Wednesday, February 27, 2013

I Think We All Need A Pep Talk

My LOAD213 Day 27 layout was inspired by this video which I came across on Facebook yesterday:
He's cute and quirky and his message is so on target. I'd love to get the whole world to dance! And since you all encourage me, I'm sharing here!

This is the layout it inspired:
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The Day 27 prompt was to learn something new. Today I learned how to create that starburst background in PSE without a template. Seven different papers and a bit of trial and error. I used Krystal Hartley's Artastic Bundle plus Stamp Stash #7, #8, and #10.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

LOAD213 - Days 22, 23, 25

Thanks for all the well wishes after yesterday's post! I'm happy to report that today pain is back to my normal 2/3 levels. Now I have a nasty little sore throat, but it is a vast improvement over what I was dealing with, so I'll take it!

Day 22:
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Using a quickpage template from Sue C. and elements from Studio Rosey Posey kits "Tender Moments" and "Butterfly Escapades"

Day 23:
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Got this story from 2010 documented to add to Rachel and Becca's School of Life albums. That's the great thing about digi - I can have as many copies of this layout printed as I need!
Used papers and elements  from Krystal Hartley's "Easy Like Sunday Morning" kit.

Day 25:
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I really wasn't feeling like scrapping at all.  So I found this very old quickpage from the Ettes (back in the earliest days of my digi-scrapping, circa 2006?) and this photo circa 1967 which I converted to black and white (the shirt I'm wearing is bright bumblebee colors). I spent about 15 minutes choosing the photo and less than 30 seconds putting the layout together! Gotta love quickpages for those days.  Fayette Designs can now be found at Pickleberry Pop.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

LOAD213 - Days 17-21

On Day 17, I got my first "Precious" post documented:  photo LOAD17_zps954f45f4.jpg
Template from Cathy Zielski.  Kit is an old one called "October Meeting" by Correen Silke.

 On Day 18 I actually used a Project Life page protector to scrap Rachel's day at the Emergency Room:  photo LOAD18_zps864aa73b.jpg
At this point she has a follow-up with the cardiologist scheduled for March 20th. Testing indicated no emergency, but still need to be seen.

Day 20 I scrapped a very old event: LOAD20 photo LOAD20_zpscfa8c325.jpg
Papers and elements from "Tender Moments" by Rosey Posey.
I used basically half of this layout on Day 19 to scrap "my California siblings" for my All About Me album. 

And on the 21st I scrapped this great personality page about Becca: LOAD21 photo LOAD21_zps8f70abcf.jpg
I used a Katie Pertiet layered template with a few modifications.

Hopefully I'll be back in the next day or two to finish the catch up!!!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

LOAD213 - Days 14-16

Day 14's prompt "What does HOME mean to you?" was perfect for this new kit from Krystal Hartley (on sale right now for 30% off!).  photo kheasy2_zpse69e49d5.jpg
To me, home is that "peaceful easy feeling" you get when you drive into your own neighborhood and finally walk through your own door.

I skipped the Day 15 prompt (scrap a sound) in order to complete my One Little Word February class assignment - a dream board about your word (mine is DARE):
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This uses bits & pieces from about a dozen different digi kits. I was going to do it with paper and glue, but realized I have very little in the way of magazine inspiration to choose from.

Day 16 prompt was to scrapbook something you are grateful for - this layout has been on my "to do" list for over a year - I was happy for the excuse to finally just do it!
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Thursday, February 14, 2013

LOAD213 - Days 11-13

So I'm starting to imagine that by the time LOAD is over, you will all be so tired of looking at and commenting on my layouts... and wondering if anything else is going on in my life.  Mostly my days right now are work and scrapping - just trying to keep up with the challenge and get some good pages done.

For those who have been wondering, I'm two and a half weeks into the Primal eating lifestyle and so far so good! I've been able to stick with it and although I'm still seriously craving something with a pastry texture (cookies, banana nut bread, brownies...) I haven't had any cheats! And there has been some weight loss too.  Not a lot yet, but these days every little bit is something to celebrate. But with vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat, fish, and some dairy as the staples of this plan, there really is NOTHING on there that looks or tastes like bread, pasta, crackers, or pastry.  I could live fairly happily without bread or crackers but I am missing pasta and pastry!

So the layouts...
LOAD11 prompt was tell a secret of adulthood.  My secret is that the news media almost always over-hypes the weather...

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LOAD12 asked "what did you do for love"?  And this prompt could go in so many different directions, but my chosen direction was timely for me...

