Well, it really has been a very long time since I posted! My sincerest apologies for not updating, as my life has been crazy hectic for the last... 8 months or so? Most of the hectic stuff has been good; a few bumps in the road along the way but that is to be expected in this crazy game called life.
I am still scrapbooking like crazy, although the recent changes in the industry (and individuals involved in the industry) have caused me to be much more cautious about the choices I make in regards to whom I design for, whom I associate with, etc. I will try to post some recent work very soon! :)
Life with teenagers in the house has become very interesting. There is never a dull moment to be had with a new driver, an independent 14 year old girl, and a talkative 9 year old that keep me on my toes. I got my insurance adjustment in this month after adding Matthew to it (he got his license in December - look out Frisco!) and HOLY COW it is nuts! Good thing he is getting the good grades discount, drivers ed discount, etc. or else I am afraid I would have to get a second job just to pay the additional premiums!
Here is a layout I did a while back highlighting the kids' first day of school this school year. Unfortunately the picture is a little wonky and a scan wasn't possible, due to the lumpy junk I added, but you get the idea. I wanted to take several photos on the morning of their first day back and form them into a collage with notes about each photo, so I came up with this.
Alright, I know this is a short update, but it is late (early? Y'all know me!) and I need some ZZZZzzz's. I promise to update more often!
Peace.
I have been so busy lately, but I wanted to pop in and give some updates about me and my family. :) Matthew had all four of his wisdom teeth taken out on Saturday, so he has been in a lot of pain for the last couple of days. Today is the first day of school that he has missed this school year, and he won't be going tomorrow, either. Luckily next week is Spring Break for the kids, so he will be able to heal. No trumpet for him for the next two weeks.
I remember having my wisdom teeth removed a few years ago. I never got any wisdom teeth in until I was 27 and oddly enough, I only had two! Both teeth on the left side of my mouth - one on top and one on bottom. The surgeon said it was very strange that I didn't have any on the other side, and they even did extra x-rays just to be sure. So at least I only had half the pain, but I would gladly endure childbirth all three times before ever going through the pain of having wisdom teeth removed again. That was terrible, but I am a complete wimp when it comes to pain.
I received a wonderful box of American Crafts goodies! Here are a few of my favorite items from the shipment:
These felt letter stickers are awesome! Here is my favorite sheet of new patterned paper:
And these ribbons are pretty cool, too:
I also got a box of new CherryArte! I am in love with the "Alien Invasion" paper - it looks like Space Invaders, and of course the Retro lover in me thought that was the coolest ever! :) Here it is:
The color scheme is awesome. There were many others that I loved too, so just check out all the new releases if you haven't done so already. Can't wait to dig into their new stuff!
I am finalizing my projects for the Canada Crop for Kids event in October. I finished up another project for BHG last week and have a few other surprise things that I have been working on, so I will share more with you when I am able!
Before I go, I will share yet another deal with you for free prints! You know how I love those free photo deals! CVS is offering 30 free prints, just click here! Order your prints and pick them up at your local CVS store in just a few hours. Offer is good for existing CVS photo members as well as new members, so go get those free pictures!
Here is a layout I created for the new February Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine. It is about my mom and me when I was three years old. :) I used Imaginisce papers and some of their embellishments released at Memory Trends last fall. The magazine has some tips about how to restore color to a faded photograph; I hope it is useful to you! :)
I have received several new calls for upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul books, so I will post them here in case you see something that you would like to contribute a story or two for. Chicken Soup stories that are accepted pay $200 per story.
I am off to work on another BHG project!
Here is a cool thing to put in your scrapbook(s)! The White House will send out personal greetings signed by President Bush and Laura for the following events. Even if you are not a Bush fan, it is still a neat keepsake to receive. I did this a while back when Alex was born and the card came within a month or so.
BABY'S BIRTH GREETING
A baby birth card will be sent within a year of the birth. Please make your request after the baby is born.
BIRTHDAY GREETING
A birthday card will be sent to individuals celebrating their 80th (or greater) birthday. Please make your request at least 6 weeks in advance of the birthday.
WEDDING GREETING
A wedding card will be sent to couples after the event. Please make your request after the wedding.
ANNIVERSARY GREETING
An anniversary card will be sent to couples who are celebrating their 50th (or greater) wedding anniversary. Please make your request at least 6 weeks in advance of the anniversary.
