I did not drop off the face of the planet...

...end of April = AMAZING amount of stress. As soon as this lightens a bit, and I can clear National Board stuff out of my craft area, I will be returning... I MISS my crafting!!

Argh!

This has been a crazy two weeks, during which I have had NO time to craft at all. I hope that will change this weekend, as I have a TON of scrapbooking ideas that I want to create. I also want to check out some of the great blogs for OWOH!

Still here

Life
making priorities
having fun
doing work
sleeping long
sleeping short
eating lots
widening pants
paying bills
laughing well
living much
now
and finally
getting my craft on
it's been lacking in
Life

Official Day

I am officially crafting today. I could be getting my tax stuff together. I could be grading. I could be sleeping. I could be straightening my house. Screw it. I am going to craft. So there.

Perspective

Quite a few years ago, I went to a Creative Memories party for the first time. I had known a little bit about scrapbooking, and I had done my own version of it for years. I bought several "essential' pieces at that party... my first album, my first oval cutter (a system!), a cutting board, some archival markers (fine tip and calligraphy), a bag. Yeah, I laid out some cash at that one. But Ignatius was growing, and I had tons of photos of him that needed a home.

Enter stamping. Shortly after the Creative Memories party, I attended my first Stampin' Up! party. It was all downhill from there. I went the stamping and cardmaking route for a while. A close friend became a demo, and I was sucked in for good.

I had plenty of excuses for not scrapbooking, including a lack of time. I still bought supplies knowing that, one day, I would need them. I subscribed to scrapbook magazines and the whole nine yards. I got the occasional gift mini-album done, which is no small task. I knew when I sat down and did it, it didn't really take too much time.

In the past year and a half, I have gotten in to the scrapbook groove. I think it feeds a part of me that wants to work with graphic art. It's funny, though, with all I have learned, and how styles have changed, when I look at my earlier layouts and compare them to some I have done recently.

So, without further adieu, the slide show below shows a birthday album that I have been making for Ignatius. It starts on the day of his birth (birthday #1), and continues through birthday #12. I am going to end this book at birthday #13 and start a new one for his teenage years. Who am I kidding? I also hate working with the Creative Memories scrapbook I have because the pages are not 12 x 12. Since I don't want to make the pages on the white background that comes with the album, and I am sick of having to cut my 12 x 12 paper, I am opting to start a new one at a time that makes sense. I also might opt for a different size album.

I started this one a few years ago. You'll notice some changes in my style over the past few years. Enjoy!

Oooh, baby...

...it's COLD outside. When schools close in Central IL, you know it's immediate human popsicle when you walk outdoors. Darn. I will just have to work on some scrapbooking. :)

The Gift of Time

Finally, FINALLY, I will have some time to do some crafting. So, stay tuned for further updates.

I thought I would post a shot of this card. I actually bought a Hallmark card {gasp}. This was a set of cards, and I found the sentiment to be hysterical (and so very me). It is sitting on one of my new shelves in my revamped "oasis" of a craft room. Photos will soon follow.

Enjoy the excitement of the season!

Summer

OK, I am going to ramble.

I have no card today. Mainly, it has been one crazy, hectic week. School is starting, and on Friday I found out that I would have a classroom position - fourth grade. I had been planning for a reading interventionist job with K-2 until Friday evening. I am THRILLED for the fourth grade position, but this week has been absolutely NUTS. The children will come tomorrow, ready or not. I am ready to meet them. They are so much smaller than the sixth graders I taught for 8 years.

I am sad to see summer go. I really adore fall, but this summer was different. This summer was my goal. After my leave of absence last winter, when I returned at the end of February, summer vaca was the light at the end of my tunnel. I knew I could make it to summer.

Now, that beacon is losing its radiance. School begins again for us all. May I keep the same perspective that I had at the end of last year! My family and my health need to be top priority.

I will try. Cardmaking was my one daily therapy. I am hoping that it will come back in full swing. I will try my best.

Go JoLynn, It's Your Birthday!

Read all about it, if you wish, on my family blog. Good times!

When Organization Goes Overboard

For about a year now, I have been working on perfecting the organization in my craft room. It is humbling, after reading books and looking at magazines, to see how gorgeous the rooms of some crafters are. However, I am over myself.

I have a room in my house, which is something I didn't have for a long time, and something that others do not have room to do. Also, I have many, many things that allow me to stay organized if I am willing to make the effort. {If you didn't have a chance to see my craft room post, click here.}

But tonight, I almost cried. Instead, I laughed, thank God. I was attempting to organize my ribbon drawer. It contained all those pieces of ribbon that were too large to throw away, yet too small to be on a spool. I realized that it was great to keep these scraps, but if I really didn't want to rummage through and find anything, it was a waste.

