the artsy cottage

nice ‘stach

2012-01-29T08:44:00.001-08:00

our family does stockings for Christmas every year, and the stuffers range from lottery tickets to candy to little tubes of lotion. many years there have been fun items in the kids’ stockings, like 3-D glasses, little rubber toys that you pull and shoot to the ceiling, or those glasses and nose combos that “mask” your face. this year there were sticky furry black mustaches. the combination of sticky and furry made them a little difficult to use, but Kathleen and Myles managed to get theirs on.

what a coincidence – i had purchased a mustache shape from the online Silhouette store a while ago. that shape made this layout come together pretty easily.

what was in your stocking?

inspired by the Glitter Girl

2012-01-21T11:00:00.001-08:00

i am loving the new weekly series at two peas called Glitter Girl. she reads the message boards and then comes to the rescue by making a page that deals with the topic. the second show {last week} was “Mists of Magnitude” and it inspired me to {gasp} make a layout:

it’s about my word for 2012: discover. mists are tricky to photograph but there are two colors of grey.

do you mist?

right now i am

2012-01-15T11:35:00.001-08:00

loving:

reading:

inspired by:

you?

Scrappin 4 Keeps Crop

2011-03-27T14:01:00.001-07:00

This weekend was another fabulous crop at Scrappin 4 Keeps thanks to Katie, Penny, and Tab. We could play crop bingo for prizes if we wanted so I decided to give it a go.

I had my first page done before the game started, it’s some pretty trees from last fall:

The beginning of the razing of Oakdale Hall, this morning was the day they started with the wrecking ball. These were the first couple of photos I took, and I thought they were sort of spooky because of the fog.

Tearing and Bo Bunny product (the back of the grey double dot cardstock):

I got quite a few squares marked off with this layout: birthday layout, corner rounder, Bazzill, pop dots, rub ons, and Distress ink.

Next up is a page about the Donkeyball game the high school had recently as a fundraiser for the sports programs. It was one of the funniest things ever, the senior athletes played against the teachers and the coaches. The donkeys were really well-trained and did things like walking away when riders tried to get on, stop really quickly, and refuse to go at all. The donkeys had on some sort of pads on their hoofs so they wouldn’t scratch the gym floor, but there were a few pauses for clean ups from the scooper crew.

Flocked paper, 6 brads, embossing, and use of a die cut machine:

The background paper made this page really easy. Hey lil fella used Bazzill stitchez, flowers, glimmer mist, and smooch/stickles:

My nephew Tyler is gonna love this last one. The journaling is the pro and con of Tyler eating cat food. Chipboard, glitter paper, and ribbon:

Thanks ladies for a fun weekend!

quote

2011-03-13T17:33:00.001-07:00

glimmer mist cards

2011-02-11T13:43:00.001-08:00

my darling niece came to play in my scrap room a few weeks ago and we had a great time making a mess, as usual. she was making a small book and was using glimmer mists. she had a large piece of white background paper (thanks Becky!) that she was misting her shapes on. i thought it was too pretty to throw away so i cut it up to make a set of cards for her. all i did was add a few randomly placed jewels. aren’t they pretty?

i even got one in the mail!

my happy place - my scraproom, part one

2011-02-02T13:41:00.001-08:00

when we first moved into this house, the first room inside the door was where we put the desk and the next room was our living room. it’s surprising to me that there are two living spaces since the house {it’s a cottage, really} is so small. the desk is huge – it’s a partner-style desk - big enough to have the computer set up on one side and my scrap stuff on the other side. i am always reorganizing and trying different ways to store my scrap supplies, and i just kept inching the desk further towards the door so that there really wasn’t enough room to pass around it without bumping or stubbing something.

so one night at tea club Earlene suggested that i make my space work for me - she has such great ideas. so i thought about it for a few weeks and one night i decided to just go for it and started moving furniture around. which isn’t the easiest thing to do since i have beautiful handcrafted solid wood {read: heavy!} furniture that my dad has made for me. so just about the time i have everything in complete disarray with the entertainment center halfway between the two rooms, my daughter comes home. she’s pretty used to coming home to find me in the middle of repainting, tearing up carpet, and pulling out drywall, so she just rolls her eyes at me and sighs the heavy teenage sigh. she did help me move the rest of the heavy stuff which i appreciated. she wasn’t a fan of the smaller living room even though i tried to convince her it was cozy, although it has worked out and we’re both pretty happy with the rearrangement.

all that to lead into my scrap room! my friends and i are always talking about organizing our scrap spaces, and Penny just posted pictures of her updated room. since i love love love looking at scrap rooms, i decided to share mine too. i probably took too many photos, so i’ll post some now and some later.

the wall where i have my Sizzix and QuicKutz dies:

i strung a bunch of tape rolls on a ribbon on the top shelf, but i’m not sure it works very well. the wire shelves on the right have some dies, chipboard, thickers, and embossing powders:

going around the room to the right, here my papers start in rainbow order. the wooden drawer holds ribbon wrapped around cards {i know Chris is going to want to see inside the drawers, but i forgot when i was snapping photos}:

next to the metal shelves are plastic drawers. the ones mounted on the wall hold alphabets and the ones on the floor hold paper scraps {in rainbow order, of course}, and the ones in the middle hold journaling cards, flowers, small embellishments, and stuff with words on them.under the far wall drawers is a large metal bin with larger scraps of paper :

next to these, on the south wall, is the bakers rack with more papers in rainbow order {it’s how my brain works when i scrap}, punches, buttons, bling, and a plastic shoebox with stuff i keep in the packages like rub-ons, stickers, bigger brads, etc. on the right of the rack are some drawers with stamps, punches, and chipboard that i recently moved to this spot. not sure if i will keep it there yet or not :

and here’s a pullback view of the east and south walls:

thanks for looking and let me know if you have any questions!

how do you pack for a crop?

2011-01-30T12:39:00.001-08:00

on my favorite scrapbook message board {http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/} there was a thread recently asking how others organized their stuff to go to crops. this requires some strategy if you have more supplies than fit in one bag or tote. you don’t want to bring too little, especially if you are going to scrap at someone’s house or a public facility that doesn’t sell scrapbook supplies. if you forget your adhesive or scissors you won’t be able to just buy another. on the other hand if you bring too much you may not get a lot accomplished because you will be continually looking through all your bags and totes to find something you know you brought but just can’t find.

several people replied that they make up page kits from their supplies before they go and it helps them get more layouts done. i have heard and read this advice before but didn’t give it much thought because while i love to organize, especially in my scraproom, i’ve felt that planning out my pages wouldn’t work for me because i scrap pretty organically. meaning that i don’t necessarily use coordinating papers and embellishments, i typically mix and match supplies based more on color and texture than manufacturer.

so to pack for scrapping away from home i usually bring some favorite paper, dies, flowers, brads, etc. throw in some tools and favorite photos and call it good. when i type it out it sounds so haphazard – it’s pretty amazing i actually get any pages done at all!

as you might have already guessed, i decided to give this pre-planning a whirl. yesterday i made up three page kits to take to Linda’s. i started by going through a stack of photos and picking one. next i went through various drawers and containers pulling out bits and pieces that looked like they might work. i didn’t spend a lot of time carefully sorting through, i just quickly heaped up several likely items. then i put all of it in a project envelope and stuck it in my tote. times three. Linda noticed that i didn’t haul in as much as usual - she asked me where the rest of my stuff was!

the verdict? it was AWESOME! i loved it and got three pages done that i really like. i’m thinking i can even make up kits to have ready to go for the next time i get to go scrap somewhere. i didn’t use half of what i brought – but it worked really well to have so many coordinating possibilities right there at hand. wanna see?

this is me when i was about 6 or 7:

this one is from a long time ago also:

so is this one:

i may need more project envelopes! do you pre-plan your pages when you scrap away from home?

why scrapping beats black friday shopping

2010-11-26T11:59:00.001-08:00

no crowds
more sleep
no waiting in line
no disappointment
more fun
less craziness (maybe)
playing with pretty papers

of course, those only hold for going out to the stores. which i did once years ago. once.

whether it’s at a crop, a friend’s house, or even at home, scrapping has been my tradition for the last many years on black friday. this year i am keeping the tradition going in my happy place here at home.

i did do a little online shopping this morning – if you have a silhouette check out their web site. all shapes are 50% off. can’t beat that!

today i am working on some little pretties for some of my favorite girlies. i’ll share later when the coast is clear. *wink*

here’s the pages i did at Get Inspired 2010 a couple weekends ago. it’s a super crop – the next one is next spring in des moines.

this one is my girl at a marching band contest, and she has a little smirk on her face because her uncle Tom was taking the photo. i thought i was done so i showed it to Becky and Linda. Becky thought i needed to have a little feather in the penguin’s hat too. so i used part of a q-tip. isn’t she the cutest?! here’s a close up:

i already scrapped this photo once but my Mom needed it for her photo album, so i ordered another one and scrapped it again.

this is from Kathleen’s senior night for marching band. she isn’t in it because she had gone to hang out with her friends.

that’s it for now – back to scrapping!

p.s. all photos © Tom Ward Photography

senior picture fun

2010-09-07T21:48:00.001-07:00

Kathleen and I have been having fun taking her senior pictures, and I thought I would share some here. We have only had two sessions so far, with lots more to come. We don’t have any yet with Sundance, but don’t worry Linda, we will!

