Nihao, Cupcake!

May Blog Hop x 2: {FAMILY x 12} + {Project Life}

We interupt this blog post for the following special message...

HAPPY iSCRAPBOOK DAY!!

There are a ton of deals out there as well as so many fun challenges. Plenty of blogs are listing links to all the fun and there is even more information via Twitter. There will not be enough time in the day to do it all. So, if you are reading this, I THANK YOU for stopping by this blog, when there are so many others calling for your attention. Without further ado, on with our normally scheduled blog post:

It's the 5th of the month so that means TWO Blog Hops in ONE post...

First off is the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop: A small group of us support each other each month in getting a family photo. If we don't make a point of doing it every month, then too many days, weeks, years pass and we forget to take photos of our families all together. How many photos have you taken this year of your family?

Since we didn't remember to have anyone take our photo early in the month when we were doing something fun, we did this at the last possible moment. It was two hours before my husband had to leave for the airport. You may be able to tell that it was after the sun went down so we didn't have much light to work with.

And if you have been visiting often for these FAMILY x 12 Blog Hops, you know that we have more than one photo of our family on that distinctive red sofa. So, to add a little spice this time around, we decided to take a photo of ALL TEN of our family members.

You may remember this photo above. I used the exact same technique. To read about HOW I did it, go to this post, Top Ten Self-Timer Madness Photos.

Don't forget to continue on to all the other participants for more family photo inspiration! If you are interested in committing to one family photo a month, send me an email (link on sidebar) and join us next month on the 5th. It's fun and you'll have some great photos of your whole family.

If you want to check out the PROJECT LIFE Blog Hop, keep on scrolling down through this post, and then don't forget to head over to JO's blog to see her lovely family photo for the month.

Here are all the May 5 FAMILY x 12 blog hop participants in case you should get lost along the way, come back here and find your way:

May 5 FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop Participant List

Margie  <--- You are HERE.

Jo http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com   <--- Go here NEXT.

Ruth http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com

Jill http://jillconyers.com

Moncia http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com  

Patricia http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

 

PROJECT LIFE BLOG HOP

First of all, THANKS to Jill for hosting the montly Project Life blog hop even though she was too crazed this month to participate. So nice of her not to cancel.

Unfortunately, I, too, am not ready yet! I am furiously working on my Project Life post, but I will not have it ready on time. I have to run out and then I'll be back to publish. Please check back in a few hours.

EDITED: It took me two days to get my pages finished, photographed, published (our internet has been slow as molasses here in China lately) and posted, so I created a totally new post, HERE. Sorry for the delay!

But in the meantime, you can check out all of my other PROJECT LIFE posts here or please don't let me stop you from checking out the rest of the amazing Project Life inspiration on our hop. Next on the list is DEVON.

Margie You are HERE.

Devon http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com <--- Go here NEXT.   Nikki www.inkyart.com.au

Laew www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Lois http://loishouston.typepad.com/thoughts-along-lifes-highway/

Helen www.helen-mills.blogspot.com

Jennifer http://vogtstories.blogspot.com

Brighton www.dearbrighton.wordpress.com

 

It's the 5th of the month and that means Blog Hop x 2...

It's the fifth of the month so that means TWO Blog Hops in ONE post...

First off is the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop: A small group of us support each other each month in getting a family photo. If we don't make a point of doing it every month, then too many days, weeks, years pass and we forget to take photos of our families altogether.

Our went to Xi'an for the weekend to see the Terracotta Warriors. Another fun thing to do in the city is rent bikes and ride all the way around the city wall. It takes about an hour. The perfect activity for our family.

Next on the hop today is PATRICIA.

 

The complete list of FAMILY x 12 participants is below:

Margie    http://xnomads.typepad.com

Patricia  http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

Ruth     http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com

Jo    http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com (she will post late, so be sure to check back) 

 

The second blog hop is the PROJECT LIFE blog hop hosted by Jill.

Here are a few spreads from last month. I'm still using the greyscale photos I print out using regular paper as holders until I get my prints ordered - usually once a month or so. 

In this sleeve I included a business card from our store that delivered some groceries to my home that day. I also brought home a brochure from a restaurant and cut out the back in the shape of a journaling card and wrote on that instead. Then I included a Valentine that a friend gave us to represent the animated Transformer DVDs my youngest has been watching lately.

My favorite photo is the wrinkled toes. His toes were still wrinkled from swim team practice even after he rode the bus home from school!

