Scrappin' Like Crazy!

Newest Quilt

2012-01-31T06:55:00.003-06:00

Here is my newest quilt. I am hoping to sell this one! I fell in love with the fabric and had been wanting to make a quilt with the pinwheels pattern since I have started quilting. Fabric and pattern seemed like the perfect match!! Such a happy looking quilt!

Projects Completed

2012-01-06T15:46:00.007-06:00

So the new year has begun and I have a moment to share some of the projects from the last couple of weeks of the year!!

A fun and functional spice rack using baby food jars, chalkboard paint, magnets and a sheet of metal.

My epsom salt "snowy" candles.

Joshua's lego table that he got for Christmas. It slides under his bed. Lots more building going on now!!

I built the table with plywood and pvc pipes. Found directions on Instructables.com.

Joshua and I baked and decorated gingerbread snowflakes.....

....gingerbread people....

....and a gingerbread house....

.....oh so delicious and fun to do!

I finished Michael's and Jacob's quilts and got them mailed off.

They were quite excited about them.

Happy, happy kiddos!! I am so glad.

We tiled our kitchen/dining area.....

.....or should I say, my boys did....

It is so beautiful!!

I can't believe that I cannot find the final shot!! Oh well, later!

This pot hanger was actually made today!! We had an old window from Charley's childhood home and I finally figured out exactly what I would do with it! Thank you Pinterest!! I think I will hang some lavender or herbs or something, from ribbons in the center and let them dry. Might look cute!

Almost finished!

2011-12-08T11:12:00.005-06:00

Jacob's and Michaela's quilts are almost done!! I just have to hand finish the bindings. I am so thrilled with the end products! I hope they like them as well. The backings are a cozy flannel which will make for a good lounging blankets!

Twirl Apron directions

2011-11-15T07:32:00.013-06:00

So here are directions for the Twirl apron that I made. There has been a request for this pattern from a friend. I figured this was the easiest way to get it to her!! I adapted this from the book A IS FOR APRON by Nathalie Mornu, pge 102-103. If you enjoy apron making, this book is awesome!! You will need 1/2 yard for the body of the apron and 3/4 yd for the border, ties and pocket. If you are not comfortable with the whole 'squeezing to fit' method of pattern cutting, go ahead and get a yard of each. That is what the book recommends. If you want to embellish with rick rack or lace, you will need a yard or one package. Of course don't forget to make sure you have thread that coordinates! Please put your e-mail in the comments and I will send you the PDF file with the pattern, since I do not know how to make a link to it!

Such a pretty little thing!

From the apron body fabric, cut 5 pieces. Be sure to cut them one at a time, switching them back and forth to make the most of the fabric. The picture shows how I did it.

From the border fabric cut 5 of the lower trim pieces. Be sure to cut them one at a time, not with the fabric folded. They all need to be facing the same way!! I have a picture of how I laid the piece on the fabric, each time switching directions.

Also from the border fabric, for the ties, cut two 6" x 36" pieces. I cut them with the fabric folded, selvages at the top. Then cut one 6" x 22" piece for the waist band. Cut Cut a 6" x 9" piece for the pocket. (This is the fabric from another apron. I forgot to take a pic of the brown!)

Stitch the border pieces to the body pieces. All seams will be 3/8" seam allowance.

Press them neatly.

If you decide to add trim, here is the point at which you would sew it on the pieces.

Stitch all five pieces together. Because I had to make the pattern from a drawing, it does not match exactly, so just even it up when you sew and trim off the excess. You can see where I matched the top and bottom, laid it flat, and then trimmed it up.

Press open the seams. Trim up the hemline. It will be somewhat circular.

I used a serger, so I just turned my hem. You can also either zig-zag finish or just turn it twice for the hem on the sides and bottom. Press and then top stitch.

Carefully fold the corners.

Stitch up the two ties, turn right side out and press.

Fold pocket side, bottom and top hems, pressing with the iron. I folded the top over on the diagonal just to make it similar to the lines of the apron. Top stitch the pocket top hem and then stitch the pocket to the front of the apron.

