31st of October

{Artist Trading Cards}

How is it already Halloween? Halloween means Thanksgiving is just around the corner, quickly followed by Christmas, and then the New Year. How does this happen? The last 3 months of the year just zoom on by. So I guess today I should wish you a Happy New Year! ;)

This week:
♥ {take flight} pages are due
♥ sort and bind 38 {take flight} skinny fat books
♥ submit a book to Somerset Studio magazine
♥ start art journaling daily (challenge with Heather)
♥ ship scarves/scarflettes/wristlets to kansas for consignment
♥ meet and spend the weekend with Heather in Central California. :)
♥ also meet Shoshanah, the "other half" of HannahGrey.

Goodnight!

I am *so* tired! Where have I been this weekend? Right here, finishing up the last of my projects due this week! Thank goodness, I am done!! Now, I'm going to sleep.

start of my second layout in {kara's journal}

Kara's Journal

Tonight was "journal and a movie" at The ART bar. I was so excited when the mailman pulled up to my house as I was getting ready to leave. I had been anticipating Kara's journal for our collaborative "round robin" and was relieved that it arrived just in time! I was the only one to show up - which was a little bummer but really worked out well as I take up a lot of space when I spread out! ;) It was still nice to leave the house and have "me" time. It's also always fun to have access to over 1,000 artistamps, markers, pens, punches, tools, supplies, etc. The movie was The Phantom of the Opera. I had never seen it and really enjoyed it. It helped that I already knew all the songs. I realized tonight that I know soundtracks to many musicals that I've never actually seen. I wonder why that is.. :) Anyway, here is my layout! I'm really happy with how it turned out. At the top of the last photograph is a clear ATC sleeve that I filled with pretty odds 'n ends and sewed around the edges. It goes in the envelope on the left page. Uh, hope that made sense.

be inspired.

♥ view all of my flickr favorites here.

{lime}

{lime} journal page for "color" collaboration [made mid-oct]

♥ I want to get together with my family for more stamping & art
♥ I want to teach a mixed media class
♥ I want to be published
♥ I want to take an art class or go to an art retreat

{a vintage christmas}

37 embellished chunky book pages ready to go... hallelujah! ;)

new techniques

A couple of days ago I packed up my tote with some travel art stuff to bring with me to work while the parent's were out of town (since we stay over). Of course, I wanted to show Alex the new techniques I've learned and here are two of them: foiling and webbing. The bottom middle one is a great example of webbing. That card is going to Heather. Alex made the top right card by himself. :) The other two on the top we made as a collaboration. We each started with a card and would do one thing before passing it to the other person. It was fun! The best examples of foiling on these ATCs are the bottom ends- two different color foils. The only other ones that are spoken for are the middle row: left & middle. If you're interested in a trade of let me know. It doesn't have to be these cards. I have plenty. ;)

♥ Man-o-man, I keep having to fill {take flight} spots
♥ I woke up with a sore throat and pressure in my chest
♥ I have three two major projects to do that are due in one week

SPT {tired}

no series today.. i'm tired

More self portraits found here and here.

*oooh! check out my sister's SPT!*

{twenty}

Last week I was tagged by Celine to write 5 little known facts about myself and this week I was tagged by Heather to list 20 random things, so here it is combined. In no particulatr order:

1. I make lists literally every single day. You might say I'm ruled by lists.

2. I am afraid of the dark. I'm not kidding. At night I turn the lights off starting with the furthest from my bedroom and sort of run to the next light. By the time I've hit the bedroom light I'm mid-air hoping to land on my bed (stemming from the childhood belief that an aligator would get me if I hit the ground).

3. I've suffered from migraines since I was 8 years old. I didn't even realize that this wasn't normal and that some people go without so much as a headache until Alex told me a few years ago that he never got a headache until he was an adult.

4. I am ruled by cravings. You'd think I was pregnant 100% of my life, the way I follow up ice cream with green olives and vice versa.

