… embrace your inner Brazilian. And I don’t mean get waxed. Enjoy the place you are at. Soak up the scene. Learn up the culture. Embrace life. Make sure you have a story to tell when all is said and done. Don’t waste the moments you are given.
Here are my feet on the sand of the famous Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I’m in Rio this week. Just a short trip, which in some ways is worse. About the time I adjust to the time difference and recover from all the flights, it’s time to go home.
However on this trip I am trying to make the most of my time here. That includes lots of fun dinners, walks on the beach and watching the Brazil play in the World Cup (pretty cool).
Sunset, Copacabana
Sometimes, when I’m traveling without my family, I can become a bit of a recluse. I am always homesick (that’s the mama in me), and some times in addition to being exhausted from my busy life I feel a little guilty living it up while my family is stuck at home. My husband tells me that that’s crazy and is always encouraging me to get out of my hotel and enjoy my surroundings. This trip, I’m trying to take his advice.
With all this travel and vacations, things are a little slow at Crazy Daisy. We apologize. Once we are done living it up in June and July … we’ll be back to posting more regularly. That doesn’t mean we won’t be posting all summer long. Just not every day
Okay. So, time for me to get back to having fun … Rio style.
Are you one of those scrapbookers that keep your packaging from companies like Kaiser Craft and Prima, simply because their packaging (like their products), are simply too beautiful not to use! I know I am! If not, or if you’re searching for some more creative ways to use your packaging you may want to give some of these ideas a try!
Try creating your very own designer tag from a product sales tag—simply cover the parts of the tag you may not want to show (i.e. the price or the collection name by adding small elements ) and let the parts of the tag you admire, shine through! Like the Devonshire Collection tag included with this month’s Kaiser Craft stickers.
I absolutely love using my leftover plastic packaging from charms, brads, etc for mini disposable palettes. The small wells are perfect for one time use on small projects or most can be easily washed and re-used if you are so inclined.
Prima’s packaging is just as beautiful as their products and makes for great photo mats and frames. You may have to strategically place a few items to cover up manufacturer information but this packaging’s rich colors and die cut designs make it hard to throw away!
In this month’s kit Kaiser Craft’s stickers come packaged plastic zip pouches that can be easily stored in a binder. Once you’ve used up these beautiful stickers, why not put this purposeful packaging to use. There is a number of scrapbooking supplies that could be stored in these wonderful pouches or get a head start on back-to-school shopping and give them to your children to store their school supplies in!
If you only have a half of the packaging as is the case with this month’s beautiful Fabric Covered Buttons by Prima…then no worries, use them as a journaling strip or tab! The scalloped edge and bright color are sure to capture your audience’s attention and direct them to what you have to say!
There are so many uses for your packaging…hopefully these ideas will not only inspire you to use every last bit of the pretties that show up in your monthly kit, but will also encourage you to search for more fun ways to sue your product packaging in your layouts!
It’s not even 10 am yet and I feel like it’s going to be “One of those days.” You know the kind that I mean. The ones where you clinch your teeth, possibly pull out your hair and have to try really hard not to scream. Cooper is cutting three of his molars right now and has been having trouble sleeping … and is just all around cranky. This morning Coop was up at 4 a.m. and wasn’t going back to sleep no matter what I did. What can you do?
To add to the chaos, we’re puppy sitting for my brother-in-law …. and this puppy is “mucho naughty” as my daughter said last night. It chews on everything, bites the kids, tackles the baby, poops in the house, wakes up and cries all night … and the list goes on!
I need a vacation! Jennifer is on vacation for a few weeks and I am super jealous! I’m looking forward to Fourth of July weekend when we’re meeting up with Jennifer and her family for some good summer fun.
Anyway, I should stop complaining. I have a good life. I am blessed. And I should focus on that and not the momentary craziness that is my life. Here are some awesome layouts from Mara Campbell using the June 2010 Main kit. Feast your eyes on this happy goodness … I love these layouts, they make me smile and think of sunshine.
I have been sitting at my computer most of the day.
My kids are at the pool. Thank goodness for great weather and an adventurous nanny.
I have had so much to do. And I have had meetings out the wazoo. But I can’t stop thinking about this blog, what i want to say and just being creative.
