Summertime Photography & Snapshot Scavenger Hunt

Yea! My exams are graded and turned in, so my summer can officially begin.  To celebrate, I completed the page above in my smashbook sketchbook (and, yes, I did this one in less than ten minutes). The page started with a bird transparency stapled in the corner. I added a piece of patterned paper, to which I added my favorite summertime saying and some ink around the edge.  I then tucked two feathers(which I found on my Chinatown outing) into the transparency pocket and called it done.
Also, to celebrate the start of summer, I'm announcing a summer-long photography and snapshot scavenger hunt! I really hope you'll join me and play along. Last summer, my crafty friend "Young Nancy" would occasionally post photographs on her blog that were part of a Summertime Snapshot Scavenger Hunt. The blog for last summer's hunt with their list can be found at this link. The idea intrigued me, so I decided that this summer I would try my hand at hosting one.
The rules are very simple:
1.  By June 20, choose a team of family or friends. Email me (or post a comment below) listing your team members (of course you can use pseudonymous if you are concerned about privacy).  This date is flexible if you want to join later.
2. On June 21 (the first day of summer), I will post a list of scavenger hunt items. There will be 21 items on the list.  You will have until September 23 (the first day of fall) to photograph as many of the items as you can find. Please do not stage or "doctor" a photo.  The idea is to have fun finding each of these things.
3. There will be three different divisions for participants:
A. Snapshot Division.  This is for those of you who want a pure scavenger hunt. Your mission is to find each thing on the list. To prove you found it, each photograph must contain at least one member of your team.
B. Photography Division. Each photograph must contain the item, but you do not have to include a team member. This is for those of you who want to show off your photography skills.
C. Overachiever Division (snapshot and photography). You send in two photographs for each item on the list - one with a team member in the photo and one emphasizing your photography skills.
4. On September 23, send me all 21 (or 42) of your photos, with a caption that includes the item from the list, the name (or nickname) of the team member in the photo, and a short description of where you found the item. I encourage you to post photos on your blog as you find them or send me a copy.  Every week or so, I'll post a compilation of some of the shots.
5. Of course there will be prizes! The prize for the Snapshot Division is a gift card for MPIX to get your photos developed and a mini album (made my me!) in which to put your 21 photographs.  The prize for the Photography Division is a larger gift card to my favorite photo processing site (MPIX), sufficient to order an 8x8 "standout" of your favorite photograph.  The prize for the Overachiever Divsion will be a free pass into a Shimelle class (either "My Freedom" or a new fall class if she is offering one by then). The winner will be the team which finds the most items on the list.  If there is a tie, I will draw a winner at random.
6.  Anyone, in any country, can play.  Even if you're in the southern hemisphere and heading in to winter not summer. I'll try to keep that in mind when drafting the scavenger hunt list.
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I think that's it.  Sign up below if your interested or email me at rinda1961@yahoo.com. Also, please feel free to post any questions you have. I think this is going to be really fun!

Chinatown - Two Ways (and give away winner)

Last Friday, I went on a tour of San Francisco's Chinatown with a group of labor scholars who were in town for the Law and Society Conference.  I picked up some memorabilia and used it to create the first page in my Smashbook Sketchbook (above). The journaling reads "A historical tour of Chinatown reveals much more than fortune cookies, souvenirs, and dim sum." Some of things I highlighted on the historical Chinatown map are the indications of a clothing factory, cigar shop, gambling, and "white occupants."  I cut apart a bookmark that I picked up at the historical society to make three signs.  I added a little more journaling about interconnected struggles for justice and declared it done.  My sketchbook theme is "In 10 minutes," and I'm trying to make each page in ten minutes.  It took me more like 15 minutes to complete, but  that's okay. I like how the page emphasizes the crowded nature of the streets and back alleys in Chinatown.  I really wanted to take some pictures, but the only camera I had was my iphone.  I did manage to get a few interesting shots:

The day really made me want to return with my real camera to go on a photo walk. It also got me thinking about how many different places around the world have their own Chinatown. I'm curious - where do you live and is there a Chinatown in your area? 
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And congratulations to Yvonne, the winner of the CTMH stamp set.  Email me your address to rinda1961@yahoo.com, and I'll drop them in the mail.

