Frayed Edges

This page is the result of the frayed edges of my sanity lately:


Cosmo Cricket Patterned Paper Jack's world x 3, Maya Road Chipboard hearts. The colors in Jack's world make me happy, and I needed that while making this layout. Framed my text print out and added paper, hearts and photo on top.

When the going gets tough, the tough take a break. I'm thinking of visiting my parents this week, but taking the child-in-constant-motion on a car trip seems daunting. But, I think a little break from our same old routine would be good.

This weekend was expensive. Dh needed a new Mac laptop for work. We had to get new cell phones because mine (after 4 years) died. I make do, go without and wear things out. And I have a hard time admitting that it is time to replace them. I tried to get a new battery for my dinosaur, but "they would have to special order it." My phone is dead, I don't have that kind of time. I felt so stupid in the cell store, everything is marketed to people half my age. (And I'm in my 30s, so that's saying something.) I didn't want a Crackberry, nor did I need the bells and whistles of an iphone. I've only sent 3 text messages in my life. I just wanted what I had, but that was impossible. Everything changes I guess. We just got the free upgraded phones to our existing account, with a new service plan for a couple of dollars more than we were paying. However we still had to buy the car charger and pay some fees, so our "free" phones cost about $100. And I could tell the very hip person working at the Verizon store thought we were the lamest people in the store for choosing the "free' phones. It's not a cheap thing. It's a simplicity thing. I can't stand to have and pay for more than I need or will use. Maybe I'm just too ADD to focus on all that stuff, while I'm driving, drinking a latte, singing to my child, swearing at bad drivers, and trying to read the GPS in bumper to bumper traffic. Call me crazy. The uber cool Verizon dude did.

I have so many Fall pictures from last year, it's going to be a challenge to do this year and last year too. Here's a start, it's Scribble Scrabble Autumn Afternoon Line:


I love the Scribble Scrabble Autumn Chippers, just love them. In case you are interested, I think Memorable Seasons might be having a design team call soon. Just wanted to give you the heads up on that, Jill is really great to work for and Chrissy the head of the DT is wonderful.

Well, the tough needs to charge her lame phone and pack. If you pray, I'd really appreciate a prayer for the car ride. 'Cuz I'll be on the road with all the people who did opt for the upgraded data service plan. :) Have a great Monday!

TGIF and oh so random

Thank you so much blog readers, for your advice about the all about me layout photo. I realized that photoshopping the red out of my hair is in fact taking the "me" out of the picture. So I cleaned this one up and used it here:



That American crafts will test your retina.

J is sleeping better, but the tantrums are an ongoing thing. I'm reading "The Spirited Child." I'm trying to understand how this little person is giving me my highest highs and my lowest lows, all in the same 5 mins. He is definitely energetic, perceptive, and sensitive. I don't think he exhibits any symptoms of ADHD or Autism. And this may just be the age. But I have come to understand this: child are not a blank slate that you get to write on. Nope, children come with their own personality and my communicates his likes and dislikes at the top of his lungs, normally in a public place. I'm almost to the point where I forget to be embarrassed.

These past two weeks have taught me how I need to make better use of the time I have, and to prioritize. I can't do everything, and I had to make a very difficult decision today. I decided not to stay on for another 6 mos at Memorable Seasons. My time there was wonderful and I made lots of good friends and I learned a lot. But I need to start submitting my work for publication again, and something had to give. Time has to come from somewhere, but I want to do everything. But I want to do everything 110% and I know that I can't give MS that right now.

Since it is Friday, such a wonderful day, I won't end on a sad note. Instead here is a card I made for my neighbor/friend Amy. I know she will put it up on her fridge. She has 3 kids and is always overwhelmed with school starting. I thought she could put this up and be reminded to be happy:

Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy Happy Campers Card:



I used some Luster Rub-ons for the leaf in green and red on top of the Cosmo Mr. Campy Blackboard. They remind me of eyeshadow. It said to use a fixative, but it was like the blackboard sucked it up because it wasn't coming off this morning! I did the computer lines and text, printed it out, stamped the Mr. Campy Stamp Happy Campers on there with Van Dick Brown ink, and then added Mr. Campy patterned paper. I also added the lines on the leaf with a permenant marker in Green. Easy.

Well, except when you leave the stamp out and J stamps "happy campers" all over your new futon cover. Dh laughed, me not so much. It came out with washing. I'll show you pics of the completed and cleaned scrap room tomorrow.

TGIF and hey, I've been wondering, did Chatterbox and Fancy pants pick their DT? I didn't apply, just have lots of friends who did. Crossing my fingers for them!

