hi!!!

just stopping by really fast to plug my post over on The Sampler’s blog and show off a page i made using “Oh Penelope”…

in my post for this week, i talk about sketches and how you can personalize a sketch to fit your own style and needs.  it’s really easy to use a sketch and also helps in those times when you really need a creative kick in the butt!!  in honor of my stint with PageMaps this month, i am going to make it official Sketch Month and will be sharing projects with you throughout the rest of the month based on sketches from around the web – so stay tuned for that.

(ps – please excuse my lazy lack of journaling on this page.  i am waiting to bribe my mother-in-law out of her typewriter so i can use it for stuff like this!)

in other news… it’s been a busy week.  but that’s a good thing

be back tomorrow with our February Card challenge from The Sampler – with a really cute card to inspire you & more info on how you can play to win a package of goodies from The Sampler!

until then… may the force be with you.  

peace, love and stickers -

SUPPLIES:

* Cardstock – Bazzill Basics “Dotted Swiss – Butter” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Patterned Paper – Crate Paper “Random – Victorian”; My Mind’s Eye “Love Me – Doilies & Stamped”; Simple Stories “Year-o-Graphy – Blue/Newsprint” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Ribbon – May Arts twill with olive stripe (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Stickers – Echo Park “Times and Seasons” cardstock stickers (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Alphas – Fundamentals Petites kraft (from The Sampler February 2012 kit); Pink Paislee “Wood Chip” alpha (from The Sampler January 2012 kit)

* Wood Banner – My Mind’s Eye “Kraft Funday Everyday Fun Wood Banners” (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Butterfly – FabScraps (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Journal Card – Lily Bee “Memorandum” journal cards (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* Pearls – KaiserCraft latte (from The Sampler February 2012 kit)

* red glitter (personal stash)

SILLY LOVE SONGS.

Some of the love songs that bring back memories for me…

1.  ”Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat

2.  ”I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz

3.  ”Her Diamonds” by Rob Thomas

4.  ”Save Tonight” by Eagle-Eye Cherry

5.  ”Lucky” by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

6.  ”Amazing” by Bruno Mars

7.  ”When I’m Sixty-Four” by The Beatles

8.  ”Truly Madly Deeply” by Savage Garden

9.  ”I’m Gonna Miss Her (Fishin’ Song)” by Brad Paisley

10.  ”Steady as She Goes” by the Raconteurs

inspired by the upcoming arrival of The Sampler owner Holly’s new daughter, whom she will be naming Penelope (SO CUTE!)…

we are proud to present this month’s The Sampler kit, Oh Penelope!  this kit is just absolutely STUFFED with amazing goodies for you to play with.  it includes facets of Valentine’s, Fun, Family… and some delicious Echo Park / Hambly / etc / etc / etc. goodies for you to play with!!!

so fabulous!  jog on over to Scrapbooking Supplies R Us to see more pictures of this amazing kit.  here’s what you get:

* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Kraft-Core #6
* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Kraft-Core #16
* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Snowflake
* (1) sheet Core’dinations – Stormy Gray
* (1) sheet Bazzill Dotted Swiss (butter)
* (1) sheet Echo Park “Times & Seasons – Spiffy Moustache”
* (1) sheet Simple Stories “Year-O-Graphy – Simple Basics Blue/Newsprint”
* (1) sheet My Mind’s Eye “Love Me – Doilies”
* (1) sheet My Mind’s Eye “Love Me – Stamped”
* (1) sheet Jenni Bowlin “Red Black Extension – School Dress”
* (1) sheet Crate Paper “Random – Victorian”
* (1) sheet Hambly “Mini Graph Overlay” (pink)
* (1) sheet Hambly “Little Hearts on Kraft” (red)
* (1) pkg KaiserCraft Pearls (latte)
* (1) pkg Lily Bee Design “Memorandum – ABC Cardstock Stickers”
* (1) booklet Fundamentals Petites Alphabet sticker (kraft)
* (4) FabScraps Metal Butterflies
* (1) pkg Hambly Remnants Rub-ons (white)
* (1) pkg My Mind’s Eye “Kraft Funday – Everyday Fun Wood Banners”
* custom hexagons in gray velvet & canvas
* (3) FabScraps fabric brads (red)
* (1) pkg Lily Bee Design “Memorandum – Index Journaling Cards”
* (3) lengths May Arts ribbon (twill w/ olive stripe, twill w/ blue stripe, white grosgrain)

SO. STUFFED!  there are about a million different ways to use up this kit, and i’ll be back throughout February to share some ideas and tips with you!  look for my Thursday posts over on The Sampler’s Blog as well as here on my blog for more ways to work with “Oh, Penelope”.  i’ll be back ASAP with a picture of the first layout i created with this kit, as well as our card challenge on the 10th!  so you’ll definitely want to check back in soon!

now for today’s Life.in.Lists:

I “HEART” FLAVOR.

Tami relates a story about Baskin-Robbins to open up today’s post.  unlike Tami (who shockingly chose vanilla!) i have always been a bit adventurous.  i remember going to BR myself as a kiddo, and the first thing i wanted was mint chocolate chip (since it was green, and, at the time my favorite color was green)… that started a love affair that has never ended.  my grandparents will tell you that i would go as far as ordering mint chocolate chip with pineapple or strawberry topping every time we went to Friendly’s for a sundae.  i’ve always been the weirdo that likes fruit in my salad and dessert as a part of my meal.  i will try anything – at least once – but i’m so fond of food that it doesn’t really even matter anymore!  so today’s post will be a fun one for me:  Today, some of my favorite flavors are…

* Mint.  anything and everything mint, preferably peppermint but definitely NOT spearmint.  it’s my favorite flavor AND scent.
* Chocolate.  nuff said.
* Coffee.  any kind, iced or hot.  i’m down.
* Raspberry/Blackberry.  my dad started this one with blackberry picking when i was a kid.
* Beef.  is that allowed? lol.  i love beef in all its many forms – especially stroganoff
* BACON.  baconbaconbaconbaconbacon.  i love bacon.  especially if mayonnaise is touching it.  i actually thought to make a bacon and mayo casserole once.  yeah i know it’s gross.  and prob REALLY bad for you.  but i’d eat it

allrighty, well that’s all for me for today!  thanks for taking the time to stop by – i’ll be back soon with some great inspo for The Sampler’s February kit

peace, love and stickers -

i. am. SUPER. excited !!! !!! !!!  i was so stoked when Becky Fleck of PageMaps.com asked me to design a sample for one of her sketches for this month!  i knew i was gonna have to do it real BIG.  she gave me an 8 1/2 x 11″ vertical sketch to work with and immediately a million different ideas whizzed through my head – this sketch is so cute, i might have to use it for several concepts

[ image from PageMaps ]

i used several facets of this sketch to compose my final layout.  i love clouds, so that had to go somewhere, but since my theme didn’t really seem to need clouds as an element, i chose a cute cloudy patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye “Lime Twist” collection.  i also liked the music note patterned paper on the sketch, so i dug out a little Sassafras Lass for that one.  i mimicked the overall design of the sketch, adding a clothesline in place of the birds/wire and added a few more layers and some fun odds & ends from my hoarde.

the best part about this page, though?

i handmade all the mini clothing, and it is all a replica of something i actually own.

i. am. so. impressed. with. myself. i. could. poop. rainbows.

as i dug through my entire stash looking for elements for this page, i started to find things that would be a perfect fit – a denim sew-on patch from Hobby Lobby became the jeans, a raft from an old Jolee’s and a bit of felt made my FAVORITE Old Navy Tech Vest that i’ve had since my Senior year of high school (:sigh:), and a few more scraps of felt to make my houndstooth peacoat  i also made the hangers the clothes are on with wire bending supplies… um, a lot harder than i thought, but it still worked out fantastically  i’ve been really antsy to post this page!!

 i really do have a closet addiction.  NO, i DON’T need an INTERVENTION either, thank you.  i am just fine having a different outfit for every day of the month (and shoes to match!)  in the photo you can really actually only see about 2/3 of my space in the closet.

i am extremely grateful to Becky Fleck for letting me create a sample for this month’s PageMaps.  i have been a huge fan for years, and going and just browsing through all the sketches and samples sometimes really inspires me — even when i don’t use the actual sketch as the basis for my page or card.  i have another layout coming up, to showcase February’s The Sampler Kit, and i will show you how you can stretch a sketch to make it fit your needs and make it yours as one of my February posts on The Sampler’s blog.  keep your eyes peeled for that!  getting really excited about the February Sampler Kit release – i love every single piece of this kit and that is no lie.  i can’t wait to share it with you

now for today’s “Life.in.Lists”…

ENDEARING WORDS.

