Nihao, Cupcake!

American Artifact?!

I haven't been sharing much on the blog lately. I suddenly had a change of heart and needed to be away from the computer as much as possible. I had felt like I was doing far too much documenting my life and then sharing it online and not enough living my life. That was easily remedied.

I have even been enjoying ordinary household chores now that we let our housekeeper go. That is an entire story in and of itself, but for another time! I am still taking photos nearly every day and working on Project Life, I'm just letting go of some of my self-imposed deadlines. I had taken some of the fun out of the whole process and with this small change, the joy is back!

Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to document and share on the blog, I'm just cutting back for the time being.

Here is a recent layout I made. I love the photo that my son's teacher took! Too funny!

Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge :: The Best Part Layout & Another Story from the 12th

I had so much fun with this layout. We had a party for my youngest son on the 12th of this month so it was easy to get 12 photos. There was more to my story than a birthday party. It was all about how the party came together. It was truly a family event. I could not have pulled it off without the help of my entire family especially my two oldest sons. 

I wanted a layout that allowed me to tell the story I wanted to tell and I found it in the Ella Inspiration Kit. The design you see was perfect! I could show the highlights of the party on the left and BEHIND the SCENES on the right. BEHIND the SCENES is also one of the themes suggested in the Inspiration Kit and I love how it inspired me to tell this deeper story of my son's party.

JOURNALING READs:

The best part of this party was behind the scenes. Even Dad remarked after it was over that this was one of his favorite birthday parties because we all worked together to make it happen. And now that it is all over, I wish I had more of those photos. If I could do it all over again I would take some photos of Reece drawing each treasure hunt clue in amazingly accurate detail (I did save the clues), Reece & Nicholas planning out the treasure hunt and planting each clue, Nicholas planning secretly to be the Birthday Santa, hiding in the ayi closet ready to give out the goodie bags at the end of the treasure hunt, Mom searching the internet for the perfect Superman “B” image to print out and trace for the birthday cake, Mom printing out Superman & B logos to wear for the “photobooth”, Reece helping mom set up the backdrop for the photobooth, our neighbor Kristin stopping into the store to look for balloons after mom texted all of her friends to be on the lookout, Dad cutting up the yellow paper for the scrapbooking we ran out of time for, Mom planning out the cake with Braden and making the design happen with chopsticks and frosting.

 

The journaling spot is also from the Ella Inspiration kit. Isn't it cute?

Visit Ella Publishing for more information! And don't forget to go to this Ella Blog Post to add your layout or 12 photos to the linky party and your chance to win (linky closes on the 18th - see end of post for exact time it closes).

Visit the rest of the Take 12 Design Team:

Alizia

Amy

Angela

Jennie

Stephanie

Van

Valerie

Monika

Lisa D

Janette

Lisa O

 

ANOTHER STORY FROM the TWELFTH

There was also another amazing story to be told on the 12th of this month but for privacy reasons I cannot share the photos. I had the amazing privelege of meeting the new family of one of the children I care for at the orphanage I volunteer at every week. The family who had just adopted her, was in town an extra week or so waiting for their new daughter's passport and they asked to meet with some of us volunteers. I was so excited. She had been away from the orphanage for only one week and the first thing I noticed when I walked through the door was how she was a completely different child. She was animated, instead of sullen, she was smiling instead of somber, she was affectionate, instead of crying, she smiled and laughed and giggled more in that hour than I had ever seen her do in the year+ I had known her at the orphanage. She looked at her new parents and big sister with such love and adoration, it was astounding. I couldn't believe a child could bond with their new family so quickly and that she could so quickly become the child she was always meant to be. I had always felt so strongly, if this little girl could just have her own family, she would blossom. But I had no idea she would blossom so quickly and that she had so much potential to ever be that child I met just a week later. 