The logo from the school event came from an email. I saved the image on my computer and printed it out so it would fit on a journaling card. I also love that I took a photo of my son's weekly math homework - learning area & volume. 

This week was St. Patrick's Day so I used a lot of green journaling cards this week.

I'll have more spreads next month. Spring is very busy with lots of visitors, travel and kids home for break.

Next on the blog hop is Natalie (I am waiting to get her blog link - will update ASAP).

The rest of the participants are below. Be sure to hop around to see all of the amazing Project Life inspiration.

Jill http://jillconyers.com/

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

Natalie 

Sarah www.documentingchaos.wordpress.com

Devon http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com

Brooke http://everysnapshot.com/

Helen www.helen-mills.blogspot.com

Alissa http://lifeonlakeland.wordpress.com

Jennifer http://vogtstories.blogspot.com

Arlene http://craftymomma-ph.blogspot.com/2012/02/project-life-2012.html

March Blog Hop x 2 {FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop } and {#ProjectLife Blog Hop}

Another double blog hop day! Welcome!

Every month on the fifth, I host a blog hop for people who want to take at least one photo of their family each month. It's amazing to realize how few family photos we take, unless we take a moment to notice. Thanks to this blog hop, I have gotten much, much better about making an effort to take family photos on special occasions and not so special occasions. Like this month!

Here is our photo for the month. Truth is, we cheated! I didn't manage to get a photo in the short month of February (even though we had the extra day), so this was taken last night before everyone headed off to bed. When I knew I was going to be cheating, my idea was to get a pajama photo. Not everyone is in their PJs, but we are all in our lounge or comfy clothes, so I suppose that is close enough. I'll do better this month! A late photo is better than no photo and by the end of the month, we will have at least twelve family photos.

If you are interested in joining us next month for the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop, send me an email (in the subject line of your email put April 5 FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop) and I'll send you all the details.

If you are here for the Project Life blog hop, keep scrolling down, otherwise it is time to continue on the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop...

Next on the hop is Monica.

 

Margie     http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Moncia    http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Ruth       http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com

Jo         http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

Jill      http://jillconyers.com

Patricia   http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

PROJECT LIFE BLOG HOP

Thanks to Jill for hosting the Project Life Blog Hop every month. This is lots of fun.

This month I have quite a few weekly spreads to share. I had hoped to share my Project Life photo work flow, but I've run out of time again! I have all the screen shots ready, but I need to upload my photos and compose my explanations. I will post it soon, I promise!

The black and white pictures are not actually photos. They are place holders until I order my prints. I wait until I need 100+ photos and then I place my order.

The pictures are just fast quality printed out in grayscale on my printer. Nothing special at all - quite the contrary. But it allows me to keep moving forward on my Project Life layouts.

 

To save time I have used coins to cover up the faces of people who are not in our family to preserve their privacy. Isn't that tricky?!

 

Sorry about the bad quality of the photos. I didn't take my photos until the sun went down. There is so little time in the winter for decent natural light, isn't there?

In this layout, I took a photo of the book I read for book club. And we kept a wrapper of a treat that my son picked out from the store in our apt complex.

I saved tickets and advertising materials from a literary festival.

 

More wrappers and photos of things my kids are into and up to these days. My youngest LOVES jumping rope every day after school and my oldest competed in his first swim meet on Saturday.

I'm also linking up here:

Thanks for stopping by!

Next on the hop is DONNA.

Here is the list of all the participants in case you should get lost along the way:

 

Jill http://jillconyers.com/

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

Donna www.joyfullydonna.blogspot.com

Tamara http://tamarasscrapping.blogspot.com.au/

Natalie http://dalys2012.wordpress.com

Devon http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com

Alissa http://lifeonlakeland.wordpress.com/
April http://capturethememories.blogspot.com

Noelia  www.noeliaevangelista.typepad.com

Sharon  http://projectsofmylife.wordpress.com/

Jennifer http://vogtstories.blogspot.com

Sarah http://documentingchaos.wordpress.com/

Arlene http://craftymomma-ph.blogspot.com/2012/02/project-life-2012.html

 

 

Blog Hop x 2: {FAMILY x 12} + {Project Life}

Today is another busy day at the blog! It is the 5th of February which means it is time for our monthly FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop.

