Monday, September 7, 2015
Just Another Day at Work....
If you were here in the States today, you would be celebrating Labor Day.
Labor Day the Pratt way involved tearing out sheet rock & insulation in the mouse infested garage in the blazing heat. It is one of those projects designed to make you love your desk job in the air conditioning the following day. It was also a great day to sneak in the house and scrap a little...
I figured I should make a work page. I never blog or scrap about work. Well, because it's work, right?
The other day, a coworker and I drove up to Buffalo. We were heading into an industrial part of the city and stopped for a pee break. As we got out of the van, I immediately noticed the exhaust smell! We live in a small place with not much traffic so I forget what it's like. Around the corner a new Compressed Natural Gas station was opening. We were heading there for the Grand Opening because the engineer I was with had done the site design.
Seven local businesses had gotten together and with the help of grants decided to design & build a CNG station. They wanted to use a different kind of fuel in their trucks. Compressed Natural Gas is not only cheaper but better for the environment. Decreasing emissions in truck fleets will certainly help the air quality & their bottom line. ;-)
Well, I will get off my soap box and show you some flowers! I made a couple of these accordion blooms with some juicy green leaves.
The pretty little jar with the flowers and the pin wheel were provided during a recent crafternoon I went to. I thought they looked cool near that big rig.
Anyhow, hope your Monday or Labor Day was most excellent and a little less itchy than mine!
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Tiny Dancer Snowflake Milk Carton for THE CUTTING CAFE
I swore when I was a young Mom that I would remember what it was like to have littles. Now that I have teens, it seems a distant memory. We had two little girls over this past Friday night. Lexi and I fretted over what little girls might like. Luke told me Legos. Little girls like Legos. Well of course they do, who doesn't? It's just the stepping on them that is the big problem...
Later on in the evening, they gave us a display of the crazy things they could do like back bends and flips. Oh to be tiny and so agile!
Anyhow, I must have been on a little girl kick, because when it came to working on the DT project for THE CUTTING CAFE out came the hot pinks, sparkles, gold, and glitter.
I even dug out some crystal knobs I had for feet and a pretty snowflake! For some reason I haven't jumped into the fall projects yet, but I've been thinking Christmas already. Probably because it's blazing hot so I am thinking about snow...
The milk carton was quite fun to work with. Regina has quite a few different ones over at THE CUTTING CAFE. I picked the leaf one from the FALL MILK CARTON set. Instead of leaving the leaf as a window in the carton, I set it aside and copied it a few times.
I used three of them as a base for some rolled roses. Just inked them up a little and added some splashes of paint. That vintage photo of a little girl in a dance costume made me happy too!
Happy Sunday!
Friday, September 4, 2015
Bitchy Baby Fairy Papier-mâché & a HOP
What better to start with than a water bottle full of rocks and duct tape!? I cut a hole for the wheels in the plastic and then hot glued them in. I then added layers of papier-mâché glued together with
modge podge. I also poked screws through the plastic so I'd have something to glue those lovely
chess set arms to.
modge podge. I also poked screws through the plastic so I'd have something to glue those lovely
chess set arms to.
And how do you like those wings? I have been playing with Fantasy Film lately and it works well glued to paper! I hear it's pretty awesome on metal wings too, but I haven't had a chance to give that try yet.
Love the little flower hair. She has a couple of stripes under that hair that are just peeking through.
And she has two little glass bead decorations hanging from her hair...love those!
Now, you might be wondering where I came up with such an off the wall project! Firstly I couldn't find a plastic dinosaur at the second hand store. Well, we had a perfectly nice one here, but my oldest refused to part with it...even in the name of art. AND I had this ceramic baby dolls head & Andy Skinner Pin on Pinterest... and one of my favorite books of all time is Ozma of Oz. In Ozma of Oz, there were creatures called Wheelers...they rolled from place to place..
So things morphed into Bitchy Baby Fairy. She's a real animal. Especially when she's denied Wifi and has run out of data on her iphone plan! Add in an air conditioner not working in these temps...and you are gunna get that sour look and crazy eyes...
