weekly scarlett update

Today Scarlett is 45 weeks old. Can you believe it?! Only 7 weeks until she's 1. Holy crap. Everyone tells you that time just flies by and they grow up so fast, and man are they right.

Anyway - I'm still going strong with her weekly photo project. I can't wait to make glossy, beautiful coffee table books for the grandparents and for us too. I had a request to show some of the process we go through to get her photos each week and to see some of the outtakes.

Since its winter, the light isn't the best. So lately, my photos have had noise & some motion blur. But oh well!! I just do my best and that's all I can do.

This morning Scarlett was not in a happy mood. She was a total roller coaster. She was tired and grouchy one minute. (I'm leaving all of these uncropped so you can see the process)



And happy and crazy the next minute!



If I'm lucky (like today), Josh still hasn't left for work yet, so he can help me get her to look up, not roll away, and get a good picture. Today, the method was holding up our Ariel Animator's doll. This seemed to keep her attention.



I was so excited to finally get to use this snowy fabric. We haven't had any snow this season!! I couldn't believe it was the end of January and we are just now seeing any snow!

She's getting so big now I have to stand up on a chair!



I really wanted her to show us one of her tricks, like clapping or peek-a-boo or 'so big'. But she was no cooperating whatsoever. So, we just gotta go with what she wants to do.



And here's the final picture with the photoshopped number. I FINALLY got her a new white onesie this week. She's 10 months old and I was still squeezing her into her same 0-3 month one! Can you believe it?! We had stretched it out to the max.



Some weeks its really easy and I can get the shot I want in a few snaps (well, let's be honest, I've never taken less than 20). But most weeks its a longer process. And then some weeks it's a struggle and I end up frustrated as does Scarlett. One of the hardest weeks, I was on my own (no Josh to help) and had to take over 160 frames to get a good one. But we try to make it a happy, fun project and not get too stressed out about it.

(You can see all Scarlett's weekly photos on my Flickr stream.)

Has anyone out there started a weekly, monthly baby photo project? I'd love to see!

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speed scrap on friday!

I'm hosting a Speed Scrap this coming Friday (Jan. 27) at 3:00 MST. (That's 5:00pm EST/4:00pm CST/3:00pm MST/2:00pm PST/10:00pm GMT.)



It's part of the MouseScrappers.com Speed Scrap Marathon. It's lots of fun! We'll be chatting in the MouseScrapper Chat Room, and the 7 instructions will be posted in the Speed Scrap Forum. After the first hour is over and all the instructions have been given you'll then have 4 hours to complete your page!! Get it done on time and you get this prize . . .


(yes, it coordinates with my "Animal Kingdom" kit.)

The Speed Scrap Marathon is really great. I'm so happy I get to host one of the scraps. There are even goodie bags for those who complete the half-marathon (at least 8 of the scheduled scraps) and an even bigger/better goodie bag for those who can complete the FULL marathon. Find out more about goodie bags and the marathon here.

So - mark those calendars and I'll see you on Friday!! Yay.

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i've been workin' on the railroad

. . . all the live-long day! Trains! Trains! Trains! I think its so funny how we've all probably got a train photo or two (or twenty) in our stash. We all seem to love a good train ride. Or maybe you have a train collector, or builder, or just a huge Thomas fan in your household.

Whatever the locomotive occasion, I've got a brand new kit that will help you scrap it out.

"Workin' On The Railroad"



and a bonus alpha too . . .

"Workin' On The Railroad Bonus Alpha"



And, I do have a little add-on freebie for ya at the end of this post too!!

I, as you may have guessed, have LOTS of Disneyland Railroad pictures to scrap. So I started with Scarlett's first ride . . .




And here are some awesome layouts from the Britt Girls!



Isn't this kit fun?! I tried to make it as versatile as possible. So you could scrap anything from baby photos, to school photos, to Thomas the Tank Engine mania!! :) Hope you all enjoy it.

It's time, once again, to enjoy the Show Offs. So here we go!

Each of this week's Show Offs will get my new Workin' On The Railroad Bonus Alpha as their gift.

Interested in Showing Off!? Learn all about how it works HERE. Our next slideshow/gift will be on February 3rd.

And last, but not least, here's that add-on freebie I promised ya.



{DOWNLOAD HERE}

Have a fantastic weekend, full of scrappin' fun. TOOT TOOT!!!!

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last minute sneak peek

I meant to get this sneak peek up this morning, but I totally spaced it!! Ooops! Well, my new kit will be released at midnight, but I thought I'd pop in and show ya the sneak peek anyway . . .


Are you excited?! Check back in later tonight (or tomorrow morning for those of us who aren't night owls) for the release.

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Bridesmaid Wedding Dresses Storm

LEFT: Nina Maya lace blouse, $360. Alannah Hill ‘She’s A Train Wreck!’ lace shorts, $189. Mary-Kyri ‘Julia’ lace heels, $560. Levendi Jewellers white gold pavé heart-shape stud earrings, $2300. Fairfax & Roberts Jewellers Martin Collection white gold double-row diamond bracelet, $21,500, and diamond circular bracelet, $44,900. RIGHT: Nina Maya short-sleeve blazer, $460, and pants, $290. Daniela-Stephanie panelled top, $440. PoHo buttonhole. Alannah Hill ‘Pin-up Wonder Shoe’ heels, $189. Pasquale Bruni diamond stud earrings, $19,855, from LK Jewellery. Fairfax & Roberts Jewellers diamond and pink sapphire brooch, $19,800. Chopard ‘Happy Sport X2’ watch with rubber strap, $22,380. Levendi Jewellers Australian South Sea pearl bracelet, $28,000.

