Catching Up After the Big Move

Where have I been? Life has been pretty hectic for me the past several months and I haven't been crafting or scrapbooking as much as I like. 

For the first time ever, I didn't complete a Layout a Day Challenge. 14 pages. That's it. I was off to a good start the first few days and then went straight digi by creating layouts on my phone using PicsArt in the brief moments I could spare.

My main excuse is my family moved in late September.

It almost didn't seem like it was going to happen, but we finally moved! We're in a nicer neighborhood and in a bigger house. We were lucky. To prove it, I found these two four-leaf clovers in our front yard as I was moving in boxes:

Unfortunately, during the weekend of our big move, our beloved Bane was not so lucky. Three weeks prior to our move, we were happy to bring home a rescue dog. Things were going well until we took them both to a boarding facility so they would be safe and out of the way while we moved. Short story, both 80 pound dogs were put in a small kennel area overnight (and unsupervised) and our new dog attacked Bane.

That was Bane when we brought him home after his first surgery. We then decided it would be best to give our new dog back to the shelter we got her from. It was heartbreaking. 

After a second surgery and plenty of love, by his first birthday, Bane was pretty much healed and back to his happy-self.

He enjoys his new big backyard and runs around like a maniac! It's so wonderful to see him play with the girls like nothing ever happened.

In the mean time, and back to the good stuff... I did manage to get a little crafty by updating a knife block:

I'm going for a retro feel in the kitchen and added vintage milk glass from my husband's grandmother. Here are a few pieces:

My husband got creative by upcycling a door and wood from our kitchen remodel to build a bar in the basement.

Fancy! He even picked out his own fabric to cover the storage area underneath the bar.

We're pretty excited to have a fireplace, too! And I'm more than happy to have a mantel to decorate.

Then there's the first floor bathroom. Either you'll love it or hate it. I'm choosing to embrace the bathroom. I plan on updating it with paint (where I can) and add new curtains. The hubby already replaced the old toilet with one that's more efficient:

Yes, that's a lot of pink tile! Just like the sink and the former toilet, the bathtub is also blue. At least the upstairs bathroom looks like this:

There's plenty more work to do around the house, but for now, I'm happy. 

And I'm also proud to share my latest adventure, Greater Toledo's Mama Meow, a place for local kids to go to find out what's happening around the area. It's still in it's infancy, but I have big hopes for Mama Meow. Check it out! The official launch will be in January! ~Danielle

Picking My Brain

I'm not sure where to start. This feels like trying to get re-acquainted with an old friend. It's been 10 weeks since my last blog post and I was meandering thoughts of leaving it that way. I've enjoyed a summer without structure, fun with the family and how my days started after 9:30 a.m.

School is officially in session, my husband is back to work after his February ankle injury and we're now getting ready for some big changes in our lives. I like structure (most of the time), but don't like waking up at 5:20 in the morning (coffee, please). And as I recall, I do love to blog and I'm not currently working, so here I am.

What to blog about? Do I still want to focus on eco-friendly scrapbooking and upcycled projects? Should I include more posts about green living? How about the environment? And when should I blog? Weekly? Wednesdays? Whenever I feel like it?

Those are the questions that have been going through my mind as I've been on my blogcation and I still don't know all the answers. I would like to mix things up here and turn EcoScrapbook into a blog (book) of eco scraps - snippets of life through the eyes of eco-conscious people in our world. What do you think?

I would love your help as I make this transition. If you see any interesting stories, projects, people, or communities being "green," please share them with me. And if you are making your own eco-conscious choices, let me know, I'd love to hear about them! 

Find me here or comment below. ~Danielle

Related:

DIY Laundry Soap for Sensitive Skin

Tutorial: No Sew T-Shirt Bag

A Very Recycled Scrapbook Page

A Creative Blog Tour

I've always loved participating in blog hops and when Lisa, a scrappy sister overseas, invited me to join her in a new one, I was excited. But, wait... there's a twist. We're not all blogging within a day or a short time frame. We're blog hopping week-by-week and tagging others along the way. 

Lisa posted last Monday and tagged three people (myself included) and we're posting today, each tagging three more people. All of us are sharing a peek into our creative lives by answering the four questions below.

1. What am I working on?

It's now June and I'm fresh off the Layout a Day (LOAD) buzz. I scrapbooked every day during May, created 42 pages in all (see layouts here) and now it's time for a breather. 

