~Some kind of crazy!~

Changes....

2010-12-01T16:50:00.001-08:00

You might have noticed, (or probably not!) that I am now a free agent, with no full-time Design Team responsiblities. Which is ok. I have more time to get other stuff done I guess. That means that I have room in my schedule for ONE and ONLY ONE full time design team position, so if you'd like me to design for your company, shoot me an email! I have a guest DT spot lined up for January, and one potentially for February, but I am still fine with a full time position. I LOVE to scrap and would love to show off your wares :-)

Paper Variety challenge

2010-11-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

Just popping in to share a new layout for a challenge that I did posted at The Paper Variety I used my fabulous October Scrapbook Sussies kit

Did you use your mesh??

2010-11-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

In your Scraptastic Halloween kit?? I know when I recieved my kit, i thought... "Hmmm...." and then i got several ideas... I'm posting them here, in addition to a super fast step by step layout including the mesh, using the Nightmare on my street kit.

Using mesh

1. cut into strips and use like ribbon, or weave, braid or knot them.
2. use like a mask over a piece of paper and spray glimmer mist on it.
3. cut into circles kind of catty wompus like and compbine with already made flowers to make a cool homemade layered flower!
4. cover a piece of cardstock with it and paint over it to make a cool textured background.

Can you think of any others? Here's a hint- don't try to use it as a cool lens filter on your camera. I tried that, at different distances from the lens- CAN'T get it to work, even though it SOUNDS like it would be super cool!!!

Ok, so here is my step by step project. When you finish, you will have a layout that looks something like this

So first you start with a stapler, I used my fabulous long armed stapler, a sheet of paper or cardstock, appx 12x12 of mesh, and a piece of ribbon long enough to wrap around the mesh, whatever size you choose. mine is about 9x9 after I cut it, though I just eyeballed it.

Once you've gathered all you need to make the base of the layout, place the mesh on top of the paper, decide where to start your ribbon, and staple one end of the ribbon down. Using the side of the paper as a guide, estimate how far to go with the ribbon, and staple it down. I did so on the end, and the middle, and when i reached the corner, i stapled down the ribbon, and wrapped the ribbon around the staple which nicely concealed the staple, though the ribbon that was included in the kit was nice and frilly so it hid the staples anyway, just letting them peek out a little :)

Trim around the ribbon, leaving some extra to hang out.

Next, i added the picture and some embellies. I sewed on the buttons, because i thought it would be cuter, and hold better with the mesh.

Finally, i doodled under the mesh to add more dimension

Voila!

This is what happens....

2010-10-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

when i'm pretty badly scrappily deprived. I've not scrapped since... like 5 or 6 days ago. Yep, an eternity. So here i am, with my creative outburst. What do you think? Oh and just a note. this is the day 5 sketch from http://www.inspiredtoscrap.net sketch class. I can't share the sketch because its a paid class that i was fortunate enough to win! yay!!! anyway, its a super simple sketch. And my scrap room just seemed to blow up all over it, but i like it!

So cool!

2010-09-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

My layout "raw red potatoes" was featured on Allison Davis' blog today! Every once in a while she posts layouts that were made with their amazing sketches! i can't even WAIT to be able to buy these sketch books!

My August and September SCRAPTASTIC DT pages!!

2010-08-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, i'm sure late posting these! It all happened so fast! i joined the DT, then I recieved my first kit in the mail a couple days later, then a few more days later my September kit came! so in addition to Homeschooling, taking care of the babies, and all my other stuff, i've been scrapping like a mad woman!! Here's what i made with my first kit, the August "He's so Rock and Roll" kit seen here

And here is September- I used the Alphabet Soup Boys' kit. seen here And i LOVE LOVE LOVED this kit! i still have plenty left too so more will be coming...

Scrapbook Sussies

2010-08-31T11:19:00.000-07:00

i have heard the raves about Scrapbook Sussies since their inception a few years ago. Being on a constant spending freeze, i've not had as much opportunity to try out some of the GREAT kit clubs that are out there, but Scrapbook Sussies has remained steadily on my radar for quite some time. It doesn't help that i have a friend who often sells me mystery boxes that usually contain partial Sussies kits! AAK! so i have several partial kits and i tend to use them up super fast.. good stuff! Anyway, today i'm buying one!!! Lara posted a contest to her blog that you should all totally go check out! She's giving away 2 3 MONTH SUBS!!! I'm eager to WIN this baby or at least try really hard. You should give it a shot too!!!

I'm feeling SCRAPTASTIC!

2010-08-16T08:32:00.001-07:00

Because i was just invited yesterday to join the Scraptastic Design team! Have you heard of Scraptastic? Its a great new kit club with (count them!)4 kits each month!! Wowzers! Here's a link

So check out the beautiful kits, and the sneak peeks for next month are AMAZING! if you click on the picture you can see what is included. Also check out the winner's spot for the monthly contest! You could win your choice of a monthly Scraptastic kit!!

Oh and finally, Check out the blogs of the ladies i'm humbled to get to work with on the design team, on the right sidebar of this blog. WOW. I'm afraid Heather and I don't quite fit in to the "J" theme, but that's ok :-)

Finally sharing!

2010-08-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, i've been awful about updating! well, here's a bunch of layouts i made in the last few weeks that i'm excited to share.

Scraptacular challenge!

2010-07-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hey all! check out the Scraptacular Message board for a chance at a great prize!!! I'm new there, but thoroughly enjoyed the challenge I did. I chose the July 4-10 challenge of Lisa's to use a die cut paper on 2 layouts. here's the ones i made.

TOOT!!!

2010-06-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

i was so excited to see my layout "Elliot's super fun game" featured as a favorite on the "scrap that baby blog!!!

see here
http://scrapthatbaby.blogspot.com/2010/05/prompt-5-favorites.html

Totally a slacker.

2010-05-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

So i've been scrapping like crazy and i just haven't posted here in ages... i have SEVERAL overdue posts on the way, but I thought i'd post this one really quick. its Monday's challenge from the Apron Strings blog It is using my April Smaller than a Breadbox kit, which is awesome, and i've gotten tons of layouts out of, but this particular page kit had me stumped. BUT, when i looked at the pics i captured of Chloe in her clown hat weilding a portion of our kitchen mop, gallavanting all over the culdesac with her posse, the other kvenvolden kids, i knew these papers would be PERFECT. This layout also features homemade lace flowers made by me, i just took lace ribbon, made a running stitch, pulled tight and sewed on a button.

Guest DT! Memorable Seasons

2010-05-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so i was SO stinking excited to get chosen as the guest design team member at Memorable seasons! i'll post the layout that I used as the submission, but first a little about Memorable Seasons. Jill Coody is the owner, and she is just the sweetest, kindest person. And what's more- her sales are A*M*A*Z*I*N*G. Seriously. here's a LINK It is a big store, so I find it helpful to follow this pattern when i shop there. First, i check the newly arrived section, checking each day carefully. Some are brand new items, and others are new to the store items that are marked down BIG TIME. Next i check the "May Bon Voyage" or whatever is the month. Then i check "Weekly Sales" Then i try to not spend all our grocery money :-) Anyway, check it out! and if you do place an order, please tell Jill that Rebecca sent you!

My week in the life album!!!!

2010-04-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

in case you've been living under a ROCK (or at least aren't involved in online scrapbooking boards :-) you would know that Ali Edwards has started the phenomena of the week in the life album. I was hesitant to start, but it came together beautifully and FAST. I assembled the whole thing in one afternoon/evening!! I got Ideas from Ali's blog and also from the All Sam's Idea blog

Today's Couture Cardstock layout

2010-03-16T20:13:00.001-07:00

i really like this one :-) the challenge was to use at least 2 circles, which you can see, i nailed :-D I also used a sketch from Scrapperie, designed by Amy Teets which you can see here
And i also used a Paper posies kit and did this week's challenge here and of course, the Personal scrapper crop challenge to use diecuts in a unique way. (i used the edge of a die cut paper as a background element in the upper right

Today's Couture Cardstock layout

2010-03-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Was to use the word "Spring" on a layout. And i knew exactly what pictures i'd use! Last month we had a LOT of fab spring weather. El Nino has been good to use this year. so i created this one. I also used this for a challenge at Serendipity scrapbooks for using the pinwheels, and Apron Strings
for using 5 specific items and even Personal Scrapper Also for using the word "Spring" So I gotta tell ya, i'm feeling quite like the queen of multitasking today, and am afraid i might spend more time uploading to all these places than i did scrapping the layout... but ces la vie! :-) :-) Anyway, here's the layout, and another one i made today that i really like :-)

Today's Couture Cardstock layout

2010-03-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

WAHOO! yesterday I WON!!!! :-)

So i'm posting today's real quick inbetween feeding one baby and dressing another... today's challenge- use buttons. This is not a problem for me.

Couture Cardstock giveaway!

2010-03-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

here's my layout i made for today's challenge- to use pastel colors. Hoping my burst of red is ok :-)

Anyway, here's the blog address where they are doing a daily giveaway, and a BIG one at the end of the month!!
http://www.couturecardstock.com/blog/

My scrappy space!!!

2010-03-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

Wanna see?!? its still a bit of a mess but i finished moving it a few weeks ago from one corner of my bedroom into my closet, it was a HUGE improvement for my bedroom. I have slightly more space but mostly it just looks a lot nicer!! You can click on the pictures for a closer view.

A tutorial for a cool layout using cruddy pictures.

2010-02-25T16:50:00.000-08:00

I just made a layout that turned out really cute and thought i'd post a tutorial.

1. First of all, i saw this sketch at Lucy Chesna's sketch site, and had a picture in my mind of exactly where i wanted to go with it.

http://mysketchworld.blogspot.com/2010/02/sketch-thon-february-18th-sketch.html

So first, i sought out a link posted by my BFF Teresa, and managed to actually FIND it. Its directions for making your own bracket paper

http://sundayldesigns.com/scrapbooking-bracket-shapes/

BRILLIANT!

2. Ok, so next, i took some light brown cardstock, folded and cut out the bracket shape. I estimated too big adn was left with a cool bracket outline shape i'll use on a different layout.

3. Then i cut a few pics up and overlapped all over the bracket shape.

4. i cut around the edges along the wrong side and then figured i'd mat it on dark brown cardstock to make it stand out a bit. Then i added pop dots between the mat and the picture covered bracket shape.

5. I chose a pretty vintagey Prima paper for the background. I spritzed with red glimmer mist, to accent my friend Heather's shirt, in the pics, and pull it all together.

6. I let it dry- mostly- and then adhered the shape along with the flowers and stickers for embellishment.

I think it turned out super cute! This would be a great way of using cruddy pictures. The ones I took at the baby shower were really dark, and just plain boring!

here's the finished result

Apronstrings Birthday party!