Do you take enough pictures of you with your whole family? Neither did I until I started the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop! We support each other in taking at least one photo of our whole families during each month. We then post them on our blog and visit each other to offer support and encouragement. Does this sound like something you would like to do too? If so, email me (link in sidebar) and I will email you the details.

(If you had emailed me in the last month and I didn't get back to you, please email me again as I had some problems this month and couldn't locate all of my emails. Thanks.)

Here we are enjoying our very favorite winter activity in Beijing, ice chairs. Our local park (only two large city blocks away) offers these to rent only a two or three short months out of the year. The little lake freezes over and out come the wooden ice chairs and the big dangerous looking stakes you use to stab the ice and propel yourself across. The boys had SO MUCH FUN! We hope to do it again once more before the ice begins to melt. We wanted to go today but it was too warm. Maybe next weekend if it isn't too busy.

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

Monica is next on the hop. She always has some cute photos to share of her lovely family.

Feb 5 FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop Participants

Margie  http;//xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Monica http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Jill http://jillconyers.com

Ruth http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com

 

PROJECT LIFE

And now it is time for the Project Life part of the blog hop.

This is my latest spread. I am posting my current photos every Monday and then the following week I plan to post my completed layout on Tuesdays. I did not do that last week, so I am now a week behind. But I will catch up. 

I do not print my photos at home. I do not like the quality compared to using an outside lab and it takes up so much ink. Living in China, printer ink is outrageously expensive and high quality photo paper is non-existant, actually photo paper is non-existant, so if I run out, I'm out of luck.

Luckily, Snapfish is here in China and delivers high quality, matte finished (my fav) photos free to your door. That is the service I use but it does take a few days for them to get here. THerefore, I typically can't finish my layout until my photos arrive. That was until I came up with an interim solution! 

This week I started printing out photos in low quality black and white on regular printer paper to use as place holders - hurray! Pressure off ordering the photos and I can still do most of the work. 

Here is the other side of the spread. The label on the bottom right photo I placed on top of the page protector. The other labels/cards I plan to add directly to the photos, I will do that when my photos arrive (obviously). I usually staple them on or use adhesive depending upon my mood or what is available.

The Kavli crispy thin is a new cracker my oldest son has recently discovered that he loves and is actually fairly healthy (he typically only likes things that are really bad for you!), so it warranted being included! I do want to add journaling about that, but I have to figure out where - perhaps right on the back fo the packaging but it won't be visible. Or I may just leave it as is.

The number journaling card is a free download from Becky Higgins from three or four years ago. It is the original Project 365 KOTM design. AFter it was sold out, she was able to give some of the journal cards and other date cards away as free downloads. You'll see more showing up in my PL album in weeks to come.

I was hoping to share screen shots of my work flow for PL - mostly my photo work flow from camera, to blog & album, but I ran out of time. I think I will plan that for next month and start getting my screen shots now! So watch for that next time!

Thanks for stopping by! How are you doing with your Project Life album? Are you doing a 366 project or a weekly overview or an altogether different approach? Are you finding it easy to stay "caught up"? What is your best tip to stay current with your album?

Thanks Jill for hosting. I can't wait to see all the other Project Life eye candy on the hop today!

To see everything Project Life on my blog, click here.

Next on the blog hop is Donna B.

A complete list of participants is below in case you should get lost along the way.

 

Jill http://jillconyers.com/

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

DonnaB  http://donnasprojectlife.blogspot.com/

Sharon  http://projectsofmylife.wordpress.com/

Noelia  www.noeliaevangelista.typepad.com

Jen  http://vogtstories.blogspot.com

April http://capturethememories.blogspot.com

Brooke http://everysnapshot.com/

Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Donna www.joyfullydonna.blogspot.com

 

Did you see that the instructors for True Scrap 3 have been announced? It's going to be another awesome event! Go check it out!

FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop {January 5, 2012}

Welcome to the first FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop of 2012!

Every month on the 5th, a small group of us have a blog hop to keep each other accountable in our efforts to take more family photos throughout the year. Our goal is one family photo a month.

How lucky that the blog hop landed on a Thursday because not only do I get to use my photo for the blog hop, but I get to use it as my link up for EMBRACE the CAMERA at The Anderson Family Crew Blog. I love participating and try to as often as I can.

The goal of both events is to encourage ourselves to get in front of the camera with our families and loved ones so it is a perfect match!

