Brag Book in a Mint Tin

I have a fun and inexpensive gift idea for you.  : )  How about creating a brag book that can fit inside of a mint tin? 

Let me first preface this post by saying two things…  I did not come up with this idea on my own and please excuse the poor photos of my projects…hee hee.  ; )  I have been admiring the tin albums from Shabby Miss Jenn Designs for some time and decided to try my hand at making a couple of them! 

Here are a couple photos of the first tin album that I made…

The tin is an empty Altoids tin.  : )  All of the little pages fit neatly inside of the tin.  This album set me back $4.50.  Four dollars and fifty cents!!  1.50 for the Altoids and about 3 dollars for the printing (I already had the digital graphics to make the album).  How cool is that?

How I created the album:

1.  Using the size and shape of the “pages” that are used in Shabby Miss Jenn’s tin album kits, I digitally scrapped each “page” for my tin album using Adobe Photoshop Elements and digital elements and papers from two digital scrapbooking kits that I already had on my computer (Grandma’s Scrapbooks and Birthday Sweet Treats by Shabby Miss Jenn Designs).  I saved each page as a individual .jpeg.

2.  After all of my pages for the tin album were digitally scrapped, I created a blank 12x12 inch, 300 dpi page and using Adobe, I placed all of my little individual tin album pages onto the 12x12 page and I saved that page as a .jpeg.

3.  I saved the 12x12 page that contained all of my album pages to a disc and I took the disc to Costco.  I printed out the 12x12 page for about 3 bucks.  This is what the page looked like after I printed it:

4.  I cut out each individual page from the 12x12 sheet and I hot glued the cover page to outside of the lid of the empty Altoids tin.  I hot glued a decorative page to the outside bottom of the tin and then with fine grit sand paper, I lightly distressed the edges of the lid of the tin.

Here are the individual pages…

 

Besides the pages above, I also used one of the cut out pages as a template and I made a couple of additional pages using a few of Emma’s drawings and I included them in the tin album as well.  : )

Shabby Miss Jenn has several pre scrapped tin albums available.  I scrapped each individual page for the album that you see above myself (inspired by SMJ)…however, using pre scrapped pages does save a lot of time…you just insert your photos and text using Adobe Photoshop and then you are ready to print!  If you are new to digital scrapbooking, a project using pre scrapped pages is a fun way to “get your feet wet”.  The second tin album that I made was created using Shabby Miss Jenn’s pre scrapped Love Shack Mint Tin Album. 

Here are a couple of photos of the pre scrapped album…

So much fun!  These albums will be gifts and I am also going to make one for myself!  What a cool little brag book to keep in your purse! 

Many of the photos that I used of Emma are from Erin Johnson Photography.

God bless,

Tera

The MOA Carousel and a Sweet Gift from Friends

Emma absolutely LOVES IT!

And, if it’s available, she almost always chooses the pig.   : D

Before I sign off, I have to give a “shout out” to my sweet friend Rhonda from Our Treasure of Four.  Rhonda is a sweet friend that I met during our adoption process.  Not only did Rhonda adopt her youngest daughter using the same placement agency that helped to bring Emma home, we were surprised to discover that Emma had the same wonderful foster family that Rhonda’s oldest daughter had during her adoption process!  I have enjoyed keeping in touch with Rhonda over the past few years…she is a sweet lady!  In the mailbox today was a box from Rhonda filled with goodies for Emma.  Emma was SO excited…wide-eyed, she helped me open the box.  Among the items that Rhonda sent was a personalized Veggie Tales CD…hee hee…so cute and very fun for kids!  Thanks so, SO MUCH, Rhonda…you are such a sweet and generous friend and Emma loves everything that you sent!  : D  I wish that I could send things more often to people…it is just SO FUN to get boxes of goodies in the mail!  : D

God bless, Tera

New Music and Summertime Fun

I have been in need of some new music.

Desperate need.  ; )

I had an iTunes gift card that I had not used and as I was browsing iTunes last night, I discovered Kari Jobe’s CD. 

