Coffee Girl Crafts: A blog about pretty things

The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide

2012-02-05T22:30:00.000-08:00

My hands are covered in ink and paint. It has been a very happy day.

A few CKCs ago or so I took a few classes from Tattered Angels. One of the classes involved misting a bunch of things pink and orange (designed by Heidi Swapp, of course) to make a girly minibook. I didn't end up finishing the project (pink is not really my style) but the base of the album was really cool; a file folder mini (Tattered Angels Fastenation Mini).

Fast forward to now; I recently signed up for May Flaum's new class: the curious scrapbooker's field guide, and found myself wanting to accomplish a few things.

Note: this class is currently on sale, and if you go to this link, you can get an additional coupon code from the Paperclipping Roundtable for an additional 10% off. Considering the amount of content which has been promised, I think this is a good deal.

image from mayflaum.com

I wanted to make something today, as I didn't have to work or do taxes or a ton of laundry. And my desk was clean. Anyway, I wanted to use up a bunch of scrapbooking products (they call this "kit-killing" I believe). I wanted to have many of my results from the class stored in one place (projects and notes all together - something which has worked well for me when taking classes from others, particularly Shimelle). And I wanted to re-purpose the very cool mini book I had laying unloved in my cupboard.

And this was the result:

I am super excited to fill this thing up with bits and pieces. I'm going to get messy. I'm going to make it for me. I'm going to participate in the class and finish this project!

Pretty good goals for a weekend end.

Hope you had a good day too. :)

Luminous at SAM

2012-02-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

On a recent Saturday outing, the boy and I ventured downtown for breakfast at Pike Place Market and a trip to see an Asian art exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum.

We attempted to get tea and crumpets, but the line was around the block. Instead, we broke our fast with a half dozen piping hot mini cinnamon sugar doughnuts and some black coffees. We sat on stools at a little nook by the newsstand and read the paper together.

Full of sugar and caffeine, we headed down to SAM and used our member passes to get in to see the exhibit: Luminous. We skipped the narrated tour and began to wander through the exhibits.

There were some really lovely pieces from all over Asia and the Middle East, from various periods in history. The docents were hit and miss about photography; I wasn't able to get a ton of photos. Missing, for example, is a picture of an amazing embroidered coat worn by an emperor, an intricately embroidered prayer rug made from scraps of kimonos, and a jade bowl so translucent it looked like it was made of light.

There was a fabulous exhibit which featured Buddha sculpture from different places around the East. There was a fantastic exhibit of a Kwan Yin statue which explained some of the science behind reconstruction and research being used to work with ancient pieces in a modern museum setting.

There were several rooms filled with exquisite calligraphy and beautiful screens. There was a very cool interactive media piece by a contemporary artist. There were a few poems which I found very poignant.

We had a great time. I felt super inspired by the textures of the pieces; the softness of the brushwork and the richness of the colors.

I feel so lucky that I got to see these wonderful pieces in person.

Twelve: January Edition

2012-01-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Ah, 2012. Already a bit into it and still not quite where I want to be yet.

I'm not doing project life. Or anything really big right now, actually. Okay, I'm maybe going to be working on finishing my OLW project from 2011, but right now I'm deep diving into cleaning, purging and organizing clothes, books, finances, craft supplies, and all my digital stuff. Still working on being mindful about the things I make and use and keep around and in my life.

Time to start on the list making. That always helps. :)

I always love reading about Shimelle's 10 things posts. And Katie's round up posts are also quite good. So I shall try to keep up by sharing twelve things I like right around the twelfth of each month.

That totally sounds achievable.

Number One: Kindle Touch

I bought myself a Kindle Touch (no ads, wifi only) for my birthday. It's kind of a bigger purchase, but I'm really happy about it for few reasons, some related to physical space, some related to convenience. I'm not going to completely give up on paper books (long live Powell's!), but this should help with managing my "trash" book collection. Craft books and books from my favorite series will probably still be purchased and retained in physical form. But the Seattle Library has an amazing collection of e-books available to borrow for free, so that helps.

Number Two: Organizing!

image courtesy of balzerdesigns.typepad.com

Totally getting myself organized right now. Love Julie's Organization Week series. So great to see so many FUNCTIONAL craft rooms. Mine is an absolute total disaster right now. I'm fighting not to turn into a hoarder, but also to keep things which are inspiring. It's tough.

This webcast by the scraprack is also pretty great.

Also, don't laugh, but this was the second book I bought to read on my Kindle. I'm not reading the chapters in order, but the checklists are actually pretty helpful. And they hold me accountable for action, which is always good.

I also found this post on craftypod to be quite thought provoking.

Number Three: Smoothies
For the next three months, Greg is participating in a health and wellness fitness challenge (with points; it's a little cutthroat) with a group of people at work, and I've joined him in his commitment to healthiness. This means really really sticking to a workout schedule, and plenty of homemade fruit and yogurt smoothies. Peach and raspberry is my favorite.

Number Four: Create to Remember with Heidi Swapp

image courtesy of heidiswapp.typepad.com

Heidi Swapp's show on my Craft Channel is actually pretty great. I've gotten quite a few ideas for minibooks and color combos already. I actually even made one of the books using a cereal box which I've yet to share here. Waiting for photos. ;)

Number Five: The Cricut Expression

image courtesy of provo craft (cricut.com)

Greg got me a Cricut Expression (and SCAL) for my birthday through some amazing crafty sleuthing on his part (he actually tried to get me a Silhouette Cameo but they were sold out for months, apparently). I'm pretty excited to start experimenting with it. My first project is to design an envelop in Illustrator. Also, I was really happy to discover that the sticky spray I use on my slice mat works perfectly well on the Cricut mat (mine did not come sticky at all).

Number Six: Lynda.com

I think I first learned about lynda.com from a podcast that Izzy Hyman was on... can't remember if it was Paperclipping Roundtable, Digi Show, or The Foolish Adventure. Either way, I am on my first month of membership and it's already improved my quality of life at work. Currently working through learning Illustrator tips (see item number five above) and also a bunch of things for Excel and Access. Highly recommend this site.

Number Seven: Staying Motivated and Fierce

image found via pinterest from Alana Taylor

Found this image on pinterest on a day when I really needed it. It has since been passed along to a few other friends who apparently also needed to punch the day in the face. It's the best new meme around here.

Number Eight: Pretty Fonts

Have recently gone on a font binge. The above image was an attempted design for the Etsy shop (final design still pending). My two favorite sites right now are Lost Type Co-op and Font Squirrel.

Number Nine: Amusing TV Shows
I tend to listen to a lot of hulu while I'm chugging through the data mines at work. Cannot get enough of Once Upon a Time and Grimm. Also Sherlock on the BBC (while I'm waiting for more Dr. Who and Warehouse 13). I also like Happy Endings and Castle. I'm starting to get more into Body of Proof and I just watched the pilot for The Finder (a Bones spinoff) today. I haven't seen the new Alcatraz show, but I'm intrigued.

Number Ten: Hawaii (Specifically the Big Island)
I swore a vow that I would go to Hawaii this year. I am making it happen.I may or may have already bought the products for the scrapbook of this trip about two years ago. Everything for this trip is still in the planning stages, as I'm trying to figure out how my air miles work. But I'm super excited. And a little terrified of flying over that much ocean. But more excited than anything.

Number Eleven: Pinterest
Still having a good time using Pinterest to catalog and browse for ideas. Need to be more active about "doing" things that I find on there though.

Number Twelve: EfferDares
Hell yes. You go girls. Love that you've kept the project going and stayed true to why and what you want to make art about.

Phew, that was tough! One down, eleven to go!

Fight for the Future: Protect Internet Free Speech

2012-01-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

Warning: this is not a crafty post. But, since you are reading this, I am assuming that you like to view internet content, and this topic is totally related.

I'll be back with some crafty updates later this week; I'm working on some heavy cleaning and organization projects, as well as dealing with post-christmas craziness.

Okay, so here's the deal:

I personally believe in using the internet responsibly. I pay for content; I give credit where owed and I respect the copyrights of artists. I believe in being aware, informed, and respectful of content located on the world wide web.

Even so, right now there are two new bills which are purporting the kind of straight up science-fiction legislation which may end up shutting down and/or crippling media-focused sites which are part of your everyday life. I'm talking sites like youtube, vimeo, pinterest, facebook, and many others, undoubtedly also including some of the blogs you read on a daily basis.

It sounds so unlikely and impossible and foolish, but it's reality. More information is available through http://americancensorship.org/

.
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Awareness and speaking up is key. That is why I'm blogging about this. This is how Democracy is supposed to work....I've signed online petitions. I've emailed my congress person. You should too.

Protect your rights. Protect artists' rights. Don't let companies change the world this way.

Not in the US? This will impact you too. Check out this video from totalhalibut (for a Brit perspective).

p.s.
Go-Daddy is also on my bad list. Here's why, from Kottke, via NotMartha.

Thank you for reading.

Hope you are well.

30 Before 30: Final Round Up

2012-01-03T23:20:00.000-08:00

When I created my original 30 before 30 list, I thought it was a really great thing to have as a blogging topic. And also good for my life in general. Honestly, I lost my drive about halfway through the year.

Even though I did make the cutest mini book to document it. Still wasn't enough.

Let's see how I did though, shall we?

1.   ~~Do something that puts me out of my comfort zone~~
Done. Went out by myself to hang out with cool people at Artfest Annex.
  Should do this again.

2.   ~~Finish the 2010 sketchbook project and mail it to the Brooklyn Art Library~~
   Done. You can see it online.

3. ~~Do something selfless that only benefits another person~~
Done. I donated blood 6 times. And gave to a bunch of charities.

4. ~~Get to gold level on my Starbucks rewards~~
Done. So worth it. I've earned like 10 free drinks. Yum.

5. ~~Visit a museum~~
Done. Visited SAM; getting membership passes was a great idea.

6. ~~Visit the aquarium~~
Done. Visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium on our coastal road trip.

7. ~~Buy a bike and use it~~
Done. Greg and I bought an exercise bike.

8. ~~Stick to exercise program and be active regularly~~
Done. My average is 3-4 workouts a week. Taking the stairs at work is now easy. ;)

9. ~~Try a lighter shade of red or copper hair~~
Done. Thanks Feria Power Reds. (I switched from Ruby Fusion to Copper Shimmer)

10. Finish 12 projects (1 per month is totally reasonable)
One: Such Sweet Tierney Guest Design

Two: Springtime Mini

Three: The Mini Smash book

Four: 10 Reasons to Love Summer

Five: Portland Mini

Six: Go Layout

Seven: Baby Girl Book

Eight: Baby Boy Book

Nine: Haunted Cabinet Card Mini

Ten: Spooky Rosette Banner

Eleven: Thanks Mini

Twelve: Holiday Shadowbox

The final count for 2011?

10 Layouts

8 Minibooks

4 ATCs

2 Cards

2 Artsy Decor Items

26 Art Journal Pages

Not too shabby.

11. Assemble a camera
Nope. Not done. I need a free Saturday and a tiny screwdriver.

12. ~~Carve a stamp~~
Done. Love this. Very soothing. Totally inspired by Julie Fei Fan Balzer.

13. ~~Use my new Big Shot to emboss something~~
Done. Done. Done. Tiny polka dots are my new favorite.

14. ~~Attend a street festival~~
Done. Bite of Seattle totally counts. I ate food off of a stick.

15. ~~Go to the cabin for vacation~~
Done. I learned how to Kayak.

16. ~~Go to the coast for a long weekend~~
Done. Greg and I did this for our anniversary this year. It was wonderful.

17. ~~Continue the search for a new house~~ Done. And it seems like we are getting serious now.

18. ~~Attend social events and spend time with~~ ~~friends~~
Done. The crop of newborns this year did not help with this though.

19. ~~Have a party~~ Done. Halloween was awesome.

20. ~~Go to Portland and/or Victoria again~~
Done. I went to Portland for CKC and as part of the OR Coast trip.

21. ~~Attend a crafty event~~
Done. I went to CKC, both Urban Craft Uprising shows, AND a sleepover crop.

22. ~~Ensure feet are cute (shoes, pedicures, whatever is necessary)~~    Done. Thanks go to Groupon for that spa day.

23. ~~Teach another class~~    Done. I ended up teaching more than one class. It was a good experience.

24. ~~Source and wear a new signature scent~~
   Done. Thanks Anthro. I love smelling like delicious vanilla spice magic.

25. Invest in better camera gear (~~get a new P&S~~ and a new SLR lens)
Done. I bought a new 50 mm to replace the broken one and got a kickass P&S.

