Thoughts Along Life's Highway

Finally, a scrapping post!

I went on a weekend scrap retreat this past weekend.  I decided I was not going to do digital this weekend, but rather try to use up some of my stash of “traditional” scrapbooking supplies. I really enjoyed playing with all my stuff and fiddling around with my Cricut, Glimmer Mists, and all the other goodies in my stash.

Here are some of the pages I did:

Using up some of the Close To My Heart papers.

Another use-up-the-paper layout. I had that heart patterned paper but had never used it. Loved the pattern but had to get creative with using it so the hearts didn’t dominate the layout. I like how it turned out. I still need to go back and write my story (in that big white patch on the right page) but I was not in a journaling mood at the time.

This is another CTMH layout – one I had done as part of a workshop last winter but never used because we had no snow! I had to get a little creative with my pictures because it was designed for vertical pictures and I had a ton of horizontal, but I’m happy with how it turned out.

These two layouts (above & below) are from a SEI kit I had gotten in October. I loved, loved, loved the papers. There were iridescent papers, felted papers, all kinds of beautiful papers. I used to get their kits as part of Club SEI. After using a few of the kits this weekend, I started wondering if I wanted to sign up for the club again. They have BEAUTIFUL papers and the kits are really nice.

That cream paper on the left page has silver iridescent leaves on it. I don’t know if you can see them in this photo, but the paper is gorgeous.

This was using up a free kit I won at a crop at Archiver’s back in February.

And this was the Crop Mania goodie at the Archiver’s March crop. I modified the title using my Cricut and some plain white paper, but I like how the layout turned out.

And these last three were just using up some more papers I had one or two of but loved. And these 5x7’s of the girls I just loved and couldn’t not put in the scrapbook.

And this one is another kit from Archiver’s – I think it was the February goodie at their Crop Mania.

Tomorrow, an update on my Project Life album. Yeah, I worked on that, too. :-)         

It’s coming, I promise

I have been having some health issues that were a “byproduct” of my surgery in February.  Nothing too serious, but I just can’t seem to shake them. I went to the doctor yesterday and hopefully things are headed in the right direction now. I feel much better today, so that is a good sign.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, I know many of you are wondering what happened to the Template Thursdays and my scrapbooking posts. I promise, they are coming back soon. Hopefully as soon as next week if I keep feeling as good as I do this morning.

So, thank you for being patient with me while I am healing and know that the pages and templates are coming soon.

Oh, I managed to do this, too

I also managed to get a little scrapbooking done in the past couple weeks. Not much, because I haven’t really felt like it, but I did some once or twice.

Here are some pages I did:

I’ve also got a few projects that were not digital – but I need to take some pictures of those before I can post them.  

Freaking out… just a little

I’m having some surgery on Thursday… nothing serious… just making myself healthier.  But, I’m freaking out just a little at the whole idea. It’s a lot to organize – knowing you are going to be out of the house for a few days and out of circulation for a few more after that.  I don’t know what is freaking me more – the surgery itself, or the logistics of all the things going on around here that have to keep going even if I’m not here to do them.

So, with all that said, I may (or may not) be somewhat sporadic in my blog posts over the next week or so.  Bear with me. I am coming back, I promise.

Ok, enough with all that -

 

Here are some Project Life pictures for the past week:

Want to see more Project Life pictures? Check out the Mom Creative for more Project Life Tuesday posts.

I promised circus pictures, but I have over a hundred to sort through before I do that. Maybe tomorrow.

Oh, and if you have read this far I have two more things:

1. Thank you. Thank you for reading my blog entries, for commenting, and for caring enough to come back and see what I have to say each day.

2. I wanted to know: what do you like most about my entries? What type do you like the best? The scrapbook layouts, pages,templates? Stories about my family adventures? Random observations about parenting? None of the above?  Let me know! I’d really like to hear from you.

How was your weekend?

Oh my goodness! I am so glad this weekend is over! It was another whirlwind weekend. It was so fun, but so exhausting!

We had BigGirl’s birthday sleepover party on Friday night.  Five pre-teen girls running around the house.  Oh.my.goodness. Remind me next year that is not a good idea.  BigGirl even decided that was too much and that next time she wanted a smaller crowd.  Too many people to please – and if you have a pre-teen girl, you know they are impossible to please. Poor thing was in a tizzy trying to keep everyone happy.

Saturday (after the party-goers went home) I managed to sneak in a little scrapbooking at a crop that was raising money for children’s charities. It was a large event (100+ scrapbookers) and I enjoyed having a little “me” time after the craziness of the party. 

