The Funkie Junckie Boutique Challenge #11 Tickled Pink / Mini AlbumMakers Challenge June...Strawberry Fields Forever- in a Book!

    Finally JUNE...the reopening of places and businesses is going on, but things are still pretty 'new normal' for me here at home. After making a 1st trip out to a store to shop (the ChiefHubby along with) and pick up things myself for once, turns out that may be just that- one time. Since I'm starting back again with the 2nd immunosuppressant (a type of chemo) weekly, one of my 3 Doctors said to just keep 'laying low' for a while yet. That's not news that had me dancing for joy. I miss being in church physically & miss seeing my friends, but on the other hand, I've been able to see them in smaller groups of us together- camping & fishing. And while being in church & worshipping together can be very uplifting, most people don't realize how ALONE a deaf person is- especially in a crowd. Even my own ChiefHubby forgets now & then how much is being said amongst everyone that just passes me by; reading lips in a crowd of people talking can be just as draining as trying to follow one person talking animatedly. Our Preacher always puts his sermons to text and emails them to those who ask -as well as putting them online for anyone to read- and that helps me more than anything else. So that's why being at home and seeing the service taped and online has actually been more beneficial to me- the service is CLOSED CAPTIONED!! After both Ministers tweaked the entire process, I have been their No.1 Fan over it! Now, don't get me wrong, here...nothing takes the place of being together with the Besties and the people you have come to love as Family. But during the recent months, it has been a HUGE BLESSING for this deaf girl! I can't imagine how tired a person could get always doing ASL. I did try ASL, but reading lips came so easily to me that my then-counselor and doctors chose to help me keep on this route. Hearing aids are no longer any help at all. I have been the entire road since I was 15 years old- including Cleveland Clinic and Nashville. But being deaf is not much of a problem anymore...it's just a by-product of a disease that is the root of the problems. And all those resulting problems are the reason I have to "lay low" during these times. You see, what most don't understand is the fact that I CAN go out, and I am NOT "afraid of COVID-19"; it's what happens if I get it- the pain is going to be just MORE of what I already LIVE WITH DAILY. More to the point also; I won't get to be with any of my 3 precious Grandbabies. All my life, I have believed that GOD has His reasons for everything, even in all the ills and pain. And I will continue to just pray and ask for HIS guidance in this entire matter, and go with whatever He leads.

        THANKS for the listen! 

           Now...let's get down to the reason for this project This is another one of those "had this in mind for awhile now" makes. It all began with thoughts of my Maternal Grandmother, whose middle name I inherited. Isabelle Louise (Dowdy) Raymer did not have it as easy in her adult life as she did in her childhood. She was doted on by her Mother, and was quite the dish, as you can see from her HS photo above. The story shortened is really about strawberries. My earliest memories are of being on "The Farm" with my Grandparents, and while they'd moved several times after 'flipping' each home to extremely nice places (Grandpa Odus Gordon Raymer was a carpenter, machinist, farmer, and antique car restorer/owner...a real life do-it-all-yourself-er), they said they never really had 'loads of money', but both said they always had everything they needed- and most things they wanted as well. My own faith in The LORD came from early lessons via both of them; both at church as well as in seeing their example to others. Grandpa and Grandma Raymer were very generous, helpful, practical, and downright smart, as well as very wise. They'd lost their first child/only son to drowning in their own flooded basement. I believe it was a tragedy that was never far from Grandma's mind- as well as his death being on Grandpa's birthday. He was just 2 months shy of 3 years in 1943. (They did already have my Mother- a newborn, and another daughter 10 years after her). I always believe that was the reason Grandma could cry at the drop of a hat- but she REALLY felt that sad at that moment, and I also believe that is where my own deep feelings come from- as well as shared eye and hair coloring, and that passed on to both my own sons, with Baby Jamie getting the shade of blue we have. I actually spent so many weekends and the days before school with them on the Farm, that it felt more like I lived there. Once they moved into town again, I made just as much time at their house/workshop/gardens during the school year as before. The bonus Grandma always had was Grandpa being talented in carpentry & able to make Grandma's home however she wanted it designed.  I'd heard many times over how Grandma's Mother had "the most beautiful wallpaper" in her kitchen, and how it was a perfect pinkish shade with strawberries all over. Grandma bragged many times on that strawberry kitchen: "Our Postman always told my Mother that she had the prettiest kitchen in Logansport!", even while Grandma herself had the most personalized, beautifully carpentered, professional quality kitchen herself...complete with as close as possible to replica wallpaper as she could find!

