Project Monday

Hey friends : )  I knew right away i wanted to do a Chinese inspired page with cute little flags for this pic. I had a Chinese inspired 12x12 album that i store all the pages that match that theme that i never use so i drew from there. I wanted the recipe to look like a scroll pinned up on the wall so i used gold wired thred-like ribbon and some eyelets. I distressed the edges of everything to give it a little old world feel. I found the warm colors to be quite and comforting yet represent the picture. Hope you enjoy lovies!!

Love, Stephanie

Your Appointment with Friday

Hi lovely people and happy Friday night!  Well, right now I am sitting on my bed snuggled up with Pumpkin at a Lodge in Snowbird.....and there is snow everywhere!  It's beautiful!!!  I decided that since I'm on vacation to take a week off from Bubblegum Life, and so you lucky people get to be inspired by the sweet and talented Stephanie Kelley from My Creative Brightside : )  And she has chosen the perfect photo prompt!  So without further ado, her is her inspiration.....

Comfort Foods

RECIPE FOR EGG DROP SOUP

serves 4

    4 cups chicken broth

    2 tablespoon dark soy sauce

    2 large egg

    4 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions for garnish

Steps

    - Beat eggs in small bowl - set aside

    - Heat the broth in a small pot and bring to a boil

    - Stir in soy sauce

    - Return to a boil then turn off the heat

    - While stirring soup in a fast circular fashion with a fork,
       slowly pour in beaten egg

    - Continue stirring until egg gets all cool and kinda stringy &
       that's it

    - Serve in a bowl with the green on top or panko crumbs which is
       what i did in the picture

The things we find comforting are in such a wide range from chocolate covered cherries to deep fired pickles :) I know it is a rather strange dish to call my comfort food but egg drop soup and i go way back. I have always had a fascination with ethnic foods and strange cuisine. My father used to feed me fresh octopus and frog legs when we would vacation in Mexico. So that being said its only natural that i would end up taking comfort in the gooiness of this tasty soup. I would sometimes go to China Wokery when i had a bad day and either sit alone and enjoy this, if my pride let me, or get a huge take out carton to enjoy in the comfort of my own home. Now, i have finally gotten up the courage to make my own and i must say it was quite comforting!! Lets see what your comfort foods look like!!

Lovingly,

Stephanie Kelley ( & Carrie )

Project Monday

Happy Monday to you : )  First to share her project today is our lovely, talented, beautiful guest, Ally*Cakes.....

when i went to create this layout, i was so inspired by a conversation that nely and i had a day or so earlier,,, we both have this crazy {ahem} obsession with these adorable charms and embellishments,, she had said what a great idea to create a layout with only these precious treasures that we hoard,,,  so i thought this prompt would be so fun to create a layout with just those,,, not to mention, carrie did ask me if i were to create a layout in only one color, which color would that be,,, i just had to prove i really, really meant it!!!

thanks again carrie!!!

{xoxo} ally*cakes

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Isn't she just adorable!?!  Ally's scrapbooking is always so fun and inspirational!  Thanks so much Ally for sharing a super fun photo prompt and your awesome layout!!!  

For my project this week here is my finished Spring 2011 album using instax photos.....there is one page/photo for each day I was in Washington.....and here is an idea of what it looks like (there would be like 30 photos if I shared every page).....I hope you like : )


I used the clips below to attach movie stubs, business cards, etc.....




Each day is a page with a photo and journaling that summarizes my day.  I had to keep things simple since this project was created and completed while I was traveling.....


The instax photos are attached to each page with the decorative tapes from Color Me Miki......


And the page below is a list of my LOVES for Spring this year (you can also see the green envelope popping out from behind a couple layers in the photo below.....it holds extra instax photos from my trip).....




I had to keep the pages as thin as possible so everything would fit, so there is mostly just photos, and journaling with some layered paper/sticker borders.....And the page below is very special since I spent most of that day with my Grandpa.  He told Amber and I stories about his life and we looked at all his old black and white photos.  The instax below is of his graduation photo and on the opposite page are some notes I jotted down.....things he told me about his life that I wanted to remember.....






And in case you didn't already know, I created this handbound journal that holds it all during a lovely afternoon of crafting with my baby brother and sister <3


Have a great week everyone!
Love, Carrie and Ally

Your appointment with Friday

Happy Earth Day, Good Friday, Easter weekend, or whatever your preference may be!  I have a feeling that today's photo prompt will inspire you to be adventurous!!!  And so here it is, along with Ally's super fun take:

Other Cameras Need Love Too

i love the idea of switching up your camera.  often, we tend to stick to what works best, or what we are most familiar with.  case in point, how often do you see photo booths??  until recently, i totally forgot all about them, or, dismissed them, rather, when passing them up.  a few months ago my kids and i were at sea world, which we often do and my little girl said *mama, lets go in there*,, i stopped, and was like, dang, what a great idea.  and of course a wave of regret ran through me because i just realized i had missed so many years of photo booth opportunities.  such a bummer.  now, i make it a point, every single time i see a photo booth, wether im in a rush or not,, stop and take pictures,, maybe even do a few different photo shoots.  its so much fun,, im loving it!!!

thanks for having me carrie, and allowing me to share my story!!

