The One with Elle's Studio March Projects

These are the layouts and the card I made for my monthly Elle's Studio assignment:



2010 Rose Parade

Fun facts and such:
1) I watched Titanic while working on these projects. I think I get more and more emotional each time I watch it. I just can't really believe that it's a true story. I mean, I believe it, but it's just sooooooooooooooo sad. How did an iceberg sink such an incredible structure? The music is great, the acting is superb. Sigh. Great movie.
2) I knew I wanted to stitch across all of the circles and at first I was going to go straight down and straight across each row. Then I decided to stitch across them diagonally for a quilted look and I like it mucho better.
3) I hand drew a funky scalloped border around the picture of me and Chris. I was going to draw scallops around a few more circles, but decided against it. Now that circle is special :)

Journaling says: We heard that if you go to the end of the parade route you could see it for free! Free is good! So we drove up to Colorado Blvd, parked a few blocks away and made our way to the crowds. We found okay seats next to a BBQ pit and saw the beginning of the 2010 Rose Parade. There was a big break between floats and we had our fill so we went home. Turns out we missed some pretty cool floats like one with Jackie Chan! But we had a great time and we'll probably splurge and get seats for the 2011 Rose Parade. Until then, here are the memories!

Supplies: Cardstock, buttons, puffy letter stickers, pen: American Crafts; Journaling spots, calendars, sentiment die cut, date label: Elle's Studio; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Circle cutter: Martha Stewart Crafts; Scissors: Fiskars; Adhesive: Helmar



Dance Dance

How to:
To make this layout I pulled out all the patterned paper, patterned packaging and digitally downloaded and printed patterned paper I thought matched the photograph. Then I stamped a variety of journaling spots/frames/labels on the papers and cut them out. I stuck my picture in the middle of a piece of white background cardstock and adhered all the cut out pieces around the photo. And of course sprinkled some buttons on top.

Journaling says: I don't remember much about dancing. I do remember, however, how terribly itchy this tutu was. The sequin edges would scratch my arms and elbows. I must not have enjoyed dancing very much because I didn't take lessons for very long at all. It must be the thing do to though: enroll your little girls in dancing classes. It seems most mothers I know enroll their cute daughters in dance classes. I'll probably do the same - if only to get super cute pictures to scrapbook! :)

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts (white), Bazzill Basics (colored); Buttons, puffy letter stickers, pen, acrylic stamping block: American Crafts; Patterned paper, patterned packaging, stamps (frame, houndstooth, journaling spots, labels): Elle's Studio; Ink: StazOn; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars; Adhesive: Helmar

Love Card

Card is 5.5 x 4.25"

How to:

Stamp a houndstooth background all across the front of a kraft card base in watermark ink. Cut three concentric circles from red patterned packaging paper and layer them together on the left side of the card using a red jewel brad set through the center. Hand cut two leaves from green argyle digitally downloaded patterned paper and tuck them under the flower. Set "LOVE" white foam letter stickers around the curve of the flower.

Supplies: Cardstock: Kraft; Patterned packaging paper (red), digitally downloaded patterned paper (green), houndstooth stamp: Elle's Studio; Jewel brad, foam letter stickers: American Crafts; Ink: VersaMark; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars; Adhesive: Helmar

Now we're off to Cafe Rio and to take Joey to the Huntington Beach Dog Park - after we clean cages of course :) Twill be a fun day!

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The One with the Morning at Disneyland

Chris didn't have school this morning so what were we to do? Spend the morning at Disneyland of course! It's been far too long since our last visit. Gotta live it up while we can.

Disneyland has the best parking garage known to man. BYU could learn a thing or two from this structure. (All you zoobies know what I'm talkin' about.)

My favorite quote that sums up Disney in a sentence and I take a picture of it every time.

Fun vintage posters in the entrance:

We checked another item off of our "never done this before" list. The Enchanted Tiki Room. Waaay cool.

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favorite rides. I just booked a table for 2 at the Blue Bayou restaurant inside the Pirates ride for our 3 year anniversary in May. I can already taste the gumbo :)


This painting in the tunnel of the castle is lovely. I think I might go watch Sleeping Beauty now, I'm in the mood.

REYANNA - DID I FIND A HIDDEN MICKEY ON THIS MAILBOX?!?!?!