Here are the restrictions:
U.S. CITIZENS. The White House will send greetings only to United States citizens for special occasions as outlined below.
NUMBER OF REQUESTS LIMITED. The number of requests you can submit per day is limited. Institutional requests for multiple greetings must be submitted by fax or mail on official letterhead with the required information listed above.
WHEN TO EXPECT YOUR GREETING. For birthdays and anniversaries, greetings will be mailed from the White House approximately 14 days prior to the event. Wedding and baby's birth greetings will be sent after the event.
So go get yours! :)
This is what my laundry room is beginning to look like. Nope, not out of laziness, but because my washer is BROKEN! The stupid thing stopped draining water, so we called out Maytag and the pump went out! This thing is only a year old! And that, my friends, is why we buy the three-year extended warranty! So it won't cost a dime to have it fixed, but because the parts are on order, my laundry is piling up in the mean time. More time for scrapbooking, right? HEHE!
Here is a page I did for the December issue of BHG. I used a dingbat that I found online for the gingerbread "cookie", then mixed artist's gesso with acrylic paint to make the "icing". I sprinkled glass beads onto the gesso while it was still a bit wet to mimic the cookie sprinkles, then let it dry before adhering the gingerbread man to the layout.
I am starting on some more projects for the May/June BHG issue and some layouts for Chatterbox for CHA! Whew! When I can, I will post some more projects!
Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that this is your best year ever! Here at the Hanback house, we celebrated at home by making tons of snacks, toasting with juice at Midnight, and throwing lots of confetti while we watched Dick Clark on TV! It is what we do every year and I wouldn't have it any other way! I have to admit, though, that when Dick Clark started speaking, my heart fell and I almost cried. It is just so strange hearing his voice the way it is, after his stroke, especially since we have all grown up watching this guy do the New Year's thing every year. I guess it is almost like a realization to me that an era is coming to an end. When he is gone, our kids will hear someone else do the Rockin' Eve. I don't know, I am strange. It just brought tears to my eyes.
I haven't really made any New Year's resolutions; I try not to do that because I feel like every day is a reason to try to be the best that I can be - I shouldn't have a specific "day" to try to decide to make positive changes, if that makes sense. I am always trying to find ways to improve myself, my relationships, my life.
Here are a couple of Christmas ornaments that I created for the December issue of BHG. I hope you like them!
(above) This one is my favorite! I used Chatterbox grafik rub-ons and adhered a round one to the top of the glass ball, then another round rub-on from the bottom of the ball.
(above) For this one I used Pearl-ex inside the ball and then swirled it around, turning it upside down in an empty egg crate to let the excess drain out and to dry. Once the inside was dry, I embellished the ball with Chatterbox grafik rub-ons and a jewel.
(above) This one was made by punching out lots of 1/2" circles then adhering them to a glass ball ornament using Mod-Podge. Once the ball was completely covered, I gave the entire ball a good final coat of the Mod-Podge to seal. These can take some time to dry thoroughly, so let them sit (or hang) for a few days to eliminate any tackiness from the Mod-Podge. Then, I embellished the top with a ribbon, a brad, and some colored wire spirals.
(above) This ornament was so simple - I just cut 1/4 inch x 6" strips of patterned Christmas paper and inserted the strips one by one into the glass ball. Once it is filled to your liking, just put the metal collar back on the top then add some ribbons. I also adhered a "Merry Christmas" button with a glue dot. See? Easy peasy!
(above) This one would look better if I had taken the time to iron the wrinkles out of the ribbons. *ahem* Anyhow, simply cut strips of cardstock into 1" x 6" strips and roll them up tightly, then insert the rolls into the glass ball. Embellish with a rub-on and some ribbons and Voila! An ornament in maybe 2 minutes tops! The cool thing about making these is that you can color-coordinate them to match any theme, etc.
I am working on several different projects for BHG right now, but will continue to post here! I hope to share some more stuff with you soon!
And would somebody please take away this bag of pretzels I keep eating?!? Good grief, I am gonna gain a ton because I keep snacking on them!!
Hey everybody! Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a special day full of food and fun. We stayed here in Frisco, but we enjoyed opening presents, eating way too much food, and just being thankful for having full stomachs and a roof over our head! What a great day! I will post some pictures tonight.
