I do still scrapbook, you know

I know the blog has been bereft of paper-scrapping goodness lately... but mostly it has been because I've jumped into another big album project. I'll absolutely share when I can, but this project is a little bit secret--It's a biiiig album involving lots of scanning and inking and distressing and it's a top secret surprise gift.

I'm doing an 8x8 postbound album, and the base is made up of Basic Grey Archaic papers.

I'll say no more, but certain people who read this blog may recognize it. ;)

Also, I cannot find the three layouts I made that I had meant to photo and share. They have to be around here somewhere....

I have tons of ideas and fun things to share, but this month has been sooo crazy! And I am SUPER behind on emails. And blog commenting. And editing photos. And. dot dot dot. 

Such is life though. I'm telling myself I won't stress about it. So I'm trying not to. 

Here's to catching up over the three day weekend. Hurrah!

Urban Craft Uprising: Summer Edition

Just wanted to pop in and mention that Urban Craft Uprising is happening here in Seattle on July 10 & 11.

What is Urban Craft Uprising? Why it's Seattle's largest indie craft fair. It's fantastic. I've attended every single time, and it never fails to be both fun and inspiring. Also supporting local crafters is a very good thing.

I'll most likely be attending on the Sunday... to take lots of pics, stock up on Estrella Soaps and take in some crafty goodness.

You can see photos of past UCU's here on my Flickr.

Anyone local going? Let's meet up for coffee!

A decade ago

I ran into an old classmate this week who told me that our senior class 10-year reunion was happening this weekend. 

I had had no clue, as apparently, they couldn't find me to send me an invitation. I suspect this is due to the fact that I refuse to go on Facebook or MySpace, etc....Seriously though guys, you could have googled me. I'm not that hard to find....

Anyway, despite making me feel ridiculously old, I felt a strong urge to go find some old high school photos. My yearbooks are either gone or lost in storage somewhere, but I still have a few old polaroids, and surprisingly, the internets had a few scanned pages from our yearbooks as well.  

I'm not attending the reunion (Greg's birthday party is at exactly the same time), and anyway, most of my friends were not actually in my school's senior class. 

But I did do quite a bit of pondering about who I was, and what I've become since I graduated. I'm really proud of my accomplishments, and what I've done with my life so far. I have a few regrets, but thankfully they are not big ones. 

Here are some of my thoughts about the intervening decade since I ventured out of school into the big wide world:

1. I still have basically the same hairstyle now as I did ten years ago. That's okay, because it's still awesome and works for me. 
2.  I'm still wearing mostly black clothing, often just goth enough to be mainstream-acceptable. I'm getting over my "fear" of wearing color. I have just accepted the color navy as a staple in my wardrobe. See, people can change.
3. Being a vegetarian was NOT a phase. It really is a permanent lifestyle choice.
4. Nine Inch Nails is still my favorite band.
5. I did get to Europe. It was as wonderful as my dreams. Travelling as often as I can is still a high priority. 
6. I'm still totally crazy in love with that boy Greg (that's actually his chin way up there in that first polaroid photo). We are still just two crazy kids in love, ten plus years into our relationship.
7. My 18 year old body was awesome. Why did I have such self-esteem issues then???
8.  Photography and art are still my passions. I'm glad I can really afford to indulge them now.
9. Not being able to afford college was a bummer. But luck and hard work have helped me to have a fairly decent career anyway.
10. Wearing sunscreen at all times has totally paid off. 

I guess now all that's left is to wonder what the heck is going to happen over the next decade?

Personally, I'm hoping for lots more travel, plenty of kisses from my boy, and perhaps to buy my own house and decorate it with lots of pretty things. 

And to take plenty of photographs of my life as it happens. And of course, blog about it.

Sounds like a plan. 

getting domestic

I made cherry scones from scratch. And then watched a black and white movie. It was a bit magical.

Summer is here

let's kick it off right.




I'll be back later with an update as to the happenings around here later. Until then, enjoy.

Date Night: Anthony Bourdain Book Reading

I've blogged before about my great like of all things related to Mr. Anthony Bourdain. We love his books, blog shows, whatever. It's good and funny stuff.

