Envelopes Albums???

Today I got to thinking about envelopes and how many options that they offer. How cool would it be to make an envelope album!

Think of all the different themes and the different ways you could construct it.

You could devote a whole album to a loved one. For example, you would write them a letter on the different reasons why you love them or it could be source of encourgament when they are going through a rough time.

You could write letters, store scraps, and reciepts for a baby on the way.

You could find different themed envelopes of course to coorindate to your writing topic such a music sheet for favorite songs or songs that remind you of someone, a map for traveling or finding yourself, etc.

I think this would be a great birthday, Valentine's day, Mother's or Father's day, or a just because gift.

Or, you could give it to someone as a New Years gift or anniversery gift and find 365 envelopes to store love letters, quotes, or pictures into each day's enevlope.

Wow. I have inspired myself!!!

Here is a printable envelope template by ziggityzoom.com, here is one by intimate weddings, and here is one by enchanted learning. There are tons out there. Here are some sources of inspiration. . .

source

source

source

source

source

source

Look at the progress . . .

Our drawing portfolio was due today. Here are my drawings that I turned in. They are posted in the order that we drew them in class. It is amazing how much I learned and grew. I really do love this class!!!

First day of class - we were suppose to draw what was in front of us.

Positive and Negative Shape

Contour Line - I am not good a structural line

Local Value - Yes, that is suppose to be a pinecone.

Light and Shadow - This one was on display!!!

Tonal Value - Don't ask about the hand.

Conte Crayon - the hardest drawing ever!!

How often do you draw with a white crayon?

Midterm Tonal Drawing

February's Sentences

Well, I completed all my sentences for February as part of my New Year's Goal. To read January’s click here.

1. Today I had a mini photo shoot with little Chipper.
2. It feels good /right to reach out to people when you think they are scared to reach out themselves.
3. I met my little sister today. It will be an exciting and chatting adventure.
4. Always be there for someone, your presence will mean more to them than you’ll ever know.
5. Lunch with Jessica, soup and veggies for supper by Henry, and Brokeback Mountain for entertainment; what a great birthday day!
6. We walked while the Cowgirls ran and you saved the day – and me!
7. This weekend you sacrificed a lot to show me how much you mean to me. Wow!
8. Your time is the greatest gifts that you can give another.
9. Today I found a great friend and crocheting buddy.
10. Always choose your words carefully, especially in moments of weakness and misery.
11. Always take the opportunity to tell someone new, “This is him.”
12. Today I was told I need to start my own photography business.
13. It is back, Our Room is back!
14. Today is Valentine’s Day but the best part of our love is that everyday feels like today.
15. The cold bug came and bit me today.
16. I love having excuse to drink hot tea, eat ice cream, and watch TV.
17. Go to the Fine Arts building and you’ll see a little something I drew.
18. I got to spend time with my friend, Jessica, and her prego sister, Lacey, make a diaper cake, and a reupholster a car seat.
19. Sometimes it is still hard to face reality even though you know it is coming.
20. Everyone deserves to be with someone who makes them feel truly loved.
21. Once you know how to really love, you want to show others what it feels like and make them feel it.
22. I decided it is time to get my hair cut and crochet a bath scrubby.
23. I am proud of how much math I have learned on my own.
24. A new a cut and sushi – what a day!
25. Today I really did become Elvira.
26. Wyoming baseball sometimes calls for baseballs in the snow.
27. We double dated to Fort Collins.
28. If something is weighing on your heart, talk about it.

Back in the Groove, Baby!

It has been over a year since I scrapbooked. Wow. It is so nice to be back in action. Last weekend I made two quick layouts. One is of my friend Ashlee. One is of Art and I. He is a hopeless romantic at heart and I love every second of it because I am too!

P.S. I love sewing on my layouts. It adds such great texture and a little pizzazz.

Untitled Poem

I have always loved quotes, poems, and words. I have never been very good at writing them but I enjoy reading and collecting them. Last semester my teacher from Oral and Written Language Acquisition shared this poem with the class. . .

