rocking paper & scissors

blind box sale 2012

2012-01-25T19:10:00.006-05:00

I have become sort of a craft hoarder, so in an effort to get making things again I have decided to ruthlessly pare down my supplies so that I'm not so overwhelmed by all my stuff!

The pictures you see here are just some of the awesome product that I split between these 15 "blind boxes." There is a ton of amazing product in each of these boxes that I either had multiples of, or just haven't gotten around to using. 99% of what's in these boxes is brand new (and the other 1% very lightly; it may be missing one sticker or a word's worth of letters)

The products split between boxes are from some of my favorite companies like; basic grey, american crafts, crate paper, cosmo cricket, hambly, studio calico, my minds eye, october afternoon, copic, ranger, hero arts, a muse, my favorite things, imaginisce, making memories, maya road & more!

Each "blind box" has at least;
- 35 12x12 papers including one 12x12 cardstock sticker/chipboard sheet
- 3 sets of Thickers
- 1 8x8 or smaller paper pad (these are missing a few pages)
- 3 tools/mediums (like markers, stickles, paints, embossing folders, etc.)
- 3 acrylic stamp sets (at least one large set around 4x6)
- 3 woodmounted stamps (sizes vary)
- 10 embellishments (stickers, buttons, brads, journaling blocks, chipboard, etc)
- 1 glimmer mist
- 1 mini album or alterable item

The "blind boxes" are packed in a USPS Medium Flate Rate Box (14x12x3.5) as carefully as possible, but some shifting may occur in the mail.

You can purchase them over in my etsy shop; leftandleaving designs

plaid at heart 3: buffalo plaid

2011-12-21T15:30:00.000-05:00

a third installment in my favorite little mix series. this one is super cozy and comforting, like a favorite plaid shirt around the house.

01. "helplessness blues" fleet foxes

02. "switchblade" jenny and johnny

03. "i don't want love" the antlers

04. "come talk to me" bon iver

05. "in the dirt" s. carey

06. "look at you" my morning jacket

07. "don't carry it all" the decemberists

08. "more adventurous" rilo kiley

09. "i don't want to know" fleetwood mac

10. "the tree (feat. alela diane)" blitzen trapper

11. "back down south" kings of leon

12. " devil's in the jukebox" ray lamontagne & the pariah dogs

13. "diamond dancer" bill callahan

14. "the bump" deer tick

15. "atlas" fanfarlo

16. "40 day dream" edward sharpe & the magnetic zeroes

illustration via pencil bomb.

indie elves return - a new holiday mix

2011-12-21T12:20:00.004-05:00

i actually have two finished mixes! this new holiday mix, as well as a new edition of "plaid at heart," which i will post later on. they would be great mashed together into a super cozy monster mix. hope you like.

01. "peace on earth/ little drummer boy" jack black & jason segel

02. "winter winds" mumford & sons

03. "donna and blitzen" badly drawn boy

04. "xmas time is here again" my morning jacket

05. "christmas after all" maria taylor

06. "all that i want" the weepies

07. "christmas is coming soon" blitzen trapper

08. "holiday" vampire weekend

09. "put the lights on the tree" sufjan stevens

10. "jingle bell rock" rogue wave

11. "listening to otis redding at home during christmas" okkervil river

12. "come on santa" the raveonettes

13. "silent night" bosque brown

14. "christmas time is here" au revoir simone

15. "baby, it's cold outside" she & him

16. "christmas lights" coldplay

it's heeeeeeere...

2011-08-07T14:52:00.007-05:00

It's finally here! The A Muse Studio Holiday Catalog & Inspiration Guide! 40 pages of brand new Fall, Halloween, Winter, Christmas & Valentine's Day stamps, papers, dies, inks, washi tapes, embossing plates and more! Take a look at the catalog by clicking the link above, and then head on over to my online A Muse Studio Store right here to place an order! And remember, an order over $150 qualifies for free product and, during A Muse A Palooza, a free hostess stamp set! So, if you are placing a large order, or have a few friends who might want to order together, contact me about placing your order as a workshop! Just e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com

All the products have just started shipping and I've already had a chance to play with some of them! How much do you love that grey striped washi tape from the holiday washi tape set!? A Muse Studio already sold 4 sets of Washi Tape (Winter, Spring Summer & Fall) but now we also sell this Holiday set along with a really rich Metallic set! I decided to dress my deer up with a cute little ribbon scarf and add a little touch of the brand new "wasabi" green cardstock. I can already tell that it's going to be a new go-to color for me. This sweet little deer is from the brand new "Nordic Noel" stamp set, which I also used to make my next card...

... this guy! For this one, I went with a weathered patterned kind of look using a lot of the images from "Nordic Noel" the Versamagic watermark ink pad, White Embossing Powder and a heat gun. Then I added another little touch of Wasabi, the brand new Cherry Woodgrain Cardstock (also comes in Slate, French Roast, Sky and Latte) and another new addition to the A Muse Studio toolbox, Cherry Bakers Twine (also comes in French Roast and Onyx!)

My next order is definitely going to involve stocking up on some of the cute new Halloween products! They are so fun, and Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays to make cards for!

Until then, check out the catalog, place an order in my online shop or contact me with any questions!

Card Supplies:

Winter Gear Deer Card; Stamp Sets(Nordic Noel and Essential Sentiments), Cardstock (Cherry, Wasabi, Candy Cane & Sugar), Pigment Ink (French Roast & Cranberry), Grass Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Holiday Washi Tape and Foam Tape.

Noel Card; Nordic Noel Stamp Set, Cardstock (Cherry, Wasabi and Cherry Woodgrain), White Embossing Paper, Versamark Embossing Pad, Cherry & White Bakers Twine and foam tape.

spring into summer 2011 mix

2011-06-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

finally! a mix that i've been promising for forever. it has morphed from an end of winter, spring beginnings mix to a reluctant pull from spring into summer. hope you enjoy.

01. "we turn it up" - oh land

02. "mine is yours (passion pit remix)" - cold war kids

03. "youth knows no pain" - lykke li

04. "all summer" - kid cudi, best coast & rostam of vampire weekend

05. "pumped up kicks (mndr 4-track remix) - foster the people

06. "burn it all down" - vhs or beta

07. "do it again" - holy ghost!

08. "shatter your lungs" - the get up kids

09. "coin laundry" - lisa mitchell

10. "triple spiral" - bright eyes

11. "holdin on to black metal" - my morning jacket

12. "what you know" - two door cinema club

13. "rome" - phoenix

14. "wait up (boots of danger)" - tokyo police club

15. "breaker breaker" - peter bjorn & john

16. "eyes wide (fool's gold remix) - local natives

17. "beggin" - madcon

18. "what part of forever" cee lo green

a muse studio plays well with others...

2011-04-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

you can now officially shop from anywhere, online, in my a must studio consultant shop!

welcome back to my little a muse studio launch blog party! a muse studio happens to sell some awesome pattern papers, damask, mini gingham, polka dots and a few more, but i am a total paper addict and love to use scrapbook paper from all my favorite manufacturers too!

the infamous "to go" cup! i use this guy alllllll the time for every holiday, season and general card that i can think up because it's just so fun to paper piece! and now, with the launch of a muse studio it's been re-released in cling rubber with a whole bunch of perfect sentiments, an espresso machine and a couple of mugs in a set called, "the perfect blend." i love it so much, that this set was even in my friday faves!

(french roast ink pad, foam tape, onyx paper for the card base)

i am loving these bright, cheery colors right now, along with the mix of stripes and florals, blame it on the "botanica" section at anthropolgie! this brand new, "life is a song" stamp set is quickly becoming a new favorite for me, kind of for the same reason that i love "the perfect blend" so much, it's great for all ocassions, color combinations and super easy to use! it comes with 4 different birdcages and 2 interchangable chains, 3 birds, these cute music notes and a whole slew of sayings that can be mixed and matched. there is also a really nice "with sympathy" sentiment in this set. for this card i used a line of onyx twinkle stickers to make my own chain! it's nice that they come on a line of adhesive so that you don't have to worry about lining them up straight!

(tuxedo black memento ink pad, papaya ink pad, onyx twinkle stickers, cherry solid paper for the card base)

ohemgeethesepeeps! i love this little guy! and now, he comes in a fun set called, "for peep's sake" along with the sentiments "for peep's sake" and "to one of my favorite peeps" in a cute new font (i used my old stamp here), along with a spring chick, a buny with a basket and a couple of larger easter sentiments. lot's of cuteness in this one! for this card, i just stamped my peep 3 times, in 3 different ink colors, on a piece i punched and layered using my labels 4 nestabilities and then when the ink was dry i went over them with my quickie glue pen and sprinkled diamond glitter on top to give them that sugar loaded peep look!

(papaya ink pad, bubblegum ink pad, grass ink pad, french roast ink pad, quickie glue pen, diamond glitter, grass solid paper for card base, labels 4 nestabilities)

this is another awesome, go-to set! "happy everything" really does cover just about everything with mix and match sentiments and a cute triangle banner! i also love how large the words are! it makes it really easy to get a more masculine card if need be because it doesn't even really require an image stamp!

(french roast ink pad)

don't forget, one of the customers who places an order in my a muse studio consultant shop this weekend will win the "just my type" stamp set and R32 peach, BG10 cool shadow & W6 warm grey no. 6 copic original markers that i used in this how-to! just place an order this weekend and then e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com to let me know that you did so that i can make sure that you are entered into the drawing!

a muse studio - typewriter card step by step

2011-04-02T09:00:00.001-05:00

you can now officially shop from anywhere, online, in my a muse studio consultant shop!

hey all! thanks so much for following along on my little consultant website launch journey! today, i'm going to show you how to make this cute. "typewriter thank you card." and, after this weekend is over i'll pick a lucky customer to win the, "just my type" stamp set and the 3 copics that we'll use to make this card!

the first thing i did is gather all my supples and pick a color pallet for my card. for this particular card i was inspired by those beautiful vintage royal typwriter colors we always see! the papers used are; slate solid, bermuda solid, vanilla solid, onyx gingham, school lined & bubblegum shimmer couture damask.

i love that the new a muse studio stamps are that quality red rubber that we all love, but with the ease of a cling stamp! another great feature, other than the fact that they come completely put together and pre-cut is that the image is printed on the cling part of the stamp, so it's super easy to place your stamp correctly! okay, on to our cardmaking!

step 1: cut a 1" x 1.25" rectangle of the school lined paper and use your slate ink pad to stamp "thanks so much" up towards the top and then distress the edges lightly with your tuxedo black memento ink pad. set this piece aside for later.

step 2: let's make our typewriter! go ahead and stamp your typewriter on vanilla paper using the tuxedo black memento ink pad and then circle punch it.

step 3: it's time to color, the photos above will make it easy to see what's what color wise as you go along. first use R32 peach to color the body of the typewriter. next use W6 warm grey 6 to color the return, space bar & sides of the keys. Lastly, use BG10 cool shadow to color the "inside" of the typwriter and tops of the keys.

step 4: now it's time to insert our little "typed" message. use your exacto knife to cut a slit along the bottom of the "paper roller". flip the typwriter over and put a small line of adhesive on the back, below the slit then flip it back over and slide your typed message in. lastly, put a small piece of foam tape behind the top of your typed message so that it looks like it's coming up out of the typwriter!

step 5: punch a scalloped circle out of slate paper and attach your typewriter circle.

step 6: make a bar 4 (3.5"x5") card out of bermuda paper by scoring and folding a 3.5"x10" piece in half.

step 7: cut a 2.5"x4.75" rectangle of onyx gingham paper and a 1"x4.75" piece of bubblegum shimmer couture damask and lightly distress the edges of both using the tuxedo black memento ink pad.

step 8: attach your onyx gingham straight onto your card so that it's even at the top and sides.

step 9: use foam tape or pop dots/squares to attach your scallop based typewriter onto your card so that it's to the right of your card and the bottom of your typwriter is even with the bottom of the gingham piece.

step 10: attach foam tape to your card as pictured above so that you can attach your "tabletop" paper at the same depth as your typewriter.

step 11: attach your bubblegum shimmer couture damask "tabletop" to the card so that it lines up nicely with the bottom of the typwriter.

step 12: cut a teal heart from the a sheet of heart twinkle stickers and stick it right onto your typed message. ta da! you're all done!

wasn't that easy peasy? think of all the different color typewriters you could make! i happen to be kind of addicted to this color combination right now, so i thought i'd share 2 other a muse studio cards that i've made using it!

scooter from the "ooh la la!" stamp set & sentiment from the "sushi & wasabi" set (which is another favorite!) also, don't you love that polka dot organdy ribbon? it's another addictive product from a muse studio!

umbrella from the "bridal beauty" set (i use this for all kinds of things, especially under the weather and bad day cards!) & sentiment from the "wild rose" set.

i hope you enjoyed my little step by step how-to! and don't forget, one of the customers who places an order in my a muse studio consultant shop this weekend will win the "just my type" stamp set and R32 peach, BG10 cool shadow & W6 warm grey no. 6 copic original markers that i used in this how-to! just place an order this weekend and then e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com to let me know that you did so that i can make sure that you are entered into the drawing!

don't forget to check back tomorrow for 4 brand new cards i've made to show you just how nicely a muse studio cards play with some of my favorite scrapbook papers!

friday five #42: a muse studio favorites

2011-04-01T08:00:00.003-05:00

my a muse studio consultant shop is up!!!

before i share my favorites, i wanted to let you know about the changes to a muse's stamps. one of the best parts about a muse studio is that all the stamp sets come in a labeled dvd case and are totally pre-assembled cling mounted rubber! all you have to do when they arrive is open them up, grab the stamp you want to use and stick it onto an acrylic block! then when you're all done, just clean it off with a baby wipe and stick it back in the case! the switch from wood mounted to cling mounted means lower prices and easier storage with the same great stamp quality! anyway, on to my 5 favorites! i assure you that it was hard to pick just 5, you should see the length of my wish list!

01." foiled again!" - we all know that mustaches are huge right now, and i love this set because not only would these mustaches be awesome all fuzzy and flocked, but i love that they come with fun sentiments like "curses! foiled again!" along with a lot of really general sayings! (item #SBSP001)

02. washi tape - another huge craze right now! i love it bunched and folded like ribbon! there are 4 sets of 5 rolls available, one for each season! (winter set item #ESWW004)

03. "clever girls" - i think that this is set is going to be a sleeper hit! the sayings would be great with tons of images; "you rock my world", "dreams come a size too big so we can grow into them" and my favorite, "isn't it amazing what clever girls can do" and the images are pretty amazingly all purpose too! i can totally see using the clouds, bursts and sparrows on a ton of scrapbook layouts and cards! plus, i love the swirly acoustic guitar! (item #SISS014)

04. custom dies - not only does a muse studio sell some awesome spellbinders nestabilities sets, but they also have their own line of exclusive dies like these swallows and a set of sweet clouds (which are $5.95 a set!) there are also borders, ticket strips, triangle banners, butterflies, and die sets that coordinate perfectly with a muse studio stamp sets (which even come with positioning plates so you can cut your stamped image perfectly!) (swallows item #TAD0010 & clouds item #TAD0003)

05. "the perfect blend" - we all know that i use my a muse "to go cup" stamp like crazy (for just about every holiday and occasion) and now it's been re-released for a muse studio with an espresso machine, coffee mugs, a tea cup and awesome sentiments like, "thanks a latte", "let's venti", "how ya' bean" and "happy birthday to a regular joe!" among others! i can't wait to get this one in my hands! (item #SNSM047)

giveaway announcement!!!

tomorrow i'll be posting a step-by-step guide to making a really sweet typewriter card using all kinds of new a muse studio swag and i've decided to give you all a chance to win the stamp set & copic markers to make it at home! everyone who places an order through my consultant website this weekend (between now and 11:59 est sunday) will be entered into the drawing and i'll announce the winner monday morning here on my blog! (when you place an order please e-mail me at missmorganteaches@gmail.com to let me know so that i can make sure to enter you for your chance to win!) so, tune in tomorrow to get a look at the project and goodies and place an order for a chance at the prize!

you can access my a muse studio consultant store anytime by clicking on the a muse studio image in my blog's sidebar, or by going to; http://www.amustudio.com/missmorgan

coming this weekend...