When we got married in 1984, the ChiefHubby and I had to fill out gift registries for both bridal showers and the wedding itself, and colors/designs had to be chosen. His favorite color was red and mine was pink- the colors of our wedding. We still have the same fave colors, and I still keep the same theme to the kitchen. You guessed it: strawberries! Blame it on Grandma Raymer!! At that very time, there was a grocery chain that had a set of dishes you could collect and, of course, since they were all strawberries, Grandma and I had fun buying each other parts of the set. So each of us had the full set because she finished hers and ChiefHubby's Mom helped round out ours. I still have my full set and those precious memories while I watched Grandma pass on to Heaven back in 2003 just before her birthday in January. Over the years, Besties and family have added pieces to my kitchen that round out the look and give me more nice memories of each person.

          I had a slightly dysfunctional childhood. I grew up the youngest of 10 kids, but actually have 14 siblings with 1 younger than myself by three years, whom I never got to meet until 1994. Not one of these siblings have both the same Mother and Father as myself. 5 of us are my (biological) Father's. 8 of us are my Dad's with 6 being born to him and 2 of us as Stepchildren. 5 of us are born of my Mother, but only 2 share the same father. My (bio) Father was actually 2 years older than my (maternal) Grandma and Grandpa Raymer. Quite frankly; being deaf is EASY compared to keeping all that straight! LOL!! But; the younger Sister grew up to be a kindred spirit of mine, and we often joke about "Great minds think alike!" because we often think or feel the same way even miles and time apart. She looks so much like our Mother and Grandma Raymer- more than any of us 5- and has many of the same mannerisms ….growing up adopted totally away from any of us. We did figure out that she and I accidentally ended up at the same school together and the Nurse (who was a cousin in our family) saw us playing together on the playground. She was moved to another nearby school, and we never saw each other again until she found our Mother in 1994.

           And....she had a STRAWBERRY KITCHEN. *mic drop*

                                           Now comes the Challenges: The Funkie Junkie's "Tickled Pink" 

                                                 

                                                      and the (anything goes) JUNE Mini Album Makers

         

            

I knew ahead of time that I'd need a bit of space in this book, so I again

chose Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook die. I just ADORE this die!!

PINK is the requirement for The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #11 "Tickled Pink"

and I had lotsa PINK!

That's when I found out that I could make BOTH books be PERFECT:

Mine would be PINK, and my Sister's would be LAVENDER (with some pink)

which she shares as a favorite color as our Grandma Raymer!!

I started out separating the chosen outside sheets from the ones to go inside.

Then cut the inside choices in half and divided each half to a book.

These papers were all 8 & 1/2 x 11 inches.

Then I started stamping each page with some red-rubber strawberry stamps- 

in TH's Distress Archival Ink, using the Ground Espresso...just for the caffeine lift...lol

I also found enough leftovers in a K&Company stack

to make some nice little additions inside both books that would complement all the pink.

All this put together really had me excited to make these!

Using the only two matching full sheets from the wallpapers stack (above)

I simply folded and cut until I had a 3-in-1 pocket and folder type of piece.

I like playing around with paper just to see what I can come up with,

and some of my best ideas come about in this manner.

Both books' covers/spines were assembled in the same manner as my last post,

but I must have forgotten to take a photo while I did this step.

You can rehash a visual HERE (scroll down to the middle photos) .

Shown here: some tags for the pockets and more of Tim Holtz Stitched Pockets Die cuts-

all sanded for some distress and just a tiny touch of my favorite TH Distress Oxide Ink

Vintage Photo.

I sanded both books' covers and spines, burnishing the edges as well.

Adding in a stack of notebook paper (all my recently posted books have this paper as well),

to the folded pieces and the pink stamped stack; each book was pretty full and I 

was ready to sew the signatures into the covers and work on just the outsides.

I'd saved these during all those loooooong shut in days from the tons of fresh fruit

brought in by my wonderful ChiefHubby.

These labels looked soooo cute!! I sanitizer-wiped them and stuck them to plain white

cardstock, then fussy cut and lightly inked the edges. Instant vintage STRAWBERRY labels!

I even broke out the much hoarded TH Crinkle Ribbon for the perfect touch on the tag pieces.

PUUUULEEEEEEEASE, Tim...manufacture MORE!!!

I texted my Lil Sister earlier this Spring with a pic of the couple on the left

because the wife resembles her.

But it's the kind of dress our Grandma might have worn- in LAVENDER or PINK.

TH Distress Crayons came in on the fun here.

And the set of girls?

They could be either of 2 sets of people...

