Project 12 March 2011

Easter weekend was productive for me scrapbooking wise. That was aided by rain that prevented me from gardening. Here's my page for Project 12:

I used Studio Calico's kit Into the Woods. I didn't have enough yellow paper for the outside paper, so I pieced together scraps. If you look close on the top right, you'll see it. Again, I used the Becky Fleck sketch:

I kept pretty true to the sketch, though I added stuff. I always do.

I thought the wood paper might be too dark? But I liked it, so I kept it. And don't you love my boys hamming it up in the MIA?

The die cut card the title is on had a saying on it. I wasn't ever going to use it that way, so I covered it with patterned paper. And that's me and another Jennifer at the October Afternoon warehouse sale. RAK to come...

This might be my favorite part of the page: my button sun! Some die cut and sticker and rub-on clouds.


My other favorite: The kite. I used an October Afternoon sticker, but I didn't like some of the blues on the kite, so I added paper to two quadrants. I also made the kite semi-dimensional with, well, dimensional stickers! And just for kicks, I inked around the clouds (got those at the OA sale!) and used dimensionals with those too.

ETA: Sorry, I forgot today's discount for an Ella ebook! Here's the ebook:


And here's the code for $1.00 off: PHOTOTRICKS. Good until May 15th, 2011!

CK peeps weekend

A couple weekends ago I went to Scrapbooks Too in Bloomington to scrap with my CK peeps! We had a terrific time. I was so glad to meet them IRL, and they are just as nice and funny as they are on the boards!

Here's a few of the pages I worked on then (click on images to see them larger):

I did the stamping and embossing at the crop, but I'd started the page at home. This is a little more technique heavy than I normally do. The stamped image is the yellow bubble border, which looks a little like patterned paper. And I love my cat in this photo. Doesn't she look wistful...


Like the last page, I started this page at home and did the stamping and embossing at the crop. The yellow bubbles are an embossed stamp. And I love the play on words in the title, "Co(s)mic Justice." I also felt great using older papers.

Just for info sake, the photo was blurry, so I used a 70's action on it--I think it was Pioneer Woman?

This one I made completely at the crop, my last page that I made out of Studio Calico's December kit. I made myself use the two pieces of the Making Memories Christmas paper, neither one of which I liked as they were--too busy!--but when 80% of the paper is covered by photos, it looks pretty good!

I like how I used the envelope on the side to house the title. To make the letter stickers stand out on the polka dots, I used a Jenni Bowlin Paint Dauber to cover the pattern a little. Those daubers are my new favorite toys.

Another one I started at home. I added the complementary paper strip on the bottom to balance the top.


This page I started at the crop and finished at home. I used the WRMK line "Maple Grove," which I won through a Scrapbook and Cards drawing for Project 12. LOVE that line. Unfortunately, I ran out of the brown woodgrain, so I used an orange woodgrain on the second page, then added a border trim on the bottom of each to balance it and make it look purposeful. And check out what ancient supply I cracked open on the rub-ons:

Yes, that's white flock. I used my clear glue pen and just sprinkled that all over the cloud. Clouds should be fluffy...

And for some fun...

Ella spring training starts this week! You can still join in the fun by going here. And you can participate in challenges on the Ella blog! And just for being you and reading this whole post, you get coupon codes for $1.00 off the above ebooks! (I am posting two codes today because I forgot to post yesterday. My bad. You may have to go through two transactions, but these books are worth it!) The code for 20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers is HAPPYSPRING and the code for Journaling that Matters is HAPPYJOURNAL. Hurry, the codes are good through next May 15th!

Running the Holy Week gauntlet

It's been a busy week. Not just for my faith, but also for teaching: conference night and midtri grades. We also had spring finally arrive:


Followed by snow:


Typical for April snow, it disappeared by the afternoon, much to the delight of my lacrosse players at school.

Holy Week is always challenging. Since both my husband and I sing in the choir and the Chorale, a smaller group, and my husband plays trombone, we attend every service Holy Week. This includes Easter vigil and every Sunday service. Don't get me wrong, this sustains our faith, but it is tiring, especially for the two boys, who also must attend. The best decision my husband and I have ever made regarding Easter was not cooking a meal, instead finding the best Buffet around. Today was Maple Tavern. Mmmm...

Another thing that sustained me this week:


A package from GCD Studio! This box was packed with goodness. It was so heavy I thought I would tear a spleen carrying it in, but tear a spleen in a good way. And look what was on top:


The mustache I fell in love with at CHA. My son Rowan begged for me to take it out of the packaging. Photos coming soon, as well as much varied scrapbooking projects.

The brick doesn't fall far from the tree

Like his father, Rowan has a serious love affair with Legos. I thought this trait was a reflection of Derick, until I thought about Rowan's creative process.

First, you should know that the biggest family battles in our house involve Legos being left all over the floor. After the last battle, which involved the boys frantically picking up Legos as I approached ominously with a running vacuum, they're mostly off the floor, but Rowan still has piles around the living room, like this:


And this:


When I saw these piles in particular, I almost called for him to clean it up, but when I looked closely, I realized he had left these Legos out because it was a project he was working on, and he didn't want to lose track of his supplies.

Which means his Lego building doesn't make him like Derick; it makes him like me.

Further proof:


I have a couple pages in process that I left on my lap desk, in addition to some photos and sketches for future projects. Can't put those away, the ideas are still churning around in my brain!


