Tuesday, March 4, 2008

38x39


It's night and it's snowing. I'm treading carefully back and forth from house to car on a thin sheet of black ice in my driveway. Packing my trunk with everything, I repeat EVERYTHING I own. It's my first scrap-venture over at Nicole's house with sista-scrapper Jenn (MY Jenny, yo). I have a few projects in mind but I want to come prepared. I'm playin' with the big boyz now. I gotta look like I've got it goin' ON.

I'm welcomed into a delightful scrapping area-playroom combo. I keep staring at the shade of pink on the walls. I'm envious I didn't find it first for my daughter's room. Before she could talk and demand her room be painted GREEN at 18 months of age, that is.

I'm seated opposite scrap champion Jen who's mid-steam a Disney L.O. And I'm ridiculously envious of her Mickey clamps. Clips? Clamps. Whatever they were they ROCKED. And I don't even DO Disney L.O.s

Nicole's got the supreme set-up from Ikea. My eyes follow the silhouette of the desk's outline, much like a man would appreciate a woman's shapely figure. Many drawers and clear jars I'd like to dive into with a mask and snorkel. But I was distracted by hot, melted chocolate and pretzels. Colorful licorice. Cheese balls. The smells and sights made me shove my D&D muffin down, down, down to the ocean floor of my purse.

I pull out my supplies and begin an artful arrangement on the table. I've had 1 trillion pictures from fall printed for a "dynamic" multi-page layout. Brought most everything fall-themed I own. However I can't seem to get settled, thinking I've not got enough room. I begin questioning why my Jenny has hogged the corner for her supplies. She looks at me and then, ever so slowly raises the bag up and over to the floor. The light shines on the corner - now bare. Then, I follow her gaze up and over to my LEFT - where I've thrown the remainder of my belongings - taking up 200% of the real estate - making her one bag look like a spec of sand in the dessert. Ah, good-natured Jenn. Only she could share a table with the likes of me and still force a smile.

In the middle of all the artful arranging, we begin to swap out excess paper. And I come across a treasure trove - including page, tags and coordinating stickers that actually stop me, mid-pretzel, and throw me into a tailspin. I've got to work on my challenge page with these newly acquired gems!

I do for a few moments, regret sending poor husband out in the snow with me to pack the car when after all that effort I end up using one single page from Nicole. Ain't that a riot?

Pictured below is the result of our challenge. Pardon me for not posting back to the inspiration. Nichole has it in a prior post.


In no particular order, I would like to do more of the following between now and my next birthday:

1. Love
2. Feast on the beauty of life
3. Be more: laid back
4. ...Spontaneous
5. ...Forgiving
6. ...Thoughtful
7. Seize the Day
8. Listen to my heart
9. Celebrate
10. Have a story to tell
11. Live for Today (not to be confused with Seize the day?)
12. Capture the Joy
13. *Be Decisive
14. Have FUN
15. Glow
16. Smile (more)
17. Going out (more)
18. Party (more)
19. Dance
20. Be Creative (more, more, more)
21. Eat better
22. Live, love, laugh
23. Explore
24. Dream
25. Travel
26. Play
27. Never Compromise
28. (Realize my) underlying beauty
29. Rediscover: what makes me laugh
30. ...what makes me happy
31. ...fashion (my love for)
32. Laugh
33. Kiss (more)
34. Shine
35. Relax
36. Music (discover more)
37. Be creative
38. Be Happy to be Me!

Girls, feast your greedy little eyeballs from two different sides, below.


The paper was fabulous. Loved the colors. Thanks to Nicole. I have no idea what paper pad that came from. The stickers really inspired me. The flowers came from the same pad, and on my way out, I happened to flip it over and see how they were used. Thus the flowers. I used circle pop dots from ye ol dollar store to give them such dimension. I found these lovely shades of buttons for embellishments. You can tell I've been looking through design/card making books. Finally, the trusty signo white pen to make the swirls pop.

The picture was taken over the summer from a visit to Maine. A self portrait of course. I was in the car while hubby was at the ATM. I was mesmerized by the ocean and I wanted to see what my face looked like in a relaxed state, without posing.

The overlay on the picture came from M creations.

Thanks for stopping by!

7 comments:

Scraphappynicole said...

Your writing just draws you in and makes you want more, more, more. You crack me up and I do love the way you tell stories. You totally made this layout ROCK. Wow, I love everything about it. The picture is amazing! I love the way the colors are so rich. The flowers are way too cool. You did an excellent job with this layout! Looks so "SCRAPTASTIC". I love your uniqueness! Really is inspiring! XOXOXO This was a fun, fun, night! Thanks for coming over and scrapping with your scrappy sista's!

Jenn said...

I am so busy LMAO that I don't know if I can write something 1/2 way intelligent. I would love to SHARE a table with you again! LOL
Anyway, the final product of the evening looks fantabulous! It never ceases to amaze me what a little pen can do to make a great page even greater.

Anonymous said...

Scrapdesign and writing! Nice combo to have....LOVE the layout and the writing. I felt as though I was there! Thanks for sharing!
-Michelle

Nichole said...

LOVE this! I'm dying over how you described the fact that it was actually YOU hogging all the table space. I remember those days. And I miss them!

Your page looks wonderful. Don't feel bad about only getting one thing done, that's the sign of a truly good time being had.

And I have to add you don't look a day over 30.

Oh My Lot! said...

Babe, this story so was so amazingly crafted. You are doing with words what you can do with the scrapbooking. Each adjective and metaphor acting as bling... shiny buttons with words! Amazing! You are an artist in the true sense of the word.

Oh! And the photo of the corner of the scrap page is a work of art on its own.

Awesome, babe! Just AWESOME!!!

Nichole said...

Okay, I just had to marvel again at how many of our list items are similar. Be more forgiving should be number one on my list for sure. Totally.

Your post also reminded me that I need to start writing again. *sigh* So many hobbies, so little time.

What's so funny? said...

Yes, Nichole with an "h". You and I had many late-nite esoteric conversations. I miss those. I admit, at first the use of stickers seemed to be a cop-out. Sorry, but I had to come up with so many goals! (so many goals, so little time) But these silly little stickers gave life to the layout and, ironically, I could identify with them. The goals are timeless, actually. An artful affirmation to strive to be the best I can be. Cheers!