My family photo this month was taken on our family holiday in Purgatory, Colorado the week before Christmas. It was my husband's idea. My father was born and raised in Durango (25 miles from Purgatory) and loved it. He took us every other summer when we were growing up. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1989 and I have only been back once. My husband had never been. It is a gorgeous place and definitely holds a very special place in my heart so it was wonderful to see it again. It has changed alot, but it is still the quaint, charming town I remember. Now, we hope to go back again but this time in the summer as there are even more things to do there at that time of year, as there are in the winter. I can't wait to go camping, hiking, jeeping and finally ride the narrow gauge train from Durango to Silverton.

 

Here's a bonus photo of me with my kids and mom in downtown Durango in front of the historic Strater Hotel where my father worked as a bellboy in his youth.

 

A nighttime view of Durango all decorated for Christmas.

 

And another family photo in Zion National park on our way from Durango to Northern California to be with family on Christmas.

 

GIVE AWAY

Before I send you off on the blog hop, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you I was having a HUGE giveaway on my blog right now! I have one space in Ali Edwards' ONE LITTLE WORD class at Big Picture Classes to give away. Comments are open until 9 PM PST tonight. Read the giveaway post for more details.

 

CLASSES

Anyone else taking any classes this year? I am! Right now I am doing TWELVE. with Stacy Julian at BPC, Reclaiming My Time with Karen Grunberg, ONE LITTLE WORD with Ali Edwards, 12 Days of Christmas with a bunch of teachers at BPC and have just signed up for my very favorite...

LOAD!  

Anyone else doing LOAD? I have been participating since 2008 and haven't missed one yet. It's intense, but so much fun. What is LOAD? It stands for Layout A Day - so basically you produce one layout a day for a month and Lain supplies motivation, prompts (optional) and even video inspiration for the first time!

 

OFF YOU GO...

Now on with the blog hop! Next on the list is Ruth. If you should get lost along the way, there is a complete blog hop list and the end of the post, so you can return here to find your way.

 

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

Ruth   http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com  <--- Go here NEXT. 

Jo           http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

Monica   http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Patricia  http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

Carol Anne    http://www.scrappingthoughts.com

 

MORE STORY BEHIND THE BLOG HOP

The reason I started this hop is because I realized after a trip to Singapore and then a trip to Kyoto, Japan, that 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.

December FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop

Hello All! And welcome to another FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop. When did we start this tradition? I can't remember now. Perhaps it was March. I will have to check. Regardless, we are at the end of a calendar year and despite it being crazy, busy for some of us, we are here sharing our photos.

Unfortunately, our family does not have any super special photo to share this month, in fact, we cheated again and took this photo tonight just in time for the blog hop. Can you believe that? If you'll notice, I am still wearing my winter hat. Belive me, you would not want me to take it off. My bangs (fringe) were completely STUCK to my head. I've been wearing that hat all day. I left yoga this morning, walked briskly home (more than a mile), rode my bike to the kids' school, back again and then walked half a mile to the mall and was frightened when I looked in the mirror. So back on it went! I hope you don't mind.

Even though this photo is nothing special, I love it just the same. I love that our family takes a moment just about every month to gather together and take a photo as quick as it might be. We had some grand plans for this month's photo, but they didn't happen, so this quick self-timer-on-the-couch photo will have to do. After all it is better than no photo, right?!

If you ever would like to join along (we do this on the 5th of every month), please send me an email. We'd love to have you!

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

Now, on to our other participants for the month. Jo is next.

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Jo          http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com

Monica  http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

 

 

FAMILY x 12 November Blog Hop {31 Days of Inspiration: Day 30 - Fun Family Photo Idea}

Here is our photo for the month. Notice anything strange about it? I'll explain how I did it in an upcoming blog post. Unfortunately, I don't have time do it today!

 

Next on the blog hop is Melissa. Don't forget to continue on to all the other participants for more family photo inspiration! If you are interested in committing to one family photo a month, send me an email and join us next month on the 5th. It's fun and you'll have some great photos of your whole family. I'm so glad we've done this because now we have lots of choices for this year's Christmas card photo. 

 

Here are all the blog hop participants in case you should get lost along the way, come back here and find your way. Thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget to stop by Patricia's blog. Carol Anne's is a little late so you may have to come back here to find Patricia.

