Day Trip, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Ok, I PROMISE I’m still alive (seriously this time). It’s been a little exhausting these last… well, this whole year quite frankly.

There are a lot of exciting things going on at work. First, we merged with this great company Splash Media in Addison. The merger took all of us by surprise when our boss announced it, but with a little faith and a lot of hard work, it all came to fruition on July 1st.

In the meantime, it’s business as usual. And although we’ve only had a couple new projects come in recently, we’ve been up to our foreheads in existing work. With the merger and the new product launch, we’re all a little freaked out at the approaching tidal wave, but we’re hanging in there.

As a result, I’ve been coming home from work these last few weeks and just vegetating. I haven’t even looked at my craft desk in a while, nor have I even taken any photos, but I do have a few layouts that I finished last month that deserve some attention so I’ll be posting those gradually over the next few days.

Moment, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Oh boy. Talk about getting back on the wagon.

Here’s a digital layout of the photo I took of me and Izzie. It’s not a very flattering photo of me, but documenting the moment itself was just something I couldn’t pass up. The things I do for this dog.

Supplies
Kit: Jen Martakis Designs SUNday News Kit
Brush: Always and Forever Brushes by Katie Pertiet

A Dog’s Life, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

This is my first 8.5 x 11″ layout. After discovering that American Crafts designed their 12 x 12 albums to accommodate their varying sizes of sleeves (GENIUS) I jumped all over it and purchased a few different ones from Two Peas.

Friends for the Long Haul, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

I made this image a long long time ago while scrapping with my scrap group and it’s been sitting on my desk since then. I didn’t want to throw it away but I couldn’t figure out what to do with it until now. My darling friend Brenda let me try out a piece of her heavy weight card stock from Gina K as well as her Copic SPICA markers. If you’re not familiar with SPICAs, they’re absolutely fantastic if you want to add just a touch of sheer glitter to your colored image.

Supplies
Paper: Stampin’ Up Garden Green card stock, The Paper Studio patterned paper, White card stock (I think this from Gina K)
Embellishments: Making Memories Vintage Finding ticket, Adhesive pearls, SPICA pens, assorted colored pencils
Stamps: Stampin Up Loads of Love and accessories
Ink: Tim Holtz Archival Black ink
Tools: Gamsol

Supplies
Digital Elements: Jen Martakis Designs Happy Easter DigiKit, April DigiKit, and WhiteSpace No. 6, Emma DigiKit
Font: Marker Felt

Supplies
Digital Elements: Jen Martakis Designs Happy Easter DigiKit, April DigiKit, Simple Starts No. 14 DigiKit

Easter Bounty, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Jen Martakis released her very cute Happy Easter DigiKit yesterday at Two Peas. And since Easter hasn’t technically occurred, I went ahead and scrapped a photo of my niece Morgan back in 2008.

Supplies
Digital elements: Jen Martakis Designs Happy Easter DigiKit, Whitespace No. 4 DigiKit, Creased Kraft DigiKit

Keep In Touch, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Supplies

Card Stock: Stampin Up Sahara Sand, fibrous handmade paper

Embellishments: Card board 35mm slide mount, transparency, Prima Marketing flowers

Stamps: American Crafts Sentiments Stamps

Moving!, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Well, no not really But I love making and sending moving cards when the occasion calls for it. Since I don’t have any kids, I had to come up with an inventive way of using this “kid-focused” kit and in the end I loved it!

If you can’t see the image or the video, click here.

Supplies

Digital: Jen Martakis Designs One Way DigiKit and Rain Drops DigiKit
Card stock: Kraft, white, American Crafts patterned paper
Ribbon: Satin dotted ribbon
White gel pen from American Crafts

I’m in the middle of one of those spells where I just feel uninspired. For this card, however, I saw a little spark come back just in time for the Jen Martakis Designs Rain Drops DigiKit to go live

Life lately has been a little bit of everything. I just finished reading this book called The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls for my book club. What an amazing story. I can’t believe the things she and her siblings had to overcome like their struggle through poverty and being raised by two selfish parents. It was inspiring and made me think twice about the things I have, and the things I want in life. I often have a difficult time finishing books that I actually read, but this one was easy.

