Green Horned Unicorn

Let's Fly Away Together

As most of you know, Nate and I are both aviation nerds at heart who found one another while working at an airline. Since our youth, we both have had an affinity for machine that fly. Through two aviation universities and various jobs in both general aviation and commercial aviation, I've been immersed in industry most of my adult life. Nate spent time in the Air Force before coming to the airline and has a strong passion for aviation photography (and is pretty darn good at it). One fun fact you may not know, we each hold a private pilot's license :)

While we don't work together any longer (Nate left the airline), we still find ways to geek out on airplanes together. I created two pages about some of our adventures.

CASA GRANDE FLY-IN | This layout highlights a fly-in that Nate and I drove to see. A fly-in is much like an airshow, but is open to anyone to fly in their own aircraft for the day or weekend. There are scheduled events and fly-bys like an airshow, but with the added perk of seeing some pretty unique private aircraft as well. 

We spent the afternoon planespotting and photographing all the cool aircraft we saw. The images on this particular layout were taken with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. The vintage "film" and "lenses" on the app were perfect for snapping a few shots of some old aircraft. My personal favorite is the P-51 Mustang shown in the center image.

I used a lot of older products on this page including Studio Calico, Sassafras and October Afternoon.

CROSSWINDS | When we need a little break from the city, Nate and I like to make the quick trip up to Payson, AZ for lunch. It's about an hour drive, through some very beautiful mountains and desert landscaping. Our destination is always the same, Crosswinds, a cute little homestyle restaurant situated at the Payson Airport.

This particular trip was during our week off between Christmas and New Years. After being stuck doing things around the house for a few days, it was the perfect little escape and resulted in a delicious and filling meal. It's a nice little tradition for the two of us.

Again, I used a lot of older products on this layout including Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Studio Calico, and October Afternoon.

I can't wait to see where we will fly away together on our next adventure :)

Caden Sports Superstar

Today, this handsome little man turns eight.

Photo taken last summer at the Grand Canyon.

My darling nephew has grown into such a sweet and caring boy who above all things, loves his sports. Soccer, baseball, basketball and football are all on the roster for this talented guy. As part of his birthday present from Nate and me, I created this fun poster filled with sports quotes and icons.

I developed my poster design skills while taking the Art of Poster Design Class by Jessica Sprague. In class, we created a poster similar to this, but I changed it to a sports theme for my cute nephew. While I haven’t made it through all the course content yet, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve learned so far.

And while we’re on the topic of Caden and sports, I thought I’d share a sports themed book I wrote and designed as a present for him this past Christmas. You may recall the princess book I designed for my niece the prior year. Well, Caden was slightly envious of the book all about his sister and asked me if I could write one about him too. So being the awesome aunt that I am, that’s exactly what I did!

I wrote my storyline and then designed the book in Photoshop, using (mostly) supplies from Creativity by Crystal. I uploaded the finished book to Shutterfly to have it printed. I'm unable to share the Shutterfly link here because I wanted to blur out his full name on the cover, first page and last page. So I've loaded the pages images into Typepad's new gallery viewer, which you can view by clicking through the thumbnails at the top. While it's not as slick and seamless as viewing on Shutterfly, it saved me from creating a mile-long post full of images. 

 

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Note, I've noticed the images are a little slow to load, which is probably user error. I didn't take the time to optimize the images for the web, so they're slightly larger than they would normall be. Lesson learned for next time!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little man! :)

Welcome to Project Life 2012

Over the past year or so, I’ve seen many versions of Becky Higgins’ Project Life popping up around the internet - on blogs, in galleries, about anywhere scrapbooking related that you can look. In my head, I really wanted to do a version of it myself, in reality, it didn’t happen.

As much of a non-planner as I am in real life (I’m a very spur of the moment type of gal), when it comes to big projects, I really have to have my head in the game before I can begin. So I thought about it. And thought about it some more. Then finally, I ordered some page protectors from Becky Higgins’ Amazon Store. Then, I though about it some more and FINALLY decided to get started - still with no plan in mind. But, I’ve came to the realization that “no plan” is kind of the plan with Project Life. I decided to just jump in, roll with it and see where it took me.