Here are some pages I did while I was there. I tried to use some of the concepts I am learning in the Design Your Life class I’m taking over at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

  I’m still not sure if I’m done with those two. I like the green and the blue, but not sure about the swirles and I need to put some journaling in there somewhere. Maybe in that big box on the left-hand page and take out that clear swirlie.

What do you think about the overlays on top of the big pictures? Too much? Distracting? Or just right?

I didn’t get too much done, I was distracted organizing all my digital content on my PC, but I did manage to get a little bit done. And, more importantly, it got me back in the mood to scrap. I have been very distracted lately with a few other major projects in my life and had lost my scrappitude. Now, I’m geared back up and looking forward to doing some more scrapping. I have even decided I want to try some hybrid scrapbooking layouts. Mix up the digital and traditional a little.

Yesterday we went to see the circus. It was the last big part of BigGirl’s birthday celebrations. We hadn’t been since she was 2 and Little Princess had never been.  Needless to say we were all so excited to go. I am not sure if the girls were more excited than me or not. I LOVE the circus – and LOVED the fact that I was taking my babies to see something that was such a big part of my happy childhood memories. I couldn’t wait to add those to their own childhood memory banks.

Of course, it was awesome. I don’t think Ringling Brothers ever puts on a bad show.  We had a blast. I think I probably took over 100 pictures. Loving my big zoom lens on the camera, too.  I was able to get thisclose to the performers without leaving my seat. I’m sure it helped that we had awesome seats, though… 4 rows from the floor! So cool!

I’ll post some circus pictures tomorrow – they’re still in the camera.

Anyway, that is why I haven’t posted all weekend.  It was crazy. It was fun. And I’m tired!

Project Life Tuesday (er, Wednesday)

I hope that you enjoyed Kate’s guest post yesterday – and visiting a few new blogs as well! I had great fun hosting Kate and posting on Helen’s blog. We are hoping to do that on a monthly basis, so you’ll be hearing more from those ladies in the future. Let me know what you thought of the swap in the comments. I’d love to hear your impressions!

Here’s my Project Life post – a day late but better late than never:

And the pages are in-progress as well:

I am already working on this week’s pages – I went ahead and printed the pictures I had so far and stuck them in the pages.

You may notice that this week I used a white border on my pictures. I think I like it better than the rounded corners of the week before. I think it sets the pictures off a little.

What do you think?

A Fine Line

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I mentioned yesterday that we were going to mix things up a bit today. No Project Life Tuesday post (I'll post my pages tomorrow) – instead we have a guest post from my online friend Kate who lives in the UK, is a very talented digital scrapbooker and designer and writes her own blog over at Liberty Cottage.

I’m guest-posting over at Furry Little Monster, so you can pop over there and see my post on Helen’s blog.  And Helen is guest-posting at Kate’s blog. We’re just hopping all over the place and hoping you’ll join us on all three blogs today to hear how we think we’re turning into our moms.

So, without any further chit-chat, I bring you Kate!

Hello friends of Lois! My name is Kate and I've popped over to say hi to you today from a VERY cold United Kingdom.

Lois, myself and Helen will be guest posting about once a month on each other's blog and this time I've been lucky enough to hop over the pond to join Lois and you guys!

So we all decided that a common theme would be suitable for the mini blog hop...."How I'm turning into my mother".

Now my Mum and I have a very close relationship, she is my best friend and everyone says we are so alike in lots of ways, looks included.

So why did I find it hard to make this page??

We had about three weeks to think up a page. Everytime I started it just didn't seem right. Then I realised...whilst we're very similar...it's the differences between us that make us individual, and suddenly...my scrappers-block lifted and voila here is the page.

I am one of the Baker's Dozen over at Shimelle.com, so I am on her digital design team. My layouts aren't exclusively digital, but the speed and ease of digital lures me in quite often these days. This is no exception!

Apologies for the blurring of pictures, I don't post pictures of me or my family online..which can make showing scrap pages hard sometimes, so close your eyes and imagine two women in their twenties. The left is my Mum at her 21st birthday. The right is me, aged 24. It isn't the best photo of me, but its the only one I have where I'm not showing my teeth when I smile. Mum never shows her teeth on photos. I picked these photos as I wanted to look at the similarities between us physically.

But then..as the pages says...there is only a fine line between us...but that's what makes it interesting.

The journalling reads across....

We both have big blue eyes...we both love taking care of people
One of us is untidy....one of us is tidy
We both have limited patience...we both stand up for ourselves
One of us is organised...the other tries.
One of us works with our hands...one of us works with our head
We both love food. A lot. .....We both have decent sized teeth (random but true!)
We both love the sunshine...we both put our family first
One of us can work computers...the other makes a feeble attempt.
One is a mother...one is a daughter....
*NOTE BREAK OF THE FINE LINE ON THE PAGE AT THIS POINT!*
We will always be best friends.

