A State of Impulsive Chaos

Regular blogging is being interrupted today by a state of impulsive chaos.  Yes, you see over the weekend (and for a few weeks really) I have been completely overwhelmed with my house.  Primarily with the laundry, because I have to line dry everything (we are solar powered completely offgrid).  We looked into buying a propane dryer, but for various reasons, I decided I’d rather just keep line drying everything if I could somehow close it behind doors and not look at it.  So in a moment of desperation, I mentioned an idea to my wonderful husband.  He promptly took the next two days off work (despite his schedule being beyond full) and did some home improvement stuff.  We moved the cabinetry that made our “office” to another wall.  We moved my scrappy stuff to another wall and built a BIG closet half of which for line drying stuff, half of which for storage.  Well, my house is currently in a state of chaos…….although, it’s much better than it was last night.  Anyway, I have the most wonderful husband to do this for me, to help me be less overwhelmed.  I’m so blessed.

But that also leaves me at a point to purge.  I have stuff I don’t use…….I’m making a pile and I’m pretty sure I’m going to do a purge giveaway tomorrow (it will be Thursday, because tomorrow is the first of the month which means a NEW CHALLENGE!)…..so come back and see if 1) I get everything put back away, and 2) what I have up for grabs

“Camping in the Cold”

Last October, my husband took my son camping for some “man” time.  It was a cold night.  They still went.  They left with a portable heater, I was afraid they’d either freeze or die of carbon monoxide poisoning, but hey, what good is life without a little (or a lot) of that “mom worry”.  My husband assured me they’d be find and off they went. 

Well, my daughter and I quickly did our “girl stuff” while they were gone and enjoyed the evening.  They called a few times to tell us the exciting things that happened, like feeding a purple duck!  I didn’t know purple ducks existed, but apparently a beautiful grey duck with purple wings does.  Hmm…(yes, this was before the portable heater, so I’m pretty sure they weren’t just high on fumes).  They had a great time, ate lots of junk food.  I think that was what my son was most looking forward to, Mom wasn’t around to say, no you don’t need another cookie.  I do have to say though how times have changed that now while camping, we can still communicate via cell phones.  Much different than when I was a kid!  LOL

Anyway, the night went on.  My daughter was safely tucked into bed and I stayed up late anticipating their early arrival home to help unload the truck.  11 PM, no show.  12 AM, still no.  Well, I thought to myself, they might actually make it!  So I went to bed.

And then I’m woken with a start at 3:30 AM ish thinking for sure someone is breaking into my house….and I’m home, by myself!  No man around to protect me!!  Ahhh…..that was not part of the deal…and wouldn’t you know it, someone waited until they were gone to come break in!!! 

Then I realize (after I stupidly go to the front door with nothing to defend myself – yeah, I’m smart) that it was just the boys returning.  I have to admit, I expected midnight, but not 3:30 LOL…..

They camped the night, then the fuel in the portable heater went out about midnight.  My son was so cold my husband gave him his sleeping bag which resulted in a still mildly cold boy and a very cold Dad.  They broke camp, went to walmart at 3 (yeah, they got lots of questioning looks for that one!) and came home.  Sigh…but the boys are home.  The two of them took a good nap the next day.

Now this is a story that I wasn’t on, so sometimes tellling it might be hard.  But my son was sooo excited about it, it needed to be told.  And I was on the receiving end of a few phone calls, so I did still have that perspective.  I only had one photo, but I still felt this was a story to be documented.

 

I did an 8.5 x 11 page because I only had one photo.  And this October Afternoon paper was perfect for the page!  I created the page with a small amount of journaling in mind then realized I needed more room.  So I did something I don’t do often, I used hidden journaling.  It meant taking the page apart a bit, but I’m glad I did.

Supplies:  October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup, misc (buttons, kraft paper, floss, chocolate ink & bling)

“Home School”

It was an exciting week in our house.  We  homeschool, and there are so very many benefits to it.  One of which being we can adapt the learning to the ability of the child.  My first grade son loves math.  It comes extremely naturally to him.  This week, we finished 2nd grade math and moved onto 3rd grade!  Yay!  How very exciting.  (So now, next time you see me messing with numbers here, you’ll know it’s a family thing…we all love numbers).

 

Well, I knew I had to do a page to mark it.  This is a sketch by my friend Ashley at Frosted Designs.  Now, I had to do what works best for me with sketches.  I’m not a sketch person, so I looked at it, made mental notes, then walked away.  I pulled a few key things from it (the vertical blocking and the circles) and then did my own thing using those key features. 

