Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Quick Review of My Classes at Big Picture Classes

Sometimes its good to take a look back at where you've been:  I've taken a lot of Scrapbooking Classes at Big Picture Classes, I thought it would be fun to review an dot down a few thoughts on each of them:

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Workshops:

Name	Instructor	Starts	Ends
Library of Memories Community		09/01/2011	08/31/2013
Project Life Community	Becky Higgins	11/24/2010	11/24/2011
*** both of these workshops were low priced $15 and are a nice place to come and touch base with everyone on the message boards.
Self-Paced
Name	Instructor	Starts	Ends
10 Summer Photos To Take Right NOW!	Lisa Damrosch	07/01/2008	07/01/2014
Cocoa, Daisies, and Stacy	Stacy Julian	11/01/2008	11/01/2014
Come Away With Me	Kimberly Lund	04/25/2011	04/25/2013
Embrace Imperfection	Karen Grunberg	03/15/2011	03/15/2014
Finish Line Scrapbooking	Stacy Julian	11/01/2011	11/01/2014
Fit-to-Be-Scrapped Holiday Letters	Lain Ehmann	11/01/2008	11/01/2014
Glimpses	Stacy Julian	01/01/2007	01/01/2014
Introduction to Digital Memory Keeping	Lisa Cohen	07/01/2008	07/01/2014
My New Year	Sunny Schlenger	03/01/2009	03/01/2014
Scrapbooking with a Digital Template	Steph from the Daily Digi	04/25/2011	04/25/2013
Start Here, with Stacy	Stacy Julian	07/01/2009	07/01/2013
*** some of these are free!  I recommend anything taught by Stacy Julian!
Completed
Name	Instructor	Starts	Ends
A Library of Memories (2008)	Stacy Julian	02/28/2008	09/01/2008
A Library of Memories (2009)	Stacy Julian	02/12/2009	06/30/2009
A Library of Memories (2010)	Stacy Julian	02/03/2010	05/31/2010
A Life Well Crafted: Audio	Kolette Hall	01/01/2009	12/31/2009
Big Idea Festival		09/04/2012	09/21/2012
Big Idea Festival (2011)		08/14/2011	08/27/2011
Big Idea Festival! (2010)		08/12/2010	08/24/2010
Big Wig Bash	Stacy Julian	08/18/2008	09/30/2008
Creative Crop		05/05/2012	05/07/2012
Creative Crop (2011)		05/07/2011	05/07/2011
Design Challenges	Elizabeth Dillow	04/25/2012	05/24/2012
Design Your Life (2008)	Cathy Zielske	10/02/2008	01/21/2009
Finding Photo Freedom 2011 (Alumni)	Stacy Julian	06/01/2011	08/17/2011
Get a LOAD of This!	Lain Ehmann	01/01/2008	02/11/2008
Have More FUN	Stacy Julian	07/03/2008	11/30/2008
Move More, Eat Well 2012	Cathy Zielske	12/31/2011	12/31/2012
One Little Word 2012	Ali Edwards	12/31/2011	12/31/2012
Reading Room	April Peebles	01/01/2009	12/31/2009
Roundup Your Memories	Katie Nelson	01/04/2012	01/18/2012
Summer Fun!	Stacy Julian	08/05/2009	09/03/2009
Twelve.	Stacy Julian	12/31/2011	12/31/2012
Week In The Life	Ali Edwards	04/18/2012	05/18/2012

*** I highly recommend LOM which is now called "Photo Freedom" with Stacy Julian and I loved Twelve.  The Big Idea Festivals and Creative Crops are Free!  My other favorites were Elizabeth Dillow's Design Challenges and Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life!

Links to Online Scrapbooking Classes and Tutorials

My Top Ten favorite Online Scrapbooking Classes and Tutorials are:

1. Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped: This is a free scrapbooking idea blog that is highly organized so you can find exactly what you you want to learn.  I'm lucky enough to be on the creative team there right now!

