Before Christmas I decided to commission a professional artist to give Pixie Hollow a facelift. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but I am no painter. Yes, the trees did resemble trees, but they lacked depth and fine detail. When the first muralist I contacted cancelled on me, I did a Google search and found Ann Gates Fiser. I could not have found a more perfect fit for this project. When I spoke with Ann about Pixie Hollow, she asked if I had been to her Moontoe Gallery website, I hadn’t. Not only did Ann paint gorgeous wall murals, she specialized in fantasy art and fairies. It was meant to be. She transformed Pixie Hollow into a little girls dream come true (and mine, who am I kidding).

I planned for Ann to paint for 6 hours, to add detail and depth to the fairy tree, the waterfall, and tree around the doorway, but I soon found out that wall murals are addictive. I wanted more. I had Ann come back not one, but two more times. (And if truth be told, I am 99% sure I will ask her back again after the next fairy movie comes out.) Each fairy and her talent, with the exception of Vidia, is represented in Pixie Hollow. There are the garden fairy fields, the sunflower meadows, the lilypad pond, Tinkers’ Nook, and of course, the Pixie Dust tree.

After Ann finished the murals, I painted on a coat of clear matte paint to protect them. I let the paint cure for three days, then added these Disney Fairy wall decals. The end result is completely magical. Pixie Hollow has been a huge hit with not just Zoë and Eden, but their friends as well.

If you live in the Seattle area and would like a wall mural for your home, I would not hesitate to recommend Ann Gates Fiser. Not only is she an amazingly talented artist, she is such a joy to work with. The girls and I had a wonderful time getting to know her while she was painting Pixie Hollow, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results.

I started out with the cover. Simple enough, right? I am a straight-to-the-point kind of girl. (I will update this post with a picture of the printed books once they arrive.)

Then I created Zoë’s storybook in iPhoto. Here are a few of the pages. It is the story of our cruise, from Zoë’s point of view, using words that she is able to easily read, and detail that she will appreciate. (If you click on the pages, a larger image will pop up for easier reading.)

Now I am going to show you something really cool. Ready?

Duplicate. Learn it. Use it. Duplicate is your friend. To duplicate an album, right click on the album you wish to copy and select duplicate.

I duplicated Zoë’s photo book and customized the photos and story for Eden. Obviously, Eden doesn’t care that “When you step aboard the Disney Dream you are instantly transported to an age of adventure and wonder, where elegance and sophistication mingle with Disney storytelling and whimsy. Lavish decorative murals mingle with sparkling fixtures and furnishings.” She’s three. Her take away from our trip? The cruise ship had pretty chandeliers, she got to sleep on a bunk bed with Zoë, and there were lots of princesses. She isn’t reading yet, but when she starts I want the words to be simple enough for her to sound out, and focus on details and activities that interested her during our vacation.

Here are the Eden versions of Zoë’s pages:

I started creating these books using Inkubook. I am very happy with the quality of their photo books, but I have to say, I wasn’t crazy about the layout options for their drag-and-drop pages. The space between the photos was too large (in my opinion). I like nice tight spacing on these smaller books. While iPhoto is very convenient and I like their layout options, I have never ever found a coupon code for their photo books. I find that annoying. Still, with 20-page photo books starting at $9.99, they are still an affordable option.

I also discovered that Flickr is an wonderful resource for photos. I stumbled upon this amazing Flickr stream with gorgeous detail photos of the Disney Dream (the ship we were on) and the shows. Note: Before you download images from Flickr make sure that the owner has granted permission to do so. Kelly and I only brought our iPhones on the trip and it honestly hadn’t occurred to me to take detail shots. They were the perfect addition to the girls’ story books!

There you have it! Considering how much Eden loves her Legoland storybook, I anticipate making many more of these in the future. I also like that they are saved on my computer for easy duplication in case something happens to the first cherished copy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Enter Twelve.

Registration is closed for Twelve, but if Stacy ever offers the class again I whole heartedly recommend it. Her passion and enthusiasm for scrapbooking is infectious. You cannot help but be excited! Each week she focuses on a different topic to inspire the class and get our creative juices flowing. I have been more productive this month than I was all of last year.

So the big question is did I finish twelve layouts? You bet I did! I finished 14 2-page layouts and created 2 42-page photo books for my girls.

