Around here: January 2019

Back from Phoenix, AZ and onward with a new year!

The year is already flying by – how is February and my 17th wedding anniversary coming at us THIS week?! Crazy! The big happening in January was of course my trip to Creativation trade show and the prep that goes into that.

Always inspiring art & displays from Tim Holtz and his team.

January brought a LOT of much needed rain to my part of the state which is always welcome. I also completed my annual clean out of my studio!

This side is designed specifically to stay clean! I love having a photo ready wall! Though as you can see I did move some things around and change it up!
Miss Scrappy – sassy and tired of recovery!

Scrappy had a medical emergency on January 2, just as I was finishing up a big application (not chosen – but that’s ok!). She had a totally shocking (as in no symptoms, no warning) abscess rupture and a trip down the road to UC Davis animal hospital later she had recovery instructions and a full 10 days of me staring at her constantly – and her back at me.

some last bits being reorganized in the studio last week..

The good news is that Scrappy is totally recovered, and the studio with exception of sorting patterned paper and putting away my scrapbook layouts – is clean.

Elizabeth continues her horseback riding lessons, and I am loving being around some really great people as well as practicing my photography skills on some of my old gear as well as horses!
random cute: Lawn Fawn scenes by Chari Moss always inspire me – and this one reminds me of spring!

Overall everyone is well here in the Flaum house, and living their best lives! Rebecca continues learning flute and fighting me on chores (of course!), Jason is looking forward to better bike riding weather, and the boy dogs are happy as ever.

Looking forward to focusing on my best self, and trying new ideas in 2019!

February holds a birthday (Elizabeth), wedding anniversary, and given how fast time is going by now I imagine it will FLY by in 4 short weeks. I hope this post finds you well – I’d love to hear about what you are up to and what you’re looking forward to! So please do feel free to share here, on my Facebook group, or via email any time. Crafty friends really are the best – and I always love chatting with you!

This week in my Scrapbook: New chapter

I am excited to bring you a new (most every week) blog series where I will share what scrapbook page I’ve made this week! My goal is to really share more of these, as well as the stories, techniques, and tips behind the page! This week I’m adding an exciting entry about our current horseback riding lessons routine, as well as the horse she’s currently learning on!

Things that went wrong:

  • none of my papers with red quite worked, they all took over too much, so I went to blue
  • I stuck down a journaling sticker (journaling written down already) and the entire paragraph SMEARED! So… the “hello” pocket and other embellishments on the right covered it up!

I like how this (4×6 photos) turned out! You’ll notice that I kept my embellishments and details fairly contained – while it seems random it really isn’t. I call my style carefully controlled chaos. I like to have fun, but never at the expense of the overall design!

Things that went right:

  • Simple design is always best when you want to add lots of bits and pieces
  • Don’t have lined journaling paper the size you want? Just add your own lines!
  • LOVE the clusters and how that looks
  • Used up a good morning sticker since it coordinated with the lesson time!

Most of the supplies I used are American Crafts, specifically Maggie Holmes/Crate Paper. (affiliate link) Scrapbook.com is where I get most of my A.C. brand goods as they tend to carry it all!

The horse show season is about to start up, so that means lessons won’t get to be as regular (her instructor travels a great deal) – so this layout is well timed to reflect the winter schedule. When I do a page like this I put it into my annual album as it shows chronologically things going on. Not that I complete pages in that order – but I store them that way so going back over the albums viewing makes a lot of sense and shows where we were at in those times.

Have any questions or future scrapbooking topic requests? Do share! I will be posting a new page (most) every week!

Creativation 2019: Favorite Products

I am home and unpacked from the Creativation trade show in Phoenix, and I’m ready to talk some faves! You can find a lot of photos on my Instagram – I tried to post as I gathered faves. In this article (there are a few affiliate links) I will share some things I’m most excited to get and use, as well as why!

Thibra Plastic sculptable sheets are awesome – and can be found in stores. This stuff is good for anything from frames (above) to costumes to jewelry. Watch for videos from me soon – I’ve ordered some from amazon.

Continue reading “Creativation 2019: Favorite Products”

Heart Frame DIY

One of my 2019 goals is to use up and/or repurpose more, and clean out this closet of mine! As I was organizing last week I stumbled across a photo frame that I really like – except I didn’t like its color.

I decided to grab a bit of acrylic paint, my camera to record, and get to work! In less than 10 minutes I had a brand new looking frame just perfect for Elizabeth’s horse photo from her very first lesson at her new barn. This photo tugs all the heartstrings for me, as the instructor is the one that taught me how to ride back in the late 80s! (yes, when I do the math I feel old – ha!)

Here is a link to my YouTube real time video creating this if you’d like to watch the process. Essentially what I did was to layer three red/pink/orange colors onto the frame. Then finish with black paint lightly on the raised parts.

A project like this one will work with any frame that paint will stick to – just remember to leave the frame out to dry completely. I like ones like this with some texture/design to them, but you could easily DIY some texture with a stencil, then paint!

I look forward to bringing you more DIY and re purposed fun this year – stay tuned!