Category Archives: family

family

Oct 29

Boot camp is over, kids!

Yep, Big Picture Boot Camp is officially over. I just barely got my last drill posted yesterday; tomorrow there are drawings for some fabulous prizes for those who shared their projects in the classroom gallery. I want to win something! Okay, that’s not the only reason to get my projects uploaded, however, I didn’t want to be the last one to cross the finish line! The final boot camp section is about storytelling, and our drill sergeant is Ali Edwards. After documenting my observations of my daughter’s day, I added facts and feelings, a photo, and then created this layout about my daughter’s day, sort of like a time-capsule-turned-layout. This will be so nice to go back over and remember when she’s grown and gone. I loved Ali’s example layout; it’s very clean and simple, focusing on the story and the photo.

Now that boot camp is over, I have an itch to create and I feel so inspired by what I’ve been seeing on Pinterest. I worked the night shift at my job last night, and when it was quiet and I took my break, I watched some fun videos on YouTube by Janna Werner and Mercy Tiara. Both scrapbookers show in their videos the process they go through to create a layout from start to finish. I was mesmerized. I was also very inspired because they both made layouts not too unlike the beautiful ones I’ve been pinning onto my “Memory Keeping” board on Pinterest, and watching the videos showed me how I, too, can create something very different from what I’m used to (a much-needed stretch and work-out for the creative side of my little brain!). Once I got home this morning, I couldn’t wait to get started in my scrap studio.

I began with a photo I love that means a lot to me: an old photo of my 17-year-old grandmother that I had scanned into my computer. She just recently passed away, so I thought pulling this picture out and using it on a layout would be not only  a really therapeutic way to deal with the loss, but also a chance to pay tribute to her in my scrapbook.

I started out by cleaning up the worn photo in Photoshop, then printing it out to a 3×4″ size. Next, I went through all my stash and looked for papers that would be neutral, muted, and soft, like Grandma. I then looked for any materials that could add texture to the layout. I grabbed a doily (from the bakery section at Michael’s), a piece of fabric (which came in an old Studio Calico kit from last year), a Maya Road envelope, some polka-dotted vellum (American Crafts–again from an old Studio Calico kit), thread, ribbon (a vintage piece of lacy ribbon from my other grandmother), a Tim Holtz paper clip and his Tiny Attacher and some Studio Calico wood veneer die-cut pieces (including the letters). I threw in some old bits and pieces from my stash that have been laying around way too long (for example, the monthly ledger journal card from 7 Gypsies)…this is a great way to use up old stash so you have an excuse to buy new! I basically created layers by stacking pieces on top of each other until I created a “base” I was happy with (almost like a photo mat with many layers). Before adhering to my background paper, I did some inking with Mr. Huey’s gold mist, glued down some confetti (left-overs from my hole punch) and stitched some hand-cut ‘arrows’ onto the page. Once the ‘mat’ was in place, I just started experimenting with embellishments until I was happy. A few pearl gems here and there, and I was finished. I wanted the photo to stand out from the rest of the page, and I didn’t want it to be bold or loud. I wanted subtle texture and soft colors to make one stop and think. In my opinion, my experiment was a success: I will no longer be afraid to step outside of my comfort zone, and a little messiness can be a good thing. I made lots of mistakes, but I never expected it to be perfect, and that, my friends is the secret! Make a mess. Tear something. Forget to cut the thread. Spill something. Be curious and unafraid: accidents and imperfection can lead to happy endings, after all. I think Grandma would agree.

Papers:  My Mind’s Eye, vellum: American Crafts; envelope: Maya Road; tags & journaling spots: Lilly Bee, Studio Calico, Janet Hopkins, 7 Gypsies, Bananafish Studio; stamp:  Inkadinkadoo; ink: Tsukineko; fabric: unk. (Studio Calico); doily: Michael’s; wood veneer die-cuts and alpha, paint mist: Studio Calico; tiny alpha stickers: Pink Paisley; brad: Basic Grey; paper clip, staples: Tim Holtz; pearl gems: Recollections; lace ribbon: vintage.

Thank you for stopping by!

Jul 1

On being a Seaman.

