The first days of thanks

Just because I'm not posting, doesn't mean I'm not thankful! In fact, that is the beauty of my conception of thirty days of thanks. Here is a bit about my month so far:

1 - I'm thankful when I don't have to cook dinner, especially when it is healthy and yummy and everyone in the family eats it!
2 - I'm thankful for the chance to watch my favorite TV show (even if I'm working while I'm doing it.)
3 - I'm thankful for early morning appointment times and offices that are as quick as they say the will be.
4 - I'm thankful for reconnecting with long-time friends.
5 - I'm thankful for a chance to escape my regular life for one day and scrapbook with my friends!
      I'm also thankful for backrubs.
6 - I'm thankful for the chance to play the organ at church and the support of the congregation and the choir. I'm also thankful for my five-year-old assistant.
7 - I'm thankful for keys that are lost and then found!
8 - I'm thankful for being at least a little bit ahead of the game. I'm also thankful for friends who support us in eating local food.

This project has been interesting. One thing I'm noticing already is that I don't want to be limited to only one thanks. Thinking about what I'm thankful for is making me more aware that I am thankful and therefore giving me more things to record. I guess I'm developing an "attitude of gratitude" (thanks, Oprah!)

Are you recording your thanks? What are you noticing?

I'm still pondering the project I will create. Originally, I had a mini-album in mind, but I'm also wondering about a layout or series of layouts. And I have to confess, I haven't taken any photos for this project yet. What ideas do you have about recording thanks? I would love to hear what you plan to do - and thanks, in advance!

Thirty days of thanks

I love the way November inspires people to reflect on - and share - their gratitude. Each year I'm motivated by those who share a daily gratitude and this year I have decided to join them and share my thanks both here and in a mini-album.

I know a little something about myself, however. I can easily  find something for which I am grateful each day, but I am pulled in too many directions to commit to posting that frequently. I also know that I am not good at working on a mini-album one day at a time. Since I'm trying to be realistic so that I can be successful, I've come up with a plan that I think just might work!

I will record my daily thanks in a notebook (or on sticky notes, in my calender, phone etc.) and then post once a week. Throughout the month I will take photos and gather supplies (including the mini-album itself) and then in December, I will be able to create the album.

Would you like to join me for thirty days of thanks? I would love to hear what is making you grateful right now and see how you record your gratitude.

Check back later this weekend for my first list of thanks!

A blog award!

Thanks to Jill over at Paper Thrills for awarding me the Versatile Blogger Award!

 All recipients of the Versatile Blogger Award are asked to:

1. Thank the one who awarded you.
2. Share 7 things about yourself that readers might not know.
3. Award 7 other bloggers with the same award.

So, thanks again, Jill for the recognition!
Seven things you might not know about me:

1. When I started scrapbooking I swore I wasn't going to get sucked in. I was only going to do my wedding album.
2. Seven years later, the wedding album is still in progress and I've created at least 20 others!
3. I play the pipe organ.
4. I teach piano lessons.
5. I married my high school sweetheart. We were together 7 years before we got married.
6. I love Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I'm really enjoying sharing her books with my children.
7. I love the Chicago Cubs!

 And now I get to recognize seven other bloggers:

1. Kerrie at Scrappy Happening
2. Jennifer at Midwest Scrapgarden
3. Linda at The Paper Taylor
4. Karen at Inky Fingers
5. Marina at My Scrapspiration
6. Vicki at Wizard's Hangout
7. Pam at p-inks

Congrats, ladies and thanks for your inspiration!

Paper Trail Blog Hop - Dreamin'

Welcome to the November Paper Trail blog hop. Thanks for stopping by. If you've arrived here from Mary's blog, you are in the right place. Don't worry if you are starting here - this hop is circular so you can start anywhere!

Now, let's get to the paper. I have been dreamin about this paper! It is the first pack that I bought from the new idea book, and I love it. I did the workshop and created a bunch of layouts (including this one). So for this month's hop I decided to create some cards instead. Cards are often daunting to me but I've found a few strategies that help me:

1. Make a few (or more than a few) cards at a time - even if you don't need them right now, you will someday!
2. Use similar (or identical) products - after all, if they work once, they will work again and the recipients aren't likely to notice.
3. Don't rely only on your brain (or Hallmark) for inspiration. I love to use CTMH's current idea book as a jumping off point.

