Scrap and the City

still amazed.

i went to CKC yesterday and i am still in a daze. i spent some quality time meeting and vibing with with my friends and connecting with some new scrapbookers.  i even met elizabeth dillow, who was super sweet. 

   

i cannot wait to dive into her book, the scrapbooker's almanac.  its nice and thick; and destined to become apart of my workbag for the next couple of days.  will share more on that once i check it out.

i also hit a scrapbooking gold mine:

can you say, heidi swapp close out?

advantus was there, i believe as a first time vendor, unloading all of this heidi swapp merchandise. for cheap.  and when i say cheap, i mean cheap.  apparently there is going to be a whole redux of the line and well stuff had to GO.  me and the girls could not believe it!  isa warned me before hand but i really had no idea till i got there.

rub on letters and all masks, including letter sets, 99 cent (depending on who you ask, the rub ons were probaly worth that anyway, but who cares at this point???)

frame kits that were about 6.99... 1.49.  ribbon, .49 a spool.  jewels, crowns and the like .99 and .49 cents.  a 40.00 set of chipboard letters, 6.99 (i passed on those, but they made a few ohter happy i am sure!) 

 basically i scored like $80.00 worth of stuff for about $20.00.

look at this:

the maya road book was not a part of the HS, i got that from a very sweet vendor, shere, who also has an online store called gifted memories.  check her out!

aside from that.  i had much love for SEI.  i scooped up some of their new things, like poppy.  and some of their fixtures, like jolie chocolat, dill blossoms, and the holiday line.  SEI is a fav of mine. i actually was a TA on a class taught by one of the SEI daughters. SEI is a family business that started out as a sewing patterns company. i loved speaking with lindsay and other members of the SEI family.  they are getting ready to pack up their trucks and drive cross country to san diego for the next CKC.  they will be driving back to the east side right after that for CKC charlotte. i think all of that is very cool. on the road and the hustle.  also pictured are some scenic route chipboard circles (closeout too, for $1.00) and some scenic route stamps.

toward the end of day,  i stopped by the LSS's booth, memory lane PA and had to get a taste of the new CHA stuff. some jenni bowlin and mr. campy, which is very cute. i forgot about that little scenic route stamp over there. 

 

by event's end,  i was exhausted and hungry, from all of that hanging out and shopping.  cynta and i headed off to ruby's for burgers, that we couldn't decide on.  they have so many different ones!  we finally got it together and enjoyed a good dinner.

scrapbooking means so much to me.  its things like this that makes it a wonderful hobby to be a part of. words really can't express how fab the day was!  here's to next year! 

peace.

on my design mind

there are a few projects i want to get cracking on... and i was just thinking about them. so i decided to just pour them out here in list format instead of taking them to bed with me.

THE LIST

1. make a my favorite photos mini:  i have these pics in my camera memory card that i can never seem to delete.  they are my favorite photos. why do i keep them on the camera card, i have no IDEA!  they are stored on the computer so why???  i have to get them into a mini book, with their stories sometime soon.

2. finish up mini book with basic grey archaic.  been working on this mini for a bit.  will have to add more pics.

3. do a few smaller pages: inspired by this blog post here.  go to the bottom when she walks about jenni bowlin and working with smaller page sizes.  there is something about trying something on a smaller scale. is it easier?  quicker? more of a challenge.  something i would like explore out further.

GOOD, GLAD TO GET THAT OUT! thank you!

in other news, got this in the mail today. 

 

it is love for real! i like the whole you can use it for travel stuff or for life's journey stuff.  the images are really crispy too.  very versitile and fun.  another thing to add.  i am really paying more attention to my own handwriting.  its really great.  all those years of using the palmer method system in grade school has paid off.  now i need to feel more confident about putting it on some scrapbooking.  that's not as easy as it sounds, ali using hers is some great inspiration!

i just love this. these shades of yellow and green are so dreamy!  i really, really, really like the jenni bowlin products. her product line never feels like an overload, but there is so much to it. its weird, i can't explain. but  i love it!  hope to get some soon!  

peace.

trend watch and and a DVD recommendation

a cold has had me glued to the couch and computer chair.  these summer colds are really the worse to shake.  or is it my allergies.  well i have been drinking lots of fluids just in case its a cold and i have been toughing it out incase it is allergies.  sucks big time...

so being on the low and being the trendwatcher in scrapbooking that i am,  i had the oppurtunity to cruise flickr to check out the summer 2008 CHA photos. love flickr so much.  i won't have any photos planted her, but i will share some links to some flickr galleries that highlight the scrapbooking best of the summer CHA trade show for crafts and hobbies.

gallery one

gallery two

gallery three

loving some of what i see.  eyeing crate paper and october afternoon HARD.

so taking some downtime on the couch actually worked out fine as i ordered parts 1 and 2 of the anne of green gables series.

