Embrace Life

Project | Thirty +1 Days of Thankful

I have a few flaws - some louder than others. I am doing my best to take a good look at them and change what I can or maybe just change my outlook and some of those flaws might not be "bad" after all.

The first thing to do is admit you have a problem. Right? Well, okay: I AM A PROJECT JUNKIE. To be honest, one of my biggest most consistent flaws is that of the "the unfinished project". I am REALLY GOOD at starting things. There are so many good ideas, I jump from one to another - to another - to another. Sometimes they are just started and I drop them because they didn't turn out to be what I expected. Sometimes there is that one "perfect" element needed to finish it off. Sometimes they are just waiting to be simply uploaded and/or printed to be completed and yet they sit in my computer. Very few meet the stage of finished. 100% done.

Today, I celebrate a triumph! I am sharing a 100% finished project.

This was a simple get-it-done, a 100% no-brainer project. The brilliant Cathy Zielske has her annual Thirty Days of Thankful project available over at Designer Digitals. I LOVE this project - it was one of the projects I finished last year: Thankful 2012.

I have so much in my life for which to be grateful, it is important for me to recognize and express it. The best way possible is via my favourite format: pictures + words.

Of the three options available, I chose the 6"x8" template and went so far as to order the Handbook Album System from Studio Calico. Then it occured to me that I've always wanted to order a bound book - a real honest to goodness printed book rather than an album. Could I do it? Could I "get over" my gutter issues?

I did!

This envelope arrived, only 5-days after the book was ordered:

WOW. Anything arriving completed, to Canada from anywhere is outrageously wonderful!

The pages are stunning. I am so pumped about this book!

Just click on any of the images below to make larger.

 

Do you participate in a Gratitude Project? Which one? For what are you most grateful this day? month? year? Could you, like me, have written pages and pages, or do you keep things pretty tight - maybe a top three? How do you honour those you feel fortunate to have in your life?

Spill!

Project | iPhoto Purge

You know when a little project takes on a life of it's own? That's exactly what happened when I planned on finding a few photos to upload to my 500px account. I was thrilled to have someone want to order a photo and figured I'd set up a shop. Not one to do things half-assed, I thought I'd just upload all of my favourite photos and make a go of this little idea. Simple, right? Nope.

All of my "flags" had been corrupted over time by flagging photos to mail out to friends, to include in Project Life, to chose over another similar photo. What a mess!

Well, I had a lazy afternoon, why not clean it up? Easy. Then I realized - I had over 57,000 photos in my iPhoto. (Within that includes all of my digital files, so for pure photos, I'm not exactly sure what the number is as digi elements do make up a lot of that number.) I needed a full week of lazy afternoons and I've managed to get myself caught up to July 2012.

I have learned a few things about myself in the last little while:

1. I will not organize c.r.a.p. A purge must always preceed organizing.
2. A purge always needs specific criteria to follow.
3. The delete button is my best tool.

Since the computer-in-the-dumpster mishap of 2011*, I am not as attached to photos as I once was and probably purge way more than anyone else would. As a scrapbooker/album maker/memory curator, I'm sure that seems to be counterintuitive, but it works.

My criteria was simple:

1. Team or group photos that do not include my kid(s) get purged.
2. Of those photos only one or two of the very top best from the event are kept.
3. If there is a number of similar photos, pick the top one and delete the rest.
4. Any "everyday" photos for Project Life that have already been developed and put in the album that hold no meaning outside of their everyday-ness get zapped.
5. Delete, delete, delete.

One thing that surprised me is how awful so many of my photos were! Truly horrible. I'm a SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) photographer and always prided myself on having a good "eye". Holy smokes. What a disappointment I am to myself. Purging became far easier once that realization was made. I also learned A LOT about what I was doing wrong and what I need to fix in the future. Though, it does look like I have been improving over time.

Another surprise? The realization I have two children who are complete pains in the butt when it comes to taking photos! Grr. Same two. Every time.

While I was in iPhoto I did manage to do some minimal "organizing":

1. Flagged any photo worth selling.
2. Moved to "Special Family Photos" file any special family photo or particularly good shot of people, places or things that mean something special to us.
3. Minimized the files containing any digital scrapbooking file.

I stopped at the July 2012 mark because that is where my analogue Project Life stops for 2012. Once I have that project completed, I'll zap anything that is not meaningful outside of the context of the album.

The end result, so far? I purged 22,000+ images from my iPhoto and now have little more than 30,000 images and digital files left. I know that sounds like a ton, but once I get 2012 cleared out, I think it'll be far more manageable. I'll be able to file and organize what's left. I'll be happy to have my iPhoto in alignment with the rest of my life: if it isn't loved or useful, it's gone.

