Return to the ruddy scrapbook

[Sunday, June 22, 2008]

The busy spring season has finally come to a close, and once again, I let my stash slowly emerge from its hibernation. Fortunately, yesterday, while the girls worked on their projects during Crop Till Ya Drop, I was able to set up my work space so that I might continue with the Biltmore scrapbook.

There are times when after long, long breaks from working on my scrapbook, I feel that my knowledge, creativity, and craftiness (collectively, my power) have evaporated. It's only after I re-acquaint myself with my stash, previously scrapped pages, and my pictures, that I start to feel the buzz again. If Tim Russert's heaven is a daily edition of Meet the Press, then mine is a neverending loop of scrapbooking (and reading, of course).

After sorting through and fondling each scrap, piece of paper, sticker pack and memorabilia from my trip plus reviewing the pages I've completed thus far, I feel sufficiently immersed, though my hands unsteady. Turns out I'd made more progress on the next page than I thought. (image 1)

At this point, I stand up to reach for the camera, which sits on the buffet, so I can document my progress in pictures. Charlie always sleeps curled up to my right when I'm working. Whenever I stand up or even move slightly, he jumps up out of his sleep, afraid I'm going to either go somewhere or leave him behind. He's such a rattled, skittish dog. If I need a special tool or embellishment that requires me to get up or move, I sometimes find myself seeking alternative solutions that will not disturb his slumber. When Summer is awake, he rarely gets any decent shut-eye. (image 2)

I'm continuing the tour through Biltmore House, and I had already cut the as-built for the page and the postcards. I also printed the descriptions of each of the rooms for this and the next two pages on vellum, so all that's left is selecting background paper for the vellum. I'm looking for something both decorative and warm, a printed or patterned sheet that ties the colors together or makes the postcard images pop off the page. It won't matter how busy the print because the vellum will soften it. I happen upon three possibilities (image 3).

All three will work well, but the middle one mimicks the grandeur of the Banquet Hall (the largest and most stately room in Biltmore House), with its chunky, sweeping paisleys. I push the others to the side and set to work on the vellum accents. I trim the areas of the vellum I need with the straight trimmer, then mark on the background paper where I need to cut with the personal trimmer. Then I adhere the vellum with the frosted photo splits, which virtually disappear behind the vellum.

Then I adhere everything to the gold dust page with tape runner plus 3-D dots for the smallest postcard in the middle. One personal note: On your layouts, don't be afraid to let items overlap one another or to repeat images. This creates dimension and visual interest. It also keeps the reader's eye flowing over the page. (image 4)

I decide to add one more item to the page because the white space appears more like a gaping hole to me than a design choice. I professionally cut a fork and knife to go along with the theme in coordinating colors. I use precision point adhesive to attach the images to each other and to the page. (image 5)

This layout was the perfect way for me to warm up my rusty, ruddy bailiwick.

These Walls are talkin'

[Sunday, June 8, 2008]

For those who may be wondering, I have not abandoned my blog. I've just been having an unusually busy spring. So busy, in fact, I've barely had a chance to enjoy the fact that we've actually had a spring in terms of weather. Yesterday was our first day of 90+ degree weather (with heat index over 100) in the Baltimore area. Of course, the balmy air couldn't hold out for just one more day, so the guests of the bridal shower I hosted could enjoy the serene quasi-garden Adam and I have been cultivating on the deck for the last few months.

Weather rarely cooperates.

Despite that, the celebration went swimmingly. Even our visitors went swimming to get here (through the soupy air). My white chocolate-dipped strawberries and spinach balls were a hit as were my wall decorations (see below). Even the three gracefully suspended clusters of balloons left no trace of their prior entanglement. We closed the front door for the last time and put our house back together. Adam and I were all set to wind down the evening by playing zoo animals with Summer in the basement, sipping a couple of drinks, and catching a few minutes here and there of Million Dollar Baby. Summarily, thunder cracked with a frequency that indicated rain would soon commence. I thought, good, I don't have to water the plants now. ZAP! Everything went black. We were stuck in the basement in the thick darkness - our turn to swim.

In four years, this is honest-to-God the first time we ever lost power at this house for an extended period of time. Most of the reason is because our power lines are underground. But, living down the street from Constellation Energy also has its benefits.

Our basement is L-shaped. Summer was at the base of the L - where most of her toys migrated from upstairs for the party -- and subsequently began to cry. Everywhere she stepped, she stumbled. Adam tried to reach for her, but his beer tipped over and spilled all over something we couldn't see. "I've got her," Adam said, and navigated his way over to the stairs. Charlie had been underfoot since the thunder began. Coupled with that and the balloons all over the house, it had not been his best day. He was standing so close to me, I thought his fur would start growing into my legs. I tripped over him trying to get to Adam and Summer. "I can't see where you are," I said, "When you get up the stairs, let me know." That's when Adam remembered the flashlight he had stored just inside the laundry room. When he turned it on, our collective relief was audible. It was then we noticed that most of the spilled beer had landed on Charlie.

