Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Quest for the Perfect Christmas Card Photo

*LAST DAY TO ENTER ALL MY CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAYS!*

**************

One 2.5 year old. One 8 month old. Two Santa hats. Once perfect photo for this years Christmas Cards. NOT!

That last sentence doesn't even belong with the others! Haha...I've been down this road before and should know by now that the 'perfect photo' with kids doesn't exist. This was on day three of trying and I gave up on the 'matchy fancy' clothes! Things are so rushed at the moment, I can't believe it's almost December!!! I've been working on everyones cards but my own, of course! Plus, we completed stage 1 of our Kitchen remodel...yay! I really will fill you in on that, I know I mentioned it before, but I promise I will!

Back to the photoshoot...we had a good time and I did get one photo that I could do something with! Thank god for Photoshop!! Here are some outtakes...

and then, she {snapped}

Lish

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

He's on the move!

Throughout Westyn's 8 months of life we have been comparing him to Grayson...when he first smiled, when he first sat up, when he slept through the night... I constantly check Gray's baby book to see when he mastered things. I keep forgetting the Gray was doing things way before other babies when he was younger though. He was crawling at just 7 months, pulled himself up in his crib and to the couch at just 7.5 months. Westyn, at almost 8 months, is doing neither. He is pushing himself to a sitting position in his crib and moving around like a crazy fool...check this out...



And no, I don't usually let my son play with the container of wipes...and he usually has two socks on...but of course for the sake of the video I had to liven things up ;)



Again, I don't usually leave plastic bags lying around...LOL. And look!! I was cleaning, the vacuum is out in the background...haha... Gotta love videos!

It seems I am up for the 'bad mom of the year award' though...because three days in a row I have had to fish something out of Westyn's mouth! The first day was a piece of blue of chalk! The next day was a tire off a toy tractor, and today it was a Salt Dough Ornament that Gray had painted! Good job none of the above items are toxic and no choking was involved. I think he cried more because I took his chew toys away!

Oh, and when blue chalk goes in...it comes back out blue as well...just so you know...

Gosh, it feels good to be back to the normal grind of things! I really missed posting about the daily happenings in our lives and have lots of pics and stories to share! All in good time though my friends!

Happy Tuesday!
Lish

Monday, November 28, 2011

Shades of Autumn-Final-Favorite Photos from Fall

The Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge has been my absolute favorite photo challenge! Not only have I appreciated the change of the season a bit more, but I've also stopped and appreciated the change of the colors this fall. I loved just looking around, waiting for something to catch my eye. Looking at nature through the lens just simplified life for me. It slowed it down and enables you to replay it on your computer later. I wish I could live every moment like that!  But I guess that is why I have my blog. I get to do just that...capture the imprints that make up my life.

Here are my favorites from each color of the season.

Green



Yellow


Orange


Red


Purple


Brown


White



Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge
Lish

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Christmas Tutorial Recap

PHEW! What an exciting past week here at Imprintalish! I want to send out HUGE thank yous to everyone involved in my Kick Off to Christmas week! It was a huge success! I want to make every single tutorial that was featured and eat every single recipe that was featured! LOL...it was so much fun! It was also a lot of hard work...I didn't really think about the time and dedication that I would have to put into something like that. I actually thought to myself, 'hey, if I get all these posts scheduled to go up, I could put my feet up and not even think twice about what was going on in my blog world!' Haha..ya right! Around 40 posts went up this past week and once again I was glued to the computer...to reading and replying to comments (PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR EMAIL IS VISIBLE IN YOUR BLOGGER PROFILE! I want to reply to you, but I can't if you show up as a 'noreply blogger'), to linking up awesome tutorials, to making sure my giveaways were running smoothly...

But in the end, totally worth it!

I also want to welcome all my new followers!!! You guys are absolutely amazing and I am now at the 200 mark. I know some of you did it to enter the giveaways, I also know that some one you genuinely like to read my blog because I get those lovely comments from you and it really makes my day to know that people beside my family and friends read this :)

Enough with the sappy stuff...

