pink nostalgia

mini album: flag 2014

Alex's reaction when I showed him his finished football mini album was different than Ethen's reaction.  Ethen didn't know I was making them, and even though he knew I had been taking pictures at his games, it probably didn't occur to him that I would do anything with them. 

But Alex pops into the pink room after I've been missing for 15 minutes, and he doesn't just look to see where I am.  He stands next to me, he picks up photos, he asks me how a crop-a-dile works, then I find scrap paper to let him set eyelets...  So he knew it was coming.  But he had the same quiet smile.  : )

Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

I had a little more fun putting Alex's album together because the pictures are so much better!  Being on the sidelines instead of in bleachers, I was much closer to eye level and had fewer obstructions.  And since they don't wear helmets in flag, I got Alex's expressions.  They're too much!

The end until I print basketball season!

mini album: 8th grade football

Once I started taking sports photos of the boys, it took me about...mmmm...three minutes to decide what to do with them: open-face 4x6 mini albums for each sport for each season + scrap pages of a few of my favorites.

I did a few things to consolidate the process so that I'm not perpetually five years behind (although I am already two basketball seasons behind).

1. Make the album a 4x6.  This way, I didn't have to crop in Photoshop, and it's a really easy and cheap size to print.  It also helps patterned paper go farther since a 4x6 template will go into a 12x12 sheet of paper six times.  (Math!)

2. Pull a small set of supplies.  I went through my patterned paper scraps (the ones that Y always tells me to throw away because I'll never use them - booooo0yahhhhh!) and pulled just a few pieces.  Then I picked a sticker set to match, a thicker set to match, and 3 or 4 washi tape rolls.  That's it, that was all I was allowed to use.

3. Use a small set of designs.  I stuck with banners, flags, and labels stapled or taped or both.  Over and over again. 

J might have gotten misty-eyed when I showed him.

Ethen might have been overwhelmed when I showed him.  He was quiet and smiley, he looked through every page, then he looked at me, nodded, and said, "That's really cool."  It was a moment.  Of course, then I ran and told Jason about the whole exchange.

I can envision a whole library of these minis, and it makes me really happy.  : )

See Alex's football album tomorrow...

a wheat wreath

Say that five times fast.

A wheat wreath.

A reat wreath.

A re reath.

A wheat weath.

A we weath.

Moving on.

I had seen this wreath years ago way back when people got crafty ideas from magazines instead of Pinterest.  I'm talking college days.  I would say this magazine clipping survived 6 moves (the Village to Marlo's to the crap-partment to Mike's to the house to the single apartment to the current house).

Special thanks to Lauren Conrad for that lovely ribbon which was wrapped around her bedspread that I bought from Kohl's last summer.

Of course, as I was taking photos and standing on a step-stool, the FedEx guy delivered one of J's gifts and said, "I've never seen THAT before!"  I said, "What, a wreath??"

happy birthday recipe box

For her birthday this year, my best friend wanted a cute recipe box.  You can buy them for about 40 bucks on Etsy, and always thoughtful, she said it would be great if we could "find something cheaper."

Orrrrrrrrrrr...you can buy an unfinished wooden box at Michael's with a 40% off coupon, buy a few packs of pre-printed kraft recipe cards on sale from Hobby Lobby, and spend 2 nights + 1 lunch hour +season 4 of Vampire Diaries making your own!

Well, your own to give away.  ; )

Now that I think about it, I think she asked-without-asking me to make one by showing me the $40 version to which she knows I would say, "Uh, pump the brakes.  I can do that."  Did I get played?

kitchen conversions chalkboard

This was one of those internet-browsing afternoons where I started by looking for nail polish and ended up finding some kitchen conversion charts on Etsy that I had to have.   The longer I looked at them, the more I knew our kitchen was missing something.  But why buy one when I could make one??

I used this awesome free chalkboard printable.  All of the color variation you see in the photo is part of the file.  Then I just typed and tinkered in Photoshop Elements while I watched Burn Notice.

