Fall Beauty

A few weeks ago my friend Emily and I decided to head out to a nature preserve that is just minutes from my house to enjoy the beauty of fall and bask in the warm and bright weather.  This day was full of all my favorite things: a fabulous friend, photography, laughter, stories, and of course the beauty of nature.  :)

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day:

I will defnately be heading back to this beautiful piece of God's creation to revel in the beauty that is on this Earth. :)

Until next time,

Janeen

Crafty Sunday

Hello there! This week I was able to spend some time being crafty and for me that means stained fingers and glitter in my hair. I got some really fun pages completed and was able to play with some of my favorite companies and products.

On Friday, I created my favorite layout from the week. I had been playing around with the idea for this page for awhile but could never find the perfect photo. I was rummaging through some pictures from 2008 and ran across this photo of me with my camera. And then BoBunny came out with this super line called "Mama-razzi" and the colors were perfect, so I knew it was time to create this layout.

The one thing from the BoBunny collection that I didn't purchase were the flowers because I figured I had enough flowers. Well I had a ton of flowers, but none of them were the right color. So I decided to color my own. I absolutely love how they turned out and I want to share the technique. :)

 Materials:  White flowers (Mine are the wildflower mix from Prima), distress inks in multiple shades of the same color, ink blending tool with foam, Perfect Pearls (perfect pearl color), Ranger Mini Mister filled with water, heat gun, Ranger Craft Mat

2. Choose your lightest shade of distress ink. Here I chose Broken China.  Apply the ink to the flower using the ink blending tool. For mine I held the middle of the flower as I inked so that the flower wouldn't tear. Also make sure that you get ink into the crevaces of the flower.

This what the flowers look like with the lightest color on them.

2. Next take your darker shade of distress ink and ink blending tool and swipe the color over the top of the flower. This ink will only reach the raised parts of the petals. Here I am using Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

3. Make your own pearlized mist with a Ranger Mini Mister, Perfect Pearls, and water. I used the clear glitter color called Perfect Pearls on my project.  To make your mist, use a craft stick to scoop some perfect pearls into the mister. Fill the mister 2/3 of the way full with water, screw on the lid, and shake to mix. I glued a pearl on the top of the lid of the mister so I know what is inside it.  I got this tip from one of my favorite artists, Jennifer McGuire. To see more of her tips, visit http://www.jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/.

4. Spray your flowers with the Pearlized Mix. Because of their unique properties, Distress Inks react with water and the colors will bleed together creating a cool muttled look. You could also use Glimmer Mist in the Pearl color for this technique, but I found that the Pearlized Mix works better for me.

5. Dry the flowers with a heat tool. This sets the color and stops it from bleeding anymore. It also speeds up the drying time on te flowers.

This is a close-up of the blue flowers. I used Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress inks  and then spritzed them with the pearlized mix. I totally love the subtle glittery shine they have.

These flowers were created with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress inks. I also sprayed the pearlized mix over these.

Layer your different sized flowers together on your layout and add a flower center of your choice. The top flower here uses a cardstock sticker with foam adhesive dots behind it and the bottom flower simply has a large gemstone adorning its center.

Bonus Tip

To create these cool multi-colored and layered chipboard letters, I first painted them with the greenish-blue color of acryllic paint. After it dried, I then used a tan color of paint and dabbed it on different areas of the letters using a wadded-up paper towel. Finally I used a paintbrush and some copper-colored glimmer mist to paint on some glimmer color over the areas painted tan. It really gave the letters a unique aged look that added to the overall look of the page.

Well I hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend. Mine was very busy with a going away party for my brother-in-law who is heading to Iraq this summer. We had over 60 people here and it was a blast!!! :)

Until next time,

Janeen :)

Happy Easter!

Hello there my blog friends! I just wanted to pop on here and share some of my Easter photos with you. Enjoy!

It was a gorgeous Easter Sunday here in northern Indiana...the flowers were blooming, the temps were in the 60's, and it was sunny...could we ask for more?

And by the way, we did not dress to match...we just all happened to match...weird huh? But it is going to make one great scrapbook page! :)

autumn splendor and a photo shoot

Fall is such a gloriously beautiful season. The days are cooler and shorter. My jeans and sweaters come out of the closet. It is the weather for bonfires, trick-or-treating, pumpkin picking, and many other outdoor events. But my favorite part of this time of year is the world bursting forth with riotous color and leaves twirling down from the heavens. 

Today I got to revel in this beautiful aspect of the season with my dear, sweet friend Rebekeh. We headed to a local nature preserve and spent a few hours enjoying the gorgeous scene laid before us, laughing and sharing stories and events, and photographing each other and our beautiful surroundings. These are just a few of our favorite photos from the day. :)

Be sure to check back next week. Rebekeh and I have a challenge going on to scrapbook some of these photos before we scrap next week. I will definately be posting some of them soon!

Challenge 4: Portraits (Tips, Tricks, and Challenges)

Well I am way behind on this one, but I guess it is better late than never right. I love taking portraits, but I sometimes find it difficult to find people who are willing to sit for more than a photo or two and so I don't get much practice or many shots to work with. Most of the following ones I just got lucky on...I have lots of not so lucky ones too. The only really willing subject I have is my dog who will sit for hours if I have a treat or a toy. :)

I shot the portrait above a few weekends ago at my cousin's wedding. I took lots of pictures to get this amazing photo and I love how it turned out. :)


This is my aunt and her new dog, Buddy. He is the sweetest little thing you will ever meet and I wanted to show the special relationship that these two have.

This is my dog Bailey. One of my favorite things to do on a summer day is take her outside and take a gazillion photos of her...at least she doesn't mind. To get this shot, I was holding her favorite new toy over my head and snapping away as she looked at it longingly. Then after a few shots, we played catch for awhile and started shooting again.

This is my other super cute cousin at the wedding a few weeks ago. Isn't she adorable?

My sister and her fiancee...again at the wedding...it was a gorgeous old mansion and both the inside and outside were wonderful for taking pictures.

My dad at the wedding...I really love this picture of him, even with the bit of glasses glare. :)


This is my cousin at our family 4th of July barbecue and pool party. My aunt let me play with her zoom lens and I was able to capture this sweet shot.

My mom at the pool. This is probably my favorite portrait I have taken all summer. She looks so relaxed and happy and she looks beautiful as well!


My self portrait...this was taken this summer in Disney as I was walking around the World Showcase at Epcot all by myself and of course I had to get a picture of myself in each country. :) This is my favorite one...the dreamy look of Italy behind me is a great look.

This is our sweet little neighbor boy. He and I were playing around with my dog and I captured this shot of him. I really like the angle of it and it shows his fun personality.
Another great shot of our neighbor boy...this one is more thoughtful and sincere. I really like it with just the clouds in the background. I was sitting on the ground for both of these photos and looking up at him. Its a great natural backdrop for stunning summer portraits! :)