Memory Page on Publisher

A Memory Page.  It's kinda hard trying to fit a year's worth of memories into one publisher file, but here is our first year.  This is another idea from Pinterest, I think.  The page is a memory page that lists all of our activities, likes, travels, and such that we did during our first year of marriage. 

 

Here is "Our First Year."  (Sorry for the blurry computer shot...I don't know how to publish a PDF to the web yet, so I am going oppa ghetto style by taking a picture of the document from my computer screen.  But you get the idea.)

 

 

It's been fun reminiscing over our first year together.  It's feels so long ago.  (It's not.)  I finished the second year, but there may still be a few edits to that one.  I hope to add these to a scrapbook one day, or maybe a journal. 

 

-Jana Lynn, Life With a Grin

Anniversary Inception Pictures

I saw this idea on Pinterest and I loved it.  This is our 2nd Anniversary Inception picture--a picture within a picture within a picture.

Before I print them (probably right before next year's picture needs to be taken), I will crop and edit them a little and decide which one I like better.  I'm leaning towards the first one, only because there is glare on the photograph we are holding in the second shot.  I even took out the glass, but glare still showed up on the picture. 

I really, really love this tradition.  And I really, really, hope I don't ruin it by missing a year. 

 

-Jana Lynn, Life With a Grin

 

Stencil, Fantastix, and Cat Eyes

Hi all!

 

My first crafty post here...  of course, it is a scrapbook project.  As much as my mother tried to get me to love sewing above all else, my true crafty love is scrapbooking.  Don't worry, though, mom.  I still love sewing.  Just not as much as scrapbooking.  Here is my final 2 page spread and I will tell you how I used the tools to create it:

 

 

So cute, right?  I love looking at my wedding pictures and these pages turned out to be some of my favorites so far of my wedding album. 

 

My sister-in-law got me a few scrapbooking supplies this past Christmas and I love them.  Among other things, I got this lovely stencil (which I forgot to take a picture of before I used it, hence the brown ink):

 

 

She also got me some cat eye ink pads, which you see here, and these interesting little tools called Fantastix.  I'd never hear of them before: 

 

 

The Fantastix worked like reusable markers, where you soak up ink from your desired color of ink pad and then dob the ink onto your stencil.  I loved the result:

 

 

But they were a little troublesome to work with sometimes.  Let me explain.  There were very vague instructions.  I had to look up how to use them on the internet and even that was a little sketchy.  You see the part of the branch that is dark, dark brown?  That was when I tried soaking the Fantastix in water first.  All that did was soak my paper and make my ink extra dark.  No bueno.  So I pulled out another Fantastix and began afresh.  I taped down my stencil onto the paper I was inking onto to hold it steady. 

Another note about the Fantastix--they don't seem very reusable to me.  Even after washing them out immediately after using them, there is still brown and blue ink in the tips of them.  Am I doing it wrong?  Anybody know? 

Here's my art after I removed the stencil (with a nice finger shot in the bottom corner...oh, well) :

 I then used a "Believe" stamp with the brown color box ink and stamped it onto a wooden tag. 

 

I also wanted another saying on the other page on a wooden tag, so I hand wrote the word "eternal" with my permanent brown marker in as close of a copy of the "Believe" stamp as possible.  I think it turned out pretty good.  I inked the edges of some of my corresponding paper using brown cat eye ink and put it all together with some flowers as embellishments. 

I think it turned out fabulous.  The background 12x12 paper is from a pearl colored elegant stack, and the 8x8s are from a stack I picked up years ago that I use off and on.  I like that there are several different patterns and textures and the coloring is just lovely. 

I'd love to here suggestions on using Fantastix markers if anybody has a better way of using them.  Thanks for reading!

-Jana Lynn, Life With a Grin

My crafty life.

Hi all!

I fully expect no one to read these blog postings, but it is a fun way for me to share what I am doing in my daily crafty life.  I am crafty and I always have been.  Some things come easy for me; others I have to work on constantly. 

Mom got me started with sewing when I was little.  I received my very first sewing machine on my 7th birthday.  Mom really wanted me to love it, so when I screwed up on a project, she would pick out the mistake for me with a seam ripper.  By doing that, I wouldn't get frustrated with my project.  She got rid of the mistake and I would keep sewing.  She learned that little trick from my dad's mom.  It keeps the little girls loving sewing.  :)  And it worked!  I love sewing. 

Over the years, I picked up painting among a variety of skills, but I am definitly no Rembrandt.  Everything takes practice.  I also began scrapbooking when I was about 16 years old.  I have done lots and lots of pages over the years, following the trends like the change to 12 x 12 paper size, and the rise of stamps, stickers, and embellishments.  I got a cricut machine 2 years ago for Chirstmas, but I don't use it to its potential.  I love fancy stickers.  My first post after this will be a scrapbooking page spread I recently completed for my wedding scrapbook.  I got some new tools, so I thought I would review them a bit. 

So, if I do get a reader or two, besides my mom, I would love some feedback.  I hope your day is going great and you can face life with a grin!  :) 

~Jana Lynn, Life With a Grin