ScrapHappy

...And a Good Time Was Had by All

It's been a busy couple of days! Ben is deep in the middle of his California Missions unit at school (every fourth grader in CA has some version of this) and his overachieving parents decided it would be fun (remember that word) to start in San Diego and trek up the coast, visiting all 18 missions on the way (there are three more north of us).

Well, in concept, it was a very good idea! But practice and plan are sometimes quite different, as anyone who has children knows.

So here are the stats on the past couple of days:

Miles driven: almost 1000 (all by my trooper of a husband!)
Missions visited: 6 (yes, we intended to visit all 18 but then we came to our senses... what were we THINKING?)
Hotels located near freeways, ambulance dispatch yards, etc.: 2 (out of two)
Awesome breakfasts with Linda and Dustin: One (never enough!)
Hours of whining in the car: Too many to count
Cost of back-of-the-seat dual screen DVD player: $175
Value of peace in the back seat: Priceless

I tell you, those padres were something else. I don't know how they traversed the rocky terrain on foot (or donkey) in sandals and robes. I was ready to pull my hair out after we hit Buena Ventura, and we still had 300 miles to go! Of course, the padres didn't have three kids in the back seat, complaining that one was breathing too loud and the other was picking her nose and the third was touching the others... So maybe our journey was a bit tougher, even though we had four wheels and a/c. There is something to be said for that vow of silence...

I did get a lot of knitting and reading time in. Finished a pair of socks for Kinsey (and Callie promptly said, "I don't know WHY you won't knit a pair for me!" -- like I've refused numerous times).

Here is a bit of a recap on other things happening chez Ehmann:
*The Get a LOAD of This Challenge is up and running and ready for registration at BPS. You can still join in the fun! If you can't do a layout a day, why not join us for the fun and games and PRIZES and do what you can? It's free!

Oh, and did I say PRIZES?

That, my friends, is a shot of my office with all 31 prize packages laid out on the floor. They are all in envelopes, ready to mail (perhaps to YOU????). Sometimes I am so organized I scare myself.

*I've completed two scrapbooks-for-hire in the last two days. This is the first time I've created a scrapbook for someone else for pay! It's a weird feeling. Usually I'm pretty confident in it all. But when someone else is paying me, the pressure is on! I keep asking myself, "Will they like this? Will they feel like they got their money's worth?" Here are a couple shots:

A six-by-six album for a friend's father:

I LOVE this We R Memory Keepers album I got at ScrapExpo. I had it on hand and am happy to put it to good use. The inside is a combo of blues and greens, with a couple of sheets of PP from a StoryTellers kit I got when I was in Utah. Embellishments were really simple -- a 1" strip of the PP on every page, plus brads and buttons and a few rub-ons.

Here's the other one I finished:

This was done with PaperSalon goodies on an 8x8" SEI album that I covered. It is also tres simple. My sister is giving it to a friend for her baby shower, so she wanted it to be "plug and play," so the new parents can just pop the 4x6 photos onto the page and be good to go with no trimming. I did throw in a couple 4x4 photo mats just to mix things up. Each page has three squares of PP and three flowers with brads. It's really cute, if I do say so myself.

Remind me (that's you, JenMcG!) to never again scrap for $ in the 8x8" size. It is totally un-economical. For a 10-spread album, I used 20 12x12" sheets of paper. That racks up the cost a lot! And because it's my sister, I can't ream her on the price. Hahaha. If she were my OLDER sister, perhaps. But she's the baby so I still have that gene that makes me want to take care of her (even though she is 4 inches taller and much cooler than I am).

I will leave you with this adorable shot:

Love those kids, even if they drive me batty. At least I will have someone (three someones, to be exact) to blame my grey hair on and to blackmail into going on Depends runs for me when I'm old and feeble.

It's time!!!

Get a L.O.A.D. of This: January's Layout-a-Day challenge is now open! Register at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

TELL A FRIEND! Let's blow this thing out of the water.

Gone Fishin'

No podcast or 30-Minute Thursday this week... I'm on the road to San Diego with my family, visiting all the missions between here and there (18 to be exact!). Wish us luck -- that equates to about 20 hours of driving in three days in a small-ish car.

But stay tuned -- I will post from the road and let you know what's happening. And also, rumor has it the Get a LOAD of This challenge registration will be opened at BPS momentarily! You'll hear about it here first.

:)

Because I have absolutely nothing else to do...

Christmas Countdown Project #Who knows?

