A Summer Walk and Photo Safari

Last Friday, I took my usual neighborhood walk, pausing to take photos along the way. It was a mostly sunny day, but the air was pleasantly warm with a cool breeze.

I passed a tree that seems a little confused, its leaves already starting to turn, even though summer's only about half over--unless it knows something I don't.

A black-eyed-susan blooming near the wall by our apartment complex.

These lavender beauties stretching out along the sidewalk.

And these blooms look like they're just about done for the season.

These odd little things, scattered among the grass, looking just a bit like umbrellas.

A tiny, tiny tree, daydreaming about twinkle lights and shiny decorations in its future.

These lovely white cups catching the sunlight.

And this color.

Evergreens and bright oak leaves, and in the distance, the restaurant where Daniel and I ate the night he proposed to me.

On the way home...

Scrapbook Page Redo - One

I don't usually redo scrapbook pages. I have been scrapbooking since about 2006, and when I started, I really had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know about magazines until well after I begun my paper-crafting journey, nor did I know about online sources for inspiration and education.

I knew nothing at all about scrap-lifting.

Until I knew about the resources at my disposal, I learned by creating. I learned by jumping in and doing it. I learned what looked good and what didn't, what worked for my own style asthetic and what didn't. I created pages I did like, and some I didn't.

And for the most part, I accept all the work I did as creative play that taught me how I wanted to scrapbook.

But.

A few months ago, I was putting the pages I made about my niece into albums, and I came across a few that really made me cringe. While I value my creative process, I wanted to do these pages over so I would like them better.

Here's one I want to share today.

Now, I don't want to bash my attempt, here. There are some things I did right, particularly attempting the page in the first place.

I think I did a pretty good job matching the background patterned paper with the mood and colors of the photo. That's my little Mommy handing her baby granddaughter to my darling father to hold. He was ill with kidney disease and felt badly that night, but it was a sweet moment. A memory I wanted to preserve on the page, and I thought the photo went well with a poem I wrote about my father's brief relationship with his granddaughter that he only knew as a tiny baby.

I also like that I used acrylic paint to create a place for the journaling, though the spacing didn't serve the design well. The positioning of the elements leave awkward space in between, and then there's the big piece of card stock with the poem printed on it.

Technically, it matches the floral in the background, but it overpowers the whole page, and not in a visually pleasing way. The torn and inked edges only draw attention to the odd shape of that element, and the stamping, crooked and overlapping, adds distraction, rather than the intended subtle texture.

The title fails in both size and placement, and the ribbon further detaches the photo from the rest of the page. While the brads do create a visual triangle, they don't create a sense of cohesion, partly because they are the only embellishments, and they look isolated. Almost minimalist or like an afterthought.

So, yeah. Definitely a candidate for a scrapboook page redo.

What a difference, huh?

What I love about this page, first and foremost is the color scheme. I'm a huge fan of purple, and while it doesn't exactly match the photo, it complements it. I used the original journaling by cutting it out of the background paper and adhering it to the new background. I changed the title to reference the poem, and I cropped the photo down to really focus on the subject.

When I look at this page, I can tell how much I've learned since I created the first version. It isn't perfect by any means; I'm sure I could find more than one thing to criticize, if I chose.

But I definitely don't cringe when I look at it. In fact, it makes me smile.

What's Going On - July 2018

Four months since my last post, and SO MUCH has HAPPENED!

Probably the biggest news? I turned fifty. The big 5-0, the half century mark, a new decade, starting down the slide towards senior citizenship.

Scary.

But the coolest thing about the milestone birthday is that I got to celebrate with a trip to one of my favorite places on earth, Walt Disney World. AND I got to bring my nephew D.J., which was extra special because I've wanted to take him to Disney World since he was a kid.

While it's hard to pick favorite photos from a trip like that--and sweeties, I took a LOT of pictures!--here's one that definitely makes the top five:

I was so excited to meet Chewbacca. Like-a-kid excited. I may or may not have jumped up and down when I saw the sign for the line. Looking at that picture just makes me happy, makes me smile all the way to my heart.