Kari has a beautiful, clear, pure, almost ethereal voice.

Her music is peaceful and worshipful…wonderful.  My favorite song of hers is “Beautiful”…I just get lost in that song…love it. 

Kari has a very cool website too…you should check it out.  : D

A little transition…

Speaking of COOL websites…  Across All Borders…an organization that is committed to providing orphan care and outreach to families living in extreme poverty in Guatemala has just opened an online marketplace featuring Guatemalan goodies (art, dolls, textiles, etc.)  You should check out their new digs and what they have to offer!  I had a wonderful time helping them with this project.  : )

Before I sign off…  A few photos from yesterday that I LOVE… 

Please, precious girl…don’t grow up so fast…

God bless, Tera

Blog Your Heart Out

I have blogged about this before but I feel the need to blog about this again…

Do you have a blog?

Do you use Blogger, Typepad, Wordpress, Live Journal, etc.?

If so, then do yourself a favor…you MUST (yes…MUST) give Windows Live Writer a try.

I do ALL of my blogging with Live Writer.  I hardly ever…almost never…log into Blogger to  compose a blog post… (sorry, Blogger…I do love you…I just prefer to compose my posts in Live Writer).

Windows Live Writer is a FREE program that you can download to help you to compose your blog posts.  It makes blogging a dream (okay, I’m being dramatic but Live Writer really is great).  You compose your posts directly on your computer…no more logging into Blogger…and when you are ready to post, you just click “Publish” and then boom, you’re done.  Live Writer gives you all sorts of fun options for your photos…

You can do this…

I cropped, resized and added a drop shadow to this photo without having to open a separate photo editing program.  And, you can do this:

I cropped this photo and I added an instant photo frame with one click and a watermark with the name of my blog.  Oh, I tilted the photo too!

Rounded corners…with one click.  Love.

View Full Album

 

You can make a little album like this.

You can save drafts directly to your computer…you don’t need an internet connection in order to compose a blog post.  When you are ready to publish your post, you will need an internet connection and then you simply click “Publish”. Also, it’s a very easy program to use…it has the same sort of an interface as other Windows programs like Word.

I have helped many people with their Blogger blogs.  Every time that I need to help people with posts, I cringe if I have to post to Blogger without using Live Writer.  LOL.  I am a spoiled blogger.  ; P

Get it.  Love it.  Windows Live Writer Beta 2009.

God bless,

Tera

The Dollhouse Dilemma

Fisher Price used to offer "Hispanic" dolls for the Loving Family home but they have been discontinued. 

I do understand that families can be very diverse and it would be tough to feature dolls that would adequately reflect every ethnicity.  However, I think that discontinuing "Hispanic" dolls is a step in the wrong direction.  That does not impress me. 

However, I am torn.  I am torn because I really, really LOVE the Loving Family House!!  I have checked out the other dollhouses on the market  and...if I was a little girl, I would probably choose the Loving Family home over the other homes (although there are other good quality and super CUTE homes that are available and I have researched them).

So, after much thought, we decided to make a compromise that we feel would best reflect our family and our values.  We purchased the Loving Family home that includes a few "Caucasian" dolls and we also purchased dolls from another dollhouse set (Caring Corners) that are similar in size to the Loving Family dolls but are of another ethnicity.  It is important to us that Emma has dolls that are available to her that reflect her ethnicity and the ethnicities of others.  We have a multi ethnic household...  I am Caucasian with a German/Czech background.  Jason is 1/2 Filipino and Emma is Guatemalan...  I think it's fun that Emma will have a diverse dollhouse family...a family that reflects her own.  : )

I know that Emma is VERY interested in this dollhouse because she keeps asking me to "rewind" (love Tivo) the Loving Family commercials when they come on so that she can watch them again...hee hee.

Also...  I did contact Fisher Price directly to ask if they had any additional "Hispanic" doll families left.  Sadly, no.  So, I did respectfully voice my concern and displeasure.  ; ) 

God bless,

Tera

A Little Project

Have you tried digital scrap booking?  If you like hand scrapping (or even if you don't) and if you aren't fond of the mess and the expense of hand scrapping, you should try digital scrapping.  : )  It is a new hobby and passion of mine.  I really enjoy it!