He always wanted to explain things
But no one cared
So he drew
Sometimes he would draw and it wasn't anything
He wanted to carve it in stone
Or write it in the sky
He would lie out on the grass
And look up at the sky
And it would be only the sky and him that needed saying
And it was after that
He drew the picture
It was a beautiful picture
He kept it under his pillow
And would let no one see it
And he would look at it every night
And think about it
And when it was dark
And his eyes were closed
He could still see it
And it was all of him
And he loved it
When he started school he brought it with him
Not to show anyone but just to have it with him
Like a friend
It was funny about school
He sat in a square brown desk
Like all the other square brown desks
And he thought it should be red
And his room was a square brown room
Like all the other rooms
And it was tight and close
And stiff
He hated to hold the pencil and chalk
With his arms stiff and his feet flat on the floor
Stiff
With the teacher watching
And watching
The teacher came and smiled at him
She told him to wear a tie
Like all the other boys
He said he didn't like them
And she said it didn't matter
After that they drew
And he drew all yellow
And it was the way he felt about morning
And it was beautiful
The teacher came and smiled at him
"What's this?" she said
"Why don't you draw something like Ken's drawing?"
"Isn't that beautiful?"
After that his mother bought him a tie
And he always drew airplanes and rocket ships
Like everyone else
And he threw the old picture away
And when he lay out alone and looked out at the sky
It was big and blue and all of everything
But he wasn't anymore
He was square inside and brown
And his hands were stiff
And he was like everyone else
And the things inside him that needed saying
Didn't need it anymore
It had stopped pushing
It was crushed
Stiff
Like everything else.


--This was written by a high school senior two weeks before he committed suicide.

This is why I need to be a teacher; to make every student feel empowered and beautiful.

Baseball Inspired

My boyfriend, Art, writes for examiner.com as a Wyoming Sports writer. Yesterday he asked me if I could take a picture of a baseball in the snow. I hopped on the challenge. He was writing an article on how the current baseball season is underway. He just posted his article. Click here
to read it. It is so good and I am not just being bias. :D






I thought I would add some baseball quotes here to help get all those baseball pictures into the scrapbook. I know I have a ton.

"You miss every pitch you don't swing at."

"It ain't over 'til it's over. ~Yogi Berra

"Hitting is 90 percent mental. The other 10% is mental." ~ ADV

"Be quick, not fast. The difference is that quick is under control." ~ ADV

"Pitchers are like tea bags. You don't know if either is any good until they are in water." ~Charlie Lau

"What does a mama bear on birth control have in common with World Series? No cubs." ~Harry Caray (Chicago Cubs late announcer)

"I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make hitters miss the ball and tried to make them hit it." Hall of Fame left-hander, Sandy Koufax

This is a game to be savored, not gulped. There's time to discuss everything between pitches or between innings. ~Bill Veeck

A baseball park is the one place where a man's wife doesn't mind his getting excited over somebody else's curves. ~Brendan Francis

Things could be worse. Suppose your errors were counted and published every day, like those of a baseball player. ~Author Unknown

You will always miss 100% of the balls you don't take.

Baseball is the only place in life where a sacrifice is really appreciated. ~Author Unknown

Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. ~Frederick B. Wilcox

No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference. ~Tommy Lasorda

Life will always throw you curves, just keep fouling them off... the right pitch will come, but when it does, be prepared to run the bases. ~Rick Maksian

You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver

I'm convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile. ~Tom Clark

"It helps if the hitter thinks you're a little crazy." ~ Nolan Ryan

"One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something." ~ Nolan Ryan

I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby

New Cut...

I got my hair cut yesterday. Now, I just need to color it tonight. I am going dark brown.

Picture was taken via web cam. That was first for me.

Edit: Well, I died my hair and it turned out to be the color of this font. It is B-L-A-C-K. Yikes!

Sashiko Embroidery

Yesterday's post got me inspired me to go find out more about Sashiko embroidery. I love all the details and the patterns that it creates. There is so much inspiring stuff out there. It is definitely worth your time to go look. Here is a little of what I found. . .

Quilt.com gives a plethra of information and how-to helpful tips in addition to some simple patterns. Click here

The Purl Bee also gives a great tutorial.

Sashiko Zakka has a ton of images on Flickr to inspire you even more.

handyhandscorner has a shop on Etsy with amazing, amazing totes...