2010-02-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! well, after the December sketch challenges ended, i was glad to ggo back to another month long challenge series! you can find it here at the Apron Strings Blog I'll be posting my creations here, and if you think you can take me on, BRING IT ON, SISTA! :-)
here's the rules- cut and pasted from the blog

Yep, it's Apron Strings' birthday today!! Five years ago today the first kits went live (see below) -- autoship would follow two months later. Oh the changes in just the last five years - not only in what I've learned, the way that Apron Strings has grown and all the fantastic members I've met both face-to-face and online, but changes in the scrapbook industry as well (two of the companies in those first Apron Strings kits are gone now.) :( However, I'm proud that not only is Apron Strings still around and going strong, where others have closed, but in the wonderful club it has grown into.

Okay, while it's fun, and often funny, to look back that's enough sentiment because there's more fun to be had in the celebration that will continue all month long, here on the blog. And while I love me some presents (just ask my husband, LOL), presents are going out to you all who play along.

"How can I get some presents?" you may be asking. Here are the ways you can enjoy Apron Strings' birthday month!

1. Participate in the challenges each week -- one winner will be chose from those who complete each challenge during the week.

2. At least one (I'm not decided yet) overall winner will be chosen from those who complete all the challenges during the month.

3. One random winner will be chosen from those who do at least one challenge from each week - you only need to complete one challenge from the week to be eligible for this random drawing.

4. If you're a "follower" of the blog, you could be chosen as a winner. If you haven't registered as a follower, now's the time, it could pay off in a Birthday Cookie Treat. (Spread the love and tell a friend who may not be following.)

Ok, so here's mine so far, editing to add new creations

DAY 1- This used a TTT kit from i think November of 2006- i THINK my oldest kit, or pretty close.

Day 2- LOOOOOVE this layout :)

Day 3- love it, and did not so much love the long, drawn out experience of scanning and stitching with PSE. I'm going to HAVE to figure out a faster program to use becuase this will drive me mad, and we get little to no sunlight this time of year for using the camera!!

Days 4 and 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

a new challenge!

2009-12-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

I have at a bit of a loss since the Apronstrings challenge ended on Christmas. So after recieving a package i ordered, 8 partial kits from a gal on Willow traders, i thought, wouldn't it be fun to see how many pages i could get out of these?! So here's the kits

And here's what i'm making. I'll update as i make more.

1/12 adding a few more i've made the past week or so...

December daily

2009-12-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

This is something fairly new to me... i tried a couple years ago to do a daily in September, and i partly succeeded, but THIS YEAR i'm convinced i'm going to succeed!!! i HAVE to. That's all there is to it.

The idea of the album is that you record the events of a day, and feature a photograph to represent the day. I have done the first 5days and have been journaling the other ones while i wait for the pictures. Anyway, here's some pictures of what i've been making. Keep in mind that sometimes the pages show peeks into past or future pages since they are all different sizes, some as big as 6x12 some as small as 4x6.

here's what i did.... and keep in mind, i borrowed much of this from a gal on willow traders so i'm not the genius :-)

1. took a KI memories sheer delights and cut it in half to make the covers mine is the scalloped polka dot (that I won in one of the challenges AGES ago, thank you Kristen!!) seen here, scroll down http://kimemories.typepad.com/celebrate ... ights.html

2. then i took a maya road album that i'd not used yet that was made with tabbed chipboard and 5 binder rings and scavenged the rings off it. I'll replace them later, i just didn't want to have to buy anything to make this since i don't have any money.

3. so i used the chipboard cover as a template for punching holes in the front and back cover of the sheer delight. Then i put in some white heart shaped eyelets- the only big size eyelets in a matching color that i had, to support the holes in the cover better.

4. then i cut papers down to various shapes, sizes, scallops, circles, brackets, plus used tags, envelopes etc, as pages. i left it a few days short because i plan on inserting memorabilia to act as half the day page for like the kids Christmas programs etc.

Here's a pic of one of the inside spreads. I'm going to add pics, journaling and embellies, of course

here's the pages, in order... hopefully! i'm in a hurry and need to get off the computer!

A few notes- i used a bunch of leftovers from various kits, most are from a Scenic route kit from over a year ago from Transparent touches and tags, but its a pretty big assortment. I really enjoyed using glimmer mist. I primarily used it to cover the backsides of some of the patterned paper, like the first page spread, but it was so much fun i did some other parts too. i love the cool airbrushed look of it.

Apronstrings 25 days of sketches!

2009-12-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is just too much fun, i had to post about it! The fabulous Apron Strings blog is going to feature a new sketch every day! wooohoo! its my goal to do them all. I'll be posting them here.

You can find the awesome sketches here

and i'm going to post each day's sketch here as i get it scrapped, photographed and uploaded!

I'm going to post these backwards...

Day 25- the LAST day... not sure what i'm going to do now that this is over! thanks so much Lori for making this happen it was fun. I'm very excited that i succeeded in doing all 25, woohoo!!

Day 24- sure hope this worked! i'm experimenting with stitching in PSE. UGG. i miss my hp photo program!! hope to get one soon when i get my new computer!!

Day 23- Love this one!!

Day 22- AS Kit, plus extras

Day 21- this too is an AS kit

Day 20- did you get the pun here?!? What's Up? hehehe.. i was really proud of that one!

Day 19- this used an AS kit, and is SUPER cute in person!!

Day 18- What can i say? i was well intentioned...

Day 17- this is the very last of this page kit from my december AS kit, I mean I "LITERALLY" used every last scrap, and here they are! feeling mighty self righteous about this one ;-)

Day 16! using an AS Kit.

Day 15- using one of this month's AS kits!! cute huh? the pic does NOT do it justice.. we don't have sun here in western WA.

Day 14-

Day 13-

Day 12-

Day 11-

Day 10- AS Kit

Day 9- oops almost missed it!

Day 8- This baby will earn me 2 extra draws in the contest since it is both a double page and is using an Apron Strings Kit, woohoo!

day 7

day 6- using an AS kit

day 5- using an AS kit

day 4- using a super cute AS kit :-0)

Day 3-

Day 2-

Day 1-

sharing some more.

2009-11-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

Its been a really productive scrappy time for me! just thought i'd update with my latest creations.

scrappiness!

2009-10-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

wow... its been a fantastically productive last couple weeks scrappywise! thought i'd share a few of my favorites.

This one i like how it turned out, and i love any layout that has the MIRACLE of a flattering picture of me! this has a couple so it automatically hits favorite status

Speaking of flattering pictures of me, this is my favorite picture ever, so this one will count too. And i also love the picture of elliott, where i had accidentally flung a tiny bit of icecream on his head and he made the most hillarious face! heheeh.. and the tree down in the left hand side, is symbolic- the top branch has 2 gems for me and andy, and the rest have 1 gem, except for one of the bottom ones that has 2 for the twins :-)

Ok, so this one was totally one of my new favorites.. and i really need to retake the picture on something OTHER than one of my babies' loud puppy dog blankets :-) but you get the idea..

this one was not even close to one of my favorites... actually it drove me bonkers trying to get the flowers to not pop off the page. i settled on ATG adhesive, and a pop dot in the middle of the flower and then stapled the heck out of the center. This was an idea posted to serendipity by my BFF Teresa about how to make them so that's why i'm posting this one :-)

Cards- thinking of making some sets to etsy to raise some extra funds... whatcha think??

and here's a few more that i like but don't have any comments about.

Featured on a really cool blog!

2009-10-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

Check it out! my latest "scrap-therapy" layout was featured on this really neat blog i just discovered! They have some fantastic journaling prompts. GOOD stuff!
http://forwardprogressnow.blogspot.com/

2009-10-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

I got started on my Scrapperie guest design kit, the LOVELY Country Club. This is a beautiful rich LOADED kit, filled with gorgeous rich blues, browns, oranges... ahh... its heavenly. i have both the original kit, $30, and the first additional kit, $20, and its going to last me forever i think! Yet, there's so much variety within that i won't have a problem using it up... eventually.... :-) So here's what i made.

First is this one. The title is in reference to what my oldest calls one of his twin brothers. "his pet" He always brags, "I prayed for twins and God gave them to me, and Asher is my pet!" I wanted this to have a quilty homey feel so i pieced the 4 center pieces of patterned paper together and sanded the outside edges. i added the flowers and buttons, and then the rick rack for a sort of cloth-like feel.

This is just a simple address book. I'm getting ready for the Christmas holiday and needed one so i took a spare composition book and covered the front and back with patterned paper. I kept it simple because i know from experience that all the embellishments are going to either fall off or look really bad anyway!

I am WAY behind on my month in review books! so expect to be seeing more of these! This one i took the one patterned paper with the big circle design and it screamed DISHWATER to me. (LOL) so i created more bubbles, centered the paper on the dual cardstock layout and added embellies and pics and journaling around the design.

This one i had a lot of fun with. I covered the argyle like chipboard with patterned paper and the negative space i was left with I used on the lower part of the layout to mimic the design of the chipboard. I added the alpha letters to make the chipboard piece "POP"

ISn't my little sweetie precious?!? He's such a gorgeous little grump (though he's starting to cheer up and smile a lot more recently!!) i wanted the pics to steal the show on this one though i did take care to mimic the circle design. This was inspired by a sketch from the AMAZING Jana Eubank! find it here http://scrapperie.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13118&hl=

I don't know... i'm weird i guess but the first thing i thought of when i saw that stripey paper is, "this has got to be a heart!" Like i said, weird. I know that's not a logical reaction to stripey paper! Anyhoo.. i also used ink to make a variegated color on the chipboard buttons. I started by inking the whole button one color, then i took a complimentary color and blended it into only one side of the button. then i took another color and did the same to the other side. It makes for a subtle or dramatic variegation, depending on the colors you choose. I was shooting for subtle.

So, that's all i have so far, but i will be uploading more as i make more! fun fun stuff. I don't know if there's any kits left, but if there is, you aught to snatch those babies up! WELL worth the money.
Scrapperie Country Club Kit
Also check out October's kit.. its LUSCIOUS!!

SUPER exciting news!!

2009-10-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

I got word last night that i won the September guest designer contest at http://www.scrapbookdreamer.com/
how exciting is that!? I'm looking forward to November where i get to guest design on their message boards, post challenges etc. And i'm hoping to be a blessing and get to know new people etc. And how exciting to get chosen!! I won with this layout

I will post some more of my recent creations, IF There's time as well as posting for sure my layouts created with my current guest design team position at scrapperie on the 7th which is reveal day :-)

The latest!

2009-09-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

scrapping up a storm! here's the latest.

Woohoo :-)

2009-08-31T16:37:00.001-07:00

Check out my new blinkie!

Yep, i got picked as The Scrapperie's new scrapper of the week (gloat, gloat, gloat)
I'm very excited :-) AND i've been meaning to post about the fac that i'm guest designer this month for Scrapperie, and i'm designing with this month's ROCKING kit
Country club!
The Essentials- $30

The extras $20

The trimmings $10

or buy the whole shebang here! http://www.scrapperie.com/boutique/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_94&zenid=572ad3115466372c7edd99ded1213239

And i'll be back next month to share my work from this kit!!

a few things...