 

part 3 is on a wait from netflix. hopefully next weekend we can continue the saga!   let me tell you how much i love these movies. and can i tell you that i loved even more getting alex into them (even though bri teased her about watching them, he was soo soo wrong. she loved them!)  PBS used to run them around the time when they did most of their telethons. so i would be there hours on end watching them on saturday and sunday afternoons in the late 80's and early 90's. one a side note about the PBS tele-thons.  my aunt was a big PBS watcher, i mean it was like it was BBC america, before BBC america came to cable. shows like upstairs, downstairs, eastenders and the murder mysteries were her favorites. my mom and i used to tease her about not helping them with the bills and making donations around tele-thon time.  she would definately get a kick out of that as would we...

anyway.  watching these movies as an adult and seeing these life lessons unfold makes me realize they are perfect  for the elementary and middle school set.  these timeless tales teach you about making mistakes and learing from them.  there are also huge lessons on responsibility and growing up to be learned from this series too. alex was glues to the set, as was i; especially when it came to the part when anne just flat out told gilbert no when he proposed, even though she really did love him. imma chuck it up as she wanted to see the world first. cause she eventually came back.

another thing i liked was the early 1900's vibe the film had.  before the world wars, heck before cars... but after all the prairie times.  i think this is reflective of the victorian age. i will have to check it out. oh and re-read the books the whole series was based on too. little house on the prarie wwas the bomb too. awesome book series!  this city girl loves this type of stuff like you would not believe.

off to get some more juice.  c-ya

peace.

hey remember me???

aunt "teph" blogged about me here and here. 

i just turned one so i am a big boy now!  walking and stuff and looking at that all the bigger boys do.  talking it all in for later.  see yall soon.  love, ry

 

boy time just flies. i mean i can literally imagine holding this little peanut in my arms.  goodness! this is a man NOW!  ouch.

had a blast this weekend at his first birthday party.    here's a few other pics.

  playing pin the tail on horton. trying to see if chris can see thru the scarf

my child in her element:

  1st peice of cake, the best peice of cake.

i think this is the only one i got of my friend and her boys. i like the candidness of it.  i was on the low with the camera.  alex was actually doing the paparazzi thing with the other camera. check her OUT!

i like this one.  flash and all.

hey????  how did that one get in there??? this was a kids party!  actually i took this as my this was my everyday life still photo for art's sake.  i hardly take non people photos.  i just use flickr for stuff.  but i LOVE THIS! and it makes me want to drink more corona take more photos of stuff  i need to frame it!

so today was the first day of the grilled chicken all the time diet. having a peice for breakfast with rosemary and a bit of olive oil drizzled on top with sea salt. maybe i'll switch it with other herbs and lemon juice.   that will tide me over til lunch which is grilled chicken salad with the dressing of the day. i think i purchased like 5 different kinds.  dinner will be hot or raw or grilled veggies to help with the digestion of the day.  it worked out well. i was full all day.  no in between snacking for me.  lots of water and these water drop ins when a bit of juice flava is needed.  i am set.  trying to keep it as simple as possible. i'll add fruit and grains later... fiber right now is in the veggies and water drop in.  hope this works.  hoping to add fish soon. i actually feel pretty energetic and good right now. i wanna loose 20lbs by end of august, when we go on holiday.   plus, the doctor put me some damn water pill for my blood pressure.  not feeling that at ALL. i am not even a big salt eater. but with the heat, water stays in if you don't sweat it out and that can cause problems.  i will say the script has helped a bit.. but it is not something i want to be dealing with for years to come. doc is like 50lbs got to go.  i'm like huh ????  well five are gone so far so i am on the right track...

more energy is what i need ... which will lead me to getting back to scrapbooking soon.