2. Debbie Hodge's Masterful Scrapbook Design:  Amazing ebooks, video tutorials, podcasts and interactions with the teachers on scrapbooking topics that both digital and paper scrapbookers will love.   Plus lots of your favorite scrapbookers are teachers there: Celeste Smith, Lisa Dickinson, Paula Gilarde, Emily Pitts, Noell Hyman, Pattie Knox, Debbie Hodge, Tami Taylor, Amy Kingsford, Kim Watson, Leah Farquharson, Corrie Jones, Anna Aspnes, Amanda Jones, Dina Wakely, Lynnette Panacho, Summer Fullerton, Tiffany Tillman, Jana Morton, Audrey Neal, Kelly Purkey, Erin Bassett, Peppermint Granberg, Doris Sander, Michelle Clement, Wilna Furstenberg, Aly Dosdall, Vivian Masket, ... and there are actually dozens more! 

3. Stacy Julian's Big Picture Classes:  The original online scrapbook schoolhouse with so many of my favorite people from the old Simple Scrapbooks including Stacy Julian, Cathy Zielske, Ali Edwards, Angie Lucas, Wendy Smedley, ... and actually there are dozens more here too!

4. Noell Hyman's Paperclipping Roundtable Podcast: I love this podcast!  I listen while I'm on the stepper, while I'm driving, and/or when I'm scrapbooking; when I'm scrapbooking it gives me the feeling of being at a crop without having to leave the house or share my scrap table space!  Plus all of your favorite scrapbookers are talking about scrapbooking there - and its free!  ... and there are dozens and dozens of guests so chances are your favorite scrapbookers are there.

5. Noell Hyman's Paperclipping Tutorials Membership:  This is a paid for membership that runs 6 months at a time so it is a perfect way to jump start or re-start your scrapbooking mojo; the videos are professionally produced by Noell's "cameraman" who doubles as her husband.   I love the videos because I can watch them on my iphone and Noell has a different and unique perspective so you can learn new ways to look at the same old things.

6. The Digi Show Podcast:  This was a spin off of the Paperclipping Roundtable and while I'm not a digi-scrapbooker, I listen and look forward to it every week anyway.  They often talk about general scrapbooking concepts and ideas; and when they talk very techie digi, I just listen and hope that someday it will sink in and I'll "get" how to or want to digi scrap.

7. Two Peas in a Bucket Classes and Events:  This is a store but they offer so much in the way of free scrapbooking eductation that it should be on your radar.  You can watch videos and take old and new classes, many of which are free.  This year they have daily scrapbooking how-to videos that I am just loving - especially:  The Adventures of Glitter Girl and Seeing Double (with Lisa Dickinson in particular).

8. Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog:  This is more of a challenge blog than an online scrapbooking class site but they have so much in the way of learning links and every month they encourage readers to create their own scrapbook kit with stuff from their scrapbook stash.  It is a fun place to find new ideas and participate.

9. You Tube:  You can find lots of scrapbooking tutorials for free on You Tube; word to the wise:  You get what you pay for, but there are some amazing videos there too - especially those done by Shimelle Laine who also offers free and paid-for high quality and jam packed with content scrapbooking classes at her blog.

10. My Craft Channel  offers free "shows" from scrapbookers like Heidi Swapp, Stacy Julian, Teresa Collins, and Amy Coon.  They videos are about 10 minutes each and they are delightful.

Those are just some of my favorites, there are probably hundreds of places to get online scrapbooking classes - yessiree, we have an active and vibrant subculture and we're proud!  Here are 10 more links to sites that I recommend but don't currently use:

1. Jessica Sprague:  Online classes and products for digital scrapbookers

2. Renee Pearson: Another source for online classes for digital scrapbooking and photography.  And Renee is delightful in her "in person" classes, I took one in 2007 and loved it.

3. Lain Ehmann:  True Scrap & Layout A Day "Load Challenge":  If you've never tried scrapbooking everyday for one month, do it!  It will speed up the way you scrap!

4.  Donna Downey:  She started at Simple Scrapbooks and has gone very artsy - lots of fun painting and art journal type classes here - I think they are on line and in North Carolina.

5. Creative Passion Classes:  Online classes to fuel your passion for creativity.

6. Lynda.com:  Learn how to use software programs and things on the internet and photography tips and a lot of tech information.

7. Ustream: You can find a wealth of free scrapbooking videos on ustream - the downside is that it gives you commercials before each video - but if you find some favorite teachers and follow them, it is a great resource.

8. Ranger U:  All sorts of scrapbook technique videos.

9. Creating Keepsakes:  There is a ton of information about scrapbooking here, but I find it a little difficult to nagivate - but it is worth the effort, the content is good - the web aspect of it could use a little streamlining.

