize winner of the Catwalk Challenge will win a three-month Guest Spot at Catscrap! Second and Third Place winners will receive a $20.00 and a $10.00 gift certificate respectfully to the Catscrap store.

Part 1 Challenge: Scrap a layout using as many of the pieces of the collection as you can!!

Here's my resulting page......

Credits: All products are from the Catwalk Collection: Paper from Vinnie Pearce's Timeout, blended with paper from Lynne-Maries Create. Ida's Urban Madness Syrin's Thea (stitched hearts) Scarletheels Prettiness (alpha)

Part 2 Challenge: Create a page using at least two items from the freebie (presented at the chat), three patterned papers, two solid papers, five flowers, some stitches that need to hold something together, and a brush. All products must be from the Catwalk Collection.

My page..............

Credits:

One Brush: Word art by Catrine (freebie)
Use at least 2 freebies from chat: The above and Creashen's stitching.
Stitching: See above
Two Solid Papers: Scarletheel's Prettiness; Three Patterned Papers: Vinnie Pearce's Timeout; Ida's Urban Madness; Danielle's (SBS) Spring Sort-of Solids
Five Flowers: Pink and blue flower from Vinnie Pearce's Timeout and remaining four doodled flowers from Ida's Urban Madness.
Other items: Butterfly and swingset from Ida's Urban Madness; Heart brad from Syrin's Thea. Additional word art by Catrine (freebie from chat).
Font is Pea Jay

Come on over and join the challenge!

Tweet Peep is released!

2009-03-02T11:08:00.003-05:00

This is the most gorgeous kit created by Maya at Scrapbookgraphics.com! I thought it was perfect for the extraction of my step-grandson, but I see myself creating a few more pages with this kit! You can find Tweet Peep HERE.

Here is the page I created......

Special Delivery

The CUTEST Dinosaurs are here!

2009-02-21T10:42:00.005-05:00

Lynne-Marie just created the most darling kit.....perfect for your dinosaur photos from the local museum or everyday pics from the park - CALEB'S DINOSAUR'S! This is an After 5 Designs exclusive product as Lynne-Marie is the guest designer for February. You can find the kit HERE.

Here are the previews:

And here is a page I designed with this kit................I also used a mask from Lynne-Marie's Mixed Media Brushstrokes kit and the sun rays from the Drizzle collab by Lynne-Marie, Syrin, and Holly Designs. Both are available at Catscrap.

DIG

Shinedown's "Second Chance" Shot Locally!

2009-01-21T12:01:00.003-05:00

It's a Billboard hit, too. This video was filmed right in my local area and the young boy in the clip is actually the son of a friend of mine!

'Second Chance' by Shinedown

I'm on Lynne-Marie's Creative Team!!

2009-01-08T21:13:00.005-05:00

I'm very excited to be on Lynne-Marie's CT.......her designs totally rock! She sells at Catscrap, and also at Zig Zag Scrap. However, this month she is the Guest Designer at Scrap Orchard!! She teamed up with Irene Alexeeva on this quirky, fabulous collab called Land of Odds

Here's a LO from me.......

Lynne-Marie also has some new word art products available......including one with desktop/quick pages.....you HAVE to check these out! The link to Lynne-Marie's store at Catcrap is HERE.

Loving this!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a Quick Page sample from me...

"White Christmas"

2008-12-30T07:53:00.003-05:00

Well, here in Florida we don't have snow, but with such white sand......it almost looks like snow! We've been having glorious weather here....

Wishing everyone happy holidays and a very Happy New Year!

Credits: Snowman and bar code courtesy of Dawn Inskip's gift to loyal customers and CT.