Many of the children at the orphanage have special needs. We don't always know all of their details so we often wonder. We had said that she was so somber and rarely interactive in a distinct way that we wouldn't be surprised if someone said she had special needs and yet we wouldn't be surprised if they told us she was perfectly normal. After that meeting, it became clear to me that she is perfectly normal and she is now exactly where she should have been since birth! What an amazingly lucky little girl to be with a family so full of love! It warms my heart to think about her sleeping safely in the loving arms of her new family in her fresh PJs, squeaky clean hair and adorable rosy red cheeks.

If only her little friends still at the orphanage will be so lucky.

 

#LOAD212 - Day 8 {Jodhpur Fort}

Even though I have been keeping up with the LOAD (Layout A Day) Challenge, I haven't been posting my layouts here every day for a couple of reasons. Sometimes I have something else to post and other times, I have other people in my layouts that aren't in my family so I keep those layouts only in private galleries.

The papers for this one as well as the sequin-type things at the top were purchased on my trip to India at a neat paper store in Delhi.

What's the most exotic scrapbook supply that you have ever purchased? Where did you buy it?

To see everything LOAD related on my blog, click here.

To see everything SCRAPBOOK realted on my blog, click here.

 

Layout A Day Feb '12 Day 7: Learning to Swim

So yesterday I mentioned that Ali Edwards had announced on her blog she would be documenting a day in the life on Wednesday. I was all for it and had every intention of waking up today and documenting my day. And then I woke up and I had zero desire to do that! So, I didn't! I have done so much every day documenting that I think I need a little break!

I will be doing the Take Twelve challenge this Sunday as part of their TAKE TWELVE team (see button on sidebar to link to the Ella Take Twelve page), so I will save up my mindfulness until then! I'll be sharing my photos on Sunday or Monday (since I am a day ahead) and then my layout a few days later. Please come back to see! Will you be doing the Take Twelve challenge this time? Go to the Ellapublishing.com for more information!

Using Up Scraps of Old Basic Grey to Make This Page for #LOAD212

I had fun creating this page with some scraps of old Basic Grey. I fantastic way to stretch your patterned paper and use up your stash! The journaling tag is a free download from Scrapbooks, Etc (I think) I have had on my hard drive for a long time.

I made this for Day 2 of LOAD.

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.

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.

Thursday at the Blog: Big Announcement, LOAD Day 18 & 19 & Embrace the Camera

So finally, the day has come when I announce my fabulous guest blogger.

Her name is Vernell and as I mentioned yesterday, she has a lovely blog and makes delicious cupcakes. On Saturday she will be sharing with us a whole bunch of cupcake making tips, but in the meantime, head over to her blog for lots of cupcake goodness, and other crafty things. But don't forget to come back here on Saturday for those great tips.

 

LOAD Day 19

 

LOAD Day 18

 

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

EMBRACE THE CAMERA

IIt's a terrible photo this week, but my husband is trying to take more photos of me. He just needs to figure out how to use the focus point and to stay still when he takes the picture. He'll get there eventually. To his credit he is trying to follow my instructions by getting more pictures of me interacting naturally with the kids. Maybe we'll get some better ones this weekend.

I do like that I am walking with my arm around my middle son. And it's cute you can make out his ice cream cone. A special moment...

To see more Embrace the Camera on my blog, click here.

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

Color Combo Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Color Combo Blog Hop!

If you have been hopping around the blog hop - WELCOME - I'm so glad you've made it this far. I'm the last blog on the hop. If you are one of my regular visitors, I am participating in a blog hop where a pretty large group of us are using the color card below as our inspiration. We are all making something (scrapbook page, card or other crafty item) using the color combo as our inspiration. You may remember I posted it to my blog a few days ago, well, this is the event I was hinting at!

via www.inspiredbride.net

If you arrived from http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com you are in the right place! If you are here and didn’t come from there, I am listing the other blogs in this hop below my post so you can go start back at the beginning if you wish!

When I first saw this color combination, I didn't think it was me and I was sure I had never used it before. But when looking through my albums for inspiration, I found that I was wrong.

Look at these two layouts:

(This layout was inspired by a free download from Jessica Sprague for Creating Keepsakes magazine four or five years ago!)

