Camp Huston Creations

After all the fun and craziness we had at the Camp Huston Scrapbooking retreat last year, it was a no brainer that I would be attending this year.  Oh man, I looked forward to 3 full days of scrappin' all year!  This year played out similarly to last year with a few differences -- 1. Colleen and I arrived on Thursday afternoon instead of Friday, 2. our friend Katie from our highschool days decided to come this year, 3. Colleen and I met Gina and Katie in Monroe Friday morning for breakfast and last minute supply shopping at Ben Franklin, and 4. our group of scrappers were in a different area than last year -- more cozy and closer to our bedrooms -- not that there was an abundance of sleep happening between the four of us!

Here are my creations from this year:

Happy Dog

Sleepy Lil' Furball

Yard Dog

Blue Ball

Prisoner of Love

Spuzz

Sunshine

He's My Boy

Making Friends

He's My Little Bear

Watch Dog

Peanut Butter

Crazy Pants

Garden

Spring

Cabin Fever

Home Sweet Home

Rest In Peace

My Frizz

Goodbye Old Friend

I can't believe how many pages I finished!  Already excited for next year!!  Thanks for a fun weekend ladies!!

Newest acquisitions.........

I've been wanting a vintage typewriter for awhile now.  I looked on Craigslist several months ago and was surprised to find a number of options for sale.  Ideally I wanted something retro and funky, and a fun pink or aqua color, but sadly, I found those options to be A LOT more expensive than some of the other typewriters up for sale.  Like $400 expensive.  Definitely NOT in the budget.  Especially for something that I'll probably use once a month, if that, for various scrapbooking projects.  My co-worker's husband actually sells stuff at a flea market in Lynnwood on a weekly basis, so I figured she probably had her finger on the pulse of vintage typewriters.  I asked her to keep her eyes peeled for me, and pick up one for me if she saw one available.  Less than a week later, I was with typewriter!  Check it out:

She's a beauty!  Gray in color, with dark green keys, and a cool brown retro case.  And the best part?  It works and it was only $5!!  Pretty much scored on that deal.  I like the way journaling with a typewriter looks on scrap pages, and hopefully I'll bust out a page or two soon.  I checked to make sure all the keys work, and they do, except the V gets stuck in the down position and has to be raised up by hand.  No biggie considering V isn't the most popular letter in the alphabet.  I'll manage :)

My friend Brenda stopped by on my birthday to drop off a little package and say hello.  I didn't open the package while she was there, but she mentioned that it was for me to use in my scrapbooking.  I was intrigued for sure!  What would she get me to use in my scrapbooking that I didn't already have?  So after she left I opened the cute little package and was surprised to find these:

Hand forged barber scissors -- so awesome!!  What a unique gift!  They included a little piece of paper with their story: "These scissors have been made in India by a family that has been making scissors for generations.  The blades are hand-forged carbonized steel and the handle is cast brass.  Each scissor is signed by the maker.  In addition to having great decorative appeal, these scissors are excellent utilitarian tools for the home or office.  You will still find a Nai (Barber) sitting on a street corner in India using such scissors to trim hair or a beard.  To prevent the steel from rusting, a thin coat of oil has been applied to the blades.  If used regularly the scissors will not rust, but when not used a thin coat of mineral oil will keep them rust free."

How cool is that?  The maker of my scissors is named Parveen.  I will definitely be using this tool in my scrapbooking.  Thank you Parveen for making such a great pair of scissors, and thank you Brenda for finding them and thinking of me when you saw them.  You are a great friend!

SMASH IT!!!

I want one.

scrappy love

It is no secret that I blog stalk multiple celebrities within the scrapbooking and papercrafting world.  I'm assuming that many of these bloggers make some money with the advertisements that they display on said blogs.  I kept seeing one advertisement for "Elle's Studio", so I decided to take the tootsie roll, click on the advertisement, and see what happened.  And man, I am happy I did.  I found my new favorite online scrap store -- Elle's Studio.

