Market Day Preview: Girl Scout journal

I found this sweet little Girl Scout handbook from 1945 a couple of months ago; it's rare to find scouting books that aren't priced as collectibles, so of course I had to snatch it up!  Then last week, I came into a huge stash of awesome papers and cardstock, which worked out perfectly to make pockets for this journal.

This journal has two silver pockets, to match the sweet floral paper on the inside front and back covers.  It's the little things in life like metallic cardstock, that really make my day!  There are also some pages from the book included in the journal:

This is just one of the new items I'll be bringing to Market Day on Saturday.  Hope to see you there!  Remember, we'll be opening an hour earlier this month, at 8:00 a.m. 

Giveaway winner....

Giveaway goes to Jason Schultz.  Thanks to all for reading and look for more giveaways in the future. 
And just a little reminder to all local shoppers in Des Moines: Market Day is THIS SATURDAY, August 4, and the hours have changed just a bit: we'll open at 8:00 a.m. and run until 1:00 p.m.  I'll have some new stuff (look for a preview or two here this week) and it will be filled with awesome handmade goodness, as always.  Hope to see you there! 

DIY Giveaway.

If you haven't picked up a copy of the Fall issue of do it yourself magazine, here's your chance.  I will happily send one out, & all you have to do is leave a comment telling me about your favorite DIY project that you've ever done.  I will randomly pick a winner from all comments left between now and midnight on Sunday. 

Good luck! 

Blog love

I am so happy to be the "Vendor Spotlight" on the Market Day Iowa blog: www.marketdayiowa.com/blog.  As always, a big thanks to the Market Day crew for all their work.  Market Day has been a huge part of building my little crafty business the past two and a half years. 

Market Day shoppers, take note that there's a slight TIME CHANGE involved for Market Day beginning with the next event, on Saturday, August 4: we will open at 8:00 a.m. (instead of 9:00) and run until 1:00 p.m.  We get lots of early birds each month so this should be good for everyone.  Come and see us!  We'll be open for business at the Kirkwood Building as usual, on Saturday Aug. 4. 

Summer giveaway.

I'm giving away two simple summer mini-books today.  Because I love summer.  Both are 6 x 6, have kraft cardstock covers, and 20 pages, front & back inside.  The first 2 people to leave comments will be the lucky winners.  One book has coral & lime pages inside, the other blues & greens.  I seem to make a summer mini-album every year because I end up with lots of summer photos.  A mini-album is an easy & fun way to document all your summer fun. 

I will contact the 2 winners tomorrow to get shipping info.  Thanks for reading! 

Go!

It's been a while since I've had time to sit down and write a post.  Because we have been on the go almost non-stop for the last two weeks.  Starting with the Fourth of July, our social calendar has been filled....which is a bit unusual for us, but lots of fun.  There was a high school reunion and a visit from my brother and nephews from California that kept us on the go.  A little family road trip to beautiful Hardin County for a stroll down memory lane and a chance to show my nephews the places we used to go with our grandparents, back in the day.  Here are a few pics of what we've been up to:

We spent a wonderful day with old friends at their pond near Eldora, and Jacob caught two fish. 

We watched a little bit of the rodeo that was going on at the Hardin County fair in Eldora.  Jacob felt bad for the calf he saw getting roped and said: "He's dragging that poor little guy around."  After watching approximately ten minutes of calf-roping, my little man was ready to hit the fair rides (luckily there were only a few!):

Jacob was not at all scared to ride the big slide all by himself.  He is getting so grown up. 

Jacob was super-excited to show his big cousins around Iowa Falls.  He couldn't wait to go back to the swinging bridge and the playgrounds that we visited in May:

Our houseguests departed this morning and our house seems a little empty and quiet.  But it is kind of nice to get back to our normal routine.  Like making stuff, going to the wading pool and storytime at the library, and of course, getting caught up on laundry.