So which one is your favorite?

three in one day

2010-08-05T07:21:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the benefit crop for Katie and Dustin, and I got to go all day on Friday. I really look forward to going every time and have so much fun scrapping the day away with good friends and good food. I got three pages done and they are all really different, sometimes when I do lots of pages at one time they will have a similar design or color scheme.

I didn’t photograph this one very well, kind of blew out the right side – oops, need to slow down next time. I used stickles on the butterflies and around the journaling block, but I guess I need more practice because my lines are wobbly. Oh well, we’ll just call it whimsical, okay?

Normally I don’t print out large photos but I thought Kathleen needed one for a display. I misunderstood, but no problem, I’ll just scrap with it!

I’ve been wanting to do a page that’s sort of a letter from me to my girl, and this is my first attempt. It wasn’t as scary as I thought to put my heart on the page - I may even do another one! The journaling strips read:

live the life you’ve imagined
be happy
be gentle with yourself and others
listen to your heart
have faith
make a difference
be true
never give up
sing, even if you don’t know the words
be strong
if there is no wind, ROW
just do what you do best

I didn’t want to overpower all the bright colors in this next photo so I just went with minimal bits of color. Hopefully the blue gives you a hint as to who I am trying to highlight. *wink* These are all the fair queen contestants this year – they all looked fabulous!

The next crop is the one I won, on August 21st – see you there!

journaling first?

2010-06-15T20:14:00.001-07:00

I’ve been reading and hearing more lately on blogs and itunes {Paperclipping Round Table} about making room for journaling on your layouts. One suggestion was to even to make your page around the journaling – doing it first! While emphasizing the story is not a new idea, especially if you have ever visited Ali Edwards, for some reason lately it started to really sink in for me.

Usually I don’t journal much, at least on the front of my layouts because I usually do the title and journaling last. Often I feel like writing will mess up the design – that seems so silly when I think about it. So I decided to try planning for the journaling {and not just the who, what, and where} at the beginning of the page, and here’s what I came up with.

{the ribbon flower looks more grey irl – wonky scan.}

The journaling reads: Kathleen, this was a cold and windy day at ……. You were standing outside the discus net and I think I got this photo without you knowing! Your cheeks are a little pinker than usual – you already did the shot put. Your discus throw set a personal record for you and you helped your team by placing third. Great job!

I still wrote some thoughts on the back – that has become a habit, I guess. i like the way the page came together, although it is simpler than what I usually do.

I’m not as pleased with the way this one turned out, but I don’t agonize when a page isn’t my favorite. I also covered up a couple of places where the embellishments didn't look quite right. {Is this true confessions or what?!} I placed squares of kraft paper on the lower left to cover them up.

The journaling reads: Mom and Dad had Easter at their house this year and after we recovered from dinner, we had an easter egg hunt for the “kids”. Everyone has an egg with their name on it, but the rest are fair game. Bradley had a hard time finding his – he said, “I’m too old to hunt for eggs”. Myles had his 18-count carton practically full, and someone looked and saw B’s egg in there. At which point Myles tucked the carton under his arm and took off running! At least this year nobody is crying in the group photo.

So I guess one out of two isn’t bad. It was funny how I felt kind of unsure of how to put everything together by starting with the journaling. Kind of like learning how to scrap all over again. I’m going to keep at it for a while and see what happens.

How do you design your layouts? Do you plan for journaling? I would love to know – just leave me a comment!

pages for Mom’s album

2010-06-05T10:21:00.001-07:00

My Mom scrapped for a couple of years awhile back, but her main interest is quilting. So she gave me her photos and I use them to make pages for her. There’s no pressure – she likes the layouts and doesn’t need them by any certain date. She {and my Dad} just enjoy whatever pages I give them whenever, which keeps scrapping fun for me. I gave up scrapping chronologically many years ago when I read Stacy Julian’s Big Picture Scrapbooking. I scrap Mom’s pages just like I do my own - I just choose a photo that I like and go with it.

The lace paper on this page was cut using a friend’s Cricut. I think it makes the page interesting without overpowering it. I seem to have been using one photo on my layouts for quite awhile, but I really liked both of these. Together they tell a more detailed story, I guess.

I had fun making the letters look like they were made from wood – I have a woodgrain stamp that I used on both parts of the title. I also like using items that aren’t made for scrapping – the exclusive tag came off a jacket and the butterfly came from a friend’s antique collection.

Thanks for looking!

old photos, new pages

2010-05-23T18:13:00.001-07:00

I have some of my photos sorted and many that are not. Every once in awhile when I go through them I’ll pull out a few to scrap. I had fun with these four.

Thanks for looking!

just a quick photo post

2010-04-26T16:12:00.001-07:00

here are two of the prom couple:

I need to get these and the rest printed so I’ll have something to scrap!

fun with color layers & textures

2010-04-12T18:06:00.001-07:00

I have been admiring photos all over the internet that have been processed with textures, and I also learned a tiny bit about adding layers of color too. One of my favorite texture sites is Jerry Jones' site. He makes the most amazing files, and they are FREE! I admit to being somewhat intimidated because all of his photos are so dramatic and unique. But I decided to just give it a try anyhow.

I saw this little plant {probably a weed} poking up in the middle of a sea of cement and knew I wanted a photo of it to experiment with. Here is the image SOOC:

One thing I need to learn how to do is to mask off the little plant, in this case, so it doesn’t get lost in the texture. Here is the image after being ~~assaulted~~ processed with the pollution texture and several color layers at differing opacities:

And here is the page I made using the final photo:

I am happy with how it turned out, but realize I need lots more practice! If you have any texture/color layer- processed photos I would love to see them!

Spring Paper Flower Topiary

2010-04-03T11:50:00.001-07:00

The other day I happened upon a blog with the prettiest paper flower topiary tutorial. You can see it on Julia Sandvoss’ blog. i see lots of tutorials that I like, but usually just bookmark them. This one was so pretty that not only did I actually do it, I even followed the directions!

Here’s a close-up of the other side:

And I got it done just in time for Easter dinner!

I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

Scrapbook Deal Web Sites

2010-03-28T20:37:00.001-07:00

So I was scrapping with The Lindas awhile back and they were asking me where I get my stuff. I didn’t really have one answer since I am always on the lookout for supplies, and like to look in local stores as well as online. There are some sites that have one deal every day at a significant savings, and other sites that have great sales. In no particular order, here are some of my favorites.

Peachy Cheap

Scrapbook Superstore

A Million Little Things

My Scrapbooking Place

Flowers to Flourishes

And I’ll leave you with a recent page:

Forethought of Grief

2010-03-25T07:03:00.001-07:00

This phrase jumped out at me the other day when I was reading a poem by Wendell Berry titled, The Peace of Wild Things. It really made it clear to me that worrying about the future or ‘borrowing trouble’ is so unnecessary, although it is easy for me to get in the habit of doing just that. Just one of those little ‘aha’ moments, I guess. What ‘aha’ moment have you had lately?

Here’s the whole poem:

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound, in fear of what my life and children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above the day – blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Blue Bamboo & Recycling

2010-03-22T18:31:00.001-07:00

Last week when Kathleen and I were wandering around the discount store a few towns north, I saw this pretty blue shirt on the sale rack. {I love sale racks!} I didn’t feel like trying it on and figured if it wasn’t cute “on”, I could just wear it around the house. I felt fairly safe taking this “devil-may-care” strategy since it only cost a dollar. When I did try it on, it felt even softer than it looked. I barely took it off for four days straight!

It is 60% organic cotton and 40% bamboo. I have heard of many products being made of bamboo, from kitchen ware to flooring. But I haven’t heard of it being used in clothing. I guess it’s not really strange when you consider that cotton and linen are made from plants, I guess I just thought of bamboo being used in terms of solid products.

The title for this layout popped into my head while I was doing something else – I can multi-task and think about scrapbooking when doing almost anything! I recycled a few other things on this page: the brown wavy circle is from a K & Co. paper pad cover; the koala is a used stamp; the bridge tally is a find from an antique store; and the little alphabet by the owl is from the back of a package of stickers.

The journaling reads: 60% organic cotton/40% bamboo. which one makes this shirt so soft and comfortable? i don’t know, but it’s the softest shirt i’ve ever worn. i wore it for 4 days in a row, even between baths! it’s the best $1.00 i’ve ever spent!