Find the center of the waistband and the apron body. Pin the waistband to the apron top and then stitch the waistband to the top of the apron body, this time using a 5/8" seam allowance. Press the waistband up making sure the seam goes up toward the waistband. This will ensure a neatly finished band!

Pin the ties to the front of the waistband, laying it even with the apron. I make a tuck in the tie end so that it is a bit smaller and will fit a bit easier in the waistband when finished.

Fold over the waistband, right sides together and stitch from top to bottom. I usually go down and then reverse again all the way to the top to make it strong and secure.

Now fold out the ties, pulling to make sure the top corners of the waistband are neat. Fold in the remaining waistband, pressing it up inside itself. I try to fold it so that the edge comes just over the stitching on the apron so that when you top stitch it from the front of the apron waistband it will be sure to catch the back of the waistband as well. (Please let me know if this is confusing and I will try to clarify!)

Press it all in place and then top stitch the waistband from the front at about 1/8 inch from the seam.

Your apron is complete!!

I have added some photos of other fabrics I used. This is such a cute pattern and really quick and simple once you have done it once!!

Please, please let me know how I can clarify any of these directions!! I am happy to help out!!

THE BEST Pumpkin Recipe.

2011-10-26T11:04:00.003-05:00

This is by far the best pumpkin recipe I have made up to this point in my life. They are amazingly moist and the spices are just perfect. Topped off with an amazing caramel buttercream frosting, they cannot be beat!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

▪ 2 cups all-purpose flour

▪ 1 teaspoon baking soda

▪ 1 teaspoon baking powder

▪ 1 teaspoon coarse salt

▪ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

▪ 1 teaspoon ground ginger

▪ 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

▪ 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

▪ 1 cup packed light-brown sugar

▪ 1 cup granulated sugar

▪ 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

▪ 4 large eggs, lightly beaten

▪ 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

▪

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add dry ingredients, and mix on low until smooth. Fold in pumpkin puree.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Makes ~ 18 cupcakes.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

▪ 1/4 cup granulated sugar

▪ 2 tablespoons water

▪ 1/4 cup heavy cream

▪ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

▪ 1 stick salted butter

▪ 1 stick unsalted butter

▪ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

▪ 2 cups powdered sugar

In a saucepan, stir together granulated sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color. Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until very smooth. Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel. Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes). Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration. If your caramel was too hot when added, it will cause your icing to be runny. If this happens refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Quilting Part 4 and other various projects!

2011-10-25T17:47:00.006-05:00

Our quilting class is going well. We all pretty much got our squares together this past week. Everyone's quilts are looking so pretty!

Vicki is continuing with her sampler quilt which is so neat and pretty!

Melissa is figuring out where each piece should go so as not to get any repeats.

Mia is sewing madly. Her mother was a quilter and it would have been her birthday last Thursday so we had fun reminiscing about her mom's many quilts.

Here is mine sewn together. I just love how it came out. I need to put a border around it and the batting and backing. This will be the next class.

In the meantime, I have started a second quilt called the "Disappearing Nine Patch". I will be doing this as a 'quilt as you go' method.

You quilt each square separately and then sew them together. Here is my first square!

Here is my kitty assistant who seems to be praying over my work!

Here is another project that I did this week. A magnetic makeup board. Super fun idea and I love how it turned out!! Here is the link for the how to: http://laurathoughts81.blogspot.com/2011/03/make-up-magnet-board.html

I also made this mason jar storage board for my bathroom as well. Here is the link for that one: http://lovelylittledetails.com/2011/03/13/mason-jar-sunday-diy-mason-storage-from-liz-marie-3/

Here I tweaked the above one a bit for the kitchen.

And here is my microwave cart repurposed into an island for the kitchen. I basically built a base for it. Next step will be to tile the top! I am also thinking of adding some book shelves to one end for my cookbooks. Please excuse the floor as it is in the process of tile preparation!

Quilting Part 3

2011-10-17T12:49:00.009-05:00

Here I am in my quilting class! Yes, I realize that I am wearing the same colors I am quilting with and NO I did not plan that!

Getting ready to sew.

Mia laying out her squares. This photo does not do justice to her gorgeous color choices!

Switching them up so there are no repeats!

Gorgeous set of colors.

Vicki quilting her squares.

