art journal or quote book

as i look back over this project, i am not convinced it's an art journal as much as it is a quote book. researching other life artists actual art journals has caused me to come to that conclusion. i am still very intrigued by these journals, and really want to pursue it farther. i just missed a class over at get it scrapped by dina wakley called the grafitti of my life. time and ability is causing me to pass this class up for now.
so for today, here is the rest of the {21} day challenge art journal i did in september...the pages with the fancy digital quotes are the work of rhonna farrer.

this page is one of my favorites. not only is the quoted element succint and beautiful, but the addtional quote by n. eldon tanner is a daily must read for me::


day 10. re-discovered my stamps during this journal. i loved getting acquainted with them again::

day11::


day12::



day13. had fun with an enlarged font from 2p's called old type. rhonna also inspired some hand doodling...one must doodle daily::


day14. ahhh!!! had a great time with the stamp work here on lower right. some of my favorite stamps::


day15. cut out the 'wish'::


day16::


day17::


day19. used some of rhonna's digital brushes to make the orange frame. pretty::


day20::

day21::

sure hope to find an art journal class the beginning of the year...

who will join me?

twenty years ago...

today...mr. pate and i pledged our lives to one another. a gorgeous day in san diego, california. married by the pastor who ministered to us through high school, the college years, and then when married. paul and i dated in high school. we lost touch after high school but then connected again. with the blessing of our parents and many friends we married in our church, and had a beautiful reception in my parents back yard. it was a perfect day.

happy anniversary, mr. pate!

dear weekend

how very good you were to me. warm breezes. clear blue skies. sunny beaches. fabulous food. favorite hotel location. best coffee in town. beach cities. celebration. great friends. rest. relaxation. fun.

it had been a long time since a weekend away was part of our schedule. it took an anniversary to motivate our busy selves to get out. life will simply pass us by if we don't stop and take time out to see what else is out there.

now i knew what was out there...out in 'the o.c.', that is. the area holds fond memories for me having grown up just south of there in san diego. mr. pate and i did sneak down to the beach cities in san diego county for some site seeing and shopping. and just to say we did. we visited old haunts and talked and laughed and remembered life before children and a mortgage. see this is what we use to do back in the day. drive up the coast and spend our days off exploring and hoping to find the best coffee house. it seems like forever ago. it was great to visit again.

we stole some time just before jumping on our plane home and headed to newport beach where our friends took some photos of us. and here i am taking a fun photo of mr. pate. it's rare when he gets on that side of the camera...i had to record it!

this trip will linger with me for a long time to come. i love southern cal, and always will. i am so blessed to get back there on occassion and find refreshment.

happy tuesday!

a little sneak

just a tiny little sneak of what has been going on in studio this week...more to be revealed later next week.
simply wanted to leave my friends with a little something to think about as i am off for a weekend away with mr. pate in so. cal. sigh...it is so much warmer there than here...not sure HOW he is going to get me back on that plane and home again...tune in next week to see if he succeeded.

have a beautiful weekend!!

sweet tulle

there is just not alot of harm you can do to tulle. and so thankful too. this is my youngests birthday present. it is so full and poofy. i must post a photo of her in it. it's just adorable. so glad i thought to sew this for her. so glad i have made my sewing machine more accessible. makes all the difference for me.

go and sew something....

mmm...

smell that yummy aroma?

follow the fragrance over here...to wip...i'll share the recipe with you there!

tell me what you think!

happy day

celebrated my youngest daughters birthday last evening. she will be six. there is just no celebrating a six year girl's birthday without lots of smiles, pink, and princessy stuff. we had all that.

we made her work for her wish. six of the mini brownie cakes had a candle on them. hopefully she got lots of wishes out of all the sweet air.

daddy and keaney. her little nickname. (my poor kids....they all go by something other than their name. )

this is soc...have not touched it at all. i like it.

stole a page from the sweet debee campos and made her garland. sewed punched out patterned papers. you know i love using up those unused parts of kits. this is a great way. think i will do stars for my sons next. (see how i am...she sells them...i had to make it!)

have a happy day yourself.

self evaluation

posting a layout done for the THAW challenges over at WT. as lisa commented, i am sneaking some projects into this challenge as i just can't resist. #7 was a self evaluation type layout. many seem to have trouble scrapping themselves...for some odd reason i do not. actually, i could have gone many ways with this particular challenge. lots going on in my brain these days that i really need to get down on paper. but one of those would be my dreams. i often say "i want to do that" and it ends there. while this little list in my layout is by no means comprehensive, it has got me thinking outside the 9 dots of daily life, and i intend to add to it as i progress. as well as make ways for these dreams to become realities.

are you writing your dreams down?

sweet shoppe card

just a little card to share today. i lifted this from my friend alexandra. she made a couple of these and you need to go look. i love her style and her way with patterned paper.

while her's is decked out with basic grey, i used some left over scraps from an earlier wip kit. the patterned papers and die cut is from collage press sweet shoppe collection, the ribbon is making memories, and the happy stamp is from stampin up.