That being said, I didn’t exactly follow the class format. The idea for Twelve is that each month we create one layout on each of the following topics: Me, Holidays, Places, Everyday Life, Rituals, Inspiration, Personality, Things, Family Stories, Seasons, and Fun. I fully intended to. I made lists of layouts I plan to create for each topic. I have pictures edited and tagged to use, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. I simply could not focus on my twelve topics this month because I really, really want to finish up my 2009 and 2011 Life in Photos albums. If I can’t focus on a layout I end up dinking around in Photoshop moving photos and embellishments around and getting nothing accomplished. Does that happen to you?

In 2009 I jumped on the Project Life train. I love the concept. LOVE IT! I bought the kit and I was all ready to go. I was very dedicated to taking a photo each day, I still am. What I had trouble with was getting my  journaling done. I am just not a paper scrapbooker anymore. What I ended up with was an album with 365 of photos from 2009 and 365 days of journaling on my photo blog. Last year I began the process of combining my photos and journaling and created/printed layouts up through March. The rest of the album has sat empty. Creating the layouts is really fast because I am using the same templates I used in 2010 (and 2011). I simply insert the pictures and copy/paste the journaling from my blog. Soooo, long story long, I worked on those pages this month and finished up to the beginning of June. Yay! Here are a few of my layouts. My, how life has changed in two short years!

I also wanted to make photo books for my girls of the Disney Cruise we took last month. Instead of creating layouts (which I am planning to do, or maybe a photo book for the family…) I created 6×8 photo books in iPhoto for Zoë and Eden. I made a photo book for Eden of our trip to Legoland last year and she loves it. She sleeps with it, carries it around the house, and reads it pretty much every night. It is one of her favorite books. She looks at her little photo book so much more than she ever would our “Places We Go” scrapbook. (More about the photo books tomorrow.)

So there you have it! Twelve is one of the best classes I have ever taken. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be excited about scrapbooking again. I haven’t been excited about scrapbooking for years. Dedicated to taking my daily photo and telling our story, yes. But not always excited about the process. Now, I cannot wait to sit down at night and get scrapping!

Thank you, Stacy.

Before Christmas I had the idea of creating an art book for Zoë. The artwork that she had so proudly created was sitting in piles, not being appreciated. I didn’t want to recycle them, but they were taking up space and not being enjoyed. It took me about 15 minutes to scan 60 pages of her artwork. (Many of them were similar, so I chose the best of each design.) It took me an additional 30 minutes to upload the scanned images to Inkubook and drag them into an 8.5×11 book. I was so pleased with the result and it took less than one hour.

Zoë absolutely LOVED her book. She sat down in the middle of the floor on Christmas morning, with her sister and cousins opening up gifts all around her, and looked through the entire book admiring her pictures. It was one of the best gifts I could have given her. Now, this beautiful (small) little book sits proudly on her bookshelf, and her pile of artwork has already begun to rebuild itself…

Use your child’s art work to create a custom notecards! It is so easy. The project literally takes fifteen minutes from start to finish. Scan the art work (or take a photo). Upload it to your website of choice. Select your card. Order!

3×5 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

 

I just ordered this notecard from Shutterfly. (Tilt your head to the side for proper viewing.) They are currently 20% off and I used the $20 off coupon I received when I ordered Zoë’s school pictures. Score!

Grandparents and teachers, please pay no attention to this blog post.

My albums are not going anywhere while I’m still around, but I want the girls to have photo from their childhood. Actually, I want them to have photos and stories from their childhood. Being a digital scrapbooker, I could very easily print duplicate layouts and make them albums, but what are the chances they want to lug those bad boys everywhere they move? Not great.

I came up with the scathingly brilliant idea (name that movie) of creating 8×8 photo books of my Life in Photos album each year. I could keep the large 12×12 album, and when Zoë and Eden graduate from high school (or maybe college?) I would present them with 18 beautiful photo books that would fit nicely on any book shelf. Brilliant, yes?

A few weeks ago while Shutterfly was having a great BOGO sale on photo books I got to work. I spent about two hours creating my photo book and reached the beginning of November when I received the message “You have reached the 100 page limit.” Say what?! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math 52 weeks a year x 2 = 104 pages + cover page = 105 pages. I was annoyed, to say the least. It is my own fault, really. It never occurred to me that there would be a page limit and so I never checked.

