Designing for Daisy Bucket!!

So now how cool is this?? Yep, I am privileged to announce that I will be doing design work for Daisy Bucket Designs, a GREAT scrapbook product manufacturer out of Oregon. The papers have a fabulous texture and are so easy and fun to work with. Be sure to check out the website at http://www.daisybucketdesigns.com.

I've just returned from a great vacation in northern Wisconsin and have been busy ALL day plowing through the piles of mail, and reading more emails than I even imagined. I guess that's the price of 3 glorious weeks away from home and my computer. So worth it!

I took so many photos on my vacation . . . now to the uploading and sorting. Talk more soon!

I FINALLY updated the look of my blog!!

I know, you all were probably thinking I was living in the stone ages of blogging . . . still using my cute Blogger Blue Template for the longest time :) . Well, today is a new day. It took me a few tries to get the sizing down for the header and figure out the sidebar and such. BUT, I did it!!!! And now that I know how to do it, I can update it more often. Wooo Hooo!!

So some things going on with me....
I taught a scrap class on Monday night. Tons of fun with some wonderfully talented women. I get so energized by teaching these classes. Literally, I am awake for hours at night after everyone goes home. Scrapbooking and people make me happy - you put the two together and I am silly with joy.

I stopped by Memories & Beyond on Wednesday to pick up the layout that I taught last month (the birthday one) because I have to package it up and send it off to Memory Makers Magazine. Yep, that is right . . . it will be gracing the pages of the October 2007 Idea Gallery issue of the magazine. I am super excited to have it published. The only tricky thing with it is there is a group photo of all the kids that were at the birthday party. Now I am busy running around town getting signed Model Release forms from all these parents. crazy.

While I was in the store, I decided to pick out the papers for my June class. The theme will be "Graduation". I found some great graduation papers by Moxxie that are black and white and very cool. I think the line is versatile enough to work with preschool all the way up to Ph.D. graduations :). Now I just need to get to work on the design. In case anyone attending my June class is reading, the paper colors I will be using are pumice (which is a stone gray color), white, black and one other color of your choosing (mine will be blue). I'll try to post a picture here when it is complete.

H went in for Kindergarten Roundup today. Basically to meet the teachers, see her classroom, and simply try to alleviate some of the stress in beginning school next fall. Stress? Nope, not H. She would have loved to get started today. She was sad it only lasted for an hour. So funny the differences between a first and second child. She had her Kindergarten shots at the doctor on Wednesday and handled it like a champ - didn't even cry. She was rewarded for her bravery with a new Littlest Pet Shop animal :).

5 Minutes of "Fame"

The Chicago Tribune article was published today! It is a great article about scrapbooking and the Iron Chef competition that I posted about a few entries down.

Here is the text of the article by Trine Tsouderous:

Scrapbook smackdown!

2 experts. 1 hour to create 1 boffo page each.

Ladies, grab your curvy cutters and let's scrap!

By Trine Tsouderos l Tribune staff reporterPublished April 5, 2007

Welcome to At Play's "Iron Chef"-style Scrapbook Challenge.We pitted two pro scrapbookers representing two eminent scrapbooking shops against one another in a bloody (you read right) duel to the death (OK, not to the death).Who will bleed for her art? Who will distress until she can distress no more? Whose scrapping will reign supreme?You may be scratching your head at this point, especially if you don't know a pop dot from a tape strip or pinking shears from a Curvy Cutter. You may be thinking, how obscure, this scrapping challenge.But no. Scrapbooking is huge. Armed with their Making Memories Craft Knives, scrapbookers are ribboning, gluing and cropping their way across the U.S. The industry's must-read magazine, Creating Keepsakes, estimates that one in four of today's households scrapbook, well over 4 million more than in 2001, spending $2.5 billion annually on materials like buttons, cardstock and scissors.And they're turning to their computers more and more to help create those pages, according to Creating Keepsakes editor Tracy White. Digital scrapbooking is big, White says. "It is opening it up to another demographic. The millennials have grown up on technology. It maybe feels like a more comfortable medium for them."And, she says, gone are the days of albums dedicated to Dad, the kids and the dog but not Mom. "After years of telling people 'You are important too, you need to be in the album too,' more moms are getting in front of the camera," she says. "That is one of the most exciting things I am seeing."So pick up your Whale of a Punch's Daisy Punch and get ready to rumble -- er, scrap!

