Paper Whiskers

"Hello"

This is probably the best photo I've gotten of Edie. She is always far more interested in investigating the camera than staying put. I've had a copy of it hanging on our photo wall, but decided I needed to add it to my scrapbook too.

Scrapbooker details: patterned papers (Sticker Studio), title (Doodlebug Design), flower (Sassafrass Lass), journaling card, definition sticker (7Gypsies), "edie" letter rubons (American Crafts), and I used a Fiskars punch (threading water) to create the scalloped bottom edge

"Everyday Moments"

Back from the blog break, and I actually can't guarantee it will be any more active around here, but I do have lots of layouts to post. I attended both Spring scrapbooking retreats this year and got tons done.

This layout has lots of stuff on it, so I won't try to list it all. I used some of my favorite stuff on this one, like the bronze nailheads, a piece of film, cool leaves, a journaling stamp that was a lucky rummage sale find, and I edged with a gold paint pen, most of which is cropped out.

Christmas Round-up: Whiskers

Pets have always been part of our families, the only difference being that I had cats and Eric had dogs. So, it didn't take too long until we had our own. Cats for now, hopefully a dog someday. We don't go so far with Kahlan and Edie to celebrate birthdays, but at Christmas they get their own gifts. And last year, I managed to even find pet paper at PetSmart. It's not very pretty, but it is nice to have something just for their gifts. And they seem to like the crackly noise of the paper and they definitely like the special treats they get.

For the most part, they don't bother the decorations or the tree, thankfully. They do like the fuzzy Santa hat tree skirt, though. Edie especially likes it, and will curl up under there quite often. She is also the one who rings the bell hanging from one of the bottom branches of the tree. It's a tradition from my own family's tree, that a cat bell is hung where the cat can brush up against it as she investigates presents.

Edie is also the one who chews on the tree branch that came off when I put it up this year. She pulled it out of the box one night and now I keep finding it all over the apartment.

The big gift this year was a cat hat, with reindeer antlers. It's silly, and not very well designed, but I couldn't resist it. Maybe if it had ear holes, they might have tolerated it longer.

Or not.

Happy Halloween!!

Ha! I couldn't resist posting this old layout to celebrate the day. She cracks me up.

details, for them that care: cat and Happy Halloween stamps from A Muse; alpha stamps from Hero Arts; I layered strips of Chatterbox vellum and cardstock to make the background; the photo was printed in both black and white and in color, then I layered Kahlan over the black and white; it is hung with leather cord on a Making Memories eyelet

Hope you have a great Halloween weekend!!!

Whiskers: An afternoon in the sun

Despite this being the worst winter in a long time, two members of our little household have been enjoying themselves. Strong, unfiltered sunlight floods our front room for the middle part of the day (on sunny days, obviously), which Kahlan and Edie soak in for as long as they can stand. If Eric doesn't close the blinds (the glare is killer on his monitor), they will lounge in rotation, taking turns in the best spots. From the windowsill, to the back of the chair, to the floor, back to the chair and over and over. With short cool-down breaks in the 'shade' (any non-sunny spot). They flop. They doze. They watch the orange tabby who lives across the way. They fight half-heartedly. They bask.

The photos below were taken one such recent sunny day. Click on them to see close-ups. Enjoy!

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It's interesting to see all the different ways the light looked in these first three photos, all taken within the same half hour. Where she was sitting and what she was sitting on, made all the difference.

I just want to reach into the photo and scrunch my fingers through her fur:

The only one I converted to black and white, because there was a distinct red/pink glow reflected from the tree skirt Kahlan was lounging on. It was going to either be impossible or take too long to fix, so I did this instead:

And one more, just because it made me laugh out loud . . .

"Whiskers"

(as usual, click to enlarge)

A few of the results from the last Sunday morning photo shoot with the furry kids. This time, I had a roll of black and white and decided to play with the macro feature on my zoom lens. It didn't make a huge difference, I don't think, but I like the results.