Do you like to reuse and recycle on your projects? I’d love to see!

new pages and a canvas

2010-02-17T19:32:00.001-08:00

how’s that for a snappy title? ha.

one thing that’s nice about winter in Iowa is that there’s more time to scrap! i have been to a couple of crops this year, and even had a free weekend so here’s some recent pages.

this is my sweet little nephew:

here’s my girl having fun at a horse show:

and this one turned into a canvas because the wings just couldn’t be contained:

and there you have it! thanks for stopping by:)

vote for me?

2010-02-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

Shimelle has the voting open til the end of February, and I think you can vote once a day...I am hoping to get at least a few! Thanks!

this is why i scrapbook

2010-01-31T15:30:00.001-08:00

Shimelle is a scrappy blogger who had this great idea, to make a project that sums up why you scrapbook. i guess i never really documented why i do this. i mean, i have certainly told enough people, and if you pay even the tiniest bit of attention you’ll know that i love to scrap. if you come to visit, any doubt you may have had about whether i am completely ~~obsessed with~~ into the hobby will quickly be erased when you see my scrap area.

i believe that saying something gives power and meaning to your words and ideas, but actually recording them adds substance and longevity. this is where scrapbooking comes in. maybe future generations will enjoy looking through my pages and maybe they won’t; that isn’t what motivates me. sure, in the beginning it was part of the appeal. if i remember correctly, the question went something like, “if you could look at a scrapbook that your grandmother or grandfather kept, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” and for me the answer was {and is} yes. what does motivate me is recording my life in a way that lets me be creative and have fun. scrapbooking does that.

and you thought it was just pretty paper and stickers, didn’t you? ha!

Shimelle is framing this as a contest, and you can read all about it here. if you feel like voting for me {not sure how that will work just yet} that would be nice, but i really am just happy to have taken her challenge.

i used the covers from an old Reader’s Digest book – very retro pattern:

and yes, my sewing machine {don’t look, Mom!} went through the cover and everything.

i wanted the pages to be random and not matchy-matchy.

i added transparencies, brads, and felt.

the cover from my great-great aunt’s hymnal is one of my favorite pages.

i left the margin on the bottom of the ‘happy’ page because i like that the name of the paper collection is “Bloom and Grow”.

i was going to add strings between the balloons and the people, but it just didn’t look right. so they are crashing down on the last two in line. hee hee.

ever since i cut out the black and silver scroll the other night i have been itching to use it!

the end.

and there you have it. thanks for stopping by!

Deb’s birthday surprise

2010-01-11T18:27:00.001-08:00

So Deb’s birthday is coming up and Rachel decided to have a surprise crop for her. A totally cool idea for a scrapbooker. Or knitter. ;) A bunch of us got there early and yelled surprise when she walked in the door – and she was! We had a potluck with lots of yummy food, it was just great.

I decided that since I usually over-pack for crops, I would go light for this one. Bad idea. I forgot a ton of stuff, including card stock. I start most of my pages with card stock, so I had a bit of trouble there.

Between the talking, laughing, eating, and browsing, I managed a few pages.

This is me and my brothers at Thanksgiving. We set up a little studio and took photos of everyone. Then our daughters wanted to get photos of us! This is one of my favorites.

This one came together pretty easily. The paper already had the swirl and the bird, so all I had to add was the photo, banner, and title. I know it’s not a good photo, but it’s the only one I have. It’s from my first triathlon last July. Sally Edwards, the founder of the race, gave a pep talk and she said this was going to be the phrase of our race. If we saw someone who was dragging, we’d holler “you go girl” to let her know we we were pulling for her. I thought it was such a great attitude. Yes, I did hear it a few times! Hey, it was my first race.

When I got home and unpacked my stuff, it was only about 7:30 pm, so I made another page. I just love this Craft Fair line from American Crafts. These three girls are all in high school now – it just doesn’t seem possible! Yes, I know that makes me sound old, but it is true. I blinked and my little girl was driving a car. It’s a good thing I scrapbook.

Thanks for stopping by!

layered flowers and 2010 words

2010-01-06T08:20:00.001-08:00

So here is the layout I was working on, the one with the layered flowers:

and here is a close-up of the flower on the left:

I just love that little kitten button i found in my stash. No idea where I got it.

And here are some photos of the messy and fabulous time my niece and I had:

That's her word for 2010 on the cover and the inside is full of really creative pages.

Here we are:

Here’s my word that I made into a wall hanging:

Lots of wax, glitter, and paint. It was really fun to just go crazy.

I started with this one, but got impatient while waiting for the paint to dry. I almost like it better than the other one.

The flower is made from an egg carton. I saw a tutorial somewhere but didn’t bookmark it. gah. If you know who did it, I would love to give them the credit for inspiring me!

So, which wall hanging do you like best?

three-day weekend

2010-01-03T19:20:00.001-08:00

I had a great three-day weekend, mostly because I got to scrap all three days! On Friday the group I create with, the Teas, got together for the first time in about a month and it was fun to get caught up with everyone.My 52Q tags weren’t done yet so I brought them to work on and was really excited to cover them. I used a large sheet of paper that Kathleen had used to practice in painting class. Here are some of the tags:

Yesterday my 11-year old niece came over and we had fun making a huge mess. We used glimmer mist, wax, glitter, paint, and heat embossing. We were talking about what our word for 2010, and she suggested cherish for me. As I thought about it, I realized that it was perfect! I made a wall hanging that still needs to be photographed. Her word is unique, and she used it for the title of a chipboard book that she then decorated. She did a fabulous job!

Today I worked on a couple of layouts, and inspired by Christine Middlecamp, made some layered flowers. If you aren’t familiar with her genius layering, go visit her blog: http://retrospection.typepad.com/my_weblog/. I’ll get a photo and show you my layout as soon as I get it done.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you had a fun three-day weekend too!

Design Team Application

2009-12-20T12:26:00.001-08:00

well i did it! i applied for the Reminisce Design Team, just before the deadline! i am a little nervous – i don’t usually put myself ‘out there’. so we will see what happens.

here’s what i submitted:

wish me luck!

retro kitchen redo

2009-11-22T15:07:00.001-08:00

i am finally making some progress on my kitchen redo. in fact, i think i can see the end approaching quickly. i think i started it back in april…yikes! usually i like to get a project/room finished quickly, but i got stalled on this one when i ran out of white paint. yes, i painted with white paint, you can pick yourselves up off the floor now! i decided to go retro with the colors and painted the cupboards two shades of aqua, and decided the best foil for them was white.

aren’t those little salt and pepper shakers the perfect mid-century modern touch? (at least i think so, i’m typically more of a rustic/shabby chic girl.) the countertops on one side of the kitchen are white with the gold speckles, like this:

on the other side there is a long countertop that is formica that looks like butcher block. i thought it would be better if the two counters at least sort of matched, so i painted the long counter white. (kilz white with the primer already in it) so now i am using my zig metallic gold calligraphy marker to make the gold dots. here’s my progress so far:

what do you think? am i pretty close? it’s gonna take awhile, the counter is kind of long:

i even changed out the light switches and plug ins for white ones. i was a little nervous about that, but i consulted my trusty Readers’ Digest Do it Yourself book, and i only got one tiny little shock.

thanks for stopping by!

quirky scrapbook in progress...

2009-11-18T19:52:00.001-08:00

so i have this printer's drawer that i no longer put little stuffs in because i am not a frequent duster. and if you don't dust the little stuffs, they start to get icky. which means that my drawer has been empty for some time.

i wanted to make it into a scrapbook of sorts, but some of the spaces were just so tiny. i tried a few different ways of ~~pounding~~ gently removing some of the dividers, and ended up having good luck with a very sharp very thin saw.

initially i planned to paint it, but what i really wanted to do was collage old catalog pages all over it, not just the background. i have some catalogs from 1915 - one Sears and one Ward's - and they have the best photos and descriptions ever.

here's what i have come up with, so far:

lots of layers and lots of mod podge. now i just need to figure out how to put photos and embellishments on it without covering up the whole background. in the meantime, it's hanging on the wall, providing me with inspiration. and amazement at the prices way back when.

thanks for stopping by!

a little note

2009-11-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

i changed the music player so it doesn't start automatically; you have to click on the arrow. i have been wanting to do this forever, and finally figured out how...it took one click.

i have a cool new "scrapbook" to post tonight! :)

scrapbooker = card maker?

