Just thought I would show you next Tuesday’s releases! This is the third week of PhotoCuts. I think you’ll like these (I certainly love using them!).
Author: carina
Caterpillar Project
Siri and I made a caterpillar from our button jar yesterday and I thought I’d share it. It’s a fairly easy project although it tends to break in little hands (we had a “re-glue” situation a couple of times). Basically, you just need to make 5 sections of 7 buttons each. THe 5 buttons need to be 1 big, 2 semi-big, 2 medium, and 2 small. We used hot glue to put the buttons together. We also alternated colors (3 pink sections and 2 blue sections). We added a pearl button for the nose and 2 pink pins for antenna. All and all an easy project! Siri loved putting it together. Warning: you WILL have buttons all over the floor once you are done!
Siri’s Dance Recital
Siri’s first dance recital was on Saturday and I couldn’t resist posting some pictures. And yes, I did cry (but just a little!). One thing I couldn’t believe was how tall Siri was compared to the other kids. I knew she is going to be a tall girl (due to her daddy’s height), but seeing her with other kids made it real. So induldge me with a little family photo opt:). I’m using my PhotoCuts filmstrips here.
My New ACMoore Paper Pads! Bella Bella and Paris and Co.
My new AC Moore paper pads have arrived! They are exclusively at ACMoore (I don’t think they have hit the stores yet). There are two pads: Bella Bella (which includes many of the original Bella Bella line papers) and Paris and Co. (also found digitally at 2peas). Here’s a card I made this afternoon using the papers (alpha rubons from the Laundry Line and Crochet flower from Bohemia).
I’m always amazed at the mess one grown woman can make to create a simple card like this (granted, both of my girls helped with the mess, but most of it was mine). It’s positively amazing!
Join me at DSE for Tips and Tricks in Illustrator
Finally! I can post one of my news bits that I haven’t been able to post until now: I’m teaching a Tips and Tricks in Illustrator Class at DSE, Digital Scrapbooking Experience on September 24th in Provo, UT. Come join me for this very cool course! It’s an Al La Carte Course on Thursday from 2pm-3pm. See the course description here. Course Description
If you’ve had an urge to learn more or refine your digital scrapbooking (or even product building for digital designers) skills, Illustrator is a tool that can really help you build better product. I’m excited to teach this little course and get people started on my favorite Adobe program! I’ll be going through the ins and outs of the program, drawing tools, building templates, and so much more. I’ll have tools and handouts to help you get started. I’m really excited about the course and I hope you’ll join me!
It is Favorite Friday, but…
Usually I would be posting my favorite things that I have seen this week, but it’s been such a busy week that I haven’t had a chance to blog or, well, just about do anything! The Collection Team calls have been streaming in (I’ve been so flattered by the entries!). Thank you to everyone has been applying! I’ll be announcing the team early next week! It’s blessed Friday, because also managed to get my digi kits in to 2peas this week this morning….no late Saturday night craziness for me this week, thank you. I’m hoping for a family filled weekend of biking (my new Madsen bike is coming any day now!), dance recitals, and swimming. A bonfire too (my favorite) if I can work it in! lol. Check back for peeks of my new collection that will hit in a couple more weeks. It’s super grungy and in yummy, yummy colors! It’s called Garden Vignettes. Hope you all have a happy Friday!
Giveaway Winner for PhotoCuts and Collections Team Call
Hooray! It’s Tuesday morning and as promised I have the giveaway winner along with some other news. I do this the old fashion way so I was up this morning cutting out the paper and writing out names. lol. And the winner of the blog giveaway for photocuts is:
Just email me at carina@diginirvana.com and I will try to get a hold of you as well and we’ll arrange for you getting your free product! You can find all the new PhotoCuts Collection digi kits at twopeas here. Here’s a layout I did using a mask from the new collection and a paper from a collection that hasn’t been released yet called Garden Vignettes! Look for it in a few weeks. Here’s a peek:
More business to attend to! I am finally opening up a new creative team call for a collections team! Yes, this is big news as I haven’t done a call for a long time. My wonderful publications team has been amazing (you guys rock!) and I’ve decided that I need a second team to take care more of the layouts for this blog and for new collections. You’ll love my darling CT Manager Theresa and you’ll get a collections team blinkie to boot:). What does it involve? Read this:
So how does it work? You will receive 1-2 kits per collection along with some started kits to give you some “goods” to get going. The collection team will know about collections that will be released and will have a week or so to put together a layout to be posted at 2peas, etc. It will be no more than 4 layouts a month with the average being about 2-3 layouts a month. We are a friendly group at the studio:).
Oh, and speaking of blinkies, grab this one for your everyday wear:
and keep an eye out for the publications team and the collections team wear:
Here’s the html for the fan blinkie for you to copy:
<a href=”http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/digital-kits/carina-gardner/” target=”_blank”><img class=”alignleft” style=”margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;” src=”http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee297/diginirvana/fan_carinagardner.gif” alt=”” width=”150″ height=”50″ /></a>
Hair Clips
Siri, Flissa, and I got in a craft mood this afternoon and made a bucnh of new hairclips. It’s easy and makes the girls look so cute. We are espeically into silk flower clips right now because we ALL end up wearing them:). We also made a bunch of button clips. Here is Siri posing with them:
You’ll also notice Siri’s little bird that we decorated. We were at the craft store and I found a couple of little birds for 69 cents. The girls each got one and with the glue gun out, Siri HAD to decorate hers. I love the glue gun!
