pink nostalgia

throwback thursday: ode to Papa

So I think this is my favorite picture of me and my mom's dad, Papa.

 

Obviously, it was a very intriguing book.  I still make that same face when I'm concentrating.  I'm going to go ahead and credit this moment as the start of my GT career.

And WHAT?!?!  Bonus!!  A Throwback Thursday page!!

 
 
 
Supplies: Alphas: Heidi Swapp.  Pen: Sharpie.  Ink: Stazon.  Stickers: Making Memories.  Cardstock, staples, ribbon.

These are all of my favorite childhood Papa moments compiled onto one page.  Lots of room for the journaling because I wanted to emphasize the memories.  I chose to use only two photos, but you could string together a bunch of photos to show a progression.

I'm finding that Throwback Thursdays have a serious flaw.  They always make me want to hug my family, and they are never here on Thursdays.  : (

NNSTADLTBBB!

wait, what? you want me to go up those?

We took a family trip to Cameron Park this evening.  One of us navigated, one of us sang the books of the Bible songs, and one of us tried very hard not to bark at strangers. 

This is Jacob's ladder.  Let's just say I'm not a fan, mainly because each step comes up to my thigh.  The rest of the hike was fun, though.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And of course, a drink from the water fountain at the end, which is proof positive that you should never put your mouth on a public waterfountain.

Throw in a "big as yo' face" chicken burrito from Chuy's (seriously, that's what they're called) and the grocery store, and that was tonight, in a nutshell.  ("Help!  I'm trapped in a nutshell!"  Does anyone remember that?  I think it's Mike Meyers.)

I think that's all for now.  Adios, muchachos!

this is how lame I am.

So, as I was showering last night and waiting the obligatory 3-5 minutes for my new deep conditioner (which smells like cotton candy, incidentally), I noticed a plethora of tiny hairs on our shower wall.  Every time Dave cuts his hair, he leaves a trail of hair clippings in his wake.  I counted 50 of them before I had the following thoughts.

1. How do these tiny hairs get to the top of the shower wall?  I know he's tall, but still.  Do the ricochet off his head when the water hits it?  It doesn't seem like that lines up with the high school physics I've had.  Does he head bang in the shower?  Does he strategically place them there to drive me insane?  I know that possibly sounds insane, but I'm 92% certain that he does as least 5 other things on purpose to make me crazy.

2. It's time to clean the shower.

3. Is it ever too early to get a maid?

4. I gotta pocket gotta pocket full of sunshine, I gotta love and I know that it's all mine, oh.  Oh-oh-oh.  (It's still in my head from "Easy A" on Saturday.)

5. This would make a great blog entry!  Terrible scrapbook page, though.

6. This is how lame I am.

Here's hoping that your life is more exciting than mine, and if not, that you're one of those people who doesn't even notice the tiny hairs at the top of the shower and certainly doesn't start counting them.  : )

break me off a piece of that Fancy Feast!

Which has nothing to do with anything except I've been watching The Office, season 4, today.  Nailed it.  Nailed the joke.

This weekend has been weird but good.  Friday night, well, it wasn't even Friday night, I went to bed at 6:15 p.m (that's right, as soon as I got home from work) and didn't get up until 5 a.m. the next morning.  It may have had something to do with staying up late Thursday night/morning finishing a page for the store, but I doubt it.  ; )  Then I couldn't sleep last night.  Even so, this weekend has been pretty great. 

It started with a page:

 
 
 
Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill.  Patterned paper, chipboard alphas, brads, metal charm: 7 gypsies.  Punches: Fiskars.  Pen: Sharpie.  Thread, ribbon.   

I guess I'm still on my grid kick from the last page I did.  This is from the new Conservatory line.  Their papers have lots of different elements on them, so I did a lot of hand-cutting.  I rounded the corners of all of my squares to soften the page.  I machine-stitched some of the squares so that it would be more interesting.  I really love all of the type paper, script, old postcards, etc.

Then a movie and dinner and a movie.  : )  Easy A, Papa John's, and Killers.  I loved loved loved Easy A.  It's already on my Christmas list.  There is some language, but most of it is slang for, "Hmmm, what's the Catholic way of saying this?  A harlot?"  It's one of my many flaws.  Lady of the night slang cracks me up every time.  Getting back to the point, the movie was hilarious.  Emma Stone is lovable, intelligent, witty, and totally engaging.  I've been going over all of the one-liners in my head all weekend.

