how to make a photographer HATE YOU

ask them to get you a really good shot of something like this:

(hambly transparency; ki lace cardstock; heidi swapp ghost butterflies & fuzzy rub-ons; martha stewart butterfly punch; doodlebug sparkly cardstock; prima tiny florals; mambi gems; bazzill ink; k&co velvet alphas; basic grey rub-ons; other: foam tape, handmade lace paper, flower pics from a magazine)

yeah.

a card made from a transparency is ALL reflections and shiny bits.

kind of makes you long for three small sugar-fuelled nieces running around at top speed for relative ease of getting a good image, doesn't it?!

but i don't think i could fit said pint-sized pipsqueaks into an envelope for my sister-in-law kath's birthday, so i'm going with the shiny-sparkly-butterfly card afterall. and you will just have to trust me that it looked EVEN BETTER in real life!

if you are wondering about the mechanics of making such a card, lemme just tell you that the lace cardstock IS NOT there for decoration...although fortunately, it *is* quite decorative...but no, it is there to provide a place to stick the bits of foam tape on which the butterflies are perched! the rhinestones ON the butterflies are serving a similar purpose by hiding said adhesive from the other side. the little paper butterfly INSIDE the card is there to give us a place to sign our names! basically, i'd say that construction of a transparency card is approximately 25% design...and 75% engineering... (which is waaaaaay more than i am really qualified for, to be truthful!) ...but pays off with gratifyingly dramatic results!

another one of those questionaire thingies

who writes these??! is somebody actually EMPLOYED to do it or is the very existence of such memes the answer to the question, "whatever happened to rona barrett?"* however, this is quite an interesting one, that i've never seen before, with some thought-provoking questions; mine came via email, but decided to post it here, in case anyone wants to play along. (if you do, leave me a link to your answers...i'd love to read 'em!)

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
first name no, middle name after my aunt judie

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
two weeks ago when my step-dog, missy died. (i did a fair amount of WHINING last week ahout my back, tho!)

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
it gets the job done...& aesthetically...it's growing on me

4. WHAT iS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
liverwurst (which i eat MAYBE twice a year as it's so bad for ya!)

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
nope

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
i dunno...i'm kinda of high maintenance!

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
sarcasm??! MOI??! perish the thought!!!!!!!! ;)

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS ?
ummm...yeah...i think they are around here somewhere...not sure i could find them in a hurry though...

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? HAhahahaHAHAhahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHhahahaHAHAhaHAhahahaHA!!!!!!!
(no)

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
oh wow, there are LOTS...maybe those maple-flavored frosted mini wheats...or captain crunch...

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
not flip-flops!

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
no way--wimp city!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
there is a graham-cracker-flavored one that a local shop has very VERY rarely! in terms of mass market i would pick haagen-daz "sticky toffee pudding"

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
i s'pose it depends on the person...but i think mostly it's their demeanor; i am always on the lookout for someone i think is going to "be trouble" in some way...especially at work...

15. RED OR PINK?
PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
how long do you have?!?!? :) weight is right at the top of the list, though!

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
wow. that's really hard. probably a tie between my mom-mom and jeff's poppa, leaning towards poppa b/c he lived close to us and we saw him so much and he was jeff's best friend. on the other hand the person for whom i *mourn* the most is my nephew who died of SIDS in 2000; i don't think anyone in my family will ever really get over that.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
sure, anyone who feels like it and has time!

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
i'm still in my pjs, actually! :)

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
an apple w/peanut butter last night (i've only had coffee so far today)

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
the fan in the window next to me

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
i'd be BLACK so i could OUTLINE EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
mmmmmmmmmmmmm...bacon is nice...and chocolate and bread baking... (ok, apparently i AM getting quite hungry for breakfast!)

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
i think it must've been the woman who takes the orders at the mexican restaurant, last night!

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS?
oh yeah!!!!!!!! (it was my friend, diane, whom i've only just re-connected with after a couple of years of losing touch!)

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
none, i'm SO not sporty; i'm probably the only person alive who didn't see ANY of the olympics!

27. HAIR COLOR?
natural=brown with an increasing amount of grey; un-natural=darker brown with blondish highlights...THIS week!!!

28. EYE COLOR?
brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
yeah...i'm too chicken to get LASIK

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
pretty much ALL of them! :0 (see question #16)

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
many of the movies which have happy endings ARE scary to me, in an artistic sense!!! :)

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
harry potter 4, which jeff was watching on tv the other night

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
b&w stripey pajama shirt

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
can i get SPRING?!? ok, EARLY summer, before it gets too hot, when there are still lots of pretty flowers and things!