2011-03-29T20:13:00.006-05:00

it's time! this weekend is my big online a muse studio launch! crafty peeps may already be familiar with a muse's stamps from your local craft stores, i know that i have used them in pretty much every class i've taught. after 10 years, a muse has made a huge shift over into the world of home sales. now, the only place to nab some a muse goodness is through an a muse studio independent creative consultant like yours truly.

if you're in my area you can feel free to contact me about hosting a workshop, open house or catalog party. or, if you are close by, but not necessarily up for the hostess thing, although i assure you that it's easy-peasy, you might be interested in one of my 6 month stamp clubs. i won't type you're ear off with all the details right now, but e-mail me if you are interested! missmorganteaches@gmail.com

one of the best things about this new a muse studio launch is that if you aren't close by, you can still join me for some a muse studio fun! as of april 1st, friday, you will be able to shop for a muse studio goodies on my consultant website! so, even if we only see each other at trade shows or scrappy events, or are just blog friends, i can still help you out! i'm also planning on posting lots of little tutorials, projects and tips on my blog to get you as excited as i am about this stuff!

to celebrate the launch of my consultant website, which won't be visible until april 1st, i'll be posting a muse studio fun all weekend. here's the planned schedule;

friday, april 1st - friday five (a muse product edition) & giveaway details

saturday, april 2nd - i'll show you how to create a cute card start to finish

sunday, april 3rd - more great a muse studio samples

monday, april 4th - giveaway winner announced

i hope you'll join me this weekend!

spring wish list 2011

2011-03-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

(note: clearly i wrote this a a couple of days a go when it was 60something and not snowing again, like it is today! come on spring! why you gotta tease us like that?)

finally! instead of just raining like it's spring, it is spring! and, it's actually beginning to feel like it! it couldn't have come soon enough. spring is possibly my favorite season, mostly because of all the associated feelings of fresh, exciting things to come. i've been carefully cataloging possible spring necessities for a few weeks now, and with today being the beginning of the first week of spring, and my very first day of work at anthropologie, the timing seemed perfect. here's (just) 26 of the items on my spring wish list (of which i will probably end up with 7 or 8, haha)

01. share a sweet tweet bag 02. encircled effulgence posts 03. military henley 04. paige roxley high-waist trousers 05. word of the year necklace 06. after party flats 07. spangled stripe sweater 08. pierce eyeglass frames 09. gold chevron dangles 10. joe's denim shorts 11. ecote knotted fan thong sandal 12. fossil limited edition tote 13. autumn mixtape necklace 14. blurred chevron scarf 15. decade-by-decade skirt 16. fennec fox 17. urban ears plattan 18. equinox spectators 19. chelsea crew carly peep toes 20. liberty convertible satchel 21. tuileries dress 22. columba necklace 23. your sweet self socks 24. totes ditsy umbrella 25. borrowed boyfriend cardi 26. sheswai perfecto laquer 27. wooden heel oxford 28. striped grass fedora 29. eastpointe garden top 30. grey star canvas plimsoll 31. sunny soiree dress 32. p.s. i made this diy pom pom necklace 33. monster family flip video camera 34. sugar work skirt 35. raised teardrops hoops 36. matte is murder manglaze

friday five #41

2011-03-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

01. i work at anthropologie!!! - well, i start monday! yes, after 3 months of pretty much totally freaking out, feverish attempts and business plans and a lot more freaking out i am crazy stoked to have been offered a job at anthropologie! i'm the new assistant home department manager and i can not even freak out enough about it! we all know how much inspiration all of us crafters, nesters and clothing & accessory addicts get from anthropologie, and now i get to be surrounded by it. the word, "blessed" comes to mind! i'm so excited to start on monday, and so relieved to not be freaking out anymore!

02. instagram - here i was all hooked on the hipstamatic app, but then sarah and simone put me on the instagram path when they were here for the martha stewart show. i love how easy it is to share your photos and really love that you don't have to pick your "film" and effects before you shoot and then chance it, you just take the photo and then try out a whole bunch of effects/"films" before you post it. plus... you get a square "viewfinder" rather than having to guess where it's going to crop it down from a rectangle. love it. oh! and it's free!!!

03. on my way - with my little home sales venture, a muse studio, and i love having the catalogs and product in my hands! i'll be able to sell from a consultant website also, which will go live on april 1st, so i'm going to have a whole launch weekend on my blog (with a giveaway) during the first weekend in april. more details and nerdy crafty gushing to follow.

04. the essie train - i'm officially onboard and, now that i am, i can't believe how long it's taken me to buy a ticket. okay, done with the train metaphor now, promise. i've been drooling over the colors on various tumblr's (and now pinterest) and i can identify a lot of the colors on people when i see them, but for some reason i hadn't purchased any until a couple of days a go. i'm currently rocking "sew psyched" and i also got "chinchilly"and, even though lavender is not usually my thing, i think i'm going with "nice is nice" next. love.

05. my first publication! - my, "walking on a dream" layout is in the april scrapbook trends, and my "london rain" layout will be in the create: embellish idea book also out in april/now! this is my first scrapbook magazine publication(s) and i'm so excited to see it in actual print, so far i've only seen the online version of one of the layouts. i'm really flattered that northridge picked my layouts, and love the little scene they shot the layout i've already seen in. i can't wait to see the set they shot "london" rain in!

inside my craft room: part two

2011-03-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

welcome back! i hope you liked the peek into my craft room itself, but now onto organization! i know that most crafters are always looking for the best way to organize or reorganize their stuff, so i thought i'd share what's been working for me lately. my way is nothing close to the end all be all, but maybe it will inspire you!

this is a trick that's been around forever and something that a scraptasia customer told me about. it's just a simple over the door shoe organizer (although it was not so simple finding a clear one!) these aren't all my punches, but they're my basics (marvy plain circles and ovals and scalloped circles, ovals, squares and rectangles) i use them on so many of my cards!

since so many of my cards use these punches i wanted them close at hand. cheiron carries around a ring of these punch samples with her so that she knows what she has and what size punch will be perfect for each stamp or project.

then i took it another step and also saved and labeled the pieces i punched the shape samples from so that i can just hold them over a stamped image to figure out exactly what size punch i'll need!

i scored this stamp cabinet when we cut down on the amount of sample stamps we had at the store. i organized all my woodmounted stamps in the cabinet by season, occasion or theme and labeled each drawer.

here is what one of the drawers looks like just partially open! there is room for a ton of stamps in here. these cabinets are quite and investment, but i really love the look and how easily they store so many stamps.

i use 6x6" cropper hoppers to store my clear stamp sets that are 4x6"ish and of course have them organized with labeled dividers.

5x7" protect n store containers are the perfect way to organize all my smaller clear sets, individual clear stamps and completely unmounted rubber stamps by theme (yes, those categories are pretty ridiculous.)

for my cling mounted rubber stamps i use the thin stuftainers from stampendous and trim down and punch a hole in the stamps packaging so that i can attach them to the top of the stuftainer using a binder ring and easily leaf through to see the stamped images going the correct way.

this cute little panda container is from target and 2 rows of 6x6" paper pads fit perfectly!

for my pre-made card bases i use wood media crates from michael's! they are super easy to grab with a coupon and then just attach a fun piece of patterned paper to the visible bits to snazz it up a bit.

for my glitter, flocking and embossing supplies i use the two different depths of rectangular snapware.

both variations of the doodlebug glitter kits and the flocking kit all fit in just one shallow layer!

and you can also store 2 rows of stickles in each of the shallow layers and you are still able to see the colors from the side of the snapware. (i'm also working on color swatches of these to hang next to my desk!)

my buttons and brads are stored by color in those little supply organizers that you can easily find in the bead or sewing section of most craft stores.

my twinkling h2o's are stored in these cool nesting wooden trays from a shop called stamp hideaway that makes them themselves and ships! i love having them all in one place, and in rainbow order of course!

my ribbon bin is a little shameful as far as "organization" goes, but i don't mind sifting through for that perfect piece. i don't think there's really an end-all-be-all answer to ribbon organization quite yet.

for my paper i use 12x12" cropper hopper paper files. i gave them a general label on the front and then they are divided and labeled by company or holiday. i've gone through a ton of ways to divide my paper;bagged by project (back when i began), by color (in an idealist faze) and now this. i think this is the way i'll be sticking with.

cheiron also turned me onto these little copic shelves from studio 3 and i was really impressed when they came in the mail. they are so nicely constructed, and i love how the "shelves are mounted just slightly lower in the back so you're not accidently knocking markers out.

i think that the square snapware is the best way to store the dew drop sized ink pads.

and when you mount a little stack of scrap chipboard in the center and place your dew drops around it you can easily see all your ink colors while the container is still closed!

i use an old repurposed cd case to store my nestabilites. i bought a box of adhesive backed business card sized magnets and attached them to squares of paper labeled with each die sets name and then they slide perfectly into the cd sleeves!

ronda inspired me with her cutlery ink samples, but i tweaked them just a little bit and stamped an outline stamp with a more solid stamp inside so i could get the best representation of each color of ink that i have. these hang on the rail right next to my spot for easy reference.

last, but not least, i use the good ol' cropper hopper wheeled tower (i think from costco) for projects that are in progress, or at least pulled together already.

like i said, there's always some new organization idea out there, if you have one you think i'd be into, let me know! i'm clearly a sucker for organization!

inside my craft room: part one

2011-03-14T13:50:00.011-05:00

the boy and i moved into our apartment in august and i've been pretty happy in my crafty room. until recently though, i had not been spending a ton of time in there since scraptasia closed and i wasn't designing classes and samples all the time. but with my newly (semi-) launched a muse studio venture (more on that soon!) and my new staff reporter status over at craft critique (yay!) i've found myself spending more and more time in my craft room and "that's," as martha would say, "a good thing!" as i've been spending more and more time in there i've also just about finished all the little touches and organization, and i've been wanting to share for a while. i was originally going to shoot a little video because i couldn't get pictures that were very helpful, but when sarah and simone visited at the beginning of the month simone luckily had a wide angle lens and shot these great pictures for me. thanks simone!

this is the view when you walk in the door. those little doilies on the side of my shelf are hambly and they always make me smile when i walk in the room. i'm lucky enough to have the corner room and therefore two nice windows for a whole bunch of natural light. oh! also, that couch there is actually a futon for guests, and that galleria quilt from garnet hill was actually my color inspiration for the whole room (and is currently on clearance.) you can't quite see, but the two walls with windows on them are a hot stone warm grey and the other two are the robin's egg-ish blue-teal.

i really, really lucked out this past christmas and my mom got me that wall mounted flat screen and the boy got me a new ipod dock and a tiny little dvd player, so my crafty time entertainment is totally covered. my "L" shaped desk is 2 unfinished ikea table tops that i painted just the edges of, and i love wheeling around in my fancy (not really, it's cheapie ikea) chair to get to my different table top tools!

those little cubby shelves (ikea) work perfectly for so many things and the fabric bins are all from target (including those 2 liberty of london ones.) the gallery lights mounted on the top of my cubby shelf are great for nighttime crafting! (do you like my cuttlebug doorstop? haha. i swear i use it for it's intended application as well!)

we all know that i'm a total organization junkie, and this rail system (ikea) and all that table top space really helps me out with that. those paper sphere lanterns are from ikea and those metal birdcages are from the good ol' dollar section at michael's, the stone grey/brown & white worked perfectly for the room, and for the third birdcage i just spray painted one that was originally orange!

i'm going to share a little more about all my little storage & organization set-ups and tricks on wednesday!

10 CHA faves + some extras.

2011-02-10T16:07:00.022-05:00

l.a. was a weird, but good time! i highly recommend staying in little tokyo when you're in l.a. the amazing sushi, ramen (which i'm still dreaming about) and prime availability of hello kitty goods were all amazing, as well as the nearby yogurtland and weiland brewery! i had a great time with the craft critique girls and loved seeing a bunch of my other fave scrappy peeps. the c.c. girls kept me mostly sane during my flight home drama (4 canceled flights) and had a really great time seeing more of l.a thanks to sarah, and her cousin, who let me crash their family time while i was not-so-stranded in l.a. for an extra day.

the actual CHA show was pretty much a whirlwind, as always, and there was a whole bunch of new & inspiring things! now that i've had time to decompress i thought i'd share just 10 of my favorite new items/releases.

01.SMASH* from ek success - i pretty much fell in love with this the second i happened by the booth. i think my text to sarah went something like this, "ohmygodsmashbookdrooling." you can check out more pictures of the bits and pieces and my article all about it for craft critique here, the main break down is that there are 4 different styles of SMASHbook (at least now) that you use the SMASHpen (half glue stick, half pen) to SMASH things into the book with. then there are a whole score of cute accessories and embellishments to help tell your stories and save your memorabilia! it's kind of like a gateway drug to scrapbooking, or a modern approach to old school, o.g. scrapbooking. my favorites are the awesome date/saying stamp, washi tape with words, metal clips, pockets and the little jotters!

02. wrmk sew easy add-ons - i've already been loving my sew easy, but now there is even more to love; new floss (including bakers twine), new wider heads (including 2 different banner shapes) and a storage case that you know i'm dying to own! check out my full craft critique article here.

03. lawn fawn stamps - i'm loving this little company even more now that i've met the designer and friends who run it, they are so sweet and really love what they do! i really can't wait to get my hands on the "say cheese" & "critters in the forest" sets. i see so many cute paper piecing and copic marker-ing opportunities here! check out how cute their booth was, and some more of their new release in my craft critique article here.

04. hambly washi tapes - i didn't run across any scrappy ladies at the show who weren't loving hambly's brand new addition to their repertoire, washi tapes! they pulled from their new and existing paper/transparency patterns for the washi tape and it's something a lot of people, including me, are stoked to use, plus it was so fun to see a very pregnant allison, so cute!

05. sprinklers from october afternoon - awkward name aside, this mist-able paint, a new product for o.a. at least, is something i'm really interested to try out when it starts shipping. the basics are something i've already seen around the industry, but i'm pretty smitten with this set of colors here, especially "robot blue" which happens to match my nails right now. check out my october afternoon article right here.

06. "campy trails" thickers - it's no secret that i am thickers obsessed, and the fact that i'm picking just 2 new thickers fonts from the new american craft release is a testament to my desire to keep this post short-ish. i love, love, love the colors and fonts that coordinate with the "campy trails" collection. the "meadow" font is printed glossy chipboard, and usually i don't love all caps, but i am obsessed with the fact that these have a cream background. "forest" is woodgrain patterned glossy chip and just super yummy in general. you can check out the 4 new collections, and the rest of the thickers, in my american crafts article here.

07. crate paper's "portrait" collection - this is crate paper's wedding/heritage collection but i just see so many possibilities for this collection that it's crazy! the colors, patterns and chip bits are to die for. can't wait to get these in my mitts. crate paper's entire release from CHA is pretty awesome, if they can make me love a floral, they're doing something right. check out all 4 new collections in my crate paper article here.

08. new "double dot" patterns - the original double dot (tone on tone polka dots on one side, tone on tone distress on the other) has been popular for a while and now they have come out with 3 new double sided basics patterns! i love the new "journal" best and the hexagons on the backside of the "stripe" are pretty cool in some of the colors as well. i just think that the "journal" will make such a rad base for many a layout. you can see the rest of bo bunny's new stuff here in my craft critique article.

09. mme "stella & rose" - this is the newest rack collection from my minds eye and, as always, the colors are so saturated and beautiful i'm kind of drooling over them. 4 different color families, lots of new little bits and the 6x6" paper pads are pretty cool too.

10. maya road mini sets - most of maya road's new mini chip sets are pretty cool and have ideas spinning in my head already, but what really caught my eye were these two sets of mini canvas banners! i know that banners are everywhere, and they will jump the shark soon enough, if they haven't already, but these little canvas guys (they're only about 1.5" long) are really kind of precious, don't you think? how sweet would they be misted with splatters of pigment?!?

there is a ton more CHA coverage up on craft critique including tons of new companies from every crafty persuasion, and here are the rest of my articles from CHA;

an anti-valentine.

2011-02-09T15:54:00.009-05:00

even though i'm loving love, i have spent my fair share of valentine's days single so i thought it would be fun to represent the singles with a little anti-valentine for the craft critique valentines day blog carnival.

i dug deep into my stash for this card, using one of my favorite papers from the old "obscure" collection by basic grey. tina was nice enough to let me borrow her polaroid stamp from studio calico and with some masking i was able to combine it with the miss anya stamp from the "special autumn" set by the greeting farm. the "love is for the birds" sentiment is old school a muse! i also pulled out my wrmk sew easy tool for a little easy-peasy stitching detail. (copics used; w1, w3, w6, w9. rv19, bg75, yr000 & pitch black spica)

p.s. this is what happens in our house when you attempt to photograph anything on the floor, haha.

friday five #40

2011-01-21T19:15:00.004-05:00

i've actually kind of missed doing these, i was over them for a while, but now i'm back! at least until i don't feel like doing them again.

