Love, Joleen Photography Blog

She's Alive!! And at Kenner Road thank you very much! :)

Hello and Happy Friday!! If you're out there and still lookin' at this thing then thanks.. you certainly have dedication! ;) This post will just be a little about life and a lot a bit about the fabulous scrapbook kit club, Kenner Road.

When I was asked to be a guest designer for the month of May I was over the moon with excitement!! The kits are fantastic, the design team AMAZING, and the owner (creator; originator; genius?) just about as freakin' fabulous as they come. Other than the samples I made with May's super fun kit, I created a sketch for a challenge over at the blog. Be sure to check it out and participate to win a free kit! Yay! Here are my samples including the sketch challenge sample (a few of them look more yellow here, hmm):

Detail photos can be seen here if you scroll down, down, down.

Ok, now really quick, life. Life is fantastic. I'm having fun. I'm making friends and being busy and loving it. I need to post some photos but not right now because I'm about to leave to spend the weekend with Heather!!! Yay! :)

Scrapin' the 80's

Never have I loved a scrapbooking kit so much and never have the pages come so easily. I am seriously in love with Sweet Twee Lab's April kit: Merry-go-Round. Amazing. Fun. Inspiring. A throw back if I ever saw one. The minute I opened this kit I knew what photographs I wanted to use - I have a handful of stand alone photographs from the 80's from both mine and Alex's families. I've been holding onto them for the perfect project and this was definitely it. ;)

"Hot Mama" is my favorite photo of my Mom (circa 1982? 83?) and this layout is a favorite of all time for me (to date). "Hey Baby Girl" is me (circa 1984?) and my dad. I'm so messy and chubby - not much has changed. ;) Mom, you made that cute dress right? I seem to recall matching ones. ;) "Boy, Oh, Boy" is my husband, Alex, his brother, Mom, and Dad in October 1985. (He's the big brother). This is a recently aquired photo that I adore - it's just so dang happy, isn't it? This was the first layout I did with the kit and really different for me. I just adore the vintage pieces + papers she threw in; how BOY, and how graphic this is. "Chick Squared" is quite obviously not from the 80's. ;) That photo was taken last month in Georgia with my sister, Aimee. Click each layout to view it larger and view the detail shots here. Thanks again, Elke, for asking me to guest design this month. I had a lot of fun with these!! :) xo  

Scrapity Scrap

Here are the layouts I did at yesterday's crop.
Click each image to view larger.
See detail shots here if you scroll down, down, down.

PS- Did a little Spring cleaning today.. put some craft books and magazines up in the shop!

Sweet Twee Laboratories : Guest Designer

I was recently asked to be the April guest designer for a FUN kit club called Sweet Twee Lab. Elke creates the most amazing monthly scrapbooking kits - so unique and colorful! Like me. HA! ;) My kit arrived on Friday literally as we were leaving the house for our B&B stay. After a brief discussion I ran back up the stairs to grab my "scrap on the go" bag and some photos. :) This kit was so perfectly me and allowed me to use photos from the 80's that I've been holding on to for the "perfect project". I churned out 3 layouts that night in just an hour or two and I've since done one more. Above are some peeks. :) You can pre-order your kit here. Have fun! xo

And just like that...

It's gone to hell. This always seems to happen, doesn't it? Yesterday, approximately two hours into a four hour shift, Peyton trapped herself into the downstairs guest bathroom. Freaked out, bored, or both, she chewed through the [exposed] water hose to the sink. By the time I got home our new neighbor (moved in two weeks ago) alerted me to her garage (under my living room (I live in a townhouse)) where she had water damage to the ceiling and and all three walls. Completely panicked I ran upstairs to find that my bottom floor was flooded. Thankfully most of the floor is tile. The carpet in the living room was trashed. I called Alex who came home from work. We  boarded Peyton at her vet. We got the furniture up, purchased a wet/dry vac to get the excess water and rented a high power fan. This morning the home owner came and contractors have been here all day fixing both our water damage and the neighbors. For our home it means new carpet in the living room and baseboards on the entire floor. No idea what this means for us  financially but here, have a gander:

