meanderings

january jbs mercantile: do

2012-02-23T18:53:00.002-08:00

a ME layout! how rare! and leftover from january. oops! did you know the jbs design team has a new fun monthly challenge going? it's to make a layout using just the main kit and one more other special "something" that we might have at home. our first challenge (in january, of course) was to add in office supplies. i used pages from my high school agenda, a sharpie, a to do list post-it, an index card, and staples.

this layout is all about my "aims" for 2012. i need to go reread them! i feel like i'm slowing down already!

g's bookshelf: the dragon diary

2012-02-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

we loved this one even more than the first. it was action packed. i especially appreciated all the geography dugald a. steer worked into it and how creative he was in drawing from mythology, cultural traditions, and his own imagination to create such a variety of dragons. we were very sad to not find any more in the series. but oh my goodness! as i was snagging an image for my blog post from barnesandnoble.com i dicovered that there IS a third! woot! we'll have to buy this one as our public library doesn't seem to have it anywhere in the county. even more exciting news - there's a fourth scheduled to come out in august. hooray! also i have to give a shout out to the illustrator, douglas carrel. beautiful work.

g says, "it's exciting when the secret society of dragons tells them that they're the only ones who kind find the two treasures. and it was exciting when they fly all the way to paris. they get attacked by a group of gargoyles. it's exciting when they go to india and they find the nephew of the majarawal. they find a sick nala dragon. i really liked the hydras the most. it has three heads and has three different types of flames."

as you can see, life is still "exciting" around here. ha. and as i was recounting our exciting weekend to my sister i told her how nice it is that g and i seem to be enjoying the same type of literature these days.

jbs mercantile february: lucky me

2012-02-19T17:26:00.000-08:00

i did finally get a layout made with my february main kit. i knew i wanted to at least get one made with a luck or st. patrick's day theme as there are lots of lovely greens in this kit. i didn't get as many of the green patterned papers on the layout as i intended, but i did work in lots of green embellishing. i thought this kit had such unique embellishments. the cottage cheese lit with the shamrock, the flat key, and that awesome circular record label are all vintage finds that are in the main kit. in fact, everything on this layout is from the main kit except for the thread and vintage buttons that i added from my stash.

this photo was taken at 10:12 pm on 10/19 . . . the day, hour, and minute of g's birth . . . and talks about what a lucky day it was when he came into my life. i take a photo every year on the exact minute of his birth. when i was pregnant with him i read online somewhere of someone who did that and thought it was such a neat idea. it always makes for sweet layouts. :)

if you haven't heard, the design team is hosting a fun challenge each month this year. our monthly challenge is to use the main kit only plus one other item from our stash. this month our challenge was to use punches. i'm writing an article for the february gazette about the punch challenge. i'll let you know when it goes up. this was my project for this month's challenge. i used eight punches! they were jbs grandma's doily, martha stewart 1" scalloped circle punch (around the grandma's doily punch), 1.5" circle punch, jbs scalloped banner punch, jbs blue ribbon punch (green circles on banner), fiskars 2" circle punch (embroidered around the edge of this one), jbs tab punch, jbs ticket please punch (edges of yellow photo mat). i think punches are great for getting more mileage out of kits as they help to add inexpensive embellishing and i do like my embellishments!

menu plan 8: flame grilled sausage

2012-02-19T17:01:00.001-08:00

snowbird flew today, so in celebration we lit the fireplace and cooked link sausage over the open flames. i microwaved the sausage first so it would cook quickly. we also had waffles, strawberries, and key lime pie. we party right around here.

this week's menu plan:

saturday - hiking and birthday partying

sunday - sausage, waffles, and strawberries

monday - taquitos, salad, and mango

tuesday - pork chops, baked potatoes, salad

wednesday - dinner at shirley's

thursday - salmon, mac&cheese, salad

friday - open

you will notice a lot of salad on the menu. you probably noticed a lot of salad on the menu last week. well, i didn't make it to the salad last week. i've been good this year about not letting food spoil, but i'm about to kill a head of lettuce. wish me luck in preventing that travesty.

pinteresting: castnet valentines

2012-02-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

i have to laugh at myself sometimes. i was that kid who couldn't just follow directions during project time at school. oh no. give me those three pronged beads and tell me to make a candy cane and wreath and i somehow end up with a bell and a christmas tree. you might say i march to the beat of my own crafty drummer. that's good, right? except taking the crafty drummer's scenic route tends to take twice as long.

for example, i found these adorable buggy valentines on pinterest and had every intention of making them. just like they are here. honest. but then i started thinking about these rolls of tulle i had at home and how cool would it be to make little butterfly nets but how exactly would i make those butterfly nets and then we spied the sea creatures and g really wanted them and kazam! inspiration hit. i think they turned out super cute. and working on valentines till 10:00 pm last night and oversleeping by an hour this morning was totally worth it. g went on and on about how popular his valentines were. i'm so proud.

supplies:

6" wide tulle

cotton thread

beads

crochet hook

sewing machine

fishes, candy, and sentiments

directions:

1. cut tulle to approximately 6" x 9"

2. fold down top (long) edge to about a half inch seam and stitch across

3. fold in half with seam at top and raw edges on outside. stitch along side and bottom

4. tie all loose threads in a knot near seam and in bottom corner then trim excess thread

5. turn inside out

6. use a crochet hook to run a length of cottom thread through top seam

7. string beads and tie in a knot.

8. stuff with fishies, candy, and sentiment

9. gift

pinteresting: paint chip bookmarks

2012-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

i way overdid it with g's valentines this year. way. you wouldn't think that by looking at these beauties. these were way easy and i love the way they turned out. i owe it all to (and blame it all on) pinterest. i got the idea for these off my crafts pinboard. mine are a bit different as i wanted to use my jenni bowlin for fiskars bird and butterfly punches, but the general idea is the same. fyi - go to lowe's not home depot for the right sized paint chips. i was going with a pink/red/blue theme for the class treats, but g chose that green one for a custom bookmark for himself. i'll be back to share the over-the-top treat tonight or tomorrow morning (you know, the one that i was up till 10:00 last night sewing). :)

menu plan 7: sockeye salmon

2012-02-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

i almost flaked on the menu plan this week. i was way tempted. last week was such a wash. we missed school monday and tuesday as g's cold went south and turned into a little asthmatic incident. wednesday was an abbreviated day so teachers could have meetings in the afternoon. thursday was parent teacher conference so an 11:00 to 7:00 pm workday. then friday was MAJOR catch-up on all fronts at school after the wonky schedule all week. the part-time computer work has also MAJORly piled up. it's that time of year in the scrappy industry. and of course the house is a pit. we all know what doris does when she hits the overwhelmed freak-out zone. no making lists and tackling the chores one by one. oh no. not me. i ALWAYS go into ostrich mode burying my head in the proverbial sand aka a stack of trashy romance novels. tis true. the weekend was a wash too. i'm slowly digging out today. i think i might be functioning at 80% capacity by tomorrow. vroom vroom vroom.

tonight's menu . . .

sockeye salmon - a couple pats of butter and a sprinkling of cilantro and sea salt. baked at 400 for 15ish minutes i think. served with fresh lime to squeeze on top.

red lobster baked potatoes - poked with a fork, rolled in evoo, sprinkled with sea salt, baked at 400 for an hourish. mmmmmmmmmmmm.

carrots - raw. what can i say? my taste buds are quirky. i eat cooked tomatoes but not raw and raw carrots but not cooked.

this week's menu plan:
saturday - hamburger, macaroni and cheese, carrots, strawberries
sunday - breakfast burritos, oranges, carrots
monday - sockeye salmon, red lobster baked potatoes, carrots
tuesday - french toast, bacon, oranges
wednesday - chicken noodle soup, salad
thursday - hospitality room at the basketball game/g at carrie's
friday - open

ten on the eleventh (oops)!