A few of my "special photos" found:

Way back when Caden was in T-Ball he refused to hit the ball until the plate was perfectly cleaned of all dirt. Everyone patiently waited for him to finish and then smack the ball :) JUNE 2005

It was an Orange and Black summer when I enrolled Chloé and Caden onto two different teams to play ball. (Easier for the league - not easier for me. Live and learn!) Chloé loved the chance to play against her brother's team. Caden? I don't know that he was equally delighted. JULY 2006

Chloé is always so focused - and when she is, like all of my kids, the tongue comes out. I have no idea what she was doing, but love that I captured a moment so typical of Chloé! FEBRUARY 2008

It was a Game Boy Christmas in our house! DECEMBER 2003

Joy? Cole in Cape Cod. He cracks me up! AUGUST 2004

Do you think they would pose nicely? Nope. But this is exactly what they were like when together - like a bunch of puppies. JULY 2009

Can this girl ever pitch! Wow. It's always such a surprise to everyone. She's so happy and girly getting up to the mound. Then she turns into a fierce competitor. Love it! JUNE 2009

Spirit Day at school is always met with great enthusiasm. Claire's house was Walker which has light blue as it's colour and Cole's house is Powell's in yellow. Goofs! SEPTEMBER 2011

One of my most favourite family photos in one of our most favourite places on earth. JUNE 2008

So, now I have about 100 photos I feel comfortable uploading to my 500px account. There is always room for improvement and I hope to upload better and better photos as time goes on. With what I have, I can now spend the rest of the week making a virtual storefront and, fingers crossed, sell a photo or two!

I'm glad this project is almost completed. At least I'm a lot farther ahead than I was a week ago!

*My overly-enthusiastic son, Cole, took an "old laptop" and tossed it with the dumpster load of c.r.a.p. when the kids and I moved in 2011. I was devastated but only for long enough to know that the photos might be gone, but the memories are in my head and heart forever.

30 Days of Thankful | Share 05

Wow.

Tremendous thanks goes out to the talented and ever-inspiring Cathy Zielske for the idea and the templates. My 30 Days of Thankful is COMPLETE! I really enjoyed how this album turned out.

Throughout this project, I have happily included the bits and pieces of my every day that fill my life - right now. I could probably do this every day and find something new in it for which to be thankful.

For that mindset alone I am grateful!

You can find all of my Days of Thankful here:

30 Days of Thankful | Share 04
30 Days of Thankful | Share 03
30 Days of Thankful | Share 02
30 Days of Thankful | Share 01

What about you? Did you/are you participating?

30 Days of Thankful | Share 04

'Tis the season to be thankful, right? Continuing with my Cathy Zielske-made templates, I'm still participating in CZ's 30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page Fridays. This is turning into a fabulous album!

Volleyball photo found online.

And with that another week of thankful pages are done!

How about you? Are you participating?

30 Days of Thankful | Share 03

Are you participating in a "thankful" or "grateful" project this November? I've joined in Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page Fridays and I'm continue to surprise myself by staying on track. One happy thing for which I'm grateful just naturally rolls into something else for which to be thankful. I love my life!

Full disclosure: I did NOT take this photo, but for the life of me I don't know where I found it.

And there you have it. What were you thankful for this week?

Come back next Friday to see what I was thankful for through the week coming up. In the meantime, head over to CZ's place and check out all the fantastic pages all linked up!

30 Days of Thankful | Share 02

Are you participating in a "thankful" or "grateful" project this November? I chose to join in Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page Fridays and I'm actually on track!

Photo Source: Blankets

Photo Source: Maple Leaf

 

Photo Source: Chicken

And there you have it! What were you thankful for this week?

Come back next Friday to see what I was thankful for through next week. In the meantime, head over to CZ's place and check out all the fantastic pages all linked up!

30 Days of Thankful | Share 01

Though our Canadian Thanksgiving has long past, I've always considered November to be the month to dedicate to those things for which we are most grateful or thankful in our lives. I often participate in gratitude challenges at this point in the year, and this year I feel expecially thankful for those in my life who make every day worth enjoying.

I'm joining in Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page Fridays because

1. The timing is perfect
2. It can be done in a digi-format (I still haven't dug out all of my paper album supplies)
3. I already downloaded the templates before the share-a-page idea came up
4. I have a great deal - way more than 30 reasons - for which to be incredibly thankful
5. CZ is in charge :)

Two days down. Two layouts made. It's starting off well :)

So there you have it, the latest and greatest project. Come back next Friday to see what I was thankful for through next week. In the meantime, head over to CZ's place and check out all the fantastic pages all linked up!

Create | The 'Ful Album Project

Over the weekend I found a new album project over at Designer Digitals that resonated immediately. I am at a stage in my life for which there are so many thing going on - good, bad and I am so grateful for all of it. When I saw this new Cathy Zielske album project, I bought and downloaded it first thing in the morning - I had it completed and submitted to Persnickety Prints by 4PM, with a trip to the golf store, the bike shop and the mall all thrown in between!

Love me a simple, and manageable, project that takes me by surprise.

What do you think?

TITLE PAGE

MINDFUL

THANKFUL

JOYFUL

HOPEFUL

GRATEFUL

My favourite projects meet a few criteria: simple themes, simple design, flexibility, genuine emotion and honest words. This project is certainly one of my new favourites. Oh, and it's done! That is the very best part :)

About flexibility: The photos and words chosen are those I feel today, in this moment. This is not how I felt a year ago, and doubtful the same as I will feel a year from now. Certainly I will be 'ful of many the same things, but I'm sure other things will become more of my focus. Or my children will be something for whom I am more "mindful" or "thankful" than "hopeful" and for completely different reasons. Maybe things will be more light-hearted and silly? Or more serious and dour? Let's hope life brings with it plenty of silly!

