Snowy weather

Driving in Minnesota was interesting today. We knew this weather system was moving in, and that it would arrive around rush hour, so yesterday I mentioned to my students, "Just in case they canceled school tomorrow for snow..." THAT made them laugh. Seriously, it takes a snowstorm of a frozen Noah proportion for us to have school canceled for snow. If the main roads are generally clear, we go to school. The neighborhoods might have 6 inches of snow, but we will still be ringing the school bell.

The depth of snow wasn't bad: the crunchy layer of ice was. See, snow had melted over the weekend, and today it froze again. You know it's bad on the roads when you aim for the snow, hoping for traction. We don't normally experience this until January, and here it is, November. I predict I shall do several weather pages this winter...

Printing photos recently, I came across a hysterical photo of my boys last Christmas. I don't know what invaders the were defending our deck from, but they obviously had a good time playing. Thus, I decided to do a playful page.

Following yesterday's post on Ella's terrific design tips, I decided to use Ella's Essential Guide to Scrapbooking Girls. Yes, I got this ebook too, even though I do not have girls (except the cat, but she prefers to be called Queen). I love the layouts in the book, and I love the design tips.


For this page, I was inspired by this layout by Jill Sprot: I loved how she misted a mask and used it as a stamp. I also added some Stickles to the result.

I also used Elizabeth's Dillow's tips for scrapbooking girls. Truly, one tip I took liberties with: I don't hand-make page embellishments, but instead I used pre-handmade ones that I bought. That's rationalizing, I know.

The other design tips I used are straight from the ebook, and I like the result. I think it's playful, not girly, even though I was inspired by a book about girls. Which, considering my layout yesterday, would truly make my son puke.

Design tips from Ella

One of the things I love best about Ella eBooks is how MUCH there is in each book! They are not just a bunch of gorgeous layouts--they certainly are gorgeous, but each book contains much, much more. There are idea sparks for similar pages, design tips based on the layouts, and so on.

One book I got recently was (of course) Ella's Essential Guide to Scrapbooking for Boys. I certainly love all the idea starters for pages, but I also love the tips each designer gave to design boy pages.

Wendy Smedley's design tips inspired the following layout:


I'd thought of this page for a while--Rowan was seriously disturbed that a Happy Meal ad even mentioned girl toys--but the design idea came from Wendy's three design tips for boy pages. What are they? Well...if you get the ebook here, you can find out!

I'm curious to know what you think makes this page typically boy, design-wise. Do share.

And just to stretch myself creatively and show you how flexible each book is, tomorrow I'll share a page I've made using design tips for girls--on a page about my boys.

There and back again

Two quick reminders:

1. The Ella bundle sale is still going on today! Go here to get in on the great deals.
2. A reminder for justasiam to email me at jennyrahnlarson at yahoo dot com so I can get the EK Success punch out to you. If I don't hear from you by Wednesday, I'll draw another name so I can get that baby to use!
   

Back to the blog...


Our family has made our annual Black Friday to the Mall of America. We survived, and are back home. Here's the dirt:

First, you should know that the mall has a special place in our family's heart. Derick and I met there; we both worked at a bookstore called Readwell's. It closed, and Derick asked me out. We go to the Mall several times a year, and we have an odd ability to navigate the Mall without a map.

We left the house at 7 A.M. so we could get to the Mall by 8. In years past, we've found that the morning hours are not too busy. This year...well, the Mall got a Best Buy recently, so parking was insanely busy. Next year we park in the East lot.


We started in the Lego store. Derick took pictures of the boys holding the Lego sets they want; this is a good idea, since the difference between some sets is small.

Next was the Apple store. Amazingly, Derick found nothing! The boys, however, found the kids station where they could play games, and I had the amusing experience of a sales clerk trying to tell me that my iPod was so OLD that I couldn't get a jogging armband for it. It was amusing trying to see the clerk be polite, even though she was basically telling me how uncool I am. I do NOT have the most up-to-date tech supplies. That's OK.

Next we went to Archiver's. Well, I went there, and Derick took the boys to Games by James, where they saw a $15,000 chess set. That's right, $15,000. It was hand-carved into dragons. We didn't get it, in case you wondered.

