somerset memories and me

Tomorrow is the day that the Autumn 2011 issue of Somerset Memories hits the stands. My Charleston on-the-road mini book will be featured in a 7-page article and I am quite honored to have been contacted by the magazine, asking if I would submit my project for consideration. "Absolutely, of course," I said.

You can read more about my Charleston trip journal, buy the magazine or both! I think I might just stalk the book and craft stores and be just a little goofy by asking Gordon to take a photo of me buying the magazine, or something equally as embarrassing for him. 

Have you ever created a mini book while you're still on the trip? Fun, right? Lots of fun!

52Photos :: trail :: red

my 52Photos capture :: red

Our FedEx delivery of Victoria's birthday gift arrived yesterday. Her birthday is November 15th. You see where this is going, right? Victoria walked out the door with me to greet our lady driver that just given Duke a treat because he was crying for it. She handed over our package {which I didn't even look at} and we chatted shortly until Victoria started squeeling with delight, "A scooter, a scooter!" There goes the surprise. I had totally forgotten that Gordon ordered it and did not even think it wold come in its original box with no other packaging. Fast forward a few hours when Gordon and I caved in, opened the box and, after some minor assembly, let Victoria glide down the driveway on her brand new 3-wheeled red Radio Flyer scooter. After all, she's the third child and doesn't get as many new, unused, fresh out-of-the-box items...lots of hand me downs in her life. So go forth, Spunkster, and let the wind swoosh through your hair on your red scooter!

my 52Photos capture :: trail

Our family does love a ride back through the holler...trails, paths, roads. Up and down. I'm talking seriously steep up, so steep that I have said, "I will never go on this path with you again." That's steep. So steep that while going down said path, I have made perhaps the stupidest remark I have ever made, "Lean back!" In my mind, I was thinking that if Zach and I leaned back, the Jeep {what we were in at the time} would not roll forward. All the while, Gordon and Zach were laughing hysterically at their hysterical wife | Mom. Yeah, I'm goofy like that. So, anyway, back to the story. This vehicle is but one of many that have carried our family on our trail adventures here in our little paradise.

next week's theme

 today

the wrap-up

123 members and 641 photos. Wowser!

words to live by | momenta & big picture classes

Having completed the free Big Idea Festival at Big Picture Classes, I wanted to share with you my album and the easy way I scrapped my Words To Live By mini book. I'm also sharing this post over on the Momenta blog today...stop by and leave a comment if you'd like!

Hi everyone, I'm Monika Wright, and I love to scrapbook in mini format. It's by far my favorite way to document a story for our family, for myself and for gifts to others.

Okay, want to know my secret? I used the Family Ties 6x6 Scrapbook Kit by Momenta! Inside your package, you'll find the album, 12 patterned papers, 3 assorted die cut sheets, coordinating gems and page protectors, too!

To create a page for each of my words, I chose a coordinating color of cardstock, found in this 12x12 cardstock pad, trimmed to 6x6, which gave me 4 pages per 12x12 sheet of cardstock. I then embellished my shipping tags with scraps, created the word banner from kraft and rummaged through my letter stickers to create the word.

Here, I'll show you how the pages look inside the page protectors and with the coordinating papers from the Family Ties Scrapbook Kit on the left and my completed pages on the right. The first page is my intro page with each of the 12 Words to Live by list.

I love the cohesive flow of this mini, all because I used a kit by Momenta, where all the work's done for me! And here's my cover as well as my ending page where I used more dictionary pages. Love that the Cappuccino, Buttercream and Honeydew baker's twine from The Twinery coordinated so perfectly with this Momenta mini album kit.  

be prepared

How can it be that as crafters and scrapbookers and card makers that we don't have what we need when we need it? Am I the only one? I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm one of those guilty crafters that has been caught unprepared.

So, I made a fun little batch of handmade shipping tags with some white cardstock that I trimmed to 2.50 inches x 4.25 inches. Using my punches, I added the hole for the shipping twine and edged the two top corners of the tag.

Since I am usually caught off guard when birthdays roll around, I thought that the Birthday Chipboard Frames  from Momenta would be just the right fit. Included in this set are the stickers and also the coordinating chipboard frames that you stick on top of the sticker...very cool!

click on photo to be taken to shop listing

Here's a close-up of one of the sticker | chipboard frame combos.

So, now, choose your punch, add it to your tag, layer your sticker on top, then add the chipboard frame on top of that. Outline your tag with a coordinating colored marker and add your twine...tag complete, you're a superstar!

As you can see, there is plenty of variety for both masculine and feminine versions of tags. Add them to your gift bag, tie a bow at the top of your tag and adhere it directly to the top of a birthday card to make it even more special or even use these tags as a journaling spot on your layouts.

they're all good

i forgot

I forgot to photograph layouts to share with you today, so instead you're stuck with a quick update of what's new at I Love It All.

Berry Red Mixed Media Journal

also available in Ocean Blue and Moss Green 

embellishment kit included with the Berry Red | Ocean Blue | Moss Green mini books

Fall mini book | blog post sharing several pages in my own album

set of 31 shipping tags - think advent calendars, treat bags and December Daily albums

mini composition book

BOO treat bag toppers

happy BOO gift tags

I'll add more photos when Blogger will let me upload again, all I was getting was the spinning wheel. In the meantime, take a peak at these goodies, too:

vintage style library cards | see the reading log I made for Isabella!

