Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Waving Goodbye to October


"And when October goes
the same old dream appears,
and you are in my arms
to share the happy years.

I turn my head away to hide
the helpless tears.
Oh, how I hate to see
October go.

I should be over it now, I know.
It doesn't matter much
how old I grow.

I hate to see October go..." from a song by Barry Manilow

I'm always a little sad to say goodbye to my favorite month of the year.

30 in 30 Scrapbooking - Thankfully

With November being the month of Thanksgiving (for those of us in the United States), my thoughts naturally turn to gratitude. In the past, I've done projects highlighting things I'm thankful for. Sometimes, just writing it down. Sometimes, an album for the week of Thanksgiving, highlighting seven things in my life that make me feel grateful.

I love those projects.

This November, in connection with my new adventure, 30 in 30 Scrapbooking, I'm going to expand my focus to naming and photographing 30 things that make me feel thankful.

I'm calling it 30 in 30 Scrapbooking - Thankfully, and I'm inviting you to join me.

While I would love to commit to daily writing and photos throughout the month, I know and own that daily commitments no longer work for me, the very reason I created the 30 in 30 Scrapbooking challenge in the first place.

But I know that I can take 30 photos in 30 days. And I know that I can write about thirty things that I'm grateful for within the month of November.

I know the combination will make a lovely album, and it will help me recover from the high levels of stress and tension that are part of my everyday life as a caregiver.

The cool thing is, I'm not the only one with this idea. In fact, Cathy Zielske wrote this blog post about her thankfulness project, and she's got a couple free downloads, as well as this great digital package available for sale here if you want to go the digital or hybrid route.

I'm going to do a more traditional album, myself. I haven't quite figured out which album or which collection I'll use just yet, but trust me: there are plenty of beautiful autumn-themed papers and embellishments in my stash to fill two thankful albums.

I'll be sharing the album, as well as some of the photos here.

Friday, October 26, 2012

30 in 30 Scrapbooking - November 2012

I apologize for being a few days late with this announcement, but...

30 in 30 Scrapbooking - November 2012 is right around the corner!

The previous two editions of 30 in 30 Scrapbooking, June and September, were smashing successes, and the month of November promises to be even more so.

It's 30 in 30 Scrapbooking, with a little twist.

The twist? Anything goes.

Instead of being limited to scrapbook pages, any paper-crafting project counts: cards, tags, banners, decorated gift bags, gifts, whatever you can make with paper and glue and whatever else is in your stash. For most of us, November's a busy month, full of preparation for the holidays, so I wanted to make it a bit easier to complete 30 projects, even with the holiday festivities beginning to ramp up and our schedules filling up.

The prize contains a bit of a twist, too. There will be a random drawing for a $30 gift certificate to the online store at Two Peas in a Bucket, and there will be an additional surprise for one lucky winner whose project is your hostess' favorite.

Participants from the past two installments of 30 in 30 Scrapbooking are already signing up. Want to join in? If so, just drop me an email by November 7th, and I'll get you set up with access to our Yahoo group.

The rules are a little simpler this time.

1. Complete 30 paper-crafting projects in 30 days. Scrapbook pages, large gift tags, mini-books, gifts, cards, banners, center-pieces, anything you create with paper-crafting supplies is included. Please keep in mind that each completed project counts as one item of the 30. (For example, if you create a banner that says "Christmas Joy," the whole banner counts as one project, not one for each letter.) Your hostess reserves the right for final judgment on whether a project qualifies or not.

2. All 30 projects must be completed and images posted to the gallery by midnight in the Eastern time zone on the last day of the challenge. (November 30th.) Please number your projects 1 - 30 so it's easier for your hostess to keep track.

3. To be eligible for prizes, participants must join the Yahoo group and post images of their projects in the gallery there.

4. Your hostess will make final determination on prize eligibility and reserves the right to disqualify projects or participants if she deems it necessary.

5. Enjoy yourself! The point of this challenge is to get inspired, jump start your creativity, and have fun in the process.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me by clicking right here.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Coming Soon

October is almost over, just about a week to go.

That means it's almost time for another round of 30 in 30 Scrapbooking. November's edition's going to be a bit different. I'm referring to it as a free-for-all, and it's going to be a blast.

Check back tomorrow for all the details.

Friday, October 19, 2012

News From LaLa's House


Autumn is in full swing around here. It's my favorite time of year with the cooler temperatures, the playful wind, the brilliant colors all around, more beautiful this year than ever before.

After the creative surge of 30 in 30 Scrapbooking - September, 2012, I took a bit of a breather from that hectic pace, and I admit I've neglected this blog a bit. (I just posted several projects I've been working on, though.)