26. Submit photos to Puyallup Fair competition
Nope. Puyallup what? When? Total fail.

27. ~~Work on something that involves fabric and/or stitchery~~
Done. I sewed my own waist cincher for Steamcon.

28. ~~Finish reading all of Sherlock Holmes~~
Done. Still amazing writing even after 100 years.

29. Shoot 6 rolls of film (1 pack of polaroid = 1 roll)
Done. Thank you little instax baby.

30. Redesign blog
Nope. Still the same.

So... 27/30 accomplished is not bad. Actually, yay. I feel really good about this.

Now to work on my list for this year. Any suggestions (aside from blogging more, obvs)?

Auld lang syne

2012-01-03T21:17:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas 2011 just kind of went by in a blur, didn't it?

Also New Year's. And my birthday. Happy 2012!

The list of things I haven't done is probably bigger than the list of things I did get done. My email box is in a terrible state. And I still have Christmas presents to send out, actually...

I have so much I need to get done. Things to plan and accomplish.

The most shocking is the fact that I have taken maybe 15 photos in the last month. And they aren't exactly great photos either. I know. Terrible.

I'm still sorting through things. I'm trying to be more mindful of where I put my time and energy. In December, that balance went towards things besides fun crafty times. That's okay. Ali Edwards says "go with the flow." So, I'm trying to just go with that.

But the break is over. I've been cleaning and sorting and getting organized. I'm trying to get back in the crafty swing of things. Starting with getting back on the blog-go-round. But I'm not rushing myself.

I decided that I've been too ambitious. I took on way too much last year. I'm working on editing myself. Being more proactive, more plan-ful. And also trying to be kinder to myself about finishing things timely. Trying not to feel too guilty if I drop a project or have to say "no" to something, even if I want to do it.

I want to focus on nourishing my relationships, and getting more healthy, and investing in myself.

I am thirty years old now, so that means it's time to buckle down and be a grown up for real. I'm using financial software and thinking about going back to college. Hello stressful life changes!

But they artsy crafty stuff is still important to me. It's my reward, my escape. And I still plan to teach, and create content for the blog. This has been my online place for five years. But things will be a changing on this old blog soon.

I hope you'll stay tuned.

Take care.

Vintage Christmas Inspiration

2011-12-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, another walkthrough at Pacific Antiques Gallery. Delightful and inspiring sights to see....lots of christmas sparkle and the faded patina of christmas past.

I couldn't resist taking home two little jars of vintage glass glitter. They had adorable shaker tops, and were priced just right. If only I had room for some of those other goodies....

A very merry weekend.

2011-12-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

My weekend was filled with holiday goodness (and it's about time too).

Saturday began with a trip to the french bakery for breakfast (ganache mochas, yum!), followed by a walk on alki with the boy. It was fun! We saw giant razor clam shells, mussels, a sea anemone husk and even a giant purple jellyfish.

After our morning together, I abandoned the boy to hang out with friends at their apartment. Gingerbread cupcakes from cupcake royale were had (look at the teeny gingerbread man sprinkles!). We trimmed the tree and listened to classic christmas music. Very festive.

That evening, I met up with Greg again and we headed over to his folks' house for our annual "drink-eggnog-and-decorate-santa-cookies" festivities. Look at all those cookies. That is a LOT of hard work.

On Sunday, I headed down to some suburbs to hang out with friends and make christsmas cards. Denise, Ashley and baby June all had a fun time crafting and playing with Denise's puppies. Ashley even brought a bunch of her very famous baked treats: handmade truffles and nanaimo bars. We totally got hopped up on sugar and coffee and the joy of playing with stamps and punches.

I didn't finish my cards, and I had waaaaay too much sugar this weekend, but I loved spending all this time with my friends and doing fun things. That's a good weekend to me. :)

JYC: Mini Update

2011-12-10T00:31:00.001-08:00

This is my little train case of Christmas embellishments. It makes me so, so happy to rifle through it.(Also, a vintage train case is a way cuter way to store these than the paper sack I was using.)

Finally feel like I'm making progress in my cleaning and organizing. And since I actually was able to clear off my desk enough to scrap tonight, I wanted to pop by and share a few photos of my in-progress holiday journal.

Prompt #2 is totally done, yay! Prompt #3 will be finished once I add some instax photos from my upcoming weekend...

Prompt #4 is aaalmost done. I'm fussing over how I want to do the journaling page. Once I figure it out, I can photograph all these spreads properly.

This weekend looks to be full of holiday-festive-ness.

I'll be taking lots of photos for sure. Happy Friday!

Urban Craft Uprising, Winter 2011

2011-12-07T20:57:00.001-08:00

This past weekend (before a plague descended upon the house), I had to opportunity to attend the Winter Urban Craft Uprising show. I did a few things differently with this go-round though. I went much later in the afternoon, and I went with two friends!

It was really nice to sleep in (and there were still plenty of craft goodies) and I wasn't really missing the bag of swag too much. My first visit was to the Creation Station booth. They have all kinds of good junk. For six dolla I picked up some good woodgrain laminate board and a few vintage wallpaper samples as well as some bits of leather and some bookrings.

All three of us girls were completely enamored with the Eggnog Toffee from Tweet Toffee. They also had a super cute booth setup. I bought myself a recycled cashmere hat (it had ruffles!) and Raine and I both bought fancy tea smoked pear preserves at bigspoonjam. We oogled the cupcakes at Look Cake and I visited with the lovely folks at Tako Fibers as well as newcomers This Tiny Existence.

There were some completely adorable robot ornaments at Ken C Judd's booth. Denise found lots of inspiration at some of the sewing-related booths. Polly Danger was so incredibly cute and amazing. Her booth was like a copy of Mollie Makes come to life.

We also especially loved the accessories at Amy Bengston, Vermilio, and Fernworks. I still love me some Fable & Fury, though I didn't get anything this time.

I was really happy to see a lot of letterpress and artisan paper goods booths. Constellation & Co and Slide Sideways are two of my favorites. I also liked the goods at Lark Press and Little Otsu.

I got to do a sample screenprint ornament (the deer below) with a kit from SimpleKraft. We finished the show on a good note. Presents purchased and a good time had.

Afterwards, we stopped for lunch and coffee and then we went to a tree lot and picked out a tree for Raine's apartment. Afterwards, there was Target shopping. It was a long good day out with the girls.

Definitely puts me in a holiday mood.

JYC2011: Manifesto and December 01

2011-12-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

Happy December First! This is the start of the crazy magical amazingly craft time of year that we all love and stress out about. Today I worked for 16 hours on a very big and high visibility project. So that didn't leave a lot of room for crafting. Fortunately, since I'm trying NOT to stress out about being behind (and also the fact that I made these pages last year), I am happy to share the start of my 2011 Journal Your Christmas class book. I'm really not sure if I've shared these before, but I hope you enjoy them.

The manifesto: a reminder to find the joy in every day this time of year.

I made this with die cuts from my Slice, a martha tree punch, the lovely manifesto image from Shimelle and labels from Fontwerks and Jenni Bowlin.

And page one. Look at that journaling! Yay!.

Red gaffer tape from 7 Gypsies, paper from Teresa Collins' line from last year. A chipboard snowflake, basic grey basics label (which I stuck in a vintage typewriter) and a felted making memories embellishment help showcase that photo of a christmas card I made last year.

So, TGIF. I have an event tonight and I'll be going to Urban Craft Uprising and tree trimmng this weekend... I'm hoping to get crafty, but if not, I won't stress. :)

Getting Ready for December

2011-11-28T23:14:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to share what I'm planning to do to document the holiday season (aside from blogging, of course). And this may sound shocking to some, but I'm NOT doing a December Daily this year. Nope. Out of scope, as they say at work.

I'm almost done with my 2010 December book, which I will be delighted to share with you, once I can clean my scrap desk off enough to finish it. I got a lot of good work done at a girls' weekend earlier this month.

My already made book for 2011 is actually all documented here on this post.

Yup. Using a book from last year that I didn't finish. Huzzah!

The plan is that this year I'm going to focus on blogging daily, then batching photos to print weekly to put in the book. And also, focusing on the yummy class parts of Journal Your Christmas, because I totally wussed out on the LSNED for this year (though I mostly have a book totally assembled for that, which I will use next year).

I think it's a good plan. It's achievable. I can do it.

Here we go.

Scenes from the Arboretum

2011-11-25T23:25:00.001-08:00

I'm a bit buried in photographs right now. I'm so overwhelmed, I don't even know where to start. So, starting here, simply, with a few shots from an autumn walk in the arboretum. Because I think if I blink it will be snowing and halfway through December. It's good to enjoy fall while it is here.

p.s.
Isn't that the fattest squirrel ever? So adorable.

Elmer's 2nd Giveaway winner

2011-11-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to lucky #4 Miriam Prantner said...

Great project! I like the compartment with the bottlecaps best. Thanks!

Please send me your mailing address (click email on the blog header up there) and I'll tell Elmer's to send you the goods.

The Merry Christmas sign was a find from the ornament section at Hobby Lobby (WA just got one!). The Snowglobe and most of the other items I've been collecting for a few years. I probably got it at Target. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

How to Create a Custom Shadowbox: Holiday Style (and GIVEAWAY)

2011-11-20T18:20:00.001-08:00

Well, due to unexpected drama, this post took a wee bit longer than anticipated to get up. But trust me, it's worth it. And yes, it's photo heavy so buckle up, grab a coffee, and get ready for some holiday shadowbox goodness.

Once again, many thanks to the fine folks at Elmer's for sending me some goodies and inspiring me to make such a fun and personal project.

How to Make a Custom Shadowbox
also known as How to make your own Advent Calendar Shadowbox
additionally known as How to make Your Own Custom Printer's Tray

Yes, that's right. I'm making just a plain old 12 compartment open-faced shadowbox, but you could totally adapt this to make it a little deeper and put in little paper drawers for an advent thing, or make it shallower and have it look like a printer's tray. Totally up to you.

Here's what you will need:

Some good old fashioned Elmer's foam board
Craft knife
Clear packing tape
Gluestick or other preferred wet adhesive
Hot glue gun and clear glue sticks
Old book pages and/or various patterned papers
Tim Holtz Tissue Tape, Washi tape or other.
Distress inks
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Foundations Metal Feet
Assorted items to put inside the Shadobox compartment
Optional: Glimmer Mist or other glittery shimmery painty stuff

First, you'll need to decide how big you want your finished box to be. I decided to keep the back the same width as the original board, so I would only need to trim down the sides and then add a "top" and "bottom" of the box frame.

I took the tri-fold foam board (looks like this: |_| when you put the "arms" at a 90 degree angle) and trimmed the two "arms" so that they were about 3.5 gridblocks wide. I then trimmed the "back" and the arms vertically so that the whole thing was about 13.5 inches long.

I used the leftover trim from the "arms" to cut a "top" and a "bottom" for the box. I trimmed them so they fit on the "inside" of the main foam board piece.

Once you've got the pieces cut for the box, use the clear packing tape on the sides and back (the flat side) to hold all three pieces together snugly. Make sure your walls are straight and at a 90-degree angle (you know, like a normal box).

I used a few of my holiday knickknacks to help me determine how deep the project "walls" were going to be. Fortunately, the foam board had some grid lines, which really helped me to keep things straight.

Start putting in your goodies (or use other projects found online) to plan where your compartments are going to go. I started putting in some vertical wall to help me get a sense of where everything would fit.

For the sake of structural integrity, I decided to have vertical walls that ran the length of the box and that way I could individually reinforce the horizontal pieces that things would "sit" on for each box. Here was my first attempt at placement.

I took the walls out a few times to play with proportion and placement.

And here's what it looks like with the mostly final compartment configuration in place.

Once I found a configuration I was happy with, I got out my trusty glue gun and got to work. I took a photo to reference the placement of the compartments and used a pencil to mark where the sections were on the inside of the box. I then took everything out of the box and started gluing all around the inside corners to reinforce what the clear packing tape had done on the outside. Then I glued in the large vertical pieces. Finally, I glued in the little shelves. I glued every single join in each compartment separately. I glued especially heavy on the underneath side (to ensure that the shelves wouldn't sag later on).

If you were going to spraypaing this bad boy, now would be the time. Since I knew I would be covering up the whole thing with paint and tape, I didn't bother with any painting.

I covered the back wall of each compartment with paper scraps from my-almost-finished 2010 December Daily. Papers include things from the Basic Grey Jovial line, some American Crafts and a stamped background using a stamp from Purple Onion (designed by the lovely Steph)

I then covered all four of the inside compartment edges with some paper from an old french book I've used for collage work in the past. I purposefully placed the text at different orientations for visual interest. Also, I did this while watching episodes of Grimm and Once Upon a Time on hulu. It was quite enjoyable.

