Mother / Daughter Letters

Thank you Pinterest for the great idea. The Pinterest pin talked about writing letters back and forth with your daughter. I just loved the idea to start a dialog with Mouse that we could continue through high school (or at least that is my hope). 

This weekend Mouse and I headed to Achiever's to pick out a journal. We wanted it to be a mix of letters and Smash Journal. This SNAP journal fit our needs perfectly. The journal comes as a three ring binder with journal pages, dividers and photo holders (kind of a Project Life/ Scrapbooking / Smash mix).

We couldn't just leave the cover blank now could we. Mouse picked out a packet of quotes for the book. I chose this one for the cover. Then we mod podged a vintage photo, lace and tag to the cover.  

I started off the book with a letter to Mouse. I started the journal as more of scrapbook page with a letter written on the white parts.  

I loved that I got to use this old picture of Mouse. She has always loved writing. We have notebooks, journals and scrap paper all over the house with her stories in it. So far we've written a few letters back and forth (she is a little excited right now). I hope as time goes on the length of time between letters will increase, while the thought involved in the letters increase. 

I also hope that this gives her a space to voice hopes, dreams and fears that she may not be able to say in person to me but feels more comfortable writing. 

~ Cassi

* Check out my link up page to see where this project has been linked *

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Sneaking in Art Time

Since we finished the craft room, I have been trying to make a more conscious effort to do more art. Whether that is sewing, scrap-booking or painting it doesn't matter as long as I am spending time being creative.

I have also been getting Mouse to focus on more creative outlets too. Letting her use whatever supplies she wants in the room to create. Trying not to say no when Mouse wants me to join her at times that are not the most convenient to me.

One of the things we have had fun doing is looking up art journals on Pinterest and trying them out for ourselves. I know Pinterest gets a bad rap (so do blogs for that matter) for giving people unrealistic expectations. But some of it if used to inspire and not compare is great. The ideas that flow from there are endless.

Mouse loved the bird design in the right corner. So we set the Ipad out on the table and she used it for inspiration in her own art journal.

She used colored pencils and markers to create piece.

I love her little blue bird. And that she is learning to add thoughts to her work. I hope this trend continues.

Here is the finished piece. Not it's not exact to the Pinterest one, but that is the point, it's there it inspire. To bring about your own ideas. Take time today to create. 

~ Cassi 

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Tops from 2012

This past year has seemed to fly by. Looking back through the post of this last year, I must say it's been a fun one.

My favorite part of last year was a family trip to here. 

I love that we can take these trips and experience all that there is. So looking forward to our family trip to Jamaica this year.

We also managed to get a lot of projects completed this past year. My favorite one being our new door.

Seriously the difference this made to the look of our house is incredible. Still months later this makes me smile when I pull into the drive.

Another remake we did that I love is our thrifty bench find.  

 I can't wait to get some pictures taken using this bench. Which brings me to a huge thing from last year. I started my own business. That has been challenging and fun all at the same time.

Thus being said my picture taking in general has increased a lot this year. And I have been looking at different ways to document those pictures. That is when I stumbled on this thing called Smash Journal / Art Journaling. So I combined the two (though this one is much more just a smash journal).

I hope to work on more of this in this next year.

 I haven't forgotten Mouse. Her and I did some fun knock offs for school this year. No Mini Boden budget here but you couldn't tell with the shirt we made. I had so much fun planning these out with her. We will have to do move of that next year.  

 So what else do you our readers (and us) have to look forward to next year. I am hoping to get our project page done. Then you can see all that we have been working on in one place. I am hoping to do more recipes. I cook all the time I need to post more. We have one more room in our house that needs to be finished and a few more outdoor projects. But for now it's New Years and we have a party to get ready for. So see you all next year.

~ Cassi

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Art Journal

I thought I would share one of my art journals today. I haven't been as diligent as I would like to be in working on this but I am still enjoying it when I do.

I thought that this thankful one is perfect for November as we remember to be thankful for all that we have.

~ Cassi

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Five Minute Friday ~ Story

I jumping back over to Five Minute Fridays with Lisa Jo today.
On Fridays we write, one topic, no edits. Just the pure form of writing to write. Join all of with Lisa Jo at The Gypsy Mama.

Topic: Story

I want to be a journalor (is that even a word). But I just can't seem to make it a habit.
Maybe I do in the context of the blog. But this not the truly personal or at least not right away. But I seem to think more than I write.

