Q & A: Scrapbooking, Steak, and everything in Between

Happy Sunday, friends! I hope this past week was a productive and happy one for you. I had several doors open this past week, which I can't wait to tell you about.

In the meantime, I have some Q & A for ya today!


Question : How did you get started scrapbooking?
It's actually a fun story! My dad is a business consultant, and he consulted for a scrapbooking company back in the day. The company gave my dad a bag of product, which he put in the basement. I was hunting around for a photo album in the basement when I came across the bag of scrappy stuff. It included everything you need to get started--paper, cardstock, stickers, trimmer, adhesive, scissors, etc. I was immediately hooked, and the rest is history!

Question: How/why/when did you get started with design teams?
Well, I actually have a little surprise up my sleeve related to that:) But the short answer is that since I found scrapbooking on my own, I never had friends who shared my hobby. So once I discovered the online scrapping community, I was thrilled and wanted to get involved. I wanted to be on design teams partly to get some validation for my work (if I'm being totally honest!), but also to make connections with other scrappers. It took me about 6 months to get published, and around 1 year to start getting on teams.

Question: Do any of your friends scrapbook?

I have some "real life" friends who dabble in scrapbooking, but they aren't at all involved in the industry side of things. And thanks to design teams, blogging, and message boards, I now have a whole group of scrappy buddies!

Question: Is there a short explanation for the no dairy-meat mixing?

Short? Not so much. But I'll do the best I can! The origin of the prohibition comes from several verses in the Torah that say you can't "cook a kid in its mother's milk." (if you're in the looking-things-up mood, the verses are in Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21).

Now here's the tricky part: Orthodox Judaism believes that there are two parts to the Torah--the written Torah (aka 5 books of Moses), and the oral Torah (the Mishna and Talmud). Certain things that are mentioned in the written Torah are explained in the oral Torah. For example, the written Torah says "remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy," but how exactly do you do that? Sing a song? Do hula hoops? Have a scrapbook party every Saturday? (that, actually, might work for me:)) The oral Torah explains the "how." Orthodox Jews believe that the oral Torah was also given to Moses at Mount Sinai, to explain how to live the precepts in the Torah.

Now that you've heard my long background, the quick answer is that the "kid in its mother's milk" part is in the written Torah, and the rest of the milk and meat in general being separated comes from the oral Torah.

Now did that work, are you just more confused?

Question: What makes kosher salt kosher?

Another aspect of keeping kosher is that we can't eat blood. Since kosher salt is coarse, it tends to draw the blood out of the meat more effectively (or so S is saying while we're getting read to leave the house). Really any salt is kosher, but that's why kosher salt is called what it is!

Question: Where did you get the dresser you use for paper?

It's actually a TV cabinet from Ikea! I added 3 extra shelves and legs to make it look more "furniture-y," and there you are. I had been looking for something like this for a long time, and even called a scraproom furniture company who quoted me $900 for it (!!), so I was very pleased to find this option:)

And now a question for YOU--what's the question you get asked most frequently?

Hope all have a happy healthy Sunday!

[Image sources: http://scrapbooking.cc/, http://www.sweet-meats.com/, http://www.etsy.com/listing/71512637/pinch-of-salt]

WCS June (and a birthday!)

Today is not only the day of the June gallery reveal over at Write. Click. Scrapbook, but it's also the website's second birthday!

( Can you find me in there? I'm the one who clearly did not write her letter thick enough. I really need to work on my letter-collage-participant skillz.)

Not only that, but WCS has a new site design, and FIVE new members! They are Alexandra Sirugue-Macleod, Claudia "Clouds" Shadler, and some of my near and dear scrappy buddies--Christa Pastenbaugh, Lisa Kisch, and Marcy Penner.

The challenge for June was to get inspired by a previous WCS post of some sort. I love the Sunday photos + words feature, so I went with that.

Here's my inspiration piece:
And here's what I did with it:

I loved the quote, and the simple design of the original image, so I kept the layout of my page fairly similar. I used lots of layering and bits and pieces behind the photo to add some va-voom.