Seaman is my maternal family’s name. It’s not just a name, but a way of life. Through unfortunate circumstances, I have lost touch with many of my relatives, but thanks to Facebook, I’ve been able to keep in touch with some relatives, for which I owe my mother a debt of gratitude. It’s not always easy to communicate to members of my family, and I understand that; we are not social butterflies who have zillions of friends we see or talk to on a daily basis. We are a family of deep, intellectual thinkers, and socializing is no one’s forte in our family. It’s taken me some time, but I am at the point where now I get it, and it’s really okay. We each have our own way of expressing ourselves, and when we don’t , it’s not to be taken personally for the rest of the family; there are lots of deep-rooted feelings inside that we would love to get out, but we don’t always know how, or, it’s just plain uncomfortable. I get it. For me, some of the best ways of expressing myself is through scrapbooking and photography. I know, UGH, scrapbooking? Really? But yes, it’s my way of journaling with photos in a bit of a more artisitic sense rather than just shoving my words into a book for no one to see. Sometimes I want others to see what I feel, but my words fail me, and this is my answer. I open myself up more on my blog than in any other way, especially in person. Here is just a prime example of something I have been needing to get off my chest to a dear uncle I miss (thank you for the photo, cousin Vanessa!!)

I tried my hand at ships knots, but it’s not easy with this baker’s twine!

All in all, my bottom line is that I want to tell you, Uncle John, that I love and miss you. You are in my heart and on my mind quite often, and I am ever so grateful for getting back in touch with Vanessa, and I thank her for sending me an email of this photo which I love. Let’s hope we don’t lose touch again, shall we? Best regards and much love to you and Aunt Ruthie.

Thanks to my followers for stopping by; more to come!

Apr 16

An inspiring collaboration has been born.

Ever since my mom retired last year, she has been letting her creativity flow. She now has more time to do the things she used to be too tired or busy to do, and quite frankly, I couldn’t be happier for her. She has always been very talented when it comes to using her hands to make, do and create beautiful things; I remember as a child, when we didn’t have much, my mom would sew clothes for my brothers and me; she would paint and wallpaper various rooms; she could decorate with panache even before Martha came along. Actually, to me, she was the original Martha Stewart, making everything she touched special and fabulous. Since I started scrapbooking a few years ago, my mom has taken an interest in whatever I create, and now that she has more time to indulge in her creativity, she has caught the scrapbook bug as well. She’s not exactly putting together 12×12 layouts, but she has a fancy for mini-albums…she has made quite a few nice ones which overflow a lovely basket sitting on her gorgeous fireplace hearth. She enjoys making small journals (or what I call mini-albums) so much, that she can make them faster than she can fill them up, and actually has more fun creating the books than using them for herself. This is where a brilliant idea was born for us to collaborate and sell the journals and books in my Etsy shop, Retrospect

The Everyday Bingo journal

The Everyday Art journal (also known as our version of a Smash book)

The Travel journal

When my mom showed me these journals she made for the first time, I’ll be honest, I thought to myself, “This is something I should have in the shop…” No kidding. They are really cute, and something I would definitely buy from her, if she had a shop. Luckily for me, she’s content with being a “member of my shop”, which pleases me to no end since I just have not had much time lately to create much. It’s a bit difficult, sometimes, working full-time, being a wife and mother, going to church, volunteering, and running a business (now you know why I have not blogged in a long time). I’m waiting for 36-hour days to be invented…but until that time comes, I am grateful for the extra help to keep Retrospect going. It’s nice that the shop has a few more items to sell, and as soon as I can, I will be adding more journals and mini-albums in order to fill up the shop more. I am sure looking forward to seeing what my mom and I can come up with next; with her talent and ideas, I’m sure not to lose my inspiration or motivation any time soon, thank goodness. So be sure to come take a look around the shop sometime in the near future; hopefully you’ll see something that sparks your interest! Thanks for stopping by!