One of the coolest things I found out about Elle's Studio, is they are local, as in Washington local.  At least they ship out of Washington, Burlington specifically.  When I got to their shopping home page I immediately fell in love with their Handmade Layers collection of embellishments.  I'm always on the lookout for unique embellishments, so I was immediately drawn to the collection. 

Here are some of the super cool items that ended up in my shopping cart (all photos courtesy of Elle's Studio website):

Handmade Layer Circles.  These journaling circles are 2" in diameter.  They are super cute and whimsical.  Love them and can't wait to use them on a page.  I already have an idea for how I'm going to use them. 

Handmade Layer 3" Circle Tags.  These are a bit larger, and will probably work well if I have a little more of a story to tell in my journaling.  Loving the music sheet theme on some of them. 

Handmade Layers Journaling Tags.  These are my dream journaling tags..... I'm seriously in love with this line.

Handmade Layers Note Tags.  These are so colorful and fun.  Love. Love. Love.

Handmade Layers Date & Place Strips.  Exactly what they sound like.  Fun little tiny strips of paper for documenting date & place. 

Check out Elle's Studio blog!!

I've got the fever!!

Last night some girl friends and I got together to hang out and do some scrapbooking.  I had a great time catching up, telling stories, and getting two pages done.  Here are my creations:

Layout: Surprise! This photo of my parents was taken in August 2008.  My mom was turning 60 and my dad had planned a big surprise for her by inviting some of her siblings out to Moses Lake to visit.  The photo was taken just a couple hours before my mom's relatives showed up.  Such a surprise!!

Here's a little bit of a close-up.  The journaling is similar to what I wrote above: Mom's 60th birthday was a huge surprise! Dad had planned for Mom's siblings to come out to visit in Moses Lake.  Such a fun and memorable weekend!  This photo was taken just an hour or two before everyone showed up - she had no idea!!

Layout: You Are My Sunshine. Recent photograph of Frank, checking out the front yard on a sunny Seattle day.

Here's a little bit of a close up.  Journaling: Frank discovered the benefits of our screen door.  The sun was shining and he found a ray of sunlight to bask in for a few hours.  I'm sure he wished I'd leave the screen door open - then he could really explore his new digs!!

After getting my scrap on last night, and getting the Camp Huston Scrapbooking Retreat flyer in the mail this week, I have some serious scrap fever!  Today I went to the Scrapbook Pad in Shoreline to try and find a glue pen.  Our friend Katie was using a glue pen last night that was a must have for putting adhesive on the back of really small embellishments or letters.  I didn't end up finding exactly what she was using, but I did find something similar in a different brand, so excited to use it!  Scrapbook Pad has a large area in the back of their store for classes and crops.  I'd really like to check out one of their midnight crops in the next month or two. 

I also decided to check out a scrapbooking store that I never knew existed until today -- Urban Scrapbooker in Edmonds.  I really loved this store!  It is super easy to find, and they have a lot of supplies by my favorite scrapbooking companies like Graphic 45 and Tim Holtz.  I'd love to check out one of the Tim Holtz classes that they offer, I have some of his products that I haven't used yet because I don't really know what I'm doing (i.e. Distress Inks).  It looks like he has some demo's on his website though, I'll have to check those out and see what I can find. It didn't seem like Urban Scrapbooker had a large area for classes or crops, at least not as large as the Scrapbook Pad.  So I'm sure the classes fill up quickly.

Let's get our scrap on again soon ladies!     

Staying home from school.........

Remember those precious, unexpected days as a kid where your mom let you stay home from school when everyone else had to go?  Well, today is one of those days for me.  I'm home even though I was supposed to go in to work.  It is all because of this little gadget that I'm padding around the house today.........

