Diary of a Renegade Scrapbooker

can't keep up

i feel like i am running in a million different directions lately. and it seems there is just never enough time to get it all done. i need better time management skills. more order to my chaotic life. i made a list of ways i can become more organized and plan to implement them in the coming weeks. because the schedule just promises to get crazier in the next few months.

i have been working a lot. (thank God.) 

i don't think i have talked much about what i do for a living here. i am a waitress. nothing fancy about it. i wait tables and make pretty good money doing it. here in seattle you make more than you do in the south waiting tables.  health benefits a 401K and everything. you can make a livable wage here doing what i do. and i actually really really love my job. i love being around people and i love the fast pace. and i am really good at it.

 

but still.....i have been having back problems and can't see myself doing this forever. i have bigger dreams. and i really don't believe you are ever too old to follow your dreams. my dream is photography. to own my own business. but i know nothing about it. and i am not a great self learner. i would need school. but that's what i see for my future. and i feel that is a very realistic goal for myself. i know i can do it! but i have to be patient. i have a family to consider. and the goal of getting to chicago must come first. then i can work on getting my butt in school. one thing at a time. and optimistic happy dreams of the future in the meantime! and waiting lots of tables! :) 

on to other stuffs....if you grabbed one of my fall mini kits they are on their way! don't forget to link me up with the books you make with them! I can't wait to see.

my etsy shop WILL open this coming week. i am sooooooooooo excited. i put together some really neat new product to make december daily kits. and i will have mixed paper journals for sale and garlands and butterfly prints and all sorts of other pretty little things. i can't wait to share!

in the meantime here are some photos (FINALLY) of my fall mini book so far. if you are making one please share your links!!!!! 

i used a lot of fabric in my book. i love that green zebra print stuff. 

those little circles are actually the holes i punched from the papers to make the book. i use those a lot. all of my mini books lately have a cohesive style. i have been using the same little "this book belongs to" tags in all of them and similar designs. i like it that way. they all look like they go together.

those hambly leaf overlays were peeeeeerrrrfect for this project.

whew. photo overload. that's the basics of my book. i made a lot of blank pages that i can just add to throughout the season. hope it inspires you in some way!

have a great day!
peace,

kate 

 

 

 

feelin' kinda down.

in a funk i guess. i need to snap out of it. i do believe life is all about attitude. how we go about everything from our work to our mothering to our daily routines. attitude is everything in my book. and mine has sucked lately. i need a fun outing or something to get me smiling and moving again!

you would think happy emails this morning would have been the cure. more of my work got picked up by CK and Scrapbooks Etc. i am excited about those. i have been on a roll lately with the publications. hope i can keep it up! :)

i wrote an article and did a project for Cartwheels In My Mind. i love the project i made!  it's a 7Gypsies ATC spinner. here's the cover page. head over to the blog to see the rest of the project. it's one of my favorites i have made. it looks so adorable on my desk and is so much fun to look through. i want to make another one NOW! 

 

 

i made a layout. just for fun.

also obsessed with these really cool DIY planners. i am making one for myself for next year. plan to have a few kits to make your own too in my etsy shop (which will be opening in the next week! :) i need to be more organized. and i love the idea of making your own planner and being able to customize it to suit your own personal needs.

i don't have any photos to share and am still struggling with the cover for my fall mini book. i will, hopefully, be back sometime this weekend with some pages from my mini. we shall see.

well i hope your week has been great so far! i will be back soon with more to share. just gotta get outta my funk! 

peace,

kate

changes

i feel it in the air! the seasons are quickly changing around here. i can smell fall in the air. i am so ready for the season. good changes in daily life too. making small steps towards my goal of getting to chicago. things are going well. progressing nicely i must say. trying to remember to be truly present to my life in the meantime. to not always be so focused on the goal. to stop and enjoy the here and now too. i still struggle with that. but to me, it's the key to happiness! 

i promised myself, i am going to really really enjoy this fall season. get out and do stuff. see stuff. and make a lot of art along the way. i am collecting recipes i want to try and making a list of places i want to go. i already started documenting for my autumn mini book. some of you said you were going to join me and that makes me happy! :) please link me up as you create!!!! 

the theme of my autumn mini is just to document daily life and all the adventures of the season. i have collected a few quotes on autumn that i love. i will share those here. i will share my whole process of making the book. right now i am still struggling with the cover. that is usually the first thing i do when making a mini. (after deciding theme and product) i can't decide if i want really simple or more layered. i am going to put together the bones of the book and i can just add to it through the season. i actually have a lot of leftovers from the product i ordered for my kit and put together a few mini kits. if you are interested let me know. i only had enough for a couple.

