Here's a project I did recently for a friend who is getting married in August. K. asked me to make a book for her, similar to the one I'd done for K's wedding shower a while back.

This is made from a material called book board, which is like very sturdy tagboard or matboard. I covered it with some cool paper I found at Target. The inside cover is a blue scrapbook paper, with an overlay of a brown paper. The brown paper is pre-cut into a 12x12 sheet, somewhat like lace. It comes in other colors as well. I cut it down to the size I wanted, and glued it over the blue.

The blue ribbon on the cover was from my ribbon stash; I had to go shopping for the brown ribbon. I painted a chipboard letter for the cover, and glued a metal heart I had in my stash (it once was a button with a shank).

I first learned to make this type of book when my son got married. He asked me to make a guest book for the wedding. I've made a few more since then, and learn something new each time.

Enjoy,
Immi

He-Man

Here's a scrapbook layout of A playing with his He-Man figures. His dad has made a conscious effort to pass on his love of He-Man to him. I had the chance recently to watch a He-Man cartoon with A. He got so excited! At times, he'd sit entranced by the action; other times he'd run around the room working off excess energy. Skeletor is always greeted by a "boo!" (I taught him that!). It sure is fun, sitting back and watching him hard at play. I especially enjoyed having him call me over to come play with him - that's a first, and it was music to my ears!

Enjoy!

Immi

Brrr!

Hi there, loyal fans & readers! Although I haven't had time to do much creative fun stuff, I don't want you to think I've forgotten about you. Today's post is just to say "hello" and to let you know what's going on in my corner of the world.

I just got home from work. Nothing unusual about that, except for one thing. Normally, when I get home from work in the month of May, I don't turn on the heater. Today is an exception. The house felt cold when I came in, so I checked the thermostat. It was 65 degrees! That might sound just right to you, but it's a little too chilly for me. Now don't get me wrong. I am grateful to have a good heating system. I don't have to go out and chop wood and start a fire to get warm. However, to someone raised in the southern half of the U.S., it doesn't seem right that on May 29, we still may need our heater. Sigh.

Hope to get back to fun stuff next week.
Immi

Paperweight

I've been spending most of my creative energy on catching up with the school scrapbook, so I haven't had much time for personal creative endeavors. However, I did promise recently to post a picture of another paperweight I made. This was made at the same time I made paperweights for my co-workers at Christmas a couple of years ago, so it's the same style.

I knew I wanted something with an old-world feel. I have lots of reproductions of wonderful old paintings (rescued from the library weeding), so I pulled out an assortment that I thought my intended recipients would like. I took them to a copy place, and made reduced size color copies of each one. I did a little cutting and pasting to get them all on a couple of sheets, and then made color transparencies out of them. This enabled me to create a layered effect with text or a map behind the transparency of the painting.

Once I had the color copies made, it was simply a matter of trimming everything to the size of the backing and putting it all together.

Thanks for looking!

Immi

Tribute to a Friend

One of the couples from church is moving away soon. We're really going to miss the whole family. They've been such a great asset, and fun to boot!

I wanted to make something to give her before she leaves, and I thought about some blank paperweights I've got. These are so easy to make it's almost ridiculous! I made several for my co-workers a couple of years ago for Christmas, and they were well received. I made one for myself then, so I'll post a picture of that one another day.

This one is a patterned scrapbook paper, a sticker, a paper flower, and a button. I wasn't kidding when I said they're easy - practically foolproof. The hardest part was choosing which paper and which flower. Once I had that done, the rest took maybe 5 minutes. The blank paperweights can be ordered online, and come with the glass, a pre-cut form with adhesive on one side for your decorative elements, and a "velvet" paper backing, also with adhesive on one side.

Keep creating,
Immi

Cool Shades

Like most toddlers, A enjoys trying on sunglasses. He's got his own, but it's fun wearing Immi's, too. I thought the shirt really added to the cute factor of these pictures (although contrary to the shirt's phrase, he doesn't get up to much mischief!). Mom and Dad are really thoughtful about having him wear something I've bought when we see them. Abba & Immi had a great time hanging out with A in the backyard. It's great to be grandparents!

Aunt Sooks' Sunglasses

Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by my pack-rat tendencies; other times I'm smugly virtuous when I have an opportunity to use up something I've had around for a while. (Surely you've guessed by now that I'm currently feeling smugly virtuous!)

I first started a scrapbook when my beautiful daugher (Sooks Malooks) was a senior in high school. I conceived the insane notion of chronicling all her school years in scrapbook form to be displayed at her graduation open house. I stocked up on variety packs of cardstock (almost everything back in those olden days was 8.5 x 11), page protectors, and stickers. This was the heyday of decorative scissors & stickers - everything looks much more sophisticated and artsy now.

Thanks to dumb luck, I had saved samples of school work from kindergarten in separate folders. I say dumb luck, because when I went to conferences, the teachers would present me with a "folder" made of construction paper that my child had decorated for the occasion. Without that, I would have had a mess with no idea what belonged to each year. (My advice is to do this yourself, if your child's teacher doesn't do it for you - you won't be sorry!)

All this is leading up to today's post. The stickers on this page are leftovers from doing first my daughter's and then my son's school scrapbooks. I saw a similar idea in a magazine the other day, and knew at once that this was how I could make use of those stickers. (The photos are of A, wearing Sooks' sunglasses.) I honestly don't come up with many original layouts, but I don't mind using someone else's ideas - that's why those magazines are there!

Happy creating!
Immi