Can I have a do over?


I would like to start part of this month over! The part where I loose my energy level and then get an infection, which leads me to being on medication for the last 5 days. Add to the fact that a side effect to the medications I'm taking are headaches, well lets just say my body just hasn't been very happy. With a consent headache concentration goes out the window so no more pages have been done for the LOAD challenge. I have had burst of energy so in that time I have been able to sort photos, plan pages, look for sketches and pull out papers. So I guess really that is have the battle right there with 10 pages waiting to be put together, not bad. I'm happy to say that I'm okay with where I'm at and what I've done. So on to the last couple of days I had done for the LOAD challenge.

Day 18.....Prompt: Scrapbook a Holiday page. The picture says it all as my daughter looks on and lets us know what she thinks about having to stick her hand down the turkey to be stuffed.



Day 19.....Prompt: Pat yourself on the back for what you have gotten done so far this month. Celebrate! I celebrated by making two more pages for my daughter's wedding album. I just love how all these papers are flowing together.

Just a couple of things

I love inspiration and I get it from anywhere I can these days. I dare say I could spend hours going to my favorite sites and blogs! I thought I would share just a couple with you, who knows they may just inspire you.

1. I LOVE Wilna!! I've had opportunities to take some fun classes from her and I gain knowledge every time. She is being featured at Ali Edward's blog today and teaches you how to make a book out of a Starbucks cup. As someone who has done this......it is WAY easier than it looks. Give it a try you WILL fall in love!

2. I also am a fan of Stacy Julian, she has a brand new blog and it is wonderful. Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and set yourself to reading. You won't want to miss any of her posts!! Plus she is doing a special give away so you will really want to check it out!

3. Something I am inspired by and hope to someday take part in is HERE. A very special retreat put together by Melody Ross and her sister. Read some of the stories and be inspired. Can I say again.......I SO WANT TO DO THIS!

Where does time go anyway?

I just can't figure it out. Time, it just flies by.

The LOAD challenges have been going well for me. To date I have created over 30 pages in 19 days, which for me is a record. The reason the number is so high is I'm choosing to do layouts that I need to do for each of my children's albums all at once. It is a system that seems to be working for me and it is making me extremely happy to watch pages come together. Yes, I know there are a few days that are missing. I didn't do a few days just because I needed to not feel like I was rushed to post.

Day 12......Prompt: To use a title of who you are, a business card on the layout or to just do what you want. I chose to do what I wanted to work on. These photos of my children are some of my favorites. My two youngest were 18 months old and 3 years old, they were afraid of the sprinkler. Their two older sisters put a stop to that fear by showing them how to hold the sprinkler so you could get everyone wet. The key here is they didn't know the photos were being taken until much later in the event. Gotta love a good telephoto lens!

Day 13......Prompt: What one word holds meaning for you right now. The word that holds meaning for me right now is home. It took me quite some time to feel like this was actually my home. The love for it came slowly and I love being here now. The second page to this will be of pictures of the house with our stuff moved in. I just need to be able to get it looking nice for at least a day or two.

Day 14.......Prompt: What color do you feel like scrapping? Greens and Blues are some of my favorite colors. My scrapbook corner is done in these colors just because they make me so happy. So that is what led me to finish up the other half of the layout set from Day 12.

Day 17.......Prompt: Do a page for you, happy colors, favorite products or photo you love. I've always loved this photo. It was taken about 6 weeks before I found out I was pregnant with our son. We hadn't had a family photo done in such a long time that family was complaining. This would also be the last time I ever purchased 11x14 photos. I cut this one down to 9x9 to make it a little more manageable. I paired it with a casual family photo taken two years before this. It will be placed next to the family photo done earlier this month because the paper colors go together.

It is cold here

WAY to soon for it to be so cold! All the leaves haven't even started to change color, what is up with that? My flowers were beautiful then we had our cold snap, now they are wilted and dying. It is so sad, the only hope I have though is remembering that spring will come.

I was trimming the old flower seed pods from my lilac bushes last week and I was struck with the awe in seeing next years growth of flowers. God gave me a tap on the shoulder and reminded me that everything in life has new growth just waiting to grow. If I hadn't slowed down I would never had taken the time to see. Thanks God for the gentle reminder.

Day 9.......Prompt: What is the most important thing to capture in your scrapbooks? This is an a page from an ABC book I started a long time ago. Favorite photos of my children at different times of their lives. I don't want to forget anything about being a mom and wife. I want to pass my memories on to my children so they don't forget. That is why I scrapbook.

Day 10......Prompt: Scrapbook a dream or dreamy photo. This is my dreamy photo. I will never be able to get this day out of my head. It was a perfect day at the park and this was one of those pictures that you look at after you pick up your film from the printers and say wow. The title to this will be Shine, my daughter's hair was shining in the sun. So beautiful!

