April 5, 2011
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things on my table
I am sure you have been expecting pictures of my new kitchen but it has been really hectic here. Not only is there still much to be done with it, but Boy also has moved his company to a new location so that has taken a higher priority of our time. I will leave you with this tease though:
I also began scrapping again since I recovered my craft room. I posted all the pages I have made in my personal book, but I have yet to show you my Peru scrapbook. I started it shortly after my return in 2007, and school got crazy so I never finished. This is a shot of me trying to work out the layouts for the day trip to the national museum in Lima:
I also need to get in gear if I want to participate for the Sew Mama Sew giveaway, hopefully coming up in May. I’ve had so many ideas for covers but it is time to start working them through. This isn’t intended to become a cover, more like an idea board of options while I work through the problems and creative process and await my nice wool felt shipment. (I just may have purchased the dream bundle at WoolFeltCentral, ooo la la!)
And have you ever heard of 31bits? Apparently there are a few companies out there doing something similar but I must say this one rocks – anthropology for the win! One of the founders is a cultural anthropologist who saw these Ugandan women, having survived and been displaced from the civil wars, making paper beads and jewelry but with little market in which to sell. 31bits was developed as a way to give them a client base and therefore a way support themselves and their families. Unlike other “parties” out there, this one is neat and simple – you get a box of goods, you sell what’s in the box directly to your friends, and you ship back what didn’t sell. No overhead of shipping, waiting, or returns. No obligation to try to get to a certain price-point to get discounts. Just an honest transfer from their hands to yours. I’m not much of a jewelry gal but Boy felt the urge to buy me this bracelet:
(Oh, that background? Well, one day I must tell you of the gorgeous quilting my Aunt Sandy does – in fact if she is reading this, she should really consider having a website to show case her work!)
March 22, 2011
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Scrap: Chicago
My brother and his friend Jessica visited me once upon a time in 2004. They wanted to see Chicago and my brother had a great deal at the Crowne Plaza because at the time he was working at a sister hotel. Jessica was also able to pull some strings at some of the touristy places through her job as well. My brother really gets into the history of the places he visits so once again he proved to be the walk-your-feet-right-off-your-body tour guide.
Weekend vacations are so thrilling because, at least for me, I want to get my weekend’s worth! I like them busy and packed with goodness. That is how this trip was. I hadn’t ever been a tourist in Chicago – it was new to me. We saw Navy Pier, the Hancock Observatory, and the Shedd Aquarium (even a dolphin show!). We also saw a lot of historic buildings and bro told all.
This layout used the rope trick again for the brochures, some coins from tourist machines, tickets, hotel key (apparently that’s pretty standard for me…), my CTA transit card, some things cut from brochures, and the Chicago sign I bought at a scrapping store. You can see I’ve started to cram things onto my pages. This isn’t everyone’s taste, but I have been drawn to scrapbooks since seeing really old ones where the eye never stops traveling. Loaded with information, photos, and memories.
March 21, 2011
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Scrap: Vegas region
Like the Puerto Rico spread, you may also have seen some of these photos since they also were recently posted. Boy’s family went to celebrate my sis-in-law’s 21st birthday. We were there for a long weekend – the first day or so was spent doing the Vegas thing. We also saw Cirque du Soleil which amazed us.
I used loud colors with a hint of gaudiness because, well, to be frank, that is how I feel about Vegas. We flew on Hooters Air, which gave us these little box lunches that had “Fun” and “Fly” cut out on them so I utilized them on my page. A Margaritaville napkin. Hotel room key and business card. Boarding passes. Maps, brochures, tickets. I bought some gambling stickers and whatnot to spruce it up.
Then Boy and I spent a lot of time outside of the city. We saw the Hoover Dam, the Valley of Fire, and drove around sight-seeing. On this page I got creative with using string through grommets so that the map could be pulled out later. I also got a little more creative with the matting. And yes, those are palm tree swizzle sticks. Think outside the box when you scrap, it is amazing what will work!
March 20, 2011
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Scrap: Puerto Rico
My most favorite thing to scrap is travel. Loading the pages with mementos and such really stir the memories associated with them, and you can pick up so many things to use! Plus, they are great for showing others your vacations instead of just photo after photo after photo.
You may have already seen some photos from this trip which I recently posted. In 2004, we went with our friend Jesse to San Juan, Puerto Rico over Halloween weekend. School must have gotten pretty busy because I still have a packet of things to scrap for this trip.
(I have these 9×18 inch envelopes which I take on my travels, collecting all kinds of things to scrap with. It is an awesome idea because then when I get home, I label the envelope(s) and set it aside until I can get to it. It keeps all my things organized and easily stashed away. Try it for yourself, it will amaze you, the simplicity of the idea!)
