Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Emotional ties


























I am not sunshine and light.  I am reality, cold and harsh.  It kind of sucks, and I'd change it if I could, but it seems that after 43 years I can say with a considerable amount of certainty: This is who I am.  So it's not like I sit around thinking "I think today I'll air my dirty laundry on my blog!"  However, I am going to be more open than maybe I would if I were one of those sunshine and unicorn types. Why? Because we all go through crappy times, and whether it's because of pride or discretion we don't typically talk about it, and the result is that every time we hit a hard patch, we feel more alone than we should.  We feel that we're up against something that no one else has to deal with. It makes us a little pity-party-ish.  Bring on the cupcakes.

I mentioned in the pig card post that we recently took a trip to RIT for Maggie to visit the campus. I'm sure you've put 2 and 2 together, but this mini-album is about that trip.  I took about 20 photos on my little Fuji Instax camera, and I have pictures that both Maggie and Kerig took during our visit.  One of the things that I was so excited about was how this was really a collaboration with all our efforts and all our points of view.  And it will be.

But scrapbooking is emotional.  When I was a mother of young children, sitting down at my scrap table after putting the kids to bed was therapeutic.  Looking at those sweet faces reminded me just how much I loved my kids.  Yes, chasing them, cleaning up after them, feeding them, bathing them, laundering their clothes was exhausting, but when you catch your breath you realize there's so much joy in there.   For the past 7 days Maggie and I have been butting heads.  She did something wrong and she did it willfully.  As a mother I can't look away and act like it's didn't happen.  There are plenty of worse things that kids can do. But until she's ready to have a mature discussion about what she did, accept some responsibility, express some regret and sincerely apologize, until then she's grounded.  It's really eating me up, because I know she knows better.  She thinks she's right, but she's not seeing the bigger picture.  At any rate, the point is this: It's slowed down my desire to work on this book.  I've kind of busied myself with the title pages, because I'm not really ready to tackle pictures and journaling.  And that's a real shame.  This is going to be a really fun project when it's all finished, I just hate that the process has been sullied.  Hopefully it's just temporary.

At any rate, this is a really crappy picture of a very potential-filled project.  I don't know what it is about mini-albums, but I my normally clean and cardstock-based style takes a backseat to a cluttered, funky and (hopefully) fun approach.

So that's what I've got to share today.  I promise that when this is all done I'll take decent photos so you can actually see it.  For now, I hope the glimpse works for you.

Can you believe August is done?  Hello September! I'm happy to see you! I brought #2 pencils to the party. ☻ I even have some cupcakes left over from my pity party...  ;)

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

GAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Let me say this:

SILHOUETTE BLADES ARE THE 
BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!!


Translation: My project is on hold until I track down new blades.  And maybe the money to pay for them. ;)


Friday, August 19, 2011

Pssst: Part 2

So I thought to myself, "Self, what if, instead of waiting until this is all done, what if you showed a little at a time?"  Now, it's not that I really think that you all (all, what? 2 of you?) are hanging on my every creation.  But I am intrigued by people's process, so what if someone else is?

And here's the thing.  I'm a painfully slow scrap usually.  But when it comes to mini-books, I don't care.  It's not a page.  It's a proooooject.  I don't even want to finish it too quickly, because then I'll be back to square one.  You know square one: What picture should I scrap? What story should I tell?  What papers/colors/fonts/die cuts will support that story.  Oh, I am not friends with square one.  Too many friggen decisions.  I already have to make decisions all day long, I don't want them assaulting me in my hobby.  That's why I'm in no rush.  The pictures - well, to be honest, they're not all picked yet, but I know basically what I'm using.  I know the story.  I know the papers and the colors.  Not every decision is made, but all the big ones are - now it's just floating along with lots of direction and playing.  This is the good stuff.





