I have tried to get my story out a few time times. Steve and I bought journals in the midst of the Fires. They have a few pages of notes in them.

Then I saw Art Journals and  I thought yes, that is for me. This lets my creative side out and I will write while I create. I have about 5 pages done since January, I guess I missed a few days.

Then I saw Smash Journals and I thought this is it. They are do what you please type journaling. Because, you know, the blank pages of the others were to restricting. I can say our travel smash journals are the most I have come to journaling so far. Though they are less smash and more scrapbooking. But for now it's a start.

I am trying to get Mouse to journal more. She loves the idea of it. Mostly I think she likes to buy journals, diaries and sketch books. But in my desire for her to have a place of her own to write I keep buying them.

I guess like her I keep hoping that it will be the vessel that prompts me to tell my story as beautifully as the ladies here do. Someday maybe I will realize that it is my story not the vessel that is import.

Then again maybe I need to go get a new journal.

~ Cassi



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Finished DIY Smash Journal

Back in May I featured my DIY Smashbook inspired journal. I made this journal before we left for California, then during the trip we wrote in it every night. I thought I would show all of you some of the pages we finished.

Here is the fancy cover we bought.

We actually had so much fun using the Instagram photos that we thought we'd keep it going with our camping trips.

~ Cassi


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Wine and Cheese DIY Journal

Steve and I love trying different cheeses. Our favorite is Parmesan with pears or sharp cheddar and apples. But there are a few cheeses out there that we really don't like and we forgot which those are when we get to the store. So we decided to make a Wine and Cheese Journal to keep track of the ones we've tried. The wine part I added because I can never remember which wines I liked.

We had so much fun making our travel journal that we thought we'd try some other styles. This style DIY journal we learned from Beautiful Mess blog. To start with I cut some heavy card start into squares.

Taking the squares I then taped the pages together with plain old masking tape. Mostly it was because that was the only tape I had but, I liked the contrast once I started. Taping the pages was a little difficult after there was a lot of pages. But it worked out ok. You start with two pages face up pushing the edges together I taped them together. Then flipped the left page over and started the process over with the next page.

Once the pages were all together I used numerous layers of tape on binding of the book to reinforcement. To finish it off I added letter and some scrapbook embellishments.

Inside the journal we are keeping track of which cheese's we've bought and how they tasted along with what we liked eating with it. We are also doing the same with wine. The labels make great visuals to the page.

Check out our links page
~ Cassi



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DIY Paper Tape

Last week, I showed you how to make your own Smashbook, this week we are covering paper tape. For those that may not want to make your own or need to know what I am talking about go here. For those that want to learn how to make Washi tape, just follow along.
Pick your favorite scrapbook paper and double sided tape that has paper on one side.

Take the tape and run it down the length of the paper (pay attention to how you want the pattern to run)

Then using a cutting system cut the paper to match the tape size.

And there you go your Washi paper tape!

To use just peel off the other side and stick to your DIY Smashbook.
Check our link page to see where we link up to.

~ Cassi

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DIY Smashbook / Journal

I have been admiring Elsie's journal's for some time now. I have even followed a few of her Art journal prompts. But, I have been looking for something more preplanned to start with. Then last week on a trip to Archivers to look for pens, I saw Smash book. Yep, I know I am WAY behind the times.
Smash book or Ditto books are kind of a preset art journal. It takes scrapbooking to a non-perfection level. It was exactly what I was looking for.
But, once I started pricing out all the pieces I would need to get have a book ready to go, it seemed a little high and none of the books really met my needs.

I decided to take pieces from both brands and a little bit of Elsie's style and make my own. Steve and I decided we would try it for our upcoming California trip. We decided we wanted to make a three ring binder style. We picked out a binder with a good cover and the old school hardboard that holds pictures. To start the journal portion, I pulled off the cellophane and then adhered scrapbook pages to the hardboard. To that I added the different embellishments. Here is a few of the pages I did.

I picked up the Smash pen / glue combo. I love the thought process on of this pen.

Once we got it done we realized that we didn't want to wreck the cover on vacation so we put the finished pages in a three ring binder for travel and once home we'll put in the hard cover book.

Mouse loved the idea so much she decided to make one herself. Here is her version.

Check out my link up page to see where we are linking up our DIY Smash book.

Also remember to sign up for our DaySpring Redeemed Wallet Giveaway.

~ Cassi

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