Busy weekend


The weekend was wonderfu but busy. We spent most of Saturday at my son's Marching Band competition, where his band took 1st place in their division and 2nd place overall. They did a great job!! Go Mt. Spokane!!


For the LOAD challenges I decided to give myself permission to skip Sunday. I am okay with it and it was nice to just not be in a rush. When I get some time I will be adding supplies used in each of these layouts. I just didn't think about it until today.


Day 7......Prompt: Do something you haven't finished. I made this double page layout a VERY long time ago! I've had pictures made up for way to long. This was such a beautiful day and it was the first time my youngest daughter swam in a lake.


Day 8.......Prompt: Just be happy doing what you are doing. I love these photos of one of my older daughters. They were given to me by my neighbor and I was able to scan them in to make pages for each of the girls.

Here I go


I'm plugging right along on the LOAD. The last couple of days I've struggled but have been pushing through.


Day 5.......Prompt: Fall colors. My two younger children playing in the leaves with their Great Grandpa. Pretty special photos!



Day 6......Prompt: Do something on your layout you have never done before. I've always wanted to print on a transparency. This was a lot of fun!!


If you like to visit other blogs for inspiration you may want to head over to Fabulously Artsy. She is doing a blogfest all month long, talk about some good talent. Enjoy!!

Layout a Day

Day 3....Prompt: Your childhood dream. This was it, being a Mom and Wife. Photo was taken Fall 1988......wow, the girls were so little!

Day 4........Prompt: We were to scraplift something. I scraplifted this technique from here for this layout. My oldest daughter was in The Wizlard of Oz, when she was a senior in high school. All the pages will be using this technique. Very fun! I also had some Wizard of Oz paper that I had picked up a long time ago so I just cut it apart. I don't think you can see it but the swirls have a little bit of glitter on them.

Layout a Day

Day 1.....I blinked. Prompt: To create a layout with Cardstock, patterned paper, letters and one embellishment. I have so many photos of my daughter Angela that are not scrapbooked I thought it would be only fitting to use some in her wedding album.

Day 2......Companion layout to the above. Prompt: What did you do this summer? We got ready for a wedding!

This day

Friday was a rainy day. One of those days that you just want to stay in bed or curl up with a book. It would have been nice if my day had gone that way but I ended having to run to my son's high school, he forgot to pack his lunch. I don't mind doing it really. I count myself as fortunate that I can be home to do things like this.

Saturday was the first time in over a month that we didn't have to be anywhere. My son was away at a Marching Band competition and the rest of us just took it easy. No where to go and nothing pressing to do. We managed to not even get the small amount of yard work, we need to do to close up the yard for winter. That will have to be done durning the week so we will be ready for the guys to blow out the sprinkler lines this Friday. Winter is on it's way. I am going to miss my gorgeous potted flowers! My geraniums grew bigger than I have ever had them grow. Everyone in the neighborhood has commented one time or another this year how pretty the front of the house looks. It has meant a lot to me to be noticed for our hard work.

I learned this past week is how important it is for me to not forget to take my thyroid medication. I forgot to take it Friday morning and proceeded to paid for it all weekend. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. It will be something I don't repeat!! I'm not sleeping well at night, not sure what is up with that. Something more to talk with my doctor about.

My LOAD pages are coming right along. It feels good to get things done but it has taken forever to get in the groove. My corner has exploded so I guess that is a good thing, at least I'm having fun. No more excuses for me to not get my scrapbooking done. I have all this beautiful product and I seem to just collect it, not using it often enough. I will be sharing my pages in the next couple of days. Just doubling up so it makes it more interesting.

One thing I have always had a hard time doing is taking good photos of my artwork. What worked at my old house doesn't always work here at the new house. I stumbled onto Erin Grotegut's blog last week and she gave out information on what is called an Infinity Board. I am pleasantly surprised on how well it is working. It really does make things look clearer. Give it a try, you might just like it.

October

Welcome to you - I am ready to embrace you and all you have for me. I am on a journey to change a little piece of myself, in hopes of moving in the right direction. I'm excited but I don't want to fail myself. I WANT this and NEED this!! It takes 21 days to make a change and I want this one to last a lifetime.

Years ago I took a challenge from Rhonna Farrer, to work on changing something in my life. I would join with other people doing the same thing. I missed out this last time she did it but have decided that today the first of October would be a good time for me to do this. For me, a challenge to change the part of my life that I KNOW needs to change! I will share my journey as I go but I need to keep it to myself for now. I need to enjoy this process and right now it is the scariest thing I am facing.

At the same time this month, I am also joining up with Lain Ehmann for another addition of L.O.A.D. I so need this to jump start my scrapbooking, which I haven't done much of the past year. It isn't to late to sign up, just scroll down on her page and she tells you how to do it! Come join us, anytime it is going to be fun!!