My New Fancy Canon Camera!

Well...I'm pretty darn excited right about now!

Received my new Canon Rebel T3 DSLR Camera a couple of weeks ago and have been playing around with it!

It is just AWESOME!!

Here is a video I made of when I received it...just had to share it with everyone, because as a SAHG, I get lonely on the days my Grandgirls aren't here...so I have to talk to someone while DH is at work! LOL!

One of the reasons I wanted to get this camera is so that I could take better photos for my blog.

I've always LOVED taking pictures and got my first good camera when I was only 18 years old.

It was a Canon AE-1 and I just recently passed it on to my daughter B, who is a real photographer, not just a "pretend" one like myself! :)

I played around with that camera for years and got lucky and got some decent shots with it, but never really learned the ins and outs of real photography.

I am so very proud of my Daughter B though...she had the same dream and unlike me...was brave enough to pursue that dream and get a degree!

Last month she graduated from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara and it was a big day for us!

If you get a chance, check out her blog: http://www.dasfotogirl.com/

I look forward to learning new things from her and getting to use my new Canon Camera not only here for my blog photos, but for some awesome Grand-Baby Shots!

Thanks for stopping By!

Take Care!

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500 Follower Giveaway!

Yay! It's time for another GIVEAWAY!

I'm looking to gain a few new readers on my blog and want to thank those that have already been following me for awhile now... so... I  have gathered up some cool BLOG CANDY (crafting items) to give away to one lucky follower when I reach 500 followers!

BTW...my extremely talented Daughter (Beth) took the photo for this collage picture!

She just recently graduated from the Brooks Institute of Photography

and has a website and facebook page for her photography.

Check it out if you get a chance:

http://www.bethraper.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beth-Raper-Photography/165638843484425

If you'd like to see a review of all the items that are in the giveaway, 

check out my video on YouTube:

Here are the details for entry into the giveaway:

For Initial Entry You MUST:

Be or become a follower on my blog. (You can do this through ANY of the 3 methods shown on my sidebar...Google Friend Connect, Linky Followers or Networked Blogs. You don't have to follow on all three)

Let me know by leaving a comment on this post.

For extra entries:

1. Follow me on Twitter  and come back here to this post and leave another comment letting me know that you have done so.

2. Post my giveaway on your blog in a post or blog sidebar with a link back here. Come back here to this post and leave a comment with the link to your blog showing where you posted my giveaway.

That's all you need to do!

I will choose a winner via random.org when I reach 500 followers.

Good Luck to all and thanks so much for stopping by!

I have linked this post to the following link-up parties/sites:

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Patsy!

You are the winner of my MyMemories Digital Scrapbooking Software Suite Giveaway!
I will be contacting you soon with details on how to claim your prize!
Thank-you for participating and becoming a follower!

For those of you who didn't win or didn't get a chance to enter, don't worry, you can still get the software and a great price with a $10.00 discount by clicking on the link below and entering the code.

CODE: STMMMS91285

Dr. Seuss Birthday Invitation and a GIVEAWAY!!

Our Grandson "A"s Birthday was coming up and when I heard that our daughter "S" was going to do a Dr. Seuss themed party, I was really excited!

I've always loved Dr. Seuss books and couldn't wait to help out with the preparations.

I had been wanting to try my hand at creating a custom invitation and just recently realized that the "My Memories" Software could assist me in this, when I made an invitation for my Granddaughter's Birthday last month.

I asked "S" if she would mind me making up some sample invitations and if she liked them, we could use them and if they were a big fat "Fail"...(LOL!), we could order some digitally from the many sellers on Etsy that have them.

She has a lot of faith in me and let me do it!

I went to work using the My Memories Software Suite and was AMAZED at how easy it was to make the invitations!

In the past, I had attempted projects like this using Photoshop and just went away frustrated and confused!

Here are the two examples I came up with:

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

To make these, I used the My Memories Software Suite, some digital papers I purchased from Great Graphics on Etsy and a Dr. Seuss inspired Digital Graphics Set I purchased from my bloggie friend Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating.

I made them 5x7 in size, so that there was room for everything and so that it could be read clearly.

The invitation that "S" chose for the final one to send out was the first one.

I went to Walgreens online and uploaded the jpg file of the invite and ordered all the copies we needed for our guests.

(You can of course do this at any other photo place also, such as Snapfish, Shutterfly etc...the reason I chose Walgreen's is because it is closest to me and we needed them quickly...they will print them in an hour in most cases!)

Just be sure to upload these to the photo site as a stand-alone photo (.jpg format).

It won't work if you go to their "create a card" section, because those are pre-set-up templates that the photo sites have and you can't put your own design in there. 

(At least that is what I found with Walgreens, Snapfish and Shutterfly...I can't speak for any others.)

You can view several different tutorials on the My Memories YouTube Site that can help you make an invitation.

I am thinking about making a tutorial myself on exactly how I made these invites, but I've never attempted a tutorial yet and I'm a bit hesitant to try and compete with all the great ones that are out there! 

If I do decide to make one, I will update this post with a link to it.

Now, for some exciting news...My Memories has graciously agreed to give a FREE copy of this awesome software to one of my loyal followers!

If you would like to be eligible to win a copy of this Digital Scrapbooking Software Program, then here are the requirements:

1. Be or become a follower on my blog.

2. Go visit the My Memories site at: http://www.mymemories.com/ and make note of your favorite template or kit, then come back here and leave a comment stating which is your favorite from the site. (Be sure to include an e-mail address or a way to get in touch with you in case you win!)

3. For a second chance entry, please "Like" their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593

4. For a third chance at winning, please follow the My Memories Blog at: http://www.mymemoriesblog.com/

5. For a fourth chance at winning, please follow My Memories on twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/MyMemoriesSuite

(NOTE: After doing steps 3,4 and 5, make sure to leave a comment for each, saying that you completed the step...this is to make sure you get your extra entries!)

Remember to be eligible to win, you MUST do at least steps 1 and 2, all other steps are for extra entries!

This giveaway opportunity will be open through Tuesday May 8, 2012 and I will choose a winner via Random.org on Wednesday May 9, 2012.

Even if you aren't the lucky winner...you can still get a great discount on the software as My Memories has authorized me to offer $10.00 off the software by clicking on the blinkie below and entering the special code.

CODE: STMMMS91285

This awesome software was recently featured on the Lifetime Television show "The Balancing Act", if you'd like to see the clip of the show where they featured the software, you can view it here.

They are also running a *Free* Photo Book Promotion right now and you can get the details of that by clicking here.

Good Luck to All and Thank-you for reading my post!

I have linked this post/project to the following sites/Link-up Party's:

Carnival Dresses for My Grandgirls

Since DH bought me a new sewing machine, I’ve been trying to sew a lot more and recently I had the opportunity to actually make good on a Pinterest inspiration I told my DIL I would try to re-create for her girls (My Grandgirls, B & C!)

Sweet Little “C” had her first Birthday coming up and DIL “K” told me that she was doing a Vintage Carnival/Circus theme.

I was perusing Pinterest one late night…(Who am I kidding? I peruse Pinterest EVERY night…and day for that matter!) and I came across this adorable dress made by Ashley Hackshaw from Lil Blue Boo. 

(Note to Pinterest Users: This Photo is the property of Ashley Hackshaw at www.lilblueboo.com
 and is used here only for  reference purposes.
If you decide to "Pin" this photo,
please be sure to go to Ashley's blog and pin it from there:
 http://www.lilblueboo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/party-dress.jpg)

I knew “K” would love it, so I pinned it to my sewing board and tagged her in the pin so she’d see it.

She really fell in love with the dress, as did I, so I told her that I would try my best to re-create it, but that I was sure my sewing skills were not up to the level  of Ashley’s!

Fortunately, Ashley sells the pattern for the skirt portion of the dress and has a tutorial on how to add the tank top and underskirt to make the finished product.
(*Update: 4/18/18 - The pattern is now sold here on Ashley's Etsy Store.)

I purchased the pattern from Ashley and was lucky enough to find the vintage crazy eights cards on ETSY and purchased those also.

I had a hard time tracking down the adorable fabric she used though, so I e-mailed her and found out it was called “To the Zoo” and she had purchased it from a store in North Carolina, called Mary Jo’s.

I found their website and called them, as I did not find the fabric on their site.

They were kind enough to search for me and finally came up with 3-5/8 yards remnant. 

I was so relieved, as I had searched “High and Low” on the internet and in stores to find that fabric or something remotely similar to no avail.

Most of the carnival/circus fabric I found was brightly colored and “K” wanted the vintage look, with the more muted colors.

I pretty much tried to re-create the dress exactly as it was on the Lil Blue Boo blog, with the exception of adding Pom-Pom fringe to the bottom of the top skirts. 

The fabric I used for the underskirt was slightly different than what Ashley used, but it was a close as I could come to it. 

I found this fabric at: Hancock Fabrics

The plain white tank tops were purchased at Dharma Trading Co., but I know that WalMart usually carries a very similar tank top to this one also, because I bought one to make a “test” dress before I made the real thing. (That’s how paranoid I was that the dresses wouldn’t turn out!) (LOL!)

I scanned the crazy eight cards I needed for the shirts and then printed them out on SuperSoft Inkjet Transfer Paper from Dharma Trading Co. and applied them to the shirts following the included instructions. 

The day before the birthday party, I did a fitting on the girls, and here is a photo of “B” modeling her dress: 

At this point, the dress was pretty much done with the exception of the bow embellishments.

“B”s dress fit perfectly, but I had to take the shirt up a bit on “C”s as the tanks were long bodied and even though I trimmed them before sewing them to the skirt, Claire’s had to be trimmed a second time and re-sewn.

Here are the finished dresses:

The girls really loved them and so did “K”!

(“B” really liked that the skirt “twirled”!)

That made me happy and I learned a lot by tackling this project, because it was a bit out of my league, but I know the more I sew, the better I will get at it.

Here are some cute photos from the Birthday Party where the girls proudly displayed their new dresses from Gigi Lisa: 

So many thanks to Ashley at Lil Blue Boo for the awesome inspiration!

