Seasonal Pocket Letters

In my last post I wrote about holiday mail.  Today I have just a bit more of my outgoing mail to share: two pocket letters.  First up is this autumn-themed letter.

Supplies: patterned paper from Doodlebug Design, alphabet stickers from October Afternoon, cat stickers from Mrs. Grossman's, pumpkin sticker from Mello Smello.

Click here for a closer look at that cross stitched acorn ornament.

Supplies: patterned paper from October Afternoon, to/from tag from Crate Paper, washi tape from 3M/Scotch, snowman stickers from my stash, all other stickers from Mrs. Grossman's.

And here is a Christmas-themed pocket letter that I recently mailed.  As you see, I use baseball card holders for my pocket letters.  My process is simple: I decorate the front of the card holder and hide the handwritten letter behind the decorations.  Long live snail mail!  :)

More Library Love

Hmmm, so far this month I have not written much about the library...until now.  :)  The library scrapbook page that I'm sharing in this post is just my style: it uses bright colors and lots of scraps.
 

Supplies: red & yellow cardstock from Neenah Paper, blue cardstock from Bazzill, dotted paper from American Crafts, plaid paper from Bo Bunny, striped & floral papers from Pebbles, alphabet stickers from October Afternoon, punch from EK Success, journaling line template from Creative Memories, pens from Zig.

I've already scrapbooked and blogged about how much my son loved his summer library project.  But I also wanted to make a page that tells how much *I* love the library.  On my scrapbook page I wrote: "I think I enjoyed the library project just as much as A. did.  I explored parts of the county that were unfamiliar to me, checked out lots of library materials...& took lots of photos!  Clockwise from top: Brookdale (photo by A.), Pierre Bottineau (selfie), and Southeast (selfie).  A. & I had so much fun!"

Brookdale, Pierre Bottineau, and Southeast are all branches of the Hennepin County Library (HCL) system.  Librarians gave out HCL stickers to patrons this past summer, and I used my sticker as part of my title: "I Really Do Love My HCL."

There is nothing better, in my opinion, than sipping a cup of hot tea or coffee and reading a book.  The last book I read was a library book, which you can see in this photo.  It's hard to wait for the new Star Wars movie to come out, so I've been getting my fix by reading some of the old novels.  This one, called The Crystal Star, was very good.  As for tea, lately I've gotten into cinnamon vanilla herbal tea, from the same company that makes the pumpkin spice tea that I wrote about a couple weeks ago.  The cinnamon vanilla tea has a rooibos base, and the tea is so aromatic and scrumptious!

If you are a tea aficionado, why not check out the T Stands for Tuesday blog hop?  I'm going to link up now.  See you soon!

I Couldn't Decide...

Looking for my City Crafter guest designer post?  Click here.

I couldn't decide whether to embroider something or make a card.  So I did both. 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; patterned paper from Doodlebug; playing card & tab from October Afternoon; corner rounder from Creative Memories; embroidery floss from DMC; ink from Clearsnap.

Happy Halloween!  Hope you get lots of treats and no tricks.  :)

Can You Tell...

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; patterned & white papers from Bo Bunny; stamp from Lawn Fawn; stamping ink from Hero Arts; edging ink from Clearsnap; colored staple from Target.

...that I love this paper?  I used it last month to make a scrapbook page, and now I've used it again to make this card.  Halloween is only 31 days away, so it's time to start getting ready!  :)     

2015 Library Project: July Month-in-Review

Hello!  It's time for the next instalment in my son's quest to visit all the libraries in Hennepin County.  When last I wrote about this project, my son had visited 27 of the 41 libraries so far.  Last month (July) he and I visited an additional six libraries.  Would you like to hear a little bit about them?  I think that this will be a long-ish post, so you might want to grab a something to sip before we start.  Covered beverages, like those pictured above (coffee for me, juice for my son) are allowed in the libraries, so go ahead and choose a beverage, and then we'll get started.

Of the six libraries that we visited, three were in the suburbs, and three were in the city (Minneapolis).  Suburban Rogers Library has been one of my favorites so far.  Isn't this seating area (pictured above) inside the Rogers library cute?  Long-time readers of my blog know how much I like color, and this library is decorated with lots of bright colors!
 

