Going to Boston

I'm getting more and more excited to go to Boston! I've been researching the city a little and it looks amazing! There's so much history there! I'm definitely going to hit some of those historical sites! I wish Vegas looked like this! I can't wait to take photos there too! Just a few months ago I joined a photography group, so I'm excited to put what I've learned to good use on this trip! Here are some photos of what Boston looks like! Has anyone been here, and if so do you have any suggestions?

Is it safe?

Ok, I think it's finally safe to say I can post something. The kids are in bed (not yet asleep, I'm sure), I've got my blankie on and have chosen a Netflix show (Somewhere in Time)" Come Back to Me". The last time watch this was with my roomies in college. It was one of roomates favorites. We listened to the sound track all of the time! Hubbie's sick in bed so I have the opportunity to watch a Romance! i love IT, (well the not that he's sick though)!

So, after taking a long break from blogging..I've been spending more time with my family and less time working. I love being with my children and have enjoyed taking more time out for them. I've lightened the load a little bit by making life a little easier. I joined ezmeals.com a meal planner that sets up your week with low-fat recipies and a grocery list to go with it. I also wasn't taking the time for ME, so I joined the YMCA. It's been so much fun. Bryan goes with me too and it's like a date night because the kids go to the kids center. I took a boot camp class and was sore for a week, but I'm slowly building up to feeling better. It gives me a little break from the day to day routines too. I'm looking to loose at least 30 pounds, so we'll see how it goes.

We've been on a few trips since I've last posted. We've gone to St. George to visit my inlaws. The kids love going to see Grandma and Grandpa. We went there once for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas! All but one of my sister in laws and their families were also there. It had been a while since we were with them, so we enjoing the time together. We also went to Park City for Valentines Day. We were there for 4 days and only left he cabin once to go sledding. I enjoyed being away from home without all of those worries. The cabin had a gormet chef style kitchen and a movie theatre with 20+ reclining seats. I can't wait to go back!


The Linford's, Juden's, Davis's, and Faataoa's at the Cabin: It was a trip trying to get this photo!

Joshua and Dad snowsledding at the Cabin

Isaac and Dad

Yesterday, my oldest wanted to make jello. He chose lime and we had enough packages to make Jigglers. It was a first and so much fun! When it was ready to cut we got out the cookie cutters. He wanted to use a heart and the train cookie cutters. So, here's what we did with the heart. Do they look like four leaf clovers? This would be a party food to make for St. Patrick Day.




I'm attending the CollinsGroup Show soon and designed the workshops and make and take for the sample making frenzy. If you're coming to the show please come to these workshops. You'll receive FREE shipping for attending the workshop. The show special is by 1 collection and get the 2nd collection 1/2 off. I used Piggy Tales' newest Spring Lines: Thumbelina and Georgie Porgie Puddin Pie. They are both soooo adorable and once Debbie delivered them to my door I couldn't wait to start designing! It has been about 2 months since I even stepped foot into my studio. I must say I miss my past home because I didn't share my studio with the guest bed, but I think the pool paradise in the back yard is a good trade off. I can't wait for the summer time! The boys are getting excited to swim.


Georgie Porgie Puddin Pie Drawbridge Book Design


Thumbelina Layouts


"Friends" Sweet Treat make and take

So, my next project is to make a Millenium Falcon cake for my oldest that's turning 4 in a few weeks. He's had this request for quite some time and I've been researching what to do. I think this may end up being a job for DAD, but we'll see how things go! Wish me luck!

Have a great weekend everyone!

New Contest: What makes a kit club great?

New Contest! We'd like to know what you think! We want your opinion on what would make our kit club great. We're always looking for ways to make our products better. Tell your friends, let everyone know. We will select 3 lucky winners! All you have to do to enter is visit us on Facebook and submit a comment with your opinion of what makes a kit club great, you will be entered to win $50 in Piggy Tales product. Contest ends at midnight November 15, 2009. Good Luck!

November Contest!

