Friday, August 31, 2007

Farewell Summer


Well, this is it. The official last weekend of Summer. (SIGH) It came and went so quickly this year. No vacation of any kind, no watching Brady run through the sprinkler, no festivals, no bar-b-que (carryout from Longhorn doesn't count!). Oh, well. Going to try to enjoy this last little piece of it. Starting with watching Sweet Home Alabama tonight and putting away my summery decorations. And tomorrow we're heading out for a little get away and some much needed R&R. When we return I'll be ready for Fall, I guess. The cool, crisp weather will definitely be welcome and I'm itching to start making Halloween stuff. So by the time October arrives I'll be ready for the next season.

For now though, farewell to sweet Summer and welcome to her cousin, Indian Summer.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

smiLe!


Just a few things makin' me smile today. Found the crown at Hobby Lobby and with the 40% off coupon it was only about $7. Movie was $10 at Target and w/ a bag of popcorn and a mango smoothie=instant pick-me-up. And the page came out of a mag-REAL SIMPLE, I think. Just loved the colors and with the pink balloon floating by the chandolier-well, it's been inspiring me in the b'day party department.


Enjoy the eye candy!
EDITED (8/29/07): And speaking of eye candy! WOW! I enjoyed this movie even more than I did at the theatre. Maybe it was watching the Making Of special features on the disc or being reminded of Pam Garrison's posts about the Marie Antoinette round robin. (You simply must check this out HERE.) Just loved watching it-all the beautiful colors, layer upon layer of lusciousness and a fresh take on a personal story taken from history. After watching it I am more inspired than ever to get back to work on some of my special projects. I've decided one of them will be directly inspired by Marie Antoinette-canNOT wait!

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Party on DuDe!




Party hats EVERYWHERE! WHEW! I've gotten my technique for covering the forms down and can manage that part pretty quickly. But when it comes time to choose the fancy schmancy trimmings-well, that takes me awhile. And Jeff has grown weary of my, "how's this look?" and "what do you think?". Very weary, indeed.


Enlisted my mother's help today and gave creating my own crepe paper trim a try. I was so excited to try this! Mom knew immediately how to do it from all of her years of sewing, but I'm always amazed how she immediately knows how to do everything.


<------------This is how it looks once you've sewn down the middle.

<------------And this is how it looks once you start ruffling or gathering it to create vintage-y crepe paper trim. Isn't this SO cool? And Mom said to create nice little rosettes just sew closer to the edge. I can't wait to sew on orange and black to make trim to use on some cool Halloween stuff. With just this one technique you can do all kinds of things-so, so, cool. Thanks, Mom!


I need to shut down the assembly line on the party hats though and get back to my photo projects for the party. I'm looking forward to implementing some of the ideas I've had swimming around in my head. In fact, bopped by to see my pals at Oma's today and picked up some old rusty latches and chicken wire. MMWWAAAAAHAHAHA! Wait til you see what I do with it! ;) I think the girls think I'm a little crazy. Also saw some cool old bottles and stuff. Have to remember that next time I need one for one of my creations.

What have you been up to this weekend? I'm looking forward to getting away a bit next weekend. Even if it is just to Jeff's folks. Change of scenery and a little R&R will be good for us. Might even try to do a little thrifting while I'm there. Rumor has it most stores have 50% off on holidays. A few things to look forward to as we head into next week. Here's to a productive and pleasant five days! I'm going to crash and watch a little mindless reality TV before I head off to bed.








Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Happy Hump Day!

Just realized it was Wednesday and thought that was reason enough to blog. Ha! Not that I want to wish away time-I realized when I was filling something out at work today that next week is already the end of the month. Where DOES the time go?!? Jeepers! But I am thankful the week is zooming by and we're on the downside headed towards the weekend. I'm also looking forward to Labor Day weekend coming up-truth be told.


