Help [ME] Ronda

typesetting sorts

Remember this post with the vintage bottles?  These are another one of the awesome vintage finds my mom & dad brought home to me.  These Altoid tins are filled with metal sorts used in typesetting during the letterpress era.  In truth, these are my absolute favorite finds.  My dad knew he scored big not only on hunting down the perfect item for me but the price was a steal.  $6.  No not for each individual sort which honestly would be cheap but for both tins.  I have lots of ideas for using these typesetting sorts but i just need to find the right outlet.  I want to use them in some creative pieces as well.  Here are few detail shots so you can see just how cool these really are.

For the love of Vintage

Aren't these just so sweet?  Let me to tell you the story behind these beauties.  You see my parents were going on a road trip across the US to my niece's wedding.  It was a leisurely trip. I asked if they would be stopping at any flea markets or antique stores along the way knowing their love & appreciation for these kinds of places.  Of course they were.  I asked them if they could do some hunting for me and they immediately said yes.  Little did they know how large my list would be.  Actually i think they enjoyed the search almost as much as i enjoyed unpacking each of their finds.  These vintage little jars & bottles are one of the many awesome pieces they collected for me.  They range in size from about 4 inches tall and smaller.  I have lots of ideas for them in my artsy endeavors.  I have to admit that the ink well to the left just may be my favorite.  i can see a big quill sticking out of the ink or even dip pen.  But the others do have a special place in my heart.  My parents scored big time for me and i cannot wait to find the perfect project for these stellar pieces.

World Giveaway Winner

Sorry folks.  Been out & about in town with Jessi.  More photos to come.

In the meantime, random number generator winner is

Here are your random numbers:

3

Timestamp: 2011-02-15 04:22:06 UTC

so that means

Would love to win this! Thanks for the chance.

Posted by: conniemelancon | February 09, 2011 at 07:06 AM

Connie, email me with your address!!

too Fast

are you feeling like this time is really flying by?

My lists seem longer.  It probably didn't help that i was feeling blue most of this month.  I always forget how busy this time gets.  Every year i say not again, but here we are again with Christmas approaching in days.  I am thinking about how to be better organized.  I have some ideas to share.  I am letting them stew a bit but will share.  In the meantime, back to the lists & things to accomplish!

Yuletide Love,

Professor Plum

The library is coming along.  Andy has been working hard on finishing it up.  And Philip has been helping out.  They put up the moulding just recently and now they are filling up the nail holes so they can paint it.  It looks so so pretty i can hardly stand it!

You can see the paint changing.  Andy has also been painting the room for me too. It is going from Chocolate brown to Gossamer Sky, a beautiful light aqua blue.  See this previous post for the color.  Still on the hunt for some perfect chairs.  I have come to the conclusion while i love those other chairs, i need arms on them.  And i cannot get that wing back shaped chairs from this post out of my head.  I am on the hunt to find something similar!



and while i was updating you on the library, i thought i would show some pictures of the completed dining room ceiling.  I need to get some whole room shots but stuff from the library is pilied on the dining room table right now so a ceiling peek is all you get....for now ;)

Edit: Yes Andy & his Dad made all the cabinets, mouldings, etc in their shop!  Can you imagine what my craft room looks like :)

Quote me

 

yeah i am a movie quote nerd.  I speak in it when something reminds me of it.  And it doesn't even have to be a good movie either for me to repeat the line.  it just pops into my head and i sometimes say it before i can stop it from coming out.  it's all good when you meet a fellow movie quote nerd.  they usally reply back with either the next line or with an equally good quote from same movie.  but when the slip out for those, let's call them "normal" people, they just look at you like a deer in headlights.  You can hear crickets chirping.  or even better the "I think you are a little crazy and i don't speak your language" look.  it's all cool.  I realize i live in my own little city, Dorkapolis, and i kind of like it here. 

"Two Dollars.  I want my two dollars"

"Can i call you Eddie?"

"I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy Come on, squishy Come on, little squishy"

"They think he's a righteous dude"

"Whoopsidaisies!"

"Yo-Yo the bi-atch was like what? And I was like layta on"

"Well stop calling me!"

"five... four... 'tree'... 'tree' and a half... two... one and 'tree' quarters..."

"I have great insight. I'd use it on myself only I don't have any problems."

"Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?"

"Be still like vegetables. Lay like broccoli."

"It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die."

edit...thought of some more last night as i was trying to sleep, silently cracking myself up in bed.

"BONSAI!!!!"

"Wax on, Wax off"

"Show me the Money"

"That ain't no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet." 

"I'll be back"

I could go on & on.  what are your favorite movie quotes?

with the Candlestick

Do you remember this post: In the Library... 