I started Project Life in mid-March, on Nate and my third anniversary (also St. Patrick’s Day). I know it’s quite a random place to start, but I figured it was as good as any. If I feel super-ambitious over the next week or so, I may go back and add the beginning of March as well. We have plenty of photos from our stream of visitors to fill in the first half of the month. If not, no biggie, I’ll just progress forward with capturing the present.

Here's what I have come up with so far (click on any of the images to view a larger image and to read the journaling):

This is my first page of the album, which is almost complete. I left the March calendar in the bottom left unfinished in case I decide to go back and add the beginning of the month. If not, I'll finish it off with a little journaling and embellishment and call it good. I plan on adding a calendar to the first page of each month as the album progresses.

Here is my first full spread:

Sorry for the blurry photo. We changed the focus settings on the DSLR, moving it from the shutter button to another location. Now, I keep forgetting to focus. Ooops!

Here are close-ups of each page (which are much more clear):

Here are three things I love about Project Life, so far:

1. Recording everyday stories and moments. Things we do, places we go, cute things the pets do, or just whatever. The real stuff. I plan on adding snippets about our favorite restaurants, TV shows, etc. – really anything that captures who we are at this very moment in time.
2. Using those photos otherwise forgotten on my phone. While I am really good at incorporating a lot of iPhone photos into my regular scrapbooks, I still have thousands of photos that never make it into a book. Usually because it captures a small moment I don’t feel like creating an entire page for or maybe the photo isn’t of the best quality. Whatever the reason, it’s sad they remain stuck on my phone and computer. I captured them for a reason, so I love that their story will get told as well. 
3. I discovered one of my favorite parts of Project Life is incorporating the little bits of life in addition to photos and stories (which I really haven't done a lot of yet). Things like ticket stubs, labels, business cards and such.  I literally have an entire tub of life’s bits and pieces that I’ve collected over the last eight years that have never made it into my scrapbooks. It’s kind of sad because the memory gets lost when it’s stuffed into a closet in a box. Again, Project Life is allowing these items that would potentially get lost or become forgotten to be recorded.

So far, I’m only a few weeks into my Project Life adventure and it’s going really well. I hope my initial enthusiasm for the project sticks with me and guides me though the year. Once I have a better grasp on my process, I’ll share some more details with you.

The best thing about Project Life happened when I showed the first few pages to Nate. He had no idea what I had been working on, and when I showed it to him and explained what it was, he responded, “This is really cool. I could see myself picking this up and going through it again and again.”

Which is exactly the point. Yay for Project Life :)

Sunday Scrapbook Update

Before we leave the month of March too far behind us, I thought I'd share the remainder of my JessicaSprague.com Creative Team layouts for the month. I have three very different layouts, featuring three very different events - hopefully I don't lose anyone as I bounce around!

BASEBALL | First up, a layout simply titled, Baseball. 

Most products from the Echo Park Grand Slam Mini Kit. Click here for a full list of product credits at JessicaSprague.com.

As you are all well aware from my baseball ramblings each year, in AZ, March is bustling with Cactus League Spring Training. Being a baseball lover, I try to make it to as many games as possible during the month-long season. It's my favorite time of the year in the Valley. Journaling reads:

I kicked off the 2012 Cactus League Spring Training Season watching the Cubs vs. Rockies at HoHoKam Park with Kate and Andy (who were in town visiting from Hawaii) and Ben. The 80-degree weather was perfect, as was the company, the Old Style and the Napa Noodles. Even better, the Cubs walked away with an 11-4 win! ~March 6, 2012

LOVE | Clearly, I must not have been to creative in my title work in March as I am realizing my second title is even more simple than the first layout. But, really what else should you call a page about love?

Most products by Elle's Studio. Click here for a full list of product credits at JessicaSprague.com.

This layout highlights a few select photos from my sister Molly's wedding back in November. I had hundreds of lovely images to choose from, taken by my Aunt Judy. Hopefully, I'll get around to scrapping more of them this spring. Journaling reads: 

Photographs & memories from Molly & Greg’s wedding day, November 11, 2011. It was a day filled with family, friends memories & love. 

CATTOP | Lastly, but certianly not least, is a layout about Baxter. The one word title on this one is a little more creative, unfortunatlely, I wasn't the one one who came up with it. Nate did (thanks, babe). 

Most products by Echo Park & Elle's Studio. Click here for a full list of product credits at JessicaSprague.com.