I think I’m ready for a short spring break though. Maybe not a vacation, just some time off so I can do things around the house. It’s weird but some of my best days off are days when I stay home and get things done around the house

Supplies
Jen Martakis Designs Rain Drops DigiKit
Card stock: Stampin Up Sahara Sand
Stamp: Clear Acrylic Large Stamp Set – Sentiments
Flower embellishments: Orange E Line Flowers (Prima Marketing), Making Memories Lemonade Blossoms and Buttons 160 Pieces/Boxed, 40 Paper/20 Felt Flowers & 100 Buttons
Buttons: SEI and Making Memories
White Gel Pen

I never thought I would actually look forward to warmer weather, but here it is

Last fall I planted some tulips and so far this is the only one out of the five that’s sprouted. An interesting note about this photo: while I was shooting, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw a squirrel had stopped halfway up my stairs. He stared at me, not moving, and just as I aimed my camera in his direction, he turned and sprinted down the stairs and into the woods. It would’ve been a great shot!

Here’s the digital layout I created using the photo above. I hate to admit this but I think I’m really liking digital scrapbooking

Supplies:
Emma digital kit from Jen Martakis Designs
Fonts: FUTURA, Jellyka Gare de Chambord

Here’s the latest release from Jen Martakis Designs: Robots! This collection is ridiculously cute–I love it I also created a digital layout with a photo of my nephew Landyn:

What a great weekend! I’ve been able to spend a little more time at my craft desk then I usually do. And if you’re wondering, I managed to meet my 2010 NY Resolutions by just a smidge! I made 2 cards earlier this month, one of which I didn’t post because it used similar supplies as this one, and a 12 x 12 layout yesterday.

I’m still trying to find an adequate photo editing workflow though. Right now I’m using a combination of iPhoto, Lightroom, and sometimes Photoshop CS. I love processing photos in Lightroom, especially now that I understand the awesomeness that is Nikon RAW, but I prefer iPhoto’s organization and face-recogition system. It just feels a little clunky switching from one to another in a session. And because the Lightroom version I have is version 3 beta, I’m hesitant to do ALL of my photo editing in Lightroom since I’m afraid of all of my photos getting “trapped” in an expired version, but I’m still going to do all my photo editing in it anyway.

Supplies:
Jen Martakis Designs Notebook Basics DigiKit
Stampin Up Ruby Red card stock
Stampin Up Kraft card stock
White card stock
American Crafts Small Sentiments stamp set
Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink in Dark Brown
American Crafts Precision pen in Black
American Crafts dotted grosgrain ribbon
Cricut Storybook Cartridge
Martha Stewart 3-in-1 Butterfly Punch

Valentine’s Day Tulips, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

In this layout, I used Jen Martakis’ February DigiKit as well as her Notebook Basics kit. The Notebook Basics is definitely going to be one of my new favorites! I love the versatility.

Supplies:
February DigiKit
Notebook Basics DigiKit
Bazzill Swiss Dots Paper
Bazzill Basics 8.5 x 11″ Kraft Card Stock
Bazzill Basic 8.5 x 11″ White Card Stock
Die Cuts With a View Rub-On Quote Stack for Cards

Happy Birthday with Bella Blvd., originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Yep, I’m still working through my stash of stuff this month. This is the first card I’ve made for February (I have another one I still need to photograph and post).

I do love my Scor Pal tremendously and use it every time I make cards. On the other hand, I’m looking at the Martha Stewart board and I’m thinking–narrower scores! That would be awesome! Still I think the only way I would trade in is if my Scor Pal broke or if for some reason I found a need for the narrower scores (which you can still achieve with the Scor Pal anyway) and the envelope tool (I don’t have any issues making envelopes as it is).

You can read the comparison for yourself.