Scrap Dreams

LOAD - 9, 10, 11

2012-02-12T07:02:00.000-05:00

Tiffany Tillman Storyteller Template, Jenn Barrette "Dandelion Wishes" kit for the papers and elements.

Katie Pertiet Blended Template; Jessica Sprague Kraft cardstock background.

Ali Edwards template from "Yesterday and Today" class, Background paper and elements from Miki Ferkul "Hands of Time" kit; ribbons papers and journaling paper from Miki Ferkul "Frosty Nocturne" kit.

Although I'm not laying this out for you side by side (because you wouldn't be able to read it), this is a two page layout...

10 Things on the Tenth

2012-02-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

So for today's "Ten" list, I thought I'd share my favorite go-to's for digital scrapbooking (not in any particular order):

1. Ali Edwards @ Designer Digitals. I love a LOT of her stuff, but my favorites would be her templates from her "Yesterday and Today" class over at BPC. Also loving these, which occasionally appear as free downloads on her blog:

2. Cathy Zielski @ Designer Digitals. I really love Cathy's clean, linear style and fantastic use of type. Her templates are a real go-to for me. Like this one that I bought today:

Did I mention that Designer Digitals is having their quarterly sale right now??? 30% of EVERYTHING in the store!!!

3. Katie Pertiet @ Designer Digitals. I would be embarrassed to admit how much of her stuff is in my digi collection. Right now I'm enamoured with her blendable templates - like this one:

4. Sue Cummings @ O'Scraps - especially her 52 Inspirations line.

5. Jessica Sprague @ JessicaSprague.com. This is the place for Photoshop Elements Education! If you are relatively new to Photoshop and want to learn to use it, I highly recommend this class:

6. Krystal Hartley @ Sweet Shoppe Designs. I adore her kits! Like this one:

7. Miki Ferkul - Studio Miki @ ScrapbookGraphics. If you are looking for richly saturated color kits, Miki is your girl!

8. Lorilei Murphy - Studio Rosey Posey @ ScrapbookGraphics - blended templates, fragments, wonderful collections with multiple uses...

9. Kim Klassen @ Kim Klassen Cafe - the only place to go for textures! She offers a weekly newsletter with freebie textures. Her site has free tutorials, a subscription area, and classes. Her work is amazing.

10. Kayla Lamoreaux @ DigiScrap101 - for everything you ever wanted to know about digital organization! She has a class called "Finding Photo Freedom" about organizing your digital photos. She offers FREE tutorials on Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, and more. She has great blog articles about why your photo library is so important, the necessity of backup, and the power of 20. Lots of good stuff here.

Just a Quote for Friday

2012-02-10T07:53:00.000-05:00

I really wasn't happy with the self-portrait I used in my One Little Word album, so I tried again...

LOAD 7 & 8

2012-02-09T06:33:00.000-05:00

LOAD #7. Today's prompt was "I always thought..." I went off-prompt to create this layout from Easter 2003.

credit: Jardin QP from Studio Miki

LOAD #8
Today's prompt was "I miss..." which immediately made me think of my sis!

credits: template is Tiffany Tillman's "Storyteller" collection. Papers are from Studio Crew "Plum Tuckered Traditions".

Move More Eat Well - February Edition

2012-02-07T20:17:00.001-05:00

LOAD - 2,3,4, & 6

2012-02-06T20:12:00.000-05:00

LOAD2 - I did my Move More, Eat Well pages, but didn't want to share them on the LOAD Flickr group, so I also created this layout which is helping me track all my "to do's" for the month of February!

LOAD3 - the prompt was "Look at Me Now". I had fun with this layout - it's digi and everything is from Studio Miki's "Glorious" kit. I haven't done the journaling yet, but it will talk about how I used to be so shy and unsure of myself and how although I haven't given up my introvert tendencies, I've definitely learned to compensate! The younger "me" is a photo from 1978, when, as a junior in high school, I was inducted into the National Honor Society. Watch for a reuse of the newer photo on Friday! :)

LOAD4 - on the 4th, I went to a shorter day crop. I was only there from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and all I took to work on was Rachel's "School of Life" album. Less to pack and I'm working on the whole "FOCUS on one thing at a time" deal.

All of the pages I completed on Saturday were fairly simple and mostly school and class photos.

But I managed to complete a total of FOURTEEN pages! Her album from Kindergarten to Sixth grade is really starting to take shape. Which I guess is a good thing considering she's a senior in high school!

LOAD5 - after doing 14 pages on Saturday, I decided to observe the sabbath and give my creativity a rest.

LOAD6 - the prompt was "Little Girl Dreams". This layout looks like it could fit the prompt, but the journaling tells a different story.

I used Katie Pertiet's "Destination Seaside" #4 paper and "Notebook Edge Mask" #3. One of the easiest digi pages I've done in a long time!

Seriously, when was the last time you saw this much scrapbooking from me??? I'm thinking maybe LOAD was a good idea after all!

Storytelling Sunday - On Motherhood

2012-02-05T04:49:00.001-05:00

As any of you who are mothers know, the job comes with a unique set of joys and heartbreaks that is unlike any other occupation or avocation known to humankind.

Sometimes you are amazed by how the tiniest thing your sweet child says or does can just melt your heart and fill you with the most profound sense of joy.

Other times you may wonder what ever possessed you to procreate in the first place. I have, on more than one occasion, been overheard asking Jay "whose idea was it to have kids anyway"??? Yes, sometimes the little munchkins can be exasperating.

In the past few months, I have experienced an entirely new phase of motherhood - that of sitting on the sidelines while my daughter gets her heart broken into pieces and then wading neck deep into the muck to deal with the emotional aftermath. Peter, Becca's boyfriend of three years, broke up with her two days before Christmas. They are back to texting "as friends" but still not back to being "a couple" and it has been over a month since they have seen each other face to face.

Becca is still holding out hope, still waiting on a miracle. Her emotions are all over the map. And I've been on the wacky ride with her... which lead to this layout:

The photo is me.

All papers and elements from Sue Cunningham's 2010 52 Inspirations collection, week 40, over at OScraps.com. And I have to admit, I copied her layout almost identically.

The layout will include this bit of hidden journaling, via a pull out tab behind the layout:

Template is Ali Edwards "Long Journalers" available at Designer Digitals.

I wouldn't trade my job as her mother for anything in the world. But I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm having a bit of trouble dealing with this particular phase of life. I'll be relieved when it finally resolves, one way or the other...

*This post is part of Storytelling Sunday. For more great stories, visit Sian over at From High In The Sky and click on the links!

Picture Inspiration {49/52}

2012-02-04T04:41:00.000-05:00

The prompt was "recuperate." Kira is a champ at the sport of recuperation! One of her fave
places to practice this demanding sport is Becca's bed.

Beyond Layers - "Light and Blur" and Just A Quote for Friday

2012-02-03T04:47:00.001-05:00

I shot this photo of pine cones laying among dead pine needles in the grass. I didn't get the dreamy "blur" effect, but I was really happy with the light!

Processed using Kim Klassen's "organic" texture in two layers - one as soft light at 100% and the second as darken at 75%.

Same place, same time, different shot. I think I got light and blur! :) No textures added to this one.

LOAD1

2012-02-02T12:47:00.000-05:00

So, being the somewhat insane person that I am, and even with everything else already on my plate, I went and signed myself up for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for February. It ties in with my Twelve class and will hopefully give me some added incentive to keep on scrappin'!

Yesterday's layout prompt was "you've got taste" and hey... wasn't that Photo Walk lunch treat just the perfect image to illustrate it?

All paper and elements are from Studio Miki's "Summer's End" kit over at ScrapbookGraphics.

One Little Word Blog Hop - February Edition

2012-02-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

Hello and Welcome to the One Little Word Blog Hop! If you came here from Kelly's blog, welcome! You made it to the right place. Grab a drink and stay awhile! I love visitors! If you are a regular reader, you already know the drill! ;) The entire hop goes live at 8:00 a.m. Pacific (11:00 my time) so if you are early, just check back later to catch everyone!

My One Little Word for 2012 is FOCUS. And it's really a big word. With a lot of challenge in it. I can't say at this point how it will play out. HAPPY still seems to have a hold on me and FOCUS hasn't really made itself felt yet. But I'm sure it is coming...

Here's my self-portrait to fulfill the January prompt. I honestly like last year's a lot better... but this is me... this is now... And there is no questioning but that I'm a work in progress...

My January page. I am using "FOCUS" as both a noun and a verb. And I love all the things focus can potentially bring into my life if I allow it.

I also love that the origins of the word "focus" go back to home and family... without a doubt the most important things I need to be focusing on!

Finally - close-ups of two of my cards. Here's where I got to play and create a little - book pages, butterfly stamp, watercolors... and the dimensional butterflies were made using decorative tape on cardstock and then punched and added bling.

Thanks for stopping by! Your next stop on the hop is Amanada's blog. And just in case you get lost, here is the entire hop list:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

Sharyn www.lavieenchic.com

Jill http://jillconyers.com

Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Jenn www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Carmen http://www.carmenpaulsorthner.com

Marilee http://rose-brier.blogspot.com

Kristina http://hrinspirationfromthe403.blogspot.com/

Cindy C http://www.cynthiacrysdale.com

Kelly http://mindingmynest.com

Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com <----- YOU ARE HERE

Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com <----- NEXT STOP

Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Brooke www.everysnapshot.com

Naomi www.poeticaperture.com

Melissa http://www.smudgetime.com

Karen http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com

Melissa S http://blog.mshanhun.com

Devon http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com

Donna http://holimess.blogspot.com/

Dawn sunshineandcreativity.com

Katrina www.katrinasimeck.com

Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com

Monica http://scrapinspired.com

Kimberlee http://scrapsandsass.blogspot.com

Missus W http://mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.com/

Kaylea http://www.myscrappylife.com

Nikki Www.inkyart.com.au

Erin http://erinsparkes.typepad.com/optimstic-fascination/

Jo www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

Coley http://coleybelle.blogspot.com/2012/01/focus-word-for-2012.html

Beth www.thesingularlyordinary.blogspot.com

Veronica www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/

Monica B http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

Veronica http://www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Cate www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com

Stephanie www.scrapworthylives.com

Orange Gearle http://orangegearle.blogspot.com

Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Junelle http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com/

Ruth http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com

Becky www.becky-handforth.blogspot.com

My First Artist Date

2012-01-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, advocates taking yourself on weekly "artist's dates" to help fuel your creativity. I've been doing a great job writing morning pages, but have been balking at the idea of taking myself on a date. But today...

was a gorgeous day...

...so I laced up my walking shoes and took myself out for a Photo Walk.

I enjoyed blue skies and 50 degree temps - so NOT like January!

I caught a beautiful shot of the American flag in all its glory.

On the way to visit my favorite covered bridge, I picked up trash along the path. I love leaving a place ever so slightly better off than I found it!

I thought this particular shot looked really cool with Pioneer Woman's sepia action followed by a bit of erasing to bring back the red... (thanks for the idea Amy!)

And then there was this really moody shot of a big old tree along the path.

I went home via a short cut through the grocery store and treated myself to this very colorful salad!

40 minutes of fresh air and exercise, some great shots, and a healthy lunch. I'd say that was a pretty good date!

Because You Asked...

2012-01-25T16:27:00.000-05:00

I always aim to please and because so many of you asked so nicely...

Here's the secret recipe for Rachel's Peanut Butter Blossom cookies (with apologies in advance to my overseas friends - sorry I don't know how to do the conversions!). And to be quite honest, the recipe isn't all that secret. It was sourced here. (You can go to the link and easily print the recipe from there!)

Ingredients

48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

Directions

1 Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
2 Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
3 Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each
cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
About 4 dozen cookies.