I know you are dying for something to do with all your free time today. Who cares about the presents to wrap, the turkey to cook, the stockings to fill? Drop it all and hide out from the hordes of Mongol relatives and have some crafty fun instead!

You'll need:
*A couple of 12x12 sheets of chipboard
*A mini spiral notebook
*Several sheets of patterned paper
*Adhesive
*Embellishments (rub-ons, etc.)
*Paper trimmer

Let's go!

Step one. Measure your mini notebook (don't include the spiral, just the page size).

Step two. The challenge wtih these little notebooks is how flimsy they are. They don't stand up to the ravages of my purse, let alone my children. I combatted this by reinforcing the covers with chipboard. Cut two pieces of chipboard to fit your covers.

Step three. Trim two pieces of patterned paper approx. 1" larger than your covers. Exact measurements are highly overrated. Adhere to the chipboard and trim the corners so you can miter them. Repeat with the other sheet.

Step four. Adhere the chipboard to the covers.

Step five. Fold corners over and adhere. Rinse and repeat.

Step six. Now we've reached the point in our proceedings where you take a deep breath and admire what you've accomplished so far. Aaah! This may actually turn out to be something you can use! How fun is that? You may not believe me, but when I embark on these projects, I'm doing so with a great deal of faith and not a little doubt in my skills... I take pictures, assuming that there will be something worth documenting, but I don't have it all planned out beforehand. I'm just winging it. Or, as my husband calls it, "Using the Force." Usually it works; sometimes it doesn't. Everytime it DOES work, I say a little prayer of thanks and get unexpectedly giddy. Right about now is one of those giddy moments.

Step seven. Cut a piece of coordinating patterned paper slightly smaller than your cover, and adhere to the inner cover of the book. Smile -- it looks cute! Repeat for the back cover.

Step eight. I like dividers in my thicker notebooks. Cut as many pieces of chipboard as you would like dividers. I left mine about 1/2" wider than the notebook pages so I could make little tabs.

Step nine. If desired, trace and cut tabs on the dividers. Cover with patterned paper on one side (unless you are one of those overachievers I so mercilessly mock. In that case, go ahead and cover both sides. But rest assured I will mock you). After they're done, adhere to an inner page of the notebook. I simply used my adhesive to stick 'em on.

Step ten. Decorate the cover. I put "Lots of stuff" because I like really descriptive, clever titles. Haha.

Step eleven. Using mini label stickers (I used 7Gypsies), label your dividers.

Step twelve. Relax! You are now perfectly organized.

I know you like to hear about my goof-ups...

Yes, it's true. It's much funnier when I totally screw something up than when it's a seamless, easy project. So you should enjoy this story.

Christmas cards.

Christmas card photos which were printed two-to-a-4x6"-photo.

Does anyone see the problem yet?

Let me help you visualize:

Now, let's see... what bothers me most? That I spent $30 printing 200 unusable photo strips? That I did not even realize this until AFTER I'd trimmed all 200 strips? That I still played around with it, thinking that a Christmas miracle might occur and they would suddenly shrink to lilliputian proportions?

Or that none of you, my loyal readers, thought to remind me that in my sugar-induced haze I might be likely to possibly make such a boneheaded error. All it would have taken was a nice little e-mail, something like, "Hey, Lain -- just wanted to make sure you are printing your photos in the right size. I know you're under a ton of stress and not to be rude or anything, but it totally seems like something you would do to print 200 photos IN THE WRONG SIZE five days before Christmas, so double-check, will you, girlfriend?" I mean, SOMEONE could have said SOMETHING.

Next year, JenMcG, I am appointing you to send me that gentle reminder. I'd pick on Etta but her husband is in the ministry so she has a free pass the entire month of December.

I must have someone to blame. It's crucial to my self-preservation.

PS I reprinted smaller photos at home. Darned if I was going to go back to Costco and have them laugh at me.   

Do-Right Friday

I don't like to brag about myself... I am much more comfortable pointing out my flaws (there will be a post on that particular aspect of my personality later today!). But here is something I am proud of:

I am proud not only of the lovely neckwear they are sporting, but I am also proud to call these women my friends! They are so special to me. I love 'em all.

Oh, and I'm also proud that their gifts got there BEFORE Christmas!

Do something nice for someone you love today, particularly someone who isn't expecting it. THOSE are the best gifts.

Ladies, take your marks, get set...!

It's 30-Minute Thursday! It's a great chance to get those muscles warmed and stretched for a fast start off the block for the Get a L.O.A.D. of This Challenge starting January 1 (and no, registration is not open yet at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Hopefully in the next few days!).