The layout is what came of my attempt at the latest Photoshop Friday from Jessica Sprague. I started out following along, then got sidetracked and ended up not using the technique at all. I will try again later, because it's a pretty cool technique.

supply details: patterned paper - Rhonna Farrer 2Peas Dec06 free kit; scalloped ribbon - Rhonna Farrer 2Peas Jun06 free kit; tag - Sande Krieger 2Peas Nov06 free kit; 'whiskers' - Onyx font; journaling - Book Antiqua font

Lost Treasure

I was putting away a new set of black and white negatives, and ended up flipping through my old negatives from high school and college. I'm especially happy that I found the photo of Mime. I still miss her.

Mime

Libby

Phantom

The frame mask used on the photos was created by Jessica Sprague.

And because I didn't have one of Pussywillow for Sandy, here's a new one of her CB:

Thursday

Quiet around here lately, isn't it?

Winter finally showed up and dumped a few inches of snow last weekend. Sunday morning I woke up early and took my tripod and camera out to take photos of the feeding station at the edge of the woods outside our building. I used film, so they haven't finished processing at Kodak. Tomorrow, I think, they'll be done, and I can post pictures.

CKU-Detroit registration is up, and I didn't sign up. I told myself that if there was even one class or album track that got me really excited, I'd find a way to go. But the schedule went up and nothing jumped out at me. Not even the album tracks.

I found Disney Gardens (complete with Finding Nemo themed fruit stickers) navel oranges at the grocery store last week and of course, had to get a bag. They were even on sale, so I got a big bag. I'm still working on them and have one for breakfast almost every morning. Yum. It makes my desk area smell great, too.

I've got a new computer at work now. Flat screen monitor and even a sound card. woo! I hate the flat screen monitor though. The image quality is terrible - all the text and images are just slightly blurry.

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and I've had an idea stewing for a while. I'm anxious to see what it looks like in real life, not just in my head.

Bravo played a marathon of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip episodes last Sunday, in prep for the mid-season startup Monday night. I lost track of it for awhile and hadn't seen most of the episodes, so I thoroughly enjoyed being able to watch them back to back like that. Seriously funny stuff and I would have laughed a lot harder if it didn't make me cough so much.

I'm on pins and needles waiting for our W2s so we can do our taxes. I've got a good chunk of change built into the budget sheet, but it's killing me not knowing exactly what I need to save. It goes up every year and this past year we paid over and above every month, so I've really got no clue what the result is.

The Disney World photos from my trip are really making me wish I'd just bitten the heavy-bag bullet and taken my film camera. The digital did not do a good job, overall. I have several really good shots, but I know that with my film they'd all be good. :(

I checked Kodak this morning, to see if the two rolls from last Sunday had cleared, and found that one was ready. It wasn't from Sunday. It was from Sally's wedding!!! It must have gotten lost somewhere and just now processed. I knew I had more dancing photos. They aren't great, and the best one is sooo blurry, but I'm glad they weren't lost forever.

And something I noticed on Kodak today: their processing fees jumped a huge amount. It's now $5.99 to process film. Grrr. It's only $1 more to do it one-hour most places, and you get prints. I don't want prints of everything, just digitized. Snapfish is looking pretty good right now.

Eric turned 30 on Sunday. We had a party for him Saturday night. I made chocolate cake & Coke cupcakes. They turned out pretty yummy:

And of course, Kahlan had to supervise the present opening. She always has to be in the thick of things, even though she hates strangers (especially Sally, who loves to rile her up!). Some day, she'll get her revenge, Sally!

"Kitty"

Another layout displayed in the store. This is Edie, our "invisa-cat." She runs and hides under the bed when someone she doesn't know comes to visit. Which is almost all of our friends and family. No matter how many times they've visited. lol

Patterned paper is Scrapworks; foam stamp alphas are Making Memories; the squares are Technique Tuesday technique tiles (covered in paper)

5 Things I Love Right Now

1.

I'm not embarrassed to admit this is probably my most prized possession. Because, really. How perfect is it? I can't bear to retire it, although I definitely should, because I've never been able to find another one like it.

2.

New papers, recently discovered. Paper I love so much that I'm actually going to use it! Yes, really, Kelly! LOL

3.

No words necessary. heh.

4.

Every scrapbooker reading this is going "oooooooooo!" So am I! LOL The ever-elusive Opaque White Uniball Signo, discontinued by the manufacturer and snapped up whenever it gets found. I do have a source, that occasionally gets them in (directly from Japan, I believe), so e-mail me if you want the link.

5.

Because she continually surprises me with the faces.