Nutritional Information per serving (1 cookie):
Calories: 90, Total Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 5mg, Sodium: 75mg,
Total Carbohydrate: 10g, Dietary Fiber: less than 1g, Sugars: 6g, Protein: 2g

Take Twelve (12 days late)

2012-01-24T08:25:00.000-05:00

As part of my Twelve class with Stacy Julian, I decided to participate in the Take Twelve challenge over at Ella Publishing. So yes, these photos were taken on the 12th of January. But it took me until last night to actually get them scrapped. I used Cathy Zielski's 20/20 template, available at Designer Digitals, but put text in the photo box and photos in the text boxes! Too fun!

Beyond Layers - My Six Word Memoir

2012-01-23T18:12:00.001-05:00

My photo with KK textures "simplicity" soft light @100% & "storm" darken @40%

My Six Word Memoir:

"Striving to be best possible ME"

The only connection with the photo is that bit of tree bark that curled itself into the letter "C"... captured this photo in November... the tree is one in my front yard.

Six Word Memoir prompt inspired by Smith Magazine and part of Beyond Layers class assignment.

Beyond Layers - "Just Enough" and Just A Quote for Friday

2012-01-20T16:34:00.001-05:00

"Less is More." ~Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

First photo exercise in Kim Klassen's "Beyond Layers" class. My photo with KK "awaken" texture added with soft light blending mode at 80%

More from the Crop

2012-01-19T19:44:00.000-05:00

You all didn't seriously think I went to a weekend crop and only came away with 12 cards now did you????

First let me start by saying, I had a lot of comments about the amount of "stuff" I took to the crop. So I thought I'd share with you the "anatomy" of packing for a crop. And in case I didn't make it clear, this particular crop was a full weekend getaway - starting at noon on Friday and running until 5 p.m. on Sunday (although we left by 2:30 on Sunday - my ride had a dinner to attend!)

This is what I took:

Bag #1. The Xyron 900 on the top of Bag #1 was something I took to sell in the yard sale. I haven't used it in years - it was great back in the days of school projects, but has sat in a closet since. I'm happy to say, it went home with a new owner.

In the bag itself is my baker's racks for holding tools and such, my cup holder/trash can that attaches to the table, my Epson PictureMate 4x6 portable photo printer, my Xyron 250, a blanket for when the ballroom gets cold (it does!), a plastic cloth for covering my work when I leave at night - basically all the odd bulky things that don't fit in with scrapping supplies.

Bag #2 is a small tote filled with mixed media supplies - inks, stamps, brushes, mod podge, etc.

Bag # 3 is FOOD! 8 bottles of water, apples, peanut butter, clementines, almonds, dried mango, oatmeal. (and my "Twelve" egg crate of embellies sitting on top of the water bottles). Some of our meals were included in the weekend, some not. And since I'm trying to eat healthy, I needed snacks that would keep me going.

Crate #4 - believe it or not, almost everything in that crate was for a single project... Rachel and Becca's "School of Life" albums for grades K-6. I figured since they are graduating high school this year, it's high time I got this project underway. In the crate - two unopened 12x12 dark green Dalee albums, a few pouches filled with school themed scrapbooking stickers and diecuts, two 12x12 clear expandable envelopes filled with all of the layouts I've already made that belong in these albums, and then all that stuff turned sideways... is 8.5 x 11" envelopes filled by grade with all their memorabilia (school photos, report cards, awards, papers, etc.).

Bag #5 - several 12x12 paper "stacks", a couple of magazines, idea books, my "Twelve" binder, etc. Oh - and squished there between bag #2 and bag #5, my pink "Tote-ally Cool" tool tote which holds my trimmer, ATG gun, scissors, pens, other adhesives, cropadile, corner rounder, tiny attacher... you know, all those things you just can't scrap without!

Bin #6 - large punches

Bag #7 (inside crate #8) - all this is a bunch of miscellaneous papers, stickers, and embellies for the yard sale. And everything in there that I didn't sell was donated to charity at the end of the crop - that bag came home EMPTY!

Crate #8 - other than the bag above, the rest of this crate is filled with page and project kits - basically everything I hoped to work on and accomplish during the crop.

Bag #9 - clothes! Jammies and slippers for at night and two days worth of clothing changes and toiletries all in a relatively small duffle bag - obviously my wardrobe was much less important than my "stuff"!

#10 - the only item not pictured - my computer! Laptop goes with me to crops too! And that bag also carries my p&s camera, cell phone charger, external hard drive, power strip, journal...

So you see... not really so much stuff when you see how critical it all is to being able to crop the weekend away...

And without further ado... what I did...

1. Twelve Cards!

2. the 2011 layout for Jay's birthday album.

3. A two page layout of all my blog friends! (Okay, not all of them... the ones who visit and comment the most...)

I swiped everyone's photos from their blogs and then where I had them, I used those cute little colored faces from Mel's coloring exchange.

Hey, Kai - when you do yours, can you send me one???

There were a few more people I would have liked to add, but for whom I had neither blog photo nor colored face... see, there is a reason to put your photo on your blog!

4. A quick layout about my disappointing round of jury duty.

5. I added some things to my "Junque Journal". It seems to be filling up a lot faster since blog friends started sending me wonderful things in the mail...

All that crafty goodness...

6. A complete and total scraplift from Melissa - this tracker layout for my "Twelve" class (the chart was created by a fellow class member and I just printed it out and trimmed it down to fit). I can mark off as I create the layouts... how many of those little circles do you think I'll have filled in by the end of the year???

And on the back I can write the title of each layout, so I'll always know which layouts in my albums were created during this class!

7. Our annual Christmas Greetings pages - this one shows what we sent out this year

A collage of photos/cards we received this year - so yes, I did need my square punch - in fact between this layout and the cards, I used all three sizes!

And the cards that were just too beautiful or cute or sweet to be cut up... all from my very crafty bloggy friends!

8. Got the foundation done for two School of Life albums and a few interior pages... but I haven't taken any photos yet, so that will be fodder for another post!

And finally, 9. I finished the canvas I was making for Kai! I had most of the background done - I added the She Art Girl and the saying at the crop, as well as some finer details. The canvas is in an envelope now and ready to go postal tomorrow! I sure hope she likes it!

Picture Inspiration {48/52}

2012-01-19T15:46:00.000-05:00

I fell off the Picture Inspiration bandwagon for about 3 months. Now I'm hoping to climb back aboard and finish the journey strong!

Week 47 was "Outside Looking In" (or vice versa) and Week 48 is "Winter Light". This photo covers both prompts:

This was the view from my sun room window at about 7:30 this morning.

Pass The Book... and the Winner is...

2012-01-16T13:11:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Deb! I'll be putting that book in the mail to you shortly! :)

Pass The Book - last Chance!

2012-01-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

If you haven't put your name in the hat for this wonderful book, go to this post and do so now! I had so much fun playing with this book over the weekend.... I really do think I need my own copy!

Yes, I ended up making a dozen cards! The three valentines cards were made with the most adorable set of stickers that I found in the yard sale room for 50 cents! I apologize for the quality of these photos, but taking pictures in "the ballroom" of a hotel... well, I think it takes more than a point and shoot to make it work!

The best part of making these cards is that other than the cardstock base, this is all using up scraps!!! These aren't nearly as elaborate as Jacky's or Karen's and my stamping skills could use some practice... okay, a LOT of practice... but I'm still thrilled with getting these together!

So Sian, thanks for being so patient with me passing on this book!

Just a Quote for Friday

2012-01-13T22:29:00.000-05:00

very late on Friday...

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” Joseph Chilton Pearce

I'm off playing - and hopefully getting smarter in the process! :)

Pass The Book

2012-01-11T12:57:00.002-05:00

Here I am, hanging my head in shame. I have a Year One "Pass The Book" from Sian. I'm not even certain how long I've had it, but at least two months. My bad. :(

I have skimmed through Card Maker's Sketch Book and it has tons of great ideas for cardmaking! I hope to put some of those ideas use it at the crop I am attending this coming weekend.

I promise I will be ready to Pass The Book by next Monday... which will give you plenty of time to put your name in the hat if this book would appeal to you or if you are planning on making lots of handmade cards this year - the sketches and the various ways they were used truly are quite yummy!

To be included in the drawing, just leave a comment on this post. I'll draw a winner sometime next Monday, after I return from the crop.

Call Me Crazy - Ten Ways To Make FOCUS Work - a Ten on the Tenth Post

2012-01-10T11:24:00.001-05:00

Remember me saying my One Little Word this year is "FOCUS"??? And that my biggest goal was to FOCUS on just one thing at a time??? Well, as we all know, life doesn't really come at you one thing at a time. So how do I corral this whole concept of FOCUS? How am I going to make this word work for me?

One. I've been writing morning pages ala Julie Cameron, The Artist's Way. I was finding myself totally distracted during the writing process and constantly stopping to check my email or google reader. So I bought a kitchen timer. I set it for twenty minutes. I turned off my computer monitor (note, computer is still running, just not in my face!), and started writing. Soooo much more effective!

Two. I'm NOT involved in Project Life or any of the "365" type projects. I know I would never keep up with it, although I'm mighty impressed and awed by all you ladies who do! I'm well aware of my own limitations. But beyond what will go in my One Little Word album as I live with FOCUS, I wanted a way to track my year and all the different topics I choose to FOCUS on. I already had a 2-up photo album that holds 300 photos, originally purchased with the idea to use it for photos in the "Picture" series at BPC. I never did get started with that. And since I'm all for working with what I already own and repurposing, I now intend to use this album as my 2012 FOCUS project! :)

That's a little self-portrait in the lower left corner of the album - me caught in the glare of the cover.

I had been toying with the idea in my mind, when I saw this post from Carrie. Which really clinched it for me. I'm going to do this! I'm not tied to every single day ... that wouldn't fit in the album anyway. Some days will be photos, some days journal cards, some days maybe a bit of ephemera. But each month, I'll be FOCUSING on a new topic. For right now, the breakdown looks like this:

January - Healthy Eating
February - Meditation/Rest
March - Movement (aka Exercise)
April - Lightroom (learn the program and implement it with my photos) and Digi Skills.
May - Photography (working on my camera skills)
June - Family and Friends (to coincide with three graduations and a big party!)
July - Creativity - Mixed Media
August - Creativity - Scrapbooking
September - Learning (to coincide with Shimelle's LSNED class)
October - Kindness (my idea is to practice and document random acts of kindness all month - thanks to Kelly for this idea!)
November - Gratitude (documenting a month of what I'm grateful for in November - perfect!)
December - Christmas Spirit (nicely fits in with JYC, right?)

This list is not set in stone. It is subject to modification if a different topic moves me in a particular month or things need to get shuffled around because life gets in the way (it has been known to happen!). But this gives me a structure and place to document all the wonderfulness I hope to achieve this year.

The other thing I've done differently is set up all my online classes for the year already. Say what??? No, you read that correctly! I've got this year nailed already, and here's the line-up:

Three. For FOCUS:
One Little Word with Ali Edwards at Big Picture Classes - this is a year long class with monthly prompts. The actual time commitment doing this last year was fairly limited, but it kept my word active for me all year long! Registration is open all year, so you can join at any time! PLUS, my own 2012 FOCUS project noted above! :)

Four. For healthy eating and movement:
Move More Eat Well with Cathy Zielski at Big Picture Classes - this is a year long class with monthly prompts and a lot of information, inspiration, and challenges in the community and on the message boards - registration is open all year!

Five. For Lightroom:
Finding Photo Flow with Kayla Lamoreaux. This is a self-paced class that will allow me to learn the Lightroom software at my own speed. I actually signed up and got started with this in December. Karen and I are going to work through it together. So fun!

