The gallery went live tonight,
and it is full of gorgeous projects from the design team.
I'm working on a few more projects for the mid-month reveal,
but in the meantime, here are my gallery contributions,
using the main kit and the "Farmer's Market" add-on:
There are more details in the gallery, if you're interested.
The May kits are just the beginning of an incredible month at JBS.
You'll be wanting to visit the JBS Mercantile blog daily -- trust me on that!
...would love to get a handmade card from you this Mother's Day, I'm sure.
H-Handmade, you say, quaking? C-c-card, you say, becoming short of breath?
If I can make one, you can make one, I say.
I believe in miracles,
especially after making not just ONE card, but TWO,
for today's October Afternoon Mother's Day card post,
which features a bunch of amazing h-handmade c-c-card ideas for Mother's Day.
You know that I'm generally card impaired,
but these simple, quick, and EASY cards came together in minutes!
The first card uses Modern Homemaker, and the second card uses 5 & Dime.
I also used the new Sprinklers from October Afternoon on the second card,
and they are quickly finding a place among my go-to supplies.
Honestly, I was nervous about the Sprinklers.
I was afraid to be disappointed,
since so many other mists (or rather, mist wannabes) have disappointed me.
I didn't think that anything could rival my other favorite mists,
but oh, there's a misty throwdown in the works.
I used Paper Doily, which has an amazing opaque white finish.
Me love. Me love love.
It doesn't cause the paper to buckle, it dries quickly, and it looks great.
As I play -- I mean, work diligently -- with more of the Sprinklers,
I'll be sure to share the results!
I know the OA design team is really excited about them,
and now that we've had a chance to use them,
we will no doubt be sharing lots of Sprinkler-happy projects
in the days and weeks to come. Woo hoo!
The first can be found on the October Afternoon blog. It's a scrappy scavenger hunt, so if you love challenges, this one's definitely for you! I figure, the kids had their chance yesterday to hunt for eggs, so it's only fair that the adults have their turn now. Here's what I came up with, using all twenty-five items from the list:
If you're interested in playing along, be sure to post your layout in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery, and be entered for a chance to win some October Afternoon goodies!
The second challenge can be found on the JBS Mercantile blog. JBS is sponsoring Ella Publishing's Spring Training over the next couple of weeks, and today's challenge is to share a layout that represents your "signature" style, and attempt to describe that style. Here's my attempt to describe my style:
Although I think of style as something organic, shifting and changing as we shift and change, I do notice that there are some telltale elements that have been present in my style for years:
-- Bright colors mixed with neutrals. I definitely prefer colors that pop, but I also tend to go for neutral backgrounds so that I can have a bit more freedom when adding bolder colors to a page.
-- Bits and pieces. Scissors in hand, I hunt for "telling" bits and pieces to add to my layouts. I especially love cutting patterns and journaling cards into smaller pieces and finding homes for them on a layout, working them into the layers. "Gatherings" of bits and pieces also tend to show up often on my pages.
-- Sewing. A page never feels finished to me unless it includes some form of stitching.
-- Painterly touches. Paint and mist always add that extra oomph and equal parts loveliness and funk to patterns and accents.
-- Motifs. There is always some kind of repeated pattern or idea on my layouts. It's the English major in me, no doubt; I'm always working with a metaphor, a symbol, or a central theme.
I think this description pretty much pertains to any one of my layouts. I'm curious to hear how others describe their style -- care to share?
I've been thinking that it's time to bring back Five Faves Friday. I used to be so good about updating each week, but somewhere along the line, it just sort of fell away. It was always a fun way to pull together random highlights and happy bits, so I'm all for a revival!
(1) Soul Surfer. Last weekend I had to kill three hours in town while waiting for my daughter's school banquet to end, and I whittled down my choices to shopping or a movie. As tempting as it was to spend a small fortune on spring dresses, the movie proved to be a cheaper option. I considered seeing Soul Surfer, since a few of my seniors had recently commented that they really enjoyed it, and a bunch of my students over the past few years have been big fans of Bethany Hamilton's autobiography. Even with the recommendations, I was cautious, and read a few reviews first. The critics seemed split, and while some of them hurled accusations of schmaltz and cheese at the flick, most of them seemed to agree that the film was uplifting. None of the comments or reviews prepared me to transform into the crybaby that I would become when the lights went down in the theater. There were so many moments that summoned involuntary tears from my eyes, counterbalanced with moments that left me with a sloppy grin on my face. Schmaltz and cheese? Maybe, but my, how they cast a spell.
Today I took Z to see the film, since she missed it the first time around, and even she cried. A mother should not be happy to see her child cry, but I must confess, it was a relief to know that I'm not the only one that the film affected this way. It really does have soul.