Cosmo Cogs Card

I usually pride myself on being pretty flat, as far as scrapping goes anyway. But today I created a card with some dimension. I hope I can show that to you via photos, using Cosmo Cricket's Cogsmos Diecut Cogs.

I've always wanted to buy a card like this. I always seem to inevitably buy a card for some one's 38th birthday and I forget to give it to them. What on earth am I going to do with it now? Not a problem with this card, it's multi purpose.

Here is showing the dimension:



And here I used the Cosmo Buck Naked Chipboard buttons for the dimension under the Cogs: (For the biggest I used two buttons, for one of the smaller cogs I used one button, and the other I just put on the Cardstock)



I used the Making Memories Sharp tool to poke holes in the card for the Karen Foster Screw brads, but you could totally wing it and cram them in there. I'm just anal like that. :)



So here are some general uses for my new favorite card:

I've been thinking, Let's . . .

Have a baby
Go to lunch
Go shopping
Go skydiving
Go to Europe
Move to the West Coast
Elope
Get Engaged
Get Married
Get Divorced
Get a Llama, puppy, kitten, ferret
Buy a house
Celebrate your birthday
Cheer you up with a round on me
Get a manicure
Make fun of our co-worker/boss
Get a life
Go out on a date
Find someone to cut your grass
TP the neighbors house
Take some antibiotics and get well soon.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless.
Note: I don't take any of this seriously and neither should you. It's just paper. And I love it.
Hope your Tuesday is balmy and breezy.

Monday

Good Monday Morning! J and I are enjoying what's left of the summer, got big plans to play outside with our trucks in the dirt today. Here is a Cosmo Cricket layout that exemplifies what we have been up to lately:



By way of instructions, I printed the photos first, then I added the title and the journaling with the computer later (but it would be better if you did it all at the same time, I'm kind of scatterbrained like that.) I mounted it to cardstock, added it to the Cosmo Cricket Get Happy patterned paper. I left a space in my journaling for the Cosmo Cricket Vintage Blackboard letter, and then inked by Cosmo Buck Naked Chipboard heart with Colorbox Scarlet Ink. I added the Making Memories tiny Alphas last. I added the instructions because a couple of people have asked me if it was a digital layout. Nope, if you ink it, definitely not digi right?

I got a futon and an expedite bookcase at IKEA, but my room is kind of a mess at the moment. I might need a day or two to share pics. God bless dh for hulling everything out of IKEA, tying it to the roof of the car, lugging it in the house up 3 stories, and putting everything together for me. He totally gets it, or he fakes it because he loves me. Either way. . .

I'd love to hear about your weekend! Leave me a link/comment so I can find you!

Weekend

Lately I just feel so tired and overwhelmed. I have been taking a nap every time J sleeps this whole week because I am so tired. I'm pretty sure I have been fighting some sort of a virus, only in the past 24 hours have I begun to feel better. The only scrapping I've done is in the evenings, whatever I can get done between 8:30-10. Not much is getting done and it's frustrating to me. I frustrate my own self sometimes.

My dh came home last night, this was a surprise and I was so excited to see him. I feel like I have been counting the minutes until he returned from this past trip. Unfortunately, things did not go very well on his trip and he was upset. I hate to see him upset, it so rarely happens. J gets his easy-go lucky attitude from dh.



I've been fooling around with my camera today. I had to get some "all about me" shots for some pages for the challenge at Memorable Seasons. I really, really, really don't like pictures of my self. And I hate to scrap myself, me staring at me staring back at me. Yikes! But for the record, for posterity, I have to do it every once a quarter. Like going to the dentist or doing taxes, it's a necessary evil. It hurts like a root canal though. Here is one that I probably won't use (my hair is entirely too red). I found a way to calm it down a little in some other shots, so maybe it will be ok?

I'm going to IKEA tomorrow! Happy day, I love that place. I plan to get a small Expedite to put in my closet, to hold some things that I need but don't use a lot. I'm also still thinking about the futon, I'm going to look around there and see if anything moves me. I've lived without it this long though.

That picture makes me want to go get a haircut, do you think locks of love would take my 10% gray/90% reddish brown hair? Probably no one wants any gray hair right?

What's up?

What have I been up to? Clearly not blogging, hehe. Let's see:

1. I have spent 6 hours total, 3 already this week in the toyota dealership. Ds and I spent Monday and Tuesday morning there. On Monday we were told (after we had waited for 2 hours) that the tire that was ordered wasn't there yet. Come back tomorrow. A holy rage ensued on my part, but really, what could I do? They had me, I can't get the tire anywhere else, I tried. So, on Tuesday the tire finally got put on. For my trouble, a toyota backpack. I had to chase those storm clouds away with guacamole, you know I did my friends.

