LOAD7

LOAD7, a photo by damazingmama on Flickr.

Todays prompt was do a layout in 30 minutes or less. OUCH!! I am not too much of a rule follower, but I did manage to get both pages done in a little under 45 minutes! It was a little crazy and I did take a little too long fiddling with the arrangement of the photos and cropping them but it is done. When I heard the prompt I knew that I wanted to do a grid. Since I am working on an album of a single event, I wanted to stay within a color scheme, and I used purple circles in yesterday's LO, so I decided to stick with it here. I love this paper for a grid, because the lines are not perfectly straight. That keeps your eye fooled a bit and you don't notice the slight differences in the size of the photos. The pink is not as bright as it seems on the photo, and it is a nice contrast to the green and purple. I did not get the journaling done, but plan to tonight. I have a lot to say about this event, and I just need time to think and type it to get it just right. But I am happy to get this much done. And I like it. Not fancy, but done!

LOAD 6

LOAD 6, a photo by damazingmama on Flickr.

Well, today's prompt was a killer!! This is a VERY modified version of todays prompt. It was a sketch, which did not look much like this at all. It is also based on another sketch for a challenge from Big Picture Classes for National Scrapbook Day. I melded them together and this is what I got. I did not know this about myself, as I have never tried to use one before, but I HATE using sketches!! I don't mind scrap lifting, but a blank sketch is no good for me. I might get used to it, if I tried or had to, but I am so glad I never bought a bunch of them and then discovered this!! And the photo is actually backwards....the right page goes on the left and the left on the right. At least that is how I originally "planned" (and I use that word very loosely) it. This is part of an album I am doing of an event I had at my house. These are some of the wonderful women that I am privileged to mentor and be friends with. I am so blessed.

LOAD5

LOAD5, a photo by damazingmama on Flickr.

Today, Lain (who has created Layout A Day) layoutaday.com told us to go to ebay, look up our name and do a layout based on the first thing that comes up. When I went to ebay and looked up Leslie, a DVD for Leslie Sansone called JUST WALK came up. I liked the layout and graphics, and the title. The DVD had a "different walk for each day of the week", so I used some of the verses that mean a lot to me to make a verse for every day. So this is how it came out. I really like it. One of the scrapbook giants, ali edwards, has a class and idea to choose 'one little word' as your theme word this year. Even though I am not doing the class or the challenge, My 'one little word' has been HOPE this year. I have had an emotionally difficult 2011 and so far 2012, but I have realized that whatever the situation, I cannot place my hope in anyone or anything but God. Simply put, I trust Him.
This teapot came from Dayspring. The pot says Hope, and it has 2 teacups, Peace and Joy. The scripture on the side says: The God of all Hope will fill you with Joy and Peace. The greatest gifts I have gotten out of this year are hope, joy and peace. It has been amazing. The difficulties are pressing me to my knees more than ever, and God fills me with his Spirit to overflowing. Thank you, Father. I love you.

Letters: Dollar store (they are wall decals!)
Paper: SEI (very old!)
Rub ons and other assorted items all from my stash.

I am trying to use up my stash some before I buy new. These LOAD challenges help!

LOAD2

LOAD2, a photo by damazingmama on Flickr.

This is my version of todays prompt. It was "NO PHOTO". I think sometimes we forget that scrap booing started because people wanted to save their memorabilia so they could cherish important memories. So this is what I came up with. Heres what I wrote about it: "My mom was a sewist. She created beautiful things with fabric. But she was not a quilter or a "gourmet seamstress." She did what she had to do to make things work. She was self taught, out of necessity. And after my dad left, she took in sewing so I could have things she otherwise couldn't have afforded. Before she died, she wanted to use up her many scraps to make quilts for my 2 sisters and I. She had many blocks sewn, but not enough to make even one quilt- all random and using just things she had leftover. Last Christmas, I used most of those squares to make tote bags for all of us, and all the granddaughters and great grands. These two were leftovers. And the lace? What is on the left and the flower is leftover from my wedding dress, and the right is just stuff she ripped off of something she had owned once upon a time. The buttons and hooks are from her stash. the mini album tells this story. Oh, And her favorite color was purple, and she loved to use zig-zag stitch. She also loved sparkles and bling on her clothes. I think this is a fitting tribute to her."

