Callaloo Soup

Some exciting news, plus some blogkeeping

I'm very happy to share this bit of news! I've been chosen as one of the Ella Friends for the next year! What is an Ella Friend you ask? In fact what is an Ella?

Ella Publishing Company is a one year old publisher of electronic scrapbooking idea books, and is run by two former Editors of Simple Scrapbooks magazine, Angie Lucas and Wendy Smedley. The Ella Friends Team is a group on scrapbookers who serve as an advisory committee for Ella Publishing Co., including spreading the word about Ella and posting reviews of the e-books.

I'm very happy to be working with the 11 other scrapbookers selected, some of whom I actually "know" already, and others whom I can't wait to learn more about. You can learn all about them on the Ella Blog.

I used this announcement as an opportunity to finally update my blogroll. You can find all my link lists, including links to the Ella Friends Team members, here. There is also a permanent link in the left side bar, under the heading Link Love.

Happy Browsing!

Currently Loving: Yellow & Grey

1. Yellow and Gray, 2. yellow and grey, 3. Yellow and Grey, 4. POTD 10/19/06 - Yellow on Grey, 5. Photo with yellow gate, 6. Fabulous gray and yellow quilt (not mine), 7. Grey & Sunny, 8. Yellow Gray Dots, 9. Yellow. Grey, 10. Stickb, 11. Giving timberwolf its due, 12. Layers, 13. light up the grey

This colour combo has been my major inspiration lately. As you may have noticed it heavily influenced the redesign of the blog. I've also used it on a couple of recent scrapbook pages

(using the same photo which I only realised once I had finished the second page. Oops!)

It seems like it is an old obsession, because I also have this layout from about two years ago!

I've also dedicated a tiny spot in my craft space to yellow & grey inspired decor.  This is what I see when I am at the computer (i.e right now).

(awesome art prints available for download free here)

Side note:I've had those flowers you spy for ten days now. Hurray for cheap flowers from the market that last a long time!

I do still love teal and turquoise, but right now yellow and grey get my heart going pitter patter. I totally need to incorporate some into my wardrobe.

What colour combination can't you get enough of lately?

B is for Books and Brocante

All week long Kim Morgan is hosting the Write.Click.Scrapbook blog and posting ideas for scrapping about books and the love of reading. I've been meaning to do a layout about the books that Kieran loves, so happily volunteered to do this page for one of her posts.

 

We read to Kieran at naptime and bedtime, and in between! The munchkin does love his books, and he's also pretty specific about which ones he wants to hear. If we start a book he isn't interested in he quickly shuts it and throws it away. Some of his favourites are Mr. Brown Can Moo, Chicka Chicka ABC, Brown Bear Brown Bear, and in French Miffy, Les Canards and Mon Premier Imagier des Petites Betes. The last book is the one that taught him to say "Croa Croa" like a frog (ok a French frog). Now he says "croa croa" whenever he sees a frog in any of his books!

B is also for (la) Brocante! I have listed some buttons and trim in the La Brocante section of my Etsy store. Here's a sneak peek

I'll be listing new items all week, it seems that I had quite the stash hidden away!

 

La Papeterie is Open!

Today is the day of the big reopening of my etsy shop. I decided to set the shop up in two sections, La Papeterie and La Brocante. La Papeterie is French for Stationary, and this section will feature paper goods. La Brocante is French for second hand store or very loosely, flea market, and this section will feature all the flea market goodness I find. Today I listed adhesive chalkboard labels in La Papeterie.

I found this chalkboard vinyl recently and fell in love with it! I am now using it to label just about everything in my scrap space. I was stoked to be able to make those round labels to perfectly fit the Ikea spice jars. I use those a lot! Plus I almost fell over with joy when I thought of using the chalkboard on those little drawers.

For now I have only listed rectangular and round labels, but will add other sizes and shapes soon. I also welcome custom orders so if you need something special you can let me know and we can work it out together.

But first I plan to list items in the La Brocante section over the next few days. All that lovely French trim will be available soon!

 

Little Red Riding Hood, or why children should obey their parents.

One of the things I picked up at the flea market on Sunday was this 1949 edition of Le Petit Chaperon Rouge - Little Red Riding Hood.

The jury is out on whether it's for me or for Kieran. I just love the illustrations.

Oh Grandmother! What big ears you have!

The French ending is different to the English version (and probably more realistic). Yes, Red Riding Hood gets eaten. The moral of the story? Disobedient children get eaten by the bad wolf!

 

Hybrid Notebook Tutorial and a Freebie

My tutorial showing how I made this notebook is now up on the Design House Digital blog. For a while now I've wanted a way to make notes on what Kieran is up to. He seems to do new stuff every day, and many times I can't get a photo. So this notebook is for writing down things to keep track. 