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
***BOTH!!!!***

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
ice cream!!!

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
i can never tell. it depends how busy everyone is on the day, i think

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
see #37

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
"eat pray love" by elizabeth gilbert, to whom i owe an apology for thinking her book would be totally self-indulgent and frou-frou! (& it is a BIT...but she has such a good sense of humor you forgive her!)

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
my *MOUSE*, duh!!!!!!!!!! :)

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
jeff's favorite show: 5 minutes of EVERYTHING!

42. FAVORITE SOUND?
music, i s'pose (of MY choosing!) or jeff on the phone or the nieces when overheard playing & talking to each other

43. Rolling stones or Beatles?
stones, definitely

44. FARTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME?
england

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
i can tell exactly what size tupperware is required for any given amount of leftovers. yeah. heady stuff. but don't worry--it's a gift i've solemnly sworn to use only for good and NEVER for evil! :)

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
abington, PA

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
everybody!!!!!

48. WHAT TIME IS IT NOW?
8am(ish) (i know--what kind of time is this to get up onna SATURDAY?! SHEESH!!)


*rona barrett was an american gossip columnist in the 1960's & 70's and was, i think, one of the first to transition from print to tv. bear in mind this was pre-cable and waaaay before shows like "entertainment tonight" were even around; at one point i think she had a barbara-walters-interview-style of tv show (BEFORE barbara walters was doing such a thing) in which she would ask celebrities the most intricate, random, nosey questions you could possibly imagine.. as a 10 or 12 year old child i was FASCINATED by this phenomenon! (if no one else does, tracy will remember rona barrett!)

not just "old school"......NURSERY SCHOOL!!!

remember those masterpieces we made in kindergarten? with tissue paper and blunt scissors and elmer's glue? well, it turns out they are INFINITELY more fun to make as an adult!!!

of course, i cannot take full credit for this page. i did not make the painting in the middle. no, that's by vince...err...somebody...can't remember his name; he's not bad though, is he? bit deaf in one ear, apparently.

ok, so i cut the pic out of a catalog, and stuck it down in the center of my page. i was going to use markers and ink pads to extend the image out, but while i was thinking about van gogh, i realized how *TEXTURAL* his paintings are and for some reason said kindergarten projects sprung to mind! i took plain white tissue paper and dabbed at it semi-randomly with various chalk and pigment ink pads to get lots of nice shades of each color. then i ripped the colored bits into smaller mosaic-ish-sized pieces, smeared them with gluestick, and stuck them on all scrunched up.

et voila! "wheatfield with cypresses...AND bits of tissue paper" by lauren and vince! :)

yesterday was a bit like this:

don't get me wrong--after a week on my living room floor i am *THRILLED BEYOND MEASURE* to be back at work! but...it was a monday...and i was gone for a week... (just in terms of cleaning issues this is too long) ...and we are in the midst of several transitions...and
...did i mention it was *monday*??!

having said all that, i am undaunted. (mostly) (ok, i am a little daunted...but i'm puttin' a brave face onnit so work with me, ok?!) in fact i have high hopes that my TUESDAY will be more like this:

(& i hope that yours will, also!!!) ♥

a few more art journal pages

as promised...OR...as threatened...depending on your perspective!

(eyes and lips cut from magazines; various sizes of circles cut with ek success punches from a magazine, tin foil, & an envelope from our payroll company; colorbox inks)

this is one of lovely husband jeff's favorites, for some reason...i think it is the GIANT EYES!

(lots of weird pink ephemera from my vast collection including: beads, buttons, game pieces, tiny iron-on patches, fabric & plastic flowers, and a tiny wooden french poodle that i cannot for the life of me imagine whence it came! + letter stickers: sei, lil davis, k&co)

the photo of me with the text on it is the companion piece to my first ever ATC cards made for my first ever swap!!! i don't think i am allowed to show the cards themselves yet... (and in all honesty, i am rather disappointed with how they came out) ...but hopefully it's all right to show my self-portrait thingie. we were asked to included a little info about ourselves. i never know *WHAT* to write for those things: name, rank & serial number? (a bit dull) age, weight & annual salary?? (i could tell ya...but i'd have to kill ya...) so eventually i did what i usually do, which is waffle on a bit irrelevantly, and then format said wafflage into cool fonts so it looks ON PURPOSE! :)