As I was trying to figure out what I wanted to blog about today, I stumbled on this video when I stopped at the Spark web site to see if there was anything new there. I’m sitting in a Starbucks right now and as I watched the video below, I had to fight back tears (mostly because I am in public, so I didn’t want to look like a crazy nut as I sobbed). It inspires me and makes me feel like though some times I have no idea what I’m doing, how I’ll get it all done or what’s next for me … being a mother to Shelby and Cooper makes me great.
I have been working on a piece of art. I have been working on it for more than a week now. I’m a little obsessed with it. I have a whole blog post planned about it, since I learned a valuable lesson during this whole process, but I’m not ready to share that lesson yet! But until then, here’s a little peek at what I’m working on.
I have some big plans for the weekend. I really want to scrap and finish the art piece above. I want to do the House of 3 summer scrapbook challenge (three pages a week) and I was also thinking about singing up for May Flaum’s class at Big Picture Scrapbooking.
I’m addicted to the Internet. Some people’s vice might be coffee. Not me. The Internet and ice cream. Those are the two things I over indulge with one a regular basis. Rocky road for the ice cream. And for the Internet … well, I’m all over the map on that. Right now I have a few favs I want to share.
I was listening to an episode of the podcast Paperclipping Roundtable and Tim Holtz happened to be guest panelist. He suggested listeners go to Etsy and select the vintage tab and then search for whatever you’re interested in. I selected type and paper ephemera. Both gave me some cool, super cool results. So much so, I’m addicted. There are old blocks of type (like the one pictured above); vintage paper dolls; old dictionaries; and the list goes on and on. I have gotten so many great ideas, inspiration and of course, I did a little shopping too. AND I have plans for some future mini kits that will be created based on my Etsy finds. Those will be in September and October … so stay tuned.
My one year old is a terror. Not a mean or nasty sort of terror. The kind of terror who climbs on everything and opens every drawer, cabinet and door in our house. He is in to everything. EVERYTHING. This morning I turned my back for a second and he shot across the room, opened a drawer, got a yellow marker, drew all over himself … and was sucking on in when I urned my attention him again. The worst part? He’s so stinkin’ cute and sweet. I love his happy smile and even when he’s demolishing my house, it’s hard to get mad at such a sweet face. So this web site, Sh** My Kids Ruined, is hilarious. I can SO relate to it right now. The tag line for this site is “the strongest visual birth control on the market today.” Check it out. It’s super funny. And if you’re child is doing what my child is doing right now … then you need a few laughs. We all do!
I take a lot of phones with my iPhone. But I never really do anything with them. The photos, which I love, just pile up. I don’t feel guilt like I must scrap them all, but I do want to do something with them. Enter ShutterCal … the Web site says it’s “is a free, calendar-based photography project where you can document your life and improve your photography skills at the same time.”
It’s a free service where you upload a single photo a day. And then, ” over time you calendar fills up with the important moments in your life. Soon you’ll have a simple and beautiful visual record of your days.” You can even order prints of your pictures and they’ll send you a show box full of your photos. Cool, right? By no means is this going to replace my scrapbooking … but it’s just another way to tell my story. ShutterCal even has an iPhone application, so you can take the photo on your phone and upload it from there too. Easy Peasy! Check out my photos, my user name is crazydaisykits.
Another gem of an application I discovered (thanks to Izzy and Paperclipping Roundtable) is called Plastic Bullet. it lets you take drab iPhone photos and make them FAB! The photo above was a plain old iPhone photo, but with the help of Plastic Bullet, it’s now a really awesome photo.
4. Paislee Press
This is a fun, craft blog that I recently discovered recently … and I love it. One of my favorite parts of the blog are the “how to” and “freebie” tabs down the left-hand side of the blog. There is so much great and inspiring content. On a regular basis you can get full page digi templates for free or a cool tutorial to spark your creativity. Totally worth checking out.
You really should subscribe to the Brave Girl Newsletter. It rocks and they are trying to get 100,000 ladies receiving their newsletter. Be one of the 100,000! Go here to subscribe.
I’m seriously starting a Brave Girl savings fund. I am going to go to the Brave Girl Camp. I am. I am. I am.
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