I'd just like to say...I purposely mixed up the statements and the photographs to keep the reader guessing. Most of the bad ones are me though. My Mummy is fab!

The kit is from Shabby Princess and was a total freebie. The font is Champagne and Limousine from dafont.com  (free) and Ali Edward's writing.

The digital template is from my own range of digital scrapping elements "Liberty Elements" and Lois has agreed that I can giveaway this template to one of her blog readers as I hope to have some exciting things coming up with Liberty Elements in the next couple of months. Just leave me a comment and tell me how you are/are not like your Mum.

[Give-away ends Sunday 5pm GMT. One winner will be posted on Monday morning 9am GMT (or whenever I get out of bed!)

Terms and Conditions: I've just put this in to look professional. They are free templates but we need an element of fun and exclusivity, so winners: Please do not re-distribute these. Please also credit Liberty Elements @ Liberty Cottage (and a link back to here) if you use them on your blog/upload your pages to galleries. All rights reserved. Whatever that means. Winners will be picked by random.org.]

So...thanks for having me here! I hope you have enjoyed this mini blog hop and hope to see you all soon here at Lois's blog and maybe you'll come and say hi at Liberty Cottage one day too! http://libertycottage.blogspot.com

Kate
xox

Keep the fun going! Hop on over to Furry Little Monster for my post!

Not Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

Tomorrow, I will not have a Project Life Tuesday posting.  I will probably push it to Wednesday – why, you ask?

Well, I have a special surprise for you!

I am doing a swap of blog posting duties with two other very talented ladies. We have decided we’ll swap blog posts once a month (or thereabouts) and share some ideas and layouts on each other’s blogs.

So, tomorrow’s post will be brought to you courtesy of they very talented Kate at Liberty Cottage.  I’ll be posting over on Helen’s blog: Furry Little Monster. 

I hope you will take a few moments to check out all three blogs – I think you will like what you find!

Finally Finished: Journal Your Christmas

I finally sat down this weekend and finished the Journal Your Christmas album I’d started in December. I really enjoyed the project, I just got bogged down in holiday activities and finishing took a back seat to holiday fun.  But, it is finished and I am pleased with my results.  I’ll definitely be back next year for another round – now that I know what to expect, I’ll be better prepared, I hope.

Here are some of the most recently finished pages.  You can see the rest in the JYC album – the link to which is located to the right of this posting.

 

Technorati Tags: Journal Your Christmas,December Daily,Scrapbooking,Christmas pictures

My Project Life

I’m starting my Project Life this weekend. I am looking forward to sitting down and putting the book together and getting my first few weeks of pictures in the pages.  I am determined that this year I will stay more caught up than last year.  So, I am hoping that I can sit down at least once a week (or once every two weeks) and get the pictures printed and the journaling done.

I thought I would share some of the pictures I’ve taken the last two weeks – they aren’t terribly exciting because we’ve had strep running amok in our house for the past few weeks.  But that is part of what this project is about, right? Capturing everyday life in all it’s nuances. From the exciting to the mundane.

So, here are some of the shots:

Oh, and here is a great link to an article I read about making your Project Life/365 successful. Great ideas.

Scrap Weekly Challenge #4

The Scrap Weekly Challenge is posted over on our blog. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, click here and go see!  This week's challenge is around the use of tags. Pretty clever, I think.

Hope to have my challenge layout posted soon.

Have a great day!

Another Template for You

Ok, SBC+ ladies… I have a mid-week goodie for you.

I thought I would share another template I have made.

Here’s the template:

And a page I created with it:

The papers and embellishments are CM’s Vintage Digital Power Palette
(except for the button – can’t remember where I got it from)

You can download the template from here.

I hope you enjoy and I would really like to see some of your pages! Post a link to your blog in my comments section!

A goodie for you

I had a little time this weekend to create a couple of templates. I thought I would share with you.

Here is the template:

The embellishment is from Creative Memoires’ Digital Freebies page. Have you downloaded any of theirs? Some of them are really nice. I especially like the flourishes that you can find there.

And here is the page I created with the template:

The paper and snowflakes are from Jen Allyson’s blog.

If you haven’t checked out her new digital scrapbooking store, you should. Design House Digital, it’s called. There is some beautiful stuff out there. I go browsing and I just want it all!

So, here is the template, if you’d like to download it to play with. (it’s for StoryBook Creator 3.0)

I’d love to see what you do with the page!  Post a picture of your layout!

Coming Soon...

