Noodle Soup

I got sunshine on a cloudy day

I know that when it comes to cold and gloomy climates, SoCal’s sporadic rainstorms and 60 degree temps seem downright balmy. But January certainly brought more gray, drizzly days here than this weather wimp is accustomed to.

Alas, wherever you live and whatever the season, sometimes you have to bring your own sunshine. Or at least that’s what I told myself when I bought this:

This will brighten whatever gray days are left of winter, and I can bask in its cute, sunny yellow patent radiance all the way through spring and summer, too. (And did you see that zebra print lining?) The perfect cure for the winter doldrums!

Comfort

The ickie sickies have been making their rounds here, so we’ve been all about the comfy and the cozy this past week.

Like this:

(photo courtesy of Epicurious.com)

And this:

And this:

(plush throw from Restoration Hardware – one of my favorite Christmas presents)

And this:

(...which I helped Reece make over the weekend in between dishing out chicken soup, Motrin, and sympathy to Taite and Kendra. The concept and design were totally his own, I just helped with some cutting and stitching. Love that creative kid!)

It began with a box

All the interest in my studio last week got me reflecting on the evolution of my creative space. I heard from many wonderful ladies in various stages of creating or dreaming about their ideal scrap areas, and I was inspired to create a layout about my six year journey from the kitchen table to my current room.

I think if you click on the photo, it will open big enough to read the journaling.

Down Time

This weekend we had one of those rare “empty calendar square” occurrences, so the kids and I declared Saturday a pajama day. We lazed around, played some video games, read, took naps…and I frittered away my afternoon playing with this ultra-fun little time vacuum: Polyvore.

You can choose from a huge, searchable selection of everything under the sun to try out color combos, pull an outfit together on an imaginary shopping spree, furnish a dream room, or create virtual mood boards of objects and colors that inspire you. Once you register, you can save your sets and view/comment on others as well. And if you see something you really love, you can click on the image and it will take you right to the online store that sells it – everything from Topshop to Etsy. How cool is that?

Here are just a couple of the sets I made.

I used the screen shot feature to copy mine and open them in PSE, where I cropped them and printed on index cards to tack on my inspiration board.

If you have some free time, give it a whirl. But beware – it’s addicting!

I’d like to buy a vowel

But I’m trying not to. I made myself a little pledge to complete the LOAD challenge without buying anything new. In theory, it isn’t that hard. I have accumulated a ridiculous amount of product, certainly enough to complete 31 layouts. Plus, we are in the middle of the new product drought that precedes CHA, so there isn’t anything that I’m absolutely salivating for right now. My problem is of a phonetic nature. Alphabet stickers are one of my go-to products, and cutting o’s from 8’s is getting old, not to mention the dearth of e’s and a’s that there never seems to be a good fix for. The good news is that I know exactly which colors and sizes I want to buy on February 1. Smarter shopping through deprivation, for sure.

If I can't shop for cute alphabet stickers, I can at least drool over them. I found this adorable alpha idea over at Modish. Check out those little wooden boxes labeled with big American Crafts letters - such a clever and colorful way to categorize! You can click on the picture to go to the whole article and see more of the creative space of one of the founders of Adorn Magazine.

And speaking of drooling and American Crafts, have you seen the cool CHA previews on their blog?

I will not shop. I will not shop. _ wll nt shp.

Holy blog hits, Batman!

Thanks to the fabulous Stacy Julian, I had lots of new visitors to my blog yesterday, and many much appreciated compliments on my studio and my idea binder.

I also had lots of emails with questions about where I got stuff. I thought I would post some of the answers here, in case others were wondering the same things.

The color on my walls is a custom blend from Benjamin Moore. After going through about 1500 swatches (okay, it really might have only been 20 or 30) and trying some different colors on the wall, I just wasn’t finding exactly what I wanted, which was a green that looked like (the now discontinued) Bazzill celery cardstock. How’s that for a run-on sentence? Anyhow, I finally just took a sheet of cardstock to the paint store and they matched it. Another bonus was that a 12x12 sheet of cardstock gave me a much better idea of what it would look like on the wall than one of those little 1x2 paint chips.

My idea binder, tabs, and pocket pages were all purchased from Russell + Hazel. The inspiration categories on my tabs are: layouts, colors, journaling, patterns, projects/gifts, photos, bows/barrettes, and misc. crafts.

The flower on my door came from Paper Source. I don't see them on the site at the moment, but I bought mine in-store early last spring. I'm guessing they'll probably have more this spring.

The metal spinner for my ribbon jars came from a company called Kung’s Trading, out of San Francisco. I ordered mine at CHA a couple of years ago, but I think you can order through their website if you are so inclined. The acrylic candy jars came from Stacks and Stacks.

My cabinet knobs and drawer pulls came from my local Expo store and Van Dyke's Restorers. I honestly cannot remember which ones came from which place. My glass doorknob is from Van Dyke’s.

My Library of Memories drawers are from Staples.com, per Stacy’s recommendation. I got the 5x7 size because I wanted the flexibility of putting larger prints in there. They did stick a bit at first, but my handy hubby was able to tweak something inside and now they are just fine.

