the possibilities are endless

Summer Reads 2012: Non-Fiction

IT is that time again almost summer, time to get your hands on some good books. I am sharing my summer reads all this week with you. Today I am sharing my non-fiction, tomorrow fiction, Thursday young adult fiction, and Friday is a re-cap. Enjoy! and please share your reading lists with me in the comments.

Dear Photograph by Taylor Jones

We all have moments we wish we could relive. We'd give anything to skid down the toboggan hills of our youth, to breathe in the smell of our children as babies, or to spend just one more minute with someone we've lost. Dear Photograph provides a way to link these memories from the past to the present, overlapping them to see how the daydreams of our memories collide with our current realities.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids by Jenny Doh

Hand in Hand offers the best of the best: 20 superstar parenting bloggers share exclusive, photo-rich insights into their creative lives along with a favorite how-to craft for parent and child to make together. The 20 projects feature a well-balanced mix of techniques, materials, colors, and styles for a range of ages.

Romantic Prairie Style by Fifi O'Neill 

Romantic Prairie Style embraces simple pleasures, comfort and the long-cherished ideals of natural beauty, simplicity and harmony with the earth. It's a style that says 'home' wherever you may be because, more than anything else, it's a mindset: gentle but strong, welcoming and lasting, durable yet sophisticated and, above all, real. Here interiors bear the influence of European settlers and the poetry of the heart-warming authenticity of simple, natural textures, hand-hewn beams, bleached wood, weathered planks, woven blankets, cow-hide and Navajo rugs. It's a style inspired by the honesty of homespun materials of the past wedded to a flair for the present.

Tilda's StudioOver 50 Fresh Projects by Tone Finnanger

A gorgeous collection of over 50 projects inspired by Tilda's studio.Choose from a stunning variety of designs for yourself and your home, including bags, accessories, clothing, decorations, gifts and soft toys.The colour palette used includes beautiful shades of lavender, pink, teal, turquoise, green and blue.

Expressive Photography by Tracey Clark 

Visually stunning, and unique in its collaborative approach, this book brings the spirit of the immensely popular Shutter Sisters' blog to the printed page through the voice and photography of its founding members. From portraits to landscapes, still lifes to documentary shots, "Expressive Photography" will teach readers how to create their own compelling photographic images--one click at a time

** Elevate the Everyday: A Photographic Guide to Photographing Motherhood by Tracey Clark (available July 2012)

Focusing on the beauty of ordinary moments, Tracey offers inspirational ideas that will jumpstart your photographic energies and enable you to see your children and yourself in a new way through the lens of your camera. Each day of a mother's life is full of photographic potential, and Elevate the Everyday gives you the tools to take moments and situations that might be easily overlooked and turn them into memorable and lasting photographs. With a host of creative ideas, technical tips, poignant stories of motherhood, and inspirational images that go far beyond traditional posed shots, Tracey shows you how to unlock your creativity and document your everyday life. Accessible and encouraging, this book is for everyone who wants to document the special moments in their lives, camera in hand.

** Paper Made!: 101 Exceptional Projects to Make Out of Everyday Paper by Kayte Terry

Announcing the biggest, best, most innovative book ever on paper craft. Even better, this is not about how to use costly, artsy paper, but how to turn stuff around the house—magazines and shopping bags, candy wrappers and paint sample cards, wrapping paper, old maps, and paper towel tubes—into stunning jewelry, gifts, home décor, party favors, and much more.

Fresh American Spaces by Annie Selke

From a powerhouse in the design world comes a vibrant decorating book that instructs readers on how to layer fabrics and patterns, combine colors, and add furnishings and accepts to create an adaptable and exuberant home.

Synopsis and links from Goodreads.com

**Synopsis and links from Amazon.com

CHA Winter 2011: Booth Decor DIY ideas

 These booth decor images would make great DIY projects.

