BPC: Design Challenge #2

My (c)ankles were swollen from the flight.  I do not have elephant ankles normally.

Design Challenge number 2 completed.  I learned:

1.  Sam's Club prints 12x16 for, like, $3.50 -- and they had a free trial membership weekend last weekend so you didn't have to be a member to have prints made.
2. The prints from Sam's club are matte and slightly rubbery to the touch, so they do not go smoothly through your sewing machine and you have to spit on them a little to keep them gliding under your sewing machine's foot. (I learned the spit trick from my days as a costume designer)
3. My paper trimmer is all sorts of wonky and will not cut in straight line at a right angle
4. RAD LAB is, in fact, totally rad and I see myself making a major purchase in the next month to buy it once my trial runs out
5. I am totally digging using a big picture as the base of a page

Project Life: April 16 - 22

Whoo-hoo!  Another week another spread!

Here we have my April 16 - 22nd left hand side.  My big adventure for the week was locating the sometimes elusive folk artist Ernest "The Chicken Man" Lee -- which I did accomplish.  6 Chicken Man originals for $120; Not too bad if I do say so myself.  I took a photo of his chicken-booth (hidden under the postcard Andy sent me from his work trip to North Carolina) and stashed his business cards he gave me in the smaller pocket above.  Tuesday's photo was taken by Andy in Dudley, NC -- Ram in the Bush Church, which makes me giggle just a little because it is dirty.  Yes, I know its from the bible, but still.  And its all psychedelic -- I wonder what kind of folks go to that church?  Maybe it's pretty exciting like a hippie revival all the time!

The second half of the week are scenes from home (How did Meow get under a lightpost? She's too crafty!) and around town.  Used more of Amy Tangerine Sketchbook paper and glitter ribbon -- what a great combo.

Sunday is a photo of me kissing a camel.  I have a full layout in mind for that photo, but it had to be documented in this week's spread too.

In between the 12x12 pages is a 8.5x11 insert of the program for my Synagogue's food festival.  I thought it was pretty neat, so I tucked it in the week's spread.  Today I printed up Monday - Friday of this week and put them in.  I'll post it next weekend once Saturday and Sunday get added!  I'm loving Project Life -- it's such a pleasure to flip back and remember all the little things that have happened so far during the course of the year.  Are you doing project life?  How is it coming along?

BPC Design Challenges: Project 1

Hooray for first layouts of new classes. I'm taking Design Challenges over at Big Picture Classes, and this was my first layout of the class. I love a fast paced class with no real rules (ugh, I ESPECIALLY hate step by step tutorials -- I want to be FREE!) so I'm digging this already.

I had a 6x6 paper pad that I picked up a while back to try out that I used for my pie chart. I learned that I tend to like bigger pieces of paper than just 6" on my layouts, so the pad hadn't been getting much use -- but it was perfect for chopping up into wedges for my chart.

Did a little experimenting with Tim Holtz distress ink, which is a new material and technique for me. Next time I'm going to tone it down a little, I think.

And of course my layout has my one true love of WASHI TAPE all over it. I tell you, I could eat that tape for breakfast lunch and dinner. Its perfect for all occasions.

Can't wait for the next challenge to be released, and I'll post what comes of it here, of course!

My Lovely Camel Humps

Tomorrow I'm going to my Synagogue's annual food festival, and I'm really excited about petting the camel that is going to be there (I'm told her name is Rivka), so I thought I would share this page about riding camels. The blue background still throws me off (I like a clean white background usually, but I also like to experiment, so there you go) but I think its pretty cute and it went together super fast. And, HELLO, riding a camel! That is the important part! My camel riding partner was awesome -- a natural. I, on the other hand, was awkward and often afraid for my life. The camel behind me in the camel caravan kept eying my tush and wanting to give it a little nibble, I swear.  Next time I ride I camel, I'm in front!

As you can see, though, I'm L-O-V-I-N-G loving the Sketchbook collection by Amy Tangerine.  If I could just use one collection for the rest of my life my pick at this moment (and not saying that this would never change, because, you know, things change) would hands down be Sketchbook. I want to hold its hand and run through fields with it.  I want to invite it over for dinner and giggle over bad puns with it.  And we'll invite our friend Tape, too.  And glitter.  Glitter is always invited.

Michael's Crop Night

Me in front of the NYC Public Library

I went to a crop for the first time ever this week since Andy was out of town.  It was so fun to make pages with other people around!  I was a little nervous since I'm a HUGE introvert, but it was actually really enjoyable.  It was at my local Michael's store (yes, I know, not highbrow, but super close!) and I have to say, along with the lovely ladies I met that evening, being able to shop on a tab for those odds and ends I needed was AWESOME!  And I spent less than $10, so that was pretty awesome too.  It was fun using some of the tools/toys that I don't have.  Like the butterflies on this layout  -- one was cut & embossed with a Cuttlebug, which I had never used before, the small ones were with a Martha Stewart punch that I don't own, and the green glittered one I made myself with chipboard that the leader provided and taught us how to glitter with double sided tape.  Yes, I got a little butterfly happy; things like this happen.  

 Lots of fun -- and I got 5 pages done.  I'll post more in the next few days.

Project Life : April 9 - 15

 Project Life is humming along.  This week was mostly Passover, so we have some pictures of lunch (Fruit, matzah and Palmetto cheese most days) along with the happy photos from the Texas Steak House on Sunday where Andy happily enjoys a beer and I get down with some hot, fluffy, not-matzah dinner rolls.  Oh, so hot and fluffy, they almost melted in your mouth.  And there is a photo of where the city dug up our front yard earlier in the week.  When they were done, though, it was like it never happened.  Eerie!

Ada also sent me a postcard from a service trip to Honduras, so that has a place of honor in this week's pages as well.

Not much adornment in this week's layout at all -- I was just too busy/lazy to mess with it.  I like the clean and simple look, though.  I changed my printing location from Walgreens (fast and friendly but on glossy paper) to Walmart (slow and a bit surly, but matte) and the matte photos make a huge difference.  I like the look a lot better.  The colors are just brighter and more vibrant than the weeks I had printed at Walgreens.  Which is a shame, because they're so nice at Walgreens; they know me by name there, and I doubt that'll ever happen at Wally World.  Oh, how we must suffer for our art.

Welcome New Friends (and Old Friends too!)

I took this with photobooth and look a little crazy.  So, normal.

Hi Y'all, I'm Laurie Danielle and I warmly welcome you to my little corner of the internet. I like to make things and do things and not worry too much about what other people think about what I make and what I do. I guess I "scrapbook" a good deal, although I like to think of it more as visual journal keeping. Scrapbooking is such a loaded term, don't you think? My visual journal just happens to be in the format of pages, mostly 12 x 12 but some other sizes thrown in, with paper and pictures and words. I also like to work on making my house a home, grow flowers and vegetables, cook, sew a little, take lots and lots of photographs and hug my cat. And my husband, I hug him too.

I also teach Hebrew School on the weekends, and work at my local Jewish Community Center doing Jewish things.

Nice to meet you all. I'd love if you say hello so I know who is visiting. I might even put on a kettle of tea (sweet, of course -- I'm a southern girl) so you stay awhile.