2012-02-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

i thought a cha shopping list would be fun for this month's ten on the tenth (a day late). here are some pretties that have caught my eye and i'm hoping to bring home with me . . .

basic grey's pb&j is HAPPY. all the bright pretty papers and those yellow chiffon flowers and the kraft background buttons and the striped letters. yes please.

always love crate paper. so so easy to work with. both lines from this release are lovely as usual.

french general. a new manufacturer that jenni told me about. you know if jenni's gushing about it it has to be good. and well, buttons make my heart beat faster. (image from shimelle's cha write-up)

clouds also make my heart beat faster. i collect cloud paper. it's an addiction. and cloud overlays. wow. yes. yes. and yes.

never have managed to get a polaroid stamp, so these fun sets from heidi swapp are pulling me in. polaroid frames, labels, typed words. classic and innovative all at the same time.

i've mentioned this already, but i'll be needing a ream (25 sheets) of jenni's new perforated stamp paper. and to find out it's coming in kraft too. thank you jenni. thank you. this is going to be a staple for me much like kraft cardstock and manilla tags.

new stencils by julie balzer for crafter's workshop. way into stencils lately, so i'll need some of these. that first one is from my most favorite art piece of julie's. a definite must have. also especially loving the second one and thethird one and the fourth one and the fifth one and . . .

postale, a lovely line by sande krieger for seven gypsies. i think this one is going to be stunning mixed with jenni's new line, wren.

cameras are the perfect icon for scrappy pages. these wood veneer ones by studio calico are needed.

webster's pages always has the most gorgeous trims. this one is so unique. want.

what are you wanting? :)

a day in my life

2012-02-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

today is ali's big "day in the life" event. while it's an extremely worthy endeavor, i've pretty much sworn off anything suggesting that i make more lists or take more photos this year. my ocd tendencies needed a rest. ironically, this day in particular has been quite a whirlwind and in retrospect is quite worthy of documentation. and since i'm recording it in hindsight, i can easily find the humor in the myriad of moments that flashed before my eyes . . . all. day. looooooong.

6:00 (approximately 5:48 in real time - i'm one of those who keeps the alarm clock set ahead so i'm not late - this doesn't work in case you were wondering) - wake up. lay in bed for another 20 minutes before getting up, thus ensuring that i'll be late even though my clothes are already ironed and ready to go. no i'm not super prepper. i'm wearing the same thing i put on monday and tuesday mornings. see g was sick monday and tuesday and i had to get fully dressed and in the car both days before making the decision to come back in and put the jammies back on.

7:06 (approximately 6:54 in real time) wake g up. dress him (he's an only child - totally ruined - i call him buddha baby). nebulize him. medicate him. kiss him cuz he's cute.

7:08 (now we're in the car on real time in case you were confused) we have to be at g's school at 7:15. it takes 18 minutes to get there. math is not on my side. i'm going to use the nebulizer on his tardy slip. maybe the registrar will buy it.

7:26 sign g in. he wants to show off his cool new inhaler, but the nurse says no. we must have a form signed by the doctor first. and now i'm running late for my morning school.

8:05 i beat my kids to class. go me. i have 8 tests to help 4 students take. we wade through the 2 physical science, 2 economics, and 1 biology. i am one person and it was an abbreviated bell schedule. the other 3 will have to wait till tomorrow.

11:03 ran a few teacher errands up and down the stairs in our three story building, dashed to g's school to let him puff on his super cool new inhaler in front of his little friends. kissed him cuz he's cute. made it to school #2 just five minutes late. these abbreviated days are killer and the coke pit stop was unavoidable. only have time to help two kids with english tests here before dashing off again. tis the season for testing.

12:00 made it to the esl meeting at central office on time. yes! and many thanks to lillie for getting our subway (she was 5 minutes late, but who's counting - we had to eat!). most excellent meeting. and of course i multi-tasked by bulleting the important spots in the new vocab book our boss handed out.

2:30 meeting over a half hour early. snag some extra ink cartridges and make a run for it. pick g up from kids' club. go through the bank drive through. stop at walgreen's to get the doc's signature so g can take his super cool new inhaler to school friday. grabbed 2 boxes of kleenex, crayons, colored pencils, a laser pen, and brown sugar while there.

4:30 i get a wild hair and cook dinner and clean the kitchen when we get home. i made beer braised sirloin tips. i used real mustard and no other spices except salt and pepper. i don't really measure anything either. added those grape tomatoes that were starting to shrivel. oh and i used the wild berry wine cooler left over from cool renee's birthday instead of buying a beer. i would have been terribly embarrassed to serve this to a guest in my home, but g's eating seconds. actually, i think it would have turned out pretty decent if i'd realized i was turning the rice down instead of the beef as i intended. oops.

6:51 and now i am lost in space. i don't know where the last 2 hours have gone. surely it doesn't take that long to cook and clean the kitchen? i don't know if i'll find the motivation to be productive with my last 2 hours before bedtime. life is a mystery.

the red finger, however, is not a mystery. it's not strawberry juice, a paring knife accident, or distress ink. no. this is what happens when the tropical punch crystal light refused to dissolve and i stick my finger down the neck of the bottle to try and force the issue. nice.

article share: grandma's doily punch at bpc

2012-02-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

i have an article up at big picture classes all about all sorts of ways to use jenni's new grandma's doily punch. check it out HERE.

g's drawings: inspired by carnivorous plants

2012-02-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

i just love g's drawings. each one is a charming little boy treasure (nature violence and all). his little pictures were some of my greatest backpack finds in kindergarten and first grade (there's not been as many in second grade as his teacher this year wants them to read in their free time which is good too).

i've saved several of these nature scenes over the years. unfortunately, i'm not very good at dating them. i decided it would be neat to post them here and have g explain what's happening. he lit up like a christmas tree when i asked him to tell me about them, especially when he saw me writing his words down. words are special. unfortunately, i lost the post-it notes for these first too. oops. and this one was my favorite too. sigh. i try. g can't really remember what's going on now. he said maybe he could dream about them tonight. he's a funny guy. we do remember that creature in the bottom right corner is a basher crab though. next time i will keep my post-it notes with my computer! anyhoo . . . . these next two are g's words . . . i think this is such a great way to document what he's thinking and what he's interested in right now (like it's obvious these were in his carnivorous plant phase) . . .

this right here it's that aquatic worm but it evolved and got spikes on it and it grew teeth.

it's called a flying fish. it's eating a bird. the little fish it swooshes itself in the sand and looks like a littler fish. the bird swoops down to catch it and gets eaten.

this it's called a spike snake because of its jaws. it has sharper teeth than the most poisonous snake in the world.

it's called a christmas trout because when it's close to christmas it starts turning green.

this was when most of them started to die out (creatures described from left to right).

this is called a web hornet because of its head. it mimics a hornet's pointy tip. it waits for fish to walk by and it stabs the fish. instead of having gills it only has lungs, but it has this pressure thing to keep the supply of oxygen inside it.

this is the fish trap plant. it grew these poisonous leaves leaves and its tongue mimics a fish.

this one is the last of its kind because it keeps getting eaten up by the fish trap plant. it only has lungs. that's why it lives in the shallow end.

it's a plant but it evolved and grew a longer chin and spikes all over its jaw.

"wren" by jenni bowlin studio: happy little birdie

2012-02-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

can't wait to see this sweet birdie next month when we head down to florida for spring break. she is always such a happy smily little thing. the curly topped neice is home from england too, so it'll be double the delight this trip. i need to make sure my camera's in top form as photo ops will abound!

this is another layout i made from the jbs booth at cha, this time featuring the "wren" line that will begin shipping in april i think. i was working with it again this morning making more of the valentine tags and believe me i am hoarding all the little bits. this line is special. stunning really. unless you're cool renee and don't quite like our birdie friends.

menu plan 6: superbowl sunday

2012-02-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

after jealously listening to all the superbowl tweets last year, i decided that this year i wanted a little company and a lotta food on superbowl sunday. i talked chelle into inviting us over and we cooked and ate. life is good if a little tight around the mid-section.

these superbowl skins were amazing. i got baby red potatoes, coated them with evoo, sprinkled them with sea salt, then baked them at 450 for 30-40 mins. then i sliced them, scooped out some of the middle, mixed that with a little butter, ranch dressing, salt, pepper, cheese, and crumbled bacon. refilled them and sprinkled the tops with more cheese and bacon. oh the yum.

this is sherri's recipe. 1 lb of sausage fried and drained, two cans of rotel drained, and 2 bars of cream cheese. i made half the recipe hamburger for chelle who can't eat sausage. i've decided i must take the remains of my half to the teachers' lounge tomorrow. if i eat an entire block of cream cheese in a 24 hour period i will not look like madonna when i'm 54.

we also had chicken rotel dip, queso, key lime pie, caramel pie, strawberry shortcake, and superbowl cupcakes. did i say life is good?

after four weeks of doing great, i mostly flaked on the menu plan last week. oops. you'll see lots of repeats this week. but i'm getting back on track!

saturday: leftovers
sunday: superbowl
monday: chicken, potatoes, salad, strawberries
tuesday: beef tips with tomato and mushroom, rice
wednesday: salmon, salad, strawberries
thursday: french toast, bacon, oranges, carrots
friday: baked spaghetti at tammy's!

g's bookshelf: the dragon's eye

2012-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

this one was right on target. i'd say interesting to a mature 6 year old through 12ish. good for boys and girls equally, assuming they like dragons. cute kids, a variety of dragons, and a darwin reference. we'll be reading volume two next.

