first photo session.

A couple of months ago I received an email from Kristie, a fellow scrapbooker that I met through Scrapbook.com. Kristie lives in my town and she and her husband were expecting their 3rd...and 4th!! child and she wanted to know if I might be intersted in coming to do a photo session of them when they arrived. I was so over-the-moon excited and incredibly flattered.

The big day came just a week ago and those sweet little babes made their arrival - at 3 weeks early but healthy and so very beautiful! So on Wednesday I went to spend the morning with them and do my very first photo session ever (for someone other than family :)). It was truly amazing. I was in awe of these two and how different they were even at 5 days old. Baby Boy was so calm and laid back, very even tempered, while his sister was much more fiesty and with a headful of hair! The session went pretty smoothly considering we were dealing with keeping not only one but two babies happy. Kristie, her friend Erin (and my friend, Stacy) did such a fantastic job helping me out during and preparing me before!

So to Kristie I want to say, thank you. Thank you for thinking enough of me and my work that you were willing to share your family with me for the day. I truly appreciate you giving me the chance to learn and practice and I hope you're pleased with your images!
How can your heart not melt seeing these two? Isn't it precious how their faces just snuggle so close together? At one point, she was even sucking on his fingers and nose!
Look at those sweet baby bellies. They were so new that their umbilical stumps were still attached.
This is baby girl - just look at all that beautiful hair and those perfect features.
And her brother - such a snugglebug! He was still so "bendy" and would just curl into a teeny ball while his sister preferred stretching out everywhere!
Do you think Kristie would have noticed if I took them with me when I left?
Yeah.
Me too. ;)

Bittersweet.

Yes, you clever girls, it was Bittersweet!!

Congratulations to JENNA FRANKLIN for being the first to correctly guess BasicGrey's new release! Send me your addy at kelly@basicgrey.com, Jenna, and a Bittersweet collection pack will be on its way to you!

*************************************

Now this… is Bliss!

Indulge. Try just a square and savor each lingering flavor. Go ahead, you deserve it. It’s the new Bittersweet™ Collection from BasicGrey. Decadent, exquisitely rich, smooth and intense - you’ll swear it was hand-delivered from a European patisserie. Rich chocolate truffles meet sweet sugary candies in this box of bliss that arouses the senses and evokes creativity. Bite into some velvety ganache, take your time with the butter cream, and melt into this glorious confection of color. There’s more than enough to last…

Our 18 new charming, tempting patterned papers sustain any addiction. The Bittersweet Collection also includes new lovable side-kick products like the NEW Bittersweet Valentines Card Kit that packs 8 distinct, enchanting cards and envelopes, complete with instructions to create messages of love and devotion.

Other endearing side-kicks include 6x6 paper pads along with alpha, element, monogram and mini monogram stickers, buttons (including new clear buttons), brads and glazed brads, one full-size and two Bitsy stamps (at our new, lower prices). Need more to love? How about the printed chip sticker shapes and alphas?

Bite into the melodious, pleasing palette of Bittersweet. Best of all? No regrets.

Available for order beginning November 27th and shipping in December:

● 18 patterned papers
● Collection pack
● 6x6 paper pad
● Hip mini-monogram stickers
● Margie monogram stickers
● Alphabet stickers
● Element stickers
● Coordinating clear stamp set
● 2 coordinating bitsy stamp sets
● Chipboard sticker ABC’s
● Chipboard sticker shapes
● Coordinating colored rub-on booklets
● Coordinating buttons
● Coordinating brads
● Patterned glazed brads
● 2 coordinating duo-tone rub-ons
● Valentines card kit
Here's a couple of samples using Bittersweet...
This is one of our BasicGrey models, Skyla! Skyla's mom, Brittany, works at BG :) (Thanks for letting me scrap your gorgeous girl, Brit!)
Here's some more Bittersweet, this time in our new Valentine Card kit. Please note that these are just a few that are a part of the package.And just so you don't think this collection is just for girls or love-y romancey stuff (lol), here's one of my boy and my present for Mother's Day! ;)Have a blessed Thanksgiving my US friends and a wonderful week to all!

XO,
k.

So Thankful.

This boy came home from Pre-K today with some precious holiday crafts. His teachers are so amazing like that. So I asked him.

Me: Carson? Have you been talking about Thanksgiving in school today?
C: Yes.

Me: So what are you thankful for?
C: Um, I dunno. I don't think about that.

Me: Well let's think about it. What could you be thankful for? Are you thankful for your brothers?
C: Um, no. (lol)

Me: Well, ok. How about your trampoline?
C: Yes. I'm thankful for my trampoline. And Daddy.