10. Ali Edwards: December Daily, A Week In the Life, One Little World, and many more scrapbooking concepts and ideas with a mix of free and paid for classes.

Have fun scrapbooking using inspiration from online scrapbooking classes and tutorials!

 

 

 

Big Picture Classes: Library of Memories Community & Stacy Julian Appreciation Week (March 2008)

The Story {the journaling} :  "So its been about 8 years since I discovered Stacy Julian - I've always been a scrapbooker but Stacy and Simple Scrapbooks really introduced me to awesome modern scrapbooking.   I've been "modern"  scrapbooking since about 1998 but it wasn't particularly cool or fun until I "virtually" met this lady and all of her fun friends.  They've inspired me and help me document my happy life."  (and probably actually make it happier).  "Love my online peeps:  Online Friends - Online Books - Online Learning."

What prompted this?  A combination of a couple things - one being that I found this scrapbook page I made 5 years ago:  Blast from the Past:  "Stacy Julian Appreciation Week - March 2008" made during the grand old days of Simple Scrapbooks:

Side Note On Photographing Scrapbook Layouts:  My scrapbook layout picture taking skills still aren't perfect, but taking that same original photo of the layout and tweaking it in Google's free Picasa photo program:  1. I cropped it to a square; 2. I hit the "I feel Lucky" button; 3. I adjusted the sharpness with the slider tool; and 4. I created a border. And voila - that same layout looks a lot more internet ready right?

Another reason for all this gushing?  I've learned some things over the years thanks to my online friends, online books and online scrapbooking classes and communities.  Today I've been thinking about that and about how I have real feelings for my virtual scrapbooking friends - some of whom I've never and will never meet - others whom I have met in real life - and scrapbooking friends I've met online who become real life friends.  I've been thinking about how Patti Knox's interview over at Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped / Masterful Scrapbook Design so touched my heart and that I knew her and Debbie's essence just from listening to them talk to each other about scrapbooking for one hour.  (Click Here for Debbie Hodge's Masterful Scrapbook Design interview with Pattie Knox from November 2012 all about Telling Family Stories and Scrapbooking Old Photos). 

This online scrapbooking thing isn't just about recording your family memories, its also about finding your people.  I know I've found mine.  Its also about appreciating life and thinking about the bigger picture, what you want to focus on and remember and what you want to leave behind.

I've been a fan of Stacy Julian and her Big Picture Concept since her book came out in 2005 and I read it cover to cover on an airplane ride up to see my Grandma Grace.  I took Library of Memories (now called Photo Freedom) in 2007 and took the alumni course every year since.   This year I think my class enrollment turned into a pumpkin and former students had to sign up again so this was the first year I haven't been in Library of Memories / Photo Freedom - it feels weird.  I miss it.  The class is completely awesome in so many ways, but it is so amazing to go on that scrapbooking journey with so many other amazing women - and get to hear and see Stacy Julian videos every week for 10 weeks.  Yep, I miss that.

I am a member of "A Library of Memories Community" which I think was a one time payment of $15.00 for "Forever Access" to get a weekly email every Thursday.  I admit that often times I just get the email and I put it into my "Library of Memories" folder on gmail, but I think if I used it more often my scrapbooking would be even more awesome.

So just for fun, I thought I'd take a look at the Big Picture and Photo Freedom Books today and listen to Stacy's video message in the BPC Class. I took a look at the last Weekly Challenge and it was this:

Creating
It's time to create something with some square-punch pictures! Make a page or a card or a fun note to put under someone's pillow. Square-punch pictures are ready to go and EASY to use. Please note how happy this creative exercise makes you!

So I didn't follow the directions exactly but I did use a couple of square sized photos.

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If you are in A Library of Memories Community there are 4 chats in 2013:

Your chats with Stacy Julian are scheduled for:
Friday, January 25th 2013 at 5:00pm PT
Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 10:30am PT
Saturday, August 3rd 2013 at 8:00am PT
Thursday, November 7th 2013 at 2:00pm PT

Happy Crafting and Day #4 of Big Picture Classes Big Idea Festival

Here's some of my "no goal" Happy Crafting:

May Flaum's message was super fun today.  It reminded me a lot of a video from Shimelle that I also love, take a look:

 

Happy Scrapbooking Y'all!

