Decorate Life-Day 5

Last day of collecting.  Can't wait to start scrapping.


Fill tray #13 with one large chipboard F, and three medium sized brads.

Place in envelope #13 one vertical photo of something you are passionate about and a piece of coordinating patterned paper that is 4" x 11".  I took a photo of my scrapbooking room because I am passionate about my scrapbooking.

Fill tray #14 with one piece of 11" long ribbon, and three coordinating brads or buttons.

Place in envelope #14 five photos featuring the women in your family.  I chose different photos of Bug-a-Boo with the different women in our family from the time she was a baby until recently.

We start scrapbooking tomorrow!!!

Decorate Life-Day 4

More great opportunities to use product and photos I normally would overlook.

Fill tray #9 with one large chipboard L, one medium sized heart cut from a coordinating patterned paper and one piece of coordinating ribbon, 11" long.

Place in envelope #9 three action photos.  I chose pictures of Bug-a-Boo at gymnastics class.

Fill tray #10 with three flowers that are similar in size, three coordinating brads or buttons and three pieces of green ribbon.

Place in envelope #10 three horizontal and one vertical Christmas/holiday photos.  I chose Easter photos.

Fill tray #11 with ten 2" x 2" squares of a variety of coordinating patterned papers, one medium sized flower that coordinates, one coordinating jewel or brad and a coordinating crayon.  I haven't grabbed my crayon yet.

Place in envelope #11 seven everyday photos, one 2" x 12" piece of patterned paper, one 4" x 12" piece of patterned paper and one 3" x 12" piece of patterned paper. All the patterns should be small in scale.  I chose pictures from when Bug-a-Boo was still a baby.

Fill tray #12 with five tags in a variety of shapes and sizes that include at least one or two holiday themed ones and five coordinating brads.  Again, I chose Easter because I had this great line of product.

Place in envelope #12 six photos of a place you love, include at least one vertical photo and two photos that can be cropped fairly small.  I chose some photos of Prince Charming from the nineties (before he knew me).  I noticed in my storage binders that I had photos of him in Naples, Florida from a couple of different years.  I'm guessing that since he visited there a couple of times that he loved it there.

Decorate Life-Day 3

I am having so much fun choosing my embellishments and even more fun going through my photos and choosing them.  I love this class (and so many of the other BPC classes) because it is the perfect way for me to finally scrap older photos from mine and Prince Chamring's lives before we knew each other.  I am definitely using this as an opportunity to do just that.

Today's assignments are as follows:

Fill tray #6 with two small flowers, two small brads, two pieces of 12" long ribbon, one fall embellishment.

Place in envelope #6 one horizontal group photo and one 4" x 12" strip of black cardstock.  I chose this photo from the Fall of 1989-my senior year in high school.  This is a group shot with most of my really good friends at our hang-out, Little Ceasar's.

Fill tray #7 with 3 feet of string, a variety of four tags, two small flowers and two coordinating brads.

Place in envelope #7 three vertical photos of one relationship (example: sisters, brothers, friends, grandparents) one 8 1/2" x 11" patterned paper (that coordinates with photos), two sheets of lined notebook paper.  I chose the Father/Daughter relationship between Bug-a-Boo and Prince Charming.

Fill tray #8 with eleven buttons approximately the same size and coordinating colors, one medium sized white flower, one small white flower.

Place in envelope #8 two vertical photos of a first (example: first day of school, first time on a hike, or to a specific place, first time you met a grandbaby) one 3 1/2" x 8" patterned paper (coordinating with photos).  I chose the first time I saw the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

Decorate Life-Day 2

Today I get to fill 3 trays and envelopes.  Woo Hoo!!

Tray #3 gets eight multicolored & different sized flowers and eight coordinating brads.