Here I've taken out every spring paper, plus some new rub-ons, to look through in the future for a page I'm doing about spring.


These are just random supplies I'm intending to use soon and projects I'm planning to finish eventually. Plus my tin that I keep scraps in until I recycle them.

So I guess I have to respect the creative process a little more with my son, since I too seem to resist putting away my toys before I'm done playing with them.

Here we are this past week before it snowed today (grrr):


(Another shot using the extend-an-arm technique. I didn't crop it like I usually do, just so you could see how easy it is to take a shot of yourself, in case you don't already do it.)

Spring Training

Ella's super duper Spring Training extravaganza is coming to a computer near you very soon! Included in Ella's Online Spring Training:

● Four expert coaches (Angie Lucas on journaling, Wendy Smedley on inspiration, Tammy Tutterow on techniques, and Kelly Willette on photography)

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Sign up this week here to enjoy all of the above for 20% off the list price!

Save $8 now! Use code 8ELLA to register for $32 through April 15th.

Note: Participation is FREE in the daily layout challenge and giveaway (without access to the videos, hands-on exercises, and exclusive downloads)

Sketch Support pages

Before the day was out, I wanted to post a couple sketch support pages.

First, this link to Work in Progress Kit Club blog, where my Minnesota scrapping friend Jing-Jing wrote about 2-page design, and my February 2-page design made the cut!

Next, check out Sketch Support today--this week's 2-pager is one of my favorites. Here it is:

I wrote about my design decisions on the Sketch Support blog--check it out!

Also: if you are in Minnesota and want ready-made photo ops in the summer, go to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It's exquisite.

Designing by twos

Last weekend I finished these two layouts, both using Studio Calico's March kit Into the Woods:

The one I made for my son that I posted about last week, and this one:

A celebration of my husband and me going out for coffee.

Both pages have essentially the same design, two vertical photos side by side and in this case aligned right.. I take more vertical photos than horizontal, mainly because my husband is 6'4" and my sons are short, so to fit them all in the same photo I generally have to go vertical. Now I tend to go vertical automatically.

Design-wise, the easiest way to put two vertical photos on a page untrimmed is side by side. I do that often. Here's some other pages I did in the past year, all of which have slight alterations to make them look different:

I did this one for the Big Idea Festival last summer. Unlike the earlier pages, I lay the photos only partially on the mat. I also used my Coluzzle (remember that?) to cut a home for the circular photo.

These two photos I trimmed and matted. Again I lay it on a mat, adding many punched and stitched layers below, plus journaling and title to the side.


Finally, this layout used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays last year. The two were still on a mat, but I had a cross of patterned paper and color core cardstock alongside the photos, though the title is still on top and the journaling still to the right.

I mention this basic habit of mine because I think we scrappers tend to punish ourselves for not coming up with new ways to design pages. I can understand that feeling, but sometimes you can do many different, creative things with a basic design.

Autism Awareness month

April is Autism Awareness month. I am not a part of a movement, but I am a parent of a child with autism. Dominic has something called PDD-NOS, a high functioning form of autism.

He began the diagnosis process when he was three; he didn't know how to play with other kids in his preschool, and the teachers brought to our attention that when kids were playing, the only thing he knew how to do was lie on them. He also had mild echolalia, repeating conversations he heard on Dora rather than initiating "real" conversations.

He has been receiving services from the school district since he was four, and he is on an IEP to help him learn to interact socially and behave according to social norms. It's a bumpy road, but he's made progress. His progress is complicated by the fact that he also has ADHD, and finding the most helpful medication has been tricky.

For this month, I made two pages to raise people's awareness autism and what it entails. Here's my first page:

The photos I had hanging around for a while. I took them last year. This year has been much harder for him socially and behaviorally. A recent comment he made inspired the page. Here's the journaling:

Some time recently you told me, wistfully, “I miss Kindergarten.” Dominic, I know 1^st grade has been hard, not academics—you rock there—but social interaction and behavior. It’s strenuous to go a full day, especially since your autism makes the extra time processing language and social cues very tiring, and you lash out when tired and frustrated. I want to encourage you to hang in there.

• Treat people with respect.
• Be flexible.
  
• Work to understand their perspective.
  
• Most of all, be kind and thankful to people who are trying to help you.

These are the most important things. When you live them, it gets easier and fun like kindergarten.

Design-wise, I used Studio Calico's March kit, Into the Woods. I also misted with two colors on the background. I also used the EK Success Bumpy Road punch with purpose.

Dominic loves these pictures of himself--I haven't read him the journaling yet, though. He loves looking through his scrapbooks, so I'll let him read the journaling when he will.

One symptom of his autism is that I can't "make him" learn something socially that he needs to learn. Right now he tends to treat many social interactions as competitions, and when he loses or doesn't get his way, he overreacts, which can be scary for other kids. I can talk with him about not doing that, but when it happens again, he doesn't rationally think back to our last conversation. He acts upon those frustrations again, socially inappropriately.

I'm letting you know that so that you can understand that some kids with autism honestly can't control their emotions; it will take them longer than many neurotypical kids to do so. When you see a child having a meltdown that seems age-inappropriate, extend some kind thoughts for the parents. The child may have autism, and it may be beyond the child's control.

I'll share my other page when I finish it. This second page is a little more personal because I'm writing it from Dominic's perspective.