dc designs

Patriotic Hot Air Balloons

2010-07-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

We got up at 6:00 am to go see the Hot Air Balloon launch near Provo High for the Freedom Festival. It was so fun to watch the balloons fill with air and raise up into the sky. So colorful! High winds kept them from launching until 8:00 am, but there were lots of people to watch and Grant liked their doggies best. It was a beautiful cool crisp summer morning and a great way to start the patriotic weekend!

Home Sweet Home

2010-05-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

The movers came last Friday from Tucson and delivered our stuff, safe and sound. We worked hard to get everything moved in. Our furniture looks great in this house and everything seems to fit! We have to paint the office and the guest room (they are pink and blue), so everything is kind of scrunched in the middle of those rooms. Yes, that means I can't get at my scrapbooking supplies, but that will be soon! Kent has the paint already to go, so on his next trip for Memorial Day, we'll get those rooms painted and moved in.

It's a beautiful little home and I feel very comfortable here. Cambell and Rebecca moved in to the downstairs apartment yesterday, so we're all together. Cam got the internet hooked up for me, so I can begin blogging again.

Our new address is: 1552 S. 300 W., Orem, Utah 84058. I love our little view of Mt Timpanogas out the front, and Utah Lake from the back yard. The weather has been very spring-like (it reminds me of Oregon) and I have been in heaven! I think it is going to warm up soon, but nothing like Tucson! So happy to be all moved in and settled (almost!)

To the Temple

2010-04-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

It was so fun (and fast) to go to the Provo Temple this morning with Cambell & Rebecca. Grandma Crookston watched baby Grant when we went. It was a mini-celebration since Cam was done with finals for this very hard semester! Rebecca said she hadn't been to a session since July 2nd (4 days before Grant was born!!!)

Cambell has a Birthday!

2010-04-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Cambell turned 25today - April 18th! We have been so blessed to have this creative, talented, peace-loving guy in our lives. And now, he's a husband, a daddy, a full-time student, and all-around wonderful young man! I figured out that the last time we were with him for his actual birthday was in 2003 when he was a senior in high school and we went to San Diego for Spring Break. That was SEVEN years ago! We celebrated on Friday night by going to dinner at Cafe Rio and then on Sunday, Rebecca made him a fancy breakfast and a cheesecake. We ate dinner at the Bennett's where he shared birthday cake with his "twin", Steve Bennett, who turned nine on the exact same day!

Tackling the mountain of Laundry and a TV in the Tub

2010-04-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

In an effort to be helpful, I volunteered to go to the laundramat and get Cam & Rebecca's laundry caught up. We hauled the mountain down there and then Kent left me to handle it. I used two 4-load washers and one 3-load washer to get the job done. So that is the equivalent of 11 LOADS OF LAUNDRY. They do have a tiny washer/dryer set-up in this duplex but the washer is little, so I can see how the job would pile up. And babies do make stacks of laundry. The laundramat dryers took FOREVER (it was a "free dryers on Thursday" special, so maybe they were just tired). I was there for a total of 3 hours, but I got the job done.

I figured I hadn't used a laundramat since 1981 - so it was an adventure. But I did thank my lucky stars for the convenience of having my own washer/dryer all these years. So don't take those little extras for granted!

In our house hunting, this was the weirdest thing we saw in a house. Someone had cut a square into the shower wall, plopped in a piece of plexiglass to watch TV in the tub. It was so random that I had to take a picture of it (and no, as much as I like TV, I am not considering adding this feature to our home!)

Welcome to Utah...

2010-04-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Look what I woke up to this morning. My poor little Arizona car was not used to the cruel Spring snowstorm we had in the night! But not to worry, it was all melted by noon and I was out on a walk in a tee-shirt by 5:00 pm! Wow - I'm not in the desert anymore, that's for sure!

And look what baby Grant has learned to do - pull himself up onto the furniture! Way to go, dude!

Moving Day!

2010-04-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Everything happened so quickly! We decided to sell our house on March 8th, it sold on March 16th, and moving day came on April 9th. Considering the shaky real estate market, we consider ourselves very fortunate. Since we don't know where we are going to end up, we packed boxes knowing they were going into storage. Kent and I worked like crazy - first, dejunking and getting rid of the excess we have collected in the five years since our last move. It's amazing what you can accumulate without trying! Then we got serious and packed boxes, and more boxes. We went through reams of packing paper and about twelve rolls of packing tape (I don't want to even count how many boxes we packed!)