Betty the expert, helps with first time cutting!

Here is my kitty assistant again. Just making sure that the sewing machine case is adequate!

Yes, I did scrounge around and find another set of fabrics to make another quilt. After much research on the internet I have finally decided on the "Disappearing Nine Patch". I fear I have discovered a new art form. I absolutely love making the color choices and then just enjoy looking at the stack for a few days before diving in and cutting.

This is another project I just finished today. Charley's mom had this old pencil sharpener. He remembers using it when he was growing up.

I found a great idea on pinterest, to refinish it!

So I took it apart, taped it up and sprayed it with primer.....

....and sprayed it with this great red paint!! I also coated it with acrylic sealer.

Voila! A great little sharpener right in the kitchen!

Turning Twenty Quilt Part 2

2011-10-11T09:17:00.006-05:00

So the next step in my quilting process was the planning and cutting! I realize that I am somewhat, (gently put), OBSESSIVE, about how my quilt will be laid out!! I actually made a mini "plan" of my quilt using scraps of my fabric. I wanted to be sure that no fabrics were too close together or repeating awkwardly!

This is my 8" x 10" sample.

Neatly cut, organized and labeled strips and squares. I had never used a rotary cutter and ruler before when cutting my fabric! Oh heavens what a joy THAT was! I will NEVER go back!!

Here are my scraps. Not sure why I photographed these, but hey, a fun pile that my lovely, furry assistant pictured below, has thoroughly enjoyed!

My lovely assistant bathing after a full morning of assisting! (This involves laying directly on top of fabric to be cut as well as tossing scraps everywhere!)

I am excited to start sewing this thing together!!

My "Turning Twenty" Quilt Project Part 1

2011-10-07T14:24:00.007-05:00

I am going to start a quilting class! I am so excited. I will make a "Turning Twenty" quilt which means that I will use 20 'fat quarters' of fabric. I have chosen the colors brown and lime green and here are my fabrics. The bottom piece will be the backing! I will document my progress here! I am so excited. I have just been enjoying this bundle of colors on my table, waiting for next Thursday to come!!

Welcome Autumn

2011-10-02T12:18:00.002-05:00

Just finished this fun little "Welcome" sign! I love the colors. I just used various jars and bottles I found in our barn, some spray primer, spray paint, a sharpie for the letters, ribbon then raffia for the jar mouths and then some cute flowers. I hot glued the bottles to the shelf to keep them secure. Heavens I love this little happy piece of Autumn in my living room!!

Inspiration

2010-03-10T14:45:00.003-06:00

So I got a flyer in the mail with this really cool bedding advertised. I dreamt about if for weeks. I kept it and hung it on the wall, but we just could not afford this pretty stuff. I went to the store and looked at it, and indeed it was as cute in real life, as it was in the flyer. Then I spotted a set of sheets in the same base color, and my mind began to work. I thought, "I can replicate this, I think!" So when I got a gift card for my birthday, I went for it!! I bought the sheets, some pillows and one of the pillows from the flyer to use as my 'guide', (which I returned afterwards for a refund) And voila!!! I changed the idea a little, but I think that I like it this way. I may change my mind later, but for now I am not going to paint the comforter. My bedding is exactly the same color as the one in the first flyer picture, not sure why it does not show up that way in the photo?!

The flyer picture. So springy and fresh looking.

My version.

Better 'color' in this pic.

All finished in the nick of time!

2009-11-27T16:30:00.002-06:00

Well, The advent calendar is finished and I am so excited to get it filled up with special poems, treats, activities and Bible verses. I am going to do a mixture of things, a conglomerate of ideas that I have gleaned from other people. Joshua said, "It looks beautiful Mama!" He does not quite know the purpose yet!!

Advent Calendar: The next phase

2009-11-16T07:24:00.002-06:00

The squares are completed, now on the next step: attaching them to the tree!

Latest Project:: Advent Calendar

2009-11-15T09:13:00.004-06:00

Okay, I realize as I logged on that it has been a year since I last posted here!! Just passed Joshua's 5th birthday!! YIKES!

Oh well, here is my latest project that I thought would be fun to share. A Christmas tree advent calendar.

This is the idea, which came from Pottery Barn.

