Hey kid, underpants, and WELCOME!

First up, if you're visiting from The Paperclipping Roundtable: Welcome! I'm so happy to have you visit! I've dusted, there's cold diet Pepsi in the fridge...feel free to poke around. Stay as long as you'd like.  ;)

If you're curious about the infamous underpants layout, here's a link.  And I'd like to take a minute and say this: I do respect the decision to ask me to modify this.  While I consider this totally acceptable and appropriate, I do understand that everyone has their own boundary and businesses have to think about their brand perception, their core audience and they have to be mindful of not upsetting what has been carefully built.  That said, I like the layout, and I think the story is sort of funny...

Next up: layout share.

On a scale from 1 to 10, I give this about a 4. I suppose it's not awful, but it was going to be so much cooler in my head.  I had rare and really annoying technical difficulties with my my Cameo software. The speech bubbles were going to be print-and-cuts, and the word kid was going to fit perfectly in the bubble.  I don't know if you can tell but not a darn one of them fits properly. And ohmygosh it's driving me crazy. Not crazy enough to cut it a twelfth time.  This was a layout that sat on my desk for over a week because of a busy schedule, and after a while I had to borrow Lain Ehmann's mantra "Done is better than perfect" and glue it all down.

And this is the part where I whine about the lack of royal blue patterned papers (preferably B side prints, just in case any one with that kind of power happens to read this) and how I'd really love non-cheesy, non-juvenile sports-friendly embellishments.

Whew. Had to get that out of my system.

Again.  ;)

And lastly:



I mentioned that I was doing the 100happydays.com project on the Paperclipping Roundtable.  I can't say enough good things about it.  But off the top of my head, I can say:
1. Free
2. No pressure
3. Therapeutic
It's like a visual gratitude journal - it's just about recognizing something good every day. And when you're actively looking for good stuff it's funny how much good stuff actually shows up on your door step.

And with that, I have to go.  That softball game took it out of me!  Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Take Two.

Last night I sat down and wrote a big ol' post but when I hit preview there was nothing there.  I hit back and there was nothing there, either. YIKES.  Oh well.  So let's try this again.

I mentioned in my last post that there was a layout I did a couple of weeks ago but never photographed, so let's do that one first:

Molly got her hair cut a month or so ago.  In the past haircuts have been about trimming off the yucky stuff at the bottom but keeping it long and ponytail friendly.  Not this time! While it still has to be ponytail friendly (softball season is almost here, after all!), but this time it was about style. Long layers, side swept bangs and enough product to make the bottom spike-y with a badass punk rock feel.  Molly is going through (what I hope is) a phase - listening to music that no one likes, eye balling Doc Martens and asking for a pierced lip for her birthday -- "It's the only thing I want!"  Yeah, well, it's among the many things you're NOT getting.  So the slightly punk hairdo was the easiest to accommodate option of her "I need to express myself" desires.

I like all the fun colors, and I think that patterned paper is semi-perfect for teenage girls.  They all embrace "peace" and the peace sign.  But I'm old enough to remember the original peace culture.  So it's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of using "peace" paper (which recalls hippies) on a page where the kid listens to metal and wants to pierce her face.  But if I let go of the 70s connotation....yeah, it's perfect. :P

Can you tell I had just gotten sequins?  There are certain trends that I have a hard time with (I struggle with twine and never quite got ribbon), but flair and sequins?  Those I like!

Next, I've got a couple of layouts from this week.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think sport pages are very challenging.  And when I finish one that I like, that feels serious and manly and does Ted's effort justice, well, then I'm happy.  And I'm happy.

The title for this actually came from a text I sent him after this game.  I know how he is after his team loses - he's quiet and thoughtful.  It might look grumpy from the outside, but I know he's running game reels of every play that could have gone better.  I respect that reflection, he's not dwelling or wallowing, he's learning.  I love that.  But this game. Wow.  It was a playoff game and both teams were playing very, very well.  He pitched the entire game, which I think is incredible, but even more so when you factor in that he's a freshman on the varsity team.  That's a lot of pressure.  He's up against a lot of talent.  And to hold that team to 3 runs?  That's impressive.  So I sent him a text telling how impressed I was and how with experiences like these he was going to be a beast in his junior and senior years.  Once the pictures were printed I knew what the title should be.

But know what the title will say and how it should look are two entirely different things. My first instinct with titles is always to go to the Silhouette.  Always. So I went to the software, wrote out the word beast and scrolled through my font options.  When I came to the stencil font it clicked: use the Silhouette stencil material and spray mist to create a title that looks stamped on.  The stencil material is easy to use, and I just squirted a couple shots of spray mist into a plastic container and used a cotton ball to dab it on.  I really love the way it turned out - it's masculine and really seems to fit the mood of the layout.