i tried to take some photos of the day to day the past few days. i am not so great about remembering to pick up the camera. i want to try to really focus on capturing more of the random daily moments the next few months.

some circles i have been punching for garlands. i want to open an etsy shop and i definitely want to have garlands in my shop!

i look forward to these two papers coming out every week. they are very......unique.

i have an addiction. seriously.

more fun stuff....check out this fun framed project i made for the for the luv of art blog...

and i participated in the new dare...

so i guess that's it this time around. keep documenting for your books ladies! 

oh and marie asked in the comments of my last post...."Wondering who makes that wood doily paper and the wood alphas? "...thanks for your comment Marie! and the paper is by Basic Grey (the wander collection) and the alphas are Hambly!

well well

i made it here two days in a row! how 'bout that! :) 

and i have a LOT to share! today was a rainy and chilly day in seattle. perfect day for baking and scrapbooking. which is exactly what i did! 

i need to post links to the recipes i use here. i often try out new stuff. when i say i love to cook, what i really mean is that i love to bake. allrecipes.com is one of my favorite places to find recipes. i like that they have reviews for the recipes by people who have tried them. anyways...you can find the recipe for the reeses peanut butter cup cookies here.

they are soooo good. but we really like peanut butter.

here are the layouts i made today. i kinda ended up with a theme of summer wrapping up, a new season beginning and a new focus in my life.

i really like this first one. i just loooove how it came out.

fun. gosh. i love scrapbooking. i think that's about all the layouts i am gonna make for a while though. i am so excited to get started on my fall mini book. i made a list of the places we haven't been to yet and i plan to get out there and really experience seattle this fall. and document it in my book! there are some really neat fall themed products out there right now. you guys should join me in making a book! i plan to document all the way through november. you can join in whenever!

i usually plan out my mini books in advance and basically make a "kit" of all the things i want to use in a book. it just makes the creating process easier for me. here are a few of the things i chose for my mini book, basically the "kit" i will work from to make the whole book....

these stamps are by technique tuesday. i love them. i want to use that big branch on my cover somehow.

this hambly overlay....

i really love the colors of this 7Gypsies gaffer tape. i think it fits the fall theme nicely. i won't use that reddish tape though. i have papers that clash with it.

these little library envelopes are gonna look cute in a mini book. i have them in kraft.

i want bits of yellow in the book. i love these rub ons. the color of this one is so pretty.

these alphas....

and these are the main papers i am going to use in the mini...

so...that's my fall mini book kit. i add some stuff from my stash as i work but i usually don't stray too far from what i pull together to start with. 

i will be putting together the bones of the book so that i can just add to it as the season passes. i will share that here in the next day or so as i get it finished up! i was going to share some photos of our recent thrift store finds but this post is already photo heavy enough i will save that share for next time!

peace,

kate

 

it's been a little while!

i have lots of new work to share! but no photos, unfortunately. my camera has been in the shop. but i get it back tomorrow!

i don't know about you all, but i am really really ready for fall this year! i have lots of plans for things i want to do/see that are on my Seattle "must see" list and have not been crossed out yet. i want to make a trip back to the arboretum here once the leaves start changing. i want to take a lot of photos.....scrapbook a lot. try a lot of new recipes. just enjoy the season! i plan to make a mini book on the fall season this year. i just spent about an hour looking at all the new scrapbook stuff and picking out things that would work for a fall mini book.

i was going to try to put together a class/kit before the end of the year. but i quickly realized how fast Christmas is approaching and it will have to wait til february/march of next year. i don't want to rush the planning and i don't want it to be during the holiday season. but i see the class being a month long experience with lots of focus on journaling and photos. let me know if you would be interested as well as things you might like to see or learn in a class! thanks!!!

i love reading all of the comments you gals leave. they each mean a lot to me! olivia asked in the comments on my last post what company made the grid stamp i use on a lot of my layouts. it is actually a really old fontwerks stamp. i love it! i love all my old fontwerks stamps and find i use them more than any others! 

i have a lot of layouts to share this time around! i have a really neat project also, that i have been working on for an article at another website and i can't wait for that work to go up! just a couple a days! i will link from here when the article is posted! have a great weekend guys!

 

this layout got layout of the week at studio calico...

 

this was for the new dare.