 

Supplies:  American Crafts (cardstock & Thickers), Cosmo Cricket (papers & ledge letters), October Afternoon (paper and stickers), misc (bling & ink)

“Lego Bliss”

It’s almost the end of January already!  Wow!!  I just wanted to share this LO to remind you that I still have the January challenge open!  You have until Jan 30 11:59 PM Pacific to post your link for your chance to win the prize!!! 

This page I did with a twist on the sketch.  I had larger pictures, so I flopped the sketch a bit and then used 3 pics instead of 4.  But the great thing about sketches is they are just that.  A sketch, not a set in stone rule.  Make it work for you!!

Journaling:  “In October we went to the Lego Store in Bellevue.  You looked forwards to it for months and had a blast.” Oct 2011

Supplies:  Simple Stories, American Crafts (cardstock, thickers & ribbon), PapertreyInk dies (alphas), Cosmo Cricket (ledger letters), Studio Calico (veneer stars), Misc, floss & buttons

 

Be sure to link up your page to your blog or online gallery for your chance to win this months prize!  The sketch (and Mr Linky) is on the right sidebar.

Reusable Grocery Bags

My husband always makes fun of me because I write a grocery list and promptly forget it at home when I head out the door.  He seems to think it’s funny.  And while I guess there is some humor in the fact that I nearly always forget it, there is still benefit in that I usually can remember what was on the list by just the act of writing it out.  But I also do a similar thing with reusable grocery bags.  Yup, I either leave them at home, or if I’m lucky enough to get them to the car, in the car while shopping.  Urgh!  I much prefer to use the reusable bags.  They hold more, they’re easier to carry, they’re a bit more attractive and best of all, they don’t tear leaving a trail of lemons and potatoes on the ground behind me as I carry groceries in.  No, I don’t speak from experience.  Okay, maybe just a *little*.  okay, okay, a lot.  I get so stinkin frustrated when that happens!  And it seems to happen weekly. 

Anyway, I heard a friend of mine really wanted some for her birthday.  I was a bit intimidated because she’s a crazy good seamstress and I’m well, a lazy one!  LOL.  But I set to work anyway and did my best.  I was so pleased with the result I almost didn’t send it!  Sigh.  But I was good and did.  And now I’m thinking I just need to find some time to make myself a nice set of 6 or 8 because I’m thinking that if I had really pretty bags, I wouldn’t forget them at home or in the car. 

I’m thinking about doing a pattern for these, but I need to perfect the pattern, so give me a bit and check back!! 

The 6x6 Debate–Part 3

Today I’m going to wrap up this little 6x6 paper exploration with a few more examples of projects done with the same two papers in different scale.  The first is a card.  This was using a piece of My Minds Eye paper that has a very focal pattern.  I often struggle with these types of papers, so these aren’t my favorite projects ever, but they serve the purpose of demonstration.

“Such a Lovely Day Together” Journaling:  “In October, the boys went camping so we had a girl day.  We had a tea party, painted our fingernails and had fun.”

Alright, now my next two projects are some of my favorites.  I’m really loving these two.  So just like Thanksgiving dinner, I’m saving the best for last.

For this card, I distressed the papers and rolled the edges a bit to give it a shabby look.  I also cut the paper flowers (using both scale of papers) with my spellbinders dies and rolled and inked the edges.  No sentiment because I’m not sure who I’m giving it to yet.  Yup, that’s how I work.

This page I love because of the photo.  I was so happy with the result of the page and the shabby look, it went perfectly with this picture I thought.  There is no journaling, but the title is based off a song by Steven  Curtis Chapman called “the Treasure of You.”  Yes, this is one of my favorites.

Supplies:  My Minds Eye (paper, flowers, brads, epoxy, ribbon), Misc (paper, ink & floss), Basic Grey (alphas), Cosmo Cricket (alpha ledgers)

 

To wrap this all up, and because I’m a complete geek, I wanted to give a  bit of a price break down of the price per square foot of the 6x6 pads compared to the 12x12 paper.  For the most part, they are pretty comparable.  A few are less, a few are a tad more.  But all in all, it’s not costing more to buy the 6x6, sometimes it’s a 25% less (but those are often the papers printed on only one side when the 12x12 is double sided).  Here’s a brief overview of some companies.

