Through The Camera Lens

Thank A Veteran

Thankful for the Veterans, including my Grandpa, Retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force Pilot during WWII and POW in Germany.

The Abridged Version

Catching up a bit on sharing some recent classes. This is from Cathy Zielske's Me: The Abridged Version.

I took a similar class in 2006 but I'm glad I decided to give it a another go. While my A's were still the same subject, a lot has changed in those 3 years.

Both classes are based on the book "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life". If you haven't read it yet - do!

Since I made an effort not to re-do words from first album, like "Halloween" (I still love it!), it could be a bit challenging at times. But for a surprising amount of entries I found that in those three years I found a whole bunch of new loves or old favorites I wasn't able to fit in the first one. Like this page:

And I love scanning. Suddenly all your typos pop out at you. Lovely.

Anyway, I plan on doing this album theme again every few years. And try to get 8 to begin one in her tween years. Can't wait!

Do you have any pages or albums you re-create?

Yesterday & Today

 

Well maybe not yesterday but I recently finished this title page for Yesterday & Today taught by Ali Edwards. It's a 12 week class & we are half way through. I actually do have some more layouts finished but as the lighting on this one was so wonky, I'll save those for another day. The small pictures are actually one long strip - making the punching so much easier!

And in today's news...

Chained, originally uploaded by Christi Nielsen.

Some of us in my scrap group are having a "Biggest Loser" contest. Since we live all over the state, it's kind of on your honor - but we'll know the truth in January at our final weigh in & weekend crop! lol

Today is our first complete week, so I'll be weighing in today. Wish me luck!

I hate the word "diet" - I instantly want to eat all chocolate in sight, then move on to the salty snacks.

So I'm telling myself I'm just modifying my eating a bit. It doesn't mean I can't have a mini Heath bar from time to time!

With this new goal of weight loss, I actually want to start eating a bit more. I tend to hold off til dinner. So I'm searching for some quick mini-meals/snack ideas.

What's your favorite healthy snack?

Cupcake in a Mug

Got a craving for chocolate today.

• 4 T Cake Flour
• 4 T Sugar
• 2 T Cocoa
• 1 Egg
• 3 T Milk
• 3 T Oil
• Splash of Vanilla

In mug mix flour, sugar and cocoa, beat in egg. Then mix in milk, oil and a bit of vanilla. I also added a dash of cinnamon & some mini chocolate chips. Cook in 1000 watt microwave for 3 minutes.I have a smaller microwave so it took about 5 minutes.I topped with some whipped cream and just scooped it out from mug.

Enjoy!

Holiday Planning

Flamboyant*, originally uploaded by Imapix.

While it seems early, the holidays will be here all too soon so I've been trying to get ready bit by bit rather than my usual hectic rush in mid-December. I started by taking "Cut the Crazy out of Christmas" class at BPS taught by some of the people behind Adorn It. If you weren't able to take their class, check out their blog.

Or there are some printables to help you plan at Organized Christmas. And a Thanksgiving Checklist too.

Another blog I've been checking in on daily is 100 Days to Christmas.I also signed up for "Holidays in Hand", a free class by Jessica Sprague. And of course I intend on creating a Christmas Journal again this year, a hybrid - if you will, hehe, of Ali's December Daily & Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas.

Oops, don't forget fun ideas & crafts for the kids!

The good thing about beginning to plan is I'm focusing more on making sure our Traditions are upheld this year and thinking of starting one or two more.

What are your favorite Traditions?

Changing Rooms

Black & White Living Room, originally uploaded by mawphoto.com.

I'm not sure if it's cabin fever or just that we have lived in our house for 10 years but I'm suddenly in a mood to change every room and all at once.

Been using this site to get color inspiration. Love being able to type in words and seeing people's interpretations of that word in colors. I'm using the word "cupcake" for ideas for the kitchen and have purchased some prints, like this one & this one.

Next is attacking the bedrooms. Ordered these & this for M's room. And am seriously thinking of getting some for my room! SO cute!

Also love to spend some time checking out these sites: Desire To Inspire & Eat Drink Chic. Yummy eye candy!

Anyway, still plugging away at painting but hopefully soon will be the fun part - decorating! Stayed tuned for pics!

And before I go, just wanted to give a shout-out to a super cool friend and talented scrapbooker who has joined Shimelle's Blogging For Scrapbookers class! Woo hoo! Welcome Maya!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lovin' Fall

Between sick kids, Halloween and all the online scrapbooking classes I'm either currently in or signed up for - more on those soon, I was forgetting to take time to enjoy my favorite time of the year.

 

So I got up early one morning and took some pictures around town.

 

It happened to be the first frost of the season.

 

It looks quiet but there was a lot of rustling as the sun thawed the leaves & they fell to the ground.

 

And while I'm not a morning person and the cold is a whole 'nother thing, I'm glad I took the time to capture some scenes of Fall. Can't wait to scrap them!

Blogging for Scrapbookers

Started (yet another) class today taught by Shimelle, you can find info to join here. Since my blog has been neglected for some time, I thought this would be the jump start I need to get me going again.

I'm hoping over the next 3 weeks to get back into the habit of blogging, taking more pictures and writing the stories of our every day lives.

The picture above is where I will be composing my posts and just a little to the left is where I create my scrapbook pages. Of course - this picture wasn't taken today, it's a bit more crowded at that moment!

Happy Halloween!

While Halloween was a bit chilly, we still made a quick trip to a local farm to get some pumpkins and a few other goodies. Plans for the gourds & some mini pumpkins!

Then time for Trick or Treating, it was cold & that didn't go over well:

And giving me his best vampire face, I could not find teeth for the life of me!

 

Not out of the box this year, with a Witch & Vampire and with the wiping of the nose, the make-up didn't last long. And either did the Trick or Treating with the cold temps, but they had fun!

Then a trip to go look at a pretty pumpkin display. Wish I had better pics but when I got there, my tri-pod leg broke...yet again!

 

Today was the carving of the pumpkins, nobody really seemed to dig the insides:

 

And ended up with these jack-o-lanterns:

Oops, one is a "puking pumpkin". Guess who's.

 

Hope you had a great Halloween!

HT&E - Digi Work In Process

Started this last night, using a layered template from last week's class prompt. Still not sure why some things aren't quite perfect, but only got a bit frustrated. Thank goodness for google and I was able to work my way out of being stuck but still need to figure out to fix a few things! Not that Shimelle's prompts aren't good, think I'm just working with an older versions of PhotoShop Elements.

Anyway, it wasn't so bad and thinking I might search for more templates. Just not sure if I will print out and add embellies or keep it completely digital. I think that decision will be made after seeing what I can find for digi embellishments!

This week we are back to working with paper & glue so hoping to stay caught up!