Give Me Liberty

It's a good day.
I have Scenic Route's Liberty in my hot little hands.
I wish there was an auto ship program for Scenic Route.
Layle, are you hearing me?
Every new release, just send me a brick.
Seriously.
Surely, I'm not the only one.

In other news, I'm seeking a different kind of liberty or maybe freedom...from clutter. We are having friends over for a meal on Monday and I want my space to be completely organized and pleasant by then. Cross your fingers for me.

Book Redemption

If I were to ever get a notion to start a new blog, I would call it "The Redeemer of Old Books". There's something so romantic and rewarding for me in rescueing old books from being discarded--I seem to have an especially strong weakness for cookbooks from the 60s. Today's garage sale adventure yielded one candidate for cookbook-ish redemtion--a beautiful copy of Better Homes and Garden Casserole Cook Book from the grand year of 1964!



It a big hardback and only has some minor damage--one page that has obviously had one piece of a photo chopped rather haphazardly from it. I can just imagine the child working on a school project, desperately seeking a photo of a head of cabbage...feeling elated to find the needed photo. He (presumption) cuts it carefully from the cookbook and glues it to his project, having no idea the damage he's done to mom's favorite cookbook. :)



It even has a few notations in the margins. I love those. Near the recipe for Beef Goulash and Noodles are written the words "Omit garlic. Add more salt." By the recipe for Spinach-Stuffed Zucchini are the words "Add more bacon and try with Parmesan cheese". Sounds good to me. :)

And did I mention the smell of old books? Ah yes. I adore that smell.



In other news, I'm teaching a new Scenic Route class next Sunday afternoon at Scrap'n Memories. I'm changing the model for my classes. From now on, I'm keeping it short, sweet, easy and affordable. Each installment is going to take only one hour and the very easy-to-accomplish layout that can be purchased as a class or a kit. The price is going to be very affordable--only $12. Kits come with very detailed instructions--each class project can be assembled with the step-by-step instructions and photos.

We skipped Halloween this year so I have no photos for this page. On my own copy of this layout, I'm changing the title to "It's all about the Salsa!". Instead of trick-or-treating we went out as a family for Mexican and Joal and I firmly believe that a Mexican restaurant can rise or fall by it's Salsa. Never underestimate the power of good Salsa!

Ole! The Salem line from Scenic Route would work great for a great many themes...I love that about Scenic Route.

We watched Fantastic 4: The Rise of the Silver Surfer today and I just have to say "what a great movie". I don't make it a practice to recommend movies (been burned by that too many times) but I really liked this one...probably enough to own it. I take what my sons watch on television very seriously and not much gets into this house. I'm a firm believer in the motto "Garbage in. Garbage Out." I found N-o-t-h-i-n-g in this movie to object to...really, nothing. DO you know how unusual that it? No words. No sexual innuendo. It's Good vs. Evil and good wins. Pro-marriage. Pro-team work. Sacrificial giving of ones self. Never say die. Look beyond a person's outter appearance. All things I like for my boys to see. If I looked hard enough I think there could be some shadowing of the redemption of humanity thru Christ. But that's another topic altogether. :)

I hope you are having a superb weekend!

Simple Girl

It's true. I'm a simple girl and simple things make me happy. No high-maintanance issues here.

I've been looking for this particular set of Club Scrap stamps for years and was thrilled to find them listed on SBA a few days ago for $2.50. (Can you say bargain?) They arrived in my mailbox today and it totally made my day.

Last night I made a new grocery shopping/recipe journal using my last sheet of what is most likely my all-time favorite paper from Scenic Route. Yes, I've been hoarding it for something special because it's my last sheet. It's truly vintage. :) It's no longer available from Scenic Route. I tried to make it dressy but after several unsatisfactory attemps, I gave up and left it as is. It's nice to have a fresh place to keep recipe ideas and grocery lists.

In other news, my blog friend Mimi completed this little meme (Mimi, meme...funny huh) and I thought it was too good to pass up. Hey, it's food-related. I can do a food-meme with my eyes closed. :)

Take the letters of your name and add a food-related factoid for each one.

S-Salt. I love salt and salty things. From childhood, I have over-salted, most everything. One of my limited memories of my maternal grandmother is that she was always saying salt would "dry up your blood". Turns out she's right, but I still love it. Especially kosher salt.

A-Averse to anything black. I don't do black olives, squid ink, or anything "blackened". I've always thought blackened was a fancy way of saying "burned", and I'm not buying it. Something about black just isn't appetizing to me.

R-Recipes. I enjoy reading recipes. I rarely cook anything new...but I love recipes.

A-Apples. I think apples are one of the most wonderful fruits on the planet. See, another simple thing.

H-Hot Ham and Cheese, Grilled. This is my "go to" food for anytime someone in my house is sick or we are crunched for time. It's like a magic food. Always tastes good (unless of course, you end up with it "blackened") and always soothes. Have you ever made a Double-Decker Grilled Ham and Cheese on Sourdough bread? Now that, my friends, is divine.

And finally, I have the Monday Challenge up over at the Scrap'n Memories blog. Check it out.

So now you know.

Scenic ROUTE Cardage

Scenic Route Class today...this is one of the cards we made.

It's a very simple process...just use the 7 Gypsies self-inking stamp to create the squares on a variety of papers. Cut the squares out and attach to the card in a random fashion.

Finished card is 6x6.

Happy Weekend.

Class Tomorrow

My Scenic Route Class at Scrap'n Memories is tomorrow--Saturday, October 27. Here's a peek:

In class we will complete three cards, a composition book and a mini-calendar all using the Scenic Route Ashville line.

If you have a little time in the afternoon, I think there are 2 seats left.

SQUEEKY CLEAN

The peas gallery has been ripe with squeeky clean and graphic layouts and projects lately...so much so that I've added some new people to my ever growing list of favorites. Thought I might share some with you:

STEPHPEA (had a LO of the day this week) She does some digital work that would translate into paper really well.

TERIISHERE I'm ga ga over her clean and funky style. This LO is one of my faves of hers. It's one that shows (again) how important it is to get the story behind the photo.

ROREE Her use of beutiful brilliant color is amazing and she uses Scenic Route often.

WINKS Her style is the ultimate in stark museum boldness, which I like very much. Very New Yorker in my mind.

NATUREMOMM I could copy everything in her gallery and be happy.

And finally This LO by bodil using chipboard scrolls as waves made me want to get out those cruise beach photos and try again with them. I love this idea. Totally. It's unexpected and resourceful.



In other news, I used some older Scenic Route on this layout yesterday. I'm loving these wallet photo sizes, too. (The background green is from K&Co Addison.) Mossy Oak is a brand of camo.

I hope you have a great weekend!