2009-08-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

Wow... i've been WOEFULLY negligent of my blogs, but i have 2 pretty good reasons if i do say so myself! the main topic of my latest scrapping... the cutest little month old twins in the WORLD :-) Anyway, just sharing a few new projects i've made in my sanity time :)

Elliott's birth page

2009-08-09T20:55:00.001-07:00

I'm going to post both here and on my personal blog.... i SCRAPPED yesterday! AWESOME! i was so needing a creative outlet! And i really like how this one turned out!

pictorial birth story

2009-08-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

This is the first scrappping i've done since the babies were born on the 22nd...

ok, i'm pretty sure its big enough to read the words, just click on the picture and it will get bigger. :-)

Winner!

2009-05-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Congrats Shonna!! She has won a free fabric mystery box! But everyone else, do check out the links below, i'm certain that they will be a blessing to you! Also, if 4 more people purchase their ticket, they will be entered to win a fabric or scrapbooking mystery box! You have until next weekend!
Rebecca

UPPING the Ante on the UHSE!

2009-05-23T19:15:00.001-07:00

It just occurred to me with my overflowing HUGE box of my scrapbook stuff that i've downsized that i could offer a pretty rocking incentive for using my affiliate link to purchase a ticket to the UHSE!

I have been selling off much of my scrapbooking stash as well as my fabric stash. I have been making mystery boxes of scrapbook stuff, complete with high quaility brand name patterned paper, specialty paper, good textured cardstock and an assortment of embellishments including ribbon, chipboard, stickers, rubons, and more! i'm downsizing because we will soon have 2 new babies to share our bedroom, which doubles as my scrapping studio, so I need to free up some space. I take a flat rate postal box, the $10 ones, and stuff it to the gills with scrapbook goodies, and have been selling them at the INSANE price of $25 ppd. You get SO MUCH for that price. HOWEVER, I am going to GIVE AWAY, one FREE to the first person to sign up using my affiliate link. Just forward me your paypal reciept, and be sure to use my affiliate link! And the first person to sign up for the UHSE, either as an individual or with a friend, will get a box free! ALSO, for every 5 people that sign up using my affiliate link, i will give away another box, so if 5 people sign up, 2 of them will get a box, if 10 people sign up, 3 of them will get a box and so on!! This is an awesome deal!

PS, if you are a Sewing person and not a scrapper, or would just prefer fabric, i would be glad to substitute a mystery box of fabric. It would include an assortment of organic cotton fabric, hemp/cotton fabric, cute cotton knits, cute cotton quilt type print fabric, etc. I can't tell you what is in it, but i can tell you it will be good quality, cotton fabric.

SO, if you'd like to, follow one of the affiliate links below, and sign up for the UHSE, forward me your receipt to kvenvolden@comcast.net and I'll either send on your box, if you are first, or add you to the drawing, if you are 2nd or later!!

This deal is valid NOW, through next Sunday May 31st.

Ultimate homeschool Expo! wooohoo!!!

2009-05-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

I try to keep my scrappy blog exclusively about scrapping, but I thought this would be a good thing to let you all know about.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH UHSE 2008:

I did the order with a friend last year and so totally double/tripled/maybe quadrupled my investment with all the great freebies alone, not to mention great vendor hall deals, and the massive stash of audios that i STILL haven't listened to them all! Its so totally worth the investment. I used my audios primarily to walk with in the AM. Before i got pregnant, i had built up the habit of getting up at like 6 am and walking with my MP3 player. Walking is clearly the best kind of exercise for me, low cost, low ambition :-) However, its also excruciatingly BORING! So i bought a $15 mp3 player, i bought mine at graveyardmall.com but i'm guessing you could find cheap ones a lot of places. And loaded it up with a variety of seminar topics, and each morning i'd choose one to listen to while i walked. It made the walk go much faster AND i was building not only my body, but my skills as a homemaker and homeschool mom at the same time! I also find its GREAT background for scrapbooking. I'm a scrapper and one of my biggist problems is i tend to THINK too much when i create things. Using audios on Itunes, gives my mind something to do other than over-critique my work, which any of you who scrap can certainly relate to. There comes a point where the old noggin does more harm than good! Anyway, It KILLS me that i've not bought my ticket yet, but i only have $58 in mommy homework money, and it costs $100 regular price, so i'd be writing a whole lot of mommy homework before i could get it, Sooo... anyway, i thought i'd post my affiliate links here to bless you and me both :-) Thank you in advance if you decide to use my affiliate link! And even if you don't, You must know that this is an unbeatable purchase. The regular price is $100, and you can get your tickets for only $39.95 individually, or $59.95 for two!

Order your ticket

Or better yet,

Order with a friend

OH, and if you can't find anyone to buy a ticket with you, let me know, and i'll post here and see if i can find you a partner! Buying with a friend brings the cost down to only $30, totally a steal!

Check it out! Serendipity month long crop!

2009-05-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

Serendipity Scrapbooks is pleased to announce our first ever month long CROP!

Are you ready for a Hair Raising Event? I know we are. And we have so much in store for you for the month of May. Every Design Team member has 50 points to give away during the month and even some RAKs for you. There will be challenges, loads of games, Deals of the DAY, secret hiding places in the store, and best of all Blue Light Specials available to each and every one of you.

This will be a non stop event starting May 1 - May 31st! So join us every day because you never know when points will be handed out to add to your total which will put you one step closer to being our May Mayhem Queen!

Find more info here http://serendipityscrapbooks.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=15873&highlight=

Scrapbook mystery boxes for sale!!

2009-04-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Anyone interested? they are flat rate priority boxes, the ones that ship for $9 something, PACKED with cardstock, Patterned paper, partial kits from various kit clubs, embellishements- stickers, rubons, lumpy stuff, etc. If there's a category of stuff you don't use, like you don't want partial kits, or you don't like cardstock, or whatever i can lightly customize, but i can't provide pics or tell you exactly what is in them because that would take forever and i'm not supposed to spend much time on my FEET right now, so the price is reflective of that! i'm asking $25 ppd for each box if you'd like them mailed, or if you live locally to me $16 each. I accept paypal, checks, money orders, etc, and might be willing to barter :-)

I'm trying to declutter my bedroom so its fit to house 2 more small humans :-)
Thanks!
Rebecca

Guess what's been on MY mind the last 3 weeks?!

2009-04-18T17:22:00.001-07:00

You might be able to tell by the content of my most recent layouts....

just a little toot...

2009-03-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, had to share! I haven't been to the Storyteller club boards in a long time.. i must have joined there AGES ago, because i used the username ARANCAL, the first letters of each of our names, instead of my usual "mamakven" which i've used for everywhere else... no clue why but anyway, i got the newsletter in my email today and i just clicked on it for no particular reason, and i saw a layout i made and posted like YEARS ago! LOL! very weird but a fun surprise.. nothing like scrolling through a newsletter and randomly seeing your own work displayed in it!

you can see it here. http://www.storytellersclub.com/NewsLetter/March09/its the layout called pretty pink princess. :-)in fact i'm going to copy the image right here, its so cool how they highlighted part of it!!

great news!/Fantastic February

2009-02-01T18:28:00.001-08:00

First, i wanted to pop in and post since its been a looooooong time since i've posted! aak! i've been far more introspective than scrappy, and as a result my other blog has gotten a LOT more typing action than this one! At any rate, i feel the tides turning and i'm getting my groove back.

I was delighted to learn that i was chosen to be GUEST DESIGNER for SCRAPPERIE! Woohoo!! i LOVE Sandi's kits, and she's such a nice person, i know i'm going to enjoy designing with her kits!!

And on a related note... Scrapperie forums are having a GREAT contest, called Fantastic February, which features PRIZES, and inspiration, and a GREAT opportunity to slip out of the midwinter slumps and make it happen! I for one am really looking forward to the mojo boost! i hope to see you all there!!

Thanks,
Rebecca

long time!

2008-12-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

i've been out of it to say the least! but after a long hiatus i'm finally scrapping again! here's what i've made today and yesterday

BRAG

2008-11-19T20:50:00.001-08:00

I participated in an online crop last weekend, and one of the challenges was a contest sponsored by several scrappy companies It was merit-based and there was lots of entries... and... and... and...

And I WON!!!! here's the blurb

has teamed up with EK Success this weekend to help celebrate their Crop Scene Investigation Celebration. What we have for you is one HUMONGOUS Grand Prize, $100 worth of products from EK, K&Coand Inkadinkado!

We had some fantastic entries for this contest! I sure hope everyone takes a peek at the layouts and leaves a little praise too. The CT knocked their heads together to vote on their favorite layouts......

and the grand prize winner of the $100 prize pack is.... mamakven

a note..

2008-11-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, only ONE More post today!!!

If you would like to see some EXCLUSIVE technique tips and ideas please check out the blog at scrappersXchange where I am on the DT! Also pay a visit to the SHOP Vivien has the BEST service and best stuff! and her prices can NOT be beat! her sales are amazing so don't forget to get on her mailing list!!

more great Christmas ideas!!

2008-11-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

check out the crafty Christmas gift ideas at the BAD GIRLS!

http://www.badgirlskits.com/messageboard/viewforum.php?f=69

New layouts

2008-11-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

I've been busy! very very busy, BUT not too busy to scrap! NOPE! i need my sanity time more than ever!! here's a few layouts i made. If you notice, i'm getting more and more into artsy layouts... i need to get my paint out!

And this one is too funny, because my eyes are NOT green!! well, sorta i guess.. i've always considered them to be brown, the inner ring is brown the outer ring is green. Does that make them brown or green?? the ribbon, totally brings out the green!

This is a booklet my dh made when he was in Kindergarten! its TOO CUTE! it has interviews, and drawings... its really precious. I think i went overboard on the VINTAGE though, LOL

Let's make a memory!!

2008-11-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

Are you all familiar with Cindy rushton?? she's AWESOME, she does the best seminars! and she does these classes where you get to go to all the seminars and get lots of ebooks and extra audios. I buy almost all of them, they are about $30 a session, some are less, one a year is a bit more but its huge, but there's lots of ways to get them for less expensive. here's the next one coming up,
Let's make a memory
it looks fantastic! When you buy a ticket you get all the door prizes, ebooks, extra audio's an all that, BUT if you can't afford to, she let's you attend live for FREE!! which is AWESOME! She's so generous.

And that link above is my affiliate link, if you use it to buy a ticket, send me your reciept and your mailing address to kvenvolden@comcast.net and i'll send you a scrappy rak as a thank you for using my affiliate link :-)

Another thing to consider if money is tight is that she offers a "mommy homework" program you reply to one of her questions, and she credits your account with $5 or so of credit toward her store!!! its SUCH an awesome deal! i've gotten 2 free seminar sets now, including Let's make a memory! you can find that by going to her BLOG and scrolling down to mommy homework. If you want to get an idea what it's like, check out the preview chat.

