Hello!

I haven't been up to writing much lately.  I am still recovering from foot surgery and it has been more painful than expected.  I had surgery to relieve the plantar fascia and remove bone spurs on the heel.  The plantar fascia apparently wasn't as bad as they had thought but the bone spurs were worse, so it is tough to walk.  But every day it gets better.

I am excited to start the new session of Finding Photo Freedom (Library of Memories) over at Big Picture Classes today. I have been taking the class since 2008 and each year since as an alumni. Each year the refresher is good to help me evaluate my system and tweak where necessary.  I am looking forward to this as my summer project.

I haven't been scrapping much lately, but I have a huge backlog of things I haven't shared.  I played along in the Studio Calico National Scrapbook Day celebration and finished 8 layouts that week from their challenges.

This one with my mom is my personal favorite....

Hoping to get back into a regular blogging schedule, so I hope this is my fresh start. Happy Thursday!

Peace–It’s Just One Little Word

On December 1st I wrote this from a journaling prompt to “encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?”

December 1 ~ One Word.

2010 in one word…Chaos. It has felt like we are chasing our tails all year. Our business was so consuming so we stopped, but the rest of the year has been a whirlwind. Some self imposed, some imposed on us. As we are winding up the year, work for me has been more crazy than normal with a structure reorganization. And November brought us heart break in the sudden bad turn in my mom’s health. Now that we are in December, I am spending my evenings in the hospital, my days at work, the few minutes I have in the morning with my boys and squeezing in Christmas shopping on my lunch hour.

As I look to 2011 I hope for Peace. Time to enjoy our life, time to enjoy our boys, and some freedom from everyday worries. No life is perfect, but I pray we have some peace in our days.

Little did I know when I wrote those words, that we would be faced with more before the year would end. Ten days after I wrote this, my mom left us. We dealt with the holidays grieving our huge loss, one we didn’t expect to happen so quickly.

I have never chosen a word of the year before, it is a “popular” thing for us scrapbookers to do. But this year it seemed so appropriate. I felt a need for calm, quiet, reflection, hope, and serenity.

Peace – (noun) – 1. a state of tranquility or quiet. 2. harmony in personal relationships

Synonyms – calm, quiet, stillness, silence, tranquility, harmony, serenity, agreement, friendship, love, order, unity, relaxation, rest, repose

Quotes that resonated with me  -

“Peace is not something you wish for; It's something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.” ~ Robert Fulghum

“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”  ~ Peace Pilgrim

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it”

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”  ~ Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Peace is its own reward.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere” ~ François de la Rochefoucauld

“Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God.”

“All we are saying is give peace a chance.” ~ John Lennon

“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

To help me remain committed to my word for 2011 I have signed up for Ali Edwards One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes. Each month we will receive an assignment to help us remember what we have committed to, I know this will be important for me this year.

Picture Fall & ScrapTiffany Monday

Where did this past week go? I never did fit in blogging towards the end of the week. I got involved in creating my first photo book and finished that up Friday night. I am not really a digital scrapper, but I didn't like the templates on the photo book site, so I visited Designer Digitals and picked out a kit, frame, and some digital stamps and made my own. I am pretty happy with how it looks on the screen.  I can't wait to see the final project. I can't wait to see how it comes out.


I think I am going to do another photo book for my current photo project.  I signed up for Picture Fall over at Big Picture Classes. It is a nice complement to the photography class I am taking with Maggie Holmes. The chance is giving more ideas to play with the camera, without always having to chase around one of the kiddos.


The class started October 1st, but registration is open until October 6th if you want to join me. The daily photo prompt, great gallery and message board are great inspiration.


Here are my first 4 days. I am keeping a journal off my thoughts on each day's picture. Then I will be ready to put it and the photo together for my photo book.

October 1^st, 2010

 Fall. Not really in Arizona. It is still well over 100 degrees and fall foliage is not anywhere near us yet. But inside our home you can find fall all around us.