On the afternoon of my birthday, I got to meet two of my long time online scrappin' friends, an extra-special gift. We met at Disney Springs, chatting for awhile before heading to T-Rex for a bit of celebration.

Check out my birthday key lime pie:

Oh...yeah, baby!

Another sweet thing--getting to see my niece, Rebecca, and her three wonderful kids. We ate lunch and had ice cream together, and it was an extra birthday present getting to catch up with them.

There were a couple firsts during our Orlando vacation, too. We visited Animal Kingdom for the first time, which we really enjoyed, even thought we got caught in a downpour that began just as we started riding Expedition Everest.

We also visited Universal Studios, and you know what that means...

...the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

We. LOVED. It. Just look how excited I was to ride Hogwarts Express:

I admit, by the time the week was over, I was exhausted, but in a good way. The best part? I get to relive all the happy memories again when I create the scrapbook pages documenting the trip.


As part of my birthday celebration, this also happened:

Before...

And after...

Mermaid hair. It's something I've wanted to do for quite awhile now and finally just did it, right before I left for vacation. I love it, even after the color has faded some. I'm trying to decide if I want to do it again, freshen it up for the rest of the summer, or wait until fall and try something new.

Since we've been back, I've been coping with the hottest summer I've ever experienced in Michigan, and I've been making plans for future adventures, as well as thinking a lot about what I want to do with my writing life. Daniel and I participated in the 100 Days Project by writing 100 days in a row, and that accomplishment has made me think about writing again, including more blog posts, maybe working on a memoir project, maybe posting some old short stories here.

Lots of possibilities.

That's what's been going on with me. What's been going on with you? Leave me a comment. Let's connect.

Awesome Ladies Project Book of Me - January and February

For 2018, the Awesome Ladies started a new project called Book of Me, a way to document your life your way, with prompts each month to provide a focus. I feel honored and delighted to be a part of this project, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Scrapbooking in all its forms is all good, all necessary, but telling your stories, is the best thing, the imperative thing.

Book of Me is all about that, and there's a community of support that makes this sometimes challenging journey a lot easier, so please take a moment to check it out.

My approach for telling my stories in 2018's Book of Me is a traveler's notebook format with this cover:

I bought that over a year ago at Michaels, their Jane Davenport collection. It is no secret that I love mermaids and have since I was a little bitty girl. My kit of supplies for this project is all the mermaids and all the colors I associate with mermaids and the sea.

My January page spread:

I used a photo of myself taken on January 1st, some patterned paper by Bo Bunny, printable patterned paper created by Rukristin for the course, and an image of a mermaid I stamped and colored awhile back.

The right side page folds out for the journaling:

I used Rukristin and Ali Edwards stamp sets, and die cuts by KaiserCraft, more patterned paper by Bo Bunny, and of course, Distress ink.

For my journaling, I flipped through Kristin Tweedale's 100 Things All About Me workbook (available here) and selected 10 random prompts to answer.

I was really happy with how this layout turned out, and it made me that much more eager to do more work in the traveler's notebook format.

February's page looks like this:

More patterned paper by Bo Bunny, some of it punched into circles and hearts. I used more Rukristin stamps, and a sticker from a set I found in the gift wrapping aisle at Target.

Writing on a photo is one of my favorite ways to include journaling, and I borrowed the idea of taking a picture of my feet in the snow from Kristin.

I am really, really enjoying this project and so looking forward to the prompts ahead, telling more of my stories. This is a Book of Me for me, and I love that most of all.

Don't forget to check out the Awesome Ladies Project and see if Book of Me is something you would like to try!

What's Going On - March 2018

And there went February! Did it seem to go by fast for you, too? Last month, we were in the process of buying a house we liked a lot, in the perfect location, with the right number of bedrooms, and a gorgeous sun room where I imagined spending most of my at-home time. Only the inspection found bad news, and we had to withdraw our offer. Both of us were very disappointed, but we're still looking, keeping up our optimism that a better house will come along.