Basic Grey

6x6  – $.66 per square foot (single sided)

12x12 – $.93 per square foot (double sided)

 

Echo Park

6x6 – $.99 per square foot (double sided)

12x12 – $.89 per square foot (double sided)

 

My Minds Eye

6x6 –$.99 per square foot (double sided)

12x12 – $.99 per square foot (double sided)

 

Crate Paper

6x6 – $.74 per square foot

12x12 – $.99 per square foot (double sided)

 

Simple Stories

6x6 – $.66 per square foot (single sided)

12x12 – $.99 per square foot (double sided)

The 6x6 Debate Part 2

Well, since I was told Saturday that the word “debacle” is speaking of failure I decided to use the original word I was planning which is debate.  So boring though.  But thanks Bethany for correcting my not so good English skills.  I’m tempted now to use a very long run on sentence full of grammatical error just to see what she says.  I shall refrain.

On to the subject at hand.  6x6 paper compared to 12x12 paper.  As I said on Saturday, there is a difference in scale.  Over the weekend, I made a few projects to demonstrate this.  Today, I am just sharing one card.  I’ll have more tomorrow but I’m crunched on time today.  No, I don’t just lay around eating bon bons and watching Oprah.  At least not most days.  No, today, I have to brave the 6” of snow that fell overnight and venture into town to pick up my whole foods order.  Ahhh….

This paper is from My Minds Eye Lost and Found TWO.  Can I just say I loved this line?  Guess I don’t need your permission, I’m going to say it anyway.  I love this paper line. 

I cut both sizes into 1 1/2” squares and made a faux quilted card.  You can see the difference in the scale of the patterns.  Same pattern, one is just 25% of the other. 

Supplies:  My Minds Eye (patterned paper & embellishment), American Crafts cardstock, misc thread

Tomorrow I have two pages and two more cards to show using the same papers.  Now, I’m off to do school with the kids.  It’s an exciting day, my first grade son is moving into 3rd grade math!  A new journey starts today.  Off for the adventure.  Over and out.

The 6x6 Debacle

That is a word right?  Hey – I never said I was an English major….In fact, I’m feeling pretty special in all I’ve learned homeschooling my son in 1st grade phonics.  I have a problem with English.  How’s that for an intro? Completely off the subject and random. Sigh. Perfect!

If you’ve been in any scrapbooking aisle in the last couple years you’ve noticed that 6x6 paper pads are taking the industry by storm.  It seems every manufacturer is releasing their papers in a 6x6 size as well as the full 12x12 size.  There are definite benefits to the 6x6 size, especially the obvious, for cardmakers.  The smaller size is perfect for the smaller canvas.  In addition to just being smaller in size, the scale is usually smaller as well.  Most commonly it’s 25% of the the original scale (however I have found some exceptions as I’ll show).  But the benefits go farther than just cards.  These paper pads are a great option for the scrapper on a budget.  It allows the consumer to have the entire (or majority) of a paper line at a more affordable cost.  Most 6x6 pads are $6 each, less than the comparable  12x12 collections at $15 and up.  One more benefit is the smaller scale.  I know I already said that, but I related it to cards.  Now, I want to relate it to scrapbook layouts in terms of die cuts. 

To demonstrate this, I pulled from my stash some papers that I had in both the 6x6 size and the 12x12 size.  Then I punched circles with my 1 1/4” punch in both the full scale and the 6x6 scale.  I have photographed those punchouts as well as the sheets of paper together.  The full size is on the left, the 6x6 is on the right in all the pictures.

Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas

My Minds Eye Stella & Rose (both sides of paper)

 

Echo Park Happy Days (this one appears to not have as dramatic reduction in scale)

 

My Minds Eye Lost & Found TWO (both sides of paper)

 

 

Studio Calico Memoir

I hope these visuals allow you to see the benefits of using the 6x6 papers in your papercrafts.  Take a chance and try something new.  I did, and haven’t regretted it yet (as you can see below )

“Forever Friends”

Sheesh, I can’t believe how fast these little squirts grow!!  This seems just like yesterday, but it wasn’t.  It’s been 16 months and how much they’ve changed since these pictures!

This is a page that really, is just about the pictures.  No journaling, just the picture.  I tell enough stories in my pages that sometimes I like to do a page that simply doesn’t tell a story with anything more than the picture.

Supplies:  Crate Paper (papers & alphas), Cosmo Cricket (flowers & butterflies), October Afternoon (stickers), Misc (floss & rhinestones)

Worst Tooth Fairy

This sweet boy lost a tooth last night.  (who also needs a hair cut desperately) Yay!  The fourth tooth we’ve lost.  He’s growing up too fast.  Plain and simply.  He thinks it’s pretty funny that he can now use the gaps in his teeth to use two straws to drink root beer.  Silly kid….too bad he’ll only have a few root beers in the time it takes the new teeth to appear.