The rules

We gave each scrapbooker 60 minutes to complete one page. At the start of competition, each scrapbooker was given the same 10 black-and-white and color photos (taken by Tribune travel writer Alan Solomon on a trip to Argentina) and the same theme (vacation to Argentina). Each scrapbooker could use materials and tools from the store where she teaches to create a page.

The contestants

Bethany Denton, 26, of Cortland. Denton teaches scrapbooking at The Scrap Shack (2422 W. Main St., St. Charles; 630-377-8912, www.thescrapshack.com) and has been scrapbooking since she was 17. Denton brought her 1-month-old son, her sister and her sister's 1-month-old daughter for support. Pros and cons? Her ties to her home state of Utah, the scrapbooking capital of the world, could give her an edge but her newborn son may be a distraction.

Connie Tameling, 34, of Wheaton. Tameling teaches scrap classes at Memories & Beyond (1400-C 75th St., Downers Grove; 630-271-0610, www.memoriesbeyond.com) and Scrapbook Source (557 W. North Ave.; 312-440-9720, www.scrapbooksourceinc.com). Tameling brought her stores' owner, Alice Myk, for support. Pros and cons? Tameling's artistic skills are formidable, but she doesn't have an adorable son in the room to score cute points with the judge.

the judge

Jennifer Adams Donnelly, 32, of Crestwood. Donnelly is a 2006 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Famer, which is like winning an Academy Award in the scrapbooking industry, as well as an editorial board member of Digital Scrapbooking magazine. Donnelly's pages are very clean, often focusing on just one or two beautiful photos. She doesn't clutter up pages with a lot of doodads. Often, her sense of humor shows up in her designs.

The Scrapbooking Stadium:

Ann Landers' old office in Tribune Tower, now the Chicago Tribune's Media Room, which has a table big enough to hold two active scrapbookers.

The competition

12:15 p.m.: We hand Denton and Tameling each a packet of photos and announce the theme.

Tameling plugs in her earphones, queuing up the "Dreamgirls"' soundtrack on her iPod. Both bend over the table, studying the photos. A hush falls over the room."Now they are viewing the photos and deciding which will be incorporated in the page," says Myk. "They are figuring out the colors, what to highlight from the vacation."Both babies are dream-baby quiet.

12:24 p.m.: Denton has an ink pad out and is "distressing" the edges of some paper. When asked what she is using to do it, every scrapper in the room chimes in: "Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad." This must-have tool in most serious scrappers' tool kits is essential for adding texture. Denton pulls out some chipboard letters, which are letters that can be popped out and stuck to a page. She is holding an O, an L and an E. "I hope I know my Spanish," she says.

12:28 p.m.: Tameling whips out baby wipes, wiping her fingers free of glue and paint as Denton sands some paper with a paper scuffer, which is a rough block that gives paper some texture. The scrapbookers in the room agree all serious scrappers carry baby wipes.

12:30 p.m.: Tameling gets out a Curvy Cutter. It's a hot tool these days -- a series of circular tracks with a blade that makes cropping photos into different size circles easy.Donnelly watches the contestants work with the photos: "I would have been on cloud nine with those photos."

12:31 p.m.: Injury! Tameling holds up an index finger dripping blood. "Does anyone have a Band-Aid?" she asks. The Curvy Cutter is the culprit. We halt the competition and search for a Band-Aid.

12:34 p.m.: "I'll be just fine," Tameling says, bandaging her finger.Denton jokes: "Now she's going to have the pity point!"Tameling laughs: "You have the kid! I have to work some angle."

12:35 p.m.: We restart competition, promising to add five minutes to the end.

12:36 p.m.: After wiping some blood off a photo, Tameling arranges red buttons on her page while Denton readies some "nutmeg" colored paint. "I love my paint," she says as she dabs some on one of the letters.

12:42 p.m.: "The pages are starting to come together," Myk says.Denton stares at hers. "I have been known to rip mine up and start over," she says. "I probably go through four or five layers of design before I decide what to do."

