So now that I have the dress (see this post to catch up on my shopping woes) I spent today looking for shoes and bag to match. I figured that would be pretty easy. Turns out I was only half right. I found a reasonably priced pair of black patent leather peep toe pumps. Sexy AND I can walk in them. What more can I ask for? The problems started when I went looking for a clutch. Don’t get me wrong, there were PLENTY of black evening clutches out there but none big enough to fit more than a phone and a lipstick. Now I don’t know about you, but I need my sh*t,  and if I’m going out all evening for a fancy event (where photos will be taken),  I would like the option of bringing more than a phone and a freaking lipstick. What if I want a breath mint? What if my contacts get dry and I was some eye drops, but I dont’t have them because they wouldn’t fit in my itty bitty purse! I have stuff and I want it with me. End of story.

So in my quest for a bag bigger than an oversized wallet (which I feel stupid carrying anyways) I found 4 other fabulous and practical bags for unspecified purposes that I just ‘had to have’. And as I reached towards another bag with child-like glee, Mr. Mint asked, ‘What is your obsesssion with bags?’ (In my brain: “Oh no he didn’t just say that”). I looked him straight in the eye and told him. ‘They ALWAYS fit.’ Well that shut him up and I marched out with bag #5. I’ve gotten REALLY good at shopping for shoes, bags and sunglasses. LOL. Clothes on the other hand…not so much.

On the next episode of ‘Shopping Nightmares’ we’ll explore the horror that is fitting room lighting, why it should be illegal to put the most unflattering lighting in the world in a fitting room, and the evil stores that don’t put mirrors INSIDE the fitting room forcing you to come out of the room at times when you really shouldn’t.

Have a happy Thursday and may your shopping adventures be most successful than mine!  ;)

Howdy hybrid addicts! Shanta here today to help you get started crafting your very own custom wooden board signs. I know you’ve got some free wall space somewhere and several phrases or sayings you like so let’s get stared.

First things first, you’re going to need go shopping for a piece of wood. If you plan on printing at home, you’ll need to select a board that is no longer than 11 inches. If you’re having a lab do a larger print, you’ll need to check on available sizes and prices to determine what will work best for you. I am wanting to make a sign roughly 18 inches in length so I know I’ll need to have my photo lab (Sam’s Club) print it as a 16×20, which allows me to fit two signs and one other small project on one big print.

Now that I know I need to keep my wood board under 20 inches long, I can begin shopping. Michael’s and Hobby Lobby both offer unfinished wood planks in several different lengths and widths up to 24 inches. Lowe’s has craft wood in even larger sizes, all the way up to 48 inches long that can be cut to size there in the store. Tip: ½ inch thick planks are best if you’d like to hammer in saw-tooth brackets on the back for hanging.

Once you’ve purchased your board, use a ruler or tape measure to get exact measurements, rounding up to the nearest one-tenth of an inch. I have selected a board that claims to be 6×18 inches. Upon measuring I discover it is actually 5.50 inches tall and 18.60 inches long. THESE are the measurements I will want to use when creating a canvas.

In Photoshop, go to File>New and set the unit of measure to inches. Enter your width measurement (18.60) and height measurement (5.50). Important: You MUST set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch for your image to print correctly. Color mode should be RBG 8 bit and background can be either transparent or white, it doesn’t matter. Photoshop should then create a new canvas that looks similar to the shape of your board. If it does not, check the measurements you entered (Image>Canvas Size).

Once you are done scrapping the front of your board, there is one more step you need to do if you are uploading it for lab printing. Save your file as a PSD first, then merge all the layers (Layer>Merge Visible) and save as a JPG. Now create a new white canvas with a resolution of 300 pixels/inch in the size you intend to print. For my board, I would need to create a new white 16×20 inch canvas. Now click on your scrapped sign and drag it onto the white canvas. Place the sign well within the edges of the canvas, leaving a generous ½ inch border or more on all sides so that mis-calibrated print cutters won’t ruin your image should they trim too far in. Save this canvas, with all the white showing, as a JPG, upload for printing and you’re done with the digi part!

Note: From my experience, printers tend to enlarge the image slightly, resulting in a digital print that can be up to a fourth of an inch larger than your wood board. It is best to keep all wording and elements as centered as possible, both horizontally and vertically, so you can trim overhang without cutting into anything important.

Need more help getting started? Begin by selecting a paper pack that matches your décor. Miss Mint’s Family Tree, October Rust, Elegant Valentine, South Hampton, and Autumn Blend Paper Packs offer several papers that would coordinate well with most home décor. Try the new Oil Paint Papers for a solid textured background. Next, check out ThinkExist.com to search for quotes by keywords such as “family” or “friends”. Once you have your paper, a quote you love and a board long enough to fit the phrase, the project will come together quickly. After that first sign has been hung and you see how beautiful it looks on your wall, you’ll understand why hybriding is so addicting!