I was tipped off last Tuesday that he would actually be in town promoting his new book Medium Raw and there were actually still same-day tickets available for the event. Granted, they were totally in the nosebleed section of the Moore Theater balcony, but it was all good. The tickets came with a copy of the new book, signed by the author. The book is sort of a sequel to his big hit Kitchen Confidential. And I thought it was neat that the cost of the tickets included the book. At least we had something to read while we waited for the show to start.

The Moore is a beautiful old theater, and the reading was more like a stand-up comedy act.

He really is as funny and as outrageous as he appears on his tv show. There were plenty of fans, chefs, food bloggers and people Tweeting in real time. It was great fun, except when the mean security people tried to shame me for having a camera.

Seriously, if the Vatican Guard couldn't stop me, I don't think some security guard at a book signing is going to get me to put the camera down. Fortunately, I know better than to use a flash, and my sweet boyfriend was kind enough to be my "lookout."

I'm really liking the book so far, and I'm hoping to finish it soon. Things have been so busy that I'm just able to read it during my commute on the train to work.

I'm not in any hurry to finish it though.

And that was our date night. Good times.

lost stories and old photos

A few weeks ago I went to the Fremont Sunday Market and my favorite vendor had a box of old photographs.

This is not an uncommon sight at flea markets, and I know that artists often use such photos in their work, though I get some squidgy feelings about using up original photographs, particularly old "heritage" ones.

Intrigued, I began to look through the box and was amazed by what I found. The photos were mostly old, black and white or sepia. Some with deckled edges. I tried to guess what kind of film, or cameras had been used based on the size and shape. Some of the photos had a slight metallic look to them, due to the chemical process that had been used to develop them. It was a great find.

As I flipped through the photos, I began to see a few patterns. You could tell that these photographs were not taken by professionals. There were blurry shots, overexposed or badly composed shots. Shots that reminded me a lot of my own photographs.

Looking through the pile, I got the impression that even though these weren't professional photos, that whoever was behind the camera thought that film was precious, and that the memories were important. It seemed like most of the photographs I saw were reserved for the big things. Babies, weddings, vacations, photos of people in the armed services.

As I dug into the box, I saw so many snapshots, so many pieces of other peoples' lives. I was captivated.

I began to wonder what the stories were behind the photos. Who were these people? Where were these photos taken? Why was this worth remembering? I knew that at some point, someone had thought these people and places were worth remembering permanently, worth photographing.

I wondered who had taken all these photos, and how the photos had eventually ended up at my flea market.  I began to look at the backs of the photos for words, dates, names.

Aside from a few pictures with smudged spidery writing, most of the photos were blank on the back side, the details of dates and people and places lost in time.

I thought: this is why I scrapbook.

Going through these photos, I wanted to try and fit the pieces together, to figure out the story behind these old photos. Even though these people weren't my family, that I would never know them, meet them, I wanted to read about their stories. About what life was like for them at that time, in that place.

At the same time I was enjoying myself looking at all these photos and thinking of stories for them, I was a little depressed to think that whoever had owned these photos no longer had them. Had they passed on? Had their family thrown them out?

Looking at all these beautiful memories, preserved through time and film, I knew I wanted to take some of them home with me, where they would be cherished once more.

I had to restrain myself, but limited my collection to only a few, all the more precious, to remind myself of why I take photos and why I make story books.

These were my favorites.

I call this one "The drive through the giant forest in the awesomely old school car." Based on this photo and a few others I found in the bin, I think this was taken somewhere here in the Northwest. I love how it's a little blurry and overexposed. Probably not taken with a tripod. Or enhanced with photoshop. ;)

I like to imagine that these fellows were just out on an old school road trip. Isn't that car just the greatest? It reminded me a little of the 7 Gypsies car.

This one struck me for a few different reasons. One, horse drawn carriage. How cool is that? Second, I love the silhouettes of the people in uniform. I also love the light strip of double exposure on the right side. So perfectly imperfect. I have no idea when or where this was taken. It could be France, it could be New York or Buenos Aires. I don't know, but I sure wonder what was going on for this person on this day.

This photo totally reminds me of G's parent's house. I also love how that dapper young fellow on the porch is leaning out to look over all that snow. He looks so proud. Did he just get home? Or is he pleased that he doesn't have to go into work today? Hmmm...

This one was a little damaged, but I loved it anyway. Look how happy these girls are, just strolling along on this base. All gussied up to meet their fellows perhaps? I love it (and their shoes).

