new layouts

i have a stack of layouts that are partially done and my goal this month is to actually complete them so i can put them in albums.

this layout is from a few months back when a bunch of our friends got together for lunch at el gringo in hermosa beach. the patterned paper is from ki memories.

these are not aligned correctly but it's a two-page spread of the holiday cards we got in 2007. i used a square punch to cut out the photos and some holiday accents from the cards. i used to keep all of the cards we received but i have to accept the fact that i cannot keep every single card we receive for the rest of our lives. so this is a compromise of sorts :: i get to keep the essence of the card but it doesn't take up too much space.

lots o' scrappin' going on

i've been productive on one front :: scrapbooking. i can't tell you exactly why but i have the scrappin' bug and i've been fairly preoccupied with making pages. as usual, not all of them are completed at this point but i wanted to showcase them ... [click on each picture to see a bigger image]













i'm going for fairly simple designs (i.e., not too time consuming) that use what i have at home. i'm really trying to use up my ginormous stash of scrapbooking supplies.

i have a few more layouts that are not ready to be seen so i'll upload those once they're done. thanks for looking. :)

effer dare :: 7 random facts

this one came from the effer dares book; it's also part of the last scrapper standing challenge this week. i'm not participating in the challenge, but i thought i would make the layout anyway.

my challenge to myself was to use a larger piece of patterned paper. i'm usually really stingy with my patterned paper and i can only bear to part with a small portion of a 12x12 sheet. this time around i used a 6.5x9 piece of the red patterned paper ... although i must admit i cut out portions of the patterned paper under the 7 card and photo so i can use them for something else.

cardstock :: bazzill
patterned paper :: cosmo cricket
7 card :: target
stickers :: ki memories, ek success, k&co
stamps :: autumn leaves (numbers and bracket), purple onion (decorative)
wooden 6 :: lil davis
other :: labels, label maker (dymo), ledger paper (making memories), graph paper, elmo rubon, stamping ink

knott's berry farm mini album

my second mini album :: done! and i think i like it better than my first one.

it's 6x6 in size with a transparency cover. i held it together with four 10mm jump rings, which i probably have to close better since the transparency page keeps slipping out.

there's very minimal journaling on this one since it's just pictures from a day at knott's berry farm. but it was our first outing as a family to an amusement park and i had too many pictures for a regular layout.

i also wanted to keep practicing my sticker layering technique, which i did on the front cover. and i really like that i finally used one of the calendar pages from real simple magazine, which i've been stealing from my mil's issues for the last year.

31

[click on image for details]
i finished this one super-quick :: i found the photos while i was cleaning up my desk so i decided to find a two-photo layout in a sb magazine and scraplift it. this one came from creating keepsakes (september 07 issue, pg. 51). it's from my friend's J's birthday.

my dear

[click on image for details]

i started this layout at my friend J's crop last weekend. i realized i've done a lot of anniversary layouts ... more than the kids' birthday layouts! the "my dear" letterpress card is from hello lucky and it looks really yellow in the scan, but it's actually green.

i don't know if i should add more journaling ... i was trying to layer stickers but i'm not sure i accomplished the right amount of layering; it looks a little skimpy to me. what do you think?

penguins

[click on picture for more info]

my first time surfing

[click on picture for larger view]
cardstock :: bazzill basics
patterned paper :: flair designs, scenic route
letter rubons :: reminisce
letter stickers :: ek success
journaling stamp :: autumn leaves
other :: stamping ink

the last thing i have to add to this layout is the location (san onofre) and date (summer of 1995 or '96 ... anybody have an idea??).

future anarchists of america

i cracked up when my friend sent us this shirt. he was at an anarchists convention in san francisco (not because he's an anarchist but because he was looking for a book) and he said he had to get the shirt for maya when he saw it.

i love that he knows our daughter so well, despite living far away. i think it's really funny, but when maya wore it the first day no one else seemed to find it very amusing. i wonder why ...

[click on picture for details about materials.]

faux shaved ice

i still have to do a bit of journaling for this layout but i think i like where i'm going with this one.

this is from our last night in waikiki in may. my sister's graduation dinner was down the block from waiola bakery + shave ice II, which is where we were intending to take ian for a snack ... and a real taste of shave ice. but it was closed by the time we got there. it being our last night and late already, we headed to a cafe near our hotel.

we knew it wasn't going to be hawaiian-style shave ice, but my sister recommended it because of the sheer size of the serving. sure enough, it was huge and it was more like a sno-cone. if you've had hawaiian style shave ice like matsumoto's or japanese kakigouri (the hand-shaved kind, not store-bought) you know there's a difference between sno-cones and shave ice. the texture of shave ice is almost fluffy (before the syrup goes on) because it's so finely shaved. the sno-cone -- and this shave ice we had -- has an almost grittier texture in comparison; the ice is chunky as opposed to flaky.

ian, however, did not care one bit about the finer points of hawaiian shave ice. he was thrilled with the sugary iciness that we bought for him. we spilled/dropped quite a bit of it and we still didn't manage to finish it all.