With Shutterfly out of the picture, I went on a hunt to find a company that offered 100+ page photo books. It was then that I remembered this blog post by Cathy Zielske showing off her new Me: The Abridged Version album. (Fabulous class by the way. It is one of my all time favorites. I give it two thumbs WAY up.) I had never heard of Inkubook until Cathy mentioned them, and I’ve been a digital scrapbooking, photo book ordering machine for years now! I looked on their website and low and behold they offer an 8.5 x 8.5 photo book with 81-120 pages for $39.95 (soft cover) and $49.95 (hard cover). Hallelujuah! The best part? When I signed up for an account they emailed me a BOGO code for my first order.

After already spending 2+ hours that day working on my Shutterfly book, I threw caution to the wind and dragged/dropped my original digital layouts straight into the 8.5 x 8.5 Inkubook and crossed my fingers that nothing important would get cropped off or bound in the gutter of the book.

How did my Inkubook turn out? I made a video to show you.

In short, I am thrilled with my Inkubooks. I would not hesitate to use them again. In fact, I already have, but that is a post for another day. They may not have BOGO sales as often as Shutterfly, but don’t dismiss them. Their photo books are beautiful. Their website is extremely user friendly and intuitive. They don’t mess around when it comes to safely packaging your order either. I was very impressed. Most importantly, the color of my photos/papers were accurate and not over saturated.

To create my 2010 album I used this template by Cathy Zielske. I know some of the layouts don’t look like the original template, that is because I tweaked the template to accomodate my pictures each week. Templates are so wonderfully versatile, just remember to “Save As” before you make any changes so that you don’t permanently changing the orignal template! I also used The Darling Paper Collection by the Shabby Princess.

Are you ready to create your own Inkubook?! Don’t forget, for all new Inkubook users, if you make AND order a photo book within the first 10 days of signup you can get one free (copy or a different book, lesser value book is free). They are also running two specials this month. From now through 12/9 use code HOMEFREE to receive 20% off all orders + free US ground shipping on orders over $30. From 12/10-12/14 use code LASTGIFT to receive $10 off order of $30 or more.

It gets better!

Inkubook is offering a $24.95 gift certificate +
free US domestic shipping to one lucky reader!
(Aren’t you glad you stopped by?!)

How to Enter:

“Donors who contribute $5 or more will receive a red, white, and blue wristband with the message “Indivisible.” The wristbands are individually handmade in the U.S.A. and all component materials are manufactured by U.S. suppliers, so the effort is also helping support American manufacturing jobs. The wristband is designed to serve as a symbol of Americans uniting to help create jobs. One hundred percent of donations go to OFN to help fund loans to community businesses nationwide that are committed to creating and sustaining jobs—including small businesses, microenterprises, nonprofit organizations, commercial real estate ventures, and affordable housing projects.” -Starbucks.com

This program makes me happy for so many reasons. Of course, being a small business owner myself, I appreciate any efforts to support small businesses in our country. The thought that this program may actually succeed fills me with joy. People who can afford to spend $5 on coffee can afford to (and hopefully will) donate $5 to a good cause. Imagine if everyone that ordered a drink at Starbucks for the rest of the year donated $5 one time…

Each year during the holiday season I choose one organization to support. Last year, thanks to all the new Scrapaholics followers, we were able to provide five years of clean water for 19 families in Africa through the Blood Water Mission.

This year, Scrapaholics is supporting Create Jobs for USA. From now until December 25th for every 25 new Facebook and Twitter followers we receive, Scrapaholics will donate $5 to Create Jobs for USA. Please help us spread the word by sharing on Facebook and Twitter!

Each year, the cards we receive are lovingly displayed until New Years. For the past ten-ish years I have then placed them all in a ziploc bag for future scrapping. I can never bring myself to throw the cards away (unless there was no photo), but I had no clue what to do with them. Originally, I planned to create Christmas layouts using a 2″ square punch like Ali Edwards, but the majority of my photos wouldn’t fit in a 2″ square, not even all the family members! And, as you may have noticed, I’m not a paper scrapper anymore. So the Christmas cards of years past sat neglected.

While on Pinterest a fews ago I came across a BRILLIANT solution to my Christmas card dilema!

Source: Close 2 My Art via Maegan on Pinterest.

