Happy Bat Mitzvah Anniversary!

Loving that Simple Stories chevron paper so so so much.

Today's post is brought to you in honor of my Bat Mitzvah, which happened exactly one year ago in Israel.  I made this layout about a month ago, but I've been holding off on sharing it until today.

  What you cannot tell from this picture, and which will one day be a layout of its own, is that I was so sick from food poisoning (turns out my wimpy American constitution cannot handle home style Bedouin cooking) that I could hardly stand up and that I was pretty much on the verge of falling over the entire ceremony.  But not this page; this page is not about the misery -- this one is about the joy.  I think the misery is just as important, and probably a lot funnier now that its over and is on my to-do list.  I'm not sure what visual I would use, because I did not think to take a photo as I spent the night on the floor of the group bathroom on the Bedouin campground.

 I was not a scrapbooker then, obviously.

Also, can I say how glad I am I finally broke down and bought distress ink in Vintage Photo and that silly little tool that has foam on the bottom for aging up my paper.  When I got it part of me was all like, "Laurie, you do not like faux-vintage stuff*, are you really going to use this?" and then I went on my internal tyrade about letting things be what they are, which is not-yet-vintage, and I probably stood in the store aisle for 20 minutes staring blankely at the wall as this whole internal monologue was going on.  But I did it, and I find it to be a great tool for roughing things up just enough to look a little dirty but not "old".  The inked edges really work on this desert layout.  So thanks, Tim Holtz, I guess.

* I mean, I like it if you do faux-vintage, but when I try something like that it just feels like a huge lie.  My pages are not vintage.  My pages were made in 2012.  My pages are like a fine wine, they have to age to a perfect vintage; they don't come that way pre-made.  Vintage on other people's pages is great and I love it, but it just isn't true to the style of that weirdo known as laurie danielle.

Man Page!

Cutie on Duty!

Last post I wrote about getting outside of my natural color scheme (which I'm pretty sure is is Rainbow) and this is another example.  I took what I like (Rainbow) and manned it up a little with jewel tones and far less glitter and bling than I would normally approve of.  Also, my typical butterfly embellishment has been replaced with some sort of more manly bug.  I didn't realize that when I was making the page -- only now that I'm sitting down to type about it.  I guess you can take the butterfly off the page but you can't take the butterfly out of the girl.
 
Anyway, Andy Mister Wonderful sent me this picture from his phone on Valentines Day (I had asked for a photo an hour as my gift -- which was so much fun!) and I thought it really captured his essence.  So I had it printed at 5x7 and got busy.  Not a lot of journaling, just a little on the tag that I crunched up and inked up, since I really can't speak much about engineering.  I did use some cute brads that looked like screw heads, though.  That's engineery, right?  Haha, sad.  Art Rules!  Art School Forever!

This little plastic tag was our quickie crop lesson last week at Micheal's crop night.  Acrylic tag + Glossy Accents + Patterned Paper = pretty cute little doo-dad that I tied onto the page.  I need to think of a way to use this technique a little more meaningfully.  I mean, I'm happy to glue a piece of chevron paper to a plastic bit just for pretty's sake on someone else's dime, but I'm not sure if I would pay cash money to do that with my own materials.  However, I think it is fun, and if I can think of a way to make it more than just a pretty tchotchke I'll totally be into it.  Any ideas out there in the blogosphere?  Are little plastic bits so cheap that gluing them myself is a cost effective embellishment after all?  I guess I should research that before I judge.  If you start seeing lots of little plastic bits on my page, please assume that I was wrong and that it is a good, cheap way to decorate.  (Yes, I am a sophisticated lady and judge all embellishments on affordability and impact.  And glittery-ness.)  Okay -- that is all.  Also, the call for suggestions on my next Two Peas order is still out -- so tell me what you can't live without right now or something you think I would totally dig.  Woot-woot!

Being Different (Than Myself)

Gummy candy in open bins?  YES PLEASE!

Didn't I just post on Halva?  I guess I've been inspired by food a lot lately.  That is because, um, of lady hormones, I think.  We'll be back to posts that don't feature food next week.  This week, lets chow down on some scrapbooking that was actually pretty hard for me because it deviated out of my normal colorways that I enjoy and feel comfortable in.  I took these pretty serious colors but wanted to make them true to my style (which I would describe as Rainbow Bright meets Clarissa Darling of Clarissa Explains it All and they have a disco party and you're invited!).  So how do I take my natural desire for neon and wild patterns and hand drawing and tone it down without completely losing interest?  I made myself a little checklist:

1. Pick a tamer version of a color you absolutely love (I picked this moss green variant of lime green)
2. Keep some bold pattern, just use it judiciously.  
3. Use the things you love, just make choices that fit within the color scheme.  (Thank you Tim Holtz washi tape!  And cute little "Sweet" doo-dad.  And not-quite matching but whatever, close enough glitter butterfly!) 
4. Keep the calm feeling with ample amounts of negative space
5. Add a little bit more interest with a graphic edge punch instead of adding more color

I think it worked out.  It was a struggle at times, but its fun to flip through my book and see a page that both doesn't look like my other pages, but still looks like I made it.  Don't you hate it when you're totally inspired by someones awesome page but then when you use their style it just doesn't feel like you anymore?   I feel like that all the time!  I think I struck a good balance this time, and doing something different makes me feel like I'm capable of designing on a larger scope than just what comes naturally to me.

