vacation's over

Today 19 first graders delighted and invigorated me. It will be a fun year!

P.S. Einstein on the Beach, 1939 is from Retronaut.

superheroes and villains

I finally took down my Avengers collection of Pez the other day.

There is no Black Widow Pez. No love for the women superheroes.

I mentioned to my friend and fellow Joss fan Angi that the only one I was missing was Captain America. I found him waiting as a surprise in our mailbox a few days later! So nice.

We went to The Dark Knight Rises last weekend so I put my Batman Pez on display. The first Batman on the left is limited edition -- his symbol is on the stem and usually the stems are plain. I still took him out of his package because I think it's more fun that way.

Batman came with me to the movie and shared candy with us. He was also a sort of talisman against random gun violence. We took pictures outside the theater after rehashing the movie with our friends. I like all the different Batman shirts.

When we got home I remembered I had an old DC Superheroes scrapbook paper book. You can tell I've had it for a really long time because the papers are 8.5"x11". I always scrap 12"x12" so I would never buy a book of paper in that size now. I made it work anyway and cut out Batman and Catwoman from there to make them work on my 12x12 layout. Actually I kind of enjoy cutting out those intricate things.

I wanted my journaling in a comic book font so I got out The Watchmen for reference and started practicing. If I could sum up the tricks to writing in comic book font I would say use all capitals, and pick up your pen after each line you draw to make a letter. Also line the edges of the journaling square with black ink or put a mat underneath.

The alphabet stickers are made by Stickopotamus and I'm sorry to report that the adhesive wasn't holding them on the page so I had to glue them. That's the 2nd time that's happened in the last few weeks. I'm starting to worry I'm going to open my scrapbooks in 20 years and everything will be at the bottom of the page protector.

This may be the fastest I've ever gotten my pictures scrapped!

Did you go see The Dark Knight Rises? Did you like it too?

my free time is dwindling

Child's Play Challenges asks us to find inspiration in watercolor paints this month. For a few years I've been meaning to paint the photo mat around my grandmother's photo because I thought the white didn't look good next to the sepia toned photo. Also she was a watercolor artist so I thought it would be a nice way to honor her memory. Since I only have a few days left until school starts I thought I better get painting.

The challenge inspired me to finally pull the photo down off the wall, dig out my watercolors, and pick a blue to get as close as I could to her uniquely colored eyes. They were so blue they seemed gray to me.

This project took probably a total of 30 minutes. Seems silly after procrastinating for 4 years.

I love you Gram!

fun on a fridge

I found these magnets at Target the other day and couldn't resist because I'm a sucker for typography.

Of course when I got home I had to start labeling everything on the fridge redundantly.

Our fur niece (actually this label might help because when people see this picture they say, What is that?!):

Declaration of Love:

Colored by one of my students from last year (considering buying another set, but using Legos as Ls for now):

And then I had a creepy thought...what if a ghost started leaving messages with the letters like in Bag of Bones?!

I read this book by Stephen King earlier this summer with the Stephen King group on LibraryThing.

It's about this bestselling author whose wife, pregnant unbeknownst to him, randomly dies. After slipping into the expected state of depression for a few years Mike starts having bad dreams about his lake house. He finally packs up and heads out there even though his realistic nightmares scare the shit out of him.

Mike spends the rest of the story entangled in small town drama while trying to decipher what the ghosts in his lake house are trying to communicate to him. It's really creepy!

I remember reading lots of scary stories during the summer as a kid. I could not get enough. Reading Bag of Bones brought back some of that nostalgia for me while fulfilling my Thriller requirement for the Eclectic Reader Challenge.

P.S. I learned a new phrase from this book: shank's mare. He said a child was trying to go to the beach by shank's mare, which means by one's own legs. I think I'll ask students to go slowly by shank's mare in the hall this year.

Little Monster

Stellaluna got a new shirt today! Yes, she is a big fan of Lady Gaga, but she's also a Little Monster in her own way.

Don't be fooled by that sweet face!

Little Monster Eyes!

I actually have to give her some credit. Each class she does better and better in obedience. Today she met a new puppy and let a stranger pet her. She learned how to Stay and leave a treat on the ground without eating it! I'm proud of our shy girl. Next week is graduation...

MONSOON

Scrapping the Music is challenging us to use Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole as inspiration this month. I love his version!

I took some cool pictures of a monsoon storm we had about a week ago. The top pictures are of our backyard and the bottom ones are of the front yard. I rounded the corners on the front yard pictures to differentiate them from the backyard.

I started looking through my stash for some rainbow inspired supplies and found this embossed rainbow paper by love, elsie. I doodled over the embossing to make the sun and clouds stand out -- I actually didn't see a rainbow after this storm but whenever it rains it feels like I have a rainbow in my heart.

I traced one rainbow with markers to make it a focal point and journaling spot. Can you tell I was petting Stellaluna while taking photos of this scrapbook page?

