Paper Whiskers

Scrappy goodness

There has been some really neat scrapbooking stuff showing up online lately. These are a few things I've got my eye on and hoping will show up in stores around here soon.

 
These chipboard alphabet stickers from Pink Paislee. I haven't seen them in person yet, but I love the color variations I see in the image. Hopefully, it's true to life.

 
Chipboard stickers from Cosmo Cricket's new "Boyfriend" line. If you've known me for a long time, chances are pretty good you'll guess why I love this set so much, and will be buying it. I'll give you a hint: red Chuck's. :D

  
I adore these three pieces from the My Mind's Eye's "Abbey Road" collection (specifically the Nice Ride set). Love, love, love it. That second paper is cute enough to just frame up and hang on a wall, with a quote added somewhere.

 
s.e.i. almost always includes a couple of velvet papers with each new collection. This lovely sheet is part of their new Christmas Mint line. Yum.

Rock Candy Stickles - The link here will send you to a demo video by Tim Holtz, where he demonstrates this new product. It looks really really cool and I think it will be a fun addition to my Stickles collection.

Movie round-up

I haven't done one of these in awhile. Thanks to our Blockbuster Online membership, I've been able to catch up on older movies that I didn't see in the theater and forgot about until I went browsing.

Working Girl - An 80s movie that I actually like! lol I don't remember when I saw it for the first time, but it was within the last few years. I'm a huge fan of Sigourney Weaver and Harrison Ford, and they are both great in this. Also, the 80s hair makes me extremely glad I missed that era! :D

Tale of Desperaux - I loved this movie. I haven't read the book, but do intend to. It was a bit hard to watch in places, but that just sold me even more. The characters are fantastic, even the sad ones. Another one for my to-buy list. (Thank goodness for Blockbuster's previewed movies sales! lol)

The Day The Earth Stood Still - I knew ahead of time how this movie ended, so I put off watching it. Eric saw it in the theater, and based on his advice, I eventually got up the nerve to watch it. I really really enjoyed the effects, and the story. It's right up my alley, and the B plot with Jennifer Connelly's character and her stepson was surprisingly good. We haven't got a copy yet, but I plan to.

Bolt - I had heard the hamster stole the show, and was worth the price of admission, and they were right. The story was original, and fun to watch. We enjoyed it, but haven't bought a copy yet. It wasn't that good.

Igor - The preview was great, and it has John Cusack, so I was expecting much more from this movie. It didn't live up to expectations, at all. Which is a bummer, because I like the concept.

Horton Hears A Who - This one surprised me with it's sweetness. I read Dr. Seuss as a kid, but not a lot, so I wasn't familiar with the story. I really enjoyed it, and we got ourselves a copy, because it's definitely worth watching again. I also have discovered that actors I can't stand watching in a movie, are much easier to take when they're just voice-acting a character. I didn't even know that Steve Carell was in this until I saw the credits.

Videos that make me smile :D

hee.

CKU Provo

  
(This was the view during lunch one day.)

I've just spent a week in Provo, UT attending the last CKU event for the forseeable future. I'm hoping that they are able to bring it back in some form in a few years, because it's a fun way to get away for a few days.

I've been to CKU twice before - once in Minneapolis and once in Chicago, and this one was a combination of the two styles. I made (started, really) a complete 12x12 album and took a bunch of classes presented by various scrapbook companies. All in all, I prefer the classes. The album is great, and I like having the instructions all mapped out for me, but there is no way I would have finished it, even with a stack of photos. And I've realized over time, that I need that instant gratification that comes with a finished product at the end of the class.

And I was very very pleased with the classes. There was only one or two duds out of 13, which is excellent odds. I don't know that I'll ever add photos to the small 6x6 album that we had completed by the end of the first day, but even if not, it was fun to make. And if I do a bigger album for the trip, those layouts will be included somehow.

I managed to journal every day. And I wrote it in my idea journal, along with many baby shower notes, teacher autographs, and random CKU notes, so the experience is fairly well documented. This will come in very handy when I'm deciding how to document the trip.

One thing that came out of the trip, is that I decided on the last ornament for this year's Craft Day. Woo! It was a project from one of the classes, and when we were working on it, I knew immediately that it was the perfect project for us to do.