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokomis_Library

That said, I am really more of a city girl than a suburban girl, so I enjoy getting into Minneapolis to visit libraries like Nokomis (pictured above).  The Nokomis library is made with lots of Minnesota sandstone and other natural materials.
 

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Library

Another Minneapolis library that my son and I visited was Roosevelt (pictured above).  I've come to notice that people often get sentimental about libraries, and rightly so.  I was telling one of my husband's friends about our family's recent library adventures, and he told me that Roosevelt is the library that his mom used to take him to when he was a kid.  He fondly described the library and his favorite books that he used to check out over and over again.  There is just something about libraries that makes us happy, don't you think so?
 

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linden_Hills_Branch_Library.jpg

The last Minneapolis library that we visited was Linden Hills.  Besides visiting the library itself, we also visited a book store in the Linden Hills neighborhood.  I mention this because I think that Bleubeard may be interested to know that the bookstore, Wild Rumpus, has three resident cats (plus lots of other animals, too).  :)

The last two libraries that we visited in July were suburban ones.  I don't have photos of these two library buildings, but I did get some funny photos inside.  At the Champlin library you can pick up a summer reading contest form from R2D2.  (There is a shelf holding the forms inside his "head.")  

For even more fun, you can take advantage of a selfie opportunity at the St. Anthony library.  My son and I definitely love our HCL [Hennepin County Libraries].  If we can visit eight more libraries in August, we will have visited them all.  Will we achieve this goal?  Check back in about a month and I'll let you know...

2015 Library Project: June Month-in-Review

Hello!  Wow, I got such a great response to my last post about my son's summer library project.  Thank you.  I thought it would be fun to keep you updated on the project on a monthly basis.  We visited seven more libraries in June.  These are highlighted in blue on the map below.  (The libraries that we visited last summer are highlighted in yellow.)

Since I'm linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth's virtual tea party today, let's begin our tour in north Minneapolis, where you can have an imaginary teatime at the cafe in the North Regional Library's play area.  The mural in the background is an accurate depiction of Lowry Avenue, the street where this library is located.  In the background you can see a bit of the Lowry Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River, with the skyscrapers of downtown Minneapolis beyond that.

In another part of north Minneapolis, we enjoyed the Sumner Library.  This gorgeous building celebrates its hundredth birthday this year!  I didn't get a photo, but Wikipedia has one for you to see.

The third library in Minneapolis that we visited in June was Central Library in the heart of downtown.  This enormous building has four levels!  I can't even begin to guess how many books are there.  Or how many stairs.  As you see from the photo above, the staircases there are reminiscent of M. C. Escher's famous drawing.  There are elevators and escalators, too, for which I was very grateful, since we visited all four floors.

Moving on to the suburban portions of our escapade, we visited libraries that varied greatly in size.  The largest of these was the Edina Library, where I checked out Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.  (My take: good, but not as good as Eleanor & Park.  Have any of you read Rowell's books?)  The smallest library we visited was the Osseo Library, which is just one room in Osseo City Hall.

Other charming, small libraries that we visited include the St. Bonifacius Library (pictured above), whose building will celebrate its one hundredth birthday next year, and the Long Lake Library (pictured below), which is conveniently located in a small shopping center.  There really is great diversity among all the Hennepin County libraries.

Before I go, I need to thank fellow T is for Tuesday participant and Twin Citian Halle, who pointed out to me that the Excelsior Library has moved to a new building since last summer.  My son and I visited the new library building, where we were greeted by a delightful wood carving of a book-reading beaver.  If you include the Excelsior Library, my son and I actually visited eight new libraries in June.  Not bad, eh?  I hope that you have also enjoyed this virtual tour of those libraries.

#TBT Last Year at this Time...

This is my first time posting for Throwback Thursday (#TBT) on my blog.  I was just thinking about what a rainy June we had last year.  There was so much rain that water seeped into our basement and pooled on the floor.  Luckily, we have an unfinished basement with a concrete floor, so the damage was minimal.  But obviously we couldn't have water just sitting on the floor.  So, we got a sump pump.  And I love it.  Not for its looks, but for what it can do to prevent our basement from ever flooding again.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Bazzill; patterned paper, stickers, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; notebook paper from Cachet; doilies from Celebrate It; pen from Foray; ink from Tsukineko; household mechanical pencil & mini calendar page.

