Penny Smith: January 2013

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

pretty little studio

being asked to design for Pretty Little Studio was the highlight of my week!

i am SO excited about the colorful, wonderful products they make/create!

i haven't designed much this last year. i needed to take some time off.

but new things are cropping up (pun maybe intended).

i guess i am coming back!!

also other possibilities to travel and be part of the industry again, plans to attend and help at CHA summer...

hard to hold back my excited anticipation!!

i will be posting some of the great things Pretty Little Studios has to offer soon!

in the meantime, here is the official announcement!!

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Monday, January 21, 2013

ok, so usually "make-a-dent-monday" is meant for using scrapbook layouts out of supplies i have on hand... new or old. but to just make SOMETHING with all the stuff i already have!!

but something about "make-a-dent" seemed to work with my scrap room... i had a friend over (thank you Kelly!) and we "made-a-dent"!!

so here it where it was to start:

yep... this is where it was when we started...
a mess.
(we moved to this house in June last year... overdue to say the least!)

the rest of the room. there is a table under those boxes and bins!

we started unloading boxes and putting things away.
and Kelly even made me put up this slat board.
(i plan on framing it out with molding.)

and we got up these ikea bins up too...

so there is a sneak peek! lots more to come!!

what are your favorite scrap/craft room ideas? what are your favorite pins?

i am thinking i am heading over to a vintage store i found out just got some old square upright lockers!
oh the ideas!! (maybe my room should be bigger!)

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

Two Peas CHA Winter Challenge...

i don't usually do these kinds of challenges... not because i don't think they are a good idea, but because i never remember to get them done. but i have this page open last night at a crop, to spur my creativity.

it worked. (i think.)

i started with the cocoa daisy january kit (this is my first kit with them... i was getting just the monthly stamp subscription, but decided to get some new product added to my arsenal... how better than a kit, right?)

the challenge i did was "use one color" (primarily)

so that metallic strip with holes is the leftovers from sequins, apparently.
looks like a great mask to me.
and the ink collected on it after i used it as a mask? great "stamp"!
(see the difference... the "negative" and "positive"?)

don't you just love the arrow (stamps)!

i still just love using stencils and spray ink (and paint and spray ink... and regular ink...) it allows me to me more creative. to not just shuffle paper around (which i am not all the great at). and i still love "white space". i can't bring myself to fill a page very often...

the details are what thrill me... the unexpected little details.

even if you don't submit your creations, you may just find a challenge to get the creative juices flowing...

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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

SMACK stuff and Couch to 5K...

so i am a realist. most of the time. i know my own weaknesses. i try to challenge myself. yes. and i win and fail just like everyone else.

cleaned up the first and lower level of the house for Thanksgiving. win.

kept it clean until Christmas. WIN! (i know. i am still glowing from that victory.)

project life the first year becky higgins came out with it. EPIC fail.

i made 2 months... not quite a full 2 months.

so i am trying to decide if i can keep it up. i love the idea. i have an instant printer. it is the idea of starting and adding anything new to our day. but i have time...

the project life album idea is still on the table... and i am waiting for me PL kit for studio calico... (great excuse to wait to start. neat.) and before i ever started to consider accomplishing a PL album, i decided to carry WITH me a SMASH 365 book.

so here is how my brain works. ha! i have to use a bag that i can CARRY the smash book with me, or i won't keep up. that is what i have in my head anyway... so i try out a bag that i got last year from fossil that was meant for a laptop bag i think. too big. i lasted 2 days with that mammoth thing.

so off to dillard's i go. i have it in my head it will be another fossil bag. i like fossil. and this is the time of year the fall fossil bags go on clearance. so lots of not-so-perfect candidates to look at. and then it happens... i wonder past and end up in the VERA BRADLEY section! yikes! i did a lil question posing on instagram. "is vera bradely "old lady"?" i get the go encouragement i need to keep the bag i bought. you see i had the SMASH album with me... so i knew for sure what size i needed...

i ended up with the vera bradely va va bloom mailbag.

that flap, conceals a section separate from the main compartment...

so i keep my SMASH album here...

*the day i started... i THEN noticed my SMASH album is bound upside down. true story. ((sigh))

that pocket in front of the section i keep my album??

that is where i keep a date stamp (studio calico), SMASH washi tapes (easy to tear on the go) adhesive (yes, the pen has glue, but it's nice having a roller on hand!) and some lil envelopes... i plan on throwing in a lil black cats eye black ink for the stamp so i can date stamp on the go too!

and my stuff... it has plenty of room for all on it's own! (sorry for the bad pic... hard to take a picture of the inside of your purse! :) )

so this is what i have done to keep me accountable! and the idea assessable. i am a "out of sight, out of mind" kinda gal!

i do not plan on adding to it every day... i plan on just adding when i think something is worth adding, or if i take a fuji instax pic, or have movie stubs...

here is my first entry... Alicia printed pics up from new years eve right away for us. so i put them right in!

ok-the other subject on the agenda! something on my "goals for this year" page. part of my "one little word"... "transformation"...

i decided to start back up with "Couch to 5K". I started it last year (wait-2011 actually) and stopped when i had some testing done. and that was all the excuse i needed to make it "not" habit anymore.

so there ya go. but it was doable... though i will say at this point, all jogging, even lame slow jogging, is hard. i know it will get easier. but it was hard. it will get easier. and i am sick and tired of my own excuses... so there ya go.

i did week 1 day 1 yesterday. i didn't die. i am here to tell about it.

my goal is the Color the Quads color run the first weekend in june.

i also put more of my natural/organic food beliefs into play. "transformation". yep. that's me.

in need of a transformation!

what about you? anything new going on? PL? SMASH book? trying to run/walk?

I would like to try pilates too... anyone try that before?

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Friday, January 4, 2013

Kiwi Lane Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!!

hey there! you are on the right track if you are heading on over from the fabulous blog of Megan Klauer!

so i LOVE starting the year with some creative time, a blog hop and a GIVEAWAY! YAY!
(a winner of a $25 gift certificate to use at Kiwi Lane will be given at random from the comments on ANY of the blogs on the hop!!)

i was fortunate enough to meet Kristy Lee (of Kiwi Lane) this last summer at CHA!
THIS is a dedicated lady!! when she joined the team/working force at Kiwi Lane, i just KNEW it had
to be a great company! and hey, any excuse to try something new!

Kiwi Lane caught my attention when their products came available on Scrapbook Steals.
i was intrigued! i love my Cameo-but i also love my punches still... and things that make the process
easier, with minimal set up time. i'll admit it. i have little patience for the process!

so when Kristy asked me to design a layout using a set of templates AND to think outside the box, i was on board! YAY!

i am not a "inside the box" kind of scrapper... let's call it "eclectic".

i used this template from the set.

i kinda just let it sit on my table for awhile... waiting for an idea to formulate!
i knew i wanted it to be random... my speciality.

with the same template/curve, i traced out various lines coming from a point at one side...

then, since i knew i was going to use mist, i cut a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper in "half' using the same template, so i could use it to block off areas i wasn't misting, right along the lines i traced.

to make the sections that were paper, i set my paper used to mask off misted areas, held them against the lines i traced and traced the patterned paper.

i also used one section for journaling, and one section to stamp "instagram" repeatedly. (studio calico date stamp). the lettering was done using letter stickers as a mask...