Freebie Friday - and some news

I'm at the plate for this week's It's in the Cards Challenge, and this is what you'll be making with me:

And that means I get to supply you with a fun freebie:


ETA: no longer available - thanks!

I hope you'll play along!

And in other news, one of my projects is now completed and up for sale at ScrapMatters. Drop in your own photos and it'll be a stocking stuffer for sure:










(click on image to go to the ScrapMatters store)

Both sets of grandparents are getting this.

It's a treat to work with Britt-ish Designs! Thanks, Britt. :)

Have a fabulous weekend, my friends.

A cool gift idea -

I am the hybrid editor and contributor for the ScrapMatters Newsletter, and last month, I got a chance to share a project I think would make a great Christmas gift (or for any occasion, for that matter).

Andilynn Designs' Flora Brushes are so lovely - they screamed for something more than to be used on a normal digital layout. So, I decided to embellish this old turtleneck my daughter had in her closet:



You can actually embellish textile, really. On bags, blankets, you name it.

Here are some supplies you'll need:


Open an 8.5"x11" document in Photoshop and place an image of choice. I offset the brush to the right:


You'll be printing the above image on the paper side of freezer paper. The easiest way to do this is to cut a piece of freezer paper 8.5"x11" and adhere it to a regular piece of paper. Use double-sided tape on the WAXY side.


Once the design is printed on the freezer paper, you will cut it out using your Xacto knife. My design was very intricate, so it took me forever:






Don't forget to keep the negative space pieces. Because my pieces were tiny, I collected them in this cup and numbered each piece:


Now iron the freezer paper onto your garment. Do you see where I noted the placement of the negative pieces?




Place a piece of freezer paper under the place you will be painting, then lightly load your brush and stipple the area (If you add textile medium to your acrylic paint, I hear the design will last through many more wash cycles without fading):


Peel off the freezer paper design once the paint is dry:


And voila, you're done:

At the pumpkin patch

A few LOs from our time at the pumpkin patch with our visitors, Auntie Betty and Uncle Josh:


credits: Cinnamon Designs' Happiness kit


credits: The Gypsy Chick's Gorgeous kit.

We miss you guys!

Photo session at the Train Depot

These sweet girls and their parents spent a balmy afternoon with me hanging out for a photo session. Here is one of my favorite images:



It looks like a storybook painting to me. Please check out my JOYrevisited Photo Artistry blog to peek at their photos.

Knee deep in photos and projects

What a good problem to have. :) Recently I had several photo shoots, and soon I'll have a ton of photos to share once I complete my edits. I did finish one family's - here's one of the photos:



Be sure to visit my JOYrevisited Photo Artistry blog to see more photos.

I'll be sure to share more later this week. Have a good day!

Amanda's love notes

Left on her Daddy's computer desk:


She drew a picture of me on the left, Abigail in the middle, and herself, sleeping in their bed.

Translation of note, entitled "Asleep":

Dear daddy,

I like to cook
and
Watch T.V.
with you,
and make apple
turnovers
with you.

Love, Amanda
...

I love to see her mind trying to grasp the grammatical information we're going over in her studies. She likes to spray commas all over her sentences, needed or not - it's so sweet. She regularly melts the hearts of her parents on a daily basis with such notes.

House creative... and a freebie

Our home is constantly in artistic flux. Ron has someone's ailing computer and its minute parts splayed out on his tech bench, Amanda is making yet another "I really love you" note to her parents or friends, Abigail is scribbling on herself or the table, and well, there's me wrestling with pixels and paper.

I love it all.

I will have to do a "day in the life" to capture all of this some time. Until then, I just have some photos of some recent projects of mine:

another party hat-


Amanda's First Year badge album-




and a card made with a photo from this photo shoot-


Here's the card template freebie, if you're interested:

(Click image to download) ETA: no longer available - thanks!

Have a great weekend!