Place in Envelope #3 four photos of something you have accomplished.  It can be four separate accomplishments or all from the same event.  Also, add one 4"x11" piece of patterned paper that coordinates with your photos.  I chose finishing Bug-a-Boo's playroom.  It was a huge project that I designed myself and consisted of painting, sewing and more painting.

Fill tray #4 with ten multicolored & different sized buttons, one 10-1/2" medium width ribbon.

Place in envelope #4 four photos of a day outing or vacation.  I chose a day in 2009 when we took Bug-a-Boo to the Ballentrae Fountains to play.

Fill tray #5 with two large flowers, one large/jumbo brad, five different colored/sized ribbons all 12" long.

Place in envelope #5 four horizontal photos of a season or time of year you did something you love. (Example: hiking, ice skating, pumpkin patch, making gingerbread houses) Use a coordinating patterned paper to cut two 3 1/2" diameter circles.  I chose the CAPA Summer Movie Series.  I go to at least a couple of movies every summer.  The summer of 2010 I went to Rear Window and The Goonies (pictured below).

Decorate Life-Day 1

I recently signed up for a class at Big Picture Classes.  I love Big Picture Classes and have taken several classes online.  It is a fantastic way to stay creative as well as stay on budget.  The first class of the year for me is Decorate Life, taught by Darci Dowdle.


Decorate Life is similar to the class I took last year, Baker's Dozen.  The first assignment in class is to create our "decoration box".  This is where we will store all of the embellishments that we need to gather.  We also need 14 large envelopes in which to store photos and paper in.


Assignment One
The first pre-class assignment is to purchase a tray of Christmas bulbs that are packaged in a clear plastic liner. The tray should include at least 14 bulbs. This may be tricky to find. For this class, we are mainly concerned with the box and tray that remains after you have removed the bulbs. I want you to "decorate" or cover the box in a patterned paper you love and then add one additional personal touch. It could be a ribbon, a tag, or an additional embellishment that makes it fun to sit on the counter and look at until this class begins. 

For the first five days, I get an e-mail with instructions to put certain products in my bulb tray,  and into my manila envelopes. There isn't any real specific instructions and I don't know how these products will be used. 

The fun of this is gathering the items and photos and then finding out over the next couple of weeks which numbered embellishments go with which envelope of photos.

For Day One I had to fill tray #1 with med/large chipboard letters that spell the word PROUD, two small coordinating flowers, two small brads, 5" of two different ribbons and a small tag.

In Envelope #1 I put seven photos of one single event or day.  I chose a trip to Chicago that I took in college with the Students In Design organization that I was the secretary for.

I had to fill tray #2 with 24 multicolored brads of different sizes.

In Envelope #2 I placed three horizontal photos of the fall.  I chose photos from 2008 of Bug-a-Boo carving pumpkins with my dad.

It will be fun to see what we will be gathering for the class.  Let the creativity begin!

2011 Grandparents Calendar

Every year for Christmas I make my parents an 8x8 calendar featuring Bug-a-Boo.  This year I also made one for Prince Charming's parents.

Because I started late I decided to keep things simple.  I bought two 8x8 Disney/Pixar calendars and planned on inserting Bug-a-Boo's face onto the characters heads for half of the year and design my own pages for the other half.  They both came out pretty cute.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I am determined that 2011 will be the year of ME!!!

As far as my overall "look", I plan on starting in January with a new haircut (that I promise to keep up).  No more once a year haircut for me.  I am also planning a monthly manicure as well as a pedicure and haircut every other month.   Part of my Christmas gift was a shopping spree so I will be getting some new, fashionable clothes.

As for health, in February, I plan on running in a Half Marathon at Walt Disney World and will continue to run when that is over and hopefully do another half in October here in Columbus.  Now if only I could get my butt in gear and start eating better.  One thing at a time.

This year I want to definitely focus on my creative self.  Scrapbooking and crafting make me happy!  It keeps me sane and being happy and sane help me be a better wife and mother.

I'm looking forward to sharing some fun projects, parties and photos this year!