silly as it sounds...

jaspurr + singapore prep

it's difficult to get things done lately.  difficult, that is, unaccompanied....

this little critter has taken up residence here via olivia and her big heart full of love.  the mommy cat was abandoned and a neighbor took it in while pregnant, housed the new kittens and mommy, and now needs to find good homes for the 6 little cuties.  of course olivia was instantly in looooooove. 

"but mom," she reasoned, "we just have this connection..." 

i'm such a sucker.

well, at least he keeps me company while i'm prepping my kits for Creative Escape 2009 Singapore.
much to do, and so little time!!!  i am really excited about this event, though.  i've been putting my heart into these kits, and really enjoying working with the gorgeous varitey of Prima products i've packed into it.  this is going to be a gorgeous, fun album!!!

here's some more sneaks of what is going on....more to come!!!

origami ornaments

here's a fun way to use up a lot of paper scraps at TwoPeas today:

Japanese kusudama flowers

also, i'm thinking?
a "fun" way to keep little or kind-of-still-little hands busy as beavers
on cold snowy icy days....
*wink*

happy holidays!!!
xoxo
tia

epson aritsan 800

This thing ROCKS!  Have you heard the buzz lately about the new wireless printers that are on the market?  This is one of them...and it is DIVINE. 

It is Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectable, and functions as so much more than just a printer.  It has the awesome Epson 6 individual ink cartridges, which is so great for the budget since you are only having to refill the specific color you are out of, instead of a whole full-color cartridge.  It also has this "vivid" ink technology that I didn't quite understand the value of until i printed some color photos.  I SWEAR I could reach out and touch the flowers on that picture...it was so real!  That totally amazed me.

OH.  And it also functions as a copier (that does multiple pages with a multi-page feed on top!) AND a fax machine AND a top-line scanner, too.  

and can you see that touch screen there in the photo above?!  yeah.  how cool is THAT?!

oh my gosh...and are you ready for this?  it also:

• prints on top of printable CD's (photos, text, you name it!), AND

• prints both College and Wide Ruled Lined Paper with a button.  seriously.  there is a setting where you just "beep", push a button, and it will print lined paper in seconds!  AND graph paper.  HOW COOL IS THAT?!  my daughter was doing homework the other night and up came the inevitable "Mooooooooooooooooom!  I need some more paper!"  And so I got all giddy and ran to the machine and, SHAZAM, printed her some lined paper.  Just like that.  It was awesome!  (Moms need little reason to celebrate these days....LOL!)  Even she was impressed! 

Those frames in the above picture I printed out onto textured cardstock and added to this holiday journal album I made recently....

(the frames are from a digital kit at 2peas by danielle thompson)

i was going to use the album to record my journaling for Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" class that i am taking, but my dear friend Rachael liked it so much, i gave it to her!  (are you writing in your journal, rach?!)  ;0D

i have a few christmas projects i am working on with this new "tool" that i'd like to share in the next coming days, so more to come!  :)

in the meantime, i want to share Stuck In Customs, an AMAZING high dynamic range photography site that rachael just pointed out to me...i am totally awestruck by some of these images.   and he's a Nikon guy, which is cool...i'm a Nikon lover at heart!  :)  but anyway....i love the emotive quality of this kind of project!!!!  i'd love to try it.  i have to re-read the tutorial, though, cause he lost me at "buy Photomatix". lol

tokens + jewelry

hooray!!!!!!!!!
it's finally here!!!!!!!!

i am so happy to share with everyone a project i spent many, many hours on this past summer.  i had the opportunity to design some jewelry for Blue Moon Beads for a line called "Tokens", sold exclusively at Michaels Craft Stores.  The line is brand new this month, and it looks like both websites haven't been updated to include the collections yet, but i have snapped a few photos of some of the charm pendants i made to share with you!  they are still in their packaging, my apologies, but i will share more photos again when i have jewelry creations finished to model!

the idea behind 'tokens' is the notion that you want a little token of something to remind you of special memories, be they people, places, hobbies, or things.  and that's what 'tokens' supplies!  there are a plethora of charm pendant pieces and just loads of really cute, trendy, fun charms from a huge variety of subjects to add to them.  there are also matching findings and such included with the collection to help you create a quick and easy jewelry piece on the spot.

