Two Reasons to Wear Your High School Stuff at the Flea Market

We visit a flea market in Rhode Island while on vacation every year.  The boys like to wear their high school stuff - team t-shirts, hats - stuff like that to the market.

When I asked them why, they said they meet a lot of other people from our town that notice them because of their high school and town name.  People who don't even know them, will introduce themselves because they're from the same town and usually start talking about our High School baseball team and high school sports in general.

Last summer, we found another reason for wearing your school name big and proud.

As Matt was walking the market isles, he heard "Hey New Canaan!" and turned, and a very observant seller beckoned him closer.  The seller showed him an old glass milk bottle with our town's name on it.

Matt found me and excitedly explained that he had an unbelievable treasure to show me.

The old milk bottle is from a dairy farm that used to be in our town.  I'm sure the very smart and observant seller sold it to us at a higher price, knowing he had sentimental buyers standing in front of him.

But this was a cool buy - a very cool buy . . .

and speaking of flea markets, I have a little tutorial over at the JBS Inspiration blog on turning an old washboard into an inspiration/memo board. 

 Take a look here: Repurposed Washboard

thanks for visiting!

Remnants of Camp Auntie Betsy and Eggcellent Mists

This is what is left from Camp Auntie Betsy.  27 Hours of wild crazy fun with 3 wild crazy girls.

This lovely sil made her first layout:

and then exclaimed "I LOVE scrapbooking!"  (yea for me!)  And isn't she CREATIVE?!

this little monkey is quite a natural when given paper and safety scissors:

and the other sweetie pie made load of pages, but bad Auntie forgot to take a picture.  But lots and lots of pictures were taken here:

and now I think I need to recover and sleep for 27 hours!

But before I leave!  A little bit of my experiment misting eggs:

I blew out some eggs, put them on skewers and stuck them in the ground.  I mixed some favorite mists of  Jenni Bowlin for Ranger dye ink and experimented with distance, amount of dye.  I just LOVE the natural speckled look to the eggs you can get with mist.

Since egg shells are not entirely porous, it can be a bit difficult to get the ink to dry.  The best methods I found were:  1) sandpapering the egg lightly first or 2) using the ScrapPerfect pouch on the egg.  I sped up drying with my heating tool also.

Then I wired and decorated the eggs simply - a bead, button, ribbon, JBS Charms . . . 

sweet, no?

thanks for coming by!

Vintage Inspired Layout

Take a look at this piece of vintage loveliness:

Doris posted this on the JBS Mercantile Forum for an inspiration challenge that ended last night.  Just full of loveliness, isn't it?

Sometimes when I use a piece for inspiration, I'll stare at it for a while, then close it up, take out a journal and sketch some ideas.  That way I don't get stuck in trying to copy the inspiration exactly.  I end up with a lot more ideas and sketches in my journal that I can use another time.

That's what I did this time.  The layout design, a center embellishment, and gardening theme were all in my mind when I scrapbooked this layout:

I used older photos of my boys in a garden near my house.  To enhance and bring attention to my boys in the photo, I added a digital frame around them before printing the photo.  And yep - pink in a layout of my boys is A-OK with me.  I guess it helps soften the fact that Matt is holding up a gun and shooting me in the photo - LOL!  Ah those boys!

Supplies:
Homespun die-cut paper
Front Porch patterned paper
Vintage Sew-On Buttons
Stick Candy Ink Pad and Stick Candy Dye Ink
Doodlebug ric rac
Fern Stamps from Rubber Stampede

and these wonderful bits of pretty from the February Mercantile kit (one of my most favorite): the Doodlebug brads and May Arts Ribbon

thanks for visiting and have a creative day!

Gallery Updates, Challenges, and Inspiration

Lots going on in the scrapbooking world!

Gallery Updates for the April Jenni Bowlin Mercantile kit!

DT members have posted more layouts and projects right here: April Gallery

I think that the dt has posted some of my favorite layouts ever this month.  I'd really like to know what they're all eating and drinking, 'cause I'd really like to get myself some of that!

Here's my newest using the kit.  A real personal one here:

Every time I stumble up these stairs I think "I gotta scrapbook this" . . . glad I finally did.

The House of Three Daily Junque paper in the kit is perfect for cutting up and using all the lovely bits and pieces. Sooo incredibly sad to see HO3 is going out of business.  It was unique.  But maybe we'll see product from the 3 talented ladies elsewhere.  I hope so!

Challenges:

Check out this challenge from the JBS Mini Crop the other day: Vintage Challenge

Inspiration:

Check out the mini book inspiration from Write.Click.Scrapbook and Jenni Bowlin Studio.  Lots of ideas and chances to win!

A Homemade Camera Bag and Weekend Scrappy Fun

I've really been eyeing  those new camera bags that really and truly look like pocketbooks.

I decided to give it a try and alter my own pocketbook into a camera bag.  I've seen other people do this online, but I did mine quick and easy and it's far from perfect, but it works.  I used MINIMAL sewing and a lot of eye-balling.

Here's the bag I bought at TJ Max:

I got some foam at WalMart that I 'measured' and cut to fit the bag and my camera and lenses.   I had some fabric at home, so I didn't need to buy that.  I was surprised that I had fabric at home that matched the bag! I covered the foam with the fabric and used velcro to attach it to the pocketbook lining so I could change things around.

Here's my new camera bag:

Yes, it's a bit "puffy" and it doesn't have a shoulder strap, but I REALLY like it.  The best thing?  It was easy! I bought everything Wednesday afternoon and by Wednesday midnight, it was all done.  The other best thing?  Didn't cost much at all:

bag:  $35
foam: $6.50
fabric: from my stash
velcro: from my stash

total: $41.50 - not bad at all!

Check this out!  Staying home Saturday night?  Can't make it to Tennessee for the JBS Warehouse sale? Then come to our mini online crop!

Sure to be a good time!

and then this Sunday friends and family are walking with me on our yearly Walk MS event to raise money for research, aid, education, and more for those suffering from MS.  This was my wonderful team "Strike out MS" last year:

A neighbor has a friend that he sponsors every year in an intense Bike MS ride.  This year, the rider, whom I've never met, and have never spoken to, is riding with my name written on his bandana. 

Thank you thank you.

Perhaps a cure in our lifetime?

Lots of fun Jenni Bowlin stuff!

Lots of fun stuff going on in the Jenni Bowlin Studio world!

Check out this post for  inspiration throughout the day and a chance to win some JBS Core'dinations!

The April Mercantile kit is on sale!

Such a fun, fun kit. So many things I've been achin' to try!  Add-ons and a gorgeous project kit available too!

Here's what I've made so far . . . 

Loove the neutrals combined with the brights in this kit!

Yep! I'm totally addicted to making little photo displays so here's another!

And a banner!

And I was so excited to be a part of the most wonderful and talented Shimelle's blog!  I show how to make tulle flowers with pretty little defined edges:  Tulle Flowers

So sweet! And FUN to make!

Thanks so much for visiting!