« December 2007 | Main | February 2008 »
We are all feeling a bit under the weather today...nothing major, just a bit more tired than usual, a little stuffy, sore throats. Plus, Orlando itself is a little under the weather (literally) so we may just declare it and inside day...avoid the rain, get into comfy clothes, crawl in bed and watch videos, and just enjoy being a little family of five for a bit longer.
Good thing it is our family day and we CAN do this :)
So, I'll keep it short today and just mention a few things...
1) I'll announce the winner for the free fat pack AND my new creative team tomorrow! You all have made my job sooooo tough! These will NOT be easy decisions!
2) A few people have asked about the CD albums...
a. How do I put them together? Here's is a simplified version of what I do: I use the templates just like any other templates. I then drag two of the pages onto an 8x10 canvas and have them printed. I do not print these at home because ink jet printers take a long time to dry (as in the directions say wait 7-10 days before framing/doing other things to them.) I have them printed wherever -- this time it was Walgreens. Then, I cut out the circles (I just used scissors but man oh man do I ever need a good quality circle cutter!) After they are cut I adhere them to the CD's with modge podge. Now, I should have read my own directions (that come with the albums) because I totally forgot that it is a good idea to use sand paper to rough up the CD's a bit. My pictures were slip-sliding away! I let the modge podge dry on the one side and then went back and did the other side. When all of that is dry, I modge podge OVER the photos (though, with a matte finish photo this really isn't all that necessary and in fact, I think next time I won't).
For the holes -- when I had Jason drill me holes, I had him drill BEFORE I adhered the photos. Then I just felt for the hole after the pictures were on and I poked through. But with the oh-so-handy crop-a-dile, I put it all together first and then punched. Sooooo easy!
The jump rings -- you can buy them anywhere that sells office supplies (even Wal-Mart). For the last two I did, I didn't feel like making another stop so I looked at Michael's to see if they had any. I didn't find regular jump rings but I did find these silver key holders in the jewelry section. They are not full circles but they have a removable silver ball at the end. I was very happy with these and Jason says he likes them a lot better. So, it is what I will use from now on :)
One person mentioned that they are going to try to use a bind-it-all next time. Now THAT sounds cool! Hmmm, how can I justify needing one of these???
I hope that answers some of your questions! Those of you who hang out at DST can do a search in the hybrid project gallery for lots of pictures of other people's albums. I just think they make the coolest gifts!
3. Some news! I have had to keep this secret for over a year! Seems crazy! Most of this post is stolen from Jen Caputo's blog (who stole it from Audrey Neal ;)
Audrey Neal & May Flaum's, Paper + Pixels: Scrapbook Layouts
P+P is all about hybrid scrapbooking — it features over 40 techniques, including really simple techniques for programs like Microsoft Word, to more advanced techniques for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. It also features over 100 pieces of original, never-before-seen art from May and I, as well as our contributors: Cathy Pascual, Angela Daniels, Wendy McKeehan, Jackie Eckles, Caroline Ikeji, Amy Martin, Katrina Simeck, Jenn Olson, Linda Barber, and Kathleen Summers. In addition to all this hybrid scrappy inspiration, you’ll get 10 exclusive scrapbooking kits on CD from these amazing designers: Michelle Coleman, Lauren Reid, Jan Crowley, Katie Pertiet, Lynn Grieveson, Jen Wilson, Poppy Andrews, Jackie Eckles, Kim Christensen, and Tracy Ann Robinson, plus templates from Janet Phillips and Jen Caputo.
***************
How amazing is this? Audrey approached me in the fall of 2006 (just a few months after I started designing!) and asked me to be a part of this amazing project. How could I say no?? Just look at the talent involved! Now, i have to be honest...I cannot even remember what the templates I submitted even look like! I'll have to go have a peak into my hard drive. I've made a LOT of templates in the past year!
You can preorder the book right now from amazon for only $16.50!!! Pre-order Paper + Pixels: Scrapbook Layouts right here
*****
So, how's that for short???
