Sparkles and Sticks

.our first photo.

I guess you can say that this was our first date, even though we went to Tinturn Abbey as "friends" back in early, early spring of 2004.  Ashley didn't even really want to go see this "pile of bricks" (that's also how he describes Stonehenge, by the way) but when I asked him to go on this little day trip with me, he agreed readily.

We walked around the Abbey, taking photos of the stunning archways.  Then, a little bit of white fluff started to fall from the sky.  "Oh, ew, is there a pigeon nest up there somewhere?" I thought.  But then Ashley said,

"It's snowing."

I argued for a moment.  No, surely it was gross pigeon fluff falling from the invisible pigeons nests somewhere up there in the archways.  But then I realized it was true.  We were standing inside Tinturn Abbey, and it was snowing.

Of course, the camera chose that exact moment to run out of batteries.  We ran out of the Abbey and to the gift shop to get more.  But as we left what was at one time considered "inside" the Abbey a long, long time ago, as we walked out the door, the snow stopped.  That's when we realized that it was only snowing inside the abbey. 

It snowed heavily that night, and by early the next morning everyone was playing in it.  Snowball fights dominated the dorm scene. 

But the magical phenomenon of indoor snow still rests at the heart of our relationship to this day, glittering secretly, and fuelling the love story of a lifetime.

I think this layout should be the front page of our album, no?

for the love of scrapbooking... (part 2)

I started scrapbooking again slowly.  I found some of my old scrapbooking friends online.  I still liked them.  They were still fun, and they were still scrapping.  Therefore, I thought scrapping might be fun again.  Maybe.  I was very hesitant to get back into all of it.  Somehow I felt very burned, like scrapbooking had broken up with me, rather than the other way around.  I tentatively made a few layouts, but they were so bad that I have since destroyed them.

The Ali Influence

Then, I went to an amazing, beautiful scrapbook store in a city about 45 minutes away from me.  Somehow, I started thumbing through Ali Edward’s Life Artist Book.  As I was reading her suggestion for using different sized page protectors in the same album, something shifted inside me.  Ali helped me see scrapbooking “outside the album” so to speak.  I thought about using albums to tell stories, rather than trying to fit my stories inside albums. 

Sometimes that means sliding photos into a regular old page protectors, then embellishing the protector a little, like this:

Sometimes that means cutting a 8 1/2 x 11 page protector down to netflix envelope size so I can succinctly talk about my love for tv shows on dvd.

Over-all, it’s just great to allow the size of the paper I am using to tell a story coincide with the size of the story.

And the New Love…

In my previous post I talked about how love was my greatest inspiration and motivator in scrapbooking.  Therefore, I think it is safe to say that when I decided that I had definitely met the love of my life, the pages just kept coming.  : )

for the love of scrapbooking...

(Note: Saturday is National Scrapbooking Day, so I am going to be writing about scrapbooking all week.  You’ll love it, I promise.  It’s going to be scraptastic.)

There is a page in my art journal that says: "I scrapbook the most when I am in love.  Whether the love is with a boy or a gaggle of girlfriends, love is what inspires me."  (Actually, I think I said it a little more eloquently here, but we'll keep that our little secret, ok?  Shhhh.... )

That philosophy totally explains the peaks and valleys of my scrapbooking rate over the past seven years.  In my Sophomore year of college I had an amazing group of soulmate/roommate/girlfriends.

There we seven of us, and we called ourselves “The Gaggle.” 


I scrapped everything we did- what we did when our campus experienced a blackout, our winter skiing trip, our Spring Break trip to San Diego, a “flour fight” (yes, that’s flour, not flower), the midnight viewing of Lord of the Rings, pictures of family members that came to visit… it’s all there.  Ten months “squeezed into” two over-full scrapbooks.  Everything we did was worth remembering.






The next year, I studied abroad in Swansea.  I made four albums out of that one year.  My new love of international life fueled me.  Again, every bus ride, every city, every night out was important.







