Scrapbooks are often filled with pictures, stories and other memorabilia. Thus, I have created this an online scrap-blog. Displayed are stories from my everyday life; from my art projects to crazy friends and growing family. My world isn't full of wild adventures, but rather interesting vignettes that converge into my day to day existence.
I love the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. Even more so, I love the idea that the world is based around an EPIC archipelago. When I read, I LOVE to reference the map to follow along the journey of the characters. The Earthsea map from the novels however are terrible. In the front of each book is a horribly small map that is split down the middle of 2 pages. Trying to find a better map online yielded a crappy hand drawn map, a map split into many smaller factions and a pretty map. The pretty map only used light colors and it was so difficult to read any of the island names that it was rendered useless.
So, armed with my own book and some enlarged copies online, I painstakingly traced together many cobbled bits and pieces of map to form a complete and legible copy of the map of Earthsea. It stays true to the original map, though a few island names may be misspelled; specifically a few "G's" might have been confused with "C's" for letters. This is in part on the micro-font from the book map. All in all, my refreshed map is a nice, printable map to have as a companion for reading the Earthsea novels. Enjoy!
Frankie-Jeronimo is the loving name we have given to the happy snail that is embroidered on the bib of my new little bundle of joy. In our sleep deprived state of new parent-ness, my husband and I were a little giddy and self entertaining one night. "The book says we should 'give everything a name'" and that was sound advice meaning to label everyday objects around the house. "Table", "Chair", "over flowing laundry basket". However at that moment, I thought that "give everything a name" meant that I should be naming all the toys as well. Sometimes (okay most of the time) I'm not very creative when it comes to names. I'll make a new dinner and call it "Chicken bacon skillet" because that is what it is: Chicken and bacon and that is how it's cooked: in a skillet.
So after a rather exhausting day, myself tired from all day care from the baby and my husband from toiling away at his 9-5, we were talking about the latest task at hand: "give everything a name". Me to my husband: "what about this guy? The snail on the bib?". Husband after 30 seconds of hard contemplation: "Well.... I think he looks like a "Frankie-Jeronimo."
How could I refute that? The snail did look like a Frankie-Jeronimo and now when I ask for a bib, my husband will ask if I want the white one or Frankie-Jeronimo. Frankie-J almost always wins out.
Well, I'm a new mom. In my sleep deprivation, I misunderstood the full intention of giving everything a name, but as a new mom and a proud one and a stay at home one (thanks to my wonderful husband's fantastic job) I have eased off of being so hard on myself. Like wanting to blog again now that I'm at home. Wanting to blog while being on demand 24/7 seems risky, so I'll start here under my old blog banner and if things pick up, well then, I'll just expand. I fully accept the risk that I might not actually be able to keep up an active blog, but then I think that right now it's hard maintaining a one-sided conversation with a baby who can only laugh and coo back and having a blog outlet might keep my sanity going. So you never know.
It's funny...all the stuff I scoffed about while being child-free I finally get. All that advice and my know-it-all attitude while never having carried a growing baby for nine months or having to care and keep alive another human being has finally come back around. I admit it, I was wrong. My well intentioned advice to my mom friends about what they should or shouldn't be doing in the way of raising their child was just crap. While I was sleeping in late on the weekends, partying until the wee hours of the morning and able to jump down to San Diego for the weekend without a moment's notice, I'm now savoring the sweet time I have all to myself while my almost four month old baby naps for a while. That could be a half hour or 2 hour plus nap depending on the nap god's will.
So for now, I'll leave you here with the knowledge that I now have an amazing son..... and a bib named Frankie-Jeronimo.
Now that I'm a newly wed I have learned to hate assumptive questions. Two questions really stick in my craw:
How's married life?
When are you having kids?
These types of questions are the social courtesy of today's society that people are programmed to ask. When a kid graduates high school the first thing people ask is "where are you going to college?". Maybe they don't want to go to college! Or when someone gets engaged the first question is "When's the wedding" even though the proposal could be moments before.