I got one of these for Christmas:
I am so excited - I have been wanting a Wishblade for the longest time! It is backordered, so I don't actually have it yet, but it is supposed to be shipped on the 29th so I can't wait to get it. Now I won't have to end up with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from all the hand-cutting of letters and shapes using my exacto knife. YAY! LOL!
The kids had a great Christmas. They are upstairs playing with all of their goods and I haven't heard nary a peep out of them since they opened their presents! It is so funny how kids open their gifts then hibernate in their rooms with all the goods.
I bought Noel a Playstation 3. Yes, I know it is frivolous, but he is a big kid at heart and loves to play video games! He lost his PS2 in the hurricane, so this was a cool gift. I found a guy who had bought one for his family but then needed the money for Christmas so he decided to sell it. It had never been opened and he had the receipt too, so I bought it. He has been in the living room playing Call of Duty.
I am really excited about the upcoming Scrapbooking Crop for Kids in Canada next October! I will be joining some other really fabulous teachers and will be teaching for this fundraising event. If you haven't already checked it out, please do so. It is a very important fundraiser and I cannot wait to be a part of it!
Ok, off to clean up some Christmas mess and work on some projects for BHG! I will post some pictures here in just a bit!
I had written this little how-to a while back, but thought I would repost it here since someone e-mailed me a few days ago and asked me exactly how to make one of these little accordion albums.
Creating a tiny, handmade scrap album is very simple, using materials you already have. You can decorate them in an endless amount of ways, creating a super gift idea for friends, family, and loved ones. They make wonderful gifts for any occasion, including holidays. These albums are also extremely inexpensive to make.
Start with a piece of 12 x 12” cardstock. A sturdy, kraft-colored cardstock will give excellent results. You will need to cut a strip of the cardstock into a piece that is 12” wide and 3” tall. One sheet of 12 x 12” cardstock will make four tiny albums!
Once you have cut the strip of cardstock, you will then measure 2 “ increments, and fold the cardstock every 2 inches, back and forth, accordion-style. This will give you your “pages”, as you will be decorating the front and back of this “accordion”. Using a bone folder to create the folds is strongly recommended, as you want them to be very crisp, so the album will not only look better, but also the pages will lay nicely when it is folded.
Cut a piece of chipboard into two 2” x 3” pieces. The chipboard will reinforce the front and back cover of your miniature album. Next, glue one piece onto the front of the accordion, and the other piece onto the back. You should have something that looks like this:
Again, this is an older album that I created a while back, but the design steps are the same for the actual album itself. :)
Have a great Wednesday!
When the finished album is folded up, you will see the “Love” cover, and the journaling will be the back cover. Finish your album by tying a pretty ribbon or piece of twine around the whole album. This keeps it flat, and also keeps it closed. You may even want to give the album in a gift box, and it will also fit into an altered Altoids tin. You can experiment with different colors and textures of cardstocks to get the results you want.
This album will fold up flat when completed.
Now you are ready to begin decorating the pages! Keep in mind that you will want to keep lumpy embellishments to a minimum, as the album will not lay flat if the pages contain many three dimensional items.
In my example album below, I used a red, white, and black theme. (***DISCLAIMER*** I told you I wrote this a while back, so no making fun of the "old" supplies! LOL!) I adhered red cardstock and 7 Gypsies papers to the front cover, and then applied Mod Podge with a paintbrush to seal it. This adds even more strength to the front cover, and helps protect it from fingerprints. I carried the color scheme throughout the album by using more 7 Gypsies papers, KI Memories Time paper, and red cardstock. I used Adler font, and also the Making Memories date stamp. On the back cover, I printed my journaling onto white cardstock, then adhered it to a piece of red cardstock that completely covers the back, and I Mod Podged over the entire back cover to strengthen and seal.
Here is my finished album!
A friend of mine asked me to create a printable calendar template for her so that she could create custom 6" x 6" calendars as Christmas gifts for her friends and family, so I made this template for her to use. Feel free to download it and use it for your own projects! I left blank space at the top so that you can create a title - either printed with some cool fonts or you can even use letter stickers, chipboard letters, or whatever else you dream up. The squares are blank so you can customize them for any month. Just click on the image and it will pull up a full-sized image for you to save.
If you create a calendar using this template, send me a picture/scan! I will send a goodie package to my favorite calendar!
Have fun!
