Sketches on Tuesday

When life is throwing tomatoes at your creativity, you can thumb your nose at it by grabbing a sketch and getting to work.  I went on over to PageMaps to peruse the extensive library of sketches and found this one.  It has circles.  'Nuf said.

PageMaps designer Cindy Liebel translated the sketch pretty directly.  However her photo block showcases four small photos instead of two larger ones.  You could also add photos in-line with those on the sketch; at 3 x 3" you'd get four across.  Mirror the sketch, drop the photo mat on one side, which pulls double duty as a journaling block, and just continue the line of photos across the second page.

Now, I love this take on the sketch by Gossamer Blue designer Jill Keller.  It uses journaling cards, which I always have plenty of, along with odds and ends - tags, cork shapes, enamel dots, diecuts.  The designer got six thumbnail-photos in her photo block.  If you like, make your photo block a little bigger to make it more of an eye-catcher.  You could also go a little bigger on photo size and pull three or four of them along the page.

I was just about to exit the page, having what I came looking for, and found this sketch, which is sort of a take on the first sketch and just provides another way of looking at the first one.

Gossamer Blue designer Erin Taylor translated the sketch almost identically.  At 12 x 12 you'd be able to do a larger photo, or more photos - like a grouping of two up, two down, for four total.  It's a super simple layout to mirror - keep the rows of circles on both pages, or drop one side of them.  Take a line of photos across both pages.  It's a great way to use up paper.

If you're being bombarded by tomatoes, skip making juice and just get a sketch.

Go.  Create.

Food for Thought

I meant to post recipes last week, but that Friday just sort of got away from me.  Today, in an attempt to jump-start my mood I decided I'd tackle a few things.

I put some bed linens (one of two sets anyway) that were waiting to be space-bagged in the bag - I'll get the air sucked out Monday when I drag the vacuum upstairs for cleaning.  I asked hubby if he'd made room in his newly outfitted garage for his ham radio equipment, and if so, did he have room for his laptop equipment.  He did, and now that pack of stuff is out of the living room.  I took photos of the "box cars" and broke down one - I caved at the look on the 7 y.o.'s face, and dragged the bigger, more time consuming one down to the basement.  Where in a week, I'll end up dragging it back upstairs to disassemble it for the trash anyway.  I steam-cleaned the family room carpet.  It was beyond hideous, but now it's all nice and fresh looking.  Is it wrong I just want to stand and gaze upon it?  Finally, with a prepping eye to the coming holidays, I set up a batch of Cherry Bounce.  My first batch.  We'll see how it turns out.  I'm aiming, as the blogger said, for above hooch and below cough syrup.  I may also set up a batch with a vodka base, that I saw in a follow-up post.

In a bit, I'll have to run the 17 y.o. out for a sports physical.  We've got our usual dinner.  Then I'm taking the boys up to my sister's for her outdoor movie night.  We were planning to go cheer on my brother-in-law in a triathlon, tomorrow, but it has been moved, for the second week in a row, to next weekend because of the threat of rain and flash flooding.  So, I have a whole Saturday to fill.  If I push myself again, I may be able to get to the basement, which I've decided I'm just going to do my thing, repairs to the ceiling be damned.

Whether you're looking at a full weekend, or a day that's now open, here are a few recipes that are quick to prepare and good.

I made this Sweet Cucumber Salad as a side to the chicken below.  I'm trying to be more thoughtful, more often, on sides.  This one was easy and had a nice sweet taste that balanced out the buffalo-spiced chicken.

I'm not a fan of Buffalo Chicken, but my kids and hubby like it.  I made this for an In-Law Dinner, and they aren't fans of heat either.  I opted to drizzle only a little bit of the Buffalo Sauce on the chicken and then served the majority of the sauce on the side.  This worked well.  Those of us not liking the spice, got a taste, while others were able to douse to their hearts content.

Mangoes have been on sale, I have cilantro growing in the gardens and I had deli ham on hand, so on a lazy night everything came together to make Ham Mango Quesadillas.  Super easy.  Super tasty.

I'm not sure what caught my eye about this Three-Cheese Veggie Pizza, but whatever it was, I'm glad it did.  It was really tasty.  The 7 y.o. snarfed it down.  The 17 y.o. ate it, cautiously, because it has his nemesis - squash - on it; two kinds just to really mess with him.  I made the Italian dressing - it's one of the dressings I make from scratch from this pantry cookbook.  I couldn't find the bread sticks for the crust, not even plain, so I just made my regular dough and added a teaspoon each of garlic powder and Italian seasoning to the dry ingredients.  A few more minutes, but worth it.  Lots of flavor and a meatless meal for the week.

Two kabob recipes in two weeks for dinner.  Both had pineapple.  My defense - one has sausage and a different marinade.  The Sausage and Chicken Kabobs I've made before and are really good.  A salty, tangy marinade combined with the sweet of the pineapple.  Yum.

This seems to be the Summer of Slaw because this Three-Pepper Coleslaw made its appearance with the kabobs above.  I opted not to use green peppers (I'm the only one who likes them, the others tolerate them.)  It was light and fresh.

