Thursday Love List

Right now I am loving:
Ali's Digital Brushes. Why can I not write like she does? Note to self, re-learn cursive. (Discount code here)

This lovely place. With a name like Gypsy Rose Paperie how can I resist? Check out the vintage goodness there. Also, giveaways.

Donna's video tutorial. So awesome. Makes me want to play with my sewing machine. And craft metal.

Stacey's tutorial on canvas art journals. So very cool. I have a ton of canvas and papers that I am wanting to destash... Once I figure out how to wind the bobbin on my sewing machine I am so giving this a go.

New Jenni Bowlin. I already ordered some of the new stuff from Stamp Diva. I love the mini bingo cards, the crepe ribbon and the apothacary labels best.

Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine. Yeah, it's based in the UK. But it's really good. And has a great website. Also I'm in the August magazine. :D

Dares. New site. New challenges. Effing love them. Still working on my mini-dares book, updates later this week.

Dina's journal stuff. She is so darn creative.

Debee's stuff with spray paint. Might have to give it a go.

Golden Gel Mediums. Bought a sampler box of the different textured gels on sale at the art store. The same box that Elise blogged about yesterday, actually. Sadly, I paid more than a dollar for it. Did you know they make a special medium that you can use for running things through your printer? I want to try it out, but it's not in the crafty budget for this month.

Anywho... I'm sure there are things I have forgotten, but that's all I got for today. Off to go run some errands. Will be glad when it's Friday!!!

learn something

For the July Challenge at Dig Deeper. Discuss your hang-ups, issues, insecurities.

Okay.

Made with a Red Velvet kit and some 7 Gypsies goodies. I am really into 7 Gypsies right now. Especially the metal. Fun stuff.

Thanks for looking!

Life is....

A little crazy lately.

I have been working on crafty stuff only in tiny increments. Last night I finished a mini book but my camera battery died right after I took these pictures. I'll try to get the rest of it up later... if I can get some photos in good light. It is grey and rainy today, but hopefully it will be better later.

I went antique hunting this last weekend. I scored a typeset drawer, sheet music, some maps and a piano roll for less than $30. I also got another typewriter (yes that makes three...) for $8. This one is a little beat up, but it can fit a 12x12 piece of paper. So now I have a complete trifecta of typewriter-y awesomeness.

At work we have been quite busy dealing with new initiatives... this last week we also had a security incident (bomb scare) and also some major "workforce reductions" that have impacted some of my friends here and in the stores. They are closing the store where Greg and I had our first date. Hard times right now.

I have some other things I want to blog about, but I will be posting those later today or tomorrow.

Take Care, and Happy Tuesday.

A million

My take on the latest ScrapMojo Challenge.

Come and play along here.

I finally had a chance to bust out my MM foam stamps. Good stuff. The journaling is all Greg's handwriting. I gave him an ATC and made him write his answer out for me. We pretty much had the same answer, except that I would probably also add shoes to my list.

Off to have dinner and then watch Batman. Oh yes.

It’s like living in a fishbowl.

Just kidding. Here are some photos that I took this weekend with the fisheye lens.

Loving it.

The lens is an “Opteka .42x HD² Wide Angle Panoramic Macro Fisheye Lens for Canon EOS. “ I bought it on Amazon. It just mounts right onto my Rebel XTi. The only annoying thing is that I need to go get a better lenscap for it. It came with a black cap-like cover, but it doesn’t snap on, so I have to be careful about it slipping off. Also, it is a little bulky, and the lens I got is a silvery color so it doesn’t completely match my camera, but I don’t mind that part all that much.

I am not a professional photographer, nor have I ever taken any photography classes. I take photos because I love it. I don’t even really use my camera manual--I should but I don’t. Eventually, I will take a photography class… but honestly I haven’t got the time right now.

Anyway, I think that this little guy is a good lens to play with and learn on. It costs about the same as a whole manual camera (at Urban Outfitters), and while a single lens is not nearly as cute as a whole new camera, I am still loving the digital aspect. Also this particular lens has a really crisp macro feature, and you can also get some okay wide angle shots.