(This layout is a sketch design from Cathy Zielske's Design your Life Class at Big Pictures Classes.)

It was as foreign of a color combo to me as I had thought.

This month, I am participating in the Layout A Day challenge, so when it was time to sit down and do this layout for Day 14, I had run out of ideas & creative mojo. I knew I wanted to scrapbook one of my enlarged photos, so I looked through my albums and picked out this layout:

and this layout as inspiration:

 

This is what I came up with:

Do you ever consult your own layouts for inspiration and ideas?

I took a little liberty with the color palette by adding a bit of pink. I needed to add a femine touch and I thought that floral paper was the perfect addition. I also thought the pink flowers with red outlines would be the perfect way to tie the dark red shirt I am wearing in the photo to the color scheme.

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

If you have a few minutes, feel free to look around my blog. There are category links on my side bar to help you find information you might enjoy. And don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Thanks so much for coming by - you are at the end of the hop. If you didn't start at the beginning, head over to Amy's blog and see all the other creations using the same wonderful color combo! There's lots of creative inspiration to be seen! Have fun!

http://amysoto.blogspot.com

http://scrappin24-7.blogspot.com/

http://scribblesstickingstitchingstroking.blogspot.com/

http://throughthecameralens.typepad.com

http://digipage-blog.everything-digital-scrapbooking.com/

http://blog.mshanhun.com

http://alyssephotographs.blogspot.com/

http://www.calendulafitzpatrick.blogspot.com

http://spud-pickle.blogspot.com

www.scrappingmojo.blogspot.com

www.MichelleRoycroft.blogspot.com

http://handmadebykirsty.blogspot.com

http://www.vsws.typepad.com

http://scrapyourlife.net

http://sugarandscrap.blogspot.com

http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

http://craftygoodies.blogspot.com

http://adriennefalzon.blogspot.com

http://airbs.blogspot.com/

http://1200somemiles.blogspot.com

http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

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

If you started at the very beginning, you are now done with this fabulous blog hop, but if you started here or some where else, go on over to Amy's to continue on with the rest of the lovely blogs.

#LOAD511 Day 12: Out with Butterflies, In with Dragonflies!

scraplifted from Ali Edwards on this post.

That embossed paper I have had since almost the start of my adventures in modern scrapbooking. I think it this my last piece. I hesitated using it at first, but decided to go for it as I thought it would work well with this page.

It's funny because at the time I bought the paper (1999 or 2000), embossed paper was all the rage. I loved dry embossing. Loved it back then and I still love it. The thing was when I bought this paper, I had no idea how to use it. And way back then, it took me up to a month to complete a page. Yes, that is not a typo - an entire month! But, I held on to this paper because I had hope that one day I would be able to use it. And the day has finally come.

Not only am I using this paper but I have used up all 3 pieces that I purchased and I am using it as part of a layout a day challenge! Wow, I've come a long way. There is no way back in 2001 would I have believed that I could get one page done a day. I'm so glad I have gotten over that. This is so much more fun! 

And I'm glad that I saved that beloved paper. I wouldn't call myself a supply hoarder because I do go through my stash regularly and give away things I know I won't use, but if I love something, I hold on to it for the time I will know exactly how to use it.

Now I am going to miss that pretty paper. I have always loved dry embossing and there is something endearing about dragonflies. I like butterflies too, but I've always perferred dragonflies. Maybe I should set about starting a new trend. What do you think? Out with butterflies, in with DRAGONFLIES! 

Anyone seen a cute dragonfly punch around? If so, please let me know!

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

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY LINKS

I've come upon some more great photography sites:

Here is one that I wonder how I could have missed it. It is called Great Photos Plus. The blogger, Liz Ness, is the founder of Great Photos Plus and the Associate Online Editor for Photoshop Elements Techniques Magazine so her content looks to be pretty solid. The post that I read she announces her monthly photo challenge for May. Take scheduled photographs. She lists examples with links.

