Paper Paper Everywhere

One Little Word blog hop for January

2012-01-01T10:00:00.004-06:00

This is a recap of the December prompt for my 2011 One Little Word and also a preview of my 2012 word!

I counted down to 2012 by standing in an embrace with my awesome husband and sweet daughter, and it seemed such a fitting way to end the year.

Embrace has been a good word for 2011. I found that it really helped me to relax and accept the changes that were constant throughout this year.

Now to announce my word for 2012.....

The word is design.

This word chose me - I was working on planning my courses that I will be teaching this spring and I was reading a book called Understanding by Design. One of the chapters started with a definition of design - to plan with purpose and intent; to execute - and I thought, that is exactly what I want to do this coming year! I like the literal meaning of it too, since I would really like to spend more time learning about design and applying it to my scrapbooking.

Next up on the blog hop is Lee!

And here is a list of everyone that is participating:
Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com
Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Veronica www.veronicanorris.typepad.com
Kara http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com/
Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Sharyn http://www.LaVieEnChic.com
Jill http://jillconyers.com
Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Monica http://scrapinspired.com/
Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog
-> Cynthia H http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com <-
Lee http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife/
Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Monica B www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au
Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/
Melissa S http://blog.mshanhun.com
Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com
Stephanie http://www.scrapworthylives.com/
Jenn L www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com
Karen http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/

December Daily: Day One

2011-12-01T21:02:00.009-06:00

I have been so excited for December Daily this year. December Daily is my way of getting in the holiday spirit, of getting ready for Christmas, of being enthusiastic and excited for the season.

I really like this post that Noell Hyman at Paperclipping wrote about tailoring December Daily to your style. I go through a similar dilemma to what she describes, and this year I was inspired to just go for it by the fact that it's E's first Christmas and I would love to have that documented somehow. I like the mix of the everyday with the Christmas, so that's not a problem for me, but last year I didn't love all of my foundation pages after they were filled in with pictures and journaling. So, this year, I am using Ali's template, but filling in with paper and embellishments as the day unfolds rather than ahead of time.

I also loved Ali's post today of encouragement - it all counts! It doesn't matter if you don't have a picture for every day. If you want to "break the rules", you can! This is your project, make it great, but don't make it stressful. Love that. Oh, and point #9 was written just for me. ; )

Here is my journaling for December 1:
Today I dressed E in an outfit that I found at a consignment sale earlier this year - it has polka dots and a little penguin on it that says bundle of love. I just love it for the holiday season (and because it has dots and penguins, so perfect!) Tonight at dinner we gave her avocado for the first time, and I was so tempted to change her out of her cute clothes and put her in something else (anticipating a mess), but then decided what the heck, I'll just do a little extra scrubbing the next time I do laundry. I'm glad I did (hello, one little word embrace!) because this photo of her at the table with avocado all over her belly is the perfect beginning to December Daily. It just makes me happy to see that cute smiling face covered in drool, and it is a great picture to tell the story of how we are starting her out with solid foods using Baby Led Weaning - she eats with us, we give her foods that we are also eating, and she is learning how to eat them on her own at her pace. It has made mealtimes so much fun!

One Little Word blog hop for December!

2011-12-01T10:00:00.001-06:00

My word: embrace

I have sort of been keeping up with my One Little Word album, but I definitely haven't been doing a good job of updating my blog. I am embracing that fact and reminding myself that I have been spending a lot of quality time with my baby instead! : )

Speaking of the baby, I was hoping to get my page scanned and uploaded before the hop went live, but she kept me up all night last night, so that didn't happen. I hope to be able to update before the day is over. I can say that I printed the brown lettering set on Bazzill's Coconut Cream paper (this is becoming my favorite off-white cardstock) and wrote in the journaling with a brown pen.

If I'm cute and smiley all day, does that make up for the fact that I'm a crankypants all night long?

Here is my journaling:
I believe that my new job is a good fit for me.
I know that E is well adjusted and thriving despite all the changes we have subjected her to, with moving and being between two different states.
I love E more and more each day. Her smile, her growth, and her discovery are so amazing to witness.
I learned that motherhood was not an easy transition for me.
I am enjoying reading again, having felt uninspired when we first got to Indiana. I am loving taking E to the library (and she seems to love it too!)
This word has helped me relax, be at peace, and accept where I am right now. I feel like I stress about things a little less and am enjoying things a little more.

Next up is Jan!

If you want to start at the beginning, go to Margie's blog.

And here's the entire list:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com
Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com
Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com
Monica B http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au
Debra http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com
Lynn http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
--> You are Here
http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com <--
Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Jenn http://studiojenn.blogspot.com
Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Getting back on the blogging bandwagon

2011-11-28T15:51:00.004-06:00

I have fallen out of the habit of updating my blog thanks to a certain (cute) little someone, but December Daily is coming up, so I thought I would get back in on the action. I also signed up to participate in the One Little Word blog hop for December 1st in order to force me to post something. So check back soon for some updates!

In the meantime, I leave you with this cuteness, taken the day the December Daily kit arrived from Studio Calico!

burp cloths

2011-06-21T00:04:00.003-05:00

We have a new addition in our house as of May 20. We didn't get very many burp cloths at our shower and I am finding that we use them quite regularly. So I bought some prefold diapers, pulled out some favorite fabrics, and, with the help of my mother-in-law, made some. I am so happy with how they turned out and they are already getting good use!

Three projects for 2011

2011-04-14T10:30:00.001-05:00

I have had this post saved since January. It has taken me this long to pull together the photos. Sad, very, very sad. But I think getting my dissertation done is a good excuse!!

Finishing three quilting projects this past year has demonstrated to me that three is a reasonable amount of output to expect from me in a year quilting-wise. So I am putting my mind to finishing three more projects this year:

1) Penguin baby quilt. I picked out the pattern last fall when I found out I was pregnant. The main penguin fabric I bought years ago, probably before I started graduate school, so it is great to finally put it to use! This has a deadline of May 23, 2011 : )
I have started cutting the pieces but no assembly has happened yet.

2) Log cabin quilt for my husband. I started this quilt when we were living in Mexico in 2002-3. It is pretty far along, but I keep debating what the finished size should be and whether or not I need to make more blocks. I will make a firm decision on that this year, and get it done! Seeing as this year marks 15 years together, I think he should get a quilt, especially if the baby is getting one : ) [Forgot to take photos - I'll make a separate post once I pull everything out to work on it.]

3) This is a first for me, as I plan to START and FINISH this quilt in 2011! Whoa, getting a little bold here : ) This will be my first "kit" quilt - I bought the fabric as a bundle and the pattern from the same booth at the Houston quilt show this past fall. I think the colors are gorgeous and I have wanted to do a fat quarter quilt for a long time, so here goes!

Bonus) In pulling out the fabrics to take a picture of #3, I also found the pattern and fabric for a fourth project that I have been inspired to do. This project is actually speaking to me more right now than #3 is, so I thought I would add it as a bonus project. Who knows, maybe I'll start and finish two quilts this year for a total of 4 finished projects! (A girl can dream, right?)

One Little Word Blog Hop for April

2011-04-01T10:00:00.011-05:00

I got a lot done on my One Little Word project this month!

I added the "beginnings" frame to my January 5x7 photo and got it printed. It looks great in my album!

I fixed my January layout - I wasn't happy with how I had originally made my card with "embrace" on it. But now I think it's just right!

I got my February photos printed and added captions to them so that I would remember why I took them:

You can click on any of the images to see them larger.

And I made my March layout!! Our task this month was to choose an action related to our word and do it. My action was to submit a COMPLETE draft of my dissertation to my committee by March 20. I came close - I did send something to my chair on March 20, but it wasn't complete. I sent her a complete draft a week later - hey, it's before the end of the month, right?

I never put butterflies on anything (it's a scrapbook trend I have generally avoided), but I decided to go for it this time since they kind of represent change. And part of my goal with choosing "embrace" was to try new things in my creative process. So the butterflies represent the change that comes with finishing a dissertation and the flowers represent the growth that I have undergone in this whole process.

Also, I didn't go into this with a fixed color palette in mind, but it looks like turquoise, orange, and brown are emerging as themes.

Next up, Cheri A! Make sure you scroll down and check out how she decluttered her scrap space -- it looks AMAZING! And definitely check out Margie's blog to thank her for organizing such a great blog hop!

Here's the complete list of participants in case you want to hop around:
1. Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
2. Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
3. Donna http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
4. Joy www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com
5. Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
6. Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/
7. Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au
8. Monica B2 www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
9. Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com
10. Stacey http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog
11. Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/
12. Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
13. Monica http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/
14. Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/
15. Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
16. Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com
17. Kathryn www.katlodesigns.com
18. Jennifer www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
19. Jen www.byjen.com
20. Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
21. Miranda http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com
22. Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
23. Cynthia http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/ --- you are here
24. Cheri A http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com --- go here next
25. Deb http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
26. Nicky www.seejanebake.blogspot.com
27. Karen D http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/
28. Tina http://ryzmomplus2.typepad.com/my_weblog/
29. Kimberly http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com/
30. Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
31. Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com
32. Lisa A http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Some "digital" scrapbooking

2011-03-16T16:40:00.006-05:00

I have had three scrapbooking tasks on my to do list for a while now. As of today, I can check them off (plus two bonus ones)! Yes, I am totally procrastinating finishing my dissertation. I keep telling myself this is how I work best.