In the past two days during my free time, I have been putting together my first hybrid project (a project featuring both hand scrapping and digital scrapping).  I am THRILLED with the results!

I used the Pickled Petunias Luggage Tag Album by Shabby Miss Jenn Designs.  The album kit is great because it comes with all of the pages pre scrapped.  I love the fun colors and this is a good sized album...the pages are not the size of actual luggage tags (I am guesstimating that the pages are at least seven inches across).  ; )  I simply added my photos and journaling and an extra embellishment here and there using Photoshop Elements.  I printed the front cover page on my printer at home and I printed the rest of the pages at Costco and then I cut them out.  I used a glue stick to paste them onto the pages of the BasicGrey chipboard luggage tag album that I picked up at Michaels.  I used the luggage tag pages as a template to cut out a few of Emma's crayon scribble drawings and I pasted them onto the backs of the pages.  The kit comes with a ring to hold all of the pages together.  I tied a few bits of ribbon and rick rack onto the ring for an extra touch.  I love this album and I intend to give it as a gift...however, I NEED to make a copy of it so that I can keep a copy for myself...  The cool thing about digital scrapping is that you can simply print out additional copies of the pages of an album if you want more copies...I love that. 

You should try digital scrapping!!

Don't forget to check out my new blog! 

God bless, Tera

Where Did November Go?

Is it really almost Thanksgiving?  Can you believe it?  Wow! 

I am usually at least half way done with my Christmas shopping by now...LOL...but, not this year...I need to get started!!

Just a quick post today...  I'm still under the weather and I'm putting my feet up!

I'm a major Christmas music FAN!  I absolutely LOVE it.  You can even find me pulling out a few Christmas tunes in JULY!  ; P  I love putting five Christmas CDs into a five disc player and pushing "shuffle"!  Woohoo!  ; ) 

There are a few Christmas CDs that I currently have my eye on but I had to purchase the Sarah Groves O Holy Night Christmas album right away.  It's GREAT!  Normally, I prefer "traditional" arrangements when it comes to the traditional Christmas songs...however, I really appreciate all of the new twists that she was able to give to the songs that I know and LOVE.  Sarah Groves' style was an acquired taste for me but now I love her music!

Also, Amy Grant has a "new" Christmas album titled The Christmas Collection. 

Most of the songs on the new album have been featured on her other Christmas albums but there are there are also a few new songs included. 

I love the song "I Need a Silent Night"...I purchased the song on iTunes.  : )

 

Don't forget to check out my new blog.  ; )

God bless,

Tera

Three Sweet Girls and an Adorable Etsy Find

I had my sweet nieces for an overnight while their mommy and daddy enjoyed some time to themselves.

Oh, the fun we had...

We had such a fun time...Emma loves spending time with her cousins!!

Onto an adorable Etsy find...  Do you know about Etsy?  You should!!  A very sweet gal who adopted an adorable, Itty Bitty Guatemalan baby girl has decided to open an Etsy shop to sell adorable clothing items and bows.  You should visit her.  : )  Here are a couple of photos of Emma wearing her new top and bow...

God bless,

Stuff that I Like

I enjoy reading about stuff that people like.  : )  I like reading reviews, Consumer Reports, mommy product review blogs, etc. 

Here are a few things that I currently like...

The first thing on my list is something that I have liked for a long time...  StickyPad sticky notes for computer desktops.  I have tried other desktop sticky notes and I love StickyPad notes the best.  The notes are reliable, slim, not technically or esthetically bulky and you can resize them and change the colors of the notes, etc.  I use them all of the time for grocery lists, budgeting, etc.  Something to note:  I have never had any trouble with spyware or adware from the StickyPad software download...I am very careful about what I allow on my computer and I never download programs "willy nilly".  The screen shot below is of my desktop...you can see my sticky notes...one is yellow and one is red.  Try them out!