First of all, married life really isn't much different from "in a relationship" life if you've already been living together. Maybe in the 50's when you lived with mommy and daddy until you married and then left home it would be different. Sadly a few of my friends are in this boat. They are engaged and neither of them have EVER left home. For them, yes married life will most definitely be different. Not only will they be living with someone new, but the shock and realization of meal planning, paying bills and chores will be a total 180 for them.
Not for me. Yes, I love having the ring on my finger and a man I'm so in love with to come too every single day, but so far (aside from tax/bank/insurance forms) it is the same. So when people ask me "how's married life" I respond with: "no different". This really gets them worked up "Surely you must be excited to be married and it is different". Of course I'm excited to be married, but that wasn't their question. Married life is exactly the same, nothing in my life is different. Case closed.
The most infuriating presumptive question however, is the age old classic "When are you having kids?" (or other close variations). So now that I have a ring on my finger and am blessed by a priest, it's apparently a green light for procreation. Everyone has asked me. Even perfect strangers. As soon as they find out I'm a newly wed, without hesitation out pours the questions. The mail man, the girl behind the counter at the store, co-workers, family, friends EVERYONE.
Deciding whether or not to bring a child into this global-warmed world is not a light one. Nor one for public discussion in my opinion. Yes I would love to have kids. When and how is between my husband and I. End of discussion. when people ask, I politely reply with some vague answer. "Do you want kids" ---maybe. "Are you planning a family soon" ---hard to say really. "So when are you due" *wink wink*---to which I firmly reply as I look them straight in the eye---I'm not pregnant. That one really makes them squirm and it should. That is a rude question to any women at any time.
People need to filter their questions. Really think about what they're asking before just automating a response. I have really, really taken this to heart. When someone shares news with me of any kind, I try and ask questions that are interesting and will give the person a break from having to field the same questions.
Well, I got the hunger for Friendship bread again. It's been a few years and I thought it would be fun to start up my own batch. I figured it would be nice to have the bread (lets be honest here, it's more like cake) around the house for the holidays. The bread itself makes a great gift and the starters are fun to hand out to those few people who want to start a fun little kitchen project. Plus, it's EASY!!
Never having started a starter (so to speak) I went hunting online for an easy recipe. I have to say there are a lot of people out there afraid of working with yeast. Some people were adament about having the yeast be added to water that needed to be carefully monitored for temperature by a thermometer. Some websites were terrified of leaving milk out on the counter *GASP* to ferment *GASP* and wanted you to use only water.
People please. After doing some of my own research into the business of basic sour dough bread making I found some interesting facts. Back in the day people didn't have dry active yeast, they just allowed milk, flour and sugar to do it's thing, breaking down the good ol' fashioned way. After all, the flour/sugar/milk is just food for the yeast and you just keep feeding it until you want to bake it. Actually if you keep in mind that the yeast is like a happy little pet in your kitchen all the stuff makes sense. It wants warm yummy food and a warm place to grow and thrive.
So I went to the store and bought me some dry active yeast. Using a wooden spoon and a plastic bowl (because they didn't have metal in the days of yore and also because metal messes with the yeast) I mixed a .25 oz yeast packet in with a 1/4 cup warm water and let it get crazy with itself for about 10 minutes. Then I added 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of flour and (you guessed it) 1 cup of warm milk and mixed it in. I let it sit in a plastic bowl overnight with a hand towel over it and in the morning transferred it to a gallon sized zip lock. Thus I created my very own starter.
Knowing that in 10 days I would have more starter to hand out to friends and family, I went in search for some instructions to give with the starters. It was kind of slim pickings. I found the recipe and instructions for mashing the bag and the days when you're supposed to add stuff, but I was left wanting. People who posted some instructions left a lot of openings for questions and confusion. On some of the blogs I had seen people wondering why Amish people used
"instant vanilla pudding" in the recipe or why it was safe to leave a
bag of starter batter on the counter for several days. What's a girl to do?! Make my own! I included a back story on the bread, instructions, recipe variations and a FAQ section to clear up any questions. Even if the second page gets lost (the
second page has the variations and the FAQ section) they'll still be
able to work with the starter and bake the bread.
