Summer is...

Not sure I can really express how happy I am to be creating something just because today.

I have been wanting to just play for awhile lately but have come up with a million reasons not too (reason #1: all the books I have been devouring lately; reason #2: watching movies - loved laughing out loud throughout this one and this one was a visual treat; reason #3: playing outside with Simon + reading books; and reason #4: just lacking the motivation to actually do anything related to creativity...except order fabrics for some sewing adventures I hope to undertake and do other things I have to do for work and think about making stuff).

Actually I have also bought a couple of toys lately to spur some creativity: one is a Polaroid 600 and the other is a gocco printer (basically it is like a little printing press - Paper Source has a great tutorial and explanation of how to use this here). I think I have been in the gathering phase of my personal creative cycle: that place where you acquire stuff + ideas and then just let it percolate until it is ready to spill forth.

To make this little minibook I printed out a bunch of summer photos + am finally finding a home for the random Polaroid shots I have been taking. Why Polaroids? Why not. I think mainly because I needed something different - a different focus - a different way of seeing. I have been inspired by some groups on Flickr - many of the people are using old school cameras or ones that are super expensive. I also love how this woman is putting them together as diptychs. Of course I love that so many of them are capturing everyday moments.

For this little minibook I used products from the August Cocoa Daisy kit. Kristina Contes put this one together (click her name to see her samples) and it includes a bunch of patterned papers, rub ons, very cool adhesive-backed cork paper, a lovely piece of cream felt, and this little acrylic minibook from d.reeves (among other goodies).

My focus was on keeping it simple. Photos + words. Words were added right onto the photos with Sharpie paint pens completing the statement "summer is." A bit of red stitching was added to the felt - totally just messing around and trying to feel free (how in the world do you stitch in a circle?) and not worry about how it was going to turn out.

Here are the rest of the pages:

Yeah for playful creating. Yeah for experimenting with sewing and just adding it in. Yeah for everyday summer photos that capture the essence of what summer means to me. A playful book for a playful time of year.