I ordered this Clip It Up system from Scrapbook.com last week.  I received an email many days ago saying that it had shipped, so when it hadn't arrived yet yesterday I decided to do some research as to its shipping status.  I pulled out the tracking number and plugged it in to the UPS tracking website.  Low and behold, my Clip It Up thingy had been delivered to my house at noon on Tuesday.....WTF?  It was 10pm on Wednesday night, and I hadn't seen any sort of package on my front doorstep over the last few days.  When Milo was alive, I used to use my back door multiple times a day, but since he's left this world I rarely use the back door.  Plus, UPS has never once left a package on my back door step.  I decide to take a peak just in case.....sure enough, my package is resting on the back door step, all soaking wet from hanging outside for 2 days in PNW weather.  Awesome. 

So why am I home today again?  Well, I was so excited my package was at the back door that I stepped outside with my rubber soled slippers.  Rubber soled slippers + wet slick concrete steps = Jess falling down 6 steps at 10pm at night.  I'm pretty banged up, but *thankfully* I didn't hit my head or break any bones.  I have a nasty, swollen, bruise-brewing spot on my right lower leg, my left knee twisted in a weird way, and my left shoulder blade took some of the brunt of the fall.  Luckily I don't need crutches, but I'm hobbling around a fair bit.  There is an icing on the cake part of this story, but you'll have to ask me about it in person :)

After all this happened last night I iced both legs, took some ibuprofen, and hit the sack.  As they say, I was beat up from the feet up.  This morning I woke up and my twisted knee leg was stiffer than stiff, and the thought of limping around the pharmacy all day wasn't too appealing.....so here I am, at home, blogging.  And despite the physical pain, I'm happy to be at home, healing.  Because that is my one little word for 2011 folks.....Heal.  And I'm going to do just that. 

Isn't my little Clip It Up thing super cool though!?!   

Scrap-tastic Weekend!!

I have scrap fever folks!!  Seriously.  In early November, I went to my first ever scrapbooking retreat!  Approximately 48 hours of uninterrupted scrap time.  I had an absolute blast, and am definitely planning on going next year.  My friend Colleen had told Gina and I all about her experience at the retreat in 2009, so Gina and I made plans to attend the 2010 retreat.  It was held at Camp Huston, which is in Gold Bar, at the base of Wallace Falls.  Gina and I met up with Colleen on Friday morning for some breakfast and a little scrap shopping before heading to the retreat for check-in.  We checked out a brand new scrapbooking store in Snohomish called Scrapville.  We were all really bummed when Lasting Memories closed in Lynnwood in June 2010.  Although Scrapville is a wee bit off the beaten path for this city girl, it will definitely be a stop for me when I'm in the Snohomish area.  We also made a pit stop at the Ben Franklin in Monroe.  After I purchased of few unnecessary scrap items, we made our way up to the Camp to start our weekend o' scrap!!

Colleen's mother-in-law, Mary, works as the bookkeeper at Camp Huston, and was able to secure us an area to scrap near her and other members of Colleen's extended family (Hi Mary!).  We each were assigned a 6 foot table where we could unload all our scrapbooking treasures and get to work.  Our scrapbooking space was a large room with table space for approximately 36 people.  There was also another room in another building dedicated to other scrappers, not sure on how many people were in the other space, but it was probably over 20.  Exclusively women.  The only men I saw all weekend were the ones that help out at the camp.  There were some crazy scrap ladies there!!  Lots of hard core ladies that seemed to bring ALL their scrap gear with them.  It was obvious that many of the women had gone to numerous scrapbooking retreats in the past, and they were definitely prepared for whatever scrapbooking shenanigans might occur.  The lady that was sitting behind me brought her own shelving for her table, I was impressed.  One of the best perks of the event was the sharing of supplies.  Everyone was really great about letting others use their tools.  Between different members of Colleen's family, there were 3 Cricut cutting machines available, as well as a variety of Cricut cartridges for different shapes and fonts.  I am absolutely sold on the Cricut!!  It makes cutting letters and images unbelievably easy.