As far as I am concerned, this is pure holiday genius. Simply punch two holes in your cards, add some rings, and voila, you have a book of the years’ Christmas cards to display for years to come! Maybe add some ribbon if you are feeling especially crafty.

For more Christmas inspiration be sure to follow my Simply Jolly {Christmas} board on Pinterest. Or all of them… I am slightly addicted to Pinterest.

Then came Eden.

It is true what they say about your second child getting the short end of the stick. It’s not that I don’t take pictures of Eden, I border on obsessive. However, until Baby Life, she had about ten layouts documenting her existence. Total. She’s three years old. Terrible, I know. All of my scrapbooking time is spent on P365, Life in Photos, Photo-a-Day, Project Life… whatever you call it. I needed something to quickly and simply get her photos scrapped, and her baby stories documented before I forgot them. I have the memory of a goldfish.

Long gone are the days of me creating pages for every single cute photo or story. I have come to realize (and appreciate) that sharing our stories is not about quantity. It is about quality. I am tickled pink about Eden’s baby pages. No, they do not span two volumes like her big sister’s, but they contains the best of the best photos and stories from her first year of life, and that makes me happy.

Here is a peek inside Eden’s album. It will give you an idea of how flexible the Baby Life products are. They can be mixed, matched and used in combination with the other products depending on the number of photos you want to include and how many stories you want to share.

This is the first page of Eden’s 10 Month layouts.

When you turn the 6×12 “10″ page, you will see the highlights from the month as well as the journalling that was previously hidden with all the details of Eden’s month.

Next is the 2-page spread with my favorite photos from the month. They are very much like the School of Life “Life at Home” or “Life at School” pages.

Here is another option, for those of you that don’t want/need a title page for each month. Instead of including the 6×12 “Spotlight” page at the beginning, you can include it in the middle of your monthly spread. It really just depends on your preference. Personally, it doesn’t bother me in the least. I have loved mixing and matching different sized page protectors ever since reading Life Artist by Ali Edwards.

And when you flip the 10 month divider over…

Below is my favorite feature, and what I did on the other months of Eden’s first year. I reduced the 6×12 Spotlight Page to 95% before printing it so that I could easily slip it in behind the brief highlight paragraph. Let’s face it, nobody really wants to read an entire page about her eating habits, number of teeth and sleeping habits, but I like that is tucked away for future reference.

Eden’s 11 Month Layouts

Eden’s 12 Month Layouts. (Notice how on this 6×12 page I put the “12″ in front instead of highlights? I haven’t decided which I like better yet.)

I didn’t keep much in the way of memorabilia for Eden. I’m a digital scrapper. When I do include extra items in my layouts they are scanned, but I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed having a pocket in the girls’ School of Life albums. I think I need more pockets. As you may have guessed, I created a pocket for baby items. (There are Baby Life – Pieces of Life stamps for every month, but I didn’t need that much storage.)

Now, if you like the idea of documenting the highlights from your baby’s first year but don’t have the desire or time to create layouts for each month, I have something else to show you.

Easy peasy. Three of these layouts and you are good to go. Done!

There you have it, the Baby Life pages in my “All About Eden” album. All of the highlights for each month were copied and pasted from my blog. Blogs are a great place to write down stories, milestones and funny things your children say. You may not have time to scrap those stories right away, but they will (thankfully) be waiting for you when you do get some time. You may have noticed that Eden’s 12 month highlights are three sentences. Why? I forgot to blog about it and I have no clue what she was doing when she was a year old. Sad, but true.

We only see Papa and Nano every few years so this weekend was very special. Being the scrapbooker that I am, I took pictures and more pictures. I only have two pictures of Eden with Nano and Papa, and there aren’t any of my niece and nephew with them, which is completely unacceptable. I made it my mission to get some pictures of everyone together.

Enter my little brother.

He does little brother very well, even at 30+ years old. First, he tried to wipe off my color coded calendar, but my chalk marker wouldn’t rub off. Ha! Next, he rearranged all the bins in my pantry. Stinker.

Then this…

I threatened his life and was able to get one decent shot.

Do you think he’d had enough? Oh no.

By this time I got smart and stopped counting down before I took the picture.

Life is certainly more entertaining with Ryan around, but he is such a turd sometimes! LOL!