{xoxo} ally

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Aren't Ally's photo booth pictures so stinkin' cute!?!  I just love it!!!.....and I totally feel inspired to go have some taken myself, you? 

For my photos I am sharing some instax that I took the last few days I was in Washington.....

The timing of Ally's photo prompt couldn't be more perfect for me.  Since getting my DSLR last summer, I rarely use other cameras, however, while I was in Washington and snapping away with Clem (my Canon Rebel), I also was taking on an average 2 or so Instax photos a day.  And boy was it a big hit!  Every time I took it out of my purse to take a pic whoever was around got just as excited as me to see how they were going to turn out.....super fun!!!  There is something about being in a place taking a photo and watching the image of what you just took appear before your eyes to cement a wonderful memory in your mind.  The photo upper left is of my baby sister with her puppy.....they are so cute together.....like two peas in a pod!  Upper middle is our visit to Port Townsend.....it was pouring down rain and we all had a blast!!!  Upper right and lower left is Freshwater Bay.....another fun afternoon with my Dad.....we had a yummy picnic lunch together and that was our view.....lovely!  Lower middle is me holding one of my sister's baby duckies.....that was a sweet morning for sure.....little duckies are so soft and make the cutest little noises : )  And last but not least lower right is my last day in Sequim before leaving.....a walk back from The Spit, my Mother looks so tiny compared to all the big beautiful trees <3

What other types of cameras do you sometimes use to take photos?  Your phone?  Or a pin hole camera maybe?  Share your ideas with us (and photos if you have them).....I don't know about you, but I often get excited when trying new things, especially when it comes to photography.

Have a lovely weekend,

Love, Carrie and Ally

Playdate with Ally Serrato

I am so excited to have Ally as my special guest for April!  Many of you know her from the Pink Ninja Addicts and their awesome kits (which I personally LOVE).  To me, she is a dear friend : )  Here are a few things about her you might not know.....

• what artsy plans do you have for the year??  as any lover of all things crafty, i alway plan on expanding my style and working on my creations and projects more & more.  creating is so much fun and oh so therapeutic to me.  i adore it.  but mostly, im really looking forward to the pink ninja crops that my bestie and i will be hosting!!!  the first one is coming up quick, april 30th, {still spots left if youre in the area and interested},, and another june 4th.  cant wait to see how theses pan out and to plan more for the future. 

• if your hair could be any color of the rainbow, what color would it be?  so easy.  pink.  fuchsia actually, and yes, it is in the rainbow.  my rainbow at least.  :-)

• what cameras do you own and use other than your DSLR?  i have a fisheye, never used.  it was sorta a silly impulse purchase.  i have several point and shoot pocket cameras.  ive always got one on me, but as of late, my favorite camera is my good ol iphone.  i swear, is there anything that phone cant do??  i love it so much, especially instagram. 

• whats your favorite Easter candy?  cadbury eggs and reeses peanut butter eggs.  of course, calories dont count, right??  i sure wish i had a body that i could eat whatever i wanted,, sadly, i usually stay away from easter candy.  {sad face}

• what music do you like to listen to while scrapbooking these days?  i love all the top 40 on satellite for scrapbooking, but my all time favorite music is reggae.  i love it a lot, a lot.  

See you Friday for her super cool photo prompt!
Love, Carrie and Ally

Project Monday

Wow!  I can't believe March is almost over.  I am still loving time with my family in Washington, and hope that this month has been good to you too : )

For my project this week, I though it would be nice to share a page in my Spring travel art journal.....

You may have seen THIS post on my personal blog, where I shared a day of art journal making with my little brother and sister.....

And so, I figured it would be perfect to add my photo from our last photo prompt to my little 4x7.5 inch journal.  I ended up not adding the photo in order, but instead, choosing some pages that I though it look best with.  And the flower photo is actually a full page, where I'll add something fun to the back side eventually.  The journaling is taken from my post, and I doodled around it with a dark purple marker.  The purple frame that is on the photo itself is a Hambly sticker, and the alphas are from the Color Me Miki shop.  I really did enjoy this small project and am happy with how colorful and happy it turned out.....which is perfect because I was so excited for the pretty pretty raindrops that day <3

I plan to share more of the pages I've completed in my journal on my personal blog sometime this week.  It's simple, but I think the fact that I am actually adding a photo with journaling everyday has to count for something : )

 
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And now here is Blondie's sweet project.....