School is just about out and I'm ready to sit back and relax for a bit. May was full of scrapbooking, Glue Dots design team work, volunteering at school, birthday celebrations, field trips, recital prep, cheerleading practice and fundraising...on and on I could go.

Instead, I'm going to revise the question and answer: What do I wish to be working on? Children's books. A small handful of you know I'd love to be a published author/illustrator. As a visual artist (a.k.a. scrapbooker), I want to write and illustrate picture books and have several ideas in mind. Life gets in the way and I continue to put this dream on the back burner. I hope to work on a couple books this summer (fingers crossed).

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?

Within my community of scrappers, I'm known as the EcoScrapbooker as I focus on eco-friendly scrapbooking and crafting. I don't always scrapbook with "green" products and this is often seen during LOADs as I'm in de-stashing mode and using what I have on hand. If I have to have new products, I prefer them to be recycled, FSC-certified with soy-based inks, and with all those other eco buzz words.

I often use black on my layouts, sometimes with paint, as a photo mat (with marker/cardstock) or a design element.

I love colorful pages, white space and trying new ways to scrapbook.

I'm all about bold designs and prefer trends in design over trendy paper. Banners, flags, doilies, hexagons, chevrons, washi tape and the color blue make me happy. 

I like the option of scrapbooking on my phone with the PicsArt app for quick and convenient layouts, but I'll always be a paper-scrapbooker at heart and brings me to the next question.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I've scrapbooked since I was four and started writing stories in elementary school. I simply can not imagine life without a creative outlet. When I'm really in the zone, I feel like me. I'm usually listening to music on Pandora and making a mess in my craft room. It takes me away (ever so briefly) from mommyhood (the pet and human kind) and being a wife (even though my subjects are usually them).

I'm passionate about sharing my work with others and love the ability to create beautiful things that can be passed down over the generations.

4. How does your writing/creating process work?

Well, it depends. With LOAD, I usually have a set of photos I want to scrapbook, but let the daily prompts guide me. With design team work, the process usually starts with a holiday or theme. And sometimes my blog posts are about things I've done recently (like my DIY laundry soap).

Lately, Pinterest inspires me and I've taken full advantage of the app in recent months. My old phone didn't have the capabilities to handle the app, but now that I have an LG G2, my life on Pinterest has expanded exponentially! I often see a layout design on Pinterest and then make it my own after choosing the photos I want to use.

I work best when I'm alone and don't like distractions, so my girls are usually at school when I'm in creating-mode.

Okay, enough about me. This is the longest post I've written in a long time! Let's learn about the three people who are up next on Monday, June 9. (Note: I linked names to their Flickr pages since I met all of these talented ladies during the LOAD challenges.)

Valerie is passionate about living, laughing, loving and capturing it all in words and pictures. She started as a rubber stamper but it is scrapbooking and photography where she has found her bliss. Valerie adores her husband of 27 years and young adult sons - ages 18 and 23...and their dog, Harley. She loves to capture their stories and the tales of those around her. She comes from a long line of story tellers and scrapbooking has become a medium for embracing that legacy and passing it on to the next generation. Valerie describes her style as "Photojournalistic" scrapbooking. When photos show relationship and the words bring the photo to life...she falls in love with the art of scrapbooking all over again. You can visit Valerie at her blog, From Valerie's HeART.

GeeZee loves crafting and finding ways to use things in as many ways as possible in the life of that item. She doesn't like to throw things away. All that excess we send to the landfills bothers her. GeeZee likes to share with others and help keep discards from losing their identity completely. She also thrives on meeting new people and making new friends, sharing experiences and thoughts. GeeZee has mentors that have taught and encouraged her to think of things in a new way. Learn more about GeeZee at Messtaken Identity.

Emma is a mum of 4 children, 2 skinny pigs, a bearded dragon and a Jug puppy and she also has a happy husband who puts up with all the madness. Her passion, aside from her family, is scrapbooking. She's been a scrapbooker for over 10 years and loves it now as much as she did when she first started. Emma cannot imagine her life without paper, glue and a paper trimmer in it! Please join Emma at Scrappin is my life, where she shows you her creations and shares her passion and ideas with you.

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What Have I Accomplished in 200 Posts?

Since I launched EcoScrapbook over two years ago, I never stopped to celebrate a blogiversary or even a my 100th post. Now that I have 200 posts under my eco bloggy belt, it's time to look back at my accomplishments and give myself a pat on the back.

