my sewing solution.

I love to sew.

I love to sew fun stuff for my girls.

I like to surprise them, sometimes.

it helps to know measurements in order to keep certain projects a surprise.

it helps if one doesn’t lose those important measurements, so as not to spoil the surprise.

I thought I was a genius (!!!) to write down the girls measurements, updating from time to time, on a little post-it note pad that was supposed to stay near my sewing stuff.

not so.

there is a pile of post-its somewhere, that have measurements of my three girls jotted on them. 

somewhere.

but nowhere I can locate them.

so my solution:

make a cute book, sewing themed, to keep track of these and measurements that are surely to come, because despite my pleadings, threatenings, and crying, these kids are still growing.

enter cosmo cricket:

for this here little book, I used:

- 1 small black & white composition notebook (3 3/4 x 4 3/4 )

- papers from cosmo cricket “material girl”

- elements from cosmo cricket “material girl – candy, candy” and cosmo cricket “material girl – elements”

- paper for the spine from cosmo cricket “togetherness”

- glue

- a paper trimmer and score-er

- plain white cardstock

- bits of ribbon

- staples

- rub-ons

- corner rounder

 

first, I started by designing the way I wanted the front cover of my little book to look in photoshop, and printed it off on presentation paper.

I cut it to the size of my notebook, rounded the corners, and scored it to fit nicely over the binding.

I used my tombow mono glue, and glued the paper only to the patterned part of the black and white cover of the notebook.  leave the spine glueless. 

I distressed it with an emery board, cause I roll that way..

then I cut and scored a smaller piece of coordinating paper to help reinforce the spine, and to look cute too.

I used the white cardstock to reinforce my separator pages.  I cut them down, and rounded the corners, and glued them with the tombow as well.  (I divided my pages into three somewhat equal sections so there would be plenty of room for updates.  again, that growing factor..)

I took bits of ribbon, in my girls colors (because we have a color-coded system to life at our house..  trust me, it works.), folded them in half so each side of the ribbon straddles the page (so to speak) and stapled it to the page.

then I added rub-on letters for each of their names…

and then, I got to peyton and had a little bit of a problem..

merrill almost got himself punched in the throat for trying to give a suggestion and purposefully spelling her name “p-A-y-t-o-n”.

it is a long-standing disagreement between he an i.

he threatened to spell her name in her blessing, so it would be stuck with the A.

punk.

but I digress.

I love the way the book turned out.  hopefully I won’t be losing anyone’s measurements soon so the surprises can start to flow in their fabric-y abundance.

fun fact:

while measuring the girls, I discovered that lynn and ash have the same waist measurement, and that the distance from peyton’s waist to her ankle is the same distance from lynn’s waist to her knee.

*just a side note, as I wrote down my first entry for measurements on each girl, I wrote the season and the year at the top of the page, just to help me keep straight which is most current.**

and that was april, I guess…

that was fast.

and before we know it, may will be over and done with, and it will be sweet, sweet, summertime.

*sigh.*

this mom can’t wait.

(homework will be the death of me.)

due to house drama (houses..  pffft.) I was scrambling a bit to get projects that were all done in my head actually done.  like, as in, done-done.

so, here’s a peek:

(click on layout for complete list of products and all that jazz.)

mom & me journals.

I remember when my sister-in-law bought a circle journal for her daughter years ago.  that made me look forward to when my own girls (and I only had two of them at the time, one just an infant) could read and write so we could do fun stuff like that.

well, 2/3 of those girls can read and write!

it is also a time in life when I want to really help our relationships to grow and become stronger.  enter the mom & me journal.

(it also helps with their reading, writing, and spelling.)

(bonus!!)

so thanks to pinterest for some fun inspiration, we are diving right in.

I could have bought a notebook, slapped a label on it, but no.  I had to do something fun with it, girly it up so they would be as excited about it as I am.

I spiced-up the outside of a plain old black & white composition notebook with these pretty papers and elements from cosmo cricket.  I added some tattered angels glimmer mist in “electric blue” (on the blue one), and chalkboard mist in “sprout” (on the green one), before I glued all of my embellishments down.  I also added a strip of ribbon to use as a bookmark.  I glued that down to the outside of the spine before I covered it with muslin.  the strip of muslin was folded and sewn at either end to help control the fraying, and I left the raw selvage edge to add to the prettiness of the front.

so far the girls love them.

