Nihao, Cupcake!

It's Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge Time Again!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, this month for the Take 12 Challenge I wanted to document ways in which our lives are different now that we live in China and not in Los Angeles. There are so many differences and I could only capture so many in just one day! This may become an ongoing theme. In fact, I've done a layout on this same topic before but I only used four photos and they were all from different days.

I used template #11 from the Ella Publishing Take Twelve Template Pack. It was so easy to use!

My journaling reads:

I wanted to capture the details of our lives that are different because we live in China. In this day I noticed: * friendly caricatures of police reminding me of safety rules * McD’s entrance near the freeway with DELIVERY mo-peds waiting out front * my view behind “the wheel” is very different * “my other car is a TAXI” * bilingual kids menus * distinctive highrises landmark my neighborhood * friendly comics hung around town remind me how to behave * parking my vehicle is a very different experience these days * eloquent translations give wonderful suggestions on what to do in case of an emergency * instant coffee replaces ‘real’ coffee for a variety of reasons * Titanic in 3D is big EVERY where!

And because the elevator sign is hard to read, I will share what it says here:

When eleveator breakdown please keep cool, rings the bell to pray for rescue.

I LOVE that one! My 13 year old noticed this sign for the very first time on the 12th (lucky for me, huh?). It is in the elevator that we ride up and down to our apartment multiple times a day but because it is posted so high in the elevator, none of us had ever noticed it.

 

DID YOU TAKE TWELVE??

Did you Take Twelve photos on April 12th and make a layout? Join the link party at Ella Publishing! There's a great prize. But hurry, you have to link up today (April 18).

Do you want to Take Twelve but didn't do it on the 12th? Not to worry, it isn't too late! (Link party for prizes closes today but feel free to link up next month and/or leave me a link in the comments [here and/or at Ella's blog] and I'll come see your page.) Angie Lucas even gives tips on cheating on the blog. I'm all for cheating in scrapbooking if it gets another story told and a memory documented! It all counts, right?

Don't forget to check out the Take Twelve Flickr group and post your photos & finished layouts.

To see all my Take 12 Challenge Posts including my layouts from past months, click HERE.

Check out the blogs of the other Ella Publishing Take Twelve Design Team:

Like the Car

Janette Carter-Kincaid

Scrap Inspired

Scrappy Wife, Happy Life

Day by Day

Right Here-Right Now

The Scrapbooking Haven Diva

Scrapworthy Lives

People of the Scrapbook

My Little Blessings

Life is Sweet

A Swoop and a Dart

Endless Possibilities

Yeah, Write

Digital Scrapbooking: Your Questions Answered {reblogged from Layoutaday.com}

via www.layoutaday.com

Our very own Melissa Shanhun, who is a regular One Little Word Blog Hop Participant, is sharing some fantastic digital tips on the Layout A Day blog today. Go check it out. I am bookmarking it for EASY reference.

Welcome to the Pre-LOAD {Layout A Day} Blog Hop!

Welcome to my blog and the Pre-LOAD {Layout A Day} Blog Hop! LOAD is a challenge hosted by Lain Ehmann for scrapbookers. It is just like it sounds. A bunch of us scrapbookers commit to producing a LAYOUT A DAY for one whole month. We post our layouts every day (by midnight PST) in our Flickr group gallery, cheer each other on and offer encouragement. Lain sends us daily emails with prompts, and this month she's got 29 videos to inspire our creativity! There are even prizes.

This blog hop is meant to offer ideas and encouragement for newbies and alumni alike on how to prepare for the month ahead. Some of us are seasoned alums with lots of wisdom to share, others of us are brand new and sharing our goals and plans and some possible fears for the month ahead.

Before I tell you about my LOAD experience, I have to begin by telling you about the layout at the top of this blog post. I made that layout in 2002. Guess how long it took me to make it?

GUESS?

It sat on my dining room table for ONE WHOLE MONTH before I finally finished it. I wanted so badly to design a layout like the ones I saw in the magazines. I had Becky Higgins'   Creative Companion at my side and I studied all the different self-made backgrounds she had so neatly indexed. They looked so finished, impressive and even easy but for some reason, I couldn't pull them off.

See the border of blue rectangles at the bottom of the page? I had originally made an entire background using those rectangles, but it didn't look right to me, so after a MONTH of arranging and rearranging the parts and pieces, I finally came up with that finished layout. 

Now it is a nice layout and in all honesty, it doesn't look too dated. It is a pretty classic design and tells a nice story and does a good job of highlighting the photos. BUT IT TOOK ME A MONTH! That is just way too long.