:)

The "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" has been replaced temporarily with the Captain E-O Tribute. Oh wow. This takes me back to my yesteryears when I went to Disneyworld when I was 8 years old with my BFF Tess and we watched this a million times. Good times.

I've ALWAYS wanted a Mary Poppins dress, just like this one.

Saw some interesting plants in California Adventure that look straight out of a Dr. Seuss book:

Tip: you get a free fresh and warm tortilla if you go inside the Mission Tortilla Factory over in the Pacific Wharf. Mmmm.

The light show should be ready any day now - it says opening Spring 2010, and if I'm not mistaken, that would be this Saturday...

All-in-all: super fun and fantastic morning.

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The One with The Price Is Right Turned The Grove Mall

Happy St. Patrick's Day! You better be wearing green OR ELSE.................!

Last week we and the Bybees tried to get on The Price Is Right and make it big. However we showed up about two hours too late. Live'n'learn. Now we know. So instead we walked around The Grove - the hoitiest toitiest mall I've ever been to.

Here's the CBS studio where The Price Is Right is filmed.

So close yet so far.

Paige'n'Chris (what's Chris looking at besides the camera?)

Blake'n'Erica - cute as ever.

LA - I mostly took this picture just cuz I think it's cool that you can see the Griffith Observatory from pretty much everywhere in the valley.

"Welcome to The Grove"

Our first stop was the restroom where there were cloth towels to dry your hands, marble counter tops, and maids/janitors in fancy uniforms. And a tip dish that was full of bills and coins.

Just being silly.

No outdoor mall is complete without a fountain! Plus there were giant koi swimming around in the water. I could stare at them for hours.

Even the ash trays are decked out. Not a butt in sight and the sand has been embossed with a leaf design.

Anthropologie. Swoon. Their window displays never cease to amaze me and this particular window didn't disappoint. Can you tell what these flower thing-a-ma-jiggies are?

Plastic bottles that have been spray painted and cut into petals. GENIUS. So easy! Why didn't I think of it first?

Hopefully we'll be able to organize a group of 25 of us to get on The Price Is Right soon cuz then we automatically get tickets without having to be there at 6am. I can just see all the boys in their blue dental scrubs and the wives in USC gear. Some day.

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The One with the 4.4 Earthquake at 4am

It was only a matter of time. Not IF, but WHEN. This is earthquake country afterall. Chris and I were nestled all snug in our beds while visions of sugar plums danced in our heads. Just before 4am, I was woken by shaking walls and I knew immediately what was happening and screamed out loud. I literally screamed, I can't believe myself! It was only a 4.4 magnitude earthquake, but it felt much worse because we so cleverly (or now we've come to realize not-so-cleverly) found a home for Chris' Mountain Dew bottle collection on a little ledge around the ceiling of our room...

What woke me up and scared me the most was 8 of these Mountain Dew bottles crashing down and making a ruckus. Unfortunately the 8 that fell didn't take it so well. The most prized and valuable bottle in the collection got dented.

So did the others, but they're newer and can be easily replaced.


Other evidence of the quake included our pie safe doors opening and crooked picture frames.

This was at least the 6th earthquake I've been in, you'd think I'd be used to them by now. Not so my friend. The worst was the 1989 Loma Prieta in the Bay Area. I was 4 and was sitting on a tire swing when the quake happened. I remember thinking it was just the wind cuz I wasn't grounded. I probably would have been a lot more scared had I been not swinging around.
This is Chris' 2nd earthquake so he didn't really know what was going on. Amateur :)
Earthquakes are scary man! Especially after all the earthquakes that have been happening recently causing so much grief. Our little earthquake was only a 4.4 but it felt like it lasted for 10 seconds rather than 4 seconds. It's such a humbling and hopeless feeling to sit there while the walls around you shake and Mountain Dew bottles come crashing down. Rachel, the cat, was scared out of her wits and ran under the bed and peed. Our bird who sleeps on top of the door in the bathroom flew around in hysterics and landed on the floor. And the parrots of Pasadena who usually sleep through the night were squawking up a storm as we watched the news at 4am for more information.

Let's hope this is the first and last earthquake we have to live through while in California.

