Christmas Came Early

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. Ours was fairly quiet. Spent the day with my mom and sister just relaxing and laughing. Nothing formal or stuffy. We just got together for dinner then set around the table talking and exchanging stories. On Black Friday Marc and I avoided the lines and only stopped in M's long enough to pick up my Big Kick. I have been saving to get this since the wedding I did a few months ago. But thanks to hubby and a couple of coupons from Michael's I will now be able to use that money for something else. Maybe that Big Picture Class I have been begging for (smile). I love the fact that I will be able to use my various dies from different manufactures in one machine ( that includes a couple of Disney dies from cutterbug).

The Day Couldn't Get any Better then This!

Guess what just got delivered to our door in time for the holidays!




Yes. I am back! I have been working on a surprise Birthday Album for Nicki with pictures from her trip to DC. With the exception of a few details here and there I am finally done. I had a ball working on this. It just seemed to come together and the style fits my style of scrapbooking. I used DCWV cardstock, my 7 gypsies stamps, a few of my new punches, and embellishments from Target. All that is left to add is journaling...and I am leaving that up to Nicki.

The Importance of Pictures


This past week I worked on an album for a very special family. Earlier during the year they asked me to help them plan their first trip to WDW. Well, as you know that is right up my alley. I created an itinerary for them along with several tips on what to see and do. I even got to speak to them a few times while they were on the trip.

The most memorable being the last night they were there. My girlfriend called me to say that they had been picked as the family of the day for Chef Mickey's. Part of their promotion for a "Year of a Million Dreams". My girlfriend was actually crying and wanted to share the experience with me. I felt so blessed at the time. Mostly because they "got" why this place is so special to me. And I knew that it was a memory that would stay with them for a lifetime.

The biggest blessing came this week when I asked her to let me put together her book. She didn't want anything fancy, and she is not a scrapbooker. She just wanted a simple book that her daughters could look at and remember the wonderful trip that they had. Part of me wished that I could do more, but I took her album and pictures home and started laying the photos out to organize them......and a flood of emotions came over me. It brought me back to our first trip to Disney. The look on my children's faces when they experienced Magic Kingdom for the first time. The first time they danced on Main Street with the characters. Our first monorail ride up front. Our first character meal. Driving through the gates of Walt Disney World and realizing we were actually there. The first time we saw the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom. Nicki's first experience with a "Small World". Buzz Lightyear's reaction to her braids. the day I fell in love with the Grand Floridian Hotel after a trip across the water on the Disney boat. Our first Safari ride and the first time we saw the Electric Light Parade. So many of our first, I saw again through the eyes of my friend and her family.

Then I started thinking about my scrapbook pages and the many pictures I have stored up on my computer ( not even on a disc..big mistake people. Back those photos up ). For years we took pictures that never made it into a scrapbook, but were in albums just waiting for family and friends to see. Now because of the digital age and scrapbook albums most of my memories are still waiting around to be scrapped, not even a tangible image in my hand. As much as I love scrapbooking I love the pictures and the memories more. And so I have made a decision to start developing my memories again. Some may make it into a scrapbook page, others may just be a photograph in a "safe" photobook. There is room for both, but if they stay in my computer to me that is just as bad as when we had them in boxes underneath our bed. I got so much satisfaction from creating my friends book as I did the first time I created a Disney album for my family. And to me that is what its really all about. Not the magazines, or the manufactures, or even the scrapboards or the Design Teams. If you are not enjoying the process then all of the other things are for naught.

My girlfriend has thanked me for blessing her. I want to thank her for blessing me. Seeing her memories reminded me of my memories. My memories reminded me why I got into scrapbooking in the first place. And that was for my family. I don't think I will ever stop being a scrapbooker. I will be the first to admit that I love the shopping, I love touching the products. I love the friendships I have formed because of this hobby. But most importantly I love the picture memories I have and the look on my family and friends faces when they see those pictures....whether it be in a scrapbook or just a plain old album.

You Light Up My Life

OK, so many of you know I have one of those rare husbands....the kind that doesn't mind shopping for scrapping goods. So look what he brought home last night ( the men in my life are famous for gifting ). We saw this light at office depot last month...it was already marked down to $40.00, but I told him to just keep an eye on it. Surprisingly he remembered and they marked it down another $20.00 so he picked it up. It has made a significant difference in the lightning in my room. Since my scraproom is actually my livingroom I don't have overhead lighting which stinks on gloomy days ( like today ). But I have a huge bay window that brings in lots of light on a good day. The one floor lamp I had just wasn't cutting it, so I am going to love being able to scrap day or night, sunshine or rain. And that is especially needed today since I am working on a surprise gift album. Thanks honey for lightning up my life (lol).