Me: Anything else?
C: And you. (note from mom:FINALLY!) And school.

Me: That's a pretty good list. Is there anything else?
C: Um, I'm thankful for my home, mama making me hot chokit (chocolate), Curious George...and uh, that's it!

Makes me smile. Not a bad list for a five-year-old, is it? He's just one of the many blessings on my list this year. I'd love to hear what's on yours :)

He and the other kiddos are now off school for the rest of the week so I won't be checking in much, but I want to take this moment to wish you and yours a beautiful Thanksgiving full of much love and many blessings.

XO,
k.

The Cheer Heard Throughout Blogland

Oh, Happy Day!! McDonald's has put all their fountain drinks back to only $1!! Whooo hoooo! Let me just say this: I'm lovin' it! Because as you loyal blog readers and friends know, I'm a McD's Diet Coke Junkie and this is my confessional. ;) And because I know it's a bit small to read the journaling and because the first step to recovery (not that I wanna recover!) is admitting you have a problem, here you go:

"It is time I come out and let the world know that I have finally realized I have a problem. Because that's the first step, right? And I can't do it alone. I need to belong to MA. McDonald's Anonymous. And it's not because of their incredible fries, though I love those, too. I, Kelly Goree, am a McDonald's Diet Coke junkie.

There. I said it.

And it's true. I live for my daily cup of that incredibly potent caffeine. There is just something about a McDonald's fountain Diet Coke that is unlike any other. I don't know what it is and I don't care. I just know I love it. And I know that I really need to part ways with it. It's not doing me or my waistline any good. With your help, I am going to enter this 12-step recovery program to cut that liquid heaven out of my life. Today. Truly. This time it's for real! (Are you believing me??!)"
(This is an older LO that appeared in the June issue of Scrapbook Trends if some of you think it looks familiar ;))

Ok now on to my mini books winner....the random number generator picked lucky number 23, so that means Jennifer, it's YOU!! Email me at kelly.goree@gmail.com with your addy so I can get your prize out to you!

Thanks to everyone who posted - I hope to see minis from all of you soon!

Ok, one more...

because I just couldn't help myself. And because I think a "week" needed to be at least five. ;)

After all this mini album talk this week, I cleaned out my big basket of minis today and came across this one. It's one of my faves, I think, because it took the shortest amount of time to do and it was such a fabulous way to use pictures that weren't so great but had alot of meaning.

This little mini is by Imagination Project (the company is now closed, but you still might find them online if you google them :)). ETA: Thank you to Gayle! She found them online at this site. Here's a link to the black one (but they also have 3 other colors :)) It came on a sheet and all I had to do was punch it out and add rings. You couldn't get more simple than that.

This album was about the first swim lessons my oldest took and I have to tell you - getting decent shots in an indoor pool isn't easy. The lighting stinks and well, I was fortunate to get the ones I got. So a mini album was a great way to go. You can see this one is only like four pages so it worked out beautifully for the limited pics I did have.
I decided to do a day per page and show what he learned each day. This was Day 1. The boys (there were only boys in his class) were just learning to put their face in the water, blow bubbles and tread. I love the goggles here. Let's just say in an indoor pool - you NEED goggles!
Day 2 was learning how to swim on your back. They learned the phrase "monkey, airplane, rocket" to remind them how to use their arms! hee! I did the phrase in American Crafts alpha stickers to remind me. ;)
Day 3 was freestyle swimming and actually having to turn your head to breathe. Ethan wasn't too into that! He'd panic halfway into his lap and start to tread before going again. Thinking at this point we might have to do more lessons!
The last day was a review of all they learned and I wanted to make sure to include a pic of his entire class. This mini is so small I could cover the entire page with a photo and add stickers directly on it! Love that.

Ok, so that's all I have for today - the bigs are with their daddy doing a scouting thing so it's just me and the little today. Trying to get some work done - wish me luck! I'm a little bored so tell me what's going on with you today. I could use a distraction! ;)

p.s. My giveaway is still going on so post on the post below to be entered to win! :)

Happy Saturday, all!
k.

Mini Week Friday!

