Scrappletini Avenue

DECLUTTER

2010-01-21T12:13:00.003-05:00

OK so my Ali Edwards-inspired "word for the year" is . . . . . DECLUTTER. I am on a mission to declutter my house, my computer, my mind, my life . . . because it's all such a mess! I am hoping that by spending 2010 seriously focused on implementing this word in my life . . . that I may change some habits.

Yesterday at this time I was lying on a hammock in the back yard with my 3yo and his friend, enjoying the 65 degrees and sunshine. Today is back to cold and rainy, so I'm staying inside and having a "15 minute" day. I am alternating 15 minutes of computer-time with 15 minutes of housework - most of which is DECLUTTERING the laundry room.

My main project on the computer is DECLUTTERING my Photos drive. I am working on my pre-class assignment for Stacy Julian's Library of Memories class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I have read both of Stacy's books "Photo Freedom" and "Big Picture Scrapbooking" several times, and I am ready to take this plunge into reorganizing my photos and scrapbook albums.

So, I am going through my folders of digital photos. Funny how I never think to go through and delete all the poor shots and duplicates I'll never use. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 for global editing and organizing. I am separating our family photos from my professional shoots. I am adding keywords. And I am BACKING UP my hard work! Class begins January 26th, and I hope to at least have completed 2009 photos. (I began with 21,000 photos for 2009, so I think there's definitely room for DECLUTTERING).

Oops, my 15-computer-minutes are up, time for more laundry!

Post and let me know if you are taking this LOM journey with me!

Remember me?

2010-01-07T20:12:00.002-05:00

I have been absent from my blog, unable to find the mojo that left me when my sis died suddenly last February. I became obsessed with Facebook, which is so fun for reconnecting with old and distant friends and keeping up with them. This time of year I become particularly interested in "reinventing" myself or parts of myself and my life, and I realized that I have been missing blogging. I have missed the in-depth glimpses into the lives, thoughts, and interests of my online pals. I stopped following for a while, but I am back. Just in case anyone is still out there to notice...I hereby pledge for 2010 to post at least once a week, or shut down my blog entirely!

Good reads

2009-04-20T22:30:00.004-04:00

I just returned from the CK Convention in Mesa, Arizona this past weekend. On the way out I began the 3rd book in the "Twilight" series that's taken the country by storm, and finished it way too early in the day on my return. That left me no choice but to bury myself in the only other book I had with me that I've been avoiding: a software manual.

I started the Twilight series hoping to be able to talk to our tween a little. I was also intrigued when I saw my pal Cheri get so lost in it that she ignored us all even though we rarely get together!

The lightroom book, well, let's just say I like the way Scott Kelby writes. For a software book, it was actually pretty good.

Next: gotta get my hands on book 4 and finish up the twilight series. Not sure whether to save it for our beach vacation. And, time for Scott's Photoshop book, which I guess I shouldn't save for my next cross-country flight.

Out of sight out of mind

2009-04-18T11:01:00.002-04:00

Ok so I've been very absent from my blog . . . sorry guys . . . I've been overwhelmed by life and the pursuit of pro photography . . . taking classes, researching, WORKING. My "free" internet time is over at facebook nowadays . . . anyways, thought I'd share this shot of my 3-legged rescue kitty who is getting on my last nerve these days. He was the first cat in our house a year-and-a-half ago. We found him in the road just after he'd been hit by a car. I took him to a vet and after a couple of weeks we brought him home. He was such a sweet, friendly kitten, purred all the time. A couple months later we brought home a wild kitten Ken found outside his shop. Neko harassed her at first, but they quickly became pals. Fast-forward to now when we brought home my sister's cat, Luna, approximately 10-11 years old, used to being alone. Neko is obsessed with Luna, won't leave her alone, keeps starting fights with her. I made the mistake of extricating him on one such occasion, and I have several scars to remind me of that. For now, Luna has the run of the upstairs, and Neko and Kiki are masters of the basement level. How will we ever integrate them?

The aftermath

2009-03-25T07:46:00.002-04:00

So, it was lots of fun playing in the snow with the kids, weren't those photos great? Everyone got a good laugh and I didn't hurt a bit from busting my tail so many times . . . . at first . . . My back was a little sore a couple days later, and a week-and-a-half later, it "went out" on me. I went to a chiropractor for the first time in my life, who fixed me up with a snap-crackle-pop and made a believer out of me. No drugs, no cutting, less expensive . . . what's not to love about that?!

86

2009-03-10T12:25:00.001-04:00

Ok so one week ago yesterday we were playing in our 5-6 inches of rare snow. Yesterday, we hit a record-high temp of 86 degrees. The record before that was 83 in 1974!!

No wonder the kids are sick . . .

State Capitol Field Trip

2009-03-05T20:44:00.003-05:00

I took advantage of one of my sick days to create a quick photobook of my son's field trip to Columbia, which I chaperoned. I used Memory Mixer 2 to create the book, and then uploaded it to Heritage Makers for publishing.

The graphics were all from Krystal Hartley's "East Coast" collaboration with Libby Weifenbach, available at Funky Playground Designs.

631

2009-03-03T15:37:00.003-05:00

That's how many photos you get when you mix two scrapbook moms with digital cameras with 10 kids and a very rare snow.

We got a good 5-6 inches, which happens maybe once per decade where we live.

So what happens when mom tries to engage in a snowball fight with the kids?

I think I fell 6 times. I was soaked. And this the day after I began penicillin for strep. Did I mention we get this chance maybe once a decade? I only get a couple of chances in my children's childhoods to do this. Who can pass that up?

I can't believe she's gone.

2009-02-26T13:40:00.002-05:00

It makes no sense to me that at the age of 36 I have outlived my grandparents, parents, and sibling. I know that life is for the living, and I have to get back to it, but there's such a hole in my life now . . . I miss my sissy . . .

My beautiful children

2009-02-24T15:56:00.002-05:00

RIP

2009-02-18T21:32:00.002-05:00

January 2003 my grandmother Doris S. Tedder
Spring 2004 my uncle Harold C. Davis
July 2005 my father William H. Pritchett
Fall 2006 my uncle James L. Pritchett, Jr
January 2007 my mother Sarah T. Pritchett
July 2008 my father-in-law W. Richard Grant
Feb 17, 2009 my sister Jennifer S. Pritchett

family pic

2009-01-29T22:11:00.002-05:00

Another for Michelle . . . it's so difficult to get that many children on the same page!