**Jo joined in a little late, so she isn't linked from Monica's blog, but please stop by her blog to see her photo too! Thanks!**

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog  <---- You are HERE.
Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com  <--- Go here next.
Carol Anne   http://www.scrappingthoughts.com

Patricia http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/

MonicaB   http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Jo             http://mrsbeee.blogspot.com/

Come back tomorrow when I'll be posting a story for storytelling Sunday called "The Broken Plate."

 

 

 

31 DAYS OF CREATIVE INSPIRATION: Day 5 {Family Photo Fun} & Blog Hop

This is the 5th post in a 31 Day series: Creative Inspiration. Check out all the posts here.

 

Every month on the 5th of the month I host a FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop. The purpose of the hop is to support each other in taking at least one family photo per month.

(To read the story behind this blog hop, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

Here is my family photo for the month:

Our family takes bike rides just about every weekend. So I thought it was fitting for us to take a family photo with our bikes.

Just before one of our rides, I made sure to remind my husband that I was going to be doing this (hoping he would remind me as well as be mentally prepared for all that a family photo entails) I remembered to bring down the tripod, set the self-timer to take ten photos in a row, and we were done. I ran the tripod back up to the apartment and off we went!

SELF TIMER TRICK

Whenever I use the self timer for a family photo and it is daytime, I turn on the flash so everyone can tell when each photo has been taken (even though it was too bright out and the camera was too far away for the flash to make a difference in the photo). This really keeps the kids' interest and gets them to effortlessly look at the camera. One of our best family portrait sessions, was at the Great Wall when I first discovered this trick. At that time, each time I set off the shutter button, I changed the number of photos the camera would take which kept them interested and engaged. It became a game and they looked straight at the camera with bright smiles on their faces.

THE HABIT OF TAKING A PHOTO EVERY MONTH

Besides the obvious, taking a photo every month helps keep, in the forefront of my mind, the importance of taking informal family photos. This guarantees that I don't forget to take family photos at other important times like graduations or holidays. Or on exciting family vacations (see my blog hop story below).

And as we all know, time is fleeting and we can never have too many photos of our whole family together.

Anyone can participate!

If you want to join us for the blog hop next time - November 5th - please send me an email and I'll email you details along with a reminder email before the end of October! There is a link with my email on the right side of this blog.

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

There's plenty of more family photo INSPIRATION to go. Melissa is next on the blog hop. The rest of the participants are listed below. Be sure to come back here should you get lost along the way. Thanks for stopping by and come back tomorrow for Day 6 of my Creative Inspiration Series.

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog <--- You are HERE
Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com <--- Go HERE next.

Monica  http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Jo      http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

 

And watch my 31 Days series for more Fun Family Photo ideas!

 

STORY BEHIND THE BLOG HOP

The reason I started this hop is because I realized after a trip to Singapore and then a trip to Kyoto, Japan, that 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.

 

31 Days of Creative INSPIRATION Series (Links to all posts in the series up until today.)

Introduction

Day 1: Design Your Own Cupcake

Day 2: Storytelling Sunday

Day 3: Scrapbooking (Week in the Life Album)

Day 4: Everyday Photojournalism (Project 365/Project Life)

Day 5: Family Photo Fun - FAMILY x 12 BLOG HOP

Day 6: Self Timer Madness

Other topics in the works for my 31 Days of Creative Inspiration Series: 

Photography - I answer the question, 'How do I know if I should buy a DSLR camera?', Find out who INSPIRES me; Photography Pet Peeves, Family Photo Fun ideas from around the web.

Recipes - my husband's delicious salsa, HealthIER (Yet Still Delicious) Recipes

Scrapbooking - My favorite mini album, 30 minute scrapbook challenge

more Cupcake Ideas, craft ideas...

AND LOTS, LOTS MORE (I'm posting for 31 Days straight, remember?!)

And to find more than 700 other blogs participating in the 31 Days series, go here. There is a huge variety of topics to choose from.

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.

FAMILY X 12 August Blog Hop

Ok, so my biggest blogging fear came true! I totally blanked on posting this month's blog hop and I am the first blog on the hop!

I think that is a sign that life is more stressful or chaotic than I am admitting perhaps! But, that doesn't mean I can't keep plowing forward and doing my best and publish my post a few hours late. Please forgive me!

Last month I had to cancel the blog hop at the last minute due to my husband's sudden illness, so this month we bring to you two months worth of family photos.

