Keep Happy in a box, that way you'll never lose it.

So one of my favorite people to follow on Youtube is a gal who's channel goes by the name of PAPERSPEAKS.

Her name is Mel and she has a fun sidekick Pat ( a big white gloved pointer ).  She's a super duper nicehead and she does a lot of hand-made journals and cards and really cool stuff.

She recently posted a challenge to create something that would be like an aid when you're creatively blocked, or, as she put it, when you've lost your mojo.

And it happens to all of us no matter what we're into.   We play a crappy game of baseball, we sing bad notes, or sometimes we just wanna sit in the corner and cry.  And it's times like that where even the thing we love doing the most seems like a waste of time.  Though it probably doesn't seem like it... I feel like that quite often. I just wanna pack up my paper and photos in boxes and try to forget that I ever enjoyed scrapbooking. I start to wonder who I'm doing it for...  Will my daughter dread having her entire life documented in volumes when she's older?  I'm pretty sure the dog (s) don't mind.

Well anyhow... what I decided to make for myself was a recipe box just simply filled with photos that I like to look at. Because for me, the photo is what makes me want to scrapbook.  It's not the scrapbooking stuff...  it's taking a photo, printing it out and thinking...  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE... this photo is so delicious I could eat it!  And what makes it hard is that I take a gazillion photos a week, so just picking out a few to scrapbook is tricky. So for me ( for you for me... )  scrapbooking isn't solving my problem of getting photos out of boxes (or hard drives) and into scralbums, it's just highlighting what's in the boxes. I may actually get some good ol' fashioned photo albums and coordinate them with my scrapbooks.  So I can have the bulk of a photo shoot in a photo album, and then the real important stuff in the scrapbook.

So this was one of those CTMH recipe boxes I've had forever.   I had two.. but Roo decided to make one also.  She filled hers with smurf.  Who doesn't get a little happy from a box of smurf?

So I have different sized photos in here, some I took from Pinterest, some I took from my own photo stash, and I just tabbed the tops so I can pull em' out easy.

So out of all the challenges I've missed, I'm glad I was able to sneak this one in, because I think I actually will pick through this box when I'm feeling blue.  There's plenty more room in it to keep adding stuff so now as I come across something, I can just toss it in there.

Here's a link to what Mel made to help get her Mojo back.  I love it!

And thanks again Mel for the great challenge idea!  Looks like everyone got a very good something out of it!

Pictures of Eleanor - Jackson Park

I think the only way to stop me from taking pictures of Eleanor everywhere she goes is to get a puppy, or have another kid. I don't know if it's because I just like taking pictures... or that she's always a willing and pose-able subject... or it's just a mom thing. I honestly thought I'd get tired of taking her picture by now... but I honestly feel like she gets more beautiful everyday. (That's def. a mom thing...)



So anyway... I usually do a lot of APP editing to my photos. So the previous two photos I ran through one of my fav. photo apps called Phototoaster. I'm sure I've mentioned it before..
But here's one of the photos in the raw below so you can see the diff. I didn't do much, just added one filter called Aquatic. ( my favorite filter I've ever come across in any app!! Who doesn't wanna look like they're in water? Not anyone I know!) So I think this one filter added so much! It pulled her out of all that green background and really made her the feature.



So there are a lot of cool filters in this app... you can mess with it on your own, or they have pre-sets. Very worth the $1.99 for the 5.0 version. I've used the fiddlesticks out of it! I think photo apps are the only ones I pay for. Especially if you scrapbook... and are doing project life or smashing... or any of that... it's the quickest way to edit aside from pluggin' your camera into your computer. And most of ya'll know how to print from your mobile devices so... what's the prob. Spend a dollar and save your memories in a artsy way! Didn't you just spend $1.82 on a bagel this morning? And that's gone already isn't it??? ...thought so.

The following photos are not edited.. but I might still go back and play with em'.  I have to go through the other 70 and see if any are print-worthy.



OH, and lemme just plug another app while I'm at it. Though this series of pictures were not edited, I did throw them into a collage app called DIPTIC. It's basically just that... a collage app, but you can move your frames around which comes in handy. And I think you can add text... (honestly haven't used it that much...) And it's FREE!



I was actually shooting in monochrome for the first half of the park visit... which I normally don't do. I don't know why, but I tend to edit the color mostly after... but I like the way the monochrome ones shot...



And the hair-style she's sporting is called... combed out after being in a bun for two days! I actually trimed it a bit this morning due to many many knots. So it was fluffier than usual.

Well I'm gonna put my cheese and crackers away and call it a night!

xo Fitter

Ladies with Lenses - a twelve by twelver

WEEEEEEE! What we did with the Studio Calico June kit (so far...)
The following pic is actually the back of the 12 x 12 layout. Sometimes the back looks cool enough to use as a background for another layout.. haven't decided yet. But this is all my sewing nonsense...  no thyme or reason... or sage. But def. cinnamon!


