friday five #15

01. core impressions - core'dinations is pairing up with some awesome manufacturers who have patterns & colors that they use on a semi-regular basis and combining them with their embossed cardstock line to create packs of sandable, embossed paper. that means you can now play with that amazing cosmo cricket woodgrain, classic jenni bowlin label shape & jillibean soup's all over numbers pattern by sanding them down to reveal another color or just leaving them all embossed and lovely! can't wait 'til the collections packs start shipping!

02. distinguished animals - ryan berkley is obviously a genius! he illustrates very distinguished portraits of various animals and give you a little story about said animal as well. kristina bought me this cheetah print as part of my birthday fun package in june and i love him, i mean just read his little bio, "After cataract surgery ten years ago, this cheetah realized that an eyepatch can be a real conversation starter with the ladies. His eye has long since healed but his social calendar remains quite full." genius. you can shop his etsy, buy framed prints at urban or get these rad coasters! i think "meerkat" will be my next purchase.

03. coachella possibilities - do i dare dream that i might finally make it to coachella this spring? it's a slight possibility, and i would totally die! especially if i not only get to go with john & jasmine, the usual coachella suspects, but also get jen & vee to come along on the indio adventure. 3 full days of amazingness.

04. night owl paper goods - letterpress, cards printed on actual wood, adorable branding & lots of sweet little characters = love. also, they have some pretty awesome stuff on sale right now. i just bought some sale goodies and will be making a mini album out of a bunch of the wood postcards! on a somewhat related note, i can't wait for the ny stationary show in may!

05. wallpaper lust - i am soooooo not creating dream rooms for an apartment that i have not even found yet. that would be crazy, right? : / aaaaanyway... i am in a pretty major phase of big, crazy, graphic wallpaper lust! look at that gorgeous peacock feather stuff from ferm! and there's some gorgeous white birch tree wallpaper that you may or may not be seeing in a future blog entry that may or may not be about my dream rooms.

hangin' in!

things are getting crazy busy lately, so all my previously planned blog entries just don't really seem to be happening. i have been trying to blog every monday, wednesday and friday and have actually been pretty on top of it until monday, and rather than getting even further off track, here's a quickie entry with a little eye candy courtesy of the "shake it photo" app on my iphone.

this is one of the cards i'll be teaching in my next "maximizing your 6x6 paper pads" class on the 4th, using the "origins" paper pad from basic grey. i just turned that little owl dude upside down to go along with the sentiment and had fun finding the perfect copic colors for the paper. few things are as relaxing as coloring. b.t.dubs, there are still some spots open in class if anyone wants to call to sign-up.

friday five #14

i can't believe i've been mostly keeping up with this for fourteen-ish fridays! that's fourteen lists of things i've discovered, become obsessed with or am into that particular week. i'm loving the time-capsule-like quality of it, even now when it's only been a few months.

01. woodland creatures - i've been known to break for a leaf or shadow that looks like an animal from time to time and my heart hurts when i see a little group of deer grazing by the side of the road or a bunny or squirrel darting across the road all panicked looking. so, when i'm on a back road or in my complex i stop, roll down my window and give them a little mothering talk about the dangers of roads. is anyone else this crazy... or is it just me? p.s. the stitched fawn & flower is from here.

02. dublin - it's official! i'm going to dublin with rhian for a couple of days while i'm visiting nicole in bristol! i can't wait to finally get to ireland and i really, really can't wait to have a crazy fun adventure with miss rhian! i have the dk dublin top ten book, but am looking for a little more insight. anyone have anything we need to check out whilst we're mucking about?

03. new spoon - the new spoon album, "transference" came out this week and i am in absolute love with the dirty, under-produced garage vibe it has going on. it's like older spoon and i'm in love. it's already been playing in my car on an almost constant loop, and i definitely recommend it for the cozy feel.

04. cosmo's "boyfriend" woodgrain alpha - obvs i'm a little late in the game with these, but i couldn't decide if i needed them needed them, or was just blinded by the woodgrain. turns out i did need them need them, a whole 3 sets worth. oops! can't wait to play with them asap!