1) Make a 6x6 layout of pictures from my in-laws' Solstice party to put into my December Daily album. This is the very last page I have to do before the album is complete. DONE!

2) Make the 5x7 Beginnings layout for my One Little Word album. DONE!

3) Make a 6x12 layout so that I can print another 6x12 layout I made a year and a half ago. Put the two together to print as one 12x12. DONE!

4) Make the 8x10 February photo collage for my One Little Word album. DONE!

5) Place all of these as a single order at scrapbookpictures.com. DONE! (And even managed to get it in before their sale expired!)

Penguin quilt

2011-03-16T01:17:00.004-05:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that I am planning to take on three quilting projects this year. Here is a preview of the first one -- a penguin quilt for the baby.

The pattern I am using, Penguin Party from the book Confetti in the Corner:

Fabrics for the front:

Fabrics for the back:

So far I have started cutting the fabrics. No assembly yet.

Organizing Paper Clutter

2011-03-15T13:09:00.006-05:00

I have a lot of paper. Scrapbook paper, paper associated with my dissertation and research, paper reminders, paper mail, unidentifiable paper stacks, you get the idea.

Over the past two years, I have been trying to get this paper under control with many many thanks to Aby Garvey at Simplify 101. Aby offers an online course on how to organize your paper clutter (the next session starts today!) and it has been a huge help to me to figure out why I have such a problem with paper and what I can do about it. This is the best (short) summary of what you learn in the class. I am enrolled in this latest session, my third time through it, because each time I take it I get further and further through my backlog. We will be moving some time this year, and I don't want to move all this paper, so I am taking it this time with the hopes of significantly reducing the volume of paper I have. Wish me luck!

One Little Word Blog Hop for March

2011-03-01T09:48:00.006-06:00

Hard to believe it is March already! I am participating in the One Little Word Blog Hop again this month and wanted to thank Margie for getting me in to the list at the very last minute! I emailed her at midnight last night and she worked some magic and got me into the rotation. That makes me last on the list, so click over to Margie's blog when you are done here to go full circle (or start the hop from the beginning). A big thank you to Cindy also for linking me in to the hop so that I could participate.

My word for the year is embrace, and our February prompt from Ali Edwards was to take pictures of things that remind us of our word. I took two photo walks (something I never do!) to scout out possible inspiration and found myself drawn to circles (encircle is a synonym of embrace).

From my photo walk in Vail, CO: Wind mobiles

From my photo walk in Charleston, SC: a logo for a weekend festival. I liked that it had the year along with the circles.

Some other photos from my Charleston walk can be found here. My favorite photo is by far the one of the older couple on the boardwalk.

I also found my word in my internet surfing and took screenshots - that counts as a picture, right? : ) These shots come from a blog post which can be found here. The first one is from the text of the post and the second is from the comments.

This month I also made the cover for my album:

And took a class on Embracing Imperfection at Big Picture Classes - how perfect of a title! I took this screenshot from the handout as a reminder to myself to embrace my imperfections : ) I took the advice to heart and made 3 scrapbook layouts this month!

I am trying hard to be mindful of my word in my daily life. I find that it is making me calmer and that I am having an easier time of handling things as they come. That's a good thing!

Here is the complete list of bloggers participating in the Hop:
1. Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com
2. Monica B http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/
3. Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
4. Miranda http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com
5. Donna http://www.donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
6. Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
7. Stacey http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog
8. Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog
9. Cassie http://craftycassiescorner.blogspot.com
10. Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
11. Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com
12. Holly http://lovingrobots.blogspot.com
13. Karen http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com
14. Claudia http://creative-moms.com
15. Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com
16. Kimberly http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com
17. Kat www.katswonderings.blogspot.com
18. Kristina http://ciqis.blogspot.com
19. Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
20. Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au/
21. Amanda www.scrappnbee.blogspot.com
22. Lisa http://luluoz.typepad.com
23. Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com
24. Maureen http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com
25. Kristi http://theprojectofme.wordpress.com
26. Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com
27. Karen http://womenontractors.blogspot.com
28. Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com
29. Monica Bergler http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
30. Mandy http://captureandcreate.wordpress.com
31. Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com
32. Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com
33. Lee http://linarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife
34. Jen www.byjen.com
35. Sylvia http://baxtersmom1.blogspot.com/
36. Christianne http://christiannemarra.blogspot.com/
37. Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
38. Joy www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com
39. Beth http://justbebeth.wordpress.com/
40. Jennifer L www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
41. Kathryn www.katlodesigns.com
42. Heather www.scrappyhare.blogspot.com
43. Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com
44. Cynthia http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/

One Little Word in photos

2011-02-18T20:47:00.003-06:00

Our task for my One Little Word Class this month is to take pictures of things in the world that make us think of our word. Here is what I came across today.

Embrace the Basics

Embrace each other

Two new layouts

2011-02-17T07:26:00.004-06:00

Two new layouts this week! (Actually 3, but I decided not to post the third for privacy reasons.) I am feeling uber-productive!

#1) LSA annual meeting
I was inspired by this episode of the Paperclipping Roundtable to create a layout about my work. This layout is about the linguistics conference that I attend every year and some of the highlights from this year's conference.

I have had the lined patterned paper for a while, along with cardstock in coordinating colors, but was waiting for the "perfect" topic and finally decided this was it!

#2) Having fun with paper

I was sifting through the pile that is growing on my workspace and came across some stickers that I saved from a kit I received from Studio Calico. I decided it was now or never -- use them in a layout somehow or throw them out. I made this about how I am inspired by Studio Calico kits, saving 2 stickers to use on it and tossing the other 2. I used this sketch (also from Studio Calico) and entered it in their Sunday Sketch Challenge! Fingers crossed for a giftcard :)

One Little Word blog hop

2011-02-01T10:00:00.008-06:00

Welcome to the One Little Word Blog Hop!

My word for the year is embrace.

I want to be better about embracing the projects I undertake and getting them done without too much agonizing and perfectionism, so I decided to participate in this blog hop to give myself a deadline for the January assignment from Ali's class. I don't totally love the final result - the mix of papers isn't quite right - but I am EMBRACING it as is. Maybe I will change them up, maybe not, for now I am calling it good enough.

Our assignment this month was to look up the definition of your word, its synonyms, a quote that included your word, and to explain why you chose it. The linguist in me loved this task! Here is what I did:

I think the quote is my favorite part: "It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."
-- Alan Cohen

The participants in the blog hop are all in the class. Next up: Kathryn!
Here is the entire list if you want to see who else is participating:
1) Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com
2) Jill Conyers http://jillconyers.typepad.com/life_as_i_see_it/
3) Monica http://scraplifters.blogspot.com
4) Lynn W http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
5) Miranda http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com
6) Mandy http://captureandcreate.wordpress.com
7) Kathy http://katswonderings.blogspot.com
8) Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com
9) Donna http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
10) Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
11) Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
12) April http://capturethememories.blogspot.com
13) Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com
14) Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
15) Relly http://rel.ly
16) Nancy http://goshery.blogspot.com
17) Cynthia http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/
18) Kathryn http://katlodesigns.com
19) Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au
20) Heather http://scrappyhare.blogspot.com
21) Gayle www.lifeonlilypadlane.blogspot.com
22) Kristina http://ciqis.blogspot.com
23) Debra http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
24) Becky http://beckyandjames.com
25) Amy http://reflectivesnapshots.com
26) Marlene http://moore-fun-in-the-sun.blogspot.com/
27) Maureen http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com
28) Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
29) Monica Scrapmom http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
30) Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
31) Junelle http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com
32) Margaret http://www.gutsymom.blogspot.com
33) Sharyn http://www.analteredlife.com
34) Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

One Little Word, once a month

2011-01-20T13:25:00.007-06:00

Since I am participating in Ali Edwards' One Little Word project again this year, and am committed enough to be signed up for the class at Big Picture Classes, I figured I might as well devote at least one blog post a month to my one little word.

Here is the title page I made for my class album:

I have been thinking a lot about how I want to put my word into action this year, but I will save that for another post : ) January's not over yet!

Etsy Taste Test

2011-01-17T12:45:00.003-06:00

Have you tried etsy taste test?

Basically you click on several images that appeal to you for some reason or another, and then it returns pages of items for sale on etsy that supposedly match your taste.

Here was my first attempt:
http://etsy.me/gQlxmz

and my second attempt:
http://etsy.me/eyIG0x

Even though I clicked on completely different images each time, there seems to be some overlap. Interesting....

three, yes THREE, quilts finished in 2010

2011-01-12T15:10:00.001-06:00

I wanted to post a summary of the three (!!) quilts I finished this year, since I am so so happy to have completed projects.

Exhibit 1: Girls of the World for my cousin Emily

I actually finished this top last, but thanks to the speedy quilting of That Quilter and binding by my friend nanann, it was completely done first! I mailed it off to the lucky recipient and heard that she wrapped her cute 6-year old self up in it on Christmas morning and explained to her grandmother that "C made it for ME!" (And for the record, my sister helped on the design and piecing of the top, so she needs recognition too!)
Also blogged about it here.

Exhibit 2: Sister's Choice, a wedding quilt for my sister

This one was quilted by a friend of my mother-in-law's in Montana. My mother-in-law sewed the binding on (she is in the picture on the left).
Here is a close-up of some of the quilting:

Original blog post here.

