Doors of India

When I was traveling around India I loved all the doors that I saw. They were all so different and colorful. After about a week of traveling I got the idea to do this collage. I started taking photographs of doors and put this together once I got home. It is one of my favorite things from my trip.

Dragon Fruit anyone?

When I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago I tried Dragon fruit for the first time. I won't really say I liked it, but it wasn't bad. I think it looks better than it tastes unless I just didn't get a good piece... Have you ever had it before?

Decluttering your life

Soon I will be turning 30 and a good friend of mine is also turning thirty shortly afterwards. Here is a card I made for her recently titled:

How to declutter your life before turning 30

29 Things you CAN do without

I got the idea from a magazine and had so much fun coming up with the list...

What is something you can do without in your life?

Paper Anyone?

He's cute and he's all paper! A fun display I saw in a store last weekend during my trip to Greensboro, NC. It is amazing what you can do with paper. I love it!

SuRvivinG SeAttlE

Someone very special to me just moved to Seattle. He got a job a few weeks ago and was so excited. After talking to a few people around town he wasn’t that sure about the city. Not hearing anything good and only about the rain and how depressing Seattle was he was wondering if he should even go. But he did and he already loves it. I was planning on going to visit at the end of the year but he wants me to come next week! That’s how much he loves it there and wants me to see it too. I’m so excited now and can’t wait to visit Seattle because I’ve never been there before. Have you been to Seattle before? What did you think?

(Image: Front of card by me)

Wednesday Wonderfuls

Etsy is so much fun. I enjoy working on my shop but even more I enjoy all the other fun things I find. Just to share a few, here are some of my favorites.

Beautiful prints by Hirondelle Rustique
This print is also currently the prize of a giveaway going on here so check it out.
Beautiful artwork by Constant Dreamer

And some super cute birds from Red Hot Pottery I hope you enjoy these wonderful artists too and don't forget to enter my giveaway below again and again because you can enter each day.

Sam's Stuff

I have to share this with you! A few days ago, I found out that I won the giveaway sponsored by the Etsy shop Sam’s Stuff. As the winner I was able to pick the crocheted headband of my choice. I knew the prize was in the mail, but what a surprise when I opened the package today. This Etsy shop owner is not only talented and creative, but she pays attention to every detail. As an architect, details are important to me, but I was blown away at the attention to the details that went into this package of goodies. I actually debated for a minute or two if I should open the wrapping on the headband. The stitching on it was so beautiful that I wanted to keep it, but I really wanted to see the headband! Finally I unwrapped the package while saving as much of the stitching as I could!!
The package also included a handmade book marker (did she know I’ve been using an old receipt in the book I am currently reading or what?) and a hand drawn piece of art in a frame. The headband came with instructions for care and how to adjust it if it didn’t fit, but it fit perfectly and I haven’t taken it off since it arrived! So how blown away was I with this headband? When I took it off the holder it came on and looked on the inside of it, there was a hand stitched label! I love it!! Please stop by Sam’s Stuff and show this lovely Etsy lady some love. Her shop is full of vintage and handmade items.

After you visit Sam’s Stuff don’t forget to enter my giveaway in the next post if you haven’t already. Only one week left.

Before it disappeared

After Oley and I went to the movies on Monday we stepped out of the movie theater and saw this beautiful rainbow. It was very exciting so we drove around trying to get a better view but it disappeared...

Opononi, New Zealand November 2004

This is one of my favorite pictures and just perfect for my refrigerator door. This view from a lookout in New Zealand was amazing, but this picture actually reminds me of a runaway hubcap! A year after I graduated from college I moved to New Zealand to work. In this extremely laid back country everything just seemed to fall into place. I found a job at an architecture firm in Auckland during an interview for a different job. Then I found a flat the day before I needed to start looking for one when I was talking to a friend of a friend. My year in Auckland was filled with evenings with friends, Bodycombat (the greatest kickboxing class in the world) at Les Mills, Link bus rides and many road trips.

Road trips were full of incredible scenery like this photo that Kari took in Opononi as we explored New Zealand north of Auckland. We drove up to an overlook and just stood there taking in this view. After we got back in the car and I started to drive away, I slammed on the breaks and yelled at Kari to grab our hubcap. All of a sudden I noticed one of our hubcaps was off and rolling away from us. Kari looked at me as if I was completely crazy (because how often does someone yell something like that at you?) but luckily she was quick enough to jump out of the car and run after our hubcap before it got away.

And Then it Rained!