5. Judging by what I'm drawn to most, my favorite color is aqua- but I've been saying it's purple for all of my life.

6. I've visited 5 countries and 17 states (that I recall).

7. When I was little (5 or 6) I wanted to be a ballerina, children's book author, and flight attendant [when I grew up]. All at the same time.

8. I've met most of my closest friends ever, on the internet. Including my husband. :)

9. I sometimes feel so small and claustrophobic in a room full of people (like IKEA on the weekend) that I start to panic and sometimes cry. (This has only actually happened once at IKEA.)

10. I speak really well in public but the entire time I feel sick, am red in the face, and near tears.

11. I've suffered from depression on and off for approximately 4 years but have yet to see a doctor about it.

12. I *love* to people watch. My sister and I used to do this for hours on end when visiting Disneyland.

13. I listen to talk radio.

14. My six saved FM stations play: Country, Pop, Christian, R&B + Hip Hop + Rap, Classical, and Rock. Talk about ecclectic.

15. I *love* winged things.

16. I've traded almost 500 ATC's and hope to trade at least that much more.

17. I sometimes get so overwhelmed by my overly commited self that I just pretend my projects aren't even there. It's gotten me in trouble a time or two.

18. I watch at least one episode of Law & Order everyday. I like SVU the best.

19. Alex wants me to put that I'm a Tetris Master. And, I am. ;)

20. OMG, It took me over an hour to think of these. Ha!

I tag: Aimee, Aunt Kim, Ky, Kim K., and Amanda.

pumpkin fun!

Alex and I had such a wonderful day together. We woke up at *gasp* 12:15! Ha! :) I don't remember the last time we slept half the day. We didn't get to bed until about 1 am and he had been up since 5 am so it was a long day! So we woke up, got ready, and went to The ART bar. (Be sure to read all about the Altered Art Adventure- ATC Mixer last night.) The exhibit of my ATC collection wasn't put up yet so we'll call and see if it's up tomorrow so I can go take photos. I needed to go anyway because by the time I left last night at 11:30 pm the cash register was closed. I just bought a couple of little things so that I could apply the techniques I learned to my artwork. On the way home Alex and I went to the pumpkin patch in Aliso Viejo and he thought it was so funny that it was in the parking lot of a shopping center. Well excuse me Mr. Midwestern. ;) Alex got a case of "caring what people think" and initially didn't want to go pick out a pumpkin with me. He quickly got over that and joined me in the fun. :) We picked out our pumpkins and we each picked a big one and a wee one. We also bought a carving kit and brought them home to carve. It was a lot of fun carving them-I'd never used a kit before. They turned out great IMHO. :) Afterward, I made us some yummy (almost too salty) pumpkin seeds. Mmm, mmm.

ATC Mixer

OMG! I just wrote a long explantion about how awesome the Altered Art Adventure 2005 was last night and it got deleted somehow while posting. Anyway, last night was the Altered Art Adventure at the ART bar in Santa Ana, California I had told you about. I didn't end up taking the class but I did go to the ATC Mixer. I am so glad I did! I was really nervous about not knowing everyone and driving in the dark to some place I was completely unfamiliar with. I'm glad I got over that because it was so much fun. I met some wonderful people. I even traded some previously made ATCs which was neat because I had only traded online before that. They had 5 stations set up where they did demonstrations. I bought a $15.00 ATC packet which allowed me to try out each of the new techniques. It was *so* awesome to learn new things that I can apply to my artwork, greeting cards, etc. The owner, Nicole, was really a great person and I hope to spend much more time in there in the future. I may even have a party there or something. :) Studio time is $5.00 an hour and it's worth it to get to play with all the fun goodies. And the stamps! OMG! Two walls of stamps. :) Wanna know something funny? I brought with me my binders of ATCs I've traded for so that people can check it out and Nicole loved it so much. She asked me to borrow one of the full binders to make an exhibit like the one at the top. So, if you've traded with my there is a good possibility your card is up on the wall! :) Alex and I are going today to check it out and take photographs. Plus, I didn't get a chance to buy anything from the store and that's just no good. ;)

alphabet book

I've been holding off on posting these until Heather got them but now she has. :) She's making an alphabet book for her daughter for Christmas and has asked her friends to "adopt a letter". I chose letters "g" and "b". These are 8" x 8".

