Set for Germany!

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 6 Comments

I think I have everything set for our trip to Germany and I’ve finally recuperated from this weekend!!

This past weekend we all went to the market and we all did go to London (yea, Savitri drove there and back, did the tube, and had a fabby time). We didn’t make it to the museum though. The girls and I didn’t wake up until 9 a.m. and by the time we were all ready to go it was 10:15 BUT we had so much fun window shopping and M thought Hamleys was wonderful. She did get to pick one item up — well threee, it was a 3-in-1 deal. How was Hamleys? It was big, four stories big, but I don’t think it’s as nice as FAO Schwarz (and probably as big too). I was surprised, even though we only went to the ground and third (girl) floor (fifth too if you count the toilet stop), I didn’t see any Le Toy Van’s stuff. It’s my favorite toy brand and a UK company. One thing is for sure, Hamleys is probably THE oldest toy store at 250-years-old!!

Then, between the market and London, Saturday night I participated in a virtual crop with some best blog female friends, bbff: Ashley Cannon Newells, Ayana Posada, Claudia Shadler, Laurel Beard, Naomi Chokr, and Sarah Martina Parker. There were also others who popped in just for a tad bit, Courtney Baker, Kelly Marie, Tiffany Johnson, Tina Fussell, and Paulina Nakamura (Kelly and Paulina I actually didn’t get to meet) and it was so much fun!! The above page was I made that night. I just got one thing done the six hours I was up with them (it was 9 p.m. – 3 a.m. for me) because we all were chit-chatting the first few hours. But hey, that’s normal for a crop, right?

As for the trip… I’ve decided to go with the B&B closest to everything and feel best about, Chardon Room, with a slight change of plan. We’ll only stay a night and then we will stay another night in the town of Bouillon, Belgium. I want to pass by, see what’s there, and plan another trip sometimes in the near future to see more of this place. There are TONS of awesome places in this region and one night doesn’t do justice. Now, here’s a tip for you… DO book your hotel early IF you have a family traveling to a touristy place on a weekend. I think I booked the last hotel in Bouillon. There are openings but they’re singles or small doubles. I got tired of emailing B&Bs and getting the “we’re full” replies so I just got us a room at this place called Hotel Cozy. Granted we can be lucky like we were in Germany and got probably THE last B&B to have a decent size bed I don’t want to chance it with Jovie.

I’ll tell you more about what I learned the past few researching for places to stay in Belgium for now, let’s just see the details of the page…

It’s a VERY simple page. I just added a few big stuff to make this layout interesting. The design came from Pencil Lines, sketch 200, but I didn’t follow their colors because I didn’t have anything complimenting that’d fit the photo.

For the corner there I just layered some My Little Shoebox chipboard. I almost used the whole package. The paper were scraps. I think it’s a bit of KI, My Mind’s Eyes, Prima, and Making Memories. The alphas were Cosmo Cricket and Prima.

Well, that’s it! I’ll share more later about Belgium!

Luv U

Posted on | August 17, 2010 | 9 Comments

Yesterday we went to Cambridge again and finished uniform shopping. I can’t wait to take some photos of her in her winter do. They’re just gray and black with white shirt/polo but she looked so smart and cute in them (she modeled for me). Total cost, shoes not included, was a tad bit less than £60. I think that was on the expensive side too because some people around here really know where to go for deals. I got her pinafore for £7 and I’ve heard people getting them for £5. I also bought some cute 3/4 sleeve shirts instead of just a pack of long sleeve shorts. I love my baby girl and I know how she loves to be fashionable… even in uniform.

Page details:

I wanted to finish an alpha set from Prima and didn’t have enough “e” for love and no “o” for you so did the above instead. The colors were inspired by Embellish Magazine: Cream, sea foam, peach, and kraft. As usual the page is pretty simple – it’s all about product placements – as required by the challenge. As for quirky… another requirement… hmm… I’ll have to fudge this one… but it’s cute, no?!?! Just Jovie’s picture qualifies me for the cute category, right? Or am I pushing it? {::SMILES}.

I love the burlap on this page. It just adds some nice texture. I got it from Etsy.