g says, "it was a little bit boring at the beginning, but then it got very exciting! i liked it because they raised a dragon named jamal. it was exciting when they found his pen in the woods and they said, 'we went too far.' i also liked scorcher who was the baby dragon. it was exciting when the big german dragon was shooting fire at the train and it was exciting when that evil person kidnapped the two kids. he was going to give them to the dragon that was very angry because it lost its baby (scorcher). i was surprised when that dragon could talk. (mommy write this down...) and then the dragon said to the evil person, 'you are not allowed to enter my cave.' and it was exciting when they found the oldest dragon living and they saw the dragon's eye. (spoiler alert) and it was exciting because they thought that the bad person took it, but the professor grabbed it before him. the oldest dragon was still alive and she said the council decided that the professor was going to be the next dragon master."

i guess it's obvious that g really liked this one! (and that i need to teach him some synonyms for exciting)!

art journal

2012-02-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

i think i've had a bit of a breakthrough this week. i feel like these pages have more depth, mainly because i'm learning to mix various mediums. i've done well with using things i already have. i did accidentally bring home a few new things from hobby lobby today. it was bound to happen, right? new goodies to play with this week!

the rest is a bit about what i did if you're interested . . .

the top section was painted with a wash of a few drops of speckled egg re-inker and a microscopic amount of water. the clouds were painted on with white paint and then the same blue wash touched on them here and there.

the next section was painted with a mix of greens, blues, and walnut ink. it came out a little murky. oops. i masked it off with mjasking tape. you'll see that i'm kinda into the walnut ink now. i have a bottle that i bought back when i first started scrapbooking. the brown collaged look was way in then. i've never used that bottle of walnut ink and actually thought about purging it many many times. glad i kept hanging on to it.

the butterfly is a jbs rub-on single. a wash of lemon drops was painted over it. then yellow stickles rubbed over it with my finger. i scored a couple free bottles of stickles the other day. honestly, i didn't think i'd like it, but i do actually like it lots. it's another layer and i'm finding i like layers.

the dandelion seed i sketched from an image in my botanicals board at pinterest. it resides in a frame painted with speckled egg paint mixed with water. a wash of the walnut ink is painted on the inside.

the salmon was another wash i mixed up, this time with chewing gum, chili powder, and lemon drops. this one turned out much better.

happy with the dots as well. those are lemon drops paint on a jbs foam stamp. then a drew around them with a regular sized pink sharpie. i have to give a shout out to the sharpie here. my journaling is doing with a fine tipped sharpie pen here. i killed about three of my american crafts precision pens on the first few pages of the art journal. sharpie's are troopers though. and my hand likes the way the right as well. good find.

this is me trying to free paint after watching that strathmore video series. i'm starting to think i have to free painting bones in my body. the geometric circle was as close as i could get to free painting. i had actually misted with a floral mask on the page first and that was a bust. the good thing about art journaling i've found is you just cover up mistakes. you can still see the blotchiness back there, but it's all good. the circles are painted in several layers of three colors of the paint/water wash, some walnut ink wash, and the black sharpie. i remembered to get out my stamps too. the center of the circle is stamped with chili powder and a circle cut from a scrap of the new magpie paper.

the heart was cut from a piece of sewing pattern paper and glued to the page. i did this in several places on the page and really like it. it's also stamped and i think rubbed with ink of some sort. the edge is a leftover piece of the new perforated stamps paper and the vintage calling card is from this month's antiquarian kit.

nature journal: cooper's hawk

2012-02-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

today's nature journal is brought to you via gchat courtesy of cool renee . . .

cool renee (cr): are you a bird person?
me: a bird person?
cr: yea. do you know bird species? there was a cat sized bird outside my window . . . don't know what it was. took pics.
me: wow! send me a pic!
cr: did you see it?! another friend said hawk and another said owl. i say "freaky." stupid bird. almost dropped my camera when it flew towards me.
me: nope. not an owl. hawk. freaky no. it's COOL. love hawks. they're so regal.
cr: your pretty hawk just attacked a bird in front of my window. poor bird was screaming and i came out to see hawk carrying it away.
me: survival of the fittest baby.
cr: i am not mufasa. take the circle of life next door please.

i would say that based on the gorgeous tail here and cool renee's observation of its behavior, this is a cooper's hawk. this stream-lined flyer is built for speed and maneuverability as it zooms through heavily forested areas and captues smaller birds on the wing.

interesting facts:

the female cooper's hawk is 30% larger than the male. this is called reversed size dimorphism.
the cooper's hawk does not kill its prey with its beak like most hawks do. instead it squeezes its prey to death in its talons. they have also been observed drowning prey by holding them underwater.
not only are they expert flyers, but they're runners as well, chasing prey down on foot.
aka chicken hawk

source: tennessee watchable wildlife

teacher gifts: valentine's day coke tags

2012-02-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

i've got another valentine's day project up on the inspiration blog today! i've very pleased with how these turned out. i'm not usually good with the simple quick project, but these i love and feel like they look very "me."

jbs mercantile february: us

2012-02-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

i don't often do 8.5x11, but i had this teeny tiny pic of me and g and wanted to scrap it. i don't often have pics of the two of us to scrap, so i have to enjoy them when i do. this is a "bonus" layout made with some leftover bits from the february mini-album kit (only five left at last check and they're going fast). yep! four mini-albums AND a layout AND i still have a few scraps to mix in with my main kit that i'm planning to cut into tomorrow night. fun times ahead!

that pink and yellow floral paper from GCD turned out to be my favorite. here's a little funny for you. it was my FOURTH pick (the first three choices were out of stock) and a split second decision while terena was on the phone placing the order. i tell you, kit designing is tough! lots more goes into it besides just choosing pretty product. our jenni works hard every month! don't i know it now. :)

mini-album: "picture windows"

2012-02-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

briana was the brave one and went first with the inaugural jbs mercantile design team mini-album kit. "paper kisses" was a very hard act to follow. i was a bit nervous. then to add to my anxiety, this bad boy gave me fits two days running. but i persevered and overcame and behold . . . drum roll please . . . i bring you . . . "picture windows!"

i'm so delighted with the way it turned out. four mini-albums in one! all displayed in an elegant black wooden frame.

my favorite part is this border punched edge. it turned out even better than i imagined. love it when that happens (ok, really my favorite part is the bee charm. it makes me giddy with glee. yes wendy, this is for YOU! but the bee charm is MINE! it will be minus the bee charm when i hand it over. sorry!).

the pics are all from a photo shoot with my cutie patootie niece. isn't she adorable? and such an awesome little model. we changed her outfit like six times and took a bazillion pics and she stayed all smiles the whole time.

the sweet micro minis are less than 2x2 inches and held together with a floral "paper clip." the mini-album kits now arrive at your door complete with color copied instructions so you can get started right away. if you're considering this one, you should make a decision right away. there were only 12 left the last time i checked and the newsletter will most likely go out this evening . . .

january aims scorecard

2012-02-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

carrie was taking her boys to the ymca to play basketball last night, so g and i tagged along. i've never played basketball with g. basketball's not really my thing. it was a rather humbling experience. as i was coaching him he said, "mommy! how'd you get to be so good?" perspective. ha! maybe it was living in north carolina, sandwiched between the tarheels and blue devils for six years? no seriously. i stink. but we had fun and g was so proud of his newly aquired skills. he wanted me to video tape him for his pe teacher. guess this means i'll be keeping that y membership after all.

so how are your new year's goals/resolutions/aims going? i've decided to give myself a little monthly review to keep me motivated all year. nothing like a looming report card to keep me on track.

non-paper crafts - 2/1

quality literature - 3/1

g's bookshelf - 1/1

5k - 1/1 (couch to 5k - epic fail, but that wasn't a specified blog performance indicator - ha)

hike - 0/1

nature journal - 2/4

art journal - 2/4

black and white stories - 1/4

menu plan - 5/5

pinteresting - 2/4

mini-album 1/1 (posting next!)

10 on the tenth - 1/1

scrappy class - 1/1 (i didn't write or teach one, but i'm giving myself credit for contributing to debbie's)

article - 0/1

subs - 0/1

average - 22/31 - 71% - D (ok the D looks bad, but i blogged 26 times! wowzas!)

hey! i'm going to rock february! think positive! :)

five scrappy shares . . .

