pink nostalgia

"c" is for cookie

The best thing about baking with my mom is that she does all of the actual baking, and I get to lick the beaters.

Good enough for me!

pink nostalgia's first facelift!

Hey y'all,

On Thanksgiving day, Papa said to me, "Angela, how long is your blog going to be under construction??"  Soon, soon...  And now the construction sign is gone!

I took an online blog design workshop with Elise.  This was the second workshop of hers that I took, and I can't say enough how wonderful she is.  If you're a blogger and want to snaz up your blog, I highly recommend this workshop if/when she reruns it.  If you're not a blogger and just like cool stuff, check out her shop.

Okay, I'm done gushing about my crush.  ; )

I think I'm done with the update for the most part, maybe a little bit of tweaking here and there.  Thanks for being patient while I was adding, deleting, adjusting, etc! 

I debated and debated and decided to keep the pale pink over switching to a white background.  (Most big-time bloggers have white backgrounds.)  At the end of the day, it made me sad thinking about a white background, and "Pink is my signature coluh," so there ya go.

Hopefully you noticed that the content is still the same - scrapbooking, snippets, how-tos, and general merriment.  : )  I AM trying to be on a tighter posting schedule - we'll see how that goes.  ; )

Thanks again for sticking with me and putting up with the construction zone!

happy girl

I lugged my sewing machine to Houston last weekend just so I could make this page.  My mom adjusted the tension, but that still doesn't make it sew straight.  : /  [I've got a whole box of excuses for why I can't sew straight.]

Remember when I challenged myself to go over the top with bold colors?  I took that challenge again, ruffle-style.   

How much is too much?

Supplies: Patterned paper: Lily Bee Design. Punches: Fiskars, EK Success. Foam alphas, tag: American Crafts. Pink trim: Crate Paper. Brads: The Girls' Paperie, American Crafts.  Mist: Studio Calico. Butterflies: Jenni Bowlin. Pen: Sharpie. Cardstock, lace.

I think I could have squeezed one more ruffle in there!

I varied the border punches and sewed a few strips a little crooked (on purpose - ha!).  I made the scalloped edges into "ruffles" by gently folding up the scalloped edges with my finger.  I also added a few pieces of ruffly lace.

This is the same paper I used on my scored tree.  It's available at the store.

Yep, that's all it takes to make me happy - ruffles and/or a margarita.  Ooh, guacamole.  And spaghetti.  And October Afternoon.  And laughing so hard that I slap my leg. 

And that's it. 

And small breed puppies.

texting and [not] working

So last week, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, we had a training course via webinar at work.  These things are dry at best and even worse  just after lunch.  So while one of the partners was trying to quit nodding off, my friend started texting her husband.  So I thought.  When I got back to my desk, I had these emails from her, sent at these times.

NOTE: I got permission before I posted this, but I can't name names!

1:17 p.m. - Man this training is making me sleepy!!

1:18 p.m. - I don’t think BPB is going to make it!  He’s fading.

1:19 p.m. - Maybe eating another cookie would help.  But somebody may think I’m a pig.  Oink Oink.

1:20 p.m. - Those boots are cute.

1:20 p.m. - Ok.  I think I’m gonna go for that cookie now.

1:22 p.m. - Awe man.  Cameron was looking.  Didn’t get it.

1:22 p.m. - I got gas bad!

1:23 p.m. - I’m gonna hold it so I don’t kill you.

1:23 p.m. - BPB didn’t make it.

1:25 p.m. - It’s getting harder and harder to hold it!!!!

1:25 p.m. - He came back.

1:26 p.m. - Oh oh… Oh oh… Not gonna make it.

1:27 p.m. - Going for the cookie again.

1:28 p.m. - Got it.  People were talking.

1:29 p.m. - It’s coming again.  Oh oh… Didn’t hold it.  Sorry.

1:34 p.m. - You just looked at me.  Were you judging me for having another cookie!?!?

And that's how to stay entertained on those reeeeeaaaaalllllly slow afternoons before a holiday.  : )

throwback thursday: high chair cuteness

Look at this cutie. 

c. 1982, Meme and Papa's old house on Lilac.

All done.  : )

vintage tag peek!

Y'all.  It's time to get excited.

So remember how I said that I'm teaching a class and that you could pick from two different color schemes?  Well, here's a peek of the vintage scheme.  : )

Spots are still open!  You can take the class on Saturday, December 3rd from 2 - 5 pm or Thursday, December 8th from 6-8 pm.  Call Crop Paper Scissors at (254)751-7020 or go by the store to sign up.  If you go by the store, you can see the traditional tags on display by the register.

Happy Wednesday!

oh oh, sometimes i get a good feelin', yeah

Over the last few days, I've had this song in my head, but only these two lines:

Oh oh, sometimes I get a good feelin', yeah
I get a feelin' like I never never never never had before, no no I get a good feelin'
[Good Feeling by Flo Rida]

Like when:

a colleague called to tell me how wonderful she thinks I am.

friends were blowing up my phone with texts.

a friend tried to peer-pressure me into Twitter because she loves to read my thoughts.

I made a friend spit out her drink at a joke.

Dave made a "Walking Dead" TV date for us.

I got a really good "happy" hug.

a friend helped herself to a drink at my house without asking for or saying anything.

my mom asked if she can call me every night because she misses me.

I got a compliment on my favorite sweater.

I finally finally found those jeans that I bought two months ago.  I knew I wasn't crazy!  Guess where they were?  Hanging in my closet with my other jeans.

Barkley streeeeetched as far as he could to put his head on my lap.

Ben said, "I like you, Felicity.  And I'm asking you one more time to please come with me." 

and she said, "I can't believe you came back for me."

I whispered to Dave, "Hey, are you asleep?" and he said, "Yes."

I dropped off another purging load to Goodwill and the guy thanked me three times.

the girl at Crop Paper Scissors said my mini album was sooo cuuuute! before she even opened it.

we ran into a college friend and his girlfriend and they were both totally cool.

Dave tried to explain set boxes to me and I said, "Talk to me like I'm five."

and then he tried to explain receivers to me and I said, "Is that the YouTube?"

And lots of other little things in the last few days that have made my heart smile.

In the spirit of small joys (and great photos), I made this.

Supplies: Patterned paper, twine, alpha stickers: October Afternoon.  Fabric-covered alphas: American Crafts.  Punches: EK Success, Fiskars.  Tissue tape: Tim Holtz.  Decorative Tape: Making Memories.  Pen: Sharpie.  Button. 

You can read about the photo behind the photo here.  You can also see the page in person and pick up the supplies at Crop Paper Scissors.

I lifted this layout from another page I did.
 
(See the full post here.)

Which one do you like better?

And what are your small joys this week?

how to: score a christmas tree

Hey Peeps,

I saw this card in Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine.  The instructions were pretty brief, so I thought I'd post my play-by-play here.  I think my favorite thing (besides the glass glitter) is that it uses non-tradition colors but is very clearly a Christmas card.

Here we go.  Hang on.  : )

Trim cream cardstock to 4 3/4" x 6 3/4 ".  Trim dark brown cardstock to 5" x 7".

Center cream cardstock over brown cardstock and adhere.

Draw a straight line down the center of the cream cardstock, stopping 1" from the top and 1/2" from the bottom.  Draw a horizontal line about 1 1/2 " from the bottom, stopping 1/2" from either edge.  Draw two more lines to connect the top of the vertical line to either side of your horizontal line.

Cut a small rectangle from the brown cardstock and adhere it to the center bottom of the card, covering up the bottom portion of the vertical line.

Punch a scalloped border with a border punch along the length (12") of 5 sheets of paper.  I used 4 sheets of patterned paper and 1 sheet of relief cardstock (the blue paper pictured above).

Cut a strip from each sheet of patterned paper to 1 1/2" wide (12" long).

Lightly sand the relief cardstock so that your background color comes through.

Use a scoring tool or scoring blade to make a crease from the inside of each scallop (the valley if it was a mountain range) to the straight edge.  Do this for each 1 1/2" strip.

Fold each strip accordian-style along the scored lines.

You have top make the tree starting from the bottom and working your way up, so arrange your patterned papers in the order that you want them.

Thread a thick-guage needle with a long piece of DMC floss.  Tie a knot at one end.  Thread floss through the bottom-most paper (bottom layer of the tree) from the back side (not the side that will be showing) through to the front, about 1/4" down from the straight (top) edge.  Then thread the floss from front to back about 1/8" from top edge.

 
Continue threading along the top edge across the whole strip. 


You can see that my 12" strip is now down to about 6".

Push your patterned paper down to the knotted end of the thread so that the straight top edge gathers together and the bottom scalloped edge flares out.  (This is similar to how you make a ruffle with fabric.) 

Continue to bunch the paper together to one end until the top gathered edge is a little wider than the width of your tree that you drew.  Once you have it as tight as you want it, tie off the end of the thread with a knot.

NOTE: You don't have to stitch and gather your top edges, but I had a hard time bunching the paper and getting it to curve and centering it and glueing it with only two hands.  If you have more than two hands, then by all means, skip this step.  ; )  Once I stitched the tops, all I had to do was center the strip and tack it down.

Place your gathered strip on top of your tree and draw a line where the top edge meets the cardstock.  Squeeze liquid glue just below your pencil line and adhere your folded strip to the cardstock.

I used Fabri-Tac liquid glue because it's strong but very gooey, so it is great for getting inside crevices.  It also doesn't dry as fast as hot glue, and if you work quickly, you can shimmy things around a bit before it dries.  You could probably use a glue gun, but you'd have to work quick like a bunny.

Continue the stitching and glueing steps with each layer.  Each layer is going to be a little shorter width-wise, so trim of one or two folds as you measure against the width of your penciled tree.  When you glue each top layer, add a line of glue to the top edge of your bottom layer (the layer that you're overlapping) to better hold each layer. 

NOTE: I made sure that my top layer covered the ends (length-wise) of my bottom layer, so my rightmost blue fold overlaps my rightmost pink fold.  Also, shimmy the folds of your top layer into the folds of your bottom layer.  They don't have to line up exactly, but they need to be flush against each other so that the glue will hold. 

Here's what it looks like once the tree layers are complete.

Punch a star out of extra patterned paper.

Cover it with glue and glitter (I used Glossy Accents because it's thin and super strong).

Once the glue dries, add some pop dots to the back of the star and adhere it to the top of the tree.

Punch a flourish tag from the relief cardstock.  Lightly sand the cardstock.  Add a sticker or rub-on or write a sweet sentiment.  Adhere it to the right edge of the card, just under the star.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill.  Patterned paper: Lilly Bee.  Punches: Fiskars, EK Success.  Thread: DMC.  Glitter, rub-on.

And there you go!  Pretty enough for your mantle and easy enough to make on a weeknight.

You can get the supplies, including your pick of three different scoring tools, at my favorite store.

Good luck!

something good

A few weekends ago, Dave and I went to a wedding for one of my friends.  Honestly, I wasn't fired up to go, not because I don't like weddings and not because I don't like her, but because I don't like being around big groups of people.  It's weird.  I love spending time with friends, but big things like weddings and Christmas parties make me so nervous that I will last-minute bail if given half the chance, even if I have friends that will be there.  The key to getting me there is making one-on-one plans for big events, like promising you'll sit next to me, or asking me to pick you up.

Anyway, I was expecting a mildly intimidating and self-conscious night with lots of watch-checking.  Instead, it was awesome.  The bride Emily was so beautiful.  I loved seeing her personal touches to the wedding that were perfect for her.  And we went with my best friend and sat with some coworkers who all brought their "A" games.  And even though Dave kept stealing my airport jokes and passing them off as his own, it was a riot.

AND, Dave was so sweet and generous to my best friend who was flying solo.  And I was surprised by it, not in a shocked way, but in an after-almost-ten-years-I'm-still-learning-about-you way.  So I made this page to remember that feeling of quiet pride and connectedness.

Supplies: Patterned paper: October Afternoon, Pebbles.  Journal cards: October Afternoon.  Chipboard alphas: Jillibean Soup.  Decorative tape: Making Memories, Martha Stewart.  Pennant: The Girls' Paperie.  Pen: Sharpie.  Flower brad: dear lizzy + American Crafts.  Punch: Fiskars.  Brad, ribbon, cardstock.

Thanks to Y who took these and several other photos.

And if you haven't seen, I'm teaching a class and selling holiday tags!  Ha - I'd just love to sell you something!

Happy weekend!

throwback thursday: go mustangs!

This is me in my mom's West Orange Stark high school letter jacket.  She lettered in band.

photo taken at Meme and Papa's old house on Lilac, late 1983.

What did I letter in?  BEING CUTE - Ha!

