New in my Etsy shop!

Did you know that you can also place custom orders?  Either send me a convo through Etsy or an email at apicketfencelife@gmail.com!

Looking for a specific birthday?  Just let me know and I can put together a custom book for you….add the age or a name…or both, of course!  :)

Tomorrow is the FIRST day of SPRING!   Hooray!  I hope the weather where you are is balmy and spring-like.  As for here in the Midwest…we’re supposed to get snow.  Urgh.  It’s been in the 60’s the past few days so we’ve gotten spoiled.  I’m crossing my fingers that the weatherman is wrong and it will be decent here tomorrow.  I’m making a trip to the city to pick up Elliot.  He’ll be home for a week for spring break.  Can’t wait to see him!

We’re totally undecided around here about getting a new dog.  After losing our beloved Lucky on Monday we are hating the emptiness of the house…but we can’t quite bring ourselves to replace him….because of course, he can’t be replaced in our hearts…and all we want is to have him back!  

So, what do you think?  Will a new puppy heal our broken hearts?

New Scrapbook Arrivals

 

Finally!  New stuff in my Etsy shop!   Since it’s SO cold here I thought it would be nice to look at something warm and sunny for a change.  These stickers made me smile when I saw them at the store the other day.  Just couldn’t pass them up.  It’s hard to tell in the picture but the “photo” on the cover is a little stick boy and in the background there is a little stick girl on a floatie!  So cute!   Makes me wish I was going somewhere warm!  

 

 

Here are a few pictures of the interior pages:

This one was also too cute to pass up!  I’ve done cheerleader books in the past but I thought this one would be perfect for the younger girl that went to a cheerleading camp or  clinic.  So fun with the bright pinks and greens accented with black and white.   And, it’s SO girly…especially with the flowers and glitter!   There’s even room on the cover of this one to put her picture right up front!  The title banner is raised so a photo would easily slip right under it…same with the flowers.  It will look like it was all built around the photo!

Adding multiple layers to your scrapbooking pages makes them so much more interesting.  I think it’s the biggest difference I see when I go back and look at some of my earlier items, or especially my full size layouts.  So much has changed over the years as far as design, style and of course, supplies!   

I still try to leave some of the pages in my mini scrapbooks a little bit on the “plain” side….since the focus really should be on the photos.  I want to make sure that you have enough space to put those all-important-photos since that’s the whole point of a scrapbook!  But you can always add more embellishments on top of the photos!!  Rub-on letters, flowers, stickers or edging look awesome on top of or overlapping the photos.  They’re perfect for adding the finishing touch to your books.   Although it doesn’t always show up in the photos, most of the embellishments in my mini books are raised with pop dots (or foam spacers…whatever you want to call them!).  Not only does this add some dimension to the pages but it also allows for slipping pictures behind or underneath them.

I think this is probably my favorite of all the volleyball books I’ve done.  I love these papers.   They’re the same stickers I’ve used many times before but the new papers really change it up!  Years ago when Arielle was on the volleyball team I couldn’t find anything ‘volleyball’….it was all soccer!  But now volleyball is everywhere.

 

 

 

I’m starting to list Valentine’s Day things in my shop…but I’ll post about them later.  You wouldn’t believe my studio right now.  SO MUCH PINK!  And not even JUST the Valentines stuff.  Pink (and the bright green) remind me of spring so I think it’s just wishful thinking on my part.  Especially on cold days like this.

Oh…I even bought a cute little pink tool.  More on that later too!  :)

The sun is shining brightly on the snow here today.  I hope it’s shining where you are too!

Jude

Gifts for the Girls

At the last minute I decided to throw together a couple of scrapbooks for the girls as Christmas gifts.   Arielle has been doing some dancing at college this year.   She’s part of the Martini Dancers…a swing group.  They performed at the Christmas Convocation and it was awesome to watch one of my girls dance onstage again.  I thought those days were over.  I guess it’s more fun at this age than it was when they were 5!  She’s also been clogging but of course I forgot about that when I put the book together and didn’t make any reference to it.  Oh well, that’s what those extra journaling pages are for!  Her favorite color is red so I incorporated it with the black and white from the stickers.  I think she liked it!