Moving day arrived, along with our good friend, Linda Nokleby, who was an incredible help ALL DAY LONG! The movers were so efficient and did most of work! We just followed behind them and cleaned! We were hoping they would be done by 2:00 pm, but it was 5:30 pm before we pulled out of the driveway, saying goodbye to our beautiful home at 7769 N. Via Atascadero, Tucson, Arizona and headed to Utah.

Saying Goodbye to Tucson friends

2010-04-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

I look back on our almost eleven years in Tucson and the best part was the friends I made. I never got used to the hot, sweaty summers, but I made some incredible friendships that I will keep forever. Yes, a major part of my life revolved around my Making Memories Unforgettable association and the women that welcomed and encouraged me. Thanks to Katie and all of my MMU "sisters", my darling friend, Christine, and the things I learned from my seminary class.

Digital 8x8 Album

2009-02-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pages of the 8x8 digital album ("Two Cute Kids") I made for an upcoming digital class I'm teaching at MMU. The designs are a free digital download called "echos of Asia" by Jessica Sprague. I used the papers to create a book about the Holiday week with Jackson and Ava. We had lots of photo opportunities with Chelsy's wedding and Christmas week! I had the pages printed at Costco ($1.49 a page) and they mounted them on 8x8 chipboard pages. They are all bound together with two rings. I love it!

Be Mine Banner

2009-02-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute banner I made for the upcoming Holiday of Love. I started with kraft rectangles that we scored at Paper Source when we were in California for CHA. I added black and cream papers (all from my scraps bin), cut out red "Be Mine" letters from red paper scraps, and put it all together. They hang from a fabric strip and I used the Crop-a-dile to add eyelets at the top of each rectangle. I have it hanging from my mantle and I also made one for Chelsy. I wonder where she hung hers in the newlywed apartment...

My Mind's Eye "Penny Lane" papers

2009-02-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute layout I did of Ava Rose at 11 months. She was playing in the pile of left-over balloons from Chelsy's 20th birthday party. So we dressed her in matching pink and took some photos! The new line from My Mind's Eye "Penny Lane" is pretty adorable, so I used some of those papers. I added a journaling circle from Making Memories, rub-ons from Basic Grey, and some flowers and buttons. You can't go wrong with such adorable photos!!!

Sweet Lovin' Card Class

2009-01-30T19:05:00.000-08:00

Here are my cards for my "Sweet Lovin'" Valentine's card class at Making Memories Unforgettable. I am teaching the class on Saturday, January 31st and Monday, February 2nd. I loved the bright graphic paper from American Crafts the minute I laid eyes on it and I'm happy to be using it in this card class. I love the pink, red, and brown color combo - so yummy. If you'd like the free card graphics I designed for the class, you can go to our website, http://www.makingmemoriesunforgettable.com/ and click on "class downloads". They are a pdf file and I recommend you get them printed on a glossy cardstock. I did mine for the class at Fed-Ex Kinkos because I like how true the color is. Get going on your cardmaking - Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

CHA FUN

2009-01-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

Katie and I did a quick trip to California for CHA. We hit the whole show on Sunday, placed orders, and did a few follow-ups on Monday and then jumped back on a plane to Tucson. Lots of inspiration and creativity at the Anaheim Convention Center! If I had to settle on a few trends, I'd say birdies are still in, along with vintage images, butterflies, and zoo animals. Now the fun begins when the UPS man starts delivering the packages!

Megahn's Wedding graphics

2009-01-20T13:22:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd be burnt out on weddings after Chelsy's, but I'm excited to be helping beautiful bride, Megahn, with some of her graphics for her April wedding. Here's her invitation, table numbers, and a "Toss Me" label in her pink/green wedding colors. Good luck, Miss Megahn!

Teaching Two Classes on Monday

2009-01-17T17:56:00.001-08:00

Monday is the MLK Holiday and we're having a big sale at MMU. For some crazy reason, I decided to schedule two classes for that day - one for teenagers in the afternoon (since there is no school) and a digital design class in the evening. Here's what the projects look like...