2009-11-08T10:14:00.001-08:00

so if you are a paper scrapbooker, it should logically follow that you could easily make other paper crafts, such as cards, right? not necessarily. at least not for me. i like to make cards, i just have a hard time getting started. coming up with a design. choosing the type of card.

i've seen where some scrappers make a layout and then a card right away, before they clean up. that way all the coordinating papers and embellishments are right there. it saves them the time they would have spent picking out what products to use. this is a really great idea and i love that it sounds so efficient and effortless. i guess i have trouble switching gears?

others start from a sketch, either one of their own or one of the many that are all over the internet or in idea books. i love to look at galleries online and at idea books. sometimes i'll see a beautiful color combination or paper combination that i would never have thought to pair up, and think i will definitely try them out. but when i sit down with my supplies, the ideas don't translate well for some reason. not sure why?

which leads me to another strategy. scraplifting, or CASE-ing. Copy And Steal Everything. (both of these are fine, as long as you give credit to your source.) i get inspired by most everything i see, but i really don't like just following along and gluing paper 'a' to card stock 'b'. must be the rebel in me. ha!

cards are so much smaller than my favorite 12 x 12 pages, maybe that is one reason why i feel constrained before i even get started? maybe i'm over-thinking it. shocker, that. i guess i'll just keep at it and see what happens.

thank you cards are always handy to have on hand:

and general 'happy' cards are fun to send:

do you recognize the bird? :)

if you have a strategy you want to share, let me know!

fun with sizzix & alcohol inks

2009-11-01T18:35:00.001-08:00

every once in awhile i'll start scrapping and get sidetracked making an embellishment. like today when i was using the big kick to emboss and die cut shapes for an upcoming project. i had a stack of acrylic packaging that i have saved, and decided to use that to make "ghost" shapes. except i wanted to make them show up a little bit. in the past i have painted the edges, but the paint was across the room. (lazy scrapper alert!)

however, the alcohol inks and staz-on ink were within reach. i did figure out that if you want to use both staz-on and alcohol inks on the same piece it helps to use one ink per side.

here are my favorites:

why does my scanner cut things off? i had it right in the middle. arg. all four edges of the frame are wavy.

have you made your own embellishments lately? i'd love to see!

the great purge continues...

2009-10-30T21:26:00.001-07:00

so the great purge of 09 continues, and i have taken at least a car load of stuff out of my house just in the last week. i started the purge in the spring and figured i'd be done by now. however, i underestimated how much ~~junk~~ stuff i have to go through. most everything has been given away or taken to the goodwill, except for that one truck load that went to the landfill. i think when the dresser falls apart as you are carrying it up the basement stairs, you just have to trash it. not that i had that experience or anything.

i was thinking i should have kept track of how much stuff i bagged and boxed up, but then realized that would be pretty embarrassing. what is really cool is the way my shelves and hanging clothes are not crammed together. i can actually see what is there without having to get my upper body workout.

of course when i take a break, i sit and scrap for a little bit. here are some recent cards.

it's hard to see from the scan, but this one says "have courage"

so now it's back to the great purge. if anyone has any great purging/cleaning out stories please share! it will keep me motivated so i can get this done before january. or this will have to become the great purge of 09-10. and that just doesn't have the same ring to it.

thanks for stopping by!

i ::was:: inspired @

2009-10-27T11:07:00.001-07:00

the get inspired expo 2009. this was my third year and it was great, as usual. Brandy and Becky and i scrapped the day away, although we missed Tonya, Jennifer, and Jen. Minna does such a great job making it easy for everyone to scrap. the food was delish, the prizes awesome, and the venue spacious.

even if the rookie scrapper out-scrapped us. ahem.

i love the Graphic 45 paper, and threw in the light green so it wouldn't look so much like Christmas colors. do you think it worked?

i played with embossing folders, glimmer mist, and inks on this one. i think i even kept the mess to myself. :) not the best photo of a layout, but you get the idea!

ive gone to several crops, and i always have trouble packing. i take too much stuff. it would be great to make up kits for my projects and i think i may try that for the next one. at least for a couple of projects. if you have a great strategy for going to crops that doesn't involve the kitchen sink, let me know!

thanks for visiting!

accordion mini album

2009-10-20T13:20:00.001-07:00

here's one of my latest projects:

i cut a pictionary game board into thirds and used it for the base. then i distressed and inked.

big surprise, right? ha.

if you look closely, you'll also find embossing, glimmer misting, and stickling. (is that even a word?)

this is one of those projects where i made a huge mess all over every surface, including the floor.

totally fun.

until the clean up part.

lots of butterflies

2009-08-07T20:33:00.001-07:00

when i first heard about the butterfly project , i thought it was cool, something that enough other people would probably contribute to. but i couldn't stop thinking about it. so i decided to make something to send to add to the exhibit. really no big deal, right? just me, sending a scrapbook-y butterfly.

then i mentioned it to my friends in the tea club ( our art journal group) and they wanted to make butterflies too, so i brought some stamps and a couple of die cuts. we meet at the church, and that evening we were sharing the downstairs with a potluck supper. the meal was mainly for the work campers who were staying at the church while they helped rebuild from the flood. so a bunch of them wanted to make butterflies too. now it's a lot of butterflies from a lot of people. pretty cool.

here's the poem that sparked the idea for the butterflies:

The Butterfly

The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
against a white stone....

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ’way up high.
It went away I’m sure
because it wished
to kiss the world good-bye.
For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942

Born in Prague on January 7, 1921.
Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942.
Died in Aushchwitz on September 29, 1944.

here's mine:

check out the link if you want to send one - the exhibit is planned for 2010.

Thanks Scrap Scene!!

2009-07-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

woohoo! my wild flower canvas is featured on Scrap Scene today! how cool is that - i am so excited!!

check it out here

thanks, Angie:)

one of my favorite blogs

2009-07-08T14:11:00.001-07:00

this blog is one of my very favorites. it has wonderful photography, adorable subjects, and is witty to boot. right now they are raising money for the humane shelter in Tacoma, WA. go take a peek, i bet you can't look without smiling! here's a little hint:

exactly like that only different

2009-07-05T09:51:00.001-07:00

going to five softball games in four days is pretty awesome. i love watching my girl and her team play. finding spots to take photos without looking through the fence makes me happy too. the downside to all this fun is that my house looks like a tornado went through. not kidding.

so with a three-day weekend i'd have plenty of time to get it totally clean, right? um, no. i did get the wash hung out, but other than that, i just did whatever i felt like. and it totally rocked!

i finished reading The Glass Castle. it was amazing, and it's a memoir, which i like.
i went for a run with Lexi - so glad the weather was cool.
i re-organized my alphas and chipboard so i can see them easily.
i played with inks and embossing - total thumbs up!

i have been following along with Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking series and was inspired to try some of the techniques. i loved just playing around! i definitely recommend having a heat tool if you are impatient. ahem.

here are the cards i made:

they really are prettier IRL, but you get the idea! i used the same general design for each one but i love how they are all different. just like my little girl used to say, "i have one exactly like that only different" !

wildflower canvas with fused plastic bags

2009-06-23T20:06:00.001-07:00

there are lots of recycled projects on creative blogs all over the web, and i was inspired to create a project using items that would usually go in the recycle bin. this very cool tutorial for fusing plastic bags was posted on EtsyLabs a while ago, and i was really glad to see the tutorial link on a friend's blog. (thanks, Kirsten!)

it looked fun and easy, so i decided to give it a go. one really cool aspect was that the look of the final piece could be changed depending on what bags you use. after fusing the bags, i die cut some flowers and sprayed them with glimmer mist. i used my heat tool to dry the glimmer mist, and it had the added benefit of curling the edges of the flowers, making them really dimensional.

the light and dark blue flowers are cut out from the lids of mixed nut cans, and the silver ones are cut from the liners to the cans. the blue flowers are stamped with gold ink, and the liners are colored with alcohol inks. the stems and grass are the fused bags with some glimmer mist.

it was fun to play with such different materials and just see what evolved. have you done any recycled projects? link me up, i want to see!

rainy saturday

2009-06-13T14:10:00.001-07:00

the second half of the softball tournament was supposed to be today, but it rained non-stop last night and most of the morning, so it has been canceled. which means i have a whole day to play! kind of like a snow day in february, it feels like a gift. i started a new project last night after reading the latest sew somerset and being completely inspired. no peeks yet!

last month Lin, Becky, and i went to Scrapaganza for their friday night crop. the rest of the tea club couldn't make it, but hopefully they will be able to go on the next field trip! they had not been to a crop before, so it was fun to show them the ropes. we even got some scrapping done. Becky brought some leftover window screen, and she was the hit of the crop! here's a page i made using it:

the flower is made with an accordion of screen with a brad in the middle. just twist until it looks good!

i was reading someone's blog and she was talking about how she didn't worry about matching the colors in her pictures any more, and that it was very freeing. so i gave it a whirl:

starting with a background that didn't match, i added some bits that do match, using different blues and reds. no worries about if they were the same shade or not. it was fun! so i did another one:

at first i looked for a blue card stock to match her shirt, but then decided to use one of my favorite blues, even though it's a different blue. the orange looked great with the blue even though there isn't any orange in the photo. there may be something to this idea!

are you a matchy scrapper? let me know, and thanks for stopping by!

a quick post

2009-06-09T21:47:00.001-07:00

spring finally came, and it came with a busy schedule!

prom sure is different now:

than it was then:

and that's your laugh for today!!

new friends and 12 x 12 pages

2009-04-30T09:14:00.001-07:00

a few weeks ago at church i was introduced to Lin, who is an incredibly creative artist. she works with fabric, paper, and i'm sure lots of other media i don't know about just yet! we immediately decided we should start a faith-based creative group and, rushing in where angels fear to tread, we started it the next wednesday. it is amazing how quickly we came together - 5 of us so far. i'm really enjoying my new friends and am looking forward to see what we become.