TOPIC: Let's Make a Memory Over Tea! with Cindy Rushton

DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 2008

WHEN: 1PM CST

WHERE: Talk-a-Latte Conference Room (Never joined us? Instructions are here: http://talk-a-latte.com/how-to-join-our-conference-room/)

PASSWORD: letschat

If you have any questions let me know!!! i'd love to see you over there! Its such a great tight knit group of Christian mommies and the whole experience is so encouraging!!
r

My Holiday Journal

2008-10-31T23:24:00.000-07:00

OH OH OH! i forgot to post about this! i finished making my holiday journal pretty! here it is

I am compiling all my best info on the subject of Thanksgiving and Christmas and sanity keepign all in this binder. Its a big one, about 2 inches i think, and it should hold everything... some of the dividers will be FOOD, GIFTS TO MAKE, ADDRESSES and other important info to have on hand, and i'm not sure what else... probably i'll add all my ebooks on the subject too.

If anyone else has made something similar and has ideas for more subdividers please post???

thanks!!
rebecca

Some more layouts!

2008-10-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

WOW, i've been scrapping like crazy lately.. you can probably tell i'm stressed out by how much i'm scrapping... its my stress reliever. I'm just going to post a few because i'm TIRED!

a HOMEMADE christmas!!!!

2008-10-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Well, i posted to the conference that I went to last weekend about how we are ONLY making homemade gifts this year, for everyone, including the children. And we are all really excited about it. Being a born again Christian, i have struggled with Christmas for quite some time. Its always bugged me that most conservative Christians who thing halloween is evil and won't do it in any form are entirely ok with the primarily paganized and commercialized popular "Christmas" I mean, at least halloween doesn't PRETEND to be Christian! Ok, so aak, hopefully i haven't started out the post offending someone! Anyway, i'm working on a wide variety of projects that need to be started RIGHT AWAY! and i plan to post here when i start them. In the mean time i wanted to provide a few links for those interested in the concept of a homemade Christmas. Hopefully later this week i'll have some of my own things posted :-). If you have any good links i missed, could you reply with them please and i'll add them to my list?

Here's free tags and other printables
http://www.sistvboutique.com/category_s/223.htm

This one is a little expensive but it looks really good! its how to make presents out of your scrapbooking supplies
http://www.sistvboutique.com/product_p/sis_ds_holiday.htm

Cindy Rushton's Let's make a memory seminar. GIRLS, if you have NOT been to one of Cindy's seminars you are SO missing out! they are fantastic.
http://www.cindysaffiliates.com/go.php?offer=mamakven&pid=10

Kathy Butrin just did a seminar on christmas, and i attended live, at least to part, but you can still buy the ticket and get the audios and all the freebies. AWESOME stuff.
http://www.kathybutryn.com/christmas.html

My post on Willow traders brainstorming ideas for this. If you aren't a member of Willow traders, you should be!! its an AWESOME forum!
http://www.willowtraders.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=76707

LAYOUTS!

2008-10-20T18:59:00.001-07:00

well, its been a while since i've actually posted any layouts so here's a few.

here's me... wasn't i cute!!!??? this was made using my MME Garden party kit from Simply obsessed

This was also from that same kit...

AND i also made a minibook out of the same line. It has encouraging Bible verses with pics of my family. This was NOT my idea, it was a challenge at a crop i did last weekend at Urban Anthology and i must say, its BRILLIANT, its fast, and cute and would make a fun gift. I made mine for me becuase i could use some encouraging right about now! i included a sample page, didn't feel like scanning them all.

This was from my ROCKING simply obsessed kit October Afternoon- Hometown
which i have used nearly all up.. i still have some of the yellow papers and some of the cardstock add on but i swear, this kit practically scrapped itself!

Free Jessica Sprague Journaling class!!!

2008-10-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

OH my gosh, everyone! you have GOT to do this class!! i'm so excited!! Anyone who knows me knows that scrapbooking to me is all about recording memories, and journaling is an integral part of that process!!! here's the info posted on her site

and here's her blog addy if you want to read more
http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/

Woohoo!!! 2 new challenges posted at Scrappers X Change, and a ROCKING SALE!!!!!

2008-10-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, First of all, Vivien is AMAZING. she just posted a new sale, 40% in the shop, which INCLUDES her bargain bin stuff... and what's awesome is that her "old" stuff isn't really OLD! its just not brand new! so come check it out... here's the info from the email that was sent to subscribers of the newsletter (sign up at the website and you can get first notices of the great sales she offers!!)

http://www.scrappersxchange.com

that's right, another sale thru tuesday, october 14th!

use promotion code: 40saleoff (that's four-zero) at checkout to receive this discount...

AND- get a free minikit with $25 purchase!

visit the Shop now as goodies are while supplies last!

have fun with everything!
scrappersXchange

Ok, so NEXT is the reveal of the new BLOG!! The blog is to replace the old scrappers Gallery and we think it is going to be MUCH more efficient and easier to navigate. I hope you'll come check it out! I'm offering a rak on the challenge I posted and Vivien is offering a goodie for the contest i just posted, so GET scrappin!!!

http://scrappersxblog.blogspot.com/

Feeling Scrappy

2008-10-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Feeling scrappy is giving away an awesome prize? Any other awesome prize connosseiurs? if so check out

http://feelingscrappyclasses.blogspot.com/

Their blog looks awesome. It will be a regularly frequented blog for me.

SO much to share!!!

2008-09-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so i've been WOEFULLY remiss in my blogging... so i'll make up for it with a wealth of layouts i've made! i hope you find some inspiration!!

$10 off qvc, wooohoo!!!!!

2008-09-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

WOOHOO!!!! ok, so i vaguely remembered way back in like april or may a code that would give you $10 off your qvc order, i think you need to be a new customer... not entirely sure though, so when i got SUCKED in to those AMAZING American crafts mini albums, i thought i'd go back to my blog where i had posted about it way back when and i found this link
https://quality-s.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.multi/params.file.|iqdou|join,aspx.ref.1366

it was so long ago, i wasn't sure if i could still get the $10 off so i opened an account for dh, and it worked!!!! WOOOHOO!!! so i got 12 AC mini albums for $16 shipped!!! guess what all my relatives are getting for Christmas this year! woohoo!

Anyway, i think both you and i get a $10 credit, just so you know its an affiliate link but i swear, i'd share even if it wasn't!! what an awesome deal. anyway.... thought i'd share!

and here's what i ordered... its a STEAL!!
http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.CM_SCID.coll.item.F04335.desc.American-Crafts-Set-of-12-6-x-6-Mini-Albums

FRUGAL FRIDAY!!

2008-08-15T10:45:00.001-07:00

Ok, i think its high time we started a frugal friday thread!! Ok, so today i'm focusing on crockpotting!
Ok, so i bought an ebook on crockpotting and it was ok, but what i liked the best was the links! check these out!!!!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
http://www.familycorner.blogspot.com/

CHECK this out... its using a crockpot as a foot bath! how clever

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/08/crockpot-as-foot-bath.html

anyone have any cool crockpot ideas to share??

today...

2008-08-14T11:52:00.001-07:00

Wow... today is the pay the piper day!!! after being sick as a dog yesterday, having a sick 9yo and sick baby, today i'm back to my normal perky self and wow, trying to make up for ONE SINGLE day of sick! its crazy! even with a super helpful 13 yo, it reminds me how necessary i am in the whole grand scheme of things!!! Today i have a ton to do, starting with my disaster of a house! we are getting things semi- ok, then i hope to put in a couple of requisitions for school stuff, and i'm REALLY hoping to scrap today! i am just craving sitting down at my desk and playing with everything, then maybe making something, LOL. Tonight, i'm hoping to talk dh into us going to costco and getting dinner there, since friday is payday and we could write a check :-) not getting many groceries there though, i'm going to try to use coupons more and shop sale fliers.. i HATE shopping and costco is so appealingly EASY but i'm finding we really need to make some financial adjustments and this is probably the best way to do that. have you all seen money saving mom blog? i'm hoping to figure out how to get all our toiletries and stuff free at Walgreens, which happens to be CLOSE, like within walking distance of our house. Sadly we do NOT have a CVS which seems awesome too. Anyone have any good tips, resources, links to share regarding frugality, homemaking etc? i've gotten a lot of good ebooks being on an ebook binge at Currclick annd the The Old Schoolhouse store which btw, has a TON of good stuff on sale! Anyway, i should run! time for lunch! I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed day!!

Another Review!

2008-08-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post. I was given the amazing opportunity to test 2 new products introduced by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I reviewed the digital magazine subscription a couple of posts ago, and saving the best for last, i will share with you the Peice de resistance: the end all, be all of homeschool planners, The Schoolhouse planner Now, if you are like me, when you saw the price tag of $39 you may have resembled the Aflac duck when encountering sticker shock pumping gas (QUUUUAAAAAACCCCCCCCCHH???) However what i didn't realize when considering that was how complex and integrated the whole thing is. The planner is 247 pages long. It includes pretty much any planning page you'd want, and cool double page monthly calendar pages for each month from July 2008 Through June 2009. BUT on top of that, there's EXCELLENT articles from a variety of celebs in the homeschool world, including Amanda Bennett, Amy Pak, Janice Campbell, and others, All experts in their fields. There's also cool fact sheets on topics such as presidents of the US, Periodic table of elements, and at the end of the first section, a comprehensive segment filled with historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, etc. Then each month also has recipes, good, simple recipes that i'm convinced we will actually MAKE. And it also has activities for the themes of the month that are listed there and a list of other resources that would go well with the monthly topic. Now, please do review the contents listed on the link above, becuase I didn't even come close to listing them all, just what jumped out at ME personally.

So overall, would I reccommend this product to purchase at full price? YES! I absolutely would, and here's why: As a frugal one income family kind of lady, i would normally balk at spending so much on an EBOOK. HOWEVER, in this case, i feel that really, this product is like several ebooks in one. You have basic planning pages, calendar pages, recipes, articles, fact sheets and more. Each could have been its own ebook, but instead it was combined, which is FAR better, in my opinion because all the work has been done for you. I know its pretty easy to find free forms and resources online, but if you are like me, you will save and save and save and never actually put anything together to acutally USE and then consequently, have a scattered, disorganized year, and vow that the NEXT year you will get organized! How about making THIS that year and save yourself some stress and in the long run, some money in the process? Again, here's the link for the SCHOOLHOUSE PLANNER

So Tell me your story

2008-08-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned a time or two how important it is to record your life for posterity?? Do you ever feel like you WANT to do that but just don't have many ideas? Then check out Lucy Chesna's blog "So Tell Me Your Story."

I was lucky enough to get asked to be on the DT, and the new layouts will be up anytime, come check it out!! Also the last two challenges are up and the last one features an AWESOME prize. You have till tomorrow so hop to it!!!

Homeschool product reviews.