Dave went to Cameron Park and hiked with Barkley while I stayed home and scrapbooked.  Throw in a nap and more scrapbooking, and that was the weekend.  : )

Here's to a busy day tomorrow.

i'm thinking of a number between one and one million...

Lots on the docket today!

1. Apologies for the Throwback Thursday holiday.  We'll continue with our regularly scheduled program next week.

2. I have in my arsenal my most embarrassing story.  And I've decided to publish it here once I get a certain number of readers.  I'm thinking of a number between one and one million.

3. How about a new page?  I love this new Christmas line from The Girls' Paperie, available at Crop Paper Scissors along with my original page.  : ) 

 

 
Supplies: Patterned paper, flowers, alphas: Girls' Paperie.  Punch: Fiskars apron lace.  Thread, lace, chipboard, vintage buttons.
 
Sigh!  I love this page, and I love how it's not over the top Christmas-y.  Even the red feels neutral.  I purposely sewed a little crooked.  I like it, and it goes along with the crooked punches, which I also did on purpose.  When you have lots of the same element, same shape, same color, etc., you need to vary it a little so that it's still interesting.  I have my nice measured out grid, and my photo is squared up.  But this Type A personality went craaaazy with crooked borders, punches, and letters!!  Yes, I know that my letters aren't perfectly lined up, and dare I say that I like it.  I may not be able to leave my dresser drawer cracked open, but I can encourage crooked letters!  [In moderation, of course.]

Here's the quick how-to: I first drew the grid in pencil (1" border around the perimeter, then 2" squares inside which gives me 25 squares which is the number of days in December before Christmas.  I know.  It's a sickness.)  Then I tacked down most of the paper strips and sewed over all of the lines.  I added a few strips after I did the initial pass through my sewing machine.  As I added more pieces of paper and lace, I stitched over them.  I finished by tacking down the letters, flowers, buttons, and the photo.

Incidentally, the photo is from last Christmas with Dave's family in Tosa.  We had just received a gift certificate to Cheesecake Factory, and a side-high five was in order. 

4. I've got these working.

5. I had a client tell me today in all seriousness, "It's not you, it's me."  It was all I could do to not say, "Wait, are you breaking up with me??"  (She wasn't, she just wasn't understanding what I was explaining.)

6. I'm already working on another little somepn' somepn' for this weekend.

Thank you, good night, and then happy Friday.  ; )

chicago part 2 + we ARE perfect for each other!

But not in that order.

First, a snipet of a conversation between Dave and I on our way home from eating out and errands.

Dave: Did you watch The Jetsons when you were little?

Angela: Yep.

D: Smurfs?

A: Yep.

D: The Flintstones?

A: Yep.

D: Did you take Flintstone vitamins??

A: Yep.

D: Me too!  We ARE perfect for each other!

A:   : )

In my haste last night, I forgot to add any of the close up shots of my Chicago mini album or list the supplies [in case anyone is interested].  Here you are!

 

 
Supplies: File Folder: Rusty Pickle.  Patterned paper: American Crafts, Studio Calico, Lily Bee, Creative Imaginations, Hambly Screen Prints, Scenic Route.  Transparencies, rub-ons: Hambly Screen Prints.  Chipboard alphas, fabric strips: American Crafts.  Ghost heart: Heidi Swapp.  Ribbon, alpha stickers: Making Memories.  Pen: Sharpie.  Ribbon, lace, staples, reinforcers, rings.

A few fun facts: The chipboard heart covered with the cloud paper was the tag from a Victoria's Secret something that I kept.  I glued the cloud paper to it, cut around the edges with an X-acto knife, then sanded the edges (similar to the chipboard buttons in "hindsight").  The journaling on the heart is from a blog entry.  The reinforcers I used around the holes on the cover are so old that the box of 200 has a price of 15 cents.  I have no idea where I got them.

I added a photo album to the right margin that has all of the original pictures of the Chicago album.  You should be able to see the pages better, and you can click on any of the thumbnails to get a larger photo.

This weekend is huge for the store.  Crop Paper Scissors is having THREE 7 gypsies classes and a crop night AND a make 'n take!  (You remember 7 gypsies, right?)  It's going to be legendary!  It's not too late to sign up, and be sure to check out my pages throughout the store.  I'm working on some new stuff that should be up by then...

So enough about me, how are youuuu?