(torn up bits of newspaper glued on randomly; dandelion & fancy leaf stamps a gift from elizabeth wickland (see? i told ya i was gonna learn how to mount them!) provocraft alphabet roller-stamp; ranger ink)

this is one of *MY* favorite pages...it was inspired by the way the shadows of dandelions and queen anne's lace that grow next to our road look when the sun is at just the right angle. you might not think that silhoutted weeds & common old tarmac would look very cool...but on this particular day i found them rather charming and wanted to try to capture the look.

a few art journal pages

it's been almost a month since i have commenced with the full-on art journal...and i confess that at times i've found it kind of hard...especially at first...especially thinking up what to do. (despite a year of 3BT, i am still not what you'd call a "natural journaler"!) ...BUT... i am proud to say that i have actually made a page every single day and refused to re-do or throw *any* away, even if i don't like them. because LIKING THEM isn't really the point. the point is to make something every day that is just for me. some days i record a feeling, or an event, or something that somebody said that i want to remember. some days i try out an idea or technique or some new product. some days i use up all the miscellaneous stuff that is on my worktable, rather than clean it up! but every day i do SOMETHING. wanna see a few pages?

(magazine ad, dymo labeler, zigwriter pen)

a page about my newly highlighted hair

(glossy red cardstock: jam paper; rub-ons: making memories & gin-x; other: foam tape, magazine images)

a silly page about a kitteh and a mix-up in the dinner order

(cloud-printed envelope (cut up); heron pic from an old book; dymo labeler; colorbox inks; brenda walton alphas & provocraft roller stamp; heidi swapp ghost heart)

a page entitled, "milestones of bad sentence construction"...with good reason...based on something i said unthinkingly to jeff that cracked us both up! this page also showcases my favorite new activity: randomly cutting, inking and pasting lots and lots of little pieces of paper on top of each other to form a background. (i highly recommend this for its theraputic properties...truly, it's the most soothing thing in the world!)

a few more pages tomorrow, perhaps, if i have time to photo them?!

makers of teeny tiny art: I SALUTE YOU!!!

i have been fascinated by inchies for awhile...but you know ME...i don't really work small...so i couldn't imagine that i'd ever get into *making* them. but then, a while ago, i saw this card that my lovely blogging friend ruby made. and i checked out this link she posted to art junk girl's fabulous 1000 squares project (so called b/c...YEAH...she made *1000* distinct and different inchies last year!!!!!) more recently, i saw this card on my friend and fellow CAARDVARK jen's blog, and it reminded me about the others and i thought, "ok fine. i gotta TRY this. if only to prove i can't do it!" :) but much to my surprise...it turned out i COULD do it!!! of course, it took me a while (& you know i'm never fast at the best of times!) plus, i think i wound up getting out 95% of my supplies, just looking for stuff that went together AND was small enough. but eventually i had a grid of inchies (in a love theme to mark my sister's sixth wedding anniversary) and they looked like this:

(vintage items include text & images from a french language book, old ticket, greeting & playing cards; glossy black cardstock: ranger; clipart: anahata katkin; large chipboard heart: heidi swapp; small chipboard heart: fancy pants; rub-ons: mambi, creative imaginations, provocraft, 7 gypsies, oriental trading co; metal word snap & acrylic flourish: making memories; acrylic letters: joann essentials; other: dymo labeller, colorbox inks, foam tape, stickles, sharpie pen)

it's like they've known me all my life!!! :)

i saw this last week on dawn's blog and LOVED it! (ta v much, your all-pink-girl-ness!!!)

The Recipe For Lauren

3 parts Pizzazz 2 parts Originality 1 part Enchantment Splash of Warmth Finish off with a squeeze of lime juice

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

...of course...they forgot to mention "devastating beauty" ...and... "almost super-natural intelligence" ...but other than that, YEAH! they've *totally* summed me up!!!

*****♥*****

IN OTHER NEWS: many thanks for all of the kind concern and good wishes and nice comments! after several amusing trips to the chiropractor and almost a week laying on my living room floor DA BACK is now much *MUCH* better...in fact, i can basically do all my normal stuff, just a bit more slowly, sorely & carefully. HOWEVER, in the interests of keeping our official "house of dooooooooom" status, jeff has obligingly come down with a sinus infection (fruits of last week's cold from hell) and has been home in bed for the last two days. we're planning to have the house fumigated, fung-shui-ed and exorcised over the weekend and then we're both going back to work on monday, dammit, if only to avoid the vast wasteland which is daytime television!!! :)

music to my...EYES?

uh huh!

it's the brand new CAARDVARKS challenge,

name that tuna !