Just a quick note to let you know I will be hosting a few guest blog posts in the upcoming weeks.

Kate over at Liberty Cottage , Helen over at Furry Little Monster and I will be guest-posting on each other’s blogs in the coming months.

I thought I’d give you early notice so that you could check out their blogs – they are both so creative and I’m always inspired when I go for a little visit to their sites.

A Revelation

The other day, I had a revelation.

I am a digital scrapbooker.

Ha! Are you laughing?

I’m serious!

It dawned on me the other day as I was unpacking my recent shipment from Scrapping Simply. (which are beautiful page prints, by the way. Their printing services are awesome.) 

It dawned on me as I was unpacking the forty-six pages I had scrapped (digitally) since September. FORTY-SIX pages! As I counted the pages, I realized that I have never scrapped that many pages traditionally in a four month period of time (except maybe before the kids were born) other than at a retreat.  FORTY-SIX pages!!

I thought, WOW!  So, in addition to being mess-free, apparently, for me, digital is also inspiring me to scrap more.

I am going to a crop tomorrow night with a friend and I don’t have that much that is waiting to be done.  And, I’m thinking I may just take it easy on my back and take the ole laptop and scrap digitally at the crop. How cool is that?

So, while I have been operating under the idea that I was still a paper scrapbooker who was dabbling in some digital, I think I must change my perception of myself.

I am a digital scrapbooker. (she pauses to let the concept sink in to her brain)

Who knew?

Technorati Tags: scrapbooking,digital scrapbooking,scrapping simply

2010 Scrapbook Resolutions

I have said before, I don’t make new year’s resolutions.

And I don’t intend to this year, either.  I have some general goals, but they are not things that are related to the new year, or that have begun at the start of the new year.  They are ongoing. I prefer longer-range goals and usually set mine at 5 year increments… like where do I want to be in 5 years? Stuff like that.

Anyway.

I read a very interesting blog post today on the Scrapbook Update blog.  May Flaum was posting the things she resolves to use in her scrapbooks in 2010.  That got me to thinking and I decided to document the things I intend to do in 2010 that are scrapbook related.  They are not resolutions, but rather intentions… :-) Semantics, I know, but it makes me happy.

So here goes:

1. Use up my existing stash of papers, stickers, and embellishments. 
   I want to try to whittle my stash down – and at the same time resist as much as I can the nifty new stuff that comes out on the market. Normally, this is a very difficult thing for me to do.  I am a “gotta have it all” kind of gal. But, what I have realized, is that I kinda do have it all.  And, I need to quit purchasing and start using.  Along those lines is my next intention:
2. Remember to use my embossing tools more often – and my glitter – and my stamps – and all those other cool tools I have.
   More stuff I bought that I thought was cool. And I love using it, but I never remember to.  So, I’m going to try to remember to incorporate some more of the fluffy stuff on my pages in the future.
3. Scrapbook every single week.
   Whether it is a digital, hybrid, or traditional page (or, hopefully, more than one page) I am planning to set aside time each week to do a little of what makes me happy. It’s not about “catching up” but more about doing what I love and remembering to focus a little time on my hobby each week.
4. Challenge myself to try new things and learn new techniques.
   If you have looked at our Scrap Weekly in 2010 blog, you know that this one is already in progress.  I am participating in the weekly challenges and will be contributing challenges there several times during the year. I have never really gotten into challenges before but I want to step outside my usual scrapbooking habits and style and learn some new things this year.
   I am also taking Cathy Z’s Design Your Life class on Big Picture Scrapbooking. I am hoping this will help spread my horizons a bit – once I actually get around to starting the class (cough, cough).  I am also hoping to re-start or start anew a 365 project using Becky Higgins’ Project Life kit.  I got mine in the mail today – it is sooo pretty. I can’t wait to use it.  I am thinking it will become my “chronological” album which will allow me to:
5. Scrap more moments and memories and less events.
   I am really going to push myself this year to get away from the traditional yearly albums I have done for the past, oh, fifteen years.  I am going to have a family album, the Project Life album, and then, well, I don’t know. I am re-reading Stacy Julian’s book Photo Freedom.
   I am thinking I may try to tackle her Library of Memories concept. Up till now it has seemed rather daunting. But, with my move away from chronological albums, it seems like something that will really free up my scrapping mojo. There is a class over at Big Picture that is being offered in the spring, but I’ll have to see if I am ready for another class after the Design Your Life one.
6. Try some hybrid pages.
   So far, I have either done digital or traditional, but I haven’t mixed the two. I have to ask myself “why?” and I don’t really know. Other than the fact that the PC is downstairs and the scrap spot is upstairs. Not a good enough reason. So, it is time to start mixing things up a bit.