For Thanksgiving this year we are going to my inlaws! This will only be the 2nd time I've been away from my own family for Thanksgiving, so I want to make it extra special for us and my inlaws. I'd like to make the table settings and centerpiece using paper. Does anyone have any ideas for me? If so please email them to me trina@piggytales.com. I will choose a favorite and post it on my blog. If you are my favorite I will send you a package of Piggy Tales goodies to use for your holiday card making or scrapbook pages. Deadline will be Nov. 23rd. I look forward to your ideas!

Have FUN!
trina

November Contest

For Thanksgiving this year we are going to my inlaws! This will only be the 2nd time I've been away from my own family for Thanksgiving, so I want to make it extra special for us and my inlaws. I'd like to make the table settings and centerpiece using paper. Does anyone have any ideas for me? If so please email them to me trina@piggytales.com. I will choose a favorite and post it on my blog. If you are my favorite I will send you a package of Piggy Tales goodies to use for your holiday card making or scrapbook pages. Deadline will be Nov. 23rd. I look forward to your ideas!

Have FUN!
trina

Charity's holiday wreath

I can't believe it's been a few weeks since I've last posted! I was on a roll and then...well I'm not sure what happened. Last week we went to San Diego and had a blast. We stayed right on the BEACH! It was so much FUN! Now, I'm off to St. Paul for a Creating Keepsakes Convention..oh and of course shopping at the Mall of America! I can't wait!

I wanted to share with you this beautiful wreath that one of our design team members, Charity Hassel created with our cardstock paper! It's AMAZING! Also, Piggy Tales is having a contest, so you'll have to read about it and participate! Hope you're having a wonderful week!





If you would like all the details on how to make your own make sure you check out the Label Tulip blog tutorial.

Product Used: Piggy Tales Itsy Bitsy Spider paper, Creative Imaginations brads and flowers. Making Memories leaf straight pins, WRMK glittered brads.

Contest Details:
If you haven't already signed up for our newsletter, visit our sign up page at; http://www.piggytales.com/website/newslettersignup.html and sign up to receive the FREE Piggy Tales digital newsletter, you'll also receive sneak peeks, coupons, product announcements, ideas, inspiration and MORE! Then have your friends go to piggytales.com and click on "Newsletter Sign Up". Be sure to have your friends list their name, email address, state and who referred them. We will pick 3 lucky participants and their referring friends to win $50 each in Piggy Tales product. Contest will end October 31st, 2009. Good Luck!

Trina

"Inspiration Unlimited" Free Class!

Sitting: Layle, Janna
Standing: Teresa, Me, Ginger

I had such a wonderful time a few days ago with Teresa, Janna, Layle, Stephanie and Ginger at the Inspiration Unlimited event in Henderson, Nevada! I was so excited to get invited to come and teach the LUCKY 140 women about Piggy Tales. It was such a BLAST! As a thank you gift Teresa gave me a necklace with one of her Jumbo Crystals (which I had been eye-balling all night) and pewter angel wing! I LOVE it! I hope to come back next year!

If you're interested I will email you the CLASS color copy and instructions of the book I created SPECIAL for this event! It will also be available as a Project Idea Card under the Creative Ideas link on Piggy Tales' website.

Here's a sneak of the book.

Tip Tuesday

Think outside the box with your letter stickers. Mix and match colors and patterns to create a title, journaling or dates. I just created a "Busy Book" for PTI (wish I could show you)! Across 2 pages I created an alphabet game. I made an alphabet and number chart using all the letters of the alphabet on the page. Then, as the title I said "Where's my ABC's and 1,2,3's? It a fun way to create interaction with those viewing the page! Also, a great way to use up letters!

Oldie But Goodie

I had a wonderful day today! The boys woke up at 9am, so I took full advantage and slept in with them! I then did yard work while the boys puttered around picking berries off the trees, and getting soaked in the water fountain. We then took a swim in the freezing cold pool! Emails, phone calls, Dinner, FHE, muffins, blog, (soon) bedtime!

