how cute is this?

via futuregirl

when i first saw this image, i immediately thought of the scenic route chipboard potty people and how cool it would be to make patterned paper clothes for them. then i read a little further and realized that this is a magnet to be used as a dirty/clean indicator on your dishwasher. how cute! you could totally use the chipboard and make one of your own.

btw, i think the naked one is the dirty one - like her clothes are in the wash? :) you guys crack me up!

the deets on nsd

May 3 is National Scrapbooking Day! To celebrate, Simple Scrapbooks has partnered with scrapbook retailers across North America to host classes taught by some of your favorite Simple personalities. Each class will include fun projects, exclusive giveaways, and meet-and-greet time with the teacher. I’m thrilled to be a part of this exciting endeavor! You can find me at the store below:

Store Name: Wiggles & Giggles

Store Phone Number: 860-529-5899
Date of Visit: Saturday, May 3rd

If you’ll be in the area and have time, I’d love for you to come out and visit me. Please call the store directly for more information and to sign up.

If you aren’t in my area but want to participate, check out our complete list of partnering stores (at the bottom of this post) and see if we’ll be at a store near you.

Finally, make a date to visit the Simple Scrapbooks website for a full blown National Scrapbooking Day party, which includes a Scrapbooking Scavenger Hunt Sweepstakes (involving lots of your favorite manufacturers) and unique design challenges from the lovely Cathy Zielske.

All in all, this promises to be one fun-filled day of celebrating. I hope you’ll join the fiesta.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Participating National Scrapbooking Day stores across North America:
Allentown, PA: Kinnon Keepsakes with Beth Proudfoot
Austin, Texas: Ladybug & Co with Lain Ehmann (an all-day crop)
Chantilly, VA: Scrapbooks Plus with Elizabeth Dillow
Quakertown, PA: Memory Lane with Linda Barber
Roswell, NM: Imagine That Scrapbooks with Wendy Smedley
Sandy, UT: Heartfelt Creations with Karen Glenn, Angie Lucas, and Megan Hoeppner

monday inspiration a little early

photo by jessica from how about orange

your inspiration for monday comes at you a day early because i am out of commission tomorrow with a surgical procedure. nothing serious - more like a test - wish me luck.

how can you not love a blog that has the name how about orange? i love orange and i love jessica's blog. jessica jones is a graphic designer and she is crafty too. she made those cute paper butterflies that i think would look adorable on a page. jessica provides a template for the butterflies, but i know a bunch of you have butterfly punches. you can see more of jessica's crafty ideas here.

christmatypographicalassemblage

some of the letters are a little crooked, but after two hours pulling letters and little items at a crop yesterday i just said the heck with it. i really think i need to hire someone to glue things down. that's the part of scrappin' i don't enjoy. :P any takers?

i can't wait to see what all of you create. please post your layouts in a gallery somewhere and link them to the gastro blog post below by friday evening. i'll draw a winner on saturday. i'm thinking a gift card to scrap-diner!

gastrotypographicalassemblage

now that's a mouthful and such a fun word to say! while reading oh joy! yesterday, i saw this stunning wall of type. according to joy, "lou dorfman's "gastrotypographicalassemblage" is the largest, modern typographic artifact in existence and has been in storage since it was taken down in the '90's."

i love the look of the white letters on a white background with little pops of interesting color in the tidbits throughout. i could see this as a scrapbook page using white stickers with small color photos interspersed throughout. it would make a great page of baby's first words and what a way to use up a bunch of white letter stickers in your stash! if you'd like to learn more about this work, read here (scroll to the right) and see more here.

edited to add: melanie challenged me to use this piece as inspiration and create something. now i'm challenging all of you. give it a shot - post a link to your creation here by next friday and i'll randomly send a rak to one lucky winner. :) i'll share mine on tuesday!

have a great weekend everyone. i'm going to a crop for a cure tomorrow in attleboro, massachusetts. i'll be scrappin' with paula gilarde, suzy, christi, cari, roseann, mary ann, and michelle. fun stuff! i'm almost ready to go.

fonts anonymous

via smashing magazine.


hi my name is celeste and i'm addicted to fonts.

like purses and shoes, you can never have too many fonts. smashing magazine selects “fresh” high-quality free fonts each month. the selection this month is worth a look through. wendelin and graublau would be great for journaling.


what are your favorite fonts for journaling and titles? even though i have tons of fonts i seem to gravitate towards the same fonts. favs for journaling include rockwell, century gothic and calibri. titles i'm more likely to look around for a font (i use the font thing to organize) - i do use century gothic quite a bit for a clean, classic look.


i recently purchased a silhouette - so i'm even more interested in fonts and dingbats that i was before - if that is even possible!

if you don't know this creative soul, you will...