I got some Prima the other day at the scrapbook store on base. Usually I like to spread them out a bit, use a bit here and there, but today I feel like splurging and so I used the whole package for flowers on this page. I also used one of the two butterflies from another purchase. I love my 200 some yards of twine from Etsy. With the price I paid for, less than $2, I can use however much I want.

The butterfly was already stamped onto the tag. The tag came from a Scarlet Lime March’09 kit. The pattern paper is SEI. The splatters on Jovie’s face didn’t come from my paint splatters. Jovie is usually covered in ink. She loves to draw on M’s easel, on the whiteboard. I gave up telling her no because she’s so happy when she draws… or scribbles… on that thing.

Well, that’s all folks! I hope you have a great one! Tomorrow I’ll share a stamped card with ya!

Signing Time

Posted on | August 16, 2010 | 10 Comments

When I learn something or if I find something useful I feel the need to share and/or show somebody how to do it. When I am interested in something I research it to death. Hubby said it’s to the point of being overly overwhelming but he lets me be as long as he doesn’t have to hear every single detail or read a 100 page summary.

After I was pregnant with M I got a whiff of baby signing. I researched and researched, learn a few signs along the way, and concluded that it’s one of the best thing after diapers. Right now we’re focusing on signing with Jovie. Like most babies her age Jovie can’t speak (M was an exception, she babbled well and woke up talking one day at about 14.5-months). Jovie makes noises which some I can understand but for the most part she sounds like a little cave girl. The good news is that Jovie’s been really good about learning how to sign the last few days. Even though she got milk and change down the end of January it just recently clicked that all the different hand movements we’ve been doing mean something.

So here’s the educator in me sharing with you: If you’re expecting or have a little one I highly recommend teaching your baby how to sign. Research and personal experience have shown that signing does not slow speech development. M talked at 14-mo but she still signed until she was 18-mo because a few of her words I had a hard time understanding. M actually still signed a few words, “please” included, until she was three. She was a thumb sucker and she’d have her thumb in her mouth and politely ask for things with her other hand (cute at first but hubby and I decided that the thumb needed to be out of the mouth when asking for something). Jovie is much much happier now that she knows a few more words. When she wakes up she’ll ask for milk, then a change of diaper and then cereal. A few weeks ago she insisted on ice cream for breakfast. She’ll ask to go outside or to play. It’s wonderful!!

You don’t have to know American Sign Language. I didn’t. I just watched the videos, Signing Time or My Baby Can Talk, (this site has a wonderful video dictionary of different words) with M and we learned together. Plus it’s not like I was going to sign in full sentences. It was a word or two here and another one there. I did take a signing class just for fun last summer. It taught me a lot about ASL and and Signing Exact English (SEE) but that didn’t teach me a lot of new things in terms of baby signing. Do do do try this! So far Jovie knows: Milk, change, more, eat, cereal, outside, play, hot, cold (with “brrr” as the sound effect), sleep/night-night, ice cream, and potty. It’s a third less than what M knew but they’re better than nothing.

Here’s little Jovie showing off her teeth, cheesy smile and a few :

Page details:

Although the page might look complicated it actually wasn’t. It’s just the paper that’s busy. Then I added a bit here and there, mostly scraps, and came up with this piece. The left photo is of her saying “all-done“. The right is “more“. Both were not done correctly but that’s how Jovie signs.

This little corner was just layered with random bits of leftovers. They used to be a part of a Studio Calico kit (except for the flower and the doile) -- mostly Making Memories travel kit stuff. A little piece here a little there and voila.

I also want to show you this part. Just stickers here with the edges a bit curled or unglued. It wasn’t my idea. I guess cause the stickers are 2-3 years old the adhesive were non-existent. After I adhered the stickers started peeling off. I liked the peeled look and so I added more glue but just to half the side. This just gives the page a bit more 3D look.

That’s it! Oh, isn’t Jovie getting so big?!?! She’s looking more and more like her daddy… the prettier version.

Stamp Winner + Photo Tip

Posted on | August 12, 2010 | 6 Comments

It was so much easier to take a photograph of Jovie a few months ago. She was less jumpy, wiggly, and rambunctious. But now and then, after 10-20 shots, I’d get one good one. Thank goodness for digital, right? My tip for today isn’t how to make your moving child stay still (duct tape might help) but it’s about staying on their level.