LOAD3

LOAD3, a photo by damazingmama on Flickr.

I forgot to blog this one yesterday, so I am doing it now. I really want to get in the habit of writing and blogging again, so I am going to try to post each layouts as we do them. This prompt was "Use holiday colors". I immediately thought of my notes for the In(RL) events that I had this past weekend at our home because of the red and green poppies at the bottom of the cute journal pages. if I hadn't written all these notes, I would have forgotten something. I am doing an album about the event to document the joy that it was for me to do this for the sweet gals that attended. I am a "list maker" and I use a cute journal that Jayme gave me for all my notes/lists. I think there are about 15 pages of notes there, and then more on my my Pinterest boards. My ideas far exceeded my energy, but I got it all done anyway!! It was sew much fun! Since it was a beach theme, I got everyone a beach bag (at the dollar store!) and a beach towel (walmart) and embroidered their names on them. I put cute ribbon on hats for everyone, and we made velvet bookmarks and decorated flip flops for crafts. These are my lists, and a pic of the finished products. I love that I found this "life is good" in my stash. It matches perfectly, and the event was called, "In Real Life". Perfect!

LOAD4

LOAD4, a photo by damazingmama on Flickr.

Here is todays LOAD512. Lain gave us the challenge today of using one of the 5 senses, hearing. As soon as I heard the prompt, I knew I had to do something with music. Music has always been important to me. I have a degree in voice, and have always loved to sing and worship God with my voice. This photo is of me, my son Sam, and one of my favorite artists, Jimmy Needham. (Jimmy is in the middle....as if you couldn't tell since my son looks so much like me!!) The lyrics behind the photo I hand wrote, and are to one of my fav. songs of his, Breathe. I used chipboard music symbols and inked them with white Brilliance, then used super thick embossing powder, got it nice and thick and then added a little interference red pearl-x and heated it one more time. The vellum has the journaling attached. The journaling is very personal about how music speaks to my spirit and encourages my soul.

I had just gotten this photo back from being developed yesterday, and it just worked perfectly. I already had all the goodies, so it came together pretty quickly and easily.

Wow! It's been too long since last I posted. I feel like It has been way longer than it has been, but a lot has happened. I am not going to try to catch you up right now, but just realize that the entire month of February was consumed with a scrapbook challenge called LOAD, which is an acronym for LayOut A Day. The challenge was to do one layout every day, based on the prompt. I thought it would be easy for a veteran scrapbooker like me. I thought it would be simple, to find, and document my story. After all, I am the one who lived it. Boy, was I wrong!! It took way longer to decide what to do, and then to find the photos I wanted to use, and then choose paper, embellishments and then lay it out. But the journaling was the real time consumer! Then March went by and I'm not sure what happened to it or to April. And here we are in May and yet another LOAD!! Why oh why do I do this to myself??? Because I have a story to tell that no one else can, and maybe someone else someday will want to know these things. Well, I wasn't going to do this LOAD. I thought, "I'll just wait for the one in October" but as it got closer, I got more excited, and decided, "What the heck? What have I got to loose?? And if I only get one page done, it is more than I had done when I started."

So here is my first page.    

My description in the Flickr gallery says: I had a mini retreat at my home this weekend, and this is the photo we took during the 15 minutes that it wasn't raining!  We started with a tea party, and if you knew me, you would know that this is such a depiction of who I am. Tea and I just go together! And I love having women in my home for whatever reason. After the tea, we played some games, watched a few videos, had some great discussion, and did some crafts. My event was part of a world wide event honoring the community of women who do so much for so many.I love making people, especially moms feel special and loved, and pampering them with gifts and relaxation. Serving others with my gifts from God is who I am. I hope that He is always seen clearly in my self-portrait. I want my life to be "Jesus with skin on" showing Christ's love to others. I plan to do an album with all the photos we took, documenting all the fun. This will be the first page.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!! I will write what the journaling strip behind the page says tomorrow. Right now, I am headed to bed!