Big Idea Festival Day 1: #Happy Mail: Bee Card

I don't often make cards but my daughter loves to get notes in her lunch box; I made this after watching the Day 1 Video from Stacy Julian over at Big Picture Classes.  I am so totally thrilled to hear that Angie Lucas and Ella Publishing are joining Big Picture! 

P.S. My Layout "Justified" graced the cover of the first ever Ella Publishing ezine!  Check it out:

I'm a big fan of all that Angie Lucas does and I think it is a perfect fit for her to be part of Big Picture Classes!  Yay!  My old favorite Simple Scrapbooks seems to be coming back together.  :)

You can read more about the Ella Publishing and Big Picture Merge At the Ella Blog "The Daily Trumpet"!  

P.S. I suggested the name of Ella's blog "The Daily Trumpet". So it always makes me smile to see their blog banner.

 

Stacy Julian

I've been a fan of Stacy Julian's since I bought the book The Big Picture and read it on the airplane ride to visit my Grandma Grace, I think it was the summer of 2005.  It is now 2012 and I'm still a fan and I'm enrolled in her Twelve Class at Big Picture Classes and it is as awesome as I expected.

That's my screen on February 12th - Stacy does an online Chat with the Twelve students on the 12th day of each month.

I had been a fan of Simple Scrapbooks Magazine but wasn't very familiar with Stacy until I read her book.  I fell instantly in love with Stacy Julian and her philosophy.  I'm not alone, thousands of scrapbookers across the world share my love of Stacy.  I've been a fan and a follower of hers for seven years now, I've taken several classes with her at Big Picture Classes, and although we've never met in person, I can tell you, she is pure awesomeness in every way.

 

So when I wanted to get the word out on "Ice Cream for Breakfast Day (March 21)", I knew that one blog post from Stacy would make a huge difference in the number of people "going" to this celebration of life created by my friend Julie "Rosenstud's"  late husband Bruce C. Rosenberg.  At this time we are at 2,900 "going" and I have the goal of having 10,000 going by tomorrow - is it possible?  I think so! Here is the Link to Stacy Julian's Blog. 

Chances are if you are reading my blog, you are a scrapbooker and chances are you are a fan of Stacy too.  Here are twelve links to my blog posts all about Stacy Julian and Big Picture Classes and Library of Memories:

1. Stacy Julian's Twelve Class in 2012 at Big Picture Classes

2. 12 Scrapbook Layouts about "You" meaning "Me" for Stacy Julian's Twelve Class 

3. How I Organized 60 Layouts Using Stacy Julian's Library of Memories Album System

4. Custom Made Storage System for My Library of Memories Albums

5. Library of Memories Storage System "After"

6. What Makes a Scrapbook a "Simple Scrapbook"

7. Stacy Julian's Creative Crop Challenge 10+10+10

8. Stacy Julian Appreciation Week Layout

9. Stacy Julian's Freedom Friday Challenge

10. Stacy Julian's Library of Memories Community: 1st Challenge: Red, White & You

11. Stacy Julian's Have More Fun Class: "No Toe Dipper"

12. Stacy Julian's Free BPC Class "Cocoa, Daisies and Stacy"

So Thank You Stacy for the blog post to get the word out about "Ice Cream for Breakfast (March 21)" Day and thank you for years and years of inspiration and scrapbooking fun!

If you'd like to support this blog and get Stacy Julian scrapbooking goodies, please check out these affiliate links:

 

 

Scrapbook Layout Inspired by Jared Andrew Schorr

One of the Triggers for Stacy Julian's Twelve Class is a piece of art by Jared Andrew Schorr called "Keep Your Head Up"; It is a colorful picture of dinosaurs which he makes by cutting paper.  Inspired, I started on making one of the dinosaurs when my kids kept coming into my scrapbooking room telling me the other one was lost and I had to go find them - then one would lead me to a giant pile of pillows and covers and I had to look around the room until I finally found the pillow pile on the 5th or 6th guess and then the hidden one would pop out.  We did this little routine about 6 or 7 times.  While they kept coming in they saw the dinosaur making and they quickly wanted to join in the fun.