Good to see an old friend

2009-01-29T11:29:00.004-05:00

I've missed my pal Michelle since she moved away a year-and-a-half ago. She's been promising to visit ever since, and finally did this past weekend. I know she's dying for some photos I snapped, I just wanted to share my favorite, she has the most gorgeous hair . . .

One Little Word

2009-01-08T21:05:00.002-05:00

Ali Edwards challenges us to choose a single word to focus on for the year - read all about it on her blog. After much consideration, I have chosen my word: cultivate

Dictionary.com offered the following as the first definition, and it seems to capture everything I am thinking for my word:

"cul⋅ti⋅vate /ˈkʌltəˌveɪt/ [kuhl-tuh-veyt]
–verb (used with object), -vat⋅ed, -vat⋅ing.
1. to prepare and work on (land) in order to raise crops; till.
2. to use a cultivator on.
3. to promote or improve the growth of (a plant, crop, etc.) by labor and attention.
4. to produce by culture: to cultivate a strain of bacteria.
5. to develop or improve by education or training; train; refine: to cultivate a singing voice.
6. to promote the growth or development of (an art, science, etc.); foster.
7. to devote oneself to (an art, science, etc.).
8. to seek to promote or foster (friendship, love, etc.).
9. to seek the acquaintance or friendship of (a person).

Aside from the obvious of gardening - I hope to have an even better one this year than last year - it applies to all areas of my life. Ken and I are both embarking on new businesses and would like to cultivate success in those areas. Raising children is a continual effort at cultivation, as is making and keeping friendships. I am hoping to cultivate an entirely new system for photos and scrapbooking with Stacy's LOM class. I could go on and on, but I think you get the drift. I really liked Ali's choice of "nurture" as her word, but as she pointed out, it's a soft word. It is perfect for her, but I needed something a little stronger, more wilful, thus I chose cultivate.

I'm trying to figure out how I can get my children to participate in this by choosing their own words . . .

Project 365 - page 1

2009-01-03T01:09:00.002-05:00

Jumping on the Project 365 bandwagon, doing it digi all the way. I used a template shared with me by fellow Pea "Carrie", using art from the freebies I downloaded from The Ettes.

Commitment

2009-01-02T10:48:00.003-05:00

For two years I have debated whether to take Stacy Julian's "Library of Memories" class. Her method of organization and push to "let go" of chronological stress is like the call of the siren for me. I am so tired of feeling stressed about the gaps, I'm ready to change the way I scrap. I have her books and have read them and re-read them, and concluded that only with the push and timeline of an online class would I actually get this done. So after much debate, today I signed up for her class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I'm not sold on her photo organization, but I think I NEED to reorganize my scrapbooks. I'm hoping someone I know will take the class so we can work together - please post on my blog if you're taking it!

THANK YOU DB for the gift certificate and coupon code which allowed me to sign up for the class!!!!!

The Ettes are back!

2008-12-26T11:32:00.002-05:00

The Ettes are on thir own now, they've launched a great new digi shop, and for just a few hours today you can get some adorable freebies! Hurry over and download them! The Ettes and Company

Family Gathering & Other Craziness

2008-12-17T11:24:00.003-05:00

OK so I fell off the photo-a-day wagon rather quickly. I probably do have photos for every day, but we've been SO busy that I haven't found time to post them! It's a good thing I finished my Christmas shopping early, because I wouldn't have gotten it done! For those of you who know Bob, you'll be as thrilled as me to know that he went home on Monday!

On Sunday we had "Christmas" with the Grant family at our house. Ken made his famous chicken-n-spaghetti (he woo'd me with that dish) and Nana decorated gingerbread cookies with the kids. We all missed papa, but he was with us in spirit, and we had a really nice gathering.

Digi Scrap Girl!

2008-12-17T11:22:00.004-05:00

For those of you who have been bitten by the digi bug, our newest shirt from Scrapbook Girl should fit you to a "t"! I hope you like it as much as I do!

Bob's ok!

2008-12-05T10:06:00.001-05:00

Bob is ok! They successfully got him off the ventilator, out of the drug-induced coma, and even walked him around a little. He is officially OUT OF THE WOODS! This is a long way from the 10% survival chance they were predicting Wednesday night. We are so relieved, and just wanted to let you guys know. Thanks!!

Daily December Album

2008-12-04T22:57:00.003-05:00

On our drive down to FL today I was able to get a couple of pages done for my album. I'm doing all digi. Here you have the cover and the page for day 1. All elements are from Krystal Hartley's "Angels Among Us" kit.

December 4

2008-12-04T22:39:00.003-05:00

Ok this photo wasn't taken this day, this month, or even this year, but it's all I've thought about for the last 2 days. This is a photo of Ken, myself, and our good friend Bob, who is right now in a coma after open-heart surgery yesterday that did not go well. We've been friends with Bob and his wife Kyla for many years, he is one of the most generous, gentle, loving men I've ever known. Simply put, he's a giver. If you're the praying kind, put in a good word for Bob and his family.

Day/Photo 3

2008-12-03T13:52:00.004-05:00

I followed a link on 2peas to this blog showing how to make these cute photo ornaments. Cheap, fast, easy, adorable! I foresee lots of these on my tree . . . and decorating boxes . . .

Day/Photo 2

2008-12-03T13:42:00.003-05:00

Tuesday Night Scrapbooking + Appletinis = Interesting Page Layouts
(notice the top photo)

Photo 1

2008-12-02T18:24:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend, Ken got out all our bins of decorations, and he set up the tree while I was out shopping and wrapping. Last night, the kids and I decorated it. As I was digging through bins looking for the garlands, the kids dug around and found these. It's just TOO DARNED CUTE and if I wasn't in the Christmas mood, I can't help but feel it when I see this photo!

December Triple-Header Project Challenge

2008-12-01T14:35:00.003-05:00

My pal Cheri Andrews posted that she's combining Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" and Ali Edwards' "Daily December" project. I decided to accept her challenge, and raise it with Jessica Sprague's Photo-A-Day challenge. Today is day 1, I'm getting a last-minute start, but I'm excited about the project!