The next item on my list for today is:   Windows Live Writer.  It has changed the way that I blog.  I do not blog directly from the Blogger website any longer.  Live Writer is an amazing Windows blog publishing tool that is very simple to use.  You can blog offline and then publish your post later on, you can easily add drop shadows or "photo paper" to your photos, you can wrap text around photos, etc.  It is just plain FUN.  It also works with many of the major blogging programs like Blogger and WordPress.  My blogging buddy Pam has a wonderful post about Windows Live Writer at her Secondhand Links blog titled "Windows Live Writer - in detail".  I read that post and I downloaded Live Writer immediately and I have been using it ever since.  One thing to note:  If you decide to download Live Writer, take note that you are given the option to also download Microsoft tool bars, etc...you can opt out of downloading those items...you are allowed to only download Live Writer if you don't want any "extras" on your computer.

Something that I Like, My Jet Fuel Powered Baby and What We've Been Up to

I keep forgetting to post about this.  So, I'll post about it now before I forget about it again.  ; )  For Mother's Day, I put together a couple of mini brag books...one for my mom and one for Jason's mom.  They turned out to be really, really cute, I think (you can click on the photo for a closer look).  : )  You can purchase cute little chip board scrapbook kits with adorable Amy Butler papers and embellishments from K & C Company.  The kits come with everything that you need to put the books together...you just have to add photos and adhesive and your own creativity.  I wanted to share this because it was such a fun project to work on and I just love the result! 

Sorry that I have not posted for several days.  My daughter has certainly been keeping me on my toes.  I swear, she is powered by jet fuel.  I haven't taken a lot of pics this week but I hope to post a few new pics soon!  She does have a new saying as of this week that I would like to share:  "Mommy...let's GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  LOL.  It's so funny.  I love my BUSY, precious (did I mention BUSY?) baby girl.

We have been busy over here!  I have planted all of my annuals.  It took me two separate evenings to weed and plant the planting bed in our backyard.  The second night, I was planting after dark...LOL.  You do what you have to do when you have a busy toddler.  I wait until she is in bed before I plant.  I also planted our pots and I hung our hanging baskets.

We have a lot of odds and ends that we are working on in our basement.  Jason finished putting together our bookshelves.  Last night after Emma went to sleep, I arranged all of our books on the shelves and put our magazines into holders.  We purchased a tv for the mini family room/sitting area and we spent the afternoon and evening today routing our Directv wires to the new tv.  My sister stopped by with my nieces a couple of times in the past two days and Emma enjoyed visiting with her cousins.  They gave their slide to Emma and Emma was sooooooooooooo  excited to play with it...the slide made her week!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

God bless,

A Product Review, a Recipe, and an Anniversary

Okay, it might seem a little bit weird to post about this but have you tried this stuff?  It's V-Fusion by V8.  It is 100% juice, it has no added sugar, it's rich in vitamins A, C and E and get this...one serving (8 oz. for adults and I'm assuming 4 to 6 oz. for kids) contains a whole serving of BOTH fruits AND vegetables.  Cool, huh? 

It comes in a variety of flavors and it tastes really good too...it's not too sweet, it's just right.

Emma only gets one serving of juice per day and we have started to give this to her instead of regular apple juice.  She loves it!  When she sees it, she puts down whatever she is doing and runs for it...LOL. 

Okay, enough of the product suggestions.  : )  Recipe time...  Yay!  : D

We had a wonderful meal this evening.  I will definitely be making it again soon!  Here is the recipe for the chicken that we made...

