How Much Have You Accomplished While Cropping?

You will notice I have changed my Crop Counts around. What's my Crop Counts? It's where I keep track of how many layouts and photos I scrap at crops. It's located on the left side on the bottom.

It's interesting to see how much I accomplish. I can definitely tell which crops I seriously prepared for. Lately, I haven't been cropping my photos before the crop and that is a HUGE mistake. It's a total time killer at a crop! I spent about an hour a day cropping photos. That's way too much time. This is something I do occasionally while watching tv at night. I need to do that more often.

I've also noticed that instead of matching up my cardstock to my papers before I leave my house I am getting a lot less accomplished. Yes, it takes me about two hours at home, but I pack for about 60-70 layouts this way. I also don't have to drag around the rolling tote full of cardstock and another one full of paper. I felt like He-Man the last to crops. I needed some serious muscle power to left those totes up.

Where am I going with this? I was kind of bummed over my counts until I realized the numbers were dropping like a rock because I was being a slacker. Then while cropping in North Carolina I decided I needed to stop thinking about how many layouts I made.

I have been using anywhere from three to eight photos on a two page spread so why was I so hung up on getting fewer layouts done? When I was scrapping Cape Hatteras, it was all two 4"x6" photos on each page. In my world, it was B-O-R-I-N-G! Now, that works for many people and that's great! We're all different and unique. I would love to figure out how I can crop my ocean and beach photos without them looking like a three year old got a hold of the scissors. If you have any tips, PLEASE share them!

 So I started thinking about how many photos I was actually scrapping. And my numbers have really gone up! I may not come home with as many layouts needing to be embellished, but I am working through that mountain of photos that need to be scrapped. That is more important to me.

Here's my challenge to you.....stop thinking about layouts! Instead focus on how many photos are now scrapped, preserved forever, and no longer living in your computer. Watch your photo pile shrink over a weekend. It's very liberating.

Go to a crop with a plan. Figure out ahead of time what you want to scrap and only bring those items with you. Count up your photos when you pack for your crop. Write it down and put it with your photos. Just before you pack up to go home, count up the photos you have left and the photos you scrapped. Remember, every photo doesn't need to be scrapped. It's ok to throw away a printed photo. I do all the time....blurry ones, kid's picking their noses (ummmm I don't need to treasure that moment in time), etc. I also don't need five photos of the exact same thing at the exact same angle so those get pitched as well. Don't panic! You still have the digital copy or the negatives if you're using film.

Whatever you do, do NOT EVER delete the digital image!!!! Save a backup somewhere just in case! I say this because I know someone whose house burned down and she didn't keep backups. She printed and scrapped everything. She was up to date and current with her albums. Man, I wish I knew her secret! But she lost everything when she lost her home. She felt she didn't need to have a backed file of her digital images since everything was scrapped. I am not sure which she felt worse about - losing her house or all of her photos. She beat herself up pretty bad about the photos.

So for this reason alone - if you can't find any other - please keep a copy of your photos on dvds, an external hard drive, a cd, on a cloud (a digital cloud like Me from Apple), etc and keep a copy in a safe deposit box or at a relatives house. That way you will always have your photos no matter what happens in life. Yes, it's more work, but it's work you can walk away from. You can let your photos copy while making dinner, doing dishes or laundry, walking the dog, tucking the kids in bed, taking a shower or a bath, watching American Idol or The Bachelor or whatever fancies you, getting the mail, washing your car (please come was mine when your'e done! :D), dusting (wait, do people really do that?), playing with the kids outside, etc. You don't need to babysit your computer while it does the copying.

Until next time *

Pack light! Your back will thank you!

Cat's Out of the Bag

I can now let the cat out of the bag and tell you what's up! I had to take a mini hiatus from paper crafting. Shocking and hard to believe, I know. But it's true.

You see, I was gearing up to go on a road trip and go home for a quick visit after I went to Crop on the Cape (which was wicked awesome!). I had to bring Christmas presents with me.....ummmm two years worth. Yeah, I am not a huge fan of this shipping gifts to family. I like to see them open them!

There were three lap quilts on my list of things to finish before I went to New York. Thankfully I did finish them all. I finished the last one the morning I left.

I finally got to take the long arm machine quilting class at my local quilt shop. I machine quilted one of the quilts on my sewing machine and it's not fun. I quilted the other two at the end of my class and wow was it speedy! It would have taken me hours on my sewing machine and it took about 30 minutes to set up and quilt each lap quilt. Zoom zoom baby!