If you want to join us for the triple-header, post here and let us know, and I'll send you a little holiday-themed RAK.

My new addictions

2008-11-14T14:17:00.002-05:00

I guess I have an addictive personality . . . I have two new addictions. One is FACEBOOK. I am having so much fun connecting with friends! If you haven't signed up already, you need to!

The second addiction is COUPONS. I have cut our family's grocery bill significantly. The least I ever save now is 20%, and more often I save 50%. Last weekend however I took advantage of triple coupons at Bloom and I bought $360 worth of groceries for $101!! The amazing part was how many things I got FREE! All my Tuesday night scrapbook buddies are "coupon-ing" with me and each week we swap coupons and stories. With my weekend savings I was dubbed the Coupon Queen. It's funny, but very handy in these hard times!

another shoot

2008-11-11T13:11:00.002-05:00

just sharing a few

wanted . . . for stealing hearts

2008-11-07T14:10:00.004-05:00

Family Shoot

2008-11-05T12:06:00.003-05:00

As you can see the fall leaves are gorgeous here right now. Can you believe these were taken in my back yard? They decided to do the whole shoot here. I was sweating bullets the whole time, but we made it through!

Playing Catch Up

2008-11-04T06:11:00.004-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA! Last Tuesday I picked up my 83yo Aunt Nena from the hospital and brought her home to my house for a little R&R. She kept me busy to say the least. I'm just so grateful to have a guest room on the main floor for her convenience. I took her to an appointment and dropped her off at home yesterday, and we all miss her already.

Thought I'd post a Halloween pic of my brood. Kyle is missing from this one, he has officially outgrown trick-or-treating, and preferred to hang out with his friend. No worries, I had him covered, we had plenty of candy left over, including his favorite (and mine!) Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Yummmmm.

As you can see, Cass was a hippie, Jordan a football player, Alex and Nate were knights. Ken and I dressed in theme with the boys, so I was (and am!) a queen, and Ken was my Knight in Shining Tinfoil! Seriously, I told him about 2pm on Halloween that I wanted him to make a costume out of cardboard, and cover it with tin foil, and the man came through! I just wish we had photos of me taping him into his costume, lol!!

We trick-or-treated around the neighborhood and all came home by 8:30. We hosted a post-trick-or-treating Halloween party for some friends (adults upstairs, kids downstairs) from 9:30-midnight which was a blast. We went til 2am, and I want you to know Aunt Nena hung in there the whole time, not willing to miss a thing!

Cheri did it!

2008-10-24T11:30:00.002-04:00

She may not be a happy camper, but my pal Cheri Andrews completed the 3-day walk for breast cancer awareness. I'm so wowed by her account of the experience which sounds less than FUN to me, but totally inspiring. Check out her blog.

knock out drugs!

2008-10-22T16:14:00.002-04:00

I helped Alex with his poster for Red Ribbon week. We put on his new red ghi (which you have to be a brown belt to wear) and he did a fierce stance with a punch toward the camera. I focused on his fist with a wide angle lens so it would be huge and disproportionate to the rest of the photo. Printed it 8x10 and cut it out silhouette. His poster says "Take a stand . . . KNOCK OUT DRUGS" Then we printed another copy and Cassie silhouetted just his fist for a similar logo on hers.

BIG news!

2008-10-21T10:54:00.002-04:00

I've been busy lately . . . launching my new photography business! I have decided to follow my childhood passion and see where it takes me. I have been building my new website here It's a work in progress, but it's a start!

I will remain a consultant for Heritage Makers, but more for the product than the career/recruiting element. They have the highest quality photobooks I've seen anywhere yet, and I am delighted to continue offering the scanning service.

I just couldn't find my mojo for building the business by recruiting - it's hard to admit defeat, but the TLC/Breezy D. mess has killed my passion for mlm.

I welcome any constructive criticism you have for my new website, photos, or ideas for building the business. And thanks for stopping by!

The newest Brown Belt in the world!

2008-10-15T21:33:00.002-04:00

My little guy passed his test Saturday and earned his brown belt. I'm so proud of how far he has come with his karate. He's really a great kid!

rampant, like herpes, but for positive

2008-10-08T11:47:00.000-04:00

Surprise Surprise

2008-10-02T06:59:00.002-04:00

The Ettes have resigned from Breezy Designs. http://asktheettes.blogspot.com/

More Cornhole News

2008-09-29T15:18:00.002-04:00

Ken and his brother Scott played in cornhole tournaments the last 2 weekends. Ken made it onto the website for placing 8th in the singles tournament, and for winning the "airmail" contest. It's just too funny! Read all about it . . .

Pats Fan

2008-09-29T13:55:00.003-04:00

Football season is underway at our house. Our Sunday afternoon football and wings with the neighbors has grown considerably since last year and now averages 25 people. It's fun for all, we make wings and chili, and everyone brings a dish.

Nate has recently become picky about what he wears, and if he sees his Pats jersey, insists on wearing it. Notice the matching sneakers . . . Kyle says he's "Representing". Thanks Nana Paula for the Pats gear!!

Couponing!

2008-09-24T15:46:00.003-04:00

On Monday night one of my girlfriends hosted a couponing workshop. She served margaritas and explained how to take advantage of the deals, work the coupons, etc to save big. She gave us handouts from Coupon Mom along with a couple of handouts she made herself - I was so impressed!

It's a time-consuming process, but gets better as you go. I tried my hand at CVS today and got some pretty good deals, so I'm psyched. I'm setting up a coupon organizer now, I don't have many baseball card trading pages, but I have lots of 3.5x5 photo insert sheets that will work beautifully, since no one prints those sizes any more!

If you have any favorite coupon tips, I'd love to hear them!

Nothing like the last minute!

2008-09-17T20:46:00.001-04:00

Today I signed up for the Creative Photography Retreat in 3 weeks in Stamford, CT. I am so pumped! I can't wait!!!!

new kits from KH!

2008-09-15T22:07:00.003-04:00

Two awesome new kits from Krystal Hartley got me to playing quite a bit. Love these layouts of my favorite guys. With these kits, KH is making her debut at Funky Playground Designs. Hope you love them as much as I do!

How does your scraproom look right now?