Elements of this project include:
Template: Cathy Zielske, The 'Ful Album Project, Designer Digitals
DigiPaper: Maplebrook Studios, Graphica Solids, Designer Digitals
Photos: From my collection, though I don't remember taking the veggie one.

As always, thank you Cathy Zielske for all that you do. I enjoyed taking my day and reflecting on all those thing in my life that make it 'ful.

Confession: I'm a font freak

For as long as I can remember I've been doodling and drawing letters. I have a crazy collection of over 1,400 fonts in my Font Book. Now, I have to confess, that has been whittled down over time from a collection of over 2,500 fonts. It is still a ridiculous number.

But there are times when I just can't find the fonts I want in my massive collection!

My most recent additions to the collection include:

Pauline is a font I found over at Simple Scrapper and I just had to have it! So went out and bought it from My Fonts. At around the same time I found Louisiana on a design blog - they no longer use it - and then I found it again in Canadian House and Home magazine - the print, not online, version. It is as close as I can find to what I wish my handwriting was like, consistently! So I had to buy it.

New free fonts include ...

The Serifa was used in my recent Autobiography Project and the Reklame Script reminds me of my days supervising a print shop for a grocery company years and years ago!

Right now I'm on the hunt for some number fonts. Numbers with personality and style! Any ideas, let me know :)

What are your favourite, or you go-to fonts? Share!

LOAD: More 0511 Layouts

Somehow I've managed to keep up with the LOAD (Layout A Day) for May ... and keep at the digi! I have to say, I'm enjoying the "clean up" after making a digi layout. So very tidy! The portability is a plus, too.

DAY 7: So Very Thankful

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Mr. Brownstone (Ashalee Wall); Template: Layered Template 14 (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial & Amelie

DAY 8: A Most Colourful Surprise

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: DZ Artistshand2 - Paper3 (Unknown); Template: Design Your Life Class Template (Unavailable, Cathy Zielske); Fonts: A&S Rhino and Arial

DAY 9: His Joyful Moves

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: For The Love of Chevron (Ali Edwards); Tag: Holidays in Hand Tag Pack (Jessica Sprague); Template: Design Your Life Class Template (Unavailable, Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Adler and Arial

DAY 10: I AM

MATERIALS Template: Autobiography Layered Template Package (Ali Edwards); Fonts: Serifa

Now, after much hemming and hawing, and advice to make sure this book is submitted and printed, I decided to stick with what works for me, and I changed everything from the Aqua to the more Lee-like gold/orange. There is a better chance of it being put on the coffee table if it matches my decor.

DAY 11: New Normal

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Remarkable (Karla Dudley), Remember This and That (Ali Edwards); Butterfly: Felis Elements (Karla Dudley); Template: Layered Template 28 (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial and Impuls BT

DAY 12: Here & Now

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Felis (Karla Dudley), Miscellaneous (ABR_UrbanLife); Template: Layered Template 1 (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial

DAY 13: Quintessentially You

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Mia Papers (Maplebrook Studios), TKA_CombatINT (Stash); Template: Layered Template 40 (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial

DAY 14: The Details

MATERIALS Overlay: Page Frames #1 (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial

Day 15: Eat Better

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Envy Papers (Ashalee Wall), Kate Papers (Ashalee Wall); Template: Design Your Life Class Template (Unavailable, Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial and Amelie

And now you're all caught up on what I've been doing - every morning before the kids get up, I make a layout. I have found it very liberating to get stories + photos organized in such a manner that the story is fresh and told immediately. Seriously thinking a Project Life or CY365 will be far more do-able using this format. Certainly the upcoming A Week In The Life (July 25 - 31, 2011) is going to look different! It really is amazing what a bit of confidence can do!

I am almost always excited about stories + photos, but what I'm really looking forward to are more projects taken on with a sense of getting it all done rather than the fear of eventual overwhelm.

The Autobiography Project

A few weeks back, when Ali Edwards messaged on Facebook that she was working on a new digi-album, I was, as always, intrigued. The minute it became available, I bought it. Then came the hard part. What in the world was I going to do with it?

Take a look and let me know what you think.

[Click on all images to enlarge]

[ETA: Thank you to Lorraine, for pointing out my spelling error! It has been corrected on the original.]

  These are the opening and closing covers:

SUPPLIES: Autobiography Layered Template (Ali Edwards) • patterned paper (Haley Paper Pack)

Now I just have to figure out what to do with it now that it's 100% complete - a small miracle. I'm so pleased now that it's finished. Not only that, it started as a daunting task but once I got going - with some help from my friend Jill (who is always so patient with me), it really didn't take too long to get it all done. Well worth it, I think!

I started the project just before I left for my 10-Days in Arizona. I'm glad the completed book is from the pre-trip perspective. My plan is to make another next year when, presumably, I'll be feeling better. I'm curious to know what the differences might be.