  

chicago!!

As promised, the Chicago mini album!!

This one is a little different for me.  I don't make a lot of mini albums.  I tried to keep this one pretty simple with minimal embellishments.  I also kept all of the photos (except one) the same size (4x5.3 or so).  This was also my first time using transparencies, and I'm hooked!

I tried to keep a pretty tight color pallette: gray, bubblegum/hot pink, teal, cream, white.  I also used lots of polka dots, stripes, and grids instead of my standard bows and flowers.  I was really shooting for making the album in 4 or 5 hours, but true to form, I'm a very slow scrapper, and it took me about a day and a half. 

Sorry this post turned out to be so flat.  I need to start planning my jokes before 10 pm.  Maybe tomorrow. 
 

[smile]

So, Thursday night, I came home from a Dawson's Creek marathon to these:

First Pacey, then roses!  Talk about a great night!  So I asked Dave why he bought them for me.

 

"Just for being a good wife."

Everyone together now: Awwwww.  I know.  ; )

 Here they are today, after they've really opened up and some of the color has drained.

 
 
I'm already planning the rose jar...  ; ) 

 And here's what I'll be sharing tomorrow!

 

Cheers!

throwback thursday: creek days

It's still 92 degrees here, but I personally am transitioning into fall.  I have new "fall color" nail polish, I'm trading out my sweaters, and I'm unsuccessfully trying to banish thoughts of pools, lakes, or other bliss involving large bodies of water.  Just one last indulgence:

 
My mom, her dad (Papa) and me

I have lots of memories here...what's that you say?  You want a list??  Well, I'd never want to disappoint my readers...  : )

dozens of little water bugs swim up to your legs and then scatter when you all of the sudden start running to the water

not wanting to get the inner tubes because they were stored under the house in the shed - where the spiders are

the tire swing in the front yard (why don't more people have tire swings?)

the little sand funnels that the sand crabs made under the house

"helping" Papa with his crossword on the porch swing in the morning and being sure to tell him what the temperature was outside

eating burgers on the picnic table outside

playing cards, dominoes, and working puzzles on the table inside

that great pot-bellied stove of a fireplace

the even greater claw-foot bathtub

spending hours (probably not really, but it seems like that when you're 8) with one of those toys that looks like binoculars and you put the little film card in and press down on the lever on the side to change the picture...what are those called?  It was red.  I had lots of Looney Tunes.

and the smell of the house.  And the floor plan and furniture.  And that childlike idyllic picture that everything was great when we were there.

And speaking of creeks, I'm off to watch Dawson's.  ; )

Peace out!

this message is brought to you by z pizza!

Quick trip to Round Rock for some new threads tonight.  ; )  Stopped into z Pizza for, well, pizza.  But we got the Morrocan pizza (see above) for free!  The store messed up someone's order and gave us the whole thing!  Delicious!  The cheese pizza wasn't bad, either!

I'm on vacation through Monday.  I'm looking forward to lots of scrapbooking and [hopefully] sharing a few new things.  : )

For now, how about something a little older?

Supplies: Patterned paper, border stickers, journal cards: My Mind's Eye.  Snaps: Making Memories.  Vintage button, DMC Floss, rick rack, muslin.
 
 And that's a wrap!
 

life is beautiful

Hello friends,

Last night, we watched the Italian film Life is Beautiful.  It won best foreign film and best actor at the 1998 Academy awards.  The subtitles are worth it.  It's amazing...and one of the top three saddest movies I've ever seen.  I should have been tipped off when I cried after watching the trailer.  But I was fooled by the upbeat music.  And the first part of the film is so charming...he reels you in, your heart melts with the bike and the flowers, ahhh.

Then BAM!!  It turns.  And the tears start flowing.

And I'm not talking a tear here and there.  I'm talking about out of control runny nose, cover my face with the blanket, wear you out sobs.

And I didn't stop crying until I was asleep. 

When I watch really good movies, they stick with me for a few days.   They roll around in my mind, I keep analyzing it, and it makes me feel those emotions all over again.  Today was no exception.  I was piecing together all of the foreshadowing and symbolism (thanks, Ms. Berner), remembering the parts with the silk, the crawling, seven seconds, Gratzi!, and I got all weepy again.

[Sidebar: my top three most recent movies that took me several days to get over are Into the Wild (especially once I read the details of the true story), Cold Mountain, and Seven Pounds.]