 

Feb 1

“The Book of Junk Mail”

Since my mom retired last year, she’s had more time on her hands to do fun things. Like scrapbook. I cannot tell you how thrilling it is for me to get to share my passion with one of the single most important people in my life. It means so much to me when she emails photos of whatever project she’s working on (for constructive criticism or a little pat on the back); texts me about new web sites she’s just discovered and really excited about, as well as special sales and deals; or phoned me to tell me she is at such-n-such store finding so many cute things “to die for”, and I really need to go look when I can. It’s quite endearing and sweet, and I love how much closer we’ve gotten because of this new-found bond. We have agreed to get together at least once a month (she lives in my hometown, just about an hour south from where I am) to have our ‘scrapbook dates’. These have become very important to us: we take turns going to each other’s home, show and tell what we’ve been doing, talk scrap, and brainstorm ideas, then go shopping to our local craft stores to shop our little hearts out. Oh, and then we have to stop and have lunch so we can oooh and aaaah over what we’ve purchased, trade ideas and inspiration, talk about Project Life, and of course Pinterest (got Mom hooked on both of those recently, too!). By the time we get back to one of our homes, it’s getting late in the day, and we may manage to do a little bit of scrapping….opening the packages, planning what we’ll make, and trying out one stamp. We love it. It’s just her and I, no husbands, no children (excluding yours truly). It’s invigorating, and by the time we get to our respective homes, we’re bursting at the seams to scrap our little hearts out. She’s got more time than I have now, so I don’t have as much to show yet (although my Project Life album has not been ignored yet), but recently she was telling me about a fun idea she came up with, and couldn’t wait to show me. She took the box that her Project Life kit came in, and cut it up to make pages. She then took all the junk mail she received on that given day, and collaged pieces of the mail here and there with words of wisdom……for me. She presented it to me last weekend (our most recent ‘date’), and I was floored. I had no idea this project was intended for me….I know I have been needing a bit of cheering up lately, but I didn’t realize that she took it to heart. So, here is a very special book made from my mother’s heart to add to, to make mine, and to treasure always. Mom, you know I will.

click on photo to enlarge.

I love you, Mom. Thanks a million.

Nov 19

Thinking of the past, and taking a break for today.

My mom recently gave me a real gem of a gift. She had found my great-grandfather’s medical dictionary which he had used while training in medical school to become an Internist. Knowing that using vintage book pages is a really cool thing in scrapbooking, she tore out a small section of this old book to give to me. The book is beyond repair and literally falling apart, so what she did was not as shocking as I originally thought, and once I got over that initial “OMG, what did you just do?!” moment, I thought about adding the pages to a mini album, using them as a photo mat, making cards, or selling some in my shop on Etsy. But then I took a really close look at them, through the macro lens of my camera, and saw how special they are, at least to me. You see, I am a Cardiology technician at a large hospital, and Cardiology is my thing. It’s not only my bread and butter, but it’s what I do that I love during the day (until I put my ‘super scrapbooker’ cape on at night). While I was an EMT student eons ago, I had to study medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, CPR, how to set a broken arm as well as how to deliver a baby, etc., etc., and when it came time to study the heart and cardiac rhythms, the instructor went through the basics quickly (we were behind in the lesson schedule) things just clicked for me. So while every other student in the class was scratching their heads saying, “Huh?”, I was looking around at them saying, “You don’t get this? This is so cool!!”. Thus, a position in a Cardiology department at a local hospital a few years later was written in the stars.

So, that’s why this little piece of my history is such a gem to me. My mother intentionally chose this section for me (aaaw!), and now I can’t part with it! It’s not just that this pertains to a subject near and dear to my heart (pun intended), but this book is from my great-grandfather and dates from 1839. I am such a sentimental nerd, I know, and I just wanted to share. Don’t you have something passed down to you that is sentimental because it seems meant just for you? Share it with me, I’d love to know about it!

I also want to extend a huge Thank You to everyone who has been visiting my shop, Retrospect. I have been utterly overwhelmed with the wonderful response I have gotten to the Christmas items I have created!! I am so amazed and flattered and pleased, but each item I create is done by hand and is very time-consuming, and sometimes expensive. I work full-time during the day, and I simply have not had enough time during the evenings to keep up with the demand, so I have therefore stopped production for now to take a needed break. I do apologize, but I have recently made myself sick trying to keep up with a minimum amount of sleep, and that’s not good. So, for my sanity, and for the sake of my family, I need to take a little time to take care of myself and them, so I can be back in December for a lovely, happy, healthy season. See you then!

