Down in Flames

Ever buy the perfect embellishment? It's a little on the spendy side, but oh so perfect for that picture that you've been dying to make a page. Then you buy it and are paralyzed. I don't want to mess up this perfect embellishment by doing a so-so page.

Well, I've had these flames for 2 weeks. I knew they would go perfect with this picture of Megan in my brother's race car. And there it sat. I was paralyzed. I didn't want to mess up these $3.99 stickers. Oh, and don't read an amazing book like Designing With Type.

Think about that. $3.99 for stickers. $1.33/each. Sure they've got some glitter on the edges, but they weren't even cut all the way through. I had to take a scissors to some sections. A total disappointment.

So going with my new Big Picture/Life Artist Philosophy...I just did it. I put something together. Am I pleased with this? Not really, but I broke through the creative block. I used those darn pricey stickers. I experimented. I realize that I should've carried the wave paper all across the page or kept it block. Both don't go. Maybe I should've made a thin border and put the flame stickers down it. I probably should've used my Pages By Design templates....probably.

Well, this lay-out went down in flames. But it's all good.

Sad Time of Year

I made this page in my insomnia last night. This is a really hard time of year for me. Friday is the 17th anniversary of my daughter Heather Nicole's death. I always think that time will have taken away some of the sting, but it has just moved underground. I haven't been able to sleep for several days now. This is nothing new. It happens to me 2 times a year. In February around her birthday and in May around her death.

She died when she was a 3 month old baby of SIDS. I can't scrap what few pictures I have of her. It is just too hard. I want them to be perfect, because I can't afford any mistakes on those precious keepsakes.

So instead I made a page of my sister Heather, for whom my daughter was named. This is a variation of this week's Donna Downey class where she challenged us to use really old pattern paper. She used squares. I used hearts...no easy feat, mind you. Even with her pattern, it just didn't want to work out right. Somehow at 1:30 a.m. I got it finished.

I took some time off this afternoon and I'll get to be at home tonight. I need to remember to take it easy this time of year. Be gentle on myself. Do something I love like scrapbooking. In a couple days when the anniversary is past, I'll be fine and there will be time for the busy-ness of life.

In Honor of Mother's Day

Okay...so technically Mother's Day is over. I created this page at 4 a.m. on Mother's Day. Last weekend, Brianna had a soccer tournament. The weather was okay. 58 degrees and windy...who knew that we both would get sunburned. I had jeans and a bulky sweatshirt on.

When I noticed that I had sunburned nose and cheeks on Sunday morning, I thought "Occupational hazard of a soccer mom." Hmmm...great title for a scrapbook page. Almost as clever as a Cathy Zielske title.

The next challenge was to get a decent picture of the burn. No easy feat. Enough nose...not too much face. I wasn't real happy with anything I took, but figured some creative cropping might be in order.

I was going to print some pictures out on the Epson Picturemate. Turns out it needed the nozzles cleaned. The picture of my face was color distorted, but I liked the emphasis on the nose, proving that it was really burnt. Probably couldn't have done a better job if I'd photoshoped it. Strike that, I know I couldn't. 2 CKU classes and a Donna Downey lesson couldn't help me. So, it really was a happy accident.

Pretty proud of this. If it wasn't so linear, it could almost be an effer dare.

The Futsure

I found this scrap of paper that Megan had written down. It is so her. I wanted to make a page to save this moment in time. The list sat on my desk for at least 2 weeks. I wanted to do it justice.

So the first LO is my first crack at it. She often sticks her head out the window like a dog so I thought this picture was perfect. I was also inspired by the lay-out in week 12 of Donna Downey's BPS class with the strip journaling or in this case, list.


Still, I wanted to do something to preserve this cute list - spelling mistakes and all. I found a picture of her hugging Sami, my Dad's husky and one of the dogs on her list. I needed to cover my Dad who is only part way in the picture. I have been messing around with the placement and looking for sketches. Finally, I just decided to break out my Pages By Design templates. I could get a good idea with out cutting up all my precious new KI Hopeful paper - how perfect is that!

Feeling good that I got this moment!

Insomnia Brings Freedom

Who can sleep when you are on creative roll?!?! I know I am going to pay for this later today at work, but I broke out the paints to finish the Peeps LO and have been going strong all night. I have an 8.5x11 album that I have been putting favorite pix in and making LO's of them. There are a whole bunch of LO's that are in various stages of completion. I finished a good 4 of them tonight. I am so inspired. I feel like I am getting our stories out there.

To be honest, I am a chronological scrapper and thought I always would be. I prided myself in being caught up and it was killing me that my 2006 album has no completed pages in it. Yea - 2005 still has a bunch of pages to go, but I always do the most current picutures first and work backwards. My plan was/is to do only a 2 pg LO for each month of 2006. One of those pages will be a calendar page...the rest will be a collection of pix in a Ali Edwards style photo collage.

Tonight, I feel like I finally get it. It will be okay if I don't scrap everything. I have scrapped 8 years of holidays and birthdays. I am ready for People We Love, Places We Go, Things We Do, All About Us. Tonight I was ready for Random Me. Tonight, I get it.

Rainy Weekend

This weekend it rained from Friday through Sunday so I got a chance to do more scrapbooking. I completed a new circle journal to start circulating for a post CKU Chicago group.... and this LO inspired by Jamie Water's 12 Recipes in the May issue of Creating Keepsakes mag. Big Picture Scrapbooking must be getting to me, because this is a total moment lay-out. Journaling reads: according to the news, 90% of households bought them[Peeps] this year. Only 1 person in our household likes them.