Exhibit 3: Troikas, a Russian quilt for me!

This was also quilted by my mother-in-law's friend. There is so much detail in the quilting -- I just love how it turned out, and it is currently on my bed!! (Troika is the Russian word for the sleigh depicted in the focal squares). My mother-in-law did the binding on this one as well. Here is the back:

Original blog post here.

I am now motivated to finish three projects in 2011 -- more on those soon!

One Little Word

2011-01-03T12:11:00.003-06:00

Well, you may have noticed a new banner in the side bar. Yes, it is another Ali Edwards' project, no surprise there! I am choosing one little word to focus on throughout this year. I did this last year and found that it really helped me to stay on track with my goals for the year.

Last year's word was finished. I chose it because I wanted to be finished with my dissertation and finished with a number of unfinished projects. It hadn't been enough to resolve to finish these projects in the past, so I chose the past tense version of the word to hopefully visualize them actually done rather than the process of getting them done. And there are so many things that I FINISHED!
* three chapters of my dissertation
* three quilts!
* two papers for publication, one is submitted and one is being reviewed by my advisor
* my Teaching with Technology certificate through UT's Graduate Student Instructor program
* Week in the Life
* all of the foundation pages, pictures, and journaling for December Daily (I haven't finished assembling it yet, but I have all of the pieces that I need)

This year's word is embrace. There are so many changes coming up this year that I know are good for me and for my life path. I want to embrace these changes, feeling at peace with my decisions rather than wondering the perpetual “what if?” that I have plagued myself with in the past. We shall see where this word takes me this year.

December 30 and 31!

2010-12-31T11:39:00.005-06:00

The last two days - this has been a fun month to document. I worked on some journaling today -- have to do some major assembly this afternoon!

December 28 and 29

2010-12-29T16:37:00.004-06:00

Getting close to the end of December!!

Tuesday Tip on Big Picture Classes blog

2010-12-28T12:36:00.003-06:00

My tip was featured on the Big Picture Classes blog! Granted it was *last* Tuesday's tip and not today's, but I thought I would share anyway!

Tuesday Tip

And here's a picture of my tip in action:

December 26 and 27

2010-12-27T10:14:00.004-06:00

Back from our Christmas trip and ready to do lots of December Daily catch-up! I'll have new posts throughout the week with pictures of how my layouts are turning out.

But for now, here is the foundation for days 26 and 27:

This is the same Christmas tree stamp that I used on day 13 (I got the stamp in Sweden).

More 7 Gypsies numerals!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2010-12-24T21:12:00.000-06:00

I have a feeling I will want to journal a lot about Christmas Eve, so I gave myself two options: a card that is out in the open and one that is hidden inside of the envelope. I think of Christmas Eve as an elegant time which is why I picked gold paper over traditional red and green.

For Christmas Day, I used some Stampin Up stickers on brown cardstock.

My one transparency in this album is also on this day. I had a piece of birthday transparency that I have had lying around for years, so I covered the birthday text with a strip of a Christmas border sticker on both sides.

Here is what it looks like overlaid on my Dec. 25th page:

December 22 and 23

2010-12-23T08:56:00.000-06:00

Foundation for Day 22:

and Day 23:

December 20 and 21

2010-12-21T08:26:00.001-06:00

Foundation for Day 20:

The numerals are stickers on top of a build-a-brad base from Stampin Up.

I took a lot of pictures at Christmas time last year, so I am not worried about having enough. But I didn't do much journaling, so I tried to intentionally insert some journaling pages as we get closer to Christmas Day. This card from Little Yellow Bicycle will hopefully do the trick for day 21:

December 18 and 19

2010-12-18T21:49:00.001-06:00

We are headed to Montana to visit my in-laws, so Day 18 is kind of themed appropriately with the reindeer on the front and log cabins on the back.

Day 19 is just fun red paper from Stampin Up with thickers numerals. The curly brackets are from a Cosmo Cricket alphabet set.

December 16 and 17

2010-12-17T08:11:00.003-06:00

I am packing and getting ready for Christmas traveling, so I am going to double up on posts today and over the weekend.

Here is the foundation for Day 16. Not sure what I am going to put on it yet since I didn't take any pictures yesterday. Maybe my to-do list of all the things that need to get done?

Day 17 was super easy to put together - the 17 was already printed in red glitter on the paper (My Mind's Eye) and it came die cut, so all I had to do was trim it to size.

December 15

2010-12-15T11:52:00.001-06:00

I had a hard time with this page for some reason. It was the last page I made when I was doing the foundation, and for some reason I felt completely uninspired. Hopefully something fun will happen today to jazz it up!

December 14

2010-12-14T08:00:00.004-06:00

Another day with resist paper - this time I inked over it with Real Red. I really love how bright the color turned out.

Numerals are from 7 Gypsies and placed on a ticket that I downloaded from Miss Cutie Pie. I can't find the exact tickets I downloaded, but these ones are very similar! In fact I think I might just use them too!

December 13

2010-12-13T08:43:00.004-06:00

Sankta Lucia day! I pre-planned this page to have some Swedish on it hoping that we would do something Sankta Lucia related today, and we already have -- Lucia buns and Swedish carols for breakfast!

December 12

2010-12-13T08:31:00.005-06:00

Maximized the 12 printed on this paper since I was running out of numeral choices! My shopping this coming year will definitely include increasing my numeral options (I'm seeing stamps, stickers, Tim Holtz metals...)

And you can see how Day 11 was spliced together because the back doesn't look nearly as nice as the front!

Lots of Christmas things happened this weekend - just have to get my pictures printed!

December 11

2010-12-13T07:52:00.004-06:00

Here you can see the back of Day 10 along with the start of Day 11:

I spliced together this piece of Christmas paper from the two ends that were left over after cutting out Day 9.

December 10

2010-12-11T13:00:00.003-06:00

I really like how this page turned out. I used Presto Patterns paper from Stampin Up! and inked it with Chocolate Chip ink using a brayer. It's resist paper, so the white type is printed on the paper and shows up after inking. I then sprayed it with some Vanilla Glimmer Mist. I didn't like how the ink felt on the paper so I covered everything with a thin layer of matte Mod Podge. The white square is a Stampin Up sticker and the 10 numeral tab is from 7 Gypsies.

December 9

2010-12-10T16:06:00.005-06:00

In today's pictures, you can see the back of Day 8:

and the foundation for Day 9:

December 8

2010-12-09T09:18:00.005-06:00

Here is my foundation page for Day 8. It is a little different from the previous days because I didn't use a page protector, so there is a bit more space width-wise. The Joy & Peace paper is actually part of a Christmas card that we got last year. I cut the tab part out of the right side by tracing the tab of a file folder along the back and then cutting it out.

The great irony is that today wasn't very joyful or peaceful. My external hard drive broke, I thought I lost my wallet (and then found it in the car), and I agonized over my dissertation chapter which still isn't done. Grr.

The number is from 7 Gypsies. You will see these reappear several more times -- I just love the way they look and how the font of each numeral is different. They have a little adhesive on them so they stick when folded over, but I have found that they don't stay stuck for very long. I keep pushing them down to re-adhere. I tried reinforcing one with a glue dot, but that doesn't seem to help either. Any ideas on how to make it stick better? Following Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas is making me think I should try Glossy Accents or matte multi-medium.

You'll have to wait until Day 9 to see the back!

December 7

2010-12-07T09:28:00.005-06:00

I have to say many, many thanks to everyone who is visiting my blog and to Ali Edwards for providing the link-up. It is amazing to see how my blog traffic has sky-rocketed and the places all over the world that my visitors are coming from.

I am also enjoying seeing what others are making, so if you leave a comment, I promise to leave one back!

Here is my foundation for Day 7:

December 6

2010-12-06T20:39:00.004-06:00

Here is the foundation for Day 6:

In other news, I got a new camera tonight!!! The auto-focus on my previous camera stopped working, so I wasn't able to take any pictures with the flash on, and the pictures I did take were often blurry. I have been making do for the past month by taking pictures in direct sunlight, using our other camera (which also doesn't have a flash), and just accepting the grainy low light photos when I have to. But now I am so excited to be able to use a flash again!! I think the new camera will be the topic for tomorrow's December Daily page as I will be playing with it and figuring out how it works.

December 5

2010-12-05T17:47:00.004-06:00

My foundation for this page is very similar to Day 3. I am thinking instead of framing off the center 5 that I will put three pictures on the front and leave just the 5 in the lower left corner exposed just to make it a little different than Day 3.

December 4

2010-12-04T10:52:00.005-06:00

Day 4 is one of my favorites!

And Day 1 and Day 2 now have photos and journaling.

December 3

2010-12-04T10:44:00.002-06:00

Day 3 uses some numbered patterned paper from Stampin Up. I used a green square frame sticker that I had from last year's Stampin Up Christmas line to highlight the #3.

I have Day 1 and Day 2 photos printed now, so I will assemble those pages today and post them by this evening.

December 2

2010-12-02T20:34:00.008-06:00

Here is the foundation page for December 2nd:

And here is how it looks with the back of the December 1st page (the journaling from December 1st will go there, just need to write it out!):

And here is the back with my photo and journaling. (I smudged out the journaling to protect my husband's privacy.)