2. I found this:


Ok it wasn't in that condition when I found it. I'm not proud of this either, but it was just so perfect I couldn't leave it. I was walking my dog and had J in the stroller on Tuesday. It was trash day, and we walked by our neighbors cans, when halfway around the block I saw this sitting next to a trash can. Covered in grease, filled with spices. Only a scrapper would have seen that diamond in the rough. I figured they are throwing it out right? I thought about it for 2 secs and threw it in the bottom of the stroller and kept right on walking. I took it in the house, J and I dumped the spices, half of which had never been opened. I cleaned and sanitized the base, which spins! And I took the caps off and put the caps and glass in the dishwasher. In about an hour I took it upstairs to my room. It's perfect I tell you. I have the most modern looking scraproom I've ever seen and this is just the right addition. My house is very minimalist, and this is just the right about of stuff. It has 16 jars, and I'm still deciding what to put in there. Recycled, re-purposed? Maybe I'm just a trashy, dumpster diving woman, but I love it. Right price = Free.

3. I have been working on Scribble Scrabble layouts! Here are two. The first uses Scribble Scrabble Sweet and Sour and even though it's "pink" and dh is going to have a fit, I like it:



The second is using Scribble Scrabble Suzy Snowflake line. I love Scribble Scrabble's diecut shapes and chippers! The journaling is that even though he kept staring out the window wanting to play, clearly I was wrong. He was sooo mad.


4. Last, but not least, I put together a kit for Memorable Seasons for Fall. It's pending Jill's approval, but I'm really excited about it. If you get the opportunity to do this I highly recommend it, it will give you a new appreciation for how scrapbooking kits are put together (like Studio Calico's). Speaking of which, there are still a few SC August kits left. But I'd hurry.

Hope you are having a great week!

This is going to be a pretty quick post. I'm getting everything ready to go camp out at the dealership with ds so that they can fix my car properly. I hope this is really the end of this problem. Crossing fingers.

Here are some layouts I did for my design team work at Memorable Seasons with American Crafts Moda Bella Line:




I just love doing water layouts, I know when the cool weather gets here I will miss them and wish I had done more. Hope you have a wonderful and creative day all who stop by. What do you think of AC Moda Bella, kind of bright uh?

August Birthdays

Just a quick post, I'm still alive. I'm scrapping, just really tired lately from all the problems this past week with my vehicle. The dealership is refunding the price of the plug and ordered me a new tire, to be put on Monday. So, it's going to work out after all. Just some cards for my August Birthdays-dh and my sister:




Fancy Pants Rub-ons. Can you guess which one Dh is getting? :)

Well, while the battle for my tire rages on, I thought I'd switch gears here a little bit. I got my design team box today for Scribble Scrabble. I think I told you they released 4 new lines this summer: Indigo, Sweet n' Sour, Suzy Snowflake, and Autumn Afternoon. You can see them in more detail here. (Click on the image for a close up view.) I just wanted to point out a couple of things that I think are really cool about Scribble Scrabble.

Each line has 6 papers, with an A and B side, for a total of 12 possible choices:

Each line comes with coordinating diecuts, swirls, words, etc. Here is an example of Indigo:

Each line also comes with a sheet of coordinating edges. Here is an example of Indigo's edges:

Additionally, ledger paper is very popular in the Summer release lines. This is just one example of Indigo's ledge paper:

Also note the edge on the bottom, different on every page. There's the logo on the front and a coordinating little piece of ribbon on the back.

And here is something everyone is very excited about: Chipboard Flocked Shapes! One sheet for each line, here is an example of Autumn Afternoon:

I love the flocking, but not the mess. This is already done for you! Here is a picture that shows the flocking better:


So much Scribble Scrabble goodness in one place! I hope to start on that this weekend. I am finishing up some DT assignments for Memorable Seasons today, I made some cards for some important family member's August birthdays that I will share with you tomorrow. And the Studio Calico Kit has shipped. Holy mountain of paper I will be loving this weekend!

The last 24 hours have just kicked my butt.
I went out Sunday evening to get in the car with J to get dinner and one of my tires was devastatingly flat. (That means no Chipotle my friends, and that's bad juju.)I waited until a reasonable hour Monday morning so that I could call AAA. AAA came out, couldn't plug the tire, couldn't find a hole. They filled the tire with air though. J eats/naps and then we head to the dealership.