[click on picture for details about materials.]

rie babies are ...

maya attends a class called RIE, which ian also went to as a baby. we've been going every week for over a year, and it's basically been the same group of babies so they are all very comfortable with each other.

i love this picture because it reminds me of both the parallel playing and the group playing with the plastic rings, which are very popular during class.

the only other detail i have to add to this layout is the date; i'll probably either stamp it or write it on the tab at the bottom of the picture. i scrapped this at around 1am the other night even though i was dead tired; some spark of inspiration + motivation hit me and i finished it fairly quickly.

[click on picture for details about materials.]

buzz cut

i still have to do the journaling on this one and find out when the pictures were taken (i think it was 2003). it was scraplifted from creating keepsakes magazine (june 07 issue, pg. 59)

it was the first time ian got his hair cut really short. until then i'd only trimmed his hair so he perpetually looked like a little (brunette) dutch boy. he wasn't as afraid of the hair trimmer as he was of scissors so for a few years after this he only got his hair buzzed.

[click on picture for details about materials.]

year 6

i'm really happy with the way this one turned out. i scraplifted the idea from elsie flannigan's 52 scrapbooking challenges (pg. 47). i'm trying to learn how to layer more without looking too cluttered.

there's no journaling on this, but it's a family picture taken at our local park on our sixth wedding anniversary (the title would've been better as "6 years" now that i think about it). rupert and i totally forgot it was our anniversary and instead of going out we went for a walk to hit baseballs with ian at the park.

i remember :: maya fussing after awhile because she didn't want to be strapped into her stroller; gnats flying all over the place (hate that!); ian was so proud of the "best attitude" baseball he earned at baseball camp; i sat on orange graffiti on the park bench and got my butt graffited second-hand; and rupert took a picture of it!

[click on picture for details about materials.]

happiness is

cardstock :: bazzill basics
patterned paper :: my mind's eye
"happiness is ____" stamp :: purple onion designs
letter stamps :: martha stewart
letter stickers :: provo craft
orange heart sticker :: martha stewart
blue heart sticker :: threadless.com
arrow punch :: fiskars
tab punch :: mcgill
corner slot punch :: ek success
other :: date stamp, foam tape

this was such a great afternoon i had to document it. threw this layout together really quickly (quick by my standards) this evening. i'm not even sure i like it that much visually, but i needed to write down and show how ian and i were linked that afternoon by mutual interests :: the simpsons, harry potter, and lounging around in bed.

sometimes i get really wrapped up in the artistic energy required to scrapbook and i forget that it's all about telling the story about my family. so, here's to throwing something down on paper and not caring how it looks. hip, hip, hooray!

a little scrapping

i've managed to find some time here and there to scrapbook. i completed the following layouts (click on the image for details about materials) and i'm in the process of completing a few more, which i hope i can share soon. (sorry about the crappy scans.)


do babies get brain freeze? journaling :: maya inhaled her first taste of jamba juice ... it was hard to get her to stop! you have to share, maya!


hinamatsuri 07 journaling :: did you know the longer it takes to put away the hinaningyou the longer it'll take the girl to get married? at least, that's what they say. but if that's true maya may never get married 'cause we never got around to putting away the dolls last year! thankfully, mom put them back in the garage right away this year!

i actually finished it

didn't think i would finish a mini-album in such a short time (relatively speaking). it only took me a few hours to complete ... although i've had the pictures developed and waiting since the end of february.

this mini-album is based on one taught by shimelle laine at fiskars tv (march 15, 2007 episode). the size is 4x12 and it's held together with a 1-inch binder ring (i love these things!). i also used the mcgill mini file tab punch.


the patterned paper is from a huge stack of my mind's eye paper i found at costco. i can't remember which line it's from though. i used various stickers from k&co, ek success, (old) making memories, american crafts and my dymo label maker. i also used the sans serif letter stamps from marth stewart's new craft line. the cover has chipboard letters by heidi swapp and rub-on letters from american crafts. and, of course, the bottom edges are cut with fiskars decorative edged scalloped and pinking scissors.

the album is about rupert's 31st birthday party, dubbed :: eat your age in meat party. there are only eight pages in it 'cause i didn't want to overwhelm myself with my first attempt at a mini-album. i totally loved the process and i can see why so many people are into mini-books these days. i can definitely see myself making more of these, especially for vacation/trip pictures and events with lots of photos. my next task will be making a mini-album of my sister's graduation pictures and our photos from hawaii.