Six. For Digi Skills:
Beyond Layers with Kim Klassen. Another year long class, this is weekly emails with prompts, downloads, challenges, and new things to try. Starts January 16. I've always admired Kim's photos and use of textures, so I'm sure there is lots I can learn here!

Seven. For my Camera Skills: a variety of classes that I started and never finished (but will this year!) most particularly Your Life: Captured Through the Lens with Katrina Kennedy.

Eight. For Mixed Media:
The Art of Wild Abandonment with Christy Tomlinson and Junelle Jacobson. A 3 week workshop starting March 12. I couldn't pass this one up - I've seen Junelle's work and I follow her blog and I frankly can't wait to learn from her!!! Followed up immediately by...

Nine. 21 Secrets - An Art Journal Playground at Dirty Footprints Studio beginning April 1st - this is self-paced but runs through the end of 2012. It features a workshop from each of 21 different instructors including Christy Tomlinson and Dina Wakely. That's a lot of inspiration for the price. I figure if I like even two or three of the 21 instructors, the class price was fair - beyond that it's a bargain!

Ten. For Scrapbooking:
Twelve with Stacy Julian at Big Picture Classes. (Sorry, registration is already closed). This is a 12 week 4 Experts class, but Stacy is continuing it beyond the 12 weeks with prompts and inspiration all year long. Her idea is to get us to scrap 12 layouts each month for a total of 144 by the end of the year. I admit that I had a lot of trepidation about entering this class. I knew going in that I wasn't going to hold myself to that number - I mean, come on, 144 layouts??? I've NEVER scrapped that much in a year! But now that I'm in the class I'm really excited about the possibilities! I'm trying to do things as Stacy is outlining them, not my usual change everything and make it more difficult than it needs to be!

Stacy wanted us to paint a muffin tin to house color-coordinated embellishments. I didn't want to buy anything, so I repurposed a cardboard egg carton - lots of mixed media fun putting this together!

Close up of detail on front.

Inside of egg carton with all my color-coordinated embellishments. I did this by putting down a coat of gesso first (so the paint wouldn't all get absorbed into the paper fiber). Then painted each egg spot a different color, then finished with a coat of mod-podge and labeled each spot with the topic that the color will represent.

Close up of my embellishments.

This is my Inspiration File. Again - repurposed an old accordian file that I've had sitting around forever! Perfect, because it had exactly 12 file spots! I used my cropadile to hole punch the upper right corner so I could attach my bingo cards. We are using those to track our progress in the class.

View of accordian file expanded.

Top-down view. You can see the back portion of this file folder also holds my Twelve class notebook!

So... I get to spend an entire year with three of my favorite scrapbookers - Ali Edwards, Cathy Zielski, and Stacy Julian! Plus a host of digi gurus and mixed media artists! I'm planning to treat this just as though I'm back at school with a full roster of classes and need to structure my time to make sure I "pass" each one. And I'm so excited about my professors this year! I never had a line-up like this when I was in college! I'm hoping that with this full roster I won't be tempted by all the other great classes sure to come up as the year moves along. After all, tuition has already been paid and is not refundable if you drop one class to pick up another...

Move More Eat Well

2012-01-06T11:37:00.000-05:00

Last year's fitness journey collapsed into a pile of nothingness between Jay's temporary stint with unemployment and my subsequent diagnosis of fibromyalgia. This year I decided to join in Cathy Zielski's "Move More Eat Well" class over at Big Picture Classes. My goal for this class is simply to regain my health - by moving more, by eating REAL food, by giving up my love affair with junk food, and by spending a year with the hilarious and inspiring Cathy and over 1200 other folks who all want to get healthier this year!

My Statement of Intention for 2012

Second "pre-class page" - 5 Things I do Well.

January - My Story - Worst Photo of Me EVER - but I'm trying to keep it real and honest.(no, I'm not pregnant)
Usually I suck it in, so the muffin top and love handles aren't so obvious.

These numbers are embarrassing - but it is what it is...

Move More Eat Well is open for registration all year and is well-priced at just $36 - there is already a ton of
content and lots of support on the message boards. Care to join me???

Storytelling Sunday - Party Like It's 1999

2012-01-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

This is my entry for Sian's Storytelling Sunday. And yes, I'm a day late. Because yesterday was the One Little Word Blog Hop. For more stories check here.

Do you remember New Year's Eve 1999? The big Y2K scare? How everyone thought the Internet and our personal computers were set to self-destruct at midnight?

New Year's Eve 1999 was the first year that we allowed our girls to stay up until midnight - to usher in the new millennium. They amused themselves with television and drawing and board games. They drank soda and ate popcorn and chips. We watched the ball drop on Times Square on television. And miraculously the computer still worked the next morning!

The twelve years since then have flown by. On New Year's Eve 2011 Rachel was working at the Piper Tavern, Sarah was at a party with friends, and Becca was home, watching television alone and lamenting spending the evening without the boyfriend who broke up with her two days before Christmas. I had a lot of opportunity to practice patience and empathy and my listening skills! Jay and I waited up until everyone was safely home and then trudged our weary selves off to bed at 12:30 in the morning.

2012 promises to be a year of big changes in our household. All three girls graduate - two from high school, one from college. I have no idea what New Year's Eve 2012 will look like here. I'm ready. But I'm suddenly feeling very nostalgic for 1999...

One Little Word Blog Hop - January Edition

2012-01-01T09:56:00.000-05:00

Hello and Welcome to the One Little Word Blog Hop! If you came here from Margie's blog, welcome! You made it to the right place. Grab a drink and stay awhile! I love visitors!If you are a regular reader, you already know the drill! ;) The entire hop goes live at 8:00 a.m. Pacific (11:00 my time) so if you are early, just check back later to catch everyone!

My one little word for 2011 was "happy". In retrospect, it was the perfect choice for 2011. Happy was my constant companion and helped guide me through several very rough patches last year. It is with some sadness that I bid adieu to happy, but I know it will stay with me and the lessons learned will not be quickly forgotten!

So thank you happy, for a year of allowing me to see the light in the darkness and to focus on gratitude for all the wonderful and awesome in my life!

As I move forward, I am ready for a challenge this year. Last year "focus" was vying for my attention as my word for the year, but it just felt too heavy - like too much work - and in hindsight, I'm not sure "focus" would have been such a great pal in 2011. But in 2012, I'm ready for focus.

In 2012, I'll be focusing on my health - moving, eating well, regaining my strength and hopefully my energy.

In 2012, I'll be focusing on my family and friends. They need me. I need them. I need to pay attention.

In 2012, I'll be focusing on my camera skills - determined that this will be the year I finally understand aperture and f-stops and white balance...

In 2012, I'll be focusing on my photographs - particularly getting them organized and tagged in Lightroom.

In 2012, I'll be focusing on my creativity - that part of me that heals me and keeps me alive!

But mostly in 2012, I'll be focusing on ONE THING AT A TIME! Yes, time to let go of my adult onset ADD and really learn to single task. It will be my biggest challenge and one I do hope to conquer!

Thanks for stopping by! Your next stop on the hop is Veronica's blog. And just in case you get lost, here is the entire hop list:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Veronica www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Kara http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com/

Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Sharyn http://www.LaVieEnChic.com

Jill http://jillconyers.com

Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Monica http://scrapinspired.com/

Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Cynthia H http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com

Lee http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife/

Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

Monica B www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au

Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Melissa S http://blog.mshanhun.com

Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

Stephanie http://www.scrapworthylives.com/

Jenn L www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com

Karen http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/

And many thanks to Margie - our fearless One Little Word blog hop leader - for keeping this going so that we all have incentive to stay up-to-date with our One Little Word albums! I've finished off my 2011 pages, started 2012, and am looking forward to what this year has to bring!

Time to Catch My Breath

2011-12-23T14:59:00.000-05:00

Have you missed me? It's rare that I go a full two weeks without a single post. But sometimes life happens that way.

December has been insanely busy. And I've been sick since December 1st. With the never-ending knock-you-on-your-ass head cold.

I normally have about one day every other week out of the house (in the office or traveling for work). This month I have been away from home two days per week - every week. For those of you who work 5 days a week away from home, this may seem like no big deal. To me, it has been exhausting.

I had a 14 hour day traveling to/from and attending a Continuing Legal Education Seminar in Philadelphia.

Followed by a 1/2 day of jury duty during which I never left the juror's lounge.

Despite being sick, I've had 5 days of meetings in the office.

And my company holiday party.

Despite being sick, I launched a huge records retention project this month. A project I'm in charge of... and sweating over...

Despite being sick, Christmas presents were purchased,

yes... from the comfort of my computer chair!

And they were wrapped. I finally finished yesterday!

We've have several frosty days. Mixed in with a lot of unseasonably warm.

We haven't had snow since that freak storm in October.

I've been sleeping - a LOT.

Despite being sick, Christmas cards and a newsletter were created.

Envelopes were addressed.

Cards were mailed. Later than normal for me, but done.

Despite being sick, I started a Tai Chi class.

Despite being sick, the Christmas tree was put up and decorated.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Our Christmas Eve boxes have been filled (new pjs and ornaments).

Despite being sick, laundry was washed and groceries were purchased, meals were made, and life went on.

But... because I was sick...

... what you see on this blog post is literally all the pictures I've shot this entire month!

... I'm behind on all of my online courses.

... not a single JYC/December Daily page has been created and I think I may need to just let it go this year.

... I haven't been blogging. I haven't been commenting much, but I HAVE been reading your blogs and keeping up to date!

Yes, life does go on with or without me. I'm as ready for Christmas now as I can be. And ready to enjoy a week off work and some time to slow down. And catch my breath. And maybe create a little. I'm ready to leave 2011 behind. I'm ready to embrace 2012 with open arms.

I wish for each and every one of you a blessed Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. See you soon!

Just a Quote for Friday

2011-12-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling
of letting go and holding on.
~Arthur Miller

Storytelling Sunday - on Grandparents

2011-12-04T05:27:00.002-05:00

This really isn't much of a story - more just an acknowledgement. I think that grandparents play a very important role in a child's life. So I was grateful to have these people in my life:

Grandma and Grandpa Rice were not actually my grandparents. They were an elderly couple that happened to live in the downstairs apartment of a two-flat in Chicago. We lived in the upstairs apartment. At the time of these photos, I was 6 1/2, Deanna (the little red head in the center photo) was 2 1/2, and Jerry was just turning 1. The other boy in the photos is my cousin Geoff.

But back to the Rice's... other than occupying the same apartment building, this couple had no ties to our family. Yet they chose to informally adopt our young family and fill in as grandparents in a home where all the biological grandparents had either died or lived far away in other states.

I honestly know nothing about the Rice's, other than the last name. And that they were wonderful loving people who fulfilled a needed role in the lives of three young children for a time.

Seeing these photos reminded me of the saying "People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime... Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy."

The Rice's were definitely in my life for a season and gave me the opportunity to experience the kind of love that only grandparents are capable of offering. When I came across these photos recently, I knew I needed to document these special people who were an important part of my life for a season.

For more of Storytelling Sunday, visit Sian's Blog From High in the Sky. There's already 27 other bloggers with stories to share!

Just a Quote for Friday

2011-12-02T11:06:00.000-05:00

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities
no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and with
too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

One Little Word Blog Hop - December Edition

2011-12-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

Well... it's that time again. And I'm so proud of myself that I've mostly kept up with this class all year! Seriously considering doing it again next year and just continuing in this same album. The One Little Word Class is taught by Ali Edwards and offered through Big Picture Classes. It is running again next year - just opened up for registration - and it is only $36 for the full year!