June Counterfeit Kit and UK Travel Plans

I like to have a plan for what I am going to do with my Counterfeit kit, and this month I wanted to use it to make a travel journal for my upcoming UK trip. When I went to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog and saw this month's kit, I wasn't sure it would work because it was so heavily flowered and quite bright:

Here's the kit. It's from burlap and buttercups.
But I thought on the combination of yellow, blue, green and pink and remembered the Club Scrap "Destination" papers that were blue and green in a much more muted tone.  I pulled those out and used them as my jumping off point. I started grabbed patterned papers that coordinated. I substituted red for pink, and I ended up quite happy with my selection! Part of what helped was the realization that a good deal of our trip will be outside of London - to gardens and villages, etc.  Here's a list of what I included in my counterfeit kit:
Club Scrap Destination Collection (patterned and solid in blue and green); CS solid red
Little Yellow Bicycle (Lucky Me Collection - 3 different patterns)
Paper Loft Morning Rain (yellow with flowers)
Scrapperdashery Postcards from the Shore
two map and one graph papers (sent from Jacky; designer unknown)
Daisy Bucket Design -Southern Belle Collection (Scarlett) - yellow solid
Green bamboo design (designer unknown)
Basic Grey Phoebe Angel Island (green flowrs)
SEI Chocolat Framboise (red butterflies)

For my embellishments, I'm using
Creative Memories Dark Red sticker letters
Basic Grey Oh Baby Boy Letters
Club Scrap "To You With Love" postage stickers (instead of the flowers)
Two yellow frames from my stash (instead of the chipboard frames)
Fabric Covered brads and asst. red brads
Green resin leaves from Club Scrap (instead of the stick pins)
Green and blue twine; Dark red grosgrain ribbon (Club Scrap)
Autumn Leaves Travel Line stickers.
Chipboard butterflies, arrows and crowns (instead of vellum butterflies)
I think this is going to work out well.  After I make my travel journal, I'll use the rest to create a few blank layouts and maybe even some cards.  Should be a fun month with CKCB!
Now, for my UK travel plans: we'll be arriving in London on July 16 and spending our first weekend there. Then, it's off to Chipping Camden, which will be our base for three days exploring the Cotswolds. Then, it's off to Cambridge on July 20 for three days where I will attend a conference and then one last weekend in London (23-24). DH Paul has booked us some lodging already, as well as some theatre tickets.  But I'll definitely have time in London on both weekends if anyone wants to try to arrange a meet-up for tea, and I'll also have some time available in Cambridge. I've gotten a few emails from blog friends, and I'll pull these together soon to see if we can arrange a convenient time.  Let me know if you want to be included!

Storytelling Sunday: My Mom's Best Friend

It's time again for Storytelling Sunday, sponsored by Sian of From High on the Sky. This month, I'm sharing a story from my Houston Memories Series. I based this particular card on this sketch at Die Cut Dreams., which I found with a little help from Jacky.   Now on to the story. . . .
During the summer that my sister and I spent in Houston, Texas, we lived with my Aunt Vera and Uncle Nano, but we often spent time or went on adventures with other aunts, uncles, cousins or family friends.  I remember one particular weekend we went to Galveston,  a beach town about an hour outside of town, with one of my mother's best friends.  My memory is a little hazy. It may have been "Crazy Janie," but I'm pretty sure we went with Ana Laura and her daughter. I remember playing in the sand and catching crabs on a pier.  At the end of the day, three sandy, sunburned girls dozed in the backseat of the big sedan.  There was no air conditioner, but we rolled down all the windows.  A warm, gentle breeze wafting in the windows made for perfect napping weather. 
Before I knew it, the car stopped at an old-fashioned car wash.  We asked Ana Laura if she was planning to wash the car, and she said "No. We're giving y'all a bath. We've got a funeral to go to, and we need to get you cleaned up."  This wasn't the sort of thing we did at home, but out we climbed into the spray of the car wash. Bashfully, we peeled off our suits, washed away all the sand, toweled off and climbed into clean, dry clothes.  
Wide awake now, we began to talk about the funeral. None of us had ever been to one before, and we were full of questions. Ana Laura told us that, it was actually a "rosary, not a funeral." We would pay our respects, say our prayers, and be on our way.  So far, so good.  But then Ana Laura stopped us all in our tracks when she told us that, "Yes, of course, there will be a casket, and we would be able to see the dead body." 
We drove along in silence for a while until the nervous giggles started. "What if he's not really dead?" we asked. "What if he sits up during the service?"   Before long, we had convinced ourselves that it was highly likely that the deceased would sit up and begin talking in the middle of the rosary. And we found the idea hilarious. We created a hundred scenarios of what he might say and how the parishioners would react. We made funny faces and talked in funny voices.  We laughed until tears were rolling down our face and our sides ached.
Of course, the moment we walked into the church, we were quiet and composed.  It was sober and scary, and we knew enough to be respectful.  We sat there. Quietly. And politely.
Until Ana's daughter whispered, "Look, he's starting to sit up." And then the giggles started again.  We did our best to contain ourself, but we just couldn't. And when I looked up, Ana was laughing too.
She gave up on the rosary and took us to get ice cream.  Three sunburned girls in sun dresses, eating ice cream, with one very patient mom smiling and shaking her head. And, in that moment, it was obvious to me why my mom had chosen Ana Laura to be her best friend.