When I was a kid I thought it was kind of dumb when I heard grown-ups talking about the weather. I may have even vowed to myself never to do it when I became a grown-up, and use infinitely more interesting topics of conversation with others. Here I am now making an entire scrapbook page about weather! Yes, I find weather interesting. How can you not when a 15 minute downpour sends water flooding down your street and creates 2 extra swimming pools in your backyard?

Project Life: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

For my trip to Kansas I wanted to organize my week a little differently. I chose 2-3 photos to represent each day and used my first insert, a baseball card holder, to record the little details of my trip. It was hard only picking a few pictures from each day but I fully intend to scrapbook all the pictures so I tried to only include the highlights.

The pictures from each day go chronologically from left to right. Wednesday I flew there. On our way back from the airport my niece's car hit 200,000 miles so we had to stop for pictures. Thursday was my niece Laura's graduation in Kansas City. After we went to Green Apple, a frozen yogurt place where you make it yourself and then pay by weight. Yum! Friday we went to Laura's for a bbq to celebrate her graduation. I spent a lot of time playing with my fur nephew, Toby.

The rows of journaling correspond with the day they're lined up next to.

My first insert! I trimmed down the papers to fit each slot, rounded the corners with my corner rounder, and traced on journaling lines from my Journaling Genie. I tried to focus on the smaller details I'm more likely to forget.

I used some stamps that have journaling lines on them on this page. Mr. Owl is a playing card. I saved the Kansas stamp from my niece's thank you card too.

I cut up 1 sheet of patterned paper with sayings all over it to mat each photo and provide continuity throughout. The sayings were ice cream related, which made me think of our night at Green Apple.

Saturday was my niece, Kayla's, graduation party and then high school graduation. I got lucky with that picture of her mid-silly-string-spray! Sunday was my niece, Alyssa's, fiancee's college graduation. Afterward we went to his party at a restaurant called Moni's. Finally you see my nephew, Kyle, in front of his first house which we stopped at on our way to the airport.

I had fun stamping the Kansas 2012 title. I got a ton of strips of cardstock from Creative Memories that I thought I'd never use which fit perfectly in these page protectors. Hoarding sometimes comes in handy. This time I adhered a strip of patterned paper left from my journaling cards to one before stamping.

It was a busy trip but I had such a memorable time with everyone. I can't believe it's already been 2 months since I was there.

P.S. Here is Nerd Nest's colorful Week 19.

I got my hair did yesterday!

I like it a lot! This is the 2nd time I've been to a new girl and I like her. But I still miss the old girl.

P.S. This horse picture is by Julian Wolkenstein.

Florence + the Machine

This month Child's Play Challenges asks us, "...to create a project inspired by the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine!" Seriously, who did not want one of these as a kid?!

Machine?! That reminded me that I never scrapped my pics from the Florence + the Machine concert I went to with my friends in April!

I have to give photo credit to Tina. I took a few crappy pics and put my camera away to dance and enjoy the concert. She asked if she could use my camera and took many incredible photos! They don't look as good in my pictures of my scrapbook pages. I should ask her to come over and take pictures of those too, I guess.

The only photo I took is the one in the circle on this page:

My friend Stephanie gave me those letter stickers about 11 years ago. They matched the font on the cd pretty well, but of course most were missing. I cut out the outline left on the sticker sheet to make up for the missing letters I needed. I think it created a cool effect. If you are going to get thrifty like me, my recommendation would be to first cut broadly around the letter, then peel off the back, then cut your letter along the outline last. If you cut it precisely first then it's really hard to peel off the backing without bending or ripping the letter.

I am addicted to journaling but I like how streamlined these pages are. I have a brand-new white pen calling my name too! But I will put all my journaling on my pre-concert page and post-concert page instead.

Florence was awesome by the way. Her voice is as powerful as a tornado siren and she runs around the stage like Stevie Nicks too. Definitely one you want to see live.

D.Q.

This week So Artful Challenges asks us to use ice cream colors (strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla) in our creations. I thought of my old college spring break pictures I've had sitting on my desk, one where I treated my nieces and nephew to some Dairy Queen.

I liked the spoon on this paper but I knew the paper was too serious.

So I cut the spoon out and added it to pink, brown, and white polka dot paper that reminds me of sprinkles.

I added a pint of brown on my photo mat, journaling block, and with rick rack. I am on a rick rack kick again. The bottom white one is made of fleece so it makes me think of marshmallow.

I've had Laura's Ice Cream sticker for about 4 years and coincidentally just came across it a few weeks ago. (That's my niece's name.) Serendipity.

Dancing Queen

This month at From Screen 2 Scrap their challenge is to use this movie poster as inspiration:

As an added challenge you can add pearls or rhinestones and a 2 word title.

Corey and I had an ABBA jam session when we were on our way back from Flagstaff the other night, and it gave me the idea for this challenge. These pictures are from my niece's wedding reception in 2010. You know how every family has a crazy dancing aunt? Well that's me! Luckily my mom had her camera ready.

