photobooth hysteria...

... that's a pretty simplified way for me to describe cha this summer! dcwv had a bootleg photobooth  at the show (2 rows of 3 shots on a 4x6 with ads in the center) and the awesome tapas place we went to wednesday night had the real deal. snagged 7 bootleg editions at dcwv and the bunch you see up there at the actual photobooth.  i got back late last night, and haven't gotten to scan my pictures yet, but i got this shot of all our photo strips all lined up at cafe tutu tango and am now thinking i should have figured out a way to steal that desk, cause that color is ridiculous!

i'll actually blog when i get some time to think about all the stuff at the show, promise!

this is the moment...

it's no secret that my austin trip was awesome, and largely due to kerry being the best tour guide ever. first thing we did after we dropped off my luggage was head to south congress to find me some cowboy boots. after we'd walked about a block or so we turned a corner and these are the shop fronts i saw... totally drooling. the colors & feel of austin are amazing, anyway i whipped my camera out and that's the exact moment i fell in love with austin.

this layout was one of those that was kind of like pulling teeth. more use of product i've been stashing away, and i even used the punched out holes from the die cut paper, yay! anyway, i still feel like it needs a little something in that one spot, but for now this is how it'll live for a bit.  p.s. the we-r-memory keepers corner chomper is the best new tool out there. it makes me want to round everything!

i have a bunch of layout ideas in my head, a lot of them using the brooklyn pictures from last weekend, but they will have to wait for a little bit; classes to design and my trip to orlando for cha next week!

ooh! also, i'm planning another fall charity crop for the first weekend in november, possibly, and i'm looking for suggestions for the charity it will benefit. i was thinking save the music, but am now thinking about the salvation army, some sort of animal rescue charity or something else school related. any ideas?

dare me?

the dare girls have been creating some ridiculous stuff as of late, so i thought i'd finally join back in on the fun, especially when dare #142 i came out; "Twit-dare. Tweets + photos = instant scrappage."  i remembered that when john, jasmine & i went to jackson rathbone's show (they're called 100 monkeys) i had favorited all the tweets that we were sending back and forth all night so that i could use them as my journaling on a layout. then, the dare came around and pushed me to finally do it, thanks ladies! so, here's my layout!

it was pretty hilarious to re-live the night through tweets, you can click here to read them if you aren't faint of heart, and i got to use up some stash! i've been majorly, ruthlessly cleaning out the crafty area lately and it's great to re-discover the stuff i have had for a while, like those love, elsie rubber charms and bg from like 4 releases a go, but good product never goes bad! 

i'm excited to be scrapping again, it's been months since i've done an actual layout that isn't for a class or anything, and it felt really good to be playing again! i'll probably head straight over to the table when i get home from work today, lots of rad pictures from my brooklyn trip to be scrapped!

cozy corner.

i've re-discovered the coziness that is my bedroom and all it took was a silly looking chair from target. i've been spending more time up there recently, reading & watching a movie or tv on dvd. i've just started watching seas one of the tudors and i can't tell if i'm going to like it or not. thoughts? i was re-watching all the season of buffy so i could start reading the comics that pick up where the last season ended, but i haven't made it back into borders for season 5 yet. summer tv is just so lame, other than weeds & true blood of course and there is dexter to look forward to. guilty pleasures like daisy of love (which is almost over and i am in love with london) and degrassi also help me through .  i like to watch something to relax before bed and there is only so much deadliest catch left to watch on my dvr, although i must confess that next time they do a whale wars marathon i'm dvr-ing for sure.. 

so i'm looking to anyone out there who may still actually be reading this blog, what tv series should i be watching on dvd? and what books should i be reading for that matter?  there are only so many sookie stackhouse books and i'm almost out. then it's on to finish sex drugs and cocoa puffs before i move on to collapse and pride and prejudice, which i feel obligated to read before i check out the zombie version, haha. then. my book reading dance card it open after that. suggestions?

10 things i'm lovin' on right about now-ish...

1. the 500 days of summer soundtrack - this finally came out today, and it's just making me more and more excited for the movie. the opening voiceover is beyond adorable and i fell in love with "sweet disposition" by the temper trap as soon as i saw the first preview and i'm pretty excited to finally have it in my musical posession, mix completely built around it soon to come.

2. dark, smoky grey patent leather anything - i grabbed these peep toes at old navy, and if they are comfy enough i'll have to go back for the eggplant ones too. i'm also wearing this same shade of grey on my nails non-stop these days.