Grilled Greek Honey Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

*  8 - 10 chicken thighs (you could use other chicken pieces...we just happen to really like thighs and they fit nicely into a large Ziploc bag for marinating)

*  2 lemons

*  at least 1 teaspoon dried oregano

*  1 Tablespoon dried parsley

*  4 garlic cloves, minced

*  1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil

*  a few shakes of all purpose chicken seasoning (I like McCormick's Montreal Chicken Seasoning for this recipe because it has a slight citrus flavor in the background)

*  honey

Instructions:

Cut the lemons in half and juice them.  Put the juice into a gallon Ziploc bag.  Cut the juiced lemons up into maybe 6 pieces per lemon and put the pieces into the bag.  Add the oregano, parsley, garlic, oil and chicken seasoning into the bag.  Add the chicken pieces and toss the chicken around inside of the bag.  Refrigerate the chicken overnight and flip/turn/lightly squish the bag once in a while.  When you are ready to eat, remove the chicken from the marinade (discard the marinade) and grill the chicken.  During the last 10 - 15 minutes or so of grilling, drizzle the chicken generously with honey (watch the chicken carefully for flare ups).  We served the chicken with homemade humus (I will post that recipe another time) and pita bread.  REALLY yummy!!

Onward...  : )

My baby is really growing up.  She is changing so quickly and she brings SO MUCH JOY into our lives.  I thought that I would give you an update.  : ) 

Emma seems to be learning a new word everyday.  She says so many things.  A few of her newest words...  "Party", "Mommy" (instead of mama), "chicken", "there she is", "tummy", "sorry", "tummy" and "Dora".

She wears size 18 - 24 mos clothes.  She wears a size 5 shoe...we have a tough time keeping her in clothes.  I am guessing that she is around 25 pounds. 

She can do a somersault (I mentioned that in my last post).

She can count to three. 

She is my gatherer, organizer girl...she would rather line crayons up than color with them. 

She tries to sing along with almost every song. 

She loves Jack's Big Music Show, Yo Gabba Gabba, The Backyardigans and The Teletubbies. 

She loves purses, hats and shoes. 

She loves kisses, cuddles and hugs.

She is a tough cookie but she also has a very fragile and sensitive side.

She has a very sensitive tummy and she doesn't do well with certain types of motion or long drives (Michelle, remember that first stroller ride that we took with you in Antigua?  Well, now I understand why Emma was the way that she was.  If I would have understood her tummy/reflux troubles better at that time, I never would have strolled her over cobblestone).

Her favorite toys are stuffed animals, dolls, balls, blocks, pretend food and her shopping cart.

Her favorite books are "Moo Baa La La La", "Snuggle Puppy", "Where is Baby's Belly Button?", "I Love You, Goodnight" and picture books. 

She loves anything silly and she loves it when we make her stuffed animals "come to life".

She LOVES being outside and exploring.

She loves swinging and stroller rides. 

Reflux/feeding issues/food aversions/vomiting...they are definitely still a part of our lives, unfortunately.  : ( 

Because of the reflux, she is still not a great eater but she gets by.  She usually eats one good meal per day and then snacks for the other two meals.  She will eat Yobaby, wheat bread, crackers, graham cookies, chicken, dry Multi Grain Cheerios, tortillas, cheeseburger, pizza and sometimes  cheese, noodles or pancake.  She likes peaches, oranges, pears and bananas.  She will eat carrots and sweet potatoes right out of the can.  She does NOT like sweets and she has texture issues...thick foods like pudding, frosting, etc. will make her vomit.  She vomits for various reasons (99% food related) about once or twice per week.  It's tough...for us and for her.  You'd think that for as many times as she has vomited, I would be used to it.  Ha.  I have never gotten used to it.  Please pray for her regarding this (and for us).

The photo on the right was taken in Antigua, Guatemala on our pick up trip. 

Yesterday marked the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the day that I picked up Emma from her foster family for the last time.  This past week, Jason and I have reflected on that day and on our *very* eventful pick up trip (you can read about it in my "Pre Blogger Archives" in the left column).  What an incredible journey.  It is THRILLING to have Emma, our precious daughter, as a part of our lives.  I try to soak up each and everyday with her.  Thank You, God for the blessing of Emma Grace.

Before I sign off for tonight...  We have been making several trips to Ikea to pick up items for our basement.  I am going in a *very* different design direction for our basement.  I am a bit nervous but I'm very excited too!!  I will post pics in the next few weeks.  : )

God bless.