sometimes "done" is good enough

Sorry for the lousy photo...couldn't get the lighting right no matter how hard I tried. Oh well.

Never could quite get this layout to come together to my satisfaction. Love the photos. Not happy with the accents on the right. Love the ghost flower that I slopped some paint on and added the brads to the center. Not happy with the title. Love the tag cut in two and used as a base for the title. Not happy with the flowers at the bottom. Love the sewn photo frame.

Okay, there's more "love"s than "not happy with"s, so it's not a total wash. And it's more photos into the album...and that's always a good thing, right?

it's been a while

Seems like forever since I actually did a layout. Though the picture I took of this layout came out awfully wonky, I actually like the layout a lot. And for the most part, I used stuff I had scattered atop my scrapping table. Bad, bad me. I'm supposed to clean up after every project, but I haven't been following my own rules. I figured using up bits and scraps would save a little on the clean up...plus it just feels so darn good to use up scraps, doesn't it?

Nothing fancy here. Flowers cut from patterned paper. Stamped bees covered with paper glaze. Hand stitched bee trail.

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?

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.