On a walk through Michaels the other day, I found these lovely DMC floss bobbins. They have a hole punched in them and come with a 2.5" metal ring. I fell in love and bought 3 (they were also cheap... even better!). It is on these bobbins that I began to put my scraps. While going through my scrap drawer, I round a spool of green grosgrain, which was great as I had just run out of that on the previous spool.

The previous spool was in a lovely plastic, transluscent ribbon box I purchased from Oriental Trading. The empty spool was, of course, in the middle of the row. The photo shows what happened when I tried to get the empty spool out. They just kept unrolling and unrolling. It was nuts.

So, I decided that these ribbon boxes needed a little help from me, the McGyver of crafting (now I am getting full of myself). I took double- sided tape and slid a row of it onto the outsides of the box. My intention was to have it hold the ends of the ribbons that came out of the box.

For right now, it looks great. It is much better than before. I took inventory of what was on a spool but almost at its end, and I wrapped those on floss bobbins. The metal rings ended up in the drawer with the scraps, but they are, at least, something I can (and probably will) pick up at one time and look through.

Off to do some laundry. Then, I shall come back to finally work on the Saturday inspiration card. Wish me luck!

Reflecting

There are some years in a person's life that fall into a category unlike other years. One could call them "pivotal," "benchmark," "life-altering." I would like to consider this school year of my life to be "prolific."

I think the word "prolific" is misused quite often (and probably by me on more than one occasion). Quite literally, as I take the word apart, I see "pro-" which I know typically to mean "for," and I see "lific" which seems to mean "related to life." "Prolific," as defined in a dictionary has a variety of literal and figurative meanings. On its most literal end, it means "bearing an abundance of offspring." I suppose with that definition, my mom, with eight children, would be considered prolific. On its most figurative end, it means "intellectually productive." The latter is the definition I choose to use for this year.

I believe that in every situation in life, we are meant to learn something (or some things). Here is my stream of consciousness about what I learned through my year.

1. Our children are the best and the worst of us. Ignatius has a heart of gold. He is also a nervous wreck and a perfectionist. Max has a most infectious laugh. He also has a wicked temper. As Scott and I indulged in the sea of genetic guilt regarding our children's anxiety and autism, we also had random, peaceful moments. In these moments we realized why God gave these children to us and what he wants from us as their parents. He lets us look in a mirror on a daily basis, especially since Max has become a parrot of tone, word choice, and mannerism as he learns the spoken word. They are us. God help them. :)

2. "If everything is 'under control,' everyone will be happy" is a fallacy. So many years of my life have given energy to the "try to make everyone happy" ideal. I believed this was an achievable goal. It literally was running me... no let me be more accurate, it was a jet engine hurtling full-throttle into the ground. Each time I realized people were not content with something, I had to try to control it more. I had to be the best teacher for every student with special needs that I had. I had to know what my own children needed, and I had to get it for them yesterday. If someone close to me was upset, I was upset, particularly if I could not fix the problem that created the stress for that person. If a job was being done poorly, it was my responsibility to help that person create a workable, productive situation. No one can live up to this level.

3. Everybody hurts. When my speeding plane finally burst into flames this November, there was a HUGE outpouring of support from more people than I can possibly list here. Some people shared their own struggles with depression, or children with autism/anxiety, or nervous breakdowns. Some people just constantly let me know they were there. Some dragged my butt out of bed because they knew if they didn't, I would drown in my sense of failure. Others had the perfect words of advice at the perfect time. Some made sure that I was left alone without the worry of school. Others helped remind me of my scheduling goals (my "curfew") upon returning to work. Many just let me know they were rooting for me. A lot of people just listened.

4. Breathe in, breathe out. 'Nuff said?

5. Criticisms from others are not always accurate and should not be life-altering. So, a parent thinks something negative? I know I work my behind off to do what's best for students. No need to spend extra energy agonizing over harsh criticism. Also, I am an artist. I believed that before ninth grade. I stopped believing it due to the careless assessment of one art teacher who was too lazy to give me any formative feedback on my work. Never again. I know that creating makes me happy. I am happier as I create than I am doing most things in my life. I will pursue this now at 38. I should have pursued it at 18. Never again will I allow one person to have that much power over me.

6. No one fits in to tiny little boxes of "normal." "Normal" and "typical" are arbitrary statements. I guess if you are the loudest voice, you get to set the "normal" bar. You get to decide that children who do not score a certain score on a test get more/less opportunities than other testtakers. You get to decide that someone's child doesn't "fit." Truthfully, though, "normal" is a moving target that changes from community to community. I like the masses of "abnormal" much better. You could say, "Abnormal is the new normal."

OK, I am sleepy, so I will cut this off now. I just really wanted to get some things down as my goal of making it through this school year with some of my sanity in tact becomes a reality. Yippee!