(yepper, the diabolical pun is mine...could i BE more proud?!)

and this time we've gone all MUSICAL!!! i absolutely *love* this theme...there are sooooooooooo many ways to go with it: male or female, young or old, retro or modern! plus there are loads of terrific products out there... like hambly's shimmery silver-on-black sheet music paper, and a very soft antiqued pink version by ek success, not to mention hot off the press' note-shaped brads (all of which can be seen in my cards, below) ...OR... if you like to get all collagey, old music books and vintage illustrations work rather well when combined with some flowers and other modern accoutrements!

i could see SO MANY cool possibilities that i had to make two cards for this event! the first is a very silly "guy card" for my uncle bruce:

(cardstock: daisy d's, bazzill; patterned paper: hambly, love elsie; tuna illustration downloaded from internet; font: bart; inks: colorbox, bazzill; brads: hot off the press; text reads, "Unsuccessful Game Shows...#307: Name That Tuna"; inside reads, "Best Fishes on Your Birthday!")

the second is a very frilly, very feminine "girl card" for my sister-in-law, barbara:

(vintage sheet music & greeting card from garage sales; patterned paper: ek success, basic grey; flowers: petaloo, prima; grunge board: tim holtz (painted with metallic white acrylic paint & sprayed with pink glimmer mist); chipboard bird: tattered angels; pearls: k&co; other: gluedots, colorbox inks, white generic cardstock; inside of card has the original verse from the vintage birthday card, which reads, "A birthday filled with sunny hours, With music sweet and true, And happiness all round about, Is what I'm wishing you." cool, no?!)

and yes, this is one of those rare occasions in which i not only MADE two cards...i actually really *like* both of them! plus, did i mention the magnificent DT creations, which can be seen here?! oh yeah, and you'll want to check out the work of our guest designers, camilla and christine as well!

of course, my favorite cards for any challenge are always the ones that the CAARDVARKS readers send in...so get busy and link up your melodious creations by midnight on 9-3 for a shot at some rather cool swag from scrapbook express !

insult to injury

so last friday, just when i was *finally* getting over COLDZILLA whaddaya think happened??!

uh huh. you guessed it:

MY BACK WENT OUT!!!!!!!!!

(arrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhh!)

and i mean reallllllly totally completely utterly no-seriously-i-can't-straighten-up out.

see???!

photo taken over the weekend...that is me, on the right! (yeeeouch!)

so i didn't do much card-makin' or blog-writin' or blog-visitin' done his weekend. i didn't do much of anything, really, unless you count "whining" as an accomplishment.
(in which case: I ROCKED!!!)

on the plus side, a casting agent from sesame street happened to see me on my way to an emergency chiropractor visit, and i've been offered a starring role as the QUESTION MARK for next season!!! :)

in the meantime, here's a card i made for amazing terrie bailey a couple of weeks ago, that i never posted. (i was waiting till she received, so it wouldn't ruin the surprise!)

(patterned paper: urban lily, sei, doodlebug; glossy balck cardstock: ranger; rub-ons: american crafts; ghost butterflies: heidi swapp; epoxy sticker: love elsie; gems: mambi; other: foam tape, colorbox inks, zig & sharpie pens, stickles)

btw, the new CAARDVARKS challenge begins on wednesday, 8-20, (for which i had thankfully--in a rare moment of get-ahead-y-ness--completed LAST weekend!) so be sure to tune in for that!

operation 33: GO WORLD!

here is this week's paper adventure prompt, from elise, in full:

I am crazy inspired by the current VISA commercials for the Olympics. Actually, I am just crazy inspired by the Olympics. Take this challenge however you would like, but your starting off point? Go World.

ok, so usually at this point i would explain why i chose to go the way i went. except i can't. i was pondering the prompt while brushing my teeth and the whole entire thing just came to me, in a rush. all i did was write it down. basically, the premise is, what if there were an ACTUAL "mother earth"...and all the countries of the world were her children?

