Crop on the Cape has come and gone. This year was very different for me. I didn’t have to work 125 hours. I got to sit and create with my chosen family. I still got to teach. I had the best of both worlds really! LOTS of “uncontrollable laughter”, and just good ol’ silly times. My friend Matt came and spoiled us.. making lemondrops for the table – very cool! Steph and I were the last ones left in a crop room of 280 peeps… 4am 
Yummy food was had, yes we were the table with the crock pot cooking and HUGE cooler stocked! I fell in love with a typewriter, and just enjoyed USING MY STUFF! Here are the layouts I accomplished, doesn’t look like a lot when you think of the hours that went into them, but part of the fun is discussing every little detail and over analyzing the creation. Thanks to the peeps who came to my classes, a fun time was had by all!! Hopefully I will see you all next year
(i’m playing with my new-to-me 55m lens.. so, no judging the photos! ALSO the photos on the actual layouts were all taken with my iphone, and most printed with postalpix)
I love going to work everyday, and the building I get to work in. It is one of the oldest buildings on the Providence College campus, and it is beautiful. I found a quote by Steve Job’s and the layout seemed to come together. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. – Steve Jobs”
This isn’t the best picture, but it’s one I wanted to remember. I snapped this with my iphone at Stacy’s 30th birthday. Happy I could be there to celebrate with my “galaxy girl” as she hit this milestone.
These are a couple pictures I snapped with my iphone for the #febphotoaday challenge on instagram. “Self portrait” and “Hands”. Again I found a quote that I was enjoying and felt it was fitting for a layout about me: “Today isn’t just another day, today I’ll create something beautiful.” I also threw in a little “be brave” sticker I stole from steph, since it is my One Little Word for this year.
“I’m Artsy Fartsy, and proud of it” – This was just a fun layout inspired by my painty cup. I created this cup a zillion years ago at a paint your own pottery near college. I don’t really drink coffee or tea, so it is only fitting that it has become my water cup in my studio. I played with some new Tim Holtz background stamps that I loved the second I saw he was releasing them, a few sequins, use of my edge distresser. I found this quote on a sticker sheet I bought from ink About It’s satellite store at the crop and felt it was fitting: ” One must be brave to be an artist”
I know sometimes I take life too seriously. So i was super happy to see that Steph created this silly moment. The fact that i threw on this goofy hat she wanted me to wear, and not care how i looked… the fact that i was just living in the moment. I knew I wanted to scrap this pic at some point over the weekend. I suck at coming up with titles for my layouts, so I think it was around 2am when i put a shout out on FB asking for ideas. Matty B actually came up with this one. The kinda funny story about this layout is how much anguish the layout gave me. I always put my thickers on with glossy accents. I LOVE LOVE love thickers, but they just aren’t sticky enough and eventually fall off… so I fix that problem by putting them on with glossy accents. I layout out my letters without sticking them too much and see if it will work then when i have the placement figured out I put them on permanetly. So i did that with this layout, which was a bit more tricky because of the cursive font… i was impressed with how it came out, it was my fave layout thus far, and i eagerly posted it to instagram, pushing it to twitter and facebook. My friend gina responded on instagram letting me know i misspelled “thousand” I forgot the S!!! So i had to rip the letters off, paint in some gold and reapply- ahhhhh !!! anyways, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I love the little cameras which are from a echo park pattern paper, I cut them out and added 2 layers of glossy accents to the lenses.
Tori Amos- these photos prove how AWESOME the camera is on the iphone 4s. I absolutely LOVE them. This year I was fortunate enough to be able to see tori in Philly with melyssa, we had a blast! She toured with a string quartet which was unique and beautiful, but the one song that stood out to me was her cover of a joni mitchell song, “a case of you”. It was just so beautiful, so that is what i quoted here: “oh i am a lonely painter, i live in a box of paints. I’m frightened by the devil, and i’m drawn to those ones that ain’t afraid. ‘love is touching souls’ surley you touched mine, ’cause part of you pours out of me, in these lines from time to time. my blood, my holy wine – tastes so bitter and so sweet. well i could drink a case of you, darling, and i would still be on my feet… i would still be on my feet”
Just a fun layout from a pic i snapped last spring, when mister harley picked a winner from his birthday cards that were sent in for his 3rd birthday (it’s almost time for his birthday again- april 12th!) – if you click the link above you can see the video of the ACTUAL picking of a winner 
And, lastly I found this article Scrapbook Retailer magazine did on Colorful Creations back in 2007. I just wanted to get it out of the magazine and on a layout so I would have it to remember.
weird
Before I started my post I wanted to let you know I have an email subscribe through feed burner to the right, so submit your email address and you will get an email notification when I update my blog.