So, what do you think? Send it to Shutterfly? Send it some place local? Some other place? Any ideas?

LOAD has started again!

As I mentioned in my reflections post, there is a lot going on in May with plans for participation in  StoryADay, WholeHearted Living, May Merriment, One LIttle Word and LOAD. I've learned that in order for me to get anything done, I have to make the time. I have it all mapped out and its been going pretty well ... so far!

LOAD was first offered in January 2008 on what is now Big Picture Classes and I've been hooked ever since! Lain has created a tremendous community filled with inspiration and support. LOAD has evolved into a February, May and October creative experience for me. Everyone here in my home knows to look out, mama is creating again. I have had months where I've been able to create a layout every day - and some where I've only created a few.

LOAD works for me because I tend to be a "binge" scrapper. This time around, since I've slowly (very slowly), become more confident in my Photoshop Elements skills, I'm going to make 31 digital layouts this month. I'm working on a couple of books and this should help with my confidence!

What do you think?

DAY ONE: Time To Remember

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: For Humanity Kit (Designer Digitals - no longer listed); Template: For Humanity Kit (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial, Amelie and AussieIcons.

DAY 2: 8

MATERIALS Fonts: Flick Bold Hollow, Arial

DAY 3: Remember

MATERIALS Overlay: Remember Outline Word 8.5 x 11 (Ali Edwards); Stamp: The Story of This Day (Ali Edwards); Font: Times

 

Day 4: Perfect Practice

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Remember This and That Paper Collection (Ali Edwards); Template: Layered Template 65 (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial and Amelie

Day 5: 10 Things | Caden

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Falling All Over (Jesse Edwards); Template: 10 Things I Love About My Life Template (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Archer, Times and Rockwell

Day 6: You Are Like Sunshine

(Yes, another Caden layout. I'm coming to the realization that there are many of the youngers as the olders do not want to be captured by the camera. And when the youngers are tired of it, I have to go outside and capture nature!)

MATERIALS Digi Printed Paper: Falling All Over (Karla Dudley); Template: Layered Template 41 (Cathy Zielske); Fonts: Arial

I quite like learning more and more techniques using the digi stuff. I'm actually learning enough that I find some things frustrating - like I cannot kern fonts in PSE6, so each letter has to be typed individually! Once I become more proficient, I'll upgrade, but I have so much more to learn in the meantime.

I love that LOAD gives me the opportunity to USE the templates I've collected. And printed paper! I also like that the digital templates let me quickly tell the stories that might be lost or not celebrated properly - buried in a Project Life or a Capture365 - like the photo of Caden and his acceptance to the Halton Skills competition. All that and it's portable, too!

Are you participating in LOAD? What have you enjoyed the most, so far?

Digi Distraction

Last week, I was cleaning up my desktop and ran across a Word Document with some interviews I had conducted with my kids at the end of last summer. They were so fun I didn't want to just file them away, they had to be saved right away and not forgotten ... again! I went through my templates and couldn't find anything I wanted for this specific purpose, but I did find a perfect template from Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life course I had taken a couple of years ago at Big Picture Classes:

MATERIALS: Template: Cathy Zielske; Papers: Ali Edwards Transitions; Embellishments: Karla Dudley Digi Essentials 2, Digi-Stash; Fonts: Verdana, American Typewriter

I was so glad to get this little bit of our "life in 2011" recorded for posterity! Then I resumed my template search and headed over to Designer Digitals to find the perfect template for the interviews at hand. Now, if you've ever been over to Designer Digitals you'll know how distracting it can be! I got more than a little off course. Sigh. No suprise, I found it - and a few others!

Evidence:

MATERIALS: Template: XX Things Template (Cathy Zielske); Papers: For Humanity Kit: Japan (Girls); dy-springbreeze-pp2 (aka unknown stash) (Boys); Fonts: Arial, Amelie, American Typewriter

It was so much fun to go back and look at the photos taken last summer - so many stories! Reading the little interviews and noticing all of the subtle and bigger changes in my kids in a few short months. It is days like this, putting memories together in the form of stories, in this case, an interview in the words of my kids, that remind me why I love this hobby which is so much more than a simple past-time.

My List of AWESOME

I am a big fan of finding my awesome in the simple that is my everyday. I love how Cathy Zielske cuts to the chase and gives us all access to a beautiful and uncomplicated way to celebrate those things!