01. cans! - hey! did you know that blue moon comes in cans now? "brewmasters cans" according to the case. i know deep down that this is a step down in the beer world, but something about it seems fancy to me. it's just so much easier!

02. tiny books - boygirlparty is selling this adorable set of 3 tiny books as well as some pretty adorable designer sudoku collections over in her shop. i have always loved hee adorable little illustrations, mini paintings & stationary and i even own a couple of her necklaces! these would be perfect to take notes at cha in, but alas, i am trying to be thrifty!

03. craft critique - i'm super stoked to be reporting for craft critique! and, at one of the 2 most exciting times of the year for crafters, the winter CHA tradeshow in l.a. this time next week! you can check out my first article/review over on the website and look for tons from all of us during CHA!

04. nerd alert - you know how blog hopping can be, you click on one thing and an hour and 20 blogs later, you have a new favorite! that's kind of how i happened upon kinsey wilson's blog, and now i really want to take her "nerd alert" week long blog class for crafty organizational nerds. it's only $15, but like i said trying to be thrifty. i think i may just do it anyway, we'll see!

05. spring clothing fantasies - my fall and winter wardorobe has been pretty blah this year. basics are awesome, but not when you're just not feeling them. this upcoming l.a. trip has me thinking warmer weather clothes (although thus far the forecast is rainy and 60 while i'm there, but that's better than snowy and 5!). so i've been doing that horrible thing i do to myself where i go around bookmarking adorable spring-y thingies that i will not be able to buy, but will drool over about once a week, like this adorable open back ruffly top from jem that was featured on papercakes today. i love it!

and i'm done with week two...

2011-01-03T17:28:00.003-05:00

i'm pretty sure i'm just destined to be about 2 weeks behind on this thing, but i'm okay with it, because at least i'm getting my notes and journaling down on paper each day, and that's what i wanted this album to be about. i'm also kind of loving the process of getting a whole bunch of miniature (well, 8x8) layouts done every few days.

cover re-do: my album was already getting a little too thick for binder rings even after having only done 15 layouts so far, so i made the switch over to an american crafts 8x8 modern album. with this album i also don't have to worry about punching holes in my pages. yay for that!

december 8th: the sights of christmas

for this one i had some fun with paper piecing, stamps & embellishments that i don't always reach for.

december 9th: ornaments

i used this prompt to document the first time we're combining christmas ornaments, i never knew there were so many fire truck and hockey ornaments in existence.

december 10th: wrapping paper

i was inspired by those awesome "what's in your bag" blog entires and diptychs for this one.

december 11th: rfd holiday party

apparently it is impossible to get a good picture at the roseland fire department holiday party, not last year and def not this year, so i documented that with this layout.

december 12th: the christmas tree(s)

i liked the idea of scrapping about our big tree, and including our little charlie brown tree so i landed on big tree & little tree, but then when it came down to putting it down in thickers i liked how it kind of sounded like a kids story or comic book, so i decided to go with "the adventures of big tree & little tree"

december 13th: christmas music

@heyjenrenee sent me a couple of mixes a while ago that she added the track listings to by printing screen captures of the playlists in itunes and i loved the idea. for this one i just printed a couple of my winter/christmas playlists from last year to do the layout about.

december 14th: opening gifts

this one was a struggle, but i like how it turned out. the journaling is about how some sort of gift giving shift has happened and i find myself enjoying the giving of gifts way more than the receiving.

a little preview of things to come perhaps...?

2010-12-29T14:51:00.004-05:00

just rocked a pretty big update to my etsy shop; 7 rockpaperscissors paper crafting kits inspired by songs & 3 new sets of cards. another update will be coming soon with more cards & cupcake toppers, just as soon as i play a little december daily/journal your christmas catch up!

Etsy
leftandleaving

hey! i'm doing this thing!

2010-12-14T17:34:00.010-05:00

i decided, with some sweet encouragement from sara berry & heidi, to finally jump on the december daily/journal your christmas bandwagon! my original thought was to use two pages from an 8x8 maya road chipboard binder book as my front and back cover, but with just 9 pages done so far i can already tell that it's going to get a little too thick, so i've ordered an 8x8 american crafts modern album. i'm hoping that i'll be able to carefully peel, trim down and transfer this cover onto the new album when it arrives.

day one: manifesto.

my reasons for needing/wanting to finally dive into this album this year.

day two: snow

i took a super cheese ball approach to this one. i made little evidence markers to photograph my mug & hot chocolate with and wrote a formal apology letter for causing our first early snow. thank goodness for that label tulip coffee (turned hot chocolate) ring stamp from forever a go!

day three: roseland's tree lighting

i forwent the prompt on this one and scrapped what we'd done this day. it was special for me because the boy and i went to the event together, instead of my usual meeting him there because he's on duty for the fire department. it was pretty chilly, but fun to see all the kids freak out when santa came!

day four: advent

(i flipped the prompts for days four & five)

i do love my "olive the other reindeer" pop-up advent calendar, but i decided to adapt this day's prompt to get a little crafty therapy down on paper. getting excited about the christmas countdown has been hard this year with the store closing exactly one week before christmas, but this page gave me a chance to get some of those feelings out of my system on paper and think about all the good things that have come from my time at scraptasia.

day five: the perfect christmas

i decided to make this one a real quickie by fine tuning it down to dream holiday decor with some images i had seen fly past in my google reader over the past couple of weeks.

day six: to do list

(i shuffled days six, seven, eight & nine around also)

it was my original intention to list the gifts i still needed to buy up there in that shopping panel at the top left, but the boy is a peeker, so i stuck to generalities. each panel is it's own little section of to do's (shopping, activities & decor) i feel a little on top of this holiday, but there are still a bunch of things to do, even now, on day 15!

day seven: traditions

this is really my first year combining christmases with the boy (last year we had only been dating for a couple of months) and since it's also our first christmas living together it's been really interesting combining our traditions. for this layout i focused on three of my family's traditions that i want to make sure are included in our new, combined version of christmas.

so, that's my first week of december dai;y/journal your christmas, i'm hoping to be totally caught up over the next couple of days, and then i'll be able to post days eight thru fourteen and then make it a weekly thing! i really am enjoying it so far, promise!

happy thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T21:21:00.003-05:00

it's been pretty stressful time lately, so i'd like to take a little time to list who & what i am so thankful for...

a wonderful guy who gets me, makes me giggle and makes me feel like my love is 100% safe with him.
real friends who i can pick up with at any given time and get the real deal from.
an awesome family & lovely kitty loves, and a great new extended family via the boy.
a new home, with the boy that i love, that's getting cozier and cozier each day.
some new creative energy that has me enjoying crafting, at a time when i definitely need it.

happy thanksgiving everyone!

hockey scraps...

2010-10-12T16:58:00.003-05:00

... obviously not this kind. i made a little deal with myself that i couldn't go to any games in the 2010-2011 season until i finished my layouts from last season, and i mostly stuck to my guns (i snuck a pre-season game in there when i was only done with 2 of the 4, but i feel like that's only bending my rule a tiny bit). anyway, i was having a little bit of a hard time with these since there were a couple of challenges; 01. using mostly devils colors could get a little restricting. 02. i scrap a lot of single photo layouts, and i usually have a bunch of photos from games that i love. 03. how can i make multiple hockey layouts all look different?

well, i leaned pretty heavily on sketches and lifts for these 4, but they definitely got my confidence up, and i'm excited to scrap this seasons' games as they happen.

this is a jack of a cute "my neighborhood" layout that was sent out in a newsletter and i re-worked it to create the verizon tower, where we always walk in, at the rock (which is the nickname for the prudential center where the devils play). it was fun to make a little banner from a bunch of scrappies and draw in some little stitched line for an added touch.

can you believe i actually made a 2 page layout? it's been years since i've done one of these, which is why i straight jacked a sketch on this guy, haha. there were just so many pictures from this game that i wanted on there that it was just totally necessary. i did my journaling by numbering everything and then doing a little itemized list in the center there.

this is a kind of combination of 3 or 4 things i like from various layouts that were rattling around in my head. not a lift per say, but a collection of faint memories of things i've liked about other layouts lately, haha. this was the devils v blackhawks game we went to that was awesome to watch, especially since the boy has passed down an appreciation of the blackhawks to me. so yeah, the devils lost, but we lost to the hawks and it was amazing to watch toews, kane & byfuglien at work.

this guy came from a sketch on the crate paper blog and i definitely needed the help on this one, it was one of the last ones i did and i was gasping for air, haha. glad i caved a little on the black & red thing and pulled in some sabres blue, haha.

the best part of scrapping all these was actually the journaling, which is something i never thought i'd say. it was awesome to sit down, read over the articles about the game, remembering my favorite moments and thinking about all the great hockey moments i've witnessed already. go devils!

friday five #39

2010-10-08T10:07:00.004-05:00

01. things that need to be in my closet - y'know... i've been trying really hard to avoid shopping (believe it or not). i haven't been to a mall in forever, i'm trying not to browse my favorite online stores, i'm not opening my sale mail... but cute stuff just keeps showing up in my e-mail inbox! i am dying for these fold down chuck taylor boots... like completely dying!

02. nycc - new york comic con is this weekend... and i won't be there : ( i was totally stoked on it, looking around for possible costumes and then work schedule happened, and it turning out to be a generally crazy weekend and it kinda got pushed to the wayside. : ( there is the slimmest chance of sunday if the one day passes don't sell out... but probably not. so sad.

03. hockey season is open! - (yes,i do actually plan on wearing the above hat this winter) i'm rushing home post-work to throw on my jersey, grab the boy and be picked up by jen and erik to head to the 2010-11 season opener! can't wait to see the new lines, the new coaches style and some non-pre-season hockey! eek! finally!

04. ugh & etsy - i taught my first christmas class last night. on october 8th. i loved the class and love christmas and all... but ugh... already? also, i loved a couple of my cards so much, and have some ideas for others that i like enough to think about re-opening my etsy store, or possibly start a whole new one. definitely general card sets and christmas cards, but if i can get my ish together i'm hoping to even put up some halloween card sets for those really special people. stay tuned...

05. can't help it - i know, i'm just torturing myself now, but loving this antiques cluster f looking rhinestone necklace. the reviews say the stones fall out pretty easily but that it's worth glueing them back in. i'll stalk it's appearance in the sale section i think and stay armed with my glossy accents for any fallen sparklies.

friday five #38

2010-09-29T11:41:00.009-05:00

01. fall dream bag - i abstained from the purchase of a new fall bag last year, and this year i certainly shouldn't be spending the cash this fall either, but i'm having a really hard time resisting this vintage reissue bag from fossil. i know i can justify just about any unnecessary purchase if i really work at it, but i really feel like this is such a classic, basic bag, that it's a necessary purchase, no? i'm anxious to see it in person though, because you know how browns that look great online are not always as great in person.

02. fall fashion hopes - i think my clothing mantra this fall will be WWJLD "what would jenny lewis do?" she is gutsy and i love it. can i pull off tweed shorts & tights? WWJLD dare i rock that hat or pouch belt? WWJLD am i a girl who can rock a heeled vintage bootie? WWJLD i want to be just a little bit daring!

03. falsies - okay, so i occasionally fall prey to those articles in magazines about the new miracle mascara so i was hesitant to believe the hype from nylon magazine about maybelline's falsies mascara but when my old mascara ran out i figured i'd give it a whirl. it could come out pretty heavy if you don't clear the brush enough, but i love what it does to my lashes, and at $7.77 it's worth a try i think.

04. necessary accessories - currently i am rocking a really grandma looking vera bradley makeup bag, which is actually an improvement on the crazy tacky silver metallic one i was previously saddled with. currently, i'm kinda digging this framed, flat-bottomed make-up bag from fossil. it would be nice to not have to dump my makeup out every time i need to find one thing or cringe anytime i have to bring it out in public, haha.

05. old school sanrio - loving the resurgence of the sanrio characters from my childhood. it's nice to see keroppi, my melody and tuxedo sam out in the world! i love hello kitty and all, but was missing those 2! you can make a my melody & keroppi at build-a-bear and there are tuxedo sam and my melody flash drives at mimoco (they both have hello kitty as well, of course!)

friday five #37

2010-09-10T13:08:00.006-05:00

01. new fave ink combo - "crushed olive" distress ink, "pumice stone" distress ink & "ocean depth" versamagic. i usually forget to pull out the distress inks, but i remembered for once, and this card happened. i die.

02. terrariums - yeah, obviously i'm a little late to the game on this one. i love the idea of green things around the house, but i don't have the greenest of thumbs and kitties have a tendency to eat plants and flowers, plus the possibility of starting out has seemed a little overwhelming. but, through one place or another i ended up on this website, and it seems like something i could start playing with on a quasi-reasonable budget. hmm...

03. blue india - i bought this shade of nail lacquer from the "liberty of london for mac" collection a little while a go, but was totally hooked on my barry m "mint green" up until a couple of weeks a go. "blue india" is going to be my go to fall color, i can just tell. it's the perfect grey blue and i only really see it ever leaving my nails if replaced by mac's "in the buff", "earthly harmony" or "jade dragon".

04. dream recipe box - in a dream world where i have unlimited monetary resources and split my time between traveling and nesting, this is obviously the recipe box i would be filling. it's custom, made from salvaged hardwood and completely beautiful. sigh.

05. gym revival - i'm taking the plunge back into having a healthy workout schedule. i'm definitely going to also try to eat just a tiny bit better, but will not diet. this is more of a gym revival to maintain my ability to eat out and try new beers on the weekends. whatever works, right?

friday five #36

2010-09-03T14:16:00.008-05:00

01. skins volume 1 - tumblr has been all atwitter (or should that be "atumblr"?) about skins for like ever so when we finally got our netflix on demand on wii all hooked up in the new place i thought i'd give it a try. here are my thoughts so far, volume 1 was pretty entertaining, but i could have gone without the jumping-the-shark type ending to the final episode, and i have to say that so far i'm 2 episodes into volume 2 and i'm just not that into it. am i missing something? is it going to get back to better?

02. anthro sale - ohmygosh the newest batch of anthro sale items are insane! all those necklaces (chunky, ribboned or bibbed) that we've all be lusting after, 29.95. earrings i've had on my wishlist for a little while now,9.95. plus a couple of tops, a skirt, a cardigan and bunch of other cuteness are all headed my way. here's to hoping that a bunch of it isn't quite right so my bank account can get a little return relief. : / oops.

03. last years mixes - i've been feeling a little uninspired when it comes to new mixes lately so i've been mostly revisiting ones from the past year or so, and i have to say, my "falling leaves & an autumn breeze" mix from last year was seriously killin' it on my way into work this morning.

04. little squares - i am currently crazily lusting after the brand new nano from apple. love the touch screen and graphics, love the colors, love that it has a clip and want to drool all over it's perfect little square shape. in a dream world someone buys it for me with something cute engraved on the back and i use it at the gym every morning, haha. yeah right.

05. emmy opener - just watch it.

elsewhere inspiration #2

2010-09-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

this little picture has been kicking around in my "inspire me" iphoto folder for a long, long time now. i'm pretty sure it was either kicking around tumblr, or on rachel denbow's blog, or both. anyway. love the colors. love the simplicity. love the central composition.

so, here's my little take on it, using a ton of the new mme "alphabet soup" which is supposed to be a kids collection, but the colors are completely where i'm at right now. this was a little accidental snapshot while i was outside photographing layouts one day and i'm loving the forward motion. it's exciting to be starting this whole new aspect of my life, moving forward, stepping up to a new challenge because it's time and it's love and i'm ready to start.

friday five #35

2010-08-26T17:23:00.003-05:00

01. that cee lo single - you know the one. i'm not going to say it. (click at your own risk and not at work, i warned you) it's killing me that i can't download it yet! it's so flipping catchy and you can't help but sing it, no matter how inappropriate it may be in certain places, haha. in the meantime, i'm listening to his single off the eclipse soundtrack a lot too.

02. the next e.i. - i wish i hadn't said every two weeks, i've got a whole bunch of "elsewhere inspiration" saved up and i could really be doing one a week. but, until next wednesday i will quench my thirst with this weeks dare. perfection.

03. ohemgeejaybells - k facebooked this earlier this week and it's inspiring a whole new house party hopes mix (albeit a delayed new roost edition). it's not perfectly, perfectly timed, but it's pretty yummy nonetheless. "dirt on your crown" & "izzo rhythm" are my favorites.

