Janna Wilson

3D Design -

Trying to post some of my school work in my graphic design "portfolio" --its not very professional at this point, but I'm just trying to get it all in one collective spot for now.  I also updated my story ;) Thought I'd share the projects from my 3D design class this last semester...these images are from my final portfolio of work.  I did a simple digital pdf booklet and put them on a flashdrive -- I don't have the actual finished project back yet...but its basically an OLD vintage book with a hidy-hole cut in the pages for the flash drive. 

First we create with cardboard...we had to do a word/letterforms.  Lots of cutting, cardboard and mod podged vintage book pages to create the surface technique.

Next was plaster.  Oh man, if I ever thought paper crafting was messy...THIS WAS THE MESSIEST THING EVER!!!  Kinda cool, but the finish did not turn out quite the way I anticipated.  I don't care if I ever see plaster again....ever.

This was the inspiration board for our final project...which was a fashion show.  We had to make everything out of recyclables/trash.  It was a lot like scrapbooking...on a person :)

Here's my dress in progress.

This was the fashion show.

We had to do a collaborative project too...this was it...

 

Birthday ideas to share...

 
You know I'm a DIY kind of gal, right?!  This year I really tried to create a fun birthday party for my kids.  For each one, I really went all out decorating and making it unique.  I usually make their cakes too.  One, its less expensive (sometimes) and two, I feel like that is something special they will remember.  Now, I'm no cake decorating expert, mind you, but I do my best.  This time...I decided to go very simple.   Abby had a pool party with a few friends from her class and rather than cake getting smeared all over the place, I thought cookie cake and cake pops might be a better idea?

Thursday I mentioned this idea...upcycling cake packaging to create a cute display!

 

So here's what I did!  I made cake balls or cake pops...easy peasy. 

1. Bake a boxed cake mix (I doubled the recipe) and crumble the cake in a bowl.
2. Mix in a tub of frosting.  Mix up your favorite flavors...I did strawberry for pink cake filling.
3. Shape the mixture into balls (use a cookie scoop!!!) and FREEZE!
4. Dip into almond bark or candy coating...use sticks if you like.  
5. Drizzle icing or dip in sprinkles before completely dry.

Tape the cake boxes together to secure. And choose a fun scrapbooking paper to wrap the boxes in.  I used this cute paper by Bella Blvd.  The paper probably won't cover all the way to the bottom, but I just added a pretty ribbon to cover that.



Punch holes for the cake pop sticks...use something sharp because you have to go through the second cake mix box.  Add the ribbon and a cute sign.  I designed a complete birthday kit that I will share soon.  Don't miss this freebie!

Can you can see below how I used the frosting can?  I'll share more later!

 

Wanna put together a party like we did...check out my Happy Girl printables!!!

 

Sprouting up sweets!

Working on a fun project- upcycling some discarded packaging for part decor. Will share more later! Cake pops ready to dip now! Yummy!

Free for all....Thursday :)

Nope, it's not Friday.  But I've been up late working on the details for my little Abby's birthday party.  Even if its just for us, I have really purposed to make the kids' birthdays really special.  Not going to a lot of expense, just making things really fun and cute for them.  I'll have to share some my favorite frugal ideas in another post.  But until then...I thought I'd share a fun little mini-birthday banner printable--->

Download the file here: Printable Mini-Banner

I've been seeing some simple birthday cakes with fun mini banners perched on top between two stripey straws...love this idea.  See some awesome ideas for buntings here at TomKat Studio.  Be prepared to stay awhile ;)

My banner is not super small...the larger pieces measure just over 2" in height-- here you can see how I used it...

I placed it upon a decorated cookie cake.  I have several pieces that coordinate with this set...a large banner, party signs, cupcake picks, and more.  See a fun DIY here and more pics of my party design.  Someday soon, hope to get these things on the site too!

NOTE:  You may have to set your printer settings to "BORDERLESS" in order to print this as is on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet.  These look FANTASTIC printed on bright white presentation paper like this Epson brand.

PLEASE carefully read the Terms of Use when using my printable designs :)

Hope you enjoy! Happy Freebie!

 

 

 

What's for dinner?

Love this fresh pasta salad with tuna. The whole family likes it and it's totally "totable" for the brown bag the next day.

Box of your favorite pasta (I used bow ties this time)- cooked, drained and cooled.
1 c. Finely sliced celery
1 c. Carrot shreds
Add some green onion or fresh chives if you like
1/4 c. Chopped green olives
I also add a small jar of pimentos
2-3 cans tuna
4-5 chopped boiled eggs
Add mayonnaise until you get a nice creamy consistency
Add about a 1/4- 1/3 cup of lemon juice

Mix all ingredients- it's best if you let the salad chill for a few hours, but I never think that far ahead! you can make it your own by adding or omitting ingredients.