First up is my sister-in-law's quilt. She likes pink just a tad so I went with chocolate and pink fabrics for her quilt. All three quilts are the same pattern except I made hers larger by adding an additional row. Sure made some good times for me with math. Math and I don't get along. Oh remember, you can click on the photos and the will open in another screen much larger.

Next up is the quilt I made for my oldest nephew. He likes baseball just a little bit. His face was priceless when he unwrapped the quilt. The back of the quilt is all stars. He loves stars. Every night he looks for stars with his mom. I didn't know that and was totally taken aback by the excitement. I knew he'd be excited about baseball, but he was much more excited about the stars.

The photos we took really don't capture the excitement in his eyes. Seeing that was priceless and well worth the 15 hour 17 minute drive to his house. His reaction made the trip totally worth it. I didn't even need to go to Cape Cod after that. My trip was made.

The last quilt is for my youngest nephew who's still a toddler. The last time I saw this little guy he was only six weeks old! My goodness he is getting big. He's walking and talking now. Oh and he blows kisses. That was just adorable when I left my sister-in-law's house to go to North Carolina for my next crop.

I've called this nephew "My Little Linebacker" since he was born. He was a very big baby especially since my sister-in-law is a very tiny girl. The Linebacker was also excited about his quilt and kept pointing to the large squares and talking. I have no idea what he was saying, but he was one happy little dude!

Sorry there won't be any photos of the boys and their mom posted with their quilts. I don't post photos of children online. There are just too many crazy people out there! If you are family or a close friend, email me and I will show you the photos. Some people don't like this rule of mine, but you never know who's watching or reading and I would like to keep the kids safe. Their safety is much more important to me than complaining grown-ups.

Back to the quilts. I made two of them in two weeks. One quilt I need to complete. They all were in different stages of completedness. Completedness? Did I just make up a new word? Hmmm....it's been one of those days. The toddler quilt was started back when he was a baby. The baseball quilt took me forever to find all of the fabric. I searched for well over a year. Who knew I would have such a hard time with something as common and simple as baseball?

There will be much more to come! I have lots to tell about my very long trip. It was a wonderful trip and I was sad to go home. Leaving New York was very difficult, but I didn't cry leaving my sister-in-law's house which I am very happy to report. I won't tell you how much I cried through New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia though. It was probably a bit easier leaving her house with my nephew in school and the other one blowing me kisses. I've now lived in South Carolina for 2 years minus a week and the homesickness definitely has not gotten better. It's making me rethink this whole living in South Carolina thing!

Until next time *

Miss someone? Tell them! You never know how happy they will be to here it. They miss you, too.

PS If there are some typos, please forgive me. My one eye is swollen and feels like something bit me. Things are a tad fuzzy visually today. I tried to catch everything, but if I missed something, please go easy on me. I have ice on my eye as I type this one handed and one eyed. No easy feat I tell you!

Organization 2012

Ready, Set, Go!

Yeah, that's how I've kicked off 2012. I spent several hours planning and researching the internet for just the right storage pieces. My studio has lost the warehouse look it once had. Can't say that's a bad thing.

Once my research was complete and I had come up with an affordable plan, it was off to Ikea, Target, and Lowe's. Ikea is 2 1/2 hours away from me so I really had to have trip all planned out. I walked in with a list and somehow managed to find everything. I even found a few items that weren't on my list that were perfect for my newly redecorated studio.

Photos and details will be forth coming. I'm putting everything away first. It looks like a paper factory exploded in my dining room right now.

Once everybody has a new home, it's onto my super nerdy organization project. I am making a binder that lists every marker, stamp, Stickles, ink pads, re-inkers, etc I have so I stop buying dupes. I'm also making a list of my paper packs so I can match up my embellishments with them.

Yup, I'm getting all nerdy about organization this year. I feel like it's time.

Until next time *

When was the last time you could see the floor in you crafty space?

Long Time No See

Sorry for my absence. I had finals a huge project in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign due just before Christmas. Some students finished in two hours. I took a week. This project was my grade in two classes. Those two classes were 10 credits! I was freaking out!

The good news is I passed! Not only did I pass, I passed with flying colors. I ended up with a 4.0 GPA. I was shocked and ecstatic.

