Green Horned Unicorn

Sunday Scrapbook Update

I've been on a role creatively, thus far into 2012. Aside from completing a number of DIY/craft projects, I've also created about 15 scrapbook layouts - both digital and traditional. Serioulsy...15! That has to be a record for me. Today, I will share three of these with you (many of the others have to wait for product releases or are being held for future posts here on the Green Horned Unicorn blog).

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE | My first page is a traditional layout, highlighting a few photos of Caden sightseeing this summer at the Grand Canyon. For inspiration, I used the sketch from Celine Navarro's Sketch Wednesday, which can be found in this post.

As you can see, I put a lot of my typical touches on the layout, including machine stitching, stitched on buttons and misting. There is a ton of Amy Tangerine goodness too. I have so much leftover from a mini I made this past fall (which has been removed from my blog and shall remain unnamed because it is being published later this summer!). I love the title and how it's laid out on the page. However, each time I read it I'm suddenly humming a certain Christmas tune. I bet you are now too...sorry about that!

Product Credits: Patterned Papers & Sticker {American Crafts - Amy Tangerine} + Letter Stickers {Authentique & October Afternoon} + Mists {Ranger and Smooch}

PLANE SPOTTING | My next layout is a digital page, which was created for the latest installment Photoshop Fridays series at jessicaspague.com - Photoshop Friday 2012: Add Distressing to a Journal Block.  

This layout recaps a day spent plane spotting at the Casa Grande airshow last spring. I really love how this page turned out! I love the white space and how realistic all of the elements look.

The photos on the page were all taken using the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. The vintage photo look is perfect for all the vintage aircraft we saw that day. You can click on the image to enlarge and read the journaling.

Click here for product credits. 

DOGGIE COUTURE | My last layout is another digital page and highlights a cute photo I took of Shawna, modeling her new dog sweater - which I created as part of my GHU52 project. The photo was also taken on my iPhone, this time using the Instagram app. You can click on the image to enlarge and read the journaling.

Click here for product credits. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I've been basking in the sunny, breezy 75-degree weather we've been blessed with here in the desert. Coming from the Midwest, I never thought I'd say this, but I LOVE winter!

Check back this week for the next project in the GHU52 and for a new installment of Pixel to Paper!

Pixel to Paper

Welcome to another edtion of Pixel to Paper!

This week, I used a digital page I created about Baxter as my inspiration (see above). The original post including a full version of the layout + product credits can be viewed here. This is my paper page, created from the digital inspiration:

PRODUCT CREDITS: Patterned Papers & Stickers: Amy Tangerine {American Crafts} + Felt Flower: Green Horned Unicorn + Mist: Mr. Huey + Paint: Kaiser Craft + Letter Stickers: Authentique + Trims: Unknown

This is a photograph of my mom & me, taken the day after Christmas in Nebraska. It was surpisingly 54-degrees, hence the lack of snow and shivering (I don't ever remember a Chrismas that warm in the 27 years I lived there). Nate took the photo using our new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, which he gave me as an early Christmas gift. I love the low aperature settings and the nice bokeh effect. I edited the photo using Totally Rad Lab - another wonderful Christmas gift from Nate!

In the paper version, I replicated many of the same page elements as the original including the borders on the left, the cluster of papers and the white mist. I also added some machine stitching, which is present in nearly every paper layout I create. I just love the extra texture and interest it adds to a page.

Thanks for stopping by!

You can find more Pixel to Paper inspriation here. If you create a page based off of the inspiration provided, please feel free to leave me a link - I'd love to see your work!

GHU52: Upcycled Dog Sweater

I present to you Project 1 of 52 for the GHU52 - an Upcycled Dog Sweater.

For this project, I repurposed an old sweater of mine into a toasty, warm doggie sweater for Shawna. As you all know, I love to take old things and give them new life (see here, here and here just to name a few). So this project was right up my alley.

After being groomed last week, poor Shawna could not stop shivering. Before the grooming, she was basically a wooly little sheep and was then sheared down to nothing - no wonder she was cold! To help her out, I lined her doggie bed with a heating pad, covered her with blankets and started searching for another alternative to keep her warm. I finally found this tutorial at CraftSylish and, in about an hour, Shawna had a custom doggie sweater - tailored just for her! Doggie couture :)

For this particular project, I won't go into the step-by-step details as I pretty much followed the directions found in the post. It is really well written and the measurements worked almost perfectly for Shawna. She is a little skinny around her waist so I ended up having to take in that area, but otherwise, it was a perfect fit!