But to set this story, we have to go back a few weeks.  He lost his third tooth.  It was a crazy busy night, very bad.  The tooth fairy forgot to come.  Yes, I said that forgot.  Fortunately, this boy is so sweet and considerate he waited until we were up to look.  He came into our room very excited.  I thought it was because we had plans that day to go to “the city” and he was looking forward to it.  Then he said “no, my tooth!”  I bolt out of bed, grab some cash and tuck it under his pillow.  Phew – close call – he didn’t know.  I’ll never do that again!!!

Now, come back to last night.  Ever heard of the phrase “history repeats itself?”  Yup, feeling like the worlds WORST mother here.  That would be me.  The current title holder of that one can be relieved of all their responsibilities and forward that trophy to me at PO Box 1BADMOM.   We tuck him in last night, and I made a mental note “don’t forget again”  Hmm…..next time I should do more than a mental note….Then we had trouble with problems with frozen pipes and the wicked cold weather and were distracted.  Oops.

Yeah, we have breakfast.  We do school.  I’m starting to fix lunch at 11:30 and realize OH NO!!!  I did it AGAIN!!!  Shoot!!!!!  I distract the kids and run into the bedroom.  He hasn’t said anything yet and I’m hoping I’m not busted…..Quickly I tuck two bucks under his pillow (I don’t know what the going rate is anymore for the tooth fairy, but since I got a quarter, I figure 2 bucks is pretty good inflation….).  We casually wait about 15 minutes and then my husband says “Hey C, have you checked your pillow?”  He jumps up and yells “Oh YEAH!  My tooth!”  Well, seemingly, he didn’t look previously.  I don’t know if he really didn’t, or if he’s just trying to be nice….

Now, I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not, but he knows that Mom & Dad are the tooth fairy (and Santa and the Easter Bunny).  I know lots of people play the game of them being real, but I just can’t do it because I feel like I’m lying to my children.  So they know the truth.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad…..good that if I mess up, their faith in something unreal won’t be crushed, but also bad because I don’t want them to think I don’t care enough about them to remember.  Hence, the worlds worst mom award.  But hey, can’t I blame my husband too, he also forgot!  LOL

Note to self:  DO NOT FORGET the Tooth Fairy next time……

Not Too Shabby

Some of you might be stopping in for the twine buy in- it's still open, so scroll down one post for the details!

I’ve had a page idea in my head for a long time.  About two years.  Every day we have a conversation that goes as follows.
Me:  How’d you get so pretty?
A:  God me that way. 
She came up with this answer all on her own.  She was 3 when we started this little “game” and now it’s our regular little thing we say. 

I really wanted this page to be special.  I pulled out the October Afternoon papers I wanted to work with and looked at them for a while when I decided I needed to go shabby.  Me?  Shabby?  Well, shabby in a simple way.  And man, that is a time consuming technique to roll the papers like this, so don’t expect a lot of this from me! LOL  And mark it on the calendar, I even did some fussy cutting. 


Supplies:  October Afternoon (paper), American Crafts (cardstock, thickers), Making Memories (flower brads), Cosmo Cricket (ledger letters), Twinery (twine), misc (ink, faux stitching)

But Winters Not Over

Of course, we haven’t had much of a winter to start with……I can see way to much brown ground outside through the bit of snow we have.  I really hope we get some snow soon or summer will be long hot and potentially a bad fire season. 

I found these pictures on my computer and since I wasn’t ready to share anything else today, I thought I’d share this.  My family doesn’t exchange gifts, we draw names for ornaments.  This year, we had to handmake our ornaments.  Right up my alley!  LOL……I made this snow flake (of which everyone in my family promptly said it looked like a flower….well to them…) 

Oh, want to know a secret?  The paper, it’s actually Pink Paislees Valentine line from two years ago.  Yup, it’s easy to take stuff out of context.

Supplies:  American Crafts cardstock, Pink Paislee, K&Co embellishments & Lindy ‘s Gang Moon MIst

This girl….

Another day, another trip to the clinic.  Yes, welcome to my life.  This sweet little girl has been having a rough patch lately.  Lots of tummy bugs.  We thought possibly appendicitis a few weeks ago that sent us in right before Christmas.  Today, dehydration.  Thankfully, she wasn’t severely dehydrated, and the doctor didn’t want to do an IV.  Just sent us home with orders to drink her water.  And funny that this little squirt didn’t believe Dad & Mom, but did the doctor about how important drinking water is. 