I thought this was such a beautiful idea and hope to make a similar book in the future. What a special gift for a child! Thanks for including me, Heather!

IF: cold

for illustration friday
drawn with sharpie; painted; then digitally painted

I'm not a fan of wearing socks and most of the year can be found in sandals or completely barefoot. With raining weather I have to wear tennis shoes and what better way to sport 'em then with fun socks? :) I got these ones today at Old Navy.

whoa. 3 posts today!

porcupines??

Last night I was looking through my ephemera binder for inspiration. I stopped at a couple pages from an old recipe book sent to me by Marilyn a few weeks ago. I looked under the title "Meats" and saw this recipe. Ew. I have never heard of such a thing. I ripped it right on off the page and went to show Alex. We both had a little chuckle. But you know what? People actually eat this. Interesting.

{dancin' in the rain} SPT

It has been raining for the past two days and I am absolutely loving it. We slept with our bedroom slider open and the heater on last night as to hear and feel the cool October weather. Finally. Just last week, temperatures were in the 90's. All of the green looks that much more vibrant and the ocean looks alive as it crashes violently onto the beach. I love to hear the cars travel through the water, disturbing the calm of it all. The falling leaves are washed away for the winter. The smell. How to describe the smell of rain? This weather makes me want to hibernate. I want to cuddle up on the couch with a nice, long novel or lock myself in my craft room to create- even if only for an hour. I love the rain, don't you? It makes me feel solid and here, even as I dance and taste those sweet raindrops- I feel so free.

More self portraits found here and here.

PS- If you'd like to link my blog I've created a small version of my new banner for you.

The image source can be found here: http://static.flickr.com/25/53647805_d016a78834_o.jpg

{yellow}

I made this art journal page for my journal-
part of the collaboration with Kara and Heather.
(Okay, time for bed!)

{mini stamp camp}

Today my mom hosted a "stamp-a-stack" but it turned out to be more of a mini stamp camp. It was *so* much fun and look at those yummy projects we made! We got to make two of each project. It was so nice to have this event because I was in a bit of a drought this week. It was nice to have projects designed for me! ;) Good job selecting 'em, Mom! BTW, the top three photographs are in Claremont, California. My favorite stamp and scrapbook shops are there: Stamp Your Heart Out and From the Heart. The last photo is the loot I got! :) You can see close-ups and a few other photographs from today's stamping here. After stamping we went to see In Her Shoes based on the book by Jennifer Weiner. I read the book a couple of years ago and it was a super cute movie. And, just a note: her fourth novel, Goodnight, Nobody, is out now so I'm going to have to get that. Don't worry guys (Aimee, Mom, Aunt Kim), you can borrow it. ;)

{all i want for christmas..}

Actually this isn't all. ;) I really, really want a vintage typewriter. I have a specific "type" in mind and have been keeping my eye on ebay. I was *so* bummed to lose this one at the last minute but there are other's I'm watching. I think this one is so super cute and this one too. Okay, onto my list (in no particular order):
1. Collage Discovery Workshop: Beyond the Unexpected by Claudine Hellmuth.
2. The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery: Mixed Media Techniques for Collage, Altered Books, Artist Journals, and More by Karen Michel.
3. Ruler ring from Fancy. *favorite* I like matte vs. mirror and I think I'd likea size 9 for my thumb or middle finger.
4. Measuring Tape ring from Fancy. This is such a fun ring! I'd like it in size 8 and with black text.
5. 7 gypsies Mason House Album from Hannah Grey.
6. Mini Paper Mache Torso from Hannah Grey.
7. Alpha-numeric Stamp from Paper Wishes (or wherever!).
8. 7 gypsies 3 key set from Hannah Grey.
9. Polaroid One Instant Camera.
10. Drama Foam Stamps from Paper Wishes.
11. The True And the Questions: A Journal by Sabrina Ward Harrison.
12. Visual Chronicles: The No-Fear Guide to Creating Art Journals, Creative Manifestos and Altered Books by (2 sisters) Linda Woods and Karen Dinino.