Thank you everyone – you are great for a girl’s ego! And thank you Stacy for just being awesome!

Edited with more info:

Paint specifics: Benjamin Moore Regal Premium Interior Latex paint in Matte Finish. The can says "Medium Base 221 2B". If you are looking to replicate my exact color, the formula is S-17-06.

My acrylic paper trays: Display Dynamics. I have the stacking trays on my table, and the peg-able trays on my wall. I don't know if they sell to the public or are wholesale only - I bought mine at a trade show way back in 2002 (pre-studio when I was scrapping in a dinky corner of my loft!). Scrapbook.com carries the stacking ones here.

The shelves over my desk are also from Ballard.

 

Pay It Forward: Arts & Crafts Edition

What could be better than getting a fun handmade surprise in the mail? Spreading the arts & crafts love by sending one, too!

Today I signed up to participate in a really unique swap over at the re:makeables blog.

The rules are:

* Anyone with a blog can join.

* The first three people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me. (Use the email link over in the right column to send me your snail address.)

* I will send your gift within 365 days.

* In return, you have to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

If you want to play, just be one of the first 3 people to comment (ha! I don’t know that I have ever had 3 comments on one post before so your odds are reaaaaaally good), and go post the challenge on your own blog. Then sometime this year, a fun, handmade gift from me will magically appear in your mailbox.

 

Tagged

I was tagged by (the other) Tami, so here goes.

7 random things about me:

~ I turn the volume up really high on my computer when I empty the recycle bin, because I like the crunch sound it makes. 

~ I have never been stung by a bee.

~ I can only fall asleep with the TV on. I need to zone out to some show to get my brain to shut off. If I just lie down and close my eyes in a quiet room, I start thinking of a million things and wind up getting out of bed to do stuff. Once I am asleep, I sleep like the dead. You could drive a freight train through the room and I would not wake up.

~ I have a thing for colanders. I have at least 5 of them in various sizes in my studio right now, holding things like buttons, new purchases, stuff to make hair goodies, etc.

Oddly, I have only one (fugly white plastic) colander in my kitchen.

~ I hate anything orange flavored because it reminds me of the St. Joseph's baby aspirin and Triaminic my mom used to force me to take as a kid. Just typing that practically makes me gag. I like actual oranges, though.

~ I have a superhuman sense of smell, the uncanny accuracy of which completely freaks my husband out. He thinks I might have been a bloodhound in a former life.

~ My favorite flower is the Gerber daisy.

Chris you're IT!

The rules of the game:

· Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

· Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.

· Tag random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

· Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

LOADing up on scrapbooking

I have not yet blogged about the Get a LOAD of This challenge I’m participating in over at BPS…probably because I’ve been too busy scrapbooking. And also with 45,000 people signed up (not really, but it seems that way), it has pretty much been covered on the blog circuit.

But I feel the need to weigh in. (In the opinion sense…because that is the absolute only weighing you will get from me until I get an exercise routine back in place following my holiday foodapalooza.)

When I first committed myself to the LOAD challenge, I did so because Lain is a friend, and I wanted to show my support. Honestly, I didn’t for a single second think I would be able to keep up – who the heck has time to do a layout a day? I figured I’d throw in a page here and there and call it a good try.

But an amazing thing happened. Somewhere around day 5 or 6, as I was feeling overwhelmed with all the regular stuff that is my life and considering blowing off my challenge layout, it started to matter to me that I carve out the time each day to scrapbook. Not because there was a prize at stake (although prizes ARE cool!), but because I began to value that daily dose of creativity and introspection enough to make room for it in my busy schedule.

It makes me almost not want February 1 to come. Will I continue to do a page a day once this is over? Unlikely. But so was keeping up with this challenge, so who knows. What I will most definitely do is continue the habit of setting aside some time each day to do something related to scrapbooking, whether I complete a layout, sketch some ideas, or just spend some time quietly reflecting on what matters to me and what I want to record.

I make time for all kinds of things in my day that are less important to me than memories and creative expression. So why shouldn’t scrapbooking rate the same consideration?

Outside it’s wetsy, so I’m shopping at Etsy

The weather here has been cold and rainy for days, so in between chugging Starbucks mochas and scrapping like crazy for Lain’s L.O.A.D challenge over at Big Picture, I have been indulging myself in some post-holiday shopping over at Etsy. I never cease to be amazed by all the cool people and cool stuff there. Here’s what I’ve bought recently, from the comfort of my chair (and mostly while wearing my jammies):

   
Vintage Flying Bird Necklace by Mykonos

 

Scrapper’s Batch by SusyJack
(I am also totally inspired by her clothespins and definitely plan to make a set of my own using paper scraps!)

 

Labels by Ormolu
(have I mentioned I’m a little obsessed with labels?)

 

Patterned Gift Tags by Elfrida

 

Ecology of Flowers print by Swallowfield

 

Camera strap by VMJess
(as a tall girl who likes to wear my camera across my body, I love the longer length she offers)

Yellow Filigree Flower Necklace by RedaretheRoses 

 

Owl address labels by maxandbella