Here's a layout I did using The Ballad of Mulan collection. The theme of this line is Chinese New Year, but is so universal it doesn't have to go with the theme! That's what I love so much about Piggy Tales' paper! Mary Cameron's black/red velvet hat went perfectly with this collection!



Piggy Tales product:
The Ballad of Mulan Cardstock Paper, ribbon, Barndoors, Rubons

Other product:
white cardstock, black/white/red buttons, self adhesive gems & brads, Maya Road chipboard flowers, glitter, black/white paint

Instructions:
Cut 3 1/2" x 6 Red/flower piece to top right corner of 12"x 12" Solid Black background.
Cut 4 1/2" x 5" Black/White flower piece 1 1/2" from top left corner of background.
Cut 4"x 4" Black/White leaf piece and adhere below 4 1/2" x 5" Black/White flower piece.
Cut 4 1/4" x 5" White cardstock.
Apply rubon to White Cardstock and adhere to top left corner of Red/flower piece.
Mat 5"x 7" photo onto solid red piece and adhere to background.
Cut a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" piece from Stripe. Cut triangle from corner to corner and adhere to bottom right corner of background.
Adhere solid red piece behind flower Barndoor.
Trim off solid red and apply rubon word of your choice
Attach ribbon pieces with brads and gems to left edge of background.
Cut out 2 1/2", 2" and 1 1/2" circles from cardstock paper.
Layer circles.
Paint and glitter the chipboard flowers.
After dry add buttons, brads and gems to the flowers.
Adhere flowers to centers of circles.
Adhere circles to background.

20 min. layout

Yes, it's been a while since I've last posted and I don't know where the time has gone. I got back from Nashville and I've been busy getting Scrapfest ready. Debbie is there now, shopping her heart away. She's having so much fun!

We finally got a shipment of the Summer Release embellishments so I could start designing! I took the day to design and had a great time! I love the 5 little ducks line and have the perfect photos of the boys in the tub! I can't wait to get them developed!

Here's a quick layout that took me about 20 min. The photos are of my adorable nephews making faces at each other!

Piggy Tales Product:
5 little Ducks cardstock paper, chipboard letters, chipboard shapes, cardstock letter stickers, barndoors
Other: (3) silver brads, ribbon, yellow button, brown floss

Instructions:
Adhere (2) photos across bottom of Solid Green background. Trim as necessary.
Trim (2) 1" x 12 pieces from Stripe paper. Adhere across top and bottom edges of photos.
Trim (1) 1" x 8" piece from Animal pattern. Adhere across top edge of stripe piece.
Adhere chipboard letters spelling "Silly" to background.
Adhere Solid Green paper behind green frame chipboard shape.
Adhere "faces" to center of frame using cardstock letter sticker (overlap the letters)
Attach silver brads to frame and adhere to Background.
Tread brown floss through yellow button and adhere to orange chipboard shape.
Adhere star to frame.
Thread ribbon through button chipboard shapes. Adhere buttons to background.
Adhere Solid Green paper behind blue tag barndoor. Cut off edges.
Journal onto Solid Green paper.
Adhere Barndoor to background.

ENjoy!

Oldie But Goodie

Sorry, it's been a little while since I've posted! I've was in Nashville for a CKC last week! I had such a great time! I hope all of the students that took Piggy Tales classes had a great time as well! Glad we didn't get attacked by that BEAR right?

Here is a little info. about the

Off to Nashville!

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Nashville to instruct at CKC. I'm so excited to see the students I taught when I was in Nashville for CKU! Brandon and Giboney will also be attending, so we'll have a great time together! I'll take lots of photos to share with you when I get back! Wish me luck!

Here's the quote for the day.....

Memories are priceless, but the cost of preserving them can be high.

One of the classes I'm teaching is titled Scrappin on a Budget, so this quote goes perfectly with what I'll be sharing with those of you attending this class. If you plan on coming to Nashville and haven't yet signed up for a Piggy Tales class, it's not too late. You can sign up a the registration desk and come see us at the vendor faire and classroom! If you attend a class I'm also offering a discount to purchase at our store.