2012-01-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

here is the first of four jbs cha layouts i have to share. this is the first one i made. i was dying to use the new perforated stamp paper. it blows me away with the options for creativity. i told jenni i'd need a whole ream and i meant it. seriously, this is going to be a staple for me like kraft cardstock and avery tags. and then to find out it comes in kraft too. swoon.

the idea in my mind worked out exactly the way i imaged it. i seriously heard the scrappy hallelujah chorus playing. i'll definitely be doing a tutorila on this technique soon. i'll keep you posted!

here are a few more new addtions to the jbs line: tags, hodgepodge stickerse, chipboard buttons and tabs

if you're curious about what cha is or know what cha is wish you could be there, i highly recommend you check out shimelle's blog. she has a lovely tour of jenni's booth as well as several others with more coming on a daily basis.

don't forget to come chat with us tonight! we'll be talking about this month's mini-album kit (designed by yours truly), cha product on our wish lists, and shenanigans will surely ensue. and did i mention we're giving away a mini-album kit as a door prize?

also, you're running out of time to get in on the drawing for a $25 gift certificate from jbs mercantile. all you have to do is load a layout containing jbs product or one using a jbs mercantile kit to our new gallery. we're choosing a winner, tomorrow, 2/1, at midnight cst!

and! jbs is digital once more! you can find our digital product at jessica sprague.com. new releases coming weekly!

menu plan 5: tortilla soup

2012-01-31T07:30:00.000-08:00

i made my tortilla soup as my dish of the week. i snagged this pic off the old blog as i was too busy reading to bother photographing the soup i was eating while i was reading. but yay me for having a menu plan for five weeks straight now, right? this is unprecidented! no cute phone photo of the refrigerator menu either, but trust me, it's there. g will vouch for me on that one. i've blogged about this recipe a few times. you can read the quickie version here and my fresh frozen cilantro trick here. and since these posts, i've taken to adding thin sliced baby carrots to the chicken boil segment and my sister always adds avocado to the toppings options.

this week:
saturday: tortilla soup
sunday: leftovers
monday: salmon, red lobster baked potatoes, salad
tuesday: i forget, but it's on the fridge
wednesday: beef tips with the leftover grape tomatoes (a doris hybrid - i'll let you know how it goes)
thursday: soup, sandwiches, and salad
friday: open

btw, i'm proud to report that no cucumbers have rotted in my fridge so far this year. another 2012 miracle. fingers crossed that the head of iceburg lettuce gets consumed before decomposition sets in as well.

quality literature: catching fire and mockingjay

2012-01-31T07:09:00.000-08:00

these consumed me. i blazed through them in a couple days. and this is why i don't read much anymore. i tend to check out from reality when i check in to a good book. at my current stage in life, this isn't really a good thing. always too much on the to do list. oh the irony that one of the reasons my blog has been neglected is because of one of my monthly blogging goals. la. maybe this goal should have been a summer project. oh well. too late now. i already started eragon and there are four of those . . .

the other reason my blog has been neglected is cha. the big craft and hobby association show. more on that soon!

oh! and many thanks for all the lovely book comments so far. i have a great admiration for fellow readers. hope to return some comments soon, but as you can well imagine, my inbox is in a sad state of affairs as well.

menu plan 4: homemade pizza

2012-01-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

i told you i'm no gourmet. here we go. "homemade" pizza. prefab crust a la mama mary. sauce a la prego (ground beef added and lookie there we're having spaghetti tomorrow. coincidence? i think not.). i don't like veggie pizza out in public as it tends to have onion and pepper on it. i like that stuff in mexican dishes, but not on my pizza. this pizza is loaded with veggies though and i love it. artichoke hearts, black olives, mushrooms, and tomato slices. mmm. and yes! i'm using the fresh mushrooms and tomatoes from last week's shishkabobs. waste not want not. (well, i do still want based on the twitter convo going on tonight, but that's another story). mexican blend shredded cheese. i do like mexican cheese on my italian pizza apparently. again. mmmmmmm.

so now my burning question for you. what the heck am i going to do with the rest of the grape tomatoes? i've used them twice now. i'm sure you're screaming "salad!" especially after glancing at this week's menu plan below. problem is i don't like raw tomatoes. i've tried. can't train my tongue to enjoy that. but i do love them cooked. suggestions???

couch to 5K: january edition

2012-01-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

i have a couple more 2012 "aims" that i need to log on the blog this month. today i crossed off the first of hopefully twelve 5Ks i'll "run" in 2012. i put "run" in quotes as i took my little sweet potato with me on this first one. it's not my intent to include g in my 5Ks, but this one was at the zoo and i could hardly go to the zoo without him.

plus as i've been stuck on week two of the "couch to 5K" program for two weeks now, i could use an excuse for my slow pace. it took us an hour and ten minutes to finish. wheee. we were greatly distracted by the flamingos among other things. slow yes, but i think the important thing to note here is that i took my sorry tail out of the house and DID something. go me!

we are also very excited to report that the dinosaurs are coming! dinotrek is set to open on march 16th. you can bet we plan to be there just as soon as we get back from spring break in florida. :)

jbs mercantile gazette: january

2012-01-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

have you read the latest issue of the jbs mercantile gazette? i have a two-pager article and a page in progress article based on my pinterest layout in there. and there's lots more good stuff besides. you can download it for free HERE on the jbs inspiration blog.

art journal

2012-01-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

i really didn't intend for this spread to turn into "ode de cat" but there it is. the journaling on the left is about g watching four episodes of cats 101 on demand and having a serious discussion with me about the merits of the various cat breeds and which he should have when he grows up. it was really quite sweet. the alien eyes in the top left came about when i tried to sketch chichi while she was sitting in my lap. bad idea. on the right side is a funny story. have you seen jenni's new line, "magpie?" i was over there the other day and found an old picture book out that had the dog and a CAT so i was fussing at her for not including any kitties in the new line. turns out that wasn't the book she got the artwork from, so i had to let her off the hook. the next day she had the vintage pic on the right with the post-it note taped up on the wall. so funny. but i think i like the old photos in the art journal look. i remember seeing it once in a somerset studio and liking it quite a bit. need to go through jenni's old photos and buy a few. maybe they'll inspire me.

i was very uninspired for quite a while on these pages. i had slapped those music pages down and for some reason that scheme totally threw me off. i just couldn't think around it for the longest. then the cat drawing fiasco bogged me down. nothing happening. finally, i was checking out robin marie's blog the other day and noticed she was taking a free art journaling course through strathmore. i signed up and have watched the first two videos in the series. i gotta tell you. i have art inhibitions. yes i do. but it has given me the urge to play with backgrounds. i'm anxious to give it a whirl this week. and between that and the old pics i was able to slog through finally. i think it turned out rather fun in the end. hopefully the next page will be easier.

the rest is technical information for anyone interested in what i've done on this one.

the circles were misted using an industrial sized toilet paper roll as the stencil. i alternated studio calico piglet and maya road orange. i also overlayed studio calico white over each. i then loosely drew the circles around them with american crafts precision pen in .03. the green you see is a wash made from a bit of jenni bowlin for ranger stick candy and seed packet acrylic paint mixed with water. the doodled vine is the same pen plus some jenni bowlin for ranger chicken feed acrylic paint. i also used some of gabriel's colored pencils here and there in the journaling. i journal with an american crafts .01 precision pen.

the frame here is brushed on with a foam brush and the same green paint wash from the left. i then used the end of a paint brush dipped in jenni bowlin for ranger chicken feed paint to make the dots. each is doodled with my .01 precision pen. the circles on the right were created by first misting the piglet over some jbs doily flowers used as masks. i then swirled a wash of jenni bowlin for ranger lemon drops and chicken feed mixed with water in a circle over each doily flower. the centers are a dot of jenni bowlin for ranger chili powder using the end of a paint brush. then again with the hand drawn circles. i'm very much liking the circle effect and want use that on a scrapbook page soon.

quality literature: the hunger games

2012-01-16T11:57:00.000-08:00

one of my aims for 2012 is to read at least one piece of "quality literature" each month. i use this term loosely. quality meaning non-trn (code for trashy romance novels). i consumed quality literature from age 7-33, from my first chapter book to the gman coming into my life. i guess that boy sucked the quality right out of me (in a good way). he's a little more self-sufficient now and i'd like to get back to my reading roots. i'm really at a total loss as to where to begin though. i snagged "the hunger games" from a co-worker because i knew i'd like it. it totally lived up to the hype. i started it last night and was up till 3:00am finishing it. had a bit of a headache this morning, but it's all good. do you perchance have any book suggestions for me? i've only read a handful of what's come out in the last 8 years. below is a peek at my reading preferences. suggest away!

i like:

modern classics - to kill a mockingbird, steinbeck, a prayer for owen meany
southern lit - daisy faye and the miracle man, the secret life of bees
cultural stories - memoirs of a geisha, amy tan, life in the time of cholera
biographies - the last lion, the last lion alone
fantasy fiction - tolkien, the shannara series, harry potter
young adult - the giver, catherine called birdie, the house on mango street

i don't like:

mysteries - sometimes i do, like in cold blood and james patterson
super wordy - tom clancy
horror - okay i kinda like these but they scare me so i don't read them
science fiction - elves yes, robots no

g's bookshelf: hatching magic

2012-01-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

delightful baby dragon illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. i would say on average this was probably written for the 10-14 year old girl. there were several spots i had to explain to g and toward the end i glossed over some things to get done. for my tastes, it was a little too descriptive at times. g enjoyed the central story line enough to want to get the sequel. there are some definite quirky amusing scenes.