As I'm sure you've discovered the title is a play on words, Cat + Laptop = Cattop. Since our cat Baxter has an affinity for all things electronic, it's not surpise that he lovingly adopted my work laptop as his. Journaling reads:

I had plans of working from home, Baxter had another vision for my work laptop...a napping spot. From the looks of it, it’s comfy from almost any angle! 2.9.12
 

That wraps up my digital projects for March! You will see more coming your way in the month of May, along with traditional projects and Project Life. I'll also be picking back up with my GHU52 and Pixel to Paper, plus I have a few other projects to share. Whew, it's going to be a great month!

Three Years

Now that March is coming to a close, we've welcomed and said goodbye to our last group of visitors this past weekend. With one last baseball game to enjoy this coming Monday, the offical season of madness is past us and it's time to resume life as normal - or at least as normal as it gets around here!

I have so much to say and so many photos to share, but in order to keep this post shorter than a Steinbeck novel, I decided that I will share the stories and photographs as I document them in my digital scrapbook pages, traditional scrapbook pages and in my Project Life. Yup, you read that right, I decided to start my own version of PL! I be sharing a post about that soon.

One event that occurred amidst all the chaos was Nate and my third anniversary. Three blissful years. It's sounds cliche, but they really have been. He is certainly my perfect match. The peanut butter to my jelly, the cheese to my macaroni, well, you get the point! 

Click here for full product credits via jessicasprague.com.

This photo was taking during our anniversary lunch at the Twisted Lizard, one of our favorite patios to hang out on (aside from our own). I had a yummy lavosh, while Nate had a burger. We both washed our meals down with some refreshing beer. Unfortunatley, I got sick right after this photo was taken (not from the food) and spent the rest of our anniversary sleeping on the sofa. But, at least we were able to have a little fun!

The design of the layout was inspired by this amazing collage by Fred One Litch. There is just something about this one that drew me in. While my page doesn't really do the original justice, I still love how the design turned out. Most of the products used are from the Echo Park For the Record collection. Image post processing was done in Photoshop CS5 using Totally Rad Labs.

There you have it - my first page in over a month! I'm excited to start getting back into the creative groove :)

And Now Back to Our Regular Scheduled Program...Almost

If you know me personally, or have been following my blog for a while, you know that March is truly a season of madness in our household (not the kind related to basketball). The perfect 80-degree temperatures, paired with a slew of family and friends tired of the Midwest winters and the start of Cactus League Spring Training, mean that our home turns into a revolving door of guests. It's my favorite month of the year! Here's what I've been up to so far:

• Spent part of a week in OH for work.
• Hosted Nate's family from MN visited for a week. 
• Celebrated Nate's birthday!!! I bought him a griddle, long kitchen tongs, a 3-lb package of bacon & a six pack of Purple Haze to drink while he fried his bacon. I know the way to his heart!
• Hosted my mom for a 5-day visit from NE (overlapping Nate's family's stay).
• Spent time with long-time AZ friends who now reside in HI.
• Attended my first Cactus League Spring Training game of the season, watching the Cubs defeat the Rockies 11-4! Go Cubbies, Go!
• Had the opportunity to visit some of my favorite eating & drinking establishments - Four Peaks, Papago Brewery, Redendos, Sweet Republic, Zulu Caffe, The Office and more.
• Made a lot of delicous food like my homemade maccaroni & cheese, vanillia ice cream and salted caramel sauce.
• Did I mention I ate a LOT?
• Did a lot of shopping and bought a lot of clothing with stripes. I think I might have a problem.
• Attended a quilt show with my mom, which was an interesting experience in and of itself.
• Purchased some new October Afternoon & Cosmo Cricket paper scrapbooking supplies..woohoo!
• Chose some outdoor fabric and helped my mom prepare the fabric (which she sewed) to create curtains for our new outdoor dining area.Thanks, Mom!

The list goes on and on, but I'll cut it off there before I lose you. Needless to say, March has been chaos in the best of ways!

My mom flew out yesterday, leaving Nate and I with a relatively quiet week, which hopefully will allow us to spend some time at home (and not running around). As much as I love my family and friends, it's always nice to have a night or two to decompress. Hopefully, if all goes as planned, I can get into the studio and get to work on some projects and truly get back to my "regular scheduled program" here.

