Happy Halloween!

My little spooks would like to wish you a Happy Halloween!

Walker, the Warlock was very excited to have a green face.
Wyatt, the little devil was thrilled to have a "moose tash." He also gasped a huge loud breath outward and exclaimed "I can't really breathe fire, I'm just a kid!"
Ever since we studied about Julius Ceaser's love of Cleopatra, Jessica knew this is what she wanted to be for Halloween!

I couldn't convince Mikensee to wear a real costume. She's at that age. This is what she came up with. Walker calls her a Sweet, Sweet Petunia, so that's what we decided she was.
From our house to yours; Happy Halloween!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Am I the only one old enough to remember Mickey Mouse Club? I can't think of the big cheese without singing that silly song!

There is something about scrapbooking that's hard to explain unless you do it. Many people never try it because it can be so intimidating; especially when the magazines mostly show pages that the scrapbooker spent hours perfecting and frequently show only one or two photos on a page. I don't know about you but I have 8+ photo boxes from the old 35mm days and going on 25000 images on my external hard-drive (which I do back up, but I'll post more about that another day!) If I only scrapbook 1 or 2 photos per page I'll be 978 years old before I get caught up. Oh, but wait! If I live that long I'll have and average of 1.25 million photos left to scrap! You get the point. You will never be caught up. Sometimes, when you get a really great photo a one page layout is a must. Sometimes a close topic or subject is worth one really great page, but other times that would be plain overkill. Today I'm showing you the latest installment of my Get It Done Scrapbooking class results. I encouraged my class to bring ALL of their Disney photos, not just their latest trip or their favorite trip or the trip with the best photos. I went to Disneyland the first time when I was 12. I went again on a High School Acapella Choir Tour. I didn't go again until my now 11 year old was 2 and we've been a total of 3 times as a family. I chose the 3 family trips and scrapped all of them in one evening on 8 pages. I'm only going to show you the main 5 pages here, but the last page uses a CTMH True Fit Folio. You can see the remaining pages here. My boys had such a good time on the rides we took almost no photos of their first trip to Disney, but with so many of the "extra" photos being the same for each trip, it doesn't really feel that way at all!










Hidden Pockets and the True Fit Folio allowed for almost 100 pictures to be featured on 8 pages! All but 10 photos were taken in the 35mm era, so no photo editing, no re-do shots, just plain old family photos taken from a box. Another side benefit to this kind of scrapbooking is the gratitude you feel when looking back on these memories. My kids have had a blast looking at and talking about their Disney memories and even having a glimpse at moments they don't remember. While these pages won't end up on the pages of a magazine, they will be treasured by family for what I hope to be many generations to come.

P.S. I use CTMH LEVEL 1 Scrapbooking Kits plus a little extra for all my Get It Done Scrapbooking Classes. IF you haven't ever given those fab kits a look, you really should!

What The World Needs Now

is more love. I know this is my 2nd video in 2 days, and I promise this won't be a daily thing, but I did have to share this. I woke up this morning to this in my email from a good friend who knows that I have a deep testimony of Jesus Christ, but also need a bit of strength at this time in my life. This was a wonderful way to start my day and I hope it brings something to yours too.



This video is titled Reflections of Christ. It is a photography slide show of the life of Jesus Christ constructed by a local photographer and most of the staging and scenery is local as well. Hope you love it!

I'm adding this as a side note.

A fetter is a shackle, or binding.

The phrase I raise by Ebeneezer comes from this;
Samuel took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer—"the stone of help"—for he said, "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!" —1 Samuel 7:12, NLT

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood. —Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

For more reading on this topic you can click HERE.

Video Working!

Trick or Treat??!??!

If the video above does not play and you would like to see it, you may click here:

Wyatt's Halloween Video

Eat, Create and Be Merry

I starved you for 2 weeks, but the feast you are about to receive should be worth it! You may want to get a bib so you don't drool on your computer!

I can't think of anything much better than eating or creating, but when combined together two of my favorite things are even better! The latest two installments of recipe club were out of this world. After spending Friday night and Saturday in the company of both of my Recipe Club Classes I have a lot to be merry about! Of course my week was spent in frantic preparation for the two events, but the efforts were truly worth it. It's an amazing process to take a typed recipe and transform it into a readable, creative 6X6 piece of artwork. I first come up with a concept based on the amount of information I have to include in the limited amount of space. Next I typeset the information into a hopefully legible and visually pleasing layout. I also have to include a title and from whom the recipe was obtained. Then I let the creativity take over and hopefully come up with something that brings out both the personality of the food but also the personality of the woman who provided the recipe. After my prototype is complete I prep the projects so that the class member can come together and recreate the art for their own kitchens. It's so much fun to enjoy each other's company as we eat the food and recreate the projects together.

I have to give special kudos to Mikensee (my 11 year old DD) who made the adorable pumpkin stickpins. She made them at my request (with the concept for my card still in my head.) The first batch she made burned and she cried. She was so disappointed. I convinced her it would be worth it for her to make them again so she did. I wish I had taken a picture of the pumpkin patch but I didn't think about. They were so cute in the pin cushion together; each with their very own personality! The card would not have been the same with out them! She did an amazing job. I'm very proud of her. That Makins Clay is just fun stuff!




Let the feast begin!

Comments on Posts and a Morsel of First Artwork

Thank you all for you comments on my post. . . I do love em! Just one little thing, if you ask me a question and don't have an email in your profile it's very hard for me to get in touch with you. Of course I could leave another comment on the post, but I'm not sure that you would ever know I replied unless you stop back by to check.

You can always email me from the link on the right OR update your profile with an email so I can get in touch with you. Of course if your question is pertinent, I will always accommodate a new post for you!


So. . . Where did I bet my boxes? They are Bare Elements "Sam" boxes. They retail for $15. I have one left that I'm happy to sell for $12 plus postage to you. How much can an empty box cost to mail? (not quite empty, it includes dividers and base pages!)

My snow babies use their original hangers and I put them on my Christmas tree with coordinating ribbon, but I'm sure just a traditional Christmas hook will work well too!

Thanks again for your kind comments. Comments really make my day!

Just for fun; This is a card I made for a swap the first year I started with CTMH and the 2nd one I ever made (on my own). . . Go ahead and laugh, but hey, I had to start somewhere!