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The One with Dumb Boy Stories

I straightened my hair on Saturday morning for the first time in over a year. This is the "before" picture and I don't even have an after picture to redeem myself. Meh.

It's such a process to straighten it, that's why I hardly every do it. But I did and it reminded me of Junior High/High school when I straightened it frequently and consequently I had a few dreams/flashbacks of dumb boy stories. Prepare to enter my random thoughts.

9th grade. Evergreen Junior High. 3rd period. Science class. I had one of those ginormous calculators where you could type messages and what not (who cares that it could solve complex mathematical problems right?!?). It was the futuristic way of passing notes if you will. The first 30 minutes of 3rd period were for reading. Haha. Yeah right. Let the calculator passing begin. I was sitting next to a boy, let's call him Steven. He was a basketball all-star and all that jazz. We had been flirting it up for weeks and eventually he confessed via calculator that he liked me. I was so excited, I totally thought he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend. Wrong. Pretty much the next day he asked another girl to be his girlfriend and they dated the rest of the year and all throughout high school. We went to different high schools though so, whatever. His loss :)

16 years old. I flew all the way out to Utah from Washington to see a boy I liked. We were hanging out at the mall (we were sooo cool) and he refused to hold my hand. I was like, what's up with dis? I flew 800 miles to see you and you won't even hold my hand in public? He said: Cuz I don't want other girls to see me holding another girl's hand. I want to look available. OMG. Forget that.

Junior High and High School. I was dumped twice by boyfriends for other girls. Girls that were my friends. Or at least I thought they were my friends. Lame lame and more lame.

College. I met a boy the first day of Freshman orientation. We started dating, if you could even call it that. We never went anywhere except on walks around campus and I was the one who had to hold his hand for the first time like a month later. After our first kiss he felt so guilty that he never called me again...whoa.

I have more lame boy stories, but I'll spare you the details. Then I met Chris, my knight in shining armor, on January 22nd, 2004. After a little drama in the beginning, everything worked out and exactly 6 years ago yesterday he asked me to be his first and only girlfriend. And now we've been married for almost 3 years and life couldn't be better. Moral of the story: I'm so glad I'm past the dating stage and can laugh at all these horrendously lame boy stories!

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The One with the Bookbinding Workshop!!

I had oh so much fun teaching my first bookbinding workshop last August, I've decided to give it a go here in California.

Here are the deets:
Who: Anyone living in Southern California (or maybe just visiting for the weekend, or maybe you want to fly/drive out here just for the occasion :) over the age of 12.
What: Learn how to make a 5 x 7" book using a copic style binding. This type of bookbinding is fun because you can create the cover from a variety of materials such as wood, Plexiglas, cardstock, binder's board, tile - if you can drill holes through it, you can use it as a cover! Bonus - there's no glue involved. I will provide Plexiglas covers, or you can bring your own cover materials.
Where: To be determined - somewhere in Southern California, close to South Pasadena, depending on how many are interested - I will let you know exactly where a few days prior to the workshop.
When: Saturday, April 10th 2010, from 10am-4pm, or shorter/longer depending on how fast peeps finish. Last time we finished at exactly 4pm and there were 8 attendees.
Why: There's nothing quite like the feeling of holding a book you've made all by yourself in your hands. It's satisfying and fun and addicting!
Cost: $20 workshop fee plus the cost of some materials (around $20) which you'll buy beforehand (I'll email you a complete list) and bring to the workshop.
How: E-mail me if you are interested in attending or have any questions.
Notes: Costco pizza will be provided for lunch. I will give you a detailed list of instructions so you can continue making books for the rest of your life.
Testimonial: Lindsey was one of the workshop attendees last time and has taken what she's learned and is creating books a-plenty! She recently did a giveaway of one of her handmade books on her blog: check it out here. Lindsey says, "Ever since I saw Paige's books, I admired them so much that I was determined to learn how to make them. When Paige said she was going to have a bookbinding workshop I am pretty sure I was the first one to sign up. I enjoyed all 6 hours of the workshop. She is such a great teacher, and I still remember to this day how to make them. It was money well spent."
PS: Check out my website paigebooks.googlepages.com or my Picasa Web Album to see examples of all the books I've made. Here is a variety of copic style bound books I've made and which you can learn to make too!:











Hope to see you there!

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