LEFT: Thurley lace dress, $1200. Mary-Kyri ‘Seraphina’ lace ankle boots, $659. Stylist’s own cuffs. Cartier ‘Trinity Draperie’ necklace, $8550. RIGHT: Collette Dinnigan French lace ‘Peplum’ dress, $950. Nerida Winter sequin headpiece, $695. Habbot Studios ‘Rue Bebelon’ heels, $420. Stylist’s own cuffs. Pasquale Bruni rose gold earrings, $4950.

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High-Low Hemlines -- 2012 Wedding Dress Trend

High-low hemlines were all over the runways for Fall 2012. See which is your favourite style.

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fill 'er up!

Hi everybody. Sorry today's post and new release is a little later than usual. Scarlett's been sick and I had to take her in to the doctor this morning. Everything is fine though. Big sigh of relief! She just has a virus with "coarse breathing", as the doc put it. Which apparently is normal while she has this virus. No croup, no pneumonia WHEW!

We took a nice long "magic shower", as we call it, with lots of steam and that seems to have helped a loosen things up a bit. She's sleeping peacefully now, so I can get down to business and get you all my latest creation . . .

"Fill 'Er Up Templates"



Lately, I've been obsessed with scrapping these big, over-the-top, FULL pages. Covering the entire paper with photos, stacks, spills, etc etc etc! It's so fun. Just a new way to create a memory page. And I thought you might like to try it too! It's much easier to try out a new style when you've got a template to follow. Here are my layouts using "Fill 'Er Up". You may recognize a couple of them from the past that inspired two of the new layouts. (click images to enlarge)






And here are some incredible creations from the Britt Girls:


Aren't these types of pages fun? Something NEW to try!! I hope you'll try them out and post your creations in the Britt-ish Designs gallery for me to see.

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Wedding Reception Speech Ideas

Some speeches are humorous, and they get everyone laughing. Some sentimental speeches show the audience that the wedding is a meaningful event to the speakers.

For the Best Man
Write a rough outline ahead of time. Think of all of the wonderful things you could say about the bride and groom and put all of these points down on paper. If you are the best man, talk about the amount of time you have known the groom. Your history with the groom should reveal that he is a fitting match for his bride. Talk about the dreams of the groom and how his ambitions fit with his new role as a husband.

For the Maid of Honor
Sometimes the maid of honor gives a speech after the best man, although her speech is not required. Your speech should show that you know the bride well enough to speak genuinely about her new life. For instance, mention that the bride is special to you with a story about your childhood escapades. Tell stories about how happy your friend gets when she sees her future husband to demonstrate that you really think their love can last.

The speech will be more interesting to your audience if they have a few opportunities to laugh. Three to four points of humor are usually adequate in a wedding reception speech.Flesh out your outline into a full speech, then mercilessly edit it to keep it within 3 to 5 minutes in length. Pause from time to time. This will give your audience time to absorb what you're saying and reflect on pertinent points.Look your audience members in the eye as you speak. A good rule of thumb is to move your eye contact from person to person in the audience.

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digi-scrap stats: 2011

There's a trend out there right now of tabulating your 2011 Digi-Scrap stats, and picking your top 10 favorite pages of the year. And well, it just looked like a LOT of fun. So - here we go!

Pages Scrapped: 94
That's almost 8 a month. Not bad. But getting that close to 100 was just frustrating! So my goal for 2012 is to make it to 100 AT LEAST!

Pages Left Unfinished: 0
I'm NOT AT ALL the kind of scrapper who can leave a page un-done. I almost always finish a page in a sitting. Once in a blue moon (like right now, actually) I have to put a page on hold to finish later. But mostly I have to work on a page 'til it's done.

Pages Printed: 20
This one's embarrassing. I'm such a slacker when it comes to printing. But man, oh man, do I love looking at my printed pages. So my second goal for 2012 is to print a LOT more than that!! I just have to put aside a little money each month to do it, then it doesn't feel like such a huge splurge!

And my top ten favorites: This was very hard to narrow it down, but it was a ton of fun looking through all my pages from the year. In no particular order . . . (each image is clickable to see the full, credited version)


Have you done your 2011 Digi-Scrap stats? Link me up or post them here.

Who's with me to get to 100 pages in 2012?!

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show off slideshow!

Sorry this is a day late, but I'm just now getting back to work/emails/etc. Anyway . . . enjoy this round of Show Offs!

All of these Show Offs got a $2.50 Gift Code for my shop. All those emails have gone out, so if you didn't get your code, shoot me an email at myshowoffs at gmail dot com.

Interested in Showing Off!? Learn all about how it works HERE. Our next slideshow/gift will be on January 20th.

Love you guys!! Thanks for all the kind wishes about my grandma. They warmed my heart. Ta ta!

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Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel Engaged

Justin Timberlake, 30, and Jessica Biel, 29, reports People and US, after a long on-off relationship and endless tabloid ring-watch. He’s the singer-turned-actor, she’s the actress and former Esquire Sexiest Woman Alive. FacebookTweetJessica Biel may have said only last year, "I was never one of those girls who dreamt of my wedding and my Prince Charming," but it looks like she's about to have both.
Last year, the couple spent time apart for several months after being together for four years, since May. They made their split official in March 2011. Only a few weeks ago, unconfirmed reports said the longtime romantic couple were altar-bound, but the rumors proved premature.

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