Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Dog Wash Scrapbook Page & Making Do

I love to buy new Creative Memories products and have a big order on the way. There is a gorgeous new coverset and a great Mother's Day promotion I couldn't resist. The Better Together bundle includes both a 12x12 and an 8x8 set of albums from the Sorbet collection. It comes with the pre-designed pages in both, embellishments, a tape runner, and a pen. I love the 8x8s so getting one 'free' is amazing!

I also enjoy using up what I have and in the past year I have really hit the scrapbooking stash hard. I've been quite pleased with the layouts created just using old supplies and making them work. I just did this page with two simple photos of my dog's first trip to the self-wash centre at the pet food store. That was a great experience - beautiful, gated wash station and all the towels and supplies you need. It is so much easier, less back-breaking, and no wet, doggy-smelling towels to deal with! Anyway, Sam did really well and although he's a Lab, water is not his favourite thing. He looked pretty cute and smelled way better after a long winter!

The layout just came together! I found old bubble stickers, layered some retired designer paper, and used a die-cut from the Disney Cricut cartridge I'd made years before. It just fit perfectly! My method is to keep building and layering on the page until I like what I see...

Cricut Die Cutting

I went to a surprise party last week and it was suggested we take along a funny poster. It has been a long time but I knew the Cricut would be perfect for the sign. I pulled out the larger Cricut Expression and dug up all my old supplies, including the mats which have been used so much there's not much 'stick' left in them.

I plugged in the Gypsy (the hand-held 'computer' designer that goes along with the machine and makes positioning and sizing so much easier) and the Cricut and both worked! I searched the cartridges I had linked and found the phrases and shapes I wanted for my layout. I even added some shadowing layers although I am not sure I got everything exactly proportional. I'll need to re-educate myself how to make sure that the different layers adjust in sync as I play with the sizes of the icons.

My poster turned out great and since I had everything out and at the ready, I decided to cut a few things for my England scrapbook pages. It was really fun to look for words and pictures that would suit and then cut them from the exact printed papers that co-ordinate with my pre-planned pages' artwork. I gave the mat a quick spray with my 505 temporary adhesive quilting spray (just a touch because that stuff is expensive!) and it worked like a charm. My images cut perfectly, with no shifting or tearing. I adjusted my machine to cut slowly and with less pressure because the designer print paper from Creative Memories is much thinner than die cutting card stock.

I'm happy with what I was able to produce and add to my pages. Everything has been cleaned up now as I work on the Vintage quilt binding. I've almost finished adding the flat piping, which looks so cute, and then I have to make the binding. I didn't have enough black fabric and I chickened out when I saw how stark it would look on the quilt (the power of auditioning fabric choices first!). I chose that matching pink for the piping (I had ordered solids from the Fat Quarter Shop which go with the Bonnie & Camille lines) and a red for the binding. Both fabrics are by Moda and look terrific. I'm really enjoying sewing again but I really loved using the Cricut again too!!!!

Scrapbooking & Yogurt Day

I completed Part 1 of my England scrapbook and even with the slide-in pages, all the pics took up the entire Uncharted album. I ordered another complete set of the bundle (album, pre-designed pages, pen, tape runner, and embellishments) because a) it's a great value compared to purchasing separately, b) my photos look amazing in the theme and colours of that collection, and c) I've invested in these memories and they deserve a beautiful scrapbook (considering the cost and special nature of the trip itself, all the printed photos, and the time I've spent putting together the incredible souvenir).

I still have many days of the trip to scrap; I'm on page 3 of the next album and it's coming together nicely. I am so happy with how Part 1 turned out and the Sherlock Holmes page is my favourite. I love that even though I only had a couple photos I was able to add in a cool postcard from the shop and Sherlock's business card to make a really neat layout. I added the random numbers as decoration to represent the puzzles and codes he figures out. I am reliving the amazing tours we enjoyed too and Windsor Castle was one of the highlights. The landscape hasn't changed there in hundreds of years and it is such a wonder to me to imagine people strolling along the 'Long Walk' for generations before us.