And last:

After my stencil success on the beast layout, I decided to try the stencil material again.  So I used this 6x8 hexagon design, ungrouped it and started deleting hexagons all willy-nilly like.   And I really like the matte medium people are using.  But...I never know what to buy...and then when I see the price my cheap side takes over.  So I McGyver'd it.  I used my Nori paste (which I love and use for my wood veneers) - put a spoonful into a plastic container, spritzed it with powder blue Mr. Huey, gave it a good stir and smooshed it into the stencil with an old gift card.  I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I sprinkled a tiny bit of blue glitter on the design while it was still wet.  I'd love it if some real matte medium would show up on my doorstep, but in the meantime, I'm pleased with my homemade version.

When Molly was a toddler she was always on the move UP.  We'd have to pull her down from precarious positions constantly.  We couldn't turn our back on her for a second.  So she was dubbed Mountain Goat Molly.  Eventually she was re-dubbed Coinslot Molly because she couldn't keep her pants up and we were constantly eyeballing her butt crack.  Hopefully there won't be a "Coinslot Molly" page in our futures. ;)

Anyway, on Mother's Day we went for a walk around downtown Cleveland.  This was a go-to activity back when I was super poor, and this was our first time doing this with Kerig.  We had a great time and found a whole bunch of new places.  This was taken at the Sailors and Soldiers monument.  While the rest of us were walking around looking UP at all the sculptures and reading the plaques, Molly had perched herself up on this ledge.  She was definitely waiting to be photographed.  And she even suggested the title. Sort of.  She seemed to recall that we called her monkey, but that was easily fixed. ;)

So that's it for today! I hope you have a happy  Friday!  Thanks (as always) for stopping by.

I missed you. Did you miss me??

blah blah blah
student teaching
blah blah blah
so happy to be finished
whatever.

It's been a great couple of days!  Filled with kids, Kerig, food, Cleveland and scrapbooking.  Since this is a scrapbooking blog, let's talk layouts!

First up:

Pharrell's song "Happy" has been everywhere this Spring.  And regardless of what mood I'm in when the song starts, if I sing (or clap or dance) along, I can't help but be happy by the end of it.  It's genius on in its ability to suggestive sell a mood.  The lyric that gets me is Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof.  I have two thoughts about this: First, I think about 'raising the roof' - a celebration of such magnitude that the roof wasn't just raised, but raised off.  (welcome to the weird way in which my brain works) ;  And Second, I think about a glorious glass ceiling.  Not one that represents oppression, but rather all the glorious comforts of the indoors with all the incredible views of the sky.  You see, whether it's puffy white clouds on a mostly sunny day, or stormy grey clouds or snow or rain - the sky is indeed beautiful.  So I like that lyric.  It's evocative and clever and it makes me happy.  Like a room without a roof.

Okay, that sounds super hokey, but it was lyric that was begging to be used as a title.  So I used it.  The picture is of Kerig and I at a car wash.  We have a weird love of car washes.  They make us...happy.  And a sunny day in March after a long, cold, snowy and gray winter, that also makes a person happy.  

Here's a couple of close ups of the title and the stuff above the photos:

I journaled in my own handwriting.  What?!  I know, right? NUTS.  And I stamped.  And I heat embossed.  And that never happens.  I like all the pops of color, and the smattering of black to keep it grounded.  

Next up:

Have I mentioned that Friday was my last day of student teaching?  ;)  On my way to school I decided to take a quick selfie to commemorate my accomplishment.  I am not above taking selfies, but it's not something I do daily either.  At my age, I don't want or need daily reminders of what I look like.  That said, I really love this picture.  I am - genuinely - happy.  

When I got home and was doing my scan of the internet, I was pleasantly surprised that Kerri Bradford had a great Friday Freebie. There are a hundred ways to take the phrase "Let's just do today" and in this context (for me) it means: let's crush this; let's make today amazing; let's wrap this up with a red ribbon and walk away proud.  

Some details:

Once again, I'm happy with all the great color, the black title that both pops and grounds, and I simply adore that math paper.  I might need a couple more sheets. 

Because I also used it for the cards I made for my cooperating teachers:

Yep.  I like that paper.  That number border is less that a half inch tall.  I am always amazed at my Silhouette!  

Okay, that's it for now, but I realized that I have one more layout to share.  I did it a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday night.  I figured if I didn't take a creativity break I'd explode.  But then I had to hide the evidence, so I forgot to photograph it today. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!