So, somehow in November I didn't end up on the blog list. I didn't realize until I was going to bed last night that I had never received the final email from Margie, so it was too late to follow up with her and get added. But I'm joining in anyway! :)

November's prompt was a series of "i" statements. Which really caused me to sit down and think seriously about where I was with my word this late in the year.

I used leftover scraps from my November progress chart to fill in the blank spots.

a couple close ups....

and finally, my progess chart for the month - photographed half way through the 29th.

I actually wrote down was I grateful for EVERY day this month!

For more One Little Word Inspiration, check out the entire blog hop. Here's the list:



Margie   http://xnomads.typepad.com
Julie Ann    http://julieannshahin2.blogpsot.com
Jill        http://jillconyers.typepad.com
Monica B    http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Nikki        http://www.inkyart.com.au
Debra    http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
Amanda    http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Sam        http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com
Lynn        http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Cynthia    http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com
Jan        http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Jenn        http://studiojenn.blogspot.com
Cindy    http://seriousplay.typepad.com
LIsa        http://backtoallen.com

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

2011-11-27T18:59:00.000-05:00

We had a really nice family Thanksgiving. It took literally three days of cleaning, setting up, preparation and cooking to pull this off and was exhausting, but so worthwhile in the end.

Even though we can go years at a time without seeing each other, I remain grateful for my extended family.

This layout was created with a template from Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals - papers are from Katie Pertiet's "Conifere Kit" - the Thankful Heart word art is also from Katie Pertiet and is a free download here as part of this week's quote challenge.

I did steal one idea from Deb and made the most adorable little napkin rings...

My teens thought that assigned seats was lame but the place holders were a hit with everyone else. Thanks for the idea Deb!

Black Friday my family went out shopping at the Mall at five a.m. I don't care much for the Mall during normal days, but the craziness of Black Friday shopping is not for me. I shopped online from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m., pretty much completed all my shopping with some fairly decent bargains, and then took a nap.

Later in the morning I had to head back to the hospital for a repeat mammogram and ultrasound. A little bit of a scare for me, but after some very painful squishing, turns out it is only cysts. The words "nothing concerning" uttered by the radiologist were most welcome at that point.

As this holiday weekend comes to a close, I am thankful for family, accessible medical care, and good news. How about you?

Just a Quote for Friday

2011-11-25T14:22:00.000-05:00

I looked at my life with open eyes. I saw that I had much for which to be grateful.

I felt humbled by my riches and regretted that I took for granted the abundance

that already existed in my life.

~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Simple Abundance

Enabler Alert - FREE Holiday Class!

2011-11-21T08:08:00.000-05:00

You can get this one week self-paced class FREE over at JessicaSprague.com! Just click on the photo above, it will take you right to the site with all the ordering instructions!

Free is always good. Even if you are busy with other classes, you can just download this info and save it for later! I'm all signed up... are you?

Just a Quote for Friday

2011-11-18T07:13:00.000-05:00

We are shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

~ Buddha Quotes

Suspect Captured!

2011-11-15T12:22:00.000-05:00

on film that is...

Here is the suspect, caught in the act of vandalizing a neighbor's mailbox. I know you can barely make him out.

I was shooting with my P&S from across the street and maybe 15 yards back on a fairly high zoom and hand-held which means the entire photo is out of focus, so I circled the guy so you can find him.

I tried to get closer, but of course he took that as his cue to fly away.

Source

A quick google search identified him as a downy woodpecker, apparently fairly common in Pennsylvania.

And just what is this cute little ball of feathers guilty of???

Mailbox defacement in the first degree! The hole on the furthest left actually goes all the way through to the interior of the mailbox. The ones on the center and right side are fairly fresh. If this keeps up, we'll be needing a new mailbox soon!

Just for fun... leaving you with my 11-11-11 photo. I wanted to take this in the morning but happened to be out running errands with hubby at the time and no camera with me. So I waited...

and captured the p.m. version. Then because the photo was so boring, I added textures! "Scripted magic" on screen mode, plus "cinnamon" - both textures from Kim Klassen.

Doing It Digi

2011-11-13T08:43:00.001-05:00

I couldn't make up my mind about this year's JYC/December Daily album. Even though I deeply admire what Ali Edwards does with her December Daily, I learned last year that I have neither the patience, nor the time, to collect and assemble "stuff" into an album. I'm not much of a collector of daily ephemera anyway.

I knew that to be doable this year, my album needed to be mostly digital. And this year I really want to focus on the photography aspect and get some great new photos. I know that my decorations and the scenery around here do not change much from year to year. I just know in my heart that I can do a better job photographing them.

So I spent a couple of days organizing and purging my Christmas themed digi stash. It is truly sad how much digi stuff I own. In fact, after extensive purging of items I know I won't use, just the Christmas themed folder is 4 GB! Yet, after all that organizing and purging, there was nothing in my stash that was inspiring me. So what did I do? Went shopping of course!

I bought Ali's 2011 templates (currently on sale over at Designer Digitals). I used the same 2010 templates and decided this year to just finish out that album which definitely has enough space for another year. I had to go through and resize all the templates to 5.5 by 8.5 to fit my album. Although tedious, it is really simple.

I also bought Frosty Nocturne. Miki Ferkul is one of my favorite designers over at Scrapbookgraphics and this kit is currently 20% off (because it is new this week). I love that while it contains totally traditional red/green/cream Christmas colors it also adds in the blue and brown and has non-traditional elements. I can borrow from other kits if I need to add a santa or christmas tree to something, but I'll mainly be working from this kit to limit my options and keep the whole project streamlined.

To make sure that I was fully committed to my choice, I went through the process of creating 31 days of digi page backgrounds. These are now in my 2011 file, just waiting for photos and finishing touches! I used the same paper from the Frosty Nocturne kit for all the backgrounds. It will be mostly covered up with photos and additional elements anyway and it gives me a nice neutral base to start.

The interesting thing about working with Ali's template is that the space for the photo actually measures about 5 by 6.5". Not a traditional size by any means. Last year I either cropped a vertical photo to fit or added in two horizontal photos or one horizontal photo and some journaling. I'm kind of curious to see how I will handle that space this year. Who knows!

So there you have it - decisions made and the process begun. And I'm feeling a definite sense of calm knowing I have made it this far. How about you?

Ten Reasons Why You Won't Sleep During a "Sleep Study"

2011-11-10T08:09:00.000-05:00

My room for the night at the Stoneridge Sleep Center

1. It's not your own bed.
2. The straps that monitor your chest and abdomen feel like they are constricting your rib cage.
3. The tape holding sensors on your face itches.
4. The paste holding sensors on your scalp (in your hair) is sticky and itches.
5. The tubes up your nose to monitor breathing and snoring are pokey and uncomfortable.
6. If you try to roll over you have to take a bunch of wires with you and inevitably you get tangled in them.
7. If you lay on either side (yes, I'm a side sleeper) all the wires and tubes poke into your head and face.
8. You can hear the patient in the next room snoring. Loudly. Seriously, if I had to sleep with that guy, I would smother him.
9. You can hear the technicians talking down the hall. And doors closing. And other unidentified strange noises.
10. You know there is a camera on you monitoring your every move. Which is just creepy.

I felt like I barely slept at all although the technician tells me I did. I think I dreamed about being awake! There is apparently no explanation for why I wake up dozens of times a night.

Today I am grateful to know that I do not have sleep apnea or breathing issues and, contrary to what my husband will tell you, I barely snore at all!

Check here for more of Shimelle's Ten on the Tenth!

Storytelling Sunday - A Tale of Two Women

2011-11-06T16:24:00.000-05:00

This is the tale of two wonderful women who, by a cruel twist of fate, had the singular misfortune to have both (at different times) fallen in love with the same man.

The first woman, Sandy, is my Mother. She had a relatively happy childhood until her father died of leukemia when she was a young girl. From there on out she grew up in an atmosphere where she felt unloved and unappreciated, and largely in charge of the care of her younger sister, Pat. She married at age 16 to escape an unhappy family situation. But as the old saying goes, out of the frying pan, into the fire. She had no idea at the time that she left her childhood home of Elmira, NY and traveled 3000 miles across country to start a new life that she had married an abusive alcoholic.

Sandy had her first child, Wendy, at age 17 and me at age 19. I'm the infant in this picture, born in May of 1961.

Just a couple years later, the man took me and drove back to Elmira, leaving Sandy behind with a very sick child. My sister Wendy died at age 5 of childhood leukemia. Broke and alone, Sandy had no means to come after me.

I was left with my Aunt Bev, where I spent a year of my life. And where my first retrievable memories reside.

The second woman, Sue, was my Mom. She also had a relatively happy childhood until her mother died of breast cancer when Sue was only ten. Sue's father remarried quickly. The step-mother was a strict disciplinarian who favored Sue's younger sister, Judy. Apparently Sue's life after that wasn't as happy. The parallels in the lives of these two women is somewhat spooky.

Sue grew up in Chicago. It was there that she met the man in 1964 and became pregnant. They married in February of 1965. Sue was 23.

It was only after the marriage that Sue learned that the man had a three year old daughter living in Elmira N.Y.

They came to get me and took me back with them to Chicago where Sue assumed the role of my Mom. She did it well. She never once made a distinction between me and her biological children. We were all just family and siblings.

Apparently the man had a "type" when it came to women, because yes, the two of them did look a lot alike, and yes, as I was growing up people often commented about how much I looked just like my Mom. It was like an inside joke that always made us laugh, but never explain.

Shortly after bringing me to Chicago, my Mom gifted me with my sister, Deanna.

What a pair we made, my blonde hair, her fiery copper red.

From the outset, Mom encouraged me to have a relationship with my Mother and we began exchanging letters as soon as I could write.

In the meantime, our family expanded and Sue also learned about life at the hands of an abusive man. This chain smoking, beer drinking, deadbeat couldn't manage to hold down a job and did nothing to help around the home. But was quick to blame and to punish if things were not the way he liked them. He played a leading role as the villain in my life until I was 13, but now is nothing more than a footnote in my family history.

When I was nine years old, my Mom took a giant leap of faith and put me a plane from Chicago to go visit my Mother in California.

That is how I came to first meet my Mother (don't I look like I belong on the Brady Bunch?). After this visit, I didn't see her again until I was 16, but we continued to correspond by letter (yes, how old-fashioned!).

When I was 13 my Mom realized that the abuse she was taking wasn't affecting just her, it was affecting her entire family. So she divorced the man. And began life as the single mother of four children.

Both women remarried wonderful men who treated them with kindness and respect. And because they shared not only a history with the man, but also me, they eventually became good friends.

That is how I came to have two wonderful fathers to walk me down the aisle at my wedding.

And two mothers-of-the-bride sitting in the pews.

That is how I came to grow up with two women, both of whom love(d) me and provided for me, each in their own unique way.

That is how I came to grow up with this wonderful woman who is both my sister and my best friend.

So I'm grateful for the cruel twist of fate that brought these women together, my Mother and my Mom, so that my life could be what it is today.

This picture is of my Mom and my three daughters (all flower girls) at Deanna's wedding in June of 1997.

My kids loved her like crazy. That's Becca on her lap and Rachel to her right. See Rachel's pouty face? She was mad that she didn't get to sit on Grandma's lap for the picture.

Mom was already sick at this point, she just didn't know it yet. Sadly, Mom died in February of 1998 of renal cell cancer. She was only 56.

There is so much I could tell you about these two women and their beautiful and unique contributions to the world. But I don't want to hijack your entire day. Suffice it say that growing up with two women who loved me as their daughter is something for which I will always be grateful.