2008-08-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hey all! You might be surprised to see this post, since this is, after all, my scrappy blog, not my homeschool blog. However, knowing how many scrappers are homeschoolers, i figured i'd go ahead and post my homeschool content here along with my scrappy stuff until i get around to updating my actual homeschool blog. I know that many of you who homeschool or are considering it will find this useful.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is easily the most comprehensive homeschool specific magazine on the market. I've been recieving it for a couple of years and greatly enjoy having a subscription. Its totally worth WELL over what they charge for it, and you get all kinds of amazing bonuses for joining. I spend hours perusing the pages, earmarking pages that have links i want to check out on the computer, and often refer back to back issues for something i remember reading way back when. My issues are VERY well loved. That's actually probably a diplomatic way of saying it. My magazines tend to look like the Tasmanian devil ate some cheesecake off of them. That's fine! i'm glad they are getting use!
But i was definately intriqued when TOS introduced a new digital version of their awesome magazine. I wondered whether it would be beneficial to order a digital version of the same magazine. When i was given the opportunity to test and review the new digital magazine, i jumped at the opportunity. And WOW, i'm entirely sold now!! The digital version is a DREAM to browse. When you open up the download you can see the magazine as if you were holding it in your hands. you can turn the pages, you can do a search for particular words, to help you find a topic you'd normally be shuffling through magazines for in the past. You can archive past issues, click on a link in the magazine and be brought DIRECLY to the link's web location, email a friend an article, and on and on! Its so very cool!

And if that was not enough, you get all the bonus goodies just for joining. And i have to tell you, after doing several of these deals, i was excited to see several that were NEW and i had not already used!! Very cool. i got at least triple the value of my subscription in freebies alone, and that's considering i've subscribed before and gotten a lot of the freebies. If you have not ever subbed, or at least not taken advantage of as many subscriptiion freebies as me, you will have the most amazing wealth of goodies on your hands. SO COOL! Also, they are now digital, so NO CARDS TO SEND IN! Woohoo!!!

Anyway, don't take my word for it. Right now the summer issue is available for FREE on their website. Acquaint yourself with the format and browse away! If you decide to subscribe, you will get another back issue of your choice, in addition you will receive the 25 free gifts, valued at over $550 and of course a year's subscription! You will receive all this for only $16.95. So, give it a shot!! And stay tuned to my blog, because soon i'll be reviewing the amazing Schoolhouse planner.. I wanted to have it reviewed and posted by now but its so overwhelmingly substantial, i've barely scratched the surface!

My funny day/my amazing children

2008-08-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

ok, so i'll start with the funny parts. My 4yo learned not too long ago to use the potty but today she waited too long and it all came out right before she reached the toilet. Standing in the flood of her own urine she screamed bloody murder, and loudly declared, "OH NO! I PEED ON THE FLOOR! I'M NOT A DOG!!!! I'M A HUMAN!!!" She later explained to me that the Matz' dogs pee on the floor but not people. Too bad she didn't think of that a year ago! i'll have to remember that one for Leif :p

Ok, so then i was trying to find the address for the math company Math-u-see. I looked ALL over the website and finally did a search for "mailing address" and the search responded "no results for your search. Did you mean SMILING ADDRESS? Sure enough, there were hits on their website for smiling address but not mailing address, whoda thunk?? LOL!! definately got a smile out of me.

Ok so then we went out to dinner. In our area there's a church that puts on free bbq's all summer on friday nights and i always drag my family there in hopes of reducing our ever dwindling grocery budget by one meal a week. Dh does NOT enjoy it... bad vibes... anyway, so we were waiting in line and i noticed my 13 yo talking to some local kids who were laughing and pointing at him... crap... i wondered was was going on. He explained to me that they were telling him that his face was deformed and his hair was deformed and on and on... grrrr.... made me want to rip their snotty little heads off, but clearly that is not the Christian response. Thankfully my 13 yo is more of a mature Christian than me because when i expressed to him how sad i was that they were making fun of him, he said "Oh its ok mom, i'm not sad they are making fun of me, i'm just sad that they don't know any better than to do stuff like that. " Can you believe that? oh my sweet son, totally melted my heart!!!

Just had to share...

Crop and birthday celebration

2008-07-29T08:47:00.001-07:00

come check it out!

Scrappy therapy

2008-07-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Have i mentioned how therapeutic scrapping is? There's something about taking your fears and concerns and inner thoughts and putting them on paper that just makes it that much easier to release them. Its a closure thing i think... When i find that i've prayed and prayed and prayed and talked to dh endlessly, and talked to friends, and still can't seem to get past something, its time to scrap it. That is why last night i made "Grieving an invisible person" Now i must warn you, if you have a history of miscarraige or are really sensitive, you might not want to look at this. I wrote a poem and its very direct, i think and i'd hate to stir up issues in anyone, but i wanted to share 1. for the benefit of potentially helping someone else learn to scrap therepeutically, and 2. for the purpose of finishing the closure process for me (and of course what good is making something if you don't SHOW others! :)

Anyway, here it is. you can click on the picture to see the poem better.

So much going on...

2008-07-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

i haven't posted in a while. Life's been crazy. Grandpa Danny came and stayed with us for a couple weeks. My good friend Juanita was in the hospital for almost a week with multiple pulmonary emboli. She's out now but still has the same problem so please pray for her continued health. Its a very dangerous situation. Also i suspected i was pregnant last week, had the symptoms, was a week "late" and Saturday evening i began miscarrying. The big clot finally passed yesterday and i've been dealing with that basically since i realized what was going on, around tuesday. Thankfully i don't have to have anything medically done, which is a real blessing because i have "issues" surrounding strangers in my business. I'm struggling and trying to distract myself. If i think about it I get sad. WHat blows me away is i didn't WANT to get pregnant. We kinda dropped the ball on our charting this month, (we use NFP) And basically we are cool with whatever... we figure we'll probably have more kids and we'll welcome any that come, but i would love to lose some weight first... get in shape? pay off some bills?? anyway, hanging in there and today i'm going to make a serious effort to scrap. my mojo has flown away again. this might help though!! i have found this new kit club you all HAVE to check out!!!
http://www.akissonthechic.com/Welcome.aspx

doesn't it look FAB??? and the price can't be beat!!

Ok, so anyway, gotta run, lunch time. Take care all ye my faithful few :-)

Today...

2008-07-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today i got to stay home, while everyone else LEFT! EVEN the baby! woohoo!! i made thse layouts while they were gone..

WOOHOOO!!!!

2008-07-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting on this for a few days and its been driving me C*R*A*Z*Y!!! i was selected to be on the new so tell me your story blog!!! http://sotellmeyourstory.blogspot.com/ which is AWESOME cuz anyone that knows me knows that i'm ALL ABOUT me, and love telling stories! wooohooo!!!!

And i must say, looking at the other designers blogs, WOW, very very humbling!! LOL! so excited!

So anyway, the first challenge is up and you have GOT to go check it out! its AMAZING! please post that Rebecca sent you :-)
Rebecca

Some new layouts

2008-07-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

Thought i'd share some new ones i made this weekend. I made 20, so i'll only share my faves :-)

This sketch by Ally, at www.sosketchy.blogspot.com below it is my version

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Blog party!!

2008-07-02T08:11:00.001-07:00

Need a little boost to make your blogging happen and visit and gain inspiration from others? check out the blog party at serendipity!
Ellen is even offering a prize! woohooo!!!!

CROP time this weekend!!!!

2008-06-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

LOTS going on online today!!!

First is Serendipity scrapbook's awesome crop

http://www.serendipityscrapbooks.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=107

Come check it out!! there's prizes, games, awesome challenges and AMAZING sales. usually 50% off particular brands. j

SAY, if you do buy anything there, would you do me a favor and tell Kristen I sent you? (if you are a new customer anyway) we both get a surprize i think.

Next is Scrapperie's crop

http://scrapperie.com/forums/index.php?showforum=240

Again, GREAT stuff, challenges, prizes, awesomeness all over the place!!

FINALLY, but not least, is scrappersxchange's friday night crop! amazing prizes, great inspiration, good stuff!!

http://www.scrappersxchange.com/xgallery/index.php

so...

2008-06-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

Need something to do to avoid cleaning the house? check this blog out!

Educational stuff

2008-06-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

I was just shopping around today and it reminded me that i wanted to post a reminder that if you are homeschooling or even if you just want to help your children keep up their skills so school isn't so hard come September to check out Curr Click

they have an awesome sale going on right now...
Rebecca

Sharing some new creations etc.

2008-06-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

WOW its been a long time since i've posted! a lot going on at home... trying to finish up the official school year, get our summer plan going, figure out curriculum for next year... get the house in passable shape.. And of course, been scrapping up a storm! I'm feeling like i accomplished a lot this month, i made almost 50 layouts this month. did several online crops, which of course bumped up my totals a LOT, and had a lot of fun doing it. I killed ALL my scrap-room kits this month, and by the way, i'm loving the scrap-room model of kits! i get 2 or 3 out of each kit and can add in embellies as needed, which is nice becuase i have a pretty good stash. then i can decide if i like a page kit enough to by more, like in the case of the BG Sugared which i LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOVE and must have more.

A page in time is similar. Instead of 4 smaller page kits you get 3 larger ones.. so you can get LOTS of layouts and still have a variety of 3. I like to add my own carstock, since i have a stash, and that stretches my patterned paper, but in my DT designs, i used mostly just the kit, but if you add cardstock and embellies you can stretch those babies like CRAZY!! here are the kit creations from the DT of A Page in Time which are up! i had an AWESOME time working on this kit!

Ok, so finally, i'll post a few examples of what i've been working on... nothing earth shattering but fun, and cute i think :-)

This used one of my back ScrappersXchange kits, which by the way ROCK!!! these are the bedrock of my stash. Her kits are $35 shipped and last you FOREVER! which i like! i love having a stash to refer back to. and while you are there, check out the

gallery

where she hosts challenges every week with awesome prizes and periodic crops and monthly contests!!! while i certainly do enjoy winning every other week or so, its only fair to share the wealth, so come check it out!!!

Anyway, this layout used one of my back kits from Scrappersxchange

ok, i absolutely love this one!

here's some with my last couple personal scrapper kits

Journaling reads-

That the course of my life is so drastically different than i ever could have planned. When i was in high school, i planned to go to a prestigious college, be a high powered trial attorney and have a maid. Little did i know that God had other plans for me. I also didn't know how His plan would change me and how wonderful my life would be.

And a few of my Scrap-room layouts

A TOOOOOOOTT!!!!

2008-05-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

I am so humbled and honored to announce that i'm serving as the guest designer for the June kit from A Page in Time!! I'm so very excited, first because all the entries in the contest were outstanding, I think i would have had to flip a coin to choose, or dice or something! Secondly, because i find myself being drawn to kits that contain several lines in one, not several matching lines but several different ones. I just get a lot more out of it that way, as much as i LOVE having several of the same line. APIT is unique because they DO have several of each line and still have 3 different kits contained in the one kit. I'll be posting my designs here as soon as the reveal is up so keep an eye out! :)

sharing some things i made this weekend...