(software: broderbund printshop; fonts: international chunkfunk...hey don't look at me, i don't make the names up!...jules girl talk, 3 hour tour; cardstock: staples; transparency: 3m)

the text is on regular old white index stock; the frame is clipart from broderbund printshop which i printed on an inkjet transparency; it's a separate layer that can be moved so you can see the text more easily. the text--and there's lots of it--reads,

"Treat each other nicely! Would you like it if he invaded your BREAKAWAY regions?? Well, would you?! No pushing and shoving--everyone will get their turn! OOF!!! And no hitting! I saw that! I don't CARE who started it! India and Pakistan, can you please *SHARE* Kashmir?! Thank you! Right--whose turn is it to reduce the world's carbon footprint? Well, settle it or I'll ASSIGN someone. NO DESSERT until everyone's implemented a basic human rights policy! North Korea, do you need a TIMEOUT??! If I have to pull over and come back there, SOMEBODY'S gonna be sorry! China, use your *INDOOR* voice! So what if all the other countries have a nuclear arms program? If all the other countries were jumping off the roof, I suppose you'd want to do that, too?! I said no hitting--HONESTLY it's like I'm talking to myself! Look everyone: Switzerland has made some lovely chocolates! ...and when's the last time THEY had an internal conflict, eh?? The rest of you could stand to be a bit more like Switzerland you know... Big guys, help the little guys! If you weren't too tired to MAKE that mess, I don't want to hear that you're too tired to clean it up! Hey, USA! Nobody likes a tattle tale OR a know-it-all!!! Cool it, ok? Now who'd like to choose the book for storytime?

why papercrafting whilst sick is a probably bad idea

uh huh.

even your cards come out looking a bit feverish.

see?

(cardstock: bazzill; patterned paper: american crafts, basic grey, sei, vintage ledger paper; flowers: prima, making memories; letter rub-ons: american crafts; chipboard heart: heidi swapp; gems: mambi; other: colorbox inks, foam tape, zigwriter pen)

still, i hope our friends kim and dave will enjoy their anniversary card, as well as the anniversary itself!!!

*ONE* word??!?!!!!?

for those of you scoring at home...YES...i've got jeff's cold...

...above is an actual webcam picture of me this morning!

i saw this on amy tangerine's blog over the weekend. you can only type ONE WORD for your response, which i found so intriguing i HAD TO try it! if you decide to do it too, pop a link in m'comments, so i can come and be nosey about yer answers!!! :)

1. Where is your cell phone? PURSE

2. Where is your significant other? WORK

3. Your hair? DYED

4. Your mother? OY

5. Your father? DECEASED

6. Your favorite thing? NIECES

7. Your dream last night? FEVERISH

8. Your dream/goal? WORLD-DOMINATION :)

9. The room you're in? DINING

10. Your hobby? PAPER!!!!!!

11. Your fear? MULTITUDINOUS

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? ALIVE :)

13. Where were you last night? HOME

14. What you're not? SKINNY

15. One of your wish list items? I-PHONE

16. Where you grew up? SUBURBS

19. The last thing you did? AWOKE

20. What are you wearing? PJS

21. Your TV? OVER-USED

22. Your pet? HYPOTHETICAL

23. Your computer? INTEGRAL

24. Your mood? CHIMERICAL

25. Missing someone? MISSYDOG

26. Your car? AWDREY

27. Something you're not wearing? CONTACTS

28. Favorite store? THRIFT

29. Your summer? HOT

30. Love someone? LHJ!!!!!!!

31. Your favorite color? UN-CHOOSE-ABLE

32. When is the last time you laughed? NOW

33. Last time you cried? SATURDAY

operation 32: ANGER

ok, this was a *FUN* one!

when elise asked, "what makes you angry?" as part of this week's paper adventure prompt, i wasn't sure how i could make that into a page i'd want to save forever. but i'll tell you what, the next time you are feeling upset, just start typing furiously (in both senses of the word!) EVERYTHING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD that annoys you: big & small, temporary & long-lasting, silly & serious; then play around with some fonts...maybe add a few layers...and print it all out! i'm tellin' ya, it's better than therapy, and a damn sight cheaper!!!

(software: broderbund printshop; fonts: ck typewriter & linenstroke; chipboard alphas: lil davis; photo from "i can has cheeseburger")

a small side benefit of paper adventure which i'm really enjoying is the way i am unintentionally recording things i am "into" this year. like using certain products because they are my current faves, or trying out the "hot" technique i just saw in a magazine. in this case, by using this funny lolcat picture to illustrate "angry" it's also recording for all posterity the fact that, for at least this particular 6 months of 2008, i was addicted to a website called "i can has cheeseburger". i suspect that 20 years from now, i will enjoy remembering stuff like that almost as much as the memories i am documenting on purpose! :)

it was *COLD* last night!!!

so cold, in fact, that i had to get up in the middle of the night and wrap up in my big ol' terrycloth bathrobe! o'course, i could've just closed the windows...but that would've spoiled it; for whilst coldness is plentiful in winter...in new jersey...in the middle of august, it's a bit of a luxury, dontcha think?!?!!

and how does that tie in with the card i'm about to show you? it doesn't. not even a little bit. i was just bein' polite and making conversation! :) ok, that's enough of that...wanna see the card?!