I have been participating in a conversation about favorites with ashley.  she is rather extensive about favorites.  example:  “what is your favorite type of carpet?”  this one can go on forever.

lynn is currently conducting an interview with me.

looking forward to more fun days and questions with these, not to mention the great keepsake they will be one day.

“pin”spiration.

so let me tell you how pinterest snagged me and hasn’t quite eased up.
a lot of my friends out there (you better know who you are..) have been talking all about it, saying how great it is, yadda yadda yadda.
knowing how I am, a rebel to all that is popular, I ignored it.  for a while.
you see, I had a routine for saving all those things that I found around the internet and blogs that I loved, and dreamed of making, that just wasn’t working out as well as it had been.
I began saving images in my picture file on my computer.  (good.)
my sister-in-law told me of a genius idea to put those things in their own folder on my computer, labeled, what else: “ideas”.  (better!)
but then there arose the issue of me not remembering exactly where I got the idea from.  (instructions are very important things at times.)  oh sure, I usually knew where I got the idea from, sometimes there was a watermark on the image, but to sift through hundreds of blog posts, sometimes months after I came across the idea, was a major time waster.
so I tried to save all the ideas I liked in my bookmarks folder.
until merrill made fun of me.
and really, before he mocked me, it really wasn’t working.  there were vague descriptors of what that bookmark was marking, no image, and the were forgotten.
enter pinterest.
I looked into it, and it made total sense.  it solved all of my problems in that, I could save the picture AND the link to where the idea was found.  no searching and pulling my hair out trying to find the original source!!
oh, but that is not all..
it does more!
I can sort all of my “pins” into neat little categories or boards (something that I am still trying to perfect).  so all my halloween stuff is on one board and christmas gets its own area.  photography ideas don’t mingle with recipes..  it’s order, not chaos anymore!!
I also love that I can follow people whose style I admire, people who have crazy ingenuity and creativity.
I am totally addicted.
(I have also found new blogs to stalk..)
so out of my love of pinning, and creating my own version of others ideas, I am officially coining the new word: “pinspiration”.
I saw this:
(click on image for source.)

and I LOVED it!!!
(it is so me, and a few others I know..)
I took the idea, tweaked it a bit, and came up with this:
(click on the image for full list of credits.)

I can see that this is going to be a long, beautiful relationship!

between diet coke and chocolate…

here I am, enjoying a diet coke and some hershey’s miniatures, and realize that I have other goodies to share today..

some new products at jessica sprague (available today) are getting me in the mood to scrap (more) and make some fun hybrid stuff for the halloween season.

first up:

carina gardner-

(click on layouts for list of full credits.)

and some cosmo cricket:

can’t you see a little banner, just like this, but in real life?

I can too..  hopefully I will get it done soon!

a layout or 5..

I have been getting a lot of scrapping done.

(sadly it is all digi scrapping..  heaven knows how many pictures i have that are printed off, waiting in the mess that is now known as my craft room in the basement..  don’t even get me started on the stash of supplies that keep those pics company..)

I am not sure if this surge of digi scrapping is because of the re-discovered passion my girls have for playing polly pockets or  for watching jurassic park.

(both of which seem to take place in the loft, upstairs where the computer is..)

but anyway..  here’s a few:

(as always, click on layout for list of full credits.)

new today:

“chemistry” by cosmo cricket:

and i was way too excited about these brushes by liv:

and well, then there is all of this other stuff, that was basically just for fun…  our summer has been well-spent, and i have some cute pix to prove it!

(cute pix = more scrapping motivation!!)

hope you are enjoying your summer as well!!

a different take on the memory block i love so much…

i have made (and will continue to make) these cute memory blocks for probably as long as i live.

(see here and here.)

i have done them totally traditional in the past, which is fine.  but the 3d style of it bugs my ocd mind..  they just don’t sit flat!

so i tried one totally hybrid, designing my 6 sides in photoshop, printing them off and slapping it all together.

it sits flat!!

my tutorial is featured over at the “mouse, paper, lovely” blog today.  go check it out!

(you can also get a complete list of the products i used to make it.)

Today!!!!

Just a reminder: seven days in may begins today!

(How’s that to start you week?)

Go check out the general forum to play along.  I know that I will be there..  well, in between the coats of paint drying, making teacher year-end gifts, going to the dentist..

So come and hang out with me there!