Combining the Old With the New ( lesson learned...............stop hoarding Cyndi ) !

So its not my favorite page in the world, but I finally used some old products that I brought over a year ago ( sad I know ), with new products from a few weeks ago. So at least I have started the process of letting go and just scrapping. I realize now that when I started scrapping to get "published" that I lost a little bit of what made scrapping so much for fun for me. I wanted to do what everyone else was doing when in reality my pages have always been about me. Somehow the me in me forgot that. And even though I have said this before...I didn't realize how much I lost by trying to fit in with the crowd. Its time to get a little piece of that back again. So let the scrapping begin (lol).

Grateful

Just did this for the fun of it. Not a lot of thinking or attention to detail........just grateful for all I have, my life, being able to create just because. So what are you grateful for? Why don't you scrap it? Thanks Nic....great challenge.

On-line Crop

Hey there is a lot of fun stuff going on over at LIITD. Come on over and join us. If I can scrap half high on benadryl after no real scrapping for myself in months...anyone can (lol). That's one of the things I love about the LIITD community. They have some great challenges and some awesome prizes.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness.....thought I would share some of the first layouts I ever made ( besides my Disney pages ). It was actually from one of the first kits I ever brought on QVC. After that scrapbook show I was hooked! Wow, its amazing how much my layouts have improved but some things remain the same. I love bright colors and flowers still today. The pages are from a walk that our women's group did back in 2002. My friend Gail was in remission at the time and I remember being so proud as we watched her make it to the finish line. It will be interesting to see how I feel when we finish the walk next weekend. We have 6 team members and so far we have raised a total of $125.00 ( our goal was $200 ).

Monday Inspiration

Update: I scrapped. Well I at least decorated an album for an upcoming project ( a Quotes Album). The album, jewels and felt flowers are from the dollar spot at Target. I used a Rhonna F stamp (the flourishes) and a Anna Griffin Stamp (the Q, figured it might be a good idea to use some of the products especially since I blogged about it...LOL). I plan to put the quotes from Rhonna F's 21 Day Challenge inside.

I think I will post my favorite blogs on Mondays for the next month. So did you know that Brenda Walton has her own blog? I love her designs. I believe KandCompany was one of the first manufacturers I started using when I begin scrapbooking. I have been told many times that my layouts have a romantic feel to them. That is probably in part to my love of all things made by Anna Griffin ( I have oodles of her stamps, paper and punches...its a shame I don't pull them out to use more often). One lady that uses a lot of Anna's products is Debby Shuh. I love reading her blog and her work is amazing.


So there you have it. Some of my favorites for today. Hope that they can inspire you in some way. They have had an affect on my pages for a number of years. Now if I could just convince myself to pull out some of my old stash and put it to good use.

You are the Salt of the Earth

As promised thought I would share some of my favorite blogs. Its no secret around here that I am proud to be a born again Christian. I make no bones about it. I love the different challenge blogs ( like One Word, and Scrapjacked which is very well known). Recently I found a faith based challenge blog and I love it. So I introduce to some and present to others: Salt Faith Challenge. Enjoy, and be blessed.

Ok, so I was surfing the web just after posting this and found a Christian Scrapbook board. How cool is that? They are even seeking a new DT. So if anyone is interested you can go here for more info. Also check out their gallery and message boards.

Free Magazine (if you are in Canada)

Read about this magazine on LIITD. With all of the negative industry stuff going on right now its really refreshing to see someone giving back to the community. And the other neat thing about this publication is that they offer it on-line for free, so even if you are not in Canada you can view it.

Also noticed that Ali shared a really cute album on her blog today. See not everyone is out there just for the money ( over the last few months she has even shared info on some of her past classes).

Since I can't seem to get my scrap mojo going right now I have decided to spend the next month highlighting some of the blogs that I frequent who have some really neat projects, ideas and pages to share. Hopefully something will inspire you ( and me ). I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head, just not a lot of get up and go. I have a theory that I may need to do some retail therapy at my local craft or scrap store to get back on track (lol).

Remember when you were a child and life seemed so much easier?

