Green Horned Unicorn

Let's Fly Away Together

As most of you know, Nate and I are both aviation nerds at heart who found one another while working at an airline. Since our youth, we both have had an affinity for machine that fly. Through two aviation universities and various jobs in both general aviation and commercial aviation, I've been immersed in industry most of my adult life. Nate spent time in the Air Force before coming to the airline and has a strong passion for aviation photography (and is pretty darn good at it). One fun fact you may not know, we each hold a private pilot's license :)

While we don't work together any longer (Nate left the airline), we still find ways to geek out on airplanes together. I created two pages about some of our adventures.

CASA GRANDE FLY-IN | This layout highlights a fly-in that Nate and I drove to see. A fly-in is much like an airshow, but is open to anyone to fly in their own aircraft for the day or weekend. There are scheduled events and fly-bys like an airshow, but with the added perk of seeing some pretty unique private aircraft as well. 

We spent the afternoon planespotting and photographing all the cool aircraft we saw. The images on this particular layout were taken with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. The vintage "film" and "lenses" on the app were perfect for snapping a few shots of some old aircraft. My personal favorite is the P-51 Mustang shown in the center image.

I used a lot of older products on this page including Studio Calico, Sassafras and October Afternoon.

CROSSWINDS | When we need a little break from the city, Nate and I like to make the quick trip up to Payson, AZ for lunch. It's about an hour drive, through some very beautiful mountains and desert landscaping. Our destination is always the same, Crosswinds, a cute little homestyle restaurant situated at the Payson Airport.

This particular trip was during our week off between Christmas and New Years. After being stuck doing things around the house for a few days, it was the perfect little escape and resulted in a delicious and filling meal. It's a nice little tradition for the two of us.

Again, I used a lot of older products on this layout including Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Studio Calico, and October Afternoon.

I can't wait to see where we will fly away together on our next adventure :)

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 :)

A Day on the Town

I'm not sure what the reason is, but each year, come July, my creativity begins to elude me. It might have something to do with the busyness of the season, or quite possibly, the desert heat scares it away. Regardless of the reason, I find it quite frustrating because I still feel the need and desire to create, but when I attempt to start a project, nothing happens.

Needless to say, I'm quite happy that I was able to sit down and actually get some scrapbooking accomplished this past weekend! Here are two of those pages, both documenting more adventures from my Mom's visit last month (more pages can be found here).

PRODUCT CREDITS | In the Making Designs & Sahlin Studios

A DAY ON THE TOWN | This day was, hands down, the busiest day of my Mom's visit. We woke up early and headed toward downtown Phoenix. Our first stop was Smeek's Candy where we bought a lot of fun goodies, including Chick-o-Sticks and a Oatmeal Bacon Breakfast cookie. We also took advantage of a fun photobooth! I can't wait to make a paper page with the photo strips.

Our next stop was QCumbers. We had fun exploring room after room of vintage treasures. I was happy to score two 1950s vintage Pyrex pieces that match a set I recently inherited from my Grandma Schlattmann (photos and a post coming soon). 

Next up was Vintage by Misty and the Merchantile. We loved the coutour vintage clothing and accessories and Vintage by Misty. It was bright, colorful and fun!

After shopping, we went home for a brief dip in the pool to cool off, then headed toward Old Town Scottsdale to have dinner at Malee's (Thai food) with my friend Sindoor. We ended the evening splitting a banana split at Sugar Bowl. A super fun, but exhausing day!

PRODUCT CREDITS | Cosmo Cricket + Jessica Sprague + Sahlin Studios

GO GRANDMA | I will probably be disowned by my mother shortly after hitting the "Post" button. But, I just couldn't help myself. I HAD to make a page with these photos! You see, my Mom decided she wanted to show up the grandkids who are always doing crazy "tricks" in the pool. She attempted (and succeeded) at cannonballing and I took the photos so she could send them to my niece and nephew. I'm not sure whether they thought she was cool -- or just plain crazy. Either way, we were laughing hysterically by the third cannonball when I finally got a good "splash" captured :)

The Birthday Girl

One of the highlights of my trip back to Nebraska was being able to attend my niece Kylee's 5th Birthday celebration. This is the first time I've been to any of her birthday gatherings because her actual birthday, May 26, usually falls on Memorial Day weekend (tough weekend to travel standby). Fortunately for me, my sister decided to have the party early!