 
I love the sump pump so much that I scrapbooked a photo of it on the June month-in-review page of my 2014 album.  And I even used the shabby-chic style, just to show my love...the scrapbook page is kind of like a frilly Valentine card to my sump pump.  In fact, the big doily in the background is actually made of eight little heart-shaped doilies.  I realize that my love for the sump pump is a bit silly, yet I just can't help it.  And that makes me smile.  I hope this scrapbook page makes you smile, too.  May your June weather be pleasant and your basement (if you have one) stay dry.  :)

Cute Tape Idea

Hi, all!  This is just a quick post.  It's the end of the school year, so I was writing out teacher thank you notes yesterday.  To decorate the plain white envelopes, I used five kinds of decorative tape.  On some of the envelopes I placed the bits of tape in a straight line.  On other envelopes I offset the tape bits. 

All decorative tape by Scotch/3M.

I'm sure I'm not the first person in the world who has had this idea, but I still thought it turned out cute, and I wanted to share it, because cuteness is worth sharing.  Can you envision a scrapbook layout with page borders made of bits of tape arranged like this?  I think that would look good.  Well, I know what my next project will be.  :)

T is for Tags (+ Life Update)

Hi, tea fans!  It has been a long time since my last post.  I can assure you, though, that I have been drinking lots of tea since last we visited.  In fact, I even attended a tea appreciation event hosted by Minnesota-based retailer Tea Source.  I found out that Tea Source offers flights on Tuesdays, and I couldn't resist trying one (pictured below).  All the tea was yummy, but my goodness, that is a lot of tea for one person to drink.  Next time I plan to bring a friend to help me drink all that tea.

I had all sorts of goals and plans for how I would use my free time once my university course ended.  Life interfered, in the form of illness (a sore throat for me, ear infections for the rest of the family).  So, I have not been up to much lately.  However, I did accomplish one of my goals: I completed my 2014 family scrapbook!  It's always exciting to finish a big project.  I looked through the album to see if there were any pages I could share for tea day, and I came upon this Valentine's Day page.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; flair badge & bokeh paper from Lawn Fawn; title sticker from Bo Bunny: hippo paper from Imaginisce; border sticker, labels, tabs, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; pen from Zig; ribbon & calendar sheet from my stash; household stapler.

I have been obsessed with tags lately, and I used a tea tag as an embellishment on this page.  I also cut the side panel from the Valentine chocolate box that my husband gave me and upcycled that into a tag as well.

So that's what I have been up to lately.  Now I am off to see what is new with everyone else.  See you soon!

Frosted Four and a Freebie

Hi!  Sorry that I haven't made it around to check out everyone's blogs lately.  As I mentioned in my last post, I've been very busy with my university class and only finding time to make small things here and there.  Speaking of small things, here is one that I made recently.
 

Supplies: carstock from Neenah Paper; paint from DecoArt; ink from Tsukineko; glue from Elmer's; beads from my stash.

Why would I make a "frosted" paper four?  Because this happened...

Yes, I turned forty.  I can't wait to scrapbook my birthday photos.  I still have the paper four, and I hope to incorporate it into my page design as an embellishment.

My class ends in early May, so things will be back to normal soon on my blog.  In the meantime, I wanted to share this free printable from Shimelle.  It's perfect for birthdays, or for any time really.  You'll find a link to the full-sized printable at the bottom of this post.  Cheers!

A Breath of Spring

Anyone have spring fever?  Just for fun, I thought I'd share this spring scrapbook page today.  As you see, I am still dabbling in simple mixed media techniques.

Supplies: cardstock from Bazzill; stationery from Paperchase; pen from Zig; canvas fabric (for leaves) from Canvas Corp.; paint from DecoArt; spray must from October Afternoon; masks, washi, flower, & clock face from Natalie May Etsy.

It has certainly been the year of weird weather so far.  Wherever you are, I hope that good weather will come your way soon!

Party Time!

I have a Christmas page to share today.  I know that Christmas was a while ago, but I thought I might not be the only person who is still scrapping holiday photos.  Plus, even though my subject matter may not be up-to-the-minute, my inspiration is.  I love all the new party-themed scrapbooking supplies that debuted at CHA 2015 last month.  But being me, I decided to go the "green" route and decorate my page with actual party supplies instead of purchased scrapbook embellishments.