December 1

2010-12-01T23:20:00.005-06:00

Here is a close-up of my foundation page for December 1st, day one of December Daily:

And here it is with the photo:

And here is how it looks with the back of the intro page:

Here is the back with my journaling:

December Daily album cover

2010-11-30T20:05:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am using this album from Stampin Up! in Real Red. I found the candy cane ribbon at my favorite scrapbook store in Wisconsin, Making Memories and More. Unfortunately, I don't know who makes it, but I immediately thought of my December Daily when I saw it in the store this past October and snatched it up. It is adhered all the way around the cover using the Xyron sticker maker.

Here is what the album looks like when you open it up:

The tags were made by putting this snowflake sticker from Paper Source (all of their stickers make me drool) on to a round metal tag and then adhered to the cover with glue dots. Unfortunately, the glue dots don't stick super well to the fabric cover, so I have had to re-adhere and apply lots of pressure to make them stay. But I love how the tags look on the album - it makes it look so polished and less bland.

And since you could see it in the picture of the open album, here is a close-up of the intro page:

The star letters are from Jenni Bowlin, purchased at the same time as the candy cane ribbon, and the rest of the product comes from my stash. I covered a piece of semi-chipboard cut to size with a piece of ivory paper that I inked with Antique Linen distress ink (the "chipboard" came in a package of pillow protectors). You probably can't see it very well in the picture, but I stamped stars into the background using the same Antique Linen distress ink. It looks really subtle in person. The December strip came from a sheet of 12x12 paper that had all the months on it -- I originally got it to put in my honeymoon album. And the 2010 comes from a set of alphas that I have had for a while. I don't remember who makes them.

I am loving the process of making my album -- it is so putting me in the Christmas spirit. And I am proud to say that I finished the foundation about 2 weeks before December 1!! I think that's the first time I have ever finished something ahead of schedule!

My take on the 2010 Houston Quilt Show

2010-11-22T15:15:00.000-06:00

Of course I took a picture of the penguin quilt! Feeding Time by Joyce O'Connell

I have gone to the International Quilt Festival in Houston every year since I moved here. I love it. It is so much more than traditional pieced quilts. It is an art show where the main medium is fabric and/or items that have been pieced together in the style of a quilt. (One year there was a "quilt" made out of squares cut from Coke cans, just to give you a sense of how far the boundaries of the term quilt are stretched.) It is inspiration. It is an explosion of color. It is a place to explore vendors from all over the country who have some connection to the craft of quilting (although there was a lot of scrapbooking crossover this year!) It is incredible and not to be missed if you find yourself in Houston the first weekend of November.

The main section of the show is the judged quilts, and attendees are encouraged to vote for what they consider to be their favorite quilt for the Viewer's Choice award. Here are my top three choices for Viewer's Choice:

Long Road Home by Peggy Parrott
This quilt had so much detail that everywhere you looked you found something new. I loved how the house in the lower left corner is in black and white (just like the movie) and how from there the quilt shifts to being in Technicolor. I also love how the Wicked Witch's dress forms the tornado.

Kirara's Walking Road in the Wood by Ayako Kawakami
This was another one that had so much detail that you kept seeing something new everywhere you looked. Every square is a house of sorts that has the quiltmaker's daughter in it somewhere, including a quilt shop! I also really liked the dimensionality and the see-through aspect of it. My sister loved the logs that formed the outer border.

And the one I ultimately decided on:

On a Quilted Breeze, entered by Nan Scott (but it is a group quilt)
The quilting on this was so cool and added so much to the quilt. There were fish in the sea and birds in the air and all kinds of other things you don't see right away on first glance. The sail though was the most amazing part - it is a quilt!

This piece was from the Text on Textiles exhibit and I wanted to highlight it because I love pieces that I learn something from. This piece in particular was a fascinating history lesson, conveyed as what I would call non-traditional memory keeping/scrapbooking.

Sarajevo Rose by Renelda Peldunas-Harter
It is the story of a woman's time in Sarajevo with the US Army and explains what a Sarajevo Rose is both in words along the outside of the quilt and with a visual picture (the red parts in the center of the quilt). So, so interesting.

Another finished quilt top!

2010-11-08T11:57:00.006-06:00

I am so excited to have completed my THIRD quilt top this year. Yes, that's right I have finished 3 quilt tops this year, an absolute record for me, especially since I have only finished 2 other quilt tops in my lifetime!

This quilt is for my cousin. My sister and I planned it as a baby quilt for her when she was in fact a baby. We got everything done in a timely manner except the outside borders. Then as time passed and I hadn't made any progress on it, I decided that it would be more practical if I made it bigger. I figured out that I had enough fabric to enlarge it and then put it away again. I finally added the bottom third this month. My sister was in town this past weekend, and she helped me get the outside border on, the backing made, the quilt top ironed, and the threads trimmed and voila, it's done! It only took us six years -- my cousin will be 7 in February!

I am having it quilted on a longarm by That Quilter - I am excited to see what she does with it!

And because I finished three projects this year, I allowed myself to buy fabric for three more projects at Quilt Festival this year. Logical, right?

A few more days of dining room table bliss

2010-10-26T17:28:00.006-05:00

My husband is out of town on a business trip until Thursday, so I have taken over the dining room table again for craft space. I am bummed at the prospect of packing it all up because it has been so productive to have 3 projects going simultaneously. And it makes my own craft table look so clear and empty and inviting!

I am loving working on the dining room table and loving my stash. I keep thinking of ideas for things to do and am totally patting myself on the back for already having the necessary supplies and not needing to go out and shop for it. In fact, I will confess, I was in Archiver's on Sunday and actually felt somewhat uninspired by the products and was anxious to come home and play with my own (old) stuff rather than bring home new stuff. I think that is a first for me. It has taken years, but I have finally grown my stash to a point where I feel I have everything I need and it inspires me.

Here are some close-ups of some of the things I have out:

Day 24 of my December Daily album, with a sneak peek of the ribbon and metal tags I used on the cover. I bought the gold tags and envelopes on clearance last year at Paper Source because they were an amazing deal - it was fun to finally break into them and use them! You can also see some fabric from a quilt I am working on - more on that soon.

Some cool resist ink paper from Stampin Up that maintains the white image when you ink it. I used chocolate chip ink and a brayer to get this look. It will be for Day 10 of my December Daily album.

In our next house, I definitely need a bigger work surface for crafting. Or at least more shelf/storage space so that I can keep my supplies off the table but still within reach.

Another Ali Edwards Project

2010-10-08T09:20:00.003-05:00

You might notice the new blog tag on the upper left corner. I am participating in Ali Edwards' December Daily project this year and I am so excited. She just posted the sneak peek of her album foundation and I LOVE it. All of the transparencies are gorgeous and I wish I had even half the collection that she does. I have already picked my album (in Real Red) and size (6x6). I have almost all of my Christmas supplies pulled together in one place. Now I just need to figure out how I want to do my foundation! We are currently in Wisconsin, so I won't be able to get started until October 18, but you can trust that I will be dreaming up ideas for the next week.

A peek at my process

2010-08-27T02:15:00.000-05:00

What it looks like when I can monopolize the dining room table! You can see at least three layouts on the table - this post focuses on layout 1 which is in the center right and layout 2 which is in the upper left corner.

Here's a close-up of these two layouts in their "early stages":

Layout 1: Black/Red/Swirl line

Layout 2: Orange and Navy

For both of these layouts, I started with the product first. Layout 1 is a set of patterned papers that were all sold together and that I absolutely loved at the time that I bought them. I bought the ribbon at the same time, but it's not part of the original line. I already made two layouts using these papers (pictures to come soon), and I have been keeping all of the papers together to continue to use them together, especially since I didn't use the ribbon on either of those first two layouts. Recently I decided I was kind of done with this paper (I bought it over a year ago!) and would do one more layout using the coordinating products (plus the ribbon) and then distribute the papers into my organization system, which is organized by color, not by product. I tried to think of some pictures that would go with the styling of the paper and decided on these from our trip to Prague in 2007. Here is the final product:

For layout 2, I had it in my head that I wanted to use orange and navy together. I pulled out everything that I had that was orange and navy and started to scheme up a layout. Then I thought of a picture that would coordinate and have an upbeat feel (something I associate with orange) and got this:

You might recognize it from this blog post.

Recent layouts - trying new things

2010-08-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

Finally spending time with my paper again! Here are some of my latest projects:

Title: Nurture this relationship

There are several new-to-me techniques in this layout:
1) Write your journaling about something other than what is conveyed in the picture. The picture is from our trip to Canada, but the journaling is more about how my sister and I want to live closer to each other.
2) The 6x12 size.
3) I used Tim Holtz distress ink in Antique Linen to dye the paper that I journaled on.
4) I purposely used ribbon in a new way.
5) Not a new technique, but a new mantra - I am trying to use up what I have. The "nurture" epoxy sticker is part of a set I have had *forever* and I am glad to finally be using it!

Working Title: Grape Stomp

Trying something different with this one as well. I used brown rhinestones to continue the strand of lights in the photograph and clustered my photos in a way I don't normally do. I am debating whether this needs a title above the rhinestones -- I don't know what it should say though and none of the letters I currently have would work. I don't really want to hand write it either, so I'm leaving it as is for now. I consider it an experiment in white space : )

And a sneak peek at Week in the Life in its current form - I'm getting close to done!

