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Landmark Birthday Gift–GTU–MME

July 20, 2011

One of the best parts of being the Design Team Lead at My Mind’s Eye is giving our designers their CHA assignments. Seriously! Which amazing new collection do you get to design with? It’s like I’m Santa Claus.

My cute nephew has a landmark birthday coming up and I was asked to create an album for him celebrating how much he has grown and changed in the past 8 years. The new Six by Six collection with all 12 different color and design schemes makes creating an album SO easy. So, I assigned myself to change to play with it.

Since this is for a special occasion, I wanted the album to be a little more formal with soft colors that highlight the pictures. I chose to use the Paris & Co. pad mixed with Lost & Found 2 – Breeze embellishments. By keeping the design fairly simple and using TWO Paris & Co. pads, this album came together in an afternoon – a record for me!

I’ve included instructions to make it easy to recreate this album for your loved one. No matter what special birthday is coming up for your loved one, this idea is for you!

Download 2011_07_20_MME_Album

I hope you enjoy today’s segment. The album was made more entertaining by the revelation of my sons about who causes every fight in our home (Please don’t watch if you thought there was no fighting in our home. I don’t want to ruin the illusion).
Happy 4th of July!

July 4, 2011

I wanted to hop on here quickly to tell you some fun news and wish you all a very HAPPY 4th of July (and a belated Canada Day for my friends up north!) when to my surprise I realized exactly how long it has been since I posted. AND… I never announced the winner of the Creative Spaces bookazine. Ugh! I am so sorry!

So… here is some good news. Since I am a space cadet and have neglected my blog, we (CK) is allowing me to give away TWO copies of Creative Spaces. That’s right – TWO!!!

Drum roll, please…. the two winners are:

Bhavana Patel!

Wow, fantastic room, would love to have one!!! Very hard to get Creating Keepsakes here in the UK, so would love to win one!! Thanks!!

Posted by: Bhavana Patel | May 10, 2011 at 01:09 AM

AND

Melinda Wilson

Woohoo! Congrats on your space being featured in the "I REALLY WANT THIS" Issue!

Posted by: Melinda Wilson | May 14, 2011 at 11:42 AM

Ladies, please email me at bloominmemories@yahoo.com with your mailing address and CK will get your prize on the way to you!

Want to hear my FUN news? I was invited to be the Creating Keepsakes guest blogger for today! I created a layout using My Mind’s Eye American Made and Lush 1 & 2. MME is giving away a collection to CK blog readers. Check it out!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe day and night filled with family and friends!
Silhouette Art–GTU–MME

May 10, 2011

While window shopping trying to come up with a project for today’s Good Things Utah segment, I came across this amazing frame at Downeast Home in Sandy (I picked up another, similar frame, too – oh, the possibilities) and figured I’d better snag it up. Having already picked up a little something for the segment, I had intended to save it for later.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the chippy frame would look amazing with the clean, bright colors of Lime Twist – Fly a Kite.

With the traditional silhouette making a comeback, I thought using Lime Twist – Fly a Kite would be the perfect way to add a modern, colorful twist on an old classic!

As usual, I have included instructions. Click here to download: Download 2011_05_10_MME_Silhouette Art

I will add the video here when it is available.

I am loving the versatility of our Lime Twist collection – too much fun!

Are you trying to find a chippy white frame? Check thrift stores, dollar stores, with relatives and your favorite craft store (preferably one that carries MME – wink). Notice that gold showing through my frame? All you have to do is paint white over a gold frame and you sand slightly.

P.S. Ready to WIN!? Read and comment on the post below to be entered to win the new Creative Spaces 2011 bookazine (my room is featured in it).

P.P.S Want another chance to win? Visit the My Mind’s Eye blog to enter the International Scrapbook Day giveaway. Leave a comment on all seven blog posts last weekend by midnight, Thursday, May 12, 2011 and you’ll be entered to WIN!
Creating Keepsakes Creative Spaces 2011

May 9, 2011

Listen.. Do you want to know a secret?

I can FINALLY tell! My scrapbook room has been featured in Creating Keepsakes Creative Spaces 2011!!! It’s a special publication bookazine FULL of beautiful, creative spaces (and mine is one of them – I know, pinch me!)

I love my space – it’s my own personal Oasis and I feel peace when I walk in the door. There is so much history (furniture and doors from loved ones) and love (aka time and service) that has gone into my room. It is a reflection of who I am and what is important to me.

What a thrill to welcome Creating Keepsakes (and YOU) into my room!

It’s been so hard not to share the good news with you – especially as I put all the finishing touches on it. With every shopping trip and fabulous find and late night organizing to my husband finding the perfect fabric to recover my bench, I had to remind myself that it wasn’t my secret to share… it was the fabulous Megan Hoeppner’s and it wasn’t fair to spoil it.

Well, guess what!? The issue is shipping TOMORROW (May 10, 2011).