Well the new bookcases are being installed.  The bottom half was put in last week by Andy & Phil, aka the Papa.  They looks so beautiful.  I cannot wait to see it all complete.  I am waiting, some what patiently i might add, on the top of the bookshelves.

In the meantime my books are all laying in the foyer area, waiting to be reorganized. I think i will be donating some in the process.  I keep trying to convince Andrew to let me arrange them in Rainbow order.  He said it isn't condusive to finding the books.  My reply was "but they will look so pretty."  Insert Andy rolling his eyes.  I tend to get that a lot and i'm not sure why :) 

and just now looking at the books in the picture, i see so many great reads.  Sarah Plain & Tall...awesome youth book.  The pony pals lexi loved as a kid.  Hey there's my senior yearbook in the pic too.  I even seem Mr. Potter making an appearance...the paper back ones.  Is it sad that i have both hard & soft covers of them?

 

but i digress.  When Andy started the construction of the bookcases I begin thinking of the room as a whole.  I do that a lot...think, think, think, think think.  I decided that the color on the walls need to be changed.  Don't get me wrong, i love the chocolate color.  But i wanted the feel of the library to be light & airy.  To be a place i could sit for hours and feel at home.  So i thought about changing it to a butter yellow, a minty green, and finally i settled on Gossamer Sky Blue as seen in the above photo.  It does have hints of green in there but to me, it's blue.  Do you hear me honey...it's BLUE...not green :P

 

So while the room is coming together, i kept thinking about that Yellow Wingback.  Amber wrote me to tell me about the chairs at Target online.  Hello Beautiful.  And the price is so much better.  Now if i could just narrow down my selection.  And do i do two matching or two different ones???  We will see.  I just love it when a plan comes together. 

Lounging Love

Random Thoughts 10-5

• Anthony is growing up so fast

• today felt productive for the many different roles i play in my life

• it could have been the hot chai latte and the cold chai

• family dinners make me happy, especially when we can all sit down together

• i have a little secret i have been keeping because i guess i felt a little guilty

• i do not feel so guilty anymore

• the parent vs teens stuff is kind of hard, knowing what battles to fight, if you are parenting in a good way, and how to readjust & rethink things sometimes

• i am horrible about checking my voice mail, probably should change that

• loving the cool nights with the open window, snuggling under the comforter

• i need to pack my suitcase & not leave it until the last minute

• the construction noise from 7 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week is getting annoying

• yet i know it is a good thing they are finally building again in our neighborhood & will sell the rest of the open lots

• did i mention packing my suitcase?  it could be for a Caribbean cruise with the hubby & some siblings

• i shall not feel guilty for going on vacation since i haven't had one in a while & its a good thing for Andy & I to have some time together

• Greece was wonderful, i totally loved it, but i worked really hard so i won't qualify it as a vacation...just a really great work experience with benefits of laughter, great food, really good people, and tons of photo ops :)

• i love the fall/autumn season, crisp mornings, really cool nights.... so why was it 84 F ( 28.8 C) today??? 

• i leave on Friday to cruise to Jamaica & Grand Cayman.  I plan to do nothing & enjoy it.  well maybe take some photos, sit out in the sun, snuggle with Andy, chat with the sibs, but that's it...

• i need to drink more water, my kidneys like it that way so maybe i should lay off the chai teas

• how did it get to be October already?

• i am in need of a few good books to read, any recommendations?

• so much good stuff swirling around in my head, i cannot wait to see where they lead to

• must remember to pack my extra camera battery & charger this time

• typepad keeps eating my posts, maybe third time is the charm
  

love, lots & lots of it

Perspective....Q&A, part 2

 

 

 

 

Change your perspective to change your story.  It is amazing what just adjusting your position can do to change the photo. 

I would love to know what type of camera you use and lens also. how many lenses and what types do you use?... Right now i have a Canon Digital Rebel XTI.  I would love to get a new camera body but that's not in the cards yet.  And Bella does beautifully (yes that's her name...Italian for Beauty :).  I have a couple lens.... a 17 - 85 mm, a 70 - 300 zoom lens , and the one that stays on my camera most of the time is 50 mm/1.4.  I love that lens.  Some other tools I have are my puffer, my table-top tripod, and my remote...i go into more details about them HERE. 

Where you do print out your pictures? At home (if so, what printer do you use)? Or do you take them somewhere to get processed (if so, where?).  I mostly print at home.  My printer is a Canon Pixma Pro 9000.  Andy & I did lots of research before buying my oversize printer.  I really enjoy being able to print the size i want.  When i have a larger batch, i occasionally print at Costco's.  I use Mpix when i want a high quality gallery type prints.  They are B-E-A-utiful!