I covered the sides and the back edges of the box with the vintage book papers as well. A single piece of (slightly antiqued) patterened paper was glued to the back.

I used tissue tape to cover up the edges of the papers and to help reinforce the joins on the boxes. Again, to help things look nice, I started by taping up the horizontal shelves, then did the long vertical walls, and finally, the outside edges all got covered.

I ran some more Antique Linen distress ink over the tissue tape to help age it a bit. And here's what my table started to look like....

And then it was time to glue on the feet! I got out the glue gun and wiggled them into place.

Then you start gluing all your goodies into place. I used extra bits of the foam board to make my own foam dimensional adhesive squares (aka pop dots). Here's a shot of the fully assembled box:

But wait, there's more. Every one of these twelve compartments has an item(s) that is meaningful to me in terms of things I love about the holidays. Let's go into detail, shall we?

Box Number One: Glass Glitter phial with key and jingle bell

I am not a glitter girl. I don't like it normally... but when it comes to the holidays I'm all about the shine of vintage glass. I love those old mercury glass ornaments. I love tinsel and sparkle. Red twine is also one of my favorite things to use. I like to use it on tags and presents. And who doesn't love jingle bells?

Box Number Two: Glass Bubble Magnet and Teeny Christmas Card

This box is one that represents good crafty times. The first time I ever sold at a real life craft bazaar, I sold bubble magnets and holiday cards. The post for that is over here, if you'd like to see it. And the tutorial for the bubble magnets is over here. The gold dove represents peace and good luck. Because man, do I need some of those.

Box Number Three: Nutcracker and Wreath

I used to love watching the Nutcracker Ballet movie during the holidays as a child. I think they are a quintessential part of any holiday decor scheme; over the years I've received several as gifts and I think they're great. The wreath is in there because at one point, we decided to stop having a tree (roommates, no space, etc), but I needed SOME kind of greenery in the house, so I began a tradition of having a wall of wreaths instead.

Box Number Four: Star Tree Topper and Stamped Tag

I love a good star tree topper. and thought this tiny one was a perfect representation of the one I've had on my big trees in the past. The tag in the back was actually from a make and take at a CKC Seattle a few years ago. Another fine holiday tradition (stamping and making stuff during the holidays, yay!)

Box Number Five: The Red Cup and Bow

Ah, the red cup. Gingerbread lattes at Starbucks are a must have. I also love the little Starbucks ornaments. I have a whole little tree of them that I put up at work every year (it's not weird, because I work for Starbucks, right?). The gold bow is from a present I got last year. It's been recycled a few times (because that's how my peeps roll). In past years, whenever you got a present with a bow like this, you had to put it on your head and looking like a silly bow head was totally cool. Happy memories indeed.

Box Number Six: Boughs, Pinecones and Twenty-Five Sign

This represents the tradition of having a tree and the twenty five is of course, for December 25th. I found this little greenery sprig in the craft section at M's. And that glitter went everywhere.

Box Seven: Presents and Tag

The presents and ornaments again are great reminders of how much I love giving and getting gifts. And also appreciate tree trimming activities. True fact: at one point I could sing all of Oh Tannebaum in German. (I can no longer remember this due to lack of use in my old age, but still, a good memory.) And that tag? That's one I made this year as part of a feature for the blog (that's right, I'm getting all proactive. Hah!)

Box Eight: Merry Christmas Rosette

Ah, the centerpiece. I knew I needed something big and showy, and this little rosette fit the bill. It reminds me of my favorite holiday movie A Christmas Story. I took some Glassine paper and folded it up in to a rosette, then layered with an ornament from Target, a Making Memories metal frame and this lovely red Christmas sign ornament. (Reminds me a bit of the one I used in my "snowglobe" tutorial)

Box Nine: Holiday Train

One of my happiest memories as a child was watching my grandparents (and later parents) set up and run a HO model train set around the bottom of the tree every year. It was pretty freaking magical. I could watch that train for what seemed like hours. Through the snowy villages delivering tiny presents to tiny people. Sigh. Also, Polar Express (the book, NOT the movie) was such a great part of my childhood. :)

Box Ten: Mini Snowglobe

Greg likes to tease me and call me "first snowflake freakout lady" due to the fact that I may have issues with driving in the snow (due to a traumatic experience where my car went sideways down 6th avenue on year), but I really do like snowdays. Especially when I don't have to go into work and can stay home.

Box Eleven: Tiny Tree and Bingo Circle

I love me some bottlebrush trees. Especially when they are bleached white (tutorial for that is over here). I really like the classic green look here though.

Box Twelve: Holiday Bottlecap Magnets

Ah, my number one tutorial. Thank you for being so fun to make and for bringing so many nice folks to the blog. I love you, tiny holiday bottlecaps. Even though I hate my lack of photography skill on that post.

And that's it for this project! Here's the whole thing again:

Hope you had fun reading this GIANT post! If you end up making something inspired by this project, I'd love to see it.

***************************
GIVEAWAY DETAILS!
The lovely folks at Elmer's are giving away a second prize pack, the same as in the previous giveaway. Leave me a comment telling me which of the compartments was your favorite by end of day Tuesday and I'll pick a winner.

Starbucks Holiday and Winner

2011-11-15T23:50:00.001-08:00

Happy November 15th!

You know what that means:

Sorry for the lack of updates... those 10-12 hour workdays really cut into my blogging time.

Anyway, congratulations to lucky #5! GLP please email me your mailing address so I can have Elmer's send you your goodies.

The post with the shadowbox will be coming up as soon as I can get it photographed. I'm leaving for work and coming home in the dark these days, but it will be this week for sure! And that means another chance to win. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Giving Thanks Mini and GIVEAWAY!

2011-11-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Today's post features a cute little minibook that I made to celebrate the fall season.

But first, I want to let you know that this book would not have been possible without some assistance from the fine Folks at Elmer's. Yes, as in Elmer's glue (OMG).

I have a firm opinions about advertisements and product placement on this old blog of mine. Any opinions expressed here are always my own. And I kind of pride myself on being honest about things, even if I am given something to try for free (rare, but it happens). Whatever your own opinion is related to advertisements and products given to bloggers and other social media folks, I just have to say, I was pleased as punch when the lovely folks at Elmer's contacted me about making something inspired by their (really cool) 101 board uses inspiration guide.

Here's the press detail:

"What inspires you to get creative? With autumn fast approaching, the start of a fresh season is the perfect time to spruce up your home, office space or crafting portfolio with new skills and projects – and Elmer’s is here to help!

We’ve created a 101 Uses for Inspired Users Guide, featuring the full Elmer’s suite of versatile Board products in projects for your everyday life. From jewelry holders to holiday ornaments and Thanksgiving place cards to decorative wall shelves, the uses for Elmer’s Foam Board products are nearly endless!"

Now, who hasn't ever used (and loved) Elmer's glue? I have such fond memories of gluesticks (and yes, paste) from my elementary school days. But did you know they make things besides glue? Like, awesome foam board? Well, you can do a lot more with foam board than just make displays for the science fair or senior project.

Like make a mini book. Because that's what I do.

First, I cut down the foam board so it would fit in my Sizzix Big Shot. (Yes you can die-cut foamboard. And it cuts like a dream.) Then I ran the foam through the machine with my pocket/envelope die.

Then I cut off the pocket "wings" and trimmed the length of the foamboard using my shiny new X-acto knife.

I apparently cannot cut a straight line, even with a ruler, so I used a file to help sand down the edges and make everything even.

I reran the non-rounded ends through the machine again so that both ends of the foamboard would have rounded corners.

From here, there's a couple of things you can do. You can just tape up the raw edges with tape, like so:

From here, you can gesso or paint away. The foamboard is an excellent surface for paint and inks. I think it would be a great way to make a boardbook or art journal with chunkier pages. The other advantage is that the pages, while bulky, are also super light. They feel really good in your hand.

Another fun thing which I tried out (but didn't end up doing for this project) was using my craft knife to hollow out a space in between the "walls" of the foam board. The hollow made a perfect place to tuck a little tag in. So you could do journaling pockets inside each page.

What I decided to do though, was cover up the pages with patterned paper. I used my same envelope die to cut all the pages.The papers were mostly Basic Grey Pyrus, with a little MME (gray chevron), 7 Gypsies, a Nook and Pantry doily, as well as some Crate Farmhouse thrown in. And oh yes, a silver Hambly doily paper.

I glued everything down with my handy glue stick and then taped up the edges with two different kinds of Tim Holtz tissue tape.

Then I got inky. I used four kinds of distress ink: Antique Linen, the new twigs one, pumice stone and vintage photo.

And then it was a matter of putting in photo mats (because I don't have photos ready yet), some journaling labels and some scraps for embellishments.

I cut some white hambly transparencies for the covers and set some brass 1/4" grommets into the covers. I used my crop-o-dile to punch holes in the rest of the pages. I also added some paint-stamped transparencies in as extra pages.

Look at how delightfully thick these pages are:

Here's the full finished-except-for-photos book:

Once I get the photos chosen and printed and actually glued into the book, I'll reshare on the blog.

In the meantime, I am delighted to inform you that Elmer's is graciously providing me with some goodies to give away. Post a comment on this post telling me one thing you are thankful for and you can win a prize pack which includes the same goodies I got:
   - Foam Board
   - Foam Tri-Fold Display Board
   - Mini Bi-Fold Foam Board
   - CraftBond Extra Strength Glue Stick
   - X-ACTO Gripster Knife
   - CraftBond Tacky Glue

I'll accept all comments posted through 6:00 pm PST on Friday 11/11/11.
(Sadly, I can only choose a winner from amongst my commenters in the United States. Sorry international folks, I'll have something coming up for you closer to December.)

And oh by the way... I have another project in the works using my goodies from Elmer's. And here's a sneak peek for you:

Got to get out my glue gun and get some embellishing in there. And yes, and there will be a second Elmer's giveaway when I post that one too. ;)

Happy Wednesday!

So....Where did October go?

2011-11-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

I think I've probably written this blog post mentally at least once a day for the last month. And I'm still sort of struggling to think of what to say. But here goes.

My absence on this blog the last month was kind of inexcusable, but necessary. It's been a crazy crazy time. The last month has probably been one of the busiest I've ever had. I missed blogging, quite a bit. And making things too.

Have you ever just felt so tired you just couldn't go on? Motivation, totally utterly gone?

Yup. Burnout.

If you haven't ever felt that way, then you are very lucky. But I'm sure most people know what I mean. Especially us crafters. We take on soo much sometimes. High achievers with perfectionist issues, am I right?

It wears a body out.

Towards the end of September I just got exhausted with trying to balance everything and not have things explode in my face. And October didn't get any better Work and life and travel and the crafting and everything just completely got out of control. Blogging was one of the casualties.

Anyway... there were a lot of things that I had to get done, and some that I failed at. I learned quite a few important lessons. And had some fun times too. Some were even scrapworthy. ;)

I have been taking photos though, so I have a few fun things to share on this old blog. I want to do some separate posts, to do them justice. But in case you were curious, here's a list of things that happened over the last month, good and bad.

Celebrated my 12 year anniversary with the boy.
Took a roadtrip down the Oregon coast. Visited Canon Beach for the first time.
Ate saltwater taffy on a boardwalk by the ocean.
Visited an amazing aquarium and saw the largest land-accessible sea cave.
Had a great time visiting with friends in Portland.
Spent too much money at Powells
Lost my glasses.
Sewed my own corset for a Steampunk costume
Attended SteamCon 3 with Greg
Failed at deploying my Halloween classes; no one signed up for them AND I failed to get them up in the Etsy shop
Got my very first smartphone. Am learning to text!
Traveled to LA for a long weekend for Greg's cousins' wedding.
Saw the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA
Visited the La Brea Tar Pits
Visited a flashlight cornmaze and pumpkin patch
Cleaned the whole house and decorated for a biiig Halloween bash
Saw In Time. Highly reccomended (it's from the guy who did Gattica, so...)
Broke my computer. Again.
Figured out the concept for my 2012 sketchbook project book
At work, successfully deployed training and helped roll out payroll functions to UK and ROI
Finished a layout, and am mostly done with a mini and an altered piece.
Started work on really cleaning and organizing craft supplies. Again.

And now, it's a bit into November, and the pace is picking up again.

I'm working on a few blog posts for a special project and giveaway (look for that soon). I'm going to CKC Seattle AND a girl's crafting retreat this weekend. Next weekend might involve holiday card making and product stocking, and well I have a bunch of stuff at work to do to get another country up and running before December 1st.

So... that's what's going on. Not sure what my plans are next, for the shop and the teaching and such. I think I'm just going to go with baby steps and try and ease back into blogging.