Well, my first craft booth experience was…interesting. The forecast called for rain but Pam and I were very hopefully. It stormed in the early morning and rained when we went to set up. Once we got our tent put together and plastic around for walls to keep us dry we realized we were in the wrong spot. We were close but didn’t think we could stay in the spot we were set up in. Since the booth next to us wasn’t there yet we figured it would be better to move before they got there. Quickly we all worked together to shift our tent and tables over a few feet putting us in the correct assigned spot and we were ready to set up.

Here is a quick view of what was for sale:

Fabric Birds

Cards for every occasion

Glass Magnets

A fun example of a page for my pre-made photo books

Books made with the coptic stitch

By the time the Picnic was ready to start the sun was out and we took down all our plastic walls. The weather was good for about 2 hours but I quickly realized we were not in the best location. I thought we had picked a good spot from the layout of the booths but I think we were wrong. There wasn’t anything to bring people our way. The booths near the food had tons of traffic but we only seemed to get a few people wandering our way. Also we were right next to the main stage, need I say more?

And then the rain came. It came and it came hard. Luckily we could tell it was coming so we covered everything up and nothing was ruined but we literally had to hold our tent down for about an hour.

This is me, soaked, after the worst rain was gone. I was only able to put on my rain jacket after I was already completely drenched!

Cold, wet and tired, we packed up once the rain stopped and were ready to go home. A lady at another booth told me not to let this discourage me because she has been doing this every Saturday for years and these were the worst conditions she had ever seen.

All the hard work and preparation we put into this show made this experience disappointing, but I do think I want to try it again…one day.

Thank you so much to Roger and Oley. We couldn't have done this without you guys!

Take your photos with you...

Another great way to enjoy your photos of trips, family and friends is to take the photos with you in a pocket size photo book. I love to make these as gifts by filling them up with a variety of photos, patterned papers and postcards. The more you put in there the more fun it will be!

To make your own I suggest:
- 20 +/- pages about 5”x 3” (Cardstock works well)
- Hole punch
- Round corner punch
- Small chain or metal ring
- Photos, postcards and patterned papers
- Glue stick (Yes glue works well too)
- Stickers
- Wax paper and heavy books

I like to put my photos in chronological order and place patterned papers and fun postcards throughout to add variety. Roughly arrange what goes where before you start gluing.
1. Start by gluing everything that will be on the front side of each page.
2. Place wax paper between each page and place under a heavy book over night.
3. After these pages have dried trim the edges away and round all the corners. Punch a hole in the upper left hand corner. Once one page has a hole punched in it use it as a template so all the holes will line up.
4. Next glue what goes on the back of all the pages.
5. Place wax paper between each page and place under a heavy book over night.
6. After these pages have dried, trim the edges away and round all the corners. Punch a hole in the upper right hand corner matching up with the hole on the other side of the page that you already made.
7. Place on a chain or ring and your photo book is ready to go!

What's on your fridge?

Hi, my name is Debbie and I am very excited about this blog. This is my first posting so I thought I would try to explain what the name means. I named my blog "On the Refrigerator Door" because I think what is on your refrigerator door says alot about you. I always love to see what people put on their refrigerator doors.

I love to travel, but spend most of the time sitting at a desk. All my traveling started many years ago. I went to Israel when I was 14 and since then I haven't been able to stop traveling. I studied in Krakow, Poland in architecture school for a semester and worked in New Zealand for a year after I graduated. I have also traveled around Europe, Australia, Asia and stepped into Africa for a day.

Since I love all these places that I have been to, but can’t be there now I love to look at photographs from my trips. I try to capture these places in photographs and then surround myself with them. They are all over my desk at work, my house and even on my refrigerator door.

Most people’s refrigerator doors are full of memories with photos from trips, family, friends or children’s artwork. You can get a glimpse into someone’s life by looking at their refrigerator. You can even get a glimpse of someone’s personality by the way their refrigerator doors are kept especially if there is nothing on the doors at all!!

In addition to the photos on my fridge I also have my own handmade magnets. I started making my own magnets about a year ago. I made a large magnet board for an odd shaped wall and couldn't find any magnets that I liked. I started my Etsy shop called Shana’s Shop in August 2008 to sell these magnets and other things that I make.

What's on my refrigerator right now? Well, last July I went to Alaska with my family. My younger brother had been working there and wanted us all to experience it too. We were there for a week, but we all want to go back and see more. I still have photos and postcards from Alaska on my fridge because it was so beautiful there.

Thanks for reading my blog to learn a little bit about me.