So there you have it. My 2010 not-so-resolution-y intentions.

What are you going to try to do in 2010?

Technorati Tags: Scrapbooking,2010 Resolutions,Project 365,Library of Memories,Big Picture Scrapbooking,Project Life,Digital Scrapbooking,Creative Memories

Weekly Challenge #2 is ready

If you are following along with our Scrap Weekly Challenge Blog, thought I'd let you know the new one is up and ready for viewing.

Here's a hint:

Hop on over and take a look!

Looking for a place to print your digital pages?

I just recently tried out a new digital printing service and I thought I would share my impressions with you.  You may have heard of Scrapping Simply before, or you may not. I hadn’t, up until this fall.  I heard about them through the ubiquitous Facebook. Their current customers raved about the prints and customer service so when they posted a special right before Christmas, I jumped at the chance to try them out.

I had a ton of 8x8 and 12x12 pages I wanted printed.  With the special pricing it was such a great deal I got them all done. I had 24 8x8 prints done for less than $25 and 20 12x12 for less than $40.  Now, that was with their special discount but still, it’s a darn good deal.

Their website lists the following pricing structure:

• 12x12, 10x10  $1.99
• 8.5x11, 8x10   $1.89
• 8x8                  $  .99
• 6x6                  $  .79
• 5x7                  $  .99
• 5x5                  $  .59
• 4x6                  $  .29

They also do canvases and a whole bunch of other things.

I got my prints today and I have to say, I am VERY pleased.  The colors are true, the images are crisp, and the prints look really good. I wish I could show you one in person, but I am thinking something would be lost if I took a picture of the picture and posted it. :-)

I had one small issue – where some of my fonts were substituted from the ones I originally had selected.  I called them to ask about it.  They were very prompt in responding to my question and it turned out to be a software issue on my end. They were very gracious and helpful and even offered to reprint the pages for me at no cost if I wanted to fix the issue on my end and re-send them.  That was impressive. Especially since it was not even their issue to begin with.

So, I will be using Scrapping Simply for more prints.  I was very happy with my products. 

More scrapping and other news tomorrow.  We have had snow here today and the kids have been home from school.  Life has been rather hectic around here. :-)

Technorati Tags: Digital Scrapbooking,Scrapbooking,Scrapping Simply,Project 365,Journal Your Christmas,Creative Memories,Memory Manager,StoryBook Creator

Scrapbook Projects for 2010 - what are you doing?

If you are looking for a little inspiration for your scrapbook pages, or a new project to focus on this year, there are tons available:

• There is the  now-classic “Project 365” for those of you into a photo-a-day project.  You can even purchase Becky Higgins’ new Project Life kit to help simplify the process.
• One of the gals from the Blogging for Scrapbookers class (Dolly) is offering her own set of prompts: 52 in 10.  It’s a weekly challenge.
• Shimelle is offering a free class “Document 2010”
• Cathy Zielske is offering a template: Seven Days, to document a week in your life. It’s a cool template, regardless of how you use it.
• Simple Scrapper is offering Project 10x12, focusing on the top 10 photos each month of the year.

What am I doing?

Well, I tried Project 365 last year.  That required a little bit more diligence and dedication than I had in me.

While I love the concept, life is just too busy/crazy for me to remember to take a picture every day, journal something, and then put it all together. I still have pictures from June/July of my P365 album I need to scrap. Nope, that won’t be me again.

I did buy the Project Life kit, though.

And here is what I thought I’d do.

I’m always taking pictures. Some days I take 5, some zero.  But I thought I could use that for the quick and easy scrapbooking to document those little bits of life.

I am also curious about Dolly’s class and Shimelle’s class. So I will probably do a few pages based on their prompts as the inspiration strikes me.

Other than that? I am going to focus on two things:

• scrapbooking more STORIES this year.
• scrapbooking more about me… what my life is like, my hopes, dreams, thoughts, etc.  I want my girls to know what life was like when they were little (when and if they read the scrapbooks when they are older) and I want to document what my life is like right now so I can look back one day and remember life with my little ones.

What about you? What are your projects for this year?

Weekly Scrapbook Challenge #1

Our first challenge is up over on our new blog. Have you checked it out yet?

Dawn’s got a great idea for us -

• Think about your goals or things your looking forward to in 2010.
• Use up that stash you have had saved for a special occasion
• Use a picture of yourself

Are you game?

Here’s the page I created:

Share yours!

I can’t wait to see it!

Technorati Tags: Scrap Weekly in 2010,Digital Scrapbooking,Scrapbooking,Project 365,52 in 10