I took Advil before I went to bed, and I woke up with the most swollen eyes I've ever had.  I couldn't see out of my left eye for 30 minutes!  I washed my face, then looked at Dave and said, "Look."  Meaning: Notice how my eyes are practically swollen shut.  He grinned and said, "What?" 

And if I had a quarter for every time someone asked me today some derivation of if I was tired, I'd be on a boat to Barbados right now.  I'm not tired, I just can't open my eyes more than half way!  But I can't very well tell the partners, "I'm fine, I just cried A LOT last night."  : )

All this to say:

1. If you're one of my female family members, watch this movie by yourself in a dark room with two boxes of Kleenex and Advil for the headache you'll inevitably wake up with.

2. If you saw me this morning, that's why I looked like I just got punched in the face.

Buongiorno, Principessa!

Ciao!

my favorite thing right now

...and a page!  No, two!!

Remember this?

Well, it went on sale.  : )

 
 
(I need to clean that mirror...)

And now, one of my all-time favorite pages!

 
 
 
 
Supplies: Photo corner: Heidi Swapp.  Chipboard alphas: Pressed Petals, American Crafts.  Pen: Sharpie.  Stamp: 7 Gypsies.  Stickers: Making Memories.  Butterfly: K & Company.  Flowers: Making Memories, Prima.  Ticket, button: Jenni Bowlin.  Pearls: Kaiser Craft.  Brads: Sassafrass, Anna Griffin.  Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket, SEI, K & Company, Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin, Heidi Swapp.  Journal Card: Making Memories.  Punch: Fiskars.  Ribbon, tape: Making Memories.  Stamp, staples, ribbon.

I got this idea from the amazing Stephanie Howell.  I used scraps of paper and "leftovers."  There's no real color palette, but I used chipboard for the background so that it wouldn't compete with so many different colors.  I love the idea of numbering items on a page that correspond to a legend.  I didn't really plan this page out.  I just kind of clustered things together and then just started tacking everything down with lots of layers.  I used the same method on my "the only exception" page.  I rarely do that since I'm a girl who loves a plan (also, lists and schedules...I know.  Oh!  And budgets!), but it works well for collage-type pages.  Notice also that I mixed a lot of large and small, varying widths, textures, etc. 

One more thing - did you notice that there aren't any photos on that page?  Do you miss them, or does it look complete without them?

I think it would be fun to remake this page every few years.  You could do the same thing with clothes, items around the house, etc., not unlike:

 
You remember this page, right?  Again, no real photos of me (or anyone else for that matter).  And that's perfectly fine.

I feel like if I type any more, I'm going to start to ramble.

Good night, and good luck.

made from cardboard!

Hello hello!

Today was definitely a Monday with tons of emails and phone calls.  Which makes me think that my whole week is going to be off-kilter until Friday when I think it's Thursday and then realize it's the weekend.  Yahtzee!

How about some scrapbooking stuff?

This is my favorite project to date.  Love. It.

 

 

Supplies: Patterned paper, wish ticket: Jenni Bowlin.  Flower: Prima.  Pin: Making Memories.  Eyelets: American Crafts.  Buttons: Tres Jolie.  Chipboard letters: Chatterbox.  Crackle paint: Jim Holtz.  Ivory paint: Apple Barrel.  Stamp: Studio Calico.  Journal cards: Webster's Pages.  Pen: Sharpie.  German glass glitter (coarse).  Book pages, crocheted lace.

This project started because my mother-in-law gave me a piece of lace that her grandmother crocheted, and I wanted to do something really special with it.

First I cut a rectangle out of a cardboard box, about 8" x 11".  Then I painted the perimeter with crackle paint.  Then I just started layering.  I hand cut the patterned paper flower.  I covered brown chipboard letters with glass glitter.  I used pages from an actual book of fairy tales.  Ugh, it was my first time to tear pages out of a book!  The anguish!  But it was too perfect to have "The Real Princess" title on the board.

I think that's it.  That's it, right? 
 
 
 

labor day

Here's what I'll be doing all day:

 
Ahh, life in public accounting.

On a related note:

I hope everyone else enjoys their day of rest.

Cheers.  

throwback thursday: say no to drugs

Thank you, plywood dog, for helping me to make positive life choices.

And thank you, Mom, for dressing me in purple pants.  At least I had the good sense to not tuck that sweater in.

[photo circa Fall 1987]