A Paper Enthusiast

A Change'll Do You Good.

I feel like certain liberties are granted to me by virtue of being a Texan. Some of these liberties include, but are not limited to: using an excessively large truck as my commuter vehicle, having a Whataburger within a 5 minute drive in all directions of where I stand, and inventing contractions whenever it is in my best interest to do so. Change'll. I really do talk like that.

I don't actually own a truck. I have a Kia Forte Eco. I love my car, but it is SO MUCH FUN to drive a gigantic truck.

Anyway. A change really will do you good. I'm actively participating in my life. It is remarkably short, and change, both good and bad, is inevitable. You just have to choose how you're going to react to it, and try to make the best of the situation you're in. So that's what I'm doing. I'm choosing to live. I might not be the bloggiest blogger in the world while I pursue this. I'm going to need to get used to juggling my time, but I hope to be able to find a balance that works for me, which means that this might not be an entirely craft-related blog. In a crazy twist of fate, this blog might actually become about me. :-) But I'll temper it all with delicious crafty goodness, which brings me to my newest layout!

Photos don't ever really do layouts justice, do they? I feel like the colors are just poopy in this picture. The yellows are not as vibrant, the pinks are just a little bit blue, and that grey just looks washed out. I think I mentioned in my previous blog post about having lost some scrappy mojo, and this layout is kind of evidence to that, I think. It has potential. Patterned Papers are Crate, Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, and just a hint of Lily Bee. The cream tulle is Webster's Pages, the pink ribbon and green seam binding are from my big-bag-o-ribbon-I've-hoarded, the wood heart is Studio Calico. The journaling card and button are Crate. The die cut transparency, little printed banner piece, and letter stickers are Basic Grey. The pearls are an old bit from my stash, and the chipboard butterfly is a piece from a Studio Calico kit (Field Guide). 

Journaling reads: This photo should be rated R because we are a couple of dirty birdies making such sexy "flirty faces" at the camera. After this pic was snapped, the camera died happy. My friends have this thing where we make hideous faces at each other and turn each other on. It's pretty appalling. :-) As you can see, John is the Brad Pitt of flirty faces. Celebrity flirt faces are pretty epic. Here's just a couple to get you started:

 

 

 

There is so much sexy happening in this blog post. I know you must be so turned on.

December 2011 (part one)

So I honestly have not spent as much time crafting as I would like in an ideal world. I'm not in a particularly creative mood lately, I guess. Just like anything else, I think creativity kind of waxes and wanes. But I did want to show you guys some of the December album I made. I think I mentioned before that this was my first time trying to do any holiday documentation, and I *finally* got my pics in from Shutterfly, so I'll be able to finish it up here pretty soon. I've kind of used this album as an excuse to play with a variety of design concepts, borrowing ideas from some of my favorite scrapbook designers and trying to work them into something I can call my own. I think just looking at these few pages, you'll notice the differences in style.

For my cover page, I used the woodgrain paper from Crate Paper (ski lodge, I think it was called?) and misted it with Calico White and some Pearl glimmer mist. I am totally obsessed with woodgrain, I hoard sheets of it by the dozen, and I especially loved the way it looked with the Calico White. I cut a title element out using the Silhouette, layering a couple of different patterned papers, all layered on top of the most beautiful Webster's trim. Isn't it just perfection? I want yards and yards of it.

Back Cover:

 

Title Page:

 

First day of December:

 

Next page:

 

Next page:

 

Next page:

 

Next page:

 

Next page:

 

Next page:

 

Like I said, I pulled from a lot of inspiration! Hopefully I'll get the hang of what my sense of style is soon. :-) Thanks for looking!

The Holiday Update

For this holiday, I decided to make a December album. I've never made one in the past, and like many of you I'm sure, I loved the idea of a December Daily album, but I knew that probably wouldn't work for me. I instead translated the idea into a mini album (which turned out to be not-so-mini at a size of 8.5"x11") and document the holidays that way. It's still a work in progress; I'm currently waiting for my photos to arrive in the mail from Shutterfly. For me, the hardest part has been the photos, in terms of remembering to take them, trying to find the stories in them, and then editing them. But I have to say, it's all been so worth it. I love having these memories recorded, and even though many of them are not especially holiday-related, I very much appreciate having the pictures of my family (and the excuse to TAKE their picture since none of us are especially keen on being in photos). So when that's wrapped up (hopefully by the end of next week!) I'll post the complete album for you guys. :-)

Here's some photos of some of the things I worked on the last month!

Some tags I bought at an office supply store that I inked with Mister Huey's, layered some papers and ribbon, and topped with a punched paper heart and threaded button. Quick and easy, used them on gifts for my coworkers. This was the only photo I took of the entire process, and it was late at night in really awful lighting, so I'm sorry for that.