Supplies: patterned paper from Little Yellow Bicycle, cardstock from Neenah Paper; ink from Clearsnap; pen from Zig; reused Christmas wrapping supplies.

Side note: yes, my son is wearing shorts in that Christmas photo.  He always wants to wear shorts at home, even in the dead of winter.  I think it's because he's so active, he never seems to get cold.  We do make him dress warmly when we go out of the house, though.  Anyway, back to the scrapbook page.

As much as possible, I try to save and reuse gift wrap. That includes these green paper shreds, which were used as packing material in a gift that I received.  Most of them went into my gift wrap box, to be used again next Christmas.  However, I did set aside a few shreds to use in scrapbooking, and they made their way onto this page.

I also try to save gift bows to use again.  Instead of reusing this one to adorn a gift, though, I placed it on my page.  It makes a fun dimensional embellishment, and it squishes down well to fit in my album (as this photo shows).

Are you excited about the "party trend" in scrapbooking supplies?  I think these supplies are cute, and I'm sure you'll see me using them again sometime soon.

Top 14 of 2014

Hello, everyone!  We're only a couple weeks into 2015, but I hope that the new year is treating you well so far.  I've taken some time to reflect on my body of work from 2014, and I've come up with a list of my favorite projects.  Here it is, my "Top 14 of 2014."

Blogged here.

1.) My son left me a sticky note on this scrapbook page after he saw it.  The note says, "Dear Mom, Awesome!  I mean it!"  How could this not be my favorite project of the year???

 

Blogged here.

2.) This page celebrates the other special guy in my life, my husband.  Plus, I feel like I captured the romantic feeling of our anniversary really well in this page.

 

Blogged here.

3.) I also used the romantic style for this tag mini book, a project that turned out to be both beautiful and useful.

Blogged here.

 4.) In contrast to the romantic style of the last two projects, my favorite card of the year has a strong graphic style.  It was a great way to showcase that patterned paper that we all love.

 

Blogged here.

5.) I'm also proud of the strong graphic design of this page.  Plus, I always enjoy documenting my family's obsession with passion for kung fu.

Blogged here.

 6.) I'm happy that I was able to include so much journaling on this page.

Blogged here.

 7.) There is quite a bit of journaling on this one as well, plus I liked being able to include so many photos.

 

Blogged here.

8.) This computer banner made a great surprise for my husband on Valentine's Day.

Blogged here.

 9.) This gift card holder was also a great surprise, this time for a friend's birthday.  (The friend is a physics/astronomy teacher, so the star chart paper was a big hit.)

Blogged here.

 10.) The bold mix of colors and patterns on this page makes it a favorite of mine.

Blogged here.

11.) I also like the colors and pattern play on this one.

Blogged here.

12.  And, in contrast to the previous two projects, I liked using lighter colors and an airier design on this card.

Blogged here.

13.) In 2014 I often made cards in coordinating sets, something I hope to continue doing in 2015.  This set is my favorite from last year.

Blogged here.

14.) Finally, this page was just plain fun--fun to make and fun to look at.  And fun is what it's all about, right?  Right!

A Random Autumn Mood

I know the craze of the moment in Blogland is for Christmas/winter-themed art.  But I'm kind of in the mood for fall still.  Maybe it's because we're having unseasonably warm weather, with rain instead of snow.  When I went out over the weekend, it was so nice to wear a fleece jacket and high heeled boots instead of a parka and snow boots.  It made me wish for a pumpkin spice drink, a rare but treasured coffee treat for me.  The photo on the left shows how this drink actually looks.  The photo on the right shows how it makes me feel.  :) The toffee blondie is pretty darn good, too.

With the autumn mood upon me, I decided to make some pages in my art journal, which has a fall theme.  First I made a page to enshrine a photo of my friend's "haunted grape arbor."

Supplies: ticket & twine from Jenni Bowlin, paper from Kaisercraft, label from Bella Blvd, pen from Zig.

Next I made a page about a Halloween science fiction novel that I recently read.  The number stickers (from Bella Blvd)  don't signify anything; I just like the way they look.

Both of these pages are kind of random, but art journals are a good place for randomness.  :) TFL!