Also, big thank you to everyone who stopped by and commented. You guys are great.

Lady of Mystery and Magic (Altered Card)

2011-10-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I had a wild and desperate need to get my hands painty and NOT work on something that required task batching (i.e. putting class kits together).

This was the result. Scraps and stamps and playing with paint. Good stuff. And just perfect for October.

Fall Felt Garland

2011-10-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

Fall has finally arrived here in Seattle. The weather has dropped back down into the 50s, the rain has been nearly constant, and I have a fever and the sniffles.

Despite that, this is still my favorite tie of the year. During a rare free moment (i.e. not working for starbucks or on things for the etsy), I put together a little felt leaf garland to hang over the doorway to the kitchen.

I used a sizzix die to cut the felt, and then just did a running stitch with a few different shades of orange embroidery floss to make the actual garland. A few buttons from an old Autumn leaves set help finish the look and add some weight.

It looks kind of cozy. Just right for fall.

Portland Minibook Walkthrough

2011-10-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Portland CKC Minibook Overview from christinaclouse on Vimeo.

Enjoy the video... stills of the book forthcoming (if it ever stops raining!)

Feel free to pause the video at any point to check out the pages in more detail, we are flipping through pretty fast and furious here. ;)

Playing with Paper Tape

2011-09-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

I made another video!

In this one I spend some time playing with a pretty frivolous tool, the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Tissue Tape Dispenser. Have to say, not as awesome as the tiny attacher, but kind of fun to play with.

As you'll see in the following video, I do love me some paper tape....

Ah, one take videos. I sure say um quite a bit. Practice makes perfect, right?

Going to have to work on practicing a bunch more then.

Any requests?

Dottie Angel Book Review

2011-09-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I've mentioned I'm a great admirer of the delightful blog dottie angel. The authoress of said blog is a delightfully crafty, artistic, and insightful lady. I am such a fangirl.

Let me explain this awesomeness, if you are new to the whole dottie angel thing. Here's a description from her blog:

"dottie angel lives in a run down cottage over looking the sea. she has two airstream trailers in the yard, one is her studio and the other stores her vast collection of vintage notions... her eight children are home schooled and spend the day outside running barefoot and their evenings sitting by the fireplace, learning ancient crafting techniques. they never talk back to their mother and always smile... she has several chickens, seven rescued greyhounds and a bearded dragon named STIG... dottie spends most days dressed in an old vintage slip that belonged to her grandmother, that she customized. she thinks to herself, surely everyone dreams of living this life, or at least dressing like they do...
Tif is a Brit misplaced abroad in suburbia, she is a mother of four kids who talk back and a wife. she wears a customized slip and dreams of living dottie angel's life...
Tif is happiest spending quality time with Miss Ethel, her trusty sewing machine, surrounded by 'used' dog, little olive and various other creatures: some furry, a few with wings, and one with a shell. she likes to spend her days wisely treading the righteous and goodly path of handcrafted and secondhand"

And this part is my favorite...

dottie angel do's
1. do have high hopes
2. do follow the righteous and goodly path of thriftiness
3. do think you are most peachy perfect
4. do feel a little crafty as least twice a day
5. do wear your slip peeking out from below your skirt
6. do embrace all that is granny chic and give it a forever home

check.

I just received my pre-ordered copy of the suitcase series artist book about her. And it's uh-mazing. Go buy it. Also, if you are in Seattle on September 30th, she's doing a book signing.

I really just can't put it down. Everytime I open it I keep seeing new snippets of extremely inspiring cozy things.

And look how thick it is? All those glossy pages. And the fabric label on the back, and the hand sewn photo on the cover... so divine.

Seriously. Look at how great this is; it's like fabric and design and paper all got together and had pretty pretty babies.

Also, today happen's to be Tif's birthday. Hooray and congratulations!

Thank you for sharing your lovely world with all of us. :)

New Class: Haunted Cabinet Card Minibook

2011-09-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

In this class we will create a unique cabinet card minibook with a hidden gatefold feature, perfect for displaying all of your most eerie fall photographs. Class features the latest classic Halloween products from the Martha Stewarts crafts line, as well as working with layered paper embellishments, painted transparencies, and paper tape. Students are requested to bring their favorite detail scissors or paper trimmer and adhesive. Photos may be added during class or at a later time.

This is planned as a live workshop for Paper Zone SoDo (Seattle). I am still actually working out the details as far as price, time and date-- more details to come as soon as I can confirm with the store.

Any extra kits will be going in the Etsy as soon as I run a supply check after kitting this weekend. ;)

Questions, comments, feedback? Love to hear it.

Happy Friday!

New Class: Spooky Halloween Rosettes

2011-09-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

In this hands-on workshop, we will create a colorful multi-layered Halloween garland and six festive seasonal cupcake toppers using the hottest trend in the papercraft industry: paper rosettes! In this class you will have a frightfully fun time learning how to create easy and adorable party decorations using basic papercrafting tools and supplies. All materials included.

I have a special treat planned for this blog on October 31st that will involve this banner, a hot glue gun, and a video. And that's all I'm saying for now.

Any extra kits will be going in the Etsy as soon as I run a supply check after kitting this weekend. ;)

Questions, comments, feedback? Love to hear it.

Happy Friday!

Beauty & Bounty at SAM

2011-09-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Greg and I finally made an art outing to see the Beauty & the Bounty exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. It was a bright and sunny Saturday, and the day before the exhibit closed, but we were fortunate that the museum was not too crowded.

Here's the story in photos:
(Photo templates by Pugly Pixel)

It was a great adventure. Really looking to going back later in the winter. Love having a membership.

How to: Use a Heat Tool to Cut a Stencil

2011-09-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

Recently, I acquired a new tool from Michaels. It is the Martha Stewart Crafts Multipurpose Heat Tool. And it's pretty great.

It looks like this in the packaging:

Ostensibly, you get this multipurpose tool in order to do fancy things for home decor projects (as it's part of the new Plaid MS Crafts paint line). But it had the magic words on the box: stencil cutting.

Um, hello. I like me some stencils. Also it has a cool craft iron-y thing for laser transfers and a pointy thing for drawing on leather and such.

It does not have a knife, as this tool from Walnut Hollow does (video per Scraptime). However, I found that the tiny pointy ends in the box still worked quite well, even for details.

I made a video about it that shows you how I made my own stencils using some acetate packaging. Please excuse the rambling and bad camera work. I'm learning as I go. :)

How To: use a heat tool to cut stencils from christinaclouse on Vimeo.

Chevron stencil was inspired by Julie Fei Fan Balzer, in this post.

Also, bonus for stencil lovers, she's doing a free class called Stencil 101 and it's rad. Check out her blog here for more details.

And this is a layout I literally threw together from scraps on my desk, using one of the misted papers from the video:

You can almost see the tiny misted houses.
(Yes, I'm still working on my white space issues.)

So to recap:

Pros:

Multiple tool tips in one tool
Cord has on/off switch
Has handy storage case

Cons:

Does not come with replacement tips, not sure where to buy them
Does not have a knife blade
Provided stand is sort of flimsy.
Really really hurts when you burn yourself

Hope you enjoyed the how to and the tutorial.

More to come. :)

Current State of Craft

2011-09-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

I completely love this photo because it tells just a perfect snapshot of my life right now.

It's my desk. And yes, it is a bit messy. But in an organized way. At least, it seems organized to me (in a crazy right-brain kind of way).

Let me tell you the story of this photo. Over there on the right? That's my newly organized paint/mister rack (and yes, tour of new organization setup video is coming-- a bit more cleaning is necessary though). I love having all my spray inks and dabbers right to hand now. Punch basket with newly sorted MS crafts punches are still in the corner. Still need to figure out what to do with my acrylic blocks, but that little bag works for now.

Got the new chalkboard Martha paint for a product review post I'm writing up. Also an orange bingo card is hanging out because I was playing with embossing folder "letterpress." Some rosettes from my upcoming Halloween class. A big ampersand from a Slice cartridge (falling in love with my Slice again). Newly sorted alpha stamps in a vintage index card holder I scored for a dollar at Goodwill. Bag of tapes. Warehouse 13 season two DVD to watch whilst crafting. Craft inc, business planner so I can get Coffee Girl Crafts organized in a more professional way. And a big mini book.

It's four inches thick. Whoas.

It's almost done. Just a few more journaling spots to fill; another huge bookring to find. And then, done. Woot. I am going to get this puppy finished an photo'd by the end of this weekend by gum.

Here's some teasers:

And now, back to editing photos, writing blog posts and desperately triaging my email inbox.

Have a great night!

Presented with opportunities

2011-09-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been about a thousand years since I last blogged. In fact, it's been so long that blogger now has a totally new interface. The shame!

Ah well, all I can say is that my fortune cookie really really came true. I've been SO busy doing stuff for the real job and for coffee girl crafts it's been insane. Also, if I owe you an email, please and thank you for your patience with me.

As with many periods of change, there are some adjustments to be made. But big cthulu like things have been stirring in the background over here. Audio/video equipment has been acquired. Hosting space identified. Craft desks have almost entirely been cleaned off.

And craftiness has been happening. I just have a few more deadlines to kill, and then it's going to be blog-a-palooza round this place.

I'm trying to get on a schedule (shock!). So that you can get nice regular content. And I can start feeling good about my beloved blogspace again. ;)

Aside from the Portland mini (biggest minibook about a three-day trip EVER), I've got a bunch of updates for my 2011 version of Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday class (altered book and bookbinding!). I've also got some product reviews and tutorials coming (tissue tape dispenser! the cinch v.2! and more), as well as two brand spanking new classes and some Etsy updates all just on the horizon.

And let's not even get me started on the month of December, because if I can pull it off, well, it's going to be awesomepants. ;)

So, thanks for letting me get in a quick ramble. More normalized posts to follow.

Happy Tuesday!

This is what patience looks like

2011-08-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

For many many months I have patiently waited, watched, and put up with the blackberries in my front yard. So, after a long wait, the blossoms showed up.

And the bees did their business, and the blossoms fell away. Little green berry buds began to grow.

After a few weeks, some of the baby berries started to turn red.

And then... we got a bunch of hot weather and the vines in the backyard grew at such a rate that we began referring to them as "the kraken," and started pricing urban goat rentals (not kidding). Especially when we noticed some of them started to grow up on the roof.

And they grew. And I checked one of those little black berries every day, until finally, they just began to fall off the bushes.

And it was time to do battle. But I won with only a few scratches. This was my reward:

And this was Greg's reward:

And this? This was breakfast, my friends. Delicious, delicious blackberry pie with not a thing it it but some cornstarch (to thicken) honey, orange juice and penzey's cinnamon. Nom.

It's probably for the best that this happens only once a year. ;)

life in the summer

2011-08-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

popping over to share a few photos of the crazy patchwork that is my life, recently.

time at the beach, even on a misty day, is always good.

enjoying the morning light

mmmm. korean tacos from marination station at the arboretum. mmm...

Also, the portland book is nearly done. A few more things with deadlines that I must get finished, but then, it's going to be all minibook all the time for like a week around here. promise. I mean, look how fat this thing has gotten:

reflecting on how very very lucky I am to know such great and talented women.

seeing an amazing giant moon. wishing I could see it set into the ocean.

accidental distress with diet coke. sigh.

working like a busy bee.

staying inspired.

amazed at the rejuvenation of the fennel in the back yard.

not pictured: hot humid weather that makes my hair get super frizzy, long hours at work, lack of sleep, the disaster area that is my laundry pile, etc.

hope you are well.

TTV Overlay Tutorial - Video Screencast

2011-08-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

Just a little something I whipped up as a demo for a bigger little something I'm putting together for my 10 Reasons Class site. Warning, there is some music here (just in case you are reading this on the DL).

TTV Tutorial Screencast from christinaclouse on Vimeo.

Music credits to Good Old Neon

What do you think? Not so bad for a first try, eh?

If you have questions, I'd be delighted to hear them. Or rather, read them.

The TTV image shown is used with permission from a private Flickr group. More information on Faux TTV images is available here. And here are all my real TTV photos, if you want to get caught up.

Also, don't have photoshop? Well, I guess you might have to go take some real TTV images then. Just kidding. I've heard Splashup is a pretty fair alternative, though I haven't tried it myself very extensively.

Also, can I just say, how excited I am by all my blog loving peeps? Your support is amazing. Incredible. You make me want to make stuff just for you. Smooches.

Ahem. Thank you!

Etsy Shop Update

2011-08-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hello friends. I have something exciting to say.

The extra kits are up in the shop! I do have to hold a few back for the class I'm teaching on the 27th, so if these go like hotcakes, I'll start up a waiting list. ;)

And for being so sweet, you can save 15% if you use the coupon code: SUMMERBLOGPARTY on anything in the shop. Kits will ship out first thing on Saturday. Class blog will be up early next week.

