I love custom orders!

Remember yesterday when I was talking about giving a wedding scrapbook to parents or grandparents?  Well, that just happened.  Popped this custom order in the mail today for just that purpose!

 

You can order your custom made book here.

Scrapbooks make great Christmas (or anytime) Gifts...Let's Start with Scrapbooks for the Girls!





I created this book over the weekend to put in my Etsy shop...and today just noticed that it is MY wedding colors!  Ha.  Didn't even notice as I was making it.  This 6" book with 20 pages is the perfect "highlight" book for your wedding.  Makes a great gift for parents or grandparents or just a condensed version of your "big book" to place on your coffee table or have at your desk when coworkers ask about your wedding.  AND...I can even make it in YOUR wedding colors (instead of mine).  All you have to do is ask!  :)  Oh yeah...click on the caption for photos of the inside!



{Wedding Day Scrapbook}





Of course, you have to have a book of the bridesmaids too!  Wouldn't these make excellent bridesmaid gifts?  Right up there with the mani/pedis and it will last longer!  AND, you can put the pictures OF the mani/pedis IN the book!  A little snapshot of your special day celebrated with your best girlfriends.  

{Bridesmaids Scrapbook}

Moms can be hard to buy for sometimes but she will always love a gift that you can personalize with photos of her and her kids.  Oh, and here's a tip from someone whose mom has passed...you can never have too many pictures of you and your mom!  You will treasure the ones you have long after she is gone and always wish you had more.   Look inside this book here.

{Mother Scrapbook}



You can't forget those sisters! Not that they would LET you forget them. :)

{Sisters are the Perfect Best Friends Scrapbook}

 

 

Grandmas?  Yeah, pretty much ditto everything I said about Moms.   

 

{Best Grandma Ever Scrapbook}

What would we do without our friends to make us smile and to do silly things with?  Capturing those memories in a little scrapbook means so much more than a quick FB post.  Just imagine that smile on her face when she opens this!  Inside pics here.

{I totally love my friends scrapbook}



Ever had a bad nurse?  Then you can really appreciate the good ones!  Nurses do so much for us and they deserve some recognition.  Wouldn't this make her day?  You could even throw it in a gift basket with a bottle of wine, some cookies and a gift certificate for a foot massage!  More photos here.


{Nurse Scrapbook}

Check back for more ideas tomorrow.  Shall we do the men this time?

Disney Vacation Scrapbook {Election Day Distraction}

Dream Big Disney Scrapbook

What seems more fitting for a Disney vacation than to DREAM BIG?  I love the Simple Stories Say Cheese papers and stickers.  They are so much fun to work with.  I don't know about you but I love it when everything coordinates!  Of course, I wish I could say that it saves me time when putting together a book...but not so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this book I put all the "autograph" spaces on the inserts.  Both sides of these 4-1/2" square inserts have heavy white paper so your favorite characters can sign away!  Recently I did a similar scrapbook for an Etsy customer and she had this to say about the book...

 

 

 

 

"Just wanted to let you know that your autograph books were a HUGE hit at Disneyland. Literally......every character would sit there and flip through the book after they signed it. It was so funny. And then they would motion to me to ask, "Did I make this?" I told them that they are hand-made, but I ordered it through Etsy. They all seemed amazed that they were made out of paper bags. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible were together and motioning to each other to check out our books! I had people stopping me in line for the autographs asking me where I got them and how amazing they were! I'll send people your way if I can! Thanks again for such a wonderful job on those books. They are incredible, as always!"

Gotta love happy customers!

Oops...almost forgot...it's Election Day!  I voted before work this morning but they didn't have any "I voted" stickers so I had to make my own....

Autumn has arrived…in my Etsy shop!

{Autumn Paper Bag Scrapbook}

Finally.  Finally.  Finally!  Some new items in my Etsy shop! 

{Halloween Fun Paper Bag Scrapbook}

Aren’t these little monsters just the cutest things ever?

{A Day at the Zoo Paper Bag Scrapbook}

Life can be a zoo at times….but sometimes you actually get to GO to the zoo!  :)

{Halloween 2011 Paper Bag Scrapbook}

Spiders usually creep me out but this one is harmless…and so adorable!

 

{Fall Paper Bag Scrapbook}

A slight variation on the one above! 

{Creepy Halloween Paper Bag Scrapbook}

It’s TRICK or TREAT time!  :)

{Friends Paper Bag Scrapbook}

Ok…not so “fall-ish” but still very fun! 