Just a Quote for Friday

2011-11-04T16:47:00.000-04:00

I'm joining Deb in Just a Quote for Friday (hope she doesn't mind)...

This also fulfills week 37 of Picture Inspiration - Texture Love.

One Little Word Blog Hop - November Edition

2011-11-01T10:49:00.000-04:00

Hello and Welcome to the One Little Word Blog Hop! If you came here from Jenn's blog, welcome! You made it to the right place. Grab a drink and stay awhile! I love visitors!
If you are a regular reader, you already know the drill! ;) The entire hop goes live at 8:00 a.m. Pacific (11:00 my time) so if you are early, just check back later to catch everyone!

My one little word for 2011 is "happy". I am focusing this year on what it means to be happy, what makes me happy, how mindful I can be about choosing happiness.

For September, Ali asked us to revisit February's prompt and do a divided page of photos. I culled through my archives for the last six months and chose photos that just made me happy to look at:

The only photos that might need some interpretation are:

top left --that is one of our cats drinking out of a glass of ice water that my daughter left on the sofa -- she prefers her water cold and will help herself to anything left unattended!

Center: my two youngest on a college visit. I do feel ready for this next stage!

I also chose two photos to enlarge to 5x7 and added some favorite quotes. If you are a regular blog reader, you'll already know why these photos are special enough to be worthy of enlargement. If you are a casual visitor or just popping in from the One Little Word classroom, you can find the story of this photo here.

This is me just goofing on the beach. The story behind this photo can be found here. No question but that I am HAPPY in this moment.

My self-assessment for the month of October. I did have a much harder time with exercise this month... and I'm finding that weekends and travel both tend to trip me up in terms of maintaining commitments to myself!
But I'm proud of how well I did on the sugar-free elimination diet. An entire month with no ice cream, cookies, cake, brownies, or other sweets. My two slip-up days were travel days. One involved a fruit smoothie in the airport. The other some cola on the airplane, attempting to stave off an impending headache. I honestly don't think the sugar-free diet helped my fibromyalgia symptoms at all. Sure didn't affect my weight. :(. But I'll know for sure in the next few days as I allow some treats back into my life.

Thanks for stopping by! Your next stop on the hop is Jan's blog. And just in case you get lost, here is the entire hop list:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com

Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com

Jenn http://studiojenn.blogspot.com

Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com <----- YOU ARE HERE

Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com <------ NEXT STOP

Debra http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com

Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au

Monica http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

Lynn http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
And many thanks to Margie for keeping this going so that we all have incentive to stay up-to-date with our One Little Word albums!

It's Not Supposed to be like THIS....

2011-10-31T17:03:00.000-04:00

It is Autumn here in the sleepy little town of Perkasie. We have a few bare trees and a few trees starting to turn, but we still have a LOT of green. So we aren't supposed to get SIX INCHES of snow!

It all starts innocently enough. A few flurries:

and the ground is just starting to show white. Take note of that nice tall tree in the background. See all those green leaves still left? See the nice space between the lower branches and the ground???

Well, when the snow starts settling on the leaves, especially the very heavy wet snow we were getting, the branches start to bend under the weight of it all...

And ultimately the branches touch the ground... and some break off... :(

We lost a large branch off this tree and another in the back yard. Almost every house in this area lost branches or entire trees. And parts of the area are still without power, even though the storm was on Saturday. Schools were closed today.

If this is any indication of what is to come.... I am so NOT READY for winter!!! Please Mother Nature, can we have Autumn first????

Picture Inspiration {36/52}

2011-10-29T18:16:00.001-04:00

This week Tracey was looking for "Punchy Color" and I seem to have been shooting a lot of it lately!

Denver

2011-10-28T17:25:00.003-04:00

I arrived in Denver late on Sunday afternoon. It was a balmy 72 degrees (22C) and sunny. Gorgeous!

This was the view from my hotel window just before sunset. And this was as much "sight seeing" as I got to do!

Looking straight down from my hotel room (I was on the 20th floor), I could see this bear peeking into the Convention Center where I spent the bulk of the next two days.

Inside the convention center were a number of large back-lit billboard style advertisements. I had to get a photo of this one. I know the old adage that "sex sells" but I wasn't sure with this ad whether to be amused or offended! What do you think?

I woke up on Wednesday to temps in the low 30's (just below 0 for you centigrade folks) and snow! That poor bear definitely had reason to want to be inside! Thankfully I made it to the airport and had an on time departure despite the weather. And arrived home late Wednesday evening.

Another city down. Another business trip crossed off my list. And blessedly... no more traveling for a while.

And guess what I did on the plane?..................

Art of Composition - 1

2011-10-18T22:00:00.000-04:00

Playing with line, shape, and just the way we frame things. I caught a beautiful day moon at 11:00 in the morning yesterday.

I thought when I was setting up the shots that I would prefer the vertical (portrait) orientation shot ... which is unfortunately a little more than the zoom on my p&s could handle. But after uploading the photos, I much preferred the landscape orientation. I can't decide why.

Ignoring the focus (I know the landscape is better focused, but I'm trying to look at the shapes and elements in the photo, not the clarity), which orientation do you prefer and why????

What I Did At The Crop

2011-10-17T17:11:00.000-04:00

In the realm of better late than never, this post falls under the category of "I can't believe I'm JUST getting to this!"

I went to a day crop on Saturday October 8th. I had my photos taken, uploaded, edited, and saved for web by Wednesday October 12th. All I had left was to come here and create the post. But I was at work on Thursday. And I spent 6+ hours in the car on Friday (leaving first thing in the morning), driving to pick Sarah up from college and bring her home for Fall Break. And I'm learning that travel just plain kills me for days on end!

But without further ado, what I created at the crop:

Two page layout about my girls and Santa, back in the early 90's. All of the photos were taken at Grandma's
house (my Mom's home in Pine City, NY.) Santa was played each year by Uncle Frankie, but the kids were too
young to catch on. As our families grew larger, so did the number of kids wanting attention from the fat man in the
red suit. Sadly, 1996 was the last year of the Santa tradition. Mom was already sick in 1997 and that was the
last year that we celebrated Christmas in New York.

I just had to document the glory days of Sarah reading out loud to her younger sisters at bedtime. Sarah grew up
to be an avid reader. The other two, unfortunately, avoid reading at all costs.

I loved the story told by this series of two photos. At this age, the only way Rachel and Becca were going anywhere
near Santa is if I was right there! And you can see clearly on Becca's face that she wasn't really keen on the big
guy. But she sure lit up when he handed her a gift!

This layout (sorry for the glare on the photos) was to document all the darling outfits that their Nana (my mother
formerly of California, now in Texas) used to make and send them. They had special outfits for Easter, Christmas,
sometimes Thanksgiving, but my absolute favorites were the adorable little summer outfits! My girls were the
best dressed kids in town... until Nana got tired of sewing and the girls got too old to appreciate the outfits. You
know it is dangerous when kids start having opinions about what they wear. Portrait collars definitely are not on
their wish list!

LSNED - the final installment

2011-10-11T10:40:00.000-04:00

Title Page

I added all the pages to a 4x6 album I purchased at Target. I cut the excess photo sleeves from the center of the album because it was too bulky.

All done!

Tucson - Anatomy of a Business Trip

2011-10-08T06:46:00.000-04:00

Tuesday morning, we left for the Philadelphia Airport before sunrise, at 6 a.m.

actually. It is about and hour and fifteen minutes to the airport.

This was the view from I 95 just before we pulled into the Airport grounds.

Pulling into the Philadelphia Airport. 7:15 a.m. I spent the next eight hours in

airports and on planes, arriving in Tucson at 12:30 local time (3:30 my time).

I didn't really see much of Tucson. I saw a dust storm flying in. I saw the airport.
I drove a whopping 18 miles from the airport to the hotel. I spent my entire day
and a half on hotel grounds.

View from the back of the hotel lobby, overlooking the pool and the mountains

behind the hotel.

Cactus along the road leading up to the hotel. I took a walk

back down (85 degrees and 1:30 in the afternoon... what

was I thinking?) the road to take photos.

This view is from outside the front of the hotel... from the upper level parking

area. Tucson is definitely not flat!

View from the balcony of my hotel room, looking left. If I looked straight out I

was facing the pool and to the right, the main hotel lobby.

Wednesday, I spent nearly 9 hours inside one of the hotel conference rooms. I

took 14 pages of notes. Afterwards I was spent. I went back to my room, called

for room service, and read until bedtime.

Thursday, I was up at 4:30 a.m. and drove myself back to the Tuscon airport in

the dark. And did the whole first day in reverse. Arriving back at my home

around 7:30 p.m. Another U.S. city down and no site seeing done. Some day

that's going to change.

October 1st Scott Kelby Annual Photo Walk

2011-10-07T08:00:00.002-04:00

On October 1st Jay and I joined in the Scott Kelby Annual Photo Walk. We were in downtown Doylestown PA and very luckily the predicted rain held off and we had a nice morning. Here are some of my favorite shots:

A sculpture at the James Michener Museum of Art

Don't know what kind of flower this was on a large bush overhead, but thought it was really cool!

Love the way this tree had literally grown around and
enveloped the headstone. Feels like there is a story there.

some kind of fungus on a tree - looks like sea shells

close up

really tall tree

this tree grew around and through the iron fence

A little further back to give the full perspective

The sky that morning as we began the walk.

Gone Postal

2011-10-06T12:07:00.002-04:00

I'm writing this post on Monday, the 3rd, but setting it to go live on my blog on Thursday, the 6th. I had finished these little canvases and needed to have them on their way to their new owners before this post went live. Hopefully at least one of them will be in hand before the big reveal!

For Karen - who asked for the Mary Oliver quote. I chose the colors for her canvas
based on one of her favorite color schemes for the cards she makes - kraft, black,
and red. I even used some of the rub-ons she had sent me! So they went right
back to her, just in a different form.

For Sian, who gave me no direction, but who loves books and
telling stories, and vintage color schemes,
this just seemed the right way to go.

Thanks and MIA

2011-10-04T05:00:00.001-04:00

First I wanted to say a very heart-felt thanks to everyone who has posted positive thoughts, hugs, prayers, and good vibes in response to my Storytelling Sunday post. Every single comment is greatly appreciated... positive vibes and prayers gratefully accepted... I'll take all the help I can get in coping with this! So many thanks and {{{{hugs}}}} right back to you all!

I won't be around for a bit. Leaving on a jet plane before the sun rises this morning. Headed to Tucson AZ for work. Won't be back until late on Thursday. Leaving you with this:

Taken September 29, 2010 from my back yard.
"God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us - in the dreariest and most dreaded moments - can see a possibility of hope." ~ Maya Angelou

Storytelling Sunday - Not "That Lady"

2011-10-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

In this episode, our heroine finds herself faced with new medical obstacles and searching for solutions. But she doesn't want to be "that lady" ... you know that one... you most likely have an elderly relative or neighbor who is "that lady"... the one who only ever wants to talk about her medical problems and what the doctor said at the latest visit and how it is affecting her every bodily function in excruciating detail, on and on, until you are ready to make a run for the hills just to avoid the verbal onslaught of medical terminology that is sure to cause you to catch something icky...

sourced from Google images

September has been a crazy month.

A new word entered my life - Fibromyalgia.

Provisional diagnosis on the 15th. But first the doctor had to rule out a host of other ugliness - lupus, lyme, rheumatoid arthritis, Vitamin D deficiency... honestly, I can't even tell you everything they tested for - just that it took SEVEN vials of blood to run all the tests. All of which, thankfully, after waiting around a full week, came back normal. Because as scary as fibromyalgia is, the other options were a heap load more frightening to contemplate. Fibromyalgia Syndrome is not life threatening and not debilitating unless you let it be. I am so grateful it was not anything worse.