Close up. And following are my finished 'pockets'.

Thomas the Train cake

2008-11-01T12:50:00.001-05:00

Here is the Thomas the Train cake that I made this morning for Joshua's 4th birthday!! So cute!

My Cute LIttle Fall Tutu Idea

2008-09-28T08:35:00.004-05:00

I came up with the idea of embellishing the tie-dyed pumpkin shirt idea for a little girl. My friend Amy, has a six month old, Audrey, who will look just darling in this little Fall tutu!! Cannot wait to send it to her!

A few bows, buttons, rick-rack and a little fabric ruffle, and VOILA!!

Cool Birthday Cake

2008-09-27T07:55:00.002-05:00

So I just thought I would share a pic of this fun birthday cake that I made yesterday, for a friends' birthday. It came out so cool! I was really pleased.

VOTE FOR ME!!!

2008-07-24T06:16:00.003-05:00

So I have entered some photos in the CAPTURE ARKANSAS contest. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette is looking for the best photos of Arkansas to be put in a full-color, hard-bound, coffee-table book. My friend Pat, suggested I submit some of our photos. So I have, and you can go and vote for the ones you like!! Just click on the link to the right that shows a little photo montage, or you can click here:
CAPTURE ARKANSAS.
Here are some of the pics I have entered:

The Past Week's Projects

2008-07-21T19:58:00.003-05:00

Well, this weekend one of my best girlfriends came out to spend the weekend. My boys went off to spend a night away and went hiking. Ginger and I spent the first evening chatting into the wee hours of the night and plotting what projects we would work on the next morning. On Saturday, my sweet friend was awakened to the sound of the rushing attic fan, as I tried to pull in the last drafts of cool morning air before shutting the house up tight so that the air conditioner could keep us in comfort as we crafted! We had some coffee and some granola and then off to the fabric shop where we spent a couple of hours pondering colors and patterns. We had decided to make a cute ruffly apron. Well, we ended up with some great aprons. Here are my two aprons. They are gifts for some special people in my life!

Also, before Ginger's arrival, I just HAD to recover our scuzzy little loveseat that we inherited with our house. It is quite comfortable, but was so 70's!! So I took a day and recovered the loveseat and it came out pretty cool!

Furry Helper

2008-06-21T19:53:00.003-05:00

So how many of you have one of these cute, furry helpers in your life? This is Starbucks our sweet kitty whom we brought home from Albania. We found her there on the street as a teeny tiny little kitten. Well she is quite well traveled but would much rather find a soft pile of anything and sleep the day away. As you can see here, I have ever so rudely disturbed this life goal of hers!!

Here is Starbucks on my fabric tub.

Here she is when we first got her in Albania. She immediately began purring in my arms AFTER the big chase ended and we caught her!!!

Rennovations!!

2008-06-14T08:02:00.001-05:00

Oops!! See the post at http://pitchfordjourney.blogspot.com

These Enchiladas ROCK!!

2008-06-10T17:10:00.002-05:00

Here is a recipe for some fabulous Enchiladas, which I got from another lady in our sunday school class!! Thanks Kim! We will be eating them in just a few moments. I cannot wait!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients
2 cans (15 ounce each) tomato sauce, divided
4 cans (10 ¾ ounce each) cream of chicken soup
4 cups (32 ounces) sour cream
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tsp onion salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken (about 4 large chicken breast)
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
20 flour tortillas (8 inch)

In each of the two greased 9 x 13 baking dishes, spread ½ cup of tomato sauce on the bottom; set aside. In a large bowl combine the soup, sour cream, jalapenos, onion salt and pepper. Stir in chicken and 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese.

Spread about ½ cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down, in prepared 9 x 13 baking dishes. Top with remaining tomato sauce; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until edges are bubbly. You can cover and freeze these casseroles for up to one month. Thaw in refrigerator overnight to use frozen casserole.

For Ginger

2008-05-29T15:28:00.005-05:00

Attaching the ties to the skirt

Pin ties to apron skirt, right sides together, centering the opening of the ties with center of skirt. ( I forgot to write on the instructions that I usually make the opening about ½ more on either side for a little easier working space.)