We've been planning for Peyton to go to a new home since we've had her back.. it was always supposed to be temporary. This morning I received a phone call from a technician at the vet who says that Peyton has a really bad ear infection in one ear from the water she was in when I found her yesterday. They've also found a lump under one of her nipples and are suggesting it be biopsied. I am really upset and don't know what to do. Of course I am worried for her. I am also pretty panicked about what this may mean for us financially. Part of our decision to find new homes for our dogs was financially based and this could possibly be very costly. My other concern is what to do.. with her.. I mean we probably can't place her in a home not knowing if somethings wrong with her and after this serious damage she's caused we can't keep her. She is being boarded for now but we can't board her for long and she can't come back here.

So, anyway, I really just wanted to share. I have had moments today of panic and being overwhelmed but for the most part we're just trying to deal with one thing at a time. To end on a happy reflection.. I went to a scrapbook crop/meetup on Sunday for a few hours. Here are a few layouts I created with photos from my recent trip to Georgia. You can click on the full layouts to see them larger. :) Hope your week has started off better than mine! ;) xo

Why, Hello

Well they say time flies when you're having fun. ;) It's been a busy and great couple of weeks. I've been off enjoying my life which is always nice. I had a wonderful visit with family while in Georgia. Tomorrow I'm going to a scrapbook crop so I'm sure I'll have some related layouts to share. ;) This is a mini book I made for my grandparent's anniversary which we celebrated while I was there:

{click any image to view larger}Here are some highlights since I've been home:
♥ We had some "weather" and then I left for work to see this above my home (wow!):

♥ We enjoyed a day at the beach:

♥ I took C + V to disneyland... which was interesting + challenging. ;) Here is a photo of me and miss C:

Can you believe how old she is already(4)?! It seems like yesterday we were taking these two photos.
♥ V turned 3 years old!

♥ I have officially passed the 25 lb. loss mark.. I have lost 27 lbs total.. and 19 of those since we moved here. :D 27 lbs. = 3 gallons of milk and 8 sticks of butter. Disgusting. I'm glad that's gone. Ha!

♥ I finished my 5th book (goal=30/year) of the year so far. Reviews / feedback coming soon.

I Heart You Cards

I'm supposed to be packing for my trip to Georgia right now but I wanted to share a couple more projects I did using the new kitschy kit. These two Valentine cards are for my youngest sisters. I have one more project to share (a mini album) which I will upload in the next day or so. I'll be home next Monday but I'll probably stop by to say hello. Happy day! xo

Kute Kitschy Kits

It's been a couple of months since I've done anything for Kitschy Digitals and I figured if I didn't hurry up, Danielle just might kick me off the design team. ;) She's provided plenty to work with recently, churning out one cute kit after another. These are her two latest kits (Kawaii Cute Fruits is my favorite kit to date!!):

Here are a couple of samples I made using the kits. Fun, right?? I can't wait to play with the labels. Also, I haven't done it yet but here's an idea.. what about printing the fruit onto sticker paper, cutting them out and applying Crystal Effects (a la epoxy sticker)?

Below is a page I created last week using the Feather Accents and Woodland Book Lovers kits (along with other digi elements).

Studio Calico Guest Designer (Image Heavy!)

I was so honored and excited to be asked to be February's guest designer at Studio Calico. They have the best scrapbooking kits! I almost couldn't contain myself when the kit arrived for me to work with. :) Due to the arrival of the kit coinciding with me going out of town, most of my samples were made on an airplane which was definitely an interesting experience! It was a conversation starter for one and probably quite comical for onlookers as I was trying to work out of a tiny plastic craft keeper. I couldn't have my scissors so thread was "cut" with teeth and shapes were cut back on land. ;) I hope you like them! Be sure to get your kit early.. they sell out quick! xo

Paper Tales

These photos were taken at Paper Tales on New Year's Day. Karin told the story much better than I ever could so go read all about it. ;) Seriously, how fabulous is this store? I could do an hour+ drive to visit this paradise. :) Thanks Karin, for having Heather and I over and thanks Michelle for coming down and opening your store for us on a holiday!! :) I can't wait to visit again (and possibly teach a workshop.. ) ;) xo