04. triple fringe - true, i have been lusting after these since last fall, but i feel like this summer into autumn time of year is the perfect time to knab a pair of these are start rocking them. if not now, when? i'm totally prepared to catch $#!T for them, but i just always feel sassier in a goof pair of boots, which is why i'm also currently lusting after these and/or these and umm... these too (even though they're a little bit totally straight up tranny).

05. get him to the roost - totally planning a super nerdy, super cheesy viewing party for the dvd release of "get him to the greek" complete with invites, party favors and themed food & drink. that's right. you best be coming, or i will sergio you.

some more crafty

2010-08-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

this is my layout for our layout sketch flyer at the store this month. this picture from my birthday dinner seemed like the perfect fit for the brand new "indie girl" collection from sassafras. i'm not usually a vintage flowery kind of girl, but there's something about these colors that make me all lovey for it! plus, i even used a precious 6 inches or so of my webster's pages bloomers! can't wait for the new colors to come out for the fall!

this was a really fun experience, getting to watch the 4th of july fireworks from the top of the fire engine, all cuddled up sitting on the hose bed with my sweetie. you can't really tell from this picture, but i also used one of my favorite glimmer mist colors, "graphite" on the scalloped layer of the triangle banner. these maya road triangle banners are the best because you can make them match whatever theme or color scheme you want, they don't have to be girly!

i just taught this class a couple of weeks a go, so i haven't had a chance to put pictures in it yet, but i'm really into these mdf photo displays from kaiser.

just a quick, fun little cutie from my "olivia" paper pad class. grey & pink for baby girl stuff = love.

this is not my normal style of card, but i have to say i love how it turned out. i just stamped and cut out all those little dresses and was inspired from there.

this is almost like my more traditional (for me) take on the card above. and another one from my "olivia" card class.

friday five #34

2010-08-20T12:28:00.003-05:00

01. autumn brews - so stoked that the autumn seasonal beers are already rolling out! blue moon's "harvest moon" is one of my all time faves (especially in beer bread) and so far this year i've purchased sierra nevada's "tumbler brown ale" and brooklyn brewery's "post road pumpkin ale" the tumbler is a little bitter, but i haven't tried the post road yet, looking forward to a bottle tonight i think.

02. diy magnetic bookmarks - molly over at wild olive just posted this cute, printable pdf of little foldover bookmark set (pickle, pencil, bandaid, ruler, and my favorite, the bacon strip!!!) that you just print, fold in half and attach magnetic tape to! so cute!

03. "the suburbs" - so far i'm not loving this as much as "funeral", but still really loving it. it's just not as epic for me, but totally a great album to drive to. you should definitely at least check it out.

04. boombox lust - ever since we watched "step up 3d" i've been lusting after an old school ghetto blaster (let's be honest, i'd really rather have a whole wall of them like in the movie). i'm kind of feeling like a new apartment calls for an new old stereo, yeah?

05. weeds - so sad it's the final season, but so psyched that it's finally back on! it seems like forever since shane first wielded that mallet! the previews for this season are awesome. watch it. love it.

this is not another challenge blog...

2010-08-18T14:22:00.003-05:00

... but i'm going to start a little something new here. every other wednesday (in theory) i'll post a layout or card or something randomly crafty inspired by something completely not craft related. it's "elsewhere inspiration" and if you are also inspired by it, and happen to do something with it, let me see! no contests. no prizes. pure show 'n' tell, just like pre-k.

elsewhere inspiration #1 is this poster for the brothers bloom. i loved the large picture at the top and the negative-strip-like row under the title. not to mention the yellow umbrellas, which i kind of translated into using the water drops paper. plus, how could i resist having a quasi-cheesy subtitle? (obvs loving the action hero wannabe style silhouette cut-outs too, haha)

every time a neighboring fire department gets a new truck or engine they hold a big event for the community and all the local departments come with an engine to wet the new truck down, kind of like smashing a bottle of champagne on the side of a new ship. it's really fun to see all the departments come together, all the kids come out and get hosed down to and there's tons of food, beer and music. this was my first wetdown and my first elsewhere inspiration, seems appropriate.

these two...

2010-08-17T12:37:00.002-05:00

i am not a huge believer in horoscopes and those types of things, but it must mean something that 2 of my most favorite people in the entire world who are both so so so important to me, were both born on the same day!

first up, this chick who is the most creatively inspiring, all night giggle-fest inducing, sometimes inappropriately hilarious, bad@$$ chick i know. she once described our friendship as a messed up study in only child defense mechanisms, and she totally called it. she can loosen me up like no other, and i always, always am guaranteed a good time with her, wether it's an impromptu photo shoot, her rolling in the grass, and us dissecting cryptic texts or us reenacting our favorite bits of shaun of the dead while boarding the most turbulent redeye of all time. i know that we have each others backs at all times, no matter what. what about her? i'm all about her! love you k, happy birthday miss!

this boy, also known as "the boy" means the absolute world to me, yes i'm about to get super mushy, but i'm allowed because i never do about this stuff. he is everything i ever needed and never let myself have, the most perfect guy i could have never imagined and as i told him once, "the sweetest guy i have ever not wanted to break up with." i have a pretty bad track record in regards to guys who are nice to me, but this one stuck, and that's because he didn't let me self sabotage; he called me on it, fought it, and made me believe in him. i feel 100% safe, we laugh all the time, have sing-a-longs in the car, yell at hockey together (me more than him), and now we have a home, well an apartment, together and it's the most natural, fun experience ever. i love him so much, and yet somehow more and more every day. i'm so excited to see what's ahead for us, and him in this new year. happy birthday my love!

friday five #33

2010-08-13T13:45:00.009-05:00

well, we are kind of sort of mostly moved in, at least the stuff we have and it's really starting to feel like home! so excited! i'll share some pictures when it's a little more done!

01. beehive design - i hadn't thought much about beehive until jamaica started making those amazing pillows of hers, and then pushing daisies had that buzzzzzz episode and then it was kind of gone from my brain for a while. then, recently, on design sponge (i think?) i saw these cool appliques someone did on a table, and i'm obsessed with the idea of recreating this on our handed down white tile top table to zip it up a bit! now to figure out wether to do clear contact covered paper, actual patterned (or cork) contact paper or figure out a way to coat and apply fabric... hmm...

02. lampshade inspiration - this is another one of those things from anthro that i love, but will need to diy up. i love the folded in grosgrain ribbon they used, but depending on the room, and what the boy will let me get away with girliness wise, i would also love with the teal, plum or chartreuse rosette trim from websters pages.

03. step up 3d (seriously) - this was the boy's choice for movie night (i'm not kidding) and my first 3d movie! other than the ridiculously annoying and disrespectful family taking up the entire row in front of us, i loved it! even at an hour and a half it was a little long, and totally predictable, but the dancing was ridiculous! i'm also somewhat ashamed to admit that i've already purchased the soundtrack to heavily add to my new workout mix, and i really loved the 3d, there were a couple of cheesy 3d moments, but i thought it was really really cool.

04. camera stamp cameras - amy posted these stamps from urbanic on her blog a couple of days ago, and obviously i love them. i'm also totally jealous of anyone who lives within shopping distance of this place. they always seem to have the coolest stuff set up in the coolest ways.

05. kraft planner - i think nicole was telling me about this guy after her last paper source princeton trip, but when i got their most recent e-mail and saw it, i knew it was a must have for our schedule at home. need.

friday (twenty)five #32

2010-07-27T16:56:00.007-05:00

as promised, i attempt to make up for my recent (and upcoming) blog neglect by sharing a whole bunch of my cha preview & new release favorites all at once in the form of a hearty "friday (twenty)five."

01. crate paper "restoration" doilie paper 02. dear lizzy "enchanted" flower brads 03. mme "alphabet soup" music note paper 04. echo park "life is good" paper collection (i think this will combine perfectly with cp's "restoration!") 05. cosmo cricket "togetherness" chip shapes 06. webster's pages whimsies (dying over these colors!) 07. american crafts "max" alphabet stamps 08. basic grey "wander" papers 09. ranger distress stickles round 2 (crushed olive! pumice stone! chipped sapphire! forest moss!) 10. tattered angels "apple" glimmer mist (this will be on everything porous i own) 11. cosmo cricket "togetherness" bird paper 12. american crafts "bones" illustrated thickers 13. jillibean soup "past fagioli - italian seasoning" paper (i want to line the back of our kitchen cabinets in this!) 14. crate paper "school spirit- report card" paper 15. cosmo cricket yellow "tiny type" alpha stickers 16. studio calico "mister hueys" basics (white & cream are opaque!!!) 17. ek success "doilie" & "cupcake" border punches (the cupcakes are very "hello kitty" to me) 18. imaginisce "cottage christmas" (love pink in a christmas line) 19. american crafts "heart" puffy thickers (love a good tall skinny font!) 20. mme "i believe" papers 21. basic grey "jovial" collection (love the pretty black backgrounds for a christmas line!) 22. american crafts "stroll" glazed chipboard thickers (their glazed thickers are way shinier in person, love) 23. october afternoons "campfire" collection 24. we r memory keepers "sew easy" paper piercing stitch tool (i may finally start stitching on paper as much as i want to!!!) 25. mme "blackbird" chip characters

hot summer nights mix

2010-07-22T15:59:00.002-05:00

this mix morphed into a weird kind of combo of a summer version of "house party hopes" and a "plaid at heart" summer edition. i've been listening to it a ton though, the transitions aren't all perfect, but you should give it a try anyway.

obviously i've been a horrible blogger, but the pre-move in to do list is insane and it's that crazy time of year at work where we're doing summer, halloween and christmas all at one time. total insanity, even if it is all the good kind. so, i'll be posting a super meaty friday (twenty)five tomorrow and probably an unpacking mix monday and then i'll take a little move-in-blog-break until august 11th. see you tomorrow!

three.

2010-07-08T21:02:00.005-05:00

as in three quick layouts to share, and yes, 2 of them are partially titled "3".

here's my layout for this month's sketch flyer at the store. i used a whole ton of the new "heat wave" collection from american crafts. you can't really tell in the picture, but the wave paper and little details of the ice creams are a really nice sealed in glitter that's really fun.

i also used their new 4x6" flap protectors to add a little flip book of additional pictures to my layout on the outside of the page protector (the brads go through the flaps, front of the protector & layout) i'll definitely be using these again soon. they'd be a great way to add less public journaling, extra photos, track listings, little bits of travel memorabilia or just about anything else.

i used a combination of basic grey's new "olivia" and crate papers "paper doll" for this guy. i have scrapped some of the pictures from our little bridge photo shoot in the past, but i kind of can't get enough of them. it's way more flowery than i normally go, but i really love the pops of chartreuse and teal counteracting the girliness just a little bit.

i know, i know another layout with "3" in the title, but it just kind of worked out that way. i thought i'd document the 3 kitties before they are split up (milo & annabelle are coming with me and the boy). i used the newest studio calico sketch for this one and just extended it to a 12x12" rather than an 8.5x11" i love the teal and burnt orange together in basic grey's "max & whiskers" collection so i leaned heavily on that part of color palette. it was fun to use some theme-y paper for once. : ) and i love, love, love the pulled thread look of this background paper.

friday five #31

2010-07-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

01. wallpaper calendars - i've been using online calendars as my desktop since i got the macbook and this month there is so many good ones to choose from i'm putting them on rotation! currently using the one mike perry designed for design sponge. it seemed appropriate considering the impending move. next up; free people's and then wild olive's "diminutive feather."

02. kudu-lah critters - my pretty much friend/friend of a best shared these awesome little mason jar inhabiting creatures on facebook this week, she just put three really adorable ones in her new little muffin's nursery! there are 12 of them total, but i think i'm going to go with quadropus, squppy & of course, shark jr. thanks for the hot tip meredith!

03. andrew bannecker - this guy has been popping up all over my google reader lately, via all kinds of inspiring people i love so i thought i'd give his stuff a look. i have definitely found a new artist/illustrator (what's the difference sometimes) to add to my faves! that piece up there, "no turning back" would be loverly in my scrappy/crafty room! i'm also really into, "28 inches of fiery fury" and these new everyday creatures.

04. "timber" fabric - i happened upon this new fabric collection from jessica levit and fell in love. so deeply in love that i've half convinced myself that i'm going to make my own curtain for the crafty/scrappy room. i'm thinking of blue magnolia bird with a strip of these brown maple seedling helicopters at the bottom. i love her patterns and the concept of the little birds nests as the flower! so cute!

05. bloomers - after falling in love with american crafts' version of these flowery trims with the "dear lizzy spring" collection i was obviously dying when i saw these from websters pages! the color combo alone is enough to make me drool! we just ordered the multi-card for the store and i can't wait to get my mitts on them!

friday five #30...

2010-06-25T10:49:00.007-05:00

... the we signed a lease on a sweet apartment edition!!!

true story! we found the perfect apartment for us, worked to get it and signed a lease last monday! i'm so relieved, and beyond excited to get in there (hopefully a couple of day before) august 1st to start painting, moving in, arranging and decorating! the apartment shopping is well underway, and i think that with the boys construction skills and helpful tips and my obsessive organization of both of our ideas it's going to turn out pretty awesome. lots to do, lots to diy & lots to buy (in the smartest way possible)!

01. craft room coziness - i'm really lucking out with the combination of us finding a 2 bedroom apartment, and living with a boy who's so rad he's totally cool with me using that second bedroom as an office/craft room (p.s. what do i call it? craft room sounds nerdy, but studio sounds a little highfalutin'). anyway, obvs i've been planning the set up for a while, and one of the things i'm really excited about is the cool futon we scored for free that i'm possibly going to paint, and definitely going to make all cozy and cute for mid-project breaks and visitors. right now i feel like i need one of these one-price-for-any-size coverlets from garnet hill! but alas, there are other things higher up on the priority list, like dressers and a larger bed!

02. "indie girl" - i am absolutely loving the chartreuse, navy, cornflower and salmon-y pink color combo in the newest collection from sassafras! and hi, there are feathers! it says a lot that i'm loving this collection, since usually flowery papers are not so much my thing, but the tones and patterns of these are so 70s cute, in a good way, that i kind of can't resist. can't wait 'til we get it in and i have my hot little hands on this collection!

03. birch mural - somewhere in my internet travels i happened upon this girl, whose name i imagine to be jen, who has a really adorable home. i'm super jealous of her studio space because look at that window and i really fell in love with her birch mural in the bedroom. i'm hoping we'll be able to pull off something similar, but maybe with just a few randomly placed birches and then a whole bunch of them behind the bed kind of like a headboard. our friend jessica should definitely be able to pull it off no problem!

04. diy pennant pillow - i know, i know pennants are everywhere right now, they're the new owl, but i love them anyway! urban outfitters has this sweet little throw pillow but of course, because i'm me, i want to make it myself so it can go perfectly on my little craft room futon! oh, this is where my crafty friends come in, is anyone out there sitting on any pretty little bits of fabric (no matter how small) that you may be willing to trade me something for? i'm either going that route or buying one of those cute little patch sets, but honestly i'm kind of afraid to start looking around on fabric sites because bad things tend to happen to my wallet when i do that.

05. fiestaware - this is probably an enough said kind of situation, but i just love the classic, hefty look of fiestaware, so as of now i'm trying to work my sale wangling magic to get fiestaware into our future kitchen. we're currently thinking lemongrass, turquoise, tangerine and either white or cream). it will take some pretty major wangling, but i'm hopeful, or at least determined.

four more layouts! four more layouts!

2010-06-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

this is my layout for this month's scrapbook sketch challenge at the store. we used a sketch that cosmo cricket had on their blog a little while back, and incidentally i ended up using a whole bunch of cosmo, with some thickers thrown in obviously, because when are they not present? just 4 of the items i'm currently lusting after at anthro. who else puts stuff on their wish list and then stalks it 'til it's on sale? just a little trick cheiron taught me. you have to act fast once it's on sale, but it definitely helps the wallet.

this layout was inspired by an ad i saw on fat quarter shop for a quilt pattern, so it just goes to show, you always have to keep an eye out for inspiration everywhere you go. i combined the "eve" and "indian summer" 6x6 paper pads from basic grey to make up all the little squares.

this one, all about one of my favorite people in the world, is also made using a 6x6 paper pad, "earth love" from cosmo cricket. i was a little stuck for this, so i flat out scrapjacked a layout from one of cosmo cricket's design team members, sorry i suck and forgot which girl it was and i can't find the layout now. : ( let me know if you know who it was, she did it using "joy ride"

and lastly, i've been saving this silk rose ribbon for a little while now, and with this paper it just seemed like perfection. everything is american crafts except for the pink polka dot from october afternoon and the "to go cup" stamp from a muse, which i like to use a white glaze pen with to make the top look like a plastic lid!

hopefully i'll be working on some post-birthday scrappies soon, especially now that i'm done with my whirlwind "max & whiskers class and the store yard sale! eep!

friday five #29...