Stitch tie on to skirt with 1/2" seam allowance.

Press tie up from skirt and then press a ½" seam and then fold over and press top of tie.
Pin to skirt and then you can either top stitch it or hand stitch it

Off of the Scrapbook Track for a Minute!

2008-03-14T15:48:00.007-05:00

So this week I was inspired by my friend, Sandra. She is planning a quilt/blanket with a panel of a world map. I have the same panel and have decided to try to make a full size quilt with it in the center of the quilt. Not exactly sure how that will come about.
No pattern yet or anything! :-)
However, I went to the fabric store (actually all of them in town!) to try and find some fun stuff to match the map. I was actually looking for something with like, kids of the world or something. So far nothing along those lines. But walking into the store and seeing all the possibilities was FUN!!

I love how they have arranged the bolts by colors!

Just makes me want to SEW!!!! Something, anything!!

Here is the map panel. (I used the photo from Sandra's blog, easier than taking it myself)

The fabrics I have chosen so far.

Here they are laid out together. The lighting seems sort of off, but you get the idea. I would like to find one more fabric. I am not giving up yet on something with children of the world.

Moving Along in the 2007 Book

2008-03-11T07:23:00.008-05:00

Well, I hit the jackpot this past week! I found some amazing "China" scrapbook paper for Joshua's China book. I found it at http://www.vacationscrapbooksupply.com

It has not been easy finding nice background paper for China. I had found some stickers and my friend Ginger had also found some and sent them to me back when we were in Albania and we had begun the waiting process for Joshua. But I had an entire book to do and so wanted a bit more paper to use. Anyway, I was so excited to find this. The website is awesome! They have TONS of different places. You can search by the places you want which are listed alphabetically.

This past week I got to go to a Saturday crop and work for 8 hours without interruption!! Below are my pages.

Sorry it is a little fuzzy. Not sure, but I think I moved the camera!

At the crop, my friend had this new electronic device that cut the shapes I used on this page. So cool!!

Another fuzzy one, sorry!

Here is another layout where I needed just a little more space and so I added the fold outs.

Some of My Old Favorites

2008-02-16T08:19:00.007-06:00

Here are some of my pages from back in the day. When I was living in Cyprus, my supplies were pretty much limited to what I had brought with me for the two years I was there. So I was SUPER conservative and so pretty creative with my paper and sticker usage. I did lots of drawing and did some other tricks with paper. I was also using albums that I bought in Holland which have vellum pages in between each page. Oh, and I also had quite a bit of time to spend on my books then!!

On this page, I framed the whole layout with strips cut from closeup photos of the frosty trees.

This is one of my all-time favorite layouts. I cut the "ribbon" looking shapes and then used a hole-puncher for the polka dots.

On this page, I used a closeup photo of the rocks, to cut out the letters.

I really love fitting lots of photos on a page using this "puzzle" method.

Love the sepia colored photos. Makes a really unique page.

Not the most fabulous layout, but I just love Naomi's pictures here!!

2007 Album Begins

2008-02-16T08:03:00.005-06:00

So I have begun my 2007 album. I basically try to fit all of one year into one album. Because I use the strap-hinge albums, this usually works out okay. However, I am realizing that I have probably about doubled (or more) our photo taking since Joshua has entered the "picture"!!! So we shall see!!!

Here is my opening page with the year in review. Got this layout from my Creating Keepsakes magazine. Charley bought me a one year subscription to 3 different magazines for our year in the states. (which has actually turned out to be a bit longer than we anticipated, but that is another whole, LONG story!!) It actually works out good to just get a year, and then stop, because that is plenty of fodder for the scrapbooking imagination for quite a while. I will just say here, that my favorite of the 3 magazines is Simple Scrapbooks. It is definitely that, "SIMPLE". Very doable ideas, with not too many accessories!!

Another idea from one of the magazines. I think it was Simple Scrapbooks. I enlarged one of our beach scenery pictures for the background to 11X14 inches and then framed the smaller 3 pics with white paper. I really love the way it turned out!!