If you make Key Lime Mousse Cups, you might need to double, the already sufficiently sized, recipe.  My family horked these down.  I also had more filling (about a cup) than phyllo cups.  I had planned to make some mini graham cracker crusts to put the remaining filling in, but someone ate the filling.  All the filling.  I have no idea what they put it on.  My guess is they just ate it with a spoon.

I said I was in a rut, which usually translates to my menu with super simple recipes.  These Salsa Ranch Chicken Wraps were more chopping than anything.  I used regular tortillas because we always have tortillas on hand.  They were nice and filling.  I got veggies in the kids.  They were toasted in butter.  A win-win for everyone.

When the kids aren't in school there's a lack of desserts in the house.  It's usually whatever was left over from an In-Law Dinner; and that only lasts a day or so.  So when I had a craving for cake, I was out-of-luck.  I toyed with my go-to mug cake - a deep, rich chocolate thing.  But being too lazy for using the oven, I searched my Pins and found this Snickerdoodle Mug Cake.  Super yummy.  Moist and light.  Craving settled.  Until the next night when I needed another one.  I used a wide-mouth Mason jar because my straight-sided mugs weren't tall enough, and my big-enough mugs weren't straight enough.

Another week.  Another pizza.  This time Baja Chicken Taco Pizza.  Lots of flavor.  Nobody seemed to mind it wasn't pepperoni.  I used my go-to dough and my homemade taco seasoning.  I also used my homemade ranch dressing (another one from this book) which was probably thinner than one made with store-bought, but it worked fine for us.  Actually, we used the leftover to drizzle over the top.  I opted not to put the lettuce on it.

I'm off to prep for dinner.

Happy Friday,

Throw Back Thursday

By definition, being in a funk means you can't seem to muster energy to do, well, anything.  That is certainly true.  Luckily I have a stack of layouts from when I was motivated and moving.

This was the first layout I did during the Scrapbook and Cards Today Class Easy-Detailed-Expert, based on the first sketch and followed the basics of the sketch.  I got some good mileage out of this sketch and you can see how I altered the base sketch to create four layouts, the one above plus this one,  this one and this one.

The Apron Strings kit I used was a Smaller kit, from 2010, but for the life of me I can't figure out the manufacturer.  I'm going to have to do a search and update the post.  I do know I used pretty much the entire kit - I have a few scraps of paper and the odd rhinestone.  It's definitely more layering, more embellishing and just "more" than I would typically do.  But that's what classes are for, right?  Teach you new things and get you out of your scrappy box.

Now, by the color choice, you'd think this was for my daughter, but no, it's for my 17 y.o. son, who was nine at the time, and his part in May Crowning.  See, boys can do pink.

Happy Thursday,

We Are

I think I've hit the I-need-my-kids-back-in-school wall.  Add Senioritis, aka I-have-a-High-School-Senior-and-they're-bleeding-me-dry.  Combine those with various continuing, in-process projects which are relocating things where they shouldn't be and I'm in a serious funk.

I need to do something, but don't have a clue, or the motivation, to figure it out.  It's bad.

• Because, Colorado Skies
• I'm not sure how to take this conversation between the Girlie and her 17 y.o. fashion-clueless brother.  Should I be happy that he thinks I'd wear the trendy torn boyfriend cut jeans?  Or should I be insulted that there's no way he can comprehend his sister wearing something his mom would?
• "One of these things is not like the other. . .one of these things just doesn't belong"  What is out of screen shot, is the other Ford Escape. . .well, and the hail damaged Escape.  Given hubby's review, I think it's safe to say we will never be a VW family.
• He can make coffee, but refuses to get his own cereal.
• This spider's appearance caused much excitement and was apparently an Olympic swimmer because he would not go quietly.  Sorry, outside you live.  Inside. . .not so much.
• She is now a Certified Nursing Assistant.  #proudmamam #anotherstepcloser
• When mom washes your favorite emoji toy, you follow her into the laundry room for every load until you see the load you know it's in.  Then you wait for it to be uncovered.
• The light changed.  It's got that Fall feel about it.  #thesoonerthebetter
• When you're seven and don't get the adult conversations, you pass your own time.

Happy Wednesday,

Stash Busting

Underrated.  Overworked.  Overlooked.

The paperclip.

I realized today that I have a fair amount of clips in my stash - a topic I covered in a previous Stash Busting post, along with other metal items.  

Scrapbook companies put out their versions of embellished clips and a large variety of shaped clips, so they appear frequently in Apron Strings kits. You can thank the "Planner" craze for the plethora of clips being churned out these days.  However, I'm not covering the pre-embellished clips or how to use them.  This is more of a use your stash - create your own clips using regular paperclips.

Okay, I'm a huge planner fan, long before creating and embellishing was the "thing."  These coffee clips would be adorable in a planner, but they are inspiration for what else you can do.  Little diecuts - pre-made or ones you create, or those last, lonely layered stickers, enamel stickers or cabochons on the sheet.