Yes, obsessive... but I get to escape reality... it's all good

Okay, I know, enough already. But honestly... this guy is awesome. You would think I gave birth to David Cook, for Pete's sake.

His journey... pretty cool documentary... and then, I swear I will move on... until he makes an album... then all bets are off...

Eating crow

Well, I have to say, Simon apologizing on American Idol is quite a moment, yes? Wow. Glad I wasn't being paranoid when I sensed that he was being horribly critical of David Cook.

David Cook? Oh yeah, I mean, THE WINNER OF AMERICAN IDOL 2008. How FLIPPIN' EXCITED WAS I? It will be a real shame if I ever grow up, won't it?

It was tense. I really thought they had built up Archuletta for a win. They were both good, but, as I mentioned yesterday, one was a superior performer.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! I truly think my husband is worried about me. :)

David Cook

I started watching American Idol during its finale with Tyler Hicks and Katherine McPhee. I find it a fascinating show. I decided last season to watch it from its beginning to its finale. I was totally impressed with last year's choice, Jordan Sparks. Her career has already taken off, and she is one talented young lady.

This season was a bit different. The judges definitely picked a wider range of styles AND musicians. To me, by far, the most consistently talented performances have come from David Cook.

David Cook has shown a wide range of vocal ability as well as an enormous talent in musical arrangement. The above clip is my favorite of all his performances, "Billie Jean." Most of us who were children of the 80's envision Michael Jackson's sparkling white socks and black loafers dancing along a lighted floor. I had to have some black penny loafers for school due to the popularity of Michael's fashion statement. However, this take of it is so much different... it blew me away.

Tonight, David sang one of my favorites, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." He definitely did a fantastic job. I think there are a couple reasons why he won't be the next "American Idol," and that should be A-OK with him.

1- It seems the Archuletta groupies were out in full force. Cook fans were definitely outnumbered.

2- Simon's "honesty" worked against David Cook on all three of tonight's songs. Simon seemed bent on stacking the deck against him by giving David Archuletta way too much credit. David A. showed NO flexibility in his range of performance. Why were tonight's performances not lumped together in the "amusement park" category that Simon loved to use in previous shows? Was it simply due to the crowd present and their reaction? I was floored by the compliments showered on David Archuletta.

3- Chris Daughtry. 'Nuff said.

So, my vote was cast for David Cook as the more well-rounded, more destined-to-be-a-star contestant. Alas, I don't think as many crazy 38 year olds were watching and texting as there were screaming sixteen year olds. Sorry David C. But I am going to iTunes to do some downloads right now, and I patiently await your album.

Typing with one hand

I know that's an odd title. I am sitting here at 11 PM when I was already exhausted. I have a limp, exhausted, finally quiet three year old with autism lying on my shoulder. I am typing this with one hand because it's all I have to offer. Yet I realized what a metaphor for my life this is.

There is nothing "two-handed" about anything I am doing. Life is constantly on Code Red. A day in the life:

-5:30 AM alarm sounds; if I'm lucky, I have energy to get up within 15 minutes; all depends on when I was able to get to bed

-6 AM others in house start stirring, except Max (3)

-6:30 AM on a good day, I have showered; Max meltdown preparation... try to get him on the potty or simply dressed (we have surrendered to putting him to bed in full clothes ready for the AM) with teeth brushed

-7 AM on a great day, I am on my way to work; on a typical day, I am listening to banshee screaming, kicking, and hitting as we simply try to get Max out the door and into his car seat; 11 year old feels nauseous (gee, wonder why); I wonder why I bother to make myself look presentable, as I look like hell by the time I enter my car

-7:15 AM on a great day, I am at work and scrambling to get ready for the day, since the day before I left right away to pick up Ignatius (11) at school right after my dismissal

-7:45 AM guage the attitudes of 48 eleven/twelve year olds as they enter school

-8:00 - 2:45 attempt to engage all sorts of learners in English, math and reading; bang my head against a wall on a frequent basis; get calls from my husband throughout the day because Ignatius has called him during an anxious moment

-3:00 on a good day, try to leave to pick up Ignatius

-Evenings include homework and Scouts or Tae Kwon Do for Ignatius; for Max, it's getting him to eat something (one of the three acceptable foods right now) and hoping that we can diffuse a meltdown from BOTH children; Ignatius repeatedly asks the same questions about whether or not we think he will throw up because he feels nauseous

-I might get to something I like to do (crafting) at around 9 or 10 PM. I can pick up a DVRed show every once in a while.

So, my whole day is "typing with one hand." Right now, finally, at 11:30 PM, I am typing with two hands as I finally have everyone in bed. I am exhausted, but I want to drink in the fact that there is PEACE and QUIET at some point of my day.