I would hear about people with shelves bursting with albums filled to overflowing with scrapbook pages and all I had was a handful of painstakingly made layouts. At this rate, by the time I died, each of my 3 kids would be lucky to have two layouts each! I needed a different strategy.

Fast forward a few years...

Along came LOAD. 

I signed up for the very first one. It was January of 2007, lead by Lain. January wasn't a good month for me (too close to the holidays with a birthday towards the end). I only finished one page that first time!

The following year it was going to happen in February. I was so excited because I was committed and raring to go. I loved the idea of a challenge and I knew if I had the right mindset, I could do it. And guess what? Much to my amazement, I did it! I completed one page every single day in February of 2008. It was so much fun!

We did it again in May and October. And I am proud to say I completed 31 days in May and again in October.

Now it is 2012, and I have participated in two or three LOADS every year and have completed countless layouts. I now have shelves bursting with albums overflowing with pages. I've been published, I'm a BPC Library of Memories coach and I was asked to join the Ella Publishing Take Twelve Design team. I even have some wonderful new "internet friends" since joining LOAD back 2007.

I credit my regular participation in LOAD (among a few other habits) to be a large reason I was able to make all of these scrapbooking goals come true.

You could say I am a seasoned LOAD veteran. 

So how can you be successful at LOAD?

*Besides having some basic supplies at your disposal (i.e., for paper & hybrid scrappers: lots of your favorite adhesive, plenty of cardstock & patterned paper, printed photos, etc), most of the preparation for me is the mindset of being comitted to a layout a day. 

*Plan the page into your day. Decide the night before or first thing in the morning the photos you will work on, the story you want to tell. Think about it throughout the day so you have a basic idea of what you want to do when you sit down to work.

*Refer to your favorite inspiration: sketches, magazines, your photos

*Mine your blog for stories. I have a category on mine for Future Scrapbook Pages - couldn't be easier to find something to scrap about.

*Finish up any online classes that aren't complete - LOAD is the prefect time to do it.

*Finish up any incomplete albums (vacation albums, mini albums, Xmas gifts undelivered).

*Catch up with Project Life - this year or even last year! I always do a few spreads each time.

*Make quick decisions while making a page. Trust your gut. Glue it down and move on. 

*Get the story told.

*Leave perfectionism behind. LOAD helped me get over that and learn to trust my gut.

 

DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT!!!

 In Layout a Day DONE is the most important thing. 

If you messed up one day, you can do better tomorrow.

KEEP CALM and SCRAPBOOK ON!

 

LOAD starts on February 1st. If you are not already signed up, it's not too late to join us! Click here for more information. It's the nicest group of scrapbookers on the internet!

This month's theme is PAST PERFECT. The prompts will encourage us to scrapbook about our pasts, but how far back we go, is up to us. And if you want to scrapbook something totally unrelated to the prompt or the theme, that is totally fine too!

                 

Now on to the other inspiring blogs... But before you go... Leave me a comment - SEASONED VETRANS: your best word of LOAD advice; NEWBIES: your biggest LOAD fear.

Then on with the blog hop to KELLI. (Please return here if you get lost along the way, to make sure you visit all of the blogs on the hop today.)

 To see everything LOAD on my blog, including all my posted layouts and the last blog hop, click here.

Pre-LOAD Blog Hop Partcipants.

Margie                          http://xnomads.typepad.com   <--- You are HERE.

Kelli                                    www.scrapbookgirl71.blogspot.com   <--- Go HERE next.

Jennifer                         http://atthebluebarn.blogspot.com/

Lisa                                    http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

Monica                        http://scrapinspired.com

Kimberly                        www.kimberlykalil.com 

Eileen                                    http://thinkinkpaperscissors.weebly.com/blog.html

Danielle                         http://acoffeeaddict.com

Pam                                    dailypamage.blogspot.com

Katrina                        http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com

Cate                                     www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com

Gayle                                    http://www.lifeonlilypadlane.blogspot.com

Heather                        http://heathersdragonsden.blogspot.com

Gina                                    http://randomthoughtsmindlessmusings.blogspot.com 

Kristie                                    http://kristiesloan.com

Janet                                    http://khashabfamilymusings.blogspot.com

Lydia                                    http://lydiaink.wordpress.com

 

Affiliate links used when possible.

Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge :: Layout & Jetlag

 

I can't tell you how much I love a project like this. Take twelve photos on the twelfth of every month of the year and then make 12 layouts, of course! Give me a photography challenge and I am there. And taking everyday photos is my favorite.

On the 12th of January this year the boys and I had a 13+ hour flight across the Pacific to be reunited with their Dad who was back in Beijing, China. Not the most exciting activity to take photos of. But there in lies the challenge, no?

We take this flight four times a year - twice there and twice back. It has been a big part of our lives for the last three and a half years. This should be documented. I try to take one or maybe two photos every time we fly but I have never tried to "tell the story" of the flight. I am so glad that I did! I love how so many of the photos turned out.

I used template #12 from the Ella Publishing Take Twelve Template Pack. It was so easy to use! I am still suffering from jetlag - there is a 16 hour difference between California and Beijing - so I didn't want to spend a lot of time on my layout. (I need more sleep!) This template was perfect and it's so cute! I used digital papers and ribbon from Tracie Stroud Designs to add some color. The simple text is Arial.

 

DID YOU TAKE TWELVE??

Did you Take Twelve and make a layout? Join the link party at Ella Publishing! There are prizes. But hurry, you have to link up today (Jan 18).

Do you want to Take Twelve but didn't do it on the 12th? Not to worry, it isn't too late! (Link party for prizes closes today but feel free to link up next month and/or leave me a link in the comments [here and/or at Ella's blog] and I'll come see your page.) In fact, Ella Publishing has a discount on their TAKE TWELVE Inspiration Kit just for procrastinators. Angie Lucas even gives tips on cheating on the blog. I'm all for cheating in scrapbooking if it gets another story told and a memory documented! It all counts, right?

Don't forget to check out the Take Twelve Flickr group and post your photos & finished layouts.

Check out the blogs of the other Ella Publishing Take Twelve Design Team:

 

Like the Car

Nihao, Cupcake!

Janette Carter-Kincaid

Scrap Inspired

Scrappy Wife, Happy Life

Day by Day

Right Here-Right Now

The Scrapbooking Haven Diva

Scrapworthy Lives

People of the Scrapbook

My Little Blessings

Life is Sweet

A Swoop and a Dart

Endless Possibilities

Yeah, Write

 

PROJECT LIFE

I loved the photos my boys and I took on the 12th so much that I came up with a way to integrate more of them into my Project Life album. I'll post that tomorrow (Beijing time) along with my finished Project Life layout from week one that was meant to be posted on Tuesday. (Jetlag is a killer!)

 

India: Rajasthan – a Photo Book from Paper Coterie

India: Rajasthan  created by: Margie S.

A random grouping of some of our favorite photos from our trip to India in June. Unfortunately the order of the pages have been mixed and I am in the process of working with customer service to get this straightened out, so please excuse the strange order of things.

via www.papercoterie.com

Click on the link to view my book.

Double BLOG HOP Monday: FAMILY x 12 & Happiness Blog Hop

Hi Blog Readers!

Today is the day of the double blog hop on my blog today. As many of you know, I host a monthly blog hop on the 5th of every month called FAMILY x 12. Our goal for the hop is to support each other in taking a family photo at least once a month. 

I also signed up to be a part of Stephanie's Happiness Blog Hop this month which she hosts on the first Monday of every month. And this month, that just so happens to be Sept 5th. That means today you get two blog hops for the price of one! I hope you don't mind.

If you are here for the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop, that is just below and if you are here for the HAPPINESS BLOG HOP, I hope you don't mind scrolling down to the end of my family photos. Of course, you are more than welcome to join along on both hops should you so desire! The more the merrier, of course!

FAMILY X 12 BLOG HOP

The reason I started this hop is because I realized after a trip to Singapore and then a trip to Kyoto, Japan, I never took a family photo during either amazing trip! How could that happen? Then, I saw a post on Tara Whitney's blog last December that she made a goal to take a family photo once every month in 2010. Her photos were wonderful. Many are just her family hanging around the house. I don't think any of them are formal and posed but they are all very fun. I was so inspired and knew I had to try this. I was lucky that some blog friends wanted to play along. They have guaranteed that I won't forget my goal. And the month when I did forget, I cheated! As long as I take a photo at a time when the month hasn't ended some where in the world, my photo still counts. 

Because the most important thing is that we get more family photos. The time that our loved ones are with us is fleeting, so capturing ourselves together as we are now, is priceless.