Thanks for waiting. Please let me know if you have questions!

Announcing the giveaway winner...

2011-08-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everyone who commented. Thank you so much for your support and sweet words.

Don't worry, there'll be some more giveaways pretty soon over here. After I get the Etsy all set up, I'm going to be doing some cleaning and inventory. And you know what that means!

Back later today for the shop update. (Have to figure out approximate shipping for the new kits)

Cheers!

10 Reasons to Love Summer Inspiration and GIVEAWAY

2011-08-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, I'm currently completely immersed in prep for my 10 Reasons to Love Summer class. This week it's all about putting kits together and working on the website. So. much. left. to. do. Ahem.

When I started working on the concept for this class, I decided to use my smashbook (black) to play around with ideas. I found the use of one single location for my visual workbook to be super inspiring and useful. Here's the actual page spread:

This has definitely been a useful exercise that I'm applying to other projects being worked on. But you can see a bit how some of the ideas translated into the actual work.

Here's a bit of a preview of some class content that was inspired by the smashbook ideas:

I also wanted to take the opportunity to share a few more photos of the finished book details:

Please note that you can still sign up for a spot at the Tukwila class for this Saturday 08/13 or the University Village class on 08/27. Please call the store directly to sign up. It's going to be super fun.

If you are attending live and in person, we're going to be making the book without photos, so please don't worry about that. The companion journaling prompt workbook you'll receive (and it's five pages long, btw) is intended to help you select your photos for the book AFTER you've made it. :)

However, if you are attending and you don't like to share tools, I'd recommend you bring your own adhesive, scissors, and hole punch. Other than that, I've pretty much got ya covered.

And seriously, if you can get over here, for a class, you totally should. I mean, look how much fun we had at the Bellevue store last weekend? My students got so much done and I am SO proud of them!

Thank you so much ladies! You inspired ME. :)

And for my non-local peeps, I promise that there will be some kits going in the Etsy on 08/15. A companion blog with the instructions, journaling prompts, sketches, and more will also be made available, as soon as I can get all of the hundreds of photos edited and coded. Oy.

And now, for reading this far down the post, I think you get a treat!

I'm going to give away either an unfinished kit or a finished class sample book (your choice) to one of my lucky readers! Please leave a comment on this post to tell me what your favorite summer treat is and I'll randomly pick a winner by EOD Saturday 08/13.

Thanks for reading and hope you are having a happy summer!

A week in the life: Cabin Trip 2011

2011-08-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ah... back to civilization. Not to say that I don't terribly miss the magical place that is The Cabin. But you know how it is; it's always good to be home.

It was challenging to take photos, knowing I only had two batteries and one memory card to get me through a full seven day trip. It really made me question my shots; to edit myself and think about the story I wanted to tell. Also, since the Rebel is still in the shop, I just had the Powershot. And I noticed later that I was abusing the tilt-shift feature. A lot. So I apologize for the random blurriness in all the photos. Anyway, here are a few of the good bits:

We took a tiny plane from Seattle to Reno (that's Mt Rainier over by the propeller):

I had some lovely magazines and podcasts to keep me amused (and distracted) on the flight

Greg's lovely mum picked us up from the Airport as part of the last leg of her roadtrip and we all drove out across Nevada to the California side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We knew we were close when we got to the red dirt roads:

And then we were there. The air is so incredibly delicious and fresh and cedar-y.

After a good night's sleep (with the bats zooming around), it's nice to wake up to freshly ground coffee.

And many delicious breakfast items, such as fresh corncakes and veggie sausage.

Of course, in order to work off all the delicious food we were eating, we had to do many many activities. Such as hiking to the tops of small cliffs whilst wearing cowboy hats (not pictured here),

climbing rocks (and butt-scooting down them),

swimming in the lake and sunning on rocks like lizards,

learning to kayak (and letting certain guys paddle so I could take pictures).

In the afternoons, when we'd be a bit tired, we'd have quiet time doing things like reading books,

and working on crafting projects,

and spending quality time with the ground squirrels.

At night, we played board games, read books, or just basically relaxed. One night, we climbed to the top of the Little Cliff and laid out blankets and watched the stars (I saw my first 3 shooting stars ever). Pretty Magical stuff, if not easy to get pictures of.

We even took a field trip to Mt. Lassen National Forest park to picnic and see a little geothermic activity. It was pretty picturesque.

We did start to notice something strange when we got above 7,000 feet or so though....

Um, yes. That would be snow. And glacier water. No, that's not photoshopped; the water IS that blue.

The unfortunate part is that when we got to the Bumpass Hell trail, this is what we saw.

So, a no go on that hiking plan, even though it was nearly August! We went a bit further down the mountain

and found some sulfurous smoking rocks and bubbling mud. Danger zone!

And on the way back, we stopped in town for groceries and a treat at the Frosty Pine Shake Shack (a childhood favorite of Greg's). The shakes are indeed full of old school shake-deliciousness.

The best part of the whole trip of course, was being with good friends and family. (EW! Your mum says hi and hopefully we can coordinate something for next year - G has really been looking forward to nerding it up with Alexis for ages.)

And did I mention that I got fresh-baked apple pie in front of a fire? How awesome is that?

Sadly, our time at the cabin came to its inevitable end. And we returned to civilization.

And finally, we were home.

Hope you had a good week too.

Back in a bit with some more updates. :)

p.s.
already planning the album for this trip. going to use up the last of my love elsie forrest collection with some of that october afternoon campfire. ;)

Cabin Time

2011-07-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

So... I worked 70 hours at my job this week. Plus working on stuff for my class, PLUS spending time with the boy and doing things like, sleeping. So it's fair to say I'm a bit tuckered out at the end of this week.

On the plus side, I'm getting on an airplane on vacation in about three hours to go fulfill #15 on my 30 before 30 list. Here's the mini I made about a previous trip. :)

I'll be away for a bit, but I'll be back in a week or so. And hopefully, will be more rested.

Till then, hope you are well!

CHA-S 2011 Favorites (now with Pinterest!)

2011-07-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

Ugh! So I haven't had any time to put together a July Pinterest check in post-yet, but I will. At some point. Probably on or near the beginning of August ;)

Anyway.. this week is the summer version of the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. Basically, it's where manufacturers show off their new goodies for retailers to purchase.

There has been a bit of buzz and hullaballoo on the internet as far as new stuff and sneak peeks and all that. Personally, I have been keeping track of things that are catching my eye on a pinterest board here.

Scrapbook update has been doing a fabulous job of maintaining a links list to new stuff, sorted by manufacturer. PAnd if you want yet more, previous CHA-related posts from me can be found here. Also, I highly recommend this week's paperclipping roundtable podcast, and the video blogs at scrapbook.com if you want to go totally multimedia on the goods.

Explore: An online class from Shimelle.com

2011-07-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

I have been a longtime fan of Shimelle's online class experiences. She pretty much sets the gold standard in terms of ease, creativity and fun when it comes to an online scrapping education experience.

image borrowed from shimelle.com

So it is with great happiness that I wanted to share that she is running another class this summer called Explore, that starts tomorrow, Monday July 18. And if you go to her blog today, she is giving away TWO spots in the class.

So what is this fabulous that I am going on about? Well, the class is called explore, and I'm going to borrow the words from Shimelle's site to tell you about it:

Throughout this four week course, we’ll be exploring the world, even if you’re not going anywhere. Each prompt covers a different aspect, from days when we’ll focus on photography to videos that cover crafting techniques to do something new with your existing supplies. We’ll be taking pictures, making journaling easy and stretching ideas so you’ll keep creating long after the final prompt appears in your inbox. If you’re worried about being too busy for the next four weeks, then the workbook is your answer! You can print it from day one and follow along in a quick format then come back to the full prompts when you have a bit more time to explore those ideas.

I've already signed up, and I'm really excited to see what it's all about. Be on the lookout for updates around here on my progress. :) Hope your weekend is going well, I'm off to work (bleh), so I can meet some silly deadlines.

a crafty summer

2011-07-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you just get to playing around with stamping, especially with those dollar alphabet stamps...

and then you have an idea, like taping them together to make stamping easier? Yeah, that totally happened to me the other night. ;)

The reason that the tissue tape works so well is that it is completely repositionable and doesn't leave any residue. Hurray!

So while this is great for a temporary situation where you want to keep your alphabet intact, can you magine what would happen if you were to say, glue those blocks together? They are only dollar stamps, after all...

Happy Saturday!

10 Reasons to Love Summer

2011-07-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to share the details of an upcoming class I am teaching for Impress Rubber Stamps in August! The class is called 10 Reasons to Love Summer and is all about documenting ten things you love about this time of year. We're going to make a 6x6 minibook using some very cool products (American Crafts, Memory Box, October Afternoon, Tim Holtz, Hambly, Catslife Press and more).

In this class we are going to be playing with stamping, layered cardstock embellishments, transparencies, tissue tape, tags, journaling promtps, and page sketches. The kit will include almost 150 individual items (lots of little details), most of which are assembled and hand-crafted by me (I do most of the work, and the scrapping goes easier for the student).

Here are a few of the details:

Please contact your local Impress Store (I'm doing one class at each of the three locations) if you'd like to sign up. The cost is $35.00 and class dates are August 06, August 13, and August 27.

And if you go into a store between now and the class date, you can actually get to handle a physical sample of the class minibook, if you need any help deciding. :)

For my non-local folks, extra kits will be going up for sale on the etsy as of August 15, and I'm working on a companion class blog for all the instructions to be saved online. Prices will be TBD, depending on actual sign ups.

I have to say, this is probably my best class project yet. There's been a lot of care and consideration put into making this as easy as possible for a new scrapper (or a really busy one). There's plenty of room for customization, and you get to play with some pretty cute product.

I'm really excited to be teaching this (and nervous too, of course).

Questions? Comments? Feeback?

Love to hear it.

Happy Friday!

Urban Craft Uprising: Summer 2011 Recap

2011-07-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend I visited the summer Urban Craft Uprising show. It was lovely, if a bit small. I arrived at my usual early time to wait in line (for the bag of swag). The waiting was quite restful, and I actually got quite a bit of crafting done.

I obtained a few things for myself once inside: my obligatory Estrella soaps, a new UCU apron (which I already dropped an inkpad on), a necklace from Fable & Fury, and a few other goodies.

I also ran into a few delightful people I have been out of touch with, and it was very good indeed to see them again.

To save time, I've uploaded all my photos for this go-round into one set, and there's a slideshow just below for your viewing enjoyment. Please note that all photos were taken with my powershot using the tilt-shift scene mode. I'm a bit obsessed at the moment.

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

The whole show was a bit smaller than I was used to, but the vendors available certainly made up the difference in quality. The amount of cuteness was evident, and jewelry was quite prevalent. The design of the booths was quite good, and at times, it was almost like walking around a live Pinterest. Especially as I went into the Mary Kate McDevitt booth. Yes, I did buy that "feels good to get stuff done" postcard....I need the motivation. ;)

Sketchbook Project 2011: Digitized

2011-07-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

The digitized version of my 2011 sketchbook project book is available to view on the new Art-House co-op shop. Please feel free to visit it (the quality is quite good).

And yes, it was quite hard to let it go. But I'm doing it again. My theme will be "fill me with stories." And it's not too late to sign up for 2012 either. :)

I'd also reccomend checking out some of the other books on the site. There is some seriously cool art over there. Cheers!

Urban Craft Uprising: This Weekend!

2011-07-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Every year, since the first show in 2004, I have attended the crafty goodness that is Urban Craft Uprising. It's my favorite local craft show and I'm so happy that it's now bi-annual.

I've been really pleased that it has grown and done so well. The website had gotten so much better, the community stronger and in general, show production much much slicker. I'm hoping that it will actually grow up enough to be the west coast equivalent of something like Renegade. We'll see.

This weekend is the Summer edition of the show, and I'm pleased to report I've been able to carve out some time to attend (barely). It's free, and the first few folks who show up each year get a bag of swag.

If you'd like to see a few photos, my Flickr set is here. And a few of my posts are available here, if you want to check out past experiences.

I'm hoping to have a good time supporting my local craft. I'll be taking a camera, so a blog post will surely be forthcoming.

happy friday!

Busy like a bee

2011-07-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

Been a few days since I posted, but I have not (unfortunately) been very idle. Working as hard as these cute little fuzzy fellows. Hoping to get all the things I want finished so I too can enjoy some summer sunshine and blackberry blossoms.

Hope your week is going well!

Back a bit later with some more good stuff.

the state of my desk

2011-06-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

I'm quite hard at work over here working on crafty things. One of the things I can share right now is the state of my desk: a big old mess.