15 piece collection  | gift tags
set of 5 embellished gift tags | as seen in this blog post

HO HO HO art print in Peppermint Red and Evergreen
100 piece collection | vintage book pages with kraft, lined and graph paper
5 section o-wire bound journal
what's BOO with you art print

blog hoppin' with the twinery | and a giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! The winner of the Ultimate Sampler Pack is Holly.  Everyone else...be sure to head over to The Twinery to find out if you're the winner of the the Grand Prize...14 full spools of luscious eco-luxe baker's twine.

A warm welcome to all The Twinery blog hoppers today, hope you're having fun and being inspired this morning! You should have arrived here from the blog of the fabulous Deena. Don't forget to stop by The Twinery each day through Friday...there's a new hop each day with new chances to win, too! PLEASE begin at The Twinery...have you seen what the grand prize is? Wowser! 

My {younger} husband turned 40 last week and I knew that I wanted to make the big Four-Oh memorable for him. But, what do you get a man that says he doesn't need anything? And on top of that make it cute in a masculine way...you feel my pain, right?

Before I show you the "real" gift though, my husband was to first open the box labeled "$39.95" {it's on the left up there} where rolled up inside was this t-shirt:

He chuckled, rolled his eyes and told me that I was goofy. Totally okay. It's the goofiness in our relationship that keeps our life fun and unexpected. And I think he actually liked the t-shirt, believe it or not. You'll notice on the front of the gift box that I reenforced the over-the-hill, gloom and doom theme of a 40th birthday with a die cut shape cut from black cardstock tied with Charcoal baker's twine. For "FORTY" gift, I used an old map page, which to me meant we have places to go and things to see together in his next FORTY years, embellished with even more Charcoal baker's twine.

Inside that gift, which was a bit more impressive than a t-shirt, I wrapped FORTY $10 bills around a pencil and tied those rolled bills with a length of even more Charcoal Baker's Twine. Into the box they went, after removing the pencil, to be surrounded by their buddies. That little bit of extra work was so worth it to see the rolled eyes from my Sweetie, again, when he opened up the box, pushed aside the tissue paper...and uttered the "you're so goofy" comment. Again. That's okay, I know he loves me.

a special thank you to all my Etsy customers for your patronage, YOU helped me to gift Gordon with this wad of cash!

So, with a little ingenuity and some time, I was able to make these two gift boxes for my husband just a little more special, and manly, with the addition of the Charcoal Baker's Twine, die cuts and letter stickers. Oh, yeah, and my goofiness!

My regular readers might remember this post about 40 Things that I started back at the last part of 2010...actually 40 weeks before his 40th birthday. When I decorated the cover of my small spiral notebook with patterned paper and baker's twine, I had intended to transfer everything over to another mini book. 

But, as I thought about it and realized that I had handwritten 40 "something I love about you" notes, I really didn't see a need to recreate. I gave it to Gordon as is, packaged inside a glassine envelope. I might just have seen his eyes get a bit dewy as he went about reading just how loved he is.

Your next stop on this hop is at the blog of Jenni Suchin, where you'll find more inspiration and creativity using the luscious 14 colors of eco-luxe baker's twine from The Twinery.

Before you do, though, be sure to enter the giveaway for this, The Ultimate Sampler Pack, valued at $25.oo! Be sure to leave a comment for each separate entry. If your e-mail address is not linked to your profile, leave your e-mail address in your comment so that I can contact you if you're the winner. No way to contact you, no way you can be the winner, right? So, please, please, include your e-mail address somewhere!

+ be a follower of The Twinery blog, if you already are, leave a comment, that counts!
+ be a follower of I Love It All --------> it's over there in the sidebar! leave a comment even if you
   already are, that counts, too!
+ bonus! tell me the name of your favorite color of The Twinery baker's twine

Entries will close Friday evening at 8pm and will be announced on this same blog post. So glad you stopped by today and I hope that you'll come back again soon for a longer visit to scroll through my posts for other projects and ideas you might love.

Here's the hop line-up for Wednesday, in case you think you might have missed someone!

The Twinery

  Stephanie Johnson

                Deena

                            Monika Wright  - you are here

       Jenny Suchin

       Grace Hester

      Jen Carter  

   Hera Frei

     Emily Leiphart

Now go forth and comment!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

an international goody swap!

I Love It All is going international...all the way to France, baby! Well, actually, I have quite a few international readers, and any and all are welcome to play along with this super fun project, no matter what country you are from as long as you are willing to ship your package of goodies to France.

Here''s a peek of what I'll be sending to a lovely French pretty paper lover. 3 Guest Checks, 10 library cards, 10 small metal-rimmed tags, 100 piece embellishment collection, 1 muslin bag and 10 shipping tags all packaged inside a metal-hinged tin. The tin is embellished with a map belly band and a book page flower. I hope she loves it all.

And now here's a peek at what one of you might have a chance to call it your own! That's right, this goody from Sophie or one of many others from France...and here's how it will happen.

Readers of I Love It All will leave a comment with your blog address on this post, or just contact me and I'll add you to the swap list if you don't blog, and Sophie will match you up with a French craft goddess who wants to swap goodies. You'll package up your goodies and ship them off to France while the person you're matched up with will ship your goodies from France all the way to the good 'ole USA.

Sophie {my German 2nd cousin has the same name and pronounces her name So-phie, but I'll have to ask Sophie how the French enunciate her name, won't I?}...anyway, Sophie is the author of several blogs...one in French and this one in English. Click on the links and find out just how amazing she is. French, English, she does it all and she's the brainstorm behind this cool idea.

You'll want to remember shipping costs when you choose your items. As you can see from the photos we've shared, we have lots of fun little items, they are just lightweight in nature. Imagination is key and highly encouraged.

So, let the fun begin! You have until October 4th to sign up when partners will be matched up.