g says, "it was maybe a little bit scary in parts and exciting when the egg hatched. i liked the book because it has imaginary creatures in it."

menu plan 3: shishkabobs

2012-01-15T16:04:00.000-08:00

epic fail on the photography. i just couldn't think of a plate that it would look nice on and i was starving since we didn't get our act together and head to the grocery till 1:00 which means we didn't eat lunch till 3:00. how about ice cream cones for dinner? sounds like a plan to me! but back to the shishkabobs. the photo might not be the best, but these were awesome! i used the leftover tequila lime marinade from last week's fiesta lime chicken (trying to think this whole menu plan thing through and actually use stuff before it goes south). skewered the marinated beef along with grape tomatoes, vidalia onions, pineapple, and mushrooms. it was delicious. the only slight issue was the onions were still a little crunchy and i don't particularly care for crunchy onions. any suggestions for getting those done at the same time as the rest?

another tip. instead of butter try fresh lime and sea salt on corn-on-the-cob. i picked up that trick in honduras. it tastes practically the same but none of the calories.

this week's menu plan. i was disappointed to spend over $100 again on groceries this week. i even got back to the coupon scene and saved $25. oh well. maybe it's because g and i are trying to take our lunch to school too. better luck next week.

craft: crocheted fish valentine pattern

2012-01-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

you might think i'm odd. i think i'm odd. but i woke up fresh from dreamland at 4:00am one morning last week with the idea for this little fish in the heart pocket lodged firmly in my mind. i know. dreaming about crochet. odd. and maybe i need to get a life. but hey. at least it's better than the freaktastic night scares i had in november.

i tried to write down a pattern as i went. i hope it works for you. i apoligize in advance if it doesn't. i'm not a professional crocheter and the skills i do have are very rusty.

supplies:
4 ply cotton in red, yellow, green, and navy.
size D crochet hook
2 vintage buttons
black embroidery floss and needle

heart (red):
rw 1: ch 4, skip 1, sc in next 3 loops, ch 1, turn. rw2: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw3: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next 2, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw 4: sc in each across, ch 1, turn. rw 5: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next, sc in next 2, 2 sc in next, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw 6: sc in each across, ch 1, turn. rw 7: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next, sc in next 4, 2 sc in next, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw 8: sc in each across, ch 1, turn. rw 9: sc in 1st 2, 2 sc in next, sc in next 4, 2 sc in next, sc in next 2, ch 1, turn. rw 10: sc in each across, ch 1, turn. rw 11: sc in next 6, ch 1, turn. rw 12: red (to reduce i put a loop in first 2 stitches before pulling the sc all the way through), sc in next 4, ch 1, turn. rw 13: red, sc in next 3, ch 1, turn. rw 14: red, red, sl st, tie off. rws 15-18: (starting at opposite side - ie the side without a hump) slip stich to attach, ch 1, repeat rows 11-14.

front pocket (red):
rws 1-3: repeat rows 1-3 above. rw 4: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next, sc in next 2, 2 sc in next, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw 5: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next, sc in next 4, 2 sc in next, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw 6: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next, sc in next 6, 2 sc in next, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw 7: sc in 1st, 2 sc in next, sc in next 8, 2 sc in next, sc in next, ch 1, turn. rw 8: sc in each across, sl st, tie off.

assembling the pocket (yellow):
step 1: sl st to attach, ch 1, sc in each stitch across, sl st, tie off. step 2: hold pocket onto heart. starting at bottom heart point, sc all the way around the heart to create border. you will need to put 2 sc in the 4 stitches at the top of each hump and in the 2 corner stitches of the bottom point.

fish (green and navy):
rw 1 (green): ch 5, join to form ring, 8 sc around, sl st to join, ch 2. rw 2: sc in 1, 2 sc in next, continue around, sl st to join, ch 2. rw 3: sc in each around, sl st to join, ch 2. rw 4: red, sc in next 4, red, sc in next 4, sl st to join, tie off. rw 5 (navy): sl st to attach, ch 2, sc in each stitch around (only using inner loop), sl st to join, ch 2. rw 6: sc in each stitch around, sl st to join, ch 2. rw 7: red, sc in next 3, red, sc in next 3, sl st to join, ch 2. rw 8: red, sc in next 2, red, sc in next 2, sl st to join, ch 2. rw 9: red, sc, red, sc, sl st to join. tail: ch 3 (there should be four stitches left. hold end together and go through 2 sets of loops on each of the next stitches), 3 dc in same st, sl st in next, ch 3, 3 dc in same st, sl st, tie off. fins (green): sl st to attach on side, ch 3, 4 dc in same st, sl st, tie off. repeat on other side. eyes: stitch on button eyes with black embroidery floss.

i think he must be a blow fish. see how he puffs out when you squeeze him. ha. now i have the urge to create a bee and a frog. i'll keep you posted. :)

nature journal: bamboo

2012-01-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

here we are walking the greenway. do you see us there amidst the bamboo? i'm sure it's quite obvious why little boys have an innate affinity for bamboo. hello fishing poles. you know g was introduced to the wonders of this delightful plant by his papa at a very early age. now believe it or not, we have a very pressing question about this bamboo. is it indigenous to tennessee? we associate it so much with kung foo panda that i'm not sure if this is a native species or an import from asia. time for a little google action . . .

river cane
arundinaria gigantea
the only bamboo species native to tennessee

bamboo is indeed native to tennessee. in fact, bamboo is a "true grass" and was once part of the extensive grasslands that covered much of north america. bamboo is also a perennial evergreen and here i thought it was still sporting the green because of the mild winter we've been having this year (fingers crossed for a snowbird sighting tonight).

another interesting bamboo tidbit - it's one of the fastest growing plants on earth. one species has been documented growing 39.4 inches in 24 hours. woah. the gman and i were actually aware of this fact thanks to our mythbusters viewing. bamboo used as a torture device during world war II - plausible.

for more information:

this is the website i looked at. it's a good one. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Bamboo
did you know bamboo was a really big deal? why yes. check it out at the american bamboo society. there are even bamboo blogs and events.

and now we come full circle. boy and his bamboo. he snatched this piece to accompany him on his three mile journey along the greenway. it was the black pearl. it was a ninjago sword. and finally it was a magic treehouse for a rescued worm. an active imagination is a very good thing.

ten on the tenth!

2012-01-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

every month i wanted to do shimelle's ten on the tenth, but i think i never managed. i was so excited to see this morning that she's doing it again this year. hooray! i am determined to get involved even though i'm already up an hour past my bedtime. oh well. i guess tomorrow won't be the day i give up coke.

so. ten on the tenth is just that. post any ten things on the tenth of the month. then shimelle has links so you can see what other collections of ten that fun people have come up with. i like it. i'm doing it. here goes.

as i mentioned earlier this month, i'm on a mission to mars. or rather, i've got some new year's aims to keep me motivated this year and i'm blogging them to keep me accountable. how serendipitous to count them this afternoon and find that there are exactly ten. i haven't posted all ten yet, but they're coming.

1. b&w stories

2. menu plan

3. art journal

4. non-paper crafts

5. nature journal

6. pinteresting things

7. hikes

8. 5ks

9. mini-albums

10. quality literature

not even mid-month yet and i'm past midway through with getting started. i'm off and running this year!

oh! and the picture. g and a couple of his little friends on the last playdate of christmas vacation. he was pretending to be a camel and made a bridle and bit out of a straw and string. fun times always.

b&w stories: papa and the gator circa 1948

2012-01-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

another project i hope to accomplish week by week this year is to get the stories written down for our family's old black and white photos. i'll be starting with my dad's as i scanned those all in sometime last year. we called him tonight to chitchat and get the story behind this one. it's always been one of my favorites and even more so now since g and i have gotten addicted to watching swamp people.

papa and the gator circa 1948

it was the summer of '48. papa was 17. in the fall he'd begin his last year of high school. he'd just moved from his dad's place in indiana to his mom's place in florida. he'd visited florida most summers growing up, but had finally decided to stay. hunting was good up north, but he found that the sea called to him. papa had begun fishing with a boy who was to become his lifelong best friend. a saltwater bayou in st. petersburg had recently been damned to create lake maggiore and the two boys had been given permission to clear out some trapped mullet in this newly formed lake. enter the stub-tailed 11 1/2 foot gator. the one that would have been a 12 foot gator if it hadn't had its tail bit off in its early days. papa was afraid the gator would get caught in their mullet nets so he set out to catch it. he put a pound of beef on a big hook and chain on the end of 50 feet of 1/2 inch rope. the next morning the gator was on the hook. his friend took the gator out with one shot of his 22. papa skinned it. papa said, "he shot it, but i instigated the whole thing."

