Scrapbooks? No Salsa...

I was going to scrapbook tonight but instead I watched a cheesy family channel movie and made some salsa. It was way easier than choosing color combinations and getting depressed that my layouts looked sparse.  Although I admit it is a little strange to make salsa for absolutely no reason at 9:30pm.  Not as strange as setting up a tripod in my kitchen to take a picture of it....then realizing my counter is taller than my tripod.  That's why you have my weird picture above that looks like the salsa is slowly falling from the sky.  I want to eat that salsa right now but I'm going to save it for my lunch tomorrow. 

oops there goes my scanner...

Tonight I made my first 12x12 page.  I was as always slightly disappointed in it...I was more disappointed when I realized my scanner is not 12x12.  I tried taking pictures of the layouts but they never seemed right. I'm going to do some research about this.  Sorry to disappoint tonight. Hopefully tomorrow there will be some proof of my scrapbooking!

Remember that Picture I Printed...

Remember that picture I printed on fabric a few weeks ago?  I finally decided to put it in a layout tonight. A simple uncluttered layout.....still working on those Germany pictures you know.

I've also made an executive decision.  I've been scrapbooking agaisnt the norm on 8.5 x 11 paper since I first started at age 15(ish). The reason was simply that I knew nothing about scrapbooking and I had some colored computer paper to work with.  I kept buying the same size paper until I amassed the extensive color collection I own today.  Now that I read the scrapping blogs and read all the books/magazines, I know that the norm is 12x12 pages.  They provide symmetry and more importantly space. I've tried "scraplifting" a few 12x12 page and translating to 8.5x11 but it never works out.  They end up squashed or I inevitably need to eliminate some pictures to fit the page.  So, my executive decision is to start scrapping on 12x12 paper.  I'm going to go to Michael's this weekend to buy a new album in the right size. Of course, if you are observant you've noticed that all my layouts recently are on 8.5/11 but that's ok.  It'll be a combination album...a symbol of my transition from kid scrapbooker to big girl scrapbooker.

Germany Never Ends

I almost gave into laziness tonight being that it is quite warm out and sitting with the fan directly in front of my face seemed like the best option. But I find the best way to cure laziness is to just start doing things. Once I got up and printed out pictures, the scrapping just kept flowing.

Still working on those Germany pictures.  I did absolutely no planning for this page. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.  I had a slight picture of what I wanted in my head but of course it did not turn out that way.  I'm not sure how I feel about this page actually. I'm my own worst critic..constantly disappointed in my own work.  My layouts are always slightly crooked and just feel generally unfinished. I also don't do much embellishing aside from paper layering and an occasional sticker. I'm such a downer this week! What is wrong with me?

Anyway, disappointments aside, I'm not going to redo it so it's worth posting here for everyone to see.  I definitely like my layouts better when I plan ahead of time. 

Nasty Sunburns and Photography Disappointments

That subject line perfectly describes my weekend. It was a nice long weekend..sort of a July 4th redo since I was so sick last weekend. I took off Monday to really enjoy it to the fullest.  Spent the entire day on the beach...roasted toasted and burnt to a crisp. Sunburns don't bother me so much anymore except for the constant fear of skin cancer (I check every inch of my skin every day as if overnight a giant mole will pop up somewhere).  The only bad part is that I got super burnt on my stomach...and I tend to sleep on my stomach, so that was painful.

Anyway, my God daughter's christening was also this weekend and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to use my new fancy camera.  The only problem is that I think my pictures would look exactly the same if I used my drunk camera (i.e. the tiny red camera I've had for years I use only when out in bars).  I don't know why I bother getting an expensive camera. The only good aspect I can see right now is that there's no delay between shots. I don't know, maybe I'm just being impatient. I know I need to learn all the functions but I find it frustrating.   I'm going to practice more and try to be more patient...or maybe I should just stick to shooting flowers...

Accomplishments Feel Good

The other night, as I previously wrote about, I started making friendship bracelets.  When I first started, thinking I could totally remember things from when I was 8 years old, I jumped right into the hardest pattern in my book (the book is also from when I was 8).  The result looked like a 2 year old's arts & crafts project.  Actually, a 2 year old is probably more skilled.  I was so frustrated I almost just gave up on the entire endeavor.  It's what I'm used to doing. As soon as I can't figure out something, that's it. I blame the pattern, I blame my stupidity, I waste embroidery floss, the whole deal. 

Tonight, I changed that behavior.  Instead of getting frustrated by the pattern, I relearned all the knots and the confusing symbols in the book and slowly worked through it step by step.  The top of my bracelet came out a little janky but as I went on the pattern began to look exactly like the book.  I was so excited.8 year old me would be so proud.  Unfortunately, one bad habit still stuck with me...I never finished the bracelet. It took 2 hours to get halfway and by that time my back was killing me from hunching over my coffee table. Perhaps I'll finish it tomorrow..or not. In this case finishing does not matter to me, the fact that I was able to learn the pattern after messing up so many times is what's important.

Time to rest my weary back...so excited that it's Friday already tomorrow! Another trip to my parents this weekend, maybe another venture into crafts from the past? We'll see.

Killing Gnats and Making Friend...ship bracelets

Strep throat found me last week and put me out of commission for a few days.  I went home to my parents house and left a giant pile of dishes in the sink because I was too sick to stand up and wash them.  Unfortunately I came back to a big gnat infestation in my kitchen.  I'm obsessed with killing them now.  I washed and disinfected the garbage can, the floor and the counter tops. I put out a bowl of vinager to catch them but so far only one stupid fly flew into the vinager.  The others are just mocking me.  This will drive me crazy all week.

Anyway, did you know friendship bracelets are making a comeback? Some of the friendship bracelets are selling at department stores for $100-400 dollars! It's crazy! I brought back my embroidery floss I left at my parents house and decided to try to make the bracelets again.  It took a few tries to get the knots down...I was a little rusty but eventually I got back in the groove. I made a reverse band in some patriotic colors. It was difficult to get a picture of it because i don't have a macro lens on my camera but here's my attempt at pictures of the bracelets:

I wish the pictures of the close up of the pattern came out but my camera would not focus that close.  Now that I've mastered the simple patterns, I'm going to try (once again) the advanced patterns. I've tried several times without much luck. 20th time's a charm?