Our family words of endearment:

* Honey.  Travis and i have called each other “honey” for i don’t know how long.  we are just these honeys, i guess

* Little Baby or just Baby.  Kellan is kind of stuck with that.  but he knows his name too, so that’s good.

* Buddy.  usually applies to Brodyn.  sometimes Amber, and always Ryan.  lol.

* Rooskie.  that’s me.  it’s an office, not a title.  all of my close friends call me that, and that’s what they said it means.  i’m confused as well, but as long as i’m the Rooskie Incumbent then i don’t give a darn.

* Dude.  can be anyone, depends on the tone of the conversation.

* Stinky.  usually applies to the dog.  because he usually smells like rotten pancakes or sweaty dog.

well that about wraps it up for me today!  i have a ton of stuff to do.  on the upside, i just beat Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga, so that will stop sucking up a large chunk of my existing free time; the downside of that is that when i finished the game it said i only had 37.4% complete.  …..  i should probably just ignore that, right?  lol.  i will be back in the very near future with the release of The Sampler’s February kit, “Oh Penelope”!

peace, love and stickers.

SUPPLIES:

* Cardstock – Hobby Lobby (kraft); Core’dinations (white); The Paper Studio (yellow)

* Patterned Paper – My Mind’s Eye “Lime Twist – Fly a Kite & Out of the Blue”; Sassafras Lass “Indie Girl – Headphones On”; Fancy Pants “It’s the Little Things – Spring Fever”; Graphic 45 “ABC Primer” (skirt)

* Stickers – KI Memories “Love, Elsie”; Crate Paper “Random”; K & Co (buttons); EK Success (ad)

* Ribbon – KI Memories “Love, Elsie”; Offray; We R Memory Keepers (twine)

* Other Materials – Hobby Lobby (felt, inTatterz denim patch, wire, mini clothespins, brads)

* Button – American Crafts “Flair”

* Alphas – EK Success; American Crafts Thickers

* fine tip Black Sharpie

TAKE ME FOR A RIDE!

Things I remember about travel as a kid:

* Town was close enough that we could ride our bikes there from our subdivision.  It took an hour or more, but we always liked to do it – we felt like we were going somewhere important, going to town by ourselves.

* THE BUS.  oh, Lordy, the bus.  this could be a LONG paragraph but i’d rather not relive some of those memories… :shudder:

* my dad’s big orange van.  see, back in the 80′s we didn’t wear seatbelts or care much about being “safe” in cars – that was for sissies.  my dad had this old 1978 Dodge work van that was road cone orange, and it only had two seats – a driver and a passenger.  the rest of the van was carpeted with remnants of forest green and red carpet he got from a job, and there were beanbags strewn about the back for us kids.  it was literally a luxury to us as kids – we could sprawl out, bring our stuff… i have fond memories of those days, as CPS-friendly as that story sounds!

* going on vacation as a family, we always had a big car or van to ride in so we never had to sleep all scrunched up in a backseat.  that was always nice!  we never went anywhere that required flying, though – my mom refuses to get on an airplane to this day.  i didn’t fly for the first time until i was 20!

REMEMBERING WINTER.

10 Winter Memories I’ve Preserved:

(in no particular order!)

1.  Winter 1998-99.  two weeks AFTER Christmas Break, we were still out of school.  it just kept snowing… and snowing.  one day, we actually went to school (40 mins away from home!) only to have them send us all back home an hour later because the weather was going to get worse.  i got my license prior, but that year i learned how to drive in the snow!

2.  General – building snow forts, snowmen, and ramps for our sleds in the backyard.  laying in the snow listening to snowflakes hitting the ground and the stillness of the world.  i miss being a kid, especially in winter!