Have a wonderful Thursday! I know I will!
Today is going to be a good day. Jason is taking the kids out for the day and letting me have the day to myself! They are going to go to Disney (where else!) and I have opted out. Really, trudging around the park all day is getting to be a bit too much for me. My leg usually ends up hurting (my veins are still giving me problems) and I waddle much slower than the rest of them walk :) I can't ride many of the rides anyway, so, it just seems a little pointless to spend my day that way. But the kids want to go so Jason, being the guy he is, is giving them a nice day out.
That means *I* get to have a quiet day at home to do whatever I want! I have a lot of little things on my to-do list....it will feel soooo good to accomplish some of them. Most of them are about 10 minute-type jobs but I just always set them aside. It will be nice to feel "caught up" in life :) Plus, it will make going into our family day tomorrow super nice and stress free!
*****************
So, the CD albums are finally up in my shop! I had a lot of fun creating the templates and then putting two example albums together!
People have asked a lot in the past about how I put the holes in the CD's. The first album I made (last spring), I just had Jason drill me the holes. Worked great. But I had heard that a crop-a-dile can punch through almost anything and I was curious to see this amazing tool for myself. So, I picked one up....and I LOVE it. Seriously, punching through a CD with this thing was easier than punching through paper with a regular hole punch! There are two different size hold options and there is a great depth gauge. That means all your holes end up in the same place! Plus, this tool sets eyelets and snaps and other metal embellishments. What a great tool to own!
*****************
I hope you all have a great day! Off to start my to-do list!
....to know what needs to be done today.
Back when we were in Malaysia, we really struggled with feeling like there was too much to do. We had fourteen students in our care, some with some pretty intense special needs, and there never seemed to be enough time to do everything that needed to be done. I constantly felt like I was failing as a dorm mom because I couldn't meet all the needs of everyone every day.
We often talked with our supervisors about this. I was always hoping for some solution -- some way to get the work load to a manageable amount so that I wasn't heavy-laden with guilt every day. Instead of offering me an easy solution, my supervisor (in her wisdom) often encouraged me that the goal wasn't to get it ALL done EVERY day. The goal was to pray that God would give me the wisdom and grace to know what was most important TODAY. And what is most important today may not necessarily be what is most important tomorrow. What a lesson and a process this has been for me. I don't think I quite have the hang of it, and I certainly haven't released all the guilt that comes with not getting it all done every day, but I am making progress in the realization that God knows there are only twenty-four hours in a day and therefore only a certain number of things can be done each day.
I sound as if I am overwhelmed. In truth, I'm not. I guess that must mean that I am grasping this concept a little bit. I can't do it all. Well, at least not every day. I just need to be in tune with God enough to know what is priority today.
One of those priorities that keeping slipping down my less (due to the tyranny of the urgent) is spending quality time studying. I have lots of quiet moments with God throughout the day...lots of prayers said as I watch my kids, lots of thanksgivings said as I see God's blessings pouring in. But I haven't taken the time to study God's word lately...to really dig deeper and come to know Him in a more intimate way.
When I was in college I had an amazing professor who took me under his wing. We had lots of great discussions about psychology and about life in general. I learned so much from this wise man. But the most important thing I gained from him was an understanding of in-depth Bible study. He taught me the methods of inductive Bible study and I was a part of studies at his house for three years. I even led at times. I LOVED it. My brain just works like this...I like to dig deeper, to truly understand what a passage is saying, to get more than just the fluff of most devotionals.
So, a few weeks ago I decided it was time to get back into it. I signed up for a Precept course on the book of Daniel at my church. And today is my first day. I am excited. I am excited to have the encouragement and accountability that a group offers. I am a little worried about fitting yet another thing into my schedule but that is where that prayer of wisdom comes in. What is most important today?
*************
Thank you so much to everyone who has shared their love of templates with me! It has been fun and encouraging to read why templates have helped you. It makes me glad to do what I do. If I know that families are having more memories preserved then my time has been well spent.