(patterned paper: junkitz, ctmh, dcwv, sei, origami paper; chipoard letters: target $ spot (!); sequins & brads: queen & co, doodlebug; ribbon: michaels; other: colorbox inks, foam tape)

i needed to be a bit fast, so i used kazan's latest pattern, over at 2sketches4you. i used almost all scraps... (so miss june will be proud of me!) ...even the piece of white card stock had been pre-folded and trimmed for another project and then at the last minute i went with a different color, which doesn't make it a scrap, but it was a leftover...which is almost as good! now i just have to remember to MAIL this thing on monday and i have a shot at bein' on time for the birthday in question. go, me!

operation 30: FIVE YEARS

i know what you're thinking: no paper adventure pages for *ages* and then TWO come along in the same week! yepper, i've finished another one. this one's called "five years" and in actual fact we were meant to say where we thought we'd be five years from now. as i was thinking about that, i was also editing pics from a recent playdate with my nieces and nephew, and it occurred to me that five years ago, the eldest, riley, was just a year old, and the rest weren't even a glimmer in anyone's eye. it also occurred to me that five years from now, riley will be *eleven* and young matthew (whose first birthday is not until september) will be SIX! the more i thought about it, the more i realized that absolutely EVERYTHING about all four kids--except their names--is going to change completely in the next five years...probably more than once! i can't imagine what they'll be into by then, but i don't want to forget the little things that are true right now, so i chose a photo i especially liked from that day and started making a few notes. i wound up making a fold-out page so i could fit it all in.

(patterned paper: ki; journaling cards & flowers: making memories; chipboard letters & cardstock diecuts: k&co; other: colorbox inks, sharpie pens, foam tape, typewriter)

hand written text reads,

"5 YEARS...is more than a lifetime to most of these guys! which is why it seems very important to record some of the small details of this random summer day. july 2008"

typed boxes read,

"riley spent ages learning how to braid barbie's hair. she kept practicing & practicing until she could do it."

"matthew likes to scoot around on the floor now, and has started to pull himself up to stand holding on to something"

"madeline divides all experience into things that have happened since she turned four...and EVERYTHING ELSE!"

"lindsay does not like cake (!) and eats mac-n-cheese every single day for lunch. (it has to be mommy's speical homemade kind!)

"dora the explorer, clifford, barbie, dressing up, baby dolls, dancing lessons and playing at the playground (w/an emphasis on swings & slides) are highly popular. and of course the disney princesses still RULE THE EARTH!!"

happy 08-08-08

a super-photoshopped picture of sunflowers in a field near our house

i was hoping to post at 8:08 this morning, but i didn't quite make it...and if i leave it til 8:08 tonight it'll never get done!

my plans for this auspicious date include trying to get caught up on a lot of half-finished projects, completing as many errands as possible so as not to venture into "hotspots" over the weekend, and perhaps trying to get the house clean before my dearest darling (who currently has the summer cold from H-E-double-hockeysticks, poor baby!) gets home, so as not to be stirring up dust and dirt around his already overloaded sinuses. pretty much my TYPICAL friday, really, except for the exciting dust-n-sinuses part! :) and yes, indeedy, i am taking A LOT of ecchinacea and vitamin c in hopes of avoiding said germs m'self. though i will probably stock up on tomato soup and fruit salad...just in case...

i hope that whatever you embark upon today, it will be particularly successful--and especially FUN!!!

operation 31: ONE PERSON

hooray! it's time for another paper adventure! for this one, we've been asked to write about a person. elise said this:

"Write about a person. A person that you know. A person that you do not know in real life. A person that is famous. Your favorite person. WHOMEVER."

i do not think anyone will be surprised to find that my *PERSON* is lovely husband jeff...but what if i told you that i had made that choice at age 21?? (does that seem young to you? because in retrospect...to ME...it seems really realllllllllllllly young!) ...but...and i can't emphasize this enough...i would not change a thing!

(software: broderbund printshop; fonts: pea cammie pea & sidewalk)

text reads, "it is 1985. i am 21 years old. there is no way i am qualified to select ONE PERSON with whom to share my entire life. for better or for worse. til death do us part. can this possibly be a good decision?! YES! ...somehow...miraculously...it is!