2008-09-14T14:14:00.003-04:00

I don't think anyone who knows me actually believed that I maintained a pristine space as shown in the photos of my scraproom, so I had to laugh at this little 2peas challenge. I am so proud of my room, I had to take a deep breath before opening the door to snap a photo "as is". I'm just glad that the photo shows the results from a great time had by all at this week's crop with my friends - yes, we really use this room, and yes, we still love our Appletinis!

Freakin' Hilarious!

2008-09-10T21:36:00.003-04:00

To quote my pal Krystal Hartley, who shared this website with her design team. This was too fun!

camera strap splurge

2008-09-09T08:10:00.000-04:00

Just had to . . .

Spongebob Photobook

2008-08-31T09:21:00.003-04:00

Ok I had to do it. I was checking out Shutterfly's photobooks and found their character books. My children love Spongebob, but my 2yo is obsessed with him. In February we had a combined birthday party for Alex and Nate - and the theme was Spongebob. So, sucker that I am, I finished and ordered the Spongebob book from Shutterfly. Nate will flip!

The book is all pre-done pages, so it was extremely frustrating to have no flexibility regarding photo size and layout, journaling, etc. I am accustomed to the creative options of Heritage Makers studio online and with Photoshop on my laptop. But I just couldn't resist the themed book. The boys will love it.

And. . . I'm 2/5 of my way through Christmas books! Last year I picked up a cool Christmas eve tradition from Stacy Julian. I bought big round hat boxes from Hobby Lobby, one for each kid, and filled them with new pajamas, slippers, the annual ornament, and a personalized photobook. The kids loved them. If I can resist the desire to show the books to them immediately, these will be perfect for the hat boxes. Now to figure out the other 3 kids . . .

Actions

2008-08-28T08:05:00.004-04:00

I think I am becoming an Action junkie. Finally figured out how to use them, can't get enough of them. I guess it's sort of like when I first started digi-scrapping and was downloading every free kit I could find. They are fun! I found some free wedding actions at FinesseFX and had fun playing with the photos I shot this weekend. (I was the photographer for Ken's sister's wedding on Saturday, a small but sweet affair). Check out the difference between the original, and the one I applied Karl's "Soft dream" action to!

I've decided to go with a new lens over the Cricut, but have been talked into getting the one with Image Stabilization. It costs significantly more, so I'm looking around for more stuff to sell, lol!

the big debate: new lens vs. Cricut Expression

2008-08-25T09:21:00.003-04:00

OK so after 8 months of deliberation, I decided to sell my pazzles mini cutter that I bought nearly 2 years ago. The software does not work with Vista, and the company wanted another $130 for new software. I just couldn't stomach the additional cost after the money I shelled out to begin with, so I listed it on e-bay. I got what I was hoping for (plus $1.50 LOL) so now I'm debating how to spend it.

Option #1 Cricut Expression Bundle from AC Moore - includes 4 cartridges and 5 inks. $339 + s/h. I do lots of digi-scrapping, but I still do paper scrapping as well. One of my friends who scraps with me weekly owns nearly all the cartridges - she could leave her machine at home. It's easy to use and fun to play with.

Option #2: Tamron Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF Macro Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS. I would get rid of my current Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III (think I could get $$80-$100 on ebay). $379.95 minus $50 rebate +s/h. I'm not sure how much of an upgrade this would be, other than increased close-range shots without having to change lenses, which certainly would come in handy with an active 2yo.

Weigh in if you have any thoughts on the matter!!

Start 'em young

2008-08-22T16:00:00.003-04:00

Nate and I were running errands today and saw this Little Tykes playhouse sitting in front of the Salvation Army. Would you believe it was only $4.99??? We got it home and "built" the house by adding screws, and then cleaned it. Nate thoroughly enjoyed every step, and keeps talking about "my house".

Quick page is a freebie from my girl Krystal Hartley, snag it at her blog. The alpha is also hers. Thanks KH!!

Who can draw?

2008-08-18T11:00:00.002-04:00

I have an idea for our next Scrapbook Girl t-shirt, I have a basic drawing, but need someone to digitize (and improve) it for me. Anyone up for the challenge?

85 hours, 33 minutes

2008-08-10T10:52:00.002-04:00

One of the regrets of my life is that I never find time to read. I read voraciously when I was younger, and majored in English in college. In my 20s I began checking out audiobooks from the library and listening to them when I commuted to work or drove on long trips. Last summer I joined Audible.com and began downloading audiobooks to my ipod, and have listened to 15 books since then. The books really help time fly when I'm driving long hours to shows along the East Coast.

I just finished listening to Ken Follett's epic novels, Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I chose the unabridged versions, which were 40 hours 10 minutes and 45 hours 23 minutes respectively. I was turned on to the first one by Oprah's Book Club - I am finding that I enjoy many of her fiction recommendations. (but after The Secret, I'm avoiding her non-fiction!)

Before that, I listened to A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, having been turned on to the first one through Big Picture Scrapbooking's reading club. I found the insight to Afghan culture fascinating on a number of levels. Given the current political situation, one can only benefit from a deeper perspective of that country's recent history and turbulence. As a woman, I was reminded deeply how fortunate I am to be an American, and to have a wonderful adoring husband. I can't wait for the Afghan author to turn out something new!

My other listens from this year include:

The Gathering by Anne Enright - not so good, I confess it's the only one I never actually finished. I can tell you that it is a rare thing in my life to not finish a book, I get drawn in and even if I don't like it, I must know the end, but this one . . . I think was never going to end.
The Accidental by Ali Smith - interesting concept, enjoyed it
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - as a literary major I admire Faulkner deeply, but this book was entirely too "Joycean" to listen to, stick to reading for this one!
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - this sci-fi futuristic book was not at all what I expected from Oprah, but I did enjoy it, thanks to an early enjoyment of sci-fi from my father. He would have loved it.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers - very very good
White Oleander by Janet Fitch - I really enjoyed this book, I've never seen the movie, it hit home in a lot of ways
A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve - decent book, I've been reading all of Shreve's books, it wasn't my favorite of hers but it was a good listen
Body Surfing by Anita Shreve - enjoyed this one more
Light on Snow by Anita Shreve - very very good book

Anyways, just thought I'd share one of my favorite new pastimes. I enjoy listening to an audiobook while digi-scrapping, so it really does relate!! If you haven't tried audiobooks, I encourage you to give it a try - it really puts your iPod to work in a wonderful way. But I recommend a shorter one for starters!