i was at my local Michaels last night, and they are actually having a HUGE sale on beads and beading supplies right now, so now would be the perfect time to go!  i was both excited and sad to see that the majority of the Tokens collection i really wanted extra pieces of was sold out at my local store, so i am hoping they get more stock in soon so i can pick up a few more things!  :)

if you happen to pick up some of these and make a creation or two, send me an emailed photo and i will put your piece on my blog!  :)

die cut + decision

thank you so much for all of your wonderful tips and advice!
i've finally decided on the silhouette by quickutz for two main reasons:

1.  i can cut any true-type font from my computer

2.  i can make my own vector art and, via a plug-in, cut custom shapes direct from adobe illustrator

those two were a huge point of interest for me, with all the digital art and font creation i do, not to mention the amount of time i spend in illustrator each week!  i'm excited to explore...and get comfy with vectors again.

and guess what started yesterday?
FOOTBALL!
(yes, already!  can you believe it?)
i've volunteered for team mom & game photographer this year for my son's 6th grade team.
it will be his 4th year playing full tackle football in this specialty league...
we just love it! 

there are bags of new school supplies piled in my room
and with august only 3 days away i am starting to panic that summer is almost OVER!
already?!

here's to a couple more weeks of this blissful groove before fall descends!

layout ©2008 by tia bennett for www.twopeasinabucket.com

birthday + recovery + artsy-licious

i had a birthday!

and i still have a silly little brother who makes faces in the background of my pictures.

that deliciousness in front of me is my favorite strawberry cake made from scratch; a super-special family secret recipe that i'm sure i'll remember to get one of these days...

we're having a crazy summer, like usual around here, but none so crazy as the last little while!  my health has been getting the best of me these days, but i finally had some surgery a couple of days ago that is hopefully going to fix all that!  there were a few scary moments afterwards with some complications, but all is well now and i'm on the road to a speedy recovery!

i wanted to share a few of the fun things i got to contribute for CHA!  it was a nice break to stay home this time, but i can't help but imagine all the fun eye-candy i'm missing!  here are a couple of layouts with some new acrylic stamps for Autumn Leaves:

and here is a delightfully decadent wig form and paper crown with Chatterbox Artsy-Licious goodies:

i've never been so goopy and glittery in all my life after i finished this puppy....but ooooohhhh was it ever worth it!  i totally enjoyed the results....still hoping to catch some photos online of how it looks in the booth!  if you've seen one, will you link me up?  i made the shape out of Peacock cardstock, lined the inside with vintage book paper, and then created a diamond tiled effect with Alabaster squares all individually inked and applied.  The whole thing is then adorned with Peacock and Alabaster Treasures and Ribbons, and there is a dainty embroidery floss string tied in back.  The wig form is decoupaged with layer after layer of itty bitty torn bits of Alabaster cardstock, mixed with sewing pattern scraps and glitter.  A little blush on the cheeks, a tiny velvet choker, and, Voila!  Done!  Oh...and of course, the peacock feather on top.  Because who doesn't need a peacock feather to top off her crown?!  Fun, fun, fun.  I totally enjoyed this project.

Here is another for Chatterbox...faux cupcakes!:

these were a ton of fun...obviously not Edible cupcakes, by any means, but delightfully textural nonetheless!  that is MY kind of treat!  and speaking of textural...i'll share one more goodie i sent their way for the show.  one of my favorite things...a "button" tree!  i was assigned "ruby" and loved using the sparkly treasures combined with the felt bits and brads to make this baby:

the pin heads on there are just regular corsage pins, but i succeeded in covering them with red glittery KindyGlitz (the Aussie version of Stickles, and in my opinion, much better--the colors are amazing!), so the pin heads were able to blend in better with the gems and jewels.  (oh...and in the background there is some experimenting i was doing with hand-cutting.  i was cutting out a dainty paper crown, but it just didn't suit my final vision.  whatever should i do with it now??? LOL) 

anyway, hopefully some booth photos will surface somewhere!

okay....back to bed for me!  this recovery business sure is a bore!!!  ;-)

break out the canvas...

for your scrapbook pages, that is!

images copyright 2008 www.twopeasinabucket.com

full images of all the pages can be seen here at twopeas!