the bonus with this album is that i actually got rupert to journal in it too. i made it for him, and it's about him, so i figured he better put in his two cents' worth as well. that's his handwriting on the left. it's nice to be able to share your crazy hobby with your spouse. :)

socks

patterned paper: sei
letter stamps: ek success ("exhibit" "fig."), paper source ("A" "B"), provo craft ("hippity" "hop"), purple onion ("no"), cavallini ("1")
date stamp: jenni bowlin
rectangle stamp: fontwerks
dotted line stamp: purple onion
letter stickers: ki memories, sei, american crafts, daisy hill
bunny stickers: source unknown, bought in japan
other: white pen (american crafts), dymo label maker, eyelets, copper wire, foam tape
punches: square label (mcgill), tag (ek success)

today

patterned paper: fontwerks
stamps: fontwerks (lines), psx (small letters), office depot (date), decorative frame (purple onion designs)
transparency: hambly
letter stickers: making memories
other: photo corners, cardboard, acrylic paint, "today" letters printed by computer

so many good things.

[warning :: this post is long and completely scrapbook-related]

i took another class at scrapbook oasis last night down in irvine. my in-laws were nice enough to get the kids in the afternoon so i could leave before traffic got too bad. (thanks b+d!)

since i had a bit of time before the class i headed to paper source's new store at south coast plaza. the selection was basically the same as the beverly hills store but it was 10-times better because i was there alone and could take my time looking around.

n-e-way, the reason i was taking another class at scrapbook oasis is because kristina contes was teaching the class; she's one of 'em organic, free-stylin' scrapbookers (like maria grace, whose class i took last time at sb oasis). i think i mentioned before that i am not one of 'em organic, free-stylin' scrapbookers. but i am really warming to this style and trying to learn to just go with the flow with my creativity. not to sweat the small stuff. to enjoy the process.

it doesn't seem possible that i could learn to be like that; it's so counter to my ocd/type-a scrapbooking personality. but, cheesy at it sounds, watching others scrap and just being exposed to their enthusiasm for this art form is inspiration enough to take my scrapbooking to a different level; not just documenting the special times in our lives, but the ordinary and not-so-special times, too. to be more real, i guess.

the class project was to document an ordinary part of someone's life. i chose to talk about my tea-drinking during the winter. it seems like such a mundane topic and not something most non-scrapbookers would think is important enough to document. but, in the end, aren't these the kind of things that define us? i think a lot of scrapbookers are moving in this direction, instead of focusing on event-specific layouts (although there's nothing wrong with that either).

kristina's version is a 12x12 and she actually journals about the things going on in her life today (a specific date). i made mine a 8.5x11 size so it would fit into my album. for specifics on materials, click here.

after the class there was a crop until midnight. because i wasn't chosen to have a layout created during maria grace's class, i was determined to have kristina create something for me; when i saw she was making stuff i asked her to make me a layout. honestly, i didn't care if the other students thought i was too forward. i wanted to have something in my hands that was made in a free form style. kristina didn't disappoint. she accidently cut the patterned paper the wrong size (no thanks to me telling her where to cut -- oops!) but that didn't stop her from tearing it and using it anyway. she made an adorable layout of maya while we chatted about new york (where's she from). thanks, kristina, i totally love it!

(link to the store's posting about the night.)

i really wish i had taken kristina's thursday night class, right now mini album. i've never made a mini album but they're so cute and a quick, creative way to document a single subject. kristina's was a great way, i thought, to get into documenting the everyday, her favorite things right now. but i also wish i'd taken the class because kristina was really fun to be around. this weekend was her first time teaching a class but she has great projects, techniques, and energy. i guess part of that's the "lawn-guylander" in her! listening to her accent was endearing and brought back memories of my days in new york. she also brought some of her recent layouts from the effer site and i particularly liked seeing the simple layout from dare #55. she brought the adorable "otto the owl" stamp by rubber soul to class, and it was really popular among the students.



although it'll be a good while before i could ever scrap like kristina (if ever), i'm embracing the imperfections of creating. i kinda screwed up on the layout i worked on during the crop (posted here) but that's okay, i salvaged it and kept chugging away instead of getting frustrated about it. and i hope that'll cross over into my everyday living so i can accept the crappy days and not dwell on the negative so much.

other highlights of the evening: i got 3 compliments on my threadless shirt, the dares were there in support of kristina, i won a typesetter letter stamp set by fontwerks in a drawing, kristina liked my (incomplete) hanukkah layout enough to take a picture of it, shimelle laine (from england!) was taking the class, one of the other students was surprised that i had two kids -- she thought ian was my little brother and i was still a student(!), and we got some free purple onion stamps. all in all, not a bad evening. not bad at all.

unsolicited plug: kristina's husband is owner/chef of mosaic restaurant in st. james, ny -- check it out if you're in the area.