happy sunday!

Yesterday John and I drove up to SLC to check out Craft Lake City in the coolest venue with the coolest artsy people. I felt like we were back in the art department at college again. (But this time with more of a “Utah-friendly” crowd and less of a “California hippy/stoner/camp-out-in-the-letterpress-studio-for-a-week-straight-without-sleep-or-showers” group of people – Ha!)

I love being around artists (and hipsters alike) with their funky style and energy. And I LOVE that Utah is of the mindset that crafts are a legitimate art form – I have found my people! Anyways…

It was amazing! I saw so many awesome things and left feeling inspired and ready to make stuff (which is all I’ve ever wanted to do anyways!)!

I picked up three fabulous letterpressed postcards from Smart & Wiley, which I plan on framing and displaying throughout my apartment (more on that later!).

Salt Lake is truly a great city. It’s an interesting mix of modern establishments and historic buildings, surrounded by trees and mountains. I can’t help but take a million photos (or art-direct John to take the photos I think would be great – “get those two buildings together, but don’t get the wires in the background and make sure it’s got the sunlight shining through the back and hurry before the cars drive through the shot!” – he loves when I do this – NOT! hahah).

And I LOVE that the Olympics were here! Utah’s a pretty cool place after all…

New Gallery Up at Elle’s Studio!

This month’s gallery at Elle’s Studio has gone live! (Actually it went live yesterday, but in true Ann-Marie fashion, I am late to the party. Or maybe I’m just waiting for Christmas. Right friends?) Here’s what I put together for the lovely month of July:

One of the best things about Elle’s Studio is that the packaging is just as pretty as the actual products! So, my butterfly punch has been getting quite a workout over the gorgeous backings, especially the teal one – LOVE!

A little bit (okay, A LOT) of American Crafts plus Elle’s Studio = a match made in journaling tag/crocheted ribbon heaven! I love how the hot pinks played off of each other quite nicely. Andddd, I LOVE the teal patterned paper from the Sweet Summer Mini Papers! I’m thinking it’s a front-runner for my favorite…

As it turns out, I am a bit obsessed with glassine envelopes – they’re the perfect size for hidden journaling, or in this case, half-hidden journaling (besides, why would I want to hide such cute journaling tags anyways?). I had so much fun making these projects, I can’t wait to show you what I have up my sleeve for next month!

In other news…

I’m feeling a bit anti-summer. It is so darn hot here. I used to love summer and think that it would be horrible when one day I would have to work right through the scorcher season. Not so much anymore. Now I am convinced that working is the perfect way to spend a summer because:

1.) I get to spend majority of the day in a most lovely air conditioned building,

2.) I go back home to my toasty apartment for lunch just long enough to thaw out a bit from aforementioned ice box and be more than ready to…

3.) Return to the most lovely air conditioned building. And not only is it cold, but it smells like paper! Newsflash: I LOVE paper.

It was a red and black weekend, apparently

This past weekend was quite eventful! First off, we had one of these:

I made a whopping…thirty-two dollars! Haha! Hey, extra cash at this time in my life is a welcome thing! (Correction: extra cash is a welcome thing at any point in time.) After the sale, everything that didn’t sell went straight to the Goodwill, where my old junk will now become someone’s new treasure. I love that!

That night, I went over to Heather’s for a final get-together with some of my closest friends (and we missed the ones that weren’t there!). Heather and Janelle are both exceptionally good cooks, so the food was ahhh-mazing, as usual!

It seems like half my group is branching out across the US! I’m going to Utah, Jaymee is in Hawaii, Liz is going to Atlanta, Val is headed for Seattle, Sarah is in San Diego, and everyone else may disperse at any given moment come the right job or grad school…iChat, anyone??? I’ve said it before and I will say it again: I LOVE MY FRIENDS!

Yesterday I finished a side project for six bridesmaids’ belts for a November wedding. It was a fun and creatively challenging project, given that I’ve never constructed belts out of handmade flowers before! I was lucky that the bride gave me the freedom to play with the fabric and create a composition entirely on my own, with a single photo to use as inspiration. Another project checked off my list…

Speaking of lists, mine is still about a mile long and I’ve got less than two days to wrap it up! I better get back to work!

P.S. While previewing this post, I noticed that the color scheme is entirely red and black! How strange is that? And how strange is it that my alma mater’s colors are red and black? Haha!

Suzy Homemaker Over Here

After my last official shift at Paper Source today, I headed over to the fabric store where I snagged some gorgeous colors and textures for feathering my new nest!

I bought a yard of each style, so I think I might make some pillows with my signature flower embellishments, and then use the leftovers for fun patchwork throughout the apartment. These colors are making my eyes so happy right now!

T minus one week until the big move! I have so much to do and barely any time to get it done, but all I want to do (translation: all I will do) is scrapbook and shop for my apartment! We will see how much of the midnight oil I am burning at the last possible moment…

Paper Source PSA

Things striking my fancy at my workplace, Paper Source (though not for much longer!):

Eco White Cover Weight paper. I have worked at Paper Source for the past seven months and only now, in my last week of work there (and last ditch attempt to make the most of my discount), have I purchased any items from what we call “converted” (a huge assortment of colors and shapes and sizes and weights of paper). I discovered that this paper is fantastic for printing photos or digital elements. Plus, it’s eco-friendly, hence the name “Eco White.” Which I’m sure you could have gathered without my telling you. But I will tell you anyways.