3.  Winter 2004.  my first year in Texas.  i was ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED to wake up at 6AM on Valentine’s Day to the sounds of kids playing in the snow… I MOVED TO TEXAS TO GET AWAY AND IT FOLLOWED ME!!!  there hasn’t been a winter i’ve been here since that it hasn’t snowed  ….. (keeping my fingers crossed for 2012!  no snow so far!)

4.  Winter 1999-2000.  i met my oldest son’s dad.  lots of memories from that winter… when i think of winter in general, i think of that year – it was the last winter of my childhood.

5.  Winter 2006-2007 in Ohio, Travis and i moved into our little house in town, and it was a very cozy place to be in late January-February when piles and piles of snow dumped on us!

6.  General – laziness.  not wanting to go anywhere because it’s too cold.  being stuck inside and starting to get cabin fever.  wearing long underwear on a daily basis to keep my chicken legs warm.

7.  Winter 2000-2001.  my oldest son Brodyn was born in December in the middle of a huge snowstorm – we slid through red lights all the way to the hospital because the roads were too icy to stop on!  and after, being in our little old house in the middle of nowhere FREEZING HALF TO DEATH with our new baby.  winter is not a fun time to be in an old farmhouse.  i do NOT envy Laura Ingalls at all sometimes…

8.  General – but since we’re on the topic of Laura Ingalls, every winter when i was a kid i always read the three Little House on the Prairie books that i owned.  something about them surviving winters made me want to snuggle under a mountain of blankets and join them on their adventures!  despite the fact that i hate winter, lol.

9.  Winter 2009-2010 – a tree fell on my car.  no literally.  it was crazy!  it snowed… and snowed… which it’s not supposed to do in Texas but it keeps forgetting… and so much snow piled on this old tree in my front yard that it snapped in half and fell on my car!  also, that year i was moonlighting waiting tables and i was so mad that we had to drive home from the restaurant late Christmas Eve in a foot of snow and ice…

10.  General – no matter how long i live (or where!), i will never forget the smell on the air in winter, the taste of freshly fallen snow and icicles, the sound of the crunch of snow underfoot and the still silence of the world, and the dazzling beauty of a perfect white new-snow morning

BE PREPARED.

i’m not really one of those people who plans ahead well.  i’m kinda a procrastinator, but more a person who lives day-to-day and in what’s real and not really so much for things that i can’t predict or know where i’m going to be at by then.  needless to say, this makes me less than help when it comes to preparing for trips.  most of the booking/reserving/planning is done by my wonderfully organized hubby and i just go with the flow until the last minute when i throw everything i want for [specified amount of time] in a HUGE suitcase and haul it away.  you would think after driving back and forth between Texas and Ohio 14 times i would have my stuff together a little better 

Before hitting the road…

* Sadly, for so many years of my life one of the biggest things i have spent doing preparing for a trip was spending time in front of a computer.  burning CDs for road trips, piling up movies and games on laptops for kids, adjusting and readjusting my iPod playlist…  for one reason or another i’m always running up to the last minute before i shut down the machines and get in the car…

* Making sure everybody has everything.  being that i wait until the last possible second to pack, i always run across things in my packing that i think someone else might have forgotten.  so there’s a lot of, “does [family member] have socks and a jacket, in case it gets cold?  where is [family member's] toothbrush?  everyone has a pencil and a notebook, right?!?  JUST IN CASE!!!”

* Putting everything in the car, printing out boarding passes, setting the route on the laptop/iPad/iPhone and getting all the power adapters and cables strapped into place or in their places in bags.

* Petting the dog and cats one last time, telling them they are good boys and to be good!

* Rechecking every centimeter of the house (doors shut, locked, power off on various items, no animals shut in rooms) and making a mental picture of exactly how everything is when i leave so i know where it’ll be when i get back!