So anyway, this post is really about spending time with your kid(s). A lot of people tell you to enjoy them while they're young and don't hate you yet... so I decided to listen damn it!
It's all true and that's why I'm just trying to enjoy every second with her. I have a couple jobs, like most moms these days so most of my day is spent away from my daughter, but when I come home... I feel like spending time with her is more important than rushing her off to bed. Schedule Smedule!
So we have fun no matter the day or time! And since my daughter is a veteran at making videos of herself... I decided it would be fun to do a youtube series with her.
We call it Ladies with Lenses. When I got all those stickers from Paperchase, I also found a pencil topper that was a pair of glasses. They were so cute, and as soon as Roo saw them, she immediately took em' over. So when she grabbed them during our first "share" video, the title of the series was born.



And we invited Norma in to take part in the lenses wearing!

She looks nerdtastic in them I think!
So in true Project Life fashion, I decided this was an opportunity to make a layout as well to document the start of our video fun... however long it lasts...



The products used are all from the latest Studio Calico scrapbooking kit:

ROUNDABOUT Scrapbook Kit

Cardstock:
Kraft (American Crafts)
Vanilla (American Crafts)
Surf (American Crafts)
Blush Red Medium (Bazzill)

Patterned Paper:
Carte Postale "Canal Street" (Basic Grey)
Pack Your Bags (Simple Stories)
Divine this line (ILS)
Jet Set (Simple Stories)
Today (Paislee Press)
Pier "Carousel" (Crate Paper)
Optimism (Studio Calico)
Sky Atlas (Studio Calico)

Embellishments:
Black & White Die Cut Clouds (Studio Calico)
Acetate Alpha (Basic Grey)
1 Yard Airmail Divine Twine (Whisker Graphics)
2x2 Stamp Set ( Life-Love-Paper for Studio Calico)
3x3 Photo Overlays (Crate Paper)
Silver Stars (Basic Grey)
Camera and Geo Tag Resin (Freckled Fawn for Studio Calico)
Urban Traveler Chipboard Stickers (Simple Stories)

So I have plenty left for tons more LO's and PL's.

Here's the building of this layout via Youtube:



Thanks for stopping by Fitty's Arty blog!

Don't pretend you outgrew stickers!!

So there used to be a Borders in the local mall.  And it's life there was short...  but while it was there, I enjoyed it's beans and stationary.  And by beans, I mean brew... and by stationary, I mean PAPERCHASE!    Man, I love paperchase stuff.  Pencils... notebooks, photo albums, lunch boxes, .. and stickers. And when border closed, I went a while without cool stickers... until I started looking around online. And just recently I got the crazy idea to actually search for paperchase products online...  duh.  (btw, paperchase is having a sale right now...  www.paperchase.co.uk)  link up there too.  So anyway, me and Roo scored all these juicy sticks right from the source!  Look at those tapes and buses!  C'mon!!

I used to be anti-sticker.  True story.  Well, not anti-sticker in general, but anti-sticker in scrapbooking.  I was like...  NOOOOO... you can't just slap a sticker down?!  That's cheesy cheating!  You must stamp it out or draw it or burn that image onto your page!

But then again, stickers have come a long way since I started scrapbooking.  In the beginning it was leave stickers for fall... and it was flip flops for summer and that was about it folks.

I started getting back into the sticker habit when I started teaching piano lessons.  They were my "bribe" for a while...   (didn't even work half the time!) .. but occasionally upsetting would happen when I withheld them for a bad performance.  (I'm so mean!)

But now I'm def. addicted for my own reasons...  I really can't say what those reasons are...  but some folks out there are making some pretty sweet sticks and I am eating them up and on the hunt!



Having said that, I do have to admit that scrapbooking is still not the main event for my stickers though.  I use them mostly in my planner...  or just to decorate notes for friends and family...  and also for my students.

So in conclusion.  Give stickers a chance!  They might really get stuck on you...  like for reals...

oh, and here's a video me and Roo made to express further our enjoyment of the aboved referenced topic.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soiXtxTExow]
We started a new series on Youtube called Ladies with Lenses...  It's just a chance for us to be silly... and share crafty stuff...

So thanks for being here and have a FANTASTIC week!  Weeeeee!

Life is a project... Make it pretty damn it!

Just a project life installment here.

Sometimes there's no good reason for a photo shoot. That's the best kind! And Roo seems to think every minute has potential for good photo making... as do I.

So this scrap session is all about any ol saturday

Where not much of anything was going on...

but we had fun enough to document!

Please enjoy the making of this installment here below

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It IS super easy!