LEFT:

RIGHT:

MATERIALS: Story Guide No. 04A Layered Template (Cathy Zielske), Miranda Paper Pack (Michelle Martin)

WORDS:

1. The first sip of coffee, in an oversized mug, in the morning.
2. “Chasing Pavements” by Adele. Sigh.
3. Claire, Cole, Chloé & Caden.
4. My MacBook Pro.
5. Walking the mall in the mornings. I can now make 10 laps around without stopping – that’s 5K!
6. Perrier and cranberry juice.
7. Perrier and anything, really.
8. Miso soup, especially when I’m not feeling well.
9. Living in a house on the lake.
10. Regaining my health.
11. Cheering my kids at their events. Volleyball, hockey, choir, rugby, and more. So many events to attend and support them in their pursuits!
12. Enjoying ever improving grades.
13. My blackberry.
14. Unexpected spring storms that bring over a foot of snow.
15. Sleeping with at least three pillows – all flipped to the cold side.
16. Putting on my old and worn black “duster” sweater. Like a hug.
17. Finding a new and simple recipe that the whole family loves.
18. When someone unexpectedly buys you a glass of wine and enjoys their own glass with you.
19. A juicy seedless clementine, or two.
20. Dancing through my house with headphones and a feather duster.
21. Realizing that a Wholehearted life is the best life to live. Working on it. Every day.
22. “The Good Wife”, “Blue Bloods” and “Big Bang Theory” gives me hope for network television.
23. Finding a good book and making it mine with underlines and notes in the margins throughout.
24. Waking up to an empty kitchen sink.
25. Leftover Chinese take-out for breakfast.
26. Sunny days – warm or freezing – when the sun sparkles off the lake.
27. Finding a cure for my psoriasis – thank goodness for a great naturopath!
28. The rare occasion when the laundry is done, the house is clean and dinner is in the oven.
29. Sitting on the couch surrounded by my children.
30. The internet.
31. Always having a place to go and something to do.
32. Black Uggs in the winter and black flip flops in the summer.
33. Having the perfect come-back when I need it – not 10 minutes later when I’m already in the car!
34. Carrot Cake.
35. Full use of my shoulders.
36. Enjoying the company of good friends, especially when we are all laughing and talking at the same time.
37. The (finally) finished shower in the basement.
38. My Asics.
39. Colour, especially earth tones.
40. photos + words + pretty paper.
41. Enjoying creative get-ways with other creative types.
42. 18 °C days.
43. Being and ex-smoker of 10+ years.
44. Learning, every day. Always growing and open to change.
45. Cathy Zielske, Ali Edwards, Brené Brown, Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell. So much brilliance, so little time to read it all!
46. The heavy salty air that is Cape Cod in the summertime. Every summer. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful place in my life.
47. Finally having my children embrace a more frugal and restrained approach to our life and our future.
48. Sauvignon Blanc.
49. Documenting life.
50. Being here. Now.

What about you? What would be on YOUR list of awesome?

. . . . .

I do have one thing to add to my list - once you start, you get on a roll. Later today and tomorrow, I'm heading off to Kitchener with a couple of girlfriends and we are attending a couple of Donna Downey-led classes. They are so completely out of my comfort zone, I can't wait!

I'll share photos as soon as I have a chance. Hopefully I create something sharable! That's okay, you'll get to see it regardless of the result :)

Family Day: Amazing Layouts

Last week I immersed myself in many digi projects. Most taking the form of selecting, purging and organizing what is left to do in iPhoto that I didn't get to during my Digital Detox. To give myself a break, I made a few layouts and finished up Claire and Caden's - on Family Day. The irony? My kids were busy elsewhere!

I enjoyed making the conversations layouts earlier, here, here and here - where my kids answered questions about themselves. These "amazing" layouts give me a chance to offer observations I've made about each of my kids - recently. This is a great project to slip into their scrapbooks (when I get them back from the printer once I find/decide where to send them - 8 1/2 x 11 is not a normal size in these parts!). Years ago I got bogged down with making four similar yet different layouts for each of the kids to include in their books and stopped due to utter ovewhelm. I think I may just have twigged on the thing that will make their books a bit more complete!

I enjoy Cathy Zielske's layered templates and will make more, for sure. I have, of course, downloaded a bunch of other templates and I've spent some time trying to manipulate those I already have to make them more functional in other projects. I'm stuck on a few things, but that's part of the fun. The fear is almost all gone - whoot! The intimidation and not wanting my layouts to look like CZs is almost all gone too. I love her work and it is distinctly her work - I think I've found a way to incorporate the best that is CZ with what I consider to be the best of me.

A lot of my new found comfort is the discovery of digi-paper I like. I'm thrilled to have discovered Michelle Martin over at Designer Digitals as she has some lovely papers; as well as Ashalee Wall at Design Pink Ink with her gorgeous paper collections. I'm far more a photo + story + paper scrapbooker than I am a bling and dimension scrapbooker - even digitally, so it was a thrill to find simple and sophisticated patterns and colours.

The only thing left to conquer are brushes and overlays. Working on it!

Last conversation ...

I have to say it is with great relief my boy is home from his 4-Day school trip. It was a strange sensation writing up three of these conversations and having a blank page for Cole. Well, maybe not so blank because I was able to fill in a few things: I know his favourite colour is red, it has been since he was very little; I know his favourite season is fall and that he can eat Granny Smith Apples all day long ...

I had no idea he still disliked McDonald's french fries or hasn't had time to read a book, for fun, since summer. 

I'm thrilled to bits that the coolest person both Cole and Chloe know is their little brother, Caden. This has been a wonderful process - very enlightening. Even though waiting a couple of extra days to add Cole's responses to the collection was a bit painful for someone as impatient as I tend to be ... hmm.