I've been doing the 12 Days of Autumn, and I just purchased the album I'll be using to put it all together.

I'm also getting ready to announce the November edition of 30 in 30 Scrapbooking, which will be a whole lot different, but even more fun, than the last two.

Daniel and I just celebrated our ten-year anniversary last weekend, and there will be lots of scrapbook pages about that to share in the days to come, once my photos arrive in the mail.

May Flaum's Kitastic class at Big Picture was awesome, full of inspiration. I can't wait to see what she teaches next.

Shimelle Laine's newest class, Scrapbook Remix, is starting Monday, October 22nd. There's still time to sign up, and you can do that by clicking on this. I'm so excited. Shimelle's classes inspire me and teach me so much!

Lots of changes for me and my family on the horizon as we head into the holiday season.

Happy October to all of you, now that the month is more than half over!

Summer Rainbow - On Display


Here's a simple layout I did with photos from this past summer.

Sometimes, I feel pressure for every scrapbook page to be a well-constructed story.

Doing this page, I reminded myself that sometimes, it's okay to display photos I love on pretty paper with accents that make me smile, without the deep story.

It's all good.

That Livvie Smile

Here's a page inspired by an idea I scraplifted.


I totally dig the idea of using an embellished tag as a title block. I used a lot of Basic Grey patterned paper for this page, some stickers, all from the Kissing Booth collection, as well as some other bits and pieces thrown in. Those butterflies have been in my stash awhile, waiting for the right project, and I was thrilled how well they coordinated with the papers I chose.

Sometimes, a layout comes together almost effortlessly. I love when that happens.

Autumn Bliss

Inspired by May Flaum's blog, I took out some fun supplies one day and played, creating some autumn-themed tags.


Those two are my favorites. I used some background stamps, some mists, some stamping ink, lots of water and even a sticker or two.

Playing like that, with no real completed project in mind, is like a mental vacation for me. Seeing what works, what doesn't, getting all inky, especially on a brisk autumn day, makes me happy.

At Last - Layout Completed


Sometimes, I get hung up on perfection. I want to tell a certain story in the perfect way, with the perfect supplies. As a result, I sometimes take a long time to get a story told on the page.

That's the way it was with the layout above.

I had the journaling all typed up and ready to print, and I waited for the perfect papers. It's strange that, with as much as I love purple, I have very little of it in my stash. These papers from Sei, though, provided the perfect background for these photos of Daniel and me and our friend Jill just as we began to fall in love.


For the facing page of the layout, I chose 8x8, rather than 12x12, and the journaling fit exactly on the back with a couple embellishments.

Here's how the pages look together,


Instead of buying embellishments to coordinate, I did a lot of cutting from one sheet of patterned papers and added some gems and some spray mist for a bit of dazzle. The look is exactly what I wanted, and I love that this story is told, not necessarily perfectly--if that's even possible--but in a way that makes me happy.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Because of This Day

On an autumn day in 1962...


...George and Rachel got married.

Because of their courage to trust in love again, after both being burned so badly by it before;

because of their commitment to hold onto each other through whatever turbulence life brought, and it brought plenty;

because they showed the world, including their own daughter, what true love is;

because of their example, I wanted the best, and I waited for it;

Because of that day in October, fifty years ago today, I married my Daniel, and we are as happy as my parents were.

We lost my father in 2003, but love like theirs doesn't die.

Love like theirs lives on in all who knew them together, in the lives they touched and in the daughter they inspired to want that kind of love for herself.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

New Class

Shimelle Laine is one of my favorite scrapbookers. I've learned so very much from her, and I've become a better scrapbooker because of it.

So imagine my delight to discover she's got a new online scrapbooking class. Oh, yay! I'd barely read the first paragraph about it on her blog before I was ready to sign up.

Which I did. :)

Her classes are awesome, and I can hardly wait for this one to get started. Want to take it with me? Go right here to check out all the details.

Hope to see you in class!

Friday, October 5, 2012

At Four

In late July, family visited from Florida to celebrate Mom's 80th birthday. My sister-in-law, Lisa, brought me a couple photos from her wedding. I scanned them today, and cropped this one to include just me.


There aren't a whole lot of photos of me as a child, so this is a real treasure.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Welcome, October!


I love October.

The trees are turning their luscious, bright colors. Pumpkins are everywhere. The air is cool, breezes even cooler. It's the month right after the summer dissipates into back-to-school, just before the hustle-bustle of the holiday season gets off the ground.

October is a sweet lull as the year begins to ramp up toward its crescendo.

And for me, October is a celebration of love. For it was October, 2001, when I fell in love with my Daniel.

A year later, we were wed.

Welcome, October.