a heartfelt thank you

I mentioned a few days ago, over on my everyday blog, that I had won a book from J. Kaye's Book Blog Raffle. Here it is:


Easy Scrapbook Embellishment by Heidi Schueller. I haven't had a lot of time to peruse it thoroughly yet, but I think I'm going to enjoy it. The author's style of scrapbooking is extremely different from mine. (Actually, I'm not sure I have a style--a topic for another post perhaps--but suffice it say that I don't tend to make pages like hers.) But that is one of the cool things about art, isn't it? It's so easy to appreciate it in all its manifestations. And it's so easy to find inspiration...a little something here, a little something there.



Anyway, I really wanted to make J. Kaye a handmade thank you card, and of course, what would be better than to find inspiration from the very book she sent me, right? Hence, this card:




Sewing is definitely nothing new to me. I tend to use both hand sewing and machine stitching quite a bit on my layouts. But I fell totally in love with that beaded flower center! Such a quick, simple way to add a little punch, huh?

I hope J. Kaye likes the card, as I am certainly grateful to her for sending me this book!

another story captured

Again, a story from years ago. Again, I'm so happy I took a minute to write it down at the time. I guarantee that otherwise, I would have had no clue why I saved this particular drawing by my prolific little artist.



I love being able to capture pieces of the story that aren't immediately apparent. Scrapbooking is just so cool that way, isn't it?

gift for a little one

One of my favorite people, Kara, is about to welcome a precious baby boy into the world. Less than two weeks to go! It's been a long time since I've actually gotten any gifts made, but this was one occasion I just couldn't let pass by. And finally, just in the nick of time, I finished up a baby afghan for the little fellow.



I don't think the photo does it justice. (Though if you click on the photo, you can see the yarn and stitches much better.) It's a really simple pattern...just double crochets alternating two around the post from the front followed by two around the post from the back. Since the stitches are going around the posts, it makes it a heavier afghan. But what I really love about this one is the yarn. It's two rows of white alternating with two rows of a variegated...and the effect is so subtle that it's hard to even pick out the rows.

My only regret: that I can't deliver the gift in person. Sure would love to see Kara and meet the little guy in person!

doing something right

At this stage of my life, there is just so little time for my creative endeavors. But I know that will change someday. There are times in one's life when the everyday responsibilities are just heavier than at other times. This just happens to be one of the "heavy" periods for me, but I have confidence that more "me time" will be available at some time in the future.

In the meantime, I'm trying to make sure my memories are still at my fingertips when I do get an opportunity to scrapbook. How? With these little beauties:



Each Christmas, my darling husband buys me new one. And I absolutely love them. How could I fail to love them...they're red! But, of course, my love is based on more than looks alone. I have come to depend on these little red diaries. They are the keepers of memories. This is my place to jot down the little things I want to remember. It might be a conversation with one of the kids. It might be a list of, well, a list of anything. It might be notes on a quirky personality trait on of the kids has developed. It might me a full blown idea for a layout, sketch and journaling. But I don't even need to carry my handy little memory keeper with me. I'll write down notes on scrap of paper I might find handy, and then just stick that slip of paper into the diary.



I fully admit there are periods of time when I don't do a great job at writing down these memories. I may occasionally go for months without adding anything. And this makes me sad. But it's not worth dwelling on. Instead, I choose to be happy about everything I did take the time to capture.

This layout was completed yesterday, but the seeds for it were sown more than two years ago. When I got the idea to record our breakfast traditions back then, I simply jotted down 10 random facts on a scrap of paper. I also saved a packet from the kids' favorite oatmeal. I stuck both of those things in the old diary for safe keeping. Then I snapped a few photos that might come in handy for the future layout.

Fast-forward 2+ years, and here you go:



Maybe it's sort of a silly topic. But it's a slice of our family picture. And I'm so glad I captured it.

The layout itself was really a pretty quick one to throw together. Just cut the photos to fit. Added the oatmeal packet to serve as my pocket for the little tag booklet. Added the title using my ever-trusty Dymo label maker (what would I do without that thing?!!). I had originally wanted to make the journaling on the tags fancier. Mix up my handwriting with rub-ons and letter stamps, etc. But with so little time, I finally decided it was more important to just get the memory preserved.