October 2^nd, 2010

 A peaceful spot to relax, read and chat with Mike when the house is quiet and all little boys are asleep.

October 3^rd, 2010

 No real fall leaves in Arizona, maybe in December or January it will look like Fall? Our only brown leaves are from leftover tree clippings caught in a vibrant hibiscus.

October 4^th, 2010

Ready to Brew…these three words make me happy.

Mark your calendars. We are having a blog hop over at ScrapTiffany November 8th & 9th. Lots of holiday inspiration and giveaways are planned.

This weeks assignment was to use this sketch by one of ScrapTiffany's own designers, Keely

Here was my take on it...

Head on over to ScrapTiffany and check out the other ladies work and give the sketch a try this week.

Happy Monday!

This reminded me of something very important....

Last weekend Nicholas did something he often does.  Grabbed his mini book from our day at Disneyland in 2008.  A little while later Jackson was in the mix.  He isn't in the pictures (he was just about 3 months in my tummy).  

What it reminded me is that I hadn't made a mini book in a while.  And it reminded me why my Library of Memories system is so worth the effort.

So when I stopped into one of my LSS this past Saturday and saw some older Cosmo Cricket blackboard photo boxes and cigar boxes for $5, I picked up a couple with an idea.  

Saturday night I sat down with Basic Grey Oliver papers and embellishments and in 2 hours I put together this little mini photo box for Nicholas.  I covered the box with paper and embellishments and punched a hole for a ribbon handle.  The interior 16 pages used up 32-4x6 photo's from my 2009 & 2010 photo storage binders. I paired just 4 sheets of kraft cardstock with strips of patterned paper and coordinating embellishments. I kept the pages simple since they were going to be for frequent handling with little hands.

On Sunday morning I handed Nicholas the box and I got the sweetest "aahhh" I have ever heard.  Later I heard him call it "my book mommy made".  He kept looking at his pictures and talking about things we had done and the different family members in the pictures.

Now I need to come up with an idea for smaller hands, because it is time Jackson had his first book just for him.

Picture Summer Days 1 - 10

I was going to skip out on Picture Summer at Big Picture Scrapbooking, but I have seen a few blogs recently of other scrappers that were signed up and decided to go for it.  I started a few days late, and I am now caught up with my assignments.

I used my Sony DSC-TX1 point and shoot for all of the pictures (except the one in the pool). I used PSE actions from Pioneer Woman for most of the pictures, although for a few I did my own manual post-processing.

Day 1

Summer is the boys having fun and playing outside in the evenings.

Day 2

Splashin' in the pool.

Day 3

I love the way the fountain in the courtyard is angled to line up with the windows on both sides.

Day 4

Grilling is a big part of our summer and always on the 4th.

Day 5

It doesn't matter the season, for me a glass of wine in the backyard watching the sun goes down is perfect any time of year.

Day 6 

A view I haven't noticed much lately that was one of my favorites when we moved to our house 5 years ago.  Looking down our street at the lake from our hallway windows.

Day 7 

This starfish was hanging out on the side of the aquarium. I thought the colors of its belly were splendid.

Day 8

The prompt for today led me to photograph these shells I have had for years.  I had collected most of them as a kid.  I have had them in one of my bathrooms at each home we have lived in  for years.  I see them every morning when I get ready, but haven't thought much about them in years.  Yet, every time I update the bathrooms I always hang on to this bit of my childhood.

Day 9 

These textured balls are on display in my entry way. Love the different textures and sizes.

Day 10

A scene I don't want to forget.  Nicholas and Jackson pillow fighting in the family room.  I heard them this morning giggling and playing while I was checking my e-mail I snuck up on them and found this.  I know they will be teenagers in a blink of the eye, so I want to enjoy the toddler rough housing while it lasts.

