High Times in the High Desert

Our Walks

2012-05-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Jesse doesn't have a dog to walk, so he walks me. Most weekends we take a walk around our neighborhood and down the arroyo. Last weekend was really hot and we were dying (see the picture of Jesse sitting on the bench in the shade to get some relief). Oddly enough, we had really strong winds that blew in a cold front this week so now we're cold!

P.S. Don't feel bad for Jesse . . . he doesn't actually want a dog.
P.P.S. Yes, the pictures of us walking together are posed. It was just the two of us, so I put the camera on the bench and set the timer!

May Newsletter

2012-05-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

It's time for the Hens' Den's May newsletter, which is full of inspiration:

Open publication - Free publishing - More cards

My newsletter project features Bo Bunny's Serenity line, which is so perfect for this darling picture of my favorite 1/4 Asian niece!

Rachel's Graduation

2012-05-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

My baby sister is all grown up! Rachel is graduating today from the College for Creative Studies -- congratulations Booh!

I made her this card using brads, paper, and alphabet stickers from My Mind's Eye.

Hens' Den Layout Featuring Prima's Nature Garden

2012-05-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

I love how elegant Prima's Nature Garden is. I thought it would be perfect for this layout of my first trial and our employment law group's publication of the New Mexico Employment Law Desk Reference.

Check out the Hens' Den blog for more details on how I made this layout.

Soccer Season

2012-04-28T10:27:00.004-07:00

It is spring and soccer season has started. Since I am a bad wife and typically don't go to Jesse's games (why be hot and uncomfortable for hours?), I am taking advantage of the fact that I did actually attend this one game and remembered to bring my camera by showing off my favorite soccer player:

Hens' Den Bo Bunny Serenity Card

2012-04-23T09:37:00.002-07:00

I love the Asian-inspired Serenity line by Bo Bunny, and the turquoise, red, and black color combination just pops!

To create this card, I took two sheets of turquoise paper with coordinating patterns from Bo Bunny Serenity's 6x6 Pad. I chose one for my base and trimmed the other paper 1/2 inch smaller than the base on each side, matting the smaller sheet with black cardstock to make it pop. I placed May Arts Satin/Grosgrain Teal Ribbon horizontally across the card, putting the top of the ribbon in the middle of the card. Then I layered May Arts Burgundy Sheer Rosettes Ribbon on top of the May Arts Satin/Grosgrain Teal Ribbon. For my finishing touch, I placed a Bo Bunny Serenity Trinket at one edge of ribbon, and added a sentiment.

April Newsletter

2012-04-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

My April Newsletter project for the Hens' Den features Pink Paislee's Soiree line. I thought that the bright colors would go well with these pictures from the Dallas marathon that Jesse ran with Sarah and Tyche. The Teresa Collins Stars were great accents because all three of them are rock stars!

You can see the entire newsletter here:

Mom Visits Beautiful Southwest, Day 2 Balloon Ride

2012-04-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

On day two we jumped right in with a sunrise balloon ride. If you've never been on one, I recommend it. The way Detroit is the Motor City, Albuquerque could be called Balloon Town.

After everything is sorted, you get stuffed in a small wicker basket and set aloft. Pre-flight we were quite happy:

And once aloft we were treated to spectacular views of the Rio Grande valley, with Albuquerque stretching out to the mountains:

At one point our pilot took us down to a few feet off of the river, and proceeded to fly us about 10 feet over the cars and trucks on Montano. We waved as they honked.

We were never alone in the sky. Balloon rides are big business here:

A balloon this size can sometimes be a handful. When landing one you are at the mercy of the wind, both for where and how fast you come down. Note the half dozen folks trying to keep our fellow riders from being dragged down the street. This was on a day that felt extremely calm as well.

We were unscathed and happy:

Mom Visits Beautiful Southwest, Day 1

2012-04-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we hosted my mom for about three days. We took her to all the NM sites worth seeing within driving distance of Albuquerque. For any would-be visitors, that exactly filled our three days. Unless you are looking for abject boredom, no visit to Albuquerque should be any longer.

On the first day we went up to Santa Fe for lunch and a tour of Ghost Ranch that reviewed places where Georgia O'Keeffe painted many of her famous New Mexico landscapes.

Lunch was at the Pink Adobe, where about 100 years ago mom ate when she visited as a child.