2008-05-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend i did a cyber crop at A Page in Time and it was a BLAST! i only was able to scrap a tiny bit friday and saturday and then most of sunday, so i got the bulk done sunday. I was shooting for quick and easy this time because it was a crop, LOL, and also though because for the first time in ages, i'm actually quite behind where i want to be. i went through my month in review books and realized that i'm missing August, October and November of last year and jan and feb of this year :-( not cool i need to step it up! Anyway, so this took a big chunk out of some pages i've been intending on doing, yay! and i'll be posting one thing i won next :-)

Technique- sharing art with your children.

2008-05-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'm so hoping my mother in law doesn't see this for a while because this is something i made as a gift to her. i wanted to find a way of incorporating the children into this book, because Children's art is timeless, and they SO love joining me in the scrappy endeavor and i so often brush them off, it so messy.. my personal weakness. I actually made this for a design team project but it didn't work out the way i'd planned, so i'm sharing here with you all instead. I wanted to come up with a new concept for a minibook. Minibooks tend to be the same old same old. I wanted to think of something unique. Cuz i'm just like that so anyway, here it is! I used the new cosmo cricket blackboard, both the Abby book, and the Fleurist shapes... which by the way, the package of those is HUGE you get a TON of them. very good deal. The coolest feature of the blackboard is how you can write on it and it just pops.... i wanted to emphasize that with this book.

$10 off QVC!!!!!

2008-05-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

WOOHOOO!! if anyone has been lusting after qvc goodies as much as i have, check this out! you get $10 off your first order for registering and i get $10 for referring you! woohoo!!! very cool

https://quality-s.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.multi/params.file.|iqdou|join,aspx.ref.1366

Guest DT at Cut the Crop!

2008-04-28T10:06:00.001-07:00

i am psyched to be able to announce that i am the guest design team member at Cut the crop And i got to work with the most fab kit, containing the new Cosmo cricket blackboard, both in embellies and a minibook. I'll be posting samples in a couple of days after the reveal, so come back and see! Until then, please feel free to check out Cut the Crop a pretty well kept secret in the scrappy world. We have a great intimate but also resource filled message board, Tove the owner provides great personal speedy service and she features periodic sales on her site often.

If you are interested, Tove posted a few sneek peeks on her blog

I'll also be posting a spread the word contest and a new technique or two on the message board so come check it out
Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Woohoo! a great deal!

2008-04-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

i'm so psyched! there's another paypal like service, the main difference being NO FEES! And the best part is that if you sign up by April 15th you get $25 deposited into your account, or you can request a check be mailed to you but it takes longer to do that. Anyway, check out the link below,

A fun technique!

2008-04-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

i did a couple layouts using this and i love how it turned out! When you have one great picture that you love and want close up details but also the big picture, modify your photo to be in 3 sizes, like save your original pic, then crop one down a little, save it, crop another down a lot, save it. here's the result

Basic Grey Gallery!!

2008-04-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wooohoo! i made the BG Gallery

http://www.basicgrey.com/catalog/idea_gallery.php?designer_id=13905

with this layout...

Crop this weekend!!

2008-03-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

At Cut the Crop! http://www.cutthecrop.com/phpBB/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=45

I will be teaching a ROCKING make and take class, i'll post it on saturday AM. Also don't forget to check out the great challenges and SALES and raks... its going to be an awesome weekend!!

What i did this weekend...

2008-03-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so i've been in a funk if the truth be told! and we scrappers are all about truth, right? so many changes going on, so much chaos, and wow, i do not do well with chaos. but it was an awesome weekend, and i got a fair amount done, as well as....

GETTING a HAIRCUT!!! Wanna see??? i had them chop like 9 inches... it feels so LIGHT! and she recommended a bottle of extremely expensive mousse called.. get this... BIG SEXY HAIR, LOL! sounds good to me! No one has ever accused me of having big hair or sexy hair for that matter.. anyway.. before and after...

Before

After

What do you think?? i LOVE it!!!

Ok, so the girls and i got haircuts, and then we went to Fedex family day which was a BLAST!!! i won alex the 20 Q game, and i'm KICKING myself for not getting the fedex monopoly instead! there was only 1 20Q left and lots of monopoly and since we had 7 raffle tickets, one for each of us, i thought we'd have another chance before the games were gone but it was not to be.. oh well! it was an awesome fun day. Then we came home, i scrapped some and sunday everyone but Leif and i went to church as he's teething BADLY and i was up nursing him every hour or so, ugg! and my friend Sarah stopped by and brought us a table and bench set, wahoo!! the benches we are using in our dining room with our existing table and the new table we will be using in the school room, if it fits well, or else trading it out with my scrap table which is slightly smaller and in my bedroom. anyway, it was a wonderful gift, as it freed up chairs, and condensed the children's spots so it will be much easier to entertain, as well as clean up!! SO GREAT!

So anyway, made a few layouts this weekend.. thought i'd share... the first is definately my new favorite... how did my kidlets end up so cute anyway????

this one is a HORRIBLE picture of me, but i like the layout

This one is Alex, my now 12 year old, when he was 3 :-)

I did a few more but i'm totally sick of uploading! so i'll call it a day and get back to my regularly scheduled responsibilities!

Scrap YOU!

2008-03-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

No, i've not gone postal, cursing you all off. Today's topic is indeed scrapping yourself. I chose this topic today, actually after seeing some comments on a message board talking about how hard it was to scrap pictures of yourself on a layout. Now, i immediately replied, "What?? i scrap myself constantly!" but upon further thought, I do acknowledge there was a time when i'd not even considered including myself in my pages. It wasn't until a wise woman shared a thought with me that changed my point of view on this topic. She said something along the lines of, wouldn't you like to know what your grandmother or great grandmother's biggest struggle was, what her family like was like. What her favorite ice cream flavor was?? And indeed as one who struggles now with Genealogy, i could reply to that question with a resounding YES! I'd love to know that, and more! I'd gladly devour whatever information i could get about my relatives. I think for me i'm at a time in my life where i'd really like to know where i came from. But i'm sure others who don't share that concern could relate as well. Generations from now, i can say with surety, MY descendants will have all the info they'd ever want to know about me, (and them some!) and i think that's awesome!

I hope you are convinced that you NEED to include yourself in your scrapping! IF so, what are some ways you can do that? First, start by making sure your husband, or friend or children or parents or whomever are taking pictures of you! its unpleasant, especially to those of us who are especially self conscious, but its worth it!
Scrap yourself in your family pics! Someday your children will be just as excited to see YOU in the pages as they will themselves. The thing is, many of us, myself included have issues with our looks, our weight (ME!) various bodily features, etc. But is that reason enough to deny our loved ones the chance to see their wife, mother, sister, etc. in print? NO way! I may be overweight, getting old, not nearly as cute as i used to be but SO WHAT??? I'm a valuable person! i'm raising 5 children, i have a husband who loves me! My life is an amazing success and its WORTH celebrating, and i'm not willing to let extra fat or wrinkles get in the way of that! What if you died tomorrow. Have you left behind happy memories for your children INCLUDING you? have you left behind a peice of YOU for posterity? I hope so!

Once you become comfortable with being in family pics, the next step is to make a book just about you! Some things you could include are pictures of you from childhoood, how you felt at that time, what you enjoyed doing, what your family was like. Include special times in your life like graduation, marraige, having children, but also more basic mundane things too, like what music you listened to, what movies you watched, etc.

When i reached that point of wanting to start scrapping myself, i started with a simple "book of me" i cut 2 peices of pink cardstock down to 9x8 and punched 3 holes in the sides, measuring to make them even, I added 3 loose rings and voila! a book of me. (just a note about the images in this post. Since i am using so many i made them medium instead of large. You can click on the pictures for more detail if you'd like!)

That worked for a while but soon it started to get really really PACKED! i then decided to cut the excess off the pages and put them in a regular 8x11 album, more easily expandable that way. Now, i'm doing my "me" pages in 12x12 format and including them in my heritage album, which is my book about individual times that don't fit well into a Chronological album, about our family's philosophies, etc. Its definately a work in progress!!

Here's some pages i've done through the years....

RESOURCES:

http://www.scrapyourstories.com/
http://www.scrapjazz.com/topics/Themes/About_Me/108.php
http://angiepedersen.typepad.com/book_of_me_shop/
http://angiepedersen.typepad.com/
http://www.scrapbook.com/tips/tech/224.html

Inspiration

2008-03-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

The next class is focusing on inspiration... this is timely for me, because lately i've been in a FUNK!!! I've been in a Big old capital F FUNK! I've been busy, sick, sick kids, BROKE, discouraged, ovwerwhelmed and all that goes with it. and to make matters worse, my stress relief, art, has been out of reach to me due to the funk issue!

Now, not all is bad, i've been doing a lot of soul searching, i've been learning and growing, i've been making better choices... ie. not blowing off an entire weekend with my family in order to win a crop. I would have chosen otherwise before. But when it all comes down to it, what is really important?? I've been working through those kind of issues. Anyway, this is neither here nor there, because the issue at hand is INSPIRATION!

Where do you find it? how can you work your way out of a funk? Below i've listed a few possibilities and later i'll focus on one in particular. So keep reading! And if i didn't list something that YOU find inspirational, please comment!

1. clean out stash! making your stash more manageable not only makes it easier for you to find stuff to use, it also helps you REMEMBER stuff you bought and forgot about!!
2. cruise online galleries for technique ideas.
3. look through a stack of pictures.
4. find challenges and online crops in which to participate.
5. see how many layouts/cards/projects you can get out of one kit.
6. print out some online sketches to follow.
7. take an online class
8. chat with other scrappers at messageboards like www.willowtraders.com
9. check out some of the AMAZING newsletters out there from kit clubs!
10. look at ads in non scrappy mags and just keep an eye out all around you for things in everyday life that inspire you!
11. SCRAPLIFT.

Today i'm focusing on the fine art of scraplifting, and all it can do for your mojo!
I'm going to list my favorite sources of scraplifting inspiration but everyone's style is unique, so if mine doesn't match yours, check out kit club galleries, blogs, etc!!

My new favorite site https://twelvefridays.com/demo.aspx They were featured on Willow Traders anniversary celebration and i actually had to sub! I, with the maxed out CC's who should NOT be buying ANYTHING, had to sub! ug! anyway, they have the BEST designers... i find so much great stuff to copy there! here's a couple of examples
These come from the twelve fridays blogs http://twelvefridays.typepad.com/ and http://blog.twelvefridays.com/

This first one was found on the second blog listed above. I'm not sure who deserves credit for creating this one.

From that, i lifted and created this.

And i did this one too, Heather Preckel is the designer of this layout, its from the first blog i listed.
http://blog.twelvefridays.com/

And from that amazing layout, i created this.