OUR AUGUST FAMILY PHOTOS

Over the last year or so I have been taking a lot of photos of my family in elevators. I guess many of our elevators here in Beijing have mirrors. Not to mention, living in the city we are in elevators a lot so it happens frequently. This is on the first day of school in the elevator in our apartment building. The elevator is newly refurbished. Don't you love the fancy fakely etched mirror? Very fancy! Ha!

The other photo didn't do it for me as our 'official' family photo, largely because you can't see the face of my middle son. On August 31st after school and before dinner, I set up the camera, we sat against the wall and did the best we could. Of course this was one of those photo attempts where just as everyone was all ready and I was about to press the shutter, a cafuffle broke out... more than once! If I wasn't the one trying to press the shutter as we were losing the light, it would have been quite humorous! This was the last one we took and the only one I like! One is all I need.

I love all the toes!

Some of you regulars may recognize my blouse. I think I have worn it in the last three months of family photos. Can you tell its my favorite summer shirt?

During the July Blog Hop, I was looking forward to sharing several photos from our busy June, but as most of you know, I had to cancel that blog hop due to my husband's sudden critical illness (He is fine now, by the way. He is fast on his way to full recovery.) Then when it was time for our August hop, I was preparing for our flight back to Beijing so I only had time to prepare a couple of them. So, if you will all indulge me, I would like to share a few more from June.

Here we are at a fort in Jodhpur overlooking the blue side of the city.

My husband gets credit for remembering to get this one. He asked the rickshaw driver to take it for us. I'm also glad I am holding the bag from Anokhi. A friend of mine who used to live in India told me about this store and now I am a huge fan myself! I looked for one in every city we visited.

 

I think we were in a palace in the city of Jaipur. This mirror was very dirty as you can see. Not sure if it was supposed to be that way or not!

An evening swim at our hotel in Jaipur. We asked one of the hotel workers to take this for us. It looked great on the camera but once on the computer, it is obviously terribly out of focus. Such a disappointment as this would have been a cute one.

We came up here to see this view and the sunset on the other side of the plateau. So interesting visiting all of the old palaces, forts and cities.

Part of the school's graduation ceremony is a family photo with the graduate's teachers. There is that favorite shirt again!

Five days later another graduation ceremony. This time our eldest son graduates from elementary school. His school finishes at 6th grade. 

Well that's it for June and August. Thanks for stopping by. 

Your next stop is Melissa. (Keep scrolling down, if you are here for the Happiness Blog Hop.) 

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog <--- You are HERE.
Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com <--- Go here NEXT.
Ruth  http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com
Jo  http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

Patricia http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

MonicaB   http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

 

HAPPINESS BLOG HOP

This month's theme for the Happiness Blog Hop is "Contemplate the Heavens." Stephanie has broken that down into three sections this month, (based on Gretchen Rubin's book, The Happiness Project) - Gratitude, Spiritual Master and Childhood Dreams. See her blog for more details.

Gratitude is something that I have been wanting to bring more of into my life. I often have moments of gratitude but I've been wanting to make even more room for it in my life. 

One thing that always fills me with gratitude and other warm, fuzzy feelings, is doing anything with my photos. So this month, in an exercise to stir up more feelings of gratitude, I thought I would put together a photo collage of things from the month of August that inspire feelings of gratitude.

I used a free downloadable template from Rebecca Cooper. Word Art is mine.

In August 2011 I was grateful for:

*the opportunity for my kids to catch up with old friends and meet new furry ones

*fun with giant jaw breakers

*kids making good use of cameras by making creative videos

*a belated 13th birthday celebration

*creative games that only happen in summer (wagon becomes go-cart)

*another lost tooth!

*at ten he makes his own breakfast several times a week

*observing dad comfort Braden through his first day of First Grade jitters

*after school walks in the rain for ice cream

*all three kids at the same school!

*Slip N Slide (early birthday gift worth every penny)

 

The next person on the blog hop is Melissa.

If you should get lost along the way, please return to Stephanie's blog at Scrapworthy Lives, to find your next destination.

 

A list of all the participants are below.

Scrapworthy Lives

Pie for Breakfast

Scraps & Sass

Take a Picture and Remember This

1200 Some Miles

Slice of Life

Abstracts Mixed with Extracts

Your Memory Connection

Kiss & Tell Scrapbooking

My Creative Days in Beijing <--- You are HERE.

Melissa’s Blog <--- Go HERE next.

Playing Catch Up - Layout A Day (#LOAD511) & 365: Project Life

I'm a little late on my 365: Project Life update this week, but not by much. I'm also catching up with posting my layouts from LOAD. Not to mention I did not post my meal plan for this week.