12:43 p.m.: Tameling strips a red ribbon across the bottom of her page. Her design is graphic and very red and black. Bethany's is more pink, orange and tan.Denton says she wanted to bring a "Cricut" machine to make professional-looking die-cut letters. And, she also considered bringing a sewing machine, something she uses to add extra dimension to her pages. To scrapbookers, these two tools are what a Scotty Cameron putter is to golfers.

12:46 p.m.: Despite the injury, Tameling says brightly, "This is very doable. I'm starting to get into a groove."Denton is pulling apart bits of her design, repositioning things.

12:50 p.m.: Denton is having some doubts. So is Donnelly. "Will it be hard to judge?" she says, looking at both unfinished pages. "Oh yes."

12:51 p.m.: Denton is back to distressing. "I love to distress," she says. Tameling, meanwhile, is using pop dots to pop photos off the page a bit. She glues another strip of ribbon to her red ribbon.

12:52 p.m.: Bethany is cutting some ribbon. It's checkered and brown.

12:56 p.m.: Both women are playing with ribbons. Tameling decoratively staples the page and begins arranging chipboard letters to spell out, "Argentina Adventure." Denton dabs some more paint on letters that spell out "Ole."

1:05 p.m.: Just 15 minutes left. Both pages are nearly finished. "I feel like there are some more things I want to do with it," Tameling says. "So I will just continue until the time is up."

1:06 p.m.: It is some kind of miracle that both newborns have not fussed a minute during the competition. Perhaps this is not a surprise. They are born scrapbookers with Utah in their blood.

1:09 p.m.: Tameling is adding rub-ons (a little like fake tattoos) to her page as Denton ties a little ribbon to the "e" in Ole."

1:10 p.m.: Denton is done, she announces. "Of course, in my head, there are three different ways to have finished it." Tameling, meanwhile, is gluing tiny jewels to her buttons.

1:20: Time's up!Donnelly moves between the two contestants, studying the designs. "These are both very beautiful," she says.After some deliberation, she picks Tameling's bold, bejeweled, red, black and red page."This is a showstopper," Donnelly says, adding that she loves Tameling's choice and use of multiple photos of couples doing the tango. "This page is more lively and it has more movement. It has glitz and gems. It has a dramatic color scheme."And, most importantly, Tameling's page tells a story, she says. Donnelly says she always looks for pages to tell a story, and Tameling's did, with her emphasis on the tangoing couple.Turning to Denton's, Donnelly says, "Bethany's is much softer and gentler. She picked a lot of sun-worn colors. She used the simple word 'Ole.' It was not quite as dramatic. But I love the orange and the repeating threes -- three letters, three photos, three colors."Tameling, who learned a few days after the contest that she had won an Honorable Mention in the Creating Keepsakes 2007 Hall of Fame, says she was a little thrown by the photos and the theme and that none of the patterned papers she brought would work for her."I had to go back to basics," she says. And then ribbon, jewel, scallop, button and staple the basics into a winning design.

