As promised...the Waterfall Card

I'm not the most technically advanced person out there. I'm learning. Little by little. Very little by very little. Couple that with the fact that I have people coming to stay with me from out of town, awards ceremonies for the kids to attend, a wonderful show (Women of Lockerbie) to go see, and a graduation dress to make and you get a total failure to get a tutorial made. Perhaps one day.

But I know everyone is chomping at the bit to make your very own waterfall card, so I turned to the one place that you can find a video of anything...You Tube. I found this video and wanted to share it with you.

Waterfall Card Tutorial on Howcast

Now, this talented gal has four panels while my version only had three. I had to make fifty of my card, so I threw one square overboard. The concept is the same. If you do decide to make this mini-masterpiece let me know. I'd love to see some pictures!

It's Graduation Time!

I finally put my eldest child's graduation announcements in the mail yesterday. Yes, I know. I'm only about three weeks late. I'm just happy they managed to make it into the mail before graduation day. I've been thinking about these announcements since the order form for the "official" announcements came in this fall. As a scrapbooker I wanted something a little bit more personal, an announcement that would reflect a bit more of Emily's personality. I knew I wanted to do a "waterfall" card that could showcase several pictures of Emily over the years. But what pictures to choose?


So I went on the hunt. As any scrapbooker can guess, I have thousands of pictures. I have drawers and boxes full. I have scrapbooks and photo albums bursting at the seams. I even have an extensive collection of photos taken before I became part of the Miller family. I needed a picture of Emily when she was small, so I started there. I picked up the first album, opened it and there it was.

Apparently it is a Miller family tradition when a baby is born to give the youngster a "Class of" shirt. I had no idea, not having been there when any Miller children were actually born, but I think this is pure genius. Imagine my excitement when I opened the album and saw a picture of Emily in her "Class of 2010" shirt. I'm positive I heard angels singing and a ray of light came out of no where. PERFECT!

When I put the "class" shirt picture, a shot from the fifth grade and a fabulous senior picture together I knew I had a winner. Then all I had to do was cut out about 500 rectangles and we'd be set. In the end it took me two solid days, but it was worth it. For those of you unfamiliar with a waterfall card, you pull the tab at the bottom of the picture strip and the pictures flip up one at a time. Amazing, not my idea, but still amazing. I'm working on a tutorial for those of you who might want to make these gems for your next event, but I'll post the instructions for anyone who just can't wait. It may not be the traditional announcement, but I think it's pretty darned spiffy!

Project Prom Dress 2010

Well, I've been saving this post for after the prom so I wouldn't spoil my lovely model's good time. Now that the last dance has been danced I can share my adventures in prom land with all of you.

This is a friend of my eldest daughter. She is gorgeous and an independent spirit. She approached me a couple of months ago about making her a dress for prom.

Maybe I should back up a couple of steps and tell you that the off the rack dress selection this year was bad. It was impossible to find a dress in a color other than neon green, pink, orange or yellow. Or a dress that didn't plunge to the wearers navel. Or was covered in pasted on glitter. In other words, it was hard to find a dress that looked sophisticated without being matronly.

So, I was approached by Kaity and was more than happy to accommodate. We went off to the fabric store to choose a pattern and fabric. I made a trial dress from the pattern we originally chose. It was a McCall's pattern (5806). The result was way too large. Plus I didn't like the neckline. Or the high waistline. (I guess now I should post pics of that too. Another day maybe.) So I went into my pattern stash, and I found a nifty Butterick pattern (54547).

Kaity picked her own colors (which I thought were quite fetching) and the lace. I omitted the pleats on the bodice that were originally on the pattern as well as some gathering that was included on the waistline. We opted for a satin ribbon sash. I think the result was amazing. Kaity made her own headpiece, which really fit the style of the dress. When she arrived at our home on prom night I thought she looked spectacular!