My tutorial shows how I designed the cover and put the book together, but since I also designed the pages myself I thought I'd offer them up as a freebie in case anyone wants to make a similar book!

Just click on the arrow in the menu bar to download.

Update: It seems that little arrow deal isn't working. You can either print the page directly by clicking on the printer icon or you can follow this link to download the file.

Once printed out fold the page in half as shown (with the printed side out), then cut on the guidelines. This will give you a back to back page to use in the book. The pages are about 4" x 6" and the book is slightly bigger, my covers measure 4&3/8" x 6&1/2".

(European readers: this template prints out perfectly on an A4 size sheet once you select that paper size. I use A4 paper myself even though I designed the template as a US letter sized sheet.)

I used a Bind-it-All to construct my book, but you can bind yours in other ways. Some examples are book rings, or glue binding. I bound the open edge, leaving the folded edge free.

If you use this template I'd love to see what you came up with!

First Carousel Ride

Over the weekend we took Kieran for a ride on the lovely little carousel in Lyon. We think he enjoyed it.

This photo was taken at the end when it was easier to get a focused shot. I promise there is a smile in there somewhere, but baby boy was tired, having not napped that day.

I went on with him (free of cost!) since he was too little to ride alone. At first he really didn"t know what to make of it all:

As you can see I was having a much better time than he was! Too good a time since the operator then told me I couldn't actually sit in the car. Oops!

 

Kieran finally figures out with a little help that he can actually use the steering wheel.

Oh this isn't too bad!

 

Look at me, I'm driving!


Next time I think I will be braver and take him with me on one of the horses! (And how proud are you that I got in the picture?)

Hunting for Treasures

Yesterday I hit the flea market twice. In the morning I went to my favourite one, the Puces du Canal. I haven't been since before Kieran was born, so it was a welcome diversion. To add to the joy I was all by myself, so I could linger almost as much as I would like (I had to make sure to be done before it was time for his lunch and nap!)

You can see the individual photos on Flickr by clicking the links below.

1. Puces Sept 1, 2. Puces Sept 2, 3. Puces Sept 3, 4. Puces Sept 4, 5. Puces Sept 5, 6. Puces Sept 6, 7. Puces Sept 7, 8. Puces Sept 8, 9. Puces Sept 9

Most of these are random shots (and quite a few were shot from the hip), but I did get myself a few of the printer's letters in the first photo. The same seller also had a stack of three printer's drawers, but I resisted. That's the disadvantage of a small apartment. Not enough space for all my junque!

In the afternoon we all went to a larger community garage sale or Vide Grenier as they are known (Vide Grenier = Empty Attic). This time we were more focused on Kieran's winter wardrobe, but I did also get a couple of things like handmade lace and trim.

Never fear dear friends. If you're hankering for some French treasures I have good news! I am working on reopening my Etsy shop and stocking it with some of the sweet things I find. I know it looks pretty sad over there right now! I will be posting an update as soon as that happens.

The Fall months are when there are lots of these types of sales in France so I am planning to to make the most of them before holing up for the winter.

Today I Learned - Minibook

I'm currently taking Shimelle's online class entitled Learn Something New Everyday. In the class she encourages us to pay attention to our daily life and record something that we've learnt each day. Here's the little minibook I made to record my lessons.

The cover is a Heidi Swapp Large Playing Card folded in half. The papers and embellishments are from the September Little Black Dress kit. I used some Japanese masking tape as "binding" (but the book is stapled together).

For now I am making notes on my daily insights, and plan to add them into the book soon. I'm hoping I can get started on that this weekend. I don't plan on using any photos, which is why I am refering to it as a mini book and not a mini album.

Yeah I know. It's a daily type project, but with no photos there is way less stress!!

 

Get in the Picture: Photos So Far

Since I've had a few people join me in the challenge (Hi Monika, Feather, Michelle, and Nathalie!) I thought I'd do an update on how I am doing so far. In the past week I've managed to take photos of Kieran and I together on two occassions.

Once at the park

I took five arm outstretched photos of which three were keepers (the other two we were out of focus.) Kieran wasn't into it though. He just wanted to go play!

Once at home during story time. I used the tripod and in the first one we were just a blur, but I got it right the second time.

Kieran was way more interested in the beeping sound the timer was making than me reading Mr. Brown Can Moo!

Technically, not the best photos I've taken. But I am trying to remember this: I commit to not complain if said photos aren't perfect.

I'm very happy to be documenting the everyday stuff that Kieran and I do together, and already am thinking about the scrapbook pages I will use the photos for.

If you're thinking about joining in, please do. It's never too late!