So this is what I did today.  Sprayed down six layers of "RIT" so that it has some nice beefy height to it.  Plus the little butterflies.  They're one of the reoccurring themes.  Why? Because my new scrap lady crush (Karen Grunberg) has shown me the way.  With two sons she uses them all the time and it totally works.  And in this case they make sense...but you'll have to take my word on that since I haven't really talked about what I'm doing.  ANYWAY,  I also did the funky 1970s style VW bus, because the other theme of the album is road trip.  Can't wait to see the headights once they dry.  ;)

But yeah.  I actually sat at my scrap table from 8 to midnight and that's all I got done.  Oh.  I also took in about 5 episodes of Pawn Stars. :P

I'm away again for the weekend, so I'm looking at Tuesday before I can play again.  If I make any progress I'll share again...

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Pssst

I'm workin' on something.  Don't say anything to anyone though.  It's kind of a secret.  Only the two of us really know about this....I don't want to make a big deal about it or anything.


I'm not making any promises as to the timeline.  But check back in a coupla days. Or next week.

Hopefully by the 29th...since that's when I'm really back to the old grind.  In fact, just got my text books today.  I'm excited to be back in a math classroom, but I don't think I'm ready to let go of the freedom I've had this summer.  Yikes. I'm scared! At any rate, I'm trying to squeeze in as much fun - scrappy and otherwise - into these last days of summer.  Hope you are, too!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Little Pig, Little Pig...


So last weekend we - my daughter Maggie, Kerig and I - went to the Rochester Institute of Technology for their "College and Careers" event for high school seniors who are considering attending.  It was really an amazing experience to be able to see the campus, have Maggie participate in academic sessions geared toward helping her make a more educated decision about her future and see the school in action (sort of).  The facility is huge compared to what I'm used to, very modern, very eco-conscious, very forward thinking.  The tuition is an eye-opener, but you get the sense that it's an investment that will pay itself back sooner rather than later. God, I hope so!

We got there around noon.  We were able to check in, get Maggie's things settled in the dorm (since she got to stay over night there) and take a campus tour with her.  Then we were sent on our merry way while she started her campus visit in earnest.  We didn't see her again until we had a brief "Hey! How's it going??" at Gracie's the next day at lunch.

So "our merry way" consisted of checking in at a nearby hotel, showering off the sweat of walking for 4 hours in the hot sun and then heading over to Kerig's friends' house for an honest-to-goodness BBQ.  I've heard it said that people use the term BBQ wrong, subbing it in for "cook out" without respect for tradition, culture and actual recipes.  Nope.  This was a real BBQ, with the main course being Joann's award-winning ribs.  The evening was a great success.  Our hosts Joann and Adam were warm and friendly.  The food was fantastic.  I haven't laughed that many hours straight in eons.  Just a wonderful evening.

On the way back to the hotel Kerig told me I needed to make a card with a pig.  So here it is, a card with a pig.  I have to wonder how many cards with pigs there are floating around out there.  And yet, this time, it seems perfectly appropriate.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you're milking every bit of enjoyment you can from the Summer.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

200 things: the final countdown

20. That I somehow managed to have a bonding moment with my kid while teaching basic plumbing tricks.
19. Americas Funniest Home Videos.  (I have laughed until cried countless times)
18. Gay Marriage finally starting to get somewhere.
17. They Might Be Giants.
16. Reveal light bulbs. (I know, sounds weird, but when you're trained to look at light, better light makes that much of a difference.)
15. Comments on my blog posts. (Fishing? Hell yes! *wink*)
14. Eating outside.
13. Crawling into bed after a long day.
12. Hugs and kisses goodnight.
11. My cutie-mccute-cute Android keychain. (Love the happy little green robot guy!)
10. Paperclipping Roundtable. (If you're not a listener, you should turn it on while you scrap - such great discussions)
9. My birthday.
8. QuicKutz. (Yep, that's not their name, but I'm keeping it old skool.)
7. Speedways loyalty program.
6. Reba.
5. Ian.
4. Maggie.
3. Ted.
2. Molly.
1. Kerig.

I saved the best for last. Thanks for popping in.  If you decide to do your own 200 things (or 300 or 45) please pop over and leave me a link.  I'd love to read what makes YOU happy.