"Altered Art Adventure 2005"

The Altered Art Adventure 2005 is going to take place at The ARTbar in Santa Ana, California October 21st - 23rd. I have asked for Friday off of work so that I can go (although I still need to register for the class I want to attend). If it isn't full I plan on attending The Art of the Altered Photograph with Kelly Kilmer. I am *so* excited about this class. You can read all the information by following the above link. Friday night is also the ATC Mixer, where you can come and trade cards with each other and create in the studio. There are going to be free demonstrations and studio time is only $5.00 an hour! Are any of you planning or thinking about attending? I'd love to meet up with you! As of now, I'm a total loner. Haha. Ah well! It should be fun! :)

{love letters lost}

I purchased this book at the Paper Source in Beverly Hills for something to read while waiting to meet up with Alex for dinner. I am so glad I did! It was such a beautiful book. I enjoyed reading all of the letters and looking at all the old photographs. There are letters in this book from the 1800's! The ones that are harder to read are typed out but there are scans of some to read too. It's so fun and interesting reading these letters. Letters that were intended for one person only that somehow found their way into this book. To see a few more scans and/or to purchase this book go here.

{LUSHious}

So the other day I told you I went to the fabulous Lush and my Aunt Kim asked what I bought! If you click on the photo above the image will have "notes" which tells you what each item is. Someone said it looked like a bowl of cheese. Hehe! The big chunk is called Trichomania Shampoo Bar. I really like this stuff but Alex *loves* it so I mostly got it for him. :) I also got him that brown soap (with the honey comb) which is called Honey I Washed The Kids Soap. Funny name, huh? :) I get him this soap 1) because he likes it and 2) because I don't want him using mine all up like he's done before. Just FYI my favorite soap is actually not from Lush *gasp*. Then, of course, there is the Butterball Bath Ball, and Luxury Bath Melt, though I can't recall which scent. The item with the intricate design is an Each Peachmassage bar, though I use it as a lotion on my arms. I can't find the information for the bright yellow thing on the website but it was a free gift and I'm pretty sure it's a shampoo. So, that's everything! Lush is really awesome- they sell wonderful products (even for us with sensitive skin!) and a lot of their items are 100% animal free.

banner makin' madness

I've decided to make my mark on a few blogs. hehe! :) Check out the banners on the following blogs:

My sister Aimee's blog- Too Much Chicken
My Aunt Kim's blog- Kimmy & Kids
My good friend, Heather's blog- Mermaid Mama's Blog

They were fun! Thanks for letting me invade your blogs ladies! :) If you'd like me to make a banner for you and or help you change the look of your blog (i.e. banner and background color) let me know. I have time (hehe...*rolling eyes*) to do a couple.

Check out these sister's blogs, too!
Heidi's blog- waiting.
Heather's blog- four sweetpeas

{yummy}

I've recieved some beautiful swaps/trades and gifts recently and I wanted to say THANK YOU! For everyone whose included an ATC or chunky book page along with their swaps (i.e. {take flight}), thank you! These are such a beautiful addition to my ever growing collection. A few of you have also sent me various packages of ephemera. Giao sent me such yummy goodies and I was *so* excited that I started sorting and putting everything away before I was able to take a photograph. This was also the case with my goodies from Marilyn. I'm sorry ladies. I want to give you proper acknowledgement so THANK YOU! :)

The gorgeous yummies in the photograph above are from Heather. This is the second batch of goodies she's sent and boy do I owe her!! In both batches she's sent so many fun mixed media items from her fabulous store, HannahGrey! I'm going to talk about HannahGrey a lot because it offers so many wonderful things, has great prices, the gals there are great, and I get to design for them! :) How cool is that? So yeah, go buy something! ;) Also, be sure to check out the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine! Heather sent me a copy and she's published in it. Yay, Heather! :) Heather also made me covers for a collaborative art journal I'm doing with her and another gal named Kara, using vintage bingo cards. Fun, huh? Photographs of that later.

