Thursday, August 14, 2008

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!

Monday, August 11, 2008

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?

Saturday, August 9, 2008

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? :)

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

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!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

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.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

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!

Friday, August 1, 2008

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!