* Setting up my “station” in the car – somewhere that i can be comfy and still have access to everything since i’m always the gopher on long car rides.

just wanting to share a page i made real quick

you can read more about it in my post for this week over on The Sampler’s blog.  i’m really excited about this page …. just a bit proud of myself, LOL!

here it is!!!

i really love it!  i made it as a farewell the day that we took the purple out.  it was definitely bittersweet – but i like my new hair so much better!

there are smaller pictures inside the calendar pocket, with more shots of the purple experience:

and some detail:

one more thing to share before i go – a sneaky peek at a page that i created the other day for February’s PageMaps!  i am really excited that i got to create a sample for PageMaps, and i can’t wait to share that page with you – here’s a little look to tide you over until Feb. 1st!

i mean, it. is. fabulous.  i handmade little Jolee’s style replicas of actual clothing i own  it was so much fun!!!  look for that later.

thanks a ton for stopping by today – my Little Man turns the BIG ONE today so we are gonna have an awesome day!!!  hope you all have a great weekend

peace, love and stickers -

SUPPLIES (for “purple”):

• Transparency – Hambly Studios “Lattice” (antique blue) from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Patterned Paper – My Mind’s Eye “Lime Twist – Out of the Blue – Playful” & “Kraft Funday – Lollipop Dots”; Lily Bee Designs “Memorandum – Payday”; Simple Stories “Live Life – 24-7″ from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Calendar Pocket – EK Success Calendar SMASH Pockets from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Stickers – Simple Stories “Yearography” Expressions Stickers from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Chipboard frame – Kraft Fundays Happy Days Chipboard Elements from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Ribbon – My Mind’s Eye “Stella & Rose – Hattie” trims from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Alpha – Pink Paislee “Wood Shop – Wood Chip” from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Jenni Bowlin Vintage Number Set from The Sampler January 2012 kit
• Purple Glitter, Purple Rhinestones – Hobby Lobby (personal stash)
• Purple Sharpie (personal stash)
• pop dots (personal stash)

CREATIVE PEOPLE.

I am a big fan of…

* Jim Henson.  love EVERYTHING the man did, he was a genius.

* Monty Python.  you see their fingerprints everywhere, and you probably never knew it!

* scrapbookers and cardmakers.  i could get more specific but i’d hate to leave anyone out!  i have a lot of favorites

* Hunter S. Thompson.  he was a drug-crazed weirdo but he has definitely said some pretty profound things and had a hell of a life.  i respect him for who he dared to be and the experiences he shared in his writing.

* Shel Silverstein.  no one has a bigger place in my heart – i’ve loved him since i was in kindergarten, and own almost every single one of his books – including his few “adult” themed pieces 

* Hayao Miyazaki.  love ALL his films.  even Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind, which i do not like so much.  his stories and animation are absolutely beautiful, i love all the imagery he uses and the realism he brings to simple anime characters.

* J. R. R. Tolkien.  i mean, really.  this guy… lived almost his ENTIRE life making up an ENTIRE other universe in his head – languages, geography, creatures, history.  his books are amazing, truly one of the best series ever written in my humble opinion

* music in general.  this could be a long list as well so i will just leave it at that.  music definitely piques my creative side!

* Johnny Depp.  my favorite actor of all time, ever.  probably one of the single most creative actors as well – he definitely knows his roles!

MY SIMPLE. ORDINARY. EVERYDAY LIFE.

Today I…

• Got up at the usual time, got Kellan some Cheerios and turned on Sesame Street.  It’s our morning routine
• Took a nap and hated myself for it later.  I got absolutely nothing accomplished!
• Had to clean up the worst poopy-diaper blowout mess EVER. (sorry TMI!)  He decided he was gonna flip over front-first into the dirty diaper right after I unfastened it.  THEN he decided to grab a handful on the way back up.  Needless to say, me, him, his clothes and the carpet were a disaster.
• Put the finishing touches on the Cookie Monster cupcakes for Little Man’s birthday – with help from Ryan, Kris & Amber!!
• Made microwave french-bread pizza and corn for dinner.  I was feeling lazy after said nap.
• AND THEN I TOOK ANOTHER NAP!  WOW….
• After all the kids were tucked snugly in their beds, I finished up Episode IV and played half of Episode V of Lego Star Wars – my guilty pleasure for the day!  (And a sorry reward for someone who took so many naps!  Boo )