The FAQ section has already been extremely handy especially for my Mother in Law who is the type of person afraid to leave eggs out on the counter for more than a few seconds. It's a wonder how people forget that refrigerators are only a modern invention and that eggs, milk, butter etc. were always kept out, but I digress. The FAQ helped explain some of the process behind the wonderful bread which allowed her to be put at ease and have fun with the starter! It is my hope that these instructions will help those out there wanting to try the bread, but afraid to get started!
If you do use my instructions, please leave a comment. I would love to know how your bread turns out! *Note: I'm not blogger savvy enough yet to figure out how to upload PDF documents, so here are the instructions via picture format (click for larger view). If you want a PDF copy, PM me your email address.
What better way to get back into the crafting spirit than by hosting a new swap on swap-bot.com? I've decided to create a fabulous swap to design a paper doll inspired by fairy tales. Click on the picture below to view the details:
I thought leaving the paper doll black & white would make it a lot quicker to create because I wouldn't have to then take the time to color it in, plus I thought people would like to color what they received to make it more their own! Just makes it so much more fun! The inspiration photo I used for the swap came from here and I just love her Cinderella paper dolls on this gal's site! So darling. Even if I only get one partner to swap with, it will be fun. Something to get my creative juices flowing again! If you have a swap-bot account, you should sign up!
My true love drew for me eleven pipers piping! Now, my husband thinks that he "can't draw", but I think that this is pretty darn cute! So cute that I had to share with you all. Enjoy!
Well everyone, it has been a few years and my life has been an amazing whirlwind. So I'll catch you up. I went and got me a husband! After bemoaning my state of despair with awful roommates and boyfriends who didn't measure up while treating me like crap, I threw myself into crafting, got my own apartment and decided I wasn't going to settle for "Mr. Right-now" anymore.
So, I started dating again in the spring of 2010 wearing the love charm bracelet my mom made for me shown here to see if I could find "Mr. Right". On February 9th I started talking with DH whom I met through okcupid.com a free dating website (think like Facebook, but for dating). I had a good feeling about this guy, and finally met up with him for coffee in March. A few days later my love charm bracelet broke. I was thinking about DH at the time while standing in front of the copier at work when my bracelet snapped in the center and the beads went flying. Seriously, it just broke and not near the clasp and not because of cheap threading (my mom uses heavy duty wire), but in the center of the bracelet. My friend Jennifer (later a bridesmaid in my wedding) said that maybe I didn't need the bracelet anymore, that it was a sign that I had found my true love. Well, she was right!
DH and I dated for a year and then decided to rent a beautiful little two bedroom town home in july of 2011. That November he snuck up to my parent's place to ask my dad for my hand and December 9th of last year, he proposed at our favorite restaurant. When we went back to our place, all our family was there with a surprise engagement party. A night I'll never forget. New Year's day we booked a venue and set a date and on September 15th we were married!
Pretty awesome right?
So now that I don't have to pack for a move, or plan a wedding I am ready to get back into the crafting action! Stay tuned for some upcoming posts on my newest endeavors!
Here is a picture of Donny and I on our wedding day!
Here's an update on my Stitchalong sampler! (click for a close up)
I added a fun crab on a sandy beach (I love his little pinchers), a hootie owl on a branch with big yellow eyes, a pretty pink star (my lease favorite inchie so far), some purple lattice and a spider-webbed rose from silk ribbon. I'm kind of thinking I should have picked a theme like most of the other stylin' stichers in the stitchalong, but I'm having fun just doing my own thing! I'm curious what will pop up tomorrow!
