ScrapHappy

Weekend recap by the numbers

TWO soccer games
FIVE baseball games
ONE birthday party
300 miles on the odometer (good thing I doubled my MPGs with the VW)
10 iced tea refills
...and a spouse in Boston.

I need a nap. Maybe on a pig. Yes, I am snuggling a pig. Strange things happen in downtown Mesa.

For a Good Cause

I'm putting this under Do-Right Friday even though it's Saturday.
Day late, dollar short, all that. ;)

ANYWHOO... as you know, Stephanie Ackerman is a fabu chica with a heart the size of my patterned paper stash. She is raising money for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis through etsy paper kit sales and an auction of a bag full o' goodies.

Act fast if you're interested. I guarantee her kits will sell out fast, and the auction is closing tomorrow.

I've been tagged!

This is a fun book tagalong... I was tagged by PattyAnne!

The book closest to me is:

"Baseball Scorekeeping: A Practical Guide to the Rules" by Andres Wirkmaa (yes, I am a total dork)

Page 25 first five sentences: (Note: the first bit is not sentences, so I kind of made this fit)
Chapter 3
Rule 10.03
Miscellaneous Matters

Five Subjects in One Rule
Rule 10.03 covers five separate topics:
1. Player Listings.
2. Substitute Batters and Runners
3. "How to Prove a Box Score."
4. "When Player Bats out of Turn."
5. "Called and Forfeited Games."

Page 100: Criterion #3: the

MEME RULES:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 125 pages or more (no cheating!)

2. State the title and author of the Book

3. Find Page 25

4. Type in the first five sentences.

5. Find page 100 and type in the first, second and fifth word on the page.

6. Post the meme to your blog.

7. Tag 5 people. Have fun! :o)

Here's who I'm tagging -- the last five people who commented on my blog:
Kyla
Angela (do you have a blog??)
Carla (ditto!)
Ragan (if she can fit it in with moving)
Lacey

I think it's safe...

...to come out of the bathroom now!

Whew. That was a tough one. But I have recovered long enough to send this little cutie your way:

Do you see that AZ? And the table? Whew. I got it all in.

materials: Patterned paper and cardstock die cut (My Mind's Eye) + paper frill (BoBunny) + acrylic flowers (Heidi Swapp) + brads (American Crafts) + rub-ons (Hambly) + stamp (Creative Imaginations) + letters (American Crafts)

Sweet and simple.

And here is last week's, now that the computer is cooperating:

What makes me laugh here is the use of "4" for "for" in both... didn't even notice that until now! This was a size I don't normally scrap in. I'm pretty much a dedicated 12x12" kind of gal, but every once-in-a-while you have to break out, ya know?

materials: lace paper, felt number (KI Memories) + label (Autumn Leaves) + alpha letters (??) + ribbon

When I'm scrapping fast, I reach for products that are going to pack a big punch without being time-intensive (the lace paper, for instance). When you use products like that, you don't need a lot of embellishments. Same goes with interesting color combinations -- make your selections work for you!

Last week's crAZy winners:

Rachel participated in her first 30-Minute Thursday

and Carla learned a new Spanish vocab word. :)

Send me your snail mail addresses, ladies!

Now, for next week, create a layout in 30 minutes or less using:

-Something that's been in your stash for a L-O-N-G time (special award to the oldest stash item used on a layout)

-A wallet-sized photo (you can use more, but at least one photo of this size)

-Your happy color!

Okay, I'm going back to bed now.

A slight delay...

I've been stricken with a stomach ailment and as such will be late on the 30-minute Thursday. Trust me, you don't want to see anything I'd come up with right now.

:(

Whoop-dee-doo Wednesday

I love other bloggers' collections of links to fun and interesting spots on the web, so I thought I'd do an occasional collection myself of items that aren't big enough to warrant their own blog post, but are significant enough to merit a mention. And because I must embellish everything (including my blog posts), I came up with the cute moniker, "Whoop-dee-doo Wednesday." 'Cuz if you can't have a whoop-dee-doo on your own blog, well, then, what's the point?

1. Many of you expressed interest in these awesome boots

worn by the incomparable Anna Aspnes in our Simple CKC video... Anna was kind enough to provide me this link. Warning: The shoes you will see are addictive AND expensive -- a bad combo!

2. I finished a sewing project!

I got the idea for this cute headband from this cute girl. It's a pattern from Heather Bailey, whom I had never heard of before CHA but now know is one of the goddesses of textile design.

3. Speaking of CHA, I find it quite ironic that the theme for their summer show is "Kids Crafting." Perhaps they could demonstrate their dedication to kids by actually treating them like humans, not nuisances who must be removed from the premises like Mrs. Weasley's garden gnomes?

4. National Scrapbook Day is coming. How are you going to celebrate? A number of Simple contributors and editors are teaching around the country... check out the Studio Blog for updates on appearances.

A quick reminder

Our Goodreads bookclub is discussing Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, right NOW!

It was one of the best books I've read in a very long time, and I highly recommend it. Stop in any time to join in the discussion.

Episode 43: Back at You!

Episode 43 of the ScrapHappy podcast is up! For those of you just joining us, the podcast is a (somewhat) regular audio program that you can download to your computer or save on your MP3 or iPod. Just click here to listen!