Little Embroidery Inspiration

This whole post is inspired by The Purl Bee's post Molly's Sketchbook: Sashiko Mini Tote (or Apron) Kit

Holy cows, I LOVE THIS BAG! It is beautiful and so inspiring. I want to go make one. It also got me curious to see what everyone else is doing with embroidery and tote bags. Here are a few that I found on Etsy. . .

How cute would this one be with a little travel/journey quote!

melifera

How cute for all you owl lovers out there!

amyzingcreations

Now this is inspiring.

Joeysdreamgarden

She also make this one

Mmmm. Yes, I am a fan.

kandi

25 Random Things About Me

1. I love my soul mate and my soul mate loves me.

2. I love being a student and a lifelong learner.

3. I went 7 months only being able to watch DVDs on our TV. No cable. No local channels.

4. I used to gag on bushel spouts and probably still would if I had to “try them."

5. I love to read and collect books, but always find something else to do with my time like scrapbook or make jewelry.

6. I love grandma crafts – knitting, crocheting, and embroidering.

7. I AM HAPPY. I live in total bliss - Paradise.

8. My relationship with God is not as strong as I would like it to be, but I am trying.

9. I am a camera/photo addict.

10. I hate the routines that come after taking a shower and my morning and night routines to get ready for the day/night.

11. I am a sweetolic.

12. I try to compliment someone every day.

13. I have finally got past the point where I have to save something for the perfect situation.

14. I could never be a nurse. Never

15. My mom is my role model. I want to be like her and ask myself a lot WWMD. Plus, I can't wait for the moment to arrive when I can start calling her grandma.

16. Homemade nachos dipped in mom's salsa is my favorite food.

17. I do not like people who are flaky.

18. I love to organize. I am my father's child.

19. I go on shopping binges.

20. I want to be the best person I can be everyday and to inspire others to be as well.

21. I wish I lived closer to Minnesota.

22. I am becoming an avid tennis player.

23. I can't wait until I walk into my very own classroom for the first time.

24. I love make-up and food!

25. Exercising is a chore that never gets done.

Bath Puff

I want to run out to Walmart and get a couple of skeins of yarn to make this scrubbie ASAP. Just think about how soft it would be on your skin. I just wonder how hard it would be to make. I will let you know. Just give me a few days, okay weeks or so.


source

The pattern was found here

Bath Puff

Materials:
About 2 ounces of worsted weight cotton yarn
Crochet hook size I

Ch 10, join with a sl st to first ch to form ring

Round 1: Sc in ring, (ch 5, sc in ring) 40 times; ch 30, sc in ring; join with
a sl st to first sc

Round 2: Sl st into first ch 5 loop, ch 4 (to count as first dc and ch 1), (dc,
ch 1) 7 times in same loop; (dc, ch 1) 8 times in each ch 5 loop around; sl
st in each ch of the ch 30 loop (this forms the hanging loop); join with a sl
st to the 3rd ch of the beginning ch 4

Round 3: Sc in the first ch 1 sp, (ch 2, sc in the next ch 1 sp) 320 times;
join with a sl st to first sc. Fasten off. Weave in ends.

It is that time again. . . to get a haircut.

My hair hasn't been cut since last fall. I know right. It is in dire need. I have been starting to wear it up more often and now I am to the point were that is all I want to do is wear it up. However, I don't know if I just want a trim or a new look. Here are a few ideas that I like:

source

source

source

source

source

Please tell me what you think. If you have a new idea please let me know. I would love some advice and help.

Pom pom garland

Pom pom garland
Originally uploaded by aCatsNest

I have been dying to make one of these for a long time. However, I don't have a pom pom maker and I really don't feel like doing it by hand. Laura? Hint. Hint. :D

Valentine's Day Photoshoot

My friend Jessica wanted to give her hubby some pictures of her and their son for Valentine's Day. We had a baseball themed photoshoot (we did the best we could for it being winter). It was fun but we were all frozen by the end.

The cold bug has bit me.

Flu
Originally uploaded by urbanphotographer

I was all ready for this week to begin so I could finish all my homework early and spend the reminder of my time in my new scrapbook room. But, no, I came down with a cold. So, now I spend all of my time in bed or on the couch. I have to admit it is kind of fun drinking hot tea, eating ice cream, and watching TV without feeling guilty.