I get lost, with the GPS. And the tire is less than 1/2 full as I consult a map in a gas station in the middle of nowhere. I finally find the dealership, only to be told my brand new tire warranty doesn't cover nails, which is what they say did my tire in. Second time in less than 3 years. After sitting at the dealership for 2 hours, -$70 later to plug the hole, with a warning that I'll need to "cont. to watch it," I take cranky child to find dinner and get home asap to walk my dog. All I could do was sit in silence and stare straight head for 15 minutes before going to bed last night.

But today was a new day I told myself. Today would be better. Yeah, not so much. I went out to the vehicle to take J to the food store and the tire was completely flat again. After a few choice curse words that I regret in front of my child, I went back in the house to think about my options. The dealership told me when I left not to bring the tire back there, just to go buy a new tire. Of course, then they don't have to pay for it right. On the other hand, I don't really want to force them to fix it when they clearly don't want to. I think it stinks that I paid them $70 to plug a tire that didn't even hold for 24 hours, that seems wrong. So, I called AAA again, asked them to come take the crappy tire off so and put the spare on. I'd figure out where to get a new tire later. That's where I'm at. I don't know whether to sleep or cry, but scrapping seems far from my mind at the moment. Sorry about the picture less post, I'll try to do better next time friends. To be honest, I feel a little like that stupid tire. Exhausted.

Lessons Learned

I purchased, at 50% off from Memorable Seasons, a new AC Album. It arrived on Saturday, and I spent Sat. evening sorting J's pages and putting them into page protectors. It was a humbling experience in so many ways.

Here is what I learned:

1. I should have bought an album a long time ago. Then I would have known all this stuff months ago. I'll chalk that up to learning the hard way. Plus, we could have enjoyed the pages by flipping through them, instead of them collecting dust on my shelf.

2. I'm a fairly "flat" scrapper, thank goodness. Only time in my life I've ever been grateful to be flat.

3. I have 55 pages from J's first year, only 35 from his second. Hmm?

4. Even as much as I scrap, I don't feel like I have all the memories down I want to get down. I want to do some pages where I show the progression of time, compare months. Really show the ages. I wish I had documented the date/age more on my first pages.

5. I didn't regret anything I actually scrapbooked, only the things I didn't. But I didn't know what those things were until I saw the pages in the album and realized that's all I had.

6. Looking at the finished pages in the album, sorted by month for J's age, I didn't notice the "product" at all. I only noticed the journaling/photo. I guess in the end it doesn't matter what paper/products you use, so long as you love them. And when you see just how much scrapbooking stuff you have compared to how few finished pages you have, ouch.

7. I didn't really notice the design of the pages much either. It's something I'm not going to stress about quite so much in the future.

8. I want even more photos! It's not that I want to put 10 photos on a page just for the sake of it, I just want more of the story, any way I can get it. I'll try to add more photos in the future. J wants more photos of me and dh, those are his favorite pages.

9. I thought I was a pretty good journaler, but I could do better.

10. I have 90 layouts total, mostly 8.5 x 11. Even though I did a bunch of layouts for CHA, they aren't returned so they don't count. Otherwise we would be real close to celebrating 100 pages here in the next few weeks.

I have another album coming for J's second year. And I'm thinking that once I hit 100 pages, a RAK might be in order. So stay tuned for that. I'll leave you with a page I did for a challenge at SC, a bow challenge by Steph H. I wasn't going to do it, but then I saw that Susan Beth blew my excuse out of the water ( I only have boys to scrap darn it!). So, being the punk that I am, I had to make good even though it is like a week late. Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy everything except cardstock and AC thickers. Do you love that ribbon or what? Regardless of whether you feel these papers are your style, the ribbon is just awesome.



So dh says to me as I finished this page last week, what are those? (pointing to the butterflies).
Me: Oh, those are moths.
Dh: Moths?
Me: Yep, hottest thing at CHA. Moths, mustaches and marshmallows.
Dh: (Gives me a look like what kind of adhesive are you sniffing in there?)
Me: Smiling weakly, knowing I am busted with ribbon and butterflies on a boy page.

Oh well, 10 more pages to go!

TGIF

I can't seem to stop using Cosmo's Jack's World. I had decided that I would just do whatever spoke to me last evening and here you have it:



I added some odds and ends from my Studio Calico kits. Can't wait for the August kit!

I got some exciting mail yesterday:



It was my prize for winning the Queen and Company Summer Contest, it's all their new release felt! Thanks so much Nic Howard and the Queen and Co. DT! This felt will look amazing with Haunted! :) I love it all!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Friday! Any big plans for the weekend? Can't wait to find out!