since it seems like maybe spring is really here, and it's light outside for more than two hours a day, i got some natural light photos of some of my 12 x 12 pages. on this one i decided flowers and bling could go on a guy page. i am still loving aqua. and distressing. and sewing.

this one ended up looking too busy, and i overwhelmed the photo. i'll probably scrap the photo again, maybe make it a 5 x 7. the tab that says 'exclusive' is a clothing tag. can you find the easter bunny?

this one came together in about 15 minutes, and i really like how it looks. the butterflies are free clip art from the vintage moth.

thanks for stopping by!

easter 09

2009-04-21T17:47:00.001-07:00

i am liking using the 8.5 x 11 format. i'm worried that it won't be enough room since i like to pile on the "stuff".

maybe i'll scrap simpler, who knows? here's a simple page:

{the yellow mesh is from a bag of potatoes!}

mints, the gym, and a new size

2009-04-19T17:42:00.001-07:00

yesterday morning i got to go on my first artist date with my niece, and we had a great time treasure hunting! she is now the proud owner of a cool blue electric typewriter - and i just know one of these days i'll get a typed note in the mail.

i got to spend time with my daughter at the gym, although i didn't work out very hard. just a little swimming and of course the spa.

last evening i went and helped make mints for Ben & Nikki's wedding. i don't think i've ever made mints before. and if you'll be at the wedding, the green leaves are mint flavor, the white swirls and hearts are vanilla, and the red roses are almond. we all did a bit of quality control while we were hard at work, just to make sure that they were good enough for company!

so i've mainly been scrapping 12 x 12 when i make layouts. now that i share my pages online, that means that i have to take pictures of my pages since i don't have a large-format scanner. which limits me because i have to wait until there is good light and i have the time to set up the shots. i really do like the 12 x 12 format but i've been thinking about scrapping 8.5 x 11. i could scan my pages and upload them whether there was good light or not. so i'm gonna try the new size for awhile and see how i like it. it will be no problem to put them in my albums since i mainly use the 3-ring American Crafts albums.

here's a page i made showing some lovely bokeh with a sure sign of spring:

what size do you scrap?

some of my recent pages

2009-04-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

yep. i've been quiet. but i've still been creating. here are some recent pages:

thanks for stopping by!

cozy sunday

2009-03-08T19:23:00.001-07:00

this morning i woke up to pouring rain and a dark sky. i could hear the rain on the tin roof of my front porch, a sound i love! so i lit a few candles, put on some Norah Jones, and sat down to scrap. it was just wonderful.

i have been thinking about doing some hybrid scrapping, just to dip my toe in it a little. i love all the mess and textures of traditional scrapping way too much to consider only digi scrapping, so hybrid seems like the way to go. it also doesn't seem like it will have as big of a learning curve, but we'll see! maybe playing around with photoshop elements has given me a little confidence? i'll be sure to share. :)

one of the projects i did today is to finally make bridge tallies for my mom. she has played bridge with the same group of ladies for years. it seems like bridge tallies are getting harder to find, so i told her (a long time ago-eek!) that i would make her some. i used the k & company berry sweet collection because she likes bright colors. here's a little peek:

how was your sunday?

new YMCA song moves?

2009-02-21T08:03:00.001-08:00

last weekend was the family 4H skating party, and i was looking forward to it so that i could improve upon last year. which wasn't a huge goal if you consider that it involved staying upright. yes, i resolved not to fall down this year; last year i fell so hard my glasses went flying. not a pretty sight...

it turns out that the rec center has been almost completely redone. they have a new maple floor instead of cement, new glow-up-in-the-dark carpet with the special lights, a new sound system, and new skates! new skates that are all cushy inside are almost as wonderful on my feet as new socks.

anyway, the YMCA song came on, so i thought, hey, i know how to do this. um...no i don't. apparently between the time the song first came out (yes, i was around for that) and now,

the arm movements have changed!

imagine my surprise!

and the embarrassment of my teenage daughter!

turns out the new movements are all done over your head, which is great for staying off the floor, as shown in this photo of a skater much better than me:

my question for you is, "did everyone know about the new YMCA song moves but me?" or is this only a roller skating version?

**edited to add: i have searched you tube and apparently i am the only one who was doing the arms wrong all these years...so turn up your speakers so i can't hear you laughing at me!!

inspired by The Nester

2009-02-15T06:56:00.001-08:00

i have been on the lookout for some kitchen curtains for a few months, with no luck. i have looked in stores and online. so i went to one of my favorite design blogs, the Nesting Place. i love her philosophy, especially "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful". amen sister! seeing what she has done made me realize i should probably just make the dang curtains.

anyone who knows me knows that i am not a seamstress. in fact, i use my sewing machine mainly for scrapbooking and card making. i have had multiple opportunities for learning from expert seamstresses, such as my mom and grammas. i just avoid it for the most part. maybe i never needed to learn because i had such wonderful ladies to sew for me.

if i need to, i can master the basics, which i did yesterday! what i really wanted was a turquoise and cinnamon toile...which was a no go unless i wanted to spend $$$$ a yard. i did find some material i liked that has the blues and the ivory tones of my kitchen trim. (remembering it doesn't have to be perfect...)

and here's what i came up with:

check out the matching pattern all the way across! and a ruffle on top! just to show that i picked up a few tips, i pre-washed and ironed the fabric AND measured and used pins (a little!). they certainly won't pass an up-close inspection, but i am really happy with how they turned out!

"there is a crack in everything..."

2009-02-14T07:36:00.001-08:00

i saw this quote recently, and it really captured my imagination. i have a soft spot for well-used, repaired, and worn things, and this is what came to mind when i read Leonard Cohen's quote. in its entirety: "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." isn't that a cool way to look at life? it inspired my Project Fifty-Two for this week.

here is a close up with the acrylic bluebird:

i stamped the back of it with staz-on and then glimmer misted and glittered the front. i was inspired by Shelley and how she rocks the acrylic!

i'd love to hear your favorite quote - what inspires you?

horses, a goat and creek stomping

2009-02-10T11:43:00.001-08:00

now that i have your attention, here are some recent pages!

this is Slim and Pete in the spring, with their winter coats still on. i pop-dotted some of the tree, but it doesn't show up much in the photo.

this is Billy Valentine at one day old. we fed him with an eye dropper for the first few days. i played with dimensional paint on this, and it definitely takes a steady hand, which i don't have mastered yet!

this page is about where we went creek stomping at girl scout camp. the photo shows the old mill, it was all weathered and worn, very cool. the girls had a blast playing in the waterfall!

thanks for stopping by!

scrapping with Miss M

2009-02-09T19:02:00.001-08:00

i got to scrap with my niece on sunday! we had a good time, and she made an album out of old book covers. she has a nice eye for color and design and she got her album put together within a couple of hours. we bound it with rings so she can add pages anytime she wants. i didn't get any photos of her cool new album, but i did get a pic of our hands. it seems that we are both messy scrappers:)

Chris' Crop @ Scrappin for Keeps

2009-02-04T16:36:00.001-08:00

so Chris won a free crop and she scheduled it for last saturday in eldridge. i had a little trouble finding the store, but once i got there it was awesome! the first thing i did was wander around - i haven't been in a lss since Reminisce closed, and i missed it. just to see the rainbow of bazzill made me happy.

there were ten of us, and the crop area was nice and open. it was fun to catch up with everybody. the gals who work there seem almost like old friends, it's like we speak the same language. they had lots of snacks and drinks for us and really made us feel at home - thanks ladies! in between eating, browsing, and chatting, i did actually get some pages done!

i was glad to find Graphic 45 papers, since i have used all of mine. i even found two pieces of Cosmo Cricket wanted collection, which has to be my most favorite papers ever!!!

here's most of the pages (sorry about the flash):

this paper from WE-R did most of the layout for me:)

this one says "watch out!"

and this is sweet Maeve

scrapbooking rocks!

staying warm in my scrap space

2009-01-30T18:48:00.001-08:00

it has been so crazy cold around here! although we did have a couple of days where it warmed up - one day it was -25 degrees, and the next day it was 25 degrees. it warmed up 50 degrees! but it's mostly been really really cold. it's been toasty in the house though, so i made some pages.

i thought this would be a fun pic - she's got her boots on with her fancy dress!

i did this page for the "embrace" prompt at OLW, but didn't get it uploaded in time. the funniest thing is that i left the "b" out of embrace!

this is a pic Kathleen took at Linda Kay's. i just love the sun peeking through the trees.

and last, but definitely not least, here is baby lena. her little collar just hangs from her neck - she was so teeny:)

so that's how i've been keeping warm, what about you?

Sweet Tooth Scrapbooking Rocks!