The best way I can describe fibromyalgia - it feels like you have the flu – your body aches all over, you have a non-stop headache, and you just feel lethargic – all you want to do is curl up in a corner and sleep… or maybe read a good novel. Only unlike the flu, this feeling doesn't resolve after a few days. In my case, it has been ongoing for months. Some days better than others, but never a day that is totally pain or fatigue free. And the constant pain and fatigue has a tendency to make you a bit, um, ... cranky. Yep, cranky.

The worst symptom IMHO is the fatigue. Total. mind. numbing. fatigue.

"Today I don't feel like doing anything. I just want to lay in my bed."

Fatigue that leaves you unable to concentrate on anything. Almost like you've suddenly developed ADD. And you know how sometimes you have a word on the tip of your tongue but you can't find it for a few seconds? Well, that seems to be a daily occurrence now, multiple times a day. Serious Brain Fog

All that to say, I've been away from my blog for awhile and just recently reappeared. You may have noticed a lack of comments from me on your blogs as well - I assure you I have read every post, just didn't have the energy to comment most of the time!

I waited for the blood work to come back before saying anything. I wanted a confirmed diagnosis. And I guess I needed some time to digest it all. All the uncertainty, fear, depression. I needed to work it out. I didn't want to gunk up my blog with posts about worries and complaints. I so DON'T want to be "that lady."

On the same day my diagnosis was confirmed, this post came up in my Google Reader. Jonathan Fields writes that "...uncertainty is the new normal." Check. The past four or five months have been living testament to that. But he goes on to say "When you find the strength to act in the face of uncertainty, you till the soil of genius." Cool. I must be borderline brilliant by now!

I think that blog post was just the Universe's way of letting me know that it is okay to feel uncertain about where things are at and where they are going.

Truth is, I know that I will cope. I know that I will find ways to work around, over, and through it. I refuse to allow fibromyalgia to define me or to defeat me.

My first act of defiance will be to go sugar-free for the month of October ... just to see if the change in diet has an effect on the symptoms. Not crazy sugar-free (I'm not reading pasta sauce labels or eliminating my morning bowl of organic oatmeal that is sweetened with organic cane sugar). I am eliminating all cakes, cookies, brownies, ice cream, etc. Believe me... it is a big enough percentage of my current eating habits to make a difference! Even if it doesn't touch the fibromyalgia symptoms, it will at least be healthier! Maybe a side-effect will be a reduction in waistline chub???

And today I was reminded that happiness must come from within. I'm drawing on reserves right now. But I'm still smiling. :)

One Little Word Blog Hop - October Edition

2011-10-01T10:00:00.036-04:00

Hello and Welcome to the One Little Word Blog Hop! If you came here from Julie Ann's blog, welcome! You made it to the right place. Grab a drink and stay awhile! I love visitors!

If you are a regular reader, you already know the drill! ;) The entire hop goes live at 8:00 a.m. Pacific (11:00 my time) so if you are early, just check back later to catch everyone!
My one little word for 2011 is "happy". I am focusing this year on what it means to be happy, what makes me happy, how mindful I can be about choosing happiness.

For September, Ali asked us to pick one thing that we were going to focus on during the month, and one thing that we chose to "let go". I took awhile to think about it, but realized it was a really good thing to meditate on... I have so many things competing for my attention all the time and I really needed to focus.
But as usual, I can never follow directions!

I chose three things to focus on for the month - exercise (15 minutes every day), morning pages (journaling), and participating in LOAD - although I only wrote about the exercise part in the form Ali gave us.

To keep track of my focus items I created this chart, totally scraplifted from Melissa:

It is easy to see that I wasn't perfect. But as I write this, with two days left to finish out the month, just look at all those stars! I may not have made my goal of "every. single. day." but I can't help but wonder how many days I wouldn't have exercised or written morning pages if I hadn't made the commitment!

At the same time, I chose to surrender my involvement in Art Journal Caravan (I haven't done a single art journal page of the digi variety this year), the Goddess Circle, Project 64, and Album of Awesome. These are all things that I signed up for or got involved in but then lost interest in favor of other projects and opportunities. And I need to be okay with saying I tried it, but it just wasn't for me. So freeing to just let them go!

I loved my September Goals chart so much, that I already made one for October!

I also finished the cover of my One Little Word album. Remember what it looked like last month? Well, here it is finished!

I decided after staring at it for days that my problem was the butterflies, while pretty, were so FLAT. So I drew in a shadow. Then I drew in stitching to give them additional dimension.

Then I drew on the border - which kind of ties in with the look Ali has given us with the pages throughout.

Once the border was there, I decided it needed some inking to soften the edges.

Then the title. I didn't want to use my word "happy" because I intend to continue using this album for whatever word I choose for 2012!

The final touch was adding this gorgeous wing charm that Ginger sent me in a packet of butterfly and bird themed ephemera. Got to say I just LOVE it!

Thanks to everyone for your helpful suggestions on finishing off the cover. I'm loving this album and so so glad I took this class! Ali has already said that it will be offered again in 2012... I highly recommend it!

Your next step on the hop is Nikki's Blog.

And just in case you get lost along the way, here is the entire list:

This month's hop participants:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com

Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com <---- You are HERE

Nikki www.inkyart.com.au <--------------------- Next Stop!

Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

Jenn www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Nicky www.seejanebake.blogspot.com

Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/

Monica http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com

The Mother LOAD - the final count.

2011-09-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

Besides all the Learn Something New Every Day, Me In My Moleskine, and Big Idea Festival pages that I've created during my month of Mother LOAD, what have I accomplished???

this pretty envelope...

and this card, which I sent to Sarah at college with a few gift cards tucked inside.

I have to admit that the card design came from my Close To My Heart consultant - I just assembled it!

This pretty envelope sent off to my recipient in Ginger's September mail art exchange - with a pretty little bookmark tucked inside.

I had fun with the "earth" theme!

And - oh my - a 12x12 layout???? Yes! This one takes us back about 19 years in time to when Sarah was an adorable toddler going through a "black" phase.

The journaling reads:

Every little kid goes through phases and you were certainly no exception. At two years old you went through a period where you preferred to dress in black. Not goth, just black. It wasn't all you wore by any means, but given a choice, these were the outfits you liked best. They saw the washer frequently. Sarah - Summer 1992.

Another 12 x12 layout! The journaling reads:

A trip to the bookstore for new books was always a fun activity. Meeting Arthur and getting your books signed was a bonus! Summer 1997.

At that time, Becca really liked the character "D.J." in the Arthur books, but as you can see from the photo, she wasn't at all shy about cozying up to Arthur! Believe it or not, signed Arthur books still reside on the bookshelf in the bedroom of two high school seniors!

So, during the month of September, participating in the Mother LOAD class at BPC, I completed:
4 Big Idea Festival layouts;
30+ pages for Learn Something New Every Day;
6 pages in my 'Me in My Moleskine' book;
2 Good Mail Day Envelopes;
1 Card;
5 12 x12 layouts - Chocolate Tasting, Hurricane Irene, The Black Phase, and Meeting Arthur;
1 One Little Word Album Cover and 1 internal journaling page (to be revealed tomorrow);
2 Monthly Goals layouts (to be revealed tomorrow); and
2 5x7 canvases (coming soon to a blog near you!).

I had approached the Mother LOAD class with the idea that I would catch up on a lot of 12x12 layout ideas that have been floating around in my head or on the back burner for quite some time. Of course, I got side-tracked with LSNED and other projects that were calling for more immediate attention - which seems to be par for the course with me. Still - not too shabby for one month effort!

Still More LSNED

2011-09-29T16:02:00.000-04:00

It is nice to be reminded how lucky I am to work from home.

Anyone prefer laundry???

True couponing really is a part-time job!

Monday mornings see me finishing the laundry and any other chores I didn't quite get to over the weekend. I always feel so accomplished once I can call it "done"!

Here is one instance where I am happy I'm not including photos on my LSNED pages this year!

More on LSNED

2011-09-28T15:59:00.001-04:00

My layouts from last year's LSNED album were featured in prompts 15a & 17 this year. So exciting!

I actually took off the 19th - 21st and didn't even tell my family - I knew if I did they would lay claim to my free time. I spent my days while the girls were at school being creative. Loved it!

While I was playing hookey, I also took care of some medical stuff. :p

Anyone else have this problem?

My babies are seniors in high school. And adults now. Holy crap, when did I get so old????

LSNED

2011-09-20T20:19:00.000-04:00

Yes, the sticker chart is doing a pretty good job of keeping me on track!

Becca didn't get what she wanted for her birthday. She wasn't at all shy about voicing her displeasure either.

Because thinking you know a better way home can add an extra 15 minutes onto your trip!

Heading out to the doctor first thing in the morning (when you are normally exercising and writing morning pages) throws everything out of whack. Thank goodness for reminders!

You can't always fight it and soldier through. Sometimes you just have to surrender.

Me in My Moleskine

2011-09-17T17:48:00.001-04:00

I've been using some of my LOAD time to work with ongoing projects (LSNED being the most obvious!) But one that I've really spent some time on in the past ten days is Me In My Moleskine. Check out these new pages:

First up - My bag. I chose to use this photo rather than the drawing from the kit. It really gives you a good idea of how much crazy stuff I can pack into a bag!

Finally did that hand and foot page. And learned the hard way that watercolors do NOT adhere well to gesso. Suppose I could have added that to my lessons learned this month!

To save you the headache, the journaling reads:

My hands are an amazing gift. My hands allow me to feed myself, dress myself, write letters, type blog posts, button, zipper, cook, and clean. But most importantly my hands allow me to be creative - to cut, paste, paint, draw, stamp, and click a camera shutter button. With my hands... [the rest will go on the journaling card inside the pocket and hasn't been written yet.]

Journaling: I am a barefoot girl at heart - which is what I love most about Summer. But if I have to wear shoes, comfort is the primary consideration. And I hate heels!

I own 10 pairs of shoes - including slippers and flip-flops. Really!

These are my two most used pair of shoes.

My Food and Drink page. Yes, cruciferous vegetables should be abolished - broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts - all give me such wicked intestinal pains I wonder how anyone can consider them edible foods!

My Hair & Skin page in progress. I wanted to show you this before the completed page. That lovely diamond pattern? Is Bounty paper towels! I brushed on a very watered down layer of acrylic paint (about 1/3 paint, 2/3 water) and then pressed the paper towel down and lifted gently to remove excess paint. Where there were depressions in the paper towel, the pattern was left behind in paint! Cool, isn't it???

Finished page! Another page where I totally ignored the kit and instead of attempting to draw my dream hairstyle, I just borrowed some images from the Internet... after all, why shouldn't I look like Petra Nemcova?!

LSNED

2011-09-16T20:14:00.000-04:00

Just as many of you are feeling, the temps around here have turned decidedly toward Autumn!

Nothing earth shattering - just a traffic jam caused by flooding and mudslides on major highways around here - the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee - that caused me to be late for a meeting a work. But it does remind me that there is little in life that I can truly "control".

Pretty self-explanatory.

We watched documentary films regarding the heroes of 9/11. Seeing those images again - planes, fireballs, buildings collapsing in a cloud of grey smoke - gave me the same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that it did ten years ago. I actually didn't create this page until two days later. When I was still feeling the energy drain from having watched the news coverage. And it isn't that I don't want to be "informed" but all media coverage has a negative effect on me physically, so I just stay away from it as a general rule!

In this case, I just allowed myself to go with the listlessness and lack of drive to do anything productive or creative. I did what I HAD to do - laundry and grocery shopping - and left the rest for Monday.