Welcome to the end of my mini week! Do I hear cheering??! Ha! Well I better because to celebrate, I'll have a teeny giveaway at the end of this post so keep reading! (And no jumping to the end! :)) This little mini was made for my friend, Shelby, and her most adorable daughter, Anna! Seriously, those eyes just melt me! Shelby just better be glad she and Anna don't live closer or I'd have to "borrow" her all the time! Can you blame me?
This mini's special feature is that I used an entire package of BG's Sugared chipboard sticker shapes to complete it. An entire package - ok, well except for the super tall ones that wouldn't fit, but still! And it was SO fun!
As always, you'll see I followed my every-other-page pattern for photos and journaling. And on each of the journaling pages I added a huge chipboard sticker section. I loved adding them together to create little scenes, too.
Really. Anna's face is just so darn animated it's hard not to find something to love about it. She completely cracks me up. Keep looking, I think you'll agree! ;) I'm still so grateful to Shelby for sharing these images with me. I owe her big time.Say it with me now...awwwwwwwwwwww....nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby!
And how can anyone have eyes this blue? Her eyes really ARE this blue. It's unreal I tell you.My biggest goal for this week was to show you that mini albums don't have to be difficult, time consuming or complicated. They can be done in an afternoon and are a great way to use up photos that you just love but that might not make it onto a scrapbook page because you have so many. I hope that you got a little inspiration and might just decide to make one of these little books yourself to keep or giveaway (but I warn you now, they're HAAAAAAAAAARRDDD to give away once you get done! :))

If you're so inclined to get started, but just don't have any minis yet, post here. You'll be entered to win two of BasicGrey's wonderful chipboard albums - the scallop from yesterday's post and the dark chocolate chip (black) swatch mini. You'll love 'em. I only ask that you show me what you make with them when you're done!

Happy Friday, all!
k.

The Pink Mini

Good morning all!

Welcome to Day 3 of my self-claimed mini week :)

Today I wanted to share an album I developed for BasicGrey in celebration of Scrap Pink. For those of you that don't know Scrap Pink is the scrapbook community's way of raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research during the month of October. It's such a wonderful celebration and I really enjoy being a part of it.

For our contribution this year, BasicGrey had me develop an exclusive album for retail stores that would just be available for Scrap Pink celebrations. They asked for a project celebrating friendship, and for me that couldn't have been easier.

I'm so incredibly fortunate to have had my best friend in my life for (she'll kill me for saying this!) 20 years this coming January. (Excuse me, I just fainted!) This mini was the perfect way to document some of my favorite memories/quirks about us. She deserves an entire book for putting up with me this long, trust me, but it was wonderful starting with this!

This project uses BasicGrey's Perhaps line (so soft and feminine) along with their adorable scalloped mini. And since this class was going to be a fairly short one, I wanted to avoid some of the fussy cutting that would be involved if I covered the album in it's entirety around all those scallops. I decided to leave the scallops plain and focus on the center of the book, so I made everything with a square base to fit right in the middle.
But as I hate leaving things looking "unfinished", I came back at the very end and added a little inking and pen work as you see here to dress it up a bit. I also used my Crop-a-dile punch to put holes in the center of the scallops for a lacy look.
Again, I'll tell you I love making things as easy as I can so I used alot of punches here - circle punches, heart punches - anything that could speed up the process. I came up with a basic pattern and then just varied it from page to page for interest.
You can see by looking at these pages, I just kept flipping my photo page and journaling page every other time throughout this mini and just changed a few things around. It really makes the process much quicker and then a mini can be a project you can finish in an afternoon.
And because I love texture, I added a few things with dimension to my album from the buttons to the ribbons and a few chipboard pieces, but nothing to elaborate. I wanted to keep it fairly simple.

The end result ended up being a cherished keepsake and something I look forward to giving Ann Marie (once I get it back)! Thanks again for letting me share and I hope if any of you get so motivated to create their own albums this week, you'll share it with me by posting a link here.

Happy Grey's Thursday, all!

Day 2

Good morning and welcome to Day 2 of my mini mini-week!

This little mini is by Scrapworks and is truly a mini, mini! It's an adorable 2" x 3" size with a postage stamp border and the perfect way to get into doing an acrylic album if you're a bit intimidated by the whole "see-thru" thing like me!

I did this originally for Tarisota as a guest designer there in September. Tamar puts together absolutely amazing kits and this one had my jaw on the floor. It was unreal. I love guest designing because it gives me an opportunity to play with things I normally wouldn't have and this little album was one of them.

The original mini includes five acrylic pages and because I wanted to make it a little more substantial so I added solid pages in between each of the acrylic ones. As I mentioned yesterday I'm all about a pattern, so it was acrylic page, solid page, acrylic and so on until I finished with an acrylic page.

The fun of a clear acrylic album is getting to see hints of things to come on the following pages, but it makes page planning completely necessary. I laid out the base for the entire album until I had the look I wanted before I ever started adhering anything down. The great thing about this particular album is that it's tiny size allows for a fairly quick assembly, even with having to page plan.

I started with chipboard letters on the front cover (only the RU). The next page is solid and I deliberately cute the paper so that the owl was visible as the main component to the cover, then I added the rest of the title directly onto that solid sheet as you can see here.