Here she is with her date for the evening. They make a cute couple, but they are only friends. Daniel did manage to pick out a shirt in exactly the right shade of red, so they were perfectly matched. Kaity seemed to be very happy with her dress. It's too bad it was pouring down rain on prom night. I think the dress may have suffered some water damage. But the important thing is that Kaity had an excellent time!

Senior Project

I have a Senior in my house. Not the kind of Senior that tends to need a walker, the kind that will graduate in June. We are also lucky enough to have said Seniors birthday the day before she graduates. Pretty big deal, huh?

So I've already begun planning events and trying to figure out where we might put out of town visitors for the big day. I have a huge list of to-do's to get the house ready for what should be a huge Miller bash. Most importantly I'm trying to put together the scrapbooks. Lovely books to put out for people to peruse while they celebrate. Moments in the life of the graduate, things to laugh over, special moments, memories to share. A chance for people to see how she's grown and most importantly a chance to for people to see all those pages, right?

Now, I know some of you are really on top of things and have been putting together scrapbooks for your children in chronological order from the day they were born. You have books labeled by child and by year. I applaud you. I salute you. I am in awe of you. My style is more driven by whatever picture I happen to want to scrapbook at the time. Baby pictures one day, soccer games the next, whatever happens to tickle my fancy at the moment. I don't have books as much as I have page protectors full of pages. And boxes full of pages. And pages just kinda laying around. As I've started to look in the nooks and crannies of my house I have found HUNDREDS of pages. I've found pages in cabinets. I've found pages in drawers. I've found pages in places that I had to get down on my knees and fish out.

So in my search for pages about the life of my Senior, I've started to put together the progression of my scrapbooking obsession. What started with a kit that I bought at the Wal-Mart almost ten years ago, has yielded a bumper crop of artistic expression! Those first pages lovingly created at the kitchen table with a pair of scalloped edged scissors, a glue stick and some printed paper frames have given way to hobby with it's own room in my home. Now I own more pairs of scissors than I do pairs of pants. I know the difference between a Cricut and a Slice, and I can spot a new scrapbooker from across the crop room. I love this stuff, and I love the people in all those pictures on all of those pages.

It's going to take me a long time to sort through all those memories. Some of the pages are better than others, some are downright funny to me now. I'm not going to go back and re-do them. I can't change those pages anymore than I can go back and change my Seniors childhood. I love all those pages, I love this hobby and I love my Senior.

Halloween + Freebie = Halloween Freebie!

Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays. It ranks number two after Christmas and right before Thanksgiving. I think the weather has a lot to do with it, but the fact that there's a whole bunch of free candy laying around could maybe be giving Halloween a boost in the rankings.

Now, because Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, I have a huge collection of scrapbook goodies that are Halloween themed. You'd think that meant that I have a lot decorations or scrapbooks, but you'd think wrong. I just have the supplies. This year I've challenged myself to at least try and make something Halloween related to put out before Halloween, but so far I've only succeeded in finding cute free things to pass on to you out there. Today's freebie can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of this post. I stumbled on it while flipping through all the blogs I follow. It's on a cute blog called On A Limb. Enjoy!

http://onalimbpaper.blogspot.com/2009/10/free-halloween-stickersprintables.html.

Paper Witch Shoes

Hello out there in the blog-o-sphere. Here's a free Halloween project I hunted up for you. I found the templates for this lovely little witch shoe over on skiptomylou.org. My plan is to make some to hand out at a band competition on Halloween day.

If you whip up a pair or two, take the time to post a picture. I'd love to see them!
Paper Witch Shoes

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The Graphics Fairy: Free Halloween Printable - Trick or Treat Bag Label

I found this cute little label out there in the blogosphere so I thought I'd post the link for you to check out. So cute. Just print and stick for an instant trick or treat bag. Or print it on some Bazzil cardstock and use it on a card or scrapbook page. Bookmark this super little blog for some fabulous ideas!
The Graphics Fairy: Free Halloween Printable - Trick or Treat Bag Label: