One Real Day

Yesterday's prompt for my class 'Blogging For Scrapbookers' challenged us to write about one really good day that we can remember. Wow. This was difficult for me. Not because it was difficult to think of a day, just difficult to write about it. You see, the best thing about my 'great day' is that it was normal. It was the sort of day that I wish I could have with my mom every time we are together.

It is one of the only memories I have like it. Even on that day, I was overwhelmed with tears because I was so happy for such a normal day. My mom and I have a lot of issues (I am sure many people can relate) and next week she is having a big surgery and I am probably going to have to help her a lot afterwards. I have been struggling with my feelings about it as I have a lot of resentment towards her, but I am going to do the best that I can because I know that it is what I should do.

I am sorry that I am being a little bit vague with this post, but I am sure more of the the story will be told over the next few weeks.


For this page, I typed the journaling in word and used mostly Earth Love for the embellishing.

Happy National Scrapbooking day!!

Over at Creating Keepsakes blog, they are having a fun celebration for National Scrapbooking Day!! There are several free downloads and a fun NSD giveaway available today!!


To be eligible for the giveaway, you have to download one of the magazine covers and insert your scrapbook page, post a link in the comments and let others know about the contest on your own blog. So here is mine! I am not completely literate in Photoshop, but I can get around when I have to...especially to have fun being a COVER GIRL!! Hehe!!

Enjoy!!

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge: #20 Emma

Here is this week's entry for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. I decided to watch this movie on Sunday via YouTube, all 12 parts. I couldn't help but compare it to the movie Clueless over and over as it is loosely based on this great Jane Austen classic. Wow, the movie was so good. I had a lot of good ideas for this movie, but in the end I decided to go with a simple scrapbook page for my cousin Emma. Emma is a 3rd grader at my school and she is a great artist. I am so lucky to be her art teacher. She is always bringing me little things that she makes. For Christmas she gave me a book 'All about owls' that she wrote and illustrated. For Valentine's day she gave me owl stickers that she made using a Xiron and a couple of drawings and a little owl picture frame.


Emma is always doing special stuff for me so I knew I had to do something to make her Christmas special this year. I decided to wrap her gift and put it inside another wrapped box, over and over.....he he....she is the perfect age to enjoy that sort of thing. We actually needed to leave that night before present time, but I made the girls open the gifts from us before we left because I wanted to watch Emma open her present....we were late for my family's Christmas eve celebration, but it was worth it. Emma laughed and laughed as she opened box after box! It is a great memory and this challenge inspired me to 'scrap' it. The other requirement for this challenge was to use polka dots, I had a large piece of vellum and I used it for the back ground. I don't think anything about the movie "Emma" could be created without using a flower of some kind somewhere....so I punched out a bunch of little flowers and put colorful brads in the middle.

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge- The Wizard of Oz

I am snowed in!! I have been working on many crafting projects and this week I really thought a lot about what I would do for this movie. I love the Wizard of Oz, but I have had a lot of trouble coming up with something great. That has been happened to me a lot recently with these challenges....I made a horrible scrapbook page for the Lord of the Rings Challenge...and I haven't attempted many of the others lately because I haven't seen the movie. So, here goes!





I love Brooke's Tin Man Card, but I decided to go with a scrapbook page. This page showcases my love for taking random pictures of the sky. These photos were taken several years ago, before I had a digital camera. I have had them in a box and I wasn't sure what to do with them, but this challenge helped me to find the story and tell it....I also had to add something metallic as part of the challenge so I put a little gold heart with wings on the layout. The little graphics are from paperstreet's etsy store. I purchased a sheet of collage graphics and printed them from my home printer. The letters were stamped and then cut out of scrap paper....I don't have any sort of laser cutter. There isn't anything too fancy on this layout, a bit of paper piercing here, some punch action there. In case you can't tell, the photos are of a rainbow.....hence the 'somewhere' title above the photos....Anyway, this was a lot of fun to make!! Enjoy!

Project 52

I mentioned that I am working on a December Daily Album and I really loved keeping track of my month by writing in a word document and taking photos. I just got a big package in the mail from Snapfish with all of my photos and photo collages. I am so excited to start working on it at a crop the end of this month. I spent over $60 on pictures and I only got half of the month's worth developed!! Thats a lot of photos!!!

I really want to start this year off with a scrapbooking goal. I read in Creating Keepsakes magazine about Project 365: Kit of the Month. This is such a great idea!!

Fellow blogger Lisa mentioned a similar Project 52 on Balzer Designs. I love this because it isn't limited to scrapbook pages, it could be anything that allows me to record my thoughts, emotions, and events each week for the rest of the year. It is very loose with no deadlines and no strict format! This is perfect for me! I joined a Flickr group to showcase my work and stay focused and motivated.