This is the "All About Me" album using papers from Glitz Designs, Doodlebug, and Rusty Pickle. It's bright and the journaling is for a "snapshot" of your life right now.

Here is the layout we're making in the Scrapbooking Digital Design class that night. The kit is the free "LIVE" kit designed by Jessica Sprague (www.jessicasprague.com) and is so fun to work with. It's got lots of elements and 2 different paper packs! She is such a talented designer and we'll have fun playing around with it.

Arizona Lemon Harvest

2009-01-17T17:41:00.000-08:00

So while most of the country is in a deep-freeze, I'm out in the backyard in shorts and tee-shirt harvesting the lemons from our tree. Isn't that crazy? They did smell delicious as I picked the tree clean. Did you know lemon trees have huge, thorny spikes? Yeah, that's not fun if you don't wear long sleeves. Now, what am I going to do with three huge boxes of lemons?

2008-11-22T21:38:00.001-08:00

Here is the price sheet I usually hand out to people who ask about my photography sessions. I should have posted it several months ago!!

2008-11-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

I've been taking family photos for Holiday cards lately. Here are some of my favorites.

The Hartman Family

Cute McKenna!

The Neely Family

Just the boys!

The Lowe Family (in fun red sweaters!)

Fa La La Cards

2008-11-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the cards and graphics I designed for some upcoming classes using the "Fa La La" papers from Making Memories. Two cards were designed to showcase photographs, three cards were designed to hold gift cards and the final card was designed for mass production (if you want to make a lot FAST!) I will be teaching this card class at Pima Community College NW campus on November 4th, and at Making Memories Unforgettable on Thursday, November 20 and Saturday, November 22nd. For more information about the classes at MMU, call (520) 319-5886.

More design projects

2008-10-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

Catching up with some of my recent design projects:

Flower Power Class cards

Summer Accordian book class

Home book class and graphics

Spooky Class Projects

Monogram Design Samples
Non-Profit organization logo I designed (donated my time to help them!)

I'm Back!

2008-10-22T09:52:00.001-07:00

I took a 10-month blogging break (that's an understatement!). But I have been busy designing graphic design projects, scrapbook projects, and other creative ventures. I'll share what I've been working on over the next few days to get you "caught up".

I am still working as the Creative Director at Tucson's premier scrapbook store, Making Memories Unforgettable. Designing all our marketing and special event graphics and designing class projects keeps me busy there twice a week. I have been doing several free-lance graphic design jobs (logos and business collateral), and teaching digital design and photography classes in the evenings at Pima Community College. For fun, I've been teaching an after-school art class twice a week! All this keeps my creative juices flowing. Here are just a few samples of some recent work and projects:

Logo and Business Card Design ideas for Smith-Martin Autobody:
Logo Design for Renal Care Associates:

R.E.D. High School Campaign (Read Every Day)

Client Sample book design for Maxwell Aesthetics:

Digital Scrapbook Elements "Snowflakes & Reindeer" - this is the Holiday collection I designed for my digital design class I'm teaching at the store. Students will use my designs to create a Holiday layout and use brushes to accent a Holiday photo.

And finally, here is Chelsy's wedding invitation I designed - clean and classic (just like her!)

Open House Album

2008-01-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

Here is an 11 x 8.5 album I finished in time for my son Cambell's one-month anniversary. I snapped these photos before I put it in the mail to them. It's a record of their open house on December 15th here in Arizona. I tried to keep it simple and let the beautiful photos (taken by Katie Hughes) tell the story. It was a great party to celebrate this wonderful couple.

Clear Acrylic Album Class

2008-01-21T16:55:00.000-08:00

Here is another project I just finished for an upcoming class at Making Memories Unforgettable. It's a clear acrylic album from Rusty Pickle and we'll decorate all 12 pages with new papers from Autumn Leaves "Manhattan" line, stickers, stamps, paint, and ribbon. The album's theme is "It's a Wonderful Life" and you can showcase your favorite photos in this creative album. For more class information, go to www.makingmemoriesunforgettable.com.

Valentine Card Designs

2008-01-21T16:53:00.000-08:00

Here are the new Valentine cards I designed for an upcoming class series at Making Memories Unforgettable. I used the new paper line "Kiss and Tell" from My Mind's Eye and each card has a transparency element. We stamp, paint, cut, and fold to make each card unique. If you'd like more information about the class, go to www.makingmemoriesunforgettable.com. Doesn't it get you in the valentine spirit?

