Dredging dry wall, oysters and scrapbooks

[Sunday, December 29, 2007]

For us, the manic part of the year is drawing to a close. While I thoroughly enjoy Christmas, I am thankful I won't need to think about its preparations for at least another seven months. I do hope all of you had a restful and memorable holiday. Mine would have been more restful had I not injured my neck earlier in the month, which many of you know about. I've 90% recovered from this, but it was not a peachy time.

I am back to blogging about scrapbooking and other drivel.

I had one last post prepared before the holidays assumed possession of my mind and body, so here it is in its glory.

[Sunday afternoon, October 28, 2007]

Once again, I'm using my Sunday afternoon reprieve from maternal and household duties to chisel away at the Biltmore scrapbook, while trying to ignore the dripping water in the downstairs bathroom. Yes, we are having more plumbing issues. This time the leak isn't over our sofa, but over the shower, so not only are we paying for unused water but also the waste water! After demolishing the dry wall, Adam thinks it's the condensation line to our heating/cooling system, so he calls a local heating/cooling company before heading to work. A more scrutinous look revealed later that it was just the ice maker line to our fridge.

As some of you know, this innocent little leak uncovered a much bigger issue in that we've been running on emergency heat for a very long time. What we though was just BGE greed with state-wide rate hikes was actually us paying for emergency heat! So we ended up getting our entire heating/cooling system replaced for a whopping five grand. Sometimes I think the homeless people I pass every day going to work might be more shrewd than I think.

I've taken quite a long hiatus from the Biltmore scrapbook. Other projects and events have taken precedence. I set a goal of completing this project by year-end, but sometimes no matter how hard I try, no matter how many minutes of the days I'm able to steal, it does take me longer. Life intervenes. The rub there is, if life did not intervene, there would be no memories to preserve. Long live life.

The next page I am doing is just a montage of the bottles of wine I purchased and the instructional placemat, which I was looking for in Scavenger Hunt. I did end up finding the placemat. It was in the basement tucked under the wine rack in that little space between where the stemware hang and the serving area. I happened to see it poking out of there one morning when I was putting in a Boz DVD for Summer.

For this page, I think I'm going to try out a layout idea I read about in a magazine. This will involve making some precise measurements and cuts, but I think it's worth a try. First, I'll need some printed background paper, so I search my stash. None of the remaining paper I earmarked for this project will work. The print has to be a backdrop only, so I want it to be busy but with no overt images. I look in one of my paper files. Nothing there. Then, I remember the paper I used for mom's birthday invitations. The sheets are 6 x 6, so I'll have to piece them together and trim a portion off each one. I select one of the designs and lay them out. (image 1)

I trim the inside part of the squares, then adhere them with tape runner. I fish out a scrap of salmon paper from my scrap bags and adhere that horizontally across the center to hide the seams of the background paper. I'll tackle the vertical seam later. Next, I choose my foreground paper: light pink. I want this paper to sit one inch inside the background paper so I measure, mark and cut with the 12-inch straight trimmer. The paper should be 9.5" x 9.5". To mark the center on each side, I make a slight indentation with my fingernail. Then, I adhere it with tape runner. (image 2)

To trim the photos so that they all nest together on the pink background paper, I must cut each of them to the same size. That involves halving the 9.5 length (4.25) to get the length the photos need to be. Each photo is 5.25" long, so I have to cut off 1/2 an inch from each end. Each pic is 4" wide. Dividing 9.5 by 3 means each pic needs to be approximately 3 and 1/6 inches wide, give or take. (Did I mention I hate math?) I can honestly say this is the first time I've used a calculator for scrapbooking! I trim the photos using the personal trimmer.

Before adhering the pictures, I add a strip of brown ribbon to cover the vertical seam using mini tape runner. (Working on this page is seriously making me want to cork open a bottle.) I adhere the three pics of the as yet unopened bottles with tape runner. Though not perfect, I am pleased with my progress. (images 3 + 4)

Now I know approximately the size my scanned image needs to be (9.5 x 4.25) - likely a little less to leave some pink border. I don't have time to do that today, so I stop here. Summer's precious babbling calls.

[Saturday, November 3, 2007]

My friend Amy recently asked me if I'd like to help out with a memory-preserving project involving the Skipjack Martha Lewis. I eagerly agreed to lend my meager expertise as well as donate some supplies to the cause, including tape runner, vintage storybox and archival pens. With monetary donations she received, Amy purchased a ginormous 18 x 23 archival scrapbook, which will be ideal for some of the larger newspaper articles.

Yesterday evening, I joined Amy along with a few other ladies affiliated with the Skipjack Martha Lewis. My foggy, aged eyes managed to navigate the clear night to Joppa, Maryland. Upon arriving, we sorted through articles, photos and other memorabilia related to the Skipjack Martha Lewis, one of the last oyster dredging vessels of its kind. While we didn't get to scrapping any of the items, we sifted and sorted through the items we will be including.

At first, we thought we should put everything in the book chronologically, but it quickly became apparent that doing so might make it difficult for visitors on the vessel to peruse the entire book. Instead, we decided to divide the book into sections, each with different appeal.

First, we organized the newspaper articles and memorabilia (e.g., Alan's permit to restore the boat) into the agreed-upon categories: restoration, educational programs, racing/sailing, media/news and miscellany.

We then moved onto photos, some of them taken by Amy herself. We selected the best images to accompany each category. At one point, I thought I found an excellent shot of some kids on the boat listening to a demonstration about oyster dredging. However, one of the children chose that moment to let his finger take up residence in his nose. We had a good laugh about it, but cast the picture back from whence it came.

At times, we got so wrapped up in reading the articles and discussing the subject matter of the photos, it was difficult to focus. Amy's cats Merlin and Katie frequently nudged our minds from their niche by jumping in our laps and making catnip of our piles.

Not knowing much about skipjacks, specifically the Martha Lewis, I learned quite a bit about boat restoration, oyster dredging and a little of what it takes to properly maintain a sailboat. The goal of our project is to put together a book telling the story of the Skipjack Martha Lewis that future passengers and field-trip going kids can read. As we progress on this project, I'll be blogging about it here. Get information about Skipjack Martha Lewis, sailing events, scheduling field trips, racing, etc.

[Back to Biltmore]

I scanned the placemat I was searching for in Scavenger Hunt, but couldn't reduce it to the exact size I wanted, but I think it will still work. The end size is 7 x 5, which leaves more pink on the page than I was anticipating. So, I decide to cut a section of brown paper for the background to fill the space a little more. (The original intent was to let the pink outline the items on the page.) I adhere the brown paper with tape runner followed by the scanned placemat. (image 5)

I realize I dont have much to journal about on this page, so I carefully lift up the brown paper and using the bubble maker punch bubbles into it. I am satisfied with the result so I adhere, wipe photos, and slide on the page protector. (image 6)

The next group of photos will be touring the Biltmore House, so stay tuned!