words to live by

here are a few more pages from the album i've been working on.  i really forget how much i like making these little scrapbook pages!

i love mixing colorful washi tape, boarders stickers, alphabet stickers (mix matched colors & fonts!) and using my moonlight gel pens to add little designs to the background.  and of course, i must have the pilot permaball to outline and journal and add little bits of texture and dimension to some of the elements on the page.

here is the cover of the album.  it is made of 5.75" x 5.75" envelopes from papersource (love LOVE that store!!)  i bought a super awesome kit on etsy once that taught me how to make the envelope album and now i'm hooked.  love it.

look at all these yummy colors!  and since it's made of envelopes, you can also use the pages to tuck in little bits of ephemera, notes, photos, secret journaling, etc.  i think these would make awesome journals, too.

i love the faux stitching on the border stickers on these two pages.  the stickers are from sassafrass lass.  makes me want to experiment with stitching (in the style of amy tangerine!)

some more examples of adding details with the gel pens.  i'm loving these banner stickers by sassafrass, too.  love adding them to the sides for a unique twist.

and i had to include a photo of my dear 81-year-young grama in my album!  i love her smile and her laugh.  she is the inspiration for the name of my blog, too.  love you, grama!  and i printed all the photos from my camera using the pogo printer.  fun!

my scrapbook style

i guess i would say my style is colorful and eclectic.  i don't do a lot of scrapbooking, but i am starting to kind of like it more and more. especially since they hold all of my precious photos of my day-to-day life. if they weren't in an album of some kind, they would just sit on a computer or in a dark box on my shelf!

so thank goodness for free classes like the one going on at big picture classes right now.  i am just that kind of crafter/artist that is motivated by daily assignments and "deadlines."  each day, a different teacher posts a new word of the day and a template.  i print out the template on colorful cardstock, cut to size, add a photo (printed from my portable pogo printer--LOVE!!) and then i'm good to go.

i've made 10 pages so far and that's 10 more photos that i will actually have the enjoyment of seeing and sharing with others. yay!  

and this is just a random shot taken with my phone at a red light on my way back home from running errands this afternoon.  i was just inspired by the super blue sky and the pop of red and yellow from the old western appliance sign.  (excuse the crazy dirty windshield!!  i must've run into a bunch of crazy bugs or something).  but that sign has been there for as long as i can remember.  now i am actually a little bit inspired to go around my town taking photos of all the old signs and buildings.  i'll keep you posted!

summer fun & giveaway winner!

here i go happily journaling my summer days away. just a few pages-in-progress.  i really like to see the pages before i write on them. sometimes i like them better that way.  full of potential. :)

i just love mixing the craziest colors together. i don't think ahead, just play with whatever catches my eye.

journaling about some of our current summer happenings and catching up with photos from summer days past.  played with my pogo printer and used some photos in my journal.

thinking i'd love to get my hands on an old polaroid, but i heard they stopped making them and the film, too!  anyone know more about that?

and here we are, strawberry picking round 2!  we loved it so much that we had to go back with some friends and show them the fun and wonder of picking your own fruit, straight from the ground!  yum. so fresh and the smell is just divine!

we've been playing at the fountain a lot these days.  it's like going to the beach but without the sand and the fear of little ones wandering into the ocean!

how could i resist this photo of cute little feet?  our friends love to visit and join us on our picnic trips to the fountain where we sit in the shade and enjoy our little oasis in the middle of our lovely downtown.

oh, and congrats to LELAINIA for winning the packet of summer fun from my giveaway.  please email me your details and i'll get that out to you asap! :) (kinueko aT gMail (dot) Com) thanks for all who entered.  i do love to read your comments!  you are always welcome to stop by and chat.  my door is always open. ;)

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

pink and blue

working in my new journal the other day.  played around with a set color combo.  PINK and BLUE.  here are a few pages and close-ups.  remember to enter the giveaway on this post by friday. ;)

little green dress (and giveaway)!

my littlest one models her new green dress that i made for her the other day.  it was my first attempt at sewing an article of clothing and i think it came out pretty good! :)  (just don't turn it inside out to reveal all the funky stitches!)

i've always wanted to learn to sew clothes.  especially make them for my little girls.  one of my very first memories (may be my actual first memory!) is of my mom making a nightgown for me when i was 2.  i remember laying down on the floor on crinkly pattern paper so she could trace around my body to get the right size for the gown.

next i'll sew up something for my 9-year-old and then maybe even try to make a skirt for me!  it's funny how all of my latent math skills came in use while constructing the dress.  looking at the pieces, i couldn't believe a dress would be possible.  but i followed the directions and it just all started to make sense.  it also helped that i bought the kit pre-cut to size from this awesome etsy shop.  next up, i tackle a vintage pattern from the 50s!  i'll keep you all updated.

ALSO, don't miss out on a little giveaway in the previous post.  still open until the end of the week.  i'll send a lucky commenter a little packet of artsy fun just as a little way of saying "thanks!" and "enjoy the last remaining bits of summer!"

Colorful little pieces

ok, i'm officially back from vacation and getting ready for back to school (eek!)  i was in a little bit of a blog/journal slump the past week.  just didn't fee like posting!  but i had to take down that last dreadful post with the too-dark photo and re-do everything bright and up close!  hope you enjoy. also did a little blog redecorating.  i like it. :)

 colorful little pieces

 meaningful experiences

meaningful (close-up)

open

 open (close-up)

 the month of joy

the month of joy (close-up)

 hello my name is summer

 hello my name is summer (close-up)

 special

 special (close-up)

 curious (close-up)

 stuff i want to remember

stuff i want to remember (close-up)

the two photos above are of a mixed media painting i did recently.  i was inspired by the style of sarah ahearn and her new book, "painted pages." i thought i'd try something outside of my usual approach.  my first instinct is to cover the entire page/canvas with color and pattern and brightness and joy.  i like this more reserved approach with lots of white space and simplicity.

what creative adventures are you up to these days?  how are you savoring the last few days of summer? let me know in the comments below and i will send someone a little summer sunshine packet of fun.

beach boardwalk

shot_1310598148790, originally uploaded by kinueko.

having fun with my droid and "retro camera" app.

strawberry pickin'

shot_1311013882252, originally uploaded by kinueko.

our beautiful, fresh strawberries from a recent berry-picking trip.

sureya and her baby

shot_1310333716102, originally uploaded by kinueko.

my youngest poses in her kimono with her "baby".

summer photos

shot_1310333642735, originally uploaded by kinueko.

hope your summer is going well. mine is great, but it sure feels like it's flying by! i'm on vacation and finding it challenging to blog without my laptop. but i figured out how to post photos from flickr so that'll have to do for now.

this is a photo of my daughters taken in early july right before we set off for the obon festival in japantown.

they are wearing kimono-style jackets that my brother and i used to wear as kids.