I've learned a lot about my kids, their changing interests and enjoyed every minute of their interaction with each other while they answered the questions at the kitchen table. The good-natured bantering back and forth is exactly what I had hoped for when I decided to have a crazy number of children in a ridiculously short time-frame ;) They still drive me a bit crazy, but they are all turning into such wonderful, complex and enjoyable people.

It took me less than a minute to download the template from Designer Digitals. It took about 10 minutes per interview. It took about 10 minutes per template to add colour and background. In total 81 minutes invested in getting to know my kids - something completely priceless. Cheap at twice the price!

What are you waiting for? This is what it's all about! Right?

More conversations ...

I keep finding more wonderful things about digi-scrapping. The next virtue discovered (or confirmed) yesterday is the ease in the parental quest of "fair". With four kids it's often easy to get caught up in the activities of one or once one project is done move onto the next and have one or more pages for one kid and zero for the rest. I was able to make two more pages, based on the Cathy Zielske template, like the one I made about Caden yesterday, one each for the girls:

MATERIALS: Template: CZ Designs Story Guide Layered Template No. 1 (Designer Digitals); Printed Paper: Ashalee Wall Between Us (Digital Pink Ink); Font: Myriad Pro

MATERIALS: Template: CZ Designs Story Guide Layered Template No. 1 (Designer Digitals); Printed Paper: Poorly Labelled Stash SG_Dec2007_1_Paper; Font: Myriad Pro

I have one in the works for Cole which I'll complete when I interview him upon his return on Friday. Right now I've got the colours chosen - red, of course, and put in my own answers to the questions. I'm curious to see how close I am to the real answers!

I've enjoyed the process of the interviews and learning more things about my children. Not only that, but the process has been fascinating - the questions that frustrate them, the questions they find easy or too hard - how can favourite food be too hard? They've also chosen their own paper and colours to reflect their current favourite.

I've learned that since I file almost 100% of my creative stash (digi and traditional) by colour, the labels are lost intranslation when stored in iPhoto. Must remedy that if I'm going to continue on this digi adventure! I've also figured out some short cuts and fun stuff on PSE which is becoming less and less intimidating every time I use it. I'm still stuck on a few things, but I'm sure to get it all worked out.

At least now I can say I'm enjoying the journey!

Early morning creativity

I woke this morning and after the coffee was made and the kids lunches were packed, I parked myself in front of my computer to go through the 80+ posts waiting for me in my Google Reader. I didn't get far! The always inspiring Cathy Zielske had an interview with her Cole posted as a hybrid project on her blog today.

There is a big sale on over at Designer Digitals and I had purchased many layered templates, so rather than waiting, and since my own Cole is out of town, I followed Cathy's lead, as I so often do, and interviewed Caden while he was eating his breakfast:

Template: Story Guide Layered Template No. 01 (CZDesign at Designer Digitals); Patterned Paper: Envy (Ashalee Wall at Digital Pink Ink); Font: Myriad Pro

I am thrilled that I could sit here on my computer across from my boy eating his breakfast and get a page done - and approved - before he left for the bus! I chose the full-digi route, but could easily have made this a hybrid effort. And I may, next time ;)

There is still a ton for me to learn about this whole digi thing, but the portability and speed of it all is really appealing. Do you digi scrap? 100% or part of the time?

Me? I'm off to finish reading the posts waiting in my reader which has now increased to triple digits. It may take all day if I keep stopping and giving in to my immediate inspiration!

Enjoy your Tuesday :)

Like a Hole in the Head!

As in, I need more digital supplies like I need another hole in my head!

Not.

But I got them anyway :)

Why?

The reasons are threefold: I have an idea for redecorating this here blog and I've been looking for some yellow, orange and green digi-papers with ZERO luck - close, but not quite; I found this incredible book from the Freckle Photo Blog (check out page 2 - I can't do a direct link to the post, sorry!) via Ali Edwards and really want to do one for each of my kids; and, there is a SALE on at Designer Digitals.

Even though I couldn't find the exact digi-papers I wanted, it didn't stop me from getting some:

Can you tell by the colours that I'm looking toward summer? The temperatures, anyway!

I was so happy to remember to find the template that inspired a hundred ideas - well, at least 10 per child. Do you suppose I'll remember them all when I sit down to design the books?

A few extras were purchased, because CZ rocks:

Though 90% of the time I'm very much a traditional or hybrid scrapbooker, I am drawn to the ease and portability of digi. It really appeals to my "why reinvent the wheel" approach to a number of projects.

What about you? Are you firmly a traditional crafter or do you use your computer? If you have moved into digi, what are your most favourite supplies? designers? ideas? Link me up!

The timing is crazy because I have a list a mile long of "must do's" but this was just so distracting! I hope you have a wonderful and creative weekend. Mine is going to start with about a dozen ladies here in my home tonight to start a creative conversation; I have two deadlines to meet on Sunday and yesterday I signed up for three exciting new creative opportunities which I'll share as soon as I can!

Digital Detox :: What & Why & How

What ::

Late last fall, Susannah Conway did a digital detox. It consisted of not just a physical purge but also a spiritual one.