FYI, the collage at the top of the post was an experiement I tried last week and I like how it turned out.  I used alphabet paper tape that I ordered from Paper Source, and the awesome metal letters were a find at SILO.  If by chance you want it, shoot me an email or leave a comment here and we can make that happen.  Until then, I'm going to enjoy it here in our home for a while before I take it to a show. 

Do It Yourself Fall 2012

I've been waiting and waiting to share my super-exciting news and what better day to do that than today, which just happens to be my birthday?

The Fall issue of Do It Yourself magazine is available now.  And on page 26 is one of my journals! 
This is definitely one of the most exciting things that has happened to me in....quite a while!  I was so thrilled when I got an email from Jessica at DIY a while back.  I couldn't believe my good fortune.  I love this magazine and am so happy to be included in it.  And the timing is sweet, since it is my birthday.  This is one of the few times in my life where the timing is actually perfect. 

So go ahead and pick up a copy the next time you're shopping.  It is full of great ideas and eye candy. 

Thanks to the folks at the magazine: Jessica Anderson and especially to editor Karman Hotchkiss, who shared the journal that she purchased from me at a show last fall and therefore made this happen.   

Happy Independence Day

Just finished up this journal for Market Day this Saturday, and thought it was perfect to share on this day. 

Love that this historic quote from Patrick Henry is included on the back side of the title page. 

Happy Independence Day to all, especially to those who serve and sacrifice to protect and preserve freedom for all of us. 

Happy Birthday, Little Brother.

The Birthday Kids, circa 1982. 

This is what birthdays looked like for my brother and I for quite a few years.  Our birthdays are just two days apart (July 3 and July 5), which I suspect was planned by my father as a way to economize on cakes and parties.  But it was fun to share our birthdays, for the most part--there wasn't that jealousy about one sibling getting gifts and the other one not getting any.  We usually celebrated on the 4th, and often at our grandparents' home in Iowa Falls.  If we had parties with our friends, we learned to do that a couple weeks before our birthdays, because people were out of town for the 4th of July.   

Today Chris and his boys are on the road heading east for a visit home, with some side trips along the way.  We haven't seen them for two years and we are looking forward to their visit.  Jacob can't wait to play with his big cousins.  And we will have some birthday cake together, too, just like old times. 

July!

My July layouts always get the red, white, and blue treatment.  It just feels like the right thing to do, you know?  This one took about five minutes.  I stuck a piece of plain blue cardstock on the calendar and used the white calendar page as a border.  That velvet-dotted red paper is an old one from Doodlebut Design that I had in my scrap pile, and the polka-dot ribbon is very old; in fact, I think I ripped it off an unsuccessful project and saved it.  And it was the perfect size.  Then I stamped some little blue stars on the blue cardstock using Stayzon Ink.  I like the blue-on-blue effect. 

The photos?  Those are a few we snapped this weekend during our visit to beautiful Winterset, Iowa.  These were taken at the Clark Tower in City Park.  Jacob loved it: "Mom, there's a castle!"  And it is pretty cool.  I can't believe I had never heard about it.  More on Winterset soon, but I will say, I highly recommend a visit there if you are looking for a road trip.  So much to see and do. 

And speaking of so much to see and do, I should mention that this week is full of fun holidays and events, in addition to the important one, Independence Day.  For a certain four silly girls, this week has long been known as Cult Birthday Week.  And then there's a high school reunion happening.  Plus parades and fireworks.  Jacob tells me there will be cake for mommy: "Pink cake, with strawberry ice cream.  And we're going to decorate the whole house.  And there will be train rides for the kids!"  I think my child may have a future as a party planner. 

So, in honor of CBW, here's a photo of me and my girls, the last one of the four of us all together, which I'm sad to say was five years ago:

From left to right: Holle, Jackie, yours truly, and Melissa.  Aka: The Cult. 

And I just realized that posting a photo of myself now versus five years ago doesn't do a whole lot for my vanity, but in the words of Stevie Nicks: "Time makes you bolder, children get older, I'm gettin' older too."  And I'm thankful for it.