Nov 14

What’s happening [beautifully] around here.

This is not a normal scene around this home.
This is a scene that makes me literally run to my camera, and break out the telephoto lens (so he won’t notice me). Beautiful. And I’m not talking just about this ‘Kodak moment’, but the unbelievably gorgeous autumn weather, and the deliciousness it brings. I have no doubt that ‘Autumn’ means different things for different people depending on where you live, and in stating that, I must say that I was born and raised in Central California where it is hot about 7 to 8 months out of the year, foggy for too many months in between, and nice, for way too short an amount of time ( at my age hot flashes make any winter weather not cool enough), a day like today is simply glorious.

My mother has lovingly deemed him "Mr. Shortpants". He wears nothing below his knees.

And hence, Mr. Shortpants took advantage of the weather, and I took advantage of the ‘Kodak moment’.

Our newly clean front porch (the whale is sentimental).

 

This is not something, after all, that you will likely ever see again. I do believe that this could be called somewhat of an amazing  ’phenomenon’, thus the importance for photographing the …shall we say…evidence.  If I did not have  these photographs, all would be vehemently denied, and we would never otherwise know of his secret green thumb. I’m on to you, Mr. Shortpants!

I am grateful for this splendid season, my loving family, and our beautiful home. Happy Fall!!!

 

Nov 9

Using scraps to make a paper chain.

I’m working hard this evening in my ‘workshop’ (just like Santa’s…) creating Christmas cards and tags for my shop, Retrospect, on Etsy. When I ran out of 8.5×11 kraft sheets, I got out my 12×12 stash, and started cutting away, to get more of the necessary size. I don’t like wasting things, especially scraps, and while tossing some 1×8.5″ strips into the trash, I came up with an idea to use them instead of throwing them away: make a paper chain! I grabbed those babies out (no worries; my trash bin is entirely paper and bits of ribbon) and went to work.

I have some snowflake stamps from Stampin’ Up! that I had been using, and noticed that the smallest stamp would fit the 1″ size of the strips. I thought it would be nice to stamp an image onto the strip to make a design; right now, I’m working with kraft paper for my projects, and I am really into white-on-kraft with snowflakes or stars…kind of a Nordic look which I am loving. I used a white ink pad to stamp the images, then I sprinkled Stampendous! “Stamp-n-Stuff” in an opaque white embossing powder over the stamped images, and then heated each strip so the white would stand out a little more. The fun thing about this is that it’s easy enough for the kids to do while you’re making your own things!

I can easily see my 11-year-old stamping paper strips (but if we want them embossed, I would do the heating) to her heart’s content. I chose the white, but of course it would also look pretty with red or green, (or any combination) and any of your smaller size Christmas stamps. I only had about 14 scraps, but of course the more you have the longer the chain.

I stapled each strip into a ring, just like I remember doing back in Kindergarten…and yes, it was just as much fun doing it again today!

My daughter didn’t get to make this one (homework to do…) but I’ll be sure and have her help with more of these in the future that we can add to this one. I have no idea how long it will end up being, or where we’ll put it, but that’s the easy part, and we’ll love having it be a part of our holiday festivities. What a cheap decoration, too! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find my shop vac (powder everywhere, what a mess…). Come on back in the next few days when I show you my Christmas holiday cards that I’ll be selling at Retrospect! Thanks for stopping by!

Oct 17

What can you do when you’re grounded?

I came home from work on Sunday to discover that my 11-year-old had made a list of things to do “when you’re grounded”. [No iPod,  no friends, no computer/internet, etc. ] On her list of top three things to do (unfortunately reading was below the top…) one was to make homemade bows. Creating? My daughter is creating? Being beyond thrilled, I had to photograph her new creations:

my personal favorite; I love red. Polka dots are a plus.

Gifts for her best friend; the initials are those of the friend.

future crafter.”]

key evidence of a [hopeful

Wow. I was beyond excited. Wait,  I see an old Nano. Interesting where inspiration comes from in today’s youth.