How do you get out of your comfort zone?  Do you embrace the foreignness of creating something that doesn't look like you or do you add a little bit of yourself and your style into all of your layouts?  I would love to know!

Can I have-a Halva?

Its a dessert, not cheese. Also, did you notice my cute pink visual triangle - ink, gem, and tape?

Do you know what halva is?  If you do, you know why I had to make a scrapbook page about it.  Such a delicious dessert made with Sesame and other yummy things -- Oh, it is so so so so so so sososososososGOOD.  (Not an exaggeration).  I tend to have a hard time using paper with drawings and stuff already on it, but I decided that I would fight through the hardness with this awesome Amy Tangerine paper.  It was an interesting challenge because the layout of the paper really dictated where the photos had to go (unless I wanted to cover up the fun drawing bits and who whats to do that?) so it was a challenge of working within the bounds of placement. 

The awesome part was getting the look of the splattered ink without having to do any splattering myself.  I have some perfect pearls mist that I'm trying to get into (and failing) but haven't got any super inky mists yet.  Not that I don't want to, but its just sorta low on my priority list right now.  I tend to like super busy papers that just don't need ink sprays.  That and inks are a little hard to find here in small town South Carolina -- and I haven't gotten an order that is above the free shipping threshold for an online shop yet.  I am eying those sequined arrows and hearts by Heidi Swapp -- maybe I'll order in June.  My budget for this month is spent on Ikea and organization.  (Which, update, I AM LOVING) -- the extra workspace is HUGE.  Life is so much easier with the added table space.  Love it love it love it). 

Hope all is well for you out there in the internets!  While I'm deciding about inks and sequin embellishments -- is there anything else you out there think I would love?  Link me up since shopping is in my future!

Another Michaels Crop Night

No, that is not my husband.

Perfection is  overrated.

 I wrote awhile back about Micheal's Crop Night, and I went back last Friday for my second crop night and it was much more crowded but still pretty fun.  I got 5 layouts done in 6 hours and that is pretty darn productive.  I'm not much of a chatter and I happened to sit next to a chatty seventh grader who wanted to show me lots of photos of her dogs, so, in self preservation mode, I delved deep into that dark and creative place that tunes things out (while still being polite, of course) and got to work.  There is only so much of "This is my dog with hair, and here she is without hair and look, here she is wet!" (while, I would like to add, arguing with her sister across the table) that I can take.  And that amount is very little.  So I did answer all her questions (Favorite Movie: The Big Lebowski.  I don't have cable so I don't really watch much TV.  I have a cat.  My husband is an engineer and yes he likes to work a lot.  I don't use glue sticks, I prefer a tape runner) and told her a little about Israel since I had my photos from my last trip with me but after the initial questioning got busy with my SERIOUS CONCENTRATION FACE and my scissors and got down to business.  SERIOUS BUSINESS.

And, as anyone familiar with SERIOUS BUSINESS knows, the first stop on the SERIOUS TRAIN is a page about smootching a camel.  This SERIOUS PAGE included:

1. Glitter
2. Twine
3. Heart Paper
4. Gemstones
5. A paperclip
6. A View-Master Reel

As you can tell,  the chatty seventh grader must have thought I was the height of maturity and sophistication with my sensible and mature design choices.  Look at those repeated circles creating a visual triangle!  Enjoy the texture telling a visual story with a feel of ephemera without actually including a lock of the camel's hair.  (I mean, what could you possibly include from kissing a camel?  I have no idea.) Also, GLITTER AND TAPE AND BAUBLES WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*!

*I did not say that out loud as I made this page, but I am certain I thought it and maybe even fist pumped once or twice when I got the placement just right.  Moral of this story:  Never go to a crop that I am at.  I am crazy.

Flower Girls (and Boy)

Here is another one of the pages I did at the Michael's Crop Night I went to a few weeks ago.  I packed myself up a little envelope full of things I thought I might want to use and went at it.  I think it came out pretty cute.  The giant chipboard letters were in a free-for-all-grab-what-you-need box and the only "i" available was a pink one -- but I think it came out pretty cute despite (because of?) the pink "i".  Bob Ross would call that a happy problem.  They are giant letters, though.  I'm not sure I would ever buy any that big, but they were fun for this page.

Also, aren't my nieces and nephew totally awesome?

Anyways, I'm still off on vacation right now (Yes, I admit, I am typing this before vacation and delaying the post  -- don't you worry, I am not wasting my time away from home blogging).  As I'm typing this I am really just doing laundry, which is not nearly as exciting as saying that I am on vacation.  I am doing laundry using Mrs. Meyers Lavender Laundry Detergent, though, and that is as about as exciting as my laundry gets.   I'm a sucker for really good smelling laundry. 

And on that note... back to vacation!  :)

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.