i asked him how he knew how to skin a gator and he told me he'd skinned his first turtle when he was 10. his dad wasn't around. he'd caught it and they needed to eat it for dinner, so he skinned it and his mom fried it up. he said, "i'd always done it. coons, possums, muskrats, turtles, deer . . . the gator wasn't any different. they're all animals." the one photo brings to mind so many memories for him. once while stationed in korea during the korean conflict, he was pulled off the front line to skin a musk deer that an officer had killed. he recalled the musk deer had tusks like a wild hog. when i was a child some friends called him up to come over and skin 3 sambar deer that had been shot when they swam to the mainland from st. vincent's island. he said those deer were practically the size of horses.

the most recent memory from this photo is of that best friend from high school. the one he shot the gator with. he passed away a few years ago. just last year my dad found out that he'd kept this picture with him in his wallet. he carried the memory close and always present for close to 60 years. sometimes words are inadequate.

menu plan 2: fiesta lime chicken

2012-01-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

shockingly, i am enjoying this project more than i ever thought i would. at least right now. this week's photo op is "applebee's fiesta lime chicken." i only found one version of it on every link i opened. i guess it is THE version. i'm sure it's wonderful, but honestly, i don't have the time, inclination, or financial means to deal with 20 ingredient recipes. i modified. and it was still wonderful. two thumbs way up on this one. i made the following changes to the recipe:

1. the first 8 ingredients made the marinade. i substituted kroger's tequila lime 30 minute marinade.
2. i then baked my pound of nicely marinated skinless boneless chicken breasts at 400 for 30 minutes.
3. coat with white sauce and sprinkle with a bit of colby jack shredded cheese and bake till cheese melts.
4. serve on a bed of crushed tortilla chips with fresh lime to squeeze over and a side of mexican rice.

The "white sauce" in step two is a mix of the following ingredients with my changes in parenthesis:

1/4 cup real mayonnaise (1/8 cup)
1/4 cup sour cream (1/8 cup)
2 tablespoons salsa (omitted)
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cajun blackening (sprinkle of pepper)
1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes (sprinkle)
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (substituted a dash of mustard)
1/8 teaspoon dried dill weed (omitted)
1/8 teaspoon cumin (sprinkled)

i really was going to add the hot sauce, but somebody had used the last. i found some taco sauce on my hot sauce search, but it had a "best if used by september 2011" marking, so i was hesitant. mustard was the next zestiest thing, so mustard it was.

the chicken was pretty darn awesome. will definitely be adding this one to the frequent rotation. the only thing i'll change is my choice of a rice side. i used uncle ben's sun-dried tomato florentine. the lime and sun-dried tomatoes were in competition with each other. i think the rice would be great with fish, but not the fiesta lime chicken. next time i'll look for a more middle of the road mexican rice.

here's the plan for the rest of the week. homemade pizza per g's request. mostly easy stuff since we have cub scout meetings two nights this week. and i've taken to posting the menu on the fridge so my little pork chop doesn't have to keep asking me what's for dinner. :)

gearing up for valentine's day . . .

2012-01-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

i have a couple sweet projects up on the jbs inspiration blog today! these tasty teacher treats and a layout with the new fiskars punches. :)

donkey kong . . .

2012-01-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

i tried to get back in the scrappy groove last night so i don't have such a dismal showing in donkey kong this month. these two layouts bring my current total to 4. but i have a two pager in progress, 5 valentines almost completed, and high hopes of tackling the mini. i have till sundown on the 10th. think i'll make it? it's a fun little challenge group. come chat with us if you get the chance.

this layout makes me laugh. i thought the colors in the main kit were so pretty with these photos. but the girliness. well. then i had a stroke of inspiration with the title and totally made it work for me. those boys deserve it too. the nephew on the left actually pulled his underwear out of his butt in the photo after this one. he did it on purpose because he knew i was taking the picture. the nephew in the middle won't make a pleasant expression in a photo ever. ever. ask his mother and sister. glad i'm raising my little guy right. oh wait. there is that quirk he has about wearing his boxers out in public for all the world to see. hmmm. let's move on to a real girly layout, shall we?

my sweet niece. isn't she adorable? for the background here i marked off those white squares with masking tape and misted with studio calico piglet. i then laid the crafter's workshop mask down and misted with maya road hydrangea. finally i lifted the stencil off and dribbled a little jbs chicken feed for good measure before peeling off the masking tape.

the photo mats are strips of paper adhere to a piece of background cardstock for a quilted look. i then stitched some trim from the artisan add-on around the edges. it totally made me giggle when i realized that pink and white trim is the elastic stuff around the legs of little girl underwear. underwear textiles in scrapbooking. what will they think of next? and i think i'll stop now before i feel another urge to throw unmentionables into the conversation.

nature journal: venus flytrap

2012-01-04T00:30:00.000-08:00

my father is a walking field guide of north america. his knowledge of the great outdoors always amazed me as a child. he knew something about everything green and growing and beautiful. it amazes me still. and he acquired this knowledge from life.experiences. he only ever uses the computer to read my blog. i think he's used google once and that was with my sister's assistance. he just knows things. his knowledge is true too. why once i mentioned to a friend of mine who happened to be a doctoral student in environmental sciences at duke university that crawdads lived in little holes in our front yard in florida. he informed me this couldn't be because crayfish have gills. i, of course, pursued the matter in the duke university library. i couldn't deal with the thought that my dad might be wrong. he wasn't. i found pictures there of exactly what my father knew.

sometimes i think g thinks i must know everything. he asks me questions all the time. then he spouts my words as fact to all who will listen. it's humbling. it bothers me that i tell him "i don't know" way too often on our walks. my boy craves knowledge about living things. it's in his blood. i've decided that once a week this year i'm going to use my google powers and find him some answers. we'll be compiling a little nature journal right here on the blog. i hope you enjoy our "walks" and what we learn from them as much as we do.

venus flytrap
dionaea muscipula
native only to boggy areas in north and south carolina

the closing mechanism - they have tiny hairs called triggers inside the traps. when these are touched the leaves snap shut. they don't close all the way immediately as they want to give smaller less meaty bugs the chance to escape. they also can't handle bugs that are too bug. with the right sized bug the trap snaps shut to create an airtight seal. then the flytrap will begin to secrete digestive juices to break down the bug innerds and its very own sanitizer to keep the bug fresh and clean while it's being eaten. scientists are not quite certain how the plant moves. the theory is that the plant produces a bit of an electrical current that causes an internal fluid pressure system to start working. it's nice that there are still some mysteries in life, isn't it?

caring for the venus flytrap:

they need to live in terrariums so their air is nice and moist. we need to put ours back in the plastic container it came in until we can get a terrarium for it.
water them with untreated water. we are giving ours a couple tablespoons of fishtank water each day.
they grow in a combination of sand and sphagnum moss and should be transplanted every few years.
aunt theresa said she had one as a kid and gave it hamburger meat. this is a big no no and explains why our trap never closed around the meat. only bugs please! and if the bugs are deadish you should wiggle them around a bit to trigger the closing mechanism.
they like to be warm and sunny, but watch carefully for wilting!
the little plants eat about two houseflies or tiny slugs per month.
they are somewhat dormant from thanksgiving to valentine's day and need less bugs and sun during this time.

for more information:

this is the website i looked at. it's a good one. http://www.botany.org/bsa/misc/carn.html
we watched amazing plants last week and enjoyed it tremendously.
i mentioned little shop of horrors to him and now he kinda wants to watch that too. :)

the year of the dragon . . .

