The One with Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse

What a night! I am soooooo tired and my bum is soooooo sore. But if everything people say is true, I better get used to long sleepless nights like this... bring it on.
At 5:30pm Chris and I picked up Veronica and got some In-N-Out for dinner.

Me in my comfy scrubs and Twilight shirt ready to get my movie watching on.

When we got to the theater we easily found a parking spot then made our way to the front of the theater. The lines for the midnight showing of Eclipse were already forming and wrapped around the building. People people people. Why sit outside in the blazing hot sun for 6+ hours (who knows how long they'd already been out there), when you can pay $10 to sit inside where it's air conditioned, you get the first pick of seats, and you get to watch Twilight and New Moon!

There were seriously only like 12 people in the theater to watch all three movies. We became besties.

I had a hard time staying awake during New Moon just because I was so tired, though I like New Moon umpteen more times than Twilight. At 11:30pm the crowds of people who had been waiting all day outside poured in and had to find seats around us true and dedicated hard core fans. Then the movie began and I was entranced.

So what did I think of Eclipse?I LOVED IT. My favorite of the three by far. I need to go watch it again. And again and again.

Will I go see Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse before the first installment of Breaking Dawn? Probably not, it was physically painful to sit in those chairs for eight hours, and I'll have a little Fox to take care of then (eeps!), so maybe I'll just watch them at home beforehand.

Anyways. Great night. Great movie. Great times.

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The One with June American Crafts Layouts

These are the two layouts I made for American Crafts for the month of June:

Grandpa Tedder the Gooder and Better.

Tips and tricks: I actually didn't watch anything while scrapping today. I just wasn't in the mood I guess. In my drawer of "to scrap" photos I have a book full of pictures of my Grandpa Ted from back in the day when he was a soldier. (Grandma if you want this album back let me know and I can bring it in August). All of the pictures have deckled edges and are held in the book with photo corners. That's old school scrapbooking for ya! :) So I chose two of my favorite pictures of him, trimmed down the deckled edges, and glued them to a yellow cardstock background. Then I spent a good amount of time handcutting these flowers from patterned paper. I stuck the flowers around the photos using pop dots. Then I found six different kinds of black Thickers, the smaller the better, in my stash. Each word is a different texture - I used velvet, flocked, epoxy, glitter, vinyl, and fabric. American Crafts also makes foil, foam, regular chipboard, glossy chipboard, etc. So many options, that's why I heart them. Once everything was in place I journaled around the flowers.

Journaling says: Ever since I can remember, Grandpa Ted has referred to himself as Grandpa Tedder the Gooder and Better. He had so many sayings, phrases, and stories that he'd tell his three daughters growing up that they combined them all into a Book of Tedderisms. I can see where my mom and brother get their good looks, my Grandpa was (and still is!) a handsome man. One of my favorite stories he likes to tell begins with: There I was, prop blast blowing in my face...

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, letter stickers, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Craft knife, paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars


Dear Fox

Tips and tricks: I wanted the main embellishment of this layout to be pinwheels so I chose a patterned paper background that matched my photos and picked one color patterned papers to make the pinwheels out of. I cut various sized squares from the papers, snipped from the corners towards the middle, pulled every other section to the middle, and secured them all to the middle with a brad. I added some crocheted flowers and fancy brads to the mix. I like to lay everything in place before I glue it down and take a picture of it in case Rachel comes in and starts batting all my little pieces around.

Journaling says: Dear Fox - It's so much fun to feel you move, wiggle, kick, and squirm. It makes this whole pregnancy thing feel so real. So keep it up! Love, your Mom.

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, brads (fabric, glitter, jewel, pearl), crocheted flowers, letter stickers, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Scalloped border punch, paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars

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The One with Eric's 22nd Birthday

I'm a day late, sorry bro. Happy 22nd birthday to my little and only brother Eric. He's quite the character, as you can see from this bounty of videos.

Eric dancing and running around in circles.

Eric getting his first hair cut. His immense look of concentration is astounding!

Eric blasting off a rocket. "2! 6! 11! 12! 13! 16! 17! 19!" Who taught him to count?

Eric singing "Jingle Bells" with his class. Presh-a-presh.

