A New Toy!

My name is Susan and I am addicted to cameras...

There...I said it...although this is one addiction I am not really committed to curing or rehabbing!  I love cameras...I have since I was a little girl when my mom would occasionally let me use her little Kodak Instamatic with the flash cubes.  My dad had a nice Leica which was very cool but I was not allowed to touch it! LOL!  I do have that old camera of my dad's...he was quite the photographer and I inherited his love for photography. 

Anyway, I cannot walk past a display of cameras without stopping.  I have to pick up the cameras and feel them in my hands.  I am not into video cameras...they just don't do for me what a point and shoot or DSLR camera does!

I've been researching compact cameras as my trusty point in shoot is not being so trustworthy these days.  It's kind of finicky...some days it works just fine and then somedays it just doesn't seem to get a good connection with the battery.  So....I've been reading up on cameras and had it narrowed down to a few different ones.  I've read tons of reviews...looked online, in stores, etc...and decided on the Canon SX230.  Now I will admit that I pretty much ruled out other manufacturers. I've had Nikon in the past...as well as a few others but I'm really a Canon girl at heart.

Here's how it came:

I opened the box and this is what was in the carton:

...a smaller box, a camera case, a 4gb memory card, some manuals, and some cables.

Here's the camera front:

And here's the back of it:

This camera is slightly bigger than the Canon 880IS I have and would have preferred the same size but this camera has a 14x zoom.  That's huge for a small point and shoot!  And it also has manual controls which are also not quite as common on point and shoots. It also has a GPS system built in so you can pinpoint where photos were taken which may be helpful when I go to Scotland and Ireland in a few months!

I'm charging the battery...will try it out and let you know what I think!  If I don't like it...it's going back and next on my list is the Canon 4000IS.  :)  It is probably a little more similar to my old point and shoot and has gotten good reviews from Consumer Reports but I'm hoping I'll be satisfied with this one!



Happy Crafting!

Froufrou and Cricut Challenge 23: CTMH Art Philosophy

I'm back from my week NORTH to see family on Nantucket and Cape Cod.  It was great and I took some fabulous weather with me.  Despite forecasts for rain we only ever got a few sprinkles!
I did get to an AC Moore in Hyannis (we don't have AC Moore in metro Atlanta...boohoo) and found the Tim Holtz small and medium rosette die.  I was able to use my virtual coupon on my phone from Michael's towards the purchase so saved a whopping $8 on it!  Woohoo!!!
I already have the larger one so now I have the full set.  You know how I love those dimensional flowers!











While I was gone my order from Close to My Heart came which included the Art Philosophy cartridge.  It was $99 but it came with all sorts of other stuff...stamp sets that coordinate with the cartridge, chipboard pieces...it really was a pretty good bargain.  I think the promotion only runs for a few more days so if you have a CTMH consultant grab it while you can.  My friend, Christine, is a consultant so if you want to order from her let me know and I'll send you her information!  I think it's worth it!
I am also counting this in my personal Cricut challenge of using each cartridge I have (this is number 23 if you're keeping count! :)).  I will use it more...this cartridge is fabulous and with the coordinating stamp sets is really a great addition to my collection!
So....last night I went to my playroom/toyroom/studio/scrapbook room and created this froufrou card!

I didn't even know if froufrou was a real word.  Guess what?  IT IS!  I checked it out in the Websters online dictionary! And this card definitely counts as froufrou!  I made it with scraps leftover from a Teresa Collins mini album I made....it has wonderful damask looking papers, velvet paper, lace and bling.  Almost all supplies are Teresa Collins...she sure loves that black, white and pink...definitely a girly girl!  The little medallion in the center was cut with the new CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and then stamped with the coordinating stamp that comes with the package.  I used Versamark and then embossed it with white Zing embossing powder.
Simple but froufrou-ish...don't you think?
Oh....and I finally finished the mini album I started for ABG just after she was born in May.  All I needed to do was punch some holes for the jump rings and add a few little touches...it took me about 5 minutes...why it took me 2 months to complete it I'll never know!!!  Here's the front of the finished album...