February was a great month for getting caught up on memory keeping projects. I'm almost done with my 2015 yearbook, maybe ten layouts to go, if that. I also chose a color scheme for the 2015 anniversary vacation album, and put together a kit for that. I caught up on One Little Word for 2018, and I'm enjoying that project so much this year. I'm all set to start writing every day this month, as part of the OLW prompt for March, and Daniel is going to join me in that endeavor.

And I caught up on Book of Me at the Awesome Ladies Project, completing both January and February's prompts. I'll be sharing my progress so far in a separate blog post. If you haven't checked out the Awesome Ladies Project, please do. It's a wonderful group of strong women telling their stories their way, and I love being a part of it.

One more thing that happened in February: I decided to try documenting 2018 in Traveler's Notebooks, rather than in a 12x12 album. I'm both nervous and excited, but I've already tried my hand at a little TN memory keeping, and I absolutely love it. This class at Big Picture Classes really inspired me, so check that out if you're interested in that kind of scrapbooking.

And the best news? I finally learned how to use my Epson PictureMate, and not only did it work and work well, it's easy to use, and the prints were amazing. Being able to print at home will definitely make Traveler's Notebook scrapbooking easier.

This first day of March, I'm sitting in my craft room, surrounded by...well...a mess. And not the good kind of creative, painty, inky mess, either. I'm participating in the Scrappy Chic garage sale on Sunday, the 4th, and I'm in the midst of preparing for that. The blinds are open, though it's one of those typical Michigan almost-spring days, rainy and dim and chilly. Honestly? I love being out in those days, running around, shopping, stopping at Starbucks for a warm and yummy beverage, getting rained on.

But I've got a lot to do to finish purging my stash and price everything for--hopefully--sale on Sunday. The good news is, whatever doesn't sell will be donated to a charity, and I will have that much less to pack and move when Daniel and I do find our house.

Living in Michigan, where there are four distinct seasons, I love the turning of the Wheel, the sometimes subtle, sometimes very obvious, changes in the world around me, signs that a new season is on the way. Though there is snow in today's forecast, there are clear signals that winter is soon to depart, and spring will arrive.

I'm looking forward to it.

One Little Word - 2018

Every year for about the last ten, I've been participating in some fashion in the One Little Word adventure created by Ali Edwards. Although every word I've chosen has not been a great success, I have learned so much about myself in the process of choosing and working with a single word each year. The words I've chosen, in no particular order, were joy, organize, focus, write, solace, me, time, and create. For some of those, I did almost nothing besides choose a word; with some, I worked regularly on prompts in Ali's class, which I found more rewarding than simply choosing a word I didn't think much about for the rest of the year.

2017's One Little Word

Last year's word was create, and I had a fair amount of success with it, though I admit it was less action-inspiring than I originally thought when I chose it in early 2017. My main intention for this word was to be more creative in my daily life--to create more generally, but also to take a more active role in my life, rather than being a sort of passive observer.

I was successful in that endeavor in several ways, and I created a lot of scrapbook pages, finally finishing the Florida vacation album from 2014, completing the October vacation album from that same year, and wrapping up the 2014's yearbook as well. I also made great progress on 2015, which I hope to finish in early this year.

Choosing 2018's Word

As last year began its descent towards December, I started thinking about what I wanted in my life for 2018, and one word kept swimming to the top of my mind.

This year, I will turn 50.

I still have to let that sink in!

I've always wanted to "grow old gracefully," but I admit, the prospect of this particular milestone has caused me some emotional turbulence. And the truth is, grace is simply not the energy I need to successfully proceed through this particular transition.

I need to be strong, resilient, passionate, energized, and brave.

I need to be, in One Little Word, FIERCE.

And so, that is the word I have chosen to guide me through 2018, a word that encompasses all of those other words and more, as I cross the finish line of my forites, and begin the journey into my fifties.

So Far, So Good

I wasn't going to take Ali's class this year, but I changed my mind. I know that I could work with previous class content myself, create my own project, but I also know that I will be more likely to do the work on a monthly basis if I pay for the class. I also bought some supplies from Ali's shop, including the pink album and the main kit. I hope to share my progress with the album as I go.