So the Ireland post office must hate me because it took forever to get my Christmas and ultimately my Valentine's swap from Claire. The Christmas package was sent back to Claire for some absurd reason and by the time she got it, it was time for my Valentine swap to be sent.
So in early February, on a Tuesday, I come home from work to find a stack of boxes in front of my door! I was so excited I hustled them into my room:
The top white box was a shipment of handmade soap from an amazing online site (future blog post on that), the middle box was my "Christmas" swap and the bottom box was my "Valentine" swap!
getting 2 swaps at once is pretty damn awesome! Since there are so many goodies packed into each swap, I'll have to break them down. I hate to be a tease, but I promise details to come soon!
I was wandering through my photos today trying to organize things a bit when I found this....
....A picture of my mom and I around my Nana's kitchen table. This photo wasn't retouched in any way, just scanned as is. I've had it in the depths of my computer photo files, but I guess it got lost in the shuffle.
Above the sink, where the light is pouring in through a giant window,There is a vast, New Mexico prairie. There's probably a cow or two in the pasture wandering around and a fence beyond it somewhere in the distance.
I love this picture. It's hard to believe I had hair that blond or that long now that it's cropped close in a bob. The iced tea spoons on the table. Reaching for a watercolor pencil to "color" while my mother sketched out a beautiful flower to later be enhanced by water. How young she looks....
I've always loved this siteIt's been on my favorites for a long time. If you haven't seen it, check it out and play around! It's great for stress relief or for creating a masterpiece! Just remember to click "replay painting" when you're done!
More stitches from the Stitchalong to come soon!!! I can't wait to share them with you!!!!
Do you remember that wonderful red & white box from the Valentine's "love & red" swap I sent to Claire? It's okay if you don't, you can pop over here to read about it.
You've been waiting and here it is!
Claire loves to bake and likes a wide variety of supplies so I sent a bunch of fun things she may not be able to get over in Ireland. A few highlights: multi-colored Valentine sprinkles, festive cupcake liners, 2 mini bunt pans, "Ireland" embellishments, a mini scrapbook kit (that includes paper/stickers/chipboard base) ....
Some more things I've included are candies, craft supplies (like Thickers, ribbon, stamps, deco tape etc.) broach, pendant, frame, and other Valentine-ish and red things that I thought were fun all crammed...er....tucked into that pretty red & white box!
Yes, I have pictures of the Christmas and Valentine swaps from Claire! They're coming soon!
Through my amazing friend Bryanna, I stumbled upon this uber fun stitchalong! *click on the button for further details*
I thought to myself that I had tons of suppies stock piled away in some crappy box in the back of my closet, why not put it to use? So I hemmed (no pun intended) and hawed about it and wondered, would I actually sew a square a day? One way to find out.
So I hauled out my supplies and tried to organize things a bit: loose thread tangle? Check. Tons of floss? Check. Silk ribbon. Check. Needles, scissors, cloth, rainbow weave, hoops, sewing books? Check. So I made a big grid of 1x1 inch squares on some wonderful fabric my buddy Bryanna sent me and saddled up the ol' hoop. Then it sat....on my desk...all afternoon....looking at me......
It was just as bad a a blank sheet of paper, a blank page in a novel, a blank canvas. It was darn right intimidating! So I turned over to Bryanna's blog for some inspiration and saw the most darling Alice ever stitched! It was so stinking delightful that I found a jumping off point! Wouldn't you know it? Out popped a lovely Cinderella!
Yes, she isn't in the first square, her stitches are random and she isn't a 1x1 inch either, but how fun is this? I used floss for her hair, skin and dress and silk ribbon for her shoulder and hip poofs! *click on the pic for a close up. Being ever cautious I waited a day to see what would happen. Would I have the desire for another day?
Presto! Day number two! what is it? I have no idea; a green amoeba, tangled ivy, splatter? Does it matter? The point was that I had fun and I enjoyed the colors!