Until then, have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Pixel to Paper - Reversed

This week, I'm changing things up a bit and doing a reversal on the Pixel to Paper concept. Instead of using digital design to inspire my paper scrapping, I'm using my a paper layout to inspire my digital designs.

My paper layout highlights an Instagram I shared on Twitter a few weeks ago. This particular photograph documents an event that has been three years in the making – Shawna and Baxter cuddling together! I always knew they’d be pals, I just had no idea it would take this long for them to snuggle up with one another. 

PRODUCT CREDITS: Patterned Papers [October Afternoon, Studio Calico, Fancy Pants, Cosmo Cricket] + Label Sticker [Paper Source] + Buttons [October Afternoon, vintage findings] + Mists [October Afternoon, Studio Calico] + Felt Blooms [Green Horned Unicorn]

The photo was taken one afternoon while I was lounging on the sofa. Baxter likes to lay on my legs when I’m all stretched out. So does Shawna. When Shawna beat Baxter to the punch on this particular day, B was not about to be outdone. He promptly walked up and wedged himself against the dog. I think he was actually hoping she’d move. But, she was equally as stubborn, so there they sat, side-by-side. Regardless of how it went down, I’m so excited that they actually CUDDLED! 

Next up, is my digital layout which, as you can see, is heavily based upon my paper layout. Even the colors of the papers and elements are quite similar.

PRODUCT CREDITS: Patterned Papers + Elements [Biografitti, One Little Bird & Paislee Press - Epic Collaboration] + Frame [Anna Aspnes]

The photograph was taken during Molly and Greg’s Rehearsal Dinner back in November. I love how Nate and Caden are both rocking the spikey-messy hairdos while wearing almost matching shirts. It was too cute of a photo op to pass up!

I’ve noticed I’ve really been into the more muted blue, orange, green color pallet as of lately. It’s so fall like, yet I find myself sitting here in February, very drawn to it. What is your current color obsession?

GHU52: Felt Coasters Using Fabric & Ribbon Scraps

More than likely, many of you have bins overflowing with excess craft supplies. Pretty paper scraps, fabric scraps, ribbons and more, that you just can seem to part ways with. I'm quilty of hoarding all of these supplies and more. For my next GHU52 project, I decided to target one of my many scrap fabric bins and my scrap ribbon jar.

In search of project inspiration on Pinterest, I came across these lovely magnets by Tara Anderson, which are made from paper scraps. Intrigued by the randomness of the pieced pattern, I decided to create something similar – only in coaster form, using fabric and ribbon scraps.

TOOLS & MATERIALS | The Tool & Material list for this project is pretty short and simple - much of it you may have on-hand.

Material List:

• Fabric & Ribbon scraps
• Fabric Tack (optional) I used Dritz Spray Adhesive
• Sewing Machine and various thread colors
• Stiffened Felt
• Circle die or a circle template between 3-4 inches in size (an old coaster would be the perfect template)
• Scissors
• Pinking Shears (optional)

STEP ONE | Cut a square from the stiffened felt, slightly larger than the circle size you plan on using.

STEP TWO | Gather scrap fabrics and ribbons and begin to layer into an random pattern. I found that I like to lay my pattern out before I started to sew the pieces into place, but if you’re feeling wild and crazy you can just build your pattern as you go. As I compiled my patterns, I randomly trimmed and shaped fabric scraps, often times using pinking shears to add an interesting touch.

STEP THREE | One-by-one, spray each fabric strip with fabric tack, place onto the felt and sew into place. Continue to layer and stitch each fabric strip until you have covered your piece of felt. Your sewing can be messy or neat. You can use all one color thread, or you can vary the colors with each fabric strip. The choice is yours!

STEP FOUR | From your finished piece, die cut a circle (I used a Spellbinders die in my Sizzex Big Shot). If you don’t have a die cut machine, you can use a circle template and scissors. I tried both methods and prefered the clean edges the die cut provided.

STEP FIVE | Cut an additional circle of the same size from the stiffened felt. This piece will be used as backing to add additional support and to cover the stitching on the fabric covered felt. Spray fabric tack onto the felt circle and adhere to the back of the fabric covered felt circle.

STEP SIX | Sew around the edge of the stacked circles to hold into place. On some coasters I chose to sew just one row, on others I decided to sew two rows. 

STEP SEVEN | Pour a drink and enjoy!