The "chalk" is all typed fonts.  It's actually very light gray because plain white was a little too stark for me.  I printed on quality matte cardstock.

I repurposed the frame from here (and repurposed the bird to here).

 

And now, the only thing our kitchen is missing is a cheesecake!

love, peace, & chicken grease

Here's when I first realized that I sometimes take J too literally.  One day months ago, J and I were leaving work to go to lunch.

me: What do you want for lunch?
J: I don't know...love, peace, and chicken grease.
me (totally perplexed): Ummm...?  So, Ervin's? (Sadly no longer in business.)
J: Huh??
me: Uh, Ervin's Fried Chicken...you said chicken grease?
J: No babe, it's just a saying.
me: Oh.  But Ervin's does sound good.

And now it's a thing.

 

me: What do you want to do tonight?
J: Love, peace, and chicken grease!
me: I'll be in the pink room.

 

me: What do you want to name our firstborn?
J: Love, peace, and chicken grease.
me: Nevermind.
(Just kidding, that never happened.)

 

Alex: Oh, and by the way.  I did ask Dad what he wants for Father's Day.
me: Yeah?  What'd he say?
Al: Love, p... love, peace, and chicken...chicken grease.
me: Arg.

 

So, hey.  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  I got a good "What tha??" out of him.  ; )

I hand-cut all the letters.  The background looks like canvas, but it's paper.  I really love how it turned out.  It's even better than it was in my head.

Oh, and by the way, I painted an old 8x10 frame that I had.  Here's the one-fourth before and after:

And here is love, peace, and chicken grease on the pink wall that J painted for the pink room that he frequents.

(The canvas on the left is a failed attempt, but I'm leaving it up until I redo it.  "Just start" was purchased from Elise way back here.)

And now the ever-present problem of how to wrap up a blog post...

Kbye.

wells in grapeland, the mini album

I scrapped two projects this weekend, plus half (halves?) of two more, and I uploaded this whole mini album, AND I finished Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars!  My scrap room is a mess which is perfect.

So first, the mini album made for this infamous day.  It's from this class by Maggie Holmes.  I pulled out lots of old supplies that I had been hoarding and put them to work.

Ohhh, I love the cover.  I won't tell you how long it took me to figure out the placement of everything, but I will tell you that I made those tassels myself.  The cool safety pins are from Lauren Conrad blouses from Kohl's.  : )

Lots of envelopes, tags, and labels.  These worked out great because even after I pared down my photos, I still had too many.  I made the vellum envelope in the first photo above.

This photo on the right is also framed on our mantle.  : )

I'm really loving this scrappy kick.  More tomorrow.  : )

happy father's day tie card

Hey y'all,

Here's the Father's Day card I made for J last year.

I gave him a new nickname, a spin-off of his J-Bird nickname.

I opened the card and stitched semi-straight lines along the width of the card to use as journaling lines on the inside.

I wrapped up a necktie with some DMC floss to go with the card.

Happy Father's Day!

100 happy days: days 1-20

Twenty days ago, I found this website which tells you to document one thing per day that makes you happy for 100 days in a row. 

Wouldn't it be cool to start paying attention to these happinesses and have another way to take a snapshot of my life right now?  I can do that! Aaaaaand, I can scrapbook it!!

I'm not really interested in posting a #100happydays (yes, there's even a hash tag - it's a thing) to Facebook daily.  Plus, most of my happy moments so far haven't been in the form of a photo.  But I will make a mini album to document my 100 days, similar to the grateful mini album.  I'll have a few photo days and a lot of story days, like:

Day 4: As J and I were walking out of Schlotzsky's, we were nudging and rubbing elbows.  I said in a faux sweet voice, "Jason!  Our elbows are snuggling!"  And then I started laughing at my silliness as he tried (and failed) to repress a grin.  About 10 minutes later when we were almost back to the office, our hands were both resting on the truck console.  I lightly rubbed his pinky with my pinky.  This time, I could only whisper, "Jason..." before we both started laughing.