The internet has certainly become a dirty place. I googled ‘how to cook corn on cob’ last night and what popped up on my screen had NOTHING to do with cooking or corn, I can tell you that much and I think that’s all I’ll tell you. LOL. It’s a good thing that I wasn’t at a public computer at the time that’s for sure.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I spent most of mine hunting for a dress to wear to Mr. Mint’s sister’s wedding this coming weekend. There’s nothing quite like a day of dress shopping to make you loathe your body even more than you did in the first place.  Second to bathing suit shopping, dress shopping has to be one of the most horrifying ways to spend your weekend…squeezing into garments designed for pre-pubescent, flat chested, toothpicks is not my idea of a good time. Where are the dresses for the REAL PEOPLE? I don’t even know what’s up with clothes right now. Everything looks like underwear to me. Anyone walked into Guess lately? Holy hooker central. That used to be one of my favorite stores. Now everything is pint sized and covered in gold. Even more annoying? The sales people. I’m quite sure that ‘a willingness to flaunt one’s boobs’ is a prerequisite to working there.

Everything seems to be designed for one body type that nobody over the age of 16 actually has. I find it so impossible to shop in all the stores I used to (Mexx, Club Monaco, Banana Republic, Jacob), not that I was going there for dresses..just clothes. I finally went to an upscale mall near my house (where I should have gone in the FIRST PLACE) which has a dress store for real people and a grown up sales lady who actually knew what she was talking about. I’d said that I DEFINITELY did not want a black dress. So naturally, I ended up with a black dress, but it fits well, it’s really cute and I’ll be able to wear it again. Now I just need some shoes and maybe a clutch.

Are you bored by tales of shopping nightmares? If not, I have a lot more to get off my chest. LOL! But I’ll spare you for now and instead leave you with some GORGEOUS page I plucked from the Design Team Gallery using some of the newest PC product for your viewing pleasure:

Layout by: Aggie Aviso

Layout by: Kirstie Ibrahim

Layout by: Sari Underwood

Layout by: Missy Strand

Layout by: MJ Johnston

Layout by: Trisha Burton

Layout by: Sari Underwood

Layout by: Melissa Lewis

Layout by: Trisha Burton

Layout by: Megan Turnidge

Happy Scrapping!
NOTE: TO LEAVE A COMMENT PLEASE LEAVE THE WEBSITE SPACE EMPTY

You’ve seen em. They’re everywhere. And they look GOOD. 

Mint Chick Dianne here, talking about one of the biggest trends in scrapping these days – BRACKET MATS. I LOVE THEM! And I can’t seem to stop using them on my layouts! Have you tried them yet?

Bracket Mats are completely versatile and super stylish. Adding them to your pages by slipping them behind a photo or frame will anchor your design to the page and help fill space while adding some color and visual interest. But there are lots of other ways to use these fun shapes:

- use as a photo frame
- use as a journaling box/area
- use as a decorative edge
- make a mini-book that is bracket shaped

The other day I was zipping through a home-decor magazine, and saw that they’d used half of a small bracket on the upper side of the page as their title area. Talk about adorable! So – using this technique, I came up with some quick 4×4″ pages that I’ll print out and make into a mini-brag book with pics of my son’s wedding to carry in my purse.

Miss Mint has some great brackets in her kits (my faves are in the Elegant Valentine Elements and in the Urban Clover Elements. Don’t miss the NEW Custom Vector Bracket Mats (Set 1 & Set 2) for a versatile selection of bracket mat shapes that can be covered with your favorite papers to match all your pages.

Check out some of these gorgeous pages using bracket mats:

Layout by: Dianne Dahlin

Layout by: Kirstie Ibrahim

Layout by: Aggie Aviso

Layout by: Missy Strand

Layout by: Kirstie Ibrahim

Layout by: Keela Fox

If you haven’t incorporated them into one of your pages, I challenge you to give it a try!! Have fun – start scrapping ;)

-Dianne

Aloha Ladies, Joscie *rhymes with bossy* here to help you make your own brain book. What is a brain book you ask? I was introduced to the concept of a brain book by a special friend of mine who leads a very busy life. She explained that if you have a lot on your plate and lie awake at night thinking about what needs to be completed, what you need from the grocery, or upcoming appointments, a brain book is a useful tool.

You simply write it in the book and release the stress of trying to remember. The key is to keep the book with you and write it down and reread your reminders. That’s it. I am on my 4th one of this style and I love it. I absolutely need it to keep all my notes together because, let’s face it, those little slips of paper get lost and then you’re just out of luck. If you are lucky enough to remember things with no trouble, make one for your mom.

Supplies:

Peppermint Creative Pop Rock Graffiti Paper Pack
Peppermint Creative Pop Rock Graffiti Elements
Peppermint Creative Party Pants Kit
Peppermint Creative Playground Pop Kit
Font Smiley Monster (internet)
ATG Gun
Glue Stick
Bone Folder
Crop-o-Dile (You can use any hole punch)
Clips
Notebook
Matte photo paper
Scissors
Paper Cutter
The book I used is a “reporter’s notebook” that I got from an office store for $1.51

DIGI: I measured the cover and created 2 documents in PSE a little larger than the cover, one for the front and one for the back. I used my PC elements to create the files.

