Batman!

Ever need to be doing something, but aren't inspired to so you do some other thing? That's me tonight. Here is the digital layout I created in Picasa a minute ago.

Digital scrapbook page about a local Batman impersonator

I used the mosaic feature to get the blocked photos.  Since I only used four photos, it left the nice space to the left for journaling. Had I used more photos, the program would have filled in the page completely. I had to re-crop some of the pictures after "mosaicing" them because they didn't show the right pieces of the photos for the smaller ones. I am pretty sure that doesn't make since to anyone but me. I am open to any and all questions on how to do it though. It was really simple. Does anyone have a favorite company they print with?

Weekend Warriors Roar!!!

Well maybe not roar, but at least a little growl. This weekend I refinished an old dresser.  I painted it black because I like black furniture and it happened to be the color I had laying around. Here is a before picture.

Before: Sad Brown Dresser

This dresser was in my sister-in-law's back room, on the way to a garage sale or Craigslist. I very lightly sanded it and added three coats of chalkboard paint. Again, I was just using what we had under the kitchen cabinet.

After: Sexy Black Dresser

I could have changed out the hardware like in the dresser I did before, but I thought this made it look old and like it's supposed to look this way. So I am keeping it like this. I could have swept up the scraps of paper off the floor before taking the picture, but then I wouldn't have been able to work the topic of scrapbooking into this post.

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Accordion Mother's Day Card

Front of accordion card which measures 4 x 6

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Today I am posting the card I made for my mom. It is an accordion card that is 4 x 6 when folded and 4 x 24 when opened completely. To make this card I used only one sheet of 12 x 12 card stock and paper from my scraps drawer to embellish it.

Card expands to 4 x 24

First, I cut a speckled white sheet of card stock into three 4 x 12 strips. I folded each in half and assembled them alternating their directions in a zig zag pattern to create the accordion book look. You can make more or less "pages"  by using less or adding more 4 x 12 strips. Using three strips will yield eight pages or six pages, a cover, and a back.

Next, I printed and cut out five pictures and adhered them to the book. I left a page open for a sentiment. If I had been thinking, I probably would have written my sentiment on the back page because I didn't want my writing to bleed onto the face of my first picture.

I cut out the edges leftover from flower cut outs to use to embellish the front of the pocket

To remedy this, I put my message in a pocket that the reader can simply push to the right to read the message inside. If you trust your markers, or use one's that are photo safe and allow your sentiment to dry before folding, you should be okay. I used my purple Zig marker which should be photo safe, but just in case...

Sentiment tag in pocket to prevent ink bleed on the adjacent photo (fancy word points!)

I like how it turned out and the pocket adds extra detail anyway so no big deal. Since my mother has five grand kids I went ahead and added the two that aren't mine on the back. It worked out well.  I decorated the back of the card in the same flower motif as the front. Not a bad project and it took less than an hour. Only the best for my mom :-)

Back side of card opened completely