Purple Onion Designs

Summer's Here

I pulled out my camera and dusted it off to take some pictures recently.  Photography is yet another thing that I would love to have endless time to dive into.  I was actually supposed to be a photography major in college.  I dabbled in High School and it was the quickest thing I could get a portfolio together in.  I was accepted to the few schools I applied to.  I guess I chickened out last minute, switched schools and became a marketing major.  Photography is still on the list to get back to (along with two other things).  Here are the only two photos I had a chance to play around with. 

This  was probably the best shot I got since everytime Carson saw the camera he would look the other way...lol.   Typical 16 month old who is used to his own mother chasing him around with a camera.  I have a few others from that day that are cute of him and his Dad.  Since he was turned away I figure I would see what it looked like converted to b&w.  I thought it could be a bit more interesting.

   

I do like the way this one came out.  I took this of a friend's son when we were up at school watching game day two weeks ago.  I couldn't get his twin sister to stay still for two seconds.  Sean was very cooperative though! 

I think I might have to try scrapping a boy page.  I have never done such a thing!   

Hanging in there

I was going to post this card the other day.  It  uses the new Hang In There set.  It is a card I am sending myself now.  It is so appropriate after the mess on Thursday.

Once again, I want to apologize to those of you who were caught up in the email fiasco the other day.  The bcc field on my email was all of sudden hidden.  I didn't even realize and just sent out the email using the fields that were there.  It had always been used in the past.  Unfortunately, it just took one person whose email does an automatic "reply to all"  to start the chain reaction that happened.  I had caught it early on and sent out another email asking everyone to just delete the emails and not reply to them.   Unfortunately, that did not really work.  I finally deleted the mail lists so the cycle would stop.   I was able to add the "bcc" field back to my email now.  It became a hidden option after an email update.  I only use it for the list emails (which I don't send often) and didn't notice the change.

On to brighter news...

I received an email from a friend asking if I knew that Purple Onion Designs now had its own gallery at Split Coast Stampers.  I had no idea!  They are totally revamping the galleries over there.  They did an little unveiling this week.  I was so caught up in all that was going on here that I hadn't been over there in a few days.   I would absolutely love if you guys would fill up the gallery over there with cards, layouts and projects featuring my stamps.  It would be such a great place for inspiration.

In order for your projects to appear in the Purple Onion Designs gallery you must have PurpleOnionDesigns in the keywords field.  The name must be connected with no spaces.  Otherwise, it will not show up in that gallery.   I tried to move some of my earlier postings by going into the keywords and connecting Purple Onion Designs.  It lets you change it but when you update the info it all stays the same.  I was bummed that it didn't work.  Here is a direct link to the gallery:

Purple Onion Designs @ Split Coast Stampers

You can also find the gallery by clicking on the gallery link on the home page.  Then click on "Company Galleries."  You will need to scroll down to where all the companies are line listed alphabetically.

A little more design team info...

I had mentioned in the email the other day that I will be looking for some designers and design team members.  Here is a little more information for those of you that are interested.  I will first be looking for designers to form some "special teams" that will focus around using a particular stamp(s).  It will be more of a project(s) comittment.  I know the time invovled with a design team is usually the biggest obstacle for people.  I think this will be a nice alternative for those who have more creative time at different times of the year.  This will also allow many more of you to be involved which is important to me.

**Hint:  I am hoping to find some great stuff posted in the gallery at Split Coast Stampers (SCS).  It is a great fresh new forum to share your best work. 

Enjoy the weekend!

Ribbon Rounds

Here is one of the organization projects that was done during my absence here.  I had accumulated a TON of cut ribbon and had to change my storage for it.  I originally had a set of the Target white wire cubes assembled as a tall tower.  It was just single cubes stacked about 8 feet high.  I had this in my studio and stored some of the smaller stamps in boxes on the shelves.  I had the ribbon threaded through the sides just hanging down and assorted by color.  It was great to see everything out in the open and find a good match for my projects.  I needed to move the wire cubes and I didn't have the same access to the sides any longer.  I was originally going to just hang a couple of the wire panels on the back of my studio door and store the ribbon the same way.  Unfortunately I do not have wall space here.  My studio is in the attic of the house which is from 1903.  We renovated the entire house EXCEPT for the attic.  The original plaster walls are curved to accomodate all the eves of the roof.  I like the old detail up here.

I then found this great option while in Bed, Bath & Beyond.  It is called "Round A Belt".  It is a hanger for belts.  It reminded me of the Ribbon Ring which is a spin off on the storage I was seeing a few years ago using a large book ring and hanging plastic bags filled with ribbon.  I didn't really care for the baggies eventhough it will keep your ribbon dust free.  I guess I didn't find enough of an issue with that when my ribbon was hanging out in the open on the wire cubes.  What I did like about the Ribbon Ring is that the ribbon hung free in a similar way on plastic tabs.  I decided to make my own tabs because I was going to need a ton and it would be a pricey solution.  I used scrap cardstock, a 1/4" punch and the Making Memories slot punch (for larger ribbons).  This was a bit time consuming but it is now done.  The "Round A Belt" is $7.99 and has 5 large 3" rings along with the hanger.  I also love that I can now grab a whole ring of color and bring it to my project for matching. 

I have hung all the rings on the hanger and then just on a straight clothes hook bar.

 

This is a closeup of how the tab is punched.  The ribbon is threaded through each slot so it doesn't slip and fall off.

   

I'm back!!

At least for a few days...lol.  I am going to give this another try now that things have quieted down here a bit.  I don't know if Summer is going to get in the way but I am going to try to at least post something a few days out of the week.  The old banner was hanging over my head.  I finally got to change it to a more appropriate one.  I didn't think the snowflakes would work for me right now. ;)   

I have been trying to get a little organized inbetween everything.  I have had all these grandious ideas and wanted to start to do them.  I'll share a few of the completed projects with you over the next few days.  I was hoping to have had a few more done by now to post.  It seems like that is the story of my life.  At least some of them are finally happening.

If you haven't heard this is Worldwide Stamping Week (WSW) over on the Twopeasinabucket.com stamping message board.

  There are lots of fun challenges with many prizes to be won.  I am hosting 3 challenges:

1. Christmas In June Card Challenge
2. Calendar & Date Stamp Challenge
3. Had to Have it Product Review Challenge

You should definately pop over there and try to play along.  The girls have really been working hard at getting it all organized.

See you tomorrow!