One of which is the hour by hour photo challenge just like I did a couple of weeks ago on my own and again as part of the Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers with over a hundred of my fellow classmates.

Here is another blog where the author took at least one photo an hour. I love her pictures. Why do I always envy other peoples' projects when I see them? Nevermind - I will use them for inspiration because I was planning to do the project AGAIN tomorrow. I want to do it on a more interesting day which is translating into doing it on a weekend. The two previous days I chose were spent mostly at home - BORING! Tomorrow the kids are home and we already have a friend coming over and two kids going to a birthday party - much more exciting than me 

Liz also has a free year-long photo organization seminar at Great Photos Plus too. Go check it out as that is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

DON'T FORGET

Don't forget I have a special guest blogger coming up soon.

And on Saturday I am joining in on a color combo blog hop! Remember that color card I posted a few days ago? Come back then see what I do with it.

LOAD511 Day 10: Catching up with Project Life & Day 11: Always on the go!

I did not post my layout from yesterday, so today you get to see my layout from today and yesterday! Aren't you lucky?

LOAD DAY 10 - Catching up with Project Life 2010

 

Click here to see everything Project Life/ Project 365 on my blog.

LOAD DAY 11

 

 To see everything related to LOAD on my blog (includes how to prepare for LOAD Blog Hop) click here!

 

EXCITING BLOG STUFF COMING UP...

Don't forget I have a guest poster coming up soon. I will be announcing more details soon! And plan to come back on Saturday for a very fun blog hop. More details on that soon as well.

LOAD: Day 9 - Catching up with Project Life, Part 2

 

I am slowly but surely catching up with my 2010 Project Life. This is my layout for Day 9 of LOAD (LayoutADay.com). The whole project for me is about embracing imperfection. I am taking a straightforwad, no frills approach. I take one photo a day (most of the time), write one card per day and then throw in some ephemera when I think of it. But in the end, our lives are documented, no?

Are you doing Project Life? Do you take a photo a day? What is your approach?

 To see everything related to LOAD on my blog (includes how to prepare for LOAD Blog Hop) click here!

Click here to see everything Project Life/ Project 365 on my blog.

 

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? 

I'm so excited about this. I think her expertise will really complement mine. She loves to do something I blog a lot about, but her approach is different than mine. Any ideas?

 

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...

 

LOAD Day 6: Catching up with Project Life 2010

 

 

Doing a Layout A Day (LOAD) can get a little intense, so I like to break it up with some easy projects like catching up with Project Life. I finally got my mid-April through June photos from 2010 printed. Today I trimmed some of them down, put them in the page protectors and finished up my journaling cards and I was complete with my layout for today. And it feels good to be one page closer to 'catching up' with my 2010 album. 

Click here to see everything Project Life/ Project 365 on my blog.

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

 

LOAD Day 5: Interactive Layout & Mom's Day

This layout is inspired heavily by the 4x6 Love class at Shimelle.com. Please click on the button in my side bar for more information.

The 4x6 light blue rectangle opens to reveal a forth 4x6 photo.

And inside is a quote from Nicholas and the photo that went with the story. I blogged about that a few months ago in February to save the story so I could put it on a future scrapbook page and here it is!

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

 

MOTHER'S DAY

All of the mother's were invited to stay for a few minutes at drop off today. The children had a few songs prepared for us. One in English and two or three in Chinese. Then we were asked to turn our chairs around. Each child said something one by one and the mother had to guess when it was her child. I was shocked when I didn't recognize Braden's voice because he spoke in such perfect Mandarin! I thought for sure I would recognize his voice. It just shows you how easily young children not only pick up language but the accent. WOW! I wish I had that on video tape. 

I was then presented with a handmade card and a beautiful rose.

Happy Mother's Day to those who celebrate in May!

 

 

I am doing a 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 fifth day of the series, when guest poster, Valerie, tells about learning to use her DSLR.

The week is proving 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.

Don't forget to come back on Saturday to read my contribution.

