JYC: Manifesto, Intro page AND some cool pages

Once you take a class, it's hard to stop, right? I'm now addicted. I have tons of blogging for scrapbookers posts to still add, but I thought I would maybe break them up a bit, so I've decided to show you something else I came a little late to but still ended up being awesome:

I'm taking Journal Your Christmas with Shimelle. My second Shimelle class in a month, LOL. Oopsie! Seriously, though, I wasn't certain about taking it. First, I'm not really huge into Christmas, and to be honest, things for Christmas this year were looking very bleak...Insanely bleak. As you may or may not know, I go to California to visit my Grandmama for Christmas every year. Since we're being laid off at work from December 14-28, I decided to take off until the first week in January. I decided I needed it. While I'd love to get into a few things with that (rants, raves and all other manner of weirdness), I'm just going to say that I love going out to California and seeing my Grandmama, and my father. And it's good to see a few friends out there and have awesome experiences. I'm truly blessed.

Second, a whole lot of people that I follow (thank you, Google Reader) are doing it. And I figured, if they could do it, I could too. I mean, after all, my Christmas experience is my Christmas experience. So it's relevant.
Okay, and seriously, if you take this class, you pay one fee and can do it for-EVER! (the word 'forever' is in my head like in that movie 'The Sandlot' where the kids are talking about something ominous, but obviously in this class it's not ominous, but more like a hyperbole--you know, exaggeration for effect). There are digi-downloads for hybrid or digi scrappers, printables and prompts every day. Yes, EVERY day. It's seriously a really cool class and I started looking forward to it. I'm allowing myself to think it's awesome (cue Grinch music and see my heart grow a few sizes...).

So I'm a few days behind, but I have a few ideas and actually started to do a few things last night, despite there being a billion other things that needed done (house stuff and organization--and SLEEP!). I wanted to get an 8x8 AC Modern Album, so I could play with the front and be awesome. However, I'm working with a budget here and so I just went with what I had on hand, which is an 8-1/2 by 11 AC album covered in cloth. It's black and there's a small slot in the front for a card or index label or something. Right now it looks totally ghetto, but it can change later, and I'm not sweating that for the time being.

This is my Title page. Now, as I understand it, Shimelle doesn't do title pages until later. I'm cool with that, but I got inspired by this Making Memories paper (which reminds me that I have to go to target before I leave and pick up some more of these paper packs and other embellies)--it's the Tinsel line. I love that the diecut looks like an ornament. I used a scrap of paper next to it from the same patterned paper package and then layered a cutout from Jen Allyson's card set and made a little subhead type of thing. The cardstock base is from Couture Cardstock--love the shade and weight of it! The stickers that say 'Xmas' are from last year's Making Memories Christmas line, too. And the 'Nicole K' is thickers. I ::heart:: these thickers, and wonder if anyone knows that font (they're the black stickers), because I'd rather buy more Christmas embellishments other than thickers to complete this...

Next up is my manifesto page. Or rather, my 'manifest-O!' page. I wanted it to be simple, plan on adding something else eventually, but I just really liked the combination of my favorite thickers, the blue paper from MM (from that Tinsel line), and the K&Company trim which reminded me of a garland. It's on the back of my title page, so it's on the same piece of Couture Cardstock--which by the way is FANTASTIC. I cannot say enough about this wonderful company.

My manifest is handwritten with Pilot Choose (.7) purple ink. I got that pen from Jetpens.com. It's lovely. Have a white one too, that I haven't yet used, though. My manifest talks about the fact that Christmas seems to have lost its magic for me, but that I want to memorialize and perhaps reflect on older Christmases while still rocking the present one. And I also want to refine and even FIND my style. I plan on using a bunch of different pages, sizes, etc.
I thought I'd show you a pair of my element pages. These were acrylic clear pieces, part of an album from Pat Catans. I simply covered them with some of the MM Tinsel paper and went to town. They will have something on the pages, probably a picture or a fond memory (left the back blank so that I could do something with journalling and it wouldn't show through). The red paper has holly on it, and there are even glittery berries. Yay! The green paper reminds me of something from the MM Passport line. Oh, and there are some lovely bits from the Vintage line I got at Michaels from MM on there, spells out 'Fun'. I hope to get some envelopes, maybe some other little things there, too.

Wow! I can't believe I wrote all of this about the album that I wasn't necessarily all happy about. Weirdness, eh? I think it just goes to show you that stranger things can happen. The girl who hasn't been all Christmas-y can suddenly take a minute and say 'wait a second, I want Christmas back!'...

What about you? Are you Christmas-y? Why or Why not?

So that's all I have right now. Thanks for checking this out, and thanks for sharing your JYC projects--they're fantastic! Happy Creating!

Ildi Work

Wow, oh wow! I'm having such a fun time with my Ildi DT work. Apparently this project didn't post yesterday, so I'm reposting it.

Ildi stamp, colored with markers
American Crafts patterned paper
Bazzil Jetstream Cardstock
Letters cut out of Cricut Plantin Schoolbook
Stitched accents (on letters) drawn in with Signo White Pigment Pen
Small pieces of glitter are miscellaneous
Also used foam squares and Transparency paper to make my window. When it moves, the glittery stars really do move. I tried to make sure they went up top so everyone could see them.