 

JULY FAMILY PHOTO

As many of you may know, we live in Beijing and for the summers the kids and I come to California while my husband stays in Beijing to work. Most summers he is able to come join us for a couple of weeks but this year there is just too much to do at work. It also didn't help that he missed two weeks of work due to his scary illness earlier in July. This means that our immediate family was not all together at any time during the month. So, instead I present you this photo of me with my kids and my mom. If it were not for the hop, I know I would not have remembered to get a photo of all of us with my mom. So even though it isn't exactly a family photo, it is a treasured photo none-the-less.

 

JUNE FAMILY PHOTOS

This is our family in Ranthambhore Wildlife Park in Rajasthan, India on a tiger safari. We were lucky enough to see a tiger in the afternoon taking a drink at the watering hole.

 

Later in the evening the hotel's chef invited us into the kitchen to see the Tandoori oven. He showed us how he makes naan, chicken and vegetables. So interesting!

The next person on the hop this month is Melissa.

And if you should get lost along the way, feel free to come back here to find a list of all the other participants and their blog addresses.

 

AUGUST FAMILY x 12 BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog <--- You are HERE
Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com  <---Here next
Carol Anne   http://www.scrappingthoughts.com
Ruth  http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com
Patricia http://patoliveira.woodpress.com/

Monica  http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Jo  http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

 

FAMILY x 12 June Blog Hop

This is another photo that I cheated on. It was no longer June in India but it was still June in Hawaii, so this is going to count. I am so amazed how an entire month can go by even with this challenge such a forefront in my mind and yet I still don't take a family photo all month long!

In the interest of time this one is not edited. I have come down with a case of traveller's stomach flu, I'm guessing. I have a low fever and keep visiting the bathroom. Glad it waited until I got home.

Not to mention I was greeted by major computer problems that I've been working on since last night.

So without further ado, please visit Melissa next.

But before you head off, if you are interested in joining us for this monthly blog hop, please send me an email and you can join us on July 5. To see everything FAMILY x 12 on my blog click here.

 

 

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog <--- HERE
Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com <--- Go here next.
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/

MonicaB   http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

 

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!

FAMILY x 12 Inaugural Blog Hop goes live, Thursday 9 AM CST

I hope you will come back to my blog to join me for the first 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.

How easy is it to flake or forget about this project? Very. How important is it to make taking family photos a habit? Extremely!

To keep us accountable, we are having this blog hop on the fifth of every month - that's tomorrow! So come on back and see how creative we have been with our photos - the fun starts right here 9 AM EST.

If you'd like to join us for the blog hop in June, email me - don't forget to include your blog address.

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

 

Hey! I'm thinking about posting a video of my bike ride to school through Beijing traffic

What do you think?

My 6-year-old son, who sits on the back of my bike, will be the videographer! If all goes well, watch for it in the next few days. 

Family Photo Blog Hop Info

FAMILY x 12 Mini Blog Hop  - May 5: I will have a mini 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, leave me a comment or 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]!)

Blog Hop Info

FAMILY x 12 Mini Blog Hop

May 5 I will have a mini 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, leave me a comment or 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]!)

Are you in Ali's ONE LITTLE WORD Class? Need a little push to get your assignments done?

Join our Monthly Blog Hop on May 1st!

If you are in Ali Edwards' ONE LITTLE WORD class over at Big Picture Classes and want to share your projects with your fellow clasmates as well as see what many of them have been up to for the past month, join us here on May 1st, 8 AM PST for a fun blog hop. We will be doing this every month on the 1st for 2011. You sign up for each month individually, so you can sign up for only one or all of them. I take names each month. Please go to the Chit Chat section of the classroom message board for instructions on how to sign up. Email me with any questions.

If you want to put a ONE on 1 Blog Hop blog button on your blog, feel free to grab the code over there on the right side of this blog.  Click here for every thing ONE LITTLE WORD on this blog including past blog hops.

 

FAMILY x 12 (March), A Link-Up & Fun Blog World Happenings

Back in January I announced that I would be doing a 12 month personal project that I learned about on Tara Whitney's blog. She took one family photo a month for the entire year. I love her idea and as far as projects go, it is easy enough to do and will be incredibly rewarding to look back on in the years to come.

FAMILY x 12 LINK UP

If you think this is as great of an idea as I do and want to play along with me, come back to my blog on Friday, April 22 and share with me a link to your family's April photo (or it could be March's). Post it on your blog or other photo sharing sight (i.e., Flickr) and then share the link with me. (If you'd like me to email you a reminder a couple of days before 4/22, send me an email with FAMILY x 12 in the subject line.)

