live, love, laugh, create

Wordplay # 14 is up!

Jill has a new wordplay challenge up on her blog! Check it out:

"This week "feeling is first".
Grab a photo.
Write down three emotions that come to mind.
Put each emotion into a sentence, filling those sentences with words that capture your feelings in their rawest form. Don't worry about paying "attention to the syntax of things" -- just let it out.

Then scrap it!"

 

Good stuff! So many photos to choose from! If you are interested in her past challenges 1-13 you can find them here .

 

Thanks for stopping by!

I've been tagged, so get ready to get tagged by me!

I got a sweet comment on my blog on Monday from the one and only Sudie Alexander ofUnkit. She tagged my blog.....how nice.....how flattering.....

she listed my blog as one of her top 10! So now I have to tag 10 of my favorite blogs. I have quite a few listed on my blog and so many others that I read via the blog threads on 2 peas. I have to say that  on a good day I can  read 30 or more blogs!

So here are 10 of my favorites in no particular order:

Suzanne Quillen

Suzanne's cooking blog

Sherelle Christensen

Wordplay Challenge Blog

The Creative Junkie

Sharyn Tormanen

Lisa Pace

Stephanie Howell

Lisa Tutman Oglesby

Karen Russell

Thanks for stopping by!

A Prima contest entry

I created this LO based on a sketch from the Prima blog. I stumbled on it via Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and really liked the sketch so decided to take a shot at entering Prima's Build-a Page LO contest. 

 

I really like the colors of it a lot. I used some Bazzil cardstock and some Me and My Big Ideas patterned papers that I picked up at M's, along with the Prima flower. The patterned paper is really a nice assortment of patterns and some die cuts but it really has a funky smell to it. P-U!! The swirls were made with a template from The Crafter's Workshop. I really miss Jaimie's store! I actually contemplated buying it but got cold feet really fast-and that was well before the economy tanked and LSSs went belly up from the inability to compete with the big box stores. Anyway, take a look at the April contest entries here. There are some really talented people out there. I was in awe over the entries and know that I have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but I'm glad I submitted and probably will again.

Thanks for stopping by!

Who Knew......

...that Kristina & Frank's wedding cake would have my blog name on it?!

Congratulations Kristina & Frankie! We love you guys!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Thoughtful Friends

My very talented and thoughtful scrappy friend Nancy Cornel made this cute little note pad for me. She said I shouldn't get too excited because it is a "total scraplift" but she saw it in a Scrapbook Trends magazine and thought of me. She even went as far as stopping at a Starbucks on the interstate when she was coming back from North Carolina where she spent a week at her vacation home.

 

So cool Nancy! It totally made my day!

Thanks for stopping by!

A LO to Share and a Spotlight on Talent

I had a great time at an all day crop on Saturday with Suzanne and Ruth and some other scrappy friends that I haven't seen in quite a while. 12 hours of uninterrupted scrapping is such a treat!

I got this LO done for a challenge on Molly Peckham's blog. There's some great sketches posted there for LO's and cardmaking, so check it out when you can!

 

I used some Chatterbox papers I had for quite some time. That's a thing with me-if I really like a paper line I'll buy several sheets of it for my stash. For this LO I used Chatterbox's Valentine Stripes and Rose Bouquet papers, some Bazzil Swiss Dot cardstock  in pink and white, a Making Memories die cut that I cut in half, and for embellies I used a couple of Heidi Swapp chipboard hearts, a hand cut doodle swirl that I made with a template from The Crafter's Workshop, the Fisker's threading water punch and some American Crafts Thickers. In case you're wondering, with the exception of the Chatterbox papers, you can find the supplies I used for this LO here and here.

If you go to a crop, can you pick out the "Hard Core Scrapper" in the group? How do you choose who it is? Could it be because they show up with their very own sewing machine?!

 

Yes, this is Suzanne happily creating another stunning LO. I am in awe of her work (and her cooking!). She is currently a designer forBad Girls Kits. I can't upload any of her work here without her permission, but I can certainly brag about her jaw dropping talent and link you to her latest blog post with her LO's from our all day crop! I like how she showed the pictures she was going to use and then showed the LO she created with those pictures. Stop over to her blog for some great inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wordplay Challenge #13 is up!!