Creative Spaces with Megan Hoeppner

Based on the popular Creating Keepsakes column of the same name, this new special issue showcases beautiful and practical scrap and craft spaces alike to inspire you. But that's not all. We'll also show you how to get these inspiring looks with easy and inexpensive do-it-yourself approaches. Whether you have a little space or a lot, this special issue will help you make the most of your space in order to get the most from your scrapbooking.

Check out a sneak peek of the issue:

(do you recognize the room in the sneak peek?)

Megan and Creating Keepsakes have given me the opportunity to share all the creative spaces with one of my blog readers! **International readers are eligible**

So, while you are here, take a chance to look around. Leave a comment on any blog post between now and midnight, May 17, 2011. I’ll randomly draw the winner on Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

Ready to order NOW!? Use this coupon code: SPACESBB It’s good for free shipping in the US, expires 5/27/11.

Thank you for including my room in with this group of amazing scrapbookers and rooms!
FOR SALE!

April 23, 2011

I thought I would be more scared, but now that it is official, all I feel is peace.

11 1/2 years ago we bought our first home. It was a real fixer-upper and we were ready for the challenge. With the help of family and friends (parents especially) we spent 4 months remodeling our home before we moved in.

This is me sitting on top of the dumpster we filled on “demolition day”. The dumpster is full of doors, moldings, carpet, carpet pad, toilet, tub, walls, tile, windows, floors and the kitchen sink! We took it all out and started over.

Since we are project people, there is always something going on. The faux tin tile backsplash Thanksgiving weekend, New custom moldings around the kitchen island the week after Christmas, replacing door knobs from brass to oil-rubbed bronze. There is always something for us to do and if there isn’t we make it up

In mid-March we stumbled across a home. I’ve seen cute houses before and never felt the need to move. This house, this time, this neighborhood was different, we felt compelled to be there. We have prayed and fasted and feel it is time. There have been too many “coincidences” to have it really be coincidental. There has been intervention to get us to this point.

Our home went on the market late this afternoon. We’ll have a sign in our yard tomorrow and we have 2-3 weeks to sell it or we have to walk away from the other home and stay happy here. It seems like a monumental task, but we know that if it is supposed to work out, it will.

We are praying that what is best for our family will work out whether here or there. It will be exciting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

If you know anyone looking for a good home, for a good price in Sandy, send them my way. We welcome buyers with or without an agent (we can sell for less without a buying agent).

MLS listing: http://www.utahrealestate.com/1027377

This is a long post already, but I thought you might like to see some before and after pictures.

House front:     Before         and          Now

Kitchen/family room: Before      and       Now



main bath:    Before    and     Now

Master bedroom:     Before   and   Now

Half bath:     Before   and   Now

Second bedroom:    Before   and   Now



Third bedroom:   Before   and   Now

Living Room:    Before   and   Now

at Christmas:

Hall:    Before   and   Now

Backyard:    Before   and    Now

Rooms we built in the basement: Bedroom 4 and Scrapbook Room/bedroom 5

Now you can see why it’s going to be hard to leave all this work behind. This house literally has our blood, sweat and tears in the walls (and our family members, right Matt?).

I know the best thing for our family will happen!
2nd MME Spring Blog Hop

April 22, 2011

Welcome to the second annual My Mind’s Eye spring blog hop! My name is Amber Packer and this is your next to last "hop"! I am sure you have enjoyed the fabulous creations the other designers have shared with you.

I just LOVE spring. I love watching earth slowly wake up. When I first knew that we were doing a blog hop I thought I would choose an “Easter”y word. As this month has progressed, it became clear that my word had to be life-changing.

Our beautiful, comfortable house is going on the market today. I will add another post about this decision today (click here to read). It’s amazing how life-changing decisions can be so smooth, so natural, so clear. Like the decision has been made for you and it was just waiting for you to figure it out. The next house has been on the market for 2 1/2 years waiting for us.

I found this quote to use on my layout:

“..the rule seems to be that the bigger and more

life-changing the decision,

the less it will seem like a decision at all.”

Hugh Mackay

We are content to stay and content to move, but feel guided to the new house and next adventure for our family. We are grateful that we have each other and our faith to see us through whatever is to come.

Because our brick has a little orange in it, I chose to use Stella & Rose – Mabel for my layout. The papers feel comfortable, classic, nostalgic – just like my home. My favorite thing in the entire collection is the crochet trim – YUMMY!!!

I hope you’ve had a great time visiting a few of my talented friend’s blogs. Your last "hop" will be back to the

My Mind’s Eye blog.

I hope you took the time to comment on each blog you visited on your way here. Remember to leave a comment on the My Mind’s Eye blog and email each designer’s words to amber@mymindseye.com (that’s me).

If you just happened to hop in here from somewhere else … take a minute and hop over to the My Mind’s Eye blog so you can play with us!

I hope you enjoyed your stop here. Look around. I hope you'll find value in what I have designed and written.

p.s. check back later to read (and see) more about my house (click here).
Wishing I had blogged more…

April 20, 2011

Last week I had a feeling that I needed to save all the photos we have on our external hard drive to our new, bigger internal hard drive and didn’t do it.