Travel Journal

2010-08-13T17:53:00.003-05:00

I just finished making a travel journal for an upcoming trip we are taking, using writing prompts from this post on the Daily Digi. [okay, to be fair, just = July 24, but it took a while to get a picture!] I purposely didn't put too much effort into the journal because I am the type of person to not write in something if it is too "fancy". I bought a Moleskine Cahier Large Blank notebook from Amazon (in blue) and stamped a few things on the cover - I was inspired by this journal on etsy. Then I wrote in the prompts for each day. I am hoping that this will make it easier to journal on the trip and scrapbook it later. I tend to journal a lot in the beginning and then fizzle out as we are having more and more fun. I also tend to feel obligated to record all of the details in chronological order and I am hoping the prompts will help me let go of that. For instance, one of the prompts is "What made you laugh today?" I can totally answer that without having to feel bogged down in recording all the details of the day.

Another fabric interlude

2010-08-03T14:23:00.000-05:00

I want to share a quilting project that I discovered going through boxes of fabrics that used to be my mom's.

I think this project was started by my grandmother, given the age of the fabrics. It is possible though that all of these hand-cut and hand-stitched blocks were done by my mom on the jumpseat of an airplane. I know that she would hand-piece on flights (she was a flight attendant), but I remember her showing me some of the stuff she had worked on and this does not look the same. I could be misremembering though what they are "supposed" to look like. So age of fabric and project is unknown, but I am guessing it is at least as old as I am (32).

I went through a whole pile of cut triangles and half-pieced blocks before I realized what the design was supposed to be.

I unearthed this finished block at the end of the pile and it made sense what all of the other pieces were for. I kid you not, I cried when I found this block. I don't know if it was the emotion of finding a project that belonged to my mom or grandmother, or the frustration of not knowing the puzzle left for me, a combination of the two, or something else, but seeing how all these pieces came together triggered something I just wasn't expecting.

I think I am going to take the three blocks that are closest to being done and make a table runner out of them. There isn't any more of the white background, but there is a lot of the red, whites, and blues, so I will most likely use those. I'm not feeling adventurous enough right now to seek out a replacement white and make the rest of the blocks. Who knows, though, maybe that will change by the time I get around to making the runner.

And on another note, after several weeks of quilting, I have picked my paper trimmer back up again and worked on some scrapbooking layouts. I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet, though, so I will just have to post them another time.

What I did on my summer break, Part 2

2010-07-11T20:27:00.004-05:00

Two plus years ago, I started a quilt for my sister to have guests sign at their wedding. I got all the blocks pieced together in time for the rehearsal dinner, which is where we had everyone sign. It has taken me TWO years to sew on the border strips in between and around the blocks, a relatively easy peasy task, but something I haven't gotten to for ages.

Finally, this summer I sat down at the sewing machine, loaded up a bobbin with white thread, and got those borders on! This is the finished top that I was hoping to get done for their second anniversary, but that has come and gone, so now I am aiming for Christmas. I am trimming the threads and sending it off for quilting with the Russian quilt! The back will be the light green fabric you see in the four center squares and four corner squares, and the binding will be the same as the border fabric. My awesome mother-in-law has agreed to piece together the back for me and put the binding on, so my work on this one is almost done!

What I did on my summer break, Part 1

2010-07-08T14:43:00.006-05:00

An astute eye will notice that the quilt is upside down in this picture - it's hard to get a good angle when it's so big! The picture is flipped below if you want to see it right side up.

I just finished reading Quilting Lessons, a book by a woman with a PhD in Native American Arts who is also a quilter. She suffered from writer's block many years ago and turned to quilting at the worst of it. This book describes how quilting actually helped her get out of the writer's block. I felt that it was hard to get into, and at the beginning I could only read it in bursts. Towards the middle, it was exactly what I needed to hear. I could have practically written one of the chapters on finishing (or not finishing) projects. The metaphors in this book are so rich! Below are some thoughts I wrote mid-way through reading.

I am a good shopper, planner, and starter, but not so good at the finishing process. That is why I made my word of the year “finished”, so that I would actually get some projects done. So far, I have finished four of my 16 items. One quarter of the list, but the year is halfway done. I have been feeling frustrated, trying to articulate why I can’t finish projects and trying to pinpoint my motivation. What I read today helped me see that I need to recognize the creative cycle and pay more attention to what I am getting done.

This book talks about how finishing in writing is a lot like finishing in quilting. There are spurts – times when you feel really amped about working, and get a lot done in what feels like a short period of time. And then there are lags, times when you put it aside and don’t come back to it for a long time. That is part of the process, something you come to expect and even rely on. Your project gets better in each of those stages, even though you wish you only had the spurts of productivity and not the long lags of putting things aside. I have put a lot of projects aside in the past and I am trying so hard to bring on a burst of productivity, but it is a slow process and I am easily frustrated.

On top of it all, I have been feeling 'meh' about the green border that I added to my Russian quilt, something I did in a recent bout of productivity. I was so excited when I found the fabric, but then not so excited once I saw it on the quilt. But the author gave me a new appreciation for that too. I started that quilt when my mom was sick, with fabrics in my mom’s collection, particularly the Russian troika fabric that she had purchased with me in mind. I picked the pattern a long time ago (8 or 9 years ago!), the fabric a long time ago, and committed to taking it on a long time ago. The bulk of the quilt is grounded in the past.

I did not choose everything though. The outer border, the binding, and the backing were still outstanding. As I finish it up, I have had to pull together these outstanding pieces at a time after a lot of loss and growth, maturity, and at a point where my tastes have changed, and I feel less into the act of quilting. This green border is a metaphor for all of these things, and a symbol as well. It is a lighter, brighter fabric that contrasts the dark toned fabrics in the main part of the quilt. Just like I am at a lighter period in my life, happier than during my mom’s illness, or the period after her death, and more at peace with where my life is going, the path before me, and the decisions I have made. It is a "scrapbooking" fabric, made by a scrapbooking company (Basic Grey) for Moda. So it also blends in my interest in scrapbooking that has grown since I started this quilt. It has a modern "grunge" feel to it, which contrasts with the old world feel of the troika fabric that is reminiscent of Russian lacquer boxes. Thus my dark, heavy quilt is contained by a light, modern border. I have emerged out of that point in life.

The backing comes from the leftover pieces from the original planning that I did. My mom’s excess in quilt fabric purchasing saves the day, just as she herself did so many times before. It is a reminder that my mom still provides for me, even a decade later, when I really truly need it. She will literally back me up in all my endeavors.

And the binding. Again from my mom’s stash, but not in the set of fabrics that I originally picked out. The perfect color combination that pulls all the fabrics together. A weird, wild, untraditional print, that looks like cells, the foundations of life, but a statement on the new growth that is beginning with the finishing of this quilt. Not something I would ordinarily pick out and certainly not something I would purchase for myself. It is symbolic of the unexpected that is to come. A reminder that what holds us all together is something unpredictable, outside of our comfort zone, but the perfect fit nonetheless. (Doesn’t that describe the future perfectly?) And it is also a fitting tribute to my mom who was definitely weird, wild, and untraditional in many ways.
I chose to go with the fabric on the lower left side.

I am trimming threads and pressing this week, with the goal of sending this quilt off for quilting by the end of the weekend! It will be the third quilt I have ever finished and the first top I have completed since my mom died. I am so energized by finally completing it, that I feel motivated to finish a lot more. Let's see if I can become a finisher.

“Oh Patrick”

2010-06-30T13:21:00.001-05:00

I try so hard to take pictures of the things we do together, the moments that I look at you and think “I want to remember this.” Getting cones at the dairy. The time you hung the curtains in the bedroom. Making dinner. Just being together on the couch. You don’t always play along. Or the camera doesn’t always cooperate and you are left recreating a pose that was only meant to be instantaneous. In those moments, you make a face and say “not again”, or you stick the ice cream up your nose, to which I roll my eyes and say, “Oh Patrick.”

10 pieces of paper on my desk right now

2010-06-29T15:02:00.003-05:00

1) Post-it note detailing airfares between Austin and Minneapolis for various dates in July and August.
2) Details and measurements on furniture that my dad is bringing us this weekend.
3) Basic Word Order in Mayan Languages (England 1991), open to pp. 464-5
4) Syllabus for Language Change and Language Variation (the course I am teaching in July)
5) A gazillion Bed Bath & Beyond coupons
6) Goal tracking sheet - top priorities: plan lectures for my course, work on numerals article, and finish chapter 5 of my dissertation
7) 3 outdated to do lists, all related to in-progress craft projects
8) Notes to myself on a word order alternation in Kokama-Kokamilla
9) A bunch of Target receipts
10) A book called Step-by-Step Window Treatments

Week in the Life Progress

2010-06-29T12:23:00.000-05:00

I know it is practically July and I still have my Week in the Life banner on my blog and I haven't shown you any pictures of the album yet. True confession here, folks: finishing projects is not my strong suit. I am a good shopper and a good planner and a good starter, but finishing... well, there's room for improvement there. I am determined to get this one done, though, so here is an update on the album.