For anyone wanting to try this out for their pups, this is a super-easy and quick project. I think the hardest part was actually getting the dog to hold still for the measurements! I would say the sewing skill level is "beginner" for this project, as it really doesn't require any special stitches or hems. And seriously, if I can sew it - anyone can!

While Shawna wasn’t thrilled to put the sweater on initially, she soon discovered that the it helped subside the shivers. Mommy to the rescue!

I hope you enjoyed the first of the GHU52...only 51 more projects to go :)

The Green Horned Unicorn Project 52 (GHU52) is a personal challenge to create, photograph & post 52 craft projects in 2012. You can read more about in this post.

Green Horned Unicorn Project 52

In a post earlier this week, you read about some goals and plans for the new year, one of which was a Project 52 that I started planning just before Christmas. I always loved the idea of a Project 52 and wanted to do one for myself; however, I could never decide which type of Project 52 I wanted to do – projects, photographs, something new each week, etc.

After considering my favorite posts on the blogs I follow and considering my personal goals for this year, I decided that a crafting Project 52 would be right up my alley. I’m always crafting up something, so I might as well add some order to all that creative madness, right? I was largely inspired by Elise Blaha Cripe's 26 Projects.

Even though I had a plan in place before the holidays, I really wanted to make certain I was ready to commit to the challenge. I certainly create more than 52 craft projects in a year, I just wasn’t sure I was ready to commit to all the photography, writing, step-by-step instructions, supply lists, links, etc. Usually, the latter is more work than the actual project! But, after tossing the idea around in my head for a few weeks (and, incidentally, building an even bigger collection of projects in the process) I decided the project was a go! 

WHAT’S IN A NAME | After toying around with some names, I mentioned to Nate that I that I was trying to come up with a fun name for the project. Something short, maybe an acronym. And it definitely had to include the number 52. And maybe include Green Horned Unicorn. After about two seconds, he responded, “How about the GHU52?” My response? “I LOVE IT!”

GHU52 | The GHU52 is a personal, creative challenge to myself to create 52 DIY/craft projects in 2012. As you've probably figured out, the projects can be anything craft or DIY related - ranging from general crafting to crochet to sewing to painting to pretty much anything I can dream up. Since I typically share a lot of scrapbooking inspiration, I’m going to avoid sharing any of that as part of the GHU52, unless I come up with something really special and creative. Some projects will be grand and labor intensive, while others might be quite simple. I’m going to go with the flow and see where it takes me!

Here’s what you can expect - each week (or so) I will post a new GHU52 project. When possible, I’ll include photos, step-by-step instructions, supplies and applicable links. Sound good? Check back soon for the reveal of my first project!

I'll give you a hint, it's fuzzy, warm and made a certain adorable girl in my life quite happy :)

New Blog Series: Pixel to Paper

I know many of you started following my blog back in my paper scrapping days when papery goodness was plastered all over these pages. Then, I found this fabulous thing called digital scrapping and it stole my heart. Shortly thereafter, I tried out for the JessicaSprague.com design team and was selected to be part of the team. My world suddenly became immersed in the wonderful world of digital. The rest is history. I love digital!

However, in the past month I’ve discovered something. I really miss paper scrapping. Like a LOT. One afternoon I pulled out my old stash and in just a few hours, had multiple pages going at once. And you know what? It made me happy.

You see, there are two sides to this scrapper - the digital girl who loves Photoshop, Illustrator and the portability of the digital medium and the paper girl who loves mists, paints and getting her hands messy. I realized that I really need to let both sides come out to play more often. You know, be more of an equal opportunity scrapbooker.

I began to think of ways I could intermix my two scrapping worlds a little more seamlessly and came up with an idea which I’m turning into a new blog new series – Pixel to Paper.

The concept is pretty much what the name implies. Each week, I will take a digital scrapbooking layout and recreate it using paper supplies. Some weeks I will do the opposite and recreate a paper layout digitally (Paper to Pixel). I think it will be a really fun way to mesh my digital and non-digital scrapping endeavors and encourage me to explore both mediums a little more evenly. Hopefully, it will also be a great way for you non-digital scrappers to find ways to use my digital creations as inspiration for your paper pages. It sounds like a win-win plan to me!