PS- Do you like the new look? I know I've just recently changed it but I got a little bored with it tonight and thought another change would be nice. :)

art journal pages

not a lot of time for creating this week
but here are some of my recent favorites

90210

My day off was spent in LA County yesterday. Alex had to work in Beverly Hills and since I had the day off I decided to go with him. He dropped me off on Beverly Dr. while he worked down the street. I walked around and shopped on very familiar territory. It was so weird being there when we used to work and spend so much time in the area. It's such a different atmosphere than even Orange County. I had a lot of fun and got to visit my most favorite stores! Alex is glad they're not any closer or we'd be poor! ;) I went to Paper Source, Anthropologie, Lush,, and Oilily!! Eeee! :) We met for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory which was yummy, yummy! On the way home we stopped by our "old stomping grounds"- The Bridge Promenade in Los Angeles, an exit from our old apartment. I got this great fall jacket (on sale for $35) at Nordstrom Rack before seeing "A History of Violence" with $15 a person tickets for 'leather' seats and a nice big screen. I had planned on housekeeping, doing laundry, etc. but this made for a much more fun day! ;)

PS- If I owe you an email or phone call- thanks for your patience! I've taken a break for the last four days from everything so now I'm playing catch up.

spt {fall jacket}

trip to beverly hills
old stomping ground
dinner & a movie
shopping
new fall jacket for $35 from nordstrom rack
more details later
and
more self portraits here & here

{visiting deana}

It was such a gorgeous day to visit my sister, Deana today! We had fun taking photos both "serious" and seriously silly!! I cannot wait until our next visit. :) View all of the photographs here. Enjoy!

{i ♥ tim}

Last night I took my mom on a date to see Mr. Tim McGraw! All of Friday and Saturday my mom was concerned about our parking situation vs. what we were going to do for dinner because she saw that there is virtually no parking at the Hollywood Bowl. Neither one of us had been there and until I saw it (and recognized it from movies) I didn't know what to expect. Anyway, I told her we would leave at 5:00 since the concert didn't start until 7:30 and I didn't think we should get there too early. I let Brad in on my little secret in the afternoon so that he wouldn't encourage us to leave early but at around 4:30 my mom got ants in her pants to leave. We sat and chatted around the kitchen table and I kept drinking glasses of pink lemonade crystal lite. So at about 15 too she said, "alright, let's go". I jumped up and said I had to go to the bathroom so I did. Then I ran upstairs and looked out the window before running back down to say we could go. We walked out the door and there was a car waiting for us. My mom was so surprised! :)

{Click to enlarge photo}

The concert was really a lot of fun. It was short though and I thought this was weird because I'd been to his concert before. He had two openning acts and didn't even get onstage until about 9:45. But, from 9:45 to 11:00 he *sigh* was WONDERFUL! He puts on such a great show! And boy is he easy on the eye. ;) Faith made an brief appearance to sing with him. I wish it was longer but I'd probably be wishing that if his concert was the full 3.5 hours. :) I told my mom #51 to my list is to be in the front row of one of his concerts. I'd settle for the front three. ;) Anyway, thanks for coming, Mom! I had a great time!!

progress

I worked on cleaning my craft room today but only got about 15% through it. Still, it's lookin' pretty darn good, eh? :) I got a new rolling wire cart for my fabric and wire hanging for behind the door for my rubber stamps. I think I'm going to need another of both eventually. I also got that hook thing in the closet to hang my many Making Memories embellishments and rub on letters. Notice the little jars on the window sill? :) Those are yogurt jars my Aunt Kim gave me a while back. I filled them with various embellishments + doodads. Another thing you can't really see that I bought are binders. Heather gave me this wonderful idea to store my ephemera and other paper odds and ends in page protectors in binders. This way they're somewhat organized and still easy to view. I am still a long way from finished but I am really happy with the progress I made today. I also tackled a few of my projects today which I'll have to share later this weekend. It's after midnight now and I have a long (but FUN!) day tomorrow today!