2010-06-07T20:59:00.006-05:00

...the if we don't find an apartment soon i'm going to lose my mind edition. perhaps some wishful thinking in the home decor department will help!

01. color shelf interiors - obviously design sponge is the go to resource for sweet design touches. i love the simple little idea of painting the inside cubbies of the shelves for a huge pop. love.

02. paintable wallpaper - i know paintable wallpaper is pretty old school but target, of all places, is selling this retro mod version that i can imagine in all shades of pebble-y grey, deep teal and deep plum.

03. cutie juice glasses - julie west, one of my all time faves, has created these super sweet little juice glasses for art star and i need a full set. i might even start drinking orange juice other than when i'm sick just so i can use them.

04. home print - "home" by edward sharpe and the magnetic zeroes has made it's way back into constant rotation in my life as of late. so, this print, that i also found at art star, is perfectly timed! it just arrived in the mail. now i just need a home to hang it in!

05. re-done spindle desks - another design sponge find, love the idea of a re-done spindle desk with vintage wallpaper drawer fronts. plus, the colors not too shabby either.

a little summer to do list...

2010-06-07T20:19:00.003-05:00

have you seen the brand new night owl press stuff yet? so cute! this card is one of their new customizable wood invitations/save the dates! check out their stuff here. anyway, this is just a little mini list of some fun things to do this summer since i've been working on a great big list for the year ahead, but more on that later...

friday five #28

2010-06-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

01. hey cupcake! lust - this time last year i was in austin, tx being shown what's up by the best austin tour guide in the world, miss kerry potter mccormick. she has defected back to nyc, and luckily i'll be able to spend my birthday with her here on the east coast this year, if only she had brought hey cupcake! back with her though! not only is the little airstream trailer, complete with rotating cupcake on the top, too cute for words but their vanilla dream cupcakes are the only bakery cupcakes in the entire world that i love! everyone who is able should be giving them a try, like right now. now.

02. iphone art - design sponge did a really cute guest blog entry all about awesome and well designed iphone cases, and i fell in love with these etched bamboo ones from grove. they have some really rad artist series cases and the option of uploading your own graphics to be etched for you and only you. you even get to pick the color of your bamboo and the outlying bezel color. they are a bit pricey, but look to be pretty sturdy and could end up being more than worth the bucks. perhaps they will be a post-birthday option.

03. halsey birds - yes, i have a quasi-quilty little spot in my heart for kurt halsey. i admit it! so i pretty much almost dyed when i saw his fireflies necklace at art star. i snapped it up and i wear it all the time and always get compliments on it. well, lo and behold art star posted a new weekend special today, spend $35 in the store and get a kurt halsey birds necklace free! that's an amazing deal, especially considering i didn't even know this new necklace existed. sadly i won't be able to get there this weekend so i ordered it up as a little birthday present to myself. but to all my philly peeps, go for it! it's a $34 necklace for free when you spend $35, that's insane! (ooh, also note how it comes in 2 different lengths, love that!)

04. spring cleaning apron - i'm working on a list things to do in the next year, and one of them is to complete a sewing project. i used to really enjoy sewing years and years a go, so it stands to reason that i will still enjoy it, right? the amazing fabric out there right now, not only from amazing fabric designers, but also from scrapbook companies i already love (cosmo cricket, basic grey, mme & more) is pushing me into action. i think my project will be this sweet scalloped apron from fig tree quilts. i love how it's designed to use just one "jelly roll" from moda and a little extra for lining and the scallop. i think i'll be using this jelly roll by joel dewberry, but may also still decide to get adventurous and mix my own fabrics. i could see how this could get silly expensive, but i'm going to fake myself into believing it's an investment, haha.

05. custom calligraphy address stamp - this little pretty jumped off oh so beautiful paper and straight into my "want" folder this week. how amazing would this be when we finally find an apartment? it's beyond beautiful, and just right for my handwriting hating self. just another reason for the universe to align and find us something already!

in the cards...

2010-06-03T13:52:00.003-05:00

yeah, that's right. i did just use a totally cheesy blog entry title. deal. just a little bit of the crafty things i've been doing lately, at least the cards portion.

this is one of the cards i'll be teaching in the "max & whiskers" edition of my recurring "maximizing your 6x6 paper pads" class series.

and this is one of the cards from this past month's installment using the old school-ish "granola" paper pad. i can't believe that "granola" was my 12th paper pad class! i'm really glad that i still enjoy teaching them so much.

this little lady was my card for this month's card sketch at the scraptasia, it goes up tomorrow, so shush! loved using the hamly stitch rub-ons to "stitch" the two patterned pieces together.

gigi showed me how to make these cute scrap flowers a while a go and i passed them along in how-to form last week on the store blog after...

... i was inspired by the rosette how-to on the hero blog that i used to make this card. p.s. i don't think i'll ever be over this collection from crate paper!

just a little peek into my card pile. i have new layouts to share next week that i'm pretty excited about too.

and four more...

2010-05-26T10:52:00.008-05:00

to add to the 2010 layout tally. i'm not normally a person who is worried about quantity, but i couldn't deal when i saw that i had only made 9 layouts in 2009! i've also actually been feeling really inspired and crafty lately. i think it's a combinaiton of some great new products, awesome talent on the blogs & it being a nice outlet for some general craziness in my life right now. anyway, here are the most recent additions to my 2010 folder.

this was for our may sketch challenge. it was based on an 8.5x11 becky fleck sketch that i kind of just stretched to 12x12. loved these photos of the boy sandwiched between me and his mum. i'm also kind of obsessed with the pink polka dot from oa's "fly a kite" coupled with kraft paper!

i've been loving this scallop thing that almost everyone is doing lately, so i thought i'd take it for a spin. it was really relaxing for me to lay the circles out, switch the order around and then attach them row to row, like a little bit of crafty zen. this is the boy and i at his fire department banquet last month, one of my new favorite pictures of us.

i was super inspired by kerry lynn's use of a sticker sheet as a background, and so i thought i'd try it with the little alpha stickers from mme's "quite contrary", i kind of can't stop using this line. these are the pups on our way home from the airport, sooo flipping cute. and i have to admit, that i was unnaturally excited to finally get to use some of those cute pre-done titles that i don't usually get to use since they tend to be more kid friendly. also, please note that i'm trying to get better about occasionally using my actual handwriting.

another one using my horrible handwriting. this was kind of a mish mosh of current favorites; mme's "so sophie - charming", crate's "brook" sparkle chip & making my own rosettes. also, finally using some favorite photos from new years ever... yeah it's almost june.

so... there it is! i'm still feeling really inspired so hopefully there will be a lot more to share!

"spring into summer nights" mix

2010-05-25T21:20:00.003-05:00

something a little dreamy, a little boppy and a little cozy to hang to.

01. "world sick" by broken social scene

02. "vcr" by the xx

03. "the chills" by peter bjorn and john

04. "c'mon" by the soft pack

05. "floating vibes" by surfer blood

06. "shadow people" by dr. dog

07. "bushwick blues" by delta spirit

08. "two weeks" by grizzly bear

09. "laura"(cover) by mates of state

10. "rill rill" by sleigh bells

11. "be cool" by golden age

12. "feel it all around" by washed out

13. "technicolor health" by harlem shakes

14. "factory" by band of horses

friday five #27

2010-05-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

01. "treats" - sleigh bells' new album may not be for everyone, so i would recommend you check out a preview somewhere online before you buy, but i happen to love, love, love it for the murky, rainy spring to summerlike sunshine overnight weather we're having here in jerz as of late. there's something here for every feeling. dreamy songs like "rill rill" are perfection for hazy beach days and "kids" & "riot rythm" will serve as inspo for many an impromptu dance party once miss nicole is back from bristol this summer and i'd already fallen for the preview track for this album, "infinity guitars" for all your pumped up strong chick needs. at least check it out, and i'm pretty sure most of you will love it.

02. watchable instant viewing - yes, there is a ton of tv and movies available online for your eyeballs consumption, but i hate having to watch something on my laptop and never quite being able to get the screen tilted at just the right angles (especially with darker toned shows, damn you vampire diaries addiction) but apparently i can now watch netflix on demand through my wii on my tv? what?!?! hopefully this is as awesome as i think it's going to be.

03. nail varnish to die for - chanel's "mistral" & "nouvelle vague" are kind of hurting my heart they're so good! it's obvious that i'm always down for a good teal-y mint nail color, but until this very second i've not really been into peachy pinks for my nails. i'm not entirely sure what's making the difference here, maybe it's the unexpected shimmer? most likely it's simply its' close proximity to the "nouvelle vague" that's sending my modern day miami vice color sensors into a tizzy. whatever it is, i need them both. (check out this review to see what they look like on)

04. photobooth withdrawal - there was a bit of time there where i was being pretty spoiled with photobooths, between the one a drunken walk away from k's old apartment in brooklyn and the ones that seemed to pop up wherever i was traveling (like austin & orlando) i was lucky enough to start up a pretty sweet collection of photobooth strips with some pretty awesome friends. but, now it's been a while. the withdrawal shakes are starting. i'm wondering just how much it would cost me to buy my one. i'm even considering stepping foot into one of those cheesy drawing booths at the movie theater. so.... obvs this must all be remedied stat.

05. kits that kill it - there are a lot of completely bum "kit clubs" out there who pretty much put together every piece of a collection, throw in some ribbon & bazzill and call it a "kit", there are also a bunch of old clubs in retirement or hiatus that i'm still missing (that's right, i'm talking to you sara!!!) but there's one kit club that i find myself loving more and more with every month. very rarely do i not really get what they're doing. obviously we're talking studio calico here. i want to kick myself pretty much every month when the kit is sold out and yet somehow also manage to talk myself out of a subscription every month as well. (my main point in this argument being that i have no business buying things i can't use for store stuff, although we do carry their line for stores) anyway, this month's sold out kit, "granny's cupboard" is no exception, it doesn't sound like it would be my style, but they continue to impress me more and more each month with the things they put together. love their sense of style (and their custom papers, and their journaling tags, and they're packaging, and they're stamps.) ugh! so jeals!

a little wishful thinking...

2010-05-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

there's nothing like a little birthday wish list related wishful thinking...

01. trip to lake tahoe 02. nixon chalet in walnut (still) 03. 4 door wrangler rubicon in metallic olive (the most perfect wrangler color ever) 04. seychelles "get outta town" sandals (they seem like a perfect brown summer flat) 05. fox ear flap hat from cottonhill's etsy (the boy says he will pretend he doesn't know me, but i deal with neon yellow on a daily basis so he can hush) 06. red shiba inu puppy (they are like little ginger house friendly foxes!) 07. tickets to "american idiot" on broadway (NPH gave it his endorsement) 08. rayban wayfarers (a true classic) in dark marble 09. birthday photoboothing with favorite people 10. adobe photo shop elements 8 (i think this is the one i should get, suggestions?) 11. rei 4 person tent (because you have to camp to have proper s'mores) 12. "happy logs" iphone skin (since the death of iphone 1 i always have a soft case on, but i'll know it's there) 13. a king size bed with bartlett sheets already on it 14. true blood season 2 on dvd 15. the anthro wooden radio with mp3 hook-up (it's half off!)

it's june 5th, e-mail me to find out where to send those gifts too, haha. yeah right.

in pairs...

2010-05-18T15:07:00.009-05:00

lately, i'm noticing, i've been making things in pairs. i don't know if i'm not getting my idea all the way carried out the first time and so i want to keep going, or if it's that i'm liking what i'm doing so much i'm wanting to build on it. who knows. anyway, here are a few pairs of similar cards that i've made lately.

i made this graduation card for the boy's brothers graduation from indiana university and let the new "happy everything" stamp set from a muse do the talking. dude cards can be hard sometimes, because 90% of image stamps are a little too girlie or young, but with this stamp set and one of my favorite papers from the basic grey "ambrosia" collection which happened to include the IU "crimson & cream" i had an easy peasy grad card.

same deal with this guy, a simple, graphic card using the same stamp set and the punched circles leftover from a layout that i'll share soon. these colors (along with a pebble, salmon, chartreuse and light teal) are one of my main color combo obsessions right now.

i may have no business using these "pure innocence" girls as much as i do since i don't have kiddos or anything, but they really are sweet, fun to color and total stress relief when it comes to just coloring and...

... paper piecing. i love to put together their little outfits with current favorite papers. and obviously i'll be using this "hip to be square" saying with tons of stuff.

these two cards are ones i made sets of for one of my favorite people in the world, nicole's birthday (if you're reading this nicole, surprise!) since i was making these into boxed notecard sets i really kept them simple so that the mass production would go smoothly. plus, with these girls, it's fun to let them do the talking. they were perfect for miss nicole who teaches yoga...

... and runs her own awesome burlesque (both in person and through e courses) business, pop fizz, that centers around the idea of being comfortable in your own skin rather than performing for someone. love. anyway, cheeky cherry was perfect for this, and again, kept it simple.

so, just a little peak and what i've been up to lately craftwise. i'm having a little trouble deciding exactly what this blog is lately. i love sharing my fives and mixes, but when it comes to crafty things i find myself writing as if this is the store blog instead of my own, which i have to get over. i might just start posting pictures of craft things and leaving it at that. i also don't know what to do about personal things here. just trying to figure out the blog balance i guess. i'll get there.

friday five #26

2010-05-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

01. vol. 25 - so this check, jessica designed some stamps that i really like a while a go for stamping bella, which i'm hoping to get my hands on next month when we do a catalog sale with them, but in the mean time, she has a sweet little etsy shop where she sells prints of some of her illustrations. this typewriter is one of my favorites, and i can definitely see it hanging in futureimagninaryapartment. i also really love this paper planes one, because we all know how i feel about paper airplanes.

02. utility & beauty - obviously i wouldn't ever be able to bring myself to spend the cash on one of these babies, but i am officially on the hunt for a less expensive, and possibly alterable or vintage version. i'm sure i'll be seen stalking the aisles of little hardware stores, the container store and any other random home section i can find. i want them to migrate into futureimaginaryapartment en masse for the beautiful organization of various crafty things in futureimaginarycraftroom.

03. leafy chord keepers - these are completely brilliant and simply beautiful little pieces of awesome design at work. a beautiful way to warm up all the vines of tech chords that are wrapping their way around our homes and lives! i love how they show them used for decoration as well, but what a rad way to liven up that ugly cable chord and chords that you always leave bundled up like camera chords. i think they'd make a cute mini album binding too!

04. brills scrappers - every now and then a new scrapper comes to my attention that completely refreshes my love of the scrappy side of papercrafts, kaori watanabe is the newest. i found her blog through her recent addition to the crate paper design team. i won't go on and on and on, instead you should just check out the amazing things she's done with some recent crate paper collections. try not to drool to hard.

05. letterpress love - yet another letterpress poster i'm in love with the idea of having for futureimaginaryapartment. louella press creates some pretty sweet, graphic & simple little lovelies that you should definitely check out. i already stalk letterpress on the internet, play at making my own at home and after my return to the national stationary show this weekend, i'm sure i'll be swimming in little bits and bobs of it that i won't be able to throw out, gosh knows i still have stuff from the last show that i haven't worked into a project yet. perhaps i'll be putting together a kit to sell in a small run...?

so umm...

2010-05-12T18:57:00.004-05:00

... this happened. we went to bloomington for the boy's brother's graduation and came back with these two. the boy's brother visits a pet store near campus all the time, so we went with him for a visit and fell in love with these two pups, and then once we found out they were the last of the litter it was all over. the boy's mum called the airline for puppy tickets and then we were out the door to pick them up! cali is the boy's brothers and axl is the boys and mine-ish. they are so sweet and so funny and so cuddly and obviously the most adorable mix of mutt ever!

raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

2010-05-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

... these are a few of my favorite stamps right now, and i've been inspired by cheiron's giveaway of some of her favorite things and thought i'd give it a try. i also thought it might be a good way to get a little idea of who, if anyone, is out there. leave a comment and i'll use the random number generator to pick a winner. more of scrapper? i can put together a little scrappy favorites instead, or even a packet of some recent mixes. oh, and i guess i'll cut it off at the 20th?

friday five #25

2010-05-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

this will be a ridiculously quick, cheapie five since i'm actually in indiana now, but i promise i'll make it up next week! plus, there's some pretty rad stuff in here.

