Smashbook, smashbook, smashbook! What the hell is a smashbook?

Well, I will tell you...a smashbook is A LOT of fun....

And the Smashbook stuff is super cool, and super cute.....

However, it is a little bit pricey.....

So what do I do, we'll, I buy some of the stuff, like the tabs, and the cute journal squares....

The books are a little pricey...and who really wants the same books that everybody else has? Besides....do you know how much fun it is to make or alter a book.....well, it IS fun...just saying.


So heres the scoop...smashbooking is a new trend in scrapbooking...it is sort of a pseudo scrapbooking...it is a way to get all your mementos like concert tickets, restaurant napkins, and things like misprinted pictures, and whatever is in the bottom of a so-called "junk drawer". It is more about the momentous and less about the photos....it's all about accepting the imperfections, and not worrying about layout...rules of design, and jazz like that...that I feel scrapbooking had really started to get lost in....this is old school scrapbooking ...no rules...just fun...you want to overlap a bunch of stuff...who care? You know what it is...you want to put a picture that printed when you didn't have any yellow in the printer....go for it...it's yours...there is no wrong way...

Now, here's the thing...I like original, not mass produced, handmade things...with a few store bought things sprinkled in....especially when it come to books....so I went to the local thrift store found me a nice square coffee table book for .50 cents and brought it home painted the cover...added a hand drawn title..(dream home) and stamped a date on it... I tabbed it according to rooms and parts of my dream home, including yard, garden, porch, deck....then I hit my Pinterest account and printed a sheet with all the tiny pictures that inspire me....and I started glueing them in my new found book....adding things I already had like letters, stickers, scraps of old scrapbook paper, magazine scraps, and stamps....oh yeah, and punches...

I did my cover, and I did one page and all the tabs in my altered journal version, and I assembled a book from an old composition book and used scrapbook paper, I had on hand to make the pages....this is great because you can make the pages ANY WAY YOU WANT....yeah, I said it, ANY WAY YOU WANT! If you want to use transparencies as pages...go for it...if you want to fold a page haphazardly and use it as a page that folds out to make a bigger page...that is great!...use gift cards, pockets from jeans, Manila envelopes, you name it, you got it...by all means use it! Glue or tape it in...then stamp it...doodle on it...even paint on it...it fun ...it really is..and the results are sooooo amazing!
Here are some pictures I took of the tiny beginnings....
So there ya go...hopefully it will give you an idea of what smashbooking is...

So what are you waiting for!? Go out and SMASH something!

A Year in the Life of an Art Journal: 2013 Sign Ups!

A Year in the Life of an Art Journal: 2013 Sign Ups!

I think I am going to post my 2013 journal on here..and share with others on A Year in the Life of an Art Journal...

Join us if you can, I. Am sure you will be truly inspired...
8)
Jen

Upcycle a christmas tree? Yep!

So I have been wanting a new skinny tree for Christmas....however, paying for a skinny Christmas tree was not what I wanted...especially since the thing costs 500 bucks...how about...no...so I got this idea, do a little research, did a little thrift show hunting, picked out a color.....did the work...now I have a skinny, lime green, super awesome tree!

So I found this white, 3.5 ft wide tree( at the bottom) at goodwill....had a 10.25 tag on it...got it to the register... It was half off!!!!! Yep, a whopping $5.12!!!

Got it home, it was really yellowed.

I took it outside, sorted,fluffed,stripped all the remnants of last Christmas off of it....set up the main part of it, and started painting a layer at a time till I was done.

It is now outside, drying and airing out.

Once it is decorated with all my vintage stuff, I will post another picture. Oh yeah, and all the lights....I can't wait for the lights....
Here are some pictures along the way.

Hope you like it...or maybe not the color...but the idea of it...it vamps up your old tree into a new

Yet another recycled fashion

I love pinterest....you probably already know that.... Ha!

I found so awesome outfits on there. They are so cute, cute, cute....the best part is the outfit brings back the pencil skirt....which I LOVE so much....

So here is my inspiration....


The middle one is the outfit is the one I could round up....


Here is the one I rounded up....



I had the skirt....which I purchased at Goodwill this past summer ....and I had the super strappy shoes too...oh goodness...I have had those since I graduated college...I don't even remember where I got them...but I love them. I purchased the pink top today for 1.99...what a deal, I know! I think it's pretty close...for a fraction of the cost.....don't ya just love where inspiration can take ya sometimes?


4 weeks and 5 days till my beach vacay!!!!!! I can't wait!

More on that later.

Until next time.

A new recipe to try

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxcxfsbLoU1qgh9aoo1_400.jpg

Here's the link for the recipe. It's a tangerine green tea.....


This is how I am going to make it:

I am going to make a pitcher of green tea, slice up two tangerines and put them in the pitcher. Add a few sprigs of mint and let it sit overnight in the fridge....

It says it will increase your metabolism by 12 % with just one cup.WHO KNEW? Well, I didn't, but now I do!!

I will let you know how it goes....

Recycled fashion

So....I got this idea....nothing too novel or earth shattering...nonetheless,I still think it's a pretty good idea.
I have been frequenting the website Pinterest, of late....I sooooo love LOVE love it...you could safely say that I am probably addicted to it, if you want. If you were ever on there, you probably know what I am saying....
So...I really love women's apparel...I wear it, I like shopping...somewhat...I really love clothes and figuring out different things to wear....
Have you seen the prices of clothes....???I was shocked...I guess I have been shopping at target, walmart, and goodwill too long....so I decided to challenge myself...try to find a pretty outfit on Pinterest and find something close at a thrift shop or on clearance obviously cheaper....
So here's what I started with....and here's what I got from the goodwill...check it out...the whole outfit less than 15 bucks....exciting huh?

I got the black pants for 2.50, the cream belt for 1.00, the white shirt for 2.00, the herringbone blazer for 3.50 and the black shoes for 4.00...it took me a few days to assemble the get-up, but I think it works... I already had the necklace in my jewelry box,it wasn't exact...but it was close.

The outfit online was around 400.00 all together...so I think that's pretty substantial.

Let me know what you think....it's amazing what you can do with a little inspiration....who doesn't love inspiration, right?

Now to find my next cute outfit...maybe just dig through my closet this time...

Until next time friends....

The pinterest inspiration is the center picture...the other 2 pictures( top and bottom pictures) are me

New stuff and ideas!!!!

Oh yeah! I have been working feverishly on several different projects, of late. I just sent a huge order to Ellwoods today....I am feeling sort of accomplished. Now to keep ahead of the game so I will have some inventory.....
One of the things I made last night was a oh-so-cute cork board....heart shaped, no less....and it is a real REAL corkboard....made from real recycled corks....
Here it is....I painted the ends of the corks and glued them to a balsa wood heart that has been sitting on a shelf for I don't know how long. To finish it off I used some vintage corsage pins to use as memo tacks to add to the valentine-ish flair.
I think it is cute....what do you think???? Let me know.