We Believe in Art
Saturday afternoon, I was working on my digikits and Siri decided to do an art project. Josh was suppose to be watching her, but managed to fall asleep on the couch. When I went to check on her (and realized that Josh was asleep), I found her in COMPLETE artistic mode:
The entire white table was painted red, blue, and green. Not on purpose, of course. She’s just, ummm, able to make that paint go far. (Honestly, this picture does NOT do it justice!) My favorite part was that she had taken several of her paintings and made them into this ball of paper (think PeeWee Herman tin foil ball). It was actually very inventive, and I see sculpture in her future:).
In other news, there is one more day of the giveaway (see the post below!) so add your comment to be entered in!
PhotoCuts Giveaway!
My new line Photocuts hits 2peas on Tuesday, but I thought to introduce the line, I would do a giveaway! So here’s a peek at the first four digi kits of the line:
So what do you need to do in order to win one of these great photo-enhancing kits? All you need to do is comment on this thread which one of these kits you would REALLY like to have. Easy-peasy!
Top-Left : Filmstrip Frames
Top-Right : Taped Off Frames
Bottom-Left : Masks
Bottom-Right : Overlays
I’ll announce the winner of this blog giveaway on Tuesday morning!
And, if you want another try at winning one of these, I’m doing a seperate drawing on the 2peas blog. So go over there and enter too! Good luck!
Also be sure to check out the new PhotoCuts digi kits during the next several weeks of 2peas releases as there will be plenty more!
Memorial Day and Madsen Cycles
We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. The highlight for the kids was the Memorial Day breakfast we attend in the neighborhood at the church. There’s a 5K (we didn’t participate), pancake breakfast, and one of the neighbors drove the kids around in this…
The best part for me; however, was that I got a chance to try out Jared’s Madsen Cycle. I am SO in love this this thing and will be buying one in the next couple of weeks because it is so fantastic! I was sort of worried that it was going to be too heavy or hard to ride, but I was completely surprised at how light it is and easy to balance. There’s also a cool feature were the kick stand is UNDER the bucket to hold the bike up when you aren’t riding it. Then, when you kick off to go, it rotates up. Love the design!! One of the best parts is that the kids LOVE it. I mean, really, really love it. For us, we live near the library, both grandma’s houses, the grocery store, etc and having a bike like this would save us on gas and help me and Josh get in a little exercise. So I was SO happy to test ride this one.
I also found out that there is a giveaway going on over at MadsenCycles. They are giving one of these away for FREE! I’m not sure how you enter, but you should visit here to check it out: http://www.madsencycles.com/contest/. Jared (the owner and inventor of the Madsen Bike) 
lives in our neighborhood, and he told me about it. If you have little kids, you should seriously think about entering this giveaway! Wait, did I already mention I love this bike? lol
Crocheting and Preschool Graduations
I’ve picked up the crochet needle this week. I usually start to crochet again out of sheer necessity: I can’t live without a crocheted wash cloth. Seriously, they are the BEST for washing dishes and our other one is seeing it’s final days (something that happens often since we don’t own a dishwasher). I’ve never even tried crocheting anything else. One of my graphic design students a couple of years ago made Siri a crochet octopus (known at our house as “Purpie” because of his lovely purple hue). It really is one of the most adorable stuffed animals (is that what you call a crocheted animal?). Maybe one day I’ll get away from the crochet washcloth and move on to grander and nobler projects. lol.
In other news, this week Siri graduated from preschool and even had a class program in lovely red gowns and hats.
This is it. The beginning of the end for me. My baby is going to kindergarten next year. It’s cliche but I know I’m going to cry that day. She looked so old at her little preschool graduation. The great part is that summer has officially begun, which means…vacation! And I’ve already begun calendaring the camping trips and vacations I hope we have time to go on. Last summer was vacationless with Felicity being so young and Josh taking the bar. Not that vacations won’t be hard this year: Josh is taking another state’s bar this summer (we’re marathon bar taking) so that he can be licensed in two states. Good stuff.
Creative Juice Photography
There is always a little bit of discomfort when I post pictures of myself on this blog or on the website. For the most part, it’s been hard because as the principle photographer in my home, there really aren’t many pictures of me (moms, you know what I am talking about!). So I had Creative Juice Photography come over to do a few headshots with me and my products so I could put them up on the about page, etc. They did a FANTASTIC job! I was really happy with their work! Jess was so professional, we took the photos at my house (this one was taken on my front porch). Go over and check them out when you get a chance and also take a look at my new pics on the about page.
The paper shown here is from my Bella Bella line from My Minds Eye. You can also see the entire line here.
PhotoCuts Collection—Photographer’s Tools
I just wanted to give you a preview of the line coming in two weeks! I’m so excited about it because it will be a photographers tool set! These digital kits will be SO much more useful than for just scrapbooking…it will include overlays, masks, filmstrips, and frames of all kinds. It’s the kind of set that will really be useful for any type of photography! So the countdown is just 2 weeks away….
BTW, you’ll be able to pick them up at TwoPeasinaBucket.
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New Baby Grace
Our family had a new addition this week and I haven’t had a chance to blog about it! My sister-in-law Liz had her third little angel, Grace Judy, this week. She is such a sweet little thing. I always forget how small newborns are! I took pictures of the new little one the day after she was born.
Here she is with her big sister Caroline and cousin Siri. Siri was VERY fascinated by the whole thing. The nurse put the BIGGEST dob of Elmer’s glue on Gracie’s head to keep the bow on. I mean ridiculous. I did take a picture of it…but it also looked ridiculous so I refrained from posting it. I would also like a big thank you from Liz from refraining from posting pictures of her the day after she had a baby (which by the way would just make you angry anyway because she looks so good).
Well, welcome baby Grace! We are so happy to have you in our family!