I'm back home! Can't wait to get in my room and play...my Close to My Heart order came so I have all kinds of new fun stuff to get me creating once again!

Spending a glorious day on Nantucket Island! Tried sending a picture but blogger won't take it . So trust me...it's beautiful here!

I'm at the airport...headed to New England for a few days. See you all when I get back!

Technique, Technique, Technique and Challenges!

I had the most fun making this card!  I decided to pull out my Distress inks and make a background paper.  This is an "old" Tim Hotlz technique.  You basically use your foam applicator to rub the distress ink colors you like onto cardstock.  Then you put Versamark on your chosen stamp...spritz it with water and then stamp it on your distress inked cardstock.  The water will act as a resist with the Distress Inks and the result is so great looking!  I loved it!

So I made this little card for the CAS-Friday challenge which is doing a joint challenge with Clean&Simple Stamping.  Frankly I'm not sure if my card fits the clean and simple requirement....but I'm hoping that it does!  It sure was a fun card to make and will definitely do this technique again!

I cleaned up my room yesterday (trash day) and apparently threw away the list of the things I used...but the stamps were all Hero Arts, I put a few layers of UTEE on the butterfly.  The floral stamp was embossed with white Zing embossing powder. I added a little Baker's Twine around the embossed image.

Here's a closeup:

I just love that bleached resist effect on the cardstock!

Note to self...buy more Distress Inks!

And I made a whole bunch of these yesterday which is a direct scraplift from the Nicole Heady of Papertrey Ink's blog:

I loved the simplicity of this!...done with the PTI Parisian Doily and a square of cardstock...a little embossing for the sentiment and a nice but simple card. I'll be making more of these!

Happy Crafting!

Our Little Princess (The Scrappiest Sketch Challenge 132)

Here is a layout I did of the baby announcement we sent out recently for my new granddaughter, Taylor.  I am most proud that I also took these photos.  They aren't perfect but they worked well enough and my daughter was most happy with a "free" photo sitting and 50 printed announcements from Costco with envelopes for under $15!  I also did the announcement with Photoshop Elements.

I used the sketch #132 at The Scrappiest Sketch and will enter this in that challenge.  I liked the grouping of the papers and embellishments.

(And of course, on the original the last name is not blacked out...just doing that because of all the weird internet stuff going on these days.  One can't be too careful!!!)

I used:
Bazzill Cardstock
Printed Papers from Heidi Grace (although the pink dotted paper came out of my stash)
Prima Flowers
Fiskars Scalloped Punch
Kaiser Craft Rub on
Pearls
Glossy Accents
Seam Binding that I dyed pink with Stampin' Up's Pink Passion Ink *edges were also inked with Pink Passion
Rock Candy Distress Stickles
Sentiment is from Stamp it Loud and Clear
Tag is from Spellbinders Ribbon Tag Trio 2

Here's a little closeup:

It took me alllll night to do this! LOL! Even with a sketch.  Ok, so I cut my papers and that was fine...it was the embellishing that I just couldn't get right!  I tried all sorts of different...the Spellbinders Carnation, the Tim Holtz Rosette, chipboard shapes, ribbon....and I just fiddled and fiddled for a cople of hours.  I finished it with the Carnation...looked at it a moment and said "I DON'T LIKE THIS!"...so off those flowers came and I found my stash of pink Prima flowers and was much happier with the result!

Like I said before....I thoroughly enjoyed the process in my little craft room...it doesn't matter if I do one page or half a page in an evening...it's all about the process for me...and it is such wonderful therapy and sure beats watching some gazelle being eaten by a lion which was what my husband was tuned into last night...just after watching how the Roman empire was built which was after Monster Bug Wars on the Science Channel and then I think he was gearing up for ammunition used during WWII!  LOL!!!

Happy Crafting and for Donna who is at the beach...HAPPY BEACHING!!!