There is nasty weather outside today so I'm not leaving the house to battle it. I plan on cropping a little more, working on the last few blocks of quilting on the Vintage project, and I already have yogurt incubating in the Instant Pot. I switched from pouring the milk and making the yogurt directly in the pressure cooker insert to using 500 ml canning jars. With this method the process is so much easier and my IP isn't out of commission all night. The milk is sterilized so much faster too so I've got the routine down pat in terms of timing. It's also a lot tidier to have the yogurt already in the jars; no need to ladle it and slop all over! I've got my recipe perfected to our taste now too. My last batch was just a wee bit on the tart side so this time I think I've got it just right. I can't wait until tomorrow to enjoy a taste.

WellnessMats (Because Standing truly IS Believing!)

I stand a lot. I spend so much time at the kitchen counter prepping food, the kitchen sink washing dishes, at my cutting table working with fabric, and for some reason, I must stand to scrapbook! All these activities mean I am standing for hours and my lower back gets very tired. This has been exacerbated from the intense scrapbooking catch-up I've been doing lately. Poor posture and hard floors contribute to the aching and I knew I needed to find a remedy to ease my pain.

I was aware there were anti-fatigue mats on the market for workers who stand for long hours but I didn't know anything about them. With a little research I found Wellness Mats and the reviews were fantastic! Reading their story I learned Wellness Mats are used in hospitals, industry, hospitality, government, and spas - and anywhere people are on their feet for work. There are plenty of wonderful endorsements, including one from a favourite famous chef of mine, Sara Moulton, so I knew I'd hit the correct website and this was the exact product I was looking for.

So...how do these miracle mats work and how are they made? Visit the WellnessMats website for tons of information (the health attributes, the technology, the certifications, the reviews, the FAQs, and all the details!) but here's a brief explanation taken from 'Why WellnessMats' tab:

"WellnessMats provide constant, cushioned support under your feet. Our soft, smooth surface and buoyant core encourage very, very subtle movements and re-alignments. This subtle activity reduces muscle and joint fatigue as well as stress on the lower extremities.

Our mats are unlike any other. Made from our proprietary Advanced Polyurethane Technology (APT), our mats are ‘one piece construction.’ What this means is that unlike other mats made from several different materials fused or sewn together, our mats will never delaminate, the edges will never curl, nor will our mats puncture or slide. In addition our APT has allowed us to offer you an unprecedented 20-Year Warranty on all WellnessMats. Our mats will forever remain buoyant and supportive bringing you years of comfort and well-being (thus our name!)"

I was so excited to get a WellnessMat and fortunately, they are available in Canada. I was all set to order on-line and then happened to check the local kitchen specialty store and was delighted to discover they had them in stock. Within 10 minutes I was picking out my mat and the price was so good, I bought two. I had planned to buy one for the kitchen and just take it downstairs when I'd be crafting for extended periods, but having a dedicated mat for each location is even better. I'd love to have one of the longer ones that would cover the area in front of my cutting table but they are more of an investment and I'll have to save up for that.

I selected the 3'x2' original mats, one in the gorgeous Sea Shell shade (a light mauve) and one in Sunset (Cinnabar Red on Tan). The colours work perfectly in each location and have a pretty scroll design (Bella). Once I was home and stepped on the mat....HEAVEN! I asked hubby why I hadn't bought one of these 15 years ago!!! It is a mysterious and wonderful phenomena but somehow standing on the mat tilts my pelvis slightly and alleviates the pressure. I only got the mats yesterday but am already so relieved to know I can now stand for as long as I want without having to quit. When I'm in my studio the hours can fly by as I'm lost in my hobbies and I hate having to pack it in because of back ache. Can you tell I'm excited!?!

These WellnessMats are beautifully made and have an incredible 20 year warranty which includes a 7 year performance warranty. You can read all about the specifics here but it's pretty amazing. There are also so many styles, sizes and collections so you can choose what works in your space. If you stand as much as I do and are having issues with fatigue and discomfort, I highly recommend you give the WellnessMats a try. My husband is already ordering some for his display booth at work (he complains of pain all the time when he's standing for hours at conventions on those hard cement floors). Once he got home and I made him stand on the mat (no, he didn't have to wash the dishes), he was sold. "That's exactly what we need for our booth!" I told him the only issue I had with the mat was stepping off! When you hit that hard floor again you wonder why this company can't make shoes out of the same material.