This is the result:

I was inspired by all of the cards I've been seeing lately with techniques, so I decided I HAD to do a technique card. I really like how it turned out, and I think it's perfect for a more masculine feel that I was hoping to achieve. Be sure to stay tuned, we're having a blog hop for Ildi on Saturday... Woo HOO!

Archiver's Score

Archiver's is usually hit and miss for me. I love going there because they stock certain lines, and because I expect them to have some of the newer things (that the two LSS don't carry), but sometimes I'm disappointed.

Last night was a little hit and miss. I got an email about a cardstock sale (buy 10 pieces of their cardstock, get 10 free) and my BF's sister asked me to pick up some for her (She needs to make some elmo Cricut cuts and she has no cardstock). She gave me a list of what she wanted, and then let me pick out some colors (which, by the way, I went all weird and crazy with--some 80s colors, some browns, blues, etc). I was planning on getting the 8 and 1/2 by 11 paper (really want to make some cards).

I called Archiver's (okay, yes, I have the number memorized because the last four digits are the year I graduated from high school (1998) and asked if they carried kraft paper. I know I've seen it there before. I nearly cleaned out the LSS in the middle of the city the last time I bought some (3 or 4 pieces), and I'm not sure if the one near where I work sells it, so I'll have to check that out. Really loving the Kraft cardstock now.

The woman who answered said she had no idea what I was talking about. I tried to describe it, but she didn't know. So I thanked her and drove over there to pick up the cardstock for my BF's sister. Then I decided to shop for me.

Didn't get cardstock, as I didn't see any kraft and I've got a bunch of 8 and 1/2 by 11 that I SHOULD be using. Looked around and picked up some patterned paper.


Crate Paper Lillian: Gathering (this is a double sided paper, the middle is the closeup of the design)


Crate Paper Little Sprout: Meadow (this is a double sided paper, the middle is the closeup of the design)


Crate Paper Little Sprout: Frolic (this is a double sided paper, the middle is the closeup of the design)


Crate Paper Orbit: Playtime (this is a double sided paper, the middle is the closeup of the design)


Crate Paper Orbit: Lineup (this is a double sided paper, the middle is the closeup of the design)


American Crafts Teen Paper (Going to use this for a Music themed layout).

I asked if they had any October Afternoon (Ducks in a Row, Cherry Hill or Night Light) and was quickly told the lines didn't exist. And that the woman should know because she's worked there for a few years. The other associate (at the register) said quickly 'Maybe it's something that does exist, but we're just not ordering. We get an internal list of things we can be on the lookout for, but it doesn't ring any bells.' It was an odd experience, to say the least, but I ended up wandering around the store for a little longer and came up with a few things that I'd heard about, but hadn't seen. Including:

Imaginisce My New Pencil Box

Imaginisce No Passing Notes Paper

I've never used Imaginisce paper, despite having loved their stamps for such a long time. And I've seen Crate Paper online, but never used it, either. I was really surprised because I didn't spend a lot of money but got some pretty good deals.

Intentions

I made this card for an online pal that I've been meaning to send a thank you card to. I've been trying to create something different and something that I liked, but I couldn't find anything that really stuck with me. Last night I was watching the Celebrity Apprentice and put together some Basic Grey Phoebe papers on cards, along with some ranger glaze, then some brown ribbon and the flower. I loved it, but realized that it needed some stamping. So I set about to make a conversation bubble, then realized I had conversation bubbles on some American Crafts paper. Pulled out a sentiment from my Hero Arts stamps and stamped, then embossed. Put everything together.
But something was off, really off. I couldn't figure out what. Something just made me not want to send this to the really dear person. So I decided to take it to work, with the intention of sitting it on my desk to see exactly what it was that the card was missing (by the way, it was one of the first cards I've actually be able to cut down from a sheet of 8 and 1/2 by 11). I don't normally do this, but I have before...it just seemed right.
And then I heard the news. A very dear work friend with a pacemaker might have had a heart attack yesterday. She asked her son to take her to the hospital. She was a bit out of sorts last week, and said she felt dizzy. But she did play nicely along with my belated practical joke. She fell yesterday, too. They're running tests today, but she'll probably get another cath tomorrow morning. I spoke with her on the phone and she sounds good, heck she's only 52. But I started crying and tried to stop and then it hit me. "I have a card," I said to her coworker. So we put it out and people have been signing it. It's nearly full and I haven't even signed it yet. And what kills me is that I normally have tons of cards sitting at the desk, but cleaned a few weeks ago and got rid of them. No one seems to have Get Well Soon cards around here, so this was like the perfect thing.
Now I'll go home and start working on a card for someone that I need to thank. And I have a feeling that this one's purpose will be a little bit more defined and skewed towards a thank you.
I'm still a bit in awe. I mean, I didn't intend for it to be used in this way, but it just felt right. And I knew something was off. Do they call this type of thing divine, or am I reading too much into it?
Tonight I plan on some Scrap n' Telling--with the winner of the contest, some reviews and other stuff. Have to write at some point, too. This weekend had a lot of writing, which is good. I'm shooting for being 1/4 done by Wednesday's meeting, hopefully I can hit 35 pages at the meeting Wednesday, which would be lovely.