Proooooooject!

Gotta new one for you. I learned this album technique in a class at at local scrapbook store.

You make pleats to create the spines. It's so awesome and so easy! Remember all of the fans you made in elementary school, flipping the paper from one side to the other until there just wasn't any way you could make one more bend? Yup, exact same concept.

Then you tuck all the little tags and such into the pleats, giving yourself an album with depth.






The trick is just a fun way I picked up somewhere along the way. If you attach a string to the bottom of a tag pocket, then the other end to the bottom of a tag, then leave a bit of blank tag, when you pull the tag out of the pocket, it won't come all the way out. Make sense?

Happy 100th post!

In celebration, I thought I should finish off a post from a few posts back ... lol.

Now that you've clicked on the link above, you know we're back for the second chapter of my little bookmaking experiment.

This is where we kinda left off, with the spine open and waiting for contents.

I just added some good old Elmer's glue along the inside.

I pressed a ribbon in for decoration, then added another line of glue on top of that for the next part.

Press the sheath holding the gathered and tied papers and other things into the spine. Make sure you like where the sheath is positioned, and that you have enough glue to so it can hold on to the parts it wants to hold on to.

(Note: I vertically trailed the ends of the red and white baker's twine I used to bind the sheath, so that any extra length will stick out the top and bottom of the book along with the ribbon.)

Next glue the sheath's flaps onto the original inside covers. As you do this, smooth the paper into the spine along the spine's natural bending points, so that the sheath will have the same give once the book is reopened after drying. You'll see in the final photo that there are points where the sheath isn't actually glued to the book; this helps with this flexibility that I'm talking about.

The cool thing is, the glued-in twine is the strength that holds together the papers etc. BUT the sheath gives all of the papers wiggle room. Does that make sense? Take a look at the photo. You need that give so that you can maneuver the pages, add things to them, etc.

Once you're happy with the positioning, carefully clip the book closed. This helps it dry tightly.

Here it is, several days later. See what I mean there in the bottom right about there being a gap where the sheath's not glued to the book? That's the natural flexibility it needs to be a book:)

So that's it! I might or might not post later photos as the book evolves with the contents I add. It's a special book for me to share with my Butterfly ... and I'm not sure I want to share it with anyone else. We'll see.

Thanks for sticking around to listen to all of this!

It's tooooooo hot!

Ugh. I'm dying to work in my studio, but with temperatures in the 90s and my lack of money to insulate said studio, it's frustratingly on hold. In the meantime ...

More photo playing

This baby girl loves her raspberries. She was so excited when she found out the surprise I had for her was this sweet treat.

These were her brother's overalls, and he wore them for like three years. They were SO long on him at first, and I just shortened the straps and rolled up the pants legs. Eventually, though, as the years passed I couldn't lengthen anything anymore. So I put them away for what I thought would be the day HIS
child(ren) could have them.

Can't you just taste it?

I mean, can't you?

How could I possibly resist?

Forgotten ...

... but not for long. Butterfly gives the flower a drink, in her special way.

Water droplets

Mama peeks out, behind Butterfly.

Shadow/play

Splash!

My latest inspiration

Today

was a productive one!

Tags

Decided to upcycle some really cute packaging from my various goodies. Made some basic tag bases and went to town. These will be for sale on etsy for $5.

I think this one's really cute.

You can slip a little photo into this one.

Extra upcycled bits on this one.


Just a couple of the little ones.

Studio, part 1

So this is for people who think I'm always uber-organized. When I'm in the middle of making stuff, I have layers and layers of things. I just push aside and/or stack because I'm too into what I'm doing to stop and tidy. My grandma ALWAYS told me to clean as I go, but she was talking about in cooking. That I do do, but I hate cooking anymore, so it's kind of a moot point. I suppose those of you who love to cook probably can relate to the messiness, though. You get so into what you're creating,
you don't want to stop for the annoyances:)

Fixing a photo goof

It's as tight as it can get on the left side, but there are a couple of distractions in there. I'm not so into Photoshopping photos --
the journalist in me screams ethical foul.