So after square number two, I clicked over to Amy's blog and signed up! I know my stylings aren't perfect, but then again what art is? I'm not sure what direction this project will turn, but I know that I'm having fun already seeing what jumps out of my needles! Stay tuned.....
So recently my mom has been expanding on her creativity in her studio and I have been lucky enough to be on the receiving end for some of her designs!
The first item up is this amazing black & white scarf! My mom has knitted me scarves in the past, but since she really is a quilter at heart, she turned out this beautiful reversible scarf for me!Please click on the picture for a more detailed view.
Below is a photo that shows the other side of the scarf. It's a combo of roller coaster fabric and flower print! How fun is that?!
The next amazing Quilted wonder is a mug caddy. Once again, I'm sorry that blogger is being evil by showing this picture on it's side. Now it doesn't look like much when it's laid out (aside from the amazing fabric...
But when you put it inside a mug (or in my case, a cup) it adds extra organization and flare!
For the Grand Finale, I present you with this gorgeous gemstone bracelet.
Now, for those with a keen eye, you'll notice that all the stones here are real and not plastic/faux reproductions. The reason for this amazing creation was a special request from me to my mom. You see, stones have wonderful metaphysical properties and when you combine certain stones with others, it can amplify those properties. You might be skeptical, but they really do give you a boost if you allow them too. If you still have doubts, you can think of it like a placebo where it will only work if you believe it will.
So the main reason for this compilation was the want for more love, romance and friendships in my life. The last time I wore a bracelet with rose quartz beads on it, I ended up meeting and dating a great guy for 3 months. Since that bracelet bit the dust a long time ago I thought it would be nice to get a better one.
Enter my mom. Mom has been turning out beautiful beaded jewelery lately and knowing her (and her massive supply of stones) I knew I could turn to her for beautiful piece of jewelry with some love & friend boosting properties. I told her I wanted Amethyst and rose quartz to enhance romance and friendships, but that she could add to it and design it. Below, I have outlined what each stone is and what their properties are.
1. Turquoise - healing stone. Attracts friendships, luck, and happiness. Keeps you truthful to yourself. (it happens to be one of my favorites and will help boost finding new people and add luck to my romantic search).
2. Amethyst - calmness, clarity, intuition, protection. (when combined with rose quartz, it boosts loving properties).
3. Labradorite - strengthens the will and inner strength and convictions. It reveals your true path. (this will boost my chances by keeping me going in the right direction)
4. Turquoise - (see #1)
5. Moonstone - Opens the spirit to the feminine aspect. Draws love and helps in interpersonal relationships. Acts as protection for women. (these are strategically placed next to stones to boost their qualities. The best stone is in the center).
6. Amethyst - (see #2)
7. Jade - wisdom, mercy, humility, generosity, peace, and harmony. Protective and lucky when worn as jewelry. (this is an extra boost to keep myself open minded and aid in luck)
8. Fresh water pearl - beauty, faithfulness, humility, innocence, integrity, modesty, purity, refinement, wisdom, and wealth. (another enhancement stone to keep me true to myself).
9. amethyst - (see #2)
10. Quartz - the greatest of all healing stones. Acts as an amplifier for psychic energy and aids meditation and visualization. (this will help amplify the rose quartz)
11. Moonstone - (see #5)
12. Rose Quartz - great for attracting love by opening the heart. Promotes self-loving and heals emotional wounds as well as promoting peace, forgiveness, and nurturing. (this is in the center to really push the romance)
I know each of these stones has multiple meanings and properties, but those were the highlights. Each of these peieces were carefully picked out by my mom for their properties and placed next to stones to help enhance the energy. The rose quartz has a hidden rainbow when shown in sunlight, the amethyst is a rich purple (the darker the color, the more complex and powerful the stone), pure fresh water pearls that aren't dingy, a big hunk of rose quartz to boost my romance, a brilliant cut of moonstone.....I mean, she put so much heart into this bracelet.
