Happy Banned Books Week!

Like a true pirate I've been celebrating Banned Books Week since 2009 by going out of my way to read books others have deemed unfit for society. It started with Fahrenheit 451 by the late Ray Bradbury, which was not banned but imagines what a society where book banners are king would be like.

Then in 2010 I reread To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book is so beautiful I can't imagine why people would want to keep it out of others hands and minds. It's really hard to choose a favorite book, but whenever asked this title always comes out of my mouth.

Last year I read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov which turns you into a person who roots for a pedophile. Twisted.

This year I'm reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. It was banned in the USA for moral reasons. I bought it last year at Ken's old hangout, City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. I wish I had more time to wander around in there, exploring all the nooks and soaking up the energy. Hopefully someday I will return!

Open Door, Open Books, Open Mind, Open Heart: excellent theme for Banned Books Week!

Lots of cool memorabilia inside!

What will you read for Banned Books Week?

P.S. I found my treasure chest of banned books here.

Happy Harvest Moon! Look for Uranus!

At some point tonight the full moon will be above Uranus, which will look like a green star. Read more about it at The Huffington Post.

A full moon and Uranus together sounds special!

P.S. The Birth of the Moon is by Raina Gentry.

Project Life Week 24

This week documents picking weeds, having a few friends + their puppies over for swimming, my parents first time swimming in our pool, Stellaluna's 2nd obedience class, Captain getting his shots updated, and the 4th of July.

I had a whole page of journaling blocks in the shape of garden items. I used the trowel even though I pulled by hand.

I'm so glad I took a picture of Stellaluna at the beginning of every obedience class. In her first picture she was frantically climbing up my leg. Here she is already sitting.

I had so much fun journaling around the design of this scrap of patterned paper. This Project is good for play.

I liked trying to journal inside the circles.

This one was fun and easy. I used star patterned paper and a 4 glitter sticker to pair with my annual photograph of my American flag shoes on the 4th. I usually don't get to scrap these photos which is another reason why I love this Project!

This week documents some books I read, a 4th of July party at Joe and Jon's, a couple of pack walks, our friends helping make the most awesome dinner at the 4th of July party, and Stellaluna's 3rd obedience class.

On this day I finished a book and started a new book. How could I fit 2 photos in 1 picture? I read this tutorial at Nerd Nest. I have an older version of Photoshop than she does but I was still able to figure it out using her instructions. I added some border tape on the left hand side after I printed it out.

For fans of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: The prequel, Ya-Yas in Bloom, is a lighthearted supplement to the story. I was emotionally scarred by Little Altars Everywhere. If you felt the same way, don't let that experience spoil Ya-Yas in Bloom for you. It's safe.

This is from a fashion spread in a magazine. I just trimmed and stamped. Also whenever I use this Manganese Blue paint I have to say IT'S MY FAVORITE COLOR TO STAMP WITH! It's dark yet translucent.

Look! Her first class where she's not focused on me! Having the courage to look around is a good sign.

And now I can't stop journaling in circles.

P.S. Here is Nerd Nest's week 24.

Happy 1st Day of Fall!

Forecast for today: partly cloudy with a high of 107.

P.S. Fall2006018 is by JK Lamkin.

Joanna Coles Similes

On episode 5 of Project Runway, It's My Way on the Runway, teams had to create a collection for the working woman. Michael Kors had a decent metaphor about Gunnar's dress, "This is the souffle that flopped," but he's used souffle references before. I preferred the simile guest judge Joanna Coles used better:

When that dress came down the runway I thought it looked like 2 puppies wrestling in a sack.

Which gives me the opportunity to share my picture of Corey wrestling Boba and Jango when we puppy sat last month. Yes, they're just puppies.

happy belated talk like a pirate day

Ahoy, rum, walk the plank, etc.

P.S. In Search of the Beast is by the dread pirates Josh Kenyon & Colby Nichols.

That Fucking Tree

Child's Play Challenges Storybook Challenge this month is to use The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein:

To me The Giving Tree is a sad story so it made me think about the mesquite tree we are battling in our front yard. It's covered with giant spines that pierce our gloves and skin. If you tried to climb up her trunk and swing from her branches you would probably die. Any time we trim and repair it we wind up swearing, which is why I called this page, That Fucking Tree.

I cut off some actual spines to include on my page so when I'm old I won't think I made up those awful things. I should have waited until the glue dries to take the picture though.

The one good thing about that fucking tree is the mourning doves love building their nests in there. It has a built-in security system.

We think we're going to have an arborist remove it and plant something less painful. I was thinking a tree more like this one would be nice:

P.S. Sorry, I can't find a photo credit for the book tree picture.

Project Life Week 23

Summer time! Ah it sure was nice to have all that free time!

This week documents a taking my cousin to his first baseball game, getting a facial, Corey's 40th birthday, the dogs sleeping together on the couch, cat sitting, and buying the new Fiona Apple cd.

I used a piece of a border sticker and a scrap that I tested a stamp on to put it together.

Here I just added some number stickers.

My friend Angi gave me these stickers with words on them, which I use to add a quick accent.

I didn't get any pictures of the kitties this time, so I used a magazine ad for Basic Grey and another cute word sticker.

When I opened my new Fiona Apple cd it had some postcards inside. I included the cutest here.

This week documents my nephew's birthday, Stellaluna's first obedience class, our 13th anniversary, a birthday dinner with my friend Stephanie, and hanging out with my friend Jon.

The story behind our anniversary pictures is...we went to Filiberto's for lunch. On the way in we saw an old mini cooper so I took Corey's picture next to it. On the way out there was a new mini cooper parked in the same spot so Corey took my picture next to it. This is what delights us after 13 years.