But I'm not opposed to hiding the distractions:)


Here's the whole layout.

Layout interlude
This one's new. Keeping it simple to highlight the photos.

This one probably looks familiar. I forgot I had that other photo, so I had to make another side:)

Goofball interlude

Studio, part 2

All clean! Kinda.

Did I post these yet?

I can't remember. Some layouts from last week and this. Just a few ... it's all I can get done before little Ms. Butterfly begins to provoke her Mr. Elephant and I flee for my life NO! I mean before I step in and intervene ... sigh.

Fear not ...

Life's kept me busy, but I do intend to share with you the part two of my little book for Butterfly. It came out pretty cute so I want you to see it. Plus I'm going away for a few weeks in another week or so and won't be updating whilst I'm gone.

In the meantime, check out some cute kitties from the shelter Elephant and I volunteer for. The kitten, above, has been adopted but Miss Oreo, left, is still available ... as are hundreds — thousands — of other kitties across this country.

Hey guys, this one's for you, too

My great-aunt was this amazing woman ... She drove till the very end of her life, often 90+ mph on the freeway, much to the thrilled terror of her passengers -- and just plain terror of the drivers around her.

When the lawyers started pestering her about selling off her many acres for development, she got so fed up she starting scaring them away by waving a shotgun at them. It worked, too.

The woman didn't wear purple -- or red hats. She didn't need to in order to live her life out loud and strong. And when she was diagnosed with cancer in her early 80s, she drove it away, too. A few times, until it just became too much.

I loved her so ferociously. I miss her, all the time. She was the last pen-pal I ever had. And when Butterfly was born with only a minuscule chance of survival, it was a no-brainer to give her my aunt's name -- and thus a legacy of strength.

I knew my aunt was watching over my daughter during the first 65 days of her life, when she lived in the NICU. I firmly believe without my aunt's unseen hand, my little girl never would have come home to mine. I know she watches over her still. And my Butterfly embodies so many of her great-great-aunt's qualities -- often to my great delight, and admittedly to my sometimes chagrin.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it's the best way I know how to tell you what I really hope you'll hear. I could lecture, give statistics, blah blah blah. But I actually want you to pay attention instead.

I have a blog-world friend I admire so very much. She has this incredible talent, this ability to create beauty that just seems to radiate from her being. This stunningly beautiful woman has a husband who loves her, and two sweet little ones. She's not all perfect though ... She SO uber-organized she actually writes out complete daily menus for what she's going to feed her family!!! I know, right?? Nuts! :)

I only know her through this online world, but while I respected her before, I respect her so much more now. Because not only does my friend have all of this beauty and love surrounding her, she now also has to wait for the results of a cancer screen.

I'm not going to tell you who she is because she struggled with whether or not to share her story on her blog (she tries to keep it all about her art) and I want to respect that as much as I can while still sharing her vital message. As she and her husband sat with her doctor, the doctor told them they "now have the job of convincing 10 women to make their yearly gynecological exam (pap-smear). We talked briefly about cervical cancer statistics among young women and the importance of early detection through pap-smears."

So I'm writing this blog because in reading her story, I feel like it's now my job to help spread that message.

So please. I can't badger you, but I can beg you. If you are a woman or love a woman -- your wife, your partner, your sister ... or your great-aunt. Please take care of her. Please take care of yourself.

I'm thinking about you, my blog-world friend.

This girl

Today, unbeknownst to us, this little cheeky girl managed to unlock the regular and deadbolts on the downstairs door ... and set all of our animals free.

As she is a cheeky girl, we did not realize this had happened for at least an hour. She didn't bother to tell anyone of her deed;)

Luckily, most of the creatures are wusses and did not go anywhere. One cat sauntered across the deck and promptly was recaptured. And a neighbor called to let us know the dog had been playing in traffic, and was now locked up in the neighbor's goat pen.

Cheeky girl, this one.