Recent Scrapbook Pages

These are the pages I did in Olympia last month. I ended up forgetting ALL my stuff, so I had to re-print my pictures (thank you Wal-Mart!) and buy some paper and embellishments just to get me through (I also borrowed a lot of stuff from Christina and Tina! Thank you!) All things considered, I am really happy with they way these turned out!

The snowflakes came from a whole sheet of this cut-out-fun-stuff. I just cut it to the size I wanted and laid it over the green paper. I love how this looks!

Kid's Art

Joel and Maren made these amazing paintings last week with Carolyn and I thought they were fit to be hung on the wall! The top one is Joel's "Rocks" and the bottom one is an abstract by Maren. :) I guess they did these with pastels and then a watercolor wash. I don't totally understand the art lingo, but I love the way they turned out!

Blocks!

A good friend of mine just adopted a little girl from Ethiopia and I made these blocks as a gift for her. I saw the idea on the Martha Stewart show (I just happened to be flipping channels in the middle of the day - something I hadn't done in about a year!) and I thought "I can do that!" so I did!

And this is the card I made for her shower. We were asked to bring a prayer that they were going to add to a book...I just had to make it pretty! :)

More Inspiration

About 10 years ago my sister, Christina, got me started on scrapbooking. Ever since then, we have scrapped at every opportunity and in many different places - including Santa Barbara, Portland, Israel, Boise and Olympia! My best scrapbooking happens when I am with her! Her style is so inspiring and she is always helpful when I am stuck. I am so glad that we have this hobby to share!

This is from our trip out there last week. we got to spend a whole day (14 1/2 hours) away from the house scrapbooking! (Pictures to come.)

And this is from our last scrap retreat in July - it was an all day workshop that we went to (yes we are wearing matching shirts!).

Better Pictures

I realized that it was really hard to see my little arrangements that I posted below...so here are some close-ups...

Fall Decorating

I finally decided it was time to do some fall decorating. I'm not one that goes crazy with this type of thing, but the leaves are changing and I saw all these cool pumpkins and squashes at the Fruit Stand and was inspired to do something with them!Side note: For those of you that don't know, we are renting, so the wall behind the fireplace is hideous (as is the fireplace brick, which is why I cropped it out!)...so now that I've drawn attention to it - please try not to notice it and look only at the decorations!! The rest of the room is a soothing sage color, in case you were worried that we were surrounded on all four sides with ugly paneling! Fear not, we painted...

Original Inspiration

Well, I promised pictures and inspiration, so I thought it fitting to start with the original artist in my life - my Mom! She is amazing at painting, drawing, writing, paper crafts and pretty much anything else she decides would be fun to try. She is also good at coming up with ideas for kids crafts and at doing them with her grandkids! She has always been a great mom to me and my siblings and is definitely the greatest Mimi ever. I love you mom!

This picture is 3 years old, but how could I leave out a picture of my Mom outside the Art Institute in Chicago?!

Mimi and Joel showing off the results of an afternoon of crafts!

My creative Side

I have been a reluctant artist all my life, believing that because I couldn't paint or draw (as my mom and sister can!!), I wasn't creative. But now I am expanding my definition of art and what is creative, and seeing that I am artistic after all! This blog will be a place for me to post things that I create, and things that inspire me. Enjoy!