I grabbed this one for Greg's dad. He is an old car aficionado, so I thought he would get a kick out of seeing this old school beauty. Seriously, why don't they make cars look like this anymore? It cannot be any harder to park than my beat up Corolla. Right?

I freaked out a little when I found this one. How cool is this? And no, it's not a postcard. It's a real photo. Seriously, how romantic is this? Sodas from glass bottles? I wonder what the occasion was, and if one of them had had to set the timer and run for it, to get this shot. Just fantastic.

This one is just so special to me. It is so peaceful looking....A black and white photo of the sunset (sunrise?) over the desert. I wonder what it would have looked like in color. I bet it would have been spectacular.

Thanks for letting me share these with you. I hope you found them as special as I did.

Too many punches?

Can there be such a thing as having too many border punches?

I didn't quite realize how far the punch obsession had gotten until I made this little project.

I've got a very teeny space, so it is necessary that everything be tucked as neatly and compactly as possible. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who need to see what they have to use it. I'm not much for pre-planning, anyway...

I got an idea to do a little punch index when I saw Tim Holtz make one for his new sizzix dies. So for this, basically, I took some cardstock, cut it down to 2x3 and then used one punch (or set of punches) per card.

Add a hole to the upper corner and some binder rings and you are good to go. I've each manufacturer on it's own ring. So, one for Martha, one for the EK slimline and one for my Fiskars.

I like it a lot, and I think I might do something similar for my icon punches and my spray inks.

On the upside, now at least I know what I have.

And knowing is half the battle.

;)

Scrapbook Pages (sneaks)

So this weekend, despite many social engagements, laundry, and personal needs, I was able to get some time in to work on some scrapbook pages. Hurray!

Mostly I was inspired by the class I am taking right now. Oh, didn't I mention? I'm taking Celine Navarro's Scrap World Cup online class.

Now, here in the U.S., we don't traditionally go crazy over "the footie," but I was totally down to get my scrap on on behalf of all the other soccer-widows, world-wide. ;)

So far, I have one layout done for the class, and one I did just for fun.

I'll try and get them all photographed and fully up on the blog later this week.

I was able to make a dent into a few of my Studio Calico kits, which I am very very pleased about. And it was nice to get my  hands all inky and paint-y again. My WIL book was actually totally lacking in inky-ness, so it was very fun and relaxing to create with that style again.

And of course, I had a ton of fun playing with my martha punches.

And that's my crafty update for today.

Hope you are well.

devastated

This particular topic of blogging today is not such a happy one, but it's been on my mind, so that's what I'm writing about today. The photos I'm sharing today are from the Puget Sound (except for the next image below)... which in my opinion, is one of the prettiest places on the whole planet.

 

I was reminded that I wanted to write this post when I saw the cover of this week's Stranger newspaper.

The devastation of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an absolute tragedy. It absolutely breaks my heart, the impact of ecological damage that our world will suffer because of this.

Every time I turn on the news, for weeks now.. more and more terrible stories and images are unfolding. I guess I feel so strongly affected by this, even though the actual oil spill is thousands of miles away, because my home is right next to a large natural body of water, and I feel quite strongly affectionate towards these areas and the wildlife that live there. I cannot even imagine how absolutely terrible it must be for those who are so directly impacted by this oil spill.

I feel so sad, at the thought that such lovely environments could be ruined. I feel so scared, and angry, at the thought that something like that could, happen here.

I know that we will be dealing with the consequences of this for some time to come. And I feel so strongly about this horrible situation. And I feel helpless. And unlike the tragedies in Haiti, China, Indonesia, etc. this tragedy is not a result of anything naturally occurring like an earthquake. It was caused by humans.

I am filled with the strong urge to DO something. Thus the blog post. 

I donated to the National Wildlife Federation, but there's also the International Bird Rescue Research Center and Greenpeace, and many others, like Oceana.org, etc.

If you are in the US, I also strongly urge you sign petitions and to write your Senators or your Representatives and let them know that off-shore drilling is a stupid idea.

I know this isn't the usual post for me, and I do promise to get back to the scrappy posting tomorrow, but thanks for letting me get this all out.

take care

Summer travel supply picks

I know I've not posted much scrappiness since my last huge project and mostly, it's because I was taking a little break to focus on some photography fun. And honestly, that book was so super huge and intense that it took me a week to clean up the mess I made making it. In the mean time,  I've mostly confined my non-photography scrap-related activities to...well... shopping. There, I've said it.