When I take my kids’ photos I like to get down on their level. If you want to make them look small or helpless then getting a shot from the top is great but for fun kiddie shots that you want to scrapbook or hang on the wall you need to get down with them. Try it out and see how you like the results!

Although a nice camera is always nice, you get more control of your equipment and you can get better lenses too, other big parts of photography is how you use light (very important!!), post processing (from back in the film days to now this is a huge part of a photographer’s activity) and your own skills, point-of-view, and artistic feel. The same picture can look totally different based on how it’s cropped for example. The same model can look different based on the angle of the camera. I’ve seen photos using a point-and-shoot that looked like it was done using a high end camera. So taking nice photographs is not just for those with a nicer set of equipments.

Page Details:

I used the Color Room’s sketch and colors for this page, #18. It’s a very busy sketch but I think I toned it down just a tad bit. For the page I used some stickers and also did a tad bit of stamping. The photos are of Jovie, moving around like crazy, with not a single good shot. When it was nice and clear the pose wasn’t right or the facial expression was off. But, this is what the page is all about – the memories of her little active life as a 13-mo-old baby and me trying to capture every minute of it.

The layered papers are October Afternoon and Sassafrass Lass. This type of layout makes really good use of scraps, just a bit here and a few there. The stamp that I used is from Waltzingmouse: Victorian Frippery. I also wanted to use some road symbols for the “stop” but didn’t have one. I just have a don’t enter one from American Craft. So I used it instead. Plus I like the look better. Whatever, right? It’s my page {::SMILE}. I also still have a few of the Friendly Forest stickers from Colorbox and since the colors fit I used them too. I like adding none related things to page. I just think it makes the page more fun.

Oh, the ripped edge… accident. I added a staple under the red scalloped paper. Ended up not liking the staple and stuck the AC camera on it instead. The rip… well, a bit of paper curling made the rip more like a part of the page.

Ok, for the blog candy winner… congrats AMY!! Please post a comment here or send me an email using the Contact Me form on the top of my page and I’ll let Dawn and WPlus9 that you’re the winner. You can then pick a favorite set!! Congrats again and thank you all for the comments and for playing along!!

Language Learning

Posted on | August 3, 2010 | 10 Comments

I have a French audio language tutorial plugged in to my ears right now so we’ll see how my post will turn out… I am getting ready for our little trip to France and Germany to get the hubby in Sept. I like to learn the language of the country I visit. Granted I was never good when I get there it’s nice to be able to understand a bit and/or to say a few phrases. Any hints on how to learn a language well besides immersion?

Last night I was browsing around for some inspiration and fell in love with Embellish Mag’s colors. I haven’t played the last few of them and I felt like I really have to do this one. I used the main colors: Pink, brown, and green but I’ve also added a splash of black and white. I may have strayed a bit with a touch of teal but hey, teal’s partly green, right? {::SMILE}. The layout design was inspired by my good old blog buddy of mine, Angie Tieman (the Stampin’ Up! goddess). The strip of paper was what really got me and thus my layout.

Ok, I’ve switched to German now (an hour later, slow blogger remember). My, it’s so so foreign when it’s the first time. But, after rewinding it over and over again and looking at the words the language doesn’t seem so scary. We’ll see what happens though after a few weeks!

Page details:

Well, most of the details are on the bottom but really they’re just layers of paper and stickers. I’ve also subtly added birds. Can you see them? Also, aren’t Jovie’s cloth swim diapers adorable? Who needs a swimming suit, right?

I found this bright pink paper in the August 2009 Scarlet Lime kit. It’s wrapping paper. Ooooh, not acid/lignin/whatever free. I really don’t care. I use lots of stuff without the free stuff. Will it ruin my photos? Who knows but I am having fun and that’s why I have backups of these photos so that the kids can print more when they grow up or 100 years from now. That’s what the ink said on the box, 100 years lifetime guarantee.

You see the birdies? They’re there!

Well, I am sleepy (this is hours later from me listening to German). Gnight!