01. tissue paper poufs - i want these everywhere in my life. especially in these colors.

02. ryan berkley coasters - how hard would you giggle every time you used one of these fancy dudes?

03. new band of horses - you can get a free download of the first single from the album on their website. it's a little different, but somehow still the comfy same.

04. diy ornathology clock - kate over at design sponge posted this awesome tutorial on how to make your own clock from easy to find, inexpensive materials. love the scientific illustrations on this one.

05. coffee people k cups - i swear it's not just because their packaging is so cute! i really love the k cups from the coffee people (we have a keurig at work, i'm not that fancy at home). the donut shop one is my favorite right now, but i also love the organic.

spring breezes 2010 (a mix)

2010-05-05T12:12:00.007-05:00

i've been working on this guy for a while, but wanted to get it to just the right blend of old school feel into boppy, car windows down goodness. hope you like. oh, and i made it into a playlist for you (ignore the mostly horrible music videos on the player, using the video player was the only way i could get all the songs on there).

01. "your hands (together)" by the new pornographers

02. "infinity guitars" by sleigh bells

03. "the afterlife" by YACHT

04. "jail la la" by dum dum girls

05. "fall hard" by shout out louds

06. "in the sun" by she & him

07. "periodically double or triple" by yo la tengo

08. "40 day dream" by edward sharpe & the magnetuic zeroes

09. "lisztomania" by phoenix

10. "flash delerium" by MGMT

11. "there are listed buildings" by los campesinos!

12. "O.N.E." by yeasayer

13. "life magazine" by cold cave

14. "walking on a dream" by empire of the sun

15. "holiday" by vampire weekend

16. "young forever" by jay-z

let me know what you think, and while you're at it, why not let me know if you have a favorite of my playlists. i'm curious if there's anyone out there listening to these as much as i am.

friday five #24

2010-04-30T14:27:00.006-05:00

cheated on this one quite a bit. : / in that these are all quick inspirations found in my google readed browsing this afternoon, haha. you can def tell where my color sensibilities are recently. i'll obvs be sure to link you to all the lovely bloggers also.

01. tropical nail colors - if you're going to put in the nail polishing time, why go with a traditional color? these "up, up and away" colors from china glaze are sooooo where i'm at right now. love how their solid, almost matte look brings me back to the "clueless" era of painting my nails with whiteout in class. (source: a beautiful mess)

02. foxes of the non-fantastic variety - i finally watched "the fantastic mr. fox" last night, and i know i may get killed for this, but i didn't love it! i really thought i was going to! almost all of the adorable, snarky & funny bits were in the constant promos, and i found their arms and bird killing terrifying! i did get a nice language clean up from it though, and will now be saying "clustercuss" rather than the other. i do however love these fox pillows, this fox plushie and this fox hat, which i obviously need for next winter!

03. diy bunting necklace - sarah golden, owner & artist behind craftyfolk posted this sweet, easy to create diy leather bunting necklace. i'm imagining how cute it would also be with little frayed edge, back to back fabric triangles. the possibilities...

04. dividing walls made of magazines - this is from a rad, albeit in another language, design & packaging blog i follow. check out these amazing dividing walls made of packed in magazines, complete with windows and sills! we won't even talk about how badly i want their conference room chairs!

05. mixed postage prettiness - parcel post is another inspiring blog to follow, and i love when they do mixed and vintage mixed postage on envelopes. it makes me want to hold on to some random postage stamps now, in hopes that they'll someday look cool with some other randoms. also, feel free to raid your grandma's desk drawers for postage for me if you like. i wouldn't turn them down.

i've missed you mod podge!

2010-04-28T20:27:00.002-05:00

like the true blue, newly discovered romance nerd i've become i save all my favorite texts, fives lists, and random messages from the boy, and since he's already withstood the crafting curse i decided to make an album dedicated to them. i used an 8.5x11 d-ring from american crafts and mod podged the heck out of it front, back & insides. it's going to be filled with atc's of favorite one liners, 8.5x11's of things we've done & little everyday things with the texts to go along with them, and cool divided protectors i found that i'll use to hold printed screen captures of favorite fives. it's going to be kind of a history/manual of our us-ness, hence the "textsbook" title (y'know, like a textbook!) now that the album is done, i'm excited to work on the guts when i get some more time.

i have already surpassed my layout count in 2009...

2010-04-26T18:07:00.011-05:00

... so that's pretty sad as far as 2009's scrapbooking goes. : / oops! i blame it on cards, classes & general creative laziness. this year is definitely feeling way more inspiring! not that there weren't fun things in 2009 that i totally spaced on scrapping, but i can always go back. here are some more layouts to add to my 2010 layouts folder.

this is kind of a junker layout, one of those ones you do when it's been a while since you scrapbooked and you have to get your legs. the photo is one rhian took of me on my last full day in europe. we went to walk up and down the hills surrounding a couple of the bays in wales and it was really gorgeous, a perfect, reflective last day. this was for the sketch challenge we're doing at the store each month, but although i like bits of it, it wasn't doing it for me. so i made another one...

... this one is more like it. i'm not usually a butterfly or floral girls, but something about this boysenberry, brown & chartreuse struck me as necessary. plus i pretty much die for these dark, dark brown glitter thickers that came out with the "dear lizzy spring" line. kristina and i up to trouble as always, this time was going to see the get up kids at my favorite venue in philly for sing along fun, nostalgia & meet ups. isn't it funny how different two layouts can look even though they are both based on the same sketch?!?

love these shots rhian and i took of each other crossing dublin castle grounds, and with the crazy green grass i had the perfect excuse to use "green at heart"! i had posted this on the store blog with a little tip about using the hambly rub-ons on a like colored paper for a cool clear embossed look, the doilies are the best for the tone on tone look. also, love these white puffy thickers, one of my all time favorites!

this is another layout for the store blog's tip of the week. i peeled the backing off a set of october afternoon alphabet stickers from the new "fly a kite" collection and stuck them to a sheet of kraft so that i could cut them up to use as embellishment & background and i can also see the letter stickers better without the backing! these photos are blown up photobooth shots from the first time the k's met (kerry & kristina), i seriously do love these 2 birds. i also used the awesome new cosmo cricket core impressions paper (teal, sanded woodgrain yum!)

hopefully the layouts and creativity will keep coming.

friday five #23

2010-04-23T11:24:00.007-05:00

01. marathon's chicken matzo ball soup - i met up with my friend john at the marathon grille on walnut street (philly) for a quick post-haircut (me)/post-coachella (him) catch up and i decided i wanted a little snacker so ordered up some matzo ball. ohmygod! this chicken matzo ball soup is probably my new favorite soup of all time. so, yummy, buttery and delish. if you're in the area, get like 6 bowls, right now!

02. sprinkled shell top - liked this on anthro's website, looooved it when i tried it on in the store. it's not the lightest top ever, because of the shell pieces, but it's gorgeous and i need it. like. now. maybe i can use my upcoming trip to indiana as an excuse?

03. cheeky cherry - you know how you sometimes get lost on the internet? you're searching for an image, and then you end up on someone's blog, and then you're clicking a link to a store they design for, and then you're falling in love with something new? that happened to me a couple of days a go, but i had the happy accident of coming across a stamp company i really, really love that we are going to start carrying at the store! one of the collections i'm most in love with is, sadly, not available to retailers yet but will soon, thank garsh (as emma pilsbury would drawl). they're little vargas like girls and i need them all. can't wait to see the new designs of these girls that they'll have available to us in june! in the meantime, we'll be stocking up on the anya & ian stamps, as well as the wild sprouts a.s.a.p. can't wait!

05. invisible monsters art - it's no surprise that even though we haven't found an apartment yet, i've been dream room planning for a couple of months now. this new screenprinted poster by kevin tong for the "invisible monsters" by chuck palahniuk anniversary is sooo in one of my main color zones right now, and i def need it to be in our future apartment. bad. i feel like it may just inspire a whole room, living room perhaps?

04. new broken social scene - an always favorite, i'm pretty excited for the new broken social scene album, "forgiveness rock album" which releases on may 4th! and now that i've heard the full album preview on npr.org, i'm even more stoked. it feels like a perfect spring album, ideal for driving home at night with the windows down and a hoodie on. i'm really, really into it.

some cards...

2010-04-22T12:06:00.021-05:00

just sharing some cards from the last couple of months real quick! this guy was an easy-peas-y card to showcase on of the new jenni bowlin embellished butterflies. it also features a perennial fave, the october afternoon stripe. they are always good, no matter what collection they are from! (that free form scripty "hello" is from a muse)

this little chickie was one of the cards in my "garden variety" paper pad class. i didn't think i was really going to be into these "pure innocence" girls from my favorite things, but i also used this girl on my london rain layout, and i have to say, sometimes it's just cheap therapy to sit and color. especially when you're using the copic markers, they make it all so easy.

obvs it's been a little while since i made this dude, but he's still cute! i stamped this bunny stamp from unity stamp co. onto kraft paper and cut him out (it was super easy because he has such a nice basic shape) and also stamped him on the musical note paper from "dear lizzy" to paper piece his tummy, inner ears & little bunny nose. the "growing green" paper (also from "dear lizzy") made a great easy background for him and then i cut a flap, added the egg paper and called it a day.

this was the easter card i made for the boy. he has an affinity, an unfortunate one, for neon yellows and greens, so i glittered over the a muse "peep" stamp with 2 of the brightest doodlebug glitters i could find, perched it on a card base made out of an american crafts "moda bella" paper i've had sitting around for a while and added it to his easter basket (which was an overturned little kids firefighter helmet!)

this card is a product of our april sketch pamphlet at scraptasia. we used a card sketch by becky fleck and each took it for a spin. it was pretty cool how different they all ended up looking! for mine i used one of my current paper obsessions, the "brook" collection from crate paper and this rad little snag 'em scooter stamp along with the "don't forget to have a little fun today!" stamp from a muse. love, love, love how fun these bill envelope sized cards are!

a couple of weeks a go i taught a bridal shower "class" where everyone who came made the bride's thank you cards in the class and that way she walked away with 200 thank you's in her wedding colors (which are raspbetty & navy), all handmade and ready to go. it was pretty interesting to create something that was less about my style, and more about what she would love to send. for sure, this is my favorite card of the bunch, simple but still my style!

friday five #22

2010-04-09T12:26:00.002-05:00

01. droolworthy books - the second round of penguin putnam classics are out and about in the world and i am, yet again, dying! the odyssey is one of my favorites. i also really love alice's adventures in wonderland, even though it makes me slightly crazy that the colors don't really go with the rest of the series. i guess it will just need to have it's own shelf on my imaginary not-yet-built or thrift-shopped bookcase that's just for this series of books!

02. multiple easters - due to my mum having to work part of the day, and it being the perfect holiday to meet more of the boy's fam, i was fortunate enough to have multiple easter's! this resulted in a face that hurt from lauging and smiling, a super full tummy and a really awesome easter. (fun fact: the boy can apparently pull off pink gingham in a pretty major way. who would have guessed it?)

03. chocolate covered gummy bears - i happen to have the best mum ever who knows me all to well. therefore my entire easter basket consisted of about 3 pounds (literally) of chocolate covered gummy bears from the rocky mountain chocolate factory which she drove 3 hours round trip to get to. beyond yum.

04. bloomers - you know those new scrappy products that you love so much you check on their status every day? well these bloomers trims from webster's pages are it for me! i can't wait 'til these are released! the colors are making me drool, and even though i'm not normally a flowery kind of girl i find myself wanting to cover, like my whole life in them. i die.

05. a future blog re-do - i'm not a digital scrapper by any means, but someone posted a link to danielle thompson's new kit for kitschy digitals, called vintage cameras and i fell for it. i'm still working out the logisitics, but it's going to be perfect for me to re-do my blog with! it's been needing a little overhaul for a while now, but i've been hesitant to do so because i still love these colors so much, but with this kit in hand (so to speak) i'll be able to keep the colors and still give it a new look.

a spring wardrobe wish list...

2010-04-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

... because a girl can dream, right?

01. julie west for anarchy eyewear sunglasses 02. reed shirtdress 03. boquet of stripes tee 04. buttercup posts 05. opi's mad as a hatter nail polish 06. salitre blouse 07. ripening berries necklace 08. stepping-out tee 09. wesc plaid bongo headphones 10. 11. liberty of london cruiser 12. starry brights dress 13. custom chucks 14. keep calm and get your craft on tee 15. volcom shredded one piece 16. pins and needles dress 17. chandelier earrings 18. triple fringe boots 19. metal leaf headband 20. artist v-neck tee 21. saddles shoes 22. staring at stars cut out tee 23. straw cloche 24. dotted greetings dress 25. classic cardy boots

friday five #21

2010-04-01T15:36:00.004-05:00

01. spring bag options - i'm still caught between this and the vera bradley i mentioned a couple of weeks a go. i think i'm going to go with this fossil bag. it's coated for easy, no worries use and i know i love fossil's bag quality. maybe i'll just replace my current horrible make up bag with one from vera bradley in that pattern i like, rather than getting the whole bag. these are important decisions people. (except not)

02. volume two - i'm not explaining other than to tell you that i did not love, love volume one, but i lurve this one. just listen & love. (and obvs the cover artwork is lovely)

03. zombie farm - if you have an iphone, get this. it's free. it's not obnoxious for your facebook friends (as long as you don't link it to your facebook) and there are zombies to grow and invade neighboring farms with!

04. me mugs - so, i'm a pretty big fan of non-matching mugs that are totally me. wether it's my "do something creative everyday" mug from paper source, the memo notebook mug k got me, or the liberty of london mug i'm currently stalking target's for, i think it's fun to have me mugs. they making my morning coffee, on the rare days i'm home for it, all the more special. my next purchase, barring a target miracle, will be this guy from craftyfolk's etsy.

05. glee fests - i snagged "glee: the road to sectionals" on super sale at target and the boy and i have been watching (or in my case re-watching) all the episodes in preperation for the new season. don't tell his friends!

blog break

2010-03-27T13:09:00.004-05:00

i can't believe i managed to stay pretty on top of blogging while i was country hopping, but have been completely horrible since i got home! consider this a short-term blog version of an out-of-office message. i'll be back in april (which isn't faraway at all!), i promise

what i've been up to...

2010-03-18T14:42:00.007-05:00

* say what? - i've taught this game a couple of times over the past couple of weeks and now that i'm done using it as a class sample i'm pretty stoked to fill it with favorite quotes, tweets, status messages & things overheard. it's 25 plus pages of atc sized pages. favorite patterned papers on the front with stamped kraft paper on the back, so it would be easy-peasy to add even more pages at any time.

* st. pat's game - the st. pat's game was last night and it was everything i hoped it would be, haha. jessica & roger and doug & i decked ourselves out in red, green & white and headed to the prudential center to watch the devils rock their old school jerseys to play the penguins. the devils got the win for a complete series shut out of the penguins and we got to watch crosby eat it. loved the devils get the shut out against last year's stanley cup winners, loved the chants of "crosby sucks" and then "you can't beat us" for the final 3+ minutes of the game, and really loved being there with the boy and j & r on their anniversary!

* designing - i've been working on some more cards just for fun, a layout & a card for something fun that's about to start at the store and some other random layouts for me. but, what i've mostly been doing is a ton of class designing & prep. so many classes coming up at the store and since the product for them all has been rolling in like crazy i've got a whole bunch of plates spinning at once. i'm vending for the store at a crop all day saturday, so i'm hoping i can work on some of all of the above inbetween the obviously forthcoming barrage of customers!

so, not really seeing a friday five happening this week, but i promise i'll get back into my positive 3 a week habits starting next week!

friday five #20

2010-03-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

01. "1 week" class - i taught a couple of sessions of my "1 week" clear acrylic mini album this week and am in love with how it turned out. i can't wait to fill it with a weeks worth of photos, lists, receipts, tags, tickets & whatnot asap! now to figure out which week to do. is it cheating if i pick a week i know at least a couple of things are going on? maybe.

02. spoonflower.com - i think i've blogged before about an etsy shop i love, craftyfolk who also is making her designs available as fabric on spoonflower.com. i really could have gone without knowing about this website. the fabric is pretty expensive, but i can see sooooo many awesome home decor items and a really rad quilt or two made with all the amazing fabrics available from various designers on the site. right this second i'm kind of dying over this cassette explosion pattern!

03. alice envy - i am so completely jeallie of all you lucky peeps who have gone to see alice already! i keep hearing it's totally amazing, although i've also heard that the ending is a little abrupt. i've heard it's beyond beautiful though, and i can't wait to see it! sadly, it's a matter of coordinating 4 schedules for the full on imax 3d alice experience.