***************************

edited to add a completely unrelated but utterly euphoric fact...after a long, hot, and sadly simian-free summer:

MONKEEMAKER IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

delight in simpicity

...OR... step-by-step instructions on how to inadvertently make a hilarious card-based oxymoron!

my friend trish loves minimalism, clean lines, bright clear colors, and a generally crisp and modern graphic look. so every year i try to make her a birthday card which reflects that. and every year i fail...because i'm...well... *ME*! but occasionally i really do get QUITE CLOSE.

not this time!

(cardstock: bazzill; patterned paper: iron orchid, frances meyer; journaling card & brads: making memories; rub-ons: my mind's eye, fancy pants; clear stickers: heidi swapp; flowers: prima, making memories; diecuts: k&co; other: colorbox inks, stickles, foam tape)

i started out with *SUCH* good intentions: acid green cardstock base, bright blue bird, primrose paper flowers, sweet little leaves. so far, verrrrrrrrrry trish; yippee! then i decided the bird needed a branch, and the first one i found that was a good size had sparkles on. wellllllllllllllll...surely a FEW sparkles couldn't hurt?? nahhhhhh, they'll be fine. plus, it's TOTALLY the right color and shape! then i decided to try out the "delight" rub-on the lady at the scrapbook store gave me. i set it on the diecut journalling card, and could see right away that we were going in SO the wrong direction for a trish card & decided to change it...but then...i realized the rub-on had started to stick ON ITS OWN! consternation! uproar!!! (note to self: NEVER take them off their backing on a humid day!) ok, well, we're commited now. fine. so we're going to be needing a bit more blue then. AHA! leftover sparkly blooms* from another project. well, they certainly put the glittery branch into context, now don't they? since "delight" got stuck slightly higher up than i might've liked (arrrgh!) i decide it should now say "delight IN...something" . but what? i spot the partially used pack of rub-ons from my CAARDVARKS "closet" card, which has a script, "simplicity". it's EXACTLY the right size and shape. it's EXACTLY the wrong style and font. oh yeah, and it's dark brown, which nothing else on the card is. i ink the edges of the green cardstock dark brown, but it's not really enough. ah well, we're kind of layered and shabby chic now anyway, might as well go for broke!!! i add an apron of softly patterned green paper between the two existing layers, throw on a couple of tone-on-tone clear stickers, and finish off with more of the brown rubs... et voila!

(sorry, trish!) ♥

*they're really just regular primas that i painted with a thin coat of clear stickles glitter glue

from your closet...

...to the CAARDVARKS' gallery! yes, it is challenge time again. you can probably guess by the title "from your closet" where we're going with this: dresses, shoes, handbags, flip flops, t-shirts, clothing or accessories of any kind...it is all fair game for your creativity!

the design team have gone to town with this one, and i highly recommend a glimpse at their work! of course, your card can be sitting in that same gallery --just link it to the "from your closet" post by midnight on 8-17 and you will also have a shot at a rather fabulous prize: the current kit from scrapbook nook is up for grabs, and trust me, YOU WANT IT!!!

i am pretty pleased with my own card this time. i generally try to avoid buying product specifically for any given assignment--to me part of the challenge is making the abundance of stuff i already have work in a variety of ways. ...but...last week i happened to be in a scrapbook store and i saw these rub-ons from fancy pants:

and suddenly the vague ideas i had, involving pink dressmaker's patterned paper and vintage buttons and decorative stitching all coalesced around those three little dress outlines over on the far right, and i saw THIS in my head:

so of course i bought the rubs, went home, rummaged through my stash for additional sewing-based items and built THIS around it:

(patterned paper: fancy pants, mustard moon, basic grey; cardstock diecuts: k&co; rub-ons: fancy pants: bling word: mambi (thanks, elizabeth!) other: wired pearls, vintage buttons, fabric flower, colorbox inks, foam tape)

what's in YOUR closet...and what kind of card will you make from it?!

and the winner is...

(hehehe--i've always wanted to say that!)

ok, sorry, sorry, sorry. just kidding. daniel craig did not win the beautiful things blog candy giveaway! even though many would argue strenuously that he does in fact constitute a BEAUTIFUL THING by pretty much any standard we could set.

but i digress.

the handy dandy random integer generator when queried, had this to say:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 18
Timestamp: 2008-08-04 11:57:53 UTC

which means...

(can i get a drumroll here?)

the winner of the beautiful things blog candy giveaway is...

ZARAH!!!

*hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

i will be mailing her lovely pack of goodies as soon as i find out where they go, so zarah, if you're reading this, g'head and email me your address!!!

many MANY thanks to all who stopped by and shared their beautiful things, i had a blast reading them! i wish i had a prize for *EVERYBODY*!

(...especially you-know-who!)

