Yosemite Ave Mini Book

Two weeks ago we moved out of our beloved apartment on Yosemite Ave. Sure it had its quirks but it had so much charm and character too (and I'm not talking about us two). Most memorable is that it was our first apartment together after spending nearly three years living 90 miles apart. When I saw the posting on Craiglist for a cute apartment, within our price range on Yosemite, a place near and dear to our hearts, I was sold. Thankfully the landlord agreed and so we lived there from June 2010 until the beginning of this month.

Last year I took an online workshop to learn the art of making mini books (aka as the BIG mini workshop by Elise). The workshop was fun and inspiring! I learned these books are a great snapshot of memories, like a scrapbook, but mini. To me they feel easier, less pressure to fill an entire book of 12x12 page. Rather bundle up as many memories as you wish and bind them together. Sadly until now I have not put my learning to use. As the end of our time on Yosemite Ave grew closer, I started a collection of little things I wanted to remember within a mini book.

I knew creating an entire book (all the paper) was a little more than I could pull together while moving and job searching. So I looked at Elise's shop and realized she had a custom album option - perfect! After a few emails, a paypal transaction and one short week, this album arrived in my mailbox! It measures 4x6 inches with thick card stock front and back, filled with a variety of patterns, colors, sizes and textures of paper all held together with two binder rings. Icing on the cake cover is our house number.

Over the weekend I went through all my pictures and printed several at the local CVS. After several hours of this...

I finished this sweet not-so mini book jam packed with memories of our time on Yosemite Ave! I love it. As you can see I added more to the cover. I think the row of houses on this paper was made for this book.

I wasn't joking about packed, check out the side view! I had to buy larger binder rings to hold it all together. A majority of the thickness is from all our house warming cards I included in here!

To start the book, I decided to make categories so there was a flow. I sorted all of the pictures into piles. Apparently I'm stuck on tabs, because I decided this book needed them too!

 

And here's a look inside the first page! On the left, a photo of the actual numbers on the door. On the right, welcome home - the start of the book!

Throughout the book I included several little details. For example - here is our spare key, which I glued to the other side of the "welcome home" page seen above!

The first section is Home Sweet Home: a photo tour of the apartment from the front door through the house and into the backyard. Although not shown here, I added some creativity into the "tour" by cropping pictures in different sizes and shapes to capture the most important aspects. Below on the left is a photo from our engagement session standing on the front porch, on the right is a nice daily workout - the stairs into the apartment.

Next section is Neighborhood which included photos of the places we frequented the most. We were so fortunate to live off Piedmont Ave! I will miss that street so much (already do!). To the left is a totally Oakland shirt outside of my favorite shop - Nathan and Co. To the right is a collage of most of favorite spots (minus Catos Ale House, which has a full photo on the next page!).

 Party time! And the next section, Parties! I wanted to remember the parties we threw, starting with our housewarming. On the left is a velum envelope where I tucked photos from the housewarming party. On the right are the cards we received from friends and family when we moved in! Beyond the cards are more pictures from parties we hosted.

Visitors We were fortunate to have so many people come visit and stay with us! 

As a thank you to many visitors, I made Bay Area "welcome bags" as seen on the left. On the right is a photo from our visitors this time last year! Beyond that are single photos from all the other visitors.

Holidays Of course I included photos from holidays, aka my craft projects, all of which I've shared here on the blog.

We had some great photos and other random things from around Oakland that I wanted to include, so I made Oak-town, (San Fran is often referred to as "the city" and Oakland as "the town", hence Oak-town).

This might be my favorite little part. Memories: a mini envelope, with loop closer, which I made to include the memories not captured by photos. I already started a mental list, but plan to fill out this part when I'm with B next. I know I will cherish this whole book, but especially reading back the funny, everyday memories.

The last page is a photo of the moving truck and all our stuff! It was a sentimental day watching our lives be packed up and taken out. I am so excited for our next adventure, in Colorado, but will always remember our time in California and especially on Yosemite Ave!

I LOVED this project! I haven't made a scrapbook in years and this process reminded how much I love to compile memories in a creative form. I'm not sure what the theme will be, but I plan to make more in the future. Next time I think I'll try to start from scratch on my own. However, I wouldn't hesitate to order another book from Elise, because I loved the quality and randomness chosen by someone else!

This post is part of my September Creative Challenge. Follow along as Inspired Honey Bee and I do something creative Monday - Friday all this month!

blast from the past: ski passes

When people ask me how long I've been skiing I tell them I started on the driveway not long after I learned to walk. It sounds like a tall tale, but it's not far from the truth. I really did learn to ski on the driveway, followed by years of complimentary ski passes and  ski school lessons thanks to my Dad working for the ski area (Breckenridge, to be exact). 


On their recent trip to the Bay Area, Dad brought along a treasure to share with B - years and years of our ski passes! He's saved every single one from when we were kids and he lived in Colorado. It is always a hilarious and heart warming experience to flip through them. As a kid there were many Saturday mornings I wanted to sit in my pj's and watch cartoons. I know I'm insanely lucky to have been on the ski slopes instead and looking at all the passes is a good reminder of just that.