My husband is so busy at work this week that he is not home at all for dinner, so I am throwing together dinners on the fly. Leftovers and tonight we had pancakes. It feels good to take one week off from cooking serious meals and planning. By the way, the slow cooker tortilla soup I threw together last Monday was OK, but the taco sauce probably wasn't the best choice. I think next time I would use tomato soup or fresh tomatoes instead. Otherwise it was good and it did get eaten.

Weekly photos:

Sunday, May 15

Reece wasn't feeling well and Paul had unexpected business come up so once we realized we couldn't make it to church this morning, Reece went back to bed.

Monday, May 16

I'm making no-photo Mondays a habit, but not on purpose. I think I might be so over taking photos by the time the weekend is over, I forget to pick up my camera. That and the fact that it is usually a busy day for me. Oh well - I did take this photo since I finished this layout from 365: Project Life 2010 for Layout A Day.

Tuesday, May 17

He pours everything into just about anything he does, especially if it is an essay for school, a story for school or a power point presentation for school. I encourange him as best as I can to get the 'meat' done and then add all of the extras (like the narrator with a skin disease that looks like a ghord and all the animation), but he can't seem to help himself. His teacher doesn't mind waiting for his work because she says he turns in excellent work. In fact, he gave his power point presentation to the class even though it wasn't totally finished. She told him ti was so good she was going to show the younger class because not only was it interesting with all the animation and extras but it was full of good facts and information. I think he has his heart and mind in the right place. I think he is a perfectionist - maybe?

 

Wednesday, May 18

Reece still working on his power point presentation while dad gets some work done.

 

Thursday, May 18

Braden has been in love with making his own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches lately. I hate that the only PB available here has so much sugar in it, it might as well be frosting, but you work with what you have when you jsut need a quick snack. He loves to put jelly first, peanut butter and if he can manipulate me, honey on top of that!

 

Friday, May 19

Not a very good angle of me. A quick self portrait just before my husband and I go out for our weekly Friday night dinner.

 
Saturday, May 20

Braden had his first friend sleepover Saturday night. I made them smoothies for dessert after dinner. I cut Braden's friend out of the picture for his privacy. Sorry for the lack of editing on this photo it is SOOC. Normally I would fix the white balance and brighten and sharpen this.

 

 

LOAD Layouts 20, 21, 22 & 23 & 24 (Didn't realize I was that far behind from posting them.)

 

 

 

DAY 21

 

 

DAY 22

 

 

DAY 23

 

DAY 24

 

And don't forget to send me an email if you are a OLW student at Big Picture Classes and want to participate in the monthly blog hop. The next one is coming up on June 1st.

LOAD: Day 16 - Snowball Fight at the Forbidden City

My layout for Day 16 of LOAD is a template I downloaded ages ago from Ali Edwards. It was free at the time. The papers are MCO Frosted 5 & 6. 

This was such a fun day. To see more photos go to this post Snowball Fight at the Forbidden City, Beijing. Or you can visit my set on Flickr. I have to warn you it includes 54 of my favorite photos from the day! I took all the pictures with my 50mm f/1.4 which takes awesome pictures (with a little help from the photographer behind the camera, of course - haha!).

To see everything related to LOAD on my blog click here!

 

HAPPENINGS AT THE BLOG!

Very soon I will be announcing my very special guest blogger. We have settled on a date and she will have the floor (of the blog) on Saturday, May 21st. I can't wait.

Blog Hops

ONE LITTLE WORD - ONE on 1

June 1st will be another One on 1 Blog Hop for students of Ali Edwards' One Little Word Class at Big Picture Classes. If you want to join us, please send me an email, including blog address (with June OLW Blog Hop in the subject line) and I will send you the details. You can also find more information on the Chit Chat message board in the One Little Word classroom.

To see everything ONE LITTLE WORD on my blog, click here.

 

FAMILY x 12

June 5 I will have a blog-hop to showcase my monthly personal project FAMILY x 12. If you are taking a monthly family photo (or would like to start) and would like to join us for a little motivation and light accountability, send me an email and I'll be in touch with the details. (A family photo can be whatever you define as family, even if that is just you and your spouse/partner or you and your cat [dogs count too]!)

To see everything FAMILY x 12 on my blog, click here.

 

Catching up with LOAD & Monday Meal Plannings

LOAD Day 13 - 2nd page of a spread about my son's day at school

 

LOAD Day 14 - My Dear Friends

 

LOAD Day 15 -  Catching up with Project Life/ Project 365

 These are photos from 2010. I just happen to be working on the same month a year later! 