When I wear it, I feel a new sense of confidence. It has already boosted the slump I was in and has prompted me to get out there! Thanks again mom, I can't wait to see what new people it brings into my life! (Again, sorry for the side ways photo)!
Hooray for themed swaps! Today I posted a wonderful Valentine package for my Irish friend Claire. I'm super excited about this swap because I found all sorts of lovely things that I think she'll love! Since Claire is hosting, she outlined that instead of just a "Valentine" swap, we should fill a small shoebox full of things we love and things we thing each other would love! In addition, we would prepare a scrapbook kit using things we already had. Lastly, (for the sake of Valentine's day) we would also put in heart things.
It was easy to find things for Claire, but sadly, hearts aren't my favorite shape (I like circles and squares in case you were wondering) so I didn't have many in my crazy craft cache. So, I decided that I would alter the "heart" part a bit and go for red things with a few heart things sprinkled in! That way it would still feel Valentine-ish.
For packaging, I found a shoebox that fit the profile, but it seemed a little lacking. Then I remembered I had pretty red/white reversible paper! Seriously, this is the cutest paper ever. I covered the outside of the box with the floral print and the inside with the striped pattern. To top it off, I lined it with red and white tissue paper and then crammed roughly 40 items into it!
I would love to show you the inside, but you'll have to wait until Claire receives it so I don't spoil the surprise!!
Well folks....I tried. I tried making beautiful pendants, book marks and ornaments by soldering microscope slides, but it's not my thing. I know I probably didn't have a hot enough soldering iron, the patience or time....but I just didn't latch on. The sad thing was that I really liked the look....
Flash forward to The Scrapbook Expo a few weekend back. The very first booth I popped into was Craft Fantastic. While the website isn't the greatest, their products are! They had an inexpensive make-n-take pendant and I fell in love with it! The procedure is pretty simple: take an image and pattern paper and glue back to back the with the lacquer. Put 5 dots of lacquer on a glass square and place directly on top of the image. Paint a clear coat of lacquer on the back and dry. If needed, trim the image. Finally put a dab of super adhesive on the bale and glue to the back. The whole process takes about 5 minutes! The only down side is that you have to wait about a day before you can wear it.
After making a cute pendant I was hooked! I bought this basic kit which came with 20 square glass pendants, lacquer, heavy duty super glue and 20 bales. In addition, I also bought a set of 1x2 glass rectangles. The best part is that making these pendants are so quick, it leaves more time to design the actual piece! Since Valentine's Day is around the corner, I thought I would play around with some ideas. I busted out the watercolors and doodled with artsy-hearts, but nothing really jumped out at me.
Then, I thought of my upcoming Valentine's swap with my friend Claire. She has such a unique style about her that I started thinking in a different way. That was when something new jumped on the paper....I cute little love-bot! Then I remembered all the beautiful images Bryanna sent me and picked out a few as well. The more I played around, the more ideas I came up with!
I have to say that I am very happy with the end result of my little Valentine Pendents. Here are the fronts of the pendants. The abstract one in the upper right corner was created using alcohol inks (my new favorite medium) and Dust-off (air in the can).
These are the backs....oh for whatever reason, in this picture the upper and lower right pendants got swapped from the picture above.
So at work, this was my Pic-o-the-day from my Rube's Zoo daily calendar....
For some unknown reason it tickled my muse and I ended up busting out a poem on some scratch paper at work. The whole thing took me a whopping 5 minutes to compose. It's not long, funny, lovely or "poetic" by any means, but it's interesting. I'm always surprised by what my random psyche creates. Seriously, stuff like this just happens. I'll see something and it will spawn some creative reaction. I don't really choose what tickles my inner imagination, they just pop out at random. That's why it's sometimes hard for me to "be creative" on the spot. So without further ado...."Buzzards"
Here is the very first page in the altered journal that Claire made me! I would love to show a "before" picture, but blogger is being evil. The picture is turned on it's side so I'll try to post is later. Anyways, the first entry was to draw a self portrait. I've always had success sketching other people's likenesses, but self portraits have always been tough for me. So I decided to bust out a nice picture of me from the computer. I took a brown watercolor pencil and sketched out a rough copy of my face and then water colored the rest of it in. I maybe spent about 10 minutes on it, but it was a wonderful and relaxing project for a Sunday morning!