To create this album, I combined a Maya Road sheer binder mini-book with a Scenic Route grid book and some old-school plastic grid canvas (you know--the kind used to make those crocheted yarn tissue box covers!).  I also got to pull out my handy dandy plastic template cutter (that was all the rage years ago when I was making stencils for my walls) to personalize my album cover.  The cover plastic is thick enough that punches and craft knives make for tedious work; but this heated cutting tool went through it like butter.  I cut out a frame in the front, and poked little holes all around the perimeter at 1/4" spaces for the yarn blanket stitching.

I alternated pages for variety and affixed most of the photos back to back on the acrylic tabbed pages (except for the two that I glued to the plastic canvas on one page) and used label stickers for my journaling areas.  It was fun to poke brads through the canvas...it made me want to use the material again with more focus on using brads!  :) 

Most of all, though, Olivia was so excited to see the photos we had in a box for almost 2 years now finally have a pretty "home!"  And that--her joy at this completed album--was the best reward of all!

tia

INK + Fiskars

i've been having so much fun contributing to the idea base for Fiskars!

those iconic orange-handled scissors have been a part of my life for as long as i can remember, so having the opportunity to work with all of their many crafting tools has been such an adventure.

the above layout was made with the new INK by Steph line coming out soon.  what can i say?  i'm a sucker for virtual INK...like the digital lines i've been releasing over at 2Peas :D  personally, i'm just more about decorating with the option for removal, LOL!

OH!
and i wanted to share a sweet sweet pic i snapped of Amy and her Andrew yesterday...
she is such an amazing mommy!
amy, you totally inspire me.
:)

happy almost mother's day everyone!

images + pages

amy and i got together today and 'gave' each other some fun mommy's day gifts

pictures!

she was kind enough to let us just take turns on her dream of a camera
(oh, how my lenses pale in comparison!)

we strolled the downtown section of puyallup and
wedged ourselves into alleys
which was no small feat
with a double stroller
an adventurous 4 year old
(who apparently was *not* baylor, but, in fact, 'Ben 10' reincarnate)
and an 85 pound golden retreiver
the funny looks made me giggle

but the payoff
thanks to amy's sweet skills
were totally worth it

there's been a lot of fun stuff up at Peas lately...

this is the most fun i've had on a layout in a LONG time!  :)

although, this one was pretty fun, too  ;)

the embroidery stitching on this one didn't take as long as i'd expected...it was rather soothing, actually!

i know a lot of you are waiting on felting kits...my sincere apologies!  i will work to get them up for sale over this weekend, finally!  thank you for your patience!

enjoy your mother's day weekend!
xoxo

green + wall

no, really.
green ON my wall

the wall vinyl is from my dear friend amy's cute shop:

Once Upon A Design

and they are on sale through the 10th of May  :)
love the new color of green, amy!!!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

(uh, belated!) LOL

here i was on saturday during the maniacal festivities at 2Peas ALLLLLLLLLL day!

I hosted a Chat one hour, and held some really fun classes two other hours:

The downloadable PDF is FREE for the class, and is still available!

We talk about the ways we can enjoy our hobby and craft in responsible ways, and I walk you through a (very remedial!) tutorial on making your own paper from your paper scraps.  It is a very rudimentary method because:

1) I didn't want to have to go out and BUY anything to accomplish the paper-making (I thought this would be opposing the main objective of eliminating waste in the first place), and

2) I wanted to make it totally accessible to anyone who wanted to try it out; I tend to get intimidated by crafts that require me to go out and purchase a whole set of new tools or supplies, and didn't want that to get in the way for others!

To download, go here 

And the second part to the class, were we actually make a mini-book from the hand-made round papers was offered FREE as well:

You can also download this class PDF here

Saturday was a LOT of fun....tiring, but FUN!  Thanks to all who participated, HOWEVER you celebrated!!!