PRINT: I printed them out on my home printer with matte photo paper.

SNIP: I trimmed them to size with my paper cutter. I placed the front and back covers insides together (right sides out) and tore out a sheet of paper from the pad and clipped it on top. I took my Crop-o-Dile and punched holes in the covers using the paper as a template. Then I took my scissors and snipped the covers to each hole. (I learned this technique from a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator)

STICK: I placed adhesive on the printed cover and adhered it to the original cover. I used a bone folder to push down all the little tabs so it would lay flat. (You could use a covered pen or anything to push them down) Once it was all lined up, I used a brayer to roll it flat. Repeat with back cover.

ENJOY! I hope you’ll make this project and share it with us on the gallery! Aloha!

The SHOP & WIN Shutterfly Contest is now over! Congratulations to the lucky ladies who will both be receiving a 20 page custom hardcover album courtesy of the good people at Shutterfly.com. Winners were selected at random by an online random number picker which was a huge time saver and a great way to conduct a totally random draw! Thanks to everyone who shopped during the contest period!

Congratulations also goes out to the fabulous Cindy Schneider (cindys732003) who I am thrilled to have on the PC Design Team. I’ve been a fan of Cindy’s beautiful pages for a long time and am so happy that she is finally part of our team! Check out some of her recent work:

But enough about scrapbooking. I think we all know why you’re really here…
It’s IDOL recap time and sniff, it’s my final one.

*WARNING: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE IDOL FINALE.*

Tuesday night was the big night! The final night; the last chance to “wow” the crowd and I can honestly say I was not very “wowed”. The David’s each sang 3 songs and not one got me to “rewind and rewatch” – the true sign of Idol greatness. Both sang well but alas, no goosebumps. The highlight of the night was definitely the new Mac commercial where PC is in a support group for PC’s running Vista….LMAO…Classic. Those commercials are the best. Someone remind me why I’m on a PC?  Sigh… But I digress.

Each sang a mentor’s choice, an original from the songwriter’s competition, and a song of their choice.  Archuleta chose “Imagine” by John Lennon…again. Yes, it was definitely his best song of the season but let me see something different, please. Cook chose to do something new (‘The World I Know’ by Collective Soul). And while it was no where near his best performance, it was probably his best of the night and I applaud him for not playing it safe by re-singing something we’ve heard from him before. Oddly enough, Cook never knocks my socks off with songs that are actually IN his genre. His best performances to me, have been with songs that are completely OUT of his genre that have been rearranged to suit his style (think Lionel Richie’s “Hello” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, Roberta Flack etc.) Through all 3 songs, I thought he really played it safe and never really ‘killed it’. After Simon flat out declared Archuleta the “winner” of every round, I couldn’t help but wonder if Cook had decided to “throw” the night to try to lose to avoid being locked into a contract with Idol producers. Hmmmm. After all was said and done I was quite positive that Archuleta would take the title that was just fine with me.

Wednesday Night: THE RESULTS.
Finale night brought us two full hours of schmaltzy group sing-a-longs and performances from the season’s rejects, most of which I watched zip by at 20 miles per hour as I fast forwarded through a good 65% of it. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t handle TWO hours. First the top 12 sang together, then just the guys, then just the girls, then just the David’s, then just…..you get the picture. Lots of famous guest performances (Bryan Adams, Seal, Donna Summer, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood) including the most AWEFUL performance by George Michael. What the hell was that? I did enjoy the “group” George Michael medley as well as the David’s version of “Hero”. Not so enjoyable was the group Donna Summer medley and all singing by Amanda Overmeyer, and Jason Castro.

Most entertaining moments included Jimmy Kimmel and the look back at some of the worst Idol auditions. Oh my gawd. HILARIOUS. Best performance goes to Carrie Underwood. Note to her stylist – you forgot her PANTS. Worst outfit goes to Jordin Sparks (weird gold puffy dress) and oddest performance that was still entertaining in a weird way goes to the little guy with the big hat who sang that “Brothers Forever” song.

So finally, finally, FINALLY it was time to announce the winner. Something like 97 million votes came in, which is just…well…sick. Ryan said something like if every single person in Canada and Spain and a few other countries voted it STILL wouldn’t be enough to reach the number of votes they received. It was something like a 56-44 split and I was SURE it was going to be Archuleta. Ryan opens the envelope and OH! IDOL SHOCKER. Cook WINS!!!! Where is all the confetti and shooting lights? Geez! I was SO relieved to find out that the song he’d sung the night before was NOT the song he sang when he won. I thought that they had chosen their winning songs the night before from the songwriter submissions but tonight he sang a different one much better than the first. I do feel bad for Archuleta – but I think they will both do well and I look forward to seeing what Cook does next. Congratulations David Cook!!! It’s fun to see someone with real musical talent (not just a singer) actually win. Hopefully this will up the bar for next year!

The End.