I was so glad I took a picture of Stellaluna at each obedience class. You can really see a change in her each time. Here at our first class she is climbing up my leg in terror.

While I was at Jon's house Joe texted him and asked that we send a picture of what we were doing. So we held up my scissors and sent a cute picture. Then Corey and Joe texted a mocking picture of them reading A Feast for Crows together. Ha ha! I used a Smash pad page for journaling.

P.S. Here is Nerd Nest's week 23.

Wallace by Jim Gorant

The first sentence on the back cover of Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls--One Flying Disc at a Time says, "Today, Wallace is a champion." Spoiler alert! Basically the entire story is laid out on the back cover (and in the title), but somehow the details of a couple rescuing a high energy pit bull and training him to be a disc catching maniac still propelled me through the book.

Before reading this story I knew basically nothing about competitive disc, but the author made me feel like an expert without boring me. Reading descriptions of Wallace redirecting his energy toward dashing after and catching discs thrown by Roo Yori made me turn pages like it was The Hunger Games. I loved reading this feel-good story that gives the pit bull some positive press. In fact, this is my favorite nonfiction story I've read so far this year. The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption, another book by Jim Gorant, has already been added to my wishlist.

At the beginning of the book Roo and Clara had 0 dogs. By the end they had 6 rescue dogs living in their house. Ok phew! At least there are people out there even crazier nicer than us.

Project Life Week 22: Palm Springs edition

Back in June we took a family trip to Palm Springs. Yesterday I finished all the journaling in the inserts while watching the Broncos dominate the Steelers so I am ready to share at last.

You see a photo of a sign warning people not to work on their flat tires, when 30 minutes into our trip 1 car in our caravan already had a flat tire, time by the pool, me with a dress made by Andy Warhol at Palm Springs Art Museum, and a giant statue of Marilyn Monroe we found at the street fair.

I love these baseball card holders. I jotted all the little memories before they're gone on stamped journaling lines. Also the palm tree, colored with colored pencils, is my first time spreading one object between multiple pockets...oooh!

Notice my title is actually just a photograph I took of a mural.

I cut it into 3 pieces.

The right pages, first the backside of the insert:

I used patterned paper with rick rack stripes to tie the photos together.

This page documents our ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, a trip to The Living Desert, and our departure. Always goes by too fast!

I love the giraffe pic I took of my sister-in-law! Here's what those 2 vertical pics look like turned around:

I had to dig out all of the maps, receipts, and post cards to finish up my journaling which made me excited to get this trip scrapbooked!

P.S. Here is Nerd Nest's Week 22.

Happy Halloween!

This month From Screen 2 Scrap challenges us to use this movie poster as inspiration:

As an added challenge they ask us to use a black base, a house somewhere on your page, and a title with one word in RED letters.

So I thought I should highlight the Halloween decorations we put outside our house last year:

The house is a page torn out of Somerset Studio magazine. It was made by Michelle Ward. I added our house numbers above the door with black stickers but covered it up to share here since a pirate's lair is top secret. I tried to put my photos around the haunted house as though they were decorating its yard. I used a circle template on the bush photo to give it the landscaping it needs. I did not want to add a red word in the title since there isn't much red anywhere else on the page. Instead I traced HAPPY with an orange pen to make the letters stand out from the patterned paper.

And now I'm in the mood for Halloween! Maybe I'll even watch The Last House on the Left.

40

Take a Word Challenge threw out some numbers this week to inspire us. I thought of our big number celebration from this summer: Corey's 40th birthday!

I knew I had some patterned paper with numbers on it so I started with that as my base. I dug out some random pictures of Corey from my picture box to trim with my 40 stencils. In both childhood pictures he was wearing a shirt with a number on it. I used an old price tag which had been stamped with You Are One of a Kind, and 4 candles (1 for each decade) as my number embellishments. The last place you'll find numbers is in the date.

This was a fun and quick page to put together!

For the fans of Captain Skippyjon Jones: I would also like to add that this was Captain's perfect day as well. He loves nothing more than lying between the 2 of us in bed! He was in heaven.

quote of the day

Today after school one of my students got very excited and said, "She has an indian flower!" I started looking around to see what he was talking about. Can you guess what his classmate was holding?

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A feather!

P.S. Poncho and the Magic Feather is by Marnie Vollenhals.

I got cat class & I got cat style

Scrapping the Music challenges us to use Stray Cat Strut by the Stray Cats as inspiration. Haven't heard that song in awhile but I like it! Listening to it again made me think of the wacky cat my niece and I saw napping against the glass in a store's window display 4 years ago:

Definitely a cat with cat class and cat style! I used 1 piece of patterned paper, 2 cardstock photo mats, 2 cat stickers, 2 cat brads, Basic Grey letter stickers & punch outs, and 1 cat die cut to journal on.

Since I had all those old pictures dug out I decided to make a companion page for our day of shopping on "Mass Street." It was easy to put together - 5 pictures and a giant sticker on 1 page!

I bought the evolution sticker in the shape of Kansas that day. It came from 80 Acres Art.

pedicure time

Punky Scraps asks us to use this picture as our inspiration piece:

Around the same time I discovered the Punky Scraps challenge, Collage Obsession had a challenge to use the concept of footprints. That made me think of the pedicure I got with my nieces in May. I then used a reversed sketch of the Punky Scraps inspiration piece for my scrapbook page:

I stamped some polka dots in the corners to add texture and update an outdated piece of patterned paper. The die cuts are really old too. I have a million die cuts and I hardly ever use them, but the collage element of the inspiration piece compelled me to incorporate some. I cut the arrows out of a piece of a newer piece of patterned paper to match the toes to the girl.