back to making cards

The adrenaline rush is over. Pictures edited and ready for the Bride to see. Finally get reclaim my sanity by playing with a little paper. :)

I started with this sheet of cut-outs from Beary Patch-

then headed to my scrap files to see what scraps I had that would work with these cuties. Then came the sketches... And this is what I ended up with.

I dressed the cut-outs up with a little crystal laquer and popped them with dimensional adhesive. The letter stickers are from making memories. The sentiment stamp is from TPC Studios.

Now it's time to re-pack the camera bags for a softball tournament. Back into my comfort zone!

I survived!!

My poor blog has been a little neglected this month. I got a post up the first and then one for the OWH Memorial Day hop, (which I had forgotten that I signed up for until the reminder email landed in my inbox. oppps!). To say I was a little distracted the past few weeks would be an understatement.

Many, many, months ago a very good friend asked if I would take her wedding pictures for her. I was very reluctant to take on this very important task. See, I'm a sports photog. Action shots. Candids, mostly. No telling people where to stand. How to hold their hands, in their pockets? Down at their sides? Tilt the head a little or straight? Oh, just thinking about those things gave me hives! There is no, "I'll try again to get that shot at the next tournament if I don't get it this week." There are no do-overs in wedding photography. But Cindy wore me down. She knows I'm a softy. :)

So in preparing for this hive inducing adventure I pestered & annoyed all of my photog friends. They all told me I would be fine. I have the skills and the gear (some of which gear I borrowed), I could do it. For months they told me this. Just put on your bossy hat & go for it. Bossy? Me? Could I be bossy? (Apparently I am. I don't see myself that way at all. May have to rethink that perception of myself....). I spent hours pouring over my photography how-to books. Surfed the internet for posing ideas. Made lists and notes like crazy. Emergency chocolate was packed in the camera bags weeks in advance. Photog friend was on speed dial. When the big day came, I was ready.

mostly.

I was not prepared for the BRIDE to be late. Gown malfunctions.  Flowers needing to be picked up and pinned on. Pastors to be located. Wedding coordinator? What wedding coordinator? Wait, that was me too. Only having 30-40 minutes to take ALL of the formal pictures....

There was NO time to be scared or stressed once everyone was dressed, flowered, and finally rolling. No time for a speed dialed friend & a talk back from the ledge. I am soooo glad I had my lists & Thomas to walk by and say, "Breathe, Mom, breathe".

 Thomas was my second shooter for the day. My rock. My "here is a piece of chocolate". My calm with his shy little smirk. My "I must keep it together in front of my Monster. He can't see his Mom fall apart and turn into a puddle of goo..."

BUT, I learned A LOT about myself one week ago Saturday.

 I am pressure player.

I can be assertive, OK, bossy, when it's called for.

I can still do what I'm most comfortable with, (candid, non-posed stuff) within a wedding setting.

 I don't have to really understand Photoshop to be a REAL photographer.

Weddings are not something that I want to do a lot of. But the next time one is brought up, my reaction won't be, HELL NO, it will be lets negotiate. ;)

Happy One Week-aversary Mr & Mrs Bailey! I hope you had a GREAT time at the Happiest Place on Earth!

now back to the final selecting of pictures for the Bride... 1200+ pictures take awhile to sort through.... ;)

OWH Memorial Day Hop 2012

 

Welcome to our stop on this years Memorial Day Hop!! Our card today--

  I started with sketch #117 from the Stars and Stamps blog. Sentiment is from Basic Grey. Sailboat patterned paper is from the Paper Patch from years & years ago. The small red stars were punched with a fiskars hand punch and glued to the blue pieces. No new pieces of paper were cut to create this card, all paper came from the scrap files. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Since we are supposed to keep the hop posts short & sweet, I'll end by saying if you need more ideas or inspiration, stop back later! Most of the cards I make are done using the OWH sketches. I keep trying to expand my sketch horizions, but keep coming back to OWH. :)

today's share from the land of scraps

I am happy to say that I am sooo glad to be done with these Bo Bunny scraps! It all starts to look the same after a the first dozen cards..... They have been wrangled, used, & the rest recycled! I'll share them all this week for a closer look.

This little guy started with sketch #49 from the Stars & Stamps blog (I really need to branch out and find some new sketches, but these just work so well!). The birds were fussy cut and highlighted with crystal lacquer. I stitched around the outside of the card with my old sewing machine to match the stitching on the paper. Ribbon may be from Bo Bunny too. I don't remember, but I don't think its May Arts.

this guy started with a sketch from www.oz-somestamps.com (its from her archives from 2008) and then changed up a bit to work with the birdies. The birds were again accented with the crystal lacquer. Stitching around outside was done on the sewing machine with only one side of the sentiment sewn down. Sentiment stamp is from TPC Studio.

Last card from this sheet uses the backside of the birds this time. Sketcy #86 was used as a starting point for this card. All edges of the paper were inked using chalk ink. The paper flower is from Bazzill Basics Paper and highlighted with the same ink as used for the edges. Heart shaped brad is from the stash. Sentiment is again from TPC Studios.

Scrap pile is getting smaller & box for Sandy is getting fuller! Thanks for the awesome inspiration Scrap Wrangler!