scrapbook circle | project life 2012 | week 10

Monday, April 30, 2012

I've been scrapping Project Life layouts with Scrapbook Circle's kits every month since shortly after I joined their design team, so it seems right somehow that the final kit layout I'm sharing here on my blog before my term with them ends is Week 10 of my album.

For this particular spread I used the April kit, Daydreamer (which is now sold out!), which included lots of pretty, bright items from both Heidi Swapp's newest collections and also Amy Tan's Sketchbook line with American Crafts.

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Here's a closer look at the left side of my layout, where you'll find pear trees in bloom (the first blossoms of spring!), yummy lunch treats, crafty fun, and adventures at a new restaurant where Darren tried his very first cheese steak sandwich. How is it that he's been married to me for 10 years and had yet to try to a cheese steak sandwich? Obviously I have deprived the boy.

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The Heidi Swapp Color Magic alphas in this month's kit made their way onto a couple of my layouts for April, including here where I colored them with Tim Holtz's Weathered Wood Distress Stain before adhering right over the top of my photo. There weren't any hyphens in the alpha set, so I cut a tiny little heart off of one of the "Like" stickers in another pack of Heidi embellishments from the kit and used it instead.

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Sometimes when I look at other Project Life pages, I realize that I use a lot more 4x6 photos than some of the other artsy documenters do, but I've decided that's just my style! I like to use a big photo and then add journaling and maybe a little pop of color in some of the dead space in the image.

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Documenting food and sunrises...two recurring themes in my Project Life album. I used the 6x6 Sketchbook paper pad in the April add-on this month for most of the backgrounds for these smaller photos. Punches (like the little tab I punched out and placed behind one of my photos in the picture below) are another great way to incorporate little bits of color into your pages.

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On the right hand side of the layout you'll find Angry Birds, a trip to the Botanical Gardens, more stuff in bloom (this time at home), and a trip to the Korean market.

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Oh, and maybe a fortune cookie sentiment, too, held in place by a tiny Heidi Swapp heart. :)

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I used another punch along with the Sketchbook 6x6 pad to add a little something to the center of this photo cluster- a technique I repeated later on in this same page.

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The frame for this koi photo was cut from one of the larger sheets of Amy Tangerine Sketchbook paper that was included in the main kit.

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Funny story about the photo below...so once a year or so we go visit Darren's brother and his family. They're Vietnamese, and we looooove it when they cook for us, especially when they barbeque. For years they've made us a dish that they simply call "Korean BBQ," but for some reason my brain made it more complicated than that. I wanted to learn to make it at home, so I went online and learned that the actual name for it is bolgagi, and it requires a special type of sauce to marinate the meat. So one day Darren and I dropped by our local Asian market, and I prepared myself for a difficult search through bottles labeled in Korean, hoping that one of them would have the word bolgagi in English.

Turns out that some of them were labeled in English.

And you know what they said?

Korean BBQ.

::facepalm::

But it was delicious when we made it at home!

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I know I keep saying it, but every week I fall more in love with Project Life- so glad that I started this album!



Supplies (click on images for product links):

geek girl | april 29, 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

I have been far too domestic today- I'm not sure what got into me!! I have a crockpot full of red beans (for red beans and rice) almost ready to eat, and I even made a batch of chocolate chip cookies! I feel the need now to balance it all out with some geekiness, so I'm going to go stick my nose in a Star Wars book and leave you guys with this weeks picks. :)

 
From the top left:
  • These posters advertising the new Star Wars Identities exhibit are super cool. You'll definitely want to click through the link and check them all out!
  • I found a couple of film and photography related geeky bits this week, starting with an old 35mm camera turned into an iPhone docking station. Am I the only person who still has all her 35mm cameras? It's a sentimental thing, I guess. 
  • How's this for digital film? 35mm film canisters repurposed as USB flash drives. So cool!
  • Download, print, and make your own toys (including a Stormtrooper) from Toy a Day
  • Jen at Epbot is always finding the cutest stuff, like these clay Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
  • This solid gold C3PO statue was created to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Star Wars. There's a sterling silver R2-D2, as well.
  • This has to be the coolest business card ever- it converts into a working catapult!
  • Silver and gold droid statues are really not my thing, but a chocolate Darth Vader? Yeah, baby!
  • Created Star Wars themed Bluetooth headsets Earloomz has. Yes. Hmmmm.
Until next time, geek out, peeps!

anniversary weekend | the tennessee aquarium and hiking

This is where I admit that I almost forgot about our anniversary this year! In fact, Darren had to remind me in the midst of a planning session my family was having for my sister in law's birthday. One of the weekends that came up as a possible option for a party was this one, but Darren asked if we could go do something together instead.