These i made yesterday. Some more recent ones i created a while ago. My second favorite source of inspiration is Tessa Ann Watte's blog. http://tessaann.blogspot.com/ She's my hero! our styles are so similar, except hers is way nicer, LOL! anyway, there's a lot of great new layouts on her blog, here's one from last summer (Tessa Ann's)

and here's my lift

There are SO MANY awesome places i get inspiration, but for time and space limitations i'm going to limit mine to 3. The final favorite of mine i'm listing here is the scrapdango kit club http://scrapdango.net/index.html check out their forum and gallery!! their designers are AWESOME and Carrie offers such great customer service and is right there on the board, hangin with the girls! in particular i enjoy one designer's work, Debbie Gaydos. Her blog is here- http://scrappydeb.blogspot.com/ AMAZING work... here's one of hers that i scraplifted from the Scrapdango gallery. This also utilized a scrapdango KIT! which by the way, ROCK!

here's Debbie's

and here's mine

Looking at these, did you notice how the first ones i did above were very exactly lifted, and Tessa's was fairly exact but flipped and some embellies were changed, and Debbie's i cahnged a lot more keeping only the title and the basic form? you can lift to different degrees. Usually, i like to lift only loosely, but when i'm in a funk or find a special technique or layout i like especially much, i'll copy it closely, as a means of learning the technique.

So, i hope you enjoyed and benefitted from this class! please take some time this week to find something to lift! post links to both examples in the comments and be eligible to win a rak!!

Blessings,
Rebecca

The winner is....

2008-03-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

Nebraskaparkfan!

AWESOME! please email me your address to kvenvolden@comcast.net and i'll get your prize out to you!!

Next class is coming up!

UGG

2008-02-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, its been one of those weeks... just crazy, crazy busy. I'm babysitting for the clients of my best friend who just moved to Oregon, and it was every day last week, and today and monday this week and its been a lot, on top of unpacking, seeing the Matz' off as they moved away from us (sniff!) and trying to get our house into some semblance of normal... having had sickies continually since we moved in, we never got around to doing basic things like putting up pictures! Well, that's finally done. So then we noticed a leaking fluid from our van... looked like water... brought it to the mechanic... and the water pump needs to be replaced. Brake light had been coming on so checked on that, and a TON of work needed to be done on the brakes.. all said and done, it looks like $2400 or so. MORE than we paid for our van last year... sigh... talk about credit card maxage! uggggg! so we are hitting the frugal trail! No more kit buying for me for a while... sigh...

Anyway, i'm nixing my class for this week, just can't quite get it together to make it happen, so you have another week to complete this challenge! There's a rak for a randwomly drawn winner! or whoever enters if there's only one!

Show me that the creepy spam people aren't the only ones reading my blog!! LOL! OH and also due to the aforementioned creepy spam people i'm now moderating comments, but fear not, if you are not a creepy spam person, i will post your comment unadulterated!

Blessings to you all! (even the creepy spam people!)
Rebecca

Class #3 The title is WHAT? (creative titling in action)

2008-02-19T17:12:00.000-08:00

Hi All! Thanks so much for reading and participating in my blog class! Don't forget that if you leave a comment and include a link to a project/layout you've made using the class, you will be eligible for a rak drawing the following tuesday! So far there's been NO entrants! so your chances are GOOD! :-)

This week has been NUTS. Well, the whole month of February, and some of January too. We just moved, and pretty much all of February we've been mutating some virus or other back and forth. Its been miserable. so we are consciously airing out the house once a day, eating more whole foods, praying and hoping for NO MORE SICK! AT any rate, due to the vomit party at my house last weekend, i'm a bit behind in class time, so i'm keeping this one short too. Nonetheless, i hope it is helpful, and please post any suggestions or comments you have, as well as links to a completed project so i can send someone goodies this week!!

Today i wanted to broach the subject of titling your layouts. I at least, find it so common to sit there with layout in front of me, and think "Christmas 2007" Man, that is BORING! I love looking at layouts i did with clever titles. It just makes them pop out at you. In particular if you are looking to get published it might make for a great eye catcher! I'm posting this with some trepidation, because if you were to look at my gallery, you'd see a lot of boring titles. Sometimes there just isn't a great, knock ya dead, title out there. Sometimes you want the journaling or the photo to be what sucks a viewer into your layout, but if not, a creative title can be just what you need to add a bit of "oomph" to your work! Here's a few examples of ones i've made that I thought had really good titles.

When you are thinking of creative titles to make here's a few ideas.

- Use the name of a song, television show, movie.

- Use a common expression or adapt it slightly to meet the needs of your layout, such as "feeling poolish"

- Take advantage of creative of creative surroundings, such as in "Grandpa caught a BIG one!" and "he eats sand"

any ideas to share?? post as a reply!!

Thanks for reading!

Stretch your scrap, week 2- Alternative Journaling

2008-02-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

Last week we discussed detailed journaling and how that can make a huge impact in your scrapbooks and in your posterity. Today, i wanted to focus on other ways to get your point across without writing an essay. Let's face it, its not always practical OR necessary to write a huge amount, so what are some creative ways you can express yourself with brevity? consider a few layouts.

i created this layout ages ago, but i'm using it as an example to show that nothings off limits as far as journaling! Journal on your flowers, journal on your pictures, journal on anything! Journal around stuff, journal under stuff, just do it! Ask someone else to write a note for you to include in your book and then just adhere it right to the page! Take a normal strip and make it funky by making it jagged or wavy like here

if your patterned paper is too busy to SEE the journaling, use journaling blocks or paint a blob on the paper and journal right on the dried paint! here's an example

GET FUNKY! journal a bunch of random facts all mixed up like here

i had an idea for a layout which i'd hoped to have gotten done by now, but i just wasn't able to make that happen so you'll have to take my word for it but i thought a really neat way to journal would be to write a poem about something... ideally something mundane.. like sitting outside watching the kids play, and use that as journaling.

I think my favorite of all alternative journaling techniques though is journaling lyrics. I'm including a few examples because i couldn't decide which got the point across better...

There's about a billion ways you can take journaling to new levels. What are some things that YOU do to make your journaling unique or interesting? Please post if you have any ideas! i'd love to get a dialogue going! also anyone who creates a newly created example of creative alternative journaling will be entered in my weekly rak prize. NO ONE entered last week, so your odds are pretty good of winning! Please do give it a shot and post examples! i'd love to see what you all create!

With that i'm going to cut this class short. I've been a bit busy this weekend, and didn't have the chance to go into as much detail as i would have liked. Nonetheless, i hope this was helpful to you and please come back next week!

God Bless,
Rebecca

Stretch your journaling part 1

2008-02-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first class of STREEEEETCH your scrap! My name is Rebecca, and i'm an absolutely obsessive fanatical scrapper. I'm currently in between design teams and thought i'd do a class on my blog to kill some of that massive amount of free time i have HA! just kidding... I just feel so blessed by the amount of amazing information, and amazing people in this scrap community... i've been given so much and i'd love to give back. I hope this class series is helpful to you, and please post a link to what you make!! each week i'll be sending out a rak to someone one of my kidlets randomly draws from all who participate, so let 'er rip! Anyway on to the meat!

Why do you scrap? If you are like me, you scrap for a lot of reasons. I love the artistic expression. i love playing with paint and pens and stickers and rubons... it makes me feel alive after a day of mundane chores. I scrap as a way to relieve stress. its my sanity time, and after a full morning of meals, homeschooling, chores, and all the other things we do, by the afternoon rest time i'm SO ready for some stress relief! But i'd have to say that the number one reason that i scrap is to pass on a legacy for my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Scrapping is a way of immortalizing everyday life, preserving memories, and introducing yourself and your family to people you may never have the longevity of meeting! That is a POWERFUL thing! So today's topic is focusing on journaling. Now, i'll say right off the bat that journaling doesn't have to always be long and detailed and elaborate. But every once in a while, a page with LOTS of journaling can really tell a story, a detailed one, and convey lots of interesting facts that your children or grandchildren may one day really enjoy. I have NO idea what my mother's life was like when she was pregnant with me. I don't know if she had a natural childbirth or not, if my dad was there or not. etc. But my second son, Nikolas will know these things. That is the page i made for this class, which you will see soon.

Hopefully i've convinced you that the occasional detailed journaled layout can enhance your scrapbooks and is worthy of your time. Now the question is WHAT to write. Personally, i'm a gabber. i could go on and on about just about any subject, so writer's block is not something that afflicts me very often, but here's a few ideas to keep in mind when you are writing your journaling.

~Tell a story. Figure out exactly what you want to tell, Start from the beginning and work your way through to the end. It sounds simple, but if you don't consciously think about what you want to talk about, its easy to get carried away and miss what you intended to write about.

~Decide what literary person you want to use. Do you want to journal like a letter, you personally writing to another person? An example would be "Having not experienced natural childbirth before, I didn't know quite what to expect labor to feel like and ended up calling Nancy thinking i was in labor, when I was really in false labor." That is what i chose to do in the example. I typically write in the third person, describing the scene as an onlooker ie. "Rebecca went into false labor several times before Nancy finally decided to induce her to avoid the inconvenience of middle of the night phone calls." jEither way is fine. I tend to choose first person accounts when its a really personal issue or event, and do the rest in third person, but many people do most of their journaling in first person. Its really a personal choice issue.

~Put your reader IN the time period. Use your senses to describe what's going on around you, what do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste? What descriptions would be helpful to make your journaling more interesting?

~Try to vary your sentence lengths to make it flow easier, some short ones, some long. Utilize your thesaurus to use more interesting words and not use the same repetitive word over and over again.

This sounds like an awful lot of work doesn't it. Are you convinced detailed journaling is a worthwhile endeavor? Let's do an experiment. Pretend you are my great grandchild and you've come across a box of pictures. You see this one, and on the back is written "Rebecca Kvenvolden 1998"

You realize then that this is a picture of your great grandmother. Your eyes carefully pic through the minimal details in the picture for clues to her life. She is dark haired and complected. She looks to be pregnant. She seems happy. The background doesn't offer much in the way of clues. This is probably about all you could extrapolate from this picture. NOW, look at the completed layout. Think about what you learned about this woman and her life at the time of this picture from seeing the picture, in conjuction with the journaling.

