justem: little bits of this and that

Around here...

Found: Vintage Roll-up Map

I am very new to the whole world of thrfting/craigslist etc.  Our old house in IL was very small and pretty much decorated to the max, but our new house is much bigger, much neater, and has so many more opportunities to decorate!  I've gone just a little bit crazy lately purchasing (cheap!) things for our house.  It's really fun. (And, for the record - I was right, and the ONE item I wanted from Friday's Estate Sale walked out the door 10 minutes after the sale started, while I was still standing outside with my number waiting to get in!) If you follow me on Instagram, you have most likely already seen  some of my recent finds. I thought I'd share some of my favorites here, too!  

First up today is probably my #1 favorite "found" item. It took me a couple of weeks to "figure out" Craigslist - what boards to follow, how often they update, how to contact people, how to search, etc.  Once I discovered the search option, I started looking up a few things that I knew I wanted for the house.  At the top of my list was a vintage roll-up school map.  These things are worth their weight in gold right now - It's almost impossible to touch a good quality vintage school map for under 100 - and most are on Ebay and Etsy for $150 or more.  To see some really amazing ones, check out this seller on Ebay - a girl can dream, right? ;)

I started searching on Craiglist for map/vintage map/antique map, etc.  It's a bit hard because ANY listing that includes a map of the location would come up in the search.  But - crazily enough - there was one!  It was a beautiful vintage map of the Roman Empire that looked to be in good condition.  The seller listed it at $60. I (being the cheapskate I am) asked if she would be willing to drop to $45 - I would have bought it at $60 but it never hurts to for a lower price, right?! ;)  The seller agreed to $45 and the map was ALL MINE!!! 

(The picture I posted on Instagram the night I picked it up)

Here it is in my living room, along with a yellow Dwell Studio/Target pillow that I also happened to get from Craigslist. My husband was a little unsure of me buying pillows from Craiglist, but I promise they were clean and from a good home! ;) When I first started looking at maps, I was hoping to find one of the United States, but honestly, this is even better than I had imagined. The colors, the images, everything is just perfect!  The previous owners had used the twine to hold it up, and after looking at the map both with and without the twine, we decided to keep it!

I love that my home is slowly starting to resemble the home I want it to look like. ;)  I'm constantly adding and changing things, and I will continue to share more photos here! Have a great Tuesday!

Hello, Spring! {A Pebbles Layout!}

Happy Monday! It's cold and dreary here in Wisconsin - thought it seems like it might be this way pretty much all over the Midwest.  I thought I'd share a fun, springy Pebbles layout to brighten up my day!!  This features the new Pebbles Garden Party line. I have to admit, it is one of my favorite Pebbles lines ever!!  I love the fun colors and the handwritten accents!  These photos were taken last Spring at the Lake Katherine Nature Center near our old home in Illinois.  Hiking is one of our all time favorite family activities!  We've been exploring a little this Spring, looking for hiking spots around our new home, but we are still waiting for that warm weather to stick! ;) 

Hoping your Monday is feeling more springy than ours!! ;)  Have a great day!

Five for Friday:

1. This morning I am going to my very first estate sale.  I have my eye on something very specific, though I'm willing to bet it will be gone immediately, because if I, the common consumer, noticed it in the pictures, I'm sure some antiques dealers did, too.  I WILL have a baby strapped to me, so maybe that will gain me a little leverage...because nobody is going to push a lady with a baby...right?! ;)  I'm not even going to name said item here, because surely I will jinx it. ;)  I'll keep you posted...

