A Little Bit of Free Fun

You all remember Marcel the Shell right?

Well I made some FREE 4 x 6 print outs for you guys with the best quotes :)

Just right click to save them. Please only print them out for personal use :)

xoxo

A Mixture of Happiness

sometimes I just browse Flickr, Tumblr and We Heart It for hours looking for happy images. Here are some that I've saved lately :) It's the perfect procrastinating activity on a cold night.

To Make:

the perfect low budget dorm decor

cute necklace displays

My Pretend Wedding:

 cake toppers from Skunkboy Creatures

 My dream wedding dress via J. Crew

Some Words: 

reminds me of Conan

all images found via Tumblr or otherwise linked :)

Another Minibook Share : Family

So I shared one of two mini books I made in Feb. for my Grandmother's 80th, and here is the second one as promised.

For those that don't know, she has Alzheimers and I wanted her to have simple reminders of who her family is.

You can see the Grandkids Memories book here.

This was the Family Mini! (click the photos to see larger images)
Content: Each page featured a member of the family, as well as an about me. It included birthday, hobbies, etc. Just a refresher for her to have, almost to help trigger her memory.

The details. I made the cover and backcover from a favorite blank card I had laying around. I just trimmed it down to about a 4 x 6". Then I cut down kraft paper as well and used scrap paper as accents. I was in the middle of exams making these books, I was going for simplicity. It was the content that mattered on these :) I also made little tabs to divide the book and just used ribbon to bind it together.

I'll be sharing some more mini books soon that are newer and some old school :)

Oddness

Weird, but true... Taco Bell has fabulous lighting for photo taking.

Especially hipster photo sessions, haha. My friends and I drove into Duluth, MN this weekend; we needed out of our college town.

I brought along my camera, but forgot I had it till we were at Taco Bell. Good times and awkward photos were had by all.

Pretty sure everyone thought we were crazy. hehe.
How were your weekends? Anything odd happen?
xoxo

Thursday

thursday...
was one of those days... where nothing really goes wrong, but nothing seems right.

from 2008

I tried really hard to be positive, but I just overwhelmed myself. I started cleaning my room, which is always bad in moments like this. It ends up with me taking half of my belongings to our campus "free room".

Sometimes I feel so bogged down with 'stuff' and I wonder why I have it all, it doesn't mean anything. Then I found 3, yes 3, boxes of craft supplies under my bed I hadn't unpacked yet. I went through them all and couldn't find one thing I could part with...

2008

Everything had some sentimental value to me, or represented a certain period of my life. I found all my old scrapbooks I created back in the day, and looking through them made me so happy. So I sat down among my boxes of supplies and started to dream, dream of a day doing nothing but creating... no homework, no problems, no complaints. But for now this is my therapy, my outlet, and I am grateful I have it and art found me. And I am glad that I'm now able to create again after such a long lapse, and I don't feel guilty anymore.

2009

I'll leave you with some lyrics from Sleeping at Last...

"‘cause there’s nothing in this world we can’t fix with some scissors and glue."

22 at twenty two... adopt a pet

Yes friends, I have a new pet.  I haven't had a pet in my dorm room since JJ the kitten. I'm pretty excited to have some life in the room and I plan to decorate his bowl for the seasons :)

I'm thinking about setting up a large fish tank later this week, mostly because I feel like he must hate his bowl (so small). Do any of you know of fish that get along well with Betas?

Also, I haven't named him yet and I thought I'd ask you guys for some names? I'm soooo bad at naming fish, hehe. I'm kinda wanting to name him October, but that might be a little lame, so I'd like your suggestions.

crossing off #3 on my 22 at 22

For the record...

I've been wanting a new journal for my thoughts, but that also functions as an art journal. I found this old records book at my summer internship, they were just going to throw it out. I grabbed two of them and this is what I did with one of them. I'm really happy with it, it feels like me and I love her (yes, the journal is a her).

 

I probably won't share too much of it on here, but I'll keep a Flickr set of the ones I do post. I've been really crafty over here this weekend and it has felt wonderful. I finally finished my summer mini book and it turned out perfect! I'll share it later this week.

Have a great Sunday, xoxo.

**updated for Bridget :) here is the inside!

I Spy...

 the sun setting on my favorite campus building...

my little terrariums growing....

a window jungle...

a reading nook...

a guilty pleasure...

and my happy shoes...

hope you all have a fantastic weekend :) I'll hunkering down for a huge test on Tuesday and working on blog/shop surprises!

Mini Book : memories from the grandkids

I am so late in posting this, but better late than never :) The story behind this little memory is that my Grandmother has Alzheimer's. Last February my whole family threw her a surprise 80th birthday. It was a very special gathering because we weren't sure how long she would know who we were or when we would all be together again.

I knew I wanted to do something special for my grandmother (Gannie), but I also wanted to include my three cousins, who are also grand kids. I came up with two mini books that Gannie could keep with her and show off to people. 

This is the first mini book. It features all four of her grandchildren and a special memory that we each wrote out. It's not going to win the best design award, but it meant so much to her. It also functions as a cheat sheet for our ages and faces as her disease takes more of her mind.

 photo circa awkward middle school days, haha

 Palmer is the one with the dry sense of humor. He never says much, but when he does... watch out.

 When we presented the book to her at the dinner, we each read our own story to her, it was a touching moment that we all have to hold onto.  I recommend making a memory book like this for anyone, mother, teacher, grandparents, etc. It's a great way to get multiple people involved in a mini book, but also allow you to be creative :)

**I'll be sharing the 2nd mini book I made next week**

I need your help :)

you guys are such a great online community, I thought I'd ask you for a little help.

I'm wanting to get Indie and Chic accessories into more retail stores. Do you have a favorite store in your town or one that you've visited that you think I & C would fit in?

I'm really wanting to branch Indie and Chic out to more people, and wholesaling seems like a great new adventure. I would love any suggestions of shops or stores you guys can think of.

I'm so greatful for all the support you guys provide, I do appreciate each and every one of you. :)

Have a great rest of the week, we made it over the hump.

xoxo

on my mind...

- what it means to be in a healthy relationship and act selflessly. hoping I can get out of my rut of being overly independent and trust my heart to him.
- reaching out to a church in the area again, it's so intimidating.
- allowing myself time to do nothing and not feel guilty, but also managing my time wisely.
- finding a new project that keeps me inspired and puts a smile on my face.
- starting to get healthy again and promising myself I felt 100x better when I didn't eat fries everyday

October 2010

**inspired by Kara's post, who always reminds me I should look inwards more often :)

Something to Think About.

I try to keep my blog a happy, non-political place, but this really stopped me in my tracks.

"'american kills' by chilean-born new york based artist sebastian errazuriz is a public
installation showcasing the suicide rates of US soldiers. after searching on official
war sites on the internet, he accidentally found out that 2 times more american soldiers
had died in 2009 by committing suicide than those killed during that same year in the
war in iraq; an alarming comparison that errazuriz had personally never read or
heard about before." (full story here)

I'm not trying to say anything negative about the military here, I am thankful for their protection each and every day. However, are we protecting them? Just something to think about on this Sunday, and keep these men and women in your thoughts on this beautiful day.