Travel Scrapbooking

I am in the process of organizing my scrap stuff and preparing for 2 scrap events in the next few months. Got any ideas on making it easier to transport my stuff from scrap area to event??

The big challenge is ribbon. In the past I have stored it in an embroidery box, then I used ziplocs arranged by color, and I am admiring the clothespins with the ribbon wrapped around, thrown into a big fishbowl. But then how do I travel with it??

A few things I found online:

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2983352970054254152GGfdvD

http://www.ribbonring.com./

http://www.scrapbookeronline.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=26

http://www.madcropper.com/ribbon-storage-101-by-candice-palmer/

Got any suggestions? Not just ribbon, but any travel-with-scrap stuff ideas?

The Reviews are In

I had this great idea to post reviews by subject, but today I am going to give you "review vomit" of everything I experienced this weekend.

Wei Hong Chinese Restaurant
7740 Olive Blvd; Saint Louis, MO 63130--I went twice this weekend. It was the BEST and FRESHEST Chinese I have ever had. I have been to many a China town AND I eat a lot of Chinese food. Other interesting fact about the place: it used to be an old porn theater!! The second night we went, they had Chinese dancers on the stage (non-porn...lol) performing for the Chinese New Year.

Korte Recreation Center
Highland, IL--Translation: Indoor water park for toddlers. IT WAS AWESOME!! They had a small lazy river and a toddler swimming area with slide and fountains. Best of all...the water was warm.

St. Clair Bowl
Fairview Hts, IL--Illinois is smoke free now. This made going into a bowling alley soooo much better. Tate had a blast and loved it, which was cool because I initially thought I was going to be chasing a 2 yr old around while everyone else bowled.

City Museum (we went on Wed last week...)
St Louis, MO--Everyone said that Tate was too young for this museum. Nope!! We had a great time. It is kind of like someone gave some artists some good drugs and said "go forth and create!" I loved the decor and the stuff inside, though the "aquarium" (more like lots of fishtanks wedged in weird stuff) seemed a little worn. Also, it isn't exactly toddler-friendly...lots of sharp edges and stuff they can get hurt on if you don't watch your kid. Other than that, it was amazing. Oh and they had good food in the cool cafe. YOU HAVE TO GO HERE IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN--IT IS COOL.

Emerald Isle Spa
Swansea, IL--Won't be back. My 21 yr old aesthetician was very knowledgeable (her mom is a dermatologist) and they made a good effort on decor. The waiting room is weird, with everything from soup mix to mascara to plastic butterflies for sale. Decent service, but not where I plan to drop a hundee again. I sound like a brat, but the last time I had a facial, was like 6 years ago and I was disappointed.

I'd love to hear your reviews of anything, too. Sorry that most of the stuff is St. Louis related, but hey, if you ever come to visit, you'll be prepared.

Stinky Gnome

A few weeks back, Tate and I made this little gnome at his school out of felt and wool. He's pretty cool.

Later in the week, we played "hide-and-go-seek--gnome version". I would hide him and Tate would find him, giggle, and yell "AGAIN! AGAIN!"

Then we lost him. "Stinky Gnome! Stinky Gnome!"....for a week. I looked and looked, and no gnome. I thought our cat may have run off with him, because we could not find him. Yesterday I was determined to find him.

After ripping apart couches and looking under everything, I finally looked in Tate's trunk of his little car. WE FOUND HIM!!!!!!!!

I will be hiding a gnome this afternoon...

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Scrapping!

I once read on another blog about how, as scrapbookers, we use lots of paper and it isn't really an environmentally friendly hobby. I think on Ali Edwards' blog, she mentioned looking for stuff around the house that you can transform and use. So one afternoon when Tate was bouncing off the walls, we went looking...

Red Robin Coasters... I plan to acrylic paint over them and embellish as needed. I am actually in love with restaurant/bar coasters because they are perfect as large statement-making embellishments.
Here are lots of shapes cut with my Sizzix. Tate and I dug through the recycling bin. What he thought was a kid project, was really for mama's scrapbook stash.



A few layouts made with the shapes we created:
1. The "Love" and heart were made out of a Kashi Cereal box.
2. All of the hearts were cut from stuff we found in the recycling bin. My fave is the large one with the red flower brad...it was from a Totino's pizza box and it has a little tiny picture of a pizza on it!

Oh, and Mom, don't show Catie because this scrapbook is a surprise for her!!

Celebrate!

We are still celebrating Mardi Gras at our house. And BIG thank yous to Aunt Stacy for providing the beads with the whistle attached. It is Tate's new favorite toy. Paul and I had a 20 min "mini-date" while our friend, Mike O. was here. We ran to Steak and Shake to get shakes and to the grocery store. The guys were craving ice cream, I was craving fresh flowers.
And I mailed this to my niece today. Happy Valentine's Day Catie!!

Also, Happy Chinese New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crafts and Baking

50 cent wood hearts, letter pasta, glue, glitter, paint=FUN.

Late one night when Paul was gone, we baked bread. And he was getting a little punchy with it being so close to bed time. He slammed his face into a bread ball covered with flour.

After our 8 inches of snow... SO BEAUTIFUL. It is a bummer that it has melted :(

Scraplift

Inspired by Elsie Flannigan's 52 Scrapbook Challenges #12 "Scraplift a LO Shape". I basically was copying the starburst shape and the small words in the "rays". Oh and the buttons....I LOVE the buttons.

One thing I have been admiring in the scrap world are people who are not afraid to use lots of stuff. I used to try and conserve items, but USE IT!!! it is a great excuse to buy more stuff to play with.

I was able to escape to Mardi Gras this weekend. This was my first adult time out since Tate was born and a great time was had by all. Here I am with my friends, Sara and Stacy. Paul stayed home with Tate since he has been the last 2 years.

How to check the weather

When your cat won't leave the heater, you know it is cold outside!

And inspired by Donna Downey's "Flautist", here is my own who became very frustrated when he couldn't make any sound with it...