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Finally, LOAD13 asked us to incorporate something NEW into our layout. This whole Primal thing is new for me and sometimes mistakes are made. I made a big mistake (for me) ordering "gluten-free" pizza (thinking I was being all virtuous sticking to this plan) on Friday night when Jay & I went out to our favorite local pizzeria.  It did not agree with me at all and triggered a massive flare-up of my fibromyalgia that lasted into Sunday morning.  Which led to this layout... where the new to me technique was to create an actual scrapbook layout in art journaling style. Which I then paired with a 6x12 journaling page.  This will go in the "All About Cheri" section of our "US" Library of Memories album.
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The journaling reads:  Living With Fibromyalgia

1. Pain. When I was first diagnosed with fibro, most of my days were a 5/6 on a pain scale of 1-10. Pain I equated with the type of all over body aches you get with the flu - a flu that never goes away. The pain is transient in that it can seemingly strike any body part at any time, although most commonly neck, shoulders, hips, and knees. Through diet modification, meditation, and Tai Chi most days are now in the 2/3 range. Not bad enough to prevent me from engaging in most everyday activity. Nevertheless, the pain is constant. I haven’t had a single pain-free day in years. On days that I don’t mention it or complain, it only means that I’m coping, not that I don’t hurt. If I complained every time it hurt I would sound like a broken record. On a bad “flare” day my pain level will shoot to a 7/8, just shy of bad enough to head to the E.R. Those are the days when I have no energy at all and just need to sleep all day.
2. Fatigue. Being tired is another constant with fibro. I am tired all the time. Most days I am able to push through the exhaustion in order to accomplish what must be done. Sometimes I just can’t and have to give in to a nap.
3. Sleep. Fibro wreaks havoc with normal sleep patterns. Most nights I fall asleep in 20-30 minutes. But I wake up an average of 10-12 times per night. If I’m lucky the waking is transitory and I fall right back asleep. Sometimes the awake periods last around 15 minutes. Then there are the nights when insomnia takes over and I can’t fall asleep to save my life. Those nights are hard and usually mean a really bad day will follow.
4. Memory. By far the hardest symptom for me to deal with has been the memory glitches. I will forget things - like taking the keys out of the car before I lock the door. Or leaving my purse in a restaurant. I lose words. All. the. time. As someone who earns a living crafting with words, it becomes very frustrating when I know there is a perfect word for what I want to say but I can’t recall it. I have difficulty concentrating and I’m easily distracted - like adult onset ADD. It feels scattered and chaotic; not my normal organized self. And I can no longer trust my memory. I have to keep lists and write everything down or I won’t remember it five minutes later. I used to be able to work off a mental checklist.
Obviously, none of this is life-threatening. It could be far worse. But try to imagine how you would feel if you were condemned to spend the rest of your life exhausted, in pain, and unable to rely on your own brain. How would you cope?

Now, I realize the layout sounds kind of dark and I'm not really in that place.  It is just that I was trying to explain the symptoms in a way my family (who are mostly still in denial that there is anything wrong with me) could understand. It is my hope that once this layout makes it into an album they'll actually read it and take the information to heart.

So, it's all good here, I'm feeling fine... Happy Valentine's Day to my bloggy friends!


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

LOAD213 - Days 8-10

Day 8 I used the prompt from Telling Tales to create a layout about me right now:
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This is using Krystal Hartley's brand new collab kit "Today's Story".

Day 9 - I wasn't feeling well, so ignored the prompts and used a quickpage template to create this:
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Not too bad for just wanting to get a layout done!

Day 10 - The prompt was to create a page about the stage of life we are currently in. There was something about "quilt" in the prompt too.  Here's my take on that:
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This is using Krytal Hartley's Mixed Media Mash-ups #3 and the collab kit "Life is Breathtakingly Beautiful"

Thursday, February 7, 2013

LOAD213 - Days 4-7

Day 4 prompt was goals - used the opportunity to get my monthly MMEW page done.  I still need to get my "starting" photo done - haven't had the time or opportunity to set up a self portrait.

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Day 5 - Scrap Your Honey - I actually did a paper layout with hidden journaling (sorry for the nasty blurry photograph. photo LOAD5_zps2ed4983c.jpg

Day 6 - Scrap something you've been procrastinating on - I originally told this story on my blog back in November 2009 - I don't know what took me so long to get it onto a layout.

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 Day 7 - Scrap a Nature Photo:  photo LOAD7_zps40d08545.jpg

Can I  just say I love the way this layout came out?  I've been wanting to do a "seasons" layout for awhile, but really didn't know how to set it up or what products to use... this layout just came together tonight!

Monday, February 4, 2013

LOAD213 - Days 1-3

I'm taking part in LOAD again this month - I love the challenge of getting a bunch of pages done in a tight time frame and then taking a break - this has worked for me before, so we'll see how February goes!

Prompt 1 was to create a layout without words - to use the papers, embellishments, and whatever else you add to the page to convey an emotion or feeling. And while I have some amount of trepidation about sharing this layout, in the interest of my One Little Word - "Dare" - I'm daring to go ahead and do it, despite the misgivings of my inner critic (who I'm telling to hush and go away).

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Day Two's prompt was to scrapbook "The Perfect Day".  I temporarily passed on that prompt in favor of getting my Storytelling Sunday post into a scrapbook layout - here's the result:

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Day 3 the prompt was to scrapbook something that is often overlooked, but should be appreciated.  I took the opportunity to combine the prompts from Days 2 & 3 to come up with this layout about Ocean City, NJ:

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I think this layout also works for the Telling Tales prompt to use a series of photos to show action or tell a story. Not much action going on here, but that is the story... being at the beach is all about kicking back and relaxing! We've just booked a property for a week in July and I'm already giddy with anticipation!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Story Telling Sunday - My Precious 2



When Sian first announced "My Precious" as the theme of Story Telling Sunday for this year, like many of you, I immediately thought of Gollum hiding away and cackling over his precious ring.  I knew that rings would definitely number among my "precious" items.  So today, here are two that are particularly meaningful to me.