I rounded up all of the awesome tutorials from last week, in case you missed them...

                      Yarn Wrapped Star                             


Felt Ruffle Wreath





Covered Baby Rings














And all the giveaways...
$10 Store Credit to House 129
Belt Buckle (valued at $30) from Metalogical
Money Clip (Valued at $68!) from Gaia Metal Studio
Crayon Role and $5 store Credit from My Sunshine Designs
Little Beansprout Doll ($30 value) from The Little Beansprout
Handstamped Necklace ($28 value) from Wire-n-Whimsy
Resin Pink Flower Ring from Elegant Accessories

 Go Here to enter and go see all the giveaways! All giveaways end November 30th!
Lish



Wrap it up-Free Gift Tag Printables

So now that you have your presents bought, your crafts made, your house decorated and you've won some great stuff, (hopefully), it's time to wrap!!!! To make it a little easier I have created some gift tags for you to print off and use! Yay for free stuff again!!!

Just right click and save to computer. Print out on a 8x10 sheet of cardstock.

Photobucket
And so wraps up our final day in my Kick Off to Christmas Event! Stay tuned for a a round up of all the weeks tutorials tomorrow! Thank you so much for tuning in this week! It was so much fun!

Lish

Wrap it Up-The Letter 4


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We're so excited to be here at Imprintalish!
We are
THE LETTER 4

4 sisters with a love for crafts, cooking, photography, and everything inspirational!

 'tis the Christmas season and Jamie and I were messing around with ideas of how to wrap a present. This is what we came up with. Grab an old newspaper of yours and cut it into strips. 3 real long, 3 long, 2 short, and one real short.

Fold each end of the strip to the middle and staple it down. Do it to each of the strips except for the real short one. Tape that one into one loop.


Layer these strips on top of each other from longest to shortest and put your small loop in the middle. Now that you have your bow, tape some feathers down to your present, and place the bow on top. Vwa-lah! Your own homemade wrappage.


Enjoy! And don't forget to come over to our blog and say hi! :)
Thanks for having us at your Christmas Bash Lish!


Imprintalish
So crafty and fabulous! I've always wanted to know how to make a paper bow like that! Thanks so much for being here today and sharing your ideas, Janae, Jamie, Julianna and Jade!
Lish

Wrap it Up-Sarah @ Sarah Oretega Photography

Hello Imprintalish readers!
My name is Sarah from sarahortega.com and I'm so happy to be here today.
Now that you've had a full week of wonderful handmade gift ideas and tutorials, let me share with you a creative and easy way to wrap your presents.
These decorated gift boxes are easy and fun to make and would add a nice touch to any gift.
Enjoy!
 

Here is a fun and easy project to spruce up a plain gift box. These come in handy for birthday presents, Christmas gifts, or they can also make cute storage boxes for your own items. You can use whatever you have on hand to decorate and the possibilities are endless!

Each one of those boxes started out like this, plain and simple. I bought them in a pack of six at Jo-Ann Fabrics and with my 40% off coupon each box came out to about 40 cents a piece.


First I measured the top of the box and cut out a square of scrapbook paper. I also cut a second square slightly smaller for the inside of the box.


Next, I applied the paper to the box with a thin layer of Mod Podge. 


After allowing a moment to dry, I brushed some Mod Podge on top of the paper. It will go on white but dies clear and provodes a protective seal.


After this step I gathered some items to decorate.


Here is a really cool way to make a pretty paper flower. I found the awesome tutorial here.

1. Cut out 10 scalloped circles from a book (or a newspaper, scrapbook paper, magazine...)

2. Gather all the circles and use a 1/16" punch to make a hole in the center.

3. Attach a brad (the color doesn't matter because you won't be seeing it in the end result)

4. Layer by layer, scrunch up each circle

5. Now just fluff out the flower and voila!

Here is my finished product!


I love the pop of color on the inside.


Here's another look at the boxes I have made so far. Have fun making yours!



Imprintalish

I love these Sarah! So many options to dressing up a simple little white box! Thanks for sharing with us...now a wrapping I will go!
Lish
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