Well I'm off to find my next book. Recommendations welcome!

Walk for the Cure

2008-08-01T14:09:00.002-04:00

I'm vending this weekend at an SDV in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania with my dear sister-friend Cheri Andrews. We're having a good event, selling lots of Scrapbook Girl, scanning lots of photos through Heritage Makers, and selling off our remaining TLC inventory. (blech)

We have a silent auction table set up with Cheri's product samples she no longer needs, and the proceeds are going to breast cancer research - Cheri is doing the walk. The response from the SDV ladies has been great, and many of them are sponsoring her. I thought I'd send a shout-out to my blog friends in case anyone would like to chip in. Cheri's sister, Deanna, is joining her on the walk, and is part of Cheri's team, so if you'd like to donate to their walk, click here.

Cheri is holding a fundraiser crop in August 16 in Perkasie, PA, and is welcoming product donations for that.

A good friend, LD, began chemo 2 weeks ago. I wish I could join Cheri and Deanna on the walk in honor of my friend, but my flat feet won't hold up to 60 miles. So here I am, hoping to raise money for their walk. Fight on, LD!!

Cornholio!

2008-07-28T18:39:00.002-04:00

Remember a couple months ago when we made the cornhole boards and bags? My husband has taken it to the next level. He searched online and found and joined the ACO of South Carolina (American Cornhole Organization).

My alma mater, Wofford College, is home to the Carolina Panthers summer training camp, and on Saturday night there was a party celebrating the start of training for this year. There were numerous vendors and activities, including a large section dedicated to Cornhole! Ken dropped off the boys and I at Aunt Nena's house for a visit, and then headed over to try his luck and find out if he's really as good as he thinks he is. (of course I already knew the answer to that, he is, duh!)

He came in 2nd place, beat out by a guy who is ranked 8th in the nation! They even put his photo on their website!

Are you as stunned as I am to learn that (1) there's a game called cornhole, (2) there's an official governing body for the sport, or (3) there are people nationally ranked?

I'm just glad that my husband has found a nice little activity that he can enjoy in the evenings with friends, the kids, or even his wife, and occasionally more competitively. And yes, I can beat him - just last night I won 21-14. Be impressed . . . but don't ask me to explain the severe handicap required for my win!

New kit from Krystal Hartley - Sunkissed

2008-07-27T21:49:00.003-04:00

Here's my take on the newest kit from Krystal Hartley and Misty Cato!

Designers Wanted!

2008-07-25T11:25:00.002-04:00

Heritage Makers is launching a new add-on to our software which will feature templates for customers to browse and purchase. We are looking for some talented designers to offer these templates. Think you've got what it takes? Click here to learn more.

You do have to become a consultant to participate in the program. If this opportunity sounds right for you, please use my link to join - I'd love to work with you! Here is my Heritage Makers consultant website . . .

W. Richard Grant

2008-07-22T16:00:00.003-04:00

W. Richard Grant
Abington, MA. W. Richard Dick Grant, a dedicated and loving husband to Paula J. (Neary) Grant, died Sunday after a long illness. He was a son of the late Coleman H. Grant Jr. and Shirley A. Grant of Abington. Dick is survived by three sons and their wives, Kenneth and Krystal Grant of South Carolina, Scott and Misty Grant of North Carolina and Jason and Jessica Grant of Florida; his siblings, Kent Grant of Maine, Cheryl White of Duxbury, James Grant of Plymouth and Marcus Grant of Marshfield. Papa is also survived by seven grandchildren, Kens children, Kyle, Jordan, Cassidy, Alex, and Nathaniel and Scotts children, Mackenzie and Campbell. A lifelong resident of Abington, Dick grew up in Abington, where he graduated from Abington High School in 1960. He was a baseball and soccer coach in the Abington youth sports programs and he was a member of the United Church of Christ. He graduated from Babson College in 1974 and he served as a reservist in the U.S. Marine Corp. Dick worked as an insurance salesman for 10 years with the New York Life Insurance Company. He also spent 20 years working independently in real estate sales and insurance, and in later years, he was a building contractor. He was a member of several organizations including the Massachusetts Insurance Underwriters Association, the Knights of Columbus of Rockland and was an avid golfer who belonged to Country Club of Halifax for 25 years. Dick enjoyed coaching baseball and soccer while his boys were young. He enjoyed traveling with sons to golf tournaments and he liked to go fishing while vacationing in Maine. He enjoyed traveling to Hawaii with Paula and their close friends. Visitation will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Magoun-Biggins Funeral Home, 135 Union St., Rockland, and will conclude with a memorial service which will begin at 7:15 p.m. Donations may be sent to Old Colony Hospice, 1 Credit Union Way, Randolph, MA 02368. For directions or to sign online guest book, http://www.magounbiggins.com/.

goodbye Papa

2008-07-20T19:19:00.002-04:00

Wayne Richard Grant let go last night sometime between 10:30pm and 3am.

Photo with Ken, 1968.

drivin & digi scrappin

2008-07-13T17:50:00.003-04:00

We're heading home for now, 100 miles down, 836 to go. I am slowly digi-scrapping my way through the old family photos I scanned, this one is of my sister. I grabbed Shelley Moore's new template and used a free download from 2peas by Sande Krieger titled "Mary Mary Quite Contrary".

Bad news from Boston

2008-07-13T11:28:00.003-04:00

Ken's dad was taken to the hospital Friday morning, unable to catch his breath. He has fluid on his lungs, which they said is just part of the process, and there's nothing they can do. They gave him 24-72 hours. They sent him home with the intent to keep him sedated until it's over. Nana Paula is being so strong, staying with him and taking excellent care of him, she is amazing. Prayers for him and for her and for the family are appreciated.

MIA

2008-07-09T18:38:00.002-04:00

Well I've taken lots of photos and intended to blog several times, but my rambunctious 2yo and my flaky laptop conspired to prevent me from doing much of anything online. Sunday night I began backing up my laptop files, and on Monday night I wiped the disc and restored it to factory condition. What joy! Reinstalling EVERYTHING. The great news is, photoshop works now! The bad news is, Internet Explorer has crashed twice on me already. For now, I'll take photoshop!

