Summary Sunday: Winter Carnival Edition

We just got back home from a trip up to McCall Winter Carnival so I'm getting this post in right under the wire to still make it count as a Summary Sunday and not a Summary Monday. We went up with Collin's sister and her family and had a wonderful time. We ate a very filling breakfast up at The Pancake House and then walked around town looking at sculptures. We had originally planned on eating at my Uncle and Aunt's pizza restaurant (Growler's), but we were far too full from our late breakfast (in fact, I haven't eaten anything else and I probably won't before bedtime...so much French toast...).

Wow...it's been a LONG time since I've done a Summary Sunday. The last one was clear back in 2012. For those of you who are new to reading the blog (or for those of you who have forgotten what the heck a Summary Sunday is because I haven't done one in so long), each Sunday I wrap up what I did for the week. This includes the posts I posted, the recipes I tried, the books I read, the projects I worked on and/or finished, and sometimes some fun stuff I found on the web.

When I was making the blog plans for this year I decided to revive Summary Sundays. I kind of missed them. I think I just like the organization of it all. It just seems nice and tidy, doesn't it? Speaking of organization...the plan for the month still continues. January is Organization and Planning month and I am moving right along.

This year, I'm also going to add in my favorite pin of the week (because I still love Pinterest even though some bloggers have gotten angry about people saying they found something on Pinterest instead of saying specifically what blog they found it on) and maybe a few other surprises here and there...we'll see how it plays out.

So...what did I do last week?

Posts I Posted : On Monday, I made my return to the blog since selecting and announcing the 2014 Book of the Year and having an awesome guest post from my sister-in-law, Victoria. I came up with the 2014 grand plan for the blog and made myself some semi-resolutions. I'm actually kind of excited about this because the plan may help me do what I would like to do with the blog without feeling lost or overwhelmed. Well...I take that back. I'll probably still feel overwhelmed now and then. But I have a road map. And that is awesome.

On Wednesday, I started up the real activity of January's Organization and Planning theme. I put my blog planner together and shared the printables to make your own. I have to say, so far I'm loving the planner and it's making me feel in control. I'm still working on getting it fully up to speed (though I'm getting there), but it's already helped me quite a bit.

And then on Friday, I made the first 2014 BOTY review post. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik was the first book I read this year to earn above 3 stars.

Not too shabby!

Books I Read : Goodreads currently shows me 2 books behind for my 2014 reading goals. I should catch up by one this week because the book I'm reading right now is gooood and moving fast. This week I finished Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik and it was pretty darned good. Good enough to earn itself a blog review and a spot in the bracket for the 2014 Book of the Year.

Projects I Worked On/Finished : I finished designing and assembling the blog planner and have been working to get it all filled in and ready to roll. I'll be sharing this tomorrow, but (in keeping with January's theme) I finished some serious cleaning and reorganization of the scrapbook room and closet. It was a disaster. That's what happens when I tackle Christmas projects. Things get ugly people. I shall share the ugly tomorrow.

Recipes I Tried : I tried two new things this week! I made this Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (with a few modifications) and put together a citrus salad of my own design (I'll share this sometime, it's easy). We also ate some delicious pumpkin pie pancakes that I'll be sharing in the future (I've made these before) and had ourselves some fantabulous crack bacon.

This Week's Favorite Pin : I wasn't on Pinterest much this week, but I did find myself something that got the wheels a turnin' in my head. I'm totally in organization mode right now, so this idea for organizing fabric from Rhinestone Beagle was right up my alley. The crop room (the room with all of my sewing and random crafting stuff) is a mess and I have fabric everywhere. It's in the works for a total overhaul. Fabric is definitely an issue, so this cute little storage station is something that I'm totally coveting. (The redo is scheduled to be completed by the end of March and will be featured on the blog.)

And there you have it...the first Summary Sunday post of 2014. I even finished it on a Sunday! Things are looking up. According to the planner, I'll be back plenty this week. You're stuck hearing from me tomorrow for the reveal of the scrapbook room clean up. I'll also have a couple of other posts before Friday's month-in-review, a new feature to the blog for 2014.

How did your week go?

Guest Post: Lost and Found Puzzles

** Today's post is a guest post from my awesome sister-in-law Victoria. She runs an Etsy shop over at Lost and Found Puzzles. We were lucky enough to have her make us a puzzle for the guest book at our wedding. She makes some really amazing puzzles so I've asked her to hang out here for the day to show them off.

Victoria (my brother in the background). How cute is she? Photo by Ampersand Studios

(Be sure to go check out her website and her Facebook page after you read how she makes these cool projects.) Thanks Vic! Take it away...**

My fabulous sister-in-law offered me a guest spot on her blog…so exciting!!! I hope that I can keep you as entertained/engaged as she does (I know I have my work cut out for me).  Here we go…

I've always loved puzzles, but it wasn't until 2011 that I started viewing them as a story of life. My best friend Holley's Dad, Mark Clapp, passed away after a year-long battle with cancer. At his celebration of life, a speech was given regarding puzzles and it got me thinking. Below is a post that I wrote on Mark's Caring Bridge page.