In this episode, I attempt to catch you up on everything I've been doing, including:
-The Stamp-Doodle-Crop cruise with Stephanie Ackerman and Timeless Treasures

-CKC Mesa

Patty and me:

Lisa and me:

-Creating section openers for the Sept/Oct issue of Simple Scrapbooks

-Buying Bazzill by the box

-Creating jewelry to exhibit at the Bobbin's Nest in May

In this 30-minute funfest, I also announce the winner of the Ethnic Scrapbooking contest, let you in on a secret or two, and maybe offer up another few elements of fun and games. After all, it's scrapbooking humor and hijinks!

Other places to check out:
-Paperclipping by Noell Hyman
-Dedra's gorgeous scrap room and cool projects
-Los Dos Molinos

Happiness Is...

A job well done!

Whew, another CKC come and gone! Nine classes in two days, filled with about 349 women and one man... and I gave chocolate to almost each and every one of them!

I love teaching. It's one of those things I know I was meant to do. I feel totally in the moment in front of a group of people, and nothing beats sharing my love of scrapbooking with them!

Weekend highlights:
-Rooming with her We've teamed up a couple of times now for CKCs, and she is so sweet -- the thing that amazes me is that she is as sweet as she is beautiful. A rare combination! (Love you, Elizabeth!). It's so funny walking around with her... you hear these whispers, "Is that her? Yes, that's her!" One man came up to her and said that his wife was a big fan but was too shy to approach her. How cute is that???

-Seeing Becky with her cute baby belly. Always a treat! She makes you feel like the only person in the room.

-Meeting and taking pictures with tons of fun people (Oreos, you know who you are -- send me pictures!).

-Shopping. Of course. I was introduced to this new thing called "Bazzill by the Box." I'll tell you more about it on my podcast (YES, one is coming!).

-Dinner with Angela at this cool restaurant:

You've got to love a place that says, "Don't ask us to make it mild -- we don't know how." Thanks, Angela, for introducing me to Los Dos Molinas!

-Another wonderful Mexican dinner with these two nuts, Noell and Dedra. Who else, besides other scrapbookers, would take you for a night on the town visiting public statues and taking wacky photos??? My favorite -- watching the two of them set up their cameras using a newspaper rack as a tripod:

I have not laughed that hard in a L-O-N-G time. Pure giggliness. I will share more photos when they send 'em over to me! (We took some doozies).

Ahh, Mesa, I love you. But I'm also looking forward to home.

Next stop? Austin, TX for National Scrapbook Day! More details here.

I've been pondering...

I try to keep this blog on the light side. I know we have enough to worry and think about and stress over in this life of ours, so I concentrate on making this one place you can come for a good dose of fluff and nutters.

But every once in a while, I find the self-examining, incredibly philosophical part of me obsessing over something I want to share here. This is one of those times. I hope you will occasionally indulge me. Rest assured this blog will not turn into whine-whine-sob-sob, blah blah blah. Well, maybe the blah blah blah part, and occasionally a whine or two. And maybe even the once-in-a-blue-moon sob. But not very often.

(Feel free to flip channel now or go get a cool drink from the fridge).

I have been obsessing over letting go. My Ali word for the year is RELEASE. Release, as in letting go of possessions, expectations, habits and anything else that is not improving my life or making the world a better place.

In some areas, this is easy -- letting go of books I've read and will never read again, releasing goals that I've held onto just for looks, dropping resentments I've held against my husband for leaving me over and over as he jets around the world (this past week has helped with that tremendously!).

What's harder for me is releasing HOPE. I'm nothing if not extremely persistent and perpetually optimistic. But when does my desire for something obscure a larger message that what I want is just not meant to be? In other words, can my longing for something and my eternal optimism cloak the fact that what I'm longing for is not going to happen?

That's hard.

I must sound like I'm talking from the fourth dimension... I don't mean to! Let me give you an example. There's someone I'd like to be closer with. I've contacted her numerous times for get-togethers, and for one reason or another, they never come to pass. When I encounter her, she always seems happy to see me and will even suggest an outing or date in passing... but when I attempt to firm things up, once again, it doesn't pan out (kids sick, work, let's do it next weekend, etc. etc.)

For a long time, I kept suggesting things. But then yesterday (don't ask me why it took so long -- Like I said, I can be blindly optimistic and/or determined), I realized I've been suggesting things FOR OVER A YEAR and never once have we done anything.

Duh. Call me a slow learner.

I get it now. It's not going to happen.

For whatever reason, she doesn't want me as a closer friend right now.

And I have to ACCEPT that and RELEASE any other expectations.

And that hurts.

Mostly because while I love people, I am so guarded about my free time that there are rarely occasions when I'm wililng to forego family time to spend it with someone else. And to find someone -- and then not to have that desire returned -- ouch.

A year, I get it. But what if it was a week? Or a month? What if you want something that isn't happening and maybe it's a test to see if you REALLY want it and you don't want to quit too soon when the payoff was just around the next corner?

How do YOU know when it is time to throw in the towel on a relationship (or hope of one), a dream, a goal?

If something doesn't happen easily, does that mean it's not "supposed" to happen? (I know the answer to that one).

And if struggle is part and parcel of life, how do we know when it's futile struggle vs. knuckle-down-and-show-how-much-you-want-this-or-I'll-give-it-to-someone-else struggle?

Hmmmm.

Thoughts, anyone?

I now return you to your regularly scheduled ScrapHappy.