I created a minimalist scrapbook layout to celebrate and used clothing tags for the journaling:

"Accomplished" 12x12 Eco-Friendly Scrapbook Layout

Supplies: cardstock, black and white pens, two Instagram photos, clothing tags, alphas (Jillibean Soup, Bella Blvd., Thickers).

Read more about my top accomplishments from 2011 through now:

• The EcoScrapbooking eBook became a reality. What started as a simple idea turned into a scrapbooking eBook featuring ten scrapbookers from around the world and plenty of eco-friendly ideas. I was the mastermind and gave it away for free!

• I was featured on the local news. WTOL contacted me last April and asked me to share a Mother's Day project. I was nervous, but managed my way to the studio and scrapbooked LIVE on the morning show.

• You can find EcoScrapbook on YouTube. I only made one video about organizing paper scraps and plan to make more (even though I said I was going to right after I did the last one...I have ideas, just need to make the time).

• I started a newsletter! It's called The EcoScrapbooker and you can sign up over in my sidebar. I've only sent out one email so far and just need to find my groove of writing monthly updates.

• I'm a Zutter Certified Instructor who's qualified to teach all things Bind-it-All. Check out some of my projects here.

• Speaking of teaching, the Memories Scrapbooking Expo in Columbus, Ohio welcomed me and my eco-friendly crafting abilities as I taught the Recycled Scrapbooking class in March.

• My projects have been featured on some big websites like the Reader's Digest, HGTV, and LuxeFinds.

• I was also a featured scrapbooker during May's Layout a Day and shared several sample layouts with over 400 participants.

• One of my scrapbook layouts was published in the eBook Your Story Matters.

• I made handmade paper!

• As a Glue Dots Dottess for almost three years, I've created plenty of project tutorials on this blog and my old one, but once I started EcoScrapbook, I focused on eco-friendly crafting. There are 38 upcycled craft and scrapbook projects right here that use Glue Dots.

• All of last year's Christmas cards were handmade thanks to participating in the Jingle Belles challenge.

• I designed The EcoScrapbooker Manifesto. Check it out if you haven't done so already. Pin it, print it and try to scrapbook by it.

• Sharing the love - one of my favorite blog series was called Scrapbooker Saturday where I featured different scrapbookers and their eco-friendly tips.

• And I almost forgot about another favorite series from 2011 and then a blog hop in 2012, 12 Days of Eco-Christmas, which showcased several eco-friendly Christmas projects.

• Let's talk blog traffic. I don't completely ignore it as I do like seeing visitors on my blog, but it's not a priority. It makes me feel good to blog every week and I must admit seeing over 11,000 visitors in March felt pretty dang awesome. My most popular post features three cute Easter bunnies made from toilet paper rolls. Who woulda thunk?!

There are plenty of other accomplishments, but I think I've covered most of the big ones. I'm glad I did this post and had a chance to review the past two years. I'd like to suggest you do the same.

What have you accomplished since you started your blog? If you do your own post, shoot me an email, tweet me or link up your post in the comments. ~Danielle

Take Twelve: November

With Monday still fresh in my mind, here's the story of my November Take Twelve...

The first goal of the day was to write and schedule my blog post for ^IfMine, but when I arrived home from dropping off my oldest daughter at school, the hubby announced the dining room floor was to be replaced...that day. 

Now, I don't like surprises and of course I said "No way!" After all, that meant I HAD to drop what I was doing and move everything out of dining room (including handfuls of my scrapbooks and stacks of books). I had no where to put anything. I hadn't even put away the Halloween decorations! I told him to work on the kitchen floor instead.

By the time our handyman arrived, my blog post was done and I had to move a few things out of the way, which was no big deal compared to a dining room re-haul. I knew I had to focus part of my Take Twelve on the floor and took photos of the kitchen floor (before and after), along with the black faux marble floor from the back room and a pile of "stuff" I had to move.

Since I couldn't use my kitchen for lunch, I took my youngest daughter to Burger King, which was a special treat for her since we rarely eat inside fast food restaurants. I think my favorite photo of the day was of her wearing the crown.

After lunch, we stopped by the library and she picked out movies to watch and books to read. Then we hurried to her school and got there just in time. Did I mention the day was dark and rainy? I captured that too.

Being that I couldn't do much at home and missed the past few workshops with crafty friends, I swung by Mindy's house, picked up my kits and admired her fingerprint reindeer Christmas cards (that I'll be making too).