Can't wait for the weekend....and weekend plans

After being gone last weekend, I can't wait to be home this weekend and get some relaxation and scrap time.  This morning I had to whip up a birthday card for a friend, the leftover scraps from the May Mosh-Posh kit were perfect:

This weekend I'm looking forward to:

Starting Camp Scrap at Big Picture Scrapbooking and digging into that this weekend.  

Ordering my Studio Calico July kit add-on's (OMG the add on's this month are unbelievable)

Dinner to celebrate the Arizona dad's on Sunday night.

My light potato salad for said dinner.

A quiet Saturday morning before the kiddos wake up drinking coffee from the new Kreuig coffee maker

Hoping the Kindle I ordered today (at the new lower price) gets here this weekend so I can get it set up for some books I want to read.

Working on my 1st challenge for ScrapTiffany that will debut the first week of July.

Happy Friday!

A layout and ScanCafe

Another layout from my Baker's Dozen class.  Now I have just 4 layouts to work on to be caught up to the class.  One thing I love about the class is the simpleness.  You have already picked out pictures and embellishments and every couple of days you get a sketch and a recipe and you can get to work on telling a story.  Last night I wanted to scrap, but was tired so my heart wasn't in it as much.  So I flipped on the Glee season finale (which perked me up some) and grabbed my next assignment.

Me and Nana

PP, CS & ribbon from Studio Calico kit. Making Memories 

letter stickers and paint. Maya Mist, Quick Quotes canvas heart, 

Clearsnap ink and paper clip.

I love this picture of Nicholas and his Nana C.  He has really grown close to her since they moved here a year and a half ago.  I am glad that the boys will have a chance to grow up nearby to some of their family.  We are very lucky to have Mike's parents so close to us.

I am looking forward to this weekend already. My Mosh Posh and Citrus Tree Studios kits have arrived already this week.  My box from Studio Calico should be here today and another couple of orders should be here by Saturday.  It's been like Christmas! I have a big picture order to pick up at Costco today too.  

So I'll have lots of new goodies to scrap with and a whole lot of new pictures to scrap with.  Including several pictures I recently had scanned by ScanCafe from my pre-digital days.  The Mosh Posh kit will be perfect for some pictures I have of my grandma's and my mom from the 40's - 70's. The Citrus Tree Studios should be great for a Father's Day surprise for Mike I am thinking about. And the Studio Calico kit is going to be great for last weekend's pool pictures.

If you have been thinking about getting photos scanned I really recommend ScanCafe. I heard about them when I took Library of Memories at Big Picture Scrapbooking and although the whole process took a couple of months I am so happy to have my old photos in digital format.  They retouched and in some cases restored photos and now I finally have them to incorporate into my scrapbooks. 

I had been looking at scanning my photos for years including trying to do it myself.  I sent them about 2000 photos and selected about 1400 to have digitally. The great thing about ScanCafe is you are only obligated to pay for 50% of what they scan. So I sent negatives in that I had no idea what would be on them and only selected the pictures that were worth keeping.  There prices have gone up slightly since I ordered but they are still reasonable compared to other services.  And if you sign up for their newsletter they send out discount codes pretty often.  (I am not being paid to sing their praises, I was just really happy with their service.)

Starting on my Baker's Dozen

I signed up for the Baker's Dozen class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. However, life got in the way and I am a bit behind in the class.  However I did put together my first layout last night.  A simple one that just focuses on the story I wanted to tell about a little boy who is getting into everything right now....

Sorry about them not being side by side, but I don't like the way the picture of the 2 pages together came out and it is too dark now to re-take it.

Picture Spring

I am taking the Picture Spring class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. The instructor is Tracey Clark, the founder of Shutter Sisters.

I never made it through 365 days of photos last year, taking a picture everyday got difficult when I couldn't find something new to photograph each day  I signed up for this class to help expand my horizons, so to speak, and re-train myself to look beyond the obvious.  Each morning our we have a prompt for the day in our in-box. It is up to us to interpret what that means to us.

So here are my first 10 days of pictures....

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10