Mail Day

Look what I got in the mail today (I ordered the Creative Escape book last week). I sat down with the book and a hot brownie and escaped for a little while. I can't wait to try some of the projects from the Heidi S Creative Escape 07 event. I especially loved the playing cards from the teachers from last years event. They used a book called "Ever Wonder". One of the questions included......"What would you attempt if you could not fail?" Another favorite was "If not now, when?" This would make a great mini album filled with pictures related to the questions. If you would like to see some of the finished projects you can order the book from http://www.scrapbook.com/ or check out some of the blogs of a few ladies that attended the event.

Jeanette has a run through of the event and lots of pictures of the projects. Talia has also uploaded some great pics. Talia's friend Kim also has a great review on her blog.

My favorite photographer Allison Tyler Jones was the keynote speaker. And from what I understand she was just as inspiring as she was at the Scrap Etc event I attended in March.

If you are interested in some of the titles used in the projects you can find them on the Creative Escape website.

ScrapHappy

I finally finished the cover of my ScrapHappy journal from StacyJ class. Now to sit down with the book and get started on the inside. I used my fav. paper from DCWV, a bazzil flower and a epoxy sticker from the dollar store.

Templates (Update)




Made using my new templates.




Heidi S foam stamps. The border was a pattern paper that I cut up.



* Sneek peak as promised.

I scrapped two layouts today. But I can't show them because they are for a client. And my camera is in need of new batteries after all of the events in the last few weeks. But the fun thing for me has been using my new templates from The Crafter's Workshop. Thanks to a friend I was able to get three different templates ( SwirlyQ's , Doodle Flower and Paisley Swirl). I am keeping and eye out for Dot's all around and Arrows. I will try to post a * sneak peak of the pages once I get new batteries.

If your not sure what to do with these they have a great tutorial online. I haven't used them this way yet, but I traced them and cut them out to place on my page. Its was fairly easy and they don't look half bad if I do say so myself.

Desk Top
A messy desk means a productive scrapbook (LOL).

This Is My Life

I am soo doing this and I invite you to join in. I see another digital layout in the making ( well my form of digital layouts). Which I am hoping will be even easier now that this has arrived. So stay tuned.

Why I Scrapbook



To celebrate us. Without his support none of this would be possible.

The artist in me couldn't just slap a few stickers down.

The loves of my life. I document their lives so that someday the world will see.

Friends ( what more do you need to say).

I finally finished the mini album from Kristina C class ( these are just a few of the pages)! I got up this morning and decided why not just do the project and get it over with. This class was the hardest for me because her style is so far out of my comfort zone. But I decided to just do it, add a little bit of me in the mix and now that its finished I love it ( well, except the journaling because I hate my handwriting). But even that was not the most important thing for me....so I can live with it. What I really wanted to do was complete my projects from the Scrap Etc event. So many times I hear about people not ever finishing the projects that they do at scrapbook events. I think that is really sad, not just because you paid good money to go, but because we can all learn something from each other and even if the project is not "you" learn from that and add in what is "you". Adapt the project into something that you can be proud of. I can honestly say I am very proud of my album. The pictures inside, the words on the pages...are all "me".

These Hands

OK, which picture should I use? I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of him without the flash like I did with the close-up of his hands (see below). There is such a big difference in the quality of the shot. For a moment I forgot some of the photo tips I have picked up in the last few months. I really understand why you should take lots of shots ......because you may find 1 out of 20 that will actually work!

My friend Mary challenged us to take a picture of a body part of someone in our family and scrap a page about it. I knew right away I wanted to take a picture of Marc's hands holding a bible. I decided to take it over the weekend while we were away at my mom's church. I also wanted to take a picture of him standing in front of the beautiful stain glass windows reading the bible. So which picture would you use? And would you combine the black and white photo with the colored photo on a page?

Altogether Too Happy

Nothing, and I mean nothing ( not even getting to Walmart to late to get in line to meet my most favorite singer in the whole wide world ) could spoil this day. After Stacy J posted my page on her blog today, I walked around on cloud nine. So even when we got to the book signing late and had to stand on the sidelines and watch ( and take pics...courtesy of Nicki) Cece from afar ( loving my camera right now, because most folks were using a cellphone) I am still Altogether too Happy.

My Clipboard Album ( based on Heather's Class ).


This is the project I did for our Member's on-line crop at LIITD.