2012-01-03T17:27:00.000-08:00

i started the couch to 5K today. i am the epitome of january in 2012. i read today on alissa fast's blog that it's the year of the dragon. perhaps this is why i have a fire under my butt and g is wanting to buy eragon.

art journal

2012-01-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

behold. my art journal. i'm kinda excited about it. i yearningly watched julie's art journal every day posts all year long in 2011. i even attempted to start one of my own back in february. it didn't take. i felt like i was making a mini-album. you know i really like mini-albums. but a mini-album is not an art journal. i lost interest after a week. i pushed through for another week. then i quit in a huff. depression. bah.

i discovered karen's blog sometime after that. i loved watching her foray's into art journaling. and sketching. i've watched the project life excitement escalating this fall. i had absolutely no interest in that until i read lisa's post about her approach. hmmm. maybe. maybe no. but it got me wanting to record more moments in time. then i found this old ledger at vintagefest. i held it for almost an hour. debating. would i really use it. i wanted to. i finally couldn't say no. it called to me. "take me hoooooooooooome," it said.

not wanting to waste a big ticket investment i was determined to get to work on it immediately. ali's one little word concept seemed like a good idea for the cover. i shall be focusing on joy this year. at least until i find i need to focus on something else. i really like shimelle's thoughts on that . . . "And although the specific project is a word for the year, don't forget that life isn't really ruled by a calendar. I think it's okay to roll with the punches and change things when they need to change. I often focus on a guiding principle for a season or two and then move on when the energy to work on another part of life seems to be calling me. "

my old ki memories felt letters jumped onto the page. i merrily sewed them down. i really thought i should add more. but then i told myself. nope. joy. that is all.

and here we begin my art journaling journey anew. i'm still not sure what i'm doing or where i'm going. but i think that is the point (or one of the many points) of an art journal. i've started a pinboard of art journaling ideas. with that i've noticed that i like light airy pages. i don't lean toward collage or heavily colored backgrounds. i like sketching. i want to dabble in watercolors i think. eventually. right now i'm just working with what i have. the bank account's on a post christmas diet. aren't we all?

the rest of this post will be a play by play of each section. you may want to stop reading now if you're not interested in that sort of thing. but for those of you who like me often wonder, "how did she do that?" well. here it is . . .

here i was trying to replicate jenni's stamping on this layout. i used stick candy paint first with the cabbage flower foam stamp. then malted milk with the same stamp. it didn't come out like jenni's. when i showed jenni this page she told me what you need to do is use the malted milk paint and foam stamp first and then use the cabbage flower clear stamp with stick candy ink. aha!

the background stencil is from crafter's workshop. now i know i need to do stencils a little darker if i'm going to be writing over them. the title is hand done. i painted it in with seed packet and then a little translucent glitter sprinkle. the white bits are gessoed. i didn't like the writing in there so i covered it up. the flowers are cut from very old heidi swapp paper. i also gessoed them to make them a little softer. the words on the side are just printed on copy paper, inked with malted milk, then trimmed out and stuck on.

i drew a pair of my old college dancing shoes. the background is painted with gesso. then with a little soap powder ink mixed with water (top) and spice tin ink mixed with water (bottom). the shoes are painted with studio calico barnwood ink mixed with water. i also brushed a little of this over the blues to dirty them.

here's my first full spread. nothing daily here. i deliberately started on a thursday. and while i'm dating each section with tiny numbers, i'm not making a big deal out of the date. daily makes me manic. not a good thing.

i am liking blocking sections quite a bit. and putting washi tape down the seam seems to be my thing. also, it is surprisingly easy to find spots to sew on the pages even though they're stuck in the book. oh! and another thing. since these are thin ledger pages, i am skipping a page each time so i don't have to worry about bleed throughs or working around sewing from the previous page. i will then attach the two subsequent finished pages for continuous visual appeal. :)

i tried to draw a real feather. it was very difficult to draw a real feather. at least the one i chose. it was very much curved and fluffy in places. i used a regular pencil. then some soap powder ink with water. then went back in with a .01 precision pen. the stencil is a jbs mercantile kit exclusive (those will go on individual sale mid-month). i think the ink is chicken feed with the stencil and then some lemon drops without stencil. i used a .05 precision pen for the quote and colored in the loops with some of g's colored pencils.

the quote says, "plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it." - william feather

i really worked hard on this feather and liked it a lot. i sketched it from an image off my feather pinboard. same process as the previous feather. the alpha stamps are from american crafts. sorry the name of the font eludes me at the moment. i used cough syrup ink. the misty mess is maya road hydrangea and studio calico piglet.

the crafter's workshop stamp again, this time repeated four times. .05 precision pen for the title. all journaling is .01 precision. the pen you choose is VERY important for journaling. try out a bunch and find out what your hand likes. stencil is outlined with the .o1 in the title area. several of g's colored pencils reappear again. the interior letter spots are colored with a sharpie.

in love with my bee drawing. she is the cutest. i almost said he, but you know bees are all sisters. i got her off my bee pinboard. also in love with the tiny october afternoon alpha stamps. can you believe i've had those for a couple years now and hadn't used them? and oops! can't remember the name of these either. but they will be in my art journaling kit for sure. the bee is all pencil and colored pencil. the stamping is in fountain pen. jbs exclusive stencil again with lemon drops.

that's it! hope to have a second installment of ye olde art journal next week!

pinteresting: me&you a layout

2012-01-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

i've been enjoying pinterest quite a bit while on christmas vacation. pinterest is a wealth of inspiration. but i want to do more than be inspired this year. i want to create! one of my new year aims is to go from just enjoying pinterest to actually using it. i've decided that i want to make something inspired from my pinterest boards once a week in 2012.

now i was very careful about which aims i put into that weekly category. i'm a horrid procrastinator with vicious ocd tendencies. this is a stressful combination of personality traits to live with. i want to accomplish more, but i don't want to awaken the ocd beast. i've decided weekly will be okay for pinterest because it has so much variety. there will be plenty of overlap with this goal and my other goals and regularly scheduled assignments. i think the beast will remain in hibernation on this one.

source

my first pinteresting piece is based on the simple composition above. i recreated those cabinets and the heart string on my layout "me & you" with the artisan add-on for my january jbs mercantile gallery. i had a great deal of fun involving gesso and ink on the cabinets. i hope to do a technique video on the process for the january issue of the jbs mercantile gazette. i'll keep you posted on that one.

the layout is a sweet one of my sister and i on a lazy day fishing with g. i just love shadow pics, don't you?

notes on blogger

2012-01-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

first off. HUGE thanks to my dear friend betsy sammarco for all her help with the blog redesign! thank you thank you thank you! i'm enjoying my cozy new blogging home so very much.

i wasn't going to bother saying anything about why i moved as that seems like a boring topic. but then i thought about how many times i've looked at pretty blogs and wondered. i still wonder. how did she do that? i don't have many answers about other blogs, but i may be able to shed a little light on some things i've done on my blog. so here goes . . .

why i moved from typepad to blogger:
1. i wanted a fresh start
2. i needed to do some major renovations on my sidebars. this is somewhat difficult to do in typepad. i have to google it every time. i simply cannot remember how on my own brainwaves. in blogger it's a few sweet handily labeled buttons to push. i do realize that typepad is probably better if you're wanting to do fancy things and know a little html coding. i, however, have a limited amount of time and capacity for learning new things and html coding is not high on my list right now. i like the simplicity of blogger.
3. blogger is free (typepad is just cheap - i mean that it's inexpensive not bad).
4. i was getting some spam on typepad. didn't think that was cool for a paid gig.

things i did vs. things betsy did:
1. betsy created my banner and background pattern.
2. betsy created my social icons and their coding.
3. i basically did everything else. blogging is easy and fun! you can give it a try for free right here.

things still left to do:
1. if you loved reading my blog rolls as much as i did, never fear! i will be reinstalling them soon. you're going to love them even more now as a super cool feature in blogger is the way they are displayed by most recent post. love that.
2. there are no links for my classes yet. hope to get that figured out this week as well.

a word on photos:
1. the normal looking photos are from my digital rebel and edited in photoshop elements.
2. the vintage looking photos are shot with my cell phone and edited in an android app called picplz. i'm using the effect called cross process.

hmmm. i think that's it. if you have questions about starting blogging i'd be happy to try to answer them. :)

a note on the photo: we took this picture on our walk on the greenway last evening. g says the cloud looks like a dragon with a scorpion tale and fire spewing from its mouth. i don't quite see that, but i thought it had a gorgeous orange glow. g says he is into dragons now.

craft: crocheted lamb

2012-01-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

another new year aim for me is to make a non-paper craft each month. now i am not super crafter throwing this little lamb together in a day. i actually started it back in march of 2010. i had gotten the crocheting all done and the sweet face put on. i really just needed to attach the legs and add the collar. don't even ask me why i didn't just finish already. g has asked me that very question more times than i care to recall. my friend chelle was over last week knitting which totally gave me the urge to bust out my crochet bag. so glad i did. little lamb is a delight. he makes me happy every time i look at him. i burst into song, "shaun the sheep! mmm mmm mmm shaun the sheep! and yes. we totally had to get out our videos. i texted him to my sister and now she wants one. g says she can have this one if i promise to make him another. i think he needs his own little shaun, don't you? baaaaaaaaaaaaa!

i wish i had a pattern to share with you, but i just kinda made him. like sculpting with yarn. i actually did that a lot as a little girl. my mom says i would beg her to teach me to crochet. she would try. it wouldn't take. we'd both get frustrated. i'd cry. eventually i just figured it out and started making little creatures like this. next time i go home i should photograph the ones my mom still has.