Eric singing "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam". Even more presh-a-presh.

Eric and his usual obnoxious self jumping on the trampoline.

Eric singing his ABC's with an annoying sister interrupting him (that t'would be mwah).

Eric about 12 years old and his bleach-blonde hair ('member those good 'ol days?) making the highest pitched squeak that even dogs can't hear.

Eric dancing to a Backstreet Boys song at a youth activity. All the girls were going CRAZY :)

Eric showing off his mad skateboarding skillz.

Eric is a funny guy and I'm so proud to call him my brother. It was fun growing up with him, dressing him up in costumes, and even putting makeup on his fat chubby cheeks every once in a while. Love ya little bro :)

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The One with Dawn's Book

Dawn emailed me shortly after I posted pictures of Lyndsey's book and commissioned me to make her a book in pink. Here it 'tis:

It's 5x7".

It has Plexiglas covers.

It's made from all shades of pink cardstock, pink patterned paper, pink glittered cardstock, pink patterned transparencies, and pink patterned flocked paper.

It's bound using the coptic style so the binding is exposed - this is my favorite type of binding.

It's sewn together using light pink DMC embroidery floss which I coated with bee's wax.

From start to finish it took about 6 hours to make.

It'll be great place to store photos, write notes, and journal little stories of her daughter.

This concludes my show and tell :)

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The One with Random Inspiration

I've got nothing important to share today so I'm going to turn to my handy dandy inspiration folder.

Oh wait, I do have two quick things to share first. I went to Target yesterday morning in search of a book (which they didn't have - I'm 0 for 2 in my book hunts at Target! Curses!) and ended up browsing the maternity section. I don't venture over there often, I think all the maternity clothes are ugly and opt instead to buy "normal" clothes in extra large sizes. I've been in serious need of some pants though, so just for the heck of it I decided to try on a pair of capris jeans. They looked horrific and ugly on the rack, I didn't think there was any way they'd look cute on, but to my happy surprise, they fit and actually look pretty good! SCORE!

Then I meandered over the the shoe aisle because I swear that in addition to my face, belly, and thighs getting bigger, my feet are expanding as well...I found these shoes and oh my goodness they are soooo comfortable!

Gotta love Target.

Okay, back to my inspiration folder.

Is this the cutest room you've ever seen or what?

I first saw this on Design Sponge. And here is a link to the creative talent that made this room - Artistic Living Spaces. Things I love: The pieced together rugs. Who woulda thought? The platform bed - very unique. And of course - the FERRIS WHEEL which holds toys! OMG. I want one for Fox's room.

These ADORABLE cards by Darling Clementine:

This lovely lovely pillow by Anita Kaushal:

Just because it's cute:

Inspirational poster. I love the typesetting:

I have a new favorite website. It's called Stuff My Kids Ruined. Except replace the word "stuff" with a bad word. It shows pictures of things kids have destroyed and it's quite funny. Until it happens to you right? I think Joey is just as bad, if not worse, in the destroying department. For instance, today he grabbed a tooth that Chris had carved out of wax and placed in a nice container from the shelf where it was proudly displayed and he chewed the tooth and the plastic container to bits :( Sorry babe. But anyways, here is an example of what you'll find on Stuff My Kids Ruined:

Black permanent marker on white vanity? Not good.

This just makes me laugh:

The caption reads: How could you resist this razzle dazzle - love is in the air.

And finally, this fantastic fox themed embroidery hoop by The Vintaquarian (thanks for the link Dawn!)

I'm thinkin' I'd like to make a less feminine version for Fox's room. The wheels are turning...

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The One with the LAPP Bat Mitzvah

Amy Tan has been hooking me up with some pretty sweet scrapbooking opportunities as of late. For instance, last Saturday night I had the privilege of scrapbooking on the scene with LA Photo Party (LAPP) at a Bat Mitzvah. Let's just say, it must be nice to have that much money. The theme was Alice in Wonderland and I was awed, for lack of a better word, by EVERYTHING. From the house to the food to the oxygen bar and fake eyelash booth - no joke... Before anybody arrived, Cindy (Amy's cousin) and I hopped in front of the white backdrop and took some silly pictures.