This spread tells the story of our arrival and plans to see Old San Juan and Camuy Caverns. It also showcases our Bicardi trip. I used a map, a postcard, the timeshare business card and room key, our boarding passes for the airline, and lots of things cut from brochures to spice it up. I also got crazy with cutting our photos. I bought one die-cut (“Our Vacation”) and used some puffy tape squares to make some things pop off the page (unfortunately, this is kinda lost in the photo).
March 19, 2011
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Scrap: sumo party
This is one of my least favorite layouts and I even used *construction paper*. I know, right? It’s probably acidic and all that, but it’s part and parcel to learning a craft. Mess-ups will happen and I’m curious to see how it will play out over the years so I’ll let it be. In a day and age where all my photos are stored electronically, the fear of losing them to yellowing and such is not mission critical, but maybe that’s just me. I do have a Krylon spray called ” Make It Acid-Free!” which I will use on any new pages I make – that will be really helpful since now I like to stuff all kinds of brochures and maps on my pages.
Anyway, I put together a surprise party for Boy’s 22nd birthday. I rented Sumo Wrestling suits so we could have hilarious wrestling matches and bought a giant gong from Pier 1. It was a beautiful day and I tricked him completely by having two friends play along (we were “dropping Bob off to a family reunion at the park”). I invited lots of people that he hadn’t seen in long time and had plenty of food available (I even made a sheep cake for fun!). Boy’s friend Doug did all the grilling for us. Several people wrestled more than once but to be honest, wearing the suit for one round was enough of a workout for me! I mean, just getting up off the mat was a chore – those suckers are heavy!
Boy had some Japanese fans which I used as a background also. This spread is pretty basic – no mementos except the party flyer, and some photos. Once upon a time, I knew some Japanese, but I couldn’t tell you what is written now. Any ideas?
March 18, 2011
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Scrap: Mazda Rev It Up
I’ve reclaimed most of my house (and all of my craftroom!) from the kitchen remodel so I thought I should finally post about my scrapbook adventures. When I scrap, I usually have four categories I use to create the layout: 1) paper and embellishments (stickers, tags, clips, etc); 2) photos (left as original, cropped for a certain shape or size, or cut as shape in photo); 3) mementos (receipts, napkins, etc); and 4) information (maps, brochures, etc).
This is one of the earliest page layouts I did. I started scrapping with wedding pages, but it turns out that marriages do not last in all cases so I won’t showcase any of those. But that’s ok, because since I started with them, most look really really awful, lol. They are still among my favorite type of pages to make though, but I digress.
In 2003, Mazda ran a program near here called Mazda Rev It Up. I tagged along with Boy and some friends. The main premise is that you not only get to test drive their cars, but you get to *race* their Mazda6. I was too chicken to do that though I did test drive a convertible for fun. The guys were awesome at racing – Boy scored 4th place at the location when all was said and done and nationally scored #128 in his class group. It was a really great time and if you hear of it in your area, do it! Lots of fun:)
In this layout, I used Boy’s Silver Medal certificate and pin, his credential badge, and our wrist tags as mementos. I used the Mazda6 brochure and Mazda Rev It Up booklet for information. I cut the cars out of the brochure, too, for more interest. The photos I included were the boys congratulating themselves on their wins, the scoreboard, boy racing in the yellow #8 car, me testing out the RSX (cut to “drive off the page”), and then also a computer printout with Boy’s scores.
March 9, 2009
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circa 2000, cont.
To continue my last posting…
Project D: Shell Frame
My best friend in highschool had invited me to go with her family to Costa Rica. My worldly tour would start there. I collected shells and sand, which is illegal probably to bring back to the States, but i was a kid at the time. At one of my sit-around-and-do-nothing-but-get-paid jobs, I created this frame out of cardboard. It was a fun experiement to make the shape fold how I needed it to and glue it all together. I gave it to my boyfriend as a gift with a photo of my trip in it.
January 15, 2009
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baby on the way
So I’ll be getting a pseudo-niece, as I like to call her (I’m not married into the family quite yet). I know I want to make her a killer blanket, and I’ve been tossing around the ideas of themes and possibilities and I think it will be a floor blanket, with detachable toys. She doesn’t have to use it but I think ill have a lot of fun making it, and as a family tradition of sorts, new babies always get blankets, so I thought I would continue that.
That’s not what this post is about though.
This post is about a small simple project I made for the shower. Since I’m helping with the necessities of that, I didn’t really want to buy anything but I did want to get something cool. This seemed like a good compromise.
It’s a Bo Bunny My Word Chipboard Album, reading “BABY”. I used mostly paper from Nana’s Nursery Paper Stack Baby Girl, by Die Cuts With A View.
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