For the first month or so, I’ll be using my own pages as inspiration. However, as the series progresses, I plan on branching out and using inspiration from others as my springboard. So, without further ado, here is the first Pixel to Paper Installment!

FROM PIXEL | My first inspiration page is a digital layout I created over the summer for a Sketchy Thursdays Challenge (link to original sketch). I interpreted the original sketch to come up with this layout, which incidentally, is one of my favorite digital layouts from 2011!

TO PAPER | And here is my paper version of the digital layout.

As you can see, I didn’t change a lot of things from the digital layout. In fact, I pretty much just scraplifted the original which is ok! I really liked the overall design of the original page and loved the row of Instagram photos, so I figured, why fix it if it isn’t broke?

The topic of my page is a little offbeat – it’s a representation of many happy hours over the past year. The photos may lead you to think otherwise, but I really do not have a drinking problem. I just have a problem of taking photos of yummy drinks! I was actually surprised at how many of my iPhone photos from the past year were of drinks. And cats. Seriously, what does that say about me?!

When selecting products, I continued on with my use it or lose it mentality and used only the stash I have on hand - which was primarily Amy Tangerine product and a bit of thrifted lace.

Much like using a sketch, I found that using the digital layout worked great as a springboard for my paper layout. I’m quite happy with the results and can’t wait to get working on my next Pixel to Paper layout!

Here's where I ask you for your feedback...what do YOU think of the Pixel to Paper concept? Is it a keeper? If you have any feedback or suggestions for the new feature, please email me or leave a comment. Thanks!

I Resolve

Typically, I don’t create New Year’s Resolutions. I’m a goal setter and list maker all year round, so the start of a new year doesn’t necessarily effect my plan overall plan. Throughout the year, as I reach a milestone or accomplish a goal, I move onto the next. It’s a continually evolving process which never ends.

THE DILEMMA | This year however, I happen to have had 10 days off at the end of the year, so I had a lot of time to think. And create goals. And write lists. Here are a two observations I made during my time off:

• I have WAY TOO MUCH paper. Yes, I said it. There is far too much scrap “crap” cluttering up my studio. Something must be done with it.
• When reviewing my blog, it seems I really strayed from sharing my normal crafts and storytelling and focused primarily on digital scrapbooking. I want to get back to sharing more stories, photographs and crafts. I have stories to tell and crafts to share, so I’m not sure why I haven’t been doing it.

PROBLEM ONE | To solve my first dilemma, I’m resolving to use it or lose it. I’ve began the process of purging and creating a donation box for the local Children’s Hospital. A few friends and I did this last year and it’s time to do it again. What stays in my room must be used. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing!

I’ve completed SEVEN paper pages in the last week using “old” supplies (I may have only made seven paper layouts in all of 2011). You’ll be seeing them appear on the blog in a new feature series called, “From Pixel to Paper”.

For now, I’ll share one layout (just to prove I can still paper scrap), which I created using a sketch found on Celine Navarro’s Green Frog Studio blog for her new series “Sketch Wednesday”.

The page features a few of my favorite shots from our gift exchange on Christmas Day. I used a lot of older Cosmo Cricket to create the page.

PROBLEM TWO | To solve my second dilemma, I’ve posed a personal challenge to myself - a challenge to create 52 personal craft projects in 2012. I’ve dubbed my project the GHU52 and will have more on it later this week. I started planning for the project before Christmas and am FINALLY ready to reveal it to you!

I’m also resolving to incorporate more stories and more photographs. I’m still pondering on just how I want to do this, but hopefully in the next month, you’ll start to see more.

I have many more creative and personal goals I'm working on, but for now, I'm keeping those to myself. I do hope that sharing some of these smaller, craft realted goals I will be motivated to keep on track. I won't lie, I'm a little concerned about the GHU52, but I have already completed five projects - so I guess it's time to start sharing them! Thanks for stopping by :)

Bidding Adieu to Sketchy Thursdays

It’s time for Sketchy Thursdays once again. Sadly, this will be the final Sketchy Thursdays challenge. After 2.5 years of providing fun and inspiration to scrappers around the globe, Diana, Heidi and Julie have decided to close shop at Sketchy Thursdays *insert whining and foot stomping*. While, the Facebook page will remain active, the blog and challenge will be no more.