Jill has a great challenge up on herblog! It's a challenge to use sensory language:

"This week's challenge is to use language to show, not tell. Describe a person, a place, an activity, or any subject, really, drawing upon your five senses to make your language as vivid as possible. Rather than say that something "smells good," share what you smell. Rather than say that something "tastes delicious," share what you taste. Rather than use words such as "pretty" or "beautiful," explain what you see. Be detailed. Be specific. "

Check out her LO and see how cool it is! You can click on it to make it larger. Be sure to to that so you can read her journaling!

I'm headed to an all day crop tomorrow and haven't even made my "to do" list yet! Yikes! I'm meeting up with Suzanne and a bunch of others I always crop with through Lasting Memories. I'm looking forward to 12 hours of uninterrupted scrapping!

Thanks for stopping by!

My profession, my "home"

I have had a few different employment positions in or related to nursing in the past 20 years of my career. I have had the pleasure of working in 2 hospitals, homecare, pediatric home care, hospice, camp nursing, office nursing and teaching. None have come close to the satisfaction, pride and sense of belonging that I feel as part of the nursing staff in the operating room ofMaria Fareri Childrens Hospital. We are a dedicated and cohesive group of professionals. The surgeons are top notch. We strive for standards of excellence when providing perioperative care to our pediatric patients. Each day we uphold the hospital's mission statement that promises to provide family- centered care with compassion. I am truly blessed and privilaged to work in such a beautiful facility.

On Sunday, April 19th, the Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital Foundation is having its annual walk-a-thon to raise monies for programs and equipment throughout the hospital. My coworkers and I have created Team Super Scrubs and will be walking on Sunday. Take a moment to visit my personal web page to see how you can help us meet our goal or how you can volunteer on Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Learning Curve

 

 

My nephew got married yesterday. He and his fiance were on a really tight budget and asked if I would be able to take pictures for them at a rate less than the quotes they received from 3 photographers. Of course I could beat the competitor's price....I took the pics for free as my gift to them for their wedding.

I currently shoot with a Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8 lens for everyday shots. I upgraded from the kit lens (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6) It has vibration compensation which is good for me since I hold the camera and don't use a tripod.

I rented a telephoto lens and a flash fromLensrentals.com. Their service was efficient, their staff accomodating and knowledgable. They were recommended by a blog friend Amy. Thanks Amy!

The lens was a Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 with vibration compensation. It's a great all around lens for what I needed it for. The flash was a Canon Speedlite 580EX. My camera body is a Canon Rebel XT. It was quite the impressive set up!I got asked a couple of times if I took photos professionally. Ha! Must be something about how I hold the camera...the last person who asked me that was a professional and he recriuted me to help him at a wedding!

So the title of this post comes from the fact that I was pleased with many of the shots I took yesterday(which I really can't share until I have permission), and disappointed with about 50-60 or so of the 612 I took. It's mostly issues with lighting. I'm wondering if it's just that the lighting in the rental hall was just too dim or if I needed to max out the ISO of my camera. Probably an issue with ISO, but I'll have to play around with that at another time.

Of all of the photos I took yesterday, the two at the beginning of this post are by far the best 2 of the lot. They are of my nephew's daughter. I am just in awe over how these 2 photos came out. They are  untouched/unedited but I love them just the way they are.

If you are interested in learning about photo editing, there is a course being offered on Debbie Hodge's site Get it Scrapped. It is actually an intermediate course for Photoshop, but if you have been using PSE  for basic editing and want to advance your skills then this is a good class for you to take.

Karen Russell is also an excellent resource for photography. She offers classes online and also travels a little to teach weekend classes. You can sign up for her newsletter here for free.

I hope all who celebrate Easter have a beautiful and enjoyable day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wordplay # 12 is up!

Wordplay challenge #12 is up on Jill's blog! I think this one will be a lot of fun. I'm sure at one point or another you've shared an inside joke or two with someone. Now you get to tell all about it or them! Here's the challenge from Jill's blog:

"This week's challenge is to gather up all of the inside jokes, nicknames, memorable events, and the miscellany that define one of the special relationships in your life. I used this approach on a layout that I made about my friend Angie back in 2007. Here' s a close-up of the journaling on this page."

You can see her LO and how much fun she had creating it. I think I'll have a lot of fun with mine. Bob and I have a few inside jokes that I can share and put in my Wordplay Journal.

Thanks for stopping by!