I think Allison's pterydactl really adds to the effect and I will definately remember making this page.  {WOW - I just did spell check and I actually got pterydactl right on the first try!}

Journaling:  "These photos (in the layout) were taken in 2007.  That's five years ago now and I can remember when you two played "pretend that" all the time and now you both have your friends so you don't play together as often but just tonight you played "I can't find Allison" and she'd hide under pillows and Mac would encourage met to find her just like old times.  And while I made this page you two came in and made dinosaur drawings for me.  I love you - Mommy 1/8/12."

 

Show & Tell Time: Project Life & Twelve in 2012 Class

I made a couple u-stream videos about my Project Life Albums and my pre-class assignment for the BPC class 12:

PROJECT LIFE - HOME MADE ALBUM VS. BECKY HIGGINS KIT:

 

After making this video, I actually had my husband sign me up for the Amazon Affiliate Program,  I want to share what I love on this blog and if Amazon could reward me for that - great - but I will only recommend things I really love, sound good?  Good.

This is what I use and recommend for Project Life:

1. The Core Kit - the journaling cards are more than worth the price - I was reluctant to get them but I think they are awesome and I think that in 2012 will be successful at keeping up with Project Life because of these journaling cards.  I bought the Amber Core Kit, but I have been seriously tempted to get the Turquoise Core Kit; and I am excited about the Clementine Core Kit which should be available soon.  I think that if you love this system and can afford it, getting more than one kit would be fun since the cards could be used in other projects; however, if you are trying to be a bit more frugal like me, then I'd recommend just picking one - there will still be more than enough to use in this project and have some left over for other projects.

2. The Page Protectors - sure you could do Project Life without them, but the journaling cards and the page protectors make the whole system lightyears easier than trying to make them on your own - trust me I tried last year and I can now say that the Project Life system really works, even though I'm only a recent convert - I am really in love with how easy it is.  I bought the Page Protectors in Style A - the 60 pack and I also bought the multi Page Protector pack in 60; I'm tempted to buy another 60 of Style A since they often go out of stock and they are in stock right now.  I think that if you wanted the bare minimum, I'd recommend getting the 60 pack of Style A or the smaller pack if you just wanted to try them out to be sure you liked them before committing to 60 of them - although I love them and 60 pages will take you though the entire 2012 year, so I recommend the 60 pack.

If you want other page protector configurations, I have also bought these and like them very much - although for Project Life, I recommend starting with Design A and then branching out to these other types of page protectors - and I am including the standard 12x12 C-Lines that I've been buying for years and I think are the most economical:

3. A 3 ringed 12x12 scrapbook album - I have several different types and these are the ones I like and use:

One item from each of the above 1-3 should be sufficient to get you off to a successful start in 2012 with Project Life.  When I ordered my items they took less than a week to arrive, but I ordered before Christmas season so I don't know if the holidays effect shipping time.  I am seriously considering ordering another pack of the page protectors style A since the multi-pack page protectors are currently out of stock and the 60 set of style A is seriously useful.

PRE-CLASS ASSIGNMENT DIVIDER BIN FOR THE 12 CLASS BY STACY JULIAN AT BIG PICTURE CLASSES:

 

I bought a bin at the craft store for my pre-class assignment for Stacy Julian's 12 class at BPC, I couldn't find the exact one on Amazon but this locker style bin is very similar to the one I have and very cute - especially the little locker label thing:

 

Twelve in 2012

I am so excited to have signed up for Stacy Julian's Twelve Class at Big Picture Classes.  I can't wait for class to start!  Yes, I'm that nerd in the front row with two number 2 freshly sharpened pencils laid out neatly in front of me and my notebook opened and ready to take very detailed notes.  I love learning and I am always inspired by what Stacy Julian has to share. 

The pre-class project is to repurpose an open bin that you already have, I used a "Stacy Julian Green" metal locker style bin that I picked up at Joann's Crafts a few years ago.  It is about 10 inches deep, 10 inches front to back open at the top and 1o inches across at the top and about 7 inches at the bottom so I had to cut the divider sheets for the unique shape of the bin.  As per class instructions, I made 12 divider sheets with cardboard bases and colorful patterned paper and binder clips; I added the envelopes from Ditto.  I also sewing machine stiched the paper down to make the patterned paper stick down better; I am actually in the process of finishing the stitching on all of them.  The black and white checkerboard at the top is duct tape!

See you in class!

P.S. Stephanie - here's a link to the envelopes I used - they are Ditto by Hampton Arts, colorful binder clips from Office Depot, and the awesome patterened duct tape!