I’m thankful for the years of inspiration the sketches have provided and I’m even more thankful for the friendships and connections I’ve made through my two Design Team tenures and as a player.

Here is the final Sketchy Thursdays Challenge sketch:

And here is my layout titled, "Merry Christmas":

Product links, including links to Cosmo Cricket's Dear Mr. Claus, found here.

I love this photo of Kylee and Caden, taken just before opening Christmas presents. They’re such silly and fun kids! I'll be sharing more photos and stories soon as I post the finished version of my Holiday Memories album (very soon!).

Even though this is the final challenge, be sure to head over and play along! Send Sketchy Thursdays out in style while having the chance to win this week's prize :)

Craft: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

I came across the Craft: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 a few weeks ago on the Craft blog and was intrigued by the questions. They were thought provoking and interesting. So I set out to answer them, learning a little about myself in the process! Here are the answers I came up with.

 One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of | My Recycled Magazine Frame

I created the project as a challenge to myself to use my stacks and stacks of magazines for something good. Not only did the frame turn out well, it was the first project of mine to ever be published in a magazine (Simply Handmade April/May 2011). How fitting that a project made from magazines be published in a magazine!

Two Mistakes You've Made in the Past | While I’ve certainly made many mistakes, these are the two I’ve learned the most from and, at the same time, need to work on improving more so than any.

1. Over-committing & setting unrealistic deadlines for myself. There are simply too many ideas running amuck in my head. Too many things I want to explore, try out and accomplish. I set my sights high, usually unrealistically high, and often find myself overwhelmed and even stressed because of the expectations I set for myself. In recent months, I’ve forced myself to cut back and slow down in a lot of areas, including my creative endeavors. While this is a difficult thing to do, I’m much more at peace which, surprisingly in the end, allows me to be even more creative. Who knew?
2. Being a perfectionist. That darn perfectionist in me just won’t stop rearing its ugly head. It’s one of those traits that can be both my best and worst, often at the same time. Because of it, I strive do always do my best in everything, which is usually a good thing. Unfortunately, even when I’ve done my best, I have a hard time accepting that. When I complete a project I always find myself looking back and finding flaws - little details that could be better. I have to work very hard to accept things for what they are, and see the beauty in the imperfection.

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique | We all like to think we’re unique and many of us are lucky enough to be told our work is unique. Even with that, it’s difficult to narrow down the traits and characteristics that truly make your work “your own”. After questioning a few people and looking through my blog, this is what I came up with.

  

1. Use of bright, bold colors. No matter what type of craft I’m creating, I tend to lean toward bright, bold colors. Many of the compliments I receive regarding my projects are directed toward my choice and use of color.
2. Avoiding “trends”. While trends certainly make their way into my work, or at least influence it, I strive to stick with my personal style and create pieces that are more “timeless” as opposed to “trendy”.
3. Keep it simple. For the most part, my style is somewhat simple. When you look at my work, it may not appear to be that way at first glance, because the simple designs are brought to life with color and small details.

Four Tools You Love to Use | While I’m not certain all of these qualify as “tools”, these are my favorite “go to” items in my craft studio.

1. My Macbook. While it’s nearly four years old, and my digital files long ago filled it’s poor memory to the brim (and overflowed to an external hard drive), this has been the best computer I’ve ever owned - hands down. I use it daily to make digital creations, edit photos and search for inspiration. I couldn’t live without it.
2. Adobe CS5 Design Suite. I couldn’t do what I do without Photoshop and Illustrator. Love, love, love.
3. Hot Glue Gun. Seriously, what can’t hot glue hold together?  
4. Scissors, rotary cutters and paper trimmers. I probably own at least 10 pairs of scissors, each with its own unique use. I have two handheld rotary cutters (one always has a straight blade the other a scallop) and six different paper cutters. I’m almost embarrassed to admit I own that many cutting tools!

Five Inspirations | It’s very hard to narrow my choices down to just five, because in reality, inspiration is everywhere and the sources for it are endless.

1. Pinterest. What a wondrous site it is! I know I have been guilty of getting lost there for hours upon end.
2. Blogs. I subscribe to hundreds of blogs through Google Reader. I start each day with a cup of tea and a screen full of inspiration.
3. Color & pattern. Just a glance at a wonderful pallet or pretty pattern can ignite my creative fire. I love to peruse fabric stores, scrapbook stores, clothing stores and home design stores for inspiration.
4. Magazines. From crafts to food to design, I find inspiration by simply flipping the pages of a magazine. You never know when a project, article, or even an ad will trigger your creativity.
5. The world around me. There is inspiration in everything, you just have to know where to look. 