2009-01-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

if you haven't checked out this site yet, you're missing out!http://www.sweettoothscrapbooking.com/ . Shelly and Cindy came up with a great idea - they design and create scrapbook layouts and cards, and package it all together with all the measuring and cutting done for you! how clever is that? when you find some time to create, you can get right to the fun part - putting everything together!

Shelly likes to find special pieces for her cards on etsy, and i am so flattered that they chose some lil owls i stamped for one of their cards. they use the latest and greatest products with their original and unique designs. you really should check them out - you'll be glad you did!

project fifty-two and 52Q

2009-01-14T18:54:00.001-08:00

it seems like everyone is talking about documenting 2009 in creative ways. there are numerous versions of "365" projects and challenges, which call for making something or taking a photo every day. some people make daily artist trading cards, which are also cool. but i'm pretty sure i wouldn't keep up with anything every day.

i could come up with my own idea, but why re-invent the wheel when there are already so many cool ideas out there? there are options that are less frequent, but will still give a glimpse of 2009 at the end of the year. the first one i chose is project fifty-two. it's on a weekly basis, and is open to all kinds of projects with any medium you like, such as quilting or painting, not just scrapbooking. here's my first project fifty-two:

52Q is also on a weekly basis; Emily asks a question and you provide your answer in whatever format you like. she is doing her questions and answers on tags, and since i have a ton of shipping tags, i'm using tags too. here's the cover and inside cover for 52Q:

each of these projects seem flexible and fun, so i'm in!

what projects are you doing this year?

the new year

2009-01-05T20:21:00.001-08:00

it's that time of year when lots of people are talking about goals, resolutions, and fresh starts. the thought of resolutions makes me weary - just the word itself i think. goals feel too formal. fresh starts is a better phrase, more hopeful maybe. if you are a scrapbooker, you may have heard of Ali Edwards and her one little word project . she encourages people to choose a word to focus on throughout the year. it's a totally awesome idea, and very low stress. one of my favorite challenge blogs is a spin off of Ali's idea, and it's appropriately named one little word. their first prompt of the new year is start. here's mine:

it says start as you mean to go on. i had fun making the edges look like they were sooty and old.

so my word for this year is listen. here's what it looks like to me right now :

the circles are really old poker chips, they feel like they are made of thick chipboard. the rub-ons are from Jenni Bowlin Studio, and they spell out listen.

prior to the new year, we had fun with our friends on Christmas Eve. we ate ourselves silly, decorated Aunt Chick's Christmas Cookies, opened presents from Santa, and played chicken foot with dominoes til the wee morning hours. i had to get a photo of the ebola virus cookie!

then on the 28th we had a birthday lunch because someone has decided that it is now a tradition. we chose the weekend so the whole family could come. they did, but the only problem is that it is hard to get 17 seats all together at the same time in a small diner! the hamburg inn is a small slice of history with the best food! the staff is awesome too.

yep, i really saved all those letters from other projects! it was fun to make a randomly lettered title.

so have you chosen a word for your year?leave me a comment and let me know!

creative bliss

2008-12-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

check it out: my article is up on creative bliss!

and if you're visiting from blissfully domestic, welcome! have a look around and say hey so i can come visit your blog!

Balzer Designs

2008-12-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

one of my very favorite blogs is http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/. she is an amazing artist and creates using lots of different media. she never fails to inspire me, and i am beyond flattered that she put a link on her blog to one of my ideas - she likes my acrylic stamp storage! so go check out her blog - i bet you'll read back through her posts. :)

Fabulous Challenge Blog

2008-12-11T17:29:00.001-08:00

i have to tell you about a fabulous new-ish scrap challenge blog, work your soul. it is really cool, and so are Jen and Kim. i've only met Jen in real life since Kim lives in the UK! they come up with such original challenges and are both so talented.

and, i am so honored that they asked me for a prize for their current challenge! it's a lil book i made. so go visit, do the challenge and maybe you will win!!!

what i've been up to

2008-12-08T14:32:00.001-08:00

i think i went shopping on black friday once, years ago. it really wasn't all that much fun, so i haven't gone back - which was especially convenient this year since Kate had invited me to a scrapapalooza for saturday! i needed friday to get stuff ready. it seemed like i packed up all my stuff, but apparently i hadn't. i was on my way there and realized i had forgotten photos, so had to turn back.

we had supplies all over - take a look:

it was so much fun to scrap together. add some good food, fresh-baked cookies, caffeine, and we were set. here's a couple of pages i made. okay, i only made two pages, but i did do other things too. like sew a book. and other stuff...i think.

you can't really tell, but i sewed a bunch of circles on here for added texture. here, maybe you can see it here:

here's a page where i went a little nutty with the gold:

here's a close look:

for some reason i didn't photograph either one really well - maybe because there is only daylight here for about 10 minutes these days.

i am sending off a couple of atc swaps and have a third one in the works. here's the "thankful" one:

and here's the "reduce, reuse, recycle" one:

the swap i'm working on is for the theme "Dr. Seuss" and i can't wait to see how they come out!

what have you been up to?

511 jars in 3 hours

2008-11-23T15:01:00.001-08:00

last weekend our 4H group met to assemble jar mixes. the members had taken orders for 5 kinds of cookies and 3 soups. 511 orders. it took lots of organizing, shopping, and cooperation. then came the setting up and assembling. it was pretty cool to watch. the jars started out like this:

then with lots of this:

and plenty of this:

and this:

they came up with these:

and here is what about half of them looked like:

pretty awesome.

Acrylic Stamp Storage

2008-11-19T17:19:00.001-08:00

i have tried several ways of storing my acrylic stamps. i've tried leaving them in their original packages, but different manufacturers have different packaging, so that was a bit messy. then i tried taking them out of the original packages and putting them all together in a tupperware container, but i kept forgetting to look through them. then i tried them in notebooks on transparencies, but that was cumbersome.

i should tell you that i love to treasure hunt for cool old stuff. one of my favorite places to go is the Habitat ReStore. the last time i was there i found this amazing old 8-pane window. the paint was chipping off which made it even more awesome. so i brought it home, not sure what i was going to do with it.

i had an aha! moment last week and i decided to use it to store my acrylic stamps! it is so perfect! i love being able to see what i have at a glance, and they stay stuck perfectly.

(sorry about the glare of the flash, but it gets dark so early and i had to take the photo inside.)

how do you store your acrylic stamps?

show and tell

2008-11-16T19:52:00.001-08:00

after i saw Brandy's atc holder that she made herself, i wanted to try it too. i really liked how she attached the cards because it didn't detract from them at all. my other system, the 7Gypsies holder required punching two spots out and i hate to mess up any of the artists' work. with Brandy's system, you just punch a small hole and then snip with your scissors.

so i got a lamp at the thrift store, a threaded rod and some washers at the hardware store, and came up with this:

and i have room for lots more swaps, which is a good thing because i'm in two more right now!

i recently made a mini album using the front and back covers of an old hard back book, and was left with the inside pages. i remember seeing a cool project that gigi made. (she always inspires me!) so i lifted her idea and came up with this:

it was supposed to be a lil hostess gift for Linda, but since we postponed the dinner, i'll probably just give it to her the next time i see her. the names are of everybody in her family.

what have you been up to lately?

Polling Place Photo Project

2008-11-04T16:35:00.001-08:00

how's that for an alliterative title?! The NY Times has a cool project on their web site. their goal is to have a photo of every polling place in the US. i uploaded some photos i took this morning, and i feel like my voice was heard twice!

although i have to tell you, bringing your camera into a polling place causes a bit of panic. the lady in charge at the town hall asked me to step aside and we went over the instructions regarding the media. i told her that i wouldn't take pictures of any people, that i just wanted to document my experience and was inspired by the photo project. so it was all good.

here's what it looked like for me:

and i proudly wore my sticker all day!

did you take any photos?

living life twice in des moines

2008-11-03T22:31:00.001-08:00

saturday i went to des moines to meet up with some awesome scrappers. it was great to see Brandy and Jen again, and i got to meet Tonya, Jen Renee, and Erin. we put our tables together and even though we didn't win a table prize, we had a great time scrapping the day (and night) away.

i also got to see Becca for a visit to Archiver's and the Cheesecake Factory. i had a little slice of heaven called pumpkin pecan and Becca had the 30th anniversary special. delicious, although i'm surprised i didn't lapse into a sugar coma. must have been the pecans that saved me:)

here's one of the pages i made. it's about my dd, who recently learned about panty hose.

this page doesn't have a title. Jen and Erin assured me it didn't have to have one. thanks, ladies! it's always nice to have another opinion or two.

the edge distresser from CTMH was the best find of the day. i highly recommend it.

you might think that after 15 hours of scrapping i wouldn't scrap for awhile. well, you would be wrong! last night i had fun making some cards.

a fun one with stickles and watercolors:

a stitched one for a challenge at scrap your crap:

with a bit on the inside:

and a simple one using a Jenni Bowlin stamp:

what have you been up to?

multi-photo pages with the Epson PictureMate

2008-10-29T06:42:00.001-07:00

last week i taught another class at the senior center. the focus was on how to get several photos on a page. even though i love to make pages that showcase one favorite photo, most of the time there are several photos that i want to include. sometimes i will just make a mini album which is another fun option.

so my solution is usually to use smaller size photos. this is super easy to do with the Epson PictureMate printer. it is so handy and the photos are every bit as good as the ones from a lab. a bonus for me is that i can just print out photos i need for a page as i go along. this is ideal if you don't pre-plan your pages. i love that i can print about 5 different sized photos all within a 4 x 6 template.

this page uses the smallest and largest sizes of photos. i also like that i can crop the little photos and leave a white edge on them. 4 of these little photos print out on a single sheet.

the small photos on this page are the smaller wallets, and they print two to a page. you can also print two wallets that take up the whole 4 x 6 template, but then you don't get the white edge.

i would love to know how you print your photos - do you print at home or send them to a lab, or a little of both?