My Grandma as a girl in the pink and me in the lavender-

 just like the lavender chair I was sitting in for a photo as a baby, 

OR...

myself in the pink with my Little Sister, Debbie, in the lavender.

Again, I got out the TH Alcohol Inks and changed the shades of the mechanical pencils

to match with each book. Alcohol inks can color SO MANY things!!

Here's what came from the story...

A look at a few of the pages...

Grandma & Grandpa were both gifted musically- 

Grandpa played guitar, banjo, and ukulele,

with Grandma playing piano, and she could really get down on the organ

with all it's beats & sounds. But my favorite was seeing her on one of her three accordions.

Packaged up and getting it to my Sister...somehow!

THANK YOU!! for hanging in there during this loooooong and =windy post!

I absolutely love putting my memories into what I make.

The makes that I keep for myself pile up in the box I keep them in will -hopefully- one day

make some great keepsakes for my Kids, Grandbabies, and anyone they share them to.

I do use some of them for display in my Craft Studio as inspiration for more ideas.

Shoutout: THANKS! for the sweet comments,

but especially thank you all for just stopping by!

I really hope it spurs your imagination to use some of your own

fondest memories to create something from paper and paste. :)

Remember to check out the SUPER crafted items that my own will enter alongside with:

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog

(Sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique )

~AND~

The Mini Album Makers Challenge

(which just happens to also be Sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique this month!)

In the meantime...

I'm FINALLY back up in Red Wing to see our youngest Grandbaby- he's a whopping

HUGE 6 months old already! That's one part of the COVID-19 that really had me upset;

we had planned out to be able to see Jamie once each month, and that plan was not to be.

This year certainly turned out...different. And more than slightly challenging. 

Especially when it came to plans.

We spent Saturday, June 6th with the older two Grandbabies, celebrating the oldest- Cole- turning 3 years old on June 7th. But took the actual day of his birthday to drive to Red Wing and see the youngest baby. It was a flip of our plans back in April, when we had spent the day of younger Son's birthday being out in the boonies for the older 2 Grandbabies to play outside during "The Quarn".

I'm sure everyone can relate....EVERYONE.

So, we really ARE in this TOGETHER!

Stay safe during REOPENINGS, & 

HAPPY BLOGGING!!!

Another 2-fer: The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #11 Oh, Man! and Memory Album Makers Challenge MAY... "The Professor's Travel Log"

 

     May is nearly over already and the first traveling "summer" holiday is this weekend (I leave to join all the Besties at our reserved park - the entire park just for us 8 campers/RVs - for camping as soon as I post this). All I can say is: I am glad May is almost over...what a month! It's been 4 weeks without a washer that spins out, so we've had our share of living like 'back in the old wringer-washer days' and my biceps thank Amana for that. Home Depot finally was able to deliver the ordered washer on Wednesday. And yesterday, after all the yard work was caught up (including a FOURTH stint up on top of the roof for cleaning out the tree buds and messes from my gutters Grrr!) the trees, grass, and finally planted flowers are all growing beautifully...I took down the water-skiing rope that was strung across my back decks that helped drain the excess water from all the washed items. After taking the Maytag (our fourth one in less than 20 years!) outside, we were able to see all the wear and tear this one went through. I have no idea why they wear out for us so fast, but dealing with bedding not washed weekly as usual; I cannot understand HOW a family of more than 4 can get by on one washer and have it last longer than 10 years. Our first washer had been purchased from an Air Force Reserve family who was relocating from Grissom AFB. It was a 30 yr old washer, paired up with a 2 month old dryer. A bargain price was agreed on and that washer lasted us 3 more years- it couldn't pump all the way up the wall hookup after we moved out here to a much newer home and away from it's lower apartment basement hookup that was nearer to the floor. But the point is: it was 33 years old before it bit the dust! One answer may lay in the fact that the bottom pieces of this latest Maytag were PLASTIC. No kidding. Plastic that melted away from the friction. Ummmm… Pardon me, MALE designers... but even we 'silly minded female homemakers' can tell you that sweepers, washers, and dryers just cannot stand up to the pace of family use if they are made of PLASTIC. For Pete's sake...… Rant over.

        On another GOOD note; it's very good to be ALIVE. Just the daily news of the COvid19 and everyone trying to get into some sort of "new normal" is enough to make me look for the good and beautiful in life. Two Momma birds have chosen our front porch light and the back deck shelving to make their homes for laying eggs that have, so far, hatched two furry-feathered, but half-naked babies. Both Mommas have decided to let me look at the babies, but stay on their nests at night while I take the pup out for her business-making. The photos I've gotten just take my breath away! And life itself- with the three Grandbabies all happily growing- is nothing short of WONDERFUL!!! So let's let the bad fall away and concentrate of the GOOD... 