 

 

MEAL PLAN MONDAY

MONDAY

Today I am making an impromptu recipe of tortilla soup. I'll let you know how it turns out. It is my attempt to fix our busy Monday situation. I have Chinese lessons from 2:30 to 4:00. I pick up my son at 4:15 then I have to get all three boys to swimming by 5:30. I stay for 45 minutes to watch my youngest son and the first 15 minutes of my older kids' lesson, then I am home by 6:30.  When to make dinner? There is no time, so I have to be ready with leftovers or a slow cooker meal. And since I didn't sit down last night with my plan for the week, I had to throw something together. Here is my recipe:

5 chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks

1 jar of mild taco sauce (tomato base) - 14 oz

2 tomatoes diced

2 cans of no fat sodium free chicken broth

1 teaspoon of powdered cumin

4 garlic cloves

1 red onion diced

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro

1 zucchini thinly sliced

1 can of black beans

1 can of corn

1/4 teaspoon of chili powder

I put the chicken in my slow cooker first, ground up half the onion and the zucchini with the beans and cilantro in my food processor (my kids don't like vegetables or beans but they will eat them ground up!), put that mix in the food processor, added the chicken broth, the jar of taco sauce, the rest of the diced onion, tomatoes and the sliced garlic, the powdered cumin and the chili powder. Turned my cooker to low and it is cooking now. 

I will let you know next week how everything turns out!

Here's the rest of the week's menus...

TUESDAY - Beef Stroganoff

WEDNESDAY - Mac & Cheese (my HealthIER yet still delicious version from The Best Recipe Cookbook by Cooks Illustrated magazine)

THURSDAY - Salmon Cakes (WW Pantry to Plate)

FRIDAY - Leftovers or Order Annie's

SATURDAY -  Falafel

LOAD: Day 8 - I love pictures of us kissing.

The 'glass' heart is by Marie Stones at http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com. I must have downloaded it for free sometime ago. The filmstrip is by Ditters Doodles. The red paper is Emily Powers, Blossom 8. The Kraft is Emily Powers, Blossom 7. The font is Courier.

I scraplifted this design from a student in the Big Picture Scrapbooking class for National Scrapbook Day. Her screen name is ajjones. Sorry I can't provide a link since it is a student's only gallery. 

To see the posts about taking the photos for this layout, go here and here.

To see everything related to LOAD on my blog click here!

To see everything related to SCRAPBOOKING on my blog click here.

Some exciting news! 

Coming up in the next couple of weeks, I will be having a guest blogger! That's all I can say right now. Can you guess who it is or what they might be blogging about? More details coming soon...

 

National Scrapbook Day, Simple Things & LOAD: Day 7

NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY

So many great places to be today for some fun...

**Shimelle.com - she has already started her challenges - one every hour with lots of give-a-way opportunities. 

**Big Picture Scrapbooking has a free class with challenges and give-a-ways.

**Here is Scrapbook.com's schedule for "Camp National Scrapbook Day"

**A good sale over at JessicaSprague.com.

**A nice sale over at twopeasinabucket.com.

WHERE WILL YOU BE HANGING OUT ON NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY? Leave me a link in the comments so we can check them out.

HAPPY {inter}NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY!

 

A MOM BY ANY OTHER NAME...

This week one of the Simple Things that made me smile was receiving this beautiful rose from my youngest son at his school's mother's day celebration. It was a very special program. I always love attending these and receiving the special gifts my kids prepare. 

His school decided to use the word Mum on the rose tag instead of Mother or Mom. We are celebrating Mother's Day at the same time that it is celebrated in the US not in March as they do in the UK, but they used the British word for mother. Not that I mind. I just find it interesting. I like being Mum too. And sometimes Braden calls me Mum especially after he's been playing with one of his British friends or watching an episode of Kipper.

To see my other SIMPLE THINGS entries on my blog, click here.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I was a guest blogger on Saturday as part of a PHOTOGRAPHY series about purchasing a DSLR.

On Saturday I was the guest blogger over at Lorraine's blog, The Vue from Here. Lorraine is in the market for a new camera. She is frustrated with the limitations of her point & shoot camera and wants to upgrade to a DSLR. She has enlisted the help of five DSLR users to share their experiences and knowledge to assist her in making her decision.