Afterwards we made the drive out to Ghost Ranch and took the Georgia O'Keeffe bus tour across part of the 20,000 acre property. Here's a guest house she stayed in:

And this is mom and Krystle in front of Georgia's mountain, Cerro Pedernal:

Not all of O'Keeffe's work was abstract:

One of the Juniper trees she often painted:

If you squint, you can see us in the picture by the trees, holding up yet another picture...

After our tour we did some light hiking.

Here's Krystle with a kindred spirit, the Prickly Pear cactus:

"I'm pretty sure we need to go that way."

"On second thought..."

"...it's your fault we're lost!"

Hens' Den My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy Layout

2012-04-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

My Mind's Eye's new Follow Your Heart Be Happy line is one of my all time favorites! I used this soft, pretty collection to create this layout that features a picture of us taken on my 30th birthday.

This is how I created my layout:

1. I used My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy Be You Paper as my background.

2. I cut out 13 hexagons from My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy Honey Pink Paper and ink the edges, spacing the hexagons out on the paper to create a honeycomb effect.

3. I mat my 4x6 photograph with My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy Follow Paper.

4. I created handmade flowers by cutting strips of My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy Follow, Songbird, Joyful, and Be You Paper. The length and width of the strip determines the size of the flower -- I used strips of .5" to 1.5" wide and 10" to 12" long. I pleated the entire strip, taking care to create tiny even pleats. I adhered the ends of the strips together to create an accordion flower, finishing the flowers off by cutting out circles of My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy Follow and Be You Paper to create flower centers.

5. I arranged my accordion flowers beneath my photograph and added Petaloo Darjeeling Hydrangea Cream & Green Flowers between them.

Here is a closeup:

Pagosa Again

2012-04-02T20:36:00.005-07:00

Last weekend we were able to make a brief trip up to Pagosa Springs to meet up with Jesse's family who was there for Isaac's spring break. It was incredibly warm, so we decided to go hiking. All of the snow was melting so we hiked through a bunch of ice and mud to get to this lookout point:

Evidence that Jesse's wide-stance-straight-on-no-smile pose is genetic:

We made fun of Jesse's dad, who took us through a bunch of non-trails through bushes in an attempt to get us to the elusive second lookout point. We never made it there, but we did come across this cool carved bench:

This is me trying to get the boys to pose as though they actually like each other:

Such beautiful weather!

Hens' Den Pink Paislee Soiree Layout

2012-03-21T10:00:00.001-07:00

This month I got to work with Pink Paislee's Soiree line. The bright colors and party theme were perfect for this baby shower layout. Four of our friends had babies last year so that meant a lot of parties!

In this layout I used Pink Paislee Soiree's Music and Diamond double-sided pattered papers as my background. Then I cut out circles, tags, and pendents with Pink Paislee Soiree's Collage, Diamond, Floral, Music, Trellis, and Words double-sided patterned papers, layering them with my photos and mementos. To create a dimensional banner, I cut out circles from Pink Paislee Soiree's Floral double-sided patterned paper, and folded each circle in half. I wanted to make the layout pop so I matted everything with Bazzill Basic's midnight cardstock. Then I added Pink Paislee Soiree's Dimensional Stickers. I misted Maya Road's Organza Primrose with a teal mist to coordinate with the papers. Then I created a handmade flower with Maya Road's White Satin Pleated Ribbon. I cut out a circle the size of my desired flower and covered the circle with double-sided tape. I took the ribbon and placed one edge in the middle of the circle, wrapping the ribbon around the center until I got to the edge of my circle. I cut off the end and viola -- a lovely flower. Finally, I added these flowers to my layout along with Teresa Collins' Blingage Ty's Stars to create an embellishment cluster.

March Crafting

2012-03-15T17:22:00.003-07:00

I have a couple more projects to share with you this month. This layout is of last Christmas with my family using My Mind's Eye's sketch and Lost & Found Christmas and Lush lines.

I also created this card using My Mind's Eye's card sketch and Lost & Found 2 Sunshine and Lush lines.

March Newsletter

2012-03-14T07:50:00.003-07:00

The Hens' Den has their newsletter up! Check out all of the new products and projects:

My "Bloom and Grow" layout of our garden last summer featuring Basic Grey's Picadilly line is published in the newsletter.

BIOS Update

2012-03-07T11:42:00.005-08:00

Before this year, I had never heard of BIOS and had no idea what it was. I also routinely accepted all updates that looked legit that popped up on my computer. Now I have a new rule: do not install BIOS updates. I still don't know exactly what BIOS is, but it seems to be the essence of a computer, so don't mess with it!

