Laurie Bertrand (Liquid Paper blog)

Art Party

This morning I stumbled across these photos that I took  at a birthday party thrown by my friend for her daughter. (You might remember the cake.) She'd thought of everything to make this art-inspired party fun and colorful. Face painting, little manicures in a rainbow of colors, and snow cones with fruity colorful flavors. But my favorite activity by far was the painting table. Each place contained a blank canvas, one for each little girl, and a rainbow of colorful paints to choose from. Ah! It was so hard not to jump in there myself. So. Hard.

olivia's banner

I was there when this lovely girl came into the world and am so happy to have been there for her 8th birthday. We put this birthday banner together (and another one that's not pictured) and I must say she's a fantastic and innovative co-crafter. Happy Birthday again Olivia! Please say "hi" to your mom and dad and little sister for me. Oh, and while you're at it, would you also give your mom a big hug and tell her it's from me? Thanks!

Love,
Aunt Laurie

Here's a shot of a banner in action. Don't you love that doorway!

And here's a shot of the supplies we used. I have to confess that the letters were a tad close together but, with Olivia's help, we came up with a fabulous fix. You can't even tell we had trouble. Oh, and I made my template in Pages. Super easy.

i miss that girl

The one who used to make things. I've been so busy for oh let's say three years that I haven't really made anything. Oh sure, I make things for a living on the computer. But I haven't made anything just for fun and and to exercise my crafty creativity. I miss that time, that girl, that me. I need to make something! Something that isn't on the computer and isn't a photo (though you can bet I'll photograph it when I do make it). *sigh* I don't know when I'll do it, but soon. Soon. SOON! 

A look back at a few things I've made and hope to make again some day:

staying power

I can't take down the Christmas decorations. The house will be so bare and unsparkly without them. So just this moment I've decided that some things are staying and that is that! One of the many things that is staying... a paper snowflake wreath that I made myself. It is about 18" in diameter and hangs above my desk. 

 

The 400th

With this post, I thee wed. Okay, maybe not exactly wed, but I think it's definitely getting serious. I have hit another milestone with this old blog -- my 400th post! I am not a prolific blogger by any means, but I have stuck with Liquid Paper for almost five years now. And you, you, my dear friends, have stuck with the both of us for 4 x 100 posts! Hmm. You're either very loyal or very patient people -- or a whole lot of both. But most and best of all, you're very kind, generous and gosh darn it cool-as-all-get-out because you get my jokes, my silly stories and well, me. You like me, you really like me. 

Then it hit me. What should I do to both thank you and commemorate this momentous occasion? I quickly realized that making 400 of anything was way too insane -- even for me. How about photographing a cake with four hundred candles? That sounded both cool and dangerous. Best leave it for another time though. I toyed with the idea of doing something on a smaller, more manageable scale. But, reducing it to something like one whatchamacallit per hundred posts would -- to my mind -- diminish the happy occasion. 

Then, just when the drama was at its peak and my crafters block and panic had risen to a level no mere mortal could possibly take, the storm clouds parted, the birds sang and it came to me: I would create a... a Thumbnail Retrospective. (Imagine the angelic choir here -- ahhhhh.)  Mmm... a Thumbnail Retrospective. Powerful stuff huh? Yes, I knew right away it was the perfect thing to do. What could be better than a little (pun intended) look back at all those pictures of all those crafts, projects, places, people and things? (Hmm, I think I've developed a bit of a flair for the melodrama a long the way, no?)

Ahem. Skip to the bottom for details about a prize drawing. Wink, wink.* 

And so, without any further ado I present to you the Liquid Paper 400th Post Thumbnail Retrospective!

*If you looked through all of that, you deserve a prize! There's got to be a prize, right? I'd love to give away prints of some of my photography. So, if you made it this far, go ahead and leave a comment. Then, next Tuesday I'll pick ten comments at random and contact you about your prize. In the meantime, you can look through my archives or my flickr photos and decide what picture you'd like to receive. And thanks again for sticking with me all this time! 

completely over due

I am so far behind with all of the things that need my attention. If you're waiting on a package from me (you poor things certainly know who you are) I am so sorry for the delays on top of delays. If it is any consolation, I seem to be checking things off of the to do list at record speed this week. My goal is to be 100% caught up by this time tomorrow because a girl ought to have some bit of her weekend saved for enjoying. Too right!

What you have here are finished shots of the mobile I made for the Mobile Swap. I also made some extra goodies to accompany it -- your standard "please forgive my lateness" type bribe. I won't show any pics of them here so that they will be a surprise.

board now

This is what my current inspiration board is looking like + here is a flickr set of my studios (old and new). That set includes photos of all my past inspiration boards, in case you're interested.

As you can see, I'm gravitating towards pinks and blues. Possibly in anticipation of Spring. Is the pipe cleaner bunny too much of a giveaway?

PAPER*QUILT PROJECT INTERVIEW
Also, I've been so busy I completely forgot to mention that Dawn posted my interview over at the Paper*Quilt Project. Please go and check it out when you have a minute or two. And thank you so much Dawn for all your hard work!

it was hurting my eyes

I never thought that I'd say this, what with all of the white on my side of the studio -- white walls, white furniture, white chairs -- but, there's just too much color going on in there. I need to dial it down a bit. Therefore, as a part of the current de-cluttering process, I've decided to get rid of the visual clutter too. I feel like getting any more large storage units would only add to the clutter. So, at this point if I'm going to keep something, I know that I'll need to get creative and find a place for it.

My first project was my big IKEA jar of ribbons and trim. I like having them all together, but it looked like a tempest inside there.

Here's what I did:

I cut a couple sheets of white card stock to fit inside the jar + added a simple label with stamps. Easy peasy. It all equals a much simpler and visually appealing jar.

Wowza!
Thank you to everyone who has already left a comment for the fabric give away drawing! And thank you to all of you who delurked for the very first time. I had no idea you were out there. Yay! There are still a couple of days left to enter so don't be shy. Oh, and if you're looking for the items that I talked about adding to my esty shop, you probably noticed that they're not there yet. Yep, I'm still gathering items and taking photos and getting sidetracked by ribbon jars and clutter. But, I'm slowly plodding along and will let you know here when I've added them. Thanks and have a great weekend all!

p.s. You can also sign up for the shop mailing list over here to get shop updates via e-mail.

pretty easy valentine

These days, easy is ultimately what I'm looking for when it comes to crafts and it doesn't get much easier than these simple stamped fabric Valentines.

Here's how you can make one (or a dozen) too:

♥ Cut a heart shape out of paper to create your pattern. If you're no good with freehand cutting, I made a PDF pattern for you that you can download here:

Easy Valentine Heart Pattern [PDF]

♥ Pin the paper pattern to any fabric of your choice (I used linen).

♥ Stamp out your message with ink and letter stamps.

What will you do with your so-easy-it-should-be-a-crime fabric Valentines? I think I'm going to add mine to a the paper Happy Valentine's Day garland that I made for our mantel and then make a bunch more to send out to friends and family. ♥

for the sisters who peek at their gifts

Both my sister and my sister-in-law were (and perhaps still are!) gift sneak-peakers. So, to fulfill an eventuality and give them the gift of an early look at their birthday goodies, I've prepared these pictures. However, I will not tell them which gift is for which girl. Ha!

Happy Birthday Jill ♥ Michelle. Enjoy!

Note: the big spool of twine is not my personal spool and is not just an accessory -- it is a part of this gift!