To read my article Do you need a DSLR or should you upgrade your P&S?, click! I compare some high end P&S cameras with an entry-level DSLR.

The week has been full of great information. Head over to The Vue from Here today to read Lorraine's conclusion to the series and find out what she has learned about cameras this week. Will she buy a P&S? A DSLR? Which one?

 

To see everything related to PHOTOGRAPHY on my blog click here!

LOAD: Day 7

My son is not too excited to answer my questions any more, so to add some novelty to the process, I created an online survey for him so he would play along. Read this post to see a portion of the survey.

The lined paper is Ali Edwards from a Lisa Bearnson Kit of the Month from a couple of years ago. The grunge frame is Jessica Sprague.

To see everything related to LOAD on my blog click here!

 

FAMILY x 12 Inaugural Blog Hop TODAY (And lots of other good stuff on the blog like Embrace the Camera & LOAD)!

Welcome to the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

There are a group of six blogs participating today.

What is FAMILY x 12?

It is a personal project inspired by Tara Whitney. The goal is one family photo per month for a year.

I realized not too long ago that we did not take a family photo during our trips to Singapore or Japan in 2008. That is inexcusable! Those were special and rare opportunities and I missed them.

I realized I needed to make more of an effort to make sure these photos were happening.  So when I saw this: 6 People 12 Times on Tara's blog, I couldn't resist.

How easy is it to flake or forget about this project? Very. How important is it to make taking family photos a habit? Extremely! So, this blog hop was born.

 

JANUARY 2011

This was the very last moment of the month of January, Hawaii time. I piled everyone on the couch and hit the self-timer a few times.

 FEBRUARY 2011

Our first visit as a family to the Forbidden City. Click here to see photos of our snowball fight at THE FORBIDDEN CITY.

MARCH 2011

I actually never managed to get a photo in March so I had my youngest draw a picture of the family. Click here to hear the story behind it.

APRIL 2011

On the local Qing Ming holiday, we took a cooking class that taught us how to make traditional pastries. Click here to see Qing Ming pastry class photos.

 

Since I love to see photos of our family through the years all in one place, I thought I would share this layout that I made in 2009. I have yet to fill in the journaling (still) but I will do that this month! Promise. ENJOY!

To see everything related to FAMILY x 12 on my blog, click here. 

Now, don't stop here! You have six more blogs to visit! Melissa is next on the list. If you should get lost along the way, come back here and you can find a list of all the blogs and get back on the right path. Thanks so much for joining us. If you want to start a project of your own, send me an email (June Family x 12 Blog Hop in subject line) and we can include you in the June 5 blog hop!

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog   <--- HERE
Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com <---- Next stop
Carol Anne   http://www.scrappingthoughts.com
Ruth  http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com
Jo  http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com
Sharis  http://www.airbs.blogspot.com

Patricia http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/ <--- last minute addition (she may not be on the other participant's blog, but please come back here and click on her link to see her post.)

 

(If you're here for EMBRACE the CAMERA, keep scrolling.)

MAY 2011 LOAD DAY 4:

Here is my layout for the day. Another digi one. I know I said I would do a traditional layout today, but I keep finding digi photos that inspire me. Maybe tomorrow??

To see everything related to LOAD on my blog click here!

 

EMBRACE THE CAMERA

For the last few months as I ride my bike around the city, I've been trying to figure out how to get photos of me and my little rider while on the bike. The best thing I have come up with is reflections, but how to do that while we are riding and both hands are on the handlebars? More recently I've been riding my bike with my camera around my neck waiting for opportunities to take pictures. I will pick the camera up with one hand, aim in the general direction I want and press the shutter button. This is the best reflection I got. My face is blocked but my little rider looks cute.

I link up over at andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com every Thursday.

 Because being in our family's photos is important! 

 

TIMELY SCRAPBOOKING IDEAS

There is an interesting post over at Paperclipping.com where Noell Hyman shares her ideas on capturing current events for our scrapbook pages. I thought this was very timely so I wanted to share the link in case you are interested.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY GUEST POST on Saturday

Coming up on Saturday (UK time), I will be the guest blogger over at Lorraine's blog, The Vue from Here. Lorraine is in the market for a new camera. She is frustrated with the limitations of her point & shoot camera and wants to upgrade to a DSLR. She has enlisted the help of five DSLR users to share their experiences and knowledge to assist her in making her decision.

Today is the forth day of the series, when guest poster, Sue, tells all about her TWO DSLRs and lenses.