We have this with a green salad and garlic bread. A family fave!

Single Serving Saving

With summer here I'm gearing up for hungry kiddos and trying to think about healthy snacks to stock. Problem is we are all professional snackers and don't know when to quit --until the bag of (insert yummy crunchy snack here) is empty! I don't buy snack sized portions of snacks because it just irks me to pay for all that packaging! A week or so ago, I had an idea. When I got home from the grocery store I immediately measured out the serving size of pretzels, whales and animal crackers I had bought into snack bags.

It's been great!
#1 it teaches the kids about serving sizes and portions and keeps us all from over doing it (especially me) AND I know the calorie content of the packages too-- you know, just in case I was counting or something.
#2 we are reusing the baggies-I have the kids place the bags back into a container. Definitely saves money too. We haven't gone thru as much snack food as usual.
#3 stays fresher and easier to store than the large bags they come in.
#4 we have ready made snacks for after school, lunches or just something to grab as we are headed out the door.

I've done this before (more for my calorie counting purposes) with homemade popcorn, nuts and more! It really makes sense ...and cents ;)

The College Mama...cont...

 

Love this picture...cause my honey is smiling :) Love his smile. (hate my hair...bad hair day :) This was from Mother's Day.  Makes my heart swell...God has blessed me with such a wonderful husband :)

I'm officially done with the spring semester of school...straight A's for the YEAR and will graduate with an Associates of General Studies in December (just need one more class for that) on the way to my BS in graphic design.  Whooooooooooo HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  Praying for a couple of scholarships to come through for the next year.  {PRAY for me too?} As you know, school is very expensive!  "Poor college student" takes on a whole new meaning when you're 35!!!  LOL!!  Not worried...God is providing..so I trust that he will continue to (Philippians 4:19).  I'm still amazed and humbled that this opportunity was even possible! 

Here's the pics from the fashion show we did in my 3D Design class for the final project...on Flickr.  We made these dresses from trash and recyclables...these were my handiwork. I'll share some other work when I get my portfolios sorted out.

It was a great year...I learned a lot.  Met some really neat people...broadened my horizons, enjoyed getting out and circulating in the world again.  Of course now I'm working part time too.  Working and going to school was definitely a busy schedule but I really enjoy my job and its an opportunity to implement my skill set in addition to working retail at a superfun boutique-- its called Inscriptions!  We do all types of invitations most of which she prints in-house.  So I've been helping with that a little.  The only problem is that there are too many things I want to buy!  Hard to make it home with much of a pay check when you are playing with such fun stuff all day!  LOL!  My boss is at the big stationery show this week in NYC and I think I saw that quilt market is this week too!  Two places I'm determined to go in my future.  All in good time.

My schedule is already set for the fall...just three days a week for classes.  Whew!  That sounds SO much better than five days a week.  I am taking an independent study class this summer too.  So now I'm trying to plan on what projects to dive into this summer.  So many things I want and NEED to do.

Project #1 --Yardwork.  Of course there's all of the outside work to be done...taming our jungle is a full time job in the spring and summer.  Trimming, weeding, watering...mowing, hoe-ing, gardening...so much to get done.  We've got a pretty good sized garden planted with potatoes, onions, tomatoes, beans...and I've got lettuce and herbs inside the fenced yard too.  I'll have to snap some pictures to share.  We have grass too!  That might sound silly but with the TON of leaves we have and all of the raking it is no small task to grow grass under the canopy of trees in our back yard!  But Scott did it! I'm so enjoying all my perennials and patio-scaping I did last summer...all coming back beautifully!

Project #2 --Home updates. We need to do a lot of painting and freshening.  The honey do list is VERY, VERY long.

Project #3 --Food storage.  I'm planning on getting my storage and stockpile built back up this summer.  My goal is to get at least a 6 month food storage built up by the end of the year.  Maybe I've been watching too much Jericho but its a task the Lord has put on my mind over the last 2-3 years after I started couponing.  I learned about Provident Living from some of my LDS friends...and I believe it is very wise.

Project #4 --Make art. Experiment.  --Finish a few custom orders too!

Project #5 -- (and most importantly) Enjoy my family.  I don't want to waste one minute of the next 3 months.  I hope to keep everybody on somewhat of a schedule (some people in our house would sleep till noon everyday in the summer ;) for the summer so we can make the most of our time together.  We're already planning activities and helpful things to do for others also.   

Got a few shots with Scott and the kids on Mother's Day...so funny...cropping is very useful, sometimes ;)

 

Cash wanted to be in our picture too...

 

We weren't too successful in getting a good pic of me and the kids...we were successful in showcasing the HUGE bags...under my eyes!  LOL!  Next time we will plan our wardrobe better too!