Stand In Holy Places, Camp Logos Part 2

 Part 2 of Standing in Holy Places for Young Women's Camp, with white and grey backgrounds. Possible sweatshirt colors. Last year we did black, white is not very camp friendly, so I am wondering how the girls might like it in a grey. These are the colors they are really loving this year... (again all 8x10 printables)

Stand Ye in Holy Places, High Heels 8x10

Working on some camp logos for a bunch of girls whom I adore... here's one I have been working on.

I decided to make this an 8x10 print for those who wanted to copy and print out. 

The scripture used for this is: 

Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. D&C 87:8

copyright 2013, for personal use only.

The Scrapped Book

I visited Hello Lovely (btw - such a great blog!) the other day and read Michele's post, Its Complicated [Fall Inspiration] and fell in love with the stacked books that you will find scattered throughout the house - très chic! Which had me thinking about an idea I saw a good friend do a few years ago, and that was finding a book with a cool title, then ripping pages, adding scrapbook paper, and inserting photos...

I am not a scrapbook-er, REPEAT, I cannot scrapbook to save my life and have given up years ago after many, many failed attempts. However, I like to have easy access to photos and I love the idea of picture albums and scrapbooks. I love journals, memorabilia, recipes, inspiration notebooks AND I love the look of a real book. There is definitely an organic feel that a bound book can offer, you know? It would be neat to have books around my house with spunky titles and easy enjoyment for the eyes.

So here's a quick ans simple tutorial for these "scrapped books"...

Materials:

• cheap book
• decorative/scrapbook paper
• scissors
• glue stick, acid free

1. Go to the Dollar store, find a book with a fun title, and neat cover/binding details. Sometimes you have to remove the paper cover/sleeve and check out what's underneath.

May I add, stay away from classic titles or vintage books, it would be like swearing at church. Classics should be read and cherished and vintage books are rare and one of a kind! Put the razor down and find a new book.

2. Rip out pages! I use an Exacto knife and open the open and cut along the inside crease. I take out about 4-6 pages, leave 2 pages, remove 4-6 pages, leave 2 pages, and repeat, repeat, repeat through the rest of the book. Save that paper. There are a lot of crafts you can find online to use the papers you are taking out - waste not! The book will start to look really empty but that's okay, remember that you are filling it back up with goodies!

3. The 2 pages you left, glue them together. This will help stabilize the pages.

4. Measure and cut your scrapbook paper to almost match the surface you will be gluing to... so, if the page is 5" (width) by 7" (height), I would measure 4 3/5" (width) by 7" (height). If you don't, the pages kind of fight with each other in the cracks. This was the annoying part... lot's and lot's of cutting.

5. Glue. Apply adhesive all over the book page and the back of your decorative paper and attach together. Do that to each side of the pages you made in your book.

 6. Put stuff in your book! Originally for photos, this could also make a great journal, book to hold recipes, your favorite thoughts, a source to keep inspiration in one place,

[ I just glue photos inside, no stickers, no tags or other scrapbook stuff, JUST photos.
But if you are the very talented veteran scrapbook-er then PLEASE have fun with it! :) ]

or a great way to store all those announcements and Christmas letters and photos.

It won't look perfect and there will be some mess ups and learning experiences along the way but that's what makes it so real, unique, and lived. Out of all the years I have been creating stuff, most people - MOST people- won't notice the flaws until you point them out. So have fun with it and be kind to yourself! 

VOTE

I did it while toting littles and I wish they were this calm...

The Pioneer [Super] Woman

I have a lot to learn about Photoshop and taking photos and making them look nice, but then there are SUPER talented people that post tutorials and help dummies like me make feel a little good about my poor picture taking skills. 

At The Pioneer Woman, they provide free Photoshop actions to help "give your photos a boost".

So here is my attempt to give my photos a little more life to them...

Before:

After: 

I cannot remember what I used exactly and I may have used a combination of all of the above techniques. But I know I will have fun using them in the future!

Life could be so much easier...

Saw this quote on the Facebook the other day and it has had me thinking, a lot... so I quickly made this printable to put up on my quote wall and thought I would share.  

(5 x 7)

and it's SO true and so hard sometimes, right? Sadly, I am guilty of not doing this and have been burned by others who have also not applied this to their lives. Life would be less dramatic if we thought more positively about those we love and BE the best to them, something I am desperately working on.

Have a favorite thought or quote to share that inspires you to be a little better?

Steam Easy

Recipe calls for a can of pumpkin puree but hate the thought of getting your puree from the can? 
Gross, right? Canned vegetables never taste quite right.

I have tried many ways to puree those cute pie pumpkins you get from the store. Boiling or baking in the oven techniques take forever and are messy. Recently I started steaming all my vegetables... it's so quick and easy to steam, I don't know why I haven't tried this sooner! So, I gave my pumpkins a try and threw them in the steamer, and I will never go back to my former methods. There's an added bonus, your house smells like pumpkin and since it's fall, it totally works!

Here's my 2 reasons to steam your veggies...

1. Nutritious - Other methods like boiling, grilling, broiling, frying, and sauteing are not great, because these can strip off the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the vegetables.

2. Flavorful - enough said! If you are going eat the veggies, they NEED to taste good.

**Note, not all vegetables steam equally... Tomatoes would be a poor choice to steam because it has the opposite effect. But stuff like broccoli, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, pumpkin, and etc LOVE to be steamed.

So instead of buying that yucky can of pumpkin puree, steam it! 

Here's how:

• Cut the pumpkin in half with a sharp chef's knife and use a large metal spoon to remove the seeds and stringy innards from the pumpkin halves.

• Chop the pumpkin flesh into squares or slices.

• Set a steamer basket into a large pot and fill the pot with water until the water just touches the bottom of the basket.

• Place the pumpkin in the steamer basket and set the lid on the pot.

• Turn the stove's burner to medium heat and bring the water to a boil.

• Reduce the heat and simmer the water for about 25 minutes or until the pumpkin flesh is tender.

• The pumpkin will be soft when cooked. 

• Remove the steamer basket from the pot and let cool.

• Once cooled, remove cooked meat from the pumpkin skin.

• Puree the mixture with a stick blender or potato masher.

• Measure and use in recipe. Freeze excess or be creative and use elsewhere!

Pumpkin puree can be used in a variety of recipes. I will throw it in my kid's oatmeal and pancakes with a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Freeze it and use through out the year if desired! But avoid the carving pumpkins as they have less flesh, more seeds, and barely any flavor compared to the small cooking pumpkins.

What do you like to put pumpkin in?
What's you favorite pumpkin recipe?