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A New Project in the Works + Fave Finds

Remember my mentioning working on an "All About School" mini album last week? Well, I finally got around to photographing the cover of the new album yesterday afternoon and just finished polishing up the images for a much needed weekend post. The rest of the album is still a work-in-progress. It'll remain so the next couple of weeks. As each page evolves and is added to the album, I'll present it here and also, it's hosted story.

Mini Album covers are typically a favorite a mine because they lend so well to designs of all varieties! I've seen the most exquiste mini album covers being that of just a few embellishments and a simple title. Then there are those that are dressed from edge to edge with every pattern paper and knickknack known to man. I gravitate towards both styles, but within the realm of implementation, I'm more of a hodge-podge kind of gal. The more stuff, the merrier. 

 In describing your preferred mini album style, what tends to knock your socks off - simple or detailed?

Curious as to what the base of the album might be? Looks vintage, doesn't it? Where would those of us without time to visit the local antique store be without the help of Seven Gypsies when the occasion calls for a quick makeshift old-fashion book cover? Love them for their remakes of everything dated and rare :) The base is Seven Gypsies "Autograph" front and back bookcover set. Think it was all of a $1.99, if I stand correct. Could be a little more. I plan to coordinate it with brass colored rings and bold color ribbon after the album is complete! 

{K & Company (Butterfly)}

{Flowers: American Crafts (Blue & Brown), Making Memories (Yellow Chipboard), Elle's Studio (Circle Calendar Note), The Girl's Paperie (Brad)}

{October Afternoon (Read & Writing Sticker), American Crafts (Let's Go Sticker)}

{Elle's Studio (Sept. Note), K & Company (Polaroid Frame), Vintage (School Flashcard)}

There's an unidentifiable paper that you might be wondering about on the very left of the cover. It's a vertical series of instructional numbers printed in black and orange. I trimmed the numbers from an old school workbook I bought a year or two ago at a local antique store. The book is filled from front to back with misc. school themed graphics that are no longer of popular use, yet seem to be "all the rage" these days. We love our vintage graphics, don't we? Still can't get enough of them....

 In moving along, I did reach Archivers last week, but the crowds were a bit much for me. If you're not familiar with the number of people that regularly attend Archiver's Scrapfest event, it's around 10,000 or so...give or take. I chose to visit the store a day prior to the official start of the event. The place was still crazy...outside the crowds, I ran into a few items that eventually made their way into my basket. Thought I'd share my faves here...

This is the very first time I've ever owned a set of "Tin Pins" specifically designed for scrapbooking. Too cute to ignore, I brought them home and "pinned" them on my design board. Who really knows if they'll ever leave their cozy packaging?! Probably not...can't bare to separate the collection.

 

I know I could probably make an effort to pre-punch my own die-cut shapes from scraps of pattern paper similar to those shown here, but this die-cut bunch from OA is adorable!! The banner phrases and starburst circles are an instant hit and so are them butterflies - love'em! 

 

Rather than the usual "clear rhinestones", Prima went about manufacturing "opal" style rhinestones that are completely gorgeous in person! I saw only one set of the rhinestones at Archivers available for purchase, though if there had been more, I probably would of picked them up too. A definite recommendation if in the market for unique button/flower centerpieces!

 In concluding this post, I probably won't see you 'til later this week! It's another busy week of homework and Crate Paper! Hopefully, this minor update will carry me over a few days 'til the next one! Happy Scrapbooking!

Locating Me....

Caught up in school and everything else that defines my life right now has kept me from keeping this place updated. Amazingly, or by sheer luck, I was able to find time to scrapbook last evening - it's a first since the start of class last week and hopefully, they'll be further opportunity ahead of me to sit down at the desk and have fun with paper some more in the near future. In suppliment of my desire for more craftiness, I'd like to hop over to the local MOA Archivers this week as Scrapfest is just around the corner (yes, it's this weekend!!). The store will be packed wall to wall with all the latest and greatest goods - Scrapbooks Too will also probably be hosting a colossal number of new goods as well, so I should get over there at some point, too.

I imagine that in the next couple of weeks, I'll have a better idea of where my schedule stands, which means regular updates once again (once / twice weekly). Until then, if you could give me some wriggle room, I'd greatly appreciate it!

What I've to present with my next post is a mini album in the making..so stay tuned! I plan to give you a peek into my college life for the very first time...and trust me, it makes for interesting material. 

Keeping Pace + Guest Designing

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately as how to best manage this place while working on a new dating relationship, juggling my commitments to Crate, raising a busy little guy and preparing for my return to school as a full time student next Wednesday. The only real feasable solution that seemed reasonable and doable at the same time in order to keep this place chugging along is to covert the number of updates here to just once a week (maybe twice). I'm not quite how it'll ultimately impact my readership in the end, but it seems the best thing do given the reality of my insatiably busy life. I also desire to focus most on those catagories in my life that'll bring about a great deal change in the next couple of years as I go about rebuilding my current existance. I'm at a pivotal point since the loss, three years counting, and it's forcing me to think more about the future and my plans in moving ahead. The efforts involved in evolving those plans require a great deal of attention and time, and are extremely important to me. So, even though the updates here won't be quite as frequent, they'll still find their way here at least once a week. Also, because it'll be only once a week, the posts will more than likely be of signifigant length depending on the amount of material to be caught up on. There will be the usual lovely photographs and inspiring projects shared along with the occasional "life updates" to go with them. :)

Jumping to the next big topic, I'm guesting for a fanciful manufacturer in the next day or so. Be on the look-out for the three new projects I've put together for them and a full blog post. I'll update here with a link (though you might be able to guess who's new collections I've been playing with all week) to their blog as soon as the post is live! Can't wait to finally share with you what I've been working on the last week or so!! Above are just a couple of quick sneak peeks...lots of prettiness.

I hope you'll continue to make a visit here from time to time. Don't allow the slow down to keep you away for too long. Again, updates will be once or twice a week and more than likely, will fall on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday :)