A Promise 2 Keep...

Its funny how you can put so much thought into a topic for this space, feeling fairly uncertain your choice is appropriate and then something so special just falls in your lap. That is just what happened to me.

It has been way more than a "month of Sundays" since I heard from my dear sweet niece, Jennifer, in KY when suddenly out of the blue she calls. It is no small feat staying connected to this young woman since she has no phone and moves around alot but somehow I can always count on her finding me. You see, I am the closest living relative to her late father, my brother, who passed away tragically when she was under 2. She is now in her early 30s with 3 children of her own, a single mom who seems to have more than her share of life's turmoil.

Jennifer's dad, Buddy, and I at ages 1 and 2

Jennifer doesn't have a lot of money being a single mom and for some reason never has a phone of her own. She's usually at the mercy of friends who will share their's and so invariably every 2-3 years I will hear from her and this weekend was the chosen time for us to reconnect. I'm very thankful for the kind friend who cared enough to share a phone! I haven't seen my niece in about 17 years.

She said she was looking through her photos and was so sad because she has none of her father or our family. She told me she looks at the faces of her two sons and wonders if they looks like her father because she has always been told she looked so much like him and wondered if they do too. My heart aches for her and for the sadness she has lived with but this hobby we all share offered such a wonderful opportunity that we both were overjoyed!

Since she is so poor, and her very old religion shuns a lot of modern trappings, I knew emailing digital photos was pretty much out. So...what better way to share my huge box of inherited family photos than to scrap her a family tree?! I have put out requests to the rest of the family for current family photos so our KY family can "meet" the DE kin...hopefully, she'll find a way to share photos of her children someday too. It has been so many years since she has seen our family I am hopeful that we'll find a way to see each other soon and definitely through scrapping we'll be able to share a little of our past...and the future!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't forget to scrap those special memories! You never know when a typical photo will become hugely important in your life.

Lotsaluv,

Ronda

My most treasured page

I don't have a most memorable project, but I most definitely have a layout that is very dear to my heart. It is a layout that captures the true innocence of childhood and the love from a big sister that can only be explained in a picture. I am so grateful I was able to capture this moment on film.

These were photos taken the day after our son was born. Madilyn was so excited to meet her new baby brother and hold him for the first time. I think she thought Logan was HER new baby. She didn't want to put him down at all.



I truly believe THIS is what scrapbooking is all about. I look forward to the day I can share these precious memories with my children and am so grateful I will have pictures to go along with the stories.

Now, go out there and create your own memories. Remember, it's the everyday moments that we tend to forget about in our busy lives. Take the time out of your day to capture your life in the moment and record it for future generations!!

My most memorable project---and a freebie!

I asked the girls this week to chat about their most memorable or meaningful project they have made. I have loved so many things I have made that have been sent to live with other families, but I would say the most meaningful one was the album I made for my mother-in-laws 60th birthday. I was asked to design the invitation to be sent to approximately 50 people and then as my gift I made her an 8X8 scrapbook album. I used chipboard throughout for sturdiness and covered each piece with patterned paper. One each page I sewed a pocket and added three tags, one tag for prices of things, one tag for the different shows from that year and the third tag was for music of that time. Each pages title was the year beginning with her birth up to her 60th birthday. I also included on the tags if a friend or family member was born or married. Now, this project took me over 2 months to complete, but I was so honored when she chose to display it at the party for all her friends and family to see. The other guests just loved looking through it and remembering certain years with a fondness they had forgotten. My mother-in-law took that album with her every where for months and now has is lovingly displayed in her home for everyone to see. When we sit down to create something for someone, we can only hope it will be received with the love with which we made it. I know this album went to the right home and I am so happy I did that for her!

Since I always feel bad not having pictures to display, I am giving away another freebie. I have a mini goodie bag for anyone(not including the SALDC girls!!) that comments in about something they have made that was well-received by another person. I have 3 of these bags, so be sure to comment to get your freebies! And be sure to comment by Tuesday, 11/18 to qualify. Each bag is different, but I am cleaning out supplies and this seems like a good way to do that! After leaving a comment, email me your home address at scrapn3kids@aol.com and I will send you a treat.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Karen

My Cricut cartridges make me happy!!

I can be completely lost and uninspired, but a quick look through my Cricut cartridges and I have LOTS of ideas!! I think they need a 12 step program for buying these things though. I like to buy them and unfortunately not use each of them as much as I should.



Probably my most used cartridge, at the moment, is the Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge. This cartridge is AMAZING!!! The dolls on it are just a taste of what this cartrdige really has to offer, although the dolls are adorable. Take a look at the two little pilgrims I created last night.



I currently have a personal challenge with myself to use EVERY cartridge I have in an item to list on eBay. I just started this last night, so I have a ways to go LOL. I was able to use 1 of my cartrdiges for the 1st time though. I pulled out the My Community cartridge and was thrilled to find this cute little train on there.