...Using her art journal that she created and handbound herself!!!

And here are her thoughts on the process:

I used this wonderful colored paper for these photos because I thought it was just perfect for enhancing nature photos!  The birds and butterflies flying around!  They make me feel happy and joyful :)  Although, Gnome world is especially my favorite!  The way the grass is so green and the plants are so purple its so fairytale like.  And the Pink flower looks like it's so sad that it has not been bought yet!  The Feild of white is like a soft pillow of flowers, and the photo of the catkins from an alder tree reminds me of catapiller in chrysalis.  This whole experience has just been so fun!!! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Have a great week!!!

Love, Carrie and Blondie

Your appointment with Friday

Hello!  And welcome to another lovely Friday!!!  For this week's photo prompt I decided to take advantage of Springtime officially being here......SO this weeks prompt is:

Flowers In Bloom

My Mom has these lovely bulbs growing in her front yard.  One afternoon, I was sitting at her dining room table playing with Pumpkin, and it started to rain!  My eyes got big and happy.....Eeek.....My first rainy day in Sequim!!!  I quickly grabbed my camera and dashed outside to get a photo of the lovely raindrops daintily perched atop these bright bulbs.  The photo just above reminds me a little of the original animation of Alice In Wonderland.  It kinda feels like that one flower wants to talk to us, like her mouth is just starting to open and say something sweet.....what do you think?!?

Well, actually I also think that today is super special because my other little sister (we'll call her Blondie) is joining us!  Just wait till you see her photos.....they are absolutely beautiful!!!

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Take a look for yourself.....

To me the photo above is like a window to Springtime!  And the pic below reminds me of a miniature forest in gnome world.....

This week has given me many great days of looking forward to taking my flower photos, and taking time to enjoy nature as the season changes from Winter to Spring.  I also am having the most wonderful time with Carrie.....these specific photos were taken in three different locations.  The Flower and Garden show here in Sequim, my front yard, and down the street from my house while on a lovely stroll with my big sista!  This week while you're out and about you might want to take the time to look at what little signs of Spring are in your life : )

Thanks for stopping by today!

Love, Carrie and Blondie

Project Monday

First to share her project today, is our super cool guest, Kelly Purkey!  Just look at the gorgeous layout she made using her photo from our last photo prompt.....

I knew that I wanted to use the photo as a bigger enlargement on the page to really let it be the showcase of the layout.  That left me just a little bit of room to add in some supplies, so I took advantage of the space and added in some pops of color with Studio Calico Mister Huey's Color Mists.  I punched a few butterflies and used them as masks for my misting.  I created the little title block down at the bottom of the layout to add in some more fun elements like label stickers and buttons.  Everything used to create this layout came from my Studio Calico March kits.

And here's my layout.....


So, since I'm currently visiting with family in Washington, I decided to make it easy on myself and create a digital layout for my project today.  I have really been enjoying printing out my digital layouts this year and adding them to my 2011 album, and now I can't wait to do the same for this one!

When I set out to create this layout, i knew I wanted it to be soft and kinda sweet looking, so when I found this shade of pink to use for the background I was stoked.  I layered it with a woodgrain texture that Ryan had bought for me years ago, and then created different size scallops with the text "c".  Last I added my text/writing.....and that's pretty much it.  Easy peasy : )

Enjoy your week!

Love, Kelly and Carrie

Your appointment with Friday

Hello Friday!  Thanks for stopping by today : )  Our special guest, Kelly Purkey is sharing a cool new photo prompt, that will really get you thinking!  Here it is, along with her spectacular photo.....

Looking Up

When my friend came to visit, she requested a trip to a museum so I immediately thought of the Guggenheim because I'd never been inside.  I love art museums and admiring the paintings, sculptures, photographs... but I have to say the most incredible sight in the museum is the view looking up.  The sun shines through the window and the circular architecture is just so cool.  I always spend so much time just looking around and it was a perfect reminder to look up.  Sometimes the view is spectacular!

And here is my photo.....

Ever since Kelly chose the prompt Looking Up I have been looking up right and left, and just not seeing anything that I really wanted to remember.....until yesterday, when I was jaunting around Seattle with my sister Amber, and saw this beautiful totem!  Perfect!!!  I snapped my photo with a big smile : )  I think they are so cool.  I wonder what story this one tells?  All that lovely weather worn wood, the pale colors and detail in the carvings.....so much character.  When you look up, what do you see or want to remember?