because she's busting on to the scrapbooking scene soon. heather bailey, renowned fabric designer, designed a line of YUMMY papers based on her fabric designs for autumn leaves. i was thrilled to see the huge banner up in the booth at cha introducing her to the scrapbooking community. i believe heather's line will be coming out in june or july. her blog is just a feast for the eyes. she shares her creative process and the photography (between heather and her photographer husband) is, well, stunning!

a first for me

the image isn't that great sorry. i'm teaching a class at wiggles & giggles on national scrapbooking day! i'm so excited - it's going to be fun!

trying something a little different here

from confessions of a pioneer woman

everyday i read or scan an inordinate amount of blogs - craft blogs, style blogs, decor blogs, scrappin' blogs. i see a lot of really cool ideas/creations that inspire me. i'm going to start sharing some of those inspiring items here - hopefully one a week day. i figure share the wealth right?

well guess i should get started huh?

do you read confessions of a pioneer woman? ree is an incredible writer and photographer. i was sucked in via cathy zielske's blog a few weeks ago and now it's a daily stop for me. ree shares stories about her life on a working cattle ranch, as well as recipes, photography tips, and home decor ideas. she also gives her photography away for free! you must read the story of how she met and married her husband, black heels to tractor wheels - you'll laugh, you'll cry - i guarantee it!

anyhow, the other day ree shared her incredible actions for free with her readers. they work with cs2 and they are awesome - very subtle. just last night i installed a spyder (color calibration software) on my monitor. i look forward to using ree's actions to work on about 400 photos that need editing going back to november.

what blogs inspire you? i'll update the places i go on the left soon with some of the places i go! :)

she's moving on...

stacy julian is lightening her load at simple scrapbooks. she has inspired so many! check out the simple blog for more details on how you can help send her off with a bang. personally simple scrapbooks changed the way i scrap - stacy's philosophy validated my love of clean and simple, gave me permission to scrap out of order, and helped me organize my scraproom and photos to make my scrap time more manageable. thanks stacy!

hug your mom day

march 11th will always be a sad day for me. my mother died from complications related to treatment of breast cancer 8 years ago on this day. it's really amazing that it's been 8 years in some ways it feels like just yesterday and others an eternity. i miss her so so much. so on this day i ask you if your mother is still alive please please please - give her a call and tell her you love her. i know that's what i'd do if i could. also in some small way you will be helping to keep my mother's memory alive. that's really all she wanted - to be remembered.

tag you're it

i've been tagged! tina cockburn tagged me today, and this is what i have to do:

* share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

* tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

* let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here goes my seven (and I'm going to try to scrap this too per tina's challenge on the studio blog. :) )

1.) i was never given a middle name. i guess with a name like celeste my mother and father thought they'd let me choose my own. when i was confirmed i chose the name ashley for my confirmation name. ashley is not a saints name and really not an appropriate choise for a confirmation name. i figured i would use that as my middle name. celeste ashley fallon - that just not right. ha! when i was married i changed my name to celeste fallon smith - my maiden name became my middle name. i like it!

2.) speaking of names i was horribly teased as a child because of my name. it's taken me years to come to terms with it and when people tell me it's a pretty name i just say "abondanza!"

3.) my hair is dyed. the amount of gray on my head is starting to exceed the amount of brown. i started going gray at 18 years old. by the age of 25 i had a skunk streak. i started dyeing for a job interview and now it's nearly impossible to stop. maybe someday i'll grow it all out and be natural again. but until then every 8 weeks to the hair dresser i go.

4.) along the lines of ugly feet, i have athlete's foot right now. it is so itchy and gross - it's like something is eating away at my feet. i need to get it under control!

5.) i've met a good deal of famous people in my life. i used to wait tables at a fancy restaurant on martha's vineyard called lattanzi's and terry used to sous chef at a 4-star restaurant called l'etoile. needless to say that the vineyard is a mecca for famous people. here are a few i've encountered - princess diana, james taylor, carly simon, dan ackroyd, walter cronkite, billy joel, mike wallace, jim belushi, spike lee, diane sawyer, david mccullough, patricia neal, mike nichols, fran drescher, stephen tyler, art buchwald, and many more.

6.) i've only been outside the united states once in my life - terry and i went to grand cayman - i had won the trip through work. i've never even been to canada. what a sheltered existence i lead!