Here's a collage I made in Picasa showing off some of the gift wrapping we did. A few of these presents I'm ridiculously proud of, and it was just so awesome seeing such beautiful packages underneath our tree. I went crazy with scrapbooking supplies (which of course I saved!), using prima flowers, websters bloomers, little trinkets from Tim Holtz and 7Gypsies, I made paper, tissue, and vellum garlands and used them as ribbons, I made big rosettes, I actually hand-made freakin' yarn pom poms, which was much harder than I thought it would be (someone please tell me what I was doing wrong!), and it all turned out so pretty. I can't wait to do it all over again next year.

These are some tags I made to dress up a little gift for each of the kiddos, just a small package of bubbles, sparklers, little toys, that kind of thing.

I used Crate Paper's Peppermint collection, more Mister Huey's, and spritzed some of that Pearl glimmer mist by Tattered Angels, which I'm almost completely out of, and definitely need to buy. Here are some close ups:

 

 

 

 

If you've made it this far, then you are a rockstar. :-) Have a great weekend!

On the subject of blogging

So I got kind of upset at blogging and decided I wasn't going to do it anymore. There wasn't going to be a goodbye, no see ya later, nothing. But... I kind of miss blogging. It made me feel accountable for myself. It made me feel motivated to keep on crafting. And while I did some crafting over the holiday season, it wasn't with the same sense of urgency (I guess). I like the motivation of putting it out there, of hoping to inspire someone to make something meaningful. So... I've come crawling back on my hands and knees to beg for your apologies, dear reader (hi Mom!), and hope that we can be friends again.

Because I'm already running late for work, I unfortunately don't have a pretty picture post to share with you today, but I promise I will be back tomorrow to show you what I've been up to. ;)

Turkey Day Eve

It's the day before Thanksgiving, a.k.a. FEAST!NomnomNOM!!, a.k.a. Gotta-Get-To-Old-Navy-On-Black-Friday-Because-My-Pant-Size-Just-Went-Up, which means just one thing: my living room scrap space had to go bye-bye for a few days. So this has meant absolutely no paper crafting for me, which has felt kind of like detoxing, and it's very uncomfortable. It's just as soon as I can't play that I want to do it the most! I just need my fix!! I had the idea to make a cute pinwheel centerpiece, I thought of some quick and simple place cards that I wanted to whip up (and still might), I have a couple more little presents I want to wrap up, a few page ideas rolling around in my brain... 'Tis the season, though, so things won't be slowing down anytime soon, and I can't say that I necessarily want them to. I so love this time of year, and my heart yearns for it all year long until about October, when (at least in my mind) the holidays start coming in full swing. I wish I could be at home spending time with my family and some extended family members I have not seen in a very long time, but unfortunately I have to work tomorrow. For some crazy reason, they keep the hospitals open? When did they start doing that?

Speaking of, I actually need to start getting ready to go to work right about now. But before I go, I wanted to share a couple things I did over the weekend.

This page is made out of a gorgeous Studio Calico die cut and a mix of SC patterned papers. This photo is the birth announcement of my perfect little baby 2nd cousin, the son of my amazingly awesome and gorgeous sister-cousin. I CANNOT wait to meet this kid. We had all been hoping and praying for him for a long time, and he's finally here, and I love him so, so much. The journaling reads, "At first look, you are just a handsome baby boy... but we all know that you're a tiny miracle." Isn't he a perfect little person?

In a completely unrelated crafty project, here is a banner I constructed with ribbon and rosettes. The alphas are My Mind's Eye from the Lush collection, and the paper is a mix of autumn-hued patterns. Lots of Studio Calico Autumn Press in there, a little bit of Crate Paper's Farmhouse collection... scoring and folding a dozen 1.5" rosettes is no easy task! But I love the way it looks, and it adds a pretty little festive touch to our home. The photo is kind of lame - I just wanted to grab a quick snapshot before I hung it up somewhere.

And last, to get you into the paper-crafting, gift-giving mood and hopefully inspire you to go sign up for Pretty Little Packages, I did a little holiday gift wrap. It's essentially a reimagining of the gift card pillow box. I added a Crate Paper Peppermint rosette, a tiny spool of twine hugging the gift box, and don't you LOVE that collage paper? I got some last year, and I have been dying to use it! Have you thought of creative ways to spruce up your gifting?

There's still time to sign up for Pretty Little Packages. I am so excited about this - creating little connections within this community, encouraging some honest-to-goodness, heartfelt good will. I hope you'll join in. :-)

Happy holidays to you all.

Pretty Little Packages

Inspired by the gift wrapping prompt at Shilelle's PPP, and in the spirit of the season, I'd like to invite you all to the first annual Pretty Little Packages handmade gift swap. This is your opportunity to spread some cheer and make a beautiful little one-of-a-kind goodie for a fellow paper crafter. Feed your creative soul and construct a mini album, craft a unique photo frame, assemble a unique stationary set, or a homemade delicious treat, the possibilities are truly endless!