1. Hambly overlay covered lights

2. Jillibean Paper owls

3. Imaginsice floral heart

4. 7 Gypsies ticket explosion

1. Tim Holtz Ideaology

2. Fiskars paper tree

3. Jenni Bowlin paper flowers

4. Graphic 45 birdcage

Any of these ideas catch your eye? I want to make the lights using the Hambly overlays and love the strands of tickets. So many ideas, not enough time.

Other eye catching visuals at the show were all the party decor ideas. Party hats, garlands, cones, even party blowers-- love what can be done with pretty paper.

Welcome 2011

and I am kind of relieved, actually really relieved. All went well here at home. Lots of family parties, movie nights, games, and eating. (all mostly undocumented due to broken camera sent in for second time)

We did have one mishap however- Jacob fell while backpedaling at his tennis lesson and caught himself with his left hand.

  

You are right- both bones in his forearm are broken.

After spending 5 + hours at Primary Children's Hospital Jacob had a molded splint to hold his newly set bones in place. Yet another traumatic mothering experience, but boy was I glad we live close to such an awesome facility as PCH. He of course got the royal treatment from me and all his relatives. His arm is now cast and he is doing much much better.

My favorite holiday project I  made was a book wreath (managed to get a decent shot using sis's camera)

It has not been destroyed by my boys yet. I might try to make a large one for the front door. Hmm.

As for my favorite gift I made, it was a tea cup lamp inspired by this post. Turned out adorable!!

Making 2011 calendars as a New Year gift for school teachers using this from Celeste.

 

As for other 2011 projects, I really really want to make a grouping of mirrors like these, to put above my living room couch and I have three mirrors collected so far. Speaking of projects

My one word for the year is

Yes I start so many things and end up not finishing half of them, and that is ok for the most part. For this I want to finish projects before I start new ones. Wish me the stamina I will need to see through a project from start to finish.

Oh and catch me chatting with the Paper Life girls tomorrow

 

Have a great week!!

Working on some Holiday goodies

This project was Blogspotted on Studio 5

As a huge fan of advent calendars i knew i would be making a few for my son on a mission. This idea came about because I had just shared a spool project on TV and I remember this advent from last year.

So I sat down with the supplies I had and got started knowing that the advent  it needed to be small, lightweight, meaningful, inexpensive, and disposable. (I didn't want to be heartbroken if he didn't bring it home with him)

and this is what I came up with

31 spools of different sizes all topped with a number then snuggled into a re-purposed box

and, around each spool is a handwritten note (held in place with a rubber band) that includes inspirational quotes, scriptures, stories, and sentiments.

Instructions below

To make the box

 

 

now for the spools

• I colored the raw wood ones using different colors of distress ink and paint applied with a  makeup sponge
• the numbers came from an unopened Bingo game I bought for $1.50 at a thrift store and I glued them on with hot glue
• the printed labels from here (scroll down until you see labels and click on image) and i hand wrote all the messages

wrap the cut labels around the spool and hold  in place with rubber bands

all that was left was to place all the spools in the box and add a gift topper

I covered a wooden star with book paper then painted over that with red stain and added the sticker letters

then I placed the star on top of  a strip of pattern paper and all done- ready to go!

ABC Curio Project

 

 

 

 

Is it possible to fall in love with a project? I swear I did- while I was working on this it was all I could think about and I felt a little giddy. Is that strange? I am sure you can relate...

While guest blogging at Write, Click, Scrapbook, last month I shared my process for making shadow box displays. I shared two different boxes a Christmas traditions one and the ABC curio which I am sharing with you today. (and sharing with locals on Studio 5)

Thanks to AdornIt for supplying my wardrobe for my Studio 5 appearance today!!

Let's get started

Steps

1. Purchase box and finalize Concept

Before you start ask yourself these questions to narrow in on a theme for your display.

• who is it for?
• why are you making this?
• where will it go?
• what do you want to display?
• how large do you want it?
• will your items have a theme, like heirloom or travel?

 

I used the divided shadow box from Adorn It.