thanks for visiting!

november work in progress

hey girls...it's out and available for you. the november wip kit+add-on+project kit should be available to all by today. looks like another purdy one.

go check it out at wip kit site.

enjoy!

snap!

baby, it's cold outside. second morning in a row. temperature is 16 degrees. ice is beautifully laden among the trees. while a very beautiful sight to wake to, it is causing our brillant fall to go away pre-maturely.


flowers have officially gone to seed.


the leaves are so beautiful frosted. only God could have bestowed this beauty.

the scene in our backyard this morning. everything looks so perfect.

oh! and did i tell you about my 180 last night on the icy streets. THAT was fun! needless to say, we are staying in today until it thaws. suppose to be back in the 40's by noon. we shall hope.

what's been going on this week in studio::

i am officially un-officially following along with THAW over at willow traders. using their prompts for the challenge is giving me some motivation to work through some projects.

these layouts here are of my son at 2. now you have to realize, when i first started scrapping back in the dark ages we had NO money, and i had NO style. and that is how my pages looked. my son (now 14) recently commented to me that my style now is a little different then when i first put his book together. he said it in a nice way, mind you, but i knew what he meant. so i have been systematically re-doing pages of his book. and although i am facing a few challenges by doing this, there have been several benefits to it, and so i continue the project.

1. the new pages are now going in american craft d-ring 12x12 albums

2. the book has a cohesive feel to it that i am really liking. relying on my ever favorite kraft cardstcok (and in my humble opinion stampin up has the best kraft out there), each page is backed with kraft, and i am sticking to a few colors for pop.

3. the pages are also cohesive as there is a certain sketch style i am maintaining with each page. keeping it very simple. the focus is on the photos+story.

4. as i am doing these, i realized i only scrapped for HIM during these days, and do not really have a 'family' album for the same time frame. it's making me a little frantic, and not sure how to go about that. while going through these pages, i am culling several that i don't think would be that important to him, and they are put away for another day. and may very well end up in a 'family' book.

thanks for listening to me go on this morning. hope you have a wonderful fall sunday where you are!

today, outside my window

Outside my window...cold, grey, windy…brrrrr!

I am thinking...way, way too many things.

I am thankful for...a quiet moment, surprises, upcoming getaways.

From the kitchen...thinking of making pumpkin bread.

I am wearing...layers.

I am creating...lists for Christmas. Lots of things to make.

I am going...to get out tonight on my own for awhile, I hope…the girl needs a reprieve.

I am reading...refractions: a journey of faith, art and culture~makoto fujimura

I am hoping...for some success.

I am hearing...my girls ‘schooling’ together

Around the house...are several projects I am hoping to get to soon.

One of my favorite things...chai tea latte…waiting for me now.

A few plans for the rest of the week: gym day with the girls, movie night, birthday party for my niece, baking.

My favorite photo today: taken a few days ago, when it seemed all i was doing all the live long day was picking up broken pencils:: figuratively and literally.

Inspired by The Simple Woman's Daybook

and...

i just found out i won this today from rhonna farrer and the {21} day challenge...yeah for me!

have a good one!

completed project

i would have to say that this sewing project was probably one of the biggest i have ever tackled. i learned so much working through this. above all i learned that i do NOT know how to sew on a zipper! so, don't look too closely at the end result.
however, i am not discouraged. i embrace the imperfections. learn from them. and am eager to improve on those weaknesses. hmm...sounds alot like life. art reflecting life? or life reflecting art? what do you think?

it's in the bag

scrapbook bag that is...

this month it is a treat for me to be guest designing for it's in the bag {scrapbooking}. roseanne, and her sister, justine, are owner's of this wonderful scrapbook club. they asked me recently if i would guest for them, and i was thrilled to say yes. roseanne has been wonderful to work with and has gone very much out of her way to make this experience fun.

please go and visit the website. this month is breast cancer awareness month, and it's in the bag {scrapbooking} will be celebrating the hope of that cause on their site. it is touching for me personally as my mom is a breast cancer survivor for 10 years now. i created a layout honoring her and the hope that abounded during that time in all of our lives. it is posted in their gallery as well.

october's kit, harvest moon, is beautiful, truly, it is a very special kit. roseanne has put together some wonderful papers from bobunny, and basic grey, my minds eye, as well as a few other treats. you HAVE to go look at that fun sassafras pattern. large flowers, stick pins, great letters from american crafts....go check it out and pick one up...you will not be sorry!

enjoy!

i'm feelin' fallish

temps in the 20's early this a.m. the trees are so bright this fall. it is a gorgeous site at every turn i make when i am out. i certainly miss the warmth and laziness of summer, but fall is indeed gorgeous this year.

october's gallery at work in progress is up. i will be highlighting the gallery later this weekend. for today i leave you with a look at my projects so far. i will post some additional items tomorrow at the work in progress blog.

take pictures of some leaves today!