Now, my next big challenge will be trying to avoid Michaels on Thanksgiving Day for their 29.99 Cricut cartridge specials. Who am I kidding?? I still NEED more right :)

TOOLS TO LIVE BY TOO...

Good evening and thanks for stopping in!

Goodness, aren't we all in love with Cricut? Can you imagine scrapping without it? Besides my list yesterday of low-tech favorite tools, these have to be my highest of the hi-tech ones...

(my Cricut & Jukebox)

I recently treated myself to a couple eBay bargains and am doing hand stands over them - Cricut Jukebox and Design Studio! It is so nice to be away from home with my computer but to still be able to put together pages for cutting when I get home. It is amazing how much time can be saved welding words too. The gizmos aren't without their glitches (or perhaps operator know-how) and often it causes my laptop to freeze up but rebooting it and the Cricut always works...a good reason to save your work often!

Also, the Jukebox is wonderful and I can't imagine using DS without it. For those of you who are unfamilar, you can put 6 cartridges in the Jukebox AND connect up to 3 Jukeboxes together for up to 18 Cricut cartridges which means you don't need to hop up and down changing cartridges. A cable to the Jukebox just plugs into the Cricut and away you go.

As a scrapper who likes to make patterns, I'd love to be able to cut my own patterns on the Cricut and sure hope they come up with something to allow it...I've so far resisted getting the Sure-Cuts-A-Lot but see it in the future. I manage to combine items cut with the trio of Cricut items and supplement with my drawn parts to make original piecings. Here's today's new listing of one I created using several parts cut on my Cricut with some hand-drawn parts too...

Since I use the Cricut Expression I can plot out my pieces for cutting in four 6"x6" sections, which makes up one 12"x12", mat when using DS and it's perfect for cutting up to 4 colors/patterns on the same mat. It worked especially well for making a boy and girl version of the same layout since I was able to copy everything and place it on the blue 6"x6" section and so on. It's a real time saver too!

What I'd really like to learn next is how I can (or if I can) weld borders so I get a nice 12" piece with everything in a good scale. Does anyone know how to do that yet?? I'd be eternally grateful if any of our talented bloggers could help out!!

Please drop us a suggestion or comment when you can and have a great weekend!

TOOLS TO LIVE BY...

I had a little head start on this question when a fellow scrapper wrote asking me the very same so I knew when this thread began I had a tasty tidbit to share with you all. My most cherished and USED tools are a simple toolbox of Making Memories tools to which I've added scissors and my ancient Xacto.


I've used my hammer so much the head is coming loose! For me this box is indispensable and I couldn't scrap without it. I use the piercing tool to move fiddly little pieces for my piecings or to pierce a hole for a handle for a Halloween pumpkin like this...

The small pliers were used to coil the wire so it wouldn't separate from the pumpkin but it comes in handy to hold jump rings when I'm adding a charm to a layout, or to make curly wire web for a spooky little spider, etc. The needles fish wire & ribbon and often get a work out. My most favorite item in the box would be the punch. This handy gizmo has several sized heads that screw into the body of the tools and can be used to punch holes for eyelets, or to make perfect small circles for the eyes and pupils on my paper piecings. I am constantly finding new reasons to make holes in my projects! A word of caution...be sure to have a self-healing mat under your work so it doesn't harm furniture.

I don't think any of my scrapping would be possible without my trusty, tiny stainless steel decoupage scissors. They were found in the decoupage section of my local craft store and have been unbelievably useful for all my paper piecings. My specialty might be considered paper piecing since I started scrapping so I could make paper things to decorate other things! LOL!! Most of my piecings are my own originals and have lots of pieces that make these scissors a must have...remember those fiddly little parts I move around with the piercing tool? Well, these trusty scissors cut them out first! I'd buy these a 100 times if I had to but luckily, this is only my 3rd pair.

If you can think of a use for any of the tools...BE SURE to drop me a note!

I'm off to make a cuppa joe...

Ronda

tools i love a~latte....

hello and greetings from southern california,

okay so i love the countless array of scrapbooking tools that are available today both...old and new. but if i had to narrow it down to the two tools that i use the most, i'd have to say........


number one would be my exacto knife...

i know this may seem so primative when you think of the many cutting systems that are out, but with my exacto knife i can cut and create anything i design. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that i don't love me some "cricut" because i do! i especially love the new storytime cartridge! but for original work i love the old exacto knife!

secondly i love my prismacolor markers.

I LOVE COLORS! i'm so totally impressed with Cindy's thread assortment! you rawk girlfriend! love all the different shades. anyways i like to use my prismacolor markers primarily to shade and on occassions, when i do make cards, i use them to color. here is a LO that i will be posting tomorrow 11/11 using the tools that i love a~latte! lol

Happy monday to all. hope everyone is enjoying a couple of days off.

blessings~