The week proves to be full of great information. Head over to The Vue from Here all this week for some fantastic information on DSLRs and great photography conversation. We are all taking questions, so head on over and ask away. And feel free to contribute your own expertise to the conversation!

To see everything related to PHOTOGRAPHY on my blog click here!

May 2011 LOAD Day 3: My Greatest Gifts

Another super simple digital layout. I find with these digi layouts I don't see what they are missing until they are finished and uploaded to Flickr and I see the thumbnail. By then, I won't go back and change it. Sure, I could, but I know myself and I won't. Heck, I rarely print my digi layouts. I think tomorrow needs a 'traditional' layout! What do you think?

I think unconsciously this layout was inspired by Cathy Zielske or perhaps consciously. Over the past two days when I have been creating these super simple digi layouts, her style has been on my mind. So, when I read the Spring Training challenge over at the Ella Publishing blog, I realized this is the perfect layout to submit. The only thing that would make it more like CZ is some white space and some other kind of interesting element. I'll get there some day! : )

 To see everything related to LOAD on my blog click here!

FAMILY x 12 BLOG HOP

TOMORROW (THURS) 9 AM EST

I hope you will come back to my blog tomorrow to join me for the FAMILY x 12 Inaugural Blog Hop. What is FAMILY x 12? It is a personal project inspired by Tara Whitney. The goal is to take one family photo per month for a year.

PHOTOGRAPHY GUEST POST on Saturday

Coming up on Saturday (UK time), I will be the guest blogger over at Lorraine's blog, The Vue from Here. Lorraine is in the market for a new camera. She is frustrated with the limitations of her point & shoot camera and wants to upgrade to a DSLR. She has enlisted the help of five DSLR users to share their experiences and knowledge to assist her in making her decision.

Today is the third day of the series, when guest poster, Marie, shares her experience of being a DSLR owner over the past 2+ years and all the lessons she has learned.

The week proves to be full of great information. Head over to The Vue from Here all this week for some fantastic information on DSLRs and great photography conversation. We are all taking questions, so head on over and ask away. And feel free to contribute your own expertise to the conversation!

To see everything related to PHOTOGRAPHY on my blog click here!

LOAD: Day 2

I had so much fun with my digital layout yesterday I decided to do another one today. The thing I love most about digital pages is that it is so easy to make the photos the focus.

This design was inspired by a children's book I was reading to my son last night for bedtime. One of the challenges at Ella Publishing for their Spring Training classes was use a print ad as inspiration in any way. This was not from an ad, but I think it is close enough! 

 

PHOTOGRAPHY GUEST POST

Coming up on Saturday (UK time), I will be the guest blogger over at Lorraine's blog, The Vue from Here. Lorraine is in the market for a new camera. She is frustrated with the limitations of her point & shoot camera and wants to upgrade to a DSLR. She has enlisted the help of five DSLR users to share their experiences and knowledge to assist her in making her decision.

Today is the second day of the series, when guest poster, Jules, explains her process for selecting her DSLR. The week proves to be full of great information. Head over to The Vue from Here all this week for some fantastic information on DSLRs and great photography conversation. We are all taking questions, so head on over and ask away. And feel free to contribute your own expertise to the conversation!

Feeding the Dinosaur - May '11 LOAD: Day 1

LOAD (Layout A Day) has started again! Here is my first layout. It's a digi page!

You may recognize this photo from my Day in Photos, Shimelle's link up for Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers. I started with a template by TaylorMade. It was a free download from months and months ago. I made the photo much wider and moved the location of the title.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY GUEST POST

Coming up on Saturday, I will be the guest blogger over at Lorraine's blog, The Vue from Here. Lorraine is in the market for a new camera. She is frustrated with the limitations of her point & shoot camera and wants to upgrade to a DSLR. She has enlisted the help of five DSLR users to share their experiences and knowledge to assist her in making her decision.

Today is the first day of the series, when Lorraine explains why she wants to upgrade. The week proves to be full of great information. Head over to The Vue from Here all this week for some fantastic information on DSLRs and great conversation. We are all taking questions, so head on over and ask away. And feel free to contribute your own expertise to the conversation!

WEEKLY MEAL PLAN

Mon: Chicken Tacos w/ homemade salsa

Tues: Falafel for Mom and Dad & Shepherd's Pie for kids (slow cooker) - eat for after school snacks throughout the week

Wed: Salmon Cakes & broccoli

Thurs: Lemon Chicken & glazed carrots

Fri: Order Annie's

Sat/Sun: Leftovers