(here's the journaling in case its too small to read)

It was March of 1998 when I discovered I was pregnant with you. Dad and I were SO excited! We’d decided we very much wanted another blessing in our family. It was a pleasant surprise as we didn’t realize you’d come so quickly! I went to the military hospital, got the official test, and confirmed I was pregnant. We then called all our family to announce the good news! Alex was almost 3 years old and seemed excited to be getting a new brother. It was a tumultuous time for us. Dad was getting out of the army, and was under a lot of pressure to reenlist but we knew it was not best for our family. Despite having a child and pregnant wife, dad knew the best thing to do would be to get out of the Army and find a new job. So that’s exactly what he did. It was 4 months until God sent Fedex our way. In the meantime, money was tight but we had lots of time to do lots of fun things together. The summer you lived in my belly was one of the hottest on record! we enjoyed taking trips down to the Capitol building, playing in the cool sparkling water at the outdoor water shooter in Olympia, and making trips to Seattle Center. We even drove all the way to Minnesota to visit the grandpas and grandma! When I was 7 months pregnant with you, I worked at the local fair for 3 weeks to earn money for our family. I worked at the ring toss. Dad and Alex got to go to the fair a whole lot. Alex thought it was hilarious seeing me behind the booth! You were due December 18th, which came and went with no sign of your arrival. Several times right around Christmas I had false labor. Not having had a natural childbirth with Alex, I didn’t know what real labor actually felt like. Nancy the midwife was getting annoyed with me constantly going into false labor, so on the 26th, when I came in, she asked me if I wanted to be induced. I was 8 days overdue and certainly tired of being pregnant and when she offered me a “new drug” with “no side effects” I was excited to get the ball rolling. She gave me a half tablet of Cytotec orally, and sent us off to go get dinner. Halfway through dinner, I knew something was going on… I was getting HUGE contractions and told Dad we needed to go back to the birth center ASAP! Of course out in the country, dad got lost, and I experienced WAY more bumpy road than I would have liked. But we did indeed make it there! It was 6pm when we got back to the birth center and I called the doulas and got comfortable in the Jacuzzi. Comfortable was really a relative description as the contractions were HARD and FAST. Dad helped make me comfortable by pouring water over my belly. I focused intensely on the cool water cascading off my enormous belly, into the tub, the remainders of drops beading up on my skin and slowly rolling off. The smell of Lavendar wafted into my nose as the midwives blotted my forehead with a cool washcloth scented with lavender. I marveled at the miracle occurring in my body, the transformation of one person to two. The amazing little life, getting ready to emerge and unfold, like a butterfly from a chrysalis. When you were born later that evening, at 9:08 pm, you were the cutest chubbiest little guy I’d ever seen. You didn’t cry or groan. You looked up at me curiously and as I kissed each part of your face deliberately. You immediately knew I was mommy and nuzzled up to me and nursed. From birth you were MY baby… you always had to be near mommy, nursed till you were 4, and even now at age 9, you are my sweetheart. Nikolas, I hope you know that I love you as much as you love me and more. I’ll be your mommy forever!

Now, what can you tell me about this woman. What can you tell me about your grandfather, Nikolas? Is that not amazingly powerful? Do you want to live forever? because if you journal with depth and purpose, you WILL live on as long as your scrapbooks survive! Isn't that cool? I am a writer at heart and love to journal but i know a lot of others don't. This is why i made this the first class, to hopefully open your eyes to the potential of long and detailed journaling as a means of passing on a legacy. I sure hope this has been useful to you, and if you are inspired to create, please post a link here! i'm so excited to see what you all make!! Thanks for reading! I wish you all many blessings. PLease stop by next Tuesday when i'll be writing about nontraditional ways of journaling.

RESOURCES:

here are some GREAT resources to explore regarding journaling. The first one in particular is absolutely AMAZING!

http://www.scrapyourstories.com/journalideas.htm

http://scrapbooking.families.com/blog/five-simple-ways-to-improve-your-journaling

http://mimi.essortment.com/scrapbooksjourn_ruqk.htm

http://www.gardenandhearth.com/Scrapbooking/Journaling.htm

http://www.christian-mommies.com/special-features/just-for-moms/stress-free-scrapbook-journaling-ideas/

Streeeeeetch your scrap! coming soon!

2008-01-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

Keep an eye out ladies! i'm preparing the first lesson in my FREE online blog class STREEEEETCH your scrap. You will not want to miss it! I'll be doing a rak giveaway by random drawing for one lucky person who uploaded their own example of my class topic. For future classes, i'll do raks or offer a sponsor prize (any scrappy company reading that wants to BE a sponsor, feel free to email me at kvenvolden@comcast.net Thanks!!
Rebecca

homestretch!

2008-01-24T10:45:00.000-08:00

I'm convinced that any time now my landlord could call me and say that we can start moving in! (or sign the LEASE! YIKES! making me kind of nervous that we are kicked out of here in a week and all our stuff is in boxes and we don't have a lease!) Anyway, i'm renewed and have a sense of energy and focus. The mission is nearly ready! LOL. Anyway, i'm thinking i aught to clear out the trunk and load up the first load to be delivered to the new place... that would be bins from the laundry room. Then i'll start with kitchen stuff and then closets... i've gotta take some pics. this place is a trip! what a MESS!!!

thank you all for your wonderful sweet comments. i've totally been feeling like i need a friend lately.

still discouraged.

2008-01-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

LOL. what a title... what more is there to say. I came to the conclusion yesterday, which was, by the way, a much better day than the day before, that i just have to maintain perspective. I can't see into the future, and if i trust God, i trust God with EVERYTHING. I have to believe that ALL this is happening because its God's best for me. It could be a LOT worse... instead of all moving to Oregon, my best friends's family could have all been killed by the drunk driver that ran them off the road the day before yesterday. I just have to maintain perspective, try not to cry on my boxes all day and have faith. My dad is coming for dinner tonight, which is probably a huge part of why i'm all out of whack today. Andy said he'd have a talk with him. I don't know why this family crap has to come up NOW, i don't have TIME for this!!!! :-( :-( My best friend's moving, my family is nonexistant, other than when they want to show up to torment me. my church is falling to peices, i'm way behind in packing, and my landlord hadn't even started the carpet cleaning in my new house when i called yesterday afternoon so who KNOWS when we will get the keys!!!! The positive- tomorrow HAS to be better than today!!!!

Discouraged...

2008-01-21T22:46:00.000-08:00

Boy, Things have been rough lately... its no lightning flash horrors... everyone is ok, for the most part, we are moving into our new house this week, etc. But i am just feeling so discouraged. I added a few new sidebar things that i found on Lucy's site, to kind of remind myself what is real. I've been having less than ideal results with my quest to buy furniture on craigslist... not HUGE losses but enough to really make me lose faith in humanity yk? like someone outright lying about the price of an item after we agreed to buy it, another person selling an item right out from under us... packing that never never never ends, and then twisting my ankle, reinjuring my toe that i broke a few months ago, and gouging a huge cut in my knee, all while taking out the garbage last night. I'm tired and worn out and sad, and i feel like i'm losing everything. My dad, who's incidentally the only family i have left, the rest pretty much has written me off, long story, has become someone i promised i'd not allow in my children's lives, someone who shows up on his own time schedule, at his convenience, totally focused around him, and doesn't think about the grandchildren who don't understand why grandpa's just stopping by for a second on the way to somewhere else to drop something off (all this while he's "visiting" from across the country.) I know what that's like. I've dealt with abandonment on so many different levels. And pretty much the one thing that is keeping me from telling him to not come back until he can be decent toward us is the fact that he's the ONLY family i have left.. the only link to my past. Its like, no matter how he treats us, i'm holding on so tightly because i don't want to be alone. Its hard enough coming to terms with the fact that my own mother doesn't want anything to do with me or her grandchildren. OH yeah, and i just found out my best friend is for sure moving to Oregon, the far end of Oregon. I just about cried tonight when Leify toddled over to her door (we are neighbors) and said "Aunty! Auntie!" She's almost as big of a part of his life as I am! Not to mention her dh and children, who are also like family to us. I just feel like i'm losing everything that is important to me. Thank goodness my dh is so great... I know, it will pass, everything will somehow be put back together, but right now i feel like my life is shattered to pieces. I know i need perspective, but its really hard to find it. I could really use your prayers. thanks,
Rebecca

layouts...

2008-01-18T16:21:00.001-08:00

Well, i really should be packing and cleaning but i just feel so rotten today! my dad is visiting and he tested my blood sugar and it was 61! yikes! so i ate some reses pieces and i'm just vegging out... its been a super long time since i posted anything and i HAVE been scrapping! so i figured i'd deluge my blog!

This is my new house! which we will be moving into sometime within a week.. you can click on it to see closer...

here's some other layouts i made...

This is my mother in law and her boyfriend

These are from my father in law's last visit

On this one i glued the ribbon, kind of pinching as i went, into the shape of the flourish. I really like how it turned out!

Here's a walk down memory lane! its my almost TEENAGER when he was 2

This is my sweet hubby and his sister way back when :-)

how gross are you?

2008-01-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

this was fun!! fess up! how gross are you? i was surprised since i have some major ocd tendancies!

You Are 48% Gross

You're more than a little gross, but probably no more gross than the average person.
Maybe it's time to drop some of those disgusting habits that could eventually embarrass you!

How Gross Are You?

EXCITING NEWS!

2008-01-02T13:23:00.000-08:00

Wow, so just as soon as i announce the offering of my new class STREETCH your scrap, i have to postpone! I'm so sorry for the disappointment! My family got some exciting news. We are MOVING! A little background.... we have 5 children and currently live in a 3 bedroom townhome rental. When we moved in, it was great! It was a large townhome complex, over 300 units, Well kept up, nice neighborhood, people pushed babies around in strollers and it was very family centered. Well, fast forward a year and 2 management turnarounds and Section 8 was accepted in, which meant all the units were full, and there were a lot of scuzzy people moving in... we had racial issues too being a minority (caucasian) my brother came to visit once and was accosted and called racial slurs... our mailbox was moved like 4 blocks away, where you have to walk through one of the roughest areas of the complex, for the convenience of the post office, argh! and my 12 year old was actually mugged last summer getting the mail. The police informed us that since no one was injured that there was nothing they could do. So anyway, we've been hoping an opportunity might come up to move. Well, when my dh was taking our daughters to children's church from the main service, he found a flier posted on a bulletin board for a house for rent.. it is about the same as our rent, and only about 100 sq feet smaller, BUT it has a single story and one less bathroom so we have more actual space than you might think with 100 sq. ft. Anyway, it also has a huge fenced yard, and a big storage shed. its in an older neighborhood but not a BAD neighborhood, if that makes sense. And in what was clearly a God thing, they agreed to rent to us!! So i'm spending the next 3 weeks decluttering! The class will start (for REAL) in February! i'm so sorry for the postponement... and i could totally use any prayers you might offer for my sanity during this decluttering time, and just all the emotional stuff... my last two babies were born right in my bedroom. Change is hard, but neccessary and GOOD! Thanks for reading :-)

NEW CLASS STARTING-STREEEETCH your scrap!

2007-12-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

Hi all! i'm starting a new class right here on my blog. It will be free and will focus on ways to stretch your scrapping repertoire from techniques, to journaling, to titles, and on and on. It will be completely free and a new lesson will be featured on my blog every tuesday. Come check it out!!

CHS closing :-(

2007-12-30T13:03:00.000-08:00

I'm so sorry to hear of CHS's closing! they are a wonderful couple of ladies and a GREAT company to design for. I had so much fun working with their kits! This also means i'm a free agent! So if you like my work and need a designer or guest designer, drop me a line!!! kvenvolden@comcast.net I love having a really good excuse to create :-) Anyway, farewell CHS! we will miss you!!
Rebecca