Wedding Invitations

2007-12-13T22:41:00.001-08:00

I have been designing some wedding invitations lately. It is a fun mix of graphics and photography (my two favorite things)!

Creating Collages

2007-11-28T17:37:00.000-08:00

I've been inspired lately by collage artist Kelly Rae Roberts. I picked up the latest issue of Cloth-Paper-Scissors and there she was. I love that she builds her backgrounds from scrapbook papers and then paints over the top of them with acrylic paints. Believe me, I have enough scraps to create collages for the rest of my life. Here is my third attempt at a collage in her "style". The first two attempts are buried underneath this one! If I didn't like the one I was working on, I just started over right on top. This one I like. I used American Crafts Stickers for the title and my little subtitles are from my secret other obession - cutting out words from magazines.I can't seem to read a magazine without cutting it up! (sorry Oprah!) I keep them all in a folder and I was so happy selecting the letters I wanted to use.

Webster Family Photos

2007-11-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

I took the Webster's family photos on Sunday afternoon. The sun was just going down at Santuary Cove and the lighting was great for this beautiful family. Didn't Alisa dress her family in perfect colors to make the desert background? Thanks for letting me take your photos!

50 Wishes

2007-11-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

My sister turned 50 this week. My other sister gave us the challenge to send our birthday sister 50 wishes for something in her life. Here is my wish for her that I drew with my markers (haven't used them in a while - we got re-acquainted and were happy to be drawing together again). Who wouldn't want to feel utterly contented (like I did after drawing and creating!)

More Card Creations

2007-11-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a Thank You card I whipped up using the {Note}worthy journaling book from Making Memories. They are so fun to use on scrapbook pages or cards. I added some American Crafts stickers, papers from Scenic Route and My Mind's Eye, and a yummy swirl from Maya Road.

2nd Round of Holiday Cards

2007-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Here is my second set of Holiday Cards for my class on December 1st (www.makingmemoriesunforgettable.com) from 10-noon. For this series, I used Basic Grey's holiday "Figgy Pudding" line of yummy papers. Same graphics, just switched up the colors to match these new awesome colors. Hope it gets you in the Holiday mood!

Chipboard Advent Project

2007-11-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

I finished my Advent Class project (more info on the class and signups at www.makingmemoriesunforgettable.com) on Halloween. Isn't that ironic? It's a chipboard shadowbox from Creative Imaginations that I painted red and then added hooks to hang the different numbers (paper from Making Memories). I embellished it with buttons, bling, a candy cane and a star. Totally fun! You start on December 13th by hanging up "twelve", then keep progressing (counting backwards) until you hang up #1 on Christmas Eve (one day until Christmas!) I think I might have to put a Hershey Kiss on for each day (chocolate is a necessary reward)

Clark Family Photo Shoot

2007-10-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

It was so fun to go out to the Clark's fields in Marana and take their family's photos. Such a beautiful background for a beautiful family. Here are a couple of my favorites!

Engaged!

2007-10-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

You gotta scrapbook the important stuff. And with Cambell and Rebecca's recent engagement, I had to document the exciting news. It's the first time I've used an 8x12 print on a page and I love it! Oversized = extra emphasis on the photo! Do you love the script font? It's my new favorite! It's called "Mutlu" and I downloaded from http://www.dafont.com/! So cool!

Lovin' White Space

2007-10-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

I have been obsessed with white space (literally). My layouts lately reflect my clean, fresh mood! As I look at ads in magazines or other scrapbook layouts, the ones with the most white space attract my eye!

Holiday Cards Class {Reminisce}

2007-10-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here are the cards I designed for our Holiday Cards Class on October 11th at MMU. The papers are from Reminisce and my graphics can be downloaded from www.makingmemoriesunforgettable.com (click on class downloads and you'll be guided to the PDF file!). Due to demand, another card class has been added on Thursday, November 8th from 6:00-8:00 pm. Same papers, same designs, same loads of fun! Call (520) 319-5886 to register.

2007-10-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

2007-10-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my on-line graphic design portfolio and scrapbook design gallery.