Cut and paste these 10 tips

Entering a scrapbooking store can be daunting, especially for a beginning scrapbooker. There are thousands of choices. What to buy? At Play asked Jennifer Adams Donnelly, a Creating Keepsakes 2006 Hall of Fame winner, one of the industry's most prestigious honors, for the 10 must-haves for traditional and digital scrapbooking:For traditional scrapbooking* Buy a good paper cutter. Look for one that cuts a very fine, neat edge; has good markings for measurements and can cut thick and thin paper equally well. Also, look for one that's portable. "Scrapbooking is a social thing for a lot of people," Donnelly said. You want to be able to carry it around in a bag. A good one will cost $15-$25.* Get some cardstock. Cardstock is thicker than regular paper, and it's a good, solid start for pages, Donnelly said. "Usually people start with plain cardstock as a foundation for the page ... You can make a whole page with just cardstock and get an amazing design." Start with basics and neutrals like white and black and then add colors. Cardstock is sold by the sheet or in packages, usually for between 25 cents to 50 cents a sheet. Donnelly likes Bazzill cardstock.* Pick up some basic marking pens. These are essential for journaling on your pages, Donnelly said. Look for a good quality marker that will give you a very fine line, but won't fade or smudge. Buy black, brown, red, blue and white, she said. "The perfect white marking pen is the Holy Grail of scrapbooking." Most white pens tend to work well for two pages and then the ink stops flowing smoothly, she said. Donnelly likes Uni-ball Signo white pens. Marking pens generally run $1.50-$2.* Stock up on adhesive. This is a must-have and there are literally hundreds of choices. Donnelly relies on a basic adhesive runner, which is like a very accurate tape dispenser, by 3M Scotch for most jobs. The tool looks a little like a Wite-Out runner, but is filled with double-sided adhesive tape. "They are just very convenient," she said. "It's not perfect for all materials, but it is a good all-purpose one." Donnelly buys hers for four for $10 at stores such as Sam's Club.For digital scrapbooking (scrapbooking pages done partially or entirely on the computer)* Invest in a good photo quality printer. Donnelly bought hers -- an Epson -- at Sam's Club for about $80. It prints beautiful photos, she said, and didn't cost a bundle.* Buy quality photo paper. The most important thing, she said, is to match the paper brand to the printer.* Match the ink too. If you have an Epson printer, buy Epson ink, Donnelly said, adding, "I do not recommend the generic refills."* Buy great software. The most popular is Adobe Photoshop, a program that will allow you to do just about anything to photos and digital pages. You can crop, stretch or fade photos; tweak colors; turn a person's green eyes brown; match the background to someone's hair color and more. "Photoshop leads the pack in consumer grade software," Donnelly said. Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 even has features in it designed for digital scrapbookers, she said. Photoshop Elements 5.0 runs about $100.* Trade your mouse for a pen tablet. Once you do a lot of graphic design on your computer, you're going to want to upgrade from a mouse to a pen tablet, which is essentially a little pad with a "pen" that acts as a mouse, she said. "It lets you have more control. And it saves your wrists." Donnelly uses one by Wacom. Small versions are sold for about $100.For everybody* Conjure up a good story. Don't stop at the who, what, when, where and why of the event. Tell that extra story. If you have photos from a soccer game and your daughter scored her first goal, make sure the page focuses on that, she said. Donnelly tries to find one or two photos that capture the story. "It takes one photo to trigger that memory and illustrate it," she said.-- Trine Tsouderos

Some scrap stops

The scrapbook industry has boomed in recent years, with stores opening up in just about every 'burb and neighborhood. Even Target now stocks several aisles of scrapbooking materials. Here are some stores around the Chicago area:Archiver's Scrapbooking Store, 15758 S. LaGrange Rd., Orland Park; 708-364-1422, www.ar chiversonline.com (check Web site for other locations)Creative Scrapbooks & More, 2527 W. Golf Rd., Hoffman Estates; 847-882-8142, www.creative scrapbooksandmore.netLi'l Scrapper, 19 W. Rand Rd., Arlington Heights; 847-392-1377, www.lilscrapper.com (another location in Algonquin)Memories, 701 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills; 847-247-8219, www.memories.comMemories & Beyond, 1400 C 75th St., Downers Grove; 630-271-0610, www.memoriesbeyond .comMore than Memories, 20 E. Golf Rd., Schaumburg; 847-755-0861, www.morethanmemorie sonline.comScrapbook Lane, 3033 Theodore, Joliet; 815-577-6789, www.scrapbooklane.netThe Scrap Shack, 2422 W. Main St., St. Charles, 630-377-8912, www.thescrapshack.comScrapbook Source, 557 W. North Ave., 312-440-9720, www.scrapbooksourceinc.comThanks For The Memories, 737 W. Illinois Highway 22, Lake Zurich; 847-438-8322, www.thanks-4-the-memories.comWindy City Scrapbooking, 2265 N. Clybourn Ave.; 773-935-0585, www.windycityscrapboo king.com-- Trine Tsouderos

Here is a photograph of my layout, using photos provided by the Chicago Tribune's travel writer Alan Solomon:

It was so much fun participating in this competition. What an honor!

Thanks for letting me share :) !!

Hall of Fame HM!!

I guess if there is a day to update my blog, this would be the day to do it!! I still can't believe I have been named a Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame Honorable Mention for 2007 :) . Look at me, I'm giddy!!! Will anything really change in my life because of this? Probably not. In fact after hanging up with Fred Brewer, an Editor at CK, I posted a bit of sillyness online and then got back to scrubbing toilets and vacuuming my kitchen floor LOL!