Check back when I share my 4-day process of making sourdough rye bread. I wish I would have had my mat for that task...

Scrapbooking Solution

Have you checked out today's Quilter's Daily Buzz? There's a nice coupon code for a foundation piecing class and a great tip to make your piecing easier!

I am almost ready to start some sewing, I just have to figure out what I want to work on! I'm thinking about a churn dash block quilt from my Moda Frivols...or maybe a half-square triangle quilt of my own. I'll plan it out this weekend!

In the meantime, I'm a scrapbooking fool! Here's proof I'm caught up on the family album with a title page for the next year of pics. Now I'm concentrating on a travel scrapbook from our journey to England last summer. I like what I've done so far but it's a little overwhelming because I took SO MANY photos!! When you are touring those amazing manor houses and castles, it's really hard not to document every step you take. There are some amazing shots and I don't want to weed them out just because they are of repetitive scenery. I am using a beautiful vacation-themed album with pre-designed pages where you can place your pics so I don't want to cover up all that art work I've paid for. I checked my stash and I found some old, loose pocket pages and decided I'd use them for the bulk of overflow pics. I can just slide the photos in and add one journal box for the whole lot. It's a great solution except that my pages don't truly fit in with my 12x12 cloth album. The edges stick out a bit and the orientation is only landscape so any portrait-type pictures require turning the whole album.

I went on the Creative Memories website and was delighted to see they have new clear pocket pages with both orientations on each page: 3 horizontal and two vertical, just like the PicFolio albums. The pages are designed to fit in the 12x12 albums and are exactly what I need! The order should be arriving any second and I can start swapping out my old pocket pages for the new ones. Of course, now that I can mix the types of photos I'll have to re-think what I've already done. What a great solution for those times when you have a zillion 'support' photos of an event or vacation. I can predict I will be ordering many more of these sets of pages to use in all my albums. It's so great to have the option to scrapbook traditionally as well as mix 'n match with slide-in pages when I need them.

A Hard Page to Turn

Well, I did it. I was so far behind in my scrapbooking and I think I was using time as an excuse. I finally began by pulling out my photos and getting them organized. There were two years of birthdays, Christmases, holidays and family times. I didn't think I had that much to do until I found many envelopes of developed photos I hadn't even opened. There was also a whole stack of pictures from the final months of my mom's life. There were hospital photos and snapshots from her brief time at the retirement home. There were also group shots from after her death, at the gravesite, and I think I was truly avoiding these all along.

Of course, I am happy I captured those last times with mum and I love the ones of us together. She looks happy still and I will always remember her that way...or at least try to focus on the good moments and not the challenging ones. It is still important to have those pages scrapbooked and the memories preserved for the future. They are difficult to journal but are part of her life and leave a complete story for the many descendants mom will ultimately have.

Once I got those layouts done I was happy with them. I feel better knowing those photos are safe and I can move on. I was able to empty out several sections of my Power Sort box (little file folders of photos organized by event) including all those other celebrations, in addition to the celebration of my mother's life. I am not caught up yet but all my supplies are still out on my table, ready to be tackled a page at a time. :)

Time to Scrapbook!

I took over 1,000 photos on our trip but was able to get away with printing 850 or so. I have my work cut out for me to scrapbook them in my new Uncharted Creative Memories album but I'm super excited to get started. Watch the video below to be inspired like I am! (It's also cool that the book cloth is imported from England!) First, I need to get the Social Butterfly quilting done to open up my work table. I'm about a 6th of the way so far but finding the time to get back in the groove is the hard part. I did pick up this little rubber stamp at one of the manor home's gift shop (completely irrelevant to the property but too cute to resist) and I thought I could use it on my quit labels. No more jet lag as an excuse so back to work this week!

 

First Featherweight & April 1930's Scrapbook Page

I have been wanting to do this page layout for a long time but I've been sewing up a storm and scrapbooking has been put on the back burner for a while. While I was getting things organized for a night of cropping with my friends tomorrow, I couldn't resist doing just one page in advance and I love how it turned out.