I guess let's all be careful so she doesn't hit us with those chess piece hands....
Anyhow, the other ladies who have participated have some awesome creations to check out:
Laura Mooney
Michele Kosciolek
Tina Walker
Christy Strickler
Albion Gould
DeeDee Catron
Melissa Johnson
This was all kinds of fun and organized by Miss Tina Walker! I will totally be participating the next one she thinks up!
Happy Friday!
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Rat Rod Lockers
Text Message sent from the ReStore today:
Baby....I want this....
and the one I got back...Yeah me too!
Followed by, how much is it and is it in good shape?
We are the proud owners of gym lockers that are older than us!
They are the heavy variety with a lock. Somebody already used them in a garage which is where these are going.
We are starting to work on our garage again this coming long weekend. I have my tetanus shot so I should be all set. The last time we took a wall down mouse pee rolled down my arm (shudder!).
I am all for leaving these vintage green (cleaned up for course) and THE MAN thinks he should paint them as there is a little rust on them.
I suggested a clear Rustoleum so we could go for the Rat Rod look...
We can all take bets on who will win this one....
Happy Hump Day!
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
High School: A Little Bitter Sweet Layout for Another Freaking Scrappy
Kids are a bit heart breaking some days. Those days when they really only need you for transportation, to bounce ideas off once in a while, and your pocketbook! Miss Lexi will wander off to High School in just a few days. She isn't a nervous nelly and in fact, is really looking forward to it! Heading off to new beginnings is right in line with our latest challenge up at Another Freaking Scrappy!
Lots of journaling and a pretty little graphic near that sparkly dragon fly!
I made that dragon fly myself with StayzOn, three layers of Fantasy Film, and an iron! More on that product later. I am just getting my feet wet with it...but it appears to be amazing with lots of applications.
Here is a side view of my page. Lots of gold and glitter hearts...so much fun! Really put my heart into this page!
Hope you get a chance to give our challenge a whirl! Might make you think a little!
Happy Tuesday!
Hope you get a chance to give our challenge a whirl! Might make you think a little!
Happy Tuesday!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sidewalk Wrap Up (OMG thankfully it's almost done!)
We moved into our back yard finally after it was torn up since APRIL! There is quite the spring in our step these days now that we've got the stone in and the rock patio for sitting.
How do you like those rocks? They believe it or not were here when we moved in and some of them we removed when we dug for the concrete sidewalk...and since they were not being used, I wanted to create a little sitting area. So pretty!
Looks awesome coming in from the driveway!
It's not quite done yet...we made a swoopty garden to bring the pavers around from the side! I'm pretty excited about the new space. I had my eye on some pretty ornamental grasses but they were way too tall. On this side where I have the half window for the laundry room, I won't mind covering that up! Also need a couple more bags of chips..it's the story of my summer!
I also have to seal my concrete fountain...still haven't quite figured out the fountain part yet, but that is up next! Wish me luck!
Happy Monday!
Thursday, August 27, 2015
On The Board Walk Layout: Atlantic City
For a page like this, I love my large format printer. I don't always use it, but in this case that large banner photo printed on plain white paper makes me quite happy.
THE MAN took that photo when we got to the board walk in Atlantic City to text to his Dad. And since I didn't take any of the strip, I was quite glad to have it!
I thought it worked well with this photo of Luke getting his fortune read. He had no idea that Zoltar would talk and was pretty mortified.
Just starting to dig into the photos from our trip. We didn't take a ton, but for a short trip we had some nice times hanging out as a family.
Hope your Thursday is awesome!
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Wee House Junkin Find
I've had my eyes out for some small houses for Christmas displays at the ReStore for months. This one was a jackpot since it was originally marked $21 from one of the really nice local shops. I also found that heavy brass candle stick for under it. I think I'll use a clear plate in between the two....
Now I just need to figure out Christmas or Halloween...