Why ::

Cuz it's gotta get done! I think my spiritual cleanse will be a natural (and welcome) result of less clutter in my virtual life. Bottom line: if you can't find it then it is just clutter.

How ::

You know how I don't like to reinvent the wheel? I'm going to "roughly" follow her formula, tweeking it to meet my own particular programs. Unlike dear Susannah, there is no way any one project will take only one hour, but I will make every effort to spend no more than one hour on the smaller projects and only one hour chunks, many times over, for the bigger projects (iPhoto, Word and Bookmarks).

MONDAY Social Media: detox Facebook, Twitter (use UnTweeps) and Flicker; specifically focusing on the purge inactive "friends"
TUESDAY Google Reader: purge unread, inactive or negative blogs. I have been adding like crazy over the holidays and I now have 498 subscriptions. Hello? That's insane.
WEDNESDAY Desktop: tidy, purge, tidy some more :: Blackberry: clean up contacts, applications, memos
THURSDAY Address Book: declutter and organize, complete partial listings, delete the rest
FRIDAY Google Calendar/iCal: check for accuracy, make necessary changes and updates
SATURDAY Downloads: delete anything not used - especially e-books and digi elements!
SUNDAY Email: figure it out. Yes. Really. What program is this and why can't I add folders? Then put a plan together and purge and organize.

BIG PROJECTS to do through week:

• Firefox: Purge and organize all bookmarks, tidy toolbar
• iPhoto: Delete, delete, delete, file
• Word: Delete unnecessary files, organize remaining
• Network: Call Dean and get the house organized
• Old computers: pull off all necessary information and properly dispose of hardware

BACKUP

BACKUP again.

What about you? Do you save your digital cleansing to do all at one time or are you able to keep up with it all as you go? What are the best tools you've found? Tell me your secrets to digi organization!

The Buzz: 10-10-10

There was plenty of buzz yesterday over it being the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year of the millenium. It was all over the news and all over the internet. My friend, Susan Keuter, asked on her facebook wall to write 10 of our "favourites", to which I responded:

"Always having something to do, great light, supportive friends, unexpected kindness, hugs from my kids, my view of the lake, that first sip of coffee in the morning, hockey games and choir recitals, finished laundry and white wine :)"

There is so much more, but that is what came from the top of my head - which was what she requested. I have no doubt that will be turned into a scrapbook page sometime soon!

In the meantime, I was busy taking photos to take advantage of the layered template provided by the talented and generous Anna Aspines:

Head on over to her blog and get your copy of the template. Then post and let me know so I can take a look!

In the meantime, to my fellow Canadians:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hope you enjoy your day and you are surrounded with the love of friends and family.

Timing is everything

Now that I am reasonably proficient with using digital templates, (and seeing what disasters some people consider publish worthy - Char, you can LOL right now!), I am thinking of pursuing a couple of publishing projects I have had rattling around in my mind for well over six months now.

Publishing anything is an expensive undertaking and I want everything perfect, well, with as few mistakes as possible, before moving forward. I was collecting information from everywhere and keeping a file of information on my desktop: topics, how to's and where to's, all the ingredients to put together a great book.

TODAY I woke with the splitting headache that accompanied me to bed last night and barely had the motivation to open my google reader. I'm so glad I did, because when I read this article over at The Daily Digi my brain exploded with goodness, no more headache, just a bagillion ideas hit me all at once. I love anything that encourages creativity. So, before I started this post, I wrote down my picture book ideas. Here are a few of them:

My Cape Cod - in photos (minimal journaling)

A collection of favourite photos

365 Project 2009

365 Project 2010

A Hockey Book for Cole

A Baseball Book for Claire

Dad's 70th Birthday

Bright Spots

The Many Messes of Moe

Caden Faces & Silly Sayings

and I'm sure there's more stuff in pre-percolate.

Over the last couple of months I have become a HUGE fan of both Liz Tamanaha of Paislee Press and Aud Neal of Audacious Designs. THEY are singularly incredible and combined ... breathtaking! I am so thrilled when I run across great instruction: thoughtful and thought provoking. Wonderful. Both of these women are so creative and can really express their thoughts and instruction in a clear and easy to understand manner. So much so, I think I can do this.

So, thanks the Daily Digi, thanks Liz, thanks Aud. Let this new book begin!

Facing Unreasonable Fear: Digi-Anything

These three layouts above were done in a matter of minutes rather than hours. I'm still working on a few things that have me stumped, but I'm loving quick pages and layered templates as well as all the free stuff available on various blogs all over the place.

I originally wrote this post before the new year, put it in draft and completely forgot about it! It looks like it is now somewhat moot, but still, not bad:

I am a research nut.

I tend to read all there is to read, buy a crazy number of things: books and supplies, get myself fully immersed in an project simply because I think I like the idea and know that I'll love the process once I get started. Fortunately I'm usually right. The projects I love most are like preparing for a swim race or a tennis match, something I have a lot of experience with: all that intense training, repetition, proper technique, hours of time put in for the final performance. Well, I guess it is like any race, contest or performance.