We made it upstairs and lit some candles in the living room. Then we sat and waited and waited and waited. Adam meandered into the kitchen without a flashlight or candle. CRASH! Glass shattered all over the floor. "Oooh, what was that?" I asked accusingly. "One of your many wine glasses," came his irritated response. "It just went all over me." I ran to grab Summer, so she wouldn't walk into the kitchen. Adam came out and proceeded to check his appendages for shards of glass, then he returned to the kitchen (with shoes) to clean it up. "What were you trying to get?" I asked. Reluctant to tell the truth, Adam quickly made up, "I was getting you a drink." Knowing that was a fib, I responded, "Why would you do that when you know you'd have to open the fridge?" Adam said, "Ok, I was trying to get a coozie for what's left of my beer." A very common thing people try to do in pitch darkness.

It was apparent the power wasn't coming back on anytime soon, and, since it was well after Summer's bedtime, we decided to go upstairs. We knew Summer wasn't likely to sleep in her own room without the nightlight, so we put her in our bed. Unfortunately, she just viewed this a VERY long story time, and hopped around on the bed like a monkey. Since we had a flashlight on, she thought her shadow on the wall was a friend who had come to visit her. "What's that?" she said, pointing to her shape. She repeated our one-word answer as "sadow." When we moved the flashlight, she said, "Where sadow go?" Being the clever parents we are, we exchanged a strategic glance and said in unison, "Shadow went night-night." She didn't buy it. Now, most days we are proud of our daughter's perceptive mind, but there are occasions when we wish gullibility would assume the space.

It was clear Summer wasn't ready for a big girl bed much less sleeping with Mommy and Daddy (I know, some of you out there are thinking, we should be so lucky). Instead, we jerry-rigged a nightlight outside of her bedroom door with a flashlight. The ordinarily cursed upon battery-powered toys became a blessing, as her twilight turtle glowed and music box sang oblivious to the breakdown.

Summer finally settled down to sleep, and we snoozed briefly when about 2:30 am, the power came back on. I woke immediately and said to Adam, "The power's back on." Then rolled back to sleep. The next morning, Adam said, "I don't know how you knew the power was back on. But when you said that, I looked out the window and saw all the neighbor's lights were on." Now, here's a thing I think some men will never get. How do women - especially mothers -know everything in their sleep? Because the truth of the matter is, we are never really completely asleep. There's a part of our minds, reserved for our little ones, that must always keep vigil. I'm convinced part of the child stays with the mother or part of the mother goes with the child post-birth.

What does all this have to do with scrapbooking? Well, nothing. I just thought I'd share a little anecdote as well as the wall decorations I made for the shower to break from traditional scrapbooking.

Using my Everyday Display, I created a little vignette with a message for the bride-to-be on her special day in the colors of the wedding. The background is a sheet of crimson paper. The flowers and vase and all the letters, I professionally cut in black and white paper. I started to put the word "Celebrate" on vellum on the black strip of paper suspended by the mini clothes pins that came with the display, but I didn't like it, so instead I professionally cut the word "Celebrate" and, with tape runner, adhered it on an outline of the same in crimson paper. The letters J-E-N-N are raised with 3-D dots and the magnets that came with the display hold the "It's Your Day" phrase. The result is a cute decoration that can be re-used in a scrapbook or for another occasion. (image 1)

The second decoration involved making a wall poster on the CM Photo Center. Using the pictures the bride-to-be sent me of the day they got engaged, I selected the wedding/love template, uploaded the pictures and dropped them into place. Unfortunately, the photos were a low resolution (640 x 480), so I called on my cousin, who is adept at photograph manipulation, and asked her advice. I knew I could enlarge them, but I wasn't sure how much, and I didn't want them to be grainy or pixelated. She suggested I adjust the dpi (dots per inch) to 300, and increase the size to 5 inches wide. This did just the trick. I played with changing the pictures to both gray and sepia before ultimately flipping them back to full color. I edited the text area to "Congratulations, Mike & Jenn" followed by the date of their engagement. The poster turned out great, and it was a nice keepsake for the bride-to-be to take home. (image 2)

Create your own posters at the CM Photo Center in the following themes:

• 6 Disney options (Disney, Cars, Mickey Mouse, Pooh, Princesses, and Hannah Montana)
• 2 Graduation/Achievement options
• 2 celebration/birthday options
• 4 versatile multi-use options (2 using Primary Power Palette artwork, 1 using Earthy Power Palette artwork, 1 using For Her artwork)
• 1 wedding/love option

Be sure to enter my consultant ID when you register/login to CM Photo Center: 94484775