We are on another road trip to the Scrapper's Dream Vacation in Burlington, MA. I have a small booth to sell Scrapbook Girl and offer scanning services. Ken and the boys will visit his dad in Abington, whose health is declining rapidly from the cancer.

I'll try to get pics uploaded, maybe a few layouts, since 15-hour drives each way gives me lots of laptop time!

new good stuff from Krystal Hartley

2008-06-25T23:08:00.002-04:00

Krystal's new Moody Hues: Zen kit is just my color and style!

Father's Day

2008-06-17T19:00:00.003-04:00

We are so thankful to have been able to spend Father's Day with Ken's father. He is suffering from cancer in his lungs as well as his brain, and in April he was grimly told to expect only a couple of months to live. His health is declining, but he is hanging in there. I managed to get a group shot of the papa and nana and the kids.

The elements are all free from Summer Driggs at her blog, which I found through Beth Swann's blog.

vacation over

2008-06-17T12:20:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful time at our annual family vacation in Myrtle Beach. We went home for a day and then headed north for a whirlwind tour. On Thursday we headed to Perkasie, PA for Cheri's eldest daughter's graduation party. On Saturday we drove to Abington, MA (just south of Boston) to spend father's day with Ken's extremely ill father. On Monday we drove to Albany, NY where we dropped off the oldest 3 kids to spend the mother with their bio mother, and spent the evening at the home of my college roommate. Today we are driving 862 miles home - with any luck, we'll be there in time for a good night's sleep!

So I'm digi-scrapping while Ken drives, and listening to "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett on my ipod.

Our house feels empty in the summers, so we look forward to school resuming in August.

The layout above contains elements from "Sun Porch" by Amy Teets, downloaded at ShabbyPrincess.com

vintage layout

2008-06-14T12:56:00.003-04:00

Lots of time driving on the road from Myrtle Beach home, then to Pennsylvania, now to Boston (did I mention in a van with 5 kids???) I used my kodak scanner from Heritage Makers to scan a box of really old pics, and have been enjoying digi-scrapping them. I'm planning to digi-scrap them all and order a photobook for me and my sister, although it will take me a while to complete. Anyways, I took some time to organize my downloads I've been collecting, and found this perfect kit for my photos, I just wish the kit was bigger!! It's by Pam Lefors Designs and it's called "Blog Party Freebie", and I got it a while back at digiscrap Boutique. So this is a pic of my and my little sis, I'm 6 and she's 4 months in the photo.

photoshop woes

2008-06-08T22:02:00.002-04:00

I updated acrobat "reader" on my laptop . . . and somehow it hosed my photoshop. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, everything I can think of, and nothing is working. Going to have to take a visit to my favorite computer guru. Meanwhile, just thought I'd offer an explanation for the total lack of digi layouts for the last month. All I can use is Memory Mixer, which is great for assembling photobooks, but not as good as photoshop for control of elements.

So, working on our 2004 disney trip, which is already partially paper-scrapped. Just debating whether to print my digi pages for an old-school album, or scan the paper pages and order a photobook.

Today was our "veg" day at the beach. Everyone but Nate ended yesterday with some degree of sunburn, and tomorrow we want to go to a water park, so today was "shade mandatory". No one wanted to go to the shaded pool, so we laid low in the condo. Tonight we had dinner with an old friend from Scrap In A Snap, Darcel Blake and her husband Dan. They have a beautiful new house here in Myrtle Beach, where they've lived for the past several years, and we hook up whenever we come down. At least I can still say, companies that go under owing consultants thousands of dollars are still good for something - long-lasting friendships beyond their control! Salute!

sunny side up

2008-06-07T12:09:00.006-04:00

Time for some R&R with our annual Myrtle Beach vacation. Did the classic family beach photos the first night, already viewed my proofs and ordered and they were amazing. The photographer spent 1.5 hours with us, he rocked. Ken snapped this one as we were waiting for the photographer. So hard to get a "tween" to cooperate. Jordan (11) and Kyle (14) would really like to have the option of refusing to be photographed - but of course, our home is not a democracy, and I am the photo dictator. They do manage to screw up quite a few otherwise-woulda-been-decent photos, but we still get them in the end. They cooperated with the professional at least!

After the shoot we let the kids play in the surf, and the photographer came back out and started shooting again.

Fun fun!

Worst Movie Ever

2008-06-01T21:53:00.004-04:00

Ok, not really a bad movie, but it had me bawling within 15 minutes and NEVER LET ME STOP. The word "tearjerker" does not do justice to this movie. Holy cow! Ken just laughed at me the whole time - but his eyes leaked as well!! I don't know, maybe it was just me, but it had such an effect on me. I can't imagine losing him!

Tuesday Night Scrapbooking

2008-05-27T22:51:00.004-04:00

Most Tuesday nights I host crops in my scraproom. I thought I might start sharing some of what I manage to get done. The last couple of weeks I spent a lot of time pulling together all the samples I've created in the past few years, and getting them into my albums. I put all of my "blank" samples (those without photos) into one big album that I can pull from when I don't have the mojo. I worked in a few of those tonight, and did an uninspired layout of school photos from this year of Cassie.

Last week I scanned my paper album of our 2002 Disney trip, and uploaded the pages to Heritage Makers to order a photobook. I went to FL on a business trip and took my grandmother and sister with me to babysit Alex, age 2 at the time. We spent a couple of extra days going to Disney. My grandmother had elective back surgery a month later, and died a month later due to infection, so this book is VERY special to me. I'm going to give my sis the photobook for her birthday in June, I think it will be equally special to her. I'm also hoping it will turn out well enough to order an additional copy to use as a sample of digitizing paper albums, since I have a tabloid scanner! Thought for this week I'd share the digi cover layout I created for it.