Mighty!  Mustangs!  Go!  Fight!  Win!!!

tags for hot moms

This is my second really big scrapbooking news in two parts.

Part 1

I had a teaching gig last Monday night!

My friend Ray hooked me up with Heart of Texas Moms of Multiples (HOT MOMs), a group of women who each have children that are twins, triplets, etc.  Ray commissioned me to teach her ladies how to make a holiday tag, something perfect for a special gift or little decoration.  Here's what we made.

Can you see the little bit of glitter in the letters?

It was awesome.  I had so much fun designing the tag, picking supplies, and putting the kits together.  The ladies were so sweet and wonderful.  I wasn't nervous at all.  It was just fun.  The best part was when I overheard the ladies talking to a neighbor about how cute such-and-such is.  Yay.

Part 2

I have some extra tags that I'm selling.

Here's the skinny:

Each order comes with step-by-step directions (you can also email me with questions).

The first three "orders" get a bonus coupon to Crop Paper Scissors.

Each "kit" includes all of the paper and embellishments you'll need to assemble the tags.

The stickers come in various expressions: Jingle all the way, Christmas cheer, Season's Greetings, Joy, Glad tidings, joy & peace, peace & joy, and Merry Christmas.

The only thing you'll need that isn't included is a pen and a glue stick or liquid glue (like Elmer's).

Each tag takes about 5 minutes to make (maybe a little longer for your first one) and is super simple - no crafting skills required.

Tags are $2 each.  If you're local, I'll happily deliver them to you.  If you're not, I'll happily mail them to you via USPS.

You can email me, text me, call me, or Facebook me to place an order.

And hey - thanks!

really big scrapbooking announcement

Y'ALL.

Life has been whizzing by me the last couple of weeks. 

My calendar has been (and still is) filled to the brim.  The cool part is that it's almost all friends/family and scrapbooking.  And it's more scrapbooking than I maybe have ever had (more on that later this week).  On one hand, I love the challenge of having so much going on, having to organize and coordinate so many fun things.  On the other hand, something had to give, and it's been sleep and the blog.

Last night, I had planned to stay up an extra 2-3 hours to make a mini album for the store and write a crafty how-to.  But when I sat down, I decided that a few chapters of Breaking Dawn and half a glass of wine would serve me much better.  Sure enough, I was sleeping like a baby 20 minutes later.

Since I'm all rested up today, I'm back to blogging.  : )

I have SO MANY crafty things to share this week.  I think I have more things than I have days.

Here's the biggest thing: I'm teaching a class at Crop Paper Scissors!!!!

A few weeks ago, I was talking to Emmalie and Emily at the store about a small tag class I was asked to do, and Emmalie invited, "Well, do you want to teach that class here?"  Here was my response:

"No.  No, no, no, no, no, no, well, I mean, noooo, umm, I guess, yes?  I mean, yes, yes, I can do that.  Are you sure?  Uhh, hmmm. But I've never really taught before.  Seriously?  Noo, sure.  Yes, yeah.  Yeah.  Okay.  Okay, yeah."

Once again, I was trying to talk myself out of a good thing.  But Emmalie and Emily were so complimentary and gracious that they convinced me to do it and got me really excited about it.  As soon as I left the store, my mind started going a mile a minute, and as soon as I got home, I took a full page of notes for the class.  I'm so giddy to think about it! 

Oh wait!  Maybe I should play it cool, like it ain't no thaaang.

I'm teaching a class.  Whatevs.

Here are the details:

What: Christmas Tags class - I'll walk you through SIX different holiday tags, and then you'll have class time to make a duplicate of each tag.  You'll leave with 12 tags plus a bonus ornament!  You'll have your choice of two color schemes - traditional (red, green, and black) or vintage (pink, teal, and silver).  The sneak photo is of the traditional color scheme.

Where: Crop Paper Scissors, Waco, TX

When: Saturday, December 3rd from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Thursday, December 8th from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

How much: $30, due when you sign up

How to sign up: go by the store or call (254)751-7020

I'd LOVE for any of you to take the class!  You don't have to be a "scrapbooker" to take this class!  You just need to be a teensy bit crafty.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments or email me.

WHEW!  So that's the first big thing.  Second big thing tomorrow.  : )

 

hey girl, whatcha doin'?

Is anyone else loving The New Girl?  How cute is Zooey Deschanel??