Then Christmas and New Year's came and went. Tons and tons to do then! Strangely, winter has never arrived here in South Carolina. It's been warm. The drought is still here and not getting any better unfortunately.

My quilt guild is doing well. I've got lots of quilting projects going on. I even became the Chairperson of the Quilt Show and the guild's scrapbook. Yup, a little on the crazy side I am!

Not much paper crafting going on unfortunately. Hopefully, next week that will pick up! My crop schedule has diminished to just about nothing sadly. The store I cropped at every other week closed just before Christmas. It was just over an hour away, but it was the closest place. Now, there's nothing. :(

I did just spend a fabulous weekend cropping away in Winston-Salem. My next crop isn't until March and then I have two of them. They're about a thousand apart though. I'll get to see my friends on Cape Cod and scrapbook with my sister-in-law like the old days!

I've also become addicted to Pinterest! Oh it's the coolest thing. Let me know if you need an invitation.  On the right hand side, you can see my account and you can follow me.

Until next time *

Get your craft on!

PS. Ooh for Christmas, I got a new super spiffy DSLR Canon camera! It's my birthday present, too. It's purdy!

Pink Journey

Exciting news! I know many folks have been waiting a long time for this to happen. Provo Craft has released the Pink Journey cartridge! It's no longer exclusive to Michael's and the Pink Cricut Expression. Finally!

I just received mine today. I purchased mine from Cricutmachine.com. They had a Black Friday sale and I received free shipping. Not sure what the shipping deal is currently. The price is currently $24.95 which I'm thrilled with! 

Provo Craft also has Pink Journey. They have it for $34.99 and it's currently out of stock. :( 

Provo Craft has the Pink Cricut Expression. It is $179 and comes with Pink Journey. 

The cartridge is even pink! I'm so excited that this is finally available! 

Happy shopping!

Until next time *

Be sure to support Breast Cancer Month next October!

Fantastic Post!

I don't normally post about other blog's I read that aren't paper crafting related, but this one is too good to pass up! Being an artist or crafter or whatever name you give yourself is a rough job. Most of us will never make a million bucks a year....sure we can dream! :)

I've attended many craft fairs over the years. I've been a shopper and a vendor. Being a vendor is so much harder than you could ever imagine. You have to get there a few hours before the event. Drag your 800 million pounds of awkward items through rain, sleet, snow, 100 degrees through parking lots half a mile away up four flights of stairs down narrow hallways....And NO I'm not exaggerating at all! I've done this several times. It's not exactly a blast. And remember when you're all done, then you get to the same exactly thing only this time in the reverse. This occurs many hours later after you've stood all day and tried to earn a living.

I won't even go into the rude comments. Some people are just so nasty. One time I had a guy scream at me for charging sales tax. Don't blame me! I don't like paying it either. The state requires it and if I don't pay it, they will put me in jail. So yeah you're paying me for the tax because I don't like stripes or concrete walls.

You will see on this blog that I do love Etsy. I shop on there several times a week. I have even found a few photographers on Facebook that I follow. I have purchased several of their photos. Yes, to some people $3 for a photo of a momma black bear and her four cubs playing in the Smoky Mountains might seem like a lot. But I know she had to spend at least $3 in gas to get there! Not to mention the hours she spent waiting patiently for a bear to wander around, her camera equipment, the equipment to print the photo, her website, etc. Just a trip to the mountains would cost me four hours to get there and another four home and over $80 in gas with no guarantee of seeing a single bear. I've been there several times and have never seen a bear of any kind except stuffed ones.

Ok so back to why I wrote this post.....a fellow crafter was recently treated rudely by a customer at a craft fair and she/he wrote a fantastic blog post about it. Really you should read this. Everyone - not just crafters/artists - should read this.

She/he received so many comments that they wrote a second post about the situation.

Until next time *

Be sure to support your local small businesses this holiday season!

Photo Sales!

Snapfish:
Use coupon code PENNYNOV and get 500 4" x 6" prints for 1 cent each. Yup 500 prints for 5 bucks. Expires 12/3/11.

Winkflash:
Coupon code ONLY6CENTS will get 6 cent 4" x 6" prints! This discount is unlimited. So if you need to print two thousand pics like I do at times this is a good deal. Expires 12/5/11

Until next time *

Print your photos! Don't keep them starved for attention in your computer!