Love, Kelly and Carrie

Playdate with Kelly Purkey

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!!  This month we are lucky enough to have the sweet Kelly Purkey as our special guest.  To find out more about her (like to see her brand new Sketchbook 3 Class) you can visit her blog, but to start off here is a fun Q&A:

• Where are some of your favorite places to photograph from your travels?  It may sound boring, but I love taking photos on the beach.  The blue water with the blue skies just makes me happy.  Looking back at those photos always makes me smile and remember how peaceful and perfect those trips were.

• What random stuff is inspiring you this Spring?  This Spring I've really been inspired by new fabric!  I recently made a trip to Purl in Soho and picked up some beautiful new Liberty of London fabric that's begging to be used.

• What would your dream meal be on a lovely afternoon this Spring?  Eating in the park is one of my favorite things to do when it starts to warm up.  My dream meal would be tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches from 'Wtichcraft in Bryant Park. Eaten with my friends Jennifer McGuire and Nichol Magouirk, of course.

• What is one of your favorite scrapbook products right now?  My favorite product right now is my White Mister Huey's Color Mist from Studio Calico.  It is the only opaque white mist out there and so fun to use on every project.

• Do you have a favorite snack/drink combo for while you're scrapbooking?  I am constantly snacking when I scrap... I love candy (and it keeps me on a sugar high for those late nights) and right now I've got Starburst jelly beans.

See ya tomorrow to share her fun new photo prompt : )
Love, Carrie and Kelly

Your appointment with Friday

Wow!  Did this week fly by fast or what?!?  I have happily been busy preparing for my visit to Washington next week, where I get to spend a whole three weeks with my family : )  And guess what?  Today I am super excited because my sister Amber is joining us for this weeks photo prompt!!!  Here it is along with her adorable photos all the way from the Evergreen State.....

4 Days In a Row

picture one is monday-beginning of the week which means i wanna be wearing comfy shoes.  vans are tuesday when i went to volunteer at the library.  wednesday are my earth brand shoes which i got at goodwill for 7 bucks and they're 150 dolla shoes!  yeah!  wore em to the bakery.  the bogs are thursdays shoes for cleaning ponds to keep my feet nice and dry!

What a cute little peek into her world, huh?!?  Here are my photos from earlier this week.....

I couldn't decide on just one thing to photograph for 4 days in a row, so I ended up doing a self portrait, taking a pic of what was covering my legs, and photographing the same patch of flowers.

Day 1 it was cloudy, cool and overcast.  I wore my warm beannie and tights with a dress.  (A little known fact about me is that when it rains here in San Diego you will almost always find me in a dress.  Just for fun.)  And you can see that some of the flowers were either partially or mostly closed.

Day 2 was warm, so I sported one of my favorite tee shirts and some comfy jeans.  The flowers were all open soaking up the sun.

Day 3 another typical sunny day, and I decided to wear a bow in my hair.  As you can see I have my same boots on.....they're new and so I've been trying to find cute outfits to wear with them.  The moss below my feet got a little thicker, and some of the flowers started to loose their petals along with new ones that began to blossom.

Day 4 was hot, so I took shelter in the shade of a tree for my self portrait.  I wore a lacy dress and some textured tights.  The moss was thicker and more yellow, and the flowers looked pretty much the same to me as the day before, so I kinda shot through them so I could get a better feel of all the layers.

Remembering my 4 days like this is really special.  It's different than chronicling your days.  It's seeing how one thing changes over time or from day to day.  What adds variety to your days?

Love, Carrie and Amber

Project Monday

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a nice weekend, and if you decided to play with your camera, enjoyed our last prompt : )

For my project this week, I created a 6x12 layout.....


The paper details I cut out are from an old stash of some of my favorite papers, and the background paper is newer Sassafras Lass.....I just love their Paper Crush line!  I layered a piece of 35 mm film and some trim behind the photo, added brown paint splatter, some journaling with my typewriter, sewing with hot pink thread, a small white doily, Prima flowers.....And to tie it all together, the purple and white baker's twine is from the lovely Color Me Miki's shop.


I knew I wanted my layout to be colorful and bring out all the different hues in my photo.  And that's how I remember that moment being.....when I took Nely's photo.....filled with lots of happy color!  Maybe it's one of the reason's scrapbooking is so therapeutic to me.  You can take a cold winter evening, add scrapbook product to a photo, and presto!  A colorful, happy memory!!!

If you have the winter blues, try creating something colorful today.....I bet it will help : )

And here's Nely's artsy layout (using the Pink Ninja Addicts March Kit).....

For this layout I wanted something fun to capture the "jump",  I started with a basic square layout and just added the butterflies to give the feel of motion.  Makes me happy!!  Have a happy Monday!!"

Love, Carrie & Nely