My vintage machine collecting spurt only lasted a month or two but I acquired quite a few models in that amount of time. I haven't even had a chance to really photograph all of them (or at least have the pics printed) so I know I can do better than these couple I'm starting with. This is my first Featherweight, Annie, and she will always be special because of that. I will write the story of how she came to be mine and also how I found April 1930's. I decorated the journal box and page with rick rack that April ties around every item in an order and also included their business card (front and back) because it's so charming.

I added a rubber stamp image of the Singer 221 to a punched out tag and a couple old stickers I had in my stash. The title sticker says it all: that little things make life beautiful and that includes my tiny portable sewing machine and its black suitcase and accessories. It also refers to the wonderful extras that April and Carmon Henry do for their customers, from hosting a wonderful group of aficionados to embellishing their orders with pretty ribbon.

I'm so looking forward to my scrapbooking evening and chatting with friends. I always catch the creative bug again after a night working on my albums and I hope to be much more caught up with my photos after the weekend.

Film Strip Border Maker Cartridge

I finally had a minute to try out the Film Strip Border Maker Cartridge from Creative Memories I shared with you last month. I'm getting caught up on some photos and one of the pages features my daughters taking selfies before an outing. (I printed all the shots!) The border of an old school roll of film was perfect for this layout! I think this was a very fun and versatile gift my friend Kathleen gave me - how many scrapbook pages could this decorate? It's ideal for theatre pages, vacation snaps, or as I find myself creating more and more pages of random shots, any page with multiple photos.

I'll admit it took me a practice try to remember how to use my Border Maker...it has been a while! Once I figured it out (not really that difficult!) it punched out the intricate border without a hitch - it's a very well made tool. I see that Creative Memories has even come out with more cartridges including pine trees, a lace flower chain, a medallion frame chain, and a gorgeous Diamond Scroll border! That one just might be next on my list!

I did have to clean up my scrapbooking mess so the table could be used for last-minute gift wrapping. I have a few last stocking stuffers to grab and I am done! It is still not very wintery outside, as I know it is for much of the States as well, so it has been very different this year. I can't believe it will be in the 50s on Christmas Eve!

 

Scrapbooking with Predesigned Pages

I am loving the predesigned album pages from Creative Memories. I just got all my latest vacation photos scrapbooked and the whole project is done! While I still love creating the pages I just don't have time right now to design every single one from scratch.

The predesigned Fast2Fab books and refills are such a great starting off point for me. I can add my photos to the printed photo mats and let the CM designers do that layout work for me. Then I go back and add my stickers, titles, extra memorabilia and cropped photos. I add some journaling here and there and I'm finished. There is just no other way I could get these done at this point in my life when I'm so busy and wanting to sew and quilt in any spare time.

I'm still about a year behind but I started with the most recent photos because they are the most exciting and the memories are fresh in my mind. Using this trick always gets me back in the mood to scrapbook and I usually get a few sessions in before I return to the sewing machines. A little bit at a time, even a page at a time, gets albums complete and photos saved. The next packet of pics will be more challenging since they are from when the family gathered to say goodbye to my mum. It is a difficult subject but it still needs to be remembered and I know it will be so important in the future for my kids and grandchildren to see.

After that, there are happier memories of last Christmas (before she got so sick) and the latest photos of us all together. It will be like seeing her again in healthier times and that always brings up great stories and laughter - what funny times we spent as a family with our matriarch!

As I worked on this trip album I was reminded how great scrapbooking is for my soul. You seem to always recall the best parts of the event when you take pictures and the little issues fade away. I was so excited to show off the finished pages and it's so obvious we are relaxed and happy, enjoying our trip. I'm thankful that Creative Memories is back in business and makes the process so easy. This album worked so perfectly with my photos and I happened to have it on my shelf. I just ordered some new products too (that certainly makes me want to use them!), like tape runner refills and a fresh pen, but I also couldn't resist a couple new awesome paper packs. I'm happy they are still coming up with new stuff to keep me interested. My friend gave me an amazing Film Strip Border Maker Cartridge too so I'm definitely going to use that on my next 'from scratch' pages!