And that is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of my crafting life! Hopefully you learned a little bit about me too! Thanks for stopping by :)

2012 Hybrid Photo Calendar

One good thing about the holiday season ending is that I can finally share some of the projects I created to give as gifts. Today, I have a bright and fun 2012 photo calendar I created as a gift to my mom. A photo calendar is sort of a tradition for me to give my mom each year. I fill it full of photos from the previous year (these photos are from 2011), and once she's done using it as a calendar, it serves as a small mini-album of sorts, which she keeps together on a shelf. This particular calendar is my favorite to date!

Pin It

To create the calendar, I used:

• Sassafras papers and embellishments
• Almanac Template Pack by In the Making Designs
• Ikea Nyttja frame 

You read that right, the base is actually an Ikea frame! I removed the plexiglass, added a sheet of patterned paper, punched holes into the backing with my Crop-a-Dial. I then threaded the binder rings through the holes and added the pages. It was the perfect solution for a calendar stand - it's sturdy and has a nice easel backing. I apologize for not having a side view shot so you could see how it's attached - I shot these photos at the last minute before Nate and I ran out the door to head back to PHX.

I tried to keep the pages consistent with one another by using similar embellishments, scalloped edging, buttons and twine on most pages. I had to adapt the digital calendar template ever so slightly for my format. Since I needed 4x6 prints, I resized the 5x7 tempates and added some additional space between the photo and the calendar itself so I would have room to add my embellishments.

When selecting photos, I tried to feature people on their birthday months and/or anniversary months. After choosing a photo for each month, I selected digital cardstock that matched the patterned paper I planned to use for that month and printed the photo/calendar. Matching the digital papers to the actual patterned paper was a little challenging, but I got most of them right on the first attempt!

Here's a look at the rest of the calendar:

I really love how this project turned out and I'm pretty sure my mom loved it too! I am actually considering making myself one for my desk at work to add some color and cheer. I don't know about you, but I can't believe it's 2012! Hats off to a great year :)

Twelve Months of Us

One of my Christmas gifts from Nate in 2010 was a Fuji Mini Instax 7s. The camera is perfectly imperfect, with it's faded images and blown out colors. It's unpredictable nature makes the wait for the image to develop even more exciting.

As soon as I received the camera, I knew I wanted to make a mini-album full of Instax photos. I quickly decided that I wanted to document Nate and me throughout the 2011. I've seen similar projects of families snapping a photo each month or mothers with their children, like my friend Julie does (you can read about her project in the right sidebar of her blog).

So, each month throughout 2011, Nate and I took an Instax photograph of ourselves. While I haven't even begun to assemble the mini-album to hold the photos, I thought it would be fun to share a side-by-side comparison of the photos we took in 2011. They are displayed left to right, top to bottom, starting with January in the upper left. 

Side Note: It's very difficult to take a photograph of these little glossy, faded beauties!

I really enjoy seeing the images displayed like this. It's interesting to see our outfit choices, hair styles, background scenery and even who is stretching their arm to capture the shot. Usually, I held the camera while Nate pushed the shutter, hence the number of images where my face looks stretchy or strange.

Completely random things I noticed:

• I wore the same dress in both February and March. And, the dress in the June and August photos is a duplicate too. I guess you can tell what my favorite winter and summer dresses were! 
• Nate wore the same tan t-shirt three times, which beats me. Clearly, we need to work on changing out our wardrobes a bit!
• You can tell when the summer heat began to get to me, while I was trying to grow my hair out for Molly's wedding (see July, August, September and October).
• In only two photos is my naturally curly hair actually curly. Once it looks good, the other is horrible!
• It's entertaining to examine Nate's ever changing facial hair from month to month. The months he has no goatee, he looks so young!
• Even though I don't necessarily love how I look in each photo, I love having an entire years worth of photos, capturing Nate and I together.

This was a really enjoyable project and, each month, I looked forward to snapping the next photo with Nate. Hopefully, if he's willing, it's a project we can continue through 2012. I think it will be fun to have these photos years from now and look back at how young we were and laugh at hairstyles and trends.

Do you have a tradition capturing certain photos/events on a monthly basis?