Well, that catches you up with my LSNED pages up to a week ago. The rest are done up to date, but waiting to be photographed. Life has been crazy busy around here. I have a lot to catch you up on, but seemingly very little time in which to do it. But I'll be back later!

LOAD and LSNED - Day Six

2011-09-08T08:44:00.000-04:00

On the Sixth, I completed three more LSNED pages:

Sunday is shopping day for me. I always make a list and coordinate coupons. And end up in a mess when half the items on my list aren't on the shelves at the store!

This layout celebrated having completed my 30 LSNED backgrounds on the 5th. Just start. It's half the battle.

With the girls back in school, I was able to crank the tunes and do some strength training. Those September daily goals are going well!

LOAD and LSNED - Days 3, 4 & 5

2011-09-07T20:44:00.001-04:00

Technically, I didn't actually scrap a layout on Sept. 3rd. But I'm counting all those Big Idea Festival layouts I finished on the 2nd for the third... posted here... because as far as I'm concerned, by Day Three I already had SIX layouts done! And since I'm not following daily prompts, I'm already getting confused about what I did on which day anyway!

On Day Four, I turned my Storytelling Sunday post into this layout. I know you can't read the journaling here, but if you click the link for the post, the whole story is there, in more detail than I could fit on the layout! And yes, it is a Cathy Zielski template.

On Day Five (Labor Day here in the U.S., so a holiday for us), I got seriously inspired by Ginger's LSNED pages and the wonderful little packet of ephemera I received in the mail from her, and decided that I would create pages for LSNED! The trick was they had to be so ridiculously simple that I could finish each one off in no more than ten or fifteen minutes a day.

I started with a 4x6 creative pad from Pebbles Inc. (old Theodore line - from my OLD stash), and added a chipboard circle with a rub-on date (Karen - all those wonderful rub-ons you sent are being put to good use!) and journaling block to each of the 30 backgrounds. The journaling blocks are mostly from the Making Memories {Note}Worthy line (also from very OLD stash - seriously, 2007!). It took me about 3 hours to assemble all the bases. Okay, because admittedly I obsessed about trying to space out the background colors so there was variety and stagger which journal note and which type of date went on them to keep it all looking random. Type A tendencies are hard to kill.

With these 30 bases complete, I can add as little as a line of journaling and call it done. Or I can get more detailed with embellies like ribbon and butterflies if I have a little more time. In addition to creating 30 bases, I finished the first three pages on the 5th:

Oh... Ginger ... that package of ephemera is almost all used up already!

LOAD and LSNED - Day Two

2011-09-06T08:43:00.000-04:00

I'm not particularly following prompts for either of these classes. But on Day Two of LOAD - I did the Day One "goals" prompt... by completely scraplifting this layout from Melissa. Here is my version:

I used a bunch of paper scraps from my One Little Word album as that is where this layout will ultimately go. And I started out checking off each day as I completed my goals. But the check marks just weren't doing it for me. A check feels like a chore has been crossed off a list. I don't want these goals to be chores... I want them to be an enriching part of my daily life. And I needed more validation about what a good job I was doing. Yep, I needed the gold stars. Because I'm just needy that way. So I went out to Staples and bought me some gold stars. Aren't they pretty???

A little detail.

Thanks for the inspiration Melissa!

LSNED: Today I learned that scraplifting isn't always as easy as it looks!

Big Idea Festival - Live, Moment, Embrace, Play

2011-09-06T00:42:00.000-04:00

I got a little behind on this, but used my "LOAD" time to finish up these layouts:

For all of these I went with watercolor backgrounds. Images are stamped except for the "moment" layout which is rub-ons. In the last one, I colored in the stamped images with Pitt Artist Pens.

Four Simple Goals - September 2011

2011-09-05T18:40:00.001-04:00

I'm thinking about picking up this challenge from Lee's blog (ala Elsie Flanagan's blog). I decided to give it a go this month because it would be easy to draft... I could borrow from Lee's goals for September which were in perfect alignment with my own, with just a few minor tweaks.

The Rules:

1. choose simple goals that will make your life richer and happier on a daily basis. choose things you may not otherwise get done, but that are not difficult to accomplish.

2. do not choose result oriented goals, choose activity oriented goals. for example.... instead of "lose 10 pounds", choose something like "eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day". get what i'm saying? positive actions instead of just the end result!

3. choose goals that are personal that you believe will truly make your life richer just by doing them! they can be daily, weekly or one time experiences.

4. choose a reward for each goal as it is accomplished! it can be a small or large reward.

5. blog your goals, each one as you achieve it and a big post when they are all finished before the new year! i'll be doing this too!

My 4 Simple Goals, September edition, includes:

SCRAPBOOKING. Essentially, keep up with The MotherLOAD over at BPC, try to stay up-to-date with LSNED, and get fully involved in Album of Awesome which starts later this week. Knowing that any Awesome layouts I create would count toward LOAD actually gave me the freedom to go ahead and sign up for this class, even with everything else going on!

CAMERA PLAY. Blow the dust off my Canon Digital Rebel. Spend some time playing with it so that I am once again familiar with the buttons and settings before the big World Wide Photo Walk on October 1st!

CALENDAR. Organize the calendar through to Christmas. This means getting work travel on my personal calendar, kid's school activities on my work and personal calendars, checking out the S.U. website for Sarah's dates....

PRINT. I've been meaning to do this forever. I bought 50 12x12 print credits from Scrapping Simply back in August of 2009 and haven't used them yet... yikes! I have a backlog of digi layouts waiting to be printed and just need to get it DONE!

In the meantime, I also have a September Goals layout, created for MotherLOAD (coming soon to a blog near you) which should keep me on track for daily goals.

REWARD: I'm still trying to decide. If I get all this done, I'm thinking maybe the Cinch that hubby was going to give me for my birthday - until he found out that he would soon be unemployed, so the purchase got back-burnered. I also have a rather long list at Amazon, and would really like to own this book. So one or the other will be mine when this list is accomplished!!

Storytelling Sunday - the MacGyver Edition

2011-09-04T09:40:00.001-04:00

Every time Storytelling Sunday comes around I think about participating... I do have lots of stories to tell! But somehow life always gets in the way and I never get the post done. I am determined today will be an exception... so here goes!

Once upon a time - well actually, just last week - a certain family was going through their normal weekend routine. Chores were being done, lots of television was being watched. But there was a distinctive difference on this particular weekend. The normal television fare had been replaced with lots of news watching as the family tracked the weather headed their way. Weather with a name. Hurricane Irene.

Given the media's penchant for over-dramatizing just about everything that ever happens in the world, the family was not particularly concerned over Hurricane Irene. It would probably be just another rain storm and the media hype would be all for naught. Indeed, by bedtime on Saturday the 27th of August, the rain had begun in earnest and the wind was whipping around the house. Not so terrible though... the family had been through worse storms in the past that hadn't even had a name!

Mom and Dad went to bed while the teens stayed up to watch some more late night television. But Mom couldn't sleep. And so after laying in bed awhile, she got back up and rejoined the young ladies around the television. There was mention of tornado watches. And news footage of a tornado that had touched down nearby. Still the family wasn't worried.

About midnight the teens decided it was time for bed. They were in the process of gathering up the family cats (who also get put to bed at night) when one bolted for the basement, stopped two steps down, and perked her ears. The teen who was trying to capture said cat wondered what had caught the cat's attention. She went down into the basement... five steps down... and she heard it. "Mom!" she called, "You need to come here!"

Mom went down into the basement and heard it too... water... lots and lots of water. It took only seconds to find the source. The utility room... water pouring into the basement where the furnace vented to the chimney. LOTS of water! Mom ran upstairs to awaken the sleeping Dad and drag him, groggy and not fully comprehending the urgency of the situation, to the basement. But the sight of all that water sure pulled him out of his sleepy stupor!

Within minutes the entire family pulled together. Towels were gathered to soak up the water on the floor. LOTS of towels. Maybe twenty or so (good thing Mom never throws away old towels!). A bucket brigade was formed to catch the water pouring in from the wall and transfer it to the sump pump. But the water wasn't slowing down and the family soon realized that none of them had the stamina to be up all night long catching water and passing buckets. The space was too tight. The spot in the wall was higher than shoulder level, so holding the bucket up quickly became painful. The rain was still coming down and the water flowing through the wall wasn't slowing at all!

So the family started tossing around ideas... how to get the water from the basement wall over to the sump pump hole.
"Tin foil?"
"Plastic?"
"Do we have anything we could use to redirect the water?"
"What about a noodle (foam pool toy)?"
"No, we gave the noodles to Good Will awhile ago."
"What about a vacuum hose?"
"No wait! The shop vac in the storage room! What about the shop vac hose and some duct tape?"
"But I don't have any duct tape" said the Dad. Imagine that! A man who doesn't own a roll of duct tape???? Is that even possible?

All this chatter was happening while buckets were still being passed to and fro and towels wringed and laid back out. More thought was given to the dilemma. The shop vac hose was gathered. A wire coat hanger. A funnel from the garage. The Dad wired the hose in place with the coat hanger. But the coat hanger by itself wouldn't hold the hose in place.

"WAIT! I HAVE duct tape!" remembered the Mom. Indeed, she had patterned duct tape that she had purchased to use in crafting. And had used for book binding. So the duct tape was gathered.

After a brief attempt, the Dad declared the duct tape unsuitable for the job. Everything was too wet for the tape to stick. He went off in search of more supplies. While he was gone, the Mom and the teens figured out how to make the duct tape work. And the result of the family project was this:

Note: All photos were taken the following morning once the storm was over and the water had stopped. The family was much too busy trying to prevent property damage to take photos during the actual event!

A different angle. Not very pretty (well, except for the duct tape) but quite effective.

hose feeding the water into the sump pump. Sorry for the blurry photo.

furnace burner wrapped in plastic trash bags and pretty duct tape to keep the water out.

The family had the MacGyver solution fixed up by 1:30 in the morning. They spent the next hour wringing out and replacing wet towels on the floor and generally attempting to clean up the mess. The teens went off to bed around 2:00 a.m. while the Mom and Dad rested in the basement, babysitting the flood waters until the wee hours of the morning. Mom finally went upstairs to bed at about 4:30 a.m., leaving the remainder of the babysitting to the Dad.

And that is the story of how the family survived Hurricane Irene and saved their basement from being destroyed by flood waters!

LOAD and LSNED - Day One

2011-09-02T05:28:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure if I've ever started a class (set of classes) so thoroughly UNprepared! I should have been gearing up for Mother LOAD during the first nine weeks, getting my game plan in order, knowing what I'd be scrapping during the 26 day challenge. But not me! I didn't do a single one of the assignments in the first nine weeks!

So here I am on Day 1 of a 26 day challenge to scrapbook a page a day... without a clue. And yet I pulled it off!

With a 2 page 12x12 layout that has been in the back of my mind for awhile. Yep, the chocolate! It is a super simple collage of all the chocolate wrappers and then photos and journaling borrowed from my blog posts. No embellishments necessary... good thing since there wasn't any room!

And for anyone new to my blog - you can read all about the chocolate adventure, including what is in the teeny tiny journaling, by simply clicking on the "Sarah in London" label at the end of this post. It will bring up all of my posts about my Chocolate Around the World tasting adventure courtesy of my daughter Sarah.

I'm still unsure about participating in Learn Something New Every Day this year. With LOAD (which I really want to do!) I just don't think I'll have the time to "create" anything additional. But if a blurb on my blog counts... today I learned that having stuff pre-journaled in a blog post makes it really easy to cut and paste and throw together a passable layout in no time! Which makes me wonder... how many more great layouts are waiting in the archives of my blog???