2. Tonight I get to spend the evening with the fabulous Mandy Koeppen. To say I am excited would be an understatement! She is one of my favorite scrappers and people (not in that order, ha!), and I can't wait to talk with her in PERSON! I only hope I don't turn into my usual dorky nervous self like I tend to do. We are going to do some serious damage in Milwaukee's Third Ward - well, again, as much damage as one with a baby strapped to them can do. ;)

3. Last night I posted about a very serious issue on my Facebook page.  There is a Rice Krispie conundrum. I made Rice Krispie treats for the first time ever last night (I know, I know...what is wrong with me that I've never made them before). I was looking for the "official" recipe, only to discover that there is a discrepancy in the amount of marshmallows you should use. The internet told me to use 4 cups of mini marshmallows, while the bag of marshmallows told me to use 5.5 cups of marshmallows. WHAT IS A GIRL TO DO??? In the end, I used the 4 cups and they turned out perfectly...but people definitely have some very passionate opinions about their Rice Krispie treat recipes!

4. Last non-layout thing I pinned...because it's beautiful:

(source: Arthur Chang)

5. An iPhone photo from Easter that my friend, the art teacher, said was frame-able...I consider that to be a pretty fantastic complement. And on a side note, I love that when I send my husband to the store for carrots he comes home with organic rainbow carrots - he's a keeper. ;)

Happy Friday!  

Kid Crafting: Washi Easter Eggs

I was planning on sharing this photo on Saturday before Easter, and I'd like to say that I couldn't because of that ridiculous Typepad outage, but in reality, I was totally busy with yard work and cooking for Sunday and all that jazz...so...in an effort to draw out Easter a few more days...here's a cute Easter craft that I blatantly stole from the Internet. That's right, like the majority of my kid crafts, I do not claim credit or responsibility for any of this!!

My first step was using my Silhouette Cameo to create some egg shapes.  At first I thought I was going to have to buy and egg shape from the Silhouette Store because I am a big old die cutting dummy, but after about five minutes, I was able to use the "oval" tool to create some pretty stellar egg shapes. I then gathered some other supplies - namely, washi tape and a craft knife.  A word to the wise - choose tape that you don't mind wasting, because man do kids have NO clue how to conserve product! ;)  

I adhered the negative image to a white piece of cardstock using a single strip of washi, then off my daughter went with the rest of the tape. I just gave her free reign to pick and choose what and where she wanted the tape.

Here is the egg after she finished with the tape:

And here is the final product once I used my craft knife to cut out the egg:

 I took one "in progress" cutting photo...you know...because y'all couldn't figure that out on your own... ;)

They turned out really cute! We made a few more and did some other nifty activities like stacking the washi tape... ;)  

She realized they weren't in rainbow order and had to start over again...that's my girl! ;) In this photo, you can see one of the funkier eggs sitting on the table next to her...not sure why I didn't take a good picture of that one.

The rainbow washi prompted her to make a rainbow egg. I love that she chose to create a (somewhat) symmetrical rainbow going from top to bottom!

 And yes, she is indeed wearing a tutu and a swimsuit over her shirt...because that's just how we roll...

It truly was a fun and easy project. We managed to make six eggs in the short time that her brothers were napping, and if you know them, you know that when I say "short", I really mean it!!  The only bummer is that the washi is not the stickiest of tapes, and the tape is starting to come up on a lot of them. Perhaps I should laminate them and keep them forever. Or throw them away and make more next year. We shall see... ;) Hope all of my Easter celebrating readers (all four of you, ha!) had a great Easter!  

Project Life, Week 3 (Yes, I'm that behind...)

What's that? You all thought I gave up on project life four months ago??  Nah!! I just like to be like 15 weeks behind! ;)  (Honestly, I have no idea what week it is right now.)  I had a little free time without any assignments, so I finally finished my Week 3. It's pretty bad - super simple, not very well organized or embellished...but it's done!  This week uses the Gossamer Blue April kits!

Look for Week 4 in about July... ;)

Five

Good Morning!  Today I have another Gossamer Blue layout to share. This was made with a mix of kits and was the first project that I used my new typewriter on!  The color is a little wonky in this photo - it's very white in person!!

I am not always the best embellishment user - I find it hard to use tons on a page, but I love how even though I used them sparingly, the layout doesn't look too empty!! And can we talk about the fact that rub-ons have made a come-back??!!!  