I used mostly stickers and rick rack to make this fun page. I think those banner letter stickers are super cute. They are Recollections brand from Michaels. If you want to get them too, be forewarned that the adhesive does not stick. After I put them down they began popping up and I had to put more adhesive on the back. Bummer.

The crown sticker fulfills my rhinestone requirement. The old school dress tag came pre-made. I love trying to work in those old supplies. And I actually spelled QUEEN with a Q, U, 2 Ws, and an M. I can't be stopped!

What are you the queen of?

Project Life Week 18

Thursday features a yoga class I went to with my friend. This Project is encouraging me to take more pictures. I probably never would have taken a picture of the classroom but I think it turned out really cool. Friday I downloaded a new Rufus Wainwright song. Saturday we went to the theater to see The Avengers and it was awesome! Sunday the dogs treed a pack rat. They are so tough. I felt like I had to tell the whole story so I just used some notebook paper. Monday I watched the Amazing Race finale. Tuesday I scrapped with my friend Angi. She has a cute chalkboard menu sign in her kitchen and we got a special mention.

Wednesday I helped at the district track meet. This was Teacher Appreciation Week so I used cards from the principal as my base for Thursday and Friday. Thursday I sorted beads so my students could make bracelets or necklaces for Mother's Day. Friday my book club met to discuss Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi (we were split, most of us didn't like it but a few did). Saturday we finally rented Moneyball and loved it! This picture and the Amazing Race picture came from the internet. Sunday was the Survivor finale and I also got a Frappuccino from Starbucks for cheap! Monday and Tuesday I spent a lot of time getting ready for my trip to Kansas: sub plans, packing, and hair cut. You can see I've been picking up business cards - they provide information and leave me to tell the rest of the story.

That's my week in a nutshell.

P.S. Nerd Nest's Week 18 is here.

Project Life Week 17

A lot of school pictures this week! Looks like teaching is my life. Tuesday I took one more mural picture of a student who was absent on the day I took everyone else's. The desert was my favorite one too. Wednesday we did Play-Doh spelling. Thursday I had another student pass her timed test so we had McDonalds and she talked my ear off. So cute! That night I went to yoga. Friday we went on the lamest field trip of all time but at least it was free.

Here's a closer look at Monday. Strega Nona got a special visit from the pre-schoolers. She is a celebrity at my school!

Then it was Spring Break! Yay! I took this opportunity to use some goofy old letter stickers for my title. Somehow things I can't get to work in a traditional scrapbook look o.k. to me in a Project Life album.

Our nephew came for a visit on Saturday and played guitar. He's getting so good. I can't believe how much he's improved already since then.

We took the dogs for a walk on Sunday and coincidentally this was in the Sunday paper. I even cut the date out from the paper. Easy!

Monday I went for my annual! I always treat myself after. I got this post card at a book store that day to document the day.

Tuesday I knit with my friend Audrey at Starbucks. Corey called me a hipster.

Wednesday I had dinner with a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. Spring Break is my time to see friends I don't have time to see when I am totally consumed by school!

That's my week and a half!

P.S. Here is Nerd Nest's Week 17.

Project Life Week 16

I've been working on my Project but just haven't been posting them. Time to catch up.

This is my favorite week visually so far. It finally worked out that the first photo on the page was Monday so I worked to put the week cohesively on 2 pages.

I got the Days of the Week border tape at a scrapbook convention. Thursday is spelled wrong which is one of the reasons I stopped going to those conventions. Luckily it's nothing any crafter worth her scissors can't fix! Despite that I liked using the border tape for this week because it tied everything together so nicely.

Monday was my day to watch Amazing Race. I like including pop culture in my Project. Even though t.v. isn't the most important thing in my life there are certain shows I look forward to after a long day and I think it will be nice to remember them when I'm older. The journaling is on a page from a Smash Pad, one of the few things I haven't been able to resist purchasing for this Project. I got the photo from the Amazing Race website.

This week I also spontaneously went to a Florence + the Machine concert with my friends. It seems like I never go to concerts but I've been to a lot more lately. We had a lot of fun and Florence was astounding!

On Saturday we met our friends at Organ Stop Pizza, featuring the largest pipe organ in Arizona. The pizza wasn't anything to blog about but I got to hear Bohemian Rhapsody on a pipe organ and nothing can top that.

Tuesday documents our ongoing flood light battle with our neighbors. Wednesday features the first student in my class to complete level Z on our timed tests. I bribed the kids with a Happy Meal from McDonalds or a book from the book order if they passed. She chose McDonalds and it's only the 2nd time she's ever had it! I wish you could see her picture -- she's so cute! Thursday I took pictures of my kids in front of the new murals a volunteer painted at our school to include with our thank yous. Also super-cute of the kids. Stop by my house sometime and I can show you. Saturday morning I helped at the track meet and one of my former students won 2 medals! Saturday evening and Sunday morning we drained and filled our pool.

That's my week!

P.S. Here is Nerd Nest's week 16.