Darlene's Creations

A fun new Heart technique I tried

2009-02-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

Ok, I wanted to show you this new heart technique that I tried this weekend. So I went back to the website to link it to this one and I can't find it for the life of me. It was on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ but now I can't find the tutorial to make this cute heart. They used it on cards but I used it on my layout for a pocket to hold the journaling tags. If I find the link I will go back and edit this post. I was very happy with how the layout turned out using the new heart. It was a lot of work but definately was worth the hours I spent figuring it out.

The Puppies are Growing up Fast

2009-02-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

My little Shih Tzu puppies will be three weeks old on Sunday. It is amazing how fast they grow. Their eyes are all opened up and they are trying to walk on all fours instead of doing the army crawl. They respond to my voice and have started playing with each other. I could just spend my whole day holding them and watching them play. I took some pictures today of them. It is hard to capture them in all their cuteness but I think I did ok with these two pics.

Something New

2009-02-11T08:17:00.001-08:00

Well, it was about time that I tried my hand at these realistic looking little kids. I just love how easy they are when you use the Fabulouse Faces & Hair pattern from myscrapchick.com You print the faces out onto flesh colored cardstock and then you add all the little details - rosy cheeks, eye color, whites in the eyes and the dot on the cheeks and of course extra eye lashes. Then you do your normal shading around the edges. It looks totally different by the time you are done. I was so thrilled with how they turned out. They just all have such personalities! The hair is easy too. It is printed out onto cardstock, cut out and then add all your extra shading. The things I used to make the faces and hair realistic were: chalk, white paint pen, watercolor markers, ink pads, extra fine black marker. The pictures above show my first few projects that I used these little cutie pies on. You can bet I will be creating more of these little kid layouts.

Embroidery on Scrapbook Pages

2009-01-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

Last week I tried a new technique on my premade scrapbook pages that I really like a lot. It is hand embroidery. I started out using templates from In Stitchz by Bazzill and then did one design on my own. It is very time consuming but I really like the look. You start out by hand punching the design on my pages. Place your paper on top of the special In Stitchz mat and then place the clear plastic template over your your paper. Using the sharp piercing tool you punch the holes. Then it is time to choose your thread and start stitching. I just used a basic backstitch and a few french knots. I am super happy with the finished product! You can check out the institchz supplies bazzill's website at http://bazzillbasics.com/products/albums/in-stitchz-2/ .

I made two of these and they are currently for sale in my Ebay and Etsy stores. I will be using this technique on many more projects in the future. Everyone have a fun weekend!

Valentines Heart Album

2009-01-29T16:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I would give you a peek of what I have been working on for the past two days. It is a project for myscrapchick and is my first photo album that I cut using my cricut expressions, SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) and the myscrapchick Album pattern. It was actually very easy to do. I was able to cut all of my background paper too so that save me hours of struggling and lining up the holes. I think I am really going to like doing these albums. I have committed myself to doing one a week for five weeks. So check back next week for the next one. I am almost done and will list one tonight on Ebay.com and one on Etsy.com . These are just a few of the pages.

Click here to go to this item listed on ebay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300290296293&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

We have Puppies

2009-01-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

I am soooooooooo tired this morning. Bayleigh, our Shih Tzu had her puppies yesterday. Four boys and one little girl. They are cute as can be and are all doing well. I only took a couple of pics so far because Mama is being very protective of her puppies. She bit me this morning when I made her go outside to potty. They are all eating well and moving around quite a bit. Sooo cute!!!! I can't wait for their eyes to open up and for them to get big enough to play with them.

2009 The Year of Change & Challenges

2009-01-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

So I have been thinking a lot about our new President and the financial crisis across America. Life has became a lot tougher for all of us to just survive. I am hoping that President Obama can help turn this all around. I feel like I am one of the fortunate ones that have not been affected too much yet by this, but I know I will. I felt a bit of it last fall during the Christmas craft season. I make wooden personalized ornaments and sell them every year at many different craft shows here in San Diego county. I have been doing this for about 20 years now. Last year was probably one of the most challenging for me and my fellow crafters. Although our customers still bought stuff it was smaller less expensive items. I was among the fortunate that have product that is all under $10 and pretty much average of $5.95 so I did ok.

I have noticed a huge change in the buying on ebay. Me and my sister scrapbookers are feeling the pinch from all sides. Our expenses have increased as ebay increases the fees and our supplies have slowly gone up too. Meanwhile it still takes us the same amount of time to create our beautiful pages to sell. Buyers are being cautious and are not spending as much on our pages and I can't really blame them. Times are tough for so many people. It is real!! People are losing their jobs and homes and just don't have money for extras.

Some of us will be forced to quit selling on ebay because it is not worth it anymore but many of us like me will continue because this is our passion and we just can't help ourselves. We have to create :) It is what makes our world go round and round. For me it is not my sole income, I have my full-time accounting job (for now anyways). So I will hang in there and will post many more things on Etsy which has lower fees. I know that I am lucky, while so many families out there are having a hard time just putting food on the table. Let's not forget them. We tend to only give at Christmas time to our local food banks and charities but they are going to need us more this year than ever. So I challenge everyone of you to give, give, give. If you can't donate money then donate your time.

I also ask that all of you pray for President Obama and his family whether or not you voted for him because like it or not he is in the position of controlling our future for the next four years. Pray that he receives the guidance and support of his staff, congress and senate. Pray that he will be able to lead this country out of this Great Depression. And most of all pray for each other, your family, friends and neighbors. For we all know that when all else has failed - prayer will carry us through.

I am not sure where all these words have come from but I have felt compelled this morning to write them instead of keeping them inside.

God Bless You all every day of your lives

Fairy Cute - made from a pattern from myscrapchick.com

2009-01-15T11:46:00.000-08:00

In the Beginning

2009-01-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

In the beginning there was nothing and now there is this blog. So here I go. I have been busy this morning wrapping up the year end taxes with my REAL JOB with the construction company in Albuquerque that I work work. Then I had this wild hair to start this blog. I hope to have time later to get some scrapbooking done. I am going to post some pics of some recent projects. Today it is 80 degrees here in Southern Cali. , while some of you out there are suffering from freezing temps I am opening up all my doors, windows and turning on the ceiling fans. This should be a fun exerience and I hope to bring you lots of fun projects and helpful hints.

I became a part of the design team for Myscrapchick last year and am super excited for all the fun things planned in 2009. So check back often and email me if you have any questions about scrapbooking and I will try to help you out! Until next time SPD (sweet paper dreams)