This is shot of my finished project. In case you're wondering, the spice rack next to the window is actually my new "embellishment" rack. My mom got me a spice rack from a garage sale just for this purpose. I dumped out the million year old spices and filled each vile with different things (brads, metal tags, pins, googlie eyes etc.). Oh, and yes that is an open window in the middle of January because here in California it's always a nice 72 degrees!
::sigh:: it's not my best work, but I did have fun making it. Anyways....first entry done!!
My Irish friend Claire and I decided to make each other altered journals. The idea started when I was going through her blog. Claire had posted some pics on herblog here from the "wreck this journal" she had recently altered. I loved how it turned out and wanted her to make me a journal with prompts so I could make one too! The one month project ended up being a 3 month project, but I think it was worth the wait! The only requirements we had was to get a blank journal and alter it for each other. Surprisingly, we both had a lot of the same ideas! I guess great minds think alike!
My goal was to fill her journal with creative writing prompts, idea prompts and embellish some of the pages to get her creative juices flowing. The point was to inspire her. I had some really crappy swaps on swap-bot (I'm pretty sure we all have) and wanted to give my all on this project (hence the 3 months!). I know Claire hadn't been feeling well lately and wanted to give her something to boost her spirits!
This is the journal I made for Claire...It has about 46 layouts (2 pages a layout, you do the math), plus an awesome cover. I took a spiral bound sketch book (with thick paper so markers wouldn't bleed through) and altered the hell out of it! Some pages are really elaborate while others are simple....
Here is the front cover. I used K&Company's "Berry Sweet" paper and stitched in Claire's name. I had a lot of fun ribbon to match the paper so I made a pretty arc around her name! I also attached ribbon to the front and back covers so that she can tie her journal closed when not in use. Please click on the pictures for a larger view...
Here are some random pages...I didn't put all of them on here, but you can get a good idea of all that went into Claire's journal. (BTW Blogger is being evil right now and won't let my pictures post the way I took them so a few of my favorite pages didn't make this blog entry).
I love this page. I had some "fortune cookie paper" that I had been dying to use. I even had a real "fortune" and pasted it in to look like it was coming out of the cookie. I also found a site where you can print and color your own Tarot. I included some cards for Claire as it fit the theme. I figured she would come up with some awesome ideas on how to "alter" them!
I love DCWV "once upon a time" paper. I added a small envie filled with stamped fairy tale images that Claire can color and use for this layout (or not).
Some random 2 page layouts. All inspired by random events (again, click for larger views)
These are pages that prompt an action or teach a skill. The second page (opposite the pages shown) is free space to practice or create her own stuff!
These are just some of the many pages I made for Claire's journal. I can't wait to see what Claire does with her journal!!!! I'm sure by now you're probably wondering about the journal Claire made for me. I have it here, but decided that I would post pics as I work through the journal. I will be taking before and after shots to show how I added to the journal she made me. I'm hoping she will do the same. Here is a direct link to her blogto view some of her other creations as well as more pictures of the journal I made for her! I also must mention that Claire is an AMAZING photographer and she added some of her photos as well as some pen and color pencil drawings into my journal. My favorites though are her collage pages where she uses different mediums to create a wonderful, eye catching spread. More to come soon! I'm hoping to post my first journal entry some time next week! Stay tuned!
I'm an early 30's gal who is married to an amazing man and a new mom. I don't sugar coat life, but have learned compassion. I work with a lot of different mediums of art and have a bunch of interesting people in my life. I love wine (red) and beer (dark) and can solve 3/5 of a rubix cube. I married the love of my life, just had a baby and can't wait for what's next.