T. Hanks card. I had to do a double take when I first noticed Tom Hanks’ face out of the corner of my eye. When I read the caption, I laughed out loud. SO. STINKIN’. CLEVER! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE cleverness? And Tom Hanks? Especially in my favorite movies, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail? Yep.

Thanks for Being Stamp. Oh my, this stamp would provide for endless hours of entertainment. Can’t you see it going over well on any documents related with the Department of Motor Vehicles? Or holiday cards? Or job applications?

Peacock Text Weight Paper. I just bought a nice little pack of this brand-new-heaven-to-my-eyes color to use with my Slice. Love it!

Exciting News!!!

This is what arrived in my mailbox about 15 minutes ago:

Because of this exciting news!

I can’t even believe it! I feel beyond lucky to be able to play with these gorgeous products for the next six months! Eeeeeeee! Thank you so much, Elle! I am really looking forward to this amazing opportunity!

Chat Stew

I am attached to my new laptop.

I love the ease and portability and sturdiness of it. Have I ever mentioned how my last laptop (the one that I got for college that surprisingly enough, is still running..at a snail’s pace) lays 180 degrees flat when opened? Straight line! (Which I guess is handy if you plan on nailing it to the wall?)

Channeling Ramona Singer’s catwalk face while modeling my old comp’s severe lack of backbone.

Anyways, when I’m not browsing blogs for several hours on end (again, chalk it up to the ease of a laptop with a spine intact) or cheesin’ for the cam with my dilapidated comp, I’m absorbed in Illustrator. Best design program ever! In fact, I am so obsessed with creating journaling tags for scrapbook pages or cards or journals or what not, that I decided to share my latest creations with you, my dearest blog reader.

Click on photo to open in new window and print at will!

Just a little something I busted out on a whim. I plan on making several more fun designs in the near future to share with everyone. Because you know this laptop will not be pried away from my hot little hands anytime soon…

Have I Told You…

…about my obsession with spray paint? I’ve used it before for painting furniture and frames and occasionally chipboard, but when I recently used it on a whim to paint some paper, I had no IDEA how awesome it really is! Now don’t get me wrong, I love my Glimmer Mist and Maya Mist just as much as the next scrapbook-aholic, but spray paint GETS. THE. JOB. DONE. And it definitely got the last two week’s challenges done quite efficiently.

Here’s my fabric challenge from 2 weeks ago:

It’s funny because I’m not even on a mini-book “kick” right now; these days, I am all about the single 12×12 layouts! But for some reason, my photos from my friends’ annual Christmas Party were calling my name. (As were the old pants that I ripped up and turned into the fabric flower on the cover…but that’s another post in and of itself!). Half the pages are from an acrylic deck of cards and the other half are chipboard artisan labels. I sprayed all of them with a metallic silver spray paint from Krylon and then a light dusting of Glimmer Mist’s “Marshmallow.” It turned out to be a super fast and fun mini – just how I like it!

And of course, Cherie’s challenge for this past week was to document what you love about summer. So I interpreted it as this:

I went to TOWN with the masking, as you can see! Haha! I haphazardly placed a whole chipboard alphabet (I’m pretty sure it’s a Colorbok one that I got from the Target Dollar Spot a few months back) diagonally down the page (with the help of a temporary adhesive) and then sprayed the heck outta this baby with some white craft spray paint from Joann’s. My favorite part about it is the bottom right corner where it coincidentally spells out “joy.” Love that!

And like Cherie, I am not a huge proponent for the summer season. Don’t get me wrong, my summers always turn out to be fun and exciting, but the heat I can easily do without, no problem! Although it does make workouts all the better when I can immediately jump in the pool afterward. I guess summer has it’s perks after all…

Things from Thursday

I’m pretty sure that Thursdays are my most favorite day of the week. They mean a number of fun things: Paperclipping Roundtable is usually posted in iTunes. People magazine arrives in the mail. Real Housewives of NYC. And of course, challenge day! Here is my latest take on Cherie’s sketch challenge:

In case you didn’t know, I am addicted to fabric. It’s quickly becoming my go-to supply – especially since my stash is growing by the minute! So for this layout, I used it as a background texture by first applying some adhesive to the paper and spreading the fabric evenly on top and then sewing around the perimeter of the lace and paper together. Such a fun, easy way to add texture to any layout!

Speaking of fabric addiction, I swung by Joann’s the other day (you know, I just happened to be in the right neck of the woods) and took advantage of their sale on lace – I LOVE lace! I also picked up some fabulous crepe paper from Party City for…get this…0.74 cents a roll!!! I could not believe what a sweet deal that was! I am in texture heaven right now…

So for my challenge this week:

Use fabric on a layout, however you would like! I promise, you will not be disappointed! (:

New Challenge is Up!

I’ve been scrapping here and there lately, which is making me so happy! I’m on a self-imposed buying freeze at the moment, so it’s been fun rediscovering all the amazing products I have hidden away in my stash - I think it’s boosting my creativity! Here are a few of my recent creations:

The background is chipboard, which was a fun change of pace for my regular 12×12 cardstock style! And the numbers were cut out using my Slice. Love that little thing!

I swear this page took no longer than an hour to complete which is INSANELY fast for me! Some older product, some newer product – it’s all good!

My challenge for this week is to create a layout inspired by this photo:

Interpret it as you will! Enjoy!:)