Martin Luther King Jr

Yesterday was an interesting albeit unusual day for me.  It all started with an innocent question from the girls of whether the American slaves had a "Moses" which led me to discover that it was exactly the 44th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination.  I watched portions of vintage speeches and then got inspired to scrapbook a layout on King which I felt really needed to be wrapped up on the same day of April 4.  It dawned on me that I was precisely 4 months old when he was assassinated so I rummaged through the few photos I had from childhood ( ~ I was daughter #4 so photos are few for me!) and, lo and behold, I had photos from April 1968.  I found King's famous "I had a dream" and "I have been to the mountaintop" speeches in written format and photos of him in US national archives online which I printed out along with the headlines from the New York Times for April 5, 1968 announcing his death online.

Isn't it interesting how something or someone can provoke a reaction?  And how this can unexpectedly affect a day or a lifetime?

still kickin'

I have been visiting in blogland, just not posting as you may well know.  Every so often, I get a nudge by a bloggin' pal to post.  Voila!  Here's a new post for you!

I'm happy to report that not much has changed since my last post in August 2011.  My health is the best it has been in years since I left the practice in late February 2011!  I'm been keeping myself busy ~ as I intend on relaying in some upcoming posts ~ but I will share a little of what I've been up to!

I've been very busy with paper crafts!  I participated in Prana Light's Valentine's Swap and was paired with  an ex-pat Canadian, Marie.  I had to hustle to get Marie's Valentine's package together and mailed in the hope that it would arrive in Britain by February 14!  And, as I had not planned on blogging at that time, of course I didn't take any photos!

I am in the process of completing Big Picture Class' "12 Days of Christmas" class which has trickled into Big Picture Class' "Twelve" class!  The "Twelve" class actually extends for a full year with the intention (altho I think it is almost hopeless for me!) to complete 12 layouts each month in 2012.  I'll get a lot of my scrapbooking backlog caught up this year!

Here are a few layouts I can share from Christmas 2011:

As we were travelling over Christmas in 2011, the girls hung their stockings with pins on the chairs which is something that I did as a child at Christmas.  They found it very funny to do so!  The back of the layout describes the challenges posed to Santa when a family is travelling over Christmas & how Santa got it all together.  Shhhh... they won't find out about the journalling for years!

This layout features snippets about Christmas decor.  My grandmother passed away in November 2011 at the age of 95 years and I have really noticed her influences since her passing and her influences became particularly apparent at Christmas.

I'll try to post again in a few days!  Have a good week!

introspective

It's been a very introspective summer and that is a good thing.  It has also involved lots of crafting too ~ another good thing!

Currently I've been participating in Big Picture's Big Idea Festival which provides a daily one-word prompt for 12 days!  It has sent me scrambling for photos as well as for supplies but it has been a lot of fun!  I love Big Picture classes and this one is free so that's great as well!

I bought the class' products which included this great 6x5.5 inches (chipboard) mini-album.  I've never worked on an album and my scrapbook pages are always 12X12.  It's been an interesting challenge trying to squeeze my response to every prompt onto a 6x5.5 page or two!  On this particular layout, I used scrap Moda fabric and the scraps were from the first aprons I ever made.  I even sewed the fabric onto the chipboard, something I have never done before, but I used a "jean" needle on the machine so it didn't even squawk!  Today's word is "nesting" so I'm busy planning my next layout in my head.

In this class, I "met" Karla who is test-trying a new product, My Memories, made by Polaroid.  She's made some wonderful layouts which she has posted on her blog using this product.

I am interested in this product because of my experience with test-trying Photoshop Elements 9 on my iMac in June.  I was curious about Elements because I wanted to do hybrid scrapbooking or, if I really liked it, full digital scrapbooking.  Needless to say, many hours later, I gave up on trying to teach myself Elements on a Mac (as the product is obviously geared towards PC users).  Karla's blog is featuring a My Memories give-away in case you are interested in learning about this program and/or, if the winner, testing it out yourself!  Good luck!

scrappin'

Although I've been really occupied with work lately, I have managed to squeeze a little time for crafting on the side.  I have been taking a Big Picture Class, "Adventures in Scrapbooking: Use Your Stash", but haven't been following it as attentively as my first class, "Baker's Dozen".  (I really enjoyed Baker's Dozen.)

I have managed to do a couple baby layouts using photos that have been hanging around with my baby stash (and yes, I have my stash organized based upon seasons/occasions ~ call me "uptight" but I can usually find things reasonably quickly!) ...

I was delighted to finally able to incorporate K's baby barrettes into a layout!  Every time I see them, I think of her!

This layout didn't turn out as I had planned.  Its title is "Sweet Dreams" and the word "dreams" is designed into the patterned paper and located below "Sweet".  I just couldn't figure out a way of raising attention to dreams.  Working on a layout is like working on a puzzle to me.

Journalling is a very important part of my scrapbooking.  It is fun to play with paper and tangible things (buttons, accessories) but the journalling gets me each time.  It is a wonderful way to record memories!

Picture Summer

I had such a great time doing Big Picture Scrapbooking's Baker's Dozen class that I signed up for Picture Summer as well.  It started July 1.  I am now 3 days behind.

I suspected that it was for the camera endowed those who tote loaded cameras, not for my sleek almost 5 year old Canon Powershot!  But I'm not one to read the fine-print regarding online stuff (as the wee font causes my aging 4-eyes to go cross-eyed) so I signed up for the class with the meagre hope that it would at least prompt me to explore the features I currently have on my Powershot.  Plus, K has expressed an interest in photography (and all things "art") so I have suggested that we'd take the class together which she has delightfully accepted.  So, my poor Powershot will not only be subjected to my naive groping of it but also K's; I'm just hoping that it manages to make it through the class without being dropped or damaged by myself or by K.  (The second prompt includes water ~ I will avoid mentioning that one to K!)

I am additionally challenged because I don't have Photoshop (and have never used it ~ as my photos on my blog can attest!) but hope to rely on iPhoto's editing software (which, frankly, is built for my limited skillset).  I am just wondering whether I will be able to withstand the urge to purchase Photoshop or rely on some free online similar site for the next 30 days.

So here's the head's up: I anticipate posting a few of my inspired shots K's photos over the next 30 days.  Consider yourself warned!