Then, came my “post college” years.  It began in 2006 (one year after I graduated) and lasted through 2008.  I have about one scrapbook to chronicle these years (though I am putting a little something together now).  Scrapbooking seemed pointless.  I remember one weekend in Fall of 2006 when I suddenly and angrily purged my room of all my scrapbooking supplies.  I threw away many papers and embellishments, and put all of my tools  (and a few select other items) in storage.  This act shocked me- it even scared me (and my mom and my roommate) a little bit.  The only reason I could articulate at the time was “I don’t want a bunch of stuff I never use anymore cluttering up my room.”  At this point, life was about paychecks, finding a “profession,” breaking relationships, and depression.  I didn’t even want to deal with it all, let alone remember it.

I didn’t miss scrapbooking in the slightest for over a year.  Given that I used to scrapbook nearly every day, a year is a long time.

But as you may have guessed, scrapbooking and I reconciled.  I’ll write about that process (and what new loves and Ali Edwards had to do with it) tomorrow.

(cross posted here)

Saturday

This is the last weekend before a big, big change in my life.  What am I doing this weekend?  Running yellow lights, painting, reading Buffy comics, changing my health insurance, ordering Nerd Glasses from RVA, making care packages for far away friends, and enjoying these pretties...

HollySarah's scrapbook...

This pink, pink, pink painting from Elsie...

Vickie Howell's new blanket pattern (I am obsessed with blankets right now!)

And Fray's hair... think I should try it?

And no matter what happens, I will paint my finger nails black and vacuum my room.  Absolutely, without a doubt, no exceptions.

Don't read this unless you are drunk

Sometimes, I think there is another Jaime running around in an alternate dimension.  It's a fantasy dimension full of vampires and hobbits and fairies.  People talk about things like impending apocalypse, dishwasher deamons, and introduce themselves by referring to their parentage (Like Gimley, son of Gloin or Jaime, daughter of Robin.)  In this dimension, people grow purple hair naturally and don't have to dye it crazy colors.  They attend Hogwarts.

You'd think that this is where I would say that I want to move dimensions, but I don't.  You see, I'd be completely normal in that dimension and it would be so boring that I would probably start doing crazy thing like learning to repair dishwashers and dying my hair brown.  Now that would be apocalyptic, and who really wants an apocalypse?  No one.  Vampires who say hey do are all talk.  Except maybe Angel, but he's stopped so many apocalypses that the one or two he might have brought on totally don't count.

When I started writing this post I was gong to show you all kinds of cool fantasy-themed clothes and accessories that I found on etsy.  Instead, I am talking about dimensions, and handmade clothing no longer seems like a relevant topic.

Sometimes I think I shouldn't be allowed to call this a craft blog.

Over the Weekend I...

...decided that I might like to get a pet hamster.  Then thought about how much the dog hates squirrels, and would probably think that the hamster was a mutant squirrel and try to eat it or terrorize it to death with its barking.  Decided against getting a hamster.

...sat next to two guys at Starbucks who were complaining about “healthy peanut butter,” drinking white mocha frappucinos with “only” THREE add shots and talking about how they wanted to see Mall Cop.  I was wearing a batgirl t-shirt and drawing monsters.  I decided that we would probably never be friends.

...noticed that I have recently become a list-maker.  The problem with my new list making obsession is that it is a completely disorganized attempt at organizing my thoughts.  I basically have twenty-two versions of the same-ish list scattered all over my desk, purse, bedroom, and journals.  Efforts to consolidate this list produce a piece of paper with a reasonable number of tasks listed tidily in large-ish handwriting and many more tasks hastily scrawled in every direction necessary to fit them all on the same page. I think I need to get a day planner.

...was a little surprised that four people un-followed me after I tweeted this:

Geektastic alert: Watching harry potter, kniting & drinking wine with a friend. I'm the worst 20 something ever! 