Blog Candy Times Two!

I recently ordered some stamps and albums albums from Close to My Heart, and I received the May Stamp of the Month ("Chairs to You") as a freebie.  It's cute, but not really me, if you know what I mean.  So, I'm offering it up as a give-away.  It's an acrylic stamp set, and you can check out this blog (where I got the picture) to see some cards made with the set.  If you're interested in winning the stamp set, just leave a comment below telling me how many chairs you have at your dining room table.  I'll pick a random winner Sunday night around 9:00 p.m. (California time), so act quickly.
Also, the wonderful Carrie of Rosalind Revival is having a terrific blog give-away to celebrate her birthday.  Go check it out by clicking on this link.

Sketchbook Project: A Counterfeit Smashbook

A while ago, I signed up for The Sketchbook Project . . . a collaborative art project which sends blank sketchbooks to people who promise to fill them up and send them back.  The returns are cataloged and then sent on tour for people to visit and examine. You have to choose a theme (from their list) when you sign up, and I chose "In 10 minutes" because I wanted to try to complete each page in a relatively short time.  Recently, my sketchbook arrived (along with the t-shirt I ordered).  You can see above it's a plain craft 5x7" booklet.  My original thought was to create backgrounds on each page in the sketchbook and go from there to fill the pages.  
But, then, I saw this really cool post at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog all about
smashbooks . . . a smashbook is a cross between an art journal and an old-fashioned scrapbook (where you store memorabilia and other scraps).  CKCB is running a summer-long challenge and tutorial to create a smashbook.  I decided I could totally do that with my sketchbook! So, I started with this video from Two Peas in a Buket about the K&Co. Smash Journal line, which I decided to counterfeit:

To create my own version of the smashbook, I started with a pile of supplies including journaling blocks, transparencies, tags, file folders, envelope and artists tape.  I also selected two colors of ink:

Next, I selected an assortment of stamps, including some sentiment stamps:

From there, I sat down and began creating the background pages in my sketchbook that I will add to later.  There's over 30 pages in my sketchbook, and I was able to create fun background pages pretty quickly.  Here's a random sampling of ten of them:

You can see I tried to leave enough blank space on each page to create a page, but I wanted the backdrop to give me a sufficient jump start that I could actually create each page "in ten minutes." From there, I went ahead and decorated the cover:

And I'm proud to say that it took me less than ten minutes to do the cover!  I might put together a kit which counterfeits the types of accessories sold by K&Co. to go along with their smashbooks, but I'm still thinking on that.  I can't wait to start filling it.
So, have you  heard about smashbooks? What do you think of the whole idea?  They seem to me to be the latest "everything old is new again" hot-hot trend, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out.

Waiting Patiently

Gypsy: "Mom, when are you going to be done with all that end-of-the-term grading and article writing and conference travel so we can go for a walk?"
Me:  "Soon, very soon. But then I'm going to spend a little time blogging and visiting my friends' blogs because I miss them very much."

Gypsy: "Okay. I'll just take a little nap then."
Back soon with my end of May "2011 Resolutions, Intentions, and One Little Word" posts, a wrap up on my Houston Memory cards project, my Counterfeit Smash Book/Sketchbook Project, Storytelling Sunday and all kinds of other good stuff!