Did you see there is Hello Kitty Duck Tape??? And the Black Damask and Houndtooth look awesome too and the Candy Cane??!!  I love that they are making fashion colored duct tape, it is a happy, happy thing.

Pink Lemonade and the Summertime List

Inspired by another Color Challenge at the Big Picture Classes Blog - this 12x12 scrapbook layout is based on the Pink Lemonade Color Scheme:

 
There have been some really cute Summer Lists on Pintrest - especially that one on the chalkboard with the colorful chairs in the foreground.  I haven't figured out which wall in my house to paint with chalkboard paint yet, but in the meantime, I did hang this layout in my kitchen:

 
I should probably add "clean up the giant pink girl mess" that you see in front of Dandy in the living room, but that reminds me of another Pintress word photo that goes something like "Please excuse my messy house, my children are busy making memories."   That also reminds me that I should probably photograph those clusters of pink girl stuff that are all over the house because they too are temporary, and someday, I'll probably miss them.

I did get the chance to go shopping at my local scrapbook store Whim So Doolde and the middle of that layout is a piece of Crate Paper patterned paper that looks like vintage girl book spines - so cute.  I got a bunch more patterned paper today and some things from the Ditto line and some other yummy embellishments from Sassafrass and Basic Grey.  Yay.

Monochromatic-Ally & Storing Scrapbooking Embellishments by Color

 
I saw a challenge by Wendy Smedley on the Big Picture Classes Blog to make a monochromatic layout and I made a double page 12x12 layout of my daughter for a post-bound album I'm working on for her.  It was easy because the background paper was already color-blocked.  The page took much longer than I normally take to make a page, however, because I used lots and lots of rub-ons.  Creating this 2 page spread was a fun way to get into my color organized embellishments.

 
And that's how it looks in the book - I put it towards the front of the book & I like this layout because it takes Ally from when she was a tiny baby (look at that one in the top left of me holding  her up - she was only about a month old then) an the lower right photos are very recent.  Ahh how time flies.

So how do I decide whether to store embellishments by color or theme?  If the theme is dominant then the embellishment gots into a themed embellishment bin but if it is more generic then it goes into the color bins.  I like having two systems.  I was born under the Gemini sign afterall ;)  Katie.

Scrapbooking by Numbers: 10+ Photos & Scrapbooking in the Present

I flipped through the Becky Higgins Sketches Book over the weekend while floating in my little row boat and found a great scrapbook sketch for  two page layouts with lots of photos. Here are three of my interpretations of that one multi-photo scrapbook sketch:

1. My cousin Catherine's wedding:

 
I had a ton of photos from a film camera - the wedding was in 1999 or 2000, so I cropped some of them and got 11 on one two page scrapbook layout.  I trimmed it up with odds and ends embellishments including chipboard words, rubons, transparency butterflies, patterned paper, and dimensional tag stickers.  I didn't do a ton of journaling but did write down how I am related to my cousin - so that my kids would know in case they ever wondered when they saw this layout.

2.  This doesn't exactly follow the sketch but its pretty close and I fit 10 photos onto 2 pages with this layout.  I was on a roll with the older photos - so I pulled out some from the summer of 2008 and found a bunch of my husband and daugther - neither of them were available when I was doing the journaling - if they were I probably would have asked them about the photos to get the story, but I told the story I knew - that I had just gotten back from my 20 year high school reunion and they showed me their silly tricks when I returned:

 

3. This next is very similar to the one in the Becky Higgins Sketch book - I even found the exact same brown paper with the little green flowers that she used back in 2006 - those scrapbooking yardsales keep me well stocked in premium paper that's out of date; I think this one was Crate Paper and I don't care that its old - it is a very nice heavy weight, it is pretty and doesn't look too dated to me, and the best part is I probably got it for ten cents.  

This layout that I made which features my son at age 6 in the summer of 2008 broke my heart just a little because he's so much bigger now that he is 9 and, well, he used to love hanging out with me and while he still does, he does less now than he did then.   Plus I realized that I had little in the way of journaling from that summer; I probably have a notebook or something somwhere, but it wasn't handy when I made the layout and I looked at my blog archives from the Summer of 2008 and it was all about scrapbooking instead of about what my kids were up to.  So I'm thinking I'm going to start blogging a little more about the current events of my life for future scrapbooking reference for myself.  