We hosted some friends at our house tonight for dinner. A whole mess of people and kids . . . crazy loud, but fun as always.

I've got ideas swirling around in my head for the layout I will be teaching in April at Memories & Beyond . . . but hands haven't gone to the paper yet. So I officially bailed and will have to turn to that after Spring Break. Bummer because I really wanted to get it up and available at the store before I left, but it just doesn't seem to be in the cards (at least not if I actually want to sleep and care for my children properly, which I do).

So it is almost midnight and reality is going to strike early tomorrow when life continues as normal. Off to bed . . .

A cute card

So I'll admit I'm a wee bit creatively tapped out . . . between CK Hall of Fame entries, classes, DT stuff, and then the Tribune contest . . . it has been a whirlwind month. Don't get me wrong, all totally fun and fulfilling things. But just leaving me a bit drained on the inspiration side. I thought that a card might be a good way to do a little something creative without investing a great deal of time or energy. Lea, over at Scrappin Trends, is also a DT member for Card Positioning Systems -- a sketch site for cardmakers. Anyway, she linked us all to her fabulous card today and the most recent sketch. Be sure to check it out -- her cards always ROCK! The bottom line, I decided to give the sketch a try. Take a look:

You can check out the sketch here: http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2007/03/cps-5-and-designs.html

Turns Out . . .

. . . . I can actually scrapbook a layout in 60 minutes!! So today was the day when I headed to the Tribune building for the Iron Chef of Scrapbooking contest (see post below). I arrived armed with an entire arsenal of scrapbooking supplies and tools to try to tackle whatever photos and surprise theme were handed my way.

The first half hour or so was spent with chit chat, a bit of interviewing, photographing and videotaped question/answer time. Then the clock started and we looked at the 10 photos and were told the theme (I probably shouldn't disclose until after the article comes out) -- not at all what I was expecting!!! But, hey, that is o.k. I popped on my iPod tunes and set to work . . . all while the photographer and videographer did their thing (relentlessly). The clock ticked away and it turns out that I liked the end product. I finished just as the time ran out.

Oh, and I almost forgot the funniest part. Not long into the time, I cut my finger on my circle cutting blade - lovely. It bled as if I had chopped off my entire finger. Too funny. So the journalist went looking for a bandaid while I kept it wrapped in a baby wipe (since that is what I had on hand for cleaning ink off my hands). Precious moments ticked away while I stared at my layout and tried not to bleed on it LOL!! But in the end the Tribune gave us about 5 extra minutes to compensate for the lost time. Oh so very kind.

So, I think I mentioned in my previous post that Jennifer Adams Donnelly (CK HOF 2006) was the judge. First off . . . she is so sweet and wonderfully authentic. I loved that she decided to show up and watch the entire competition and didn't just pop in at the end to judge the final product. She had wonderfully gracious things to say about my layout and the other contestant's layout. But she had to pick a "winner" for purposes of the contest . . . be sure to read the entire article to see who she selected!!!

What surprised me most about the day was how much fun I had. Yep, definitely had adrenaline rushing at times during the competition. But, honestly, that is a feeling I rather like. What a wonderful experience all together.

The Chicago Tribune says that the article is tentatively scheduled to be the cover story for the "At Play" section in the March 29th or April 5th publication (that section of the paper only runs on Thursdays). I'll keep you posted as I learn more.

Fun Opportunity!!

My LSS owner called me last night to ask if I would participate in an event that the Chicago Tribune (Chicago's largest newspaper) is putting together next week. They are calling it the Iron Chef of Scrapbooking LOL!! Apparently I will be matched up with one other scrapbooker from another LSS and we will be given 10 photos, a "surprise theme" and 60 minutes to create a layout. Then Jennifer Adams Donnelly (CK HOF 2006) will be the judge. I have to pick out supplies from my LSS without knowing the photos or theme and bring them along to work with. The Tribune is using this event as a way to create a feature about the scrapbooking industry and local scrapbooking stores. It is tentatively scheduled to be the cover story of the At Play section of the paper on March 29th.

It should be fun, but I am frightened of the 60 minute time limit!!! I am soooooooo not a fast scrapper !!