And, in other news…

A new haul from Ormolu, a die-hard favorite. This favorite photo was waiting for a way to come to life. Ormolu, to the rescue.

Using: Flair buttons, travel

28 day Flappers

Lines and letters swatches

2011 calendar tags

[Ormolu is currently closed therefore there are no available links...sorry. Please visit again in the future.]

Sep 30

Family makes our house a home.

Amen to that! I am thoroughly enjoying The Good Life with Amy Tan at Big Picture Classes. This week, we are stitching on our layouts, and collecting magazine images to collage and create a “vision board”:

According to Christine Kane, “A vision board (also called a Treasure Map or a Visual Explorer or

Creativity Collage) is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn

out from various magazines. It’s simple. The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with

images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want

to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.”

I have not done this yet, but I do something similar when I cut things out of magazines and newspapers that are significant to me and paste them into my Smash book. Amy is encouraging us to do this on a clipboard, so we can see it more easily, and actually, she has made a pretty collage on a manila envelope:

I will do one of these probably later in the week, and in the mean time, I will clip out things I like and put them on my clipboard. This should be fun!

For stitching on paper, Amy gave us a template to use (a house, which I love) that we cut out, and use to trace around on our layout background.

Once I traced the house onto my paper, I put the paper onto an old mouse pad, and punched small holes every half inch on the lines. I didn’t have the right color of cross-stitch floss to use, so I ended up using some baker’s twine which fit the bill nicely. When I saw this template in the classroom, I knew how I wanted to use it right away, so I grabbed my camera and took some impromptu shots of my husband and daughter, which was easier than I thought (they can sometimes be rather camera shy)! So today I got going on my layout, and after I was finished, dear Hubby informed me that Amy’s layout was gorgeous, and I should have done one like hers! At least he’s honest. ;-)

Stitching on paper is easy, and even if you don’t know how to sew or cross-stitch, you will not find this difficult. I enjoy it, and I will probably end up wanting to stitch on everything now!

There is one other thing I would like to share. Ali Edwards’ blog today is about a “photo walkabout” with Liz Ness of Great Photos Plus. She has video posted there which was really great. Four talented women got together at Canon Beach in Oregon for a photography adventure of sorts. They randomly drew an idea from a box, and following that direction, explored the area in search of images to photograph which would fit the requirement (in this case it was looking for shadows….on a rainy day, no less.). At the end of the day, I’m sure they had some fantastic images. Ali suggested to her followers that we so some exploring and see what we can come up with for our ‘weekend lens’. I just happen to be going to the coast for the weekend with my husband for our 6th wedding anniversary, and we will be taking our cameras along. I am über excited, and cannot wait to see what we can come up with. Of course, I’m not following any piece of paper, I’m going to shoot everything!! See you next week!

Sep 28

The end of The Mother LOAD, day 26.

lt’s all over. I produced a layout-a-day (almost) for 26 days. On our last and final day, yesterday, our prompt was to do anything we want. I discovered this photo on my sister-in-law’s Facebook page, so I stole a copy of it (I’m known for that with her and my brother…good thing they don’t mind!) because I think it’s a gorgeous representation of them.

The perfect couple.

I didn’t really plan this page, I just felt that a black background looked better than any of the other papers I tried, so I kept up the black and white theme with a touch of red for color. I seem to have this thing with filling up half the page with a margin-less photo, I’ve noticed. I think I got it from either Cathy Zielske or Laura Kurz…or both.

_________

A disclaimer is necessary here, for personal reasons. I want to say to anyone reading this whom I personally know that I realize someone may feel some hurt by this but this is not my intention, of course. I feel strongly that not everyone is meant to be with the person they chose at first. This is perfectly okay (especially if you’re as imperfect as I am…but I don’t think anyone is!). Since life does not always turn out the way we think it’s supposed to (like I know from experience), we learn, we grow, and we move on to another stage in our lives where we find the person we are meant to be with. You, too, are probably half of another perfect match yourself right now. Sometimes, practice makes perfect (I would like to say I should know, but I’ll never be perfect. ;-)