One Little Word Blog Hop - September Edition

2011-09-01T10:50:00.001-04:00

Hello and Welcome to the One Little Word Blog Hop! If you came here from Jill's blog, welcome! You made it to the right place. Grab a drink and stay awhile! I love visitors!

If you are a regular reader, you already know the drill! ;) The entire hop goes live at 8:00 a.m. Pacific (11:00 my time) so if you are early, just check back later to catch everyone!

My one little word for 2011 is "happy". I am focusing this year on what it means to be happy, what makes me happy, how mindful I can be about choosing happiness.

I was happy to have a simple page to do this month!

Finally managed to decorate the cover of the album! The butterflies are by Donna Downey for Prima - flocked iron-ons. But I really feel like it is not finished. I just don't know what else to do! Distressing? Add some black outlines? A little inking on the edges? What do you think??? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Your next stop on the hop is Melissa's blog.

And just in case you get lost, here is the entire list:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Monica B http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com

Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/

Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Melissa http://blog.mshanhun.com

Kathryn http://www.katlodesigns.com

Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/

Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Jen http://byjen.com

Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au/

Cassie http://craftycassiescorner.blogspot.com/

Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com

Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com

And the Winner Is...

2011-08-27T11:54:00.000-04:00

So while I'm sitting here, in between loads of laundry and cleaning house and waiting for a hurricane to come, I decided it was time to announce a winner.

Seriously... I wanted ALL of you to win my 500th post giveaway! You were all so sweet and kind to comment so favorably on my art and the formal dissing of my Inner Critic. I really wish I could give everyone a gift... but since that isn't feasible, I put all the names on slips of paper...

folded tightly three times and mixed thoroughly.

Then with eyes closed

... reached out and chose a slip...

Only what I thought was one slip turned out to be two! So congratulations to Sian of From High in the Sky and Karen of Random Reflections - you are my winners! Now I need to gather my inspiration...

Back to My Birthday

2011-08-25T16:06:00.005-04:00

Remember here and here and here when I introduced you to my best girls as a prelude to telling you all about my birthday trip??? And here where I gave you a sneak peek at my weekend, at the same time I was absorbing the news of my soon-to-be-unemployed husband? Then life just happened and somehow I never came back to the birthday get-away. Here today to rectify all that!

I had created a cute little mini travel album before I left for the weekend, via instructions from Ali Edwards' Scrapbook on the Road class (self-paced, immediate download).

Album closed - I made a three hinged cover. Used patterned duct tape for my book binding. Not perfect, but I'm embracing imperfection, so it's all good!

opened with front flap still closed. All the pages are bound together with the bind-it-all and then the back page was firmly glued to the inside of the cover. It was my first time using the bind-it-all and I made a LOT of mistakes. The pages don't turn well, but the keepsake is still just as precious!

Our destination was beautiful Cape May, NJ. And it was the only vacation I got this year!

My best girls had set me up with a pin proclaiming my upcoming 50th birthday, a tiara, and a timer. Turns out every time the timer went off, I was given a gift. This went on all weekend. Guess how many gifts I received??? yep, FIFTY!

We started with lunch locally at The Perk. And of course, they had the staff sing Happy Birthday to me.

Then we hit the road. And the gifting continued throughout the road trip there - nearly 3 hours!

saw these beautiful irises on the second morning after a very early stroll on the beach.

on the left, the pin I wore all weekend. On the right, our group at breakfast on Day 2.

Me on left. If you look really closely, you can see the tiara. My sister Deanna on the right.

Krystal on the left, Rachel on the right.

The gifts throughout the weekend were each preceded by a note, photo, or small scrappy layout from the giver, telling me something she loved about me. These all went into a 2-up photo album as received, so that at the end of the weekend, I had a precious album telling me 50 things my friends loved about me!

Deanna's notes were all mini layouts (her first attempts at digi scrapping were fantastic!) and her gifts were charms for my Pandora bracelet - each representing what she loved about me.

Rachel's notes were all photographs with text added and the gifts were fun, quirky, silly things, ranging from chocolate chip cookies to an electric outlet, meant to represent in some way the specific memory her photo described.

Krystal's notes were notes - handwritten little love notes - each accompanied with a gift that ranged from a 3 ring binder full of scrapbook sketches to a camera strap to cute colored binder clips.

When you combine all of their contributions together, the album is one of the most beautiful, meaningful, and treasured gifts I have ever received.

In my little travel album, I jotted notes each day about what we did and how things went. I had created the album with pockets ready to hold my journaling!

Being sung to at dinner. I blush well.

Day Two was crammed with touristy things - a spa massage, visiting the lighthouse, shopping, and some time on the beach. We finished it all off with pizza and pool (billiards) back at the bed and breakfast. Maybe someday Krystal will get me those pool photos!

The pockets were also perfect for the memorabilia I picked up along the way. And knowing that I was creating this quick little album made me more conscious about grabbing the brochures!

Day Three was basically breakfast and heading home. One Crazy, Quick, Exhausting, but truly memorable weekend with my best girls.

Big Idea Festival - Free

2011-08-25T05:09:00.000-04:00

When you have some "free" time, don't forget to enter my 500th post giveaway here!

Big Idea Festival - Cherish

2011-08-24T17:09:00.000-04:00

Big Idea Festival - Enjoy

2011-08-24T17:08:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed playing with this one!

Don't forget to enter my 500th post giveaway here!

Another She Art Canvas

2011-08-22T19:21:00.002-04:00

Made this one for my mother's birthday. Now that she's seen it, I can post here!

That's a real bird feather peeking out of her hat! Found in the front yard and sprayed with purple mist.

I had two inspiration pieces that I used in creating this one. My inspiration for the tree can be found here with many thanks to Junelle, and my inspiration for the dress can be found here with many thanks to Eniko since I completely lifted the jacket design from her!

Big Idea Festival - Nest

2011-08-21T19:01:00.001-04:00

Saturday's word for the Big Idea Festival was "nest." At first the word left me stone-cold stumped - totally devoid of any creative inspiration. But I really wanted to just go with it. And when I let go, and leaned into my discomfort with the word, the inspiration came:

My inspiration for the tree came from here. The page is a mixture of watercolors and acrylics and highlights and shadowing with Pitt Artist Pens.

The inspiration is totally appropriate and timely. As I was creating this page, Sarah was busily packing for college. Today she left.

I'm really happy for her because I know how badly she wanted to go - how ready she was to fly the nest - and I totally understand and empathize. She is so ready to be an adult and to take the world by storm. And I'm sure some sharp recruiter will snap her up before graduation. Any employer would be lucky to have her. But I miss her already.

Today marked phase two of a three-phase return to "normal." Phase one occurred a week ago when Jay returned to work. Phase two was today. Phase three occurs one week from now, when Rachel and Becca return to school. Today was the hard part. A week from now the heavens will open and choirs of angels will sing and I'll be doing a happy dance the likes of which you have never seen (and probably you'll be grateful for that!).

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway here!

My 500th Post - Meet My Inner Critic

2011-08-19T12:40:00.001-04:00

I've been blogging since October 2, 2008 - nearly 3 years. But I haven't always been a prolific blogger - and definitely not an every day without fail blogger.

But here I am today, nearly three years later, publishing my 500th post. And if you are someone who likes to do the math, you'll quickly figure out that 500 posts over just shy of three years comes out to just about one post for every two days. And wow! That surprised me. I didn't expect it to be that high.

So how can I mark my 500th post? What can I do to make this one special? Honestly, I wasn't coming up with anything exciting. Nothing seemed good enough. I tossed aside ideas about polls. And lists of 500 things. And then I realized... my Inner Critic was being loud and obnoxious and I just needed to hush her up. So for my 500th post I'm introducing you to my Inner Critic. And then, just to spite her, I'm doing a fabulous giveaway. So keep reading!

I've been aware of my Inner Critic for a long, long time. I think most of us are. But I never really took the time to get to KNOW her until recently. I've been reading a book called Journal Spilling by Diana Trout (I did not realize until I was reading the book, she actually lives about 45 minutes from me.) In her book, Diana introduces her Inner Critic - a short skinny geek with ugly bug glasses who wears his pants too short and his tie too tight. He's a very cartoonish fellow named Stewie. The lesson Diana offers is that when you get to really know your Inner Critic, you take away his/her power.

My Inner Critic is nothing like Diana's. First off, she's decidedly female. She is 5'6" (the exact height I always want to be but never reached) and physically fit and toned. She wears the classic never-goes-out-of-style clothing and always looks polished and put together. She never leaves the house without makeup on. She never looks frumpy.

We share an affinity for good food, but she is satisfied with a bite or two whereas I am a certified card-carrying member of the clean plate club.

She is the kind of woman who keeps an immaculate home, makes a living, is a supportive spouse and loving mother, yet still finds time for creative pursuits, and does it all with flair and makes it look easy. You know... the kind of woman you love to hate?

And because this is all natural to her, she expects it to be natural to me as well. She scoffs at my awkwardness and discomfort in social situations. She reacts with total scorn at my sticky kitchen floors and cluttered counters. In fact, she is really quite judgmental. Nothing I do is ever good enough for her. You see, we also share a complete lack of tolerance for incompetence and laziness... and she considers me to be both. (if you've ever watched the show The Gilmore Girls, she's eerily similar to the character Emily Gilmore as played by Kelly Bishop - see what I mean?)

Honestly, her whole "Martha Stewart" persona and "holier than thou" attitude are quite annoying. In fact, as I've thought more about her, I realized there is nothing AUTHENTIC about her whatsoever. She's just a construct of societal expectations and consumerism. The perfect middle-aged woman of 2011. A total phony. And she's doing her best to peddle her wares on me. Thing is, I've decided I'm not buying it anymore. It is time to tell my Inner Critic to stuff a sock in it and kick her to the curb!

My no make-up, yoga pants and tee look is far more authentic. My messy home speaks of the real life and real activities happening here. The fact that I am too busy to clean obsessively - I guess that is a good thing!

To celebrate my 500th post AND the occasion of me finally telling my Inner Critic to shut the hell up, I'm offering a give-away! One lucky blog reader will receive a mixed media canvas art from me (on a canvas panel which can be framed or used as is) designed specifically for the winner. My Inner Critic is yapping away that nobody would really want my "art," it isn't good enough, the winner will surely be disappointed, blah, blah, blah. I've firmly clapped my hands over my ears and am singing "la, la, la, la, la, I can't hear you!" at the top of my lungs. I'm taking the chance and I'm going to do this!

If you would like to participate, please leave a comment telling me your happy color(s), any favorite quote or saying you have, or any other hints that might provide me with inspiration for your piece! I will choose a winner on Friday, August 26th from all the entries received by then.

Big Idea Festival - Give

2011-08-18T14:16:00.000-04:00

Today's word was "Give".

My layout is totally digital.

background paper and winged clock from ScrapbookGraphics "Impressions of Time" collab kit. The hand was sourced here.

Big Idea Festival - Less

2011-08-17T16:27:00.001-04:00

Wednesday's word, "Less", sparks a real chord with me.

A couple of years ago I started the process of decluttering. My closet and my dresser have been thoroughly cleared of anything unnecessary or unused. It makes it so much easier to dress in the morning! Although you might not know it to look at my scrap space, I sold and gave away more "stuff" than you could begin to imagine. And I honestly haven't missed much of it (the only things I miss are the formerly totally unused stencils and stamps that I got rid of before I embarked upon mixed media). Owning "less" is truly a blessing. The less stuff you have, the less stuff you have to clean up and around. Less clutter = more calm. Less stuff = more time to play. Less definitely IS More!

In keeping with the "less is more" idea, I kept this layout very simple. A splash of watercolor, inked edges, a single embellishment.