Page Credits Here

As I mentioned in my last post, my sister and her husband bought Kylee a Shorkie pup (Shih Tzu + Yorkie) as her present. Kylee is an animal lover, much like the rest of the Krajicek clan, so the pup was the perfect gift and perfect addition to their family.

Page Credits Here

As you can see in the photos the pup is ADORABLE, and not much unlike an Ewok (which is exactly what I thought of the first time I saw him)! Because of this, I suggested the name Wicket (the main Ewok character, who you see in Return of the Jedi and the Ewok movies). The kids liked it and it stuck! I must admit, I got a good chuckle from my dad's suggestion of Chew"barka" (since he does look a little like Chewy too!). Ok, enough Star Wars geekiness!

This little guy is the same one involved in the barfing incident. But seriously, how could I get upset at face like that? He adaped so well to his new environment. He wasn't even scared when he popped out of the cage into a room full of screaming children and "aww"ing adults. He had a blast chasing the kids outside and has the cutest little run/hop I've ever seen. It melts my heart. And makes me want a puppy!

April Digi Goodness

It's time to share a few more Creative Team pages highlighting the amazing product created by all the talented designers over at jessicasprage.com!

First up, a page called Camera Man. This page features a few of my favorite photos of Nate who, among many other things, is a talented amateur aircraft photographer. I took these cute photos of him at the Casa Grand Airshow back in March. The cool Retro Mango papers, by In the Making Designs, are new in store on Monday. Keep your eyes out for them...the patterns and colors are just too fun!

Next up, a page called She's Crafty.

They say, as scrappers, we don't focus on ourselves often enough. So, I took a moment to scrap a photo of me wearing a top I repurposed from an old dress last year. I used Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety papers, along with a few other elements. Full credits here.

Lastly, is a page I created a while ago, but somehow forgot to share. Another spring training page! 

This page is highlighting my favorite game of the year, a random Wednesday that Nate and I took off of work at the last minute to spend the day together at the park. The weather was perfect, our grass seats were great, and the beer and food tasted better than ever! Full credits here.

That's all I have for today! I'll be back later this week with more new projects. Thanks for stopping by :) 

Oh Scrap!

I was so excited about Oh Shoot and Mouse, Paper, Scissors, I almost forgot to share my JessicaSprague.com Creative Team layouts for the month of February! So, I'm sneaking these bad boys in, with a few hours to spare...whew!

February was an odd little month that seemed to breeze by. I didn't take a lot of photos, as my pages of randomly scrapped events reflect. First up, Office Life:

 
Credits Here

What does a bored scrapbooker/Program Developer do when stuck on a conference call? Why play with iPhone apps and take photos of everything within sight (of course)! The result of this boredom translated into a pretty cool little page about the place I spend four days of my work week. It's one of those things you don't often think to scrap, but will be hilarious to look at in years ahead.

For example, my laptop and monitor are already archaic in my mind, so I imagine I'll be laughing like crazy in a few more years looking back and thinking that I actually created manuals, graphics and CBTs on that thing.

Next, I pulled out some photos from last summer and came up with the page Just Ducky:

 Credits Here

The photos are of my niece, nephew and sister feeding ducks in Fountain Hills by the fountain, after a fun morning at the splash park.

Last, but not least, a page highlighting the very few photos I took while in Huntington Beach last fall for work, titled Sunrise to Sunset:

Credits Here

The only time I was able to see the ocean each day was early in the morning and right at sunset. The smaller photo on the right was taken in the morning and the larger photo was taken that night. The page was completely inspired by Celine Navarro's Technique Tuesday a few weeks back.

That's all the scrappy goodness I have for now! Thanks for stopping by :)

Life in an Instant

Happy Monday to you! I hope everyone had a splendid weekend. Mine was really good. It was productive, fun, yet still allowed for some quality down time to decompress just a bit. Here is a short and dirty version of what it looked like:

• Attended the Tempe Improv with a large group of my Recollections girls to celebrate a few birthdays. Lots of laughs and lots of fun. I love my girls! Ps. Happy Birthday Lisa!
• Nate started cleaning the living room and ended up rearranging the entire thing! SO MUCH BETTER than before! Thanks sweetie :)
• Worked on some more new items for my Green Horned Unicorn Etsy shop. Look for a post of the new items very soon!
• Did some digi scrapping with some fun new kits that I'll be able to share with you all next Monday.
• Read lots of magazines...YAY!
• Geeked out on airplanes at KSDL with Nate.