weekend project

2008-05-27T11:35:00.004-04:00

The new Mr. & Mrs. Grant came up for the holiday weekend, and we had a blast. Ken and I were inspired by their "cornhole boards" they had in Florida, so we set out to make our own set. Using internet directions, Ken built the boards and I cut up old jeans and khakis to make the bags. This is a GREAT game because:

adults and kids can play together

adult sobriety not required (great party game)

it's portable

Some day we will paint the boards, but we had a lot of fun with this game this weekend! Click here for directions on building your own set, and rules of the game: Cornhole game

goodbye crib

2008-05-21T17:22:00.002-04:00

We removed the crib from Nate's room on Monday. He's 2 years 3 months, and I caught him climbing into the crib, was afraid what would happen if he climbed out. I got him a cute little toddler bed, but he wiggles too much in his sleep, he would fall off of it and wake up several times a night. (it's only a few inches high, not tall enough to hurt him, but enough to wake him - and yes, we had the rails up). I was debating what to do with the toddler bed since it wasn't working, and Ken solved the problem for me by sitting on it - toddler beds are made to support toddlers, not adults. I seem to have bad luck with toddler beds. When Alex graduated from the crib, I got him one of those big racecar beds and decorated his room to match with checkered flag curtains and all. After two weeks of sleeping on it, my back was killing me. (because my 15 month old would not stay in bed unless mommy was there with him)

So, twin mattress on the floor it is, until he's big enough for a bed. I'm happy to have the space the crib occupied for toys and organization, all my extra wire cubes are coming in handy for toys. But I'm sad to see the crib go. I loved the crib set so much, it was so cute. My baby is NOT a baby any more. I don't want to wish away a second of his childhood, but I would not complain if diapers went next . . .

Nefarious Weekend

2008-05-18T19:54:00.003-04:00

A great time was had by all . . . and hoods were donned in order to protect the similarly situated . . .

My first Heritage Makers book

2008-05-14T17:36:00.003-04:00

I'm thrilled to get my first Heritage Makers book and find that the quality is excellent. I have been digi scrapping on my laptop mostly, but used the Heritage Makers online drag and drop to create a book in order to get my "certification" and "30-day fast start". I did a 5x7 of a friend's wedding, check it out!

Happy Mothers Day!!!

2008-05-11T21:37:00.004-04:00

My dear sweet hubby spoiled me rotten all day, making all the meals, taking care of the kids, and allowing me to spend the day doing what I love most: scrapbooking! I digi-scrapped all day, I'm working on a "career album" of my TLC days. I created and uploaded a photobook using the "tropical" theme of our 2005 Baja cruise, and got lots of work done in the book. I ended the day by completing Shelley's sketch challenge. I don't usually try these things, but I rather liked it. All the elements are from a kit called "Urban Kiwi" by ShabbyPrincess.

As if that weren't enough, Ken took me to dinner tonight at Bonefish Grill where we enjoyed some yummy Bang Bang Shrimp! And finally, my gift arrived yesterday via Fedex - a Canon S5 IS. I wanted a small camera that would do video, and as usual he exceeded my expectations. I love this man!!

garden update

2008-05-10T16:12:00.002-04:00

The garden is coming along! I have so much fun checking every day to see the progress. The end closest to the camera is doing best, I think because it gets more sun, Ken thinks because it gets more water. Probably both. I'm psyched! I added a few more things. 3 kinds of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, onions, jalapeno peppers, pimento peppers, bell peppers, radishes, carrots, basil, sage . . . so far everything but the carrots have sprouted!

sweeter than sweet

2008-05-07T16:16:00.004-04:00

The reason we drove to Florida last week was to attend the wedding of Ken's youngest brother, Jason, to Jessica. It was a wonderfully relaxed and fun wedding, I truly enjoyed myself, as did all of the children. I believe everyone had a great time! Of all the photos I took, this is my favorite, of our 2yo Nate and our 3yo neice Mackenzie. I'm including pix of all the kids, notice Kyle got to play with the band a little at the reception!

I have to say that I just love going to weddings now. They make me happy, remembering my own wedding and how much I enjoyed it, and how happily married I am to Ken. I love that man!!

First Kiss

2008-05-03T19:03:00.004-04:00

Our babysitter/neighbor came over with her friends for me to take prom pictures. They looked so beautiful! How fun! The photos turned out fantastic if I say so myself! She wanted a pic with Nate, and he just wouldn't cooperate.

Singer Island

2008-04-28T09:27:00.002-04:00

1 minivan

5 kids

641 miles from our house to Singer Island

Countless grains of sand

Memory Lane

2008-04-26T09:34:00.003-04:00

I managed to get my hands on one of the new Epson scanners that allows you to scan up to 30 photos a minute. This is a new service from Heritage Makers, and I'm pretty excited about it. I quickly filled my customer orders, and then spent the day scanning my old photos. A lot of them are fading or deteriorating in some way, so I'm excited to get them scanned. I'll also be able to share them with other family members now, so that should make a few people happy. Anyways, just wanted to share!

Weekend Project

2008-04-21T22:47:00.004-04:00

I'm a sucker for springtime activities. I started spring cleaning a couple of weeks ago, and was overrun by the clothing alone for 5 kids! So I had a yard sale Thursday and Friday to eliminate some of the clutter - just when I thought I had it out, Ken brought home stuff we forgot we had in storage. Aack! Anyways, I used the profits from the yard sale to create a vegetable garden along our "Scrapppers Sidewalk". My step-dad came over and helped me set it up. The yard sale wasn't good enough for a nice brick retaining wall, lol, I'll have to have a few more. So a day's hard work and a few hundred pounds of peat moss, compost, and top soil later . . . I have approximately 75 square feet of garden. Now, I've only ever successfully grown squash and flowers, so this is a huge venture for me. We planted a little bit of everything - tomatoes, squash, lettuce, carrots, radishes, onions, cilantro, cucumbers, etc. (we don't even eat radishes, but Billy insisted we plant them) I can't wait to see what grows!

Calling all former TLC consultants - digi layout swap

2008-04-12T22:00:00.002-04:00

Let's commemorate our time together in a way we can all cherish. Let's do a digi layout swap. The only requirements are that it must contain at least one photo of you and your name. You may include your contact info. I would suggest you include something good, like your favorite memory of TLC, or the best thing that has happened to you because of TLC. Alternatively, it can be an inspirational quote.

Create your layout 12"x12" at 300dpi and save as a JPEG if using photoshop. If you are using lifetimez, create your layout as a square, and export as a high resolution JPEG file.