She was a trooper though as she’s had her blood drawn twice.  She winced, but didn’t even cry.  Was so very tough!!  The first time though she was worried about the “hole in her arm” and how long it would take to go away.  Too cute.  And while I always feel silly to leave the doctor after they tell me we just have to “wait it out and drink liquids”, I’m always very relieved to have those blood work test results.  It’s always a comfort to have the results and see your childs blood work is normal and it’s another moment that you pause and thank God for healthy kids. 

She’s been so sick though with two rounds of some sort of stomach bug that she’s lost 2 pounds in the last two and a half weeks.  Might not seem like a lot, but 5% of body weight on a girl who doesn’t have a lot of fat to spare is a good chunk.  On a silly note, she has this face she makes that we joke is the “38 pounds of ang-er-y” face.  Now we have to change it to “36 pounds of ang-er-y”  Hopefully she’ll gain that weight back.  I don’t like feeling her spine and other bones. 

Remind me, who said parenting was easy?  LOL

Easy Pages

I don’t often buy the complete line of a product line.  I usually pick and chose what I like (and mostly because I don’t often buy the expensive embellishments that I will only use half the package of).   But one line I do tend to buy a little bit more of is My Minds Eye.  One thing I like about MME is that I can put together a quick page.  They have a lot of title cards that are pre-designed.  I don’t use them regularly, but when I’m in a creative slump but still want to complete a page, these are my go to items.  This page is simple, just MME product (and I think the glitter trim is a misc Christmas décor item).  Not even any journaling.  Just slapped a few pictures together because sometimes the pictures paired with the words of a title say all that needs to be said.

Supplies:  My Minds Eye (papers & journal card), Offray (crotcheted trim), misc (glitter trim)

A Different Perspective

My post for today had originally been intended for a different purpose.  I was originally going to share this as a twist on the sketch challenge for the month.  And it still is, but I struggled with this layout and did something I rarely do.  I walked away from it overnight.  I usually just finish because I’ve always thought “done is better than perfect” .  But this was a story I really wanted to tell. 

The kids love the song “Made In America” by Toby Keith.  Well, frankly, I do too.  Everytime it comes on Aly yells “Made in Amewica.”  And they start bopping their head and singing.  I just knew it had to be a page.  The last time this happened, I stopped the truck and took some pictures (with my phone, thus the dark pics). 

Back to the different perspective though.  I photographed the page to post it and when I looked at the small picture this size, it was just not right.  The cluster on the left side blended in too much.  And the red is only on the page in two places, not a good amount for harmony.   I remembered trying to put some red on the cluster, but everything else in the kit was a different shade and it didn’t work.  So I tried to not.  But when I looked at the picture, I knew I had to.  So much so that I fixed it and took another picture of the page.  I added a red rhinestone to the cluster and to repeat it so it didn’t seem like an arbitrarily misplaced item. 



In adding the red, it make the visual triangle complete and tells your eye where to go. 

The point of my rambling, is that use these tools we have.  Sometimes when you look at your page in a smaller format, it's easier to see what is going wrong.  Snap a picture, look at it as a 2-4" sized project and see if that gives you a different perspective as to what you can do to finish or improve it.

Supplies:  Studio Calico (paper, letters, chipboard tags, veneer cuts, journaling block), Twinery (twine) American Crafts paper, misc (floss & rhinestone), Bo Bunny (blue brad)

High School Years–FBLA

I really don’t have many pictures from my youth years.  I don’t know if it’s just that I don’t have that many, or if it’s that no one does, because well, those were the pre-digital era when cameras still used film.  Before we went nuts taking photos because we could! 

I have so few pictures, but I’ve also done so little with them.  I’ve never scrapped them.  So last week, I made it my goal to scrap about 30 of these pictures.  This is all the pictures I have from FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America).  Man, it seems like a lifetime ago!!!  I was an officer every year, acting as President my Senior year.  (of course, that was also the year I missed the second half of the year because I had spinal surgery – now those are some pictures I wish I could find, but I’m afraid I destroyed them because they were less than flattering…….the things you don’t realize pre-scrapbooking).

This is an 8.5 x 11.  I had to really crop down the pictures because of all the distracting background in them.  That led me to using a smaller page format.  The products are almost all Bo Bunny, the last 4th of July line they did.  I’m not a good theme scrapper, so it was fun to be able to pull out the product and use it on a page.  The patterned papers are 6x6 pads.  This is one of those times I talk about scale.  The 25% scale of the 6x6 paper is great, especially for smaller pages.  The full scale 12x12 would have been too much on this page.

Supplies:  Bo Bunny, Misc (mesh, cardstock, gems), Paper Trey Ink alpha dies