After I made this layout this morning, I created a Florida Scavenger Hunt, told both kids that we were going on an adventure, and we spent the day out in the world until sunset finding treasure and making memories. 

 

That's 11 photos on that 2 page layout - I'm thinking that maybe I'll do more 2 page layouts; I used to do a lot of them but have been doing 1 pagers for the last couple years.  I'm feeling the 2 page thing coming back - not as a trend in the world of scrapbooking - but in my own little world of scrapbooking.

Ok, I'm filing these under the Scrapbooking by Numbers: 10+ Photos and I'm going to make better efforts towards my Becky Higgins style Project Life Album and writing down more everyday about what is going on in the present - so when I scrapbook the pictures I took today someday in the future, then I'll remember all the fun stuff we did and what we talked about.  And I'm sure someday, my big kids of 7 and 9 will look tiny to my future self.

Here we were today in pictures on our Scavenger Hunt Adventure:

And I didn't write down a whole lot other than what I found on our scavenger hunt, but Ally & I did make this little video which I'm sure will jog my memory if it needs a reminder someday in the future when I try to scrapbook a few of these pictures.   I tried to upload the video here but ran into some problems, I did upload it to my picasa web album, I really need to do more video - the kids are so completely cute - especially their voices.

Time to Spring Ahead :)

 

 

Perfect Just The Way You Are

 

I've been taking the FREE (yes free!) class at Big Picture Classes by Karen Grunberg called "Embrace Imperfection" and while listing to the Week 1 Slide Show audio, I made this page.  Lately, I have felt like I'm not the perfect Mom and that we aren't doing the best we can for my son who has ADHD.  We've had a couple of very challenging days recently and we just aren't sure what the perfect answer is.  I tend to freak out a bit when I don't have a good plan.  We are struggling our way through this.  But we are trying to convey to our son that we love him and we are doing what we think is best for him and that we're not perfect either - that we're just trying to figure out the best solution. 

The journaling that ended up on the page was not the original journaling - it started like this "Last night was rough, the second hard day in a row during a week that should have been easy and fun.  Mac, I want you to know that Dad and I are not perfect, but we are doing our best And that we do what we do because we love you.  Know Always - we love you just the way you are.  We know that God picked us to be together because we belong together.  We all have challenges - your Dad and I have our own - And we want to do the best in helping you with yours.  We think you are perfect Just the Way You Are. Love Mom"

 

The journaling was too big for the space I had left for it so I cut and pasted (literally) my journaling and condensed it down a bit to fit.  I intentionally put the pictures crooked on the page (suggested in the class slide show) and then I stitched around the photos and didn't get that perfect either - I wish I could say that was intentional, but fact is I had some sewing machine issues but just went with it.  I used some American Crafts Thickers but didn't have an Letter "e" s left so I cut up O's and filled in the horizontal lines; I also didn't have a "T" but made one from the letters I did have left over.  After I had the journaling and the title down it didn't look like "enough" but I didn't want to busy the layout up with a lot of embellishments so instead I took a Copic Marker - and then a sharpie - and highlighted the letters with red marker.  Then I grabbed the fine tip sharpie and filled in the spaces in the letters in my journaling.  I took the picture of my layout on my son's Lego Desk - which you might remember used to be my Ikea Scrapbooking Desk - now it is completely covered with legos - but hey, that's why we put it in his room.

 

I'm finding the class "Embrace Imperfection" to be exactly what the doctor ordered for me lately, I tend to want to make everything perfect and sometimes get on a mission to get it done.  But raising children - especially one with ADHD - isn't something you just get done, it is an ongoing process that is full of imperfection - mostly on our part, but we are trying our best.  Last night we actually talked to him for the first time about what ADHD means - before that we had never even said "ADHD" in front of him and we just called his therapist "the talking doctor" - as in there wasn't a chance that she was ever going to give him a shot, we just to talk. 

With Mac turning nine - the last year of single digits, it makes me think of the next 9 years and I hope that we will continue to *try* to not be so hard on ourselves as parents (speaking mostly to myself there) and that we will do the best for him and that he will continue to be happy and feel loved. 

We love you Mackey Boy, always have, always will.

The Village

Page inspired by Stacy Julian's Cocoa, Daisies and Stacy BPS FREE class:

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