7.) i recently lost 25 pounds. i was on the la weight loss plan and then they went out of business. i would have liked to lose more - now i'm trying to maintain my weight. it's not easy when the world is filled with peanut butter cups and pasta and chocolate cake.

and now to tag seven!

caroline ikeji

denise morrison

dina wakley

doris sander

emily pitts

paula gilarde

sara dickey

have fun ladies!

the amazing debbie hodge

is offering a new class at nyc scraps called scrap yourself.



check it out here.



her classes are a lot of fun and debbie is an excellent teacher!

cha and other assorted info

ack i changed the background here to white and lost my blog header. ugh - i'll need to work on that later!

well i went to cha last week. it was so fun to meet and see online friends. i didn't take my camera to the show and of course now i'm regretting it. in chicago my vow is going to be getting photos of me with friends and taking some photos of booths and things.

i went about my whirlwind tour all wrong this time around. in chicago i'm going to trya nd visit some of the booths outside of the scrapbooking realm for inspiration. as well i missed out on smaller vendors wares and didn't get tours of booths that i should have. ugh.

anyhow i did put together my list of must buys. note that october afternoon (yummy papers,) prima (that dude line!) and american crafts (the kid line is scrumtious) aren't on my list because i'm getting them anyway! :) lucky me!

scenic route providence
sassafras lass - all four of the new paper lines - robotics, sunshine lollipop (ooh the yello dot,) pocketful of rosies, my dearest
chatterbox - happy day, eclectic, and botanico paper
ki memories - bloom
fiskars - threading water scallop punch
autumn leaves - cute world by mindy terawasa and heather bailey too!
fancy pants 12x12 acrylic sheets and the new felt

countless embellies - i'm limiting my paper because well i have more than i could use in a lifetime!

take care. :)

did you ever...

as a young adult meet an adult that didn't treat you like a child? an adult that really listened to what you had to say and respected you? in my teenage years i didn't meet many, but one person really stands out. walt dzitko. walt was the father of a good high school friend. he was the kind of father that you actually wanted to hang out with. he had a wonderful sense of humor and he loved his children more than anything in the world. i believe he worked hard through those tough teenage years to remain a constant in their lives, to always be there and to make their lives fun and fulfilled. unfortunately, walt passed away on friday. linda emailed me and her subject heading was "we lost a good one today." i don't think she could have expressed it any more succinctly.

walt's son, ed, posted the obituary on his blog. i'm off to the wake tomorrow - an unfortunate reunion with linda. it's just sad.

amazing online class

debbie hodge is offering an amazing online class at nycscraps.com called "scrap your everyday life." to promote the class, she's written a sample class available here. it's an 8-page pdf with lessons, examples, and sketches. go check it out - the sample is free and i think you are going to love it!

Simple Scrapbooks Contest

“Put It in a Letter” Page Contest
Help us celebrate Universal Letter Writing Week by posting a letter-themed layout in our online Reader Gallery during the week of January 21–25. What do we mean by “letter-themed layout”? Write a letter to yourself, your spouse, your child, your friend, your mother, your brother—anyone—and use it on a scrapbook page. Use the keywords “Universal Letter Writing Week” in the comments so we can find your layout.

At the end of the week, Elizabeth Dillow, author of The Scrapbooker’s Almanac, will select five favorite layouts and announce them in the Reader Gallery. Each winner will receive a copy of Elizabeth’s book and one grand-prize winner will also receive a cool letter-writing kit from Elizabeth.

Only layouts posted January 21–25 will be considered official entries. Post as many letter-themed layouts as you like. No purchase necessary.

root canal

oh my! i had a root canal yesterday. ugh. the tooth itself feels much better. after 90 minutes of having my mouth open and four shots of novacaine, my jaw feels awful. hard for a chatty cathy like me and hard to stick to my diet as i can't really chew well. and joy oh joy i now get to go get a crown. :)

nothing much scrappy going on. i finished up a bunch of page packs for my next crop. i used mostly scraps to make them - which felt good. i'm working on a layout for simple scrapbooks may/june - a no-photo layout! i also would like to complete the scenic route challenge for january. i did a layout for hmitm last night - it's not very good i won't post it. i think i might skip this week.

sam has started to play on the computer. of course, this means my computer time is limited, but i have to hang out in my scraproom to help him when he gets in a bind. maybe this will be what gets me scrapping more regularly again.

crop

went to a crop last night at the buzz and had a blast. those ladies really get me giggling. of course i came home with tons of glitter in my hair. :) missing one of our glitter girls though - it's just not the same without her. ;) i finished 24 layouts in 7 hours. crazy huh? it was a get er done night. some of those packs have been in my bag since august. so glad to just be done with them. not sure i'll even scan any in this time around.

oh seems i have a critic posting on my blog. i had to laugh because more and more i could care less what anyone thinks. i am really doing this to document the kids lives and just have fun. the rest is just gravy (and free stuff!)

booked my flight to cha in anaheim today. looking forward to seeing some online friends and hanging out with the simple folk. :)

more later...

working from home

oh how i miss working from home. today i did just that. i was able to get a lot of work done and i didn't have to get dressed up and freeze in my cube at work! another plus i picked adam up from school at 2pm (wednesdays are short days) and he didn't have to go to aftercare. of course, before picking him up i snuck in one of these....

(disclaimer - not my photo - it's from google images)

that would be a venti, non-fat no water chai extra hot. if you've never had a starbucks chai without water, well, you are missing out. it's just hot perfection in a cup.

now i'm making dinner - well heating it up - meatloaf, rice, and carrots. yum! all while slaving away at work. ;)