However, I will say that you all are going to make it almost impossible for me to choose a "winner." Ack. I know I will need to pick someone but it is going to be HARD. So many good explanations, so many good stories. I'll keep reading and hoping that no one is disappointed!
*********
The FAT PACK is up in the store! I am so excited about all of these templates. I have really enjoyed playing with some of them and am so excited that I am getting pages scrapped! Here are a few more that I have done...
I'll update later with credits. Right now I have a sweet little one year old who wants to get out of bed :)
The CD albums should be up later today or tomorrow morning. I had so much fun making them! Can't wait to show you!
HAPPY TUESDAY!
I truly appreciate all of the wonderful comments and emails I got regarding my post on Friday. I am sorry that I didn't get to respond to all of them, but I read them, and was once again thankful that I have the little blog of mine. I love that I can share what is on my heart and mind and that others can find encouragement in it. There have been many times that I have been tempted to stop blogging (for various reasons) but then I have a day where I share my heart and others can find food for their own soul.
2 Corinthians 1:3,4 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
Back in college, when I was dealing some some serious issues from my past (and present) I clung to this verse...praying that God would take the bad in my life, walk me through it, and then allow me to use it to help others. He honored that prayer in so many ways...both then and ever since.
Some people are amazed that I open my life up on my blog. They think I am crazy for sharing with strangers the ins and outs of my day. I can see where they are coming from, but as I have tried to explain, I want to be an encouragement. I want others to see the good days AND the bad. Somehow, when we see that others are experiencing what we are experiencing, it gives us comfort knowing that we are not alone.
I hope to share more here. Lately I have done a lot more of the "what we did today" type posts. And while I enjoy that (because I have a written record of my life with little ones), I also want to share more of the internal stuff. There is a lot I don't share (this is the world wide web and virtually anyone has access!) but I want to be honest in my triumphs and my struggles.
So thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for encouraging me with stories of your own walks. Let's encourage one another.
*********************
Okay... now that that is done, on to scrappy stuff. The pregnancy hormones are slowing down and I feel like my creativity is slowing creeping back into my life. I am creating more, enjoying it more, and desiring it more.
I am especially LOVING making templates right now. Every now and then I get a renewed excitement for what I do. I LOVE the fact that others are getting more pages scrapped, more stories told, more memories cemented because of what I do. Not everyone wants to start every page they make from scratch. Some people want to focus more on the story than the creative process of designing a page. And that's okay. I love that others can take a template I made, put in their photos and their stories, and then have a precious memory for their family. When people write me and thank me for making templates because their family has many album pages because of it, I literally get giddy. I have always been about preserving memories. I love to hear stories of when I was little. I love biographies. I love hearing about the past of specific people in specific places. And now I get to be a part of more of those stories being preserved. And THAT is exciting.
So, I've been creating. Over the past few weeks I would do a little here, a little there. And this weekend I looked at what I had and realized that I had quite the stock pile. So, in the next few days, you'll see new things in my shop!
PLUS...I have two more CD album template sets coming! They are all done...just waiting to finish up my example albums (note to self: pick up prints today!). I have really loved seeing the CD albums people have made with my first template set and then also the set that Shabby Princess and I made using her CuddleBug kit. They make such FUN gifts and keepsakes. I love walking through my living room and seeing my little Levi CD album sitting in my mini-album basket. Can't wait to do these other two today!
Okay...so, you want the FAT PACK 3?
If you do...I have a little project/contest for you. I want a really good description/explanation of the benefit of templates. Tell me why you love them, why others should give them a try, why they make scrapping easier/faster/more enjoyable...whatever. Basically, just tell me why you love them and others should too! Feel free to be as creative as you want!
I will pick my favorite and that person will get the whole FAT PACK 3 for free -- a $45 value!
Just leave a comment on THIS post and I will pick a winner by Thursday. Good luck!
And here are a couple of LO's I did with some of the new templates...
Have a great Monday!
I feel like I have written a post like this before. Probably have. But it is worth repeating since it is a concept I am still struggling with.