The boys took a potty break with dad, which I only mention because they ran into Santa leaving a stall! Rowan told me this, which made me laugh and say, "Well, even Santa has to go sometimes," to which Rowan told me, "That's what Dad said!"


I took the boys into one of my favorite stores, The Afternoon, while Derick took something super secret out to the car. I'm not sure why I took the boys here: It's got a ton of fun and highly breakable things. Perhaps I wanted to increase my heart rate to burn off pie. I did see these awesome cookie cutters, though, which I totally want. Santa, I've been good.


Derick then took the boys into Nickelodeon Universe while I got some awesome jeans at Coldwater Creek for only 30 bucks. The boys loved the rides. Dominic was a little timid again and went on the Backyardigans swing and the carousel; Rowan went for the thrill rides:


That's him in the front row left.


After the rides, it was Eddie Bauer and an insanely long line, then Bubba Gump Shrimp, then home. All before the really bad crowds got there. Score!

Let's hear it for family traditions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The boys let us sleep in until 6 this morning, so I already have something to be thankful for.

My cold seems to be (slowly) abating.

The coffee is brewing. The laundry is going. Pokemon is on TV. It's above zero outside. Life is good.

Hope all is well with you too. And a quick note: if you want to get a quick start on holiday shopping without even stepping outside at 3 A.M. tomorrow morning, check out the AMAZING deals at Ella this weekend: Ella's Amazing Thanksgiving weekend deals. They are good from Wednesday, Novermber 24, through Saturday, November 27. I'm looking at the design bundle for someone (can't say who!), and being an English teacher, I'm of course partial to the words bundle too. Truthfully? I own them all. They are great. Enjoy!

Font confessions

When I started scrapbooking, I became enamored with the fonts I saw in published layouts. Why? I teach. The font that assaults me on a daily basis is Times New Roman, so I was delighted by all the cute fonts out there. I dumped a lot of money on cute fonts on CD (not available for online purchase individually then), and played around.

I soon became paralyzed by font choice. There are So. Many. Cute. Fonts. Seriously! And honestly, many are cute, but they cost.

Not all of them cost: I'm grateful to Diana for leading me to this site with cute, free fonts. And I am glad to Jessica Sprague and Cathy Zielske for sending me to Pharmacy and Bleeding Cowboys. Club CK has free font Fridays. And I like the cute fonts at Two Peas, which truly are dirt cheap.

I have to admit, though, that browsing through fonts is not as fun as browsing through patterned paper for me. Just how different is one serif from another, huh? And a sans serif from another sans? Not too much, frankly. (Don't throw anything at me, font junkies.)

When I scrap digi, I do play around with fonts, because then it's about design more than readability, IMO. When I journal via the computer, though, I tend to use the same fonts again and again. My favorite sans font is unfortunately not loaded on the Mac I use, but I'm trying to get it from our old computer, if that's legit: Gill Sans. Love it.

And the Serif font I use again and again? Sheepishly, I admit, Times New Roman.

Which fonts do you love? Any freebies we should know about that are awesome? Do share!

Published!

As I mentioned earlier, I got a couple published layouts back this week. The first was one I was super excited about: the next issue of Tips and Trips, which is based on stamping.


The reason I'm so excited? CK asked for a layout of mine they'd seen in their gallery, which they also wanted to use to spotlight me in the magazine! They asked me many interview questions, some of which are published online here. The rest are featured in the magazine, along with my photo, which is *think* might have been photoshopped. Not majorly, but I do not have the gorgeous creamy skin in the photo. : - ) To paraphrase the little green guys in Toy Story, we are eternally grateful.

The next layout I had returned was actually two layouts in an upcoming special issue called "Scrapping Everyday Moments." The book is a winner, IMO. Some really innovative layouts with some really great idea starters.

Now I need to go outside and scrape solid ice off my windshield without falling on the ice rink that is actually a street. The weather this week is going to be frightful, but if it tends more to snow than ice, Thanksgiving will be great, because we'll be going sledding!