i had been such a RUT.  working all the time and just coming in the house and from the pool SO DARN TIRED!  its nice to spend time outdoors though. but now its time to get back into my story telling full swing. i was actually getting to the point where i wasn't observing stuff important to me and not writing it down. it was  a mess. i also forgot that my pages were motivating from my family!  and  well lets just say i need to KEEP scrapbooking for their sake too.  like for example,. alex knows she is amazing of course cause i make her feel that way all the time. , but well when the pages stopped, school projects getting handed in on time seemed to stop too.  one thing led to other things and lets just say we all learned some valuable lessons at the end of this school year. AT THE very END no less. cause 99.5% of it was fab.  

but anyway.  scrapbooking is a hobby we all love, so we can relate to its impact. like i said before it is your personal media that you are the editor, photographer and journalist of and it  packs a punch when the subjects are those that you know the most.  i remember the days when my kiddo came down in the stairs in the morning and saw these pages all about her.  she was so delighted!  i miss that. i need that to start up again.       

i was talking to fab toy the other day and she was like what's up. no layouts nothing.  i couldn't really explain it. to her.  i guess every artist has their downtime phase and needs to take some time. to step back and see what's really good...  what was really good for me was chillin' on the couch cause work was something!  i was really stressed about about those dynamics!

so i thought about it!  eff that!  no more,  i am just going to commit myself to staying energetic (this goes for health reasons too) and commit myself to being on top of the stuff that i just love to do. coming home and getting my life on... that also means staying away from junk food cause i can't be energetic and focused when i kicked with a bag of cheetos on my afternoon break!

so in my hiatus. i think i shopped a bit.  ordered the new ali stamp from cocoa daisy and some american crafts getty stickers.  i was really feeling the font, which is called VEER (thanks linda!)  if you ever wanted to purchase the actual font.  if you live near a rita's water ice, they are using VEER in all thier signs and coupons and stuff.  kohl's stores are using the font called fling, which is also a scrapbooker's fav.  ITS A DAMN SHAME WHEN YOU KNOW THE FONTS in print ads and stuff and you aren't by no means a graphic designer. you are a scrapbooker,  loving this little peice of design heaven you are in.

alright gots to go.  leave me a comment cause i want to hear from everyone right now!!  how's summer going??

peace.

s.

as american apple pie...

and baseball... i am one of those closeted baseball fans.  that really could care less if it was on TV.  but hoops and hollars and shit talks in the stands.  yeah that's me.  its just something about the ballpark that just makes me want to stand up for my squad, who are the NL east champions by the way...  and just be cool about being a baseball fan. the players do have a kinda swagger about them that the other ball players just don't have. and i am going to leave that alone.

so of course it was on, on saturday night, when b took us to the phillies game.  yay!  we had a blast.  good seats on the fourth level, behind home plate. we saw everything from way up there. hey we even caught the fireworks going on at penn's landing.   i have lots of phone camera pics, really i do, but guess what?  i have no clue how to get them from point a (the phone) to point b (my computer)   i will be reading up on this tonight. so i can show you.  i really should have brought my big camera out.  next time.

anywho. we snacked on pizza, soft service ice cream in a mini phils helmet, cotton candy and craker jacks.  yumm. and $30.00 later.  food is real money at the ball park.  none the less, it makes going worthwhile in my book... that and all the shit talking.  some of the mets were getting real greasy with some phillies fans in the stands next to us and had to leave.  the po po philly's finest was right on it. they got kicked out.  its a bitter rivalry, us and the ny mets.  cause they are right up the turnpike. so mets fans come and reak havoc in OUR house.  not feeling that.  one guy had this shirt on that said, muck the fets... HA. interchange the letters and you will get it.  speaking of tees, check out this one found on mari's blog: NOPE  HA! HA! and while you are there, check out her very comprehensive series on her MAC favesand what not.  very nice.

speaking of other good finds in the internet paper craft world...  my friend linda created this wonderful card.  now when i saw it i was like, wow, she got down with the quickutz.  but when i saw linda and asked her about it last week over knits and purls, she was like nope, all hand cut.  talk about skills!  mannnn.  if only.

then, you have to check out this other blog i found.  known about it for a while actually, its the k werner design blog. kristin, the blogger  is a major designer and uses the stampin up products heavily. that is right up my alley.  i love her MACM demos, you can check those out every monday. its not just the cards that get me. its the production skills this lady has. she is producing and filming her own how-to segment. that is sweet!  i also really like her color inspiration challenges AND the projects people come up with.  i am feeling thisand this, and this... and that is just for the recent challenge alone.  i think this is super cute too... 