Years ago when I worked at a camp (where Jason and I met), one of the full-time staff members was talking to the summer staff. He talked about a pail of liquid. That pail can be as pretty as can be on the outside. It can look to the world like it contains nothing but the freshest and purest of waters. People can be convinced of the quality of the liquid it contains. This is even more true if the pail boasts of its own worth -- "I am the purest of all pures, I am true refreshment, nothing impure will ever be found." It can be quite a believable story.
But what happens when that pail gets bumped? The liquid spills out and then, for the world to see, are the true contents of the pail.
"So," he asked us, "what comes out when you get bumped? What happens when hard times bump you? Does thankfulness, forgiveness, graciousness, and love flow out? Or does bitterness, envy, frustration, anger, and other impure stuff come spilling out?
Ouch.
It is easy for me to look pure from the outside. I can even start to convince myself of my own purity. But when I am bumped -- when the hard stuff of life gets in the way -- that is when the true test of what is truly inside of me happens. And I don't always like what I see.
Now I will say that I have grown a LOT. I will say that I really don't even try to pretend that everything in my "pail" is the purest of pure. I am a realist and I am willing to admit fault, shortcomings, and failures. But still, when I actually have to SEE them versus just knowing they are there, I don't like it.
So yesterday I got bumped -- in two ways. And I was unhappy with what I saw come out of me.
The first "bump" really wasn't a big deal. It really has nothing to do with me. And yet it bothers me so much. I have a person in my life who struggles with lying. The thing is, the lying is usually over the most ridiculous of things. Things that NO ONE would care about even if the person told the truth. The kind of lying like a person saying, "Oh, I had spaghetti for lunch" when they really had a sandwich. Who cares what you had, just tell the truth.
I do not know why I let this person get to me so much. I don't know why I let it frustrate me to the point where I am ANGRY...where I feel the need to tell Jason all about it and show him the "proof" of the current lie. Why can't I just let it go and trust that God will deal with it. Why do I let it fester inside, affecting the rest of my day? Why can't I pray that God will work in this person's heart and show them what they are doing. This person may not even know how much they do it! I got bumped, and I didn't like what I saw come out.
The second thing was a little bit bigger of a deal. Something of mine got ruined and it going to cost a lot of money to replace. It really wasn't anyone's fault but I was sure to point out to Jason that if he hadn't been using it in the first place, it wouldn't have happened. I got bitter, snappy, frustrated, and wanted to point out all the ways that Jason was at fault.
Um, hello! It is just STUFF! Who cares? It doesn't hold any eternal value. In the great scheme of things it doesn't even hold that much monetary value. And yet I let it get to me and as much as I tried, I couldn't shake the anger for the rest of the night.
Yucky stuff coming out of the pail.
So how do I get purity to flow from the frustrations in life? How do I approach other people with GRACE? How do I let temporal things fall WAY down my list of priorities? I wish I had the answers. It's a process, and I can see the progress I have made over the years (as in I can actually see the impurities coming out instead of standing there, gross sewage coming out of my pail still trying to convince myself and those around me that it is the freshest of water.) But still, I have so far to go.
Create in me clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.
************************
Okay, thanks for letting me share. On to things of a much lighter note...
** Thanks to those of you who have sent me their CT "applications." I am excited to see who wants to be a part of the team and even more excited to get to know some of you better. It will be a tough decision, I am sure, but it still exciting to see who wants to work my stuff!
** On to this weeks DIGI DARE. Our challenge this week was to scrap our favorite photo of 2007, even if we have already scrapped it. WOW! What a challenge! I took over TEN THOUSAND photos last year (don't you just love digital! LOL!) There are so many that I love...so many that speak to me...so many that capture my kids just as they are. But in the end, it wasn't too tough of a decision. There is one photo that just captures my heart. I've scrapped it once, as part of my SOY entry, but that was a hybrid page so I never shared it here. I scrapped it again (in a different way) for the dare.
I used Michelle Coleman's new AMOUR kit.