When I sat down to create these cards I gathered my paper, kraft cardstock bases (4.25x5.5 standard size) the Dreamin' workshop stamp set, Colonial White Waxy Flax and some buttons from the blue assortment. I flipped through the idea book starting at the back and the tag card created using the Wicked stamp set (August SOTM) caught my eye (p 139). Here is the card I created inspired by the one on page 139:

On top of my kraft base, I added some Goldrush cardstock and B&T paper from scraps leftover from my layouts. The dandelion image is from the workshop stamp set. A little bit of waxy flax and one perfectly sized button, and I was very happy with the result.

Although my base was the same, my supplies were the same and my source of inspiration was the same, the other two cards look distinctly different.

I love working with what is already on my desk. This card takes advantage of the zip strip on one of the B&T papers and once again utilizes the workshop stamp set, waxy flax and button. I modified the design from a smaller square card I found on page 79. Can you see the resemblance?

I also created this one:

I plan to use it for a friend's birthday (happy coincidence I was already making cards.) For this one I had to supplement my supplies a bit. I dug into my embellishment bag and found a CTMH Just Blooms flower from the Big Pinks collection (now retired.) Like the two previous cards, this one took its design from a card in the Autumn/Winter idea book. Can you find the card? I will randomly choose one commenter with the correct answer to win a small prize.

There is more Dreamin' to see. Enjoy the rest of the posts, and start by hopping on over to Vicki's blog to see what she's created.

Winter Card Workshop

Check out the cards that I made in preparation for my workshop:

The pattern is Winning Combination from CTMH's Originals card confidence program. The papers are from CTMH's Wonderland paper packet. Using this pattern, you can make 24 cards from one packet. This workshop is based on the ideas of Linda Taylor.

Making 24 cards is what we set out to do, however, I had greatly underestimated how long things would take. Still, we had a good time and each of us completed some nice cards.

I gave my cards as examples, not necessarily models that needed to be copied, and I'm glad that I did. I loved the creativity around my table tonight. With the same papers, stamp sets and embellishments, the women created gorgeous - and sometimes very different - cards. I ended up crafting a card based on the example of one of my friends!

Thanks, ladies, for the inspiration and the laughs. Two big reasons I love crafting in groups!


If you would like a kit to create your own cards or if you would like information about future workshops, please contact me!

In addition to the paper, I used sparkles, bitty sparkles, the bling assortment (bling buttons and stick pins) and buttons from the blue assortment. Stamp sets used: Holiday Magic, Christmas Love, Made with Love, Wonderland workshop stamp.

Getting into home dec - Paper Thrills challenge #30

I have framed layouts before. I've even created framed pieces using my supplies that don't include photos, but still the current challenge at Paper Thrills - to create a fall wall-hanging - made me a bit nervous. I took my inspiration from Aly Dodsall who did a whole week about home decor at write.click.scrapbook last month and here is what I created:

I started with a Styrofoam wreath - a 12 inch one, I believe. I followed Aly's suggestion and cut some paper from the (retired) CTMH Olivia collection into 2X3 blocks (about 50 of them).When I started arranging the paper on the wreath, I found I liked tilting the blocks and creating the fun zig zag effect inside.

After the paper was on I was a bit stumped. I just couldn't decide where to go. My hubby suggested photos - after all Paper Thrills is a challenge blog for scrapbookers. That was the next burst of inspiration I needed. I used CTMH's new Foundry Pin Clips as my photo holders. The pin clips were perfect because in addition to fitting with the style of the project, I will be able to switch out the photos as I wish!  I found the ribbon and then added some Mocha Opaques from CTMH and voila, challenge complete!

Now head on over to Paper Thrills and check out what the rest of the design team created. While you're there, why not play along yourself? I can't wait to see what you create! 

I see you...

The current challenge at Paper Thrills is a fall color challenge. It was especially challenging for me since I had summer and winter photos! I chose some papers that reflected the color scheme (from CTMH's retired Olivia packet) and then started searching through my photos. I was pleasantly surprised when I found some summer playground photos that looked nice with the fall oranges and browns.

I have created multiple pages featuring my kids playing at our neighborhood playground. I wanted this one to be a little bit different. I chose to focus on the photo of my shadow and use that perspective to tell my story. Here is the result:

I embellished with a kraft border from CTMH (now retired) and a couple of stamped die cuts.

The focus of the layout was really the story rather than the embellishments as with many of my pages.
Here is the story.

Now head on over to Paper Thrills and check out what the rest of the design team created. While you're there, why not play along yourself? I can't wait to see what you create!