A few weeks ago, I got a Toshiba notification that there were updates available so I just clicked install without thinking much of it. The BIOS update that Toshiba notified me of was complicated and at one point it seemed to freeze up. Not knowing what else to do, I shut down my computer and went to bed. When I tried to turn on my computer the next day, nothing happened. The only thing that seemed to be working were the indicator lights on the front of the screen. After some troubleshooting with tech support, we got the computer fan to turn on as well, but that was it. Ultimately, I had to send my computer in.

I poked around the internet and learned that BIOS updates are prone to problems and are only advisable if you are a computer wiz or if your computer doesn't work anyway and the update is supposed to address the problem. If the BIOS update fails, your computer becomes an expensive paperweight.

Luckily, my computer was still under warranty so this was all free, but other internet posters were not so lucky. I just got my computer back, and it is working fine. According to the repair summary, they were able to complete a "crisis BIOS recovery" back to the prior BIOS version. Ah, technology!

My Hen's Den MME Stella & Rose Hattie Layout

2012-02-18T13:34:00.012-08:00

My newest layout for the Hen's Den is posted on their blog! I used pictures of our trip to Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona for this layout, which features My Mind's Eye's Stella & Rose Hattie line.

Here are the steps that I used to create this layout:

1. Use Bazzill Basics Cardstock Paper (Midnight) as your background. Splatter some paint on it to create visual interest.

2. Mat each of your photos with the back side of My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Happy Dots double-sided patterned paper. Ink the edges.

3. Cut out circles with My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Happy Dots and Woven Stripe double-sided patterned paper and arrange behind photos.

4. Pleat May Arts Teal Satin/Grosgrain Double Band ribbon to create borders between photos and around circle and adhere with glue dots.

5. Add My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Mabel So Sweet buttons to Maya Road Vintage Gauze blossoms.

6. Fussy cut flowers from My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Happy Bouquet double-sided patterned paper and create embellishment clusters.

7. Hand stitch My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Buddies Sticker Tag to the corner of your page to create journaling spot and add fussy cut flowers.

8. Add journaling and a title.

Don't forget to check out all of the new projects and products featured on the Hen's Den!

Hens' Den Newsletter!

2012-02-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

The Hens' Den has been very busy creating a new website, putting its current inventory on sale to create room for new CHA 2012 products, setting up a gallery where you can win a prize just by uploading your layouts, and putting together its first newsletter! The newsletter has sneak peeks of all of the new products coming into the store.

The newsletter also features this layout that I created with My Mind's Eye's Stella & Rose Hattie collection:

Here are the steps that I used to create this layout:

1. Use My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Tapestry double-sided patterned paper as your background.

2. Mat each of your photos with the back side of My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Argyle and Woven Stripe double-sided patterned paper.

3. Use a border punch to create a pattern with Bazzill Basics Midnight Cardstock Paper and add to the bottom of your photos.

4. Cut out rectangles with My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Herringbone and Woven Stripe double-sided patterned paper and arrange behind photos. Ink your edges to make the paper pops.

5. Add Maya Road Small Organza White Roses Ribbon to the bottom and side of your photographs.

6. Fussy cut flowers from My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Happy Bouquet double-sided patterned paper and create embellishment clusters.

7. Add My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Label Stickers to the embellishment clusters.

8. Use My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Label Stickers & Sticker Tags and May Arts Teal Satin/Grosgrain Double Band Ribbon to create pendents on two opposite sides of the page.

February Layouts

2012-02-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

This is the first card that I have made with MME's Sunshine line:

As you can see, I have now jumped in to MME's Lost & Found Christmas line:

Hens' Den Reveal

2012-01-27T09:19:00.000-08:00

This month the Hens' Den gave me Basic Grey's Picadilly Collection to work with. I love the oranges and blues in this line, and thought that they would look great with these kayaking pictures from this summer.