You might notice that on the Martini Dancers page the word “dancers” is a combo of different fonts.  The letters are all red and glittery but the fonts include upper and lower case as well as a variety in font styles and sizes.  Not only does this prevent boredom from creeping in…it’s also a great way to use up your letters.  If you’re like me, the vowels are always the first thing to go, especially the As and Es…so it helps if you can mix it up a bit.

Ceara’s book is SO typical of her right now.  She’s definitely into black and purple with zebra and leopard prints!  Her dorm room is flooded with the stuff!  She’s also ALL about her friends and hanging out with them.   I can barely get her to pose for a picture but there seems to be no shortage of pictures of her with her roommates and other friends. 

I haven’t been using my Cricut much to make letters for the paper bag books but I like the way this turned out.  The purple letters with the white borders were cut with the Cricut and then raised with foam spacers.  I’m loving foam these days.  The white letters are also out of foam.  I love the 3D effect.  That was part of the reason I got away from using letters cut from my Cricut.  I didn’t like the flat look but add a few spacers (pop dots…whatever you call them!) and oh so much better!  

Another thing I’ve been trying to do more of lately is mix unusual patterns and colors.  I used to be all about the matchy-matchy, but not anymore. For example, a year ago I probably would not have put together the leopard print and the zebra print in the same book…let alone add purple to the browns of the leopard paper.  But I think it works fine.   It makes the purple pop (the colors are a little more vivid in real life than what they show up like on here.  Don’t even get me started on issues with my camera!).  Anyway…I’m less concerned these days if the printed paper and cardstock match perfectly or if I’m putting together too many prints.  There’s got to be some contrast or it’s just not interesting visually.  Besides not every single item in the photo is going to match the page exactly.  AND…scrapbooking should be fun…not stressful! 

sharing some favorites

I am in awe of all the talented artists who sell their creations on Etsy. There are so many amazing and beautiful things. I thought I'd share some of MY favorites with you.

I love, love, love this necklace....maybe because I love, love, love the beach! Someday I will live near the ocean but until then...

The shop is Cinnamon Sticks. Many of their items can be personalized...names, initials, etc. All items are unique and beautifully crafted.

I WISH I could paint. I love lots of different styles.

This bloom is from the Etsy shop, Suze. Check out her shop and you will find a huge variety of artwork. Great stuff. Fun stuff. The poli sci part of me LOVES the Nixon sketch! Go take a peek! :)

More jewelry. I can't help it...I love jewelry that is NOT cookie-cutter, mass-produced stuff.

I'm sure you've heard of fused dichroic glass. I have no idea how it's made, but the colors are SO vibrant. While the photography in this shop, CCValenzo, is wonderful, I have NEVER seen a photograph that can truly capture the amazing colors of this type of jewelry.

Last, but definitely not least, of my list today is the artwork from LucySweetLucy.

I can't really even find the words to express how much I LOVE this. The style, the colors, the whimsical element. Just love it all! :) It reminds me of the movie, The Break Up. Remember when Jennifer Aniston's character was showing pieces of art to the really cute guy (sorry, don't remember his name). He didn't know much about art and wasn't sure what to buy. She told him that you shouldn't buy a piece of art unless you HAVE to HAVE it (or something like that....I'm bad at quoting movies!). Anyway, that's how I feel about this piece. It just draws me in.

Christmas is coming up and I have a challenge for you. Before you head to the "big box" stores with your shopping list...please consider buying your gifts this year from independent artists and crafters. There are lots of options for buying handcrafted items. Etsy is a great online source but you can also find some amazing things at local craft shows and consignment shops.

The best things about buying handmade? Unique and personalized gifts...not to mention you're supporting independent business owners....not the corporate giants!