The backside of the title page was my first photo and next to it on the acrylic page was just a little strip of paper with some journaling so you could see the photo coming up. It might be good to say now that this little album was about my oldest son and all the the things I think make up who he is...Funny is most definately one of them (silly might be more accurate!) The next pages are just a repeat, but in reverse. It's that pattern thing - what can I say?!

The photo on this spread is actually mounted on top of the acrylic sheet. As you'll see in the next image, I actually mounted the photo onto black cardstock then used Glossy Accents to hold it down invisibly. I also love to add little elements that hang off the page. I think it gives it a bit more visual interest. You'll notice that I did notch all the edges to mirror the border of the album. I did this simply by lining the pages up and using a hole punch. Super easy!



Here you can see the black cardstock I used on the backside of the photo...I then added a sticker and another little chipboard piece to the acrylic side. The other side is another solid page made mainly of the photo. For fun, I added a bit of pen work around the photo borders rather than stitch. Besides pattern, I'm all about speed and ease! (Surprised?!)

I think this next page is probaby my favorite in the entire album because it uses one of my favorite techniques when it comes to acrylic - RUB-ONS!! Rubons that can be read both directions are perfect for acrylic albums. I picked this cute little owl - and when you see the other page through it - it almost looks like my son's eyes are the owl's eyes. Too fun!



Because of that cool owl was so cool (hee!), I didn't add anything to the other side of the clear page - I wanted it to stand alone so to speak. The next page is the final photo page and finishes up the journaling. By the way - these minis are great for those extra photoshoot pics you might not know what to do with. These little albums make great brag books or keepsakes! Moving on...

The final page was one more owl (in keeping with the WHO theme) and then it was finished with a ring and a few ribbons. This took only a brief afternoon and was such a fun project. The best part is that when you get these albums, they come two to a pack so you can make one and give one away!

Enjoy and thanks for letting me share. I'll have BasicGrey's Scrap Pink album tomorrow :)
k.

mini Week

I love minis!

And no, I'm not talking skirts! HA!

I love mini albums.

Love them.

Adore them.

Want to marry them. (I'm only 1/2 kidding on that one!)

I actually do alot of minis for different things from trade shows to classes and rarely do I think to post them because it's hard to show them in their entirety and let's be honest - seeing all the details is what makes them fun, right? So I thought I might try a weel of minis here to have a place to show them and also to perhaps inspire some of you to try one of your own.

I definately subscribe to a "simple" philosphy when it comes to my mini albums. I come up with a page idea/concept and then repeat it in varying formats for all the pages. That makes them sooooo easy to complete because once the intial design is developed, the rest just falls into place.

This one is one of my favorites. I did this album about my neighbor Jessica for CHA Summer back in July. It features BasicGrey's Urban Prairie line and one of my fave mini shapes - Lotus - in dark chocolate chip (black) - yummmm!

I love this shape because not only is it so different, it's also not overly complicated that fussy cutting around the edges is difficult should you want to cover it. Personally, though I don't like to cover all of these beautiful albums because I like when the bare chipboard color to come through. And with these albums, since the color is in every layer of the chipboard, the color stays beautiful and bold no matter how much work you do to it! Also fun is adding pen work with opaque pen to these albums like I did here. The dark colors really make the brights and whites pop out.

These albums make wonderful handmade presents for loved ones and it's not to late to get started for someone special you know. In fact, at the end of the week, I'll give away one of BasicGrey's new minis so you can do just that! Keep watching for details!

And one more thing before I go...

This Thanksgiving, BasicGrey is releasing a brand. new. line. and just in time for the new year! (It should begin shipping by Mid-December.) Wow, is it gorgeous! To get you thinking about it, the powers-that-be over at BasicGrey (Hi, Maddy!) have agreed to let me give away an entire collection back to the person who first accurately guesses the name of this new line.

And here's a hint....it starts with a "B" - now GO! Go forth and guess! :) I can't wait to hear what you come up with!

Happy Tuesday, all!
k.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

(Thank you, Maurice Greene, for the phrase which now will never leave my head!)

The random number generator picked lucky #114, so that means:

DWaye said...
A work colleague invited me to a crop at a LSS, that's what got me started.

11/14/2008 5:58 AM

You're now the proud owner of some new BG Stamps and card kit and whatever else I thought to throw in there :) Congrats!! Email me at kelly.goree@gmail.com with your addy and I'll get that out to you!

Unfortunately I'm buried under work today and don't have much to share, but I always hate posting without a picture, so here you go. It's cold, rainy/snowy and icky here, so this reminds me of why I love fall. ;)

Happy Monday, all, and Congrats again, DWaye!