05. orla kiely store - a light bulb went off this week when i realized that when nicole and i take london i can finally visit an orla kiely store! you can find bits and pieces of her collections here, and she did that little line for target a bunch of months back, but this will be my first trip to her store where i can check it all out in person and try not to do a ton of damage. i see the possibility of something fun and orla in my future!

plaid at heart 2: the flannel edition

you may remember plaid at heart (the original) which i posted last spring. i can't believe it's taken me this long to create another edition considering how much i love my folk/plaid bands. this one is a little bit more comfy cozy feeling, just like your favorite plaid flannel; especially designed to get you through the rest of the winter. so, with no further ado, here it is;

01. "behind that locked door" by yim yames

02. "the right place" by monsters of folk

03. "home" by edward sharpe & the magnetic zeroes

04. "carpetbaggers" by jenny lewis featuring elvis costello

05. "thank you too" by my morning jacket

06. "hold on, hold on" by neko case

07. "long way home" by mates of state

08. "acorn factory" by the dodos

09. "15" by rilo kiley

10. "train song" by ben gibbard & feist

11. "done all wrong" by black rebel motorcycle club

12. "the first days of spring" by noah and then whale

13. "requiem" by m. ward

14. "romeo and juliet" by dire straits

15. "on and on" by mission to the sea

16. "heartbeats" by jose gonzalez

17. "blindsided" by bon iver

2010 so far... in layouts!

that's right, i've actually scrapbooked already this year!

one of my favorite stamps that we sell at scraptasia has a monster on it and says "i love your face". the boy spotted it on his first trip to visit me at work and we started saying it all the time. these pictures are from the new years eve party we went to with jessica & roger. i knew if i was doing "love your face" i had to use the "monstrosity" paper from sassafras lass. then i threw some thickers, a chip shape from cosmo's "boyfriend" collection and a studio calico card in for good measure. (also, let the record show that i am not responsible for those neon yellow sunglasses!)

new years day (nyd) the boy and i headed to harlem for k & dawn's "new year, new home brunch for dinner party". vee was already there upon our arrival and it was really nice to introduce the boy to some of the important people in my life. for this one i used the "amplify" collection from sassafras lass, 4 different fonts of thickers and i fell in love with the way the magenta doilie rub-ons from hambly look when rubbed on bazzill's "tangy taffy" cardstock! they almost look like they are actually clear embossed onto the paper, color matching perfection! love.

why is it that you can spend an hour plus on a layout and struggle the whole time to get it looking right, and the one that you whip together in 30 minutes is almost always the one you love more? i've been wanting to use this "origins" paper from basic grey since the day it came in. it takes a lot for me to like something floral, but this does it. love it with the kraft paper base!

and i know i've said it before, but it's worth saying again; one of the best thing about hanging out with other scrapbookers & artists is that i'm not always the one behind the camera. this shot that kristina snagged of the boy & i at the party totally makes my heart all squeezy! i typed a whole list of things i love about us all over the photo with ampersands between each one, hence the title "on & on & on" as in the list goes...

here's to hoping i keep up the good scrapping habits!

friday five #13

01. royal typewriters - specifically those made in the 50's and later in gorgeous colors! they are so pretty and timeless. i have a junky old olympia and i am seriously craving an underwood cursive typewriter but i would love to score a vintage salmon or teal royal. but, in the meantime i will get by with a little help from crafty folk's typewriter stickers.

02. "contra" - the new vampire weekend album came out tuesday, sara berry clued me in to the fact that you could listen to it on npr's website before it's release and i'm pretty into it. it's probs going to be perfect to get us all through the end of winter and ready for a fresh and fun spring.

03. the boy can atc - the boy & i went to kristina & dawn's new years day housewarming party (vee came up too, yay!) and one of the first thing's miss k yelled in our general directions was that everyone had to make an atc card for the house before leaving. i thought the boy was going to be not so into it, but he was totes into it and slammed out a killer card complete with painting, stamping and even rub-ons. i'm a lucky miss!