Here is our picture for March.

Despite all of the automatic reminders I had set on my calendar and on my phone, and how many times I told my husband that we needed to get it done, I missed taking our March family photo! I am annoyed and upset with myself.

Luckily, my original inspiration for this project (http://www.tarawhitney.com) is the place where I found the answer to my mess up! Tara also missed a month. Her solution? Ask her daughter to draw a picture of the family.

Great solution!

I asked if any of my boys wanted to draw the picture and my youngest piped up enthusiastically and started working on it right away. Unfortunately his two older brothers weren't incredibly happy with the end result. The picture above is his second attempt.

According to them, my middle son is STILL too small. Or my youngest son (the colorful one) is STILL too big. They weren't buying my reasoning that Middle Son is standing in the background so he just looks smaller - perspective.

One other problem that should probably be fixed is that Middle Son is missing his arms!

I asked Oldest Son that if he has so many problems with the picture, why doesn't he draw his own version and we could use two?! Middle Son thought this was a great idea and tried to convince Oldest Son to go along with it. Oldest son quickly slipped out of the room.

I'm amazed at how thick-skinned Youngest Son is because he just quietly insisted his picture was the one we would use regardless. No tears. No shame. No hurt feelings.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, I have my picture for March.

I will be posting my April photo on Friday, April 22. If you take a family photo between now and then, please come back to my blog and link up with us (or use one from March).  Again, if you would like me to send you a reminder email a couple of days before, feel free to send me an email (link on the side of the blog).

Click here to see anything related to FAMILY x 12 on my blog.

 

FUN BLOG-WORLD HAPPENINGS (Scrapbooking Related)

BLOGGING FOR SCRAPBOOKERS

Shimelle is teaching the second round of BLOGGING FOR SCRAPBOOKERS. It is also my second time around in the class as well. It is a fantastic class that you can join at any time. It is chock full of information on getting a blog started, improving the look of your blog (an area that I obviously haven't taken advantage of yet!), and most importantly improving the content of your blog.

The thing I enjoy most, however, is the community that is built. Due to the nature of the class, we are always visiting each others' blogs and learning from each other. There is a fairly active forum included in the class. And one amazing bonus of all of Shimelle's classes is that once you sign up, any time the class is repeated, you are allowed to join in again at no extra cost! How generous is that?

One of the recent prompts is to organize something as a group - so one of the student's is organizing an ABC blog hop. That will take place on Sunday, April 17. I will be joining in, so be sure to stop back by to join in the fun & have a hop around. I'll post more details as I learn about them. Sounds interesting!

My FAMILY x 12 link up on Friday, April 22 is my attempt to organize something with the BFS group, but anyone else is more than welcome to play along. So, email me if you are interested and I'll send you a reminder.

LOAD

I am a big fan of Lain Ehmann's Layout A Day challenge that she hosts 2 or 3 times a year. It has become my most productive scrapbooking time all year. Next month, May, will be my 9th consecutive LOAD. I have not completed all LOADs - 4 have gone unfinished, but never the less, even when I do not finish out the month I still complete far more layouts than I would if I hadn't signed up.

If you are interested in playing along, visit Lain's Layout A Day website. I'm already signed up for May.

CROP BOOTCAMP

More recently I have discovered the Crop Bootcamp over at Blue Bazaar based out of Australia. It is completely free. The challenge is to complete 30 layouts in 2 months time. It started this past Friday on April 1st and ends on May 31. They are offering a free PDF download with instructions, 30 Page Maps by Becky Fleck, and 30 Page Ideas to get you started. They also have a gallery where you can post your layouts and are offering a 15% discount to all Bootcamp participants. I sure wish I was in Australia so I could take advantage of that!

It sounds like so much fun, I'm thinking seriously about joining in. And you can be sure, if I make any layouts, I will post them here. So, stay tuned...

STRETCH YOUR SKETCHES CHALLENGE SERIES

Ella Publishing is sponsoring another STRETCH YOUR SKETCHES challenge series hosted by Donna Januzzi based on her e-book by the same name STRETCH YOUR SKETCHES. (One of the two layouts I actually have published is featured in that book!) Until September they will post a new layout on the 1st & 3rd Mondays of the month on their blog and at month's end will choose a winner at randome to win a prize.