I am not a clean crafty person. When the art gets made, the stuff comes out. And then goes everywhere. The current project is a result of the fact that I discovered that I was running low on thank you tags for my shop, so I pulled out the big shot and the inks and got to creating.

These are all just at the ATC phase. Next I'll clip the corners to make them look like tags and punch a hole and add the cute "thank you" label part.

Oh, so looking forward to the long weekend ahead. It will be a great time to get caught up. And hopefully the skies will be calm on Saturday and I will be going up for the previously delayed hot air balloon ride. We'll see.

Happy Friday!

Lovely Stationaries

2011-06-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Can I just tell you how much I love living in Seattle? All the benefits of urban life, but nature-ish stuff is still fairly close to hand. Also good food and fusion of culture. And I can buy cute Japanese paper goods anytime I want without needing to pay for shipping.

I have previously spoken of my love for Kinokuniya bookstore and I found myself there recently one afternoon after work (I had a major jones for an iced sesame bubble tea, and it is right next door). They recently remodeled and it's a very good thing, because their stationary and washi section was majorly expanded.

I used my discount card to pick up some Cath Kidston washi tape and an adorable magazine about cute Japanese paper goods called (as far as I can tell) Lovely Stationaries. Bbetween this and the copy of Mollie Makes I picked up, I'm about to declare this the summer of the cute international magazine.

Even though there's pretty much no chance of being able to buy the adorable items shown in the magazine, there are plenty of cute DIY and other inspiration ideas to make it a good read. Or at least, good to just look at the pictures. ;)

Hope you enjoyed a bit of the color from this today. Have a great night!

Apricot Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

2011-06-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

I am super backed-up on editing photos and getting blog posts written, but I wanted to take a moment to share with you the cinnamon rolls that I baked for Greg's 30th birthday last week (see, told you I was a bit behind).

I don't bake very often, as we are quite lucky to live in a city with many good and affordable bakeries nearby. However, I do believe that home baked goods = love, so I'll get my hands all doughy for a good cause. Like a birthday.

It started a few years ago, after I took a breadmaking class. And he was hooked. And then I started making them every Christmas. And then for his birthday. And since my guy gets his favorite carrot cake for his birthday elsewhere (his mom), it's up to me to make the cinnamon rolls each year.

(It's a tough life)

Seriously though, I've tried a few different variations and I think this is the best "do" yet.

Since this isn't a foodie blog, and I don't really follow any recipe, I'm not going to give you specifics on the how-tos (unless you comment and tell me you really really want them). At the very least, I will say that I always toast my pecans and use three kinds of sugar (mmm Demerara), and that cream cheese frosting with a bit of orange flavor is a must. I think for Christmas I'll do dried cherries and apricots, but leave the booze out of the frosting and use it to soak the fruit instead. Mmmm yummy.

Who needs a birthday cake when you can have this for breakfast? With coffee of course.

p.s.
All photos taken with my powershot. The Rebel is down for the count (needs repair), but I am really loving how these are turning out. It did set me back on the whole trying new lenses experiment. Ah well...

p.p.s.
My grandmother was a nice Southern lady, so I grew up saying peeh-can. Not peh-kawn. How do you say it? It's quite a matter of contention up here with my Northwestern friends. :)

Giveaway Winner(s)!

2011-06-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

So sorry to post this a bit late, but to make up for it I am going to be giving away extra prizes! Hurray!

First, I just want to say thank you very very much to all of the sweet, kind and amazing people who left me comments on this post. You really truly made my day. Cyber hugs for all.

Second, if you aren't a winner today, no worries. I have a little something I am cooking up for later in July which is going to be fabulous. And will also have more giveaways. Nuff said on that for now. ;)

And... here we go.....the winner of the Springtime Curiosities Kit:

Commenter #12 LAURA

Please send me your mailing address and I will get your kit shipped out to you!

But wait, there's more!

Commenter #37 Joanne!

You win a copy of my previous class kit Bits & Pieces (I hope you don't mind).

Please send me your mailing address and I will get your kit shipped out to you!

Lucky Commenters #31 Lydia, #12 SandrinEve and #3 Rebecca

all win a free access pass to the Springtime Curiosities class site.

Please send me your current email address and I will get your access info out to you!

I really wish that I could give out prizes to everyone, but unfortunately, that's not a very sustainable business practice. However good things will be happening round here very soon. :)

Happy Monday!

Pinterest Check in: June 2011

2011-06-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

I've really been enjoying doing this little series on my blog. I want to somehow add it to my 2011 in review book. June was a big month for pins. Hurray! Inspiration everywhere!

Here are a few of my favorites:

For all of my pins and boards, check out my pinterest profile here: http://pinterest.com/coffeegrlcrafts/

p.s.
Don't forget to comment on this post to enter the giveaway!

Springtime Curiosities Class & Kit Sale

2011-06-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

Also, for the first day of Summer, I realized it was probably a good idea to clear out some class kits from the PaperZone class I taught earlier this Spring. Note: there is a good reason for this, which I will be announcing shortly. ;)

The listing is up on Etsy now. I'm also offering the access to the class separate from the kit (if you can't swing the kit or have too much stuff on hand). Otherwise, if you buy the kit, for a limited time, you get access to the site for FREE.

In the class we'll cover quite a few techniques including: using transparencies to add dimension, adding texture with spray ink, learning to stretch your supplies by creating embellishments made from cardstock, design principles for small projects and tips for minibook photo management.

The site also includes an exclusive video tutorial and step by step photos of the finished book as well as access to exclusive photoshop templates.

I'm pretty excited. I love this stuff.

So to celebrate, I am going to be GIVING AWAY one of the kits AND class access to one of my lucky commenters!

Simply post in the comments what you like (or don't like) about this kit, and I'll pick a random winner on Friday. Internationals are welcome as well. :)

Thank you for letting me share. Have a great night!

First day of summer

2011-06-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

Around here we're starting to see a bit more of that big blue sky that hides most of the year. Happy first day of summer. And here's a little poem for you:

To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -
True Poems flee.
~Emily Dickinson

Sketchbook Project 2011 Tour: Seattle

2011-06-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, I participated in the 2011 round of the Sketchbook project. Before I sent it off into the wide world, I did take photos and share on the blog (full Flickr set is here).

Well, you know what they say about when you love something and it's meant to be...

Just kidding. Actually, I was extremely fortunate that Seattle ended up being one of the cities that the project was going to tour. And last weekend, it came to town (like the circus! but with sketchbooks).

Greg and I took the light rail downtown, and then hoofed it over to Belltown to visit the project at Form Space Atelier, a teeny tiny little art gallery. The line to get in was quite long, because unbeknownst to me, they were requiring all visitors to sign up for new Brooklyn Art Library library cards. (So pro-tip, if anything from the BAL comes to visit you and you already have a card because you were a participating artist, do not leave the library card at home).

So once we got our cards we were each able to check out two sketchbooks at a time, of the 10,000 that were available at the gallery. It was pretty strictly controlled, there was no random browsing. Once you got your card, you went into another line and the hipster docents that were running the gig let you pick two sketchbooks at a time, by artist, location or theme. I decided to first grab mine (to see how it was doing) and one by Pam Garrison. Greg got two really cool random ones from some theme that was about numbers.

There wasn't hardly any room in the gallery, so the whole sidewalk outside was just full of people reading all of these different and crazy cool sketchbooks. The whole scene was so full of positive happy people, brought together in community, in celebration of these personal pieces of art. It was a very cool experience. Even if my book hadn't been there, I still would have gone to visit.

After Greg and I swapped books (so we each got to read four), we went back for another round. Greg got another interesting set, and I got a random one and some from Kim Smith. Hurray!

We ended up doing a third round, of one more book each. The goodness levels were variable, but it was all still very interesting.

After that we were famished! So we headed to Pike Place Market for lunch. And that is a tale for another day. Needless to say, deliciousness was had. And then naps were needed.

And that made it pretty much an awesome Saturday.

p.s.

More to come on this topic... I totally signed up for 2012 too. :)

The Mini Smash Book

2011-06-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hello hello!

Well, between working a relatively normal day and the fact that the sun came out for a bit properly toward the end of the day, I was able to successfully photograph my little mini smash book, which I previously mentioned here.

Don't tell anyone, but I think I might love this little mini smash more than my big one. I know, I know, but seriously, it's so adorably tiny. And everyone knows things are way cuter when they are small.

Anyway.. I am so excited to share this with you; I think it turned out pretty great. The theme used was my trip a few weekends ago to the Fremont Sunday Market. Enjoy.

I am also especially pleased that I found a coordinating rubber band to keep this little sucker closed up. I was tempted to put stripes on it using a sharpie, but refrained.

Happy Wednesday!

Current status of craft desk.

2011-06-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

So, today let's pretend that I did not work from 7:30 am to 6:45 pm and then went home to briefly break for Thai food and an episode of Justified before going to work again from 8pm to 10 pm, shall we?

Instead, we shall pretend that I was at my little crafty desk at home, messily creating and having fun with art, followed by a long relaxing evening curled up with a book and a dinner date with my sweetie. Yes, that's a much better story.

Too bad it's not true. Not meant to be today, anyway. Some days are just dominated by the to-do list. Both at work and at home, and man, I am so behind on things like laundry and emails....

Anyway. Very happy that the tiny Smash book was completed yesterday (when this photo was actually taken). Going to get it all photo'd and up on the blog tomorrow hopefully.. You know, if I'm not working another totally ridiculously long workday.

bleh.

Thank goodness I get unlimited free coffee at work. Just sayin.

sun + backyard grass = summer

2011-06-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is what I love about this time of year. The ability to curl up on the grass in the backyard with a good book or magazine and chill out.

Currently reading through Gail Carriger's Alexia Tarabotti series. It's delightful. Next I'm going to go through Simon Green's Secret Histories series. And then maybe reread Anathem by Neal Stephenson. What? It's Summer reading. It's not meant to be terribly good for you. Don't judge me.

Anyway... thanks Seattle Public Library. Thanks sunshine. And backyard grass.

You definitely make the Mondays easier to deal with. ;)

p.s.

I just picked up a copy of Mollie Makes. It's fabulous. Like a paper pinterest. ;)

Also, I adore Dottie Angel. And Peter Pan collars. And the idea of crochet-doily things, even though I'm rubbish at such things. Check out this video if you are unconvinced of this magazine's coolness.

p.p.s
Greg said that dress made me look like the Hamburgler. Boys are silly, and don't understand how cool stripes are. Agreed?

Baby Book #2: Girl

2011-06-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Alright, this is a super heavy photo post, so grab a coffee and let the page load. ;)

What I'm sharing today is the blank baby book I made as a gift for the girl baby my friends recently had. It's a companion to their wedding book (which I am still working on, as described in this post).

The base is an old Creative Imaginations easel book, and I augmented it with stuff from an American Crafts baby book kit I picked up from Michaels. I didn't use the original postbound album that came with that kit, because it would have been too complicated for my non-scrapping friend to deal with.

The key with making these gift books is ease of use. :)

Here we go!

I hope that you enjoyed this book, and if you are looking for other ideas for blank books as gifts for babies, I have a binder/boardbook one for a girl here, and a postbound style for a boy here.

N&A Wedding Book: Part One

2011-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

On my previous blog post about unfinished projects, I mentioned that there was a baby book and a wedding book I was simultaneously working on as a gift for some good friends.

I was recently able to finish the baby book (to be posted later today), but haven't quite finished the wedding book yet. One of the reasons for that is that unlike the baby book where my friend is going to be putting in photos and journaling herself, I'm actually making the wedding book with photos.

And we all know that that is one of the major chokepoints for me in the creative process.

Anyway, I wanted to share what I had finished so far on this book, so that when I post the baby book, you can see the similarities (I planned the baby book as a companion, so it would look a bit like a set - I'm crafty that way).

Both books have an old Karen Russel Creative Imaginations easel book as the base. I grabbed a bunch of these from the dollar booth at the last CKC I attended, and it was a great investment. For gift projects, it's really nice to have something cute and put together as a base.

The book also uses Creative Imaginations stickers and journaling paper, as well as some Cosmo Cricket EverAfter papers.

So, off to a pretty good start. Aren't they adorable?

Just a photo of the rest of the blank pages to work on. Now I just need to finish editing some photos from the wedding, stick them in and embellish.

Hope your weekend is going well. Back in a bit with the baby girl book. (It's a big'un)

Sunday Market

2011-06-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

I ventured forth to Fremont Sunday Market last week in search of treasures (and a haircut).

The powershot and the holga both came out with me. Need to finish the roll of film, but here are some digital photos of my lazy June afternoon wanderings.