And here's the backyard-turned-magical-wonderland:

Those large black and white lamp things are outdoor heaters. Genius!

There was a gyro bar, corn dog/doughnut bar, pizza bar, bar bar...


I loved the "mat hatter" antique style furniture:



The dance floor. I didn't get my groove thang on, that would have been a sight to see.

These paper flowers are neato.

Swanky chandeliers.

Here was the neck of the woods, (so to speak - the backyard was quite massive), where LAPP set up their gear:

This was "my" area where LAPP would hand over the photos and Cindy and I would scrapbook them.

OMG the dessert bar was INSANE.

Edible glitter? I've never heard of or seen it before, but apparently it exists.



It was fun to be a part of something so big and special and rich and extravagant.
I ended up getting lost on the way home (one of my recurring dreams is getting lost on freeways, so it was really scary to have my dream (or rather nightmare) come true in such a big and daunting place like LA). So I got off the next exit, started crying cuz I was panicking, said a little prayer, miraculously found my car phone charger which had been lost in the car for months, and was able to navigate myself home. Alls well that ends well :)

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The One with Elle's Studio June Projects (and the 700th Post Winner!)

First - the winner of the 700th post giveaway is....drumroll please.....


Kelsey Nicole Saint Clair!!! Maybe this will make up for all those beanie babies you bought me back in the day :) Email me at paigetaylorevans@gmail.com and I'll send you the box - or rather, maybe I can hand deliver it to you when I come home in a couple weeks? Save me on shipping :) Thanks everyone for all of your comments, you make my day with your kind words. Until the 800th post - good afternoon, good evening, and good night!


Here are my last projects for Elle's Studio. Sniff sniff. Six months went by super fast! If you tried out for their next design team, good luck! Elle is so generous and easy to work with, I'm sad my term is over. But it was good while it lasted and I've got plenty of product leftover to use in my future projects so this won't be the last you hear of Elle's Studio on this blog!



LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Tips: I watched Shanghai Noon while scrapping this layout. Funny movie, great one-liners. I believe I saw patterned paper weaving on a layout by Lisa Dickinson and I totally wanted to try it out. I've weaved ribbon before on cards, but never paper on layouts. Elle's Studio patterned papers are usually 4" square (the downloadable patterned papers are larger) so I cut them into strips and glued them together to make one long strip - much easier for weaving. No layout is complete without buttons! PS - I still feel kinda weird scrapbooking these photos. They're sorta private you know, like, that's my uterus you're all looking at... anyways... :)

Journaling says: It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love with something that's only 3 centimeters big. But I fell hard and fast.

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill Basics, Kraft; Patterned paper, patterned packaging, digital patterned papers: Elle's Studio; Buttons, ribbon, letter stickers, pen: American Crafts; Adhesive: Helmar; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars




BABY LOVE

Tips: I watched one of my all-time favorite movies while scrapping this layout: Runaway Bride. I've probably watched it 30 times in my life. At least. For this layout I used one of the photos that Caroline took of me on Thursday. I'm so into banners right now and luckily so is Caroline so when she saw these banners strewn across the sky she had me pose underneath them. The colors in the photo coordinate perfectly with Elle's Studio. I created patterned paper and cardstock strip frames around the photo, added some ribbon into the mix, and for the final inner layer I cut journaling spots in half and made a scalloped border.

Journaling says: I know it's probably still a little early to do a maternity shoot, but when Caroline offered, how could I say no?! We took tons of pictures and I love them!

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill Basics; Patterned paper, patterned packaging, journaling spots: Elle's Studio; Buttons, ribbon, letter stickers, pen: American Crafts; Adhesive: Helmar; Paper cutter, scissors: Fiskars



BIRTHDAY TOPIARY

Tips: I continued watching Runaway Bride while making this mini topiary. Elle's Studio makes lots of round journaling spots and die cuts so I chose 20 of their newest colorful birthday ones and created a topiary out of them. I embellished the blank journaling spots with buttons and added a ribbon bow at the top so it can hang.

Supplies: Journaling spots, die cuts: Elle's Studio; Buttons, ribbon: American Crafts; Adhesive: Helmar

Thanks for looking! And as always, make sure you check out the rest of the design team gallery - there is some talent up in there!

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