Do you stay "caught up on pics" and do you feel you need to scrap the majority of the pics you take?  No i am not caught up on pictures and feel i never will be.  I am completely ok with that.  Part of why i do this is to enjoy the journey & the creative time.  I don't feel like i have to scrap every picture i take.  I pick & choose the photos i want to tell the story.  Sometimes it is multiple photos, some times it is just one picture.  I love taking photos and take way to many to scrap in a year.    I love the creative process. 

Photo Love....

Choices.....Q&A, part 1 + RAK 5 Winner

I do love the bright colors in It's Your Day from Fancy Pants Designs. 

Thank you for all the wonderful questions.  I have truly enjoyed reading them & will answer them all.  I have decided to break them up in different posts to make it easier for answering & reading.  If my answers generate more questions, please feel free to ask!

Where do you draw inspiration from?  Inspiration can come from a lot of places for me.  A new product to play with, a new technique to try, an advertisement, "other" magazines (especially home decor, fashion, & wedding), a color palette, scrappy friends, a story to tell, blogs.  I love these things artsy magazine...Cloth, Paper, Scissor,  Artful Blogging, Art journal.  Inspiration is all around us if we just open up our eyes and see the beauty.  And when those things fail, i just take a break.  Sometimes you need to let yourself do NOTHING to feel creative.

How do you go about designing a page? Do you scrap using an inspiration piece like an ad or packaging or web-page (like some people do) or do ideas just come to you?  I usually design a page a couple of things, a story to tell and a technique to try.  I pick my story & then my photos.  I try to decide on how the layout will look.  Sometimes it is obvious to me in my head & i try to create it.  Other times i just start playing and see where it leads. 

How do you usually start your lo? With a sketch? How do you pick your colors and embellies? Working with Design teams, i usually have to use certain products.  I usually start with my pictures & story and see what pattern paper matches the mood of the story.  I then usually grab my paints &/or mists and start playing on the background.  Next up i pull embellies to go with the layout.  Stitches here & there.  The last thing i do is the title & journaling.  It happens way to often but i usually end up saying "Now where am i going to put the title & journaling."  You would think i should plan it better but more often than not i am figuring it out at the last minute.

what do you do when you are mid-project and your work is not turning out you imagined and you don't like it? (I'm assuming this happens to you, too!!!) Oh yes this happens to me.  it's quite frustrating isn't it?  There are a couple of "techniques" i do when this happens.  First one is to remind myself to breath & i take a deep breath.  It is amazing how that can clear the mind.  Another is i ask myself why i think it isn't working.  Am i frustrated with the products?  Am i frustrated with the design?  What is it about the layout that i frustrated with and how can i change it?  And sometimes i just walk away and leave it.   It helps me gain perspective and come back to it with "fresh eyes." 

I can imagine you have all the scrap supplies in the world. So do you ever have to improvise? If yes, how and what?  You would think i have all the supplies in the world, yet sadly there are still some that i don't have & just want :)  I do improvise quite a bit.  I think the two biggest ways i improvise are with masks/stencils and with alphabets.  I tend to create my own masks using punches, die-cuts, chipboard, etc.  i often look around to see what i can use...bits of old mail, other household items.  I can't tell you how many toys i have jacked, especially from Anthony. SHHHH don't tell him.  And then with alphabets.  Sometimes i just can't find the color i want, so i paint it or change them around to suit my needs. 

My question is what time of day do you feel the most creative and productive?  It varies based on the day.  Sometimes in the morning, sometimes mid afternoon.  Mostly it is when it is quiet in my house and i have nothing to do but create.  However i get most of my creative ideas when i am lying in bed, reading usually, and just about to fall asleep.  It is why i keep a pad of paper & pencil by my bed. 

What are your best tips for making the time to be creative?  it has taken me time to learn that TIME itself is perception & what we make of it.  We choose how to spend our time.  So if creative time is important to us, put it on the schedule.  I look at my day and see what needs to be done,  what are the "non-negotiables."  And then what do i want to get done but don't necessarily have to get done.  and lastly, time for me which includes being creative.  I have learned i am important enough to put on the schedule.  We trying to do for everyone sometimes forget to do for ourselves. 

and the winner of  RAK #5: $10 Gift Certificate to Your Scrapbook Stash + Goodie Bag filled with a variety of scrappy goodness. 

Here are your random numbers:

27

Posted By: Audrey Yeager August 30, 2010 at 8:14 pM

Congrats!  Email me your address here!

Sweet Love,