(Apologies about the black lines, but these are the print versions, and that's a little something I add to my files to make sure Costco doesn't crop or cut them weird)

The haircut was achieved quite successfully, and I did get a cute little ruler, some vintage wallpaper and some lovely vintage jewelry. None of which, interestingly, actually made it into these photographs.

Hmmm, will have to follow up on that. ;)

Happy Friday!

go

2011-06-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Thinking a lot about travel these days. This is not going to be a big year for it.

That's okay. I've got a cute suitcase and some plans for next year.

This layout was made using some scraps from the Portland Mini (still in progress). I really love how it turned out. Something about that bit of yellow just grabs me. ;)

Song for a Sunday

2011-06-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Listening to this...Loved the complete type-centric visual use of words in this video.

Label Love - Storage Idea for hand-stamped labels

2011-06-04T00:41:00.000-07:00

I love labels. It's the organization nerd in me.

My love for labels began long ago, and has grown and grown over the years.

I love me some label anything: label stickers, label stamps, vintage labels, label punches... all colors and shapes are pretty much okay in my book. I use them on almost every project- I find that these little guys are perfect to accent any page or minibook project.

But you know, sometimes all that label love can get pricey, for the pre-made stuff. And when you have stamps, sometimes it's a pain to go through the whole process to get one measly label made up (find stamp, find paper, ink stamp, stamp image, cut image out, adhere, etc).

However, there is hope. Task batching is a good way to deal with the latter problem.

My crafty tip for today? Get some really nice thick cardstock, stamp (or print out) your labels (and do a bunch all at once), cut or punch them out, add adhesive on the back and stick them in a little book to use later.

Now, as for the storing them for later part, there are a few ways you could do this. If you choose to add adhesive (tape style adhesive or glue dots) you are going to need to find a home for them that will all the label to be easily moved to your projects.

The cheapest way is to recycle!

As you can see from these photos, I've actually repurposed an old sticker book from American Crafts for my current batch of hand-stamped paper labels, but you could just as easily use other empty sticker backing paper for storage too.

Or how easy would it be to make a little book of pre-done label storage using staples and wax paper?

Or if you were using glue dots, just re-use your glue dots paper...

Some good possibilities here.

Hope your weekend is going well. :)

Baby Book #1: Boy

2011-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

It seems that this is the summer of babies, for I have been elbow deep in making gift books for friends who are expecting or have just had children.

You may recall the last gift baby book I put together (or if not here's the link) a few years ago. This time I decided to go with a more handmade feel. I used up some of that fantabulous fabric paper from the Dear Lizzy line (which you may find on clearance by now) and the Making Memories Pitter Patter collection.

I really liked how cute this was, for a boy book. The colors are nice and soft and fairly neutral. The design is super clean and simple (for me!) and the size is just right.

****EW - this is a spoiler alert.
Look away. Look away from the blog and don't read any further! ***
;)

I think it will look even cuter once there are some sweet little baby photos in there.

Those white cardstock squares are 4x6 and can slip right out to be replaced with photos. I really loved using my Martha Stewart photo corner punch to do up the custom photo corners.

Hope you enjoyed the bit of scrappiness this morning.

Back tomorrow with a quick tip, and then also coming up... a baby book for a little girl, using a totally different format.

Happy Friday!

a SMASH*ing good time

2011-06-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

I recently got my hands on a full sized smashbook (the black one, of course) and I've decided to use it as a place to gather my creative thoughts and plans. I'm really loving the mix of page designs. In fact, I have the blue one on order so I can play with one in a more scrapbooking-ish manner.

This black one will be different than what is captured in my art journal; more project focused. I'm hoping that by sticking my ideas down in a material format that I will be more accountable on actually getting them realized and shared. I 'm excited to use this to document and to plan out things in a real and tactile fashion. Namely, blog. class and other project stuff. Sort of a physical pinterest, if you will. But more secret. ;)

For example, the above photo shows a tutorial idea in progress. You can actually see the prototype item all smashed in there for me to write notes about (can you guess what it is?).

I've almost got my tiny smash journal (turned it in to a minibook, of course) finished and ready to share. For now though, enjoying this new tool.

Have you got a smash book? What are you using it for?

A walk on the beach

2011-06-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

Hmm... It's been a bit of time since I updated, hasn't it? Indeed, the photos in this post were taken back on 05/14. Says something about the state of my life right now that I've neglected my beloved blog so long.

Mostly, I blame the fact that I've had to work many extra hours and have been so. very. tired. all the time. But I carved out a little time to get some posts photographed and written, so there should be some more good content (including crafty goodness) coming up this week.

For now, how about some nice almost-summer photos from a trip at the beach?

Good stuff.

Happy June 1st!

Making Progress

2011-05-15T22:28:00.000-07:00

I was able to carve out some time this weekend to get crafty and I thought I would share a photo of my-ever growing little monster project.

I got so much done on this book that I ran out of room on the original binder. I've actually finished about 2/3 of it and have now switched to bookrings. I will probably have to go up another size before the end of the book is done. I have one more round of photos to print as well. Sigh. I always make my minis too big. ;)

Good times.

More Ideas Than Time

2011-05-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

aka, the story of my unfinished project box.

I have on previous occasions mentioned my box 'o unfinished projects. Actually, it isn't technically a box, it's my cropper hopper rolling tote...but close enough.

Since my switch from layout-based scrapping to focused project (mini-book) scrapping, the method of using a single location to collate my unfinished projects (or projects to-be) has been vital to my creative process. It helps me to keep track of project ideas in physical form, and also allows for a certain amount of task batching. It works for the most part, as long as I can keep it under control. ;)

Basically, anytime I start work on a project but don't finish, or have gathered a a bunch of products I've developed a project concept for, but am not immediately ready to start work on, the main supplies and/or photos for the project end up in here in the form of customized project kits.

I like to keep the box close to hand, so I can quickly grab something to work on if I'm not seriously inspired to work on something else, as most of the startup efforts (product selection, theme) are already completed for me. Also, of course, I need to keep it visibly near me so I can keep the shame and guilt of their uncompleted status in the forefront of my mind. Just kidding. Mostly.

I did a good job of emptying the box out last year... and then of course, I filled it up again. All these potential projects just hanging out and waiting for me to get back to them. A long and seriously tangible crafty to do list.

As creative people, it is very easy to get caught in the endless inspiration loop (hello Pinterest and shopping behaviour), and then forget to actually get out the scissors and make stuff.

The Paperclipping Roundtable has also recently had several excellent conversations related to this very topic; I highly recommend you check them out.

I myself am guilty of project-related procrastination, especially since I don't really have things like creative team deadlines to worry about any more. (Note: this is both good and bad for my creative flow --but that's another post.)

There are various reasons why these projects aren't done yet-- lack of interest, change in creative direction, creative block, waiting for photos, etc. Regardless, the work is yet to be done.

And also, to be entirely truthful, this little box doesn't actually even contain ALL of my unfinished projects. I have several themed ones (Christmas, classes) and even a few secret ones (gifts for people) that are also waiting in the wings. Not to mention a list saved on my ipod notepad full of ideas based on tools and products in my stash...

Anyway, the box is just there to hold the stuff that is more likely to get finished first (in an organized, queue-like fashion). And of course most of them are related to mini-books. That's how I'm rolling these days for projects.

How about a sneak peek? Here you go:

1. Portland Trip (Spring 2010) - Base is a Studio Calico kit with all the trip ephemera and a few extra things I thought would "match" added. Probably going to use a Maya Road 8x8 book, though I might wing it and do something with bookrings. That part is undecided.

2. Valentines Book - I found a box of all the valentines I got in elementary school and had saved. Going to put them all in an album with some K&Co themed papers. Not sure what kind of album I'll use, but debating using clear or pockets so I can see all the names signed on the back of the valentines.

3. Steamcon 2010 - This one is actually almost done. Just need to add the photos (which are already printed) and embellish and journal.

4. Nick and Ashley's wedding book - Mostly Creative Imaginations stuff with a little Cosmo Cricket thrown in. Major guilt on this one. These guys got married last April. And actually just had their first child about a week ago. So it's a bit late. Still need to get photos edited and ordered. Am probably going to make up a baby book and bundle it with this one as a package gift. Yes, that sounds like a good plan.

5. The Home Book - All hambly all the time. We still haven't moved, so this one is a work in progress. No guilt on this one. ;)

6. OA Thrifting Mini - I wanted to do a cute mini Alissa Fast style with a bunch of photos from my thrifting expeditions. This is mostly October Afternoon Thrift Shop. I started this at a crop and haven't gotten back to it. Those flashcards are challenging to work around.

7. 7Gypsies Circus Book - I made this on a whim. It's all 7 Gypsies and in circus colors. I don't have photos to go with it yet, so it's stalled indefinitely until I can figure out what more I want to do with it. I might use it for crazy altered experimentation and use up some Lomo photos. Or hopefully, I'll go to a circus, and that will take care of that.

8. 7 Gypsies Life is good mini - This one is all 7Gypsies Lille themed. Because yes, I had to make a mini with that Lille book cover. This is another one I made on a whim and am not sure what to fill it with. The ATC spinner is using up a lot of Lille, but I'm not worried about theme duplication. The British theme is making me want to use it for my Victoria trip from last fall.. It would get super fat though, because I took a ton of photos. It's a possibility.

9. Red Velvet Peter Pan kit - I bought this a loong time ago, back when Elsie and Red Velvet were selling scrapbooking kits. I love how whimsical it is. Have been ~~saving~~ hoarding it for something special. I want to use this up to document some sort of forest-themed picnic (but not Bainbridge). Hoping to go to a good park later this summer (why yes, sometimes I do plan my life around things I want to scrap. shhh don't tell Greg)

10. Cabin Road Trip 2009 - A lot of October Afternoon Road Trip with a little Making Memories and some Little Yellow Bicycle travel product here. Need to decide on a size (probably use up an 8x8 felt album) and get the photos edited.

11. 50 Dates Album - All Cosmo Cricket Social Club. Need to pick a size or an album base; something with bookrings for sure. This is sort of an ongoing, everyday life kind of book. Low pressure.

12. Space Needle - This is all BoBunny Mama-razzi paper and the photos from last December's trip up the Space Needle. The colors really work nicely. Need to pick an album size. Maybe 6x6.

13. Bainbridge Picnic 2011 - This is a hodgepodge of leftovers from an old Red Velvet kit from 2008. I've bulked it up with some new Sassafrass Lass product. Going to use up the kit to build the mini for the trip to Bainbridge and the winery from last month. Need to decide on size and album base and then edit photos to print.

14. Vespa-pa-pa mini kit - Another old Red Velvet kit with papers from Kim's Vespa-pa-pa-pa line. Want to do something fun and cute with this. Possibly travel or fashion-themed. So, basically, waiting for some photos that will match and inspire me.

15. Monster Faire book - Going to document Puyallup Fair adventures with Sassafrass Monstrosity. Need to pick a size (probably square) and get photos edited to print.

16. Europe Minis - This one gets a ? because I started them and I'm not sure where I'm going. Still have a bunch of Europe photos that remain unscrapped. Might use this to do a "best of" paper album and then keep working on the giant photobook (see item 19 below).

17. Jamaica Home Mini - This classy mini was picked up from Jamaica's Etsy shop. Again, haven't moved yet so have been holding off on using it. Might use it with some cute Pinterest ideas... or maybe take some photos of the tiny pieces of home currently. Want to do something fairly modern and graphic with it though.

18. Daily Junque kit - I bought this whole line (basically) as a kit from HSN. Because it has several instances of product with numbers that go up to 31 due to it's calendar theme, I want to use it for something related to my 30th birthday - which happens next year. So no pressure on this one. ;)

NOT PICTURED:
As if you don't already think I'm insane and need to purge and/or let go of stuff, I also wanted to list some of the other projects that I forgot to take photos of that are pending.

19. Europe Photo book - purely digital at this point. I'm about halfway through the trip. And I've made about 45 pages worth of content. Just photo collages with a few teeny tiny bits of journaling. I took a lot of photos on that trip.

20. One Little Word 2011 - I need to get caught up on this. The base is a Pink Paislee album. The insides are actually relatively product free at this point. I have a bunch of photos to deal with though.

21. 30 Before 30 - This little mini is still in early stages. The album is built, but the photos and journaling need to be added. Still haven't finished the list though. I'll be mad if I don't finish this by at least next April. So feeling good about this one.

22. December Daily 2009 - I had some conceptual problems with my album for this one. I need to just print the photos and pound it out. Let go of perceptions of perfection

23. December Daily 2010 - All done, except I need to glue down photos and embellish. Mostly Basic Grey. I love this book.