And I've watched the class videos and begun work on the prompts. Keeping a One Little Word journal has worked well for me in the past, so I'm continuing that practice. I set up a Pinterest board for my word, as I've done in previous years, and I've discovered some amazing quotes already. 

Working with this word so far, it's been quite abundantly obvious that I made the right choice for me, for this year. (I also have an idea of how to augment my One Little Word class work by selecting some fierce women to feature in my album somehow, but more on that as I develop the idea.)

I'm super excited to see where FIERCE takes me this year and how my life is influenced by the choice to develop my own fierceness in the months to come.

What about you? What's your word for 2018?

2017 Awesome Ladies Project Album

Doesn't it feel great to complete a project? I mean, I love the process, too, but finishing a project makes me feel such a sense of satisfaction.

On Friday, I finished my 2017 Awesome Ladies Project album, admittedly a little late, but I'm so happy with the finished pages. Early in the year, I chose a mini album with a variety of page bases by Dear Lizzy to contain my layouts, one topic per month, and I put together a kit of supplies, based on a Dear Lizzy collection full of lovely pastel colors, including one of my favorite shades of purple. I added some other bits and pieces to give myself a wider selection of embellishments, and I created some unity by scattering those throughout the album.


The Intro Pages

The page on the left is an acrylic stripe, and I layered all kinds of die cuts, most from Elle's Studio, and a ticket I punched from patterned paper. In the album, the left page lays on top of the right pocket page, the introduction to the album, which also contains some puffy camera stickers by Freckled Fawn which pop up again and again.


January - Right Now

For this topic, all about my right-now life at the beginning of 2017, I did a fair amount of writing, probably more than for any of ther other pages. I love that I had an "I Love Right Now" journaling card to use! The photo is a mirror selfie, part of the challenge for this month, and the canvas page on the right adds a great texture background.


February - Favorites

For simplicity's sake, I chose just one favorite for this topic--coffee--though I am drinking out of my favorite cup in the photo, so I suppose that counts as two. I so love that background patterned paper! And I liked including so many different kinds of embellishments on this page.


March - Routine

A simple little pocket page for this topic, all about a daily routine that changed when my husband took a different job. Without this prompt, I might not have documented this part of our daily life that is so very different, now, and I'm glad I did.


April - Weather

Three different photos, all in the month of April, three different kinds of weather. That's Michigan for you, and spring is a time when the weather can be all over the place. I used the yellow patterned paper on the right side page to echo the bright sunshine in that photo, as well as coordinate with the forsythia in the #2 photo on the left. I did go a little astray with the color scheme to include that fabric frame, but I think it works, and I like how there's both coordination and contrast between the two pages, just like the contrast between the weather on three different April days.


May - Family

The page on the right is another patterned acrylic page, and at first, I didn't have that pink polka dot patterned paper (say that three times fast!) there. But while I liked the placement of the journaling card, the gap looked odd, both on the front and back, so I added paper. I also went back and forth on whether to add anything to that strip, deciding to go simple and leave it blank. It is a lovely color, I think.


June - Travel

The left side being the back of the previous page, the same thing goes with that strip of paper. Originally, I thought I might use it for journaling, but I decided the right page would be plenty of room for the story of a special weekend trip I took to East Lansing, Michigan, for my birthday last year.


July - Home

I think this was the only topic that prompted two stories, and I decided to go with it and tell them both.


August - Outdoors

Originally, I only had two photos selected for this story about one of my favorite outdoor places where I spent a lot of time in 2017. But then I decided to add that photo of me with that contented smile that expresses my feelings about this lovely park. I only had one O left in the package of Thickers I used for the title, so I used zeros instead. I also used a hashtag and period from that set as embellishments on the right side page.