Here are the steps that I used to create this layout:

1. Cut two Basic Grey Picadilly double-sided patterned papers (Eat at Joes and Farm Fresh Eggs) in half and adhere them together to form your background.
2. Cut strips of coordinating Basic Grey Picadilly double-sided patterned papers (Breadbox and Breakfast Nook) and hand-stitch around each strip.
3. Layer the strips of paper on the background to create a pattern behind your pictures.
4. Distress the edge of your photographs and crop two pictures.
5. Mat your smaller pictures using the other side of Basic Grey Picadilly's Farm Fresh Eggs double-sided patterned papers and hand stitch around the edges.
6. Layer the pictures on the layout.
7. Fussy cut flowers from Basic Grey Picadilly Home Sweet Home double-sided patterned paper.
8. Adhere the fussy cut flowers to the layout using pop dots.
9. Add Basic Grey Picadilly Metal Flowers to the embellishment clusters.
10. Finish layout with a title and journaling.

New Layouts (and card)

2012-01-14T13:24:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Tiffany just had a birthday and I created this card to celebrate using MMR's card sketch.

I also have lots of layouts to share with you today. The first one is yet another layout of Jesse and my first trip to Hawaii (we took a lot of pictures of this fun new adventure!) using MME's January sketch and Lost & Found Sunshine line.

This next layout is the final layout from Jesse's trip to Chile, featuring Bo Bunny's Et Cetera line.

Last, but not least, is the first layout I am doing for our anniversary trip that we took to Phoenix last year. The main reason we chose Phoenix was so that we could buy Jesse a new car from a dealership there. I used MME's Stella & Rose Hatti line and PageMaps' beautiful new sketch to creat this layout.

Family Fun

2012-01-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

I always knew my family was weird. Here's proof!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T13:25:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know that Christmas was a week ago, but we have been traveling, making blogging a tad tricky. Before we left, we got ourselves stockings (no, we never had any before) and fixed our fireplace, which has added coziness!

Our first stop on our multi-leg tour was in Indiana, where we hung out with Jesse's side of the family.

We baked delicious gluten-free pumpkin muffins

and fiery chocolate mini muffins with chocolate icing and strawberries.

We had to use ridiculously high proof alcohol to get them to light right, but we got it!

We also played pool

and Jesse played so well that when he scratched Lorna was so surprised she spilled her wine all over the floor.

All of us went out to eat together as well.

We also had fun and craziness with my side of the family.

We enjoyed our presents,

read,

got crafty,

and went to the Mystic Seaport.

We had fun looking at old boats.

All in all it was a good Christmas!

The Hen's Den Design Team

2011-12-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

Guess what? I am one of the Hens' Den's new design team members! You can find the announcement here: http://thehensdenteam.blogspot.com/ You will have to wait until January to see my first project as part of the Hens' Den design team, but until then here is a new layout I just completed using MSC's sketch #1:

I also had a blast playing with sketch #2

and sketch #3!

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

2011-12-13T19:57:00.001-08:00

I was in the kitchen the other day, examining some questionable spinach, when it occurred to me: much of the food we throw out is perfectly safe for consumption. Many of us pitch the sour cream when the clock chimes midnight the day of its expiration stamp, but I'm thinking more broadly. A lot of food is safe well past any reasonable level of edibleness. Take my spinach for instance. It was in a bag, and at the bottom was a mass of green mush and liquid. Would you pull out your Oneida spoon and dig in? Nonetheless, I'm sure I could dump it in a pan with a little oil for a stir-fry and never know the difference. Popeye ate mushy spinach, and look where it got him.

On the other hand, no one ever ate blue-green chicken, cooked or otherwise, and was happy with the result.

This epiphany led me to the following, very important, list of foods you can eat when they're rotten:

Spinach
Carrots
Cheese (just cut off the fuzz)
Olives (Testing this now! 2 hours and counting!)
Bread
Potatoes (like a Chia pet, just trim the sprouts)
Rice
Flour (worms = protein)
Twinkies (these don't actually go bad)
Apples
McD's french fries

Surely you've found others...

(PS: I don't really know if you can eat this stuff. When faced with the omnivore's dilemma, I recommend, as always, taking the conservative position.)

Sunshine

2011-12-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

Now that I finally have a (short) break from traveling, I have had a chance to do some scrapbooking. I used MME's Sunshine line for this layout, which is based on MME's December sketch. These pictures are from my favorite breakfast ever -- at the Princeville St. Regis in Kauai. The food was delectable and the scenery was awe-inspiring!

While we were in Kauai, we explored the island in this jeep and got out and explored some beautiful beaches. This layout is based on sketch 3 from My Creative Sketches.

Here's the two-page layout perspective.

Finally, I made this card using scraps from MME's Union Square line and card sketch.