Oh! I almost forgot- tonight the phone rang and when I went to get it I tripped over my laptop cord and down went my raviolies... right off the table and onto the floor. Can you believe it? Alex and I are going to have to cover our floors in plastic from now on because we've ruined the carpet in the last three places we've lived! Haha.. maaaaaaaan!!! :)

quick collages

{i am four}

Last night I worked late. I ran by my house earlier in the day to grab a small bag of items (I wasn't picky) so that I could do some quick collages while the kids slept. This is one of the two I made. This morning I quickly finished it up at home by gessoing (is that a word?) the card and sewing around the edges. In total this took me less than 15 minutes. I really like it. There is something fun and explorative about working with a small amount of items in a short amount of time.

{sweet baby}

This little tag book was the other one that I made. Most of these items came from a package of goodies that Heather sent me with the exception of the printed paper from Katie and the words which were my own.

♥ I have today through Monday off. How awesome is that? :) Today I plan on cleaning and organizing/unpacking. Tomorrow I am taking my mom on a date to see Tim McGraw! Sunday we're going to visit my sister, Deana. No plans for Monday yet but over this weekend I literally have 18 items on my project list to try and tackle. :)

{happy anniversary}

I know this looks like a shiny pretty blur but its my new wedding band. In August, when the weather was hot and my fingers were swollen, and we were driving around looking for a place to live- I took my original wedding band off. For some reason, after we first got our Tahoe I kept dropping things between the seats. This was no exception. I dropped my ring between the passenger and middle seats in the front and said I'd look for it when we got to the next place.

When we stopped, I got out of the car and moved the seat back and forth and didn't see it. I know this sounds horrible but I wasn't really concerned for about a week. I told my mom about it and the next time she came to visit she did a thourough search for the ring to no avail. I have to assume that when I stood up it had actually been on my lap and fell in the gutter. My wedding band. My platinum & diamond wedding band. :/

Fast forward to this past weekend. My parents were in LA shopping for a new "wedding ring" or anniversary ring for my mom for their 10th anniversary (a year early ;) ) and they traded in a ring (from a prior engagement of mine) that I gave my mom, to get me a new wedding band. Wasn't that so incredibly thoughtful of them?!

They are SO thoughtful. My mom is always sending me surprises in the mail they both really take care of Alex and I. They are such an encouragement and inspiring example in my life.

To My Mom & My Brad,
Happy Anniversary! I love you!

{100 things} part i

click on image to enlarge & read

{100 things to do before age 30} #1-50 I began this list on August 29th and coincidently my last "submission" was September 29th.

{my day} SPT

The challenge for October's Self Portrait Tuesday is to create a self documentary series. I decided for this week I would show you my life in one day (minus any artwork being created because I worked all of yesterday).

My work day starts with dishes. I unload and load the dishwasher again.

When the baby naps one thing I do is check out my favorite blogs and update my own.

Alex came over to visit me for lunch. He brought me a surprise because I wasn't having a not-so-good day: a 3 visit spa treatment. Thank you, sweetie! :)

Naptime is over! Time to play!

We're playing in her room. I just bought that toy organizer and she's loving such easy access! :)

See!

She's a toddler and a food thrower. ;)

Yes, I watch soaps. The ABC ones if you must know. :)

I finally started reading "The Poisonwood Bible" the other day.

I didn't do this to the photo. There was a disk error and Alex was able to save most of the files. This one is messed up but I actually like it. I wanted to show you the real me. No makeup, frizzy hair pulled up, and crazy hairy eyebrows because I'm growing them out to be reshaped.

Fun in the backyard!

In the early evening we went for a walk but for some reason the photo of me and my charge didn't upload. This is one of the beautiful things we saw. :) Don't you just love autumn?!

PS- Happy Anniversary to Kellee & Joe! :)