Monday, June 30, 2008

Weekend Round-up

Some new frames for the shop.
I love making these. They are a bit time consuming, but still fun to make. On the left we have "The Sweet Family" frame, and on the right - "The Once Upon A Time" frame. I ordered this newly released SEI paper ("Dilly") with these in mind. I love the colors!





I've been trying to catch up on scrapbooking - as usual. I've been going to some crops with friends and have gotten some pages done at those. For the most part, the pages I do away from home are just so-so. I don't have the ability to walk away, and come back later. I don't have ALL of my stuff with me.....so they usually end of being pretty boring. And sometimes that's totally okay! My gosh, they can't ALL be winners. Sometimes, it really is just about "getting it in the book " - even for a scrapbooking control freak like me. Here are a couple of new pages that I really like though. I would love to finish scrapping Christmas this week. Nothing like Christmas in July!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

The Free Love Photo Album

I LOVE this paper by Tinkering Ink. I've been wanting to use it for something, and remembered that I had this never used, plain covered photo album. Perfect. I used a craft knife to cut out the floral design and then MP'd (modge podge'd) it on. I used a Lil' Davis embellishment ("memories") on the front and adhesive ribbon for the binding. Gorgeous, gorgeous paper. Hmmm...I'm seeing an issue with the ribbon. I'll have to go smooth that out a bit......

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall




Who is the owliest one of all?

This turned out pretty cute, I must say. I'll be giving the owls a rest now!


You know, I often buy scrapbook paper because I love it and have to have it. Then what happens is, it doesn't get used, because it's too girly for all of my boyish pages - and I'm not the type to make scrapbook pages about myself.

Making things other than pages has been a great way to use the girly parts of my scrapbooking stash! I like hanging out with flowers and things that are pink. Don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of green, red, navy blue, and stripes. But it's nice to go into my scrap room and work with things that are soft and lovely.....even if there is a farting contest happening right outside the door.






Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!


Two hands and a foot. It would have been nice to get three hands, but the baby wasn't having it. I put that paint on his chubby little hand, and he wouldn't hold it still for anything! Oh well - the only thing cuter than a little baby hand, is a little baby foot. This was a fun and simple project....thanks for the heads up to my friend Jodie and Redenvelope.com! They were selling a kit for $40 I think....I did this for under $20. I was looking for the perfect ribbon to hide the canvas staples and when I couldn't find one - I used this "measuring tape" ribbon which I think looks pretty cute. I toyed with embellishing them more, but decided to keep them really simple so that they wouldn't have to compete with one another. It's hard to embellish three separate pieces and hang them on the wall next to one another, without "junking up" the overall look. Anyway, they are now hanging in my hallway and look super cute. Easy, meaningful Father's Day Present! I'm sure my husband was much more pleased with these than he would have been with say a gift card for Home Depot. Right?..........right? :) Oh well. I like 'em.


It's been so crazy with the end of the school year, end of baseball season, Father's Day, etc. I have so many projects in my head and I can't wait to finally get back to "work!" The big boys have VBC camp this week so my mornings will be free if the baby naps. I'm hoping to make at least a couple of new things for my shop this week. My frames all sold....to say that I'm pleasantly surprised is an understatement!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Oh my gosh - I'm so totally flattered.

Someone bought my "Owl Always Love You" frame on Etsy today! I can't believe it! What a neat feeling to know that someone saw something I made and just had to have it. It's funny that of the three frames I made over the weekend, this was my least favorite - and the first to sell!
A very nice end to a TOTALLY crappy day....(but that's another story)........

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Something wonderful has happened

There is finally a dispenser for glue dots.

HALLELUJAH!!!

The One Picture Layout

I've noticed that there is a definite scrapbooking trend toward showcasing only one photo. Sometimes this just won't work for me. At least 50% of what I scrap is "event" type stuff which tends to yield LOTS of pictures: Birthday parties, trips to the zoo, this type of thing.
In my opinion, scrapping only one photo tends to make the experience more about the art and less about the day, the event, the record-keeping part of it. To be honest - I love that. I'm more about the process of scrapbooking....picking the colors....finding that perfect embellishment.....painting.....stitching...the therapeutic part of it all! It's a great way for me to get out of my head for awhile. Speaking of pages being more for the process - the Thanksgiving LO below is a good example. I love that paper. I love the fall colored flowers. And I wanted an excuse to use them! The picture isn't anything all that special - I don't even know where we were when I took it. I just know that it was around Thanksgiving because of the turkey bib. I wanted a Thanksgiving page for Jack's book. So there you go.

Sometimes I'll have one really great picture (like this one of Nick and the puppy), not a series, and I want to scrap it. For me, this is a pretty simple layout. But it was quick and painless - now I can get this great picture of my handsome son into the book.

More and more....I'm about the overall integrity of the page as opposed to cramming as many pictures in as I can. It all just depends.
It's fun to talk about scrapbooking like it's a very important and meaningful subject matter!

Family Tree Picture Frames

More dollar store finds. I'm telling you. You go in there for gift bags and windex and come out with so much more. Crayons. Chiclets. And these! "Naked" craft frames. So here's (above left) what they looked like when I bought them and here they are - looking much cuter I think.













"The orange never falls far from the tree" frame.
This one is my favorite - "Birds and Blossoms" frame.
This last one turned out a little kitschy - even for me. The "Owl Always Love You" frame. Love that saying though - I brazenly stole it from an adorable owl embroidered pillow I got recently - thanks Jodie!