My own sicko scrapfest

I'm feeling a lot better today. Right now Dayquil and orange juice are my best friends. They are being good to me.

I am in two special issues for CK right now! I got both layouts back recently, along with copies of these mags/ idea books. I'm planning on posting about those tomorrow, but right now I'd like to personally thank CK for wrapping the layouts in bubble wrap:

This guy made it his mission last night to pop every bubble. Dancing on them helped.

Home sick today, I was able to take photos of some piled-up layouts I had completed, in the middle of the day during peak winter daylight hours in Minnesota. Here's what I've got:


These are some violin photos I took of Dominic and never scrapped. These are perhaps the only time I've ever gotten catch lights in the eyes, so they needed to be scrapped. I used this month's Studio Calico kit Napa Valley for this.

This LO is about the snow storm last Saturday that dumped about a foot of snow on us in Maple Grove. I used this week's Color Room Combo, along with Napa Valley again, plus some of my snowflake dies. I think I should have had at least one orange snowflake, but I'm trying not to be annoyed by that.

I used this week's Studio Calico sketch and Napa Valley for this. Don't read the journaling if you're squeamish.

Here's another 12x18 layout. I made this layout, not because I had terrific photos of this event; they're terrible, actually. When I was browsing through pictures getting ready to print, my sons saw these and started talking about the carnival, so excited by the memory that I had to print and scrap them. I used an older Studio Calico sketch based on a Susan Weinroth sketch.

Just a nice reminder that I scrapbook our memories, not just mine.

Blatherings

I am definitely coming down with a cold, so my focus is more than a little lacking now. Hence no scrapping. Well, I did some yesterday, but since the sun now sets by 4:30, I have a smaller window of opportunity to take photos of my LOs (pun intended), so they are going to be done tomorrow.

Here's some random musings:

1. I can't tell you how excited I am that Ron Gardenhire finally won manager of the year. So deserving.
2. I'm really liking this line from Cosmo Cricket. Adoration!
3. Right now I'm kicking myself. I typed my sub plans, then hit print before I realized I'd left some Very Special Paper in the printer to do some journaling tonight. So much for being resourceful and getting some things set up the night before. Note to self: you will forget you set things up.
4. It's going to dip down into the 20s tonight. My toes are cold. Technically, it's still autumn. That's the scary part.
5. I loved Castle on Monday, especially the line where he said he spoke Chinese from another TV show. He doesn't name the show, but I love winks and nods like this.
6. I can't help but think that is the eliminated player from the Biggest Loser last night had cut her hair BEFORE she left the show, she would have lost two pounds, but from the haircut.

Forgive my typos. I'm sick. I'll correct them tomorrow.

Entering the dark side; I'll be back in a week

My scrapbooking this week is focused on creating a digital photo book so I can use up my Groupon before it expires. So little by little, I am applying my puny digi skills to creating an 8x8 book about Disneyworld.

I'm following guidelines produced by Marnie Flores starting with this entry at writeclickscrapbook this past fall. I'm also using a kit from Songbird Avenue called Port Au Prince. I am also adding some random brushes and using a general design I tend to use on vacation albums.

I'm not an experienced digi scrapper; in fact, I've only made one page. Truthfully, I'm more of a hybrid scrapper.

There is a logic to putting together a design digitally, though; it's about layers, which I deal with in paper layouts too, so I think I can do this. I just have to make sure PSE doesn't randomly switch me to a new layer, which it did twice tonight, X%&#! So if you can hear mild swearing from a distance, it's because I made a mistake. Thank goodness for the undo button. Would that all of life were that way!

Last night I selected papers, resized and named them, one yellow, blue, green, and orange, plus two stripes and a white. Tonight I also figured out how to install fonts, plus shopped for photo corners, which in all my digi stuff I did not have.

Tonight I made my page production goal: I created page one. Here it is:


ETA: I just noticed my title overlapped the stripe--went back and fixed it, thank goodness!

Goal for tomorrow: Design the first page spread (which I've done on paper and just need to create the template for) and select photos from each park/event.

Wish me a swear-word free evening tomorrow!