We spent a few days bouncing ideas as to what to do back and forth- a weekend in Aruba? Ooops, my passport expired a week ago (how did I let that happen?). A weekend in Miami, then? Ooops, it was still apparently spring break season there, and flight prices were sky high. And then I got an email from the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga about a new 3D IMAX movie that was premiering the day before our anniversary, and tickets for members (that's us!!) were free.

We love the aquarium (and it's only an hour and a half from our house), so off we went!

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We had to park several blocks from the aquarium because of all the Earth Day hoopla that was going on, but I didn't mind at all since downtown Chattanooga is actually a nice place to walk. There are tons of cool shops, too, like the Moon Pie General Store.

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I didn't go inside, but I was sorely tempted by this Empire Strikes Back metal lunch box (I have the Williams Sonoma A New Hope version that Darren gave me for Christmas one year). In the end it did not come home with me, though. I'm starting to realize that our little casa is getting full, so the less stuff I bring in, the better!

Pictures don't take up any extra room, though. :) And bonus points for unintentional self-portraits, though now I'm waiting for May to say something snarky about me blogging an iPhone photo- not something I normally do. :-P

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friday favorites | april 27, 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

Happy Friday, peeps! I hope you all have super fun weekends planned!

As for me, I'll be running like crazy right after work today. My niece asked me yesterday if I would take her prom photos tonight, and as it turned out the only time that lined up in our schedules was right after my weightlifting class at the gym and right before her pre-prom dinner. So she's going to be all dressed up and gorgeous, and her photographer (umm, me) will be in running shorts and whatever crazy t-shirt I wear to the gym tonight (which will almost certainly involve lightsabers- my t-shirt I mean, not the gym, though it would be the cooooolest gym ever if they had lightsaber classes...)

Wait, where was I?

Oh, crafty picks! Yes, how about I stop rambling about proms and the gym and lightsabers and just give you a roundup of crafty goodness. :)


From the top left:
  • This bowl made of rolled paper strips would be a great way to use up some leftover scraps! Check out the Doodlebug blog for details.
  • October Afternoon design team member Stacey Kingman gives a tour of her scrap space. I love how she used colored paper strips in the fronts of her paper drawers- everything looks so orderly!
  • Elsie Larson shares tips for getting great indoor photos at A Beautiful Mess.
  • These sweet flowers are made from dyed paper towels! Learn how at The Sweetest Occasion.
  • And if you want bigger flowers, Design*Sponge shows how they made these massive blooms for a recent Ruche photo shoot.
  • I love this fabulous mini album by Anne Jo Lexander- so pretty and full of lovely layers!
  • Learn to make this sweet little mini album at Elle's Studio.
  • I don't remember how I came across the fantastic scrapping of Nayda Rocha, but I love this girl's fun, colorful, eclectic style!! Be sure to check out her Project Life pages, as well!
  • Monika Wright always makes the prettiest mini albums, and her My Favorite Memories of us album is no exception!
Have a scrappy weekend!

bella blvd's baby collections go mardi gras

Thursday, April 26, 2012

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When I started this layout for my Free For All day over at the Bella Blvd. blog, I had exactly three words in mind:

Really.

Big.

Chevrons.

I think I got them.

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I also wanted to use Bella's Baby Boy and Baby Girl collections in a completely non-themed and unexpected way, so I mixed a couple of B-side patterns from each with the lovely new shade of purple in the Sophisticates line. The result was a Mardi Gras themed color palette just perfect for scrapping photos of an outing to one of our favorite local (New Orleans themed) restaurants.

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I just can't quit using these green burst buttons! I know I said it last week, but I'll say it again, the new buttons and tape that Bella Blvd added to their lineup at the last CHA are my absolute favorite things in the new release.

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And now I want fried pickles again. Sigh. I think this calls for another trip back to Po Boy Factory!


Supplies (click on images for product links):

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