3. rupert grint - we've been re-watching all the harry potter movies and i have to say that in the earlier ones especially, ron's facial expresisions and cracking voice totally make the movies for me. and then in the last couple, he's gotten pretty cute in his own awkwardly kinda hot way! i think kerry totally called my ginger loving stage when i was in austin. i've never been into the ginger boys before, but i think i'm there. haha.

4. "the boyfriend" line - cosmo cricket posted their 3 new lines on their blog today and i have fallen in love with "the boyfriend" line.  i choose to not be annoyed by the fact that girl paper is always shoes & shopping, and instead embrace how stoked i am on the pumpkin orange mix tape paper & all the accessories from the line, especially the chip shapes, which include bikes, a boom box, mix tapes, an old school video game joystick, a polaroid and about 20 other fun shapes i'm dying to play with!

5. nicole! - i'm always psyched on nicole, she's one of my top 5 favorite people in the world, but i'm especially psyched on the fact that she is in philly for the summer (she has mostly ditched us americans for the rest of the world by way of england) and tomorrow we are meeting up for the first time since she's been back! gianna's (philly's best vegan grille) for lunch and catch up squee-ing before my hair appointment. i also get to have dinner with miss ashley sue & my hair is muchly in need of this appointment, so it's going to be an all around exciting day.

6. "stencil me in" by marthe le van - spotted this book and had to have it. my friend colin makes amazing stencils for street art and fine street art canvases and i've always had ideas for them but have not really gotten a handle on them yet. this books seems to have all the info i'll need for what paints to use on what surfaces and tons of ideas, plus 20+ stencils in a little pouch on the back cover, most of which are pretty rad. plus i got it 50% off, so you really can't beat that.

7. a 2nd austin trip! - southwest had another awesome 48 hour fare special so i got a hold of kerry and booked it! i'm officially headed back to my new favorite city to further explore and hang out with kerry & allen in mid-october! i can't wait to re-visit a few places, check out some new ones & find some awesome shows & events as the date gets closer. plus, i'll be arriving right after kerry's birthday, which means it's her turn for an all out celebration!

8. basic grey kid stamps - i'm really into the 2 random little tim burton/edward gorey-esque creepy kid stamp sets that are in basic grey's gamma stamp series. i want to sit down and experiment with them a bit, maybe some dark circles under their eyes, a la gashlycrumb tinies. they just look so startled and awkward, i love it.

9. the diana+ instant back - i know it's kind of cheating the magic of shooting actual film, but with a camera with so many possible effects like the diana+ it would be a big plus, hehe, for me to be able to almost instantly see the image so i could really learn how to get the style of shots i want, training wheels of sorts. this guy snaps onto the back of your diana+ and shoots onto fujifilm instax mini for your immediate enjoyment. for sure lusting after this.

10. all things stackhouse -  if you follow me on twitter or are friends with me on facebook, i'm sorry. i'm going through a sookie stage and it's beyond crazy. i'm hooked on "true blood", reading the book series the show is based on and keeping up on the bon temps gossip on twitter. i'm even dreaming it, so that really can't be a good sign.

a little seasonally mixed up

so a muse a palooza officially starts today! that means that there is a ton of awesome brand new holiday and christmas stamps at the store, not to mention the hyperventilation inducing 8.5x11 sheets of woodgrain! that also means that i was baking christmas cupcakes like a crazy lady wednesday night, guess that's one of the few hazards of working in a crafty industry! but, it's one i can live with. 

now, and i am aware this is a little backwards from christmas cupcakes, on to my summer to do list! summer has a tendency to get away from me so maybe if i have a list i'll remember to enjoy it (yes, i am aware this is sad)

this summer i want to...

* go to at least one imax movie (most likely this will be harry potter)

* ride a great big upside down loopy roller coaster 

* road trip across a state line, ny & pa don't count!

* join the fancy schmancy gym near work and go 4 days a week

* go camping

* hit a philly roof deck party

* head down the shore for the weekend

* crazy, sweaty dance night (7hundred club, khyber or sal's) with nikki

* tubing down the delaware, i know it's gross but i've never done it!

* not cut my hair, see how long it will get by fall without me losing my mind

* keep up with blogging and uploading crafty stuff to the internet

* plan & book a trip to a different country (trip can happen post summer)

* wear a dress or skirt at least twice a week

* read pride & prejudice and a couple other classics i've missed

* manage to actually go bowling instead of just talking about it

* seek out more photo booths with the original style photo strips

* go to at least 5 shows

* plan a charity crop for the fall

* make a themed mix or two every month

anyone want to help me out with any of these?