Snowy serendipity

Last year my winter coat died, so I asked my parents (former employees of LLBean) for an early Christmas present of a new coat. It arrived Friday, in time for a mammoth snowstorm on Saturday.

My favorite moment came from Dominic in the wee hours of the morning. He looked outside, gasped, "Snow!" then cheered, "No school!"

The boys spent HOURS outside, "shoveling" (throwing snow at each other with shovels), sweeping snow off the deck and the trees, and making a snowman. By the end of the storm, we probably had gotten between 8-10 inches of the wettest, heaviest snow you can imagine. Thank you, Derick, for shoveling.

The snow meant little travel, which meant scrapbooking! I finished some projects I'd had in the works for a while. Here's my Project 12 October page:




Based on this sketch:


Since October is a busy month for us, I added some photos to the sketch in order to fully represent the month. I also stitched in two colors--white and then a brown and white baker's twine. The latter I had to do to cover up a mistake: I punched brad holes near the title, but they looked bad, so I took out the brads and stitched using the twine, adding coordinated stitching in a visual triangle.

I also finished my 5 Vacation Favorites mini-album for DisneyWorld:






I used the packaging from the Making Memories Panorama stickers. As soon as I had those stickers, I knew I'd use the packaging for this mini-album.

For anyone vacationing, I heartily recommend asking each family member for their favorites from vacation. It's a fun manageable project that gets you started on scrapping the memories without overwhelming you. Just pick your favorite photos (don't think too much about that) and scrap!

Winner!

I used the Random Number Generator out of 22 comments (sans the nice comments from my Ella friends)--I've never seen such a high number picked! The winner is justasiam! Email me at jennyrahnlarson at yahoo dot com, and let me know your address! Hope you enjoy the puch as much as I do!

Celebrating friendship with Ella Best Friends!

When I was invited to join Ella friends, I was so excited. The company is amazing, publishing regular scrapbooking inspiration through ebooks. I own them all, and love them all. They are a treat. And this group of friends is FILLED with talented women; each one has such varied talents, I am already learning a lot from them as well as enjoying their virtual company. I look forward to working with them through the next year!

To celebrate this group, we are hosting a blog hop today with the theme of friendship. I have posted the links to each woman below, and invite you to please visit each blog throughout the day. There may be some giveaways involved!

When I thought of friendship, I immediately thought of my husband, Derick, who is my best friend. I met him at the Mall of America, working at a now-defunct bookstore. Ever since, he's been the person I can talk about ANYTHING with. He helps me laugh, he makes me think critically about things...in short, he's my best friend as well as the love of my life. Here's my layout celebrating my guy (click on the photos to see them larger):




I used my latest Studio Calico kit for this. I spritzed some Maya mist on the background (yellow and blue), then randomly stamped with a grid with some brown ink. I then laid down the papers and embellishments. The design comes from an Allison Davis sketch.

*I owe special homage to my husband right now because I got an idea for a LO starring him recently; as a result, he's been wearing his cool t-shirts every day and reminding me to take his picture. Honey, I love you.

Now for the giveaway!

One of my favorite products is border punches. I have a version of my favorite punch, the super big scallop from EK Success (not its official name):

I have one to give away! (The glare from the packaging required that I put my punch next to it so you could see what it looks like!)

*If you would like to be entered in the chance to win this punch, please become a follower of this blog, then link with a comment saying you are a follower. Already a follower? No problem! Just add a comment letting me know. Comments will be open in this post until Saturday at 8 P.M. CST.*

Now please go visit the blogs of the other Ella friends throughout the day, and enjoy meeting this incredibly talented bunch!

Brenda Johnston

Diana Chen

Donna Jannuzzi

Francine Clouden

Jenni Hufford

Keshet Starr

Lee Currie

Mary Jo Johnston

May Flaum

Monika Wright

Valerie Mangan

The guilt

I'm keeping up with my thankful album. Truthfully, it's made me reevaluate things that may otherwise be pains. Yesterday, for example, I forgot to give the boys their meds before school. I could have left my school during my prep, run them to the school, and then returned to work, but what stress! So I turned around and went home, thereby witnessing the most beautiful sunrise I would have otherwise missed.