04. fuggs - let me get real serious here for a second. i hate uggs, like haaaaaaaaaate them! but my toes have been frozey this winter, so i caved and bought some fuggs (as in fake & fugly) last month and i kind of see what it's all about. they keep my feeties warm, are super easy to slip on and they oddly enough make your legs look cute and small by comparison. hell must have truly frozen over.

05. tattoo possibilities - wintertime is tattoo time and i'm so ready for a new one. i have it narrowed down to just a couple of pieces by one of my favorite artists, julie west, and i'm pretty sure about location, now to just donate blood before (so annoying that you can't for 6 months after), save the funds, make final decisions and make the appointment! yay!

a new edition of house party hopes!

in honor of 2 awesome girls & a super awesome pup's new apartment in a new year, i bring you a celebratory mix that had us dancing;

01. "basic space" the xx

02. "dead sound" the raveonettes

03. "you got yr. cherry bomb" spoon

04. "crown of age" the ettes

05. "tiny little home" jay reatard

06. "dominos" the big pink

07. "lessons learned" matt & kim

08. "friends" band of skulls

09. "boys wanna be her" peaches

10. "empire state of mind" jay-z

11. "shove it" santogold

12. "ambling alp" yeasayer

13. "photobooth" friendly fires

14. "little secrets" passion pit

15. "highly suspicious" my morning jacket

16. "what's the attitude" cut chemist

17. "on to the next one" jay-z

i must admit that the "whip it!" soundtrack really helped me out on this one, all those kick butt songs work for these ladies. enjoy.

using the heck out of your 6x6's!

i think i've mentioned before that i teach a series of classes called "maximizing your 6x6 paper pads" using basic grey paper pads, showcasing how to use cute card designs that allow you to easily get multiples of 6-8 card designs from just one paper pad (sometimes the tally of how many you could make is up around 40!). now companies like cosmo cricket & sassafras lass have caught on to the paper pad trend and are making 6x6 pads of minimized versions of their larger papers, cosmo cricket even includes complimentary patterns that aren't available in 12x12.

anyway, while we were in the process of moving the store, i played a bunch with cosmo cricket's "nutmeg" paper pad and made an altered fall tree for the mantle, a coaster mini album, about 6 cards and i still have a bunch of paper left to make even more!

the key is to minimize the card area you need to cover by creating flaps with edge punches, utilizing large stamp images & about a billion other tricks i'm not giving away outside of class. : p

anyway, consider this encouragement to cut into those paper pads, even your favorites! have fun!

friday five #12

01. scrapping again in 2thousand&10 - judging by the fact that there are only 9 pictures in my "2009 layouts" folder card making and teaching have definitely taken over my crafty life, but i have already made a layout this year (shocking i know) and am actually feeling pretty inspired to make more! the first one back is always a little tough, but i love it anyway.

02. typewriter stamps - i used a sweet vintage looking one at kristina's last weekend and that super sweet one up there is part of rubber soul's valentine's day release. we just got it in and i can't wait to start stamping it! the best part? the "i heart you" is mounted on the side of the typewriter stamp. the "you're just my type" is totes worth purchasing also.

03. super mario bros. wii - so having started my like affair (yeah, i'm coining that phrase) with video games in the days of nintendo & super nintendo i tend to have trouble with these newfangled 5million dimension video games (i usually get lost in a corner and blown to smithereens) so since wii game out i've been loving all the mario games (an intervention almost had to be staged in the heyday of my super mario galaxy obsession). i just finally sat down with super mario bros. wii and i'm in love with the old school, levels & worlds feel of it!

04. always sunny - when i initially started watching "it's always sunny in philadelphia" i burnt myself out a little. when you watch a few hours worth at a time you kind of start thinking the world is a miserable place, but i've just finished season 4 at a much slower pace and it's soooooo much funnier that way. it definitely takes a certain sense of humor, but if you've got it, you'll love it.