I have figured out that those country stars will be going away...I am contemplating filling them in with plaster and adding the siding back in with a knife...and I also think it needs to be a white house with that red roof...but that is as far as I got!
Anyhow wish me luck!
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Layout from P.F. Chang's in Atlantic City
Finally started scrapbooking some pages from our Atlantic City trip. Lexi asked me WHY I was taking photos of our food...because my dear, I MUST have a scrapbook page of our lunch at P.F. Chang's!
Just a simple page with a bit of washi tape, our fortunes, and some pretty blooms.
Love those Petaloo blooms and that pretty little butterfly dangle. Those green & black sequin circles came from Yvonne Yam and fit in perfectly!
And just one last photo to see the dimension on the page. Happy food memories!
Hope Tuesday is treating you well!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Grandma's Vintage Hankie Quilt Progress
It's coming along! My quilter Cricket's Crafts texted me a progress photo! They are all butterfly like on a pretty blue background like the sky! Just need to have their little antenna's embroidered on! She is going to put something on the back similar to this photo here:
Happy Monday!
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Summer Highlights: Layout for THE CUTTING CAFE
Love this foot photo my friends and I took after we got together after work and got a group pedi! My hairdresser Kristen hooked us up! Kristy and Teri both are celebrating their 40th birthdays in 2015 so we thought we should do something fun to celebrate.
The highlight of the page (besides the sexy toes) are of course these little digi stamps from THE CUTTING CAFE called the Elisha Jean and Friends set. Now if hand coloring a printed stamp gives you the heebie jebbies (like me) let me show you a little trick...
Now I have not jumped on the Copic Bandwagon. They scare me. So I dug out my very old & trusty water color pencils and did a very slacker job of coloring in Ruby J. Then, I just grabbed a very light shimmer mist and spritzed! Voila! Wait a bit for it to dry and then fussy cut.
I think they worked out perfect here to illustrate my friend page!
Hope your Thursday is awesome! We are approaching the weekend thankfully!
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Cocktails in the School Supply Isle
I am pretty sure people who work at Walmart have children. In fact, I am also pretty sure they have children that go to school. However, based on how they torture us parents, I am inclined to think that nobody who works there has a school aged kid. Running with this theory...
Last Friday and before supper (this part is important) I took Luke to get his school supplies. I also went to get groceries. I left him with his list and took mine to gather food for the week. Since he's nearly six feet tall and pretty good at crossing things off a list, I figured multi-tasking would work well. I already hate shopping. Add in trying to find all the crap you need from a two page school supply list (while also not adding it up in your head and thinking OMG this is gunna cost more than a week's worth of groceries) sucks donkey ass.
After a bit I stopped over to check on him. The next isle over was Alison & her clan who were shopping for school supplies. I popped over to say hi and suggested that it would be very nice if they were serving cocktails in the school supply isle for beleaguered parents to imbibe. Maybe just a small rum & coke...or something with a few pieces of fruit and an umbrella. A shot of tequila with the requisite salt on the wrist? Was that too much to ask? Maybe some easy chairs too?
Mr. Alison agreed with me emphatically. Three kids were getting their school supplies in one shot. Looked very painful. Alison wasn't listening. She was too busy trying to fly up to the top shelf and knock a three ring binder down. We watched this for a few minutes before Mr. Alison was like oh honey, you might hurt yourself. He is a pretty tall dude, but even so, there was really no retrieving that binder without wings or a ladder.
Alison returned to us mentally and ever so nicely asked if I had left Luke to get his own school supplies. Hell yes I said. I didn't think I was capable. It is approximately three weeks until New York kids have to go back to school. If I waited any longer it would be slim pickings. However, buying school supplies is conflicting with my case of denial. I never want my kids to go back to school. I also never want summer to be over. And I certainly don't want to shell out $100 for all that crap!
Luke reminded me we still needed to find tabs. He was kinda confused what he needed tabs for. I tried to illustrate what divider tabs looked like with my hands, however I was starving and starting to not make sense.