To see everything related to PHOTOGRAPHY 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

 

LOAD Day 28 - CrazyHair

Day 28 - CrazyHair, originally uploaded by Xnomads.

I just realized I forgot to post my last page from the Layout A Day challenge. I did it - 28 layouts in 28 days. I get a great feeling of accomplishment from this and I love creating.

This time around I created pages in record time for me. Most pages were under an hour, a couple were only 15 minute pages and the longest page took me a few hours as I was hung up on choice and kept getting distracted.

I came to terms with the fact that I like SIMPLE pages with a minimum of embellishments. I have always known that but I am finally accepting it. I have tried my hand at the layered look and the clustered look, etc, etc. And I feel like I was relatively successful. And while it is fun, it is not my design of choice. I like focusing on the photo and I don't like a lot of STUFF to distract from the photo or the story. I still often forget about the journaling and don't leave enough room to say all that I want to say. I did that alot during this past month.

When I write out my journaling first and plan for it, I am a lot more successful, but on the days that I am in a hurry and don't have as much time to do that, the journaling does not take priority. But then the page becomes about the photo and the process of creating and thirdly about documenting a small part part of our lives. All valid reasons for making a page.

I am already looking forward to the May LOAD. I can start thinking about what my goals are for that LOAD and start preparing. Last year, although, I joined all three LOADs, I didn't complete any of them (meaning I dropped out part of the way through for various reasons) so I was not as 'in touch' with my scrapbooking process as I was the year before when I completed all three LOAD challenges. This first one of the year, then, got me back into the habit and the mindset for the rest of the year. Luckily all three of this year's LOADs land at a good time where it will be realistic for me to finish them.

MARCH

March will be dedicated to photography for me. I am taking a three day portraiture class next week and am seriously considering a three day travel photography workshop mid-month. Last year I worked hard on bringing my photography to a new level which I felt like I did, so I would like to hop I can do that again. The more advanced I get, though, the harder it is to keep improving, but there still is a long way to go.

Of course I won't give up scrapbooking altogether for March, I am still taking the One Little Word class wtih Ali Edward's at Big Picture Classes as well as Stacy Julian's two week iScrap class. I can't pass up any class by Stacy. So plan on seeing projects from those classes. The One Little Word project will be showcased on the first of April for our third monthly blog hop.

Send me an email if you are in the class and would like to participate. I need your name, email and blog address.

LOAD Day 27 - Christmas Memories

27 Layouts done in 27 days, ONE MORE TO GO!

I got this design (sketch) from the Ella Publishing eBook Stretch Your Sketches. It is the one place that has published my pages. It is also the only place I have ever submitted my work. That is probably a good thing since I don't need a lot of rejection in my life! Hahaha! I'm not much on submitting my stuff for publication. I imagine it takes too much effort to make everything perfect and I don't have the patience nor do I have the talent! : ) I just got lucky with Ella.

LOAD Day 26 - 2 Boys 2 Teeth 1 Day

I have been taking an unplanned blog break the last half of the week. I have computer storage issues that need my attention so that is where my time is being spent. And until I get that worked out, I can't do much else unfortunately. I've been putting it off for a month or two now, but now I'm frozen until I do something about it. I can't even download new photos off of my camera and for someone who takes as many photos as I do, that is paralyzing! I hope to be back to my usual routine very soon!

LOAD Day 23 - Yuki Chan

I forgot to plan this layout into my day so I almost forgot to do it. I threw it together in about 15 minutes just before picking my son up from school. There was more I wanted to say in the journaling so I will have to do another layout about Yuki - or maybe I will just write it on the back of the layout.

Yuki means 'snow' in Japanese. That is where she is from - Uji, Japan. 'Chan' is a term of endearment. Typically, you will call children or pets their name and then add the term of endearment, 'chan' afterwards, therefore, Yuki-chan. I found her while I was living there. I was going home later that day for a few weeks so my boyfriend (now my husband) had to take care of her for me and he hated cats! She was a tiny little sickly kitten that attacked his feet all the time.