Stop reading and step away if you don't want me to enable you. 

Aside from my subscription to Studio Calico kits, and my obsession with Martha punches, I've been very good about using what I've got on hand. I believe they call this "using your stash..."

But, honestly, I am such a huge sucker for travel lines that I just had to get me some goodies this month. 

Ahem. 

How can you resist this? You can't.

Well, maybe you can, but I couldn't. 

I am a huuuuge Studio Calico fan. Maybe even a groupie at this point. When they announced a travel line called Documentary, I had to buy it. (And really, I bought it ALL.) I love-ity love this line.

Two words people: Camera paper

I am so hoarding this one for my next city-style vacation. I'm hoping to get back to New York or San Francisco next spring, and I think this line would be fabulous for that.  But I suspect that even with that as my plan, pieces of this line are going to creep into the Portland trip book I am working on. (That one is getting made from the original SC Documentary kit from last summer. Sneaks forthcoming...)

So... for like the third time ever, I bought a paper slab at Michaels. (And also, a bunch of super-cute pre-made embellishments. That was a very unexpected first. But I don't gotta lie to kick it.) I mean, check this out: 

Cuuuuuute. I found this whole line on sale the other day and had to snatch it up. Perfect for beachy-art journalish stuff. Reminds me a great deal of the fabulous stuff that Mary Ann Moss puts together.

So, maybe I will save this one another Alki book, or for that trip to Costa Rica or Hawaii that we are planning for a few years out. I am okay with this as a plan. The stuff is archival quality. It will keep. ;)

(You can start planning the intervention any minute.)

And to show that I do have a little restraint, here are some things that have not yet found their way into my shopping card, but that I might add soon....

I am a little excited by the new Making Memories Panorama 8x8 kit.

I'm not a huge fan of all the papers, but I really like the album and a lot of the embellishments. Maybe I will mix this with Documentary? Hmmmm...

I'm also really excited for the new Slice Summer Design card. Very cute stuff.

Anything I've missed? Would love to hear it.

Happy Tuesday to you.

In which I attend a concert

Saturday night a group of us went to see The Glitchmob at the Showbox downtown. This band is one of Greg's favorites, and it was nice to go out to a concert. I haven't been to one in a long time.

We got there about an hour after the doors opened. The sun was just starting to set (aaah summer), and because it was an all ages show, we were still able to snag some good seats in the bar area.

The venue actually has a policy against bringing SLR cameras, so it was just me and my little powershot. I got to really experiment with low light shooting as well as using the slow shutter speed functions. I really wish I had been able to bring the Rebel though... ah well. It was still tons of fun.

There were two really cool opening acts....and one of my friends scored a free demo CD too. :)

And finally the guys from Glitchmob came out to rock the house...

There may have even been dancing... But I'm not confessing to anything.

We got out of the concert pretty late... to late to take public transit home. So we decided to walk over to the Night Kitchen for some grub before catching a taxi home. 

Unfortunately, except for the awesome fries appetizer, the food was not so great, but other than that, it was a very fun evening out.

And I didn't get to bed until three A.M.

Scandalous. Maybe I'm not getting too old for this whole "fun" thing after all. ;)

Life through the Holga lens

You know how I love me some plastic cameras. I was super pleased recently when I was able to scoop up a Holga 135BC (a white one, not the black one in the link) for a really great deal at Urban Outfitters.

I'd wanted one ever since I saw Steph's amazing Holga photos. I'm pretty sure she rocks an old-school medium format 120 style, but I decided to only have one 120 camera, which is my beloved Hong Meow Diana.. Anyway, I'm super pleased with this particular adaptation of the Holga line.

I am a huge fan of film, and plastic cameras, because I learn so much about photography when I use them. It's just kind of low-pressure, unpredictable picture-taking fun. And at least with 35mm film, not all that expensive, either.

So today I dropped off the roll of 35mm black and white film I took over the course of the last month. I'm pretty pleased with how most of the photos turned out---of course, not all my photos actually turned out, but that's part of the game.

So here is the result of my very first roll...

Pretty cool stuff. Can't wait to scrapbook these photos!
Also, looking forward to shooting with some color film on this bad boy.

Hope you are having a great and picture-happy weekend!