Day 12:
Alex: I can't wait until tomorrow!
me: Why's that?
Alex: School!  I get to give my presentation!

Day 13:

Several times I've caught myself waiting until the end of the day to note my happy thing.  I think back on my day, "What made me happy today?" instead of declaring happiness in the moment, which seems to be more of the point.  I've also noticed a tendency to come up with multiple happy things (which is a good problem to have, no complaints), so then I want to pick the best or biggest happy thing to award the happy honor to.  But when I pick that one thing, I feel like I'm neglecting the others and leaving out huge chunks of the happy story.

It's serious work being happy!

Here's my mini album cover:

It makes me very happy.  I'm hoping to make all of the foundation pages this weekend while finishing Season 8 of How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.

Happiness all around!!

around the apartment: the mini album

Five months later, I finally made a mini album for the apartment!!

Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

The name of my apartment complex was The Retreat.  J thought it was the perfect metaphor. 

 

That diagonal stripe paper might be in my Top 5 of All Time.  : )

Each page is 8" x 3.5".  I was inspired to do a fabric spine by Celine Navarro.  I pulled out some threads along the edges of each piece of fabric to create the little bit of fray.

You can read the blog posts about the apartment haven here.

And don't worry - all of the "apartment" things have found homes in the new house.  : )

courage

This one is scrappy and very very pretty.  : )

Ali Edwards, who is HUGE in the scrapbooking world, hosts an annual project called One Little Word (you can read more here).  To me, it's the attitude you seek to embrace for the new year - a resolution in a mindset.  I've never done it before because it somehow didn't seem relevant to me.

But at the beginning of last year, this word kept bombarding me.  It was showing up in song lyrics, texts, and conversations.  It recited itself in my head and made me stand taller (ha, insert obvious joke here).  I quickly embraced this urging thinking courage might be my first one little word.

So now, 2013 is over, and I survived thrived with courage.

Of course I scrapped it.  This is now my second-favorite mini album, knocking the grateful mini album down to #3.

Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

Are you swooning yet??

The album folds out to four 8"x12" pages.  Here's the first thing you see when you open the cover...

...and then when you pull up, the page unfolds!  It's like Christmas!

Page 4 has my favorite quotes.  J loves the photo in the bottom right.

I made the album from a Studio Calico class with Nicole Reaves (a Christmas gift from Y!).  It totally came together once I decided I wanted my "background" to be dark pink.

It felt really good to scrap it - the selfies, the quotes, the drama, the successes.  Scrapping it felt like I was 1. giving it validity and weight and 2. packing it away, putting it behind me. 

It's time for a new season!

the 31 list: #28 & 29

I had a lot of down time (read: scrapbooking time!) after Thanksgiving.  I had so much fun (in a reflecting-on-my-soul-kinda-way) making a simple mini album/journal for these two goals that for me are inextricably linked.

#28 Be grateful.

I spent about 4 hours by myself last weekend, curled up on the couch, ruminating on the weight, the magnitude of my gratefulness.

My life has changed dramatically in the past year.  In fact, it's been right at a year when I set the divorce in motion.  And I'm incredibly grateful for where I am now.  I'm grateful for how I feel and how my spirit has changed.

Years ago, I caught part of an episode of Oprah where she talked about journaling and being grateful.  She said to always start with "your breath," the ability to be alive, the fact that you're still on this earth with the ability to create your future.  For some reason, that stuck with me, and whever I think that I don't have anything to be thankful for, I start with my breath.

If that doesn't get me very far, then I look around at what I take for granted.  A couch to sit on.  Electricity.  A great set of pots and pans.

Then I notice things I have that make me happy.  Gray walls.  These dishes from Target.  Netflix.