I guess I am too geeky for them. 

Or maybe they thought I was about to inundate them with drunk tweets and didn't want to have anything to do with it.  Gretchen thought it sounded like my evening was fun, though. She gets a crown.

How was your weekend?

I Can Knit the Scoobies!

I think I just died and went to one of the infinite number of heavenly dimensions.

Something you should know about me: sometimes I search "Buffy" on Etsy when I need a little pick me up.  (please don't judge me)  I did it just now, and found something that knocked my socks off (da-dumdum).

Cosmic Fibers Yarn designed an entire line of sock yarn based on the characters in BuffyVerse. 

*swoon*

I love that Giles and Wesley are tweed-y, Angel glitters a little, Lorne is practically day-glo, and Willow looks like her hair.  And the fiery colors of the Hellmouth?  The sweet delicate strength that is a pink, white, and brown Fred?  And did I mention the beautiful, mystically powerful brown/purple/blue colorway of Buffy?  Nom.

Besides my infinite fascination with Buffyverse and yarn, I know there is something about this collection that strikes a deeper chord with me.  Much of my artistic inspiration comes from "other worlds," or epic stories that I am fascinated with, and I love knowing that other artists find inspiration in the same way.  It makes me feel a little less geeky, and a little more willing to share a certain little side project that I am almost done with...

Oh, and knitters?  Go buy some of this yarn from Cosmic Fibers Yarn.  Besides being beautiful and inspiring, it is also very reasonably priced.  Kick ass. : )

Dressing the Stars With Etsy: Barbie

Think about it: who owns more clothes than anyone else you know?  Nope, it’s not Imeldea Marcos, and it’s not Paris Hilton either (though you are getting warmer…).

Barbie.

Barbie has been the epitome of the phrase “clothes horse” in (dream) homes across the world for the past fifty years.  She has been marketed with countless different “looks” and has undergone about a bagillion costume changes, thanks to little girls (and boys) across the globe.  Because really, what is there to do with Barbie other than change her clothes and cut off all her hair?

But I still think that there may be just one look left that Barbie hasn’t tried.

Indie.

Let’s see what she would look like in all these lovely homemade/vintage goodies found on the mother of handmade: etsy.com.

1. Upcycled Vintage Punk Suitcase with Stars and Skeleton Keys, $74.95, GetReadySetGo

2.  Dark Pink Rose Earring Studs, $6, Misty Aurora

3.  Barbie Lost Her Shoe- Pink Edition Ring, $ 26, Yasmin Bochi

4.  Vintage 1980's Terri Brogan Gold and Silver Eyeglass Frames, $15, Chigal

5.  Fuschia Bow Pump Heels, $25, Soft Spoken

Which Describes Your Day?

A.)

B. )

C.)

A Dance to Odes

I was a drama kid in High School.  And by drama kid, I don't mean that I went around calling people names, starting cat fights, and slamming doors.  I mean that I spent my lunch hour on the couch in the drama club room, after school hours rehearsing for plays and weekends donning British accents in coffee houses.

My first role was "Dancer" in the Jules Feiffer Play "Hold Me."  I loved this role because I basically got to flit around the stage reciting angsty and somewhat non-sensical poems.  Imagine a melancholy Phoebe without a guitar and you get my drift.

As I was driving to work today, I felt a re-connection with that dear character from my past.  I wanted to dance odes of gratitude for all the amazing luck I have experienced in my life.  So here we go...

Ode to the 5+ families/homes between me and the streets. (wiggle, wiggle, sashay)

Ode to Dad, for all the good decisions he has made. (jump! leap! barrel turn!)

Ode to Mom, for listening.  (roll, stretch, develope)

Ode to the boy, for believing in me.  (grande plie, pirhouette, slide..)

Ode to the mustard that is growing in the fields, for making it impossible to be grumpy.  (cartwheel, cartwheel, cartwheel...)

Aaaaand, scene. 

(bow)