4H Sunday

2008-10-27T19:15:00.001-07:00

yesterday was devoted mainly to 4H. in the afternoon we had the year-end horse awards banquet. this is sponsored by the club that hosts the shows during the summer. they provide pizza, pop, and cake, all you have to bring is a door prize. people bring everything from candles to horse treats to baked goods. i contributed a horse-themed mini album. i would show you photos but i forgot to take any! it had lots of machine stitching, pink cowgirl papers, ribbons, and 4H clovers.

4H'ers that had perfect attendance at all the horse shows always get a cool gift. one year it was belt buckles, last year it was embroidered camp chairs, and this year they got nice thick sweatshirts with the clover logo embroidered on the front and the name and date on the back. the big prize every year is the best horse project award. it comes with a huge traveling trophy that the winner gets to keep for a year with their name engraved on it. my girl compiled her portfolio and submitted it for consideration this year. so it was finally the day to find out if she had won.

the entries require detailed records of feeding, care, riding, vet visits, and costs for the entire year. (yeah, we won't dwell on that total. it does bring to mind the adage about how to make a fortune in the horse business. start with two fortunes. heh.) other parts of the entry include a summary of the year's events, including examples of citizenship and leadership within the horse project area. of course i was hoping that she would win, but you never know who else submitted an entry and what their project included.

she did win, and i got a photo with one of the family members who initiated the award. we had to clear off a few things on the table at home for it to fit - it's big! we didn't mind, though.

the banquet is also a fun time because we get to see friends that we usually only see at the shows. so we stayed to help clean up after and visit awhile. then it was home to make two dishes to bring to family night for our club that evening.

i can manage in the kitchen, but i would usually rather be scrapping, organizing my scrap space, or thinking about scrapping! so i knew what i was going to fix, and even had gone to the store to get two of the items ahead of time. one of the dishes i was going to make got vetoed, so i had to come up with something quickly. the thing about going to 4H potlucks is that you cannot bring something from the store. i mean, these are people who usually raise the food, fix it, and bring it in amounts that insure nobody ever goes hungry. so to just pop into the store to pick up something at the last minute is totally lame. this is just a tiny bit stressful if you are someone like me who doesn't raise the food i am going to bring. i did have 3 homegrown tomatoes left (i guess i did raise part of what i brought!), and the fixings for taco dip, so that's what i did. whew.

the first thing i made was cherry cream cheese tarts. the picture is small on account of they don't exactly look like a magazine photo. but they disappeared fairly quickly, so i consider that a success.

and here's the taco dip. yes, i did get the chips at the store, but i figure the homegrown delicious mouth-watering perfectly ripe tomatoes offset the store-bought chips. oh, and next time, i need to remember a serving utensil for the taco dip. maybe by the time my girl graduates from 4H i'll have it down. maybe.

my happy space

2008-10-12T09:50:00.001-07:00

awhile back i ran across a blog post that showed some scrap spaces. of course i don't remember what blog it was on. i love looking at scrap spaces, almost as much as i love looking at before and after photos. one of the gals asked me to show my space, and i have hesitated, waiting to get it cleaned up before i took photos.

my home is one of those that is lived in as opposed to one that looks like a feature in a magazine, so i decided it would be okay to just capture my scrap space as it usually is.

i just changed some of the layouts in my frames last night. i also changed around the frames themselves, which is why there is a hammer on my desk. :)

when i'm working on a project, i usually end up with about 6 inches of space right in front of me.

can you tell i need to see what i have so i don't forget i have it? anyone wanna link me up to your space? anyone?

bueller?

salt challenge

2008-10-11T16:46:00.001-07:00

i made this page for a challenge at the salt blog. the prompt was the word rest. one of my favorite hymns is "Be Not Afraid". there is a line in the chorus that talks about rest, so i decided to use the lyrics for my page.

the song reminds me of my Great Aunt Ann, and she is on the right in the photo. on the left is her sister, Winnie. the photo was taken in their kitchen. (in front of the deep freeze with the International Harvest logo on it. who knew they made deep freezes?) they are "dressed up", so i bet we were on our way uptown to the cafe to eat.

this photo is a good reminder to me to not always crop my photos too closely. it's fun to be able to see how the area in the background looked and have it jog my memory. i love how they have the toaster covered with a little towel.

instead of using my little x to adhere the letters, this time i used a Tombow glue pen. it worked really well, and the letters stuck right away. now i just need to remember where i got it. thanks for visiting!

estrogen fest

2008-10-10T19:00:00.001-07:00

my life has been enriched in many ways since we first started boarding with New Horizons Equine Services. one of my favorites has been the inclusion in estrogen fest. it occurs on a semi-regular basis, typically involves just us gals (although Hal, Keith, and Bob have attended, with specific instructions), and includes a few routine events:

riding. weather permitting, we ride on the trails as long as the daylight holds out.
food. we all need sustenance, right? i highly recommend Linda's white chili. and carrot cake.
chat. topics include:

where to get the best hay
whether there is a new episode of ER or if it's a rerun
which jackets to order with the NHES logo on them
the care and tending of teenagers

laughter.

the most recent estrogen fest was uniquely symmetrical. Linda K and Linda S were both there, and the new Angela and me, the regular Angela. what are the odds? la la.

this is as good a time as any to insert a layout featuring a photo from NHES, don'cha think? i scraped the background of the picture away again. i love the texture and the focus it brings to the horses. these two are just so adorable. they stand next to each other and look so cozy together. the girls tease that they are boyfriend and girlfriend.

here's the full page:

and here's the back, where i used Becca's trick with the base cardstock. i only had the one sheet, and i wanted to also use it as a frame around the photo, so i cut a big chunk of it out! i'm sure Becca does it more neatly than i did, but hey, it's not bad for my first try!

oh one more thing. Jessica Sprague is offering a free class! go to her blog on the 20th of october to register. it sounds awesome!

thanks for visiting!

on my mind

2008-10-08T15:08:00.001-07:00

last night my friend Lucinda and i got together to scrap. first we had some slow cooker chili and salad, which really hit the spot. i wish i had more room to scrap in, but i guess that's a trade-off from having less house to clean! i do have a fabulous partner desk, so we sat on either side and just made do with the space. it actually worked pretty well, come to think of it.

we used to get together with some other friends and faithbook, but we haven't been able to get everyone together for months. so the two of us talked and scrapped and had a lovely time of it. we were talking about seeking, and i was inspired to create this page.

the photo isn't the best i've ever taken, but you get the general idea. the black letters say, "on my mind lately". what's been on your mind?

practically perfect weekend

2008-10-06T16:07:00.001-07:00

we had a weekend full of outside fun just in time to enjoy the fabulous fall weather. i went riding with a new Angela (Hal asked if i would remember her name!), and had a great time. Sundance was pretty well-behaved, although he acts like he hasn't eaten in weeks. but i know better.

the girls played their last two fall softball games. i wasn't sure that they would even play because we woke up sunday morning to some fierce rain and thunder. it cleared up here and didn't even rain there, so we were good to go. it's fun to watch the girls when i'm not sweating to death. :)

we also had our annual 4H hayrack ride and cook out. each of the members can bring a guest, so there are always a ton of kids. they definitely needed both tractors and hayracks. there's just something about hot dogs and brats cooked over a camp fire that makes them taste good. believe it or not, i even had a brat - they were turkey brats, and not too bad after i burned it and smothered it with mustard! here's some pictures of the gorgeous farm:

it's fun to see everyone.

i was super lucky and got a rak (random act of kindness) from one of the lead fiskateers, Kelly Jo. she sent me Cloud 9's entire outdoor line! i could hardly believe it - it is so gorgeous and i know i'm gonna use it on a ton of stuff. the first page i made with it uses one of my all-time favorite photos.

i'll be sure to share more later! thanks for stopping by:)

homecoming and the creative type

2008-09-30T15:10:00.001-07:00

last week was homecoming and the high school here has lots more fun with it than my high school did, way back when! they have spirit contests, dress like a character day, pajama day, and powder puff football games. each class tries to get the most points and then they get bragging rights for the year. it seems like way more fun than what we did.