supplies (all from joann's):
sensations angel hair yarn - white
sensations angel hair yarn - black
darice metallic beads - round assorted bright
pink emroidery floss
black embroidery floss
vintage bell
vintage buttons
fiberfill
size D crochet hook
plastic needle

the head and body (including the ears and tail) is one continuous piece. the four legs are crocheted separately and stitched on. when i make g's i'll try to remember a little more. :)

menu plan 1: honduran enchiladas

2012-01-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

ha! i know some of you read "menu plan" and did a double-take. you've probably figured out that while i'm the crafty sort it's more crafty in a starving artist sort of way rather than crafty in a domestic diva sort of way. the kitchen has bored me for a whole lotta years now. why just this morning i burnt g's first round of toast because i got too involved in istillpsycho. so why am i mentioning food here? basically i need to do better. don't expect gourmet or super healthy. my menu mantra for 2012 is "eat more vegetables at home."

i have come to the realization that to succeed i must come up with a weekly menu plan. after reading elsie's goal setting blog post i've decided i must document these domestic endeavors. now i'll let you in on a little secret here. i'm a wallflower who's a closet exhibitionist. i know. split personality. i'm an introvert with a strong desire to shout, "look what i made!" i'm going to use this show-boating side of my nature to keep me on task in the kitchen. to document my menu plan i shall photograph one dish each week. if the best thing i can produce in a particular week is prego then i'll be publicly embarrassed, won't i? oops.

so this week's menu plan is as follows:
saturday - honduran enchiladas, cucumbers
sunday - eggie sandwiches, carrots, oranges
monday - baked salmon, cucumbers, carrots, strawberries
tuesday - spaghetti (frozen leftovers)
wednesday - steak, mashed potatoes, lettuce wedges with ranch
thursday - poppyseed chicken, green beans
friday - open

recipe of the week: honduran enchiladas (i somewhat followed this recipe)

1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped (a couple handfuls of cut frozen)
1/2 green pepper, chopped (nope. i don't love bell peppers)
2 cloves garlic, minced (i used garlic powder)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste (i used half the tiny can)
cumin, salt, pepper (to taste)
cooking oil (2 tablespoons evoo)
1 large carrot, diced small (10 baby carrots)
1 medium potato, diced small (3 small potatoes)

1. cut carrots and potatoes VERY tiny and boil with handful of onion.
2. heat evoo. throw in another handful of onion.
3. add ground beef, tomato paste, and spices to taste. use spatula to get ground beef in tiny bits.
4. add potatoes and carrots.
5. spoon onto warmed baked tortilla's and top with parmesan cheese (my little cheese addict got melted shredded mexican cheese mix on his).

they tasted pretty good. g wasn't overly impressed that i'd added the vegetables (his dad cooked him fake ones last week with no vegetables). they don't look quite right though. they're supposed to be slightly runny. g's dad told me that you have to put in a little water at the end and let it simmer out. i didn't add all the extra stuff that the menu mentions. the cabbage slaw on top is really good if you like that sort of thing. the egg slice is also typical at times. that creme stuff she mentioned using as the base isn't common or necessary.

i want to try these again and here's what i will change:
1. cook the diced vegetables in the evoo (but i have a strong aversion to undercooked potatoes).
2. cut back to just 2 small potatoes.
3. try the water idea.
4. check my salt shaker (i think someone accidentally refilled it with sea salt instead of iodized).

on a side note, you will be amused to know the reasoning behind my plate choice. that old lassie plate was my brother's when we were kids (my sil didn't want it). i thought the tortilla shell looked nice against the "vintage" background. but if i'm going to have to be photographing food every week i think i'll need to hit the thrift stores and pick up a few fiestaware plates.

top 11 of 2011

2012-01-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

honestly i had decided i wasn't going to get around to doing this but then last night i was thinking about it. my mojo has been playing hide and seek with me lately. it occurred to me that maybe seeing lots of my favorites in one place might help me find and catch the missing mojo. so here we go. some of my favorite layouts from 2011. this is a lovely pursuit, isn't it? i hope you and i both find some inspiration here. :)

welcome 2012!

2011-12-31T23:39:00.000-08:00

hello! welcome to my new blog! and happy new year! 2012 is going to be amazing! i can feel it!

the january jbs mercantile gallery is live and it's a happy one. :)

favorite bloggers of 2011 . . .

2011-12-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

i freely admit that i get overwhelmed by facebook, i'm intermittent with twitter, and the jury is still out on my staying power with pinterest. oh i do still love my blogs though. i guess i'm old school that way. i love blogs that share creative eye candy for sure. but beyond that i enjoy bloggers who are passionate about life. i love reading their thoughts, dreams, the beautiful details of their everyday. i love the real connection with real people. i think i would be best buddies with these girls if we lived a little closer. so sharing the love with those who have entertained me, motivated me, and inspired me this year i bring you my top ten blog reads of 2011 (in no particular order). and i would appreciate it so much if you would share your favorites with me. i am always on the lookout for new blog reading material. tia!

shimelle laine - i was lucky enough to meet this sweet girl once. she brought me a coke in a pepsi establishment. my heart will ever belong to her. i call her nasa girl. i am mightily jealous of her globe trotting ways. and she's a scrappy sharing machine. a scientist with an artists soul and gypsy feet. i think we are sisters in a split universe.

karen grunberg - she blogs. she sets goals. she blogs. she perseveres. she blogs. she has deep thoughts. she blogs. she takes gorgeous flower photos and edits them so beautifully. she blogs. she stretches and grows and makes me want to be more than i am. and when no one else provides me reading material. she blogs.

jill sprott - her work is so amazingly creative. so richly detailed. but her words. wow. her words are art too. she crafts them so well. each hand selected so carefully. she's not afraid to let her intelligence show. she's raising her daughter to be an intelligent and giving woman. i admire her greatly.

lisa dickinson- humor is a wonderful thing. i learned this from elmo. my dad elmo, not the furry red guy. although he's kinda funny and a good guy too. the ability to laugh at yourself is critical. lisa has a very healthy dose of laughter in her life. she can laugh at her imperfections. better yet, she can laugh at her perfections. and the best part of all. she shares her laughter with the rest of us. thanks for the laughs lisa.

sharyn tormanen- i love the everydayness of her blog. i love her story telling. i love her list making. i love her practicality. i love that she got to ride in an air balloon this year. i love that i "knew" her when she only had two kiddos and now she has four and the oldest is driving. solid family life. solid ethics. a solid read that i look forward to each day.

anja wade- she has such a unique sense of style. it really pulls me in. it also amuses me that she makes the 80's look so cool. i'm a child of the 80's you know. i mean she brings home rainbow unicorns from the thrift shop. how neato is that? way enjoy this one.

julie fei-fan balzer - julie embraces her art with such enthusiasm. and she's so enthusiastic about sharing her love of art with others. she's so encouraging. you CAN do art! she says. do it! her posts are so instructional too. a blogger very giving of her knowledge and talents.

karen russell - beautiful photography. a gentle humble soul. darling family dynamic. you can see the love growing here. and this year's footnotes to her deployed husband are so poignant.

pioneer woman- wowzas. if you haven't read her, well, where have you been? great photos. great stories. great fun. the ordinary. the extraordinary. lots of laughs. good food. adorable pets. lots of laughs. did you catch the one about the donut. ha!

patrice williams - i knew this girl when she was still a girl. i found her this year after a very long time. i am so proud to know her. she lives her life with such grace. she reminds me to stay grounded in my faith.

new year aims . . .

2011-12-30T07:03:00.000-08:00

do you make new year's resolutions? i haven't in a while. and when i have they've been the typical boring ones that nobody keeps. at least i never keep them. i know i was in a complete funk about it last year. i just ignored the whole new year rolling in thing. i was tired. completely worn out. turns out i was anemic. not good doris. this year i feel awesometastic about life in general and the coming year specifically. hello 2012! you're going to be a great one! i've been playing with pencil and paper. generating lists. so exciting. i've also been reading some great blog posts that have been very motivating. what? you want to be motivated too? read karen grunberg's blog. i just love that she spends the whole month of december contemplating what she wants to work on in the coming year. she inspires me to be more than i am right now. and read this post by elsie. so practical and cheerful. it really helped me hone my ideas. so this is what i've come up with. a list of aims for the coming year. "i aim to" is such a nice southern expression. said with all sincerity. if it is in my being i will do it. this is what i aim for. not a resolution put before congress. not a goal that i must race to score as i dodge the defensive linesmen in my path. just "aim for the moon. if you miss you may hit a star." - w. clement stone

these are all phrased positively in my mind. they all have some fun aspect to them. they are all things that g and i will both enjoy and benefit from. this is just a brief run-down. i'll explain them more as i get to them in the coming weeks . . .

weekly:
nature study
art journal
the menu plan
papa chronicles
pinteresting

monthly:
geting crafty
quality literature
gman novels
scrappy classes
take a hike
do run run
mini-albums

btw. the pic above is my crafty loving boy (pre haircut). i brought home a bag of fabric scraps from jenni's (i always accept fabric scrap handouts). the gman was quite captivated by them and sewed this little snake all on his own. isn't it fabulous? isn't he fabulous?