Here's one thing I'm doing this weekend: tomorrow is the Holiday Open House at Crop Paper Scissors!  From 10 am - 6 pm, the store will have refreshments, make-and-takes, and demos, plus TONS of new products that you can pick up. 

And hey!  Yours truly will show you how to make a sparkling holiday project with some paper and simple tools.  I'll be doing a free demo and showing off some tools from 12:30 - 2:30, so stop by and say hi!  I'll be the one up front with a huge grin. 

Do you want a preview?

Right?  It's gonna be goooood.  ; )

throwback thursday: miss independent

Miss Independent...trapped in a playpen.

Just throw me in a pen/room/cubicle with a few toys/projects/financial statements and I'm good to go.  I can entertain myself for hours.  Happy girl.

I think this was Meme and Papa's old house, 1983.

No wide open spaces needed.

when skies are gray

So remember when I said that I wanted to write my friends love letters for being so amazing?  Here's the first one of sorts.

I'm good at talking myself out of things.  And Jessie is very good at talking me into things.  Nothing illegal or anything, just good things.  ; )  Like making new friends and reading different books and taking more chances.  And she brings me back down to earth and puts things back into perspective and pulls me out of my wishy-washiness.  And she's fuh-nee.  Twice she's made me laugh until I was crying and couldn't breathe.

Thanks, girrrrrrl.

Supplies: Cardstock, key: Bazzill. Patterned paper: Fancy Pants, Studio Calico, Pebbles.  Alphas: Amy Tangerine. Sticker: Jillibean Soup. Journal sticker: October Afternoon.  Punches: Fiskars. Mists: Studio Calico.  Buttons, baker's twine.

I lifted this page straight from Kelly Purkey.  I thought of Jessie as soon as I saw it.

I misted the gray cardstock all over with Clay and Shimmer.  I think I'm getting pretty good at this misting business.  : )  I took the photos at twilight (hee hee), and it really made the shimmer mist pop.

The crazy thing about this page is that it's 8.5x11", and I always make pages that are 12x12".  But hey, if it's good enough for KP, it's good enough for me.

I usually get a little squeamish when I tell people how much they mean to me, but this wasn't so bad.  "This" being behind a blog veil and never speaking of this post to Jessie.  I think I'm going to roll with it.  Seems important.

Here's to telling people why you love them...via blog.

s'mores

Look what my aunt brought to the property last weekend.

My family from top to bottom: Papa, cousins Erin and Allan, Mom, aunt Deborah (BB or Beeb), and cousin Casey.

Almost every county in Texas is on a burn ban since the weather's been so dry, so we roasted marshmallows in the charcoal grill instead of an open flame.  Mark my words - charcoal makes everything delicious.

My uncle Kevin's theory is that the marshmallow should be so warm and gooey that it can't even stay on the skewer without sliding into the fire.  I'll agree with his theory and add that your marshmallow should catch fire at least once (Exhibit A: Casey extinguishing her marshmallow).

Dave stupified us all by putting two chocolate layers on his s'mores.  That man is a visionary.

Delicious. 

Thanks, family.  ; )

lee day 2011

aka My heart is very full.

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend.  : )

Last Saturday was the fourth annual Lee Day at my parents' property where my mom's side of the family gets together for lots of out-in-the-country fun.

Hiking, reading, watching football games, four-wheeling, canoeing, Liverpooling, climbing, crossing, relaxing, and smiling.

Plus more deliciousness I'll tell you about tomorrow...

throwback thursday: my first best friend

This is Stephanie.  She was my first best friend.

 
Stephanie on the right, me on the left.

I didn’t know how best of friends we were until I found photo after photo of us together. 

 
 
 
 
It makes sense, though.  Our moms were friends.  Our grandparents were friends.

  
aunt BB, Stephanie's cousin Mike, Meme, Barbara, aunt JJ, and Joe. 

My only childhood memory of Stephanie is of us playing together at her grandparents’ house.  We were probably six or seven years old.  We played with our dolls in her room (which now that I think about it, was probably the guest room), then played in the backyard, then played board games and cards on the screened-in porch in the front.  Her grandmother made us grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (still one of my all-time favorites) with a pickle spear on the side.  And I distinctly remember thinking, “Pickle with grilled cheese and tomato soup?!  This lady is outside of her mind!”

I think we had a lot of good times together. : )