I am now the proud keeper of all the passes. I want to do something with them - frame, collage - I'm just not quite sure what (suggestions welcomed!) . In the meantime, I wanted to share some of my favorites. 

yours truly 

{age 5}

 Apparently my first official ski pass was at age 5. At this age I was definitely skiing the bunny hill or easy greens with my parents close behind. I wish I could still have this picture as a ski pass photo! 

{age 8}

At this age I was holding my own on skis, the confidant smile says it all. If I wasn't skiing with my parents, dww (my brother) or these girls, I was cruising through the enchanted forest with ski school. Speaking of the smile, thank goodness for braces in my later years! 

{age 10}

Hello permed hair and waterfall bangs, glad you could make it to the mountain! In case no one can see the early 90s look when I'm wearing a ski hat, surely my neon ski jacket will let them know what's up. At this age the benefits to all those ski school lessons were paying off. I could ski almost anything, but could not keep up with my brother (still can't!). 

brother

{age 6}

i love just about everything about this photo - the trucker hat and poofy ski jacket that make him look like a 6 year old and let's not forget the 'signature'. this was his first official ski pass.

{age 11}

I love: the hair (i'm sure a ski hat was just removed...), the devilish smile and the fact that I know he's wearing a one piece ski suit! At this age there is no doubt he was flying down the mountain (regardless of the run, he went straight down). To this day he still flies down the mountain, but with much more grace. And to his credit, he always waited for me...at the bottom.

dad 

{age 28}

This is the first ski pass of the bunch from when he moved to Colorado. LOVE the volume in his hair (clearly that's where I get mine) and the very 70s looking going on here. Please note his signature; he's always had amazing handwriting! 

{age 37}

I wonder if Dad and DWW coordinated their trucker hats for the '86 ski pass photos? 

Regardless, I love it. As far as my Dad's ski ability,  he was an excellent skier and teacher and always carried Jolly Ranchers in his ski jacket! 

Hope this brings a little humor into your day!

Leaving Piedmont

Dear 533 Blair Avenue,

As you know by now I've left Piedmont. It wasn't you, it was me. I'm moving on to new, exciting adventures. Well technically I've "moved" on to Cragmont Avenue, but it's a step towards something exciting. It's been bittersweet. We had some good great times. I am so glad I had the opportunity to live in Piedmont and on Blair Avenue.

I remember the first time we met. I was so eager to get out of my crazy living situation that I replied to your posting the first day. I was impressed by your charm, nice owners and although the apartment was small it felt like a perfect fit. I'm glad your owners thought so too; getting out of my living situation was a much needed breath of fresh air! And we worked out a pretty sweet exchange of babysitting for lowered rent. The kids were cute and seemed harmless.

Turned out that the kids were cute, mostly harmless and taught me so many lessons that I'll never forget. Remember the time R locked herself in her room because she was soooooooo mad at me? I never thought I could be so defeated by a 7 year old. Turns out she wanted to be my friend just as much as I wanted to be hers; it just took time for her to trust me. We had so much fun in that short time before her bedtime reading books, play games, braiding hair and making paper dolls. I'm so glad we became friends!

Did you ever keep track of how many times E told me I could "go home" because his parents were there? I think I lost count. Poor guy didn't make the connection for quite a while that I lived there too. Once he realized I was there everyday, he would come out on the porch in the morning to say BYE as I left for work.

You know what I still don't remember? The words to the song Blackbird. You know it's one of a handful of songs R and E liked to sing before bed. No matter how hard I tried, I never got ALL the words right. It was fun to giggle with them when I messed up.


How crazy was it when that old lady was found mummified in the house down the street? Creepy! I'm glad you're on the other side of the street and farther up the hill. It's better that way...except when I'm riding my bike or trying to reverse my car into a parking spot. Did you ever think my car was going to just give up on that hill? Yeah, I did too.


Do you remember how I asked if I could take the huge table out of your kitchen, thinking I'd get a cute cafe table to entertain? That huge table turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the apartment. Who says you can't have a craft room and kitchen all in one? It was a multitasker's dream come true!

What wasn't a dream come true was how many times I blew a fuse while using too many outlets or couldn't for the life of me get an internet connection. I don't think Brian will miss having to duck so he doesn't hit his head on the stairwell. Or having to shut all four doors in my room to keep the boogy man out HEY....mummified body? Yeah, you never know.Although there were lots of doors, I was grateful for all the storage space behind two of those doors. The cheerful yellow walls made it a perfect little bedroom.

Do you remember when I hadn't received my new Real Simple and I thought maybe your owners were upstairs reading it? Ok, I didn't REALLY think that....but I was wondering where the heck it was. I know, silly me! Such nice landlords, neighbors and friends. I remember the night they came home from their date night, the kids were in bed and I'd had having a rough night. I tried to keep it together but being the kind intuitive people they are they said...everything ok? That's when the water works started on my end and the hugs and open, sympathetic ears on their end. I always knew they were a little more than just my landlords, they were like family.

You can see why it's been bittersweet. Change brings opportunity and excitement, but it also takes some adjustment. It's funny how much more emotional I am leaving you than I was leaving my crazy situation on Oakland Avenue. I know I had a great situation and I have you to thank. I'd always wanted to live alone and it was nice to have that opportunity, while having a family close by, just in case.

This isn't really goodbye, it's see you soon...only this time I won't blow any fuses!

Take care! 

Love always,
Chelle