2. Gather and Collect

Now that you know the why it is time to start gathering goodies to go inside. Print photos, find  paper, look for small trinkets, and select embellishments that might fit the theme. Gather more than you think you will need to keep your options open.

A few suggestions for abc items

• game pieces

• trinkets

• flowers or other embellishments

• fabric scraps

• souvenirs

• memorabilia

• hardware 

• shaped brads or buttons

• toys

• beads or charms

• images from books

Sources for the abc items

• party store that sells individual favors like Zurchers

• thrift stores for game pieces, vintage notions, small toys

• local craft superstore Hobby Lobby carries a line of miniatures

• scrapbook store for shaped brads or buttons, and other trinkets

• craft superstores have tons of objects; try their cake decorating section, kids crafts, beads, or wood objects

• your own stuff

To keep my trinkets organized I used two muffin tins they are nice and tidy + easy to see

(and yes the tins are swapped, whoopsy!)

3. Prepare your Box

If you are not interested in changing the starting look of your display box then you can move to the next step,  if you want to alter the foundation of your box, now is the time.

A few basic altering suggestions are

• cover with paper
• paint
• distress

For my curio box I painted and distressed the box and covered the shelves in book paper, to create one like mine follow the steps below

• remove the shelves

• paint the box  ( I used Fresh Foliage Folk Art green)

• sanded the edges of the box and a little bit of the sides using emery boards, or your favorite sanding tool

• apply a wood walnut stain to distress and age the box

• seal to add a shine and protect the finish

• to cover the shelves I used book paper making sure the direction of the paper matched the direction the shelves were going to go and applied with mod podge

shelves in, box painted ready to move on!

4. Fill in the Cubbies

Time to add your treasures. I used a hot glue gun because it adheres quickly and is strong. Place the items in place and move them around until you like the look. Use the entire space, hang from the top, adhere along the side, or layer on the back

Display and enjoy!!

Spool Frame project details

hello everyone, you may remember that back in the spring I made these for the Jenni Bowlin blog. Well I had the chance to show how to make these on a local show, Studio 5, and thought I would include the instructions here on my blog. 

Supplies

3-5 wood thread spools (vintage or raw wood)

I used vintage ones for my first project, but couldn't find any soon enough for this second project so I purchased unfinished wooden spools from my local craft stores. 

Sticks to mount photo on. You can use pencils, wood dowels, or even lollipop sticks

Decorations, you know patterned paper, stickers, buttons, trim, and such

Look for items that are mini sized already, since this is a mini project- I used the Jenni Bowlin 4" x 4" paper packs

Steps

Embellish  photos.

• Prepare spools and sticks

              if you are working with unfinished wood color it with wood stain, ink, or paint

• Trim paper and adhere to spool

• Adhere stick to spool

              I like to use hot glue to make sure the stick holds

• Make flowers

1. acccordion fold paper strips mine measured 12" long and varied between 1"-2" wide  
    
   
2. adhere ends together  
   
   
3. flatten, hold down with adhesive
4. add center

• Mount photo on stick 

              Vary the heights for a more interesting display

• Add finishing touches

Sit back and admire your work then ENJOY!

linking to a favorite project blog, tater tots and jello

Good Stuff list, a project I want to do this week

via mommatobug.blogspot.com

for reals- want to list all the beaches we have visited and something else, any ideas?

Execute on those good ideas

I am the queen of gathering and gathering good project ideas- for home decor projects, scrapbook layouts, handmade gifts, you name it. I have found that I need to make time to just execute on a project.  I saw this glass jar framing idea a while back and knew I had to do it. (by the way love photojojo) When I was spring cleaning my space I decided to do this with favorite childhood book covers instead of photos. It took minutes to gather everything and no time at all to put together. Guess what, every time I look at I am so glad I got off the computer and did something. Anyone else struggle with this? Well if so, pick something simple you have been wanting to do and do it- you will be so thrilled.

(sorry for the yucky photo, glass is hard to photograph)

original idea from photojojo.com