Oh, also, in my last post, I totally forgot to mention punches. Yes, we love punches. I have a few from Martha Stewart and a few from Fiskars that rock my world. Also, the crop-o-dile is a must-have.

Anyway, back to work.

Happy Monday.

My faves.

Hey there.

I got my new fisheye lens in the mail yesterday. $40 on Amazon. It is not the best quality of lens, I am sure, but it sure is fun to play with. Also, it just screws right on to my Rebel, which means that all my photos are still digital. I am loving it.

Anyway, I wanted to do my post today about products. This whole topic has been on my mind a lot lately, what with CHA and de-stashing and assembling some recent projects.

There is an overwhelming amount of scrapbooking and papercrafting product out there these days. I remember when I first discovered the scrapbooking community and the existence of specialized products. I was totally overwhelmed. So, I ended up spending a lot of time (and money) until I figured out what really worked for me.

Here is a list of things that I consider essential to have on hand:
- Sharp objects for cutting. This includes a good paper trimmer (mine is Fiskars), a pair of detail scissors (I like CutterBee, but I recently bought some from Tonic Studios that are great), a long pair for longer cuts, an x-acto knife and decorative scissors—my favorites are a jumbo scallop and a pinked edge pair.

- Corner rounders. I have a small and a medium pair that I use pretty much constantly. Right now though, I am very strongly considering getting a paper gator, because my current punches don’t do very well with things like cardboard or acrylic.

- Adhesive. I am a big fan of the glue stick. Also glue dots. Tombo is my favorite liquid adhesive.

- EK Success Adhesive remover stick. I always get adhesive right on my photos. Usually on the part where my face is. This is an awesome awesome lifesaver. Buy two.

- Inks. Black, White and Brown Stazon are necessary. Also as many distress inks as you have space for. The liquid re-inkers are also fun to play with.

- A good ruler and one you would feel good about trashing (preferably a metal one). I have the Tim Holtz one for my good one. It’s awesome.

Now, there is other stuff that I use and love. I consider them the “whipped cream” of my supplies.

- Distressing tools. I have used various brands of edge distressers and think they all work fine. And way safer than using scissors. I also recently got the Basic Grey precision file set. They are good for working with minis, but honestly stuff from the hardware store/beauty supply aisle would work just as well. I bought the Tim Holtz distressing hammer too, but haven’t really used it yet.

- Paint. Acrylic is best for paper projects. I personally like Making Memories, because it dries fast and does cool stuff when I overheat it with my heat gun. Get what you can afford. I have also recently become a convert of the Adirondack paint daubers.

- Stamps. I am a crazy stamp-a-holic. I could (and have) devoted entire posts to this topic. I tend to get images that inspire me for certain projects. I really like text stamps and backgrounds. I have also had my own custom stamps made. It was totally worth it.

- My typewriters. Yes. I now have two. One is named Smith and is an antique Smith-Corona from the 30s (I think) and the other I got last weekend is a little Sears named Jack from the 60s. He has a case. I’ll post pictures later.

- Sewing supplies. This may or may not include a sewing machine. (Though I have one, a blue vintage Singer named Bella.) I have a couple of different needles and a growing stash of embroidery thread.

- Weird stuff. Wood, contact paper, felt, fabrics, plasticard sheets, magazines, thin sheets of metal. Many shades of duct tape and plumber’s foil. Drywall mesh. A pizza cutter.

Okay. That’s it for now. At some point when my room is all clean I will do a video blog and give you the tour. I wouldn’t want to do it right now. I probably left some unmentionables out somewhere where I wouldn’t want you to see them.

Happy Friday!

Fruit Stand

I said I would be back! Here are a few things I put together with the kit:

I noticed that after I had made everything that there are no photos with my face in them. And there are a bunch with just my feet! Weird....

Thanks for looking!!!