I have all of the memorabilia assembled, I just need to finish doing the photos! It is taking a while because I am cropping my photos to fit 4 photos onto one 5x7 canvas. Ali Edwards made it look so easy, a one day project. Yeah, well, it's not that fast for me. Here is a sample of one 5x7 from Wednesday:

Each day will have a page with a large 8.5x4.75 photo on the top left, a 4x6 picture of what I was wearing that day (lower left), and the first page of notes for that day. At the end of that day's section, there will be room for another 8.5x4.75 photo (or layout), and the rest of my notes from the day. The notes are included exactly as I originally wrote them in my notebook, no editing, no transferring to nicer paper, no stress. I had thought I would write more when it came time to put the album together, but I'm trying to make it easier on myself to finish, so I just ripped them out of the notebook and plopped them in the page protector. Good thing they fit!

In between those "anchor" pages of sorts will be various pages for miscellaneous paper from the day:

as well as baseball card divided page protectors for memorabilia, smaller photos (the aforementioned 2.5x3.5s) and journaling:

(The letter on the right is from my uncle Eric, who does not have his own email account or access to the internet. His handwritten letters are definitely a part of my day-to-day life and I am so glad this one was dated within the dates of week in the life so that I could include it (even though it arrived later the next week). This is something that I will look back on and be glad that I have, and it serves as a reminder for why I want to FINISH this project!)

Shower Crafts

2010-06-28T11:24:00.005-05:00

Here is a summary of some of the things I made for my cousin's bridal shower.

Me, the bride, and my sister (who was a huge help pulling everything together!)

You can see the tissue poms that I made to decorate with hanging in the windows in the background.

The favors I made:

They are a block of post-it notes inside a cardstock cover with "Best Wishes" stamped on the front.

Cupcake tags:

They spell out "Best Wishes Megan". The bride saved the m and the b (her future initials) for her wedding scrapbook. (Actually she saved the w instead of the m, because her aunt accidentally threw out the m!)

As promised

2010-06-24T11:44:00.003-05:00

I promised a picture of the bridal shower invitations that I made for my cousin's shower, and at long last, here it is!

Card measures 5x7 (A7). I mailed them in plain white envelopes from Joann's.

I used scalloped A7 notes from Archiver's in Kiwi for the base. I printed the invitations at home on Stampin Up! whisper white cardstock. Ink color matches the bridesmaids' dresses (David's Bridal Clover). Ribbon and polka dot paper are both from Archiver's, I don't remember what brand, but I think the polka dot paper was called Grasshopper. Both the polka dot paper and the kiwi scalloped notes have a metallic sheen to them that doesn't fully come through in the photograph. The ribbon is probably my favorite part - it has a great ruffled edge that dresses up the invite just perfectly.

Giveaways at Write. Click. Scrapbook.

2010-06-02T09:04:00.003-05:00

Write. Click. Scrapbook. is giving away scrapbooking products all week - today there are some fun Stampin Up! giveaways.

Stay tuned for some project updates...

Challenge or Change

2010-05-12T11:39:00.002-05:00

"Another word for challenge is change–just remove the ‘lle’ and you’ll see. When we face challenges, we are accepting changes. We are in essence saying, I’m willing to sacrifice comfort for growth. We cannot get stronger or make progress without resistance that pushes us out of our comfort zone." -- Stacy Julian

Week in the Life Intro Page

2010-05-01T10:05:00.008-05:00

I finished my intro page for my week in the life project:

I used a quick page that Ali Edwards made for Shutterfly. All I had to do was crop it down to 8.5 x 11 and add my pictures and journaling! Pretty easy. I tried to pick every day photos that capture us right now, rather than try to pick the most monumental pictures from the week. Those will go on the pages for the individual day.

Five on Friday

2010-04-30T12:44:00.009-05:00

1. I saw this fun use for ribbons on the Peachy Cheap website this morning:

I love the way they incorporated ribbons into the layout. There's a lot I like about this layout in terms of design - did anyone notice the scalloped edge? - but I don't like that patterned paper!

2. I am hoping to make substantial progress on my Week in the Life album this weekend - I sat down and thought about it a lot last night and I think I know how I will proceed. I will post pictures of my progress on Monday.

3. I am so happy to be done with Chapter 3!! I sent it off to the advisors on Tuesday, but I am still basking in the glow.

4. I am currently reading Transitivity by Hopper and Thompson (1980). I wish I was reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

5. I only have to wish for 5 more days - on Wednesday we are going here with Patrick's company and I will read for fun the whole time! I'm not taking my computer with me or any thoughts about my dissertation. I am so looking forward to it!

And a bonus because it's Friday: Stacy Julian was a guest blogger on Creating Keepsakes' blog and I thought her post nicely summed up her scrapbooking philosophy as I've been learning about it on the Paperclipping Roundtable: Generally speaking we have far more photos than we can ever hope to scrapbook. The good news is there are so many amazing ways to share and use photos—and they all count. Focused attention however is at a premium these days, so when you do decide to dedicate an hour or two to scrapbooking, please don’t feel behind or overwhelmed. Instead, find a photo of someone you love and write about them. Don’t worry about scrapbooking all the events and special moments. If all you can do is create one page a month (or a year) about the people you love most—you will accomplish a grand and important thing.

Week in the Life, Day 7

2010-04-25T23:04:00.002-05:00

By the numbers:
83 photos
3 pages of notes
2 receipts
1 church bulletin

By the photos:

Week in the Life, Day 6

2010-04-25T22:45:00.003-05:00

By the numbers:
70 photos
3 pages of notes
1 jersey number
1 bike number
2 route maps
1 wristband

By the photos:

Week in the Life, Day 5

2010-04-23T23:07:00.000-05:00

By the numbers:
51 photos
2 screenshots
2.5 sheets of notes
1 business card
Hill Country Ride postcard
Spandex Saves tag

By the photos:
Kick-off dinner for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS

Test riding the tandem:

Laying out our gear in preparation for the ride tomorrow:

Charging the iPhone, a necessary task:

Putting the Netflix out in the mail after watching it:

Week in the Life, Day 4

2010-04-22T22:55:00.004-05:00

By the numbers:
40 photos
2 pages of notes
1 printed email
Several draft pages of chapter 3
2 receipts
2 random post-it notes to myself
1 Zyrtec wrapper

By the photos:

In a rush this morning:

Garbage day:

What's in our fridge right now:

What my husband thinks of Day 4 of Week in the Life:

A new day

2010-04-22T08:04:00.001-05:00

I really like this quote from Emerson that Ali Edwards posted on her blog today:
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Week in the Life, Day 3

2010-04-21T22:47:00.005-05:00

By the numbers:
151 photos!! You got that right, it more than makes up for my 4 photos yesterday.
2 printed out emails
3 pages of notes
3 pages of thoughts on the conversations I had today

By the photos:
Apparently what I look like while I wait for the bus in the morning. Squinty and ready to get away from the bus stop.

The bus finally arrives. The bus driver said he was going to charge me for taking his photo.

Trying to finish my nemesis, aka Chapter 3

Frozen yogurt after an impromptu outdoor Earth Day movie. Do love that husband of mine, especially since shortly after this smiley photo I had a dissertation meltdown moment.

I thought I should add that I was able to take so many pictures because I held my camera along my whole (walking) commute against my body and took a picture every time I reached a milestone, either by turning, going up stairs, or crossing the street. I did this both directions to get both perspectives.

Two inspiring crafty articles in the paper today

2010-04-21T09:38:00.003-05:00

One on a local graffiti artist, whose graffiti is actually done in yarn, not paint:
http://www.statesman.com/life/meet-austins-yarn-bomber-587450.html
And one on collecting family history by talking about food:
http://www.austin360.com/food-drink/dining-at-home/keep-family-history-alive-through-food-589971.html

Week in the Life, Day 2

2010-04-20T22:56:00.003-05:00

By the numbers:
4 photos, all on my camera
1.5 pages of notes
1 hot drink sleeve from Prufrock's on campus
2 receipts
1 typed out story about my thoughts from today
1 great happy hour with an old friend (but I forgot to take a picture)

Note to self:
Day 2 is just as exciting as Day 1, so take more pictures! Here's to Day 3...

Week in the Life, Day 1

2010-04-19T22:40:00.005-05:00

By the numbers:
32 photos (31 on my camera and 1 on the iPhone).
2 pages of notes
2 receipts
1 printed email
2 printed journal articles, I will probably include the first page of both of them
1 page ripped out of the Lands End catalog

By the photos:

Thoughts:
I got a message on facebook today from a friend who is doing some linguistics research and wanted some help. He sent a copy of the paper he is working on to an email account that I don't check very often anymore (too much spam). I checked the account, and there was a super sweet email from my sister that she had just sent yesterday. I printed her email out to put in my Week in the Life - I don't think I would have documented it without this project! That will be a very special thing to have in my album. And it makes me wonder what the odds are that I would check that email account TODAY, when the last time I checked it was over a month ago.

Getting ready for Week in the Life

2010-04-16T14:08:00.004-05:00

Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project starts on Monday, and I am getting ready. I made a little notebook to jot down my notes as I go about the week. "Made" is a relative term, since all I did was adhere a journaling block that was in some leftovers from an Archiver's class to a notebook I already had. What I like about this particular notebook is that it came in a clear poly envelope, so I can use that envelope to save my paper miscellanea from the week (receipts, etc.) It was left in the giveaway pile in my office's common lounge and I grabbed it a few months back, thinking I could recover it somehow and make a cute notebook out of it. I was hesitant to use it for Week in the Life for fear there was a more "perfect" project that I could use it for. Yeah, trying to let go of the perfect thing, so I bit the bullet and said, "This is the perfect project. I am using it."