2006 Album Continues

2008-02-11T06:06:00.001-06:00

Okay, lest you think I am absolutely amazing in my speed of scrappin'. No I have not done all of these pages in the past few days. This is actually the album that I had done last year. Well, ACTUALLY now that I think about it, this is the album that I had to REDO because of water damage. But most of the photos were in tact and I really just needed to recreate the pages.

Here is another place where I used the fold out page technique.

And again, the fold out.

On the far left is the folded out page which gives me more space to show some of the amazing scenery from our hike.

And that FINISHES the 2006 album!!! Yahoo!!

2008-02-05T14:09:00.001-06:00

The following 2 pages are the opening pages to my 2006 album. I got this idea from a fellow scrapbooker, Carolyn. I really like the year in review idea and am going to do it in all my albums now.

The next two pics show pages that have extenders. I cut one page in half and then adhered 1/2 page on each side of the outside page edges and these can then fold out as seen in picture below. A really unique thing, also gained from my friend Carloyn.

(Below, the folded out page)

Here, I have cut a page in half and placed it in the center of the first two pages of our vacation layout. I did this because........

.....I have this panoramic shot of Dubrovnik that did not really work on the regular page.

My Latest Pages

2008-02-02T16:18:00.000-06:00

One of the ideas I have come up with to deal with being behind, is to do an album that is solely a Christmas Album. Each year, I will develop the pics from Christmas and place them in this album and then put the Christmas Album away until next Christmas. So here is the beginning of this album. I started with last Christmas which was our first Christmas with our little blessing.

On these next three pages you can see I have put the photo Christmas cards that we received from friends and family into our album. I think it is a fun way to save them!

Intro to My World

2008-02-02T13:09:00.000-06:00

I am a SAHM and a fanatic scrapbooker! Well, maybe fanatic is too strong of a word. But I do LOVE to do it and try to get to it every chance I can. HOWEVER, I also have a little 3 yr. old boy who I DO need to spend time with on occasion! So, my time is fairly minimal now. When I was married with no kiddo, I could just stay up half the night, or send my Honey Lumps off for a day of hiking and just srap to my heart's content. Not so much now though! But that is okay. More of my time is spent making the memories that I will scrapbook later!!

WHY do I scrapbook? Well, it is so much fun to go back through the books and re-live things and see where I have been, but even more than that, it combines my love of photography of all things, with my passion to create and all in all, it is just plain therapeutic to me. A wonderful stress reliever, if you will.

HOW LONG have I been doing this? Well, if I think back, I think I made my first scrapbook when I was just out of high school. I had gone on an exchange program where I spent that summer in Switzerland, working in a restaurant. When I returned I had all these photos taken with my totally cool Minolta 110 camera, (CRAZY TINY negatives came from that thing). They were so neato I just thought I should put them in a book. I had collected all kinds of memorabilia from all the travels of that summer and I used colored pencils and embellished the fire out of that book, totally ahead of my time!!! (HAHAHA)

Anyway, while I was looking at some of my current stuff and e-mailing with friends around the world about this beloved art form, it occurred to me that this would be a cool way to share with friends near and far, ideas and such. I love seeing what others do with their albums and am eager to snatch amazing ideas from fellow srappers. I also love to pass those ideas on to others if I can. SOOOOOO...this will be my attempt to share as I create. I want to post some of my early stuff (unfortunately that wonderful Switzerland Album did not stand the test of time. It has basically disintegrated and that is a bummer indeed). I will post as I work too.

Which brings me to my conclusion. I have decided to make a goal for this year. I am about a year and a few months behind right now. Long story short, I have set my sights on finishing the rest of our 2006 album, our 2007 album and our China Album. (We adopted from China in Oct. 2006) So here is how I began to tackle that goal. I uploaded all my chosen photos pertinent to those albums, to my photo place on line. They were having a pre-paid print sale, which I promptly took advantage of, and ordered every stinkin' one of those 1,200 or so pics!! YIKES!! I then organized them by date, even wrote down ideas of the page layouts with stickers I have and then set everything up on a table off in a corner of the house. It is a bit messy, but now when I get a 30 minute or more block of time free, I sit down and work for a bit. So far so good. Keeping the balance as far as not doing it too much and letting my other calling (motherhood/wife) slack!! Okay, I will finish for now and get some pics on here.