September - Read

Of all the layouts, this one is my favorite. I used an rukristin stamp to create the labels for journaling (I used the same stamp on the August layout, too.) Since my personal story about reading in 2017 had to do with my struggle with progressive lenses, I included two glasses stickers, though one of those may be hard to see--it serves as the shelf on which the title is situated. Have I mentioned how much I love that floral patterned paper? And the purple, of course. I love that color of purple. I did have to use an older Stampin' Up! marker as ink to stamp the labels, as I didn't have any other ink that matched.


October - Self

The content for October prompted the most ideas. There are so many stories I want to tell about me, which is a good thing. But because I chose a photo of myself from a trip my husband and I took for our 15th anniversary last October, me on the beach in Naragansett, Rhode Island, I decided to focus on just one story semi-related to the photo. (There will be many other albums to contain all those stories!) I chose patterned papers reminiscent of the sea, and the yellow heart paper as a hint of autumn. I think this is my second favorite layout.


November - Food

Okay, I had trouble with this page. That's why it looks so oddly shaped in the photo. I didn't have enough of either patterned paper to span the whole 6x8 canvas, so I had to use strips, and when I adhered the patterned papers down, somehow, the card stock backing got curled. I don't think I could do that again if I tried, but I couldn't really find a way to fix it. I just brayered it to get as much of the curl out as I could and stubbornly soldiered on.

I also used an rukristin stamp on this page, one from the Currently List set. The sentiment on the cork piece goes along nicely with the story about how I made Thanksgiving more enjoyable by going out to eat with my husband and my nephew, rather than forcing myself to cook the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Honestly, though there are things I like about this page, it's probably my least favorite.


December - Tradition

This one, I love. Kind of a monochrome scheme with just a little bit of color in the puffy sticker and the enamel hearts. I used that same rukristin stamp to create the labels for journaling, and I love that gold star vellum in the background, how the stars echo the lights in the photo. This was a story that didn't make it into my Journal Your Christmas album this year, but perfectly rounded out my Awesome Ladies Project.


Overall, this was a fun and meaningful album of stories that came together easily (for the most part). I liked having a kit to work from, though I admit it was a challenge to create autumn-flavored pages for October and November with the pastel papers and embellishments I chose. I like challenges, though, because that's how I stretch my creativity and grow my skills in telling my stories, my way.

Please take a few moments to check out the Awesome Ladies website. Kristin creates amazing, inspiring content that will definitely make you want to tell your stories your way, and there's a whole community of support there, too.

Welcome, 2018!

In my last post, I caught up on what had been going on the second half of 2017. December was a whirlwind, as always, with the holidays in full swing and all the activities Christmas revelry entails.

Holidays, my darlings, are hard work.

That being said, I had a blast this year. Daniel and I decided to stay home and return to some of our Christmas traditions that we missed in 2016 because we traveled to be with extended family. Our nephew joined us for the festivities, and it was a sweet, cozy, quiet holiday we all three enjoyed.

And then...a New Year to ring in! 2018. Hard to believe, though I say that every single year. Sometimes, almost always, it staggers me how quickly time passes, even while I intend (and often succeed) in savoring moments so that time doesn't drag me so quickly forward.

I scribbled a poem (if we can agree that entering text into the Notes app on my iPhone can be referred to as "scribbling') on December 15th that relates to my feelings on time. Take a look:

***

Time Reflected

Time pretends

to move

at the same pace

equi-distant chase

around the empty space

between then

and now

and then again.

Time feels

like flying back and forth

among memories

and moments

and all the things you thought

you’d do and never did.

Time lies

not only between

the plans you make

and their fruition,

or hopeless lack

thereof,

but also in

the vague flash

of what happened,

and the flicker of

what could have been…

…and what is.

***

It's been a LONG time since I wrote anything remotely creative, so it's creaky, I admit. But it did feel good to have creative inspiration tug at me, even in the midst of all the hustle-bustle of holiday preparation. And I'm proud of myself for taking a couple minutes to listen to inspiration and jot down those words swirling in my mind. It's one of the ways my One Little Word--CREATE--manifested itself in real effect.

In these early days of this New Year, as 2018 gets off the ground, I am excited and full of great expectations of the year ahead.

What's going on for you in 2018?