I wonder what a "typical" life with "typical" kids is like. I was not meant to know. Off to la la land now. Over and out.

Infatuations

Today's entry has nothing to do with cards or crafts. I wanted to stay up to document some recent obsessions.

First up: flip flops. Not just any flip flops... these stinkin' Nike flip flops of which I now own four pairs. They are so "flippin'" comfortable. It was freezing and even SNOWING today here in Central IL, and, by golly, I wore my new flip flops. That and I gave myself a stinkin' pedi yesterday and, with as long as that took, I would have walked through a foot of snow without caring. The flip flops will be on until someone tears them off of me.

Now, for something more cerebral. I have a current infatuation with House. That show filled the void that The West Wing left in my world. The dialogue is as well-timed as Gilmore Girls (another show I miss, sadly), the humor is outrageous, and the medical situations are engaging (at least to me). You come away thinking your brain was entertained via many dimensions. How crazy-talented is the cast, especially Hugh Laurie?!

The writer's strike has pissed me off. New episodes are very hard to come by (tonight's is DVRed waiting for tomorrow, I hope). However, it has given me the opportunity to watch some of the episodes I never saw.

One such episode was from 2006 entitled "Lines in the Sand." Absolutely fantastic partial soliloquy from Dr. House as he and Dr. Cameron discuss a ten-year-old patient with autism. I was so enamored with this writing that I transcribed it. So, here's to you, writers of House. We desperately miss your talents.

CAMERON: It's normal to want to be normal.

HOUSE: Spoken like a true "circle queen." See, skinny, socially-privileged white people get to draw this neat little circle. Everyone inside the circle is normal. Anyone outside the circle should be beaten, broken, and reset so they can be brought into the circle. Failing that, they should be institutionalized , or worse... pitied.

CAMERON: So, it's wrong to feel sorry for this little boy?

HOUSE: Why would you feel sorry for someone who gets to opt out of the inane courteous formalities which are utterly meaningless, insincere, and therefore, degrading? This kid doesn't have to pretend to be interested in your back pain or your excretions or your grandma's itchy place. Can you imagine how liberating it would be to live a life free of all the mind-numbing social niceties? I don't pity this kid. I envy him.

As a parent of a child with autism and another with extreme anxiety, I say, "AMEN, Dr. House!" Over and out.

Awwwwww!

Tonight, I was able to witness something so precious! Max, who is a toddler of few words, went to his big brother Ignatius and said, "Ignatius hold you." (code for "pick me up!") First time. :) Then, he was glued to his big bro most of the night. He insisted on sitting on his lap while he ate. I just couldn't pass up a photo op, even though both of their faces are messy and you get to witness some of the highly non-nutritious foods my kids sometimes ingest. But the meatball sandwich was delish!

What Is Up With This Trailer?

OK, honestly, I have not had a movie trailer haunt me for some time... probably since the one for The Grudge, you know? BUT, what is up with this trailer? I asked my husband to watch it, because I could not get it out of my head all day today. It's for a movie I hadn't heard of called Across the Universe. It's like a crazy drug trip... almost what the Beatles would have created from Sgt. Pepper's if only the technology existed.

See for yourself. Advise... or maybe it'll suck you in, too! Vote for what you think on the right. --->

I {heart} the idea!

Loving the idea of Grungeboard. I have to check this stuff out.

PO'ed with Paper Piecing Punch

What a strange turn of events.

Yesterday, I was gearing up to do the SCS color challenge. I re-found my Paper Piecing punch! I HAD to have it, you know? Well, sad but true, when I punched the colored, stamped image that I planned to use, I find that the edges of the pieces are a bit gnarled. Figuring it was just me, I tried again. And again. And again.

I then decided to try the ol' aluminum foil sharpening thing, the whole time thinking, "This is odd. I never used it. How could it be dull?" Did not work.

So, I contact my demo, and she contacts SU! I realize the punch is retired and all, and my hopes are not really high. They say I should try to punch through the foil 40-50 times (I laughed, too) and then try punching through wax paper (because I did not use it, they felt that might have caused it some ill effects). If it still won't work, they will replace it with another punch, up to the $13.95 I paid for it in '04 (or '05?). Look in your catty and see if you can find any of the larger punches with that price anymore. Exactly.

This is my photodocumentary of the closest I can come to a Three Stooges episode. Enjoy:

The first photo was taken when I was hopeful. It was around the 5th punch. Getting the foil out of the punch was fun {sarcasm}. Next shows a good punch with wax paper. The last shows what it does to cardstock (same result with DSP).

These pics show what the punch's metal looks like at the point of cutting. I think there is some problem there. To be certain, I lubricate the punch, to rule out that as being the issue. It is, most definitely, not the problem.

I shall keep the blog posted as to what happens. I officially give up. {sigh}