Something's Coming...

So, yesterday I discovered Lolly and man, can I say that is one amazing chick! She does some uber-awesome crafty stuff. SO, I saw a super cool tutorial on some rolled flowers that I just had to try. So, I hauled my little cookies off to JoAnn's late last night and picked up the above deliciousness. Gotta love felt. It's cheap, it's soft, and pretty. I have a feeling me and this felt are going to do some really fun stuff this weekend.
Speaking of which... Spouses. *sigh* I think my husband is using some sort of domino-mind-subterfuge on me. (p.s. I love the word, "subterfuge," it's so much fun to say.) He had been hanging out with friends more often lately, and I expressed that I missed spending time with him at night once the girls went down. So this past week he's stayed home every night and we've played dominos. Yes, dominos... every ... single... night. He's been very determined to beat me, but unfortanetly for him, my skills see to have surpassed his. Anyways, I think he might be using said "subterfuge" to bore me with him and Domino's altogether, so I will be begging him to leave and go hang out with his friends. And do you know what? It's totally working. Shhhhh... don't let him know. I desperately want him to go out so I can lock myself in my craft room tonight and stay up into the wee hours making an abundant amount of felt flowers.

On to other things, because I feel chatty today... Can I tell you about the yumminess that is Brianna's Salad Dressing??? Serious yumminess. My favorite is the Dijon Honey Mustard. It makes me want to lick the bowl then have another salad. I ate one of these said salads today for lunch today. Leftover grilled chicken breast, some croutons and romaine lettuce... almost perfection. Perfection would be if I had a nice, ripe avacado, but alas, all is still well. For your own good, please go out and try some of Brianna's dressing. You won't regret it!
Alright, that's enough torture for today. I've been making crafty things, but I can't show you... yet. It's for a super-top-secret project. Ok... it's an "All Things Tim" swap and I can't share because I want mine to be a surprise for the other swap ladies. Will post when it's all finished, though! Have a great weekend

It's a Dream Come True & A Catch 22

If you've known me for longer than ohhh... five minutes, you probably know that I love the, "Wizard of Oz." OK, to say, "love," is an understatement. I'm OBSESSED. And not just with the movie, with the books, as well. There are fourteen original OZ books by the author L. Frank Baum. But, there are over 40 total in the OZ cannon of books. Betcha didn't know that did you? I was so engrossed with Oz as a child I didn't have many friends. I sat in my room and read the books simultaneously, sat in the library at lunch and read, and even started writing my own OZ book. My parents said I pretty much lived there... I guess you can say I've always lived in some sort of a La-La land.

So imagine my surprise and sheer excitement when I read in the LA Times that the same production company as the "Potter" series, is considering remaking my beloved books into an on screen masterpiece. Now some Oz-truists (and believe me, there are plenty) are screaming, "NOOOO! NOOOO!" They shudder at the possibility of a remaking of the 1939 musical classic starring Judy Garland. But, I say, "Not Fair, not fair, at all." The musical does not adhere to some of the simple, yet main principles of the book, that was first published in 1900. For instance, Dorothy is only four years old when she travels to Oz for the first time, and although in the original book she is depicted as having long brown hair, the majority of the series she is a blonde with a cute, short bob. The infamous ruby slippers that we all know and love are actually silver and there are TWO good witches that appear in the movie. And perhaps the single most important diference between the book and the movie is that OZ is a real place. The 1939 movie played it off as if Dorothy was dreaming the whole experience, but really, she did travel to Oz which exists in another dimension. (And I swear, someone on the "LOST" write-staff is a fan of the books.)

So now that you've had way too much information about THAT, how about some more? I think I'm most excited at the prospect that the rest of the world can see just how cool Oz is. That's right, Oz is Cool. You have a magical land where people only age if they want to, education and knowledge is taken in pill-form and animals have conversations with you. There are amazing characters such Scraps the Patchwork Girl (above) and who is my personal favorite... Jack the Pumpkinhead, The Hungry Tiger (who likes to eat fat babies!) Polychrome, the Rainbow's daughter... the Shaggy Man, Tik Tok, the clockwork man (Thanks for the RIP-OFF Keisha)...

The list goes on and on. I could go on and on... I could tell you that the original Oz was written as a parallel for the populist political movement at the time. The second book, "The Marvelous Land of Oz," was written in response to the Women's Right Movement. L. Frank Baum's mother in law was Matilda Joslyn Gage who was friends with, and also considered more radical, than Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Baum often portrayed girls in his books as the heroine's and boys were often dull and stupid. (hmmm... he had somethin' there didn't he? lol!) Baum was also a theosophist and loved to study the teachings of Mme. Blavatzky and you can often find little metaphysical tidbits along your way through the series such as transfiguration, alchemy and reincarnation.
So, right now, I'm hoping for the best. I hope that whoever ends up producing the film will be true to the book series. After all, "OZ" was the first series of books ever written for young adults. I don't want to see Ruby Slippers, I don't want to see Anne Hathaway or Dakota Fanning playing Dorothy and I definitely don't want to see Dorothy "returning" to Oz. Dorothy lives in Oz; she has since the fifth book, people. And she doesn't have kids... so none of this "grand-daughter" business, either. Alright, that's enough... I've bored you to tears, I'm sure. Now you know just how crazy I am.

