new philosophy

I have a new philosophy. It's that bad photos are better than no photos. And since it's going to be winter for a while, expect lots of poorly lit photos on this blog!

Here is a pic of JT playing with the cookware. I think it bothers John when JT plays with the cookware. Like, "why not play with toys... they are actually fun?" Or "hey, we eat off that stuff and you drool a lot." Or perhaps, "I don't get the allure of the steamer basket and isn't that kind of dangerous for a 16-month old?"

Me? I'd let him play with pretty much anything except my x-acto knife. The kid has an insatiable curiosity. And I think if I can raise a good observer and problem solver who continues to be curious, I will pretty much have succeeded as a mother.

A couple weekends ago I traveled to Wooster for a crop with my sister-in-law, Theresa. She was the crop hostess... just me and her in her basement. It was a blast. We were up until 3am both nights and did some shopping during the daylight hours.

Now I have to show you one of the things we made. Theresa had instructions from a book about scrapbooking on the cheap that showed how to make an expandable file folder covered in fabric. We modified the design a bit so that it became a mini-album instead. And oddly enough, Theresa remembered that my brother had given her some screw-posts just like the ones in post-bound albums. So we used those to bind the pages to our books. I don't know where the heck he got those things!

My album is covered in a strechy denim fabric that worked out great. I love the crazy circles on the inside fabric... Theresa nabbed this one from the remnants bin at JoAnn. The red numbers strip is fabric gaffer tape from 7 Gypsies. The chipboard pieces are either painted or embossed.

I thought "b3" was a good familial representation for right now. I'm into numbers at the moment, so I'm working them into my layouts and projects at will.

I'm not sure what will go in this album, could be a while before I finish other projects and have time to think about it. I'll probably decorate it some more when I decide what goes inside.