(2) Springtime Splurge. For years my closet was limited to jeans and Gap tees, but somewhere along the way, I fell prey to the allure of pretty dresses. Lately I've had a floral fixation and a vulnerability to spring sales, as evidenced by the lovelies that arrived in the mail yesterday. Here's a peek:
Given an excuse to shop, usually I'd be all over Anthropologie, but not much there has called to me recently. I'm not sure why. I tend to wait for sales, but lately, Anthro doesn't seem to be having too many of those. Bummer.
(3) The Game of Thrones. This month saw the beginning of three cable series, The Borgias, Camelot, and The Game of Thrones, and of the three premieres, The Game of Thrones was the best. It also has the best opening credits, complete with embedded symbolism that nerds like me adore.
After seeing a single episode, I'm hooked. As for The Borgias, I am always a fan of intrigue and scandal (when it doesn't involve me, that is), and while I find Camelot's Arthur to be sort of irritating at times, I just love Eva Green's Morgan. I know I shouldn't be rooting for the villain, but she's kind of fantastic, along with her wardrobe. A recent Salon review refers to The Borgias as "priests behaving badly" and to Camelot as "mostly...dumb", and while I suppose that it is an accurate synopsis of the former, I think the jury's still out on the latter.
(4) Hand Gestures. I don't mean the obscene kind, which I suppose are handy when words fail, but rather, the kind that apparently define my teaching. This week I videotaped myself teaching, and in re-watching and discussing the video with the dean, I realized just how often I use my hands when I speak. They are my number one instructional tool. After school on Friday, a student stopped by to see me, and I mentioned what I had observed in the video about my hands, and asked if she had noticed this as well. She burst out laughing and said, "Oh my GOSH! You SO do! So-and-so does a great impression of you teaching, actually." I must have looked mortified, because the student assured me that it was an accurate impression and quite impressive and delightful at that. I should consider myself flattered. "You're just so full of energy," she said. "Sometimes I just watch you as you teach." I suppose that's better than...not watching me as I teach? Another student arrived, mid-conversation, and jumped right in, sharing her own mini-impersonation of me, simulating my grand-jetes across the classroom. It is precisely this hilarious and illuminating conversation that makes this one of my five faves this week.
(5) Color Pop. This time of year is all about color for me, and this week, I immersed myself in hues of turquoise and vermilion, care of the JBS Dime Store kit.
I even included one of my five fave scrapping products on the layout: MIST! I can't get enough of that stuff. I use my hands while teaching, and my mist while scrapping. :)
Well, those are my five, though I could easily keep going!
Have a wonderful Easter weekend, all!
that even the weeds look beautiful to me.
I know I shouldn't be feeling sympathy for them,
but just look at them,
fighting their way through the cracks in the cement.
They are strong-willed,
moving upward, against the odds,
to reach the sunlight.
I think
that I shall leave them there
and let them climb over the sidewalks
and up over my roof
and into my windows
and across my toes
letting them show me the way.
I remember sitting down at my desk
wearing white sweatpants,
but now, as I sit here,
I am wearing red and yellow and blue splotched sweatpants --
just as they SHOULD look after a scrap-happy coupla days.
The JBS mid-month gallery is raring to go,
chock full of gorgeous and creative ideas for using the April Mercantile kits.
I seriously swooned when I saw Kerry Lynn's backgrounds
and Keisha's flowers and Danielle's cards and Doris's misting and...
just go look!
Here are my contributions to the gallery,
and the reason why I'm rocking varicolored sweats:
My daughter requested the silly title.
How could I refuse her, especially after she won FOUR superiors
(of four possible) at the speech meet yesterday?
Gosh, and she did it all without tiger blood or without trolls interfering. Har har.
This next layout is all about one of my favorite foods EVER, lumpia.
It's kind of tedious to make, but my daughter is a pro at folding the wrappers,
so with both of us working together, we can kick out a batch in no time.
Ah, me -- I have not yet recovered from the weekend. My husband so sweetly agreed to chaperone the senior prom with me, even though it meant he had to don a suit and tie. Sadly, the only photo we got together was blurry...bummer...
Anyway, we made a full weekend of it, staying in Waikiki at the Hawaii Prince Hotel.
The room service was incredible.
My favorite dish had to be these smoked salmon roulades:
The pillows, on the other hand, were not as wonderful. Even after a night of recuperation last night, I still feel like I need a few more days to sleep off our staycation.
Before I head off to sleep on a REAL pillow, I'll leave you with a sketch and layout that I created for October Afternoon, using the 5 & Dime and Modern Homemaker collections.
You can find more details (and Roree Rumph's awesome interpretation of the sketch) on the October Afternoon blog.