I did last year and had a blast, got addicted, quite frankly, but it was entirely too much fun.

(And you’ll score some freebies!!!)

As for new product, I have a few…

(They are all delightful.)

Splendid Fiins:

(Click on layouts for list full credits.)

Carina Gardner:

Be watching for a post about baby hunger…

Last, but certainly not least, Cosmo Cricket:

I have many more project ideas in store with this collection.

So, will I see you in the forum, or what? ;)

More for your Monday.

Time to show off some of the loveliness that exists at Jessica Sprague…

(Don’t forget that “Mondays in May” are still in full swing there!!)  

Jodie Lee has released some beautiful stuff today.

Here, I used her “Botanique Brushes” to create everything from the background to the sweet little stamps.

(Click on layout for list of full credits.)

Last week, we had a RS meeting that we chose Faith to be the theme.  We paired it with gardening (‘tis the season) and I made these cute plant picks for the tomato plant handouts, and one to go in each of our speakers thank you plants.

Cosmo Cricket was made for this people…

 

For the tomato plant ones I simply designed them in photoshop, printed out my stuff onto presentation paper, cut them out, use a little double-sided tape, plus a popsicle, and the help of a good friend.

For the larger ones, I did pretty much the same thing, but instead of double-sided tape, I mod-podged the papers onto either side of a little “woodsie” (found at craft stores).  I sanded-down the edges after it dried and top-coated with more mod-podge.  I used Tombow multi adhesive (the green and white guy) to glue the popsicle stick onto the back.

(Here’s the link for list of full credits on those babies.)

We also had some of these….

This one is asking for me to toy with it..  can I add it to my list that is today?

As for the state of homelessness, among other things in my life..  changes are in the works in my neck of the woods people..

Lots of changes.

All of them good! 

(I swear…)

Summer is coming, life needs to get a little more organized, streamlined and a bit easier, I am thinking…  blogs might get a re-boot of sorts.  “Furious Orange” (the color of the vomitastic wall in my basement) will no longer be so vomit inducing, hopefully starting today.  Then there’s a tutorial I am putting the finishing touches on..  those cupcakes I mentioned toying with..  and some sewing patterns I bought.  I want to do them, but I don’t without a space to leave them when I need to, you know, to cook, clean, wipe bums.  Stuff like that.  Oh!  And pictures..  LOTS Of pictures to share.

See, I told you good, and exciting.

P.S. Gear up for “7 Days in May”.  It starts next Monday…  I am severely looking forward to it.

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

A Pixie-Licious Monday

Mondays in May have begun at Jessica Sprague..

What is a “Monday In May”, you might ask?

May is the month of celebration at Jessica Sprague, a month where goodies and good deals are in abundance.  Every Monday, you can buy one item from one designer and get another item, from the same designer, for freee!!

So, to tempt you…

Cosmos Cricket’s latest release, “Pixie-Licious”:

(Click on layout for full credits.)

Spring in my step.

It’s a new week.  I fully intend on it being better than the last one.

I am feeling so much better!!  To add to that, I have a ton of energy and a list of things I want to do/need to do/would love to do to prove it.

But to start off the day, a couple of layouts using some of the newest releases:

(As always, click on layout to see full credits.)

Cosmo Cricket:

And Elle’s Studio:

Hope your week is as awesome looking as mine!

candy, candy!

this week’s layout comes courtesy of cosmo cricket’s latest line of “garden variety”.  my layout features paper and elements (aka “candy” to the cosmos).

love the fresh-picked feel it has to it, makes me want to go live on a farm.

(i tell merrill that is the plan if something were ever to happen to him.  pack up the girls and head to the rural i tell you..)

tangent:  i realize, as i post this, that i took this picture on our anniversary..  kind of funny to see just what has happened in 11 years..

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

Some yummy for your Monday.

Happy Spring!!

(More to come on that subject later..)

For now, here is some gorgeous stuff to get you started on a great week of digi/hybrid scrapping/crafting.

(More to come on that “Hybrid Crafting” part too.)

First up:  Cosmo Cricket “Lil’ Girl & Lil’ Boy” Papers and Elements.

LOVE them.

(Click HERE for full credits.)

And then there’s more Splendid Fiins.

(LOVE HER!!)

This time around it is border bits that go with the “Brilliant” collection.

You should already know of my love for that line..

(Click HERE for full credits.)

Go check out what else is in store today..  have some fun with your Monday!