And a little close-up:


I have a new obsession with closeup, sneaky images--they just look so pretty!

Check out the rest of the WCS gallery here.


And that's all for tonight! S is at work late for what seems like the 8,654th day in a row, but whose counting. I, on the other hand, am keeping excellent company with the Real Housewives of Orange County, New York, and possibly soon New Jersey. Good times:) I also have plenty of upcoming blog posts to keep me busy, so stay tuned!


Question: Do YOU like seeing close-up images, or just the main layout? If you blog/post layouts online, do you do one or both?

Memorial Day scrapping

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

To tell the truth, until recently, Memorial Day didn't trigger much of an emotional response in me. I didn't know anyone personally who was in the army, and was generally more focused on the sales and hot dogs.

But thanks to the scrapbooking world, I have read hundreds of words by women whose husbands risk their lives every day. So this Memorial Day, I have so many families on my mind.This post by Stephanie Howell is especially beautiful.

So it seemed fitting to show you a layout today that's all about gratitude. In an effort to remind myself of what I have, instead of always focusing on what I want, I decided to write down one thing I'm grateful for every day for 30 days.

This could easily be a great mini book or even home decor item, but when the idea came to me in layout form, I decided to go for it! It's still in progress, hence the extra lines:)


I used lots of Elle's Studio Handmade Layers tags on this one, and my beloved Studio Calico woodgrain butterflies. Seriously, woodgrain butterflies? Best. idea. ever.


So my question for you today is--what are YOU most grateful for right now? (Alternatively, how do you feel about woodgrain butterflies?)

And I'm working on that Q & A post, should be up soon! Feel free to contact me with any more Qs:)

Scarlet Lime May!

It's already May 24, and I haven't shared my Scarlet Lime layouts yet! As my South African friend says a lot, for shame.

Here's a little peek at the May main kit, Sunny Disposition. This one is sold out, but you can still view the lovely images!


The bright, bold colors in this kit went perfectly with my Purim layouts (if anyone is confused about what Purim is, refer to this post).

This first one uses a fun group photo:

This next one is another Purim layout (I had the stack of photos out, and was on a roll!) Two of my friends came to our Purim party dressed as the couple from "American Gothic"--I loved the costume, and wanted to scrap it!


The Frugal Fab kit this month was packed full of fun 7 Gypsies products.

For my first layout, I was feeling nostalgic, so I wrote about S and my first date. (No, the photo is not from the date itself--that might have been a little awkward:))

If you can't read the journaling, here's the short story: we spent our first date at Mama's Falafel in Philadelphia, which, if you've been there, you'd realize is not the most romantic restaurant, to say the least. And falafel is certainly not the ideal date food! Add to that the fact that I was coming from an interview, so dressed in a boring black suit, and got caught in a rainstorm on my way, and it's really a miracle we went on to have a second date. Ha!

And finally, a little Mother's Day card (can you tell I'm a bit behind the times here?)

And that's all, folks!

Out of curiosity, what was YOUR first date like? And if you haven't dated yet, what's your ideal date?

(And for those of you that have asked questions in the comments--I'm prepping a Q&A post for the next few days! If you have any other Qs, leave them in the comments below!)

An exciting new development!

A few months ago, I got an unexpected email from scrapbook extraordinaire May Flaum. The email was oh-so-casually asking if I wanted to contribute to a book she was writing. Clearly, I accepted:) This was my first experience learning about publication from the inside, and I learned quite a bit--and really enjoyed it!

And now, I can finally tell you about this little guy:

It's available for preorder on Amazon right here.

And here's a teensy little sneak at what I created:

So while we're on the topic, what's YOUR favorite scrappy book?

[And PS--I'm going to address some kosher Qs in a follow up post, fear not!]

Kosher 101

[image source: http://pinterest.com/pin/18198179/]

The other day, a friend was asking me about keeping kosher. While it was on my mind, I figured I'd give you all a little explanation as to what keeping kosher entails--complete with fun photo assistance!

