Strength: February's Edition

February came and went.  I had in my head what I needed to do for the One Little Word album, but had not gathered and printed.  Lucky for me, Ali makes these months intentionally simple.  I did not feel like I would not be able to catch up.  So, here's the spread (a little grainy for whatever reason):

We were asked to focus on images that related to our one little word.  We came up with nine smaller images and one larger image.  Although the scrapbook does not require explanation (again, intentionally), I shall explain for the inquiring minds, starting with the upper left photo.

Upper left: Ignatius at a Cross Country meet in Fairbury.  He is in pain and coming in dead last.  But he finished.  He persevered.  That's strength.

Upper center: Scott and I.  I used this photo for my/our Move More Eat Well album.  Basically, it comes down to this: We must be strong for each other.  When one is weak, the other must kick in.  We must balance.  Our family stability requires it.  A symbol that relying on someone is not a sign of weakness, but rather, of strength.

Upper right: The running ladies.  All of us comes with our different histories and our different roles.  That day, I ran the first 5K in under 40 min. that I have run in years.  It was Sally's first 5K.  The run was the Autism Run, which represents a whole additional level of strength needed in my life.

Middle left: That is Ignatius.  Breaking a board.  With his foot.  The innocent bystander might think that such a task requires physical strength.  To a degree, it does.  It's also about practice and hitting the board at just the right spot with the right part of your foot.  As I stood there with my camera, I had my doubts as to whether it would happen.  Then, the camera and the break snapped at the same time.  Serendipity.  

Center: An ice storm in Central IL.  Ice storms always make my trees bend and look like they are bowing to God.  Love the symbolism.  Who else can make a tree bow?

Middle right: Max decided he wanted to climb the rock wall at the Irish Pumpkin Festival.  No fear, no second thoughts, despite the fact that I was soooo nervous.  He did not make it all the way up, but he sure did try.  Inner and outer strength was evident on this day.

Lower left: Ignatius' Confirmation night, with his godmother and grandmother.  Each of them is a multi-layered symbol of strength.  The sacrament of Confirmation bestows the seven gifts of the spirit in symbolic ways.  Fortitude is my favorite gift of the spirit.  Moral courage.  Ignatius wondered why he didn't feel differently after his Confirmation.  Little did he know that, just like the characters in the Wizard of Oz, he had the seven gifts.  Each of them is realized in its own way.  Ignatius is always the bearer of what is "supposed" to be.  He points out right and wrong.  While that can be an annoying trait of his Asperger's, I think most people (including me) are annoyed because we know he is right and what we are doing at the time, well, isn't.  

Lower center: Max and Dad.  Symbolic of my husband's strength to be the father my kids need.  Their autism pushes him out of his comfort zone at times.  It requires each day to be handled in a different way.  Nothing is for certain, and nothing is consistent, except we must he ready for inconsistency.  Takes a strong man to stay and not walk away.  He will do anything for the kids.

Lower right: Ignatius at Scout Camp.  That photo was snapped on Family Night.  Scout Camp was the first time he was ever away from us for a week with neither of us with him, no cell phone...and he was on depression meds for his anxiety.  I was so proud of him. He hated it, but he made it through.  And he learned that camping was not his gig.

Larger photo: Planking, Plato-style.  This photo represents my quest for physical and emotional strength.  When holding a plank, the entire time, I am tensing my core and telling my body, "If you don't plan to hold yourself up, whom do you think will?"  I just felt that would be the best shot representing many ideas central to my one little word.

In March we are charged with something a bit simpler.  More to follow!  I have to print some things off for Move More Eat Well!

Oh Baby, Baby, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

I thought I would post some baby cards I just made for a few work friends.

Note, the yellow and gray patterned paper (Teresa Collins) makes another appearance.  Intervention needed!

For this card, I thank Karen Kelly for her choice of patterned paper. I would not have chosen this for myself, but once I opened the packet, I LOVED the patterns.  Sometimes, you gotta see the paper in real life.  I also adore the new ribbon.  Woot!

Cranking out the crafties

I have this newly acquired bad habit of proclaiming that I will be crafting, but, instead, finding 20 other things to do before I craft, and, therefore, run out of time in my day.  Well, technically, I am writing this the NEXT day (after midnight).

Today I caught up with some Move More Eat Well February printouts and such.  Then, after having this frame sit and stare at me for months, I have finally created a mantle-piece with it.  The photo I have is from Christmas 2011.  Today, I picked up some delightful yellow and gray patterned paper and decided to use it and a few other embellishments I had hanging around here and there in the craft room.  I dig it.  And I have the larger frame, also, so who knows what will come next?  I am showing a couple different angles, as the lighting at midnight is not very helpful.

OCD and the Torture of Pinterest

Here you have it, craft fans.  The reason why I don't run out and do everything I see on Pinterest: it inevitably takes me MUCH longer to do than the average human being.  Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I offer you Exhibit A:

Gotta tell ya, many parts of this fell together nicely, but none of them went together easily.  First, there was my Cricut, which I am about to violently throw against a wall.  The mats I have just do NOT want to hold cardstock, so redoing these numbers was something that occurred quite frequently.  Then, there was the issue of font. I used Jasmine, after trying George, and realized that honestly I might defect to the Silhouette, where my font choices are far more expansive because I can use the fonts on my laptop.  Then, when it finally did cut, it just wasn't clean.  I probably should be looking at a new blade before I defect completely.