PROJECT NOTES & ADDITONAL OPTIONS | As with any project, there are a hundred and one ways you could go about making felt and fabric coasters. Here are a few things I learned and ideas to make this project your own:

• If you prefer, you can start with a circle as opposed to a square, and trim the excess fabrics off as you layer and stitch. I found I preferred the look of the coasters that were die cut from the square piece. The edges were cleaner and I really liked the look of the stitching that goes clear to the edge.
• Spray tack is optional, but I found it very helpful in holding the small (often wrinkly) scrap fabric strips into place while I sewed them into place.
• For additional support (and extra protection to your tabletops), add sticky-backed cork to the bottom of the finished coaster.

I'd love to hear what you think about the coasters and I'd also love to hear about any fun project you've made using fabric and ribbon scraps. Thanks for stopping by!

The Green Horned Unicorn Project 52 (GHU52) is a personal challenge to create, photograph & post 52 craft projects in 2012. You can read more about in this post.

Pixel to Paper

For this week's Pixel to Paper, I'm focusing on the felines. I adore my furkids and love to give their cute, fuzzy mugs lots of prime real estate on my layouts. Again this week, I have two brand new pages to share!

My digital layout, Cool Cat, was originally created for Photoshop Friday: Convert A Photo To Black & White at jessicasprague.com, which was released on February 3. 

Product Credits: Patterned Papers, Candy Candy & Elements {Cosmo Cricket available at jessicasprague.com} + Typewriter Lettering {Sahlin Studios} + Paint Splatters {Paislee Press, Kitty Designs}

Journaling reads: 

Baxter cat, you win the title for coolest cat - hands down. Your laid back personality and endless curiosity always lead to entertaining moments. Whether it's your excitement about a new box, napping in a bag, the kitty rolls you do outside, your persistent ploys to get a treat , or just snuggling up on our laps while we work, we love every moment we have with you. You're soft, you're handsome, you're sweet, you're funny and you're a perfectly cool cat. ~Sept 2011

Using my Cool Cat layout as inspiration, I set out to create a paper layout. Since I focused on Baxter in the original page, I decided it was Bugsy's turn to shine with this bright and colorful layout, titled Purrfect.

Product Credits: Patterned Papers, Fabric Paper, Stickers & Thickers {American Crafts} + Cardstock {Bazzil} + Mists {Ranger, Studio Calico} + Pen {Smash}

Journaling reads:

Bugsy, you are fuzzy, sassy, smart, soft, demanding, protective, full of attitude and utterly purrfect!

I'm very happy with the way both layouts turned out. I love the bright pops of color and the fun scattered elements and, of course, the paint splatters!

Thank you for taking a moment to stop by my blog. Have a wonderful week :)

You can find more Pixel to Paper inspiration by clicking here. If you create a page based off of the inspiration provided, please feel free to leave me a link - I'd love to see your work!

Sunday Scrapbook Update

It's Sunday and I thought I'd take some time to share a few more of the layouts (both digital and traditional) I have created so far this year.

First up, is a layout titled DBacks and is actually a page I intended to scrap last year, but forgot all about. When I was cleaning out my studio a few weeks ago, I came across these photos and the ticket stub sitting in a file folder, along with some of the October Afternoon Rocket Age collection. I have no idea what my original plan was for the page, so I started from scratch and came up with this page.

Product Credits: Patterned Papers & Miscellany Pack {October Afternoon - Rocket Age} + Mists {October Afternoon & Studio Calico} + Thickers {American Crafts}

Next, I have two digital pages, both featuring manufactuers more commonly known in the paper scrapbooking arena. Both Jenni Bowlin and KI Memories have teamed up with jessicasprague.com to offer their wonderful projects in digi form!

Product Credits: Patterned Paper & Journaling Card {Jenni Bowlin} + Flower & Kraft Paper {Paislee Press}

This layout features a few Hipstamatic prints from last Valentine's Day (2011) that I finally got around to scrapping. You might recall my story of receiving duplicate bouquets.  

Product Credits: Patterned Papers & Elements {KI Memories - Pop Culture} + Typewriter Keys {Echo Park}

My last layout highlights the only photograph of Nate and I from my sister's wedding. ONE. That's it. I don't know how it happened, but this is all we got. Taken on my iPhone with bad lighting. At least we got one, right? 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Thank you for taking time to stop by :)