I am also finishing up projects that would otherwise distract me, as per Aby Garvey's advice, and so you can see a little bit of the pink and green shower invites I am working on in the upper right corner. Hoping to get those mailed this weekend! They are so cute, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for the intended recipients, so I will wait til next week to post a picture.

Style evolution

2010-04-07T21:44:00.005-05:00

I think my blog-reading, magazine-reading, class-taking, general period of design absorption is finally beginning to show in my scrapbooking style. These are my two current favorite layouts, both completed in the last month. (Click on the image to view them larger.)

Charles Bridge, Prague 2007

Snow Sculpture, Christmas in Montana 2009

10 pieces of paper on my desk right now

2010-04-06T17:26:00.004-05:00

1. A printed-out copy of chapter 3 from March 24.
2. A second printed-out copy from April 2. (Two is always better than one.)
3. My goals tracking sheet for this week - number one goal is to FINISH CHAPTER 3!
4. Invite list for my cousin's bridal shower.
5. A $1 off coupon for Swirll. [Good thing I checked the website - I found out I can get 10% off with my student ID from 5-7pm. I think there is a yogurt in my future.]
6. Six post-it notes with random dissertation-related thoughts on them.
7. A Xerox copy of 7 pages from A Reference Grammar of Warao.
8. Eight sheets of examples that I need to look at for my dissertation.
9. List of Iquito words I use frequently in my dissertation with the correct vowel length and tone marking.
10. An article called Procrastination and Perfectionism.

Trends in my own work

2010-03-31T18:10:00.005-05:00

I made a few cards last night just for fun [actually I needed a stash of baby girl cards for new family additions and pregnant friends]. I had a plan for what kind of cards I would make, but I did not have a plan for what tools or products I would use. As I looked back at my blog posts today, and thought about those cards, I noticed that a few trends seem to be emerging in my work.

Exhibit A: The scallop edge punch
There is something about this punch. I want to use it on every project but I feel like it really only "goes" on a few. I have decided to start making those few projects so that I can use the punch more often!

Exhibit B: Inking the edges
I never never ever do this unless I am instructed to do so in a class. I can count on one hand the number of times I have inked the edges on a project.
1) Archiver's class - whoever designs the projects for these classes loves to ink the edges (another way to sell more product, duh!)
2) Ali Edwards' Week in the Life layout from her Yesterday and Today class - I didn't want to ink the edges, but I signed up for Ali's class to try new things, so I inked the edges.
3) This card that I made last night.

This is the noteworthy example, because I actually inked the edges out of my own free will. And I didn't even feel bad when the green showed up too much on the left side. Randomness and unpredictability are inevitable consequences of inking the edges. Hence, why I have avoided it in the past. And part of the reason I am trying to embrace it going forward. Randomness and unpredictability, here I come! [Inking the edges means taking an ink pad and rubbing it against the edge of your paper. You can do a little for just a faint instance of color, as evidenced in my Week in the Life layout on the green journaling card, or a lot like I did on my card above on both of the scalloped circles - the big one in pink and the small one in green.]

And for my astute blog readers, you should not draw the conclusion that pink and green are a new trend in my work. I am working on shower invitations for my cousin whose wedding colors are pink and green, so I have all the pink and green out to get inspired. There's really not much to choose from.

P.S. See here for an invitation to participate in this year's Week in the Life project with Ali Edwards!

Health Care Reform

2010-03-23T14:04:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm biting the bullet and getting "political". I am excited about health care reform. Last night my husband and I dreamed up all the things we would do if we didn't have to have a full-time job in order to have health insurance.

We decided we would sell all our belongings, buy an RV, and homeschool our children using the National Parks for geology lessons and Civil War battlefields for history.

haha. kidding.

about the RV part.

okay, and the rest of it.

What would you do if you didn't have to be constrained to your job for health insurance?

Dream big.

My imaginary contribution to The Paperclipping Roundtable

2010-03-18T12:02:00.000-05:00

One goal of the contest was to pick an ordinary (non-industry) scrapbooker. I definitely fit that bill.

So, cia, how did you get started in scrapbooking?
I used to make scrapbooks for my Barbies. Yes, you heard that right. I thought the Barbie magazine was one of the coolest things I had ever seen - all the Barbies arranged to look like they were living a real life, down to the straws in their drinks and half-eaten food. So I used to try my hand at doing something similar. I'd arrange my Barbies all life-like and take pictures of them, and then put the pictures in those old magnetic page albums. My most memorable one was when Barbie and the Rockers hit the beach.

But I think I really started when I decided to do a honeymoon scrapbook. My husband and I traveled through South America for two months on our honeymoon, and I saved everything with the intent of doing a scrapbook when we got back. It's been almost 5 years, and I am still working on that album! When I realized it was taking forever to finish this album, I thought my problem was that I was uninspired. So I started taking classes at Archiver's, and reading the magazines, and then following Ali Edwards' blog, and then I took a class with her at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and well, here I am today, still working on that honeymoon album, but also doing a lot more pages about other trips and my everyday life.

And what do you do when you are not scrapbooking? I am a graduate student in Linguistics.
Izzy says, "linguistics. What is that exactly?"
[I get asked that a lot and I like to change up my answer every now and then, so this is what I came up with for the show.]
Just like botanists study plants and geologists study rocks, linguists study language. We look at the pieces of language - sounds, prefixes, suffixes, words, sentences - as our objects of study. But unlike plants and rocks, language is a human invention. So linguistics has sociology, psychology, and some biology wrapped up in it as well, since we study how people use language as well as how language is built up.

Noell: Interesting. Now what are you thinking to do with that once you are done with graduate school?

...

Izzy: Did we lose her?

I didn't win : (

2010-03-12T00:26:00.002-06:00

So, I didn't win the Paperclipping Roundtable contest. I am kind of bummed, to be perfectly frank and honest. I was anxiously awaiting the results, knowing I had a pretty good shot, since for a while it looked like only 11 people had entered. But they narrowed it down to 5 and then to 2 and then picked someone else.

bummer. Yes, I was secretly repeating my name over and over again in my head as they explained how they picked the winner. No, they never said it.

Guess the universe is trying to tell me I need to stop daydreaming about scrapbooking and get back to writing my dissertation. Remember that, Cynthia? Your life dream since you were a senior in high school?!? Now, if I could scrapbook my dissertation, I think I would have been done years ago.

I did have fun writing my entry and thinking about what I would say on the show if I was picked. And I was so glad that I already had a blog in place when the contest started, so it was easy to create my entry. I also liked reading what the other contestants wrote (and getting comments on my blog!) So all in all, I am looking at it as a success. And my consolation prize is to write here all the things I would have said on the show. Stay tuned...

Two birds with one stone

2010-03-10T23:50:00.006-06:00

I really wanted to do a red and white layout based on the inspiration I got from the Russian Olympic Team's jacket that I posted about a few weeks ago AND I wanted to use one of the journaling prompts from write.click.scrapbook that I put in my Ten On Tuesday last week. Well, this layout accomplished both of those things. It chronicles Valentine's Day 2010 (our 14th Valentine's Day together) and answers the questions: How will we know you still love your husband? that you are still in love?

Ten on Tuesday

2010-03-02T08:34:00.015-06:00

1. It is already March! Yikes! I have three weeks to get a draft of chapters 2-5 to my advisors.
2. I am so close to finishing chapter two - I just wish there were a few more hours in the day so that I could finish it that much sooner.
3. We just drove from Winter Park, Colorado to Austin in my sister's car that she gave us. Thanks, Linnea, the car drove great and Patrick is thrilled! The Colorado-Amarillo drive was pretty and snowy, the Amarillo-Austin drive not so much. West Texas is stinky! But the world's largest wind farm that we drove through was pretty cool.
4. I did a lot of thinking on the drive - now I need to spend some time writing those ideas down.
5. We skied one day while we were in Colorado - great snow, great weather, great company!
6. I liked my rented skis so much that I bought them! The manager at the rental place was willing to sell them for $100 - an excellent deal, especially since I got to try them out before I committed to buying.
7. I really liked Virtue and Moir's ice dance during the Figure Skating exhibition -- I wish more skaters did creative things like this! I still remember Oksana Baiul dancing with Victor Petrenko during the Exhibition Skate in 1994 - an all-time favorite for me.
8. Trend alert: quilting as an inspiration for scrapbook pages and vice versa. I have seen some cross-over already, for instance the line of fabrics done by Basic Grey for moda, but I expect to see a lot more. For instance, check out Studio Calico's March kit, called Quilting Bee.
9. I liked this list of journaling prompts at write.click.scrapbook. I am going to try to do two of them this month.
10. This is a given, but I am saying it anyway: I am so looking forward to being done with my dissertation!