alright, people.  gots to go.  hair to wash.  the only disadvantage of being in the pool every 5 minutes. ugh!

hope you are having a great summer thus far!

peace.

a soft spot in my heart.

super busy...  actually no.  enjoying the lazy days of summer.  summer reading.  chilling poolside and drinking lots of water. 

also reflecting on summers of long ago. one of my favorite things was the mr. softee truck.  as soon as you heard that beat drop, you were on the scene chasing down that blue and white truck; while bobbing your head to that sweet beat.  this memory came to me as i was leaving church on sunday.  the mr. softee truck was right there down the street waiting for the church let-out sales.  ain't that deep, i thought, as my mom's church is one of the biggest in the city. and i ain't even mad, seeing that truck and hearing that tune makes the hot summer weather a bit more bearable, cause thats the only time mr. softee comes around. (actually he will come thru on those occasional 80 degree days we get in feb. now  go figure... its philly where there is always a hustle going on ;)   

i wish i had my camera that day to take a pic.  but never fear,  flickr and google images to the rescue!!!

born: 1956, west philadelphia

ICEEEEEEEEE  CREAMMMMMM!!!!!!! 

peace.

 

btw, report on camp rock:

"not as good as high shool musical, but better than high school musical 2."

-alexandra age 11

camp rock

dear blog readers,

do you think camp rock be the next high school musical?  

 

hmmm... tuning in now with some kids in tow to find out. i mean the jonas brothers are all in it and stuff.

me, i'll be in the dining room reading, but running in the living room as soon as the musical mumbers begin. song and dance, yeah, that is how i roll.

were your kids a little bit anxious to see it too?  let me know.

signed,

mom of a tween.

back to M.A.C

okay, i can go to any major make-up company and totally be satisfied on any given day. no problem...

but no matter what, i always go back to MAC.

i became an avid MAC fan in the late 1990's when i was ready to wear foundation and realized the only choice i had was from one cosmetic counter in the department or something that was never the right shade in the drug store. no matter what,  both were too thick for my oily skin. ewww. a mess

later, saw in a mag a story about MAC cosmetics. online wasn't really like that yet and well the only store close was in new jersey. hmpf!  not too soon after i learned that, i learned from a co-worker that a MAC was placed in nordstroms in the KOP mall.  i headed out there... on the bus... a long ride on the bus... to find my gold. got my fix, studio fix and a tube of lipstick, one of many. 

i hit the jackpot and MAC has been making me happy consistantly ever since.  i am NW45 (main foundation color)  are there any other NW45's out there? i also still wear the chesnut (medium dark brown) lip liner well blended on my lips. now i know there are some chesnut lip liner lovers out there???

today i decided to use my macy's gift card from christmas. i couldn't find anything else to get, so i to decided to stop at the MAC counter and have my face done by artist extrodinare, victoria. victoria is my sister's friend and is my sister's age 22. she has so much talent.   it was cool to chill out with her inside, with the AC going... at macy's expense.

i don't have any pics cause its was so damn hot when i left that the make-up was killing me after awhile. it had to go. but still with me was the experience of getting a new look and some quick tips that i will practice the whole season long.  i high recommended, the new MAC mineralize skin finish.  pefect for a day like today and for my lids when i don't want to do shadow; but when i want something there... the natural look that is real quick. it soaks up the oil too which is real nice! victoria suggested a little cream concealer on the lids and then a sweep of the mineral powder. it is always a good idea to put some type of cream on the lashes before applying a powder eyeshadow. 

it keeps the color on longer.

i also wanted some new shadow, in the neutral vein. so perfect for my skin tone, we selected, sketch and tete-a-tint which blends well together, for that natural look i was looking for. it also goes with what i already have. the tete-a-tint is great cause it is a summer color.  the sketch color is this burgundy thing, that kinda looks like a deep burgundy/brown/black on.  go figure, but its great!  very important tip, take what you already have to them, so they can match you up with some new stuff that goes with the colors in your exsisting collection. these two new colors match perfectly with the old.  now i love color and can wear lots of it on the lids, so doing this keeps me from spending too much. and that is when things get out of hand.   thinking about it while i am writing, i am thinking that next time i need to get some new cardstock, or letters i should take something from what i already have at home to match up with something new to prevent over spending... shopping with some sort of plan... hmmm.  maybe

anywho. topped it off with the new pink grapefruit gloss.  icing on the cake. i am not too much of a orange with gold girl, but its summer time and i need to warm it up a bit. love the new limited-time orange packaging.