(hubba hubba!)

BLOG CANDY--extended!!!

edited and reposted, saturday 8-2-08

being as how blogger has been exceptionally temperamental for the last 24 hours, and i have heard from several people that they were unable to access the comments section during that time, i have decided to

extend the drawing deadline

until midnight, on sunday 8-3

(...and i will leave this post on top until then...)

it hardly seems possibly that it's been twelve months since, inspired by clare grant’s amazing blog, three beautiful things, i quite hesitantly decided to embark on my own daily “3BT’ journal! but since i have four--count ’em four--completed 3-month books to prove it, clearly an entire year has indeed elapsed!

the idea was to combine my growing interest in the idea of art journaling with the safety net of the 3BT structure. (seeing as up until then my attempts at journal/diary-keeping had lasted a week, tops, i felt i needed the back-up of something *particular* to record each day!) it took a while for me to get into the routine, and even longer to really allow the “art-journaling” part of it to catch fire, but it has become a habit that's often the best part of my day!

i love looking at all four books together: the first one is tiny, almost entirely flat, and uses hardly anything but the plain ivory pages with which it came stocked; the second is 4 x 6” and while still quite lump-less i had begun to mix in postcards and other ephemera; book three, at 5” square, has started to have some pages with texture, and ribbons & other embellies overhang the edge of an occasional page; the last volume mingles pages of every shape and size, and is crammed full of all the day-to-day treasures i feel compelled to collect and save!

to celebrate my year of “beautiful things” ...and since i've been very remiss in allowing benchmarks like 100 posts and my one-year blogiversary pass unremarked... i've assembled a little collection of BLOG CANDY goodies. look:

the lucky winner gets: 2 making memories 9 x 9 paper packs ("bella" & "sam"); a christina cole 8 x 8 paper slab; an assortment of glittery handmade 8.5 x 11 papers; a set of technique tuesday clear stamps ("petal pushers"); a set of my sentiments exactly clear alphabet stamps ("collage caps"); some mambi bling; american crafts metal photo corners; 2 packs of li'l davis designs glitter garden chipboard shapes ("floral ice" & "floral rose"); 2 packs of chip chatter flower shapes…and maybe one or two surprises from my vast collection of vintage weirdness!

just leave a comment on this post by the new deadline, midnight, sunday august 3, telling me one of YOUR beautiful things for the day to be included in the random drawing. so tell your friends...tell your grandma...tell your grandma's friends and your friends' grandmas ...OR... keep it all to yourself & increase your odds; but whatever you decide, be sure and enter today for a chance at the swag!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

ps: many thanks to nina for teaching me the secret of the tiny heart!!! :)

so then, what's next?

i have not meant, in my recent posts, to imply that i won't be 3BT-ing anymore! in fact it's so much of an ingrained habit now, i'm not sure i could stop if i wanted to--which i don't! :) however, thanks to having a whole year of journaling under my belt, i now feel like i have the confidence to pursue the "ART" part of "art journaling" a bit more! so i've got me a very special little lined notebook for the 3BT... (which the lovely monkee maker gave me a while back; i've been savin' it for something special!) ...and i've made a special home for what i hope will be daily art pages!

'member this guy??!

(5x7 art journal made from: large sheet of chipboard; page from a vintage child's book about the solar system; love elsie patterned papers; sharpie pens, colorbox inks)

yes, it's the very cleverly disguised flying purple people eater, from back in april! i found him recently in a stack of "stuff too cute to throw out" and thought he seemed like the perfect muse for a slightly nervous newbie art journaler. being as he is a uniquely stylish kind of guy, i don't suppose i can go too far wrong under the PPE's expert tutelage, do you??!

(the back of said journal; eventually it will have the name of the project and dates inscribed upon it; but...and here is proof of how silly i can be...i don't like to do that until it's full--for fear of jinxing the project!!!) :)

i suspect there will be some cross-over btw the new and old journals, as my main fear is a lack of daily subject matter. i find it quite comforting to know that when i haven't got a firm idea i can always "fall back" on one or more of a day's three beautiful things as my inspiration; whilst also going a bit further afield into conceptual ideas that don't involve text. or that's the IDEA, anyway; we shall see how it goes!

♥ in the meantime ♥

you have until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT (friday, august 1) to enter the famous beautiful things blog candy giveaway! just leave a comment ON THE ORIGINAL POST and tell me one of YOUR beautiful things for the day. i'll be picking the winner randomly, and announcing the name tomorrow! good luck to all...i only wish i had prizes for everybody!!!