So I'm purposely taking a creative break this week. Meaning, taking a break from creating. But these are some of the yummy goodies I'm looking forward to working with again this weekend. Got my to do list made so I can refocus and get a few more things accomplished before my next meeting with Jeff's mom about G'ma Alice's party. It's been tough though not getting my hands back into my goodies since I've left such a mess everywhere and I'm bascially surrounded by it all. AND because I got a copy of this on Monday. It is so delicious and inspiring I could hardly put it down for two days. Seriously! Secretly, I'm counting the days til the weekend so I can get back at it! :)



I am also loving my little IPOD speaker thing-y I bought at Wal-mart a couple weeks ago. Yes, don't tell my brother I shopped at Wal-mart! Anyway, it is very cool and I love using it at my new office 'cause it keeps me focused. My fav cd right now is Mandy Moore's new cd, Wild Hope. Hey, don't knock it til ya give it a listen-it is very good. Also, lovin' me some Michael Buble. I think he may have replaced my beloved Harry. GASP-yes, it's true. Oh, and speaking of celeb crushes-I have a new one. James McAvoy. YES! If you have not seen Becoming Jane then you simply must! It is FABULOUS! My BFF is a HUGE Jane Austen fan and has read all of her books-most of them more than once. She has been carrying on about her and her books as long as I've known her and yet it was a movie and Mr. James McAvoy who have charmed me. I've set my TIVO to tape anything with him in it. YUM-OH! Who knows, I might even read a Jane Austen novel or two. Even Hugh Grant couldn't get me to do that!

Okay, the boys are back with snowcones so I need to run. Two days and counting until the weekend. As Pooh says, "HOORAY!".

Monday, August 20, 2007

Back To School Morning


A dreary way to start back to school, but spirits were bright. Our boy was a little nervous this morning. I don't think any of us were ready for today emotionally. Not sure where our summer went! Spent the weekend gearing up and by this morning we were physically ready at least. Everyone loves a new beginning though and the first day of school always signals such. We're hoping for a good year for our boy filled with new friendships and lots of learning.


I'm off to work to my new digs for the second full week. Still getting my sea legs. Have a great week!

Friday, August 17, 2007

my kinda fuN




Okay, this is SO fun! Kind of weird, too, but if you hang in with it the first time and follow all the steps it's amazing what you end up with. And what all you can do with it when you're finished. I finally collected all my supplies and set up a space on the kitchen island tonight to try Sally Jean Alexander's version of collage art. She calls this Abracadabra Collage. WOW--it really is like magic!

The idea is that you write about 10-12 different techniques on separate pieces of paper 3 or more times and then mix them up in a bowl or whatever vessel you find inspiring. She even suggested maybe a top hat! Anyway, you close your eyes and pull out a piece of paper and that's the technique you do first and then pull out another and so on and so on. I kind of cheated on my first try and followed her steps in the book mimicking her color way and stuff. And this is what I ended up with. Unfortunately, the watercolor paper was a smidge big for my scanner, but most of it fit.



I'm using the collages to cover cones which with further embellishment will become party hats to use as centerpieces for Grandma Alice's birthday party. Yes, that's all I'm thinking about these days. (And it shows at my house-it's a total shambles.) Can't wait to make more of these. Just need bigger paper and a proper pattern for my cones. I'm stocked with delicious colored satin and velvet ribbons and some other fun embellishments. Once I completely finish the prototype I'll give you a peek. Just need to embellish around the bottom and I'll have the first one completed.



One of my garage sale finds from last weekend will also get the collage treatment. I played around with it a little tonight and I screamed so loud I woke Jeff up! It's going to be way cool-can you say light kit? Yes! Never assembled one before, but gonna create a custom decorative lamp using collage and my garage sale find. Stay tuned to see how that turns out! Might have to be a special gift for a couple of special someones having an anniversary soon.



Okay, need to get to bed. Brady has his last baseball game tomorrow and then I HAVE to get my house cleaned up so I can collage tomorrow evening. I'm lovin' this!!!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Once Upon a Time...


there was a little girl named Alice Glass. This is the third in a series of projects I've been working on for Jeff's Grandma's 100th birthday. Never know how I feel about them when they're finished. Some of them I like more than others and I'm always nervous to show them to Jeff's mom who's commissioned them (in a manner of speaking). But they are alot of fun to make. My goal is to complete one more yet this weekend. I'm really excited about working with certain photos and now it's getting hard trying to choose just three or four more. Finding lots of inspiration from the likes of Pam Garrison, Sally Jean Alexander and Anna Corba and learning lots of new techniques and neat tricks.


For example, inspired by a project in Anna Corba's book, Making Memory Boxes, I was out looking for materials when I found this box at Goodwill. Funny story - I was by myself and when I spied it on the shelf I gasped as I snatched it from it's place. The lady next to me grabbed my arm and said, "are you alright?". Embarrassed, I said "Yes, thank you." as I clung to my little treasure. The box is pressed metal with an embossed design on the outside-very cool. But unlike the inspiration piece, the box wasn't hinged and being impatient I went ahead and put it together one evening when I was feeling particularly inspired. Anyway, couldn't figure out the best way to hinge the lid to the box , but the craft fairy godmothers advised that I use booktape hinges so I gave it a whirl and ta-da!