Here's the layout of mine featured in the book. It's based on one of Donna's sketches:

I STRETCHED that SKETCH myself to make a gift album for a friend of mine who was leaving Beijing last June. Click here to see that album and other color inspired projects.

Since this book has a soft spot in my heart and I've been feeling the need to create, I am seriously thinking about whipping up a layout to participate. Again, my layout will be posted here, on my blog, if it gets made!

 

COMING UP ON THE BLOG

*Photos of our Qing Ming festival pastry (really Chinese bread) class with our whole family and a little history about the holiday.

*Photos of the various Insect, Scorpion & Butterfly Cupcakes I made for my sons' field trip on Saturday.

***Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to leave me a comment before you go. I like knowing you were here and love hearing what you have to say.

xxxx

First Lost Tooth (Simple Thing)

IMG_7262.jpg, originally uploaded by Xnomads. (photo taken by Nicholas, 10 years old)

Only a couple weeks after turning six, his very first tooth fell out! The tooth fairy came and left 10 kuai under his pillow. So exciting. Amazing how a simple thing like losing a tiny little tooth can be so exciting and yet bittersweet at the same time. I am excited for my son, but a little sad since this is my very last, 'first lost tooth'!

  

I LOVE THIS IDEA

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm thinking about starting a monthly 'linky' (meaning I will put a link at the bottom of the post where you can link up with a thumbnail of your photo which is posted on your blog) for the Family Photo x 12 idea. Check out my post here. Tara Whitney, a photographer in Orange County, California, who I have been a fan of for a number of years, did this with her family in 2010. She committed to taking one family photo, including all six members (nobody missing!) per month for the entire year. I love this idea and am doing it with my family this year. Our first two photos of the year are in the post mentioned above.

If you are interested in joining me, leave me a comment and if enough people are interested, I'll do the monthly linky here on the 5th of every month.

You can start any time you want. The important thing is that you take a photo of your whole family once a month.

LOTS GOING ON AT THE BLOG!

I have been so busy with this blog lately!

I have been posting a layout every day for LOAD (the Layout A Day challenge).

If any of you remember the blog hop on February 1st, I chose a give-a-way winner, but never posted a photo of the prize. Well, after lots of shopping during the New Year excitement over the last 10 days, I finally have the care package ready and I will be sending it off on Monday. A Photo of the goodies, coming soon.

I've been doing pretty good posting my Project Life (365 Photos) photos every Tuesday. I started three weeks ago and have yet to miss a week.

And on March 1st there will be a second One Little Word blog hop starting right HERE at my blog. So, plan to come back and be inspired by the students in Ali Edwards' class over at Big Picture Classes. I'll have a give-a-way too. A mini-kit of American Crafts Valentine line from 2009 (I think) - it will include patterned papers, ribbon, Thickers shapes, adhesive buttons/badges, and chipboard shapes. Perfect for those Valentine photos!

Thanks for stopping by!

One of the Coolest Ideas Ever... (Embrace the Camera)

I love photography. One of the portrait photographers I like to check in on often is Tara Whitney based out of Orange County. I've always imagined getting her to take our family's photos someday since our home base is Los Angeles which is not too far away from OC.

The last time I checked in on her blog, I saw this: 6 People 12 Times. Very cool idea. She took one family photo per month during 2010. So, of course, when I see a great idea that is simple enough to replicate, I jump on the bandwagon.

I almost forgot to do it in January despite numerous alerts on my computer's calendar. Even though January was over in Beijing, I figured I'm originally from the US, and I've been to Hawaii before, so if is still January in Hawaii, the photo counts, right?

Here's our January photo:

We simply sat on the couch and used the self-timer. The lighting in our living room isn't the greatest - it gives everyone racoon eyes. But I still love the photo. Everyone looks like themselves.

Here is our February photo:

I reserve the right to take another one in place of this photo. I love the location (we were at a temple fair in Beijing during all the New Years celebrations). I love what Braden is wearing (traditional New Years attire for young children). I just hate the lighting and that we are not in focus and that the person who took the photo for me zoomed out when I asked her not to. ARGH! I may be able to fix this one a little more in Photoshop or I may just decide to be happy with this one as is. Time will tell.

Let me know if you plan to take the ?(however many people in your family) x 12 challenge. I thought it would be fun to do a montly linky for this, but I'd only do it if there was some interest. Let me know what you think.

I think it will be great fun watching our whole family grow over the entire year. I think making a deliberate effort to take monthly photos together will be priceless, don't you?