Tip Tuesday

Are you ever at a loss for what to use as an embellishment on your page? Find a pattern paper with a preprinted design! Then, take 2 of the same patterned papers and cut out one of the designs from one of the papers. Place dimensional glaze over the top of the design you cut. Using 3D Dots layer over the top of same design on the page you'll use for the background. Adding dimensional glaze to the design will make it look like an epoxy sticker.

Here's an example of a layout I created using Piggy Tales Row, Row, Row Your Boat Collection. The background page already had the flippers and the goggles. So, all I had to to was add add a strip of paper across the top. Adhere my photo and add extra embellishments. This page only took me about 20 minutes to create!

Winner of Inspiration Contest!

Congrats goes to Kristie Maynard! She's did such an awesome job going along with the theme of the Inspiration Art I found. Thanks for entering Kristie! Please email me your contact info. so I can send you some Piggy Tales Goodies!

Here's the layout she came up with....

Quote

Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.

Wouldn't it be nice if the world went by this motto. I guess the best thing to do is to teach this to our children and be examples ourselves. It's surprising how many people pay attention to what you do and say!

Tip Tuesday:
Sorry I didn't post anything for this yesterday. I cleaned our rental house for 6 hours straight last night. I had good intentions on posting when I got finished, but was too wiped out!

TIP:
Over the years I have designed so many layouts, cards and altered projects. I wish I would have kept better track of what I designed for the memories and future ideas. Just recently, I've been taking photos of everything I make. In case your designs get lost, stolen, catastrophy, etc. you'll be able to recreate them or print them on a 12x12 page if you have a photo. To remember the journaling you've done keep a journaling log of your layouts on your computer or in a spiral notebook. It's always a good idea to have a back up copy just in case anything happens! I know the first thing I will grab if there's a fire in my home is my scrapbooks! That's why it's important to keep them all together for easy accessibility.! Don't forget to keep your albums stored in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight!

oldie But Goodie

Happy Birthday to ME! Yes, I'm now 33! I can't believe it! I went shopping for a few much needed gifts (for myself).....FUNKY jewlery and clothes! I'm so excited to wear them this week! Now I just have to think of somewhere to go with the boys to show off my purchases! Does McDonald's and Walmart count?

I share my birthday with Brandon's daughter, Mary Cameron! So, I decided to do an oldie but goodie that I did of Mary Cameron! Happy Birthday! She is now 8 years old and sooooo excited to be baptized!



Product I used:
Piggy Tales Gretel Collection
White cardstock for quote
Prima pink flower
(3) brown buttons, (1) pink button, (1) cream button
(2) gems
(2) pink brads
Fancy Pants rub-ons
Chatterbox flower template
Quote: Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven
photo tab die cut
Technique Tuesday circle frame stamp

Supplies Needed:
paper trimmer, adhesive, corner rounder, 1 1/2" circle punch, 1" circle punch, glue dots (for buttons and gems), brown pen, black pen

Instructions:
Cut 6" x 12" #79 Great Forest (large flower). Round corners and adhere 1/2" from top edge of #80 Candy Cottage (solid pink) 12" x 12" Background.
Cut a 1" x 4" #79 Great Forest (solid tan) and round bottom right corner.
Die cut photo tab onto #81 Chocolate Shingles (stripe) and adhere to 1" x 4" solid tan.
Adhere 1" x 4" solid tan to bottom right corner of 6"x 12" large flower piece.
Adhere button to pink flower.
Adhere flower to stripe photo tab.
Cut 5" x 7" #84 Miss Gretel (solid green) for photo mat.
Round corners of photo mat.
Adhere photo to photo mat.
Doodle around edges of photo mat with brown pen.
Adhere photo mat to Background page.
Using circle punches punch out circles from Gretel Cardstock Paper.
Position where you want the circles on the Background.
Using flower template trace flowers to the Background.
Adhere circles over the traced flowers.
Embellish the circles with buttons, brads and gems.
I stamped the circle frames to the center of the polka dot circles.
Fancy Pants rub-ons "Eternal Beauty" and flowers to photo mat.
Print quote onto white cardstock. I matched the font color to the color of the photo mat.