On Friday, I couldn’t access the external hard drive. I didn’t panic, it’s happened before because of a bad cord. So, I bought a new cord and it didn’t help. I did some deep breathing and tried not to panic.

On Monday, my dad took it to his computer guy and he said the hard drive is dead. Our best case scenario is that we can get the info from it. Great –that’s all I need!

On Tuesday, he couldn’t access the info and sent it to another guy who has had some luck getting information from hard drives. I would give up many things for my pictures. I am praying and hoping that a miracle will happen.

I have through 2008 backed up on discs, but got distracted and didn’t finish.

I have been thinking of my blog (and Facebook) and how many pictures are on here or, luckily, in my scrapbooks so that I can recover them in the event I have to. I wish there were more. I always talk about being more personal, but I am going to do it. This is a journal, a back up for me and I hope you enjoy it.

Praying for my hard drive!
Hoppy Easter Yard Stake – GTU – MME

April 12, 2011

FINALLY!!! It seems like I have been waiting so long to create an Easter home décor project on Good Things Utah. With Easter coming at the end of April, March was too early to start. What a delightful day we had around here yesterday, it was warm and the sun was bright for most of the day. It was a great way to come out of a week of snow storms. (Alta Ski Resort had 43” of new snow just over the weekend!)

So, the promise of renewal that spring and Easter offer is that much more appreciated by me today.

I had seen some cute yard stakes in one of my favorite home décor magazines (Pottery Barn Kids) and thought were cute but, they needed to be “Amber-ized”.

With some scraps of wood I had in my basement (if you don’t have any, they are inexpensive at a lumber yard or home store), mod podge, My Mind’s Eye Stella & Rose – Gertie paper, ribbon, rhinestones, buttons and brads… this is what I came up with:

(p.s. that’s a Peep head! I haven’t even eaten one Peep this Easter season – you’ll be so proud of me!)

You will be amazed at how simple this project really is! I’ve even included instructions so it’s even easier! It’s also easily adapted for any occasion.

Download 2011_04_12_Hoppy Easter Yard Stake (includes bunny pattern and bonus project)

I will add the video from the segment when it is available this afternoon. There will also be pictures from a “bonus” Lime Twist project.

http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&pl_id=20010&wpid=9604&page_count=5&tags=CCTVI_GTU&windows=1&show_title=0&va_id=2370884&auto_start=0&auto_next=1

Bonus project:

Happy spring (or fall ~ depending upon which season it is where you are!)
Canvas Flower Bouquet–GTU–MME

March 15, 2011

It’s amazing what you can create when you take fabulous paper, like our Stella and Rose collection, five 6×9 canvases and creativity!

I LOVE the photo collages you see everywhere these days (ahhhh… Pottery Barn).

And photos printed on canvas are to die for!

I got to thinking that there had to be a creative way to use scrapbook paper to create a dimensional masterpiece using a collage format and canvases.

I am so very pleased with the way this turned out. I just need to find the perfect place for it (my bedroom or the office – tough choice).

It’s super easy to create, I used different flower techniques for added texture and variety. I have included a pattern for the “rose” flower along with instructions for the crochet and rolled flowers in this free instruction pdf: Download 2011_03_15_Canvas Flower Bouquet_Amber Packer

http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&pl_id=20010&wpid=9604&page_count=5&tags=CCTVI_GTU&windows=1&show_title=0&va_id=2299554&auto_start=0&auto_next=1

I hope you will create a flower bouquet for yourself to add some color to your life! When you are done, be sure to show off your project by uploading your photo to the My Mind’s Eye Facebook page.

Have a happy Tuesday!

p.s. Have you signed up for my Expo class? I would love to see you there!
Blue and Gold Banquet

March 12, 2011

What a fun idea my Son’s Den Leader had when we were coming up with a theme for the Blue and Gold banquet!

PIRATES! Almost every boy loves pirates, right!?

And, you can walk the plank and go on a treasure hunt for games. Well, this is what the crew came up with:

My friend made this amazing cupcake treasure map:

The Wolf Den created all the center pieces and eye patches:

The Bear Den designed a treasure map and invitations:

(Check out the Cricut Life’s A Party Cartridge for easy invitations)

I was in charge of the table and one day got the hair-brained idea that we could actually make a pirate ship about of an 8’ folding table. And, guess what!? We did! Thanks to a father (and mother) of one of the boys who created the mast and sail.



These little pirates were such great helpers (we were there 2 hours early setting up) that we didn’t even make them walk the plank:

And, of course there were awards! Our Committee Chair always had fun ways for the boys to receive their awards.

Riley and his friend received a candy bar for always helping,Neal received 2 silver arrows and the outdoor activity patch and Bryan received the On My Honor Adult Award:



And games galore, the boys shot the “canon”, walked the plank and followed a treasure map:



It was a fabulous Blue and Gold banquet – everyone worked so hard! These ideas are great for a birthday party, too!

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