24. Journal Your Christmas - This one is mostly Making Memories Christmas stuff. I am considering this an ongoing, year-crossing project. There are prompts, and I'm going to make it a kind of "best of," rather than a daily documentation. Until I finish at least one of these, anyway.

25. I love ____. - An old kit from a Kristi P. class. Have been very much hoarding this one. I guess I've been waiting for photos I've really loved to use it. Just need to buckle down and git' er done.

26. Vancouver 2009 - Little Yellow Bicycle travel line. Need to pick a size and base for album. Need to edit and print photos.

27. Tennessee Adventure 2010 - Me and My Big Ideas Journey line. This one is going to be all kraft and fun and paint. Need to pick a base/size and get the photos edited to print.

28. Portland CKC 2011 - This one is actually on my desk right now. All Studio Calico Documentary. It's about half done. Need to edit and print a few more photos. Need to glue and embellish and journal. I'll try to share this on the blog later this week. :)

29. ATC Spinner - this is another ongoing one. Just mostly to use up extra photos and 7Gypsies Lille papers.

30.... And... that's all for now. Must stop. Spiraling a little out of control. Rest assured, there's yet more.

Note: In addition to all these projects, I occasionally make layouts. And ATCs and art journaling and apparently cards and tags. And write blog posts.

I also have like 8 Shimelle Classes with projects started, but not finished; I definitely want to get at least another one of those finished this year.

I also have tons and tons of photos to go through. It is a little comforting to know I will never be "caught up" and run out of things or ideas to make stuff.

But you can see how all this can be totally overwhelming. Or super inspiring. Depends on my mood and amount of free time. ;)

Today, it's inspiring. And I was glad to share on the blog.

Hope you enjoyed this little peek behind the crazy crafty curtain over here.

Have you ever struggled with a bunch of unfinished projects? How do you cope? (or not)
I'd love to know.

thought for today

2011-05-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

(post-beach walking snuggles on a rare sunny spring day.)

I love how he tries to hide from the camera. But I get him anyway. Mwaahahaha.

Need to get this one printed for scrapping ASAP. It just makes me happy ;)

ATC Spinner Progress

2011-05-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a bit scattered these days when it comes to projects; I only have bits and bobs of time to work on things. So I suppose it is a good thing I recently decided to tackle the filling up of my 7Gypsies ATC Spinner.

(previously mentioned here)

I'm continuing to run with the black/white/cream/red scheme. It's working quite well; and I'm really enjoying the Lille line as an all-purpose catch all background. And I'm totally in love with the stamps from this line as well. (p.s. that Etsy seller I just linked has amazingly fast shipping and decent prices).

The point of this project is not that it is a means to a specific end, rather it's about the journey. It's about taking a few moments of time to slap down some photos and words and pretty paper in a pleasing fashion. And I'm happy with the progress I've made.

I've been able to use up quite a few "leftover" photos and extra bits. Using them up is way better than tossing them out. And it's coming together quite well.

My one regret is that I don't feel like I'm using enough paint or spray ink at this point (cleanup is messy and can be time consuming). I'm sure I'll fill in a few bits later though.

Here's some of the progress I've made so far...

Yes, and I totally am going to use up some old rubons, and some of this old hardware I've got laying around.. Well, you'll see. ;)

mother's day card

2011-05-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

a bit late, but happy mother's day to all the mamas out there.

we gave greg's mum a whole bee-themed gift; we donated to heifer.org and got some fresh flowers and farmer's market honey.

happy monday!

Pinterest Check in: May 2011

2011-05-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hello and Happy May (and also happy scrapbooking day).

Life has been absolutely insane lately - thus the lack of posts on my poor blog. My team at work is down by two people so I've been working like a crazy person. This leaves me basically enough energy to eat, sleep and hang out with humans; i.e. not a ton of time or energy for creativity.

But it busts out here and there.. mostly on Twitter and Pinterest. Here is the current snapshot of Pinterest in May. I really like being able to see how my pins have changed... look at the trending if you will.

Looking at this, you can tell I have minibook fever on the brain. And apparently, want to play with stamps, tape and paint. All in good time. The Portland book is a good 1/3 done. So I'm hoping to get some photos of that this weekend, but we'll see. I also have a few finished scrapbook pages (!) and some art journal and ATC stuff to share.

Hope you get some good creativity time this weeked. :)

Weekend Adventure: Return to Bainbridge Island

2011-04-24T22:31:00.000-07:00

So back in 2008 Greg and I took a lovely Saturday Day trip out to Bainbridge Island to picnic and visit a highly recommended vineyard and winery (Bainbridge Island Winery). (And yes, it's been scrapped. Here's the minibook for that trip.)

Aside from being super fun and romantic, there was another reason we decided to go and repeat this adventure. That winery makes a really amazing raspberry fruit wine. Seriously delicious stuff. But it's rare. So when we found out that they had it in stock again, we had to make the trek out.

So after a bit of sleeping in followed by a stop at the bakery for coffee, we headed down to the Ferry Terminal to catch a boat over.

After our slightly chilly ferry ride, we got to Bainbridge and started driving around looking for a park to picnic at. We only had a partial map (tiny google map pdf on my ipod) so it took a bit of driving around tiny scenic winding roads to find someplace suitable. The park we went to last time appeared to be closed, but we found another park. It had an observatory, really nice walking paths, and a supercute pagoda. There was also an abundance of wild birds, including a heron.

So we took a bit of a walk around the park, and then busted out the picnic basket. We're total picnic foodie snobs, so we had blood orange soda, three kinds of cheese, fancy chips and artisan mustard. That's how we roll.

The sun came out for a bit, but it was still pretty windy. We took a brief tea break to warm up in the car (thermos technology is the best) and headed out to the winery.

When we got there, we had a chance to sip some pinot with the owner (who is a super adorable lady) and admire the antiques (I totally scored an awesome white pyrex dish for $1). Also, we bought the very LAST CASE (all twelve bottles) of the raspberry wine. And when I say the last case, I mean the very last commercially available set of bottles that will be able to be had for the forseeable future. And I feel we totally lucked out.

Again, this stuff is crazy delicious. You understand, right?

Anyway, after our triumph at the winery, we followed the road away from the highway and found another awesome beachside park for picnic, round two.

I love me some beach walking.

After that, it started to get a bit colder and there was a bit more rain, so we decided to catch the ferry back. That part didn't go so well (the first ferry filled up about three cars ahead of us, and then the car battery died as we attempted to drive onto the next ferry....argh), but we got home eventually all safe and sound.

The weather even cleared up a bit.

So, overall, a pretty great day out. Next time though, better maps will be brought. ;)

It's Baaack: The Sketchbook Project 2012

2011-04-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

aka the world tour.

The lovely folks at the Art House Co-Op are running another session of the Sketchbook Project. And it's available for anyone in the world to participate!

Here's the deal, according to their site:

"The Sketchbook Project is a traveling exhibition of sketchbooks created by artists like you.

Anyone – from anywhere in the world – can be a part of the Project. To participate and receive a blank sketchbook that will join our 2012 tour, start by..." going to their website, buying a book (which mostly goes to support their whole infrastructure, and get crafty.

There are a ton of really fun new themes this year, as well as a brand spankin new kind of sketchbook to play with.

I played along last year, you may remember... and my sketchbook is currently on tour around the US as I write this.

I am so down. This project was super inspirational for me, and I'm excited to add it to my (slightly ridiculous) queue of things to make.

On the upside, I'll have until Jan 2012 to get it done, so that's good. ;)

Happy Thursday!

p.s.

There was a question from my last post.. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. Here's a link for the wikipedia article, and here's a link to my set of tiny art. More to come.

spin me right round like an atc holder

2011-04-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

I've had one of those 7 Gypsies vintage ATC carousel things just sitting around on my shelf forever. Being sad and dusty. Well, this weekend I resolved to un-neglect it for a while.

I got to thinking about how much I love making ATCs. Because they are tiny and cute. And achievable in scale. And about how I haven't really made any in a while. Art journaling and tags are close, but not quite the same.

And then I found some ATC stuff on clearance at the art supply store. And got the mad idea to put these things together. And became really inspired by the whole red and cream and black thing that these classic Gypsy products had going on. And I remembered this new line that would coordinate quite perfectly.. that I really want to use up on something fun...

And well, this happened.

Yes... so now the plan is to fill it up with crafty goodness and photos until it is so fat that it is packed full. I think I can manage it. Not quickly, obviously, but it should be fun.

Not sure if I want to do a theme, or just random general "life is beautiful" kind of stuff.

It's mine, all mine

2011-04-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

I actually had another weekend adventure-themed post all written and ready to go, but apparently I'm not allowed to post it until after Easter dinner, because apparently there might be spoilers for people I might be seeing in real life. Or people from California who come up to visit. You know who you are.

So that's coming.

In the mean time, here's another fun stamp-related post. :D

I may have to declare April to be the Month of the Stamp due to all these stamp-themed posts, won't I?

Especially as the tutorial I'm working on is stamp related as well. Hmmm.

Anyway... I had seen this new Cavallini stamp set online and had saved it to my Pinterest. It's great, right? Well, on Sunday I went down to visit my very favorite stamp store Impress and what do I see? And only one copy left? Zoom into my basket it went.

And so worth it.

See that black and white number paper there? Yeah, I stamped that. Awesome.

You'll be seeing this set more. A lot more, I'm sure. Now if only they made a matching alpha. Swoon.

Back to working on the Portland mini.

Hope you are well.

She's up to something....

2011-04-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm in no mood to edit photos... even though that is something I desparately need to do.

Instead, I'm making stuff! Organizing, cleaning and getting my hands messy.

Feels good to get crafty on a Friday night. ;)

Stamp Carving Round 2: Victory!

2011-04-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week I made it a goal to tackle the stamp carving task from my 30 before 30 list. This was to be my second attempt (see notes on earlier failure here) at stamp carving.

This time however, I was much better prepared. I prepped by reading a few very good blog posts (thanks Julie!) and a very excellent episode of Scrap Time (thanks Christine!). I also decided that nothing less than Speedy Carve (which is the good stuff) would do for a base.

To make it easier on myself, I decided to go with a geometric design, and make a stamp that was medium sized. I used the number one carving nib for pretty much the whole thing. It took me a couple of hours, a can of trusty diet coke and several episodes of Castle and Criminal Minds, but I got one finished!

I started by using my Tim Holtz ruler to measure out some triangles that were about .25" high. And I just started drawing until the stamp seemed big enough.

I very carefully and patiently carved out the outlines of the triangles that were to be carved out. I really liked how it looked, so I may do something similar with a different stamp.

Then I just started carving and gouging until all the pattern was finished.

The whole process was quite soothing, actually. The finished stamp is a bit imperfect, but I'm digging it--It has a little bit of a Yellow Owl Workshop vibe going on, in my opinion. :)

I am so proud! I can wait to use this stamp on a page. Hmm.. the wheels are turning.

Also super happy to scratch another goal off the list. :)

Happy Friday!

Pinterest Check In: April 2011

2011-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Thought I would do a little snapshot of my most recent pins on Pinterest.
It's like being inside my brain! Well, actually, it's probably much more organized. ;)

Are you ~~addicted to~~ using Pinterest yet? If not, and you want to be enabled, let me know and I'll hook you up with an invite. :D

Smash*ing Good Fun

2011-04-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ever since CHA I have been patiently waiting for Smash* Books to come out. (You remember the awesome video, right?) And since I was such a fan of their cuteness, I became a fan of their blog.

And it's a good thing too. Because they have been having giveaways!

And I got me a sweet little sample in the mail. I thought I would share the "before" here on the blog.

Cute, right?

And of course, once I smash some stuff in there, I'll share it when it's done. :)

Happy Monday!

Thank You Tags

2011-04-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

My big task for tonight and tomorrow is to double check all the kits for the class I'm teaching on Sunday. (More on that here, and my local peeps can call PaperZone to check on availability).

I had a dire urge to get crafty tonight though, so I busted out the ink and made up some cute altered tags. I've been thinking about Etsy and branding and such, and I really like these kinds of details for my customers. ;)

Edited to add how to details:

Emboss ATCs using Big Shot and various embossing folders
Slice off corners to make ATC look like a tag
Swipe various colors of Distress Ink over tags
Add strip of washi tape down the middle
Punch label from kraft paper
Stamp sentiment and tiny stars
Glue label to tag
Punch hole in the top
Set an eyelet
Tie with cute string (not pictured)
Enjoy cute tag!

I'm almost done with the Class website, so I'll have the listings for the class (on sale for $5) next week. I'll also list extra class kits at that time too. More to come.

I have to get ready for a friend's birthday party, but I hope you are having a great weekend!