And then big things that are hard to put into words.  Parents who can't stand to NOT help and are ready to throw punches for me.  Family who allows me to make my own decisions and loves me unconditionally.  This new family that I fit with seamlessly.  Being noticed.  Being cherished.  Being calm.

#29 Look up.

Jason coaches his son's little league baseball team.  Ethen was pitching poorly, and Jason called a time-out.  Ethen, knowing he wasn't doing well, had his head down as Jason walked to the mound to talk to him.  Jason said, "Why are you looking at the ground right now?  Your Savior's not down there."

That's what "look up" means to me.

Seek God.  Pray.  Notice the gifts He gives us.  Keep your chin up.

I think of this most when I literally look up at the sky, particularly when the sun is near the horizon.  God makes some gorgeous skies.

Right??

What are you grateful for?

gold

Hello,

I'd like to introduce you to my second-favorite mini album. 

Sigh.

The story: My grandparents threw a huge 50th anniversary party.  All of their kids and grandkids stayed at their house for the weekend.  The night before the party, we all ate dinner together in the dining room.

After dinner, my mom and aunts gave a speech celebrating Meme and Papa.  They shared memories and told their parents why they love them.  It was really nice.  Then I gave them their mini album and showed them the pages I made for the party (here, here, and here).

The scrappy: I started this album with a set of journaling cards by October Afternoon that I love love love and couldn't get enough of.  Most are about the size of a credit card.  I left lots of open space for journaling.

I didn't want the album to be too bright, so I misted each page with Mister Huey's Clay mist.  It makes the whole thing look sort of weathered and worn.

Since it documents my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary eve, I titled it "gold" after their golden anniversary.  I was so excited that those chipboard letters matched (and fit!).  I used them originally on this page. 

[Click on any photo to enlarge, or click on the link in the left column to view the entire album.] 

I mean, the ribbons and trim, the buttons, the doilles, the patterned paper, AND family??  It doesn't get much better.

Hey Papa!  NNSTADLTBBB.  : )

totally random times

I made this album several years ago in a class with Debby Schuh.  As I'm completely in love with my family, I thought I'd share it here.  I'm not sure they've ever seen it.

[You can click on each photo to enlarge it.]

I love that the theme is "random."  The photos aren't all of one event or person.  They aren't even in chronological order.  In fact, I determined the order by seeing which photos fit best on each page or tag.  They're just old photos that I had in a traditional album that I wanted to showcase.

Happy Tuesday.  : )

be merry.

My cousin Erin requested something scrappy, so here we go.

This is a card that I made for Christmas this year.   I should first tell you that I never very rarely make cards.  Cards are not my gig.  No photo, no story, and then you give them away just so they can be thrown away??  Nah.

But this was one of those great instances when I could immediately see the whole thing in my mind, down to the stitching and the glitter asterisk.

And it was really fun to make and give away.  : )

Happy Monday.

a valentine's love jar

My scrapbooking friend Stephanie made the most adorable love jars for her girls.  The idea is that  each girl opens a sweet sentiment each day from February 1st through Valentine's Day to remind her how loved and lovely she is.  I immediately wanted to go home and make one for my husband.

I made my notes into mini envelopes because I don't want Dave to peek.  (Actually, he would never peek, but I totally would and that makes me suspicious of everyone else!)  I mixed in a few "coupons" for little ways we can spend quality time together.  I numbered the envelopes 1-14, and each envelope has to be opened on the corresponding day of the month.  I did this so that our date nights don't conflict with other things we have on our schedules.

I made the whole thing Wednesday night during two episodes of Grey's Anatomy (Drowning on Dry Land and Some Kind of Miracle.  Favorite quotes: "The scene where I was a rock star, by the way.  Did I mention I'm off probation?  Rock star!"  "She's not a Jane Doe!  It's Meredith Grey!  It's Meredith!!"  "If I murdered someone, she's the person I'd call to help me drag the corpse across the living room floor...she's my person!").