i also found another challenge blog that looks like fun. it's fairly new, and it's called the creative type. the prompt was to use a quote as the background. here's how i interpreted it:

the quote is by barbara sher, and it is: "you don't need endless time and perfect conditions. do it now. do it today. do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating." this is especially helpful when i only have a small amount of time to do something, and need a little nudge to get going.

it's such a gorgeous fall day here that i need to go enjoy some of it! thanks for visiting:)

scrap challenges

2008-09-26T07:20:00.001-07:00

there are some awesome challenge blogs that i like to visit. lately i have had both the inspiration and the time to participate in some of my favorites, and even try a couple of new ones.

one little word, or OLW, is fun because they pick a word, and you can interpret it however - there aren't any limitations on size or materials. the current word is change, and here's what i came up with:

i used the lyrics from "landslide" for my title.

this one is for a sketch challenge at SIStv. Gretchen, one of the fashionistas, put up a sketch for inspiration, and i followed it pretty closely. i haven't ever really used sketches as a starting point, but some people say it's super helpful. so i gave it a whirl, using one of my all-time favorite photos:

the third challenge i did is a new one for me, it's a site called scrapping the music, and they choose a song for their prompt. this time the song is forever young by rod stewart. i thought this picture of my nephew Danny was perfect. i blurred my face on purpose to highlight him. the photo is from his first halloween, where we dressed him up as a smurf:

what challenge blogs do you like?

btw, i am loving live writer! you should try it!

feeling a little Martha-ish

2008-09-25T09:56:00.001-07:00

i have some beautiful autumn joy sedums in my yard that were just begging to be showcased, so i obliged. i put them in some old jars and tied some ribbons around them. having a scrapbook stash comes in handy! it made me feel just a little Martha-ish.

on a scale of 1-10, i'd say about a 4. what do you think? they are on my front porch on my old table.

i've been reading good things about windows live writer, a free download that you use to compose your blog posts. so i have high hopes that i can now put my photos exactly where i want them without cutting and pasting.

i thought i'd show you some of the other cards and tags we made at my class last week, so here you go:

which one do you like best?

thanks for stopping by!

plenty to say

2008-09-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

one of the reasons i was hesitant to start a blog is that i wasn't sure what i would write about. well, that really hasn't been a problem. so far, at least.

so i'm trying to decide whether i should tell you about the handmade cards and tags class i taught last week, the marathon crop and sweet tooth kit club, the marching band performance at the football game friday night, the pages i made this weekend, the fun and games going on with the fiskateers, or the softball game today. hmmm.

since i like to include photos with my posts, i'll choose the topics i have the best photos of. more than one topic per post? sure, why not?!

my class was at the senior center, and we had a good time. the ladies were all friendly and seemed to enjoy making everything. since i'm not teaching at the scrapbook store i have to plan carefully and double-check that i have everything we might need. there's no teacher's closet to check or store up front to get what i have forgotten. this time i forgot 3 small silver brads. it didn't make a huge difference in the project, but i noticed it. i need to channel my friend Shelly m. she is the most organized scrap teacher i know and i bet she would have remembered the small silver brads!

here's a peek at what we made:

i named this one "Connie's favorite card"

i really like this one.

my friends Shelly and Cindy have started a new venture, "sweet tooth scrapbooking". you can visit them here: http://www.sweettoothscrapbooking.com be sure to click on crop registrations to find all about the fantastic marathon crop coming in october. it will be 29 straight hours of scrapping - can you last that long??!!!

i have to include a couple pics from the marching band last friday night. the weather was so perfect and they sounded and looked amazing! their theme this year is "guitar hero". such great songs!

here's the drum line:

and, just because i like to take random photos, here's a random shot:

i've changed the comments so you can post without setting up an account, so talk to me!

happy mail day!

2008-09-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

yesterday i got the SIStv august ATC swap back in the mail! they were all so fantastic, i am so happy! the theme was music. (ATCs are artist trading cards, and everyone that signs up for a certain swap makes an original artwork the size of a playing card. you make enough for each person to have one, and then send them all off to the host. once everyone has sent theirs in, you get a set back with one from each person.) Stacey was the host for this one, and she does a fantastic job!

i have an ATC holder that i put mine on so i can see them easily, they are great when you need a bit of inspiration. i got art from california, tennessee, illinois, and australia - how awesome is that?!

here's a pic of them all together:

and to make this my longest post ever, here they are individually so you can appreciate each one:

can you guess which one i made?

the good, the bad, and the pages

2008-09-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

last night i took tickets for the fresh-soph football game, and then helped out in the food stand. it was the first game for me this season, and i like being out in the fall weather and seeing people i haven't seen all summer. that was the good part.

the bad part came when one of the other team's players went down and didn't get back up on his own. eventually air care was called and everyone cleared the field so that the helicopter could land right about on the 30-yard line. i am really glad we have such a fast way to get to the hospital, i just wish we didn't need it. i hope that young man is okay.

i put together a couple of new pages, inspired by the september scarlet lime. as usual, it is fabulous and inspiring. i love the bg boxer line (it didn't come with the sl) and thought the colors were perfect for these pics, but it needed just a bit of gesso.

on this one i had fun with the title.

which one do you like best?

treasure hunting

2008-09-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

yesterday i stopped in at one of my favorite places, the Habitat Restore. (they are usually located in cities that have Habitat for Humanity chapters, and they sell construction and building supplies.) it's fun because you never know what you're gonna find, and the money they make helps more people get affordable housing, so everybody's happy.

they had the most amazing built-in antique bookcases, in many pieces. it would be fabulous for somebody who had an old house AND the space, and since i only have one of those, i left them there. it didn't look like it had ever been painted, and was made out of gorgeous old pine boards.

so what did i find? they were having a one-cent sale! stuff inside the tent was all only one cent. so i found about a nickel's worth of treasures, my favorite so far being the little towel drying rack. my kitchen dates from about the 1950's or so, and it is the perfect vintage-y addition. here's a couple pics:

just totally perfect.

i also made a mini album for my etsy shop. i was inspired by the bird print that Shelly and i found last weekend at sister's garden. it's the one of the bird on the front. i used 4' x 6" file dividers for the "bones" and filled in with lots of pages that i created pretty edges on. here's a peek:

won't it be just perfect for a lil journal to carry around?

thanks for visiting!

scrappy weekend

2008-09-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

so last weekend was full of scrap goodness. Kate, Becca, and i scrapped at my house til the wee hours - Becca was the last scrapper standing! (well, sitting, but last scrapper sitting just doesn't have the same ring to it.)

then on saturday morning Shelly M and i took a road trip to sisters garden. it was a fantastic fall day and we ooh-ed and aah-ed all through both houses. they have most every flavor of handmade soap imaginable, and i had a hard time deciding which one was my favorite. i decided on "fresh linen" and it smells so good i may not be able to use it!their displays of antiques, vintage, and ephemera are so striking and original. it's like taking your eyes to a feast, just absolutely wonderful.

Kate and Becca and i got together again saturday night and only scrapped for about 5 hours. we did a round robin with a layout, where you work on a page for 20 minutes and then pass it to the next person. we kept going around til the layout got back to the original person, and we ended up with a page that had everyone's touches on it. pretty cool. 20 minutes goes really fast too!

here's a page i did about the sisters garden road trip. since i didn't take my camera, i just used the bags, receipts, etc. i had fun with it.

thanks for stopping by!

what a gorgeous day!

2008-08-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

the weather is just about perfect today - warmish with a light breeze. just perfect for having the windows open and the ceiling fans twirling slowly.and being in the middle of a 3-day weekend just makes it feel that much more lazy and delightful.

i, however, have not been too lazy! i have some recent pages and a lil mini book.

wanna see?

ok, twist my arm.

this is a page i did at Deb's get-together last week:

the photos are from last year, but i used some new Scarlet Lime goodness.

i had fun scraping away the distracting background in these photos with an old pair of scissors. it really draws my eye right to the photo, and it gives it a cool texture too.

and here is the mini i made of my girl helping the vet last spring. i took a bookbinding class online recently and i am excited to use the techniques. this one is a Japanese stab binding, and it was pretty easy. although i'm not sure i did it correctly.

i played with gesso, some old dictionary pages, and my new favorite Fiskars punch, "mint condition".

enjoy:)

joining in

2008-08-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

i've been checking out blogs for a long time and recently started google reader. it seems like people have fun blogging, and i'm all for having fun, so here goes.

last night my friend Kate and i had plans to scrap here in town at the church, but the doors were locked when we got there, so maybe i got the date wrong. no problem, we just came back here and scrapped. we got a grand total of one page done in six hours. we collaborated on it and that always takes more time, right? it is a fabulous page.

we took a few tiny breaks to:

1. laugh so hard we cried
2. talk to Becca on the phone
3. watch you tubes
4. solve world problems

which is what many scrappers do when they get together. i mean, it's almost a rule.

i've noticed that i really like blogs that have photos, so i'll leave off with a photo from my yard.