WITL-- Day 1 (Sunday)

WITL-- Day 1, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Week in the Life started Sunday for me. (Ali Edwards started Monday.)

I decided to print my photos small--2x3 inches. I know I'll have some cell phone photos too and I wanted them all roughly the same size. And my album is only 5x7.

So Day 1 finds us going to church in the morning--that's the bulletin on the right with two shots of the church.

On the left is a shot of my alarm clock and a wrapper from a piece of Dove dark chocolate. Dove chocolates have little messages in them--this one says, "You make everything lovely." Awwwww, so sweet!! :-)

The next page has photos of: sitting in the sun, watching Hitchcock movies and a visiting snail...along with more journaling.

I think Ali will have a link-up thingamajig on Tuesday in case you want to play along or check out other crafters' albums. It's always fun to see what others are doing!


~Cynthia

Week in the Life

Week in the Life, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

OK, you're probably wondering why I have a picture of a skeleton on here.

See...what happened was...

Several years ago, my not-so-local scrap store went out of business and sold everything. And I mean EvErYtHiNg! Including these really awesome paper portfolio things made by the French Paper Company. They use them to showcase their papers to customers.

Every. single. one. is a work of art.

This portfolio contains the line called French Muscletone, which is apparently "so sturdy you could use it to build a house." (They have a wonderful sense of humor! Check out their blog for some awesome eye candy too!!)

I bought many of them. Then ripped the paper out and turned them into journals. This one has two machine-sewn signatures of scrapbook papers that are hand-sewn into the portfolio.

The papers are from Momenta--an old paper pad full of muted and distressed greens, blues and browns.

So all that to say...this is my journal for the Week in the Life project which (for me) starts Sunday. Ali Edwards is starting hers on Monday.


And that's the end to my shameless plug!! ;-)

Have a great weekend!!


~Cynthia

Grape Arbor

Grape Arbor, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I vaguely stole the idea for this page from Trina over on the Citrus Twists Kits blog. I don't subscribe to their kits, but the design team members are always fantastic sources of inspiration!

I used the daisy stencil from The Crafter's Workshop and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's feather stencil, also from The Crafter's Workshop.

I made a big batch of the feathers using Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Black Soot, then cut the feathers out to use on projects. It was a bit time consuming, but I was watching an Alfred Hitchcock mini-marathon, so I quite enjoyed my time! ;-)

I slapped on a bunch of snippet layers from Graphic 45, My Mind's Eye and Memory Box.

I added some splots and enamel dots, a bit of sewing and called it a day!

This photo is from the grape arbor in the garden at my local hiking spot. My journaling is about the shadows the vines make on the arbor pieces. So cool!


In other news, if you're interested in playing along with Ali Edwards' "Week in the Life"---it's next week! Check out her blog here for more info. She starts on Monday, but I always start my week on Sunday. Play along if you can! =D


Stay crafty, my friends!!


~Cynthia

Birthday Time!

Birthday Time!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Finally. Birthdays and with that...birthday cards to make!! YAY!!

And with cards to make comes shameless copying! ;-)

This time it's Bonnie over on Stamping with Klass. She's so sweet! And incredibly talented!! Check out this card and you'll see why I HAD to CASE it!

Basically, I just used Bonnie's layout. I added the twine, just in a horizontal way. And deleted a layer.

Cuz this card needs to go out today and I'm running a little behind.

Heh.

I used some Echo Park "This & That" 6x6 paper and a Stampin Up stamp. Throw in a McGill sun punch and some Tim Holtz Black Soot ink and you're done!!


Later gators! Gotta hit the mailbox! ;-)


~Cynthia

Tim's Tag for September

Tim's Tag for September, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I'd like to subtitle this month's Tim Holtz tag as "I Threw Everything at This Tag but the Kitchen Sink."

No, really.

I did.

I used Distress Stains, Distress Inks, Distress Markers. I used Ideology brads and Chit Chat Stickers. I used stencils from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Dyan Reaveley and Jaimie from The Crafter's Workshop. I used a tag, some stencil paste, a bird stamp, a hunk of cording and a bit of seam binding.

And I threw in a bird feather for good measure.

Ta da!  =D





The tag is meant to invoke the bittersweet passing of summer and the arrival of autumn...and also the swift passing of time.  Here we are again in September.  We've come around again.



Thanks so much for dropping in!!


~Cynthia

So Tiny

So Tiny, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I just love the brave little skinks that live in my yard! The tiny ones have no fear!! This guy hung around while I took a few pictures.

I used the bold colors from Simple Stories' 24/Seven line. I added a few photo frames and some ink splots. I added the date in the tiny box in the top left corner after I took the picture of the page. I forgot what day I took the skink photos! ;-)


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (kraft cardstock); Simple Stories (24/Seven 6x6 pad)
Ink: Ranger/Adirondack (Espresso)
ETC: BasicGrey (Photo Frames pack); Simple Stories (24/Seven brads and stickers); My Mind's Eye (Mistletoe Magic enamel dots); Thickers (Forest letters)


And a warm welcome to the WEEKEND!!! Yay!!! I hope you have a good one!!


~Cynthia

Amazing

Amazing, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I took this funny looking photo while sitting in a porch swing at my friend's pond. This little damselfly (I guess) flew in, landed and then proceeded to hang out not but 6 inches from me for about 20 minutes.

So cool.

He didn't seem to care that I was so close to him, so I *had* to take a photo! ;-)

I got the idea for the layout from Mel Blackburn over on her blog, Random Ramblings.

I used up lots of snippets on this one too. I kinda-sorta cleaned off my workspace by adhering to this page any bit of paper I could make work! HA!! =D


I don't know about you, but sometimes something I did on a layout will bother me for the rest of my life. When I'm like 93, I will probably be complaining about that scrapbook page I made in 2001 and WHAT WAS I THINKING.

On this page...it's that cute chipboard sticker that looks like a Polaroid and says "Take a picture, it will last longer."

The angle is wrong. I would rip it up except it's the only one I have and the middle is stuck securely with pop dots.

*sigh*

Some things you just gotta take a deep breath and let go.........


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (white cardstock); Echo Park (Everyday Eclectic); Studio Calico (Verde); Little Yellow Bicycle (Fern & Forest)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Pumice Stone); Dylusions (Black Marble)
ETC: Maya Road (Perfect Shot Arrows stamp set); Martha Stewart (butterfly punch); Autumn Leaves (buttons); Walmart (stars); BasicGrey (Waterfall Theme Pack, Carte Postale--chipboard sticker); Tim Holtz Ideology (Reinforcers); Echo Park (Everyday Eclectic--stickers); Tonic (Ticket/Tag punch); EK Success (3D Pop Dots)


Well, it's after dinner here and as I looked at my To Do List, I realized I've somehow managed to accomplish nothing today. Except, of course, for a scrap page or two. I totally think that counts! Do you think my family will agree???!! LOL!! =D


~Cynthia