Is is sooo easy to throw a layout together in less than 30 minutes and still say "Yes. Instead of throwing that away, I will hang onto it!"

There is very little involved here...

1. Three different papers

2. Some letter stickers

3. A couple velum arrows

4. A few brads

5. A a touch of sewing and doodling.

ALL optional.

I threw together this super short vid... it's just a series of photos showing the very short evolution of this layout. Just to throw it out there that YES, you can do some scapbooking on a weeknight! I did this page on a thursday night in about 33 minutes. I used the December Studio Calico kit exclusively! Joining kit clubs I think is a great way to be inspired every month. It keeps things fresh and exciting!
I will be starting one in January for those of you who need a little push! And I will post some ideas along with each kit to get the juices flowing!

The video is not so great, I apologize... but it was the best I could do with my current set up here... :)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irzbvzwz8lk]

If your bear needs to help with the cooking...

Then you might want to let them help in the cutest way possible!

I decided to put my holiday material to good use and whip up some aprons for my new shop.
It's less than a day old, so I only have a few things... but I picked out some super duper cute paper crafting items from my favorite suppliers (studio calico, pebbles, american crafts... etc.) and they are on the way and will be shortly available to get started on some Holiday paper crafts!                                                                                                                     These aprons make adorable gifts or grab em' for your own little sweetie to help you in the kitchen, or for playing in her own kitchen! I also take custom orders, Just send me a note through my contact page!

I wish I could say I have more of this yellow material with the

"kitchen ladies" on it... but I'm afraid this is it. It just makes me wanna bake and bake and bake and let my husband think I tattooed the smile on my face!

Well, I hope everyone is well on their way to a Merry and Happy season!  If you are shopping, shop indie! It's more personal and makes it highly unlikely that the person will already have that thing!  So check out my new Fitty's Arty Shop page! Like I said, it's like a naked christmas tree right now, but I figured, why wait..  you can even register so when the Christmas scrapbooking kits come in, you won't have to re-type all your info!

Hope the rest of your week is awesome!  And tomorrow, tell someone how nice their sweater is... unless it's not nice. Then offer them yours.

Happy Baking while looking super cute!

Oh, and here's some extra entertaining from Roo..

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-hkLiNluas?list=UUbDRrw83_KmF8dQqN-UO8Wg&hl=en_US]

Hay... A happy life tradition.

Yes, the pics in the hay that everyone has!

I have them too... And to go with my orange striped fall wardrobe... I have some orangey scrapcents!

October 6th, we went with our dear friends The ROSTA'S to the pumpkin patch...   We saw all the wood cutouts that almost looked just like the characters they intended to be.

This is made with the October studio calico kit... Which really had nothing to do with fall... But I went with a color scheme rather than a theme.



The sewing went a little wonky at some points, but it really doesn't matter in scrapbooking. There's no RULES! 

(put your shirt back on)  THERE'S ONE RULE!

I just LOVE that commercial!!!  I cracked up so hard the first time I saw it... and then the second... and then all the times I watched it on Youtube.

So where was I?  YES YES so there is a giant threadball of pink hell on the back of this page that I neglected to take a picture of.

I'm also getting bored with just shoving my pages into a plastic sleeve and into a binder.

I have this one 12x12 display item that i found on sale one day at AC Moore, and I LOVE IT!  It's like one of those photo flippers on a stand, but big. I'll take a pic of it when I get a chance...   so that's one way I like to display pages... but I tend to just throw in my latest creation, then switch em out.

Well, I better get my butt in gear so enjoy your weekend! 

Enjoy the colors! 

Enjoy the friends!

Enjoy the apples and the pumpkins!

AND Enjoy the ...  frost... to be totally current.

Glasses...

Well, it seems my daughter has the same fetish for glasses as I do...  only difference, she can see without them...    But she's not quite 3 so I'm sure that will change. Based on genetics, she has a slim chance of anywhere close I CAN SEE WITHOUT HELP!!!

Anyway, so she's been so attached to these little glasses that were an accessory to a build a bear chickie that I got her for Easter.

And since Easter, I've noticed I have a good pile of pics of her wearing these Harry Potter type glasses... and she just looks so darn cute!

So i decided to do some scrap with them...

 



Because some new youtube scrappy friend Melovebono had posted a challenge, and I decided to participate... I REALLY WANT a $30 to Jo-ANNS... or any other craft store of my choice!

Here's my vid response: MEloveBONOchallenge

And then, I decided some of the other pics with the glasses would work for my card from my daughter to Dad:

And the card:

 And if you want to see how smart they make her, friend me on Facebook and you can watch her in action...  lol...  Find me: Fitty Updike, or my page: Madebyfitty

HAPPY DADDY DAY DADS!!!