Five on Friday

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

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

By the photos:

Week in the Life, Day 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.