Yes; GOD is SO GOOD!!

Ok, let's get down to the nitty gritty here; the reason for the post. The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge "Oh, Man!"

comes just at the time when my ChiefHubby returns to work (party time here, ppl!! LOL!!), so it wasn't too hard to think of "something more masculine". Traveling, camping, and generally any kind of future plans all fall to the category of "masculine" in this household. I just go along with it all and try to keep up, since there are gives and takes in any marriage and in my opinion- that's just a "give it up to him" area. I just show up. And take whatever needs with me that I want to work on as we travel. It all works out very well... for us, anyway. What better person to show "masculine" in anything... than that beloved PROFESSOR?! Back when I was making the most recent book (which missed TFJB Challenge #10 Sew Sweet, but posted for the Memory Album Makers MAY - CLICK HERE to see it), I already had a thought for another book in my head. So when cutting out the covers for that last book, I chose some of the same for the cover of this- Tim Holtz's Memoranda.

As you scroll down the photos, hopefully, you'll be able to see how I formed all of it. Less chatter and more of the matter!

                                                                      So let's get to it!

Again- I'm using Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook Die for this book.

If you're new to book/album making...this die is a PERFECT starter for anyone!

So easy to figure out and use! Not to mention VERY versatile!

Guess I've got quite a few "traveling" stamps!

And the TH paperie items just kept adding to my table as I crafted. Lol!

These two papers made up the covers and spine.

After cutting simple sets of signatures (groups of folded paper make each "signature"

 that are added together to the spine to make a full book), 

I chose stamps that matched each section to that mode of travel, 

using Ranger Black Archival Ink- which is permanent.

I used quite a few techniques- my favorite is Tim's "ghosting".

And in the middle of the week of making the book- I came upon another color

with a clearance price on it!- for the water and sky travel.

Here's a time-saver...stamping two different pages at once.

And most of the time, I can get them to match up- without even trying!

And sometimes; NOT. But remember to embrace BOTH!

I wanted to try lots of different ideas on each section...

...to give fun, little "surprises" on each turn of a page.

Then, my ArtMuse just wouldn't stop there: we had to add TH's Texture Fade Set- Travel;

which matched right up with his Stamp Sets!

Making a pocket of my own- thinking on TH's Pocket Die...

...and then actually getting the die out just to make a HALF die cut 

which made another side to the one I hand-cut.

Adding in some extras for pockets.

Then TH Distress Oxide Inking everything with my fave go-to; Vintage Photo.

I decided I wanted to make a little 'folder' for the plain school paper, so I went to my

computer to print out a few do-dads to use...

...and cut out the folder's shapes with the TH Thinlit Die- States.

The cover and spine came after the pages, strangely enough, but they were already

cut and stacked for assembly long before anything else.

For making 5 holes from the 3-holes-each-die-cut-pages...I layered them together.

But I found that by cutting the middle sheet down to just two holes, the overlapping

not only worked out well, but it also ended up the same paper thickness all the way across the spine.

I'm going to use this trick in the future!

Getting out that first-ever-TH-thinlit that I still ADORE !!

And getting some love on rust going!

Lastly...the masculine man himself: The PROFESSOR!!

Making sure it's all properly distressed and ready to put together...

...with some hemp string!

I even TH (very early ones) Alcohol Inked some mechanical pencils!

Now that's a new idea for me!! They match perfectly with this 'aged' travel log!

And HERE'S the RESULTS...

The one on the left was made to another Bestie- Susan Marks. She'll be camping along with us, and

I'm hoping to get a photo of her and her Husband with this Travel Log and post it down near the bottom- along with a photo of the TH Paper Dolls I chose for their last page. (The ones I chose for mine are the "Driver Boys".)

I'm not only entering this make into The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge "Oh, Man!"

(in which $25 Gift Certificate is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique )

But, also entering it into Memory Album Makers Challenge - May, 

where Eileen Hull's dies are not just spotlighting during this month,

but Eileen is also giving away a $35 GC for her Etsy Shop!

In fact, stop in to the site to check out Eileen Hull's Tiny Book and Box in a tutorial on MAM.

THANKS! to all those who come in and view my crafts, and join along

with the craziness here. It's such a wonderful thing to share together; 

this thing called "life", and CRAFTERS are the BEST PEOPLE to share it with!!

Until next time...

Stay Safe, (Try Your Best To) Stay Connected, Stay Home (Until Bans Are Lifted)

and

HAPPY BLOGGING!!