P.S. - And if any big-wig Hollywood producers read this and need an Oz consult, I'd be happy to take the job.

Windmills of My Mind

Do you ever art journal??? A while back I somehow happened upon the ever-amazing, insanely comical and crazy Suzi Blu. She does AMAZING mixed media and art journal pieces. She also seems to have a talent for lifting me out of a bad mood. She really makes you feel good about being YOU. I AM an artist, Suzi said so.

So anywho, if you go to www.youtube.com and search for "art journal" you'll most likely see some Suzi videos and others with these amazing journal pieces. I decided to try my own; I wasn't going to attempt to video/film it, as this is only my second art journal page ever, but maybe the next one I will. Anyways I just took photos throughout my progress; I hope you enjoy!



See you tomorrow. After I clean up my art journal mess I think I'm going to work on a layout, then I have an idea for a mini-book. What are you guys up to? Have a great day!

What the Frack???

OK, this is just TOO funny!!! Bacon Flavored Vodka? Who thinks of these things? I guess if you like to drink in the morning, Bacon flavored vodka is the way to go. I cannot even imagine what this stuff tastes like; and quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to! What would one even mix this with to make it taste good? Blech... Have any of you tried this Bakon vodka? What do you think? WOULD you try baKon vodka??? What if I paid you??? LOL!!!


Here is the finished peice I posted on a while back. This is my first attempt at anything Wendy Vecchi style. I just love her work! She kind of puts a girly spin on all things Tim Holtz. Not to mention she has her own line of AMAZING rubber stamps!

This is also my first grungepaper rose/flower experience... lol. I LOVE grungepaper! It is so much fun to play with!!!! It takes color fabulously and also embosses beautifully. The vines are also grungepaper, cut with my Cricut, as well as the butterfly. I did some stickles on the butterfly as, well, to give it a little shine. Gotta love stickles.

OK, that's it! Working on an art journal page right now; can't wait to finish and show you! Make your day fantastic and creative!!!

Sara

Miss You, Dad

Well, yesterday was a rough one for me. Actually, the last two weeks have been rough... Yesterday day was the second anniversary of my father's death. It's wierd to say that... Anniversaries are usually celebratory, but not this time.

I don't think anyone could say one negative thing about my dad. He was litterally the nicest person I knew. He never raised his voice to me or got out of control. **See, here go the tears... hoping to avoid this by posting a day late** He was really just a nice guy from the Bronx. I know that he positively impacted so many other peoples lives by his simple actions and deeds. He truly cared about his family, friends and colleagues in the military.

Ok... that's all I can do without losing it totally... one thing I did want to say about scrapbooking, is that it's so cathartic. I used to pound the keys of my piano, but now I find solace in the comfort of my scrapbook pages and supplies. Being able to write out my thoughts and feelings on a page always seems to make me feel a little better. How about you? Does scrapbooking calm you? What do you do to relax or put things into perspective?

Finally... My New Scrapbook Studio

Alright, well, once I uploaded from the FlipVideo to Photobucket, the video seemed to get a bit shakier, who knows... deal with it, peoples. Just joking... but you kinda do have to... Also, nothing seems to like me online right now; Hopefully if you click that little thumbnail it will take you to the video. Trying to get a better quality version/embeddable video up on YouTube right now. Will update as soon as I can!

**OK now have the youtube version posted... FIVE hours later! LOL!!! I'll leave the photobucket link there, too, just incase!**

I LOVE my new scraproom. I really have my husband to thank for it, too. All of the white shelving came from a custom made dining room that he demo'd for a job. He told me he was bringing home some shelves for me, but I had no idea how beautiful and perfect they'd be! Not to mention, FREE. (That word makes me do a happy dance!) The island in the middle of the room is actually from our own master bathroom remodel and was the leftover counter/sink thingy. Matt stuck a peice of melamine on top of it and wheels on the bottom and I painted it blue. Oh, Matt also got the hard wood flooring in the room for FREE. (More happy dancing) We used to have carpet in here, but the wood flooring is just to die for. I was kind of itching to move out of this house, but I don't think I'll be leaving any time soon! It took my probably a good full month to move everything in here from the garage. I really wanted to make sure everything was organized and everything had its place. All of the clear and blue-topped storage bins you see are from the dollar store. Oh, how I love the dollar store... and you can imagine the looks I received buying $40 worth of plastic bins. But hey, $40 for storage is the most I spent on this new room. OK, well, the homemade clip-it-ups were about $20 a piece, but hey, who's counting pennies? hehehehe.... I love my room... It's been kind of a catch22 for Matt, because now I'm out of the garage, a.k.a. his man-cave, but I don't really leave the scrap room unless I need more diet pepsi, use the restroom or need to make dinner. I love that it's mine, I can listen to MY music, watch MY shows, make MY stuff... I hope you enjoy it, too! Let me know if you have any questions (or comments!)... Love you guys!

Sara