You should recognize these photos. Aren't they cute? :) I had to use them again, since my Christmas cards are nowhere near completed. Maybe I can just direct everyone to this page.

This page was done with goodies from the ZingBOOM kit I reviewed on the podcast the other day. I made a ton of teacher gifts (which I will post photos of later) as well as some cards, and I still have stuff leftover! For this page, I added my own cardstock, brads, and KI "softies" for the mint-green arrows.

Your challenge for next week -- use arrows on a page! Make your own or use pre-made ones. Just have an arrow in there somewhere!

Winner from last week...

Kristi!

Kristi, email me your snail mail addy and I'll get some goodies in the mail to you. Maybe I'll even throw in a Christmas card. ;)

The Harsh Reality

Does this ever happen to you? You start thinking that it's a week until Christmas and maybe, just maybe, you've got it all under control.

Then you remember...

...The 200 Christmas cards you have yet to create, address, stamp and send
...The "must be delightfully quirky and different" Christmas letter you have yet to write and print
...The dozen or so presents that you have yet to wrap
...The dozen or so neighbor goody packs you have yet to package and deliver
...The graham crackers, frosting, and candy doo-dads you have yet to purchase so 20 fourth-graders can decorate "gingerbread" houses at their Christmas party tomorrow
...The five teacher gifts you have yet to create and wrap

Am I the only one who prefers la-la land to reality???

Just wonderin'.

Episode 33: Monthly Kit Reviews Part 1

Episode 33 is here! You can also subscribe on iTunes (you do not need an iPod or even an MP3 player to subscribe).

Show notes:
*We talk about the Get a L.O.A.D. of This: January's Layout-a-Day Challenge at Big Picture Scrapbooking
*I give a heads-up on my 30-Minute Scrapbooker class at BPS (details to come soon!)
*We review some monthly kit clubs:
Cocoa Daisy!
Here is December's kit:

(note: I may have inadvertently thrown away my embellishment pack, so Tricia is sending me another! I'll post some of my creations from this kit later this week!)

Another note: Here's the info on subscriptions for Cocoa Daisy, straight from Tricia:
<>

Tarisota Collections!

Here's December's kit:

(note: my kit was a different month's so the projects I'll post are going to be different... but this will show you what a whole month's kit looks like!)

Currency converter so you can see what the kit will run you.

ZingBOOM!

Here's November's kit:

*We also talk about our ScrapHappy Book Club on GoodReads. Our next book will be Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. We will start discussing on Feb. 1.

Announcements!

I am afraid that I have built up your expectations to unmeetable levels! But still, this is something I am SO STOKED about...

Big Picture Scrapbooking has graciously agreed to host the "Get a L.O.A.D. of This: January's Layout-a-Day Challenge" and offer it to you GRATIS (in other words, FREE!). How cool is that? What does this mean, you ask? Here's what it means:

By enrolling in the class through their site, you will get:

-An introductory audio message from me (kind of like a podcast)
-A site gallery where you can upload your layouts on a daily basis and check out what everyone else is doing
-An FAQ document to answer all your questions
-A message board
-And more excitement than you can possibly stand!

If you've been curious about how Big Picture classes work, but haven't wanted to risk the $ on a class you might not like, this is the perfect opportunity to check it out. And you WILL want to check it out because later in the spring I will be teaching the first...

30-Minute Scrapbooker

class on BPS! (Insert confetti and streamers here!)

You, my friends, will not want to miss this. It will be a 4-week-long class that will include audio downloads, videos, and humor and hijinks galore. I will share all my tips and tricks and favorite products for scrapbooking fast-ly and fun-ly. Stay tuned for more info on that!

The classroom and registration is not yet ready at BPS for our LOAD challenge, but you know you will hear from me the moment it is ready. In the meantime, start getting your ducks in a row... we're going to start January 1 with a bang!

(Did I mention there will be a prize every single day for participants who upload a layout to the gallery? Upload 31 layouts on each of the 31 days of January, and you will be eligible to win 31 different prizes... AND the Grand Prize (which I am now calling the Grand Prix). Can you stand it???

Oh. And I forgot something else.

For EACH PARTICIPANT WHO SIGNS UP, I WILL DONATE $1 to the Books for Kids foundation. 100 participants = $100. 500 participants = $500. You get the picture.

Tell your friends. Tell you scrapbooking group. Post it to message boards. Let's make this BIG!!!