Have tickets, small tags, postal stamps or stickers?  Layer them up like these travel clips and add to your layout or card.

Use patterned paper scraps, leftover mini brads, small enamel dots, cork, mini flowers or tiny wood veneer pieces to create these pennants to hang on your page.   Change up the bits and pieces to reflect the holiday, season or event you're working on.

Create your own flowers using scraps of patterned papers and add them to the tops of paperclips - check this post for simple ideas.  Or totally take the easy route and use pre-made flowers (you probably have a few in your stash.)  

These simple flags were created with washi tape, but you could use a length of ribbon or a couple ribbons, or several strands of baker's twine.

Nothing is easier than these washi tape pennants.

Whether you create your own butterflies or go with a pre-made version, they're super cute fluttering around your page.

Other last-of-the-package items you can use:  regular buttons, themed buttons, wood & enamel buttons, dots, flair, wood veneer pieces, or large jewels.  Really, it's just what you have.

Outside of the tape or ribbon ideas, either use two pop dots (one on the back of the item, which is stuck to the top of the clip and the other dot which is stuck to the pop dot on the item - sticky faces together sealing the paper clip between them), or use pop dots to adhere the item to the clip and then add a piece of one-sided tape over the back of the item and dot to keep them in place.  

Need more ideas, do a quick Pinterest Clip Search

Go.  Create.

Throw Back Thursday

I decided to hit my living room head-on yesterday.  It has been a "working" spot as my hubby rebuilds/repairs a friend's laptop - so there's equipment and cables everywhere.  It also has his own desk-top computer in there, currently on the floor, but I'm not sure why it's in the living room instead of his office.  There's a new ceiling fan awaiting installation.  There are the 7 y.o.'s "box" cars.  He's on notice, if I don't see him playing with/in them in the next week, I'll take pics and break them down.  Hubby dropped a garment storage bag, that was in storage, on one of the chairs with instructions it wasn't going back.  

So yesterday, I dug in. . .to the garment bag.  The only thing that was truly mine to deal with.  It was filled with costumes from when the kids were little, and most were still in great condition despite the fact they were worn multiple times after Halloween.  There were also a plethora of dresses from the Girlie's younger days.  I opted to store them, so packed them up into Space Bags.  Looking at them them this morning, I either didn't get them zipped well, or the seals have failed, because two aren't so much vacuum sealed anymore.

I'll move the to-be-installed fan up to our room.  The "box" cars will probably be gone over the weekend - he's clearly lost interest.  Hubby, I saw, was dealing with the laptop this morning.  The room may be back to normal soon.  Certainly before Christmas.

I say all this because I can't be creative in a space that looks like this.  My work table can be a disaster, but not the area around me.  Which is why I'm temporarily set up in the dining room instead of my, currently displaced, studio.  The cluttered mess calls to me to clean it up.  It won't be ignored.

You know, there was a time my backlogged photos were only 18 months back?  It's true.  18 months.  We'll just say that's not the case now, the backlog goes back a bit further.  These photos from 2006 are of my now 17 y.o., who will be starting school as a Senior in just a couple weeks.  The papers are Jillibean's Egg Drop Soup that were in a Spring 2010 Bigger kit.  The layout will go in his book.

I have used this Bigger kit, as well as the SCT sketch from Week One's Easy-Detailed-Expert class (which is still available for download) for three layouts (and counting). . .three 2-page layouts; the one above, as well as for this layout and this layout.  I've only added cardstock.  Even though the basic layout is similar, the pages all have their own look.  Reason #1034 to love sketches.

Here's to opening up more visual space in my temporary workspace and being creative.

Go. Create.

We Are

With the start of school just a couple weeks away there are long hours at game consoles, late nights and sleeping in, out searching for Pokemon, the obligatory school supply shopping and and being bled dry by school fees.  

There's prepping for another High School Senior, changes to your college student's plans, thinking about how the school year (particularly homework time) will play out for your Sophomore and finding the 7 y.o.'s attitude will likely mean a lot of notes home from school. 

There's doing my best to ignore the disaster area that is my living room and coming to the conclusion that the basement should just be sealed off and forgetting its existence.  Nightly drinking because the friction level among children and sassy attitudes is almost at Defcon 5. 

• That time he got up at 6:00 AM and swore he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.  Four hours later. . .
• When you're always on the look out for that sunset.  (photo by:  Girlie)
• When you're lactose intolerant and throw caution to the wind (photo by: Girlie)
• When Colorado is rockin' the sunsets, with help from a couple large fires burning in the state.
• When the 7 y.o. is o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d. with car washes.  
• Another low-key week, minus that time your brand new car got nailed by hail.  A lot of hail.  A lot of big hail.  #PockMarked
• When the only good thing to come out of a trip to Cheyenne was the fireball sunset
• Finally losing that tooth.
• When you haven't worn a piece of jewelry in a long time, you stroll memory lane and wonder how long you've had it.  Only to discover. . .

Happy Wednesday,