I know I'll love digital once I get started. [ETA: I do, I do!]

My process for this has been a slow one. It started with my first digital camera. A small Canon PowerShot, 3.2 megapixel, which sat on the kitchen shelf from Christmas of '01 through to Christmas of '02. I read and researched, and finally charged the battery and used the camera. What a great piece of equipment. Still some of my best shots were taken with it!

Since then I've met and conquered my fear of my iPod and iTunes, GPS, MacBook and associated software, Canon 40D and the gorgeous 50mm 1.4 lens from last Christmas, Flickr, iMac and Google Earth (thanks to the NORAD Santa tracker!). The only thing left is the one piece of software I've had the longest - Photoshop Elements. I have to say, the photo project for the boys really helped me get over a huge chunk of my hesitation and I really enjoyed playing with different elements.

I finally figured out what was stopping me (or so I think) from diving into digi-scrapping:

• The enormity of what is available "out there" and avoiding purchase mistakes. The pitfalls of purchasing something you can see but not feel and touch is a bit off-putting. The fear of a potential computer crash and losing all that digi stuff - and the dollars associated. (I do have two handy-dandy Lacie hard drives, but still). After all, this digi-stuff is not tactile-stuff and though I love how tidy it can be, I fear it too. [ETA: I can't adequately express how much I really love the organized/tidy aspect of this new adventure. Oh, and the portability!]
  
• I love paper. Really, I do. And sometimes digi just looks awkward and fake. [ETA: But it doesn't have to, it depends on the choices you make - yay!]
  
• It seems so easy for everyone else and I feel like a complete dumb-ass here on line or while participating in on-line forums. Ah, ego. It is not generally this tender! [ETA: Slowly becoming less dumb-ass and realizing I am not alone. Thanks to YOU and all of your support.]
  
• The hundreds, nay, thousands of elements I already have on my computer: papers, brushes, torn paper, stitches, bling, lace, textures, quick pages, transparencies, templates. In a word: EEK! I don't even know the right terminology. It all seems to be so complicated. But so irresistible! [ETA: still working on this. Totally stumped by the multiple names given to the exact same thing. I need a digi-thesaurus!]
  

I have spent a lot of time this week getting my digital elements organized and ready to be used. Essentially charged up, like the first camera had to be. My brilliant friend Barb, sent me to a very informative thread, which now has me using my iPhoto program on my MacBook Pro to file and organize my oodles of digital elements, I've been collecting (most have been sent to me), over the past couple of years. I've now transferred 1,500 files and tons of elements. [ETA: I'm still trying to figure out how to make some of the elements "read" properly - instead of big black blobs, but what an improvement!] Love having everything all in one place, I've turfed a ton, especially those strange-looking pseudo-realistic elements that are supposed to look real, but look anything but real. In an effort to figure out what I was doing - category wise - I also went onto a few manufacturing blogs, my favourite was the Shutterfly blog, fascinating. It is like a time-capsule of digital crafting. Spending a few minutes looking at it, in reverse, I learned two things: I don't like cutesy, which certainly contributed to my reticence; and, only digi- and tactile-paper manufacturers are hung up on "out of style", because some of those "old" papers are gorgeous!

I'm quite excited by the prospect of starting some projects in the new year. Now that I have some idea, if only an inkling, of what I'd like to do. Not only that, I know where to find it and how to file it so I can find it again.Who knows, I might just forget about research and just do. [And I did!!]

This has been an incredibly cathartic journey. I have learned a ton of things in the last few weeks that were not remarked upon in the original text:

• Creative women are, for the most part, generous with their time, ideas and support
• The only one judging my lack of ability was me
• There is so much more to learn and now I'm no longer intimidated, I am challenged
• Taking this slow approach has really given me an appreciation for the talent of others
  
• It has also given me a head start on my "style"

The layouts above are far from perfect but they are simple and they are done. I'm sure in the next few months I will learn a lot more and produce more beautiful work in far less time!

Loving it!

What about you? Are you starting into the adventures of digi? Do you have any "must see" or "must do" or "must learn"? What am I missing that I can't continue not knowing? Tell me!

Got it!

I still have a few hundred questions about how to do things, but I've managed to figure out a couple of things and finally created my 12of12 digi layout. Bonus? All elements used were FREE.

Template: Press Plate No. 27; Papers: Ztampf! Digital Scrapbooking & Craft Elements, lynng-indistress-8; Metal: BHA_Stylize_Embell2_WireFlower; Fonts: American Typewriter, Arenski.

I have to figure out how to credit supplies better, but this will have to do for right now. I'm pleased with how this layout turned out. There are a few things I have to work on to make it a less arduous undertaking next month (this took a couple of hours), but at least it's done. That is more than half the battle. Yay me!

I have to tell you, I'm quite pleased with how this is going. My brain is in over-drive with the potential projects, especially personalized gifts for my kids and friends using my own photos and ideas. This has happened before when I've thought I had digi "all figured out" only to realize I wasn't even close. This time around though, I think I have a better handle on it all. AND I'm writing down all potential projects so no time is wasted frittering around!

Are you participating in the 12of12 project? How do you record your day?