We all had a great time hanging out and chatting, trying out different tools, getting page ideas from others, it was so much fun!  The camp provided our meals, which were quite good.  We spent the majority of our time scrapping though.  When we weren't sleeping or in the dining hall, we were scrapping.  And little time was actually spent sleeping and eating!  Friday night we went to bed about 1am, and got up at 8am on Saturday, had breakfast, and got right back to scrapping.  Saturday night we stayed up again til 1am, got up for breakfast at 8am, and scrapped until lunch at 12:30pm.  By my count, we spent close to 30 hours scrapping.  Pretty incredible!!

I didn't have any idea going in to the weekend how many pages I would actually get done.  My goals were to finish a few Milo pages, a few Frank pages, a few Pearl Jam pages, a few Getty Museum pages, and a few pages for the scrapbook I have been making for my mom over the past few years.  And you know what?  I did everything I set out to accomplish, I'm pretty pumped with myself about that!!  I recently took some pictures of the pages I created at the retreat for my own scrapbook.......

Furry Friend: This picture was taken after we returned home from our trip out to Vashon Island in May.  Milo was so tired after our big weekend, it took him 15 minutes to make his way out of the car.  I think I finally picked him up, he was so exhausted, he didn't make a peep.

 
Basset Bash: These photos were taken at Woodinville's Annual Basset Bash & Brigade, held back in late March 2010.  Milo, my sister, and I didn't really know what to expect.  Lots of Bassets in different costumes apparently!  I had so much fun, and although he was tired at the end of the day, Milo seemed to have a great time too.  I like this layout because I was able to fit in a lot of the random Basset pictures I took doing that grid technique.  So many cute Bassets!!

Keeper: This picture was taken of Milo during the first few days after I adopted him.  He was hanging out on the couch pretty much whenever I was home, getting a little shut eye.  I scrap-lifted this layout from one of scrapbooking magazines I subscribe to.  It says...."Can I keep you this way forever?  You were to sweet, friendly, lovey, cuddily, and curious.  Every moment with you was a treasure."

Drive by Milo:  These photos are just examples of the majority of the iPhone photos I took of Milo.  He was either afraid of my phone, or just plain wanted nothing to do with it.  The best pictures I could take of him are what I called "Drive by Milo" shots.  Lots of blur, and mostly fur.  Stubborn little basset hound :)

Handsome Boy: I took a lot of photos of Frank before he lost weight, when was still filled out and fluffy.  Now, he's a bit skinnier, and most times his fur just looks greasy and mangey.  I'll have to document that part of his life too though, even though he doesn't look as glamorous! :)  I love the color scheme in this layout. 

Faces of Frank:  This layout was also scrap-lifted.  I wanted to showcase Frank from all his angles.  There is a picture of his cropped ear, his white striped chin, and his beautiful eyes.  Still loving that square grid technique.

 

Freedom: I have some great pictures of Frank starring out the window from when we lived on NW 83rd Street a few years ago.  Frank loved to hop up on my book shelf and look outside, especially if the window was open.  The journaling on this page says: "Frank loves to sit on the windowsill and survey his domain. He loves it even more if the window is open. He can smell everything outside, hear the birds chirping, and feel the wind ruffle his fur. If only that pesky screen wasn't there, then he'd get to experience sweet freedom..."

spin the black circle:  I had received a really cool kit from Freehand Scraps a few years ago.  The kit had included a vinyl record.  I didn't really know how I was going to incorporate a vinyl record in to one of my layouts.  I finally figured it out after I had a bunch of Pearl Jam pictures that Kim and Cass had taken at the 2009 fall tour printed.  A couple Pearl Jam layouts were definitely in order!  PJ does a song called "spin the black circle" ..... enter my vinyl record.  End of story.

 
hello my name is: Crazy Pearl Jam fan is right!  Kim and Cass took some great pictures from their 2009 tour, so I decided to do another layout to commemorate my love for them.

