August Update

Sea Isle City, NJ 2012

I have been successful in updating my scrapbook. I made a spread for our family's annual beach vacation at Sea Isle City, NJ. It was definitely a blast to be able to spend time with everyone without needing to worry about work the next morning. The ladies of the family went on a shopping spree in Ocean City, NJ. We found a store called Mew to You. It is a thrift store and a cat adoption center. Proceeds of the thrift store are used to support the adoption center rescue, heal, and find new homes for the stray cats in the area. I think this is a great way to support a great cause.

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

After reviewing all of the great pictures from the beach, I realized there was not enough room for the photos of the Thomas Edison National Historical Park so I made two separate spreads. I found a quote that I really liked from Thomas Edison, "There are no rules here, we're trying to accomplish something". I got a little bit brave with these two spreads by adding stickers and quotes, but I think it came out alright.

Ticket Stub Spread 

This is my final spread and it focuses on some events I went to over the years including a Bruce Springsteen concert, a Doors concert (actually Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger but who is counting), and a Jo Dee Messina concert which was one of the first performances at the Maryville College Clayton Center for the Arts Building. There are non-musical events as well including a Devils v. Rangers game at the Prudential Center and a movie stub for Snow White and the Huntsmen. That movie was the start of a Girl's Night tradition!

Old pebbles from a fish tank

I also had another mini-project worth noting. I was tired of seeing that ugly tin holding all of my pens and pencils. I wanted something prettier. I went to the store and bought a small glass fishbowl, fake colorful flowers, and floral wrapping tape. I found some pebbles from an old fish tank I used to have and filled the bowl.

The cutest flower pens I have ever seen :)

Then I cut some of the flowers off of my fake flower plant with stems that are a little bit shorter than the length of a pen. I placed the flower next to the pen and wrapped it using the floral tape. Now the pen has become a thicker stem for my flowers! I "planted" my flowers in the pebbles and I think it looks adorable.

Scrapbooking

After the passing of a childhood friend, I am realizing the importance of photographs. Emily Michelle was an amazing person. She always had a smile on her face, and the things that came out of her mouth were hilarious. She made an impact on everyone that she met. Unfortunately, on June 20th, 2012 Emily lost control of her vehicle and crashed into a tree. She died before anyone had the chance to remove her from the car. We were getting ready to go to her viewing, and her family asked everyone to bring pictures of Emily. I ripped apart my room trying to find a good picture of the two of us. All I could find was 2 pictures of us at an NSYNC concert. TWO PICTURES!!! How is that even possible? I never want to look back at my life and my friends and realize all I have left is their memory.

I have attempted scrapbooking in the past, but the entire book is usually one event. I want to challenge myself a little bit more; each spread will be one month of my life. Each book will be one year of my life. No one will be forgotten or left behind. I am going to start full swing in January so that I can have a complete 2013 book, but for now, I will catch up on some memories that need to be cherished.

I went to a few big events over the past two years that I saved ticket stubs. The earliest was a Jo Dee Messina concert. This was one of the first concerts at the new Clayton Center for the Arts at Maryville College. It was built my senior year so I thought it was fitting to remember this time. A few months later I saw Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger from The Doors at the Starland Ballroom. Skip a year or two and I am at a NJ Devils vs. NY Rangers hockey game with my new best friend and my new boyfriend (although I don't know if we were official at this point (maybe a scrapbook would help with that answer) ha ha). Lastly, I went to another Bruce Springsteen concert. It was an amazing triple date with my parents, Tom and Jo, and Steve and myself. I think we were official at this point. Luckily, I have at least one picture of each of these events so I decided to make a spread dedicated to these events.

The family just got back from Sea Isle City, NJ a few weeks ago. We had our annual family vacation and it was just as good as always. We took a ton of pictures so there will be plenty of material for July 2012. Steve and I also went to the Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, NJ. This was his largest laboratory, manufacturing site, and home. Very cool. When it is all finished, I will make sure to post a picture of these two spreads.

My next project?

I have been thinking what I should try to do/make next. I am a little tired of crochet, but that is where I am most comfortable. I will try something new this time. Just like every other person who wears jewelry, I have so much that I don't even know what I own. I have necklaces tucked away in different boxes, earrings mixed together in different boxes. It is time to find some creative DIY solutions.

I have no idea what I am going to do about this yet, but I was doing some research and saw some fancy and expensive jewelry organizers and some cute jewelry displays that other people have tried to make. My problem with the handmade ones is that they are too small. There is no way to fit all of the clunky necklaces and bracelets while still displaying all of your earrings. On top of that, were do you put all of your rings? I think I am going to start off with a giant cork board and possibly cover it with fabric. I saw a neat way of displaying earrings by using drawer pulls as hooks. I may try to attach a few of those to hang some of my favorite earrings from. I am also trying to thing of a fun way to make a bracelet rack. I may look into making an empty paper towel roll into something cute to hang them on. Necklaces might get some cute thumbtacks to hang from, maybe even a cute button to cover the top of the tack. And finally, for all those rings, I might find an old fashioned bowl to throw them all into. haha. Who knows! I will keep you updated on what I decide to do!!

Patchwork Blanket

So, I finally finished!! This blanket took a lot longer than expected. I was hoping that my boyfriend of the time was going to help with some of the squares... but he didn't. Anyway, it is finished now.
I didn't follow any instructions which is why my squares are sometimes mismatched. I started off with the plan of making a ton of 1/2 foot squares that I would stitch together. I eventually decided to count 17 stitches across and 17 rows up for each square to make a more uniformed size. Then I realized it is easier to hide the tabs if you sew the squares together as you make more squares. By the end of the blanket, I finally got the hang of it haha. The top part of the blanket pictured is the better half. If you want to see what NOT to do, pay attention to the bottom.
Since all of the edges were a little wavy, I decided to add the orange border at the last minute. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome. Now to start on my next project... TBA

Fountain of Ideas

I have a problem of starting projects and never finishing them because of finding newer, more interesting ones. I am determined to finish the silly little scarf I started several months ago. Then I will finish all of my portion of the patchwork blanket. I told my boyfriend all of this last night and now he is hopefully working extra hard on his portion of the squares. I want to stitch this whole thing up soon!!
Then I started thinking... after I finish all of these blankets, where will I put them. I decided I want a wooden chest. Hand-painted. Again, I brought this up to my boyfriend and SURPRISE! He knows woodworking and can make me the exact chest that I can dream up!!! Of course, he can't do that until AFTER he finishes his portion of the blanket :)

New Windows Live Program

Just downloaded a new program and I am not exactly sure how it works.  I am just going to do some random things and see what  happens :)

                      

This is a picture of me being silly while hiking in TN.  It says I could add pictures, so I figured I would try that.

                        

This is the area of TN I was in while hiking.

Patchwork Crochet Blanket

My boyfriend and I have started another blanket. There are five different colors and we are making single stitch squares measuring 6 inch x 6 inch squares. So far, our sizes aren't perfect. It is taking some getting used to. We have several squares of the different colors finished, except we haven't bought one of the 5 colors yet. I don't know how stitching it together will actually work.