E-mail your JPEG layout to me, and I will send you the link to download the others.

You can use any graphics you like, you are certainly not limited to TLC. I highly recommend the graphics of one of our own, Krystal Hartley! Her blog is http://www.krystalhartley.blogspot.com

It does not matter what your skill level is, your layout can be as simple as you like. We have some very talented designers among us who will no doubt shine!

Let's put a deadline on this for the procrastinators out there (like me). April 20th should be ample time.

Scraproom Tour

2008-04-09T10:05:00.003-04:00

I've gotten tons of questions about my scraproom, so if you wanted to know about it, you'll find it here: My Scrap Studio

new day

2008-04-08T08:58:00.001-04:00

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
~~Eleanor Roosevelt

new look

2008-04-06T09:42:00.003-04:00

In keeping with my "new beginning" I re-designed my website and blog graphics. I used the same designs that I used in my scraproom decor. The paper is "Tres Chic Peacock" by Stacy Claire Boyd. Hope you like! Oh, and here was my other option, using Krystal Hartley graphics.

New Beginnings

2008-04-06T06:02:00.003-04:00

"Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the road which lies ahead and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting-inviting, then we need to gather our resolve and carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that one as well.” ~~Maya Angelou

Shock and dismay

2008-04-05T19:53:00.003-04:00

That's what most former TLC consultants are feeling today as the news sinks in that TLC has kicked us to the curb. They e-mailed us yesterday afternoon at 4pm (they always post crap on Friday afternoons) that they dissolved all consultantships and are now a "discount buyer's club". I think the only thing that saved me from a complete meltdown was that last week my husband and I decided TLC would probably go under soon, and we made the big changes I posted about yesterday. Still, we thought I had my income for at least a few more months. Yeah, well, that and a cup of coffee . . .

change on the horizon

2008-04-04T12:42:00.002-04:00

Big changes happening around here. The economic situation is going downhill for lots of folks, so I guess we're no exception. Today is Nate's last day at daycare, he will be a full-time stay-at-home-toddler from now on - and I'm more than a little anxious. We laid off our wonderful housekeeper, so add that to my list as well. Time to focus on the home. Instead of earning big bucks, I'm trying to figure out how to save big bucks. Advice welcome! I can do this, I know it!

My studio - she is complete!

2008-03-27T21:51:00.003-04:00

See it at 2peas.

7 Random Facts

2008-03-23T20:45:00.002-04:00

I was tagged by Rachel

1. I am addicted to Diet Mountain Dew.
2. I dropped out of grad school when I decided I didn't want to be an English professor after all (my goal of 10 years).
3. I met my hubby on match.com.
4. The measure for me of "the good life" is being able to buy anything I want at the grocery store.
5. If I could have any man I wanted, my second choice after Ken would be Matthew McConaughey. (a distant, distant second of course)
6. My favorite food in the whole world is Aunt Nena's strawberry pie.
7. I often dream that if I just concentrate hard enough, I can fly.

New Digi layouts

2008-03-22T23:59:00.002-04:00

Ok I'm a slow digi-scrapper, it took me an entire movie to finish these. American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Cuba Gooding Jr, definitely two of my favorite actors. So anyways, here's to egg hunts.

TLC ShapeUpz Circle Album

2008-03-10T16:38:00.003-04:00

I had a chance to put together a ShapeUpz album, and I'm totally impressed with all the stuff included in the kit. I had a ton of paper, rub-ons, and chipboard left over after I completed this. The colors on the circle album are my favorite, and the bird is just too cute!

spongebob party success

2008-02-23T19:19:00.003-05:00

Birthday Boys

2008-02-21T11:27:00.002-05:00

Life's been crazy here the past couple of weeks. Had to put Aunt Nena in a nursing home, it's just short term, but it's been quite an experience. The good news is, it's a really nice place only 10 minutes from us, so it's very convenient. She seems very pleased with it. We're picking her up Saturday for the boys Birthday party. I had fun making these invitations. Alex sang the "F-U-N" song for me several times so I could get the lyrics down, lol.

new do

2008-02-12T13:48:00.001-05:00

My hairdresser encouraged me to let her cut and re-style my hair. I told her to do what she wanted. I had to laugh when I realize she gave me Shari's hairstyle!

paper scrapping!

2008-02-09T16:30:00.001-05:00

Haven't done much paper scrapping this year, but I stole a few hours during Nate's nap to work on the class assignments I missed in Cancun. Each day we were supposed to do a layout with a different approach, ie, design first, story first, photos first, product first, tools first. I knew that photos first was my comfort zone and that product first is easy for me because of my business. I found that story first was rather delightful as well. Design first was torture for me, and I gave up on tool first after 5 minutes of painful deliberation - definitely NOT my comfort zone.

I dusted off some "vintage" TLC product for these babies! I was also delighted to discover that I could print on a 12x12 sheet of cardstock even after adhering the ribbon and photo mat - it came out perfect! (my guy face)

boo hoo

2008-02-08T20:53:00.000-05:00

I hate being sick. I've been fighting a cold since Cancun and it finally caught up with me this week. Big awful sinus headache and utter exhaustion. Ugh! (whine, sniffle, poor me, whine whine) Better week next week . . .

free album download from CK

2008-02-04T10:08:00.001-05:00

Ok so the Pats lost. Sad way to end such a great season. But what an awesome thing for the Manning family! Our party was a huge success - if a bit crowded. Almost every single person we invited came - and then some! We had so much fun, even my hubby was not too upset over the upset.

Got this in my e-mail this morning from CK, cute little album download from Jessica Sprague, only available through the 10th. download

Superbowl Invitations

2008-01-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

Just finished our superbowl invites, getting them in the mail.

Superbowl here we come

2008-01-22T11:32:00.000-05:00

Go Pats!!

I'm just here for the food. Superbowl party? YUMMM

2 more from Christmas!

2008-01-19T16:19:00.001-05:00

These are the last of the Christmas layouts, now I can print them and send off the album. Yay! Again, using Christmas elements from Krystal Hartley.

new kit from Krystal Hartley

2008-01-17T20:42:00.000-05:00

Just one more set of layouts and I'll be finished with my gift album! This is from Krystal Harley's new "BFF" Mini kit, available at PolkaDotPotato.com.