Inspiration Contest Winner

Ok, no winner yet :( don't think I gave everyone enough time for this contest, so I'm giving everyone 1 more week..due Friday September 3rd. I look forward to seeing what you create. See post on 8/20 for contest details.

Inspiration Art:




Here's what I came up with for this contest. I loved the way the Inspiration art reflects BIG words and a vintage look. So, I stamped the word "Child" over the photo (leaving the "C" off the page a little). I then created room for journaling by drawing lines with a ruler and .03 brown pen. I cut out the large and small circles from the pattern paper and added a staple in the center. The circles create a FUN feel to the page which go along with the photo and title.

Product Used:
Piggy Tales Billy Goats Gruff Cardstock Paper
Piggy Tales Billy Goats Gruff Rubons
Piggy Tales Billy Goats Gruff Cardstock Letter Stickers
Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
Technique Tuesday Harbor Side Lower Case Letters Extra Large
Brown Ink Pad
Stayz-on Green Ink Pad

Quote

This is a world of action, and not for moping and droning in.
by Charles Dickens

After being locked out the house for an hour and 1/2 with a 1 1/2 year old and 3 1/2 year old I could have easily gone crazy and given up for the day! Fortunately I had a pile full of mail to look at so I gave my 3 1/2 year old a magazine to look through. That kept him busy until Dad got home. Let's take action of our lives and not drone in it!

:) Trina

Oldie But Goodie

Title: "Fall Fun" Layout

Product: Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater Collection
#124 Wife
#125 Pumpkin Shell
#127 Pumpkin Eater
#128 Well Kept
#130 Cardstock Letter Stickers
#131 Chipboard Letters
#146 Barndoors

Other:
Making Memories: Circle tag, heart paper clip, epoxy buttons, brads
May Arts: cream lace ribbon
Prima: turquoise flower

Supplies Needed:
paper trimmer, scissors, adhesive, pop dots, glue dots (hold down ribbon), mini hole punch (for brads), large & small flower die-cut


Background: 12"x 12" #125 Pumpkin Shell (turquoise side)
(2) 2" x 12" #124 Wife. Adhere to left edge and bottom edge of background.
5"x 6" #127 Pumpkin Eater (green side) to right edge of background.
3" x 6" #127 Pumpkin Eater to left edge of 2" x 12" piece.
Mat "fall" cardstock letter stickers to #124 Wife (light blue side). Doodle around edges of mat. Adhere turquoise flower and brad to mat. Adhere to background.
Adhere "FUN" chipboard letters to background.
Adhere cream ribbon and Making Memories epoxy buttons 4" x 6" #128 Well Kept (brown side) photo mat.
Adhere photo to photo mat.
Adhere photo mat to background.
Cut 2" x 2" #124 Wife (light blue side). Cut in half diagonally and cut out notch to look like a photo corner.
Attach 6 mini brads to photo corner.
Adhere photo corner to background.
#124 Wife to flap of green patterned Barndoor.
Attach circle tag with Making Memories heart paper clip to flap of Barndoor.
Adhere Barndoor to background.
Cut flowers from any flower die-cut. (1) large and (1) small.
Mat large flower onto white cardstock.
Mat small flower onto #124 Wife.
Thread cream ribbon through holes of (2) epoxy brads by Making Memories.
Adhere epoxy brads to center of flowers.
Pop dot flowers to background.

Note: Some of the embellishments I used on this page may no longer exist, so you may have to use something similar instead.

Inspiration Contest

Create a layout or card from the inspiration I found from this Art. Win product from the Row, Row, Row your Boat Collection. Send in your project by Wed. Aug. 26th and I'll post the winner on my blog on Thursday, Aug. 27th! Send it to me: trina @piggytales.com