{Sweet Birthday Memories Paper Bag Scrapbook}

Trying not to be sad I won’t see my son on his birthday on Wednesday.  :(

So, there ya go…a little “autumn on parade” of new items in my Etsy shop.  You can see the “insides” by clicking on the scrapbook or by heading over to my Photostream on Flickr. 

I spent a good chunk of this past weekend sitting my butt in the chair and cranking out scrapbooks.  It’s been awhile since I’ve had enough free time to get really lost in the process and it felt so good! 

The crazy-busyness of summertime has finally cooled off a little bit.  My girls are settled back into school…their junior year of college (already!) and my son has made the move 1,905 miles away to Los Angeles to follow his movie industry dreams.  It’s so hard letting go but he’s happy…so I am too.  I really do have amazing kids…I’m so blessed!  :)

Technorati Tags: autumn scrapbooks,paper bag scrapbooks,etsy,apicketfencelife

Decision time…

 

Yesterday’s trip to the bookstore yielded 2 books.  GMAT prep and Art Saves.  Two very different books!  Last night as I was laying in bed it occurred to me that the books I bought represent the polar opposites of me.

Creativity has been a part of my life since childhood.  My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was very young.  Around the same time, my mother taught me to sew and I became obsessed with sewing clothes for my Barbies, my dolls and myself.  Before I graduated from 8th grade I sold my saxophone (yeah, NO talent there!!) and used the money to buy my very own sewing machine.  I have been making money sewing or crafting ever since!

Over the years I have sewed everything from wedding and bridesmaid dresses to country crafts.  Somewhere along the line I also picked up a love of painting.  In the 1990s, the craft show circuit put all three of my children through an expensive preschool and allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom…till I went back to college in 2000. 

Like most college students, I changed directions a few times.  I began with an interest in computer science and gradually moved towards business and politics.  As sometimes happens in life (or at least in MY life), once I decided what I really wanted, my circumstances shifted.  But not necessarily in a good way.  It was during my junior year of college that Elliot was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  That changed everything for me.  Fortunately I was able to finish my degree but my ambition had to take a back seat for awhile. 

During my college years, I had all but abandoned my creative side.  But in 2007, creativity began to creep back into my life.  I missed creating things with my hands and putting my creations out into the world.  I knew I no longer wanted to do it through sewing so I dove into something I had been playing with for awhile…scrapbooking.  And… a picket fence life was born.

I hadn’t really intended to write a “bio”…but that very brief and incomplete history in a nutshell brings us to today and where my life is right now.  I can feel things shifting again.  In fact, I feel as though I am standing on an active fault line.  I can’t imagine ever giving up the creative side of me…but I can also see the benefit of grad school.

Theoretically, I should be able to co-exist in both worlds.  But my reality has always proven otherwise.  So it comes down to CHOICE.  If you remember, CHOICE is my word for the year…and it has definitely been a year of making (life-altering) choices.  Given that, I shouldn’t be surprised I’m faced with this one now.  Of course, that doesn’t make it any easier!  :)

Technorati Tags: a picket fence life,word of the year,Art Saves,creativity

 

Summer weddings?

I know…this mini scrapbook can’t possibly hold ALL the photos from your wedding.   

      

But…it’s the perfect size to fill with your favorite snapshots of the day…

      

and then you can throw it in your purse…

      

or put it on your desk at work so it’s handy when someone asks about your special day!

 

Oh, and don’t forget the bachelorette party!

     

Those pictures are worth capturing in a special scrapbook.

     

Need one for every member of the wedding party?  No problem…

      

Just send me an email at apicketfencelife at gmail (dot) com to place your order!

 

Technorati Tags: scrapbooks,paper bag scrapbooks,etsy,apicketfencelife,wedding,bachelorette party,bridesmaids,bridal

Oh Baby, it’s HOT!

If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for summer for awhile now.  Back when the snow was flying I couldn’t wait till it was hot….well it’s definitely HOT now!  This weekend the temps hovered around 95 degrees here in western Illinois.  Hot and sunny!  Just my kind of weather…especially when I can hang out in the pool. 

    

Usually I’m off work for 8 weeks in the summer but this year I’ve been working off and on all summer.  It’s been a good mix though…work, vacations and just plain ol’ down time.   But it sure makes the time fly by fast.

     

Pretty soon this summer will just be a memory.  I’ve still got pictures waiting to be printed…and scrapped!  How about you?  How are you going to capture the memories of the Summer of 2011?  

      

Check out my Etsy shop for more summertime scrapbooks!  

Enjoy your day….

Technorati Tags: a picket fence life,scrapbooks,paper bag scrapbooks,swimming,pool,etsy