And a secret - the reason some of the words are cut out is only because I realized when I was finished that I had used the same word twice!  To fix it, I typed out a new word and covered up the repeat and then did the same with a few other words to make it look like it was on purpose! ;)

Have a great Thursday!!

#workspacewednesday

Happy Wednesday!  Last week I talked about the new typewriter I got at the UW Swap Shop.  The typewriter, however, was not what I stood in line at 7:45 a.m. one Friday morning to get! ;)  What I wanted...was this:

When I first saw the picture of these cabinets of drawers, I assumed they were small like card catalog size.  When I got to the SWAP, I discovered a rather large (and crazy heavy) piece of furniture.  Without really thinking about  the implications of buying a giant piece of furniture that would need to be hauled into our attic, I plopped down my cash, had some strong students load it into the back of my truck, and headed home.  Once I got home and we had to get it out of the truck did I start to think that maybe this was not the worlds greatest idea...but look how COOL it is!!!  

Fast forward a few weeks to this past Saturday.  My husband and I decided it was time to haul this puppy upstairs.  We used an appliance dolly to get it to the second level of our house, but the stairs to the attic we re too steep and narrow so we just had to lift it up step by step. It was quite a process...I was on the bottom and basically bench pressed the cabinet up each step, took a rest, then did it again while my husband pulled from the top.  The SWAP Shop had some listed online...they ranged in weight from 570-645 pounds. ;) We took all the drawers out, but man...it was still really heavy.

To get an idea of how deep it is - here is a side photo. I think it was 28" deep, 20" wide, and 53" tall. It is much deepr than the IKEA Expedit shelf it sits next to!

(BTW...clearly I did not clean or organize a single thing before I took these photos! Remember...work in progress!)

The drawers open a little differently than expected - each row opens up entirely and the drawers life out. This is great because I can very easily move individual drawers if I decide I want a certain item in another place!  Here is a look in one row:

Some day I will get all the drawers filled and share them all...but for now I'm just working on cleaning and organizing my space now that I finally have enough places to store things!!  I really love the cabinet - and though my husband might not agree with me - it was totally worth the pain of hauling it upstairs!!

Rockstar {Pinspired with Gossamer Blue}

I can't believe another month has gone by so quickly!! It feels like just yesterday that I posted my March Pinspired layout!!  This month I had fun with a cool piece of inspiration, the cover a book all about breaking out of creative ruts - how perfect! ;)

(Source: Creative Block: Get Unstuck, Discover New Ideas. Advice & Projects from 50 Successful Artists)

I loved the look of the burst (rays? not sure what the proper term is here!!) coming out of the box, and I was already planning on using a square photo - it's like it was meant to be! Here is my take on it:

For more details, be sure to check out the original post on the Gossamer Blue blog!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

Five for Friday:

Inspired by my oh-so-creative friend Kelly Purkey, I thought I'd give 5 on Friday a try. I tend to epically fail and just about every blogging endeavor I begin (Ventage Tuesdays, Lists with Friends, Pinterest Proves...) so if this one lasts more than a few weeks I will consider it a success. ;)  

1. I finally got caught up with Parenthood. I hadn't watched a single episode since the show came back after the Olympics. In the last week I think I watched 6 episodes.  This is just about the only show I watch on TV (though, Call the Midwife is back now, yahoo!) so I didn't feel all that guilty about spending 5+ hours in front of the tv! I SO want Joel and Julia to get back together. He has been one of my favorite characters on that show since the beginning...so glad to see signs of the old Joel sneaking in!  And - I want to buy the Braverman house! I love that house and yard!!

2. Taken straight from my FB page today: "Today a boy in Mirielle's class told her that she looks like Elsa. That kid has got the pre-school pick up lines down..." ;)

3. Speaking of Parenthood - I was excited to hear this song pop up a few episodes back!   

4. The last thing I pinned...Banana Blondies.  I want to make them...right now. :)

5. It's spring. Finally. Thank goodness.