One Little Word for 2009, Resolutions and Creativity

CREATIVITY.
I had hoped to spend this break working on artwork, writing and expanding my creative experiences. The mojo and the inspiration just hasn't been there. Believe me, I have tried to clean my studio, organize my supplies, journal, anything to spark a flame....but sometimes the creativity and the passion isn't on the surface.

The things I that I have attempted to put together are embarrassingly under par. Looking at blogs, doing simple drill and practice art activities, examining artwork and design, shopping for new supplies...nothing has worked.

So, I have been on the couch, watching movies like Music and Lyrics, and Survivorman, trying not to think about it.

I am sure this will pass.....Once I am back to my normal routine. I like being out of school and I really need this time off to recoup...but sometimes I wish I could pick when I take my breaks and vacations. I hate it when I am really motivated and there aren't enough hours in the day to complete everything that I want to do.

And now that I have the time, the days are passing me by and nothing is getting done, nothing is even making it onto a to-do list.....in fact, there isn't even a to-do list...and I hate that. I like crossing things off. I like being productive. If there is no to-do list....no immediate goals, then long-term goals are certainly not going to be scrawled on a steno with the nub of a pencil or scribbled into the margin.

Embracing my routine, stepping back from the day-to-day to noticing the sunset....I guess that is where romance exists for me. And without some sort of structure to my days (I haven't had any coffee the entire time I have been off) I have trouble appreciating the beauty of a red mug surrounded by ink pads and buttons. The red mug doesn't get noticed because it doesn't exist.

Making time for art and love, it has to be a priority, and I make sure that those things are on my agenda every day. Perhaps that is why I am having such a mental block now...no agenda.

RESOLUTIONS.
Okay, now lets get down to business. I have the normal resolutions, save more money, live healthier, show more love and appreciation to my friends and family, scrapbook more photos, send more card (remember more birthdays), be more organized, lose fewer earrings.

INSPIRE.
I have also selected one little word for the year. A word on which to base my decisions and my focus my attention. I put a lot of thought into this. One of my favorite scrapbookers, Ali Edwards motivated me to select a word for the year. "A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow." ~Ai Edwards

To help me select one little word, I thought of an experience with one of my students.


We were working on a project and she kept saying "I hate this, mine is ugly, can I please be done?" She was frustrated and so was I. Finally I just said to her, "Vanessa, I am here to inspire you. I am sorry if you do not like this assignment. I can't guarantee that you will love everything that we do in art. But what you do with what you are given is up to you." She responded, "You do inspire me Mrs. Mitchell."
I do not know if she said that just because she was embarrassed by her attitude or if she really meant it, but reflecting on this made me want to use this experience to jump start my year.

I want to start off the year with a desire to inspire.

My word for 2009 is INSPIRE. It is my goal this year to live a life that will inspire others. I want to inspire my students, friends and family members to follow their creative ambitions and do things that make them happy. I hope that I can do this through my blog and my scrap books.

If you want to start out your year with motivation from one little word, you can look here for a list of words that other people have chosen.


Okay so I can't say that my time off has been completely unproductive, I did make the page and cards above and I participated in some color inspiration challenges. I even started a December Daily Album to remember the entire month (photos coming soon). It has been a very busy month with weddings, funerals, New Year's and Christmas. I haven't even gotten to participate in my favorite challenge: Cinema Saturday!!!

Anyway, hopefully you will be inspired by my blog. I am very optimistic that it is going to be a great year.

Okay, so I just have to post this....

Oh, and while I am posting pages, I guess I will tack on my page for the Sound of Music Challenge. I went with the 'These are a few of my Favorite Things' idea....I made a list of my favorite things...This been on my mind for a while, but this challenge finally encouraged me to do my 25 favorite things at 25 list. I think this page looks a lot better in person...but I finally got the page done, (even though it is way past the deadline for the challenge) but I guess that is the most important part!!

Here are my favorite things:

25. The way that smells can bring up old memories...
24. I like to bake...when I have time...
23. Being a Close to My Heart consultant.
22. Making demo vides for school.
21. Our new big screen t.v. (60 inches)
20. Fur-topped boots.
19. Trying new things...I have tried a lot of new things this year...
18. Glitter!!
17. New clothes.
16. A new hair cut.
15. Jewelry; I love to accessorize
14. I am on a celery kick...and raisin bread toast.
13. hot coco and warm baths in the winter
12. Poetry; love poems...
11. Sunshine...but I also like rain when I am at home.
10. My JOB; being an art teacher is so fun
9. Blogging
8. Taking pictures
7. Traveling; I want to GO.
6. Having a relaxing hobby like card/scrapping
5. Comfortable shoes
4. Clean sheets
3. Coffee; smell, taste, warmth
2. Owls
1. My wonderful guy


This layout is based on a design I found...I don't know where I found it, but I saved it on my computer!! Anyway, I thought it was perfect for my idea, I just had to make the colors and theme match the Sound of Music.