After that craziness, I needed to adhere these very skinny letters.  Not sure if the Tombo adhesive will stay, but I wanted to use something I could move around.  As I look at the pic, I still am driven a little nutty by the number placement.  I wanted to make the date of our wedding stand out, and found these brads that I had from Stampin' Up!'s Hodgepodge Hardware.  You might want to click on the pic for the close-up.  They say "Genuine" on them.

Then, I was left with doing something at the bottom.  I looked through all of my fancy swirls (man, I have some cute stuff, especially chipboard).  All too big. I thought about paper punching or sewing, but it just did not work with this.  So, I opted for linen thread wrapped around the paper.  Loved it!

I thought it needed a "P"  of some sort to tie it all together.  I had these Scrabble letter stickers...how delightful that the P is 4 points, eh?  Total luck.  And the paper clip is from a different alpha set, from which I had already used the P.  I loved it.

So, then, I go to frame this sucker. Crafters reading this know what happened...the glass in no way, shape, or form wanted to work with me.  I was using some bulky accessories.  So, I left the glass off, and I am A-OK with that.  I worry about what that will do for this piece in the long haul (dust, little curious fingers, etc.), but for now, it works.

I used my 7 Gypsies easel that I bought for a completely different project to display this for now.  Perfect fit!

Here is the "pinspiration" piece:

Source: ourdailyobsessions.blogspot.com via Ginnell on Pinterest

Altered Trays

I have been meaning to photograph my craft room trays for some time.  I purchased these wood trays from Hobby Lobby. I traced the sides onto scrapbook papers that I liked.

I sanded the trays and painted them with some acrylic paints, then let them dry.  I cut out the scrapbook pieces, and used Mod Podge to adhere them (note: I chose to use it only on the bottom of the paper with a brush, as I did not want a shiny sheen to the sides).  I then sanded the edges of the papers so that the finish was relatively smooth, and a little "weathered."

I decided which things in my craft room really needed their own space.  I seemed to be acquiring a bunch of photo paper, so I chose that as one of the trays.  I also use one for cardstock and one for random scraps for after I am done with projects. (eventually, the scraps go into my scrap drawers, but this gives them a place in the interim)

I had fun with my VAST and ridiculously large collection of letter stickers when labeling.  These trays fit well with my modular shelving in the room.

A Closer Peek at OLW January

I just put the finishing touches on January's layout for the One Little Word album.  I love it.  It's amazing to look at the gallery for this.  There are so many different takes on the same instructions.  Pretty cool.  The digi scrapbookers are making me wish I had more time to invest in that.  Still, I liked cutting, gluing, inking, and writing all the same.  It's all good.

A Tale of Two Scrapbooks

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...oops, wrong tale...

I finally have most of the supplies needed, along with a cooperating printer, for my year-long scrapbooking adventures from Big Picture Scrapbooking:

The We R Memory Keepers albums arrived.  I tried to get them locally, but the 8.5 x 11" variety are not that plentiful, and it would have taken the local scrapbook store a few weeks to get them, so Barnes and Noble.com won out.  However, do not be lured by their promise of free shipping for orders over $25...these orders did not qualify.  I love the variety of color choices of these "faux leather" albums.  When creating albums, I appreciate the three-ring binder option, as these are, however, I am learning that gravity is unkind to these types of albums as they sit on shelves.  Just giving perspective to people considering these projects.  No one says these are the albums you MUST use.  It's just nice that all of the printouts fit the specs for the page protectors.

Each album required different divided page protectors.  I am a huge fan of divided page protectors, as they eliminate the "layout" part of the equation, which is usually the part that extends my time on task.  The Move More Eat Well album requires these page protectors:

The One Little Word album required these page sleeves:

It also requires these adhesive sleeves, which I am awaiting the arrival of any day:

I was introduced to mixing page protector sizes during Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class, and I must say, I like the idea that the book can be filled with many sizes and still look unified.  The C-Line protectors are self-adhesive, which adds another interesting dimension.

Here are some shots of some of the things I have done thus far:

Move More Eat Well:

One Little Word:

I am very much enjoying both classes so far, and do not feel that either is asking us to do too much too fast.  Very doable.

MMEW has included a written statement of intention, some photos, some quote cards, some measurements, and a reflection on our personal stories with healthy (or unhealthy) living.  We also were asked to come up with 5 things that we rocked at, and ONE thing for the month that we would focus on.  Cathy has also included some great links to some good resources and articles.

OLW has included the opening page (which is awaiting the CLine protectors) backed by a 4 x 6" photo of us with an overlay.  Here's mine:

We then needed to focus on our word on small cards.  We were asked to define it, to look in a thesaurus for synonyms, to find a quote, to discuss why the word was chosen, and what we "invited" from this word for the next year.  I REALLY liked doing this part.  The blanks you see will be filled with various "crafty" items related to the word.

So, there you have it.  The reality of returning to work is coming in the next 48 hours, but the enjoyment from working on these has been great.  Glad I chose to jump in!