I didn't stay long and had to head back to the schools to pick up both daughters. Crazy cleaning and laundry commenced before I realized I had two more photos to take to complete my twelve. "Can I take your pic?" I asked my oldest. "I have to take yours too," I told my youngest. And my Take Twelve for November is complete. Any questions? ~Danielle

Want more Take Twelve posts? See them here:

 

January

February

March

April

May

June
July

August
September 
October

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25 Things You May Not Know About Me

With the start of a new year, I wanted to change things up a bit here at EcoScrapbook. For example, you may have noticed that I'm starting to blog on Wednesdays instead of Mondays (and if you didn't, now you know). I also plan to dig a little deeper, sharing more of my perspective and experiences, not just craft tutorials and scrapbooking information.

So let's get to know your hostess, A.K.A. Danielle, A.K.A. Me! Below are twenty-five things you may not know about me (in no particular order).

P.S. Ignore the poor quality of most of the photos since I took them from the scrapbook my mother made for me and was too lazy to remove the page protectors.

1. I avoid big crowds of people (like at the mall right after Christmas).

2. I'd rather stay at home alone than go out. (I do enjoy a dinner out with my husband and socializing once in a while, but as a SAHM, I don't get many opportunities to do whatever I feel like doing without interruptions...like scrapbooking and crafting.)

3. I read blogs almost every day and there are approximately forty of them in my Google Reader's "Can't Miss" folder. I try to comment on at least a dozen a week (keyword is try).

4. I feel naked without eyeliner. I've been wearing it since I was twelve.

5. My husband and I renewed our wedding vows in a limo at a drive-thru wedding chapel in Las Vegas.

Our drive-thru wedding souvenir. Don't mind the hair - I was going through a bad hair phase.

6. My right armpit sweats more than my left and I once cut apart a sock as an emergency underarm helper.

7. My favorite drinks are water (in a glass) and coffee with pumpkin spice creamer.

8. I rarely drink pop.

9. When I was younger, I wanted to be a teacher, fashion designer or hairstylist. (I ended up with a B.A. in English & Communication and a minor in writing.)

10. I avoid washing dishes unless absolutely necessary and we don't own a dishwasher.

Photo taken yesterday. Should I be embarrassed?

11. I keep my fingernails short and usually polish-free, but my toenails are always painted.

12. My face is scarred. (I had severe acne for a few months right after college. I plan to have laser treatments in the future. Thank goodness for photo editing! And yes, that's scary to share here.)

13. My first car was a baby blue Plymouth Horizon and I think my dad paid $300 for it.

14. I've never been to Disney World (or Land...or anything Disney for that matter).

15. Right after high school, I worked as a front-gate photographer at the SeaWorld of Ohio (now known a Wildwater Kingdom).

16. My brother is ten years older than me and my sister is four years older than him.

The "Siblings" page from the scrapbook my mom made for me.

17. As a child, I was in a bowling league for about three years, danced for nine years, attempted basketball for one season (I sucked) and cheered for six years (was captain my Senior year).

From the "Dance" page in my mom's scrapbook.

18. I'm a lover of pasta and chocolate.

19. I'm allergic to almost every single kind of weed and tree pollen, along with cats, dogs, dust, nickel, beef, crab and a few other things (and didn't know any of this until having allergy tests within the past few years).

My allergy test results.

20. The first concert I went to was Paula Abdul and Color Me Badd in 1992 (I think that was the year). My last concert was U2 in 2011.

A collage of photos from the U2 concert.

21. I have the craziest, most vivid dreams, including ones that are scarier than most of the horror movies I've seen. I've considered writing a book of short stories based off my dreams (and I do call them dreams, not nightmares).

22. Two weeks before I left for college, my childhood home caught fire with my mom and I inside (and the plumber who accidentally caused it). We got out safely, but most of the ranch-style house was destroyed. It was surprising to see what survived like family photos, my college supplies that were in a back room and a collection of cassette tapes...

I photographed my cassette tape collection before donating them last year.

...along with a book of cds (the cases were nearby the cds, but they all melted together). The house was rebuilt within months and my parents are still living there.

Me (actually washing dishes) in my childhood home.

23. My favorite actress is Meryl Streep.

24. I'm Scottish, Irish, English, German, Italian, Polish and a "pinch of American Indian," as my mom would say.

25. My birthday is April 20 and that makes me a cusp-born Aries/Taurus. 

How's that for getting to know me? You'll probably see this list again on a scrapbook layout!

Related:

My 2012 To Do List
I ate beef (for the first time in over a year)
Try Something New