THE GUIDELINES:

Email me the following information by December 1st: your first and last name, your mailing address, an email address that you check regularly (this will not be shared with anyone, I will only use it to confirm your participation and send you the mailing information for your swap), and any relevant information you'd like to pass along (favorite color, themes you enjoy, activities you like, anything that will help someone personalize your gift a little more). By December 3rd, you will have received the information of a fellow participant for whom YOU will be crafting. Try to drop your pretty package (maybe a brown paper one tied up with string!) No later than December 18th. And this is totally optional, but when you receive your package, snap a couple pics and email them to me, and I will post some highlights on my blog! If you do not receive your gift by January 1st, let me know so we can track down what happened and work to correct the situation.

Your information is very private, and I will only share it with a confirmed participant and DELETE it once the swap is over. Please email me at jacelyn.rodriguez@gmail.com or leave a comment for me here if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. I will respond to you PROMPTLY. Thank you for participating and I hope this is a HUGE SUCCESS. ;)

At Serendipity

This page feels outside of my comfort zone. Lots of misting, bold splashes of color, the minimalist of embellishment. I took inspiration from Marcy Penner and decided to punch up the color, use some patterns, go for it! This photo was taken when my friend Jason and I went to New York and ate at the legendary Serendipity Cafe. It's a low quality camera phone pic, and the photo does nothing to tell the story behind the restaurant or the experience, so I've added some extensive journaling inside of the little envelope. Like the prize inside of a cereal box. Hope you are having an amazing weekend!

Dear World,

I have too many scrapbooking supplies. I am overwhelmed with options.

Oh dang, did I really just say that?

Pretty Paper Party

Here are the rest of the layouts from my scraptacular sunday! (yes, I just said scraptacular. If you were truly my friend, this would not surprise you in the least). (hi mom!).

On this layout, we were challenged to cut out large patterns from our paper, and I chose a page from the Little Black Dress collection over at Basic Grey. Those large, pretty flowers, aren't they gorgeous? I knew that's exactly what I wanted to do with them as soon as I saw it in the store. Sometimes the chemistry is just right. :)

 

The background papers are from the Vintage Blue collection by Glitz, such gorgeous, saturated colors that contrast beautifully with the muted peachy-grey hues of the BG flowers.

On this page, I scraplifted this layout by Nicole Samuels. When I read the party prompt about paper weaving, my mind immediately went to scraplifting, and I knew exactly what I wanted. I think it turned out really beautiful. Colorful, but not distracting, textured and lush, and the focus still gives to the photograph and not the design.

This layout kind of makes me laugh. I have been working on trying to design in such a way that does not take away from the photographs. I think I get carried away with all of the pretty paper that I kind of forget that the point is to make the pictures stand out. And this photo is one of my favorites Johnny and myself, the eternal frustration of getting him to take a legit photo, and all of the hammy outtakes that result from trying. I borrowed some journaling from my blog, and tried to keep it simple. I wanted to do a simple banner, because I feel like I've totally missed out on the awesome banner trend.

That's it for now. Gotta scrap more stuff - I'm out of things to post again! The weather's gotten rainy and dark, it's one of those days you just want to spend cozied up inside. Unfortunately I have to go to work. :-/ That's not a bad thing, I am grateful for having a job and happy to be getting my hours this week. It's just ironic that when I want to stay home, I have to go to work, and when I need to be working and getting my hours is when I get cancelled and they make me go home. Stupid irony. Oh well. Hope you're having a good week.

OH! And by the way, I was reading over at Lisa's blog that we're a mere 8 days away from Thanksgiving. I don't know about you, but that hit me like a TON of bricks! How has this year gone by so fast?!?

A couple lazy Sunday layouts

Yesterday, I don't know what came over me - I was bitten by the scrapping bug. I ended up making 4 layouts! I've never done that! Shimelle.com is hosting that Pretty Paper Party, and I cannot TELL you how amazing it has been. She just did a phenomenal job organizing the classes and constructing the PDFs and getting you involved and thinking. If you're ever feeling uninspired - GO THERE. It's $18, but it's easily worth so much more. It just gets you thinking in a different way, and even if that's only temporary, it's enough to get a few great looking pages out of it. So let's get to it!

This page kicked off the weekend. It's made with Lily Bee Designs - Head Over Heels. I just love love love the saturated colors and vintage patterns. I stitched blocks of pattern across the layout, cut out that pretty lace design paper, and just added photos. The stickers/alpha came from Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe.

Okay, now this page is just for laughs. One of the PPP challenges was simple: post your favorite paper creation you've ever made. I didn't even have to think about it. I chose the very first layout I ever made. It was a couple years ago, my mom had recently gotten into scrapbooking and was wholly consumed - beyond obsessed - with it. It was all she could do. She kept trying to get people to sit down and scrap with her, but no one was interested. One day I was bored enough and wanted to hang out with her, so I sat down, grabbed a picture of my kitty cat, and went to work. I don't think I would have admitted it then, but I was totally hooked. I loved it. And it's an ugly layout, y'all. It's just butt ugly. But it's my favorite, because if I had never done it, I might not be the person I am today. I have learned so much about myself through this hobby, and I'm grateful every day to be able to do it.