Before I went to bed that night (and long after Dave was in bed), I put the jar on the shelf in front of the TV (literally blocking the TV) so that he'd be sure to see it in the morning and hopefully come wake me up so I could tell him about it.

Yesterday morning, we had this conversation.

Me: Did you see the love jar I made for you?
Dave: I saw the jar, but I didn't know it was for me.
Me: It says, "For Dave."
Dave: Oh!

 
Supplies: Kerr jar from our wedding reception.  Patterned paper, die cuts: My Mind's Eye.  Rose charm: Making Memories.  Twine: We R Memory Keepers.  Punch: Fiskars.  Doille, buttons, cardstock, lace.

Hey, Dave...Love you.

the love notes envelope

I love this envelope and this line so much that I doubled up and used them again.

Supplies: Envelope (left over from our wedding).  Patterned paper, die cuts: My Mind's Eye.  Stamp: Heidi Swapp.  Stickers: October Afternoon.  Paint.

I showed Dave this envelope and told him that when he writes me love notes, this is where he can put them.  We'll see how well that works out.  ; )

instant love

Hey y'all,

Emmalie from Crop Paper Scissors asked if I could help her put together a kit for the store.  She twisted my arm, but I finally agreed.  ; )

The kit has a Valentine's/love theme: pink, red, white, brown, black, and white.  She threw in some of the cutest old game pieces.  I love the kraft color of the Bingo card and Scrabble tiles.

Here's what I made with the kit.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill.  Patterned paper: Echo Park, Jillibean Soup.  Stickers: Jillibean Soup.  Punches: Fiskars.  Pen: Sharpie. 

Two 12 x 12 pages and an envelope for little keepsakes.  It would be perfect for little kids who get Valentines from classmates or wives who get sweet notes from husbands (whaaaa?).  Even after all of that, I still have patterned paper and a ton of alpha stickers left over.

These kits will be rolling out every month, so start looking for them!

hey ang, how'd your tag class go?

Man, everyone's been asking how my classes went!  I had no idea people were so interested!  Thanks, y'all!

The classes were great!  I wasn't nervous at all.  Both classes were pretty small but well received.  They were laid-back and felt more like friends scrapping together than a teacher/student class.  It was so fun to chat and swap scrapbooking tips.  Everyone was super nice.  I brought candy, dressed up, and had extras of all of the supplies.  It was perfect for my first kit class.

Here are a few things I learned.

• Everything takes longer than you think it will.  I was suprised that I ran out of time in both classes, and I was monitoring the time every few minutes.
• Start on time.  I wasted 10-15 minutes at the beginning of each class with prep and chatting that we could have done earlier.  : /
• The students will only go as fast as I go.  I have to set the pace from the beginning.
• People will go off the map and change it up.  The good thing is that not everyone is as particular as I am, and the other good thing is that everyone has their own styles.

And that's it!

Thanks to Emmalie for forcing asking me to do this!

kitting it up!

 I'm working on putting the kits together for my holiday tags class!  I'm also yelling-singing to The Toadies, "Tyler."

If you can't take the class in person, you can buy a kit!  Each kit includes all of the paper and embellishments PLUS instructions for each tag AND the bonus ornament.

Whaaaaat?!?!  I didn't tell y'all that there's a bonus ornament??  Well, hey, there's a bonus ornament that you can make with a super-cool something that you can't buy anywhere.  Hint: It was salvaged from San Antonio grandma.  ; )

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!  I have one more trick up my sleeve for the classes.  It's delicious.  : )

Here are the details on the classes:

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 for the tags - traditional (red, green, and black) or vintage (pink, teal, and silver). 

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

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.

Here's the vintage theme:

And here's the traditional theme:

You can go back and read the announcement and my reaction here.

I think this will take care of #25 on the list.  : )

*This time has changed.  It was originally scheduled for 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.  Now you can still make it to the Baylor vs. UT game!  Go Bears!