04. new she & him single - i'm already working on my 2010 spring mix, look for it sometime next week, and part of what set it in motion was the new she & him single, "in the sun" the b side "i can hear music" is also pretty sweet. the new she & him album, volume 2, comes out march 23rd and if this is any indication of what's to come i'm more stoked on it than the first album.

05. a vera bradley bag? - really? do i really like a vera bradley bag? wha? i guess it's true. a customer came in the store last week with the stephanie bag in the "sittin' in a tree" pattern and i haven't been able to stop it from randomly popping into my head since. i think it's the birds & the amy butler feel to it. plus this bag style is not so grandma and i think it might be kind of perfect as an easy-peasy, lightweight spring bag. perhaps?

she's crafty! like for real!

2010-03-10T10:00:00.001-05:00

i have actually been doing fun crafty things for myself! i love teaching, but sometimes i find myself only making class samples and not really taking the time to work on things that are just for fun! this past weekend i set aside a bunch of crafty time for myself and made a whole bunch of stuff i really love! k, i'll stop talking and just share now!

i made this guy using some bunnies leftover from another project that i'll be sharing on the store blog friday. it's just a quickie bright spring card, i blogged the directions and supplies over at the store blog on monday.

nicole snapped this photo of me on our little overnight to london and i pretty much fell in love with how perfectly london-y it feels!

this was a lift of a layout anam did for my minds eye. i almost always am a little stuck when i just get back to scrapbooking, so doing one layout from a lift or sketch usually helps me get comfortable enough to go my own way on the next bunch of layouts. i'm totally in love with the "quite contrary" collection from mme so i loved being able to get a whole bunch of the papers onto the layout without it being too overwhelming. the little girl is a "pure innocence" stamp that i copic-ed & paper pieced to match me.

nicole & i had such a lovely, gorgeous afternoon at the bristol city farm and i love how the pictures turned out. when "garden variety" arrived from cosmo cricket i knew it was a match made to be, haha. usually i don't love anything too theme-y, but i couldn't turn down those adorable veggie dudes! the little grass border is made of sushi grass that i held onto from my bento box dreamer days because i knew it would be perfect for something!

i'm going to try to keep up the crafty momentum this spring! here's to hoping i have lots more to share weekly!

a spring to do list...

2010-03-08T22:30:00.001-05:00

... because i officially deem it spring simply because i just can not take any more winter! but first, let's check in on how i did with my autumn check list.

not the worst ever, i was wearing heels more than ever before in the beginning of autumn. i'd say i crossed booking my bristol trip +. perfect fall boots have been attained (even if it did happen in the winter). 3 shows is a pretty poor showing but it's almost to 5 right? i didn't get enough harvest moon for my taste, but it did happen.

and now, on to spring's edition, i'll try to remember to work on this one a little more diligently!

p.s. that first notepad is from boygirlparty and the second is from knock knock. go check out all their awesomeness for all your list needs!

the conclusion...

2010-03-03T22:49:00.024-05:00

... to my england & more trip, in case you were dying to know how the rest of it played out, in enhanced daily facebook status update form (i filled in some gaps & added links to photos and videos all over!

day six: dublin: rhian & i rushing to our gate & getting snagged at security because we were more than a little sleepyeyed from our 2 hours sleep, a super early arrival in Dublin, a bacon butty for breakfast, a long walk to tour the Guinness storehouse and enjoy the crazy sick 360degree view of dublin from the sky bar while having the freshest of fresh pints, we snagged lots of photos at Dublin castle, st. patrick's cathedral & trinity college along the way, Guinness stew for lunch & a little nap in our overl toasty hotel room on the river liffey. walking around temple bar & grafton street, the most amazing boxty dinner at gallagher's and early jammies & girl talk while we waited for the irish dancing show to be over downstairs because it sounded like they were putting it on in our room, haha!

day seven: dublin/bristol: a delicious amount of sleep, bad irish tellie & a relaxing morning, running to a bus, flying through fog, riding through rain/snow in another bus (i really must tally at the end) and making it back to bristol to have to say goodbye to miss rhian : ( a freshly ready dinner, lots of tea and talk, attempts at blogging, planning for the rest of my stay, some british tellie, back to back skype appointments & passing out sleepy!

day eight: bristol/bath: waking up to bright sun rather than hail and nixing our rainy day bristol aquarium plans in light of the unexpected sunny day. bristol city farm to visit nicole & milo's garden allotment, talk to animals & eat at the cafe. a trip to bath to wander, snap tons of photos & listen to lots of 90's & early 00's pop rap in the car while rapping our hearts out. just barely beating the snow & hail on our beautiful drive home. amazing dinner at planet pizza. dancing & singing along to more 90s hits including veruca salt. skype & sleepies.

day nine: bristol: walking all over bristol and shopping around the college green. working on house party hopes 5: brit edition. preliminary packing. milo's amazing dinner of a chicken roast with gravy, potatoes & parsnips, stuffing and steamed carrots & broccoli. more glee, i now have nicole & milo properly addicted. unbelievable sleepypants.

day ten: wales: roadtrip with nicole to wales & conversation so good we didn't even notice we hadn't even had any music on until we were arriving. rhian, dan & zoe picking us up after i purchased more randoms at sainsbury's. a beautiful, hilly drive to swansea to walk on the beach & up and down the awesome & relaxin winding, hilly trails with nicole, rhian, dan & zoe to see as much as we could see. lunch/dinner on the pier followed by the best ice cream ever. a quick visit to the falling mumbles castle. tea at rhian & dan's and some conversation & photo swapping before our trip back to bristol to pack my things for my journey home.

day eleven: traveling: a just-about-teary goodbye with nicole at the bristol bus station as i headed out for my full day's journey via bus, express bus & airplance back home where i was so psyched to have the boy waiting for me just outside of customs. i managed to watch the first period of the usa v. canada hockey game before jet lag set in and bedtime came at just 9:30 est, haha.

i had an amazing time and am so fortunate to have awesome friends like nicole & rhian who took me in and out & about for what ended up being an awesome 3 country tour of a little slice of europe! it was so nice to come back to home & the kitties though. definitely the perfect length of time for the trip. so amazing. lot's of scrapping to come!

oops-it's-no-longer-friday five #19

2010-03-01T19:41:00.000-05:00

01. ryvita - i am now obsessed with these crackers. rhian & i are quasi-planning on me sending her boxes full of lucky charms in return for her sending my boxes of ryvita pumpkin seeds & oats. so crazy yummy, especially with hummus spread on them!

02. whip it! - i was kind of nervous to see this since i really wanted to love it, but had heard mixed reviews of it but i did in fact love it like crazy. i definitely recommend it to any and all of you. love ellen page and love, loved kristen wiig.

03. new shout out louds - the shout out louds are one of those bands who i wouldn't necessarily think of listing in my favorite bands but i'm not quite sure why. i consistently love every album they put out and they're good, easy listening when you're around the house or on a long car ride. their new one, "work" is no exception.

04. graham carter - nicole and i saw a bunch of graham carter's work in an awesome little gallery in bath, england and kinda fell in love with it. i especially love his prints on wood.

05. st. pat's game - so stoked on the st. pat's devils game! we finally got our tickets (along with tickets for the april 2nd blackhawks game)! the devils will be wearing their old school green & red jerseys and hopefully my st. pats devils shirt will come in time to be worn to the games! here's hoping the break did the devils some good and the games are awesome.

house party hopes 5: brit edition

2010-02-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

i will actually already be at heathrow on my way back to the states when this publishes, so we'll call it an ode to this journey, haha. it was mostly worked on while i've been here, which explains the shorter than normal track listing, i've just been doing too many things! anyway, enjoy what there is!

01. "this too shall pass" by ok go

02. "run" by vampire weekend

03. "sun hands" by local natives

04. "souls of gold" by sister crayon

05. "fences" by phoenix

06. "rome" by yeasayer

07. "i start to run" by white denim

08. "i like you so much better when you're naked" by ida maria

09. "all is love" by karen o and the kids

10. "there are listed buildings" by los campesinos!

11. "fix up, look sharp" by dizzee rascal

12. "air force ones" by nelly

friday five #18

2010-02-18T16:27:00.013-05:00

01. skybar - rhian & i really, really lucked out with the most beautiful dublin weather on wednesday! and, because of our early (read: operating on 2 hours) flight, we had already done and experienced and absolute ton by lunch time, including a little turn about the guinness storehouse that ends in a free fresh guinness at the skybar, which is atop the storehouse with a complete 360 degree view of dublin from above. it was beyond beautiful, as evidenced in the reflection of the sky in the mirror topped table my expertly poured guinness was resting on. (also, look at this stop motion video rhian made. it causes me to explode into a semi-violent giggling fit.)

02. shreddies - i've been having these for breakfast just about every morning since i landed! they are kind of a denser version of wheat chex with a slight sweet taste, almost like a really light honey. super delicious. they may very well be added to my short list of foods that will have to start being shipped to me in the states. also, are you ready for the cutest bit? they're tag line is, "knitted by nanas!"

03. olympic hockey - this is officially the first time i've ever actually cared about anything olympic related, and it is just about completely impossible to see any of the olympic hockey games here in england. grr to that business, but yay to the fact that i've at least been able to follow the scores in real time thanks to the scorit app and team usa is winning across the board! the boy is recording all of the nasty match-ups on sunday, and you can trust that i will be watching them as soon as humanly possible upon my return to the states.

04. tea - i've only ever been a tea drinker as a last ditch effort to stave off illness... until bristol happened. maybe it's the chill i know is just outside the window, maybe it's being surrounded by interesting boxes of tea, or maybe it's simply in the air here! i'm finding it cozy, comforting and actually even pretty yummy. my favorite at the moment is clipper's organic nettle tea.

05. bristol city farm - it was supposed to be hailing today so nicole and i were readying ourselves for a day spent at the blue reef aquarium here in bristol, but what we awoke to was instead a beautiful blue skies kind of day. we threw on clothes and headed out to enjoy it for as long as it would last and our first stop was the bristol city farm! nicole & milo have a little allotment here where they work their own little bit of garden and have some veggies & such. there is also a little cafe there that serves amazing food made with ingredients grown in the allotment. and obviously i'm a fan of anywhere i can pet pig noses, talk to whooly sheep and visit with sweet little baby cows! we also went to bath, which is a story for a whole 'nother blog entry.

so far...

2010-02-17T09:30:00.002-05:00

bristol really has been delightful, to use a very british word and i'm having an excellent time. it really was travel from thursday evening in the states until late friday afternoon here in bristol, with a time change that really attempted to kick my bumm. i did enjoy the train ride from london's paddington station all the way across englad to bristol, at least the bits that i was awake for. the only other time i've been here was on a school trip when i was 15 and we really only saw very tourist-y parts of london. so, it was really cool to pass all the little villages and the huge open spaces inbetween. then i had loads of fun catching up with nicole over lots of tea.

by day two i was feeling way more human and felt like i could actually function on a non-zombie level. a nice relaxing morning scheduling some blog entries, munching on shreddies (they're like chex meets shredded mini wheats) & french pressing coffee. then we headed out & about in bristol and did some thrift store shopping before heading into the stokes croft section of town to meet some of nicole's "mates" for lunch at a really cute kitchen like cafe near her studio, which we also visited. it was really cool getting to check out this really artsy part of the town and seeing a bunch of original banksy stuff out on the streets (bristol is his hometown). then nicole had a yoga class to teach, so i half watched the rugby tournament milo was watching while i worked on my valentine's mix until nicole came home with a tiffin full of amazing indian food in hand. we all watched the first episode of glee on my laptop (they hadn't started watching it yet) and then i got to talk to the boy for a while on skype before heading to bed to finish my sleep catch up.

it's true, i have been horrible about taking pictures in bristol, as in none so far, but i do want to go back to stokes croft and photograph loads. But, we were much better in london. and so, that brings us to nicole and my london overnight:

we took the bus into london on sunday (talking, giggling & reminiscing the whole way) and then headed to our hostel to check in to what was supposed to be a six girl dorm, but we ended up just having it to ourselves the whole time. it had cute little pod-like bunk beds, but that was about as far as the charm went, haha. we did some shopping without much buying around the hostel, including a visit to my first top shop. we then rested our shopped out feet at the king george pub with some really yummy burgers & chips and my first proper british pint. then we decided that a silly fluff movie was totally in order for two girls apart from their boys for valentine's day (even though we aren't big valentine's day girls) and went to go see "valentine's day" the movie in a theater full of couples and one row of girls, haha. it was definitely silly & mindless, but it made me cry at the end (which isn't hard to do) and we giggled a couple of times, so it was worth it. then it was back to the hostel for a bunch more girl talk before heading to sleep...

... which was impossible because there was either no insulation or sound proofing at all in the hostel, or everyone was wearing clogs. there was also a talkative nightingale and pigeons "getting intimate" on our windowsill. needless to say we were pretty much already awake by check out time, with very little sleep leading up to it. we maintained our happy level by resting with some morning coffee & tea before heading back out for more london adventures. we also treated ourselves to day passes for the underground and didn't allow ourselves to feel guilty for sometimes taking the tube for just two stops, haha. we did a little more shopping and looking around, including the actual orla kieley shop (it was wonderful, but even harder to spend the money on in british pounds, so i left with just pictures) and then headed to camden town for lunch along camden lock and then spent the rest of our day at the stalls in camden town market. such a fun, lively, packed place to be. totally inspiring and full of things to see everywhere you look. i scored a couple of really fun, cheap buys whilst out and about. then we headed back to victoria station to meet one of nicole's friends for some coffee and chatting at victoria station before we headed to the coach station to take the bus back to bristol where i went to my first sainsbury's grocery and found a candy i had been looking for and an adorable bag i had seen a girl carrying that turned out to be a cheapie reusable grocery bag, haha. obvs snapped it up right away, especially since it was just 1 pound. a bunch more skyping with the boy, lots of usa hockey talk, and then i totally passed out to rehab from our london adventure.

tuesday we laid low, finished recovering from our london adventure and had a super lazy day. we headed out once to sainsbury's for some staples (i am obsessed with ryvita pumpkin seed and oat crispbreads with hummus on them! best crackers ever) and we also got everything we needed for dinner because it's pancake day! that's what they do for mardi gras/fat tuesday here. you have savory and sweet pancakes (which are really what we would call crepes in the states) for dinner as a last yummy hurrah before lent. it's not really my last hurrah, but i'd never turn down a good crepe dinner. i edited some more london photos, did some reading, planning & packing for dublin until rhian got to nicole's for our little pre-dublin sleepover and then we sewed all my fallen buttons back on to my new coat and talked ourselves to sleep to at least get a little rest before our 6:30 a.m. flight to dublin this morning.

having so so so much fun so far, missing my mum, the kitties, the boy & the store, but also looking forward to loads more fun in dublin with rhian and back in england with nicole before i head home on the 22nd!

fictional love.

2010-02-15T17:23:00.000-05:00

in further celebration of valentine's day, or at least valentine's week(?), i bring you a tentative list of some of my favorite fictional couples.

ned & chuck - pushing daisies was yet another show that i feel was canceled way too early, much like a lot of other awesome television shows that don't necessarily appeal to everyone. aside from the amazing sets, costumes, character names, guest stars & main characters, the romance between ned & chuck, who have been meant to be since childhood and can't even touch (or chuck will die, again, instantly) is actually adorably romantic, this is the way they hold hands, pretending they are holding each others instead of their own. too sweet, despite the everyday intricateness of it.

elizabeth bennet & fitzwilliam darcy - i am not yet tied to any particular portrayal of these two, but the one to the left is the one i've seen so far. i always much prefer my imagined version of the characters that come naturally as i read to any tv or movie portrayal anyway. love that this didn't come easy, elizabeth bennet never compromised who she was and the general stubborness, interference & unlikelihood that their love manages to overcome.

jim & pam - i was a little late in the american office game, so luckily i didn't have to wait quite as long as everyone else to see these two finally get together, but managed to be dying the whole time they weren't nonetheless. everyone, or at least most everyone i know, wants fiercely to believe in the possibility of an unrequited, ill-timed friend crush working out amazingly in the end and these two are the perfect example. add awesome comedic chemistry, hijinks (lots) and a million occasions when it seemed like it would never happen and when it finally does, you just about die.

eric & sookie - maybe it's because i've read all the books (hey, they're excellent mindless summer reading) but i just find bill soooooooo annoying, all simpering and such. i want eric & sookie to get together, and not just in her random fantasies! he is a little more rough & tough, and i feel like he would be there to back her up, but would never take over when she could handle something on her own, y'know? i guess we'll call this a couple i'm dying to have happen!

angela and jordan catalano - i mean seriously! do i have to quote like every painful moment of this non-relationship to you?! remember how it was like this is high school? when you could fall in love with a boy because you "just love how he's always, like, leaning on things" and every single word out of his mouth is dissected and analyzed forever? so painful. so true. haha.

there are a fair bunch of couples i have left off this list, buffy & spike, satine & christian among others, but i guess that just leaves room for the possibility of a future list. : )

a transatlantic valentine

2010-02-14T09:00:00.006-05:00

i'm not a huge mushy valentine's day kind of girl, but being away from the boy for it does seem a bit bummy, hence the slightly low-key love-y mix. just a little musical valentine from all the way across the pond.