I have participated in the One Little Word journey for the past few years.. last year was possibilities, the year before that was appreciate….. Most of you know on some level, last year was not an easy year for me. I came out standing, but barely. So honestly, my heart just hasn’t been into most things it is normally. It has taken a TON of effort to get back in my studio creating again, i think i burnt myself out a little bit with my hectic fall. I’m looking towards 2012 with a positive outlook. I try to remind myself that although 2011 was a tough one, it could’ve been a lot worse. I have started jotting down my daily thoughts in my “one line a day” book again- this is a good place for me to post what I am grateful for, or even to jot down my frustrations.
I chose “brave” for my word this year. Ali Edwards had posted on twitter late December, asking us if we had in mind what our word was going to be. I replied that after having the word “possibilities” last year, I’m afraid to come up with a word for 2012. Ali responded that maybe my word should be “brave” then. I took that word and, lived with it for a few days… I thought about it, slept with it.. lived with it. It seemed to fit. I needed to remind myself that whatever life throws at me, i am brave enough to deal…
I plan on following my prompts from Ali’s class, that I collected last year.. i really hope to embrace this word this year- and i’m starting to get excited about what it may bring to me
To honor my One Little Word, and Yours- I have added in my easy shop the option to get your One Little Word done on a custom canvas by lil ol me!! Here are some examples, but be sure to hop on over to my shop to see more details!
1. Lianne Gray 2. source unknown 3. source unknown 4. alysia
if you have been following my blog this year, you are aware of the many obsticales i have been faced with. Switching up my instructor rolls, and no longer working with a muse. A crazy busy spring where most of which I didn’t even get into on here (i.e. a scrapbook company falsely charging my personal checking account keeping my acct in negative for over a month etc, crop on the cape etc etc). The announcement of Colorful Creations closing… a shock to me and a loss of the job I have had for over 8 years…..
As much as I know everything happens for a reason, there is the initial panic attack when something like this happens…. In June I lost a childhood friend, Keegan Heavey to cancer. I was immediately reminded (again) how short life can be, and how I am lucky and blessed in life.
As soon as i got out of the fog and started to put one foot forward… things started to fall into place…
If you follow me on facebook, you may have already guessed i DO have a new job!
I have been offered and accepted a position at Providence College for Web Production Coordinatior. I am super excited on SOO many levels… I’m excited to get more into a graphic design field (what I went to college for) I’m excited at the opportunity to learn SO many new things… I’m excited to work for Dan again, whom I did in college as well.(it’s a small world!) I am excited to leave the life of retail behind me, which I have been in since I was 15! Have I mentioned I am excited!!!???
I will miss seeing all my regulars on a regular basis, but i know i have made friendships over the years that will not go away just because the store is. I will miss working with Jayne.. and all of the {creative chicks} but once again, I know we have created friendships that will last a lifetime
I will still continue to travel and teach.. I already have classes planned for the fall at Ink About It, Papercraft Clubhouse, Absolutely Everything and the Crop Shop…. and now that I know how i’m going to pay my bills I can focus on booking more classes as well!
I am still going to open an etsy shop with my canvases, and complete the custom orders I took at the Handmade market in June.
Make sure you “like” my artist page on facebook to be the first to know more details about these fun adventures!
I am not moving from the island... I love where I live and if I can make it work to continue to live there, I will… if not… I will deal with that when the time comes.
My last shift at the store is July 28th, and I begin my new adventure on August 1st. This week is filled with planned fun events with friends… amazing burger lunch, Chart room beverages outside.. my last FREE thursday night, beach visits, and shopping for a whole new wardrobe ( i can’t wear flip flops.. but i can wear dressy open toe sandals *phew*)
Thank you, thank you thank you for all the encouraging words, the fingers, legs, arms and toes crossing…. etc etc etc… it was all fabulous and made me smile from ear to ear… i truly have some of the best friends a girl could ask for
And i’ll leave you with this pic that steph took of me in preparation of 2011… little did i know HOW much this was going to be true
(stay tuned for more july blog post features starting tomorrow!!! and hopefully more bidding )
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