05. the 2010 winter classic - this was completely ridiculous to watch! new years day, iced over fenway (really they build a hockey rink and snow over the rest), dropkick performing, throwback jerseys, denis leary leading the crowd in a round of "sweet caroline", the announcement of the u.s.a. hockey team and what turned out to be a crazy exciting win for the bruins in the last 5ish minutes. totally amazing to watch.

wintry mix

just a little wintry mix for you my loves

01. "two" the antlers

02. "possibility" lykke li

03. "blood bank" bon iver

04. "4 out of 5" peter bjorn and john

05. "do you believe in rapture?" sonic youth

06. "roslyn" bon iver & st.vincent

07. "on and on and on" wilco

08. "blue skies" noah and the whale

09. "stars of leo" m. ward

10. "charlie brown's lament" jacob miller

11. "map of the world" monsters of folk

12. "o valencia!" the decemberists

13. "penelops" pinback

14. "walking" the dodos

15. "snow day" matt pond pa

16. "love like a sunset; pt. II" phoenix

10 in 2010

i love a good indie, but my favorites for big movie theater trips are always the big blockbuster, super hero, action, visual crazy movies. here are 10 i'm already looking forward to seeing in 2010.

01. kick ass - this looks like a guilty pleasure, good for a few laughs kind of movie. a little bit of a so-wrong-it's-funny scenario. trailer

02. scott pilgrim vs. the world - so edgar wright (who directed shaun of the dead & hot fuzz, among other things) is directing the movie based on one of my all time favorite graphic novel series, "scott pilgrim" starring, michael cera as scott pilgrim, a 20something average dude in a band, who falls in love with knives chau, but has to battle her 7 evil ex boyfriends, one of whom is played by jason schwartzman. i die. no trailers yet, but they do have a video blog. imdb info

03. the green hornet- i'm having trouble picturing seth rogen as the green hornet, but i'm also not a huge fan of the comic, so it's not really any skin off my back either way. interested to see how it turns out. imdb info

04. the wolfman - this just looks straight up super gnarly. trailer

05. iron man 2 - okay, i shall forgive robert downey jr. his sherlock holmes, because i love, love his tony stark. mickey rourke looks totally crazy and i can't wait for this!!! trailer

06. legion - so intense. so totally terrifying. so much love for paul bettany and the chick who played little coop. so can't wait to pee my pants while watching this. trailer

07. harry potter and the deathly hallows - part one this year, and part 2 in 2011! you're killing us potter! can't blame them for wanting to cash in on an extra movie, but i only hope that it also means that they are going to take the greatest of care in really doing the final story justice. bootleg trailer

08. eclipse - smart move on the studio's part to have eclipse come out just six-ish months after new moon. i'd say they learned from harry potter's mistakes. i'm excited for this, but also even more excited to see if, and how, they manage to make breaking dawn into a movie. a lot of weirdness there.

09. daybreakers - y'all could probably guess that i'm a sucker for a well soundtracked trailer, but put that aside, and daybreakers still looks completely ridiculous. it seems like that rare thought provoking action/sci fi movie and i'm pretty stoked on the cast too. this one actually comes out really soon, like friday. trailer

10. alice in wonderland - do i even really need to explain this one? i think not. trailer

friday five #11 - 5 new year goals

i don't really want to use the word "resolutions" because those seem to always get broken, so i'll just call these goals, or thing i want to try to do/improve upon in 2010.

01. names - i am the absolute worst at remembering names, and i know it comes across like people are unimportant when i forget, so it's def on the to-work-on-list. i need some of those tricks people use, whose got 'em?

02. politics - i used to follow politics so much more closely when i was 21, 22, 23 but lately i haven't been paying much attention unless it's a presidential election year. i want to start educating myself about local and international politics on a daily basis, and i really, really want to start voting in every election, not just the presidentials.

03. yoga - i like how i felt when i was doing wii fit yoga 6 days a week. this year i'd like to get a little closer to yoga shape on the wii fit, and then start going to actual yoga classes to learn some real deal yoga.

04. birthday cards - considering my line of work, it's pretty ridic that i manage to send a grand total of maybe 2 birthday cards a year. this year you're all gettin' 'em, so get your birthdays to me.

05. donating - considering how easy it is, i think it's really important to donate blood, and i really want to get in a good cycle of donating, especially before my next tattoo. i also want to join the national bone marrow registry in the next month or so. the marrow procedure is so much less scary than it used to be and you could save a life!