Both of these rings belonged to my Mom. That alone would make them special. But each ring has a story of its own that makes it even more meaningful.

The one on the left is a mother's ring that my siblings and I bought Mom for a Mother's Day gift when I was in college. It was my idea and given the ages of my brothers and sisters, contributions varied greatly. As the oldest I paid the lion's share. The ring was ordered from the Sears Catalog.  Mom loved it and wore it a lot - so much so that when I inherited it the pearl stone (Deanna's birthstone) was missing and the gold prongs were worn down to nearly nothing. I replaced the pearl, had the ring repaired, and actually wore it for quite awhile. Until it stopped fitting. Hopefully I'll lose some weight and it will come back out of the jewelry box soon.

The ring on the right was a gift to Mom from her father when she graduated eighth grade. It is a beautiful aquamarine and I love the vintage setting. Mom loved this ring and wore it a lot. Deanna actually inherited this ring, but since we both love it, she has graciously allowed us to take turns having possession of it. Which is very sweet and generous of her, given that Mom left it to her. I wear this frequently and I love it. Someday I hope to own a ring of my own as beautiful as this one!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

What I Did At The Crop | Three

And finally, I worked on my "This Is Me" album begun from a Lisa Day class at BPS back in 2009.  At this point, I'm actually closing in on finishing this album!

 First up this two page layout about friendship.

With a close up of the journaling.


 Then there was this fun page about the television shows I've enjoyed over roughly the past ten years:

A layout about Jay:
And I'm floored at how young I look getting married (no, I was not a child bride!) and how blonde I was!



And finally, this family layout:

Have you ever scrapped 6x12?  I love this size!

Friday, February 1, 2013

One Little Word Blog Hop - February





Whether you arrived here from Lee's Blog as part of the One Little Word Blog Hop, or you are here because you love me and drop by regularly... Welcome! I love visitors! The One Little Word Blog Hop is a monthly hop run by Lee for members of Ali Edwards' One Little Word class over at Big Picture Classes. 

This year I am working in a 6x8 SN@P Album from Simple Stories. The smaller size means I have to get creative with Ali's assignments and figure out a way to fit them.  So here is my title page for my word "DARE" along with the first page of cards.  Ali's assignment was to create 12 intention statements with your word and to assign each intention to a month.


I chose to create only eight broad intentions which are all year-long endeavors, so I did not assign them to a month. The "original" page is a card from my blog friend Kai - which I though went well in this spot!

Here is a close up of the first set of cards. I'm happy to say I began the Primal Eating challenge on January 27th as intended. I am four full days off of grains. Don't ask me how I'm doing yet, it's too soon to tell and I'm still struggling with cravings for sugar and bread.  But I'm persevering.

And the second set of cards.  

I can tell you there has been a TON of enticing offerings in the online class realm this month and I've been sorely tempted by a lot of them! 

Not counting my year-long classes (Beyond2, One Little Word, Move More Eat Well) so far I've only signed up for two - the first was a week long Creativity class that is already over. And then I got taken in by Miss Smith and the Telling Tales class but I'm not regretting it at all!

There are many many more that I've already decided to pass on. And right now I'm still mulling over The History Project as well as the possibility of signing up for Stacy Julian's Finding Photo Freedom as an alum.  I've already taken this class, but I know I could use more work on this topic and I get more done in the classroom setting... hmmmm... what's a girl to do?

I've also made some small progress on  scrapbooking UFO's - and hey - every little bit counts right?

Thanks for stopping by!  If you are following the hop, your next stop is Lisa's blog.  If you get lost, here's the entire list:

Lee: http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife/ 
Cheri: cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Lisa: http://backtoallen.com/category/challenges/one-little-word/
Lynn: www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Nikki: www.inkyart.com.au
Kathryn: www.katlodesigns.com
Missus Wookie: mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.com
Veronica: www.veronicanorris.typepad.com
Eydie: www.whatwecreate.net
Karen: http://womenontractors.blogspot.com
Kelly: http://www.septemberblue.net
Melanie: http://mellybirddesigns.wordpress.com
Valerie: http://naughtystamper.blogspot.com/
Marya: www.lotustreecrafts.com
Nupur: http://woodpeckertales.com
Angela: angelanoel.com
Janet: http://lifeinsideascrapbookroom.blogspot.com
Dona: http://orangegearle.blogspot.com/
Ruth: http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com/
Naomi: http://www.poeticaperture.com/
Pam: http://pammiek.blogspot.com/
Kara: http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com
Clare: http://claresthomas.blogspot.co.uk/
Margareta: http://www.paperpilekitten.com/
Tricia: http://onecreativemom.wordpress.com/
Jacqueline: http://goodwolve.blogs.com/jacqueline/