Hello. Hello. I have a precious mini to share that came very last minute to me last night. I thought to create it after finding out of Crate Paper's latest pattern paper swatch contest that is planned specifically for designers who'll be attending CHA next week. Crate Paper routinely provides their retailers with itty bitty cute pattern paper samples during the event. This is their first time providing them to scrapbook designers as well! If you're a designer and are planning on attending the show, visit the Crate Paper booth and ask for one of their pattern paper swatch booklets. If you create something from the booklet, send an image of your creation to Crate Paper (info@cratepaper.com) for a chance to win one of the new collections (Your choice!). The project itself doesn't have to be entirely "Crate Paper"either - feel free to mix various manufacturers with CP's papers if you so feel like it. As long as the project contains a fair selection of CP's paper swatches, they'll be entirely happy with it and consider it a contender in the contest! Designer projects will also be showcased on the Crate Paper blog! How about that for good news this evening? I love the idea of playing with small pieces of paper..here's what I came up using bits and pieces of pattern paper from Crate's School Spirit collection:
This was so very simple to make. All I really did was hand trim a bunch of grade cards from CP's "Grade Card" pattern paper, layered them with pattern papers & labels and through them on a D-ring with some ribbon and chipboard accents. I didn't even bother with images as I wasn't interested in creating a traditional mini album per say. Ethan will be attending his first year of preschool this year and I thought it might be kind of fun for him to have an alpha album to look at while familiarizing himself with the alphabet. Each card displays a letter and word enclosed in either a circle or digital label. I was able to put together the album in a few short hours..if you're looking for a quick, alternative project to work on prior to the start of the school year, something like this is a great option! The kiddo's will love hanging on to this album..it's small, flimsy (in a fun natured way!)and so very basic..basic enough for any kid to carry with them no matter where they go!
Not the best photo I know, but hey, a different angle never hurts?! Right? The lighting was coming from the wrong direction. Arg.
Sometimes I forget that even a simple mini scrapbook album design can still be bulky and intriguing from all angles. It's funny how a mini album manages to turn out this way..it may be true that each page alone is just that, alone...it's design isn't enough to gather the attention of a crowd, but when combined and paired as an album, the pages literally take on a life of their own! You can't help but peek inside the album..you never know what might be hiding behind all them beautiful pages :)
Speaking of which, here's a small sampling of pages from the album..again, it's none to complicated. A few pieces of paper, alpha stickers and digital labels are all that is needed to recreate this album. Of course, you'll also want to consider picking up the School Spirit pattern paper collection as well. The ledger and alpha papers are quintessentially "school-like" and super kid friendly!
The digital labels are still well available over at Two Peas and should be credited to Sande Krieger. The label collection is titled "Not to Self V.2" and is found here.
I seem to be improved since the last post as my mood has evolved into a more manageable state of being the last couple of days. Grief is complex process that still often catches me by surprise, even after having dealt with it for the last twenty-nine months. It's one of those fickle, random things that always seems to hit me like a wall when I'm least expecting it. It's very nature is unsettling, but it's routinely intended as I always gain one or two life lessons from the experience. Grief rarely happens without explanation. I think this last round was about my mixed and invalidated interpretation of family and how it compares to society's current predominant traditional family unit. Due to the loss, we have undergone tremendous changes as a family. Each one has presented it own unique set of challenges that I routinely grow tired of dealing with as there's not always an easy, accessible solution to resolving them. One of the most obvious challenges has been defining our new small family within the context of today's larger society. Obviously, we're still very much a family, but not of the kind that is popular amongst American Culture. I'm struggling to figure out as to where we fit in and how it relates to the loss. I think the greatest difficulty for me is the constant reminder that our family is uniquely unordinary - it's not through obvious life experiences that the reminder prevails..it's just simply there. More often then not, my subconscious focuses in on the subject and attempts to make sense of it so that I'm better able to move forward with the loss. It's more underlying and I'm certain with time that it will work itself out. I simply need to think more about it...and when I do, I'll fill you in with an update.
Oh my goodness, I think this is it until I return home from CHA!! Yikes! I'd like to share one more update with you prior to my leaving, but I can't promise anything at this point. I'll definitely miss this place while I'm gone!! I promise to come back with lots of photos from the show!! I may just use Flickr again when I post the images..I don't want to bombard you with lagging load times when you visit this place late next week. I do appreciate you stopping by though :) We'll see you guys next Thursday or Friday! Have a wonderful week you guys!
