Twirly Girl, Start to Finish

I love working on a LO that is not totally planned from the start. It is so fun to play and not know exactly where things will end up. I had a general idea of where I wanted this LO to go - small picts on a line of twine. Pinks and green papers to highlight the colors in the picts. That was the only planning. Let's get started shall we?


First I picked some stacks of things I thought might make it on the page:

With a background paper from Sassafras picked and photos cropped, I began shuffling around bits of paper...

And More Shuffling

I just love playing with all the bits, don't you?!? (My favorite part, I think :)

On to the title:

Which turned out to be rather pesky!

hmmmmm, maybe somewhere else. Thankfully, Thickers don't always stick.

mmm, nopers - not liking that, seems to be floating

OK, liking that better, but the black letters had to go. I felt like they were a bit stark against the softness of the other elements. And, now that I have moved this title around so many times, the Thickers have lost the little stickiness they once had . On to the sewing machine for a red line of stitching....

OK, now I have managed to punch holes in it, but no stitching due to running out of thread! Argh!

Out of red. White will have to do.

Yes.... it will do.

Do I care about lining it up with the previously punched holes? Nope.

OK, Now, I like the title!

But, the LO  still needs something. Seems a bit unbalance and bare. How bout my "go to's" of Washi, ink, and pen marks?

I love the way these elements add something to balance things while also giving a bit more movement and personality to a page. These finishing touches are always fun to add! After a few more stickers from Sassafras and Basic Grey...

Enough futzing and a bit of journaling...

I shall call it done! (Click on the finished LO to view this in my gallery at Two Peas and see a list of products used.)

I enjoy the process.

What is your favorite part of the process when you create?

Why I Love Scrapbooking

What's So great about Making Stuff?


I have always loved to make artsy things, I even took the plunge and went to art school once upon a time, before there was even such a thing as blogging! I made art for money and I made art for fun. I made art someone else wanted and I made art like I wanted. As I grew my family, my artistic endeavors turned to knitting and gardening. Things I could do with my kids, as a family, together. With the most recent expansion of my family, I picked up scrapbooking - as my nesting instincts turned to filing and paper organization combined with a love of air conditioning. Being 8 months pregnant in July will do that to you!


I was once proud to say I wasn't a scrapbooker. Silly, I know. Ridiculous even! I thought scrapbooking was nothing more than goofy stickers on oddly bright paper. You can read more about that on this LO:

Feel free to click on the picture to see more.


OK, now that I have gotten past all of that silliness, I can proudly say I have jumped with both feet straight into a pile of pretty paper and I am not looking back!

I mean really - what is not to love about a row of colorful albums and stacks of pretty paper?

In all seriousness, creating - whatever your chosen medium - certainly is a priceless endeavor. Good for the mind and the soul. 

So, without further ado, here are all the reasons I have fallen in love with paper crafting specifically:

• I can do it with my (little) kids. I really can. They love it. They have access to all of my cutoffs in their own special scrap basket and they make their own "layouts" and crafts.
• It is about my family, for my family. Family is my priority.
• It is affordable (for the most part!) Really, there are not many hobbies that allow you to spend $5 or less and make something for your family to treasure.
• I can do it inside, while kiddos are sleeping and it is dark outside (a time when I can't indulge one of my other loves - gardening)
• I can do it while multi-tasking. I often have the baby in the backpack while I am shuffling bits of pretty paper around on a page. Or, I can futz with a LO while my older kiddo is working on a school assignment, or while waiting for a load of laundry to dry. I am blessed to have a space right off the main living area that I can keep messy - and stroll into at any moment, just for a moment. (More on that later another time!)
• It is quick. I do love to knit, but man-alive it takes patience and time. I love the instant gratification that scrapbooking allows me.
• And finally, its just fun! Fun to make a mess, fun to organize the stuff, fun to play with photos, fun to remember the moments.

Can you relate? Are your reasons the same? Or different? I would love to hear from you!

Hello there!

soapHOUSEmama here with the first of many posts coming from the Purple Mailbox. Why purple? Because I like it :) You may also be wondering if I make soap? Click on the image just to the right to find out more about that.

Now that we have cleared that up - lets get one with some Artsy Craftsy Bloggy talk. What do I make? Scrapbook pages, papercrafty things, hand-knit coziness and pretty gardening spaces. But, most of all, I make messes!

Can you relate? My desk usually looks like this or worse after an evening of crafting!

I'm totally OK with the mess. I love it! It makes me smile. Why? Because its the process of making something that I love, just as much, if not more than the finished product. Every scrapbooker, artist, creative type has their own unique process and I love learning from others how they create and the kind of artsy craftsy messes they make!

Why do we create? Why do I like to Scrapbook? Why do I like these messes? Stay tuned to find out :)

This is what I hope to record on this blog. The process. The methods behind the madness. Mine and others. And, of course the fun finished projects as well :)

Thanks to a wonderful class that I have been enjoying, I have started this journey. I do hope you will join me. Please take a moment to subscribe using some of the options on the right. I look forward to meeting you and learning your process as well!

Until next time - how messy do you make your space? Does it make you smile? Share a link below with a Pict of your creative mess. I can't wait to see.