01. "love song" spoon

02. "touch me i'm going to scream, pt. 1" my morning jacket

03. "jackhammer (slim version) the spinto band

04. "my love" lykke li

05. "heroes" david bowie

06. "two doves" dirty projectors

07. "february stars" foo fighters

08. "elevator love letter" stars

09. "to be alone with you" sufjan stevens

10. "always love" nada surf

11. "publish my love" rogue wave

12. "please, please, please, let me get what i want" the smiths

13. "une annee sans lumiere" arcade fire

14. "teen angst" m83

15. "pachua sunrise (alias remix) minus the bear

16. "konstantine" something corporate

friday five #17

2010-02-12T10:30:00.002-05:00

as decided on the 10th when i wrote all these scheduled blog entries for when i'm away, haha.

01. "odd blood" - i was beyond excited for the release of yeasayer's latest album to the point of actually pre-ordering to insure that i would have it before my trip. i've given it a couple of full listens and so far "ambling alp" which they released as a sneak peek a month+ a go is still my favorite track. i'm hoping it will grow on me with a few more listens on this trip.

02. bird box - my factory issue iphone alarm clock isn't really doing the trick these days, i think i'm getting too used to it's sound. i'm thinking about downloading the bird box app (which is free) and then buying the woodgrain bird house for it to live in. check out the cuteness.

03. class concepts - love the inspiration that strikes when a whole rush of new product starts to head out into the world. i'm a total nerd and love creating folders in iphoto for each class idea and filling them with all the possible products, editing and getting just the perfect mix of new and current products put together to create classes that i can't wait to teach! so much fun coming up in the next few months.

04. 2011 ford fiesta - convo with the boy; me: "so, how wrong is it that i kind of want the new ford fiesta?" the boy: "very." i can't help it. i think it's really adorable, it comes in a fun orange, magenta, and this sweet green, plus a bunch of fun features and the mpg's aren't half bad. call me sick, but i think it's cute.

05. "mint sprint" nail polish - c'mon, just say it out loud, "mint sprint." love. along with being fun to say it's also a pretty rad color on your nails. loving the way i'm rocking it now, which is "mint sprint" on my ring fingers, grey patent on the rest. love.

cha favorites

2010-02-10T21:57:00.004-05:00

i've been paying close attention to all the sneak peeks, reports from cha and now all the catalogs of the newly released product and there is definitely a fair amount of new releases that i'm really excited about seeing in the next 6 months. here are some of my favorites;

01. cosmo crickets core impressions (awesome embossed cardstocks in 5 classic cosmo crickets colors & patterns) 02. tattered angels chalkboard glimmer mists (they coat and shimmer like the winter mvp "marshmallow"! 03. maya road's canvas pennant banner 04. sassafras lass' 12" border sticker sheets 05. "fly a kite" collection from october afternoon ("thrift shop" is really cute too!) 06. puffy thickers & mixed patterned chipboard thickers from the "dear lizzy" collection (along with the rest of that collection, which is killer) 07. there's a bunch of new unity stamps that i like, but i really love this pear tree! 08. "brook" from crate paper. love these colors always. 09. the "hambly remnants" rub-ons are amazing! love the patterns, and can't wait to get my hands on the new grey stuff! 10. i die for these twill ribbon pleats from pink paislee! 11. "max & whiskers" from basic grey may, in theory, be a pet themed collection but i love the colors and the general patterns are going to be awesome for everyday stuff. 12. studio calico's typewriter rub-ons are killing me with the awesome red, yellow or grey options! 13. the 7gypsies letterbox tray is just begging to live in future apartment of my dreams 14. loving this ghetto blaster cheapie snag 'em stamp from imaginisce's "live loud" collection (some of the papers are pretty rad as well) 15. kind of in love with the new rack program from mme, "quite contrary" has some sweet bits and pieces and i love most of the color combos.

and now for something completely different...

2010-02-08T21:10:00.007-05:00

when teaching a "maximizing your 6x6 paper pads" class i tend to pick out some card bases & ink colors that coordinate with the paper pad as a whole and mostly stick to those colors. but, this time i checked myself and remembered that when working with just one of the papers you can make your own color scheme for something completely different.

"origins" is full of earthy browns, greens & yellows that helped me create these cards;

but, when you take just one patterned paper away from the rest of the collection, especially one like this with a brighter green, you can put it with something different, in this case bright raspberry pink, these girlie stamps from hero and the awesome martha loop punch and make something completely stand alone.

random crafty advice - don't let yourself get caught up in the collection!

friday five #16

2010-02-05T13:45:00.006-05:00

01. sheldon in a ball pit - i've blogged about how much i love the dr. sheldon cooper character on big bang theory, but this week's episode about sheldon's breakdown when he's stuck figuring something science-y that i can't even begin to pretend to know about had one of the most hilarious scenes from this show, EVER. watch it.

02. the guiltiest of tv guilty pleasures - i can't even defend "greek" by claiming it's witty or an underground, surprise sensation. it's pop culture laced, only slightly witty, horrible dialouge & cheesy predictable story lines, but i love it,and i love the cappy and romance. it's my super mindless, super guilty pleasure.

03. a trip to the rock - we're heading to the prudential center tonight for the devils v. leafs game. i'm beyond stoked! stoked on a new devils hoodie. stoked on watching brodeur play. love him! stoked on being there for kovalchuk's first game with the devils after that crazy trade last night! i'll miss oduya, and maybe even bergfors a little, but i can deal because kovalchuk has a nasty shot, nasty in a good way as the boy would say, and he's going to push it hard. should prove to be totally worth it. so stoked!

04. work hard & be kind - so who else cried multiple times during coco's last episode? i loved that he took the high road. i also completely loved his advice, "work hard and be kind." this spoof on the classic "be calm and carry on" print is amazing. you can also get it as wallpaper here.

05. brand cameos - i don't know that i love, love russell brand in large doses, but i do absolutely adore his smaller & cameo roles like, "forgetting sarah marshall." last weekend the boy and i watched "bedtime stories" which made for some cute, lazy sunday viewing, and he's pretty adorable in that one as well.

dream bedroom... sigh.

2010-02-01T16:37:00.006-05:00

so who else is guilty of putting together dream outfits, rooms you can only dream of affording and wish lists full of things you will never actually buy? why must we torture ourselves? since i have officially started looking for an apartment, with a goal of late april or may, i have naturally started building dream rooms that i may not be able to afford, but can certainly try to d.i.y. my way into. here's all the bedroom inspiration i have picked up so far.

01. "high strung" green walls perhaps (jamaica posted this on tumblr a while a go, not sure where it came from) 02. birch wallpaper on 1 wall (might be able to paint this instead?) 03. gorgeous, dark wood side tables (love the shape) 04. killer wooden stereo to plug the ipod into 05. dark purple rosette quilt (will stalk on anthro wish list) 06. bartlett pear sheet set (soooooo will not spend that much on sheets no matter how much i love them) 07. textured, deconstructed, perfect gray pillow 08. alexander girard pillow 09. feather printed rug tucked under the foot of the bed 10. live what you love letterpress print 11. meerkat print (preferably in an ornate oval frame) 12. multiple john murphy style frames (could be thrifted & painted)

friday five #15

2010-01-29T13:07:00.005-05:00

01. core impressions - core'dinations is pairing up with some awesome manufacturers who have patterns & colors that they use on a semi-regular basis and combining them with their embossed cardstock line to create packs of sandable, embossed paper. that means you can now play with that amazing cosmo cricket woodgrain, classic jenni bowlin label shape & jillibean soup's all over numbers pattern by sanding them down to reveal another color or just leaving them all embossed and lovely! can't wait 'til the collections packs start shipping!

02. distinguished animals - ryan berkley is obviously a genius! he illustrates very distinguished portraits of various animals and give you a little story about said animal as well. kristina bought me this cheetah print as part of my birthday fun package in june and i love him, i mean just read his little bio, "After cataract surgery ten years ago, this cheetah realized that an eyepatch can be a real conversation starter with the ladies. His eye has long since healed but his social calendar remains quite full." genius. you can shop his etsy, buy framed prints at urban or get these rad coasters! i think "meerkat" will be my next purchase.

03. coachella possibilities - do i dare dream that i might finally make it to coachella this spring? it's a slight possibility, and i would totally die! especially if i not only get to go with john & jasmine, the usual coachella suspects, but also get jen & vee to come along on the indio adventure. 3 full days of amazingness.

04. night owl paper goods - letterpress, cards printed on actual wood, adorable branding & lots of sweet little characters = love. also, they have some pretty awesome stuff on sale right now. i just bought some sale goodies and will be making a mini album out of a bunch of the wood postcards! on a somewhat related note, i can't wait for the ny stationary show in may!

05. wallpaper lust - i am soooooo not creating dream rooms for an apartment that i have not even found yet. that would be crazy, right? : / aaaaanyway... i am in a pretty major phase of big, crazy, graphic wallpaper lust! look at that gorgeous peacock feather stuff from ferm! and there's some gorgeous white birch tree wallpaper that you may or may not be seeing in a future blog entry that may or may not be about my dream rooms.

hangin' in!

2010-01-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

things are getting crazy busy lately, so all my previously planned blog entries just don't really seem to be happening. i have been trying to blog every monday, wednesday and friday and have actually been pretty on top of it until monday, and rather than getting even further off track, here's a quickie entry with a little eye candy courtesy of the "shake it photo" app on my iphone.

this is one of the cards i'll be teaching in my next "maximizing your 6x6 paper pads" class on the 4th, using the "origins" paper pad from basic grey. i just turned that little owl dude upside down to go along with the sentiment and had fun finding the perfect copic colors for the paper. few things are as relaxing as coloring. b.t.dubs, there are still some spots open in class if anyone wants to call to sign-up.

friday five #14

2010-01-22T10:30:00.011-05:00

i can't believe i've been mostly keeping up with this for fourteen-ish fridays! that's fourteen lists of things i've discovered, become obsessed with or am into that particular week. i'm loving the time-capsule-like quality of it, even now when it's only been a few months.

01. woodland creatures - i've been known to break for a leaf or shadow that looks like an animal from time to time and my heart hurts when i see a little group of deer grazing by the side of the road or a bunny or squirrel darting across the road all panicked looking. so, when i'm on a back road or in my complex i stop, roll down my window and give them a little mothering talk about the dangers of roads. is anyone else this crazy... or is it just me? p.s. the stitched fawn & flower is from here.

02. dublin - it's official! i'm going to dublin with rhian for a couple of days while i'm visiting nicole in bristol! i can't wait to finally get to ireland and i really, really can't wait to have a crazy fun adventure with miss rhian! i have the dk dublin top ten book, but am looking for a little more insight. anyone have anything we need to check out whilst we're mucking about?

03. new spoon - the new spoon album, "transference" came out this week and i am in absolute love with the dirty, under-produced garage vibe it has going on. it's like older spoon and i'm in love. it's already been playing in my car on an almost constant loop, and i definitely recommend it for the cozy feel.

04. cosmo's "boyfriend" woodgrain alpha - obvs i'm a little late in the game with these, but i couldn't decide if i needed them needed them, or was just blinded by the woodgrain. turns out i did need them need them, a whole 3 sets worth. oops! can't wait to play with them asap!

05. orla kiely store - a light bulb went off this week when i realized that when nicole and i take london i can finally visit an orla kiely store! you can find bits and pieces of her collections here, and she did that little line for target a bunch of months back, but this will be my first trip to her store where i can check it all out in person and try not to do a ton of damage. i see the possibility of something fun and orla in my future!

plaid at heart 2: the flannel edition

2010-01-20T10:30:00.009-05:00

you may remember plaid at heart (the original) which i posted last spring. i can't believe it's taken me this long to create another edition considering how much i love my folk/plaid bands. this one is a little bit more comfy cozy feeling, just like your favorite plaid flannel; especially designed to get you through the rest of the winter. so, with no further ado, here it is;

01. "behind that locked door" by yim yames

02. "the right place" by monsters of folk

03. "home" by edward sharpe & the magnetic zeroes

04. "carpetbaggers" by jenny lewis featuring elvis costello

05. "thank you too" by my morning jacket

06. "hold on, hold on" by neko case

07. "long way home" by mates of state

08. "acorn factory" by the dodos

09. "15" by rilo kiley

10. "train song" by ben gibbard & feist

11. "done all wrong" by black rebel motorcycle club

12. "the first days of spring" by noah and then whale

13. "requiem" by m. ward

14. "romeo and juliet" by dire straits

15. "on and on" by mission to the sea

16. "heartbeats" by jose gonzalez

17. "blindsided" by bon iver

2010 so far... in layouts!

2010-01-18T11:00:00.008-05:00

that's right, i've actually scrapbooked already this year!

one of my favorite stamps that we sell at scraptasia has a monster on it and says "i love your face". the boy spotted it on his first trip to visit me at work and we started saying it all the time. these pictures are from the new years eve party we went to with jessica & roger. i knew if i was doing "love your face" i had to use the "monstrosity" paper from sassafras lass. then i threw some thickers, a chip shape from cosmo's "boyfriend" collection and a studio calico card in for good measure. (also, let the record show that i am not responsible for those neon yellow sunglasses!)

new years day (nyd) the boy and i headed to harlem for k & dawn's "new year, new home brunch for dinner party". vee was already there upon our arrival and it was really nice to introduce the boy to some of the important people in my life. for this one i used the "amplify" collection from sassafras lass, 4 different fonts of thickers and i fell in love with the way the magenta doilie rub-ons from hambly look when rubbed on bazzill's "tangy taffy" cardstock! they almost look like they are actually clear embossed onto the paper, color matching perfection! love.

why is it that you can spend an hour plus on a layout and struggle the whole time to get it looking right, and the one that you whip together in 30 minutes is almost always the one you love more? i've been wanting to use this "origins" paper from basic grey since the day it came in. it takes a lot for me to like something floral, but this does it. love it with the kraft paper base!

and i know i've said it before, but it's worth saying again; one of the best thing about hanging out with other scrapbookers & artists is that i'm not always the one behind the camera. this shot that kristina snagged of the boy & i at the party totally makes my heart all squeezy! i typed a whole list of things i love about us all over the photo with ampersands between each one, hence the title "on & on & on" as in the list goes...

here's to hoping i keep up the good scrapping habits!

friday five #13

2010-01-15T11:00:00.007-05:00

01. royal typewriters - specifically those made in the 50's and later in gorgeous colors! they are so pretty and timeless. i have a junky old olympia and i am seriously craving an underwood cursive typewriter but i would love to score a vintage salmon or teal royal. but, in the meantime i will get by with a little help from crafty folk's typewriter stickers.

02. "contra" - the new vampire weekend album came out tuesday, sara berry clued me in to the fact that you could listen to it on npr's website before it's release and i'm pretty into it. it's probs going to be perfect to get us all through the end of winter and ready for a fresh and fun spring.

03. the boy can atc - the boy & i went to kristina & dawn's new years day housewarming party (vee came up too, yay!) and one of the first thing's miss k yelled in our general directions was that everyone had to make an atc card for the house before leaving. i thought the boy was going to be not so into it, but he was totes into it and slammed out a killer card complete with painting, stamping and even rub-ons. i'm a lucky miss!

04. fuggs - let me get real serious here for a second. i hate uggs, like haaaaaaaaaate them! but my toes have been frozey this winter, so i caved and bought some fuggs (as in fake & fugly) last month and i kind of see what it's all about. they keep my feeties warm, are super easy to slip on and they oddly enough make your legs look cute and small by comparison. hell must have truly frozen over.

05. tattoo possibilities - wintertime is tattoo time and i'm so ready for a new one. i have it narrowed down to just a couple of pieces by one of my favorite artists, julie west, and i'm pretty sure about location, now to just donate blood before (so annoying that you can't for 6 months after), save the funds, make final decisions and make the appointment! yay!