Getty and Cactus:  During my very short time living in California, I went to the Getty Museum like 5 times.  It is such an amazing and gorgeous place.  The grounds and architecture are spectacular.  My sister Chris came to visit me and we of course went to the Getty Museum.  The first layout just highlights some of the gardens, and buildings.  The second layout is of their cacti garden.  Pretty cool place!

 
Life is a Journey: The journaling from this layout tells the story: "This picture was taken during my very brief life as a Californian. Mom, Dad, and I took a drive to Ventura for the day to visit Uncle Ken and Aunt Irma's old stomping grounds. Although this was a tumultuous time in my life, I will always be grateful for the experience. It brought me back to Seattle and all that is important to me....Life is a Journey!" 

Sooooo looking forward to the retreat next year!!                

best mail day ever!!!

Today after I got home from work I walked to the mail box.  It was like magazine Christmas in there.  Huge smile folks, huge smile.  The scrapbooking gods decided to send my three craft magazines to me on the same day, unheard of.  Usually they are staggered by a couple days.  Not this month.  Scrapbooks, etc., Paper Crafts, and Creating Keepsakes, oh my!  Looks like I will have some reading material for the next few days!!

In other crafting news..... I'll be attending my first scrapbooking retreat in November!!  I've never immersed myself in scrappin' for 3 days straight, should be pretty fun.  And Gina and Colleen will be there, so you can't go wrong there!

Frizzle Dizz layout

My friend Kym is an artist and she works quite a bit with encaustic wax.  She and I are going to do a trade..... I'll be making her mom a card, and she'll be making me an encaustic wax piece.  Kym has already given me one encaustic piece that is awesome..... check it out below.  You can also check out her pieces on Etsy here......

Encaustic wax piece by Kym Strom

I was at Fred Meyer the other night and I picked up the latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors (another craft magazine I like to read, but don't subscribe to.....yet).  There was a card shown that I'm totally inspired by, and I'd like to take some elements from the card for the card I'm making for Kym's mom.  It contains a quote that I love...."One generation plants trees, the next enjoys the shade."  I'll post a picture once I'm finished, although it probably won't be for a month or two since all my scrap stuff is packed away for the move.  Speaking of which........

Yep, everything is moving a long well!!  So incredibly excited to have a place to call home........ 

Sunday Night Scrap..........

Gina and I got together to do some scrappin' this evening....super fun! Back in November I had taken some pictures of Atticus, Gina, Paula, and I that came out really well. I've been itching to do some layouts using the photos from that particular day. I ended up finishing one layout that I titled "Lucky Me".
I used paper and some chipboard embellishments from DCWV's Green Stack. The paper and chipboard embellishments have a fun, cartoony, woodland creature type theme. The JoAnn Fabrics in my 'hood is a little on the lame side, so I had to journey up to the JoAnn Fabrics in Lynnwood to get this sweet stack! Luckily I don't live too close to the JoAnn Fabrics Superstore because it would be trouble if I did. So much stuff there.

I also used a Tim Holtz Idea-ology Journaling Ticket for my journaling area, as well as some Tim Holtz Idea-ology spinners and fasteners. Pewter photo anchors (see top photograph) are by Making Memories. "Lucky Me" was a really fun layout to make, and I'm excited about using more of from DCWV's Green Stack in future layouts.

I put together a really quick Frank layout using a "I Love My Cat" double-page kit from Scrapbook Pad in Shoreline. I'm not in love with the layout, but it was fun to put together. Single-page or double-page kits are great when you aren't feeling the creative flow, but I can't help but feel like I'm taking the easy way out. I modified the embellishments a bit, left some out that came with the kit, and added some of my own in to the mix. I think at this point I have exhausted all possible photos of Frank from his photo shoot with Kim. I'll have to start using some of my own less awesome photos for future Frizz layouts:)