And…thanks to Pinterest, because without it, I may have never found Ashley and her really neat blog!

Go check it out if you get a chance, www.lilblueboo.com not only are her projects inspiring, SHE is one of the most inspiring persons I’ve ever seen and she will enlighten you and brighten your day for sure!

Just a quick note about the project: If you decide to try it, be sure to go to Ashley’s blog and follow her tutorial and pattern instructions carefully, as she has more detailed info on this project than I have and she was very patient with me when I had a few questions during the process of making these dresses.

I hope one day to be able to do detailed sewing tutorials of my own, but I am not quite there yet in expertise and Ashley is really good at it!

Take Care Crafty Friends and thank-you for joining me today!

P.S. I have linked-up this project to the following sites:

Free Pretty Things for You - Whatever-You-Want Wednesday #73
Sara Hamer Designs (Pink Cricut) - Link-up Tuesday
Crafty Texas Girls - Cowgirl Up! - Creative Link Party

Carnival/Circus Birthday Invite

Well Hello There!

I bet you all thought I completely disappeared from the blogging world!

I have been hiding out doing lots of crafting and sewing, but haven't learned to juggle it all with blogging yet, so I hope you will stay with me until I get better at it!

I'm really excited to show you all what I have been working on lately and here is one of the first items I want to showcase - a Birthday Invitation I made for my Granddaughter's First Birthday!

I made this using the My Memories Suite Digital Scrap Booking program and was so pleased with the results!

I am so amazed at all the cool stuff this program does!

If you are interested in trying it out, I have a link to purchase the software in my sidebar and below this post. If you use the code you see listed there (STMMMS91285), you will receive $10.00 off your purchase!

I also purchased some additional graphic sets (digital kits) to make this invitation.

They were: 

Little Circus - By My Memories

Carnival - By Louise Franks Designs

I found the fonts for free from sites such as: dafont and fontspace and some were from the installed Windows Fonts I already had on my computer.

It was so much fun making this invitation!

When I was all done designing the invite, I uploaded it to Snapfish and then ordered 1 hour prints (5x7) to be printed at my local Walgreens.

They turned out really nice and I was lucky that Walgreens was running a 50% off on prints that day, so I received 20 (5x7) prints for $15.45!

The Birthday theme was of course old school carnival/circus and my awesome DIL "K" along with her Sister  "S" did a great job decorating:

The best part of all...was watching my sweet princess "C" eating her cake and enjoying every minute of it!

Well, that's all for now...but stay tuned...because I have more on the Birthday Party...I made some cute matching dresses for "C" and her big Sis "B" to wear for the party and that will be the subject of my next post!

Thanks for visiting me and I hope you'll return soon!

Lisa

Code: STMMMS91285

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Owl Baby Blanket

Hello and Happy New Year Crafty Friends!

I've been away for a bit but am happy to be back today with a sewing project that I'm excited about.

I made a self-binding baby blanket for my sweet Granddaughter "C".

I had purchased the fabric to make this blanket quite awhile ago and was struggling to find a good pattern or method to make it.

The fabric is like a stretch cotton knit and isn't typically what baby blankets are made of, so coming up with a good method for using both pieces of fabric without having them "separate" was tricky for me, as I am still somewhat of an amateur sewer and wasn't sure what would work.

Fortunately, my obsession with Pinterest paid off and I came across a couple of great tutorials on how to make a "Self-Binding" baby blanket.

The first one was here at Tea Rose Home Blog by Sachiko

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The second one was here at Megan Poulton Designs

Both of these tutorials had great photos and instructions and the blankets were so beautiful but because of my lack of sewing experience, I was a bit confused and had to search for another tutorial that had a little more detailed information for sewing dummies like me! LOL!

I found this video by Googling  "Self-Binding Baby Blanket".

Melanie from "Above all Fabric" made the video and also has a set of PDF instructions to go with it.

Between the awesome photos Sachiko & Megan posted on their tutorials, and the detailed instructions given by Melanie in her video and PDF, I was able to figure out this cool blanket style!

Here is a cute picture of my sweet Granddaughter "C" with her blankie from Grandma:

She really seemed to like it and the blanket stayed together well, which pleased me because I just didn't see how that was going to work without interfacing, quilting or tying.

I didn't want any of that though, because of course for a baby, you want ultimate softness and this blanket was just the ticket for my little sweet-pea!

I am so happy to be sewing again and even though I'm not that great at it, each time I do a new project, I learn more and more and having the internet for a never-ending resource certainly has helped me out when I get stuck on a step or two!

In that vein, I'd like to give a big "Thank-you" to Sachiko, Megan and Melanie for their inspiration and wonderful tutorials they posted and made available to everyone for free!

I don't know what I'd do without helpful, giving people like them.

If you get a chance, check out their blogs and see what they are up to:

Sachiko - Tea Rose Home
Megan - Megan Poulton Designs
Melanie - Melanie Dramatic (Melanie recently sold her company "Above all Fabric" where I originally found the video and PDF).

Thank-you so much for visiting me and come back soon to see what new crafty adventure I'm on!! :)

XOXO
Lisa

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