Kosher Rule Numero Uno: Eat the right animals.

In the Torah, certain animals are listed as kosher and some are not. To qualify as a kosher animal, an animal has to have split hooves and chew its cud.

Here are some classic kosher animals:

[image source: http://cow.gallery.sytes.org]

[image source: www.google.co.nz]

And a very classic NOT kosher animal? Pigs!

We don't eat any pig products, from ham to bacon to pork. Even though I didn't grow up keeping kosher, I never ate pig, so I don't know what I'm missing.

And to tell you the truth, ever since I watched Charlotte's Web back in the day I'm not sure I could eat a pig. They're so cute!

[image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45562778@N02/5304355986/in/faves-kristyns/]

And just to emphasize my point:

[image source: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pixdaus.com/pics/]
But I digress.

Kosher Rule Number Two: If you're eating meat (just wrote "meating" my accident--ha!), it has to be killed the kosher way.

What does that mean, you ask? Well, it's a complicated answer, but the basic idea is that the animal has to be killed as quickly and humanely as possible--any animals not killed according to the specific kosher method aren't kosher (even if they're cows).

Kosher meat is specially marked in the grocery store:

[image source: http://www.google.com/imgres?]

A classic Empire Kosher. You can also tell if meat is kosher by the price tag:) Given all of the supervision and transportation that goes into kosher meat, it's more expensive.

Kosher Rule Numero Tres: No meat and milk together.

You can't munch a piece of cheese and a piece of steak at the same time.

And none of these bad boys:


[image source: blog.heritage.org]

But, you can always get your cheeseburger fix this way:


[image source: http://pinterest.com/pin/6134464/]

Couldn't resist!

In addition to not eating meat and milk in the same sandwich, we also don't eat them in the same meal (ie, no hamburger + chocolate milk). We have two sets of dishes and pots and pans for milk and meat. We also wait 6 hours after eating meat before eating dairy (which is why I'm not a fan of weeknight meat meals--no time to eat your chocolate!).

Some Final Odds and Ends: Mind your Ps and Qs

When we go grocery shopping, we only buy products that have kosher symbols on them (except for fresh fruits and veggies).

Here are some common kosher symbols:



[image source: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://web.mit.edu/burton2
/kosher_symbols%255E1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://web.mit.edu/burton2/studybreak.html&usg=]
We also clean vegetables for bugs, and do a few other little things. But since this is a quick summary, I won't give you ALL the details!

After reading this, you're probably like, "WHAT??? So many rules? And you can't eat anything!" But the truth is, when you live kosher, you don't think about the rules--it's pretty seamless. And that's coming from someone who did not grow up this way!

So there you have it--a short and (hopefully) sweet description of keeping kosher. Any questions?

And since this post has made me kind of hungry, what's YOUR favorite food? (And to feed my curiosity, are YOU familiar with kosher stuff at all?)

More scrappy goodness, coming right up....

The brief summer of last week (oh sunshine and bright colors and swingy skirts, how I miss you!) has turned back into the April special--of rain, rain and more rain.

Which gets me in the mood of cold weather and comfort food, like freshly baked cookies. Hmmm. Just writing about this kind of makes me want cookies.

I created this layout for an Ella Publishing/ Write Click Scrapbook project. The topic was paper piecing, and I have not been a very inventive paper piecer up till now.

Hence: behold, the easier paper piecing ever.


To make the cookie in the bottom left corner, I simply hand-cut a circle from kraft cardstock and then layered punctuation marks from a pack of Thickers. And voila--we have a sweet little cookie, with very little muss or fuss! I don't normally create my own embellishments for layouts, but I love the homespun charm they bring.

And a little closeup on the title (I challenged myself to use those metal banners, and I'm so glad I did!)


And if you want more Ella Publishing fun, check out my post up on the Ella blog today! Here's a little sneaky peek at the layout that's up:

Hope you have a happy Tuesday!

I have two questions for you today:

Have YOU ever paper pieced?

What is YOUR favorite thing to read on this blog?