Book of Stories

I have been a journaller and a scrapbooker for quite some time but over the last few months I have realized that I am capturing events, but rarely am I relating the stories of our lives.  I am attempting to change that focus and luckily I found a perfect class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking.  It is called Book of Stories and is taught by Karen Grunberg (the blogger I mentioned in an earlier blog post).  The class started today, and I am thrilled.  I know it is going to make me a better storyteller.

Do you wish that you journalled more about your feelings, your stories, the stories of your family?  Or are you a scrapper who never goes beyond the chronological events of your life?  I think you can still sign up for the class (I think it was $25).  And after only one day I know it is going to help me.  Once again I owe thanks to Karen.

Easter Colors

Our Easter was filled with fun. My dad came to our home and visited with us for the day. After dyeing eggs, eating tons and watching our blue dye foam up from the baking powder we added just to watch the scientific reaction... I wanted a LO that reflected the fun. So, here it is. Fun colors and lovely butterflies.

Outstandling Leader Award

At the end of May our local service unit held a meeting for all the leaders in the area. It was a lovely evening with friends. But the best part of the night came after dinner. I was given the Outstanding Leader Award -- and I was nominated by Cora and Pattie (my co-leader)!

This LO is about that evening. I love the feminine details on this one. Flowers and bling and pins. It is on cream cardstock... wish it didnt look dirty in the photo.

Floatin' Fun

This LO is of the kids at their swim lessons a while back. I went very simple, and just enjoyed the bright color of the pool water and two handmade flowers.

I added bling to the letters, and I think it feels very watery.

Happy Bread

Every time the kids bake bread with mom they have to make one loaf of 'smiley face' bread. I call it happy bread. Often it comes complete with buck teeth made by Cora.

This LO has a little paint, a little ink, some fussy cut clouds, and a happy color scheme.

Brotherly Love

Another 6x12 LO. Very simple... with a few fussy cut embellishments.

An old Page Freshened Up!

This page was a rescue from a very old Creative Memories album. The book had some water damage so I am taking it apart and using it as a reason for recreating the baby book. Some pages I have started from scratch. This one I decided to keep, with minor changes. I cut the paper on one edge with a decorative border, and added the embellishments in the bottom corner. Then I put it all onto white cardstock. I like the makeover, even though it would look different if I had started from scratch.

Sunshine and baby books

This page took forever. But when I saw this piece of paper I knew exactly what I would do. Every morning Owen went into Cora's room and said "Good Morning Sunshine!" It was so sweet! I spent a lot of time affixing buttons and bling, but I love it. I cannot figure out why the main image is sideways. It is correct on my computer. Ideas?

A little paint & mist

I have recently found that I enjoy paints of various sorts. My first attempt at paint is on this layout. I am not sure I like it, and I think the photo is awful, but I am sharing it anyway. Maybe I am just proud of the way I am thinking outside the box and trying new techniques! I am also unhappy with the bling flower (though I LOVE bling!) -- I think I will probably replace that with a flower from Tessa. I have an order coming, so maybe one is in there ... if not it is a great reason to make another purchase. :)

Butterflies and flowers

At the end of the school year all the kids at Columbine enjoyed a day of play outside for Super Kids' Day. These photos were taken in May 2009 at the end of Cora's 4th grade year. I scrapped them in the spring. The color is a bit washed out. I wish I could have shown the sense of playfulness the yellow and red brought to the layout. This summer I have also discovered etsy and lovey handmade embellishments. If I were to change this page it would be to include handmade flowers.

Playing with Thread

The photos in this 2 page spread were taken in 2008, but I scrapped them in the last few months. This is one of the first layouts where I played with thread -- creating a frame of sorts.

here are a couple of detail shots:

My art -- Scrapbooking

On many occasions I have claimed that I am not artistic. Except that I scrapbook. And recently I have realized that this is my art and that when I sit with photos and paper my creative juices flow. I love to scrapbook. Today I attempted to photograph a few of my recent pages. I am still not confident in the results but I have decided to share anyway. This page is for my husband. He is smart, educated, witty, funny, kind, loyal, honest. This page is about the second item on that list. Educated. These photos were taken on the days of his high school graduation, his graduation from Wooster and then from law school.

The color isn't great. Hopefully I can get a better shot one day soon. The butterflies are punched from photos and though the photos are old and not of great quality they are better than this pic shows. I used a white pen to create a line on my frame.

Chanukah, Friends and New Inspiration

This week has been full of life Outside My Window and that fills my heart with happiness. Monday brought the noisy din of happy 10 and 11 year old Girl Scouts to my home. It was our last meeting for 2009. The first half of our school year has passed quickly and we are looking forward to cookie sales the first week of January. I was also surprised by a knock at my door that day. I walked to my door expecting a UPS driver and instead was stunned to see my friend who has moved to New York. We only had a few precious moments but it was wonderful just the same. Tuesday I had a couple of hours with a friend and chips and salsa. The latter was yummy, but the conversation was even better. Together we discovered a mutual passion for books and have decided to join an online book challenge in 2010. (Maybe I will do more than one.) I followed that up with a treat for myself: a new haircut which I love! Wednesday evening was my monthly book club meeting. Pattie, Jamie, Krista, Marilyn, Sara and two newer members. They bring intelligent, insightful and sometimes silly conversation into my life. And then tonight our friends invited us to share the last night of Chanukah with them. The meal was wonderful and because she too is a scrapper I poked through two of her newest albums and discussed with her some online classes she has previously taken. I left with new motivation to challenge myself in my art. Five days full of love, friendship, shared passions and an opportunity to learn more about the beautiful traditions of Chanukah. It cannot get much better.

The wonderful world of OTHER PEOPLE'S blogs!

It has been an eventful weekend following a slothful week. And lately I am not a blog writer but a blog stalker. I am having a great deal of fun reading blogs ... of those I know and of those I don't. I have found an entire universe of blogs dedicated to scrapbooking and another one dedicated to reading. I have found sketch challenges for scrapbooking and already utilized one sketch which has allowed me to get one layout closer to finishing my 2008 album which I have been working on forever. And who knew there would be reading challenges to take on for the coming year? I am going to challenge myself this coming year to read more, write more, think more, do more... All these wonderful blogs have entertained me and given me inspiration for my two favorite hobbies. However they have also led to what I referred to above ... a slothful week. I am going into this week with a strategy. I will dedicate certain amounts of time to blogging by setting a timer and when it goes off I am done. I will accomplish one layout for that never ending book of 2008. I will set aside a sum of time each day to do those everyday chores. And I will finish decorating my house which looks as though Christmas exploded inside it. Hmmm... can I really do this? Or will I find myself lost in another blog written by some talented person I will never meet? I hope I do not discover a third universe of blogs to follow. I wonder... is there a universe full of 40+ women in love with their childhood idol and writing about those silly 70s? The weekend... well it was filled with Girl Scouts, church and a poor sweet daughter.