Life Outside the Fishbowl

Hand Stitching

Staci Taylor's guest-hosting our new challenge at Method Playground. This time we're breaking out some chipboard -- to use as a pattern for some hand stitching.

I pulled out some pics from last summer I'd been wanting to scrap. Last summer my parents came for a visit right in the middle of Thomas's Indiana Jones craze. My dad helped him make an "Ark of the Covenant" out of a mailing box, duct tape and a few sticks. Thomas & Rachel were thrilled with it and carried it around - but mostly "hid" it in the basement.

I used a chipboard arrow to trace around for my stitches, then added my title on top. For the background I sprayed Maya Mist over a die cut paper.

Pinwheels

This paper by Best Creations was in my Scrapbooks Plus DT kit for June. I knew just how I was going to use it -- pinwheels. This double-sided paper is perfect because it has two distinctive patterns and has a nice weight so it's not too flimsy. It would be a nice centerpiece for a summer picnic or child's party.

I found a pattern here and printed it out the size I wanted. After cutting out my pieces I used a crop-a-dile to make the holes in each arm, as well as a hole in a straw.The pinwheel is held together by a brad. Just squish the straw end and make sure you get two holes in it so that the brad goes completely through the straw. Although it won't easily turn, it sure is pretty!

I found this pail in the Target dollar aisle. The pinwheels are held in place by a bit of floral foam. I used some of the glitter paper to cover up the floral foam and my trusty crop-a-dile to make the holes for the straws.

That Summer Feeling

For our June kit from Scrapbooks Plus we were given paper from Flair and Best Creations - really summery and beachy.  I made two layouts with beach themes (how could you not??!):

For this layout I added a Jenni Bowlin chipboard sun and Basic Grey journaling sticker. I used an exacto knife to carefully cut around the center swirl in the Flair paper so I could slip my photo and accent paper underneath it.

And I used the reverse side of one of the papers, along with some Basic Grey stickers (love that bird!) for a non-seasonal layout. This photo collage was from a preschool class field trip to Kidwell Farms.

Wanna see a man in a bikini?!

Well then, you need to sign up to follow Peter Facinelli (aka Carlise Cullen) on Twitter. By Friday the 19th.

Peter bet Rob DeFranco, the CEO of 211me that he could get 500,000 followers by Friday. If he wins then Rob has to dance in a bikini on Hollywood Blvd. to Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" while holding a sign that says "Twitter Me." And of course the video will be posted. And one lucky follower will win Peter's chair from the set of Twilight.

Need a visual incentive?

And a response video by DeFranco:

Anyone Have a Tissue?

Well .... tissue paper that is. Our next challenge is up at Method Playground. This time around we're using anything from tissue paper to napkins to paper towels to toilet paper. And check out the gorgeous work the DT did for this challenge - so creative & so beautiful!

Here's what I did - I used circles of white tissue paper that I hand-drew and cut out. I crumped one and sprayed it with pineapple Gimmer Mist. Once it dried (mostly) I used a bit of glue and smooshed it around on top of a Collage Press die cut.  I took the rest and held them together with a brad. Lightly inked the edges with distress ink then coated them with orange Maya Mist then the same pineapple Glimmer Mist. 

A close-up:

And the layout:

I broke open the June Studio Calico kit for this, and combined it with some Making Memories travel items.  The Collage Press bracket pp and journaling die cut, Chatterbox rubons, Basic Grey chipboard alphas, Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons and Studio Calico pp from the June kit. Metal clip and fabric tape are from Making Memories.

Arlington - the Rap

Saw this in the Wash. Post yesterday. Even though we've been in the 'burbs for the past 5 years, we're still North Arlingtonians at heart. But I remember back in the day in the 90's when the Ballston/Clarendon renewal was just starting. Kramerbooks & Afterwords had a spankin' new store in Ballston, they opened Scoops, the Bardo was the hip place to go (yes with the weird commercials), and the Sala Thai on N. 10th Street was originally a mini-golf place.

Masking & Stamping Tutorial

Heidi Swapp has a great video tutorial on Ali Edward's blog. She uses a mask (squares & circles) to make an accent on her pages by stamping. Quick, easy & looks great! Now I've got to get my hands on that mask!!!

Here's the video from youtube, check out Ali's blog for detailed pictures, instructions, more examples & supply lists from Heidi.

Win New Moon Tickets

Are you on Facebook? Team Edward? Team Jacob? or Team Switzerland?

There's a contest giving away tickets to the New Moon premiere.  Sign up for the contest here! Winners will be picked August 20th.

New Moon - the first trailer

I admit that I'm geeky enough that I watched the MTV awards to see this trailer for the upcoming movie. So far, so good - except I'm not really sold on the wolf CGI effects. I know Jacob is a red wolf but he should look bigger than that. It doesn't look right somehow, but I liked the phasing. So, what do you think?