"I've thought a lot today about what to write. I thought back to the memorial service and that speech that was given regarding puzzles.  It made me think of all of the people in my life who make up my puzzle. When putting a puzzle together you think of your key pieces...I always find my corners first. Holley came into my life as one of my corners very early on. I have you to thank for creating one of my edges. You were a constant in my youth and will be thought of everyday in my future. Not only did you provide me with my multiple pieces of my puzzle growing up, but in your passing you brought me another corner. I will thank you every day for bringing Tyler into my life. You really do have a way of always being there and pulling the puzzle together. I know it's not complete yet, but I am a better person knowing that you helped by filling so many of the pieces. I love you."

When Tyler proposed and the wedding planning began, I knew that I wanted a puzzle as the guest book. I wanted to see the names/notes of all of the people in our lives and how they come together to make our puzzle.

So…how do I make them?  Well, last summer Tyler and I headed to the German Village garage sale. Amongst our amazing finds were a pair of Danish Modern side tables, an unbelievable vintage desk, a filing cabinet that is screaming for a makeover and we really lucked out when Tyler spotted a scroll saw that has got to be at least 50 years old!  I decided to give it the ol’ scholarly try and see if I could actually pull a DIY and make our own wedding puzzle guest book.  We took a trip to Lowes to buy a piece of birch plywood. This store was quickly becoming a second home as we were in the midst of remodeling our newly purchased house.  …I know, I know, a wedding and house purchase/remodel at the same time… What was I thinking?!?!  I’m still not so sure.  Anyway, I sketched out the puzzle on an 18”x24” sheet so that it would amount to 120 pieces with each piece large enough for guests to sign.  We tried to include more organic shapes than typical puzzle pieces…anyone that knows us, knows that we are anything but typical! J Then it came time to cut…YIKES!  I was terrified that I was going to ruin our guestbook.  I made some test cuts on some scrap wood first, then held my breath and started on the real thing.  To my pleasant surprise, it came rather natural and I felt pretty good relatively quickly at making the quirky little cuts we’d outlined.

This is the scroll saw we found at the garage sale with some of my first cuts.

 I tried to keep the puzzle assembled and numbered as I made cuts.

_{Assembled and ready for the wedding (please ignore the countertops…I did tell you we were in the middle of a remodel, right???)}

After cutting, I sand each piece to remove any rough edges.  This takes a lot of time and patience… A LOT!  I found that you also need to be a fan of sawdust because it gets everywhere!  I decided to paint and number the back of the puzzle so that it was easier to distinguish the front from back (some guests still signed on the wrong side, but I just transferred their message to the front).

The puzzle turned out better than I had hoped and I love reading through all of the pieces/messages from our friends and family!  I’m torn between framing it and hanging it in our home or possibly creating the tradition of putting it together on every anniversary.

Puzzle on display at wedding.

Signed puzzle pieces collected in a box we set up.

The almighty completed puzzle.

After our wedding, my lovely, talented and beautiful sister-in-law, Lynde, was preparing herself for wedded bliss!  I offered to make her a puzzle guest book and to my delight…she took me up on it!  Check it out J

(Credit to my amazingly creative husband who came up with the idea of having Idaho as the center piece)

                                                  

Since those two puzzles, I decided to set up an Etsy page to see if I could sell any of my creations (https://www.etsy.com/shop/lostandfoundpuzzles).  The response has been fabulous!  I received my first order right around the time I started taking classes at the Idea Foundry here in Columbus.  I’ve taken woodshop and laser cutting classes which have been great in contributing to the creativity in these puzzles!  I run to the Foundry whenever I need to cut down an oversized piece of wood (their table saw has a larger bed than the one we have at home) or when I want to play with their laser etching/cutting machine.  I’ve had eight sales so far and received some really amazing feedback!  It’s so great to hear the stories of others and what each puzzle means to them.  I’ve made plain puzzles as Christmas gifts for puzzle fanatics, keepsake puzzles for families that have experienced recent losses, name art puzzles for the little ones in your life, wedding guestbooks and much, much more.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this!  If you’re interested in having a custom puzzle made, let me know J 

Puzzle made as a gift for our wedding photographers(Ampersand Studios). 

Left to right: prior to staining, stained and pop of color on edges, finished with etched in “studios” to complete their company name.

Wedding guest book - The groom provided the artwork and I etched it onto the puzzle!  Like his artwork?  Find more of it at: http://about.me/joshua.lee.maynard

Name art for the little ones (Christmas presents for my nieces and nephew)