And so the story goes that little Alice grew to be a vivacious young woman. And as time ticked by she became a mother and a grandmother. All with grace and a keen sense of humor. She waits patiently for her turn as the birthday queen where she will reign over a magical celebration of her 1oo years of living young. THE END

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Day Late, Dollar Short


Yep, that would describe me! Haven't let all of you out in blogland know about my great adventures last Saturday with my fav gal pal, Tammy. Since Brady was out of town visiting my parents, Tammy and I were able to get out early to garage sale and then later in the day hit an estate sale and antique malls. We had a great time! I say it over and over, it wouldn't really matter what we were doing-I just love hanging out with her. She truly makes me a better person. AAWWW! Okay, enough of that.


Probably the best sale we went to was a church rummage sale. We hit the mother lode there. It was SO fun going from room to room and collecting all of our treasures. It was so funny 'cause we like alot of the same stuff, but we worked it out (we are adults, afterall!) We had the best time looking through record albums in one room-25 cents each. Some of the Disney and musical albums have awesome booklets inside. Do you remember those?! We even saw a copy of Keith Green's, Songs For the Shepherd. I got a litte teary. No suprise there, right?!

I'm not sure the estate sale thing is for me though. Kind of a weird feeling to be wandering through someone's home and goinng through their stuff. I did pick up a couple books including Tom Brokaw's, The Greatest Generation (hardback for $4). We managed to fit in a stop at Red Lead while in the area (tee hee hee). Had to consult with our crafty gurus, you know. Not exactly sure what my favorite find from the day was. Might have been this glass compote with silver trim. It came filled with seashells, but you can see I added them to my collection on my fabulous silver tray I got earlier this summer. Although, I did get a lower case "g" printers block to use on one of my Grandma Alice projects-it is pretty cool, too.

By the end of the day I was totally wiped out. But it was SO worth it. Although, while I was cleaning and sorting the next day I kept wondering, "why did I haul all this stuff home?". Okay, gotta run. We have Meet the Teacher night tonight.

P.S. The funk is slowly passing and I appreciate all the well wishes. :)




Sunday, August 12, 2007

I AM MY ART





Last Sunday, I took my first ever class at Red Lead, a local paper arts store. I was SO nervous. I mean these gals are very cool, creative, real artist type chicks. I love to visit their store and I ALWAYS leave inspired and ready to get messy and make something-anything. I had never had a chance to take classes or attend any of their workshops so I had high expectations. This class did NOT disappoint-what a blast! Chris and Sharon are so at ease and immediately put their students at ease as well. "Whatever floats your boat" is their mantra as they encourage you to personalize your project and go with your inner craft girl instincts. This is a challenge for me as I overthink everything. I loved the idea that everyone did the same project yet each one turned out completely different. Check out the gallery on their blog for a peek at some of the awesome journals made in our class.

The class was titled, "I Am My Art" and we used chipboard and corrugated cardboard as a base for an inspiration journal. We were taught lots of techniques that could be adapted to many different projects. One of my favorites was the shaker window with vintage buttons. Chris taught us to collage on our base page, add a transperancy and then how to create a simple frame with torn paper strips which sealed the window closed. Also, finally had the chance to work with mica which was very interesting. My new favorite find for adhering heavier items is Ultimate Glue-it ROCKS! I was able to attach a seashell and sea glass to a chipboard tab lickety split and they're not goin' anywhere. Also, tried Lumiere paint for the first time. I know, I can't help but think of Beauty and the Beast! :) It's lovely-had to have it in gold. I can see how you could become addicted to it since you can get it in many gorgeous colors.

Here are a few pages from my book-it's still in progress, of course. Lots of girly pink here-think I finally got my fill! It will be so fun to continue to add stuff to this book and keep it nearby for inspiration and to remind me about all the great techniques I learned. The idea is to have one going all the time adding all kinds of stuff that inspires you-fabric scraps, color combos, magazine articles, recipes, photos, quotes etc.

Thanks, Chris and Sharon for a great time and for your inspiration!












Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Hello Faithful Readers


I'm still here. Just in a funk and havin' one of those weeks. In fact, last night I watched the Tori and Dean marathon-the WHOLE thing. The good news is, I'm caught up and ready for the new season-HA! Yeah, major funk. This too shall pass, right? I'll check back in after it passes. Until then, take care!