Trip highlights:

1. The weather was amazing. It cooled down from 90s after a couple days, allowing us to eat our lunches outside, and walk to dinner.
2. The view. I LOVED being near the mountains again. It's the thing I miss most about Montana, and it was just as awesome as I'd hoped. I took many photos, and am hoping at least one turned out well enough to blow up nice and big.
3. The happy anniversary message Eric left on my cell phone Saturday. I'm going to keep it as long as I can. :)
4. The comic shop (Dragons Keep) within walking distance of the hotel. That was a cool find.
5. CKU logo stickers. I was hoping that they would still have some, and it turned out that they were giving them away. Score!
6. Tim Holtz' class. I love the way the projects look, and I'm looking forward to playing with the leftovers he gave us.
7. Hanging out with Kelly. :)
8. The brad-maker from Imaginisce was just as cool as I'd hoped. I haven't got one yet, but I'm almost positive I will get one. It will work with fabric, too, which I am excited about, since I love textured brads.
9. Heartfelt Creations, one of the last stores we shopped at, was my favorite store. They had tons of supplies, but even better, they obviously cater to stampers too! It was great to look at all the stamps and be able to pick out a couple new ones in person, rather than online. It's exactly the kind of store I wish we had around here. :sigh:
10. The Marriott beds. The most comfy bed in existence, I think. lol

All in all, it was a great trip. I just wish we had more to look forward to. :( I'm crossing my fingers that we will someday.

"Uncle Eric"

Oops. I lost track again. Here's another layout from the big stack.

I love this patterned paper. Love it! It's made by Sassafrass Lass, and it is probably my favorite thing in their newest lines.

I can't remember who makes the acrylic tree, but I added rubons from various companies and green Stickles around the edge.  The paper is Sassafrass Lass, with a Bazzill border strip layered under another SL border at the bottom. The bike and 'let's go' rubons are from Cosmo Cricket's "Snorkel" line; '2005' is Doodlebug alpha rubons. The journaling piece is SL I think, with more borders layered at the top. The 'sunshine' charm is KI Memories and is stapled on with a teeny-tiny stapler (mine is the original Italian brand found at Impress Rubber Stamps, but Ranger seems to have licensed it and now make their own, called the Tiny Attacher). The giant letter stickers are Making Memories - I love the way they look and will have to hunt down more of these.

"Hello"

This is probably the best photo I've gotten of Edie. She is always far more interested in investigating the camera than staying put. I've had a copy of it hanging on our photo wall, but decided I needed to add it to my scrapbook too.

Scrapbooker details: patterned papers (Sticker Studio), title (Doodlebug Design), flower (Sassafrass Lass), journaling card, definition sticker (7Gypsies), "edie" letter rubons (American Crafts), and I used a Fiskars punch (threading water) to create the scalloped bottom edge

"Can I Play Too?"

I did a couple of layouts on the kids' summer ball games that we got to attend last Summer, and I caught this photo of little Trever, watching Tayler play. He didn't stay put very long, but he was definitely interested in watching her out on the field.

Scrapbooker details: The patterned paper is Bo Bunny. I used scraps from the other layouts I did. I may have to go back and add a bit more, too. It seems a bit unfinished now that I'm looking at it on screen. The letter stickers are from Scenic Route.

"Mom"

Looking at it, this layout seems like it was very easy to put together. Not so. I spent a long time on this one, with a completely different design. But I couldn't make it work and everything I did after failed just as badly. In the end, as usually happens, I ended up with a much simpler look. I absolutely LOVE the photo, so I'm glad that my original idea didn't work out. It would have been too busy, I think.

Scrapbooker details: The punched border is one of the Martha Stewart designs, the butterfly sticker is a really old K&Co Tim Coffey design, the chipboard title is Basic Grey letters, I don't know what company makes the patterned paper, and I used a silver paint pen to edge the layout. I also added wire to the butterfly and silver accents. And I'm not sure what year this photo was taken, and intend to fill that in later. It wasn't the year 200. ;)

"Everyday Moments"

Back from the blog break, and I actually can't guarantee it will be any more active around here, but I do have lots of layouts to post. I attended both Spring scrapbooking retreats this year and got tons done.

This layout has lots of stuff on it, so I won't try to list it all. I used some of my favorite stuff on this one, like the bronze nailheads, a piece of film, cool leaves, a journaling stamp that was a lucky rummage sale find, and I edged with a gold paint pen, most of which is cropped out.

"Smile" - Scrapbook Layout

I found this great photo when I was looking for something to use with the patterned paper. It's from a few years ago, at Easter, and is of my mom and her sister. The paper (from Luxe Design) started out black and white, so I cut it down to 8.5x11 and colored it with Copic markers. It took a good amount of time, and I was crossing my fingers the whole time that I wouldn't screw it up, since I only had the one piece.

The circle frame is actually the lid of a little tin. I layered the title onto black cardstock and popped it up on foam tape. Then I added the rhinestone flourishes (Prima). Everything I used on this layout, (excepting the rhinestone stickers) came from the January 09 ScrapMuse mini kit.