no for real, isn't this the perfect spice you need to add to your make-up bag for the summer. scenario: you look into your make-up bag and its a sea of make-up with all black packaging, and then BAM! you see this and say wow. it could put smile on your face and make you love limited editions even more. seeing this may even brighten you day!

lastly, i am still trying to get with this, fix+ stuff.  it is a spray that seals your make-up. it really does.  for me the verdict is out cause i am so shiny and oily anyway and those natural juices (the other artist laughed when i said this, she said she never thought of that before) seals makeup for me... translation the stuff seaps into my pores no matter what. i'm going to try the new mineralizing stuff out and then see if i need the hydrating spray to set it.  for those with drier skin this may work really great.  i tested it by rubbing off a little make-up with my fingers and nothing really came off. i kinda like innovative things so i am testing to see if i really need it.

thats all for now.  go out and play at some make-up counters. worth the air conditioner. and it makes you feel good! 

peace.

i saw the movie

and it was everything i expected it to be and more. 

the real star of the whole sex and the city thing is friendship... thru and thru. having people's back. learning and growing together. treasuring the jewels that are your friends, forever.

i love it.

peace.

...and the city

i was actually up early this morning, excited.

i am going to see sex and the city today.  and i couldn't be more giddier.

was suppose to see it last week, but i had all thise wedding business and hair appts. and well, todays the day. i have been so good avoiding all the spoilers on the net and i only fanned through the movie tie in book. the clothes are just too mcuh, can't wait to see those on the big screen. oh and the photos in vogue, *sigh* those have to be some of the most sexiest photos i have ever seen.  

you will not believe how much of an impact this show has had on me. i mean really i could watch it over and over again and learn something new each time.

its also evident in my new blog name.  the original name of my bog and its origins meant alot to me at the time when my blog was in its infancy. and it still does, but i decided to change up to scrap and the city, because of the impact scrapbooking has had on me socially.  it was fitting to pay hommage to the show because of the impact IT has had on me socially as well. plus the name is cute.

by any means what i am about to say is not my idea i'm sure, but i always believed we each had a little bit of carrie, miranda, samantha, and charlotte in us. i have seen the quizzes about which one are you?, and i took those and always answered and knew who i was way before i even took the quiz, (charlotte, of course cause she was always my favorite any how). but as i thought about it more. she was just a bigger part of me, cause i or some of my life experiences mirrored each of the girls at so many times in my adult life: i had (well didn't have) the unobtainable man like carrie, and i love to write and obsesses and be a little self indulgent with bags, not shoes.   i could be a little cynical and judging like miranda sometimes and independent as hell. samantha, i have a theory we all have a bit of freak in us at times... and i am going to leave that alone. and charlotte, yup that was me mostly, prim and proper, preppy, picky, and always the believer in love and romance.  

back in 1999 i went back to school. alex was 3 and i was taking so many social theory classes, studying why we do what we do in society, at the same time the show ran. i appreciated carrie's, the writers, look into the sociology of dating and relationships and fashion. they went into the biggest city of the world (perfect setting for a study right?) and provided scenarios we could all relate to. the freaks, the geeks and what is wrong and write about how we deal with each other. some may say its all entertainment and it shouldn't be looked at this way. well i say its more, cause if it wasn't why would you have fans getting dressed up for screenings and blog writers who offer their own prespective (i say carrie was a blog writer, she wrote a column, but it was rarely seen in print on the show and well she was always at that computer...) and this big fashion explosion, the blahnik, the choo, the fendi baguette, the quote that spawned a book, "he's just not that into you..." etc.  i was 23 years old and i grew up with this show.

so as the series went by and ended in 2004, i got my degree then too. my social studies ended too...   i still cherished the show even more in re-runs, still do. but i am still trying to get my degree to work for me (like most of us out here, lol)  

i also cherish each of the main characters beacuse they were each a part of me.  i cherish the way the show provoked thought into who we are as

girls. plain and simple.

peace