** And now, I bid farewell for the weekend. We are off until four o'clock this afternoon and we have some errands to run and some other stuff to do as a family. Hopefully the weekend will be smooth (those 12-14 hours working days can get long!) I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend!
*********************************************************************
I promised quite a few people that I would post this here on my blog first. I will wait until the weekend to post at DST. So you, my dear blog readers, will have first consideration.
Can't wait to see what talent and sweet personalities await me :)
Our main reason for going to Disney yesterday was so that Alaina could get her hair cut. She has needed a cut for a LONG time but it is just one of those things that always gets put off. Last week I started looking into places around town that cut kids hair. Alaina went with us to get Caleb's first hair cut and she really wanted to go to a kids place rather than just a regular salon. The only other time she has had a hair cut was when I did it...over two years ago. So, I started researching. And that is when I found out that there was a shop right in the Magic Kingdom! How perfect. Anything Disney does is above and beyond, so I knew it would be great. AND...the price was only $14. Not going to beat that!
So, we trudged into the Magic Kingdom (you have to take a tram and THEN the monorail to get in to the park, so, it takes a while.) We found the little shop tucked away on main street and waited in line. Jason and the boys lasted all of five minutes waiting and they took off. So I stayed with Alaina and waited for over an hour (no reservations accepted). It was fun to watch, though, so we didn't mind waiting.
Then it was her turn. The lady was so sweet and had been listening to us so right when Alaina popped in the chair she said, "Hi Alaina!" Then she trimmed it up (about three inches), put her hair up, and then put in the magic "pixie dust." It was such a good experience...I would totally recommend it for anyone coming to Disney. If it is your child's first haircut they get a special certificate, a special pair of Mickey ears that say "First Haircut" and then save a lock of the hair to give you. Total thumbs up in my book. Or, if your kid doesn't need a cut but wants to go in, for $5 they will put colored gel and pixie dust in and/or paint a Mickey Head on the back of the hair.
Oh, and they do lots of adults too. We waited for just as many adults as we did kids. Jason plans to do his next cut there :)
BEFORE:
DURING:
AFTER:
After the hair cut, we went up to the train station that overlooks Main Street and found a little table and had lunch (we always pack a lunch to take with us). Usually we just find some random bench somewhere but this was SO much nicer! So peaceful and quiet up there and we get to enjoy watching all the going-ons.
A quick trip to Tom Sawyer's Island, a game of checkers, and then we needed to head out. As we were picking up our stroller at the train station we ran into Mary Poppins and Bert. It is so fun to see characters we haven't seen before (and aren't very common.) Levi was conked out by this time and Caleb just wanted to go home, so only Alaina wanted to meet them.
Now of course Alaina wants to watch the movie!
*********
Today is a "work day" for me. I have a bunch of digi projects in mid-process and I really want to finish some of them up. Jason is taking the kids out for the morning so I can work in the quiet. What a good guy :)
Hope you Wednesday is a good one. Can you believe it is already January 9??
I only have a few minutes. We are headed to Disney for the day (other than the Christmas party we haven't been in over three weeks!) The kids really miss it and although I don't really want to spend the day at a park when I can't ride any of the rides (no hiding this belly any more!), I know we need to go. The extra family time will be nice.
I did get to scrap last night! We have been waiting for a table to be in stock at IKEA. It is a table that fits over the bed. It finally came in and Jason picked it up over the weekend. This will allow me to scrap in bed at night on my laptop. Jason and I like to be together at night, and so even though we aren't doing the same thing, we enjoy being close. So, I used another template and got another page scrapped. One more story told.
Credits: Papers and alpha by Gina Cabrera, stitching by Ronna Penner, tape measure by Gina Miller, staples by Shabby Princess, paint strokes by Michelle Coleman, word art by MandaBean, heart by (can't remember right now). Font is Mom's Typewriter.
Alrighty...hope your Tuesday is a good one. Disney promises that mine will be magical :)
Don't forget, today is the last day to pick up this month's GRAB BAGS.