I tried asking someone who worked at Walmart while mentally trying to remember where we found them the year before. No use. That dude wasn't sure what they were either. After locating tabs in the regular not set up for back to school isle, we then had to find a large trapper keeper back up front.
Of course the nicer blue one was way up in the clouds on the top shelf.
Luke and I found a spare cart and I held it while he used it as a ladder. I was pretty sure his Daddy knew that I was doing something terrible and putting our youngest in harm's way.
THE MAN is always telling us about being safe at the house and there is no way he would think climbing in a cart to retrieve shit on the top shelf was smart. He is also way too smart to go school shopping with a twelve year old. Kinda hate how smart he is some days. ;-)
Thankfully blue trapper keeper was retrieved without injury so we were stuck finishing up the rest of the shopping. People at home kept texting us about how hungry they were and that it was getting really late for dinner. We felt no pity. They at least had food in the cupboard.
We still had to check out and the cart looked like a three ring binder tornado hit it. I tried to feel bad for the checkout lady but didn't. They probably have a private back to school shopping spree complete with private shoppers, stilts, those motorized carts, and wine coolers.
Last Friday and before supper (this part is important) I took Luke to get his school supplies. I also went to get groceries. I left him with his list and took mine to gather food for the week. Since he's nearly six feet tall and pretty good at crossing things off a list, I figured multi-tasking would work well. I already hate shopping. Add in trying to find all the crap you need from a two page school supply list (while also not adding it up in your head and thinking OMG this is gunna cost more than a week's worth of groceries) sucks donkey ass.
After a bit I stopped over to check on him. The next isle over was Alison & her clan who were shopping for school supplies. I popped over to say hi and suggested that it would be very nice if they were serving cocktails in the school supply isle for beleaguered parents to imbibe. Maybe just a small rum & coke...or something with a few pieces of fruit and an umbrella. A shot of tequila with the requisite salt on the wrist? Was that too much to ask? Maybe some easy chairs too?
Mr. Alison agreed with me emphatically. Three kids were getting their school supplies in one shot. Looked very painful. Alison wasn't listening. She was too busy trying to fly up to the top shelf and knock a three ring binder down. We watched this for a few minutes before Mr. Alison was like oh honey, you might hurt yourself. He is a pretty tall dude, but even so, there was really no retrieving that binder without wings or a ladder.
Alison returned to us mentally and ever so nicely asked if I had left Luke to get his own school supplies. Hell yes I said. I didn't think I was capable. It is approximately three weeks until New York kids have to go back to school. If I waited any longer it would be slim pickings. However, buying school supplies is conflicting with my case of denial. I never want my kids to go back to school. I also never want summer to be over. And I certainly don't want to shell out $100 for all that crap!
Luke reminded me we still needed to find tabs. He was kinda confused what he needed tabs for. I tried to illustrate what divider tabs looked like with my hands, however I was starving and starting to not make sense.
I tried asking someone who worked at Walmart while mentally trying to remember where we found them the year before. No use. That dude wasn't sure what they were either. After locating tabs in the regular not set up for back to school isle, we then had to find a large trapper keeper back up front.
Of course the nicer blue one was way up in the clouds on the top shelf.
Luke and I found a spare cart and I held it while he used it as a ladder. I was pretty sure his Daddy knew that I was doing something terrible and putting our youngest in harm's way.
THE MAN is always telling us about being safe at the house and there is no way he would think climbing in a cart to retrieve shit on the top shelf was smart. He is also way too smart to go school shopping with a twelve year old. Kinda hate how smart he is some days. ;-)
Thankfully blue trapper keeper was retrieved without injury so we were stuck finishing up the rest of the shopping. People at home kept texting us about how hungry they were and that it was getting really late for dinner. We felt no pity. They at least had food in the cupboard.
We still had to check out and the cart looked like a three ring binder tornado hit it. I tried to feel bad for the checkout lady but didn't. They probably have a private back to school shopping spree complete with private shoppers, stilts, those motorized carts, and wine coolers.
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