My scrapbooking process

2010-02-26T14:08:00.004-06:00

I have started following a podcast available at paperclipping.com: The Paperclipping Roundtable. I was drawn to it because of the guests and the show themes – Ali Edwards on story, Aby Garvey talking about how to deal with all that stuff, and why people don’t scrapbook. I have enjoyed the news and product picks as well. The linguist in me also loves hearing the different styles of speaking from various parts of the country. This week, they are running a contest where listeners write in as if they are contributing to a past episode of a show. One person will be selected to be on the show based on their entry, so I figured I would give it a shot. I have chosen to chime in on Episode 7, The Process of Scrapbooking. [And no I did not pick this episode because it talks about Olympic scrapbookers, although that was a highlight!]

Stacy Julian (on her process): “The other kind of page that I love right now more than anything and has become something that I enjoy the longer I scrapbook… is this page that I stew about for days. I get some random idea and then I literally just think about it fifteen times a day. You know, it just keeps popping up. It’s just very much on the surface of my brain.”

Stacy! That is how I scrapbook all.the.time! I take forever with my pages and I stew about them for several days, usually as I’m trying to fall asleep.

Like Angie, I too start with a topic, but I’m not necessarily trying to scrapbook a story. I’m more trying to figure out a way to document events that are meaningful, like my honeymoon, a recent trip we took for our anniversary, or a special day with family. I frequently use multiple photos in each layout – I think because I want to capture a montage of memories in one glance, kind of like a flashback that helps us remember everything else. I always write my journaling last, and even though I tend to write a lot, it is not the focal point of my page.

No one has talked about color! This is a key part of my process. Once I have my photos picked out I decide on a color that I want to highlight, usually a color that is in the photo somewhere, and then I go through all of my paper with that color in mind and pick out anything that is remotely close (patterned or plain). Then I lay it all out with my photos and see which colors best capture what I am imagining. Sometimes I have the perfect match and then I go on to my next step. Sometimes I surprise myself and pick something that wasn’t at all what I was imagining. But if I don’t have what I’m looking for, or I don’t feel inspired by my choices, I go shopping! (This is why some people don’t scrapbook, they are commitment-phobes like me!) Once I have the right color paper I arrange my photos and embellishments. I tend to include a lot of ephemera on my pages as well (e.g. ticket stubs, parts of brochures, business cards) so I figure out where that will go at the same time. I make it sound like my pages are really crowded – they’re not usually– but it takes me a long time to figure out what stays and what doesn’t, hence the stewing.

I make a spot for journaling either right on my background paper or with a journaling box, and then I do something that I think would horrify most people – I stick everything down and handwrite my journaling after everything is in place. So far (knock on wood) this has worked out okay for me and I haven’t messed up and had to redo anything. There are always moments where I feel like I don’t like it, but I try to remind myself that “perfect isn’t done” and to “just do it”. I have found that these mantras help me outside of scrapbooking too – I am currently writing a dissertation and the process of scrapbooking has helped me to translate “perfect isn’t done” into my writing process and push forward with my chapters.

I also do layouts about everyday, ordinary things, but then I usually think about the layout first, either by looking at magazines or online for ideas or by deciding I want to use a certain tool or color scheme. My everyday layouts are where I play around outside of the box, and do things that aren’t in my “typical” style. But don’t worry, I stew about these layouts too!

Olympic Scrapbooking

2010-02-25T12:29:00.007-06:00

Well, this is a blog about paper, so it should feature some paper somewhere, right? Below is my Olympic-inspired scrapbook layout, based on the colors of the figure skating rink backdrop. Layout uses Ali Edwards' template from her Yesterday & Today class at Big Picture Scrapbooking (Week 11).

One thing I really like about this layout is how many different products I got to use - brads that my sister had given me after her wedding, lots of different patterned papers, ribbon from a new ribbon pack that I got at Christmas time, and some Thickers letters. I even inked the edges of my journaling box and background green paper, something I never do.

And, I heard from Nancy Nally of scrapbookupdate.com (via the Paperclipping Roundtable, episode 7) that there are at least 4 scrapbookers in the Winter Olympics: snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis, snowboarder Hannah Teter, freestyle skiier Julia Mancuso, and skeleton racer Noelle Pikus-Pace.

Ice Dancing Inspiration

2010-02-22T16:46:00.001-06:00

This was my favorite costume of the Ice Dancing Original Dance event last night - I loved how the pink popped out throughout the performance.

Snowboard speak

2010-02-20T10:39:00.002-06:00

Shaun White on his Double McTwist, the move he did in his final Olympic gold-medal-winning run:

“I didn’t come all the way out here to hold back anything and for me it would be a bit of a disappointment if I didn’t stomp that trick. And I remember looking at my coach and he wasn’t saying I’m lazy but he’s saying that I really don’t stomp things when I don’t need to and I really didn’t need to and he said, ‘Don’t do it unless I’m going to stick it’ and so I don’t know I put it down. It was amazing – I can’t even describe it.”

I don't know, Shaun, I think maybe you made a good landing?

to stomp - term used to describe making a good landing

stick (v.) - term used to describe making a good landing

put sth down - term used to describe making a good landing

Three words for making a good landing and still he feels like he can't describe it. Yet another reason why I love language!

If you're looking for more snowboarding terminology, see the Snowboarding dictionary. This article sums up the "blue hair" take on the new-fangled-lingo. (Make sure you read the comments as well - they offer some great language-and-identity data.)

Feeling inspired by the Winter Olympics

2010-02-19T11:41:00.010-06:00

We have been watching the Winter Olympics pretty much every night since it started. The Opening Ceremonies and all of the figure skating costumes have gotten my creative wheels turning.

I am thinking about doing a red and white layout, inspired by the Russians' jacket, by far my favorite outfit at the Opening Ceremonies.

Thanks to Fourth Place Medal for the picture.

Although the Azerbaijanis' pants were a close second:

Thanks to SB nation for the photo.

I am also drawn to the blue and green they are using for the backdrop of the figure skating rink - this was the closest image I could find that captures what I like about it (I know it's a snowboarder):

Picture comes from this blog (but I also saw it on the NBC official site).

I am not sure where to begin with the figure skating costumes, because the ones that come to mind first are the ones I don't like. Maybe Ice Dancing and Women's Figure Skating will be more inspiring. Stay tuned.

My first ten on Tuesday

2010-02-16T15:56:00.006-06:00

1. Who knows if I will keep up with this habit (most likely no), but it's Tuesday, and I think I can come up with ten things to say, so I'm giving it a shot.
2. I am working on an article and trying to finish it today. I will be so happy when it is done, but let's just say I am so not happy right now.
3. I finished a quilt top that I have had in the works for a long time. (Estimated start date was Fall 2001 - I don't actually remember if this is right since it was so long ago!) Finish is a relative term, since I still need to sew on the borders, but the hard part of the top is
D-O-N-E!
4. I can't find the fabric that I had designated for the quilt border and it is driving me NUTS!
5. The push is on to finish my dissertation this semester.
6. I have been enjoying the Olympics so far. Nordic Combined was an unexpectedly fun race to watch. But the best part has actually been watching my husband's leg muscles try their hand at Olympic competition - he flinches during every race, ski jump, and figure skating lift.
7. I am planning to make this for dinner tonight.
8. This article makes me want to re-think a career in academia.
9. I like cold weather, but I don't like colds -- I'm hoping I don't get the cold that my husband has been fighting.
10. Men's figure skating starts tonight!

hmmmm....

2010-02-12T14:55:00.003-06:00

Archiver's has joined the blogging bandwagon. Perhaps it's a sign that they started around the same time I did? I am curious how helpful/trendy/interesting their content will be. So far I like the idea of Scrap-Lift Monday, but they haven't posted enough for me to have a strong opinion. We shall see how this unfolds.

What would you create...

2010-02-06T16:25:00.005-06:00

if these were the words on which you were to base your inspiration?

1) Wander

2) Invisible

3) Coincidence

4) Permanent

5) Whole

The linguist in me loves the idea of using words as inspiration for art. I am going to contemplate this and see what I come up with. And then maybe, just maybe, I will come up with five new words and do it again.

[Full disclosure: I did not come up with this set of words or the idea - click here or the 'inspiration' link above to see the source.]

Recognized in the blogosphere

2010-02-05T15:25:00.002-06:00

Out of 370 comments on the write.click.scrapbook blog for yesterday's giveaway, I was singled out as one of two of the favorite comments! So cool! Unfortunately, though, that doesn't mean that I won the giveaway. Oh well, I am still giddy from the last (and only) giveaway that I won:

This blog is about...

2010-01-23T15:35:00.000-06:00

...writing, paper crafting, and the clutter that ensues...

...OR the story of my life.

I find myself writing a lot, mostly because I am currently in the process of writing a dissertation, but there are a lot of other things that I would like to be writing about outside of my very specific academic world. Hopefully, having this blog will encourage me to write more. I love paper, especially the patterned kind, and I like to use it to scrapbook, make cards, and for general inspiration. As I begin to follow more and more paper-crafting blogs, I have been dreaming about having one of my own. And because of my dissertation, my crafting, and the general state of my life, I have a lot of paper clutter. This too is connected to the blog world - thanks to a blog, I discovered an online paper decluttering course that has dramatically improved my state of paper affairs. But, paper, paper, everywhere remains, and so that is what I have decided to title this blog.

A few pictures to prove my point:

This is my desk at school. As you can see, lots of paper.

This is my desk at home. Oh boy, even more paper.

And this is me at work in the guest bedroom, my so-called craft space. I think you're getting the idea.