Good stuff! I wish all weekends were like this one :)

I can't let you go without sharing a scrapbook layout. Now this is not just any scrapbook layout...it is my first non-digi layout of 2011! These were the first photos I took with my lovely new Fuji Instax on Christmas Day. I ended up doing a non-Christmas themed page, primarily because I was sick of Christmasy things after finishing my album.

Life in an Instant (12x12): Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket) + Large Red Felt Flower (Green Horned Unicorn) + Mist (Maya Road) + Lettering (American Crafts) + Ribbon/Trim (Thrifted/Unknown) + Butterfly/Yellow Flower (Unknown)

See you later this week!

A few random events, randomly scrapbooked

Hello! I'm back today to share with you a few scrapbook pages I recently created. Before I get to them, make sure you're sitting down, because the first one is *gasp* a traditional layout (i.e. paper and glue)! Yes, I know...it's been far too long. I can't tell you how much fun it was to have the time to take out my supplies and make a mess. I have paint, machine stitching, hand stitching, tape, buttons and more all going on in this messy beauty. All of my favorite things! 

The photos were taken in November when I was in Huntington Beach for a week for work. By the time we were done with work each day, it was already dark, so the only way to see the ocean was in the morning. My coworker and I would drive out early, grab a latte and a breakfast bagel and enjoy the lovely views.

This next page highlights a fun lunch outing my mom and I enjoyed in October. We started with lunch at Teepee (an iconic Arizona eatery), followed by plant shopping, and then spice shopping at Penzey's. This all digi page was made primarily using Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy products from JessicaSprague.com.

Lunch at Teepee (12 x 12 Digital): Patterned Papers (Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy Paper Pack) + Frames (Kitschy Digitals Vintage Cabinet Cards) +Lettering (Echo Park Walk in the Park Alphas and Numbers Pack & Creativity by Crystal Oh Boy! Elements - Alphabet & Labels) + Cardstock (Katie Pertiet) + Font (Hand of Sean)

And, last but certainly not least, a Christmas page. You may recognize the photo of my mom's beautiful tree from a post last week. My mom always has the fullest, brightest tree every year. The branches are loaded with ornaments, both vintage and new. One of the coolest things about the tree is that it spins! It's so fun to sit and watch it go round and round. Mom told me she's changing it up for next year, so I decided to document a story about it.
Mom’s Tree (12 x 12 Digital): Textured Papers (Liv.eDesigns Chestnuts & Mallows) + Patterned Papers (Carina Gardner O’Christmas Tree) + Jewels (Liv.edesigns Winter Breeze Kit) + String (Christmas Wishes & Whimsy Collab Kit)+ Alphabet (Creativity by Crystal Merry & Bright) + Font (1942 Report)

That's all I've got for today! I'm enjoying yet another 2-day work week and looking forward to ringing in the the new year. I still have a little more work to do on the list, but I'm almost done drafting my 2011 goals. I can't wait to share them :)

Well, hello again.

It has certainly been a while. In fact, I think this is the longest I've ever gone between posts here on the Green Horned Unicorn blog…a trend I don't intend on repeating!

The month of November has turned out to be more fun, and far more mentally challenging then I had ever envisioned. Between my mom visiting, my sister visiting, too much homework for my accelerated grad course, a LONG week in Huntington Beach for a Master Practitioners Certification, and a family weekend with Nate’s family, I’ve had my plate a little full. So full in fact, that I’ve done little else than the aforementioned (plus work), which also means I have had no time to create.

But, fortunately, I have a few little projects sitting in the archives waiting to make their debut, one of which I will share today. I'll try to share a few others later this week. This is a quick digital page I made using a template by In the Making, from JessicaSprage.com. One thing I love about digi scrapping is the vast amount of templates available when you're in a pinch to get something scrapped quickly. It was a snap to add the photos, some papers and finally, some lettering. Less than 30 minutes from start to finish! That may not sound fast to many of you, but I can literally spend HOURS on my pages (both traditional and digital) so 30 minutes is nothing in my books! 

Arizona Science Center • 12 x 12 Digital:  Template (In the Making – 7 Days in May) + Patterned Papers (Cosmo Cricket – Nutmeg) + Lettering (Cosmo Cricket - Nutmeg Alphas) + Fonts (Journaling - Helvetica) + Software (PSE 6)

Simple and sweet, which is what I like about it! On a completely random note, for the holiday season, I want to bring back my Wednesday What a Girl Loves posts. Any requests or suggestions of things you would like to see? Thanks in advance :)