And today? A woman at Leann Chin's let me cut because she had a long order. It's all about the small blessings sometimes.

On to the guilt: I scrap my younger son more than my older one. Truly, he seems to appreciate it more:


Still, I am lately making myself see the stories in my older boy's life, since his days are filled with (generally) less drama, so I notice them less. I am ashamed.

Here's a page I did about his life's passion right now, Legos.


I used Studio Calico's October kit for this and Sketchy Thursday's sketch.

And now for the busy season

NOTE: If your name is Sharon Rahn or Melinda Larson, read no further; I will mention your birthday presents.

The school I teach in goes by trimesters, so we have 4 weeks left in this term. I am awash with very important papers to grade, while deflecting student questions about "HowcanIgetafewmorepoints?" and still creating meaning, motivational lessons.

Now is when my scrapping s l o w s down. Still, I got some pictures set up for a few layouts--Project 12 October, a layout about me and my husband, and one about this past weekend I plan on calling "Mount Leafmore." I also need to get on the ball with using a Groupon my husband got me--two photo books for cheap! It's only good, however, for 2 more weeks.

*

I should have started on it earlier. Now I'm panicking a little.

Still, photobooks are perfect for a mini-album for both my SIL and my mom, both of whom have birthdays this month. They both went to Disneyworld with us last summer, so this is a chance to put together a quick digi album. Thank you, Marnie Flores at write click scrapbook for your recipe on how to quick-assemble a digi photo album. I shall be following your directions religiously this week, hopefully with minimal cursing and maximum keeping up with my grading.

To sign off, here's a page I did with some rediscovered photos from my son's birthday, using this week's color scheme from The Color Room.

30 Days of Thanks

A week of November has gone by, a tiring week since Derick was gone from home. So it is with joy that I embarked on a project this month: putting together a daily journal of gratitude.

The idea came from a post on Scarlet Namvong's blog. I also took creative inspiration from Studio Calico's recipe challenge. I pulled out last month's kit On the Easel and started putting together this mini-album (click on the images to see them larger):





It would have been easier to format the months on Word and print it out, but I don't really like figuring out margins, and I like stamping, so all is well. Since I opted to embellish with gems and buttons, this is going to be a chunky book, but that's OK.

I'm still finishing stamping the months and embellishing the pages with paper and flowers.

Today I think my thanks will include Derick coming home and taking to boys to a movie I didn't really want to see. Yay Derick!

Monarch Fair

Every fall my boys' elementary school studies monarchs. They raise them, research them, and produce the monarch fair, which we attend. Here's the photos from earlier tonight:

OK, they put up tents to simulate the cocoon. Here my guys are getting "squishy" for the photo. I think it was Candice on write click scrapbook that recommended that idea for photography. My boys never pose pretty, but this looks like they're having fun, so OK.

Here Rowan found a friend who is also from his taekwondo class. She's a winner.


Rowan found his diagram on the board. It's on the lower left.

Rowan punching a cocoon. He's a boy.

In between ice cream headaches.

Dominic with his art.

This was around when I went into sensory overload: the book fair. I just dutifully followed the boys around, they handed books to me, I bought them. I didn't even look at the prices. Sensory overload worked in their favor.

Here's my LO for the week, appropriately about being a mother to boys. Since Derick has been away all week, it's been just me and the boys. I had journaled this a while ago, and this color scheme worked great. Now I need a nap.

Journaling that matters

In some of the stories people posted on the Ella giveaway post, I noticed some people with some painful memories to share. This memory isn't painful, but since my MIL died this year, the wound is fresh, so scrapping her always includes a little melancholy, even when the memory is happy.

Inspired by a section in the new Ella book Journaling That Matters, I decided to scrap a conversation my MIL had with her husband and daughter shortly before she died. The conversations epitomized her personality, which is what made her words so memorable. Here's the layout I made with her words:


I used last week's color combination from The Color Room, and the base is from some paper I got from Creative Imaginations from a layout I had published in Scrapbook Trends.

The winner is...

Ursula! Contact me at jennyrahnlarson at yahoo dot com and I will get you your prize info!