be yourself: live with passion

making choices...

A number of years ago, I attended a weekend marketing seminar where Ken Glickman, Consumer Editor for Bottom Line Personal, was one of the featured speakers.  Something Ken said about making choices has stuck in my mind all of these years and immediately pops up when I need to make a decision about where to spend my time.  He was talking about the importance of priorities when making decisions.  His example was so good...I just wanted to share what he said.  He was asked to participate in a charity event...he's asked to participate in lots of charity events...and of course, no one likes to turn down something like that...makes you look like you're not charitable.  Then, he started thinking.  If he said yes to the event, he was automatically saying no to something else.  In this case, saying yes to the charitable function meant saying no to spending time with his then 3 year old daughter, Chloe.   His choice became quite simple:  he said no to the event and yes to Chloe. 

Saturday morning was simply beautiful outside, which presented me with a dilemma and ultimately, a choice.  Do I go outside and plant the flowers that I picked up at the nursery on Friday?

Or, do I stay inside and pack kits for my upcoming teaching event in Canada?

Both needed to be done and it seemed like the responsible thing to do was to pack kits (like attending a charity event) but what I really wanted and mentally needed to do was plant flowers (my "Chloe").

I made the choice of going outside and planting.  It was cool out, the sun was bright, the hummers were chittering away and both dogs happily stayed outside with me.  It was great to refresh the pots that looked so pitiful after a hot summer.

When I came inside after my planting, I was overwhelmed with guilt.  I still had tons of kits to pack up, instructions to write, and class supplies to gather and box for shipment.  How was I going to get it all done?

I began working on the kits and wow, did they go smoothly.  In no time at all, all three projects were kitted up and ready to be put into boxes.  I really felt great.

Yesterday, once I finally got started on writing the class instructions, they also flowed...

I was amazed.  It seems like the down time away from the class stuff really helped me focus when I needed to really buckle down.  A change in pace was a good choice...saying no to the kits and yes to planting really worked for me.

And this morning, I really feel good.  The boxes just need to go to the shipper and the backyard is all planted and groomed.

And Ken Glickman's words are firmly etched in my brain. 

Hope you say yes to a "Chloe" in your life this week!

lots of kits = lots of new friends

I am so excited...I'm putting together kits for Scrap Gala, an event sponsored by the Scrap Shack in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.  And, with each kit that I slip into a bag, I think about the person who is going to be building that project...a new friend that I will have because of this wonderful passion.  This will be my first time teaching at this event but in all honesty, I feel like it's a bit of a homecoming.  Several girls who attended last year's event linked to my blog through Tena's blog and new friendships were born.  So, even though we've never met face to face, I feel like I know them!  And I'm so excited to be able to give them a hug and meet all of the wonderful girls who will be attending.

                     

Here are some little teasers from the three projects I will be teaching.  One of the projects is called "When the Chips Are Down" and it's just filled with pieces of chip...plus glitter...plus wonderful Imagination Project papers.  It's bright, glittery and just plain funky...great for recording holiday memories.  Major thanks to Ginger from Imagination Project for bailing me out with the paper...totally appreciate the box of paper she sent me when I couldn't find any locally.  And, huge thanks to Marti at Scrapbooks, Etc. for hunting down the Bazzill Parakeet policy envelopes for me and having them shipped to the store.  It just never ceases to amaze me how wonderful so many of the people are in this industry.

A second project is called "Inking Your Way to Incredible Backgrounds", which is a cool techniques class focusing on different ways to use inks on your pages.  The great thing is that not only will we be learning techniques but there will be a project idea that comes out of the whole class.  Fun, fun, fun.

The third project is all about flourishes, bling, and bohemian pink and brown...all put together on a papier mache wall hanging.  It's called "Hung up on Family" although in reality, it's really all about being hung up on whomever...your friends, your family, your pets...you name it!

When the kits are done, then I get to unearth the nice warm sweaters (that I never wear in Arizona) and find a comfortable pair of boots (Yay, love boots!).  Can't wait to finally be in Moncton...can't believe it's finally happening!

Happy Birthday to a Special Lady!

Today is my mom's birthday.  She's in Idaho so I won't be able to give her a big hug and kiss but I just wanted to wish her a happy day.  Mom is really a very special person...she was always there for me when I was growing up.  Her passions in life were her family and her home.  When I became an adult, Mom was always available and ready for when I needed help...she and my Dad even took care of Ashley for 4 years when I worked outside of the home.

It's from Mom that I learned that work comes before play, that you finish what you start, and that whatever you do, you do to the best of your ability.  Mom is a great cook, was quite creative with the sewing machine and fabric (she doesn't sew much now) and is an avid reader.   Not only did she spend a lot of time reading to me when I was young, she also read a lot to Ashley, who is now also addicted to books.

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures-one is of Mom with my older brother Tim and me (I was probably around 4 years old) and the second is of Mom with Ashley when Ash was 4:

                              

                              

Hope you enjoy your day Mom...I love you.

Snippets of Sunday morning...

Yesterday, as I was going through my morning chores, I grabbed a camera and hung it around my neck.  Instead of having this time be a drudgery, I decided to capture little things that made me smile.  Here are some of the shots:

This is the view from my studio table...I think it's the best view in the house...I see the yard, the pond and the sunrise.  The sun was just coming up over the wall...

                              

As I was putting some things away from the top of the cabinet, I shot the book end and an old book that sit on top:

                              

I added water to the flowers that Vern gave me:

                              

While making the bed, I decided that the bird pillow was like lipstick...your face isn't made up until the lipstick is on...this pillow was just what our bed needed:

                              

While outside to do the morning doggy clean up and other stuff, I captured Thatcher guarding the backyard by his special canal hole:

                              

Caught the gerbera daisy in full bloom:

                              

Loved what the sun did to the plaque hanging on the patio wall:

                              

And how it played off the copper oil lamp:

                              

The spiders have been busy building their webs on this rusted metal candleholder:

                              

After changing out the nectar for the hummers, here's a shot of "Junior", one of the sons of Fat Boy (we think since the mannerisms are the same).  Because there was so much movement and so little light, plus I was just using a point and shoot camera without a tripod, I posterized the photo:

                              

That pretty much wraps up the Sunday morning snippets that caught my eye and made me smile.  It's going to be a busy week...need to really be productive so am off to get started.  Hope you have a great one, too.

                              

                              

                              

an eclectic collection...

...is what I would call the pile of books I've completed in the last two months.

Here's what I've been reading:

The Innocent Man is John Grisham's first attempt at a non-fiction story.  I bought the book only because I've enjoyed his previous works...I don't typically read this genre of books.  I actually ended up being quite intrigued by the content...it was quite factually presented.  It got me thinking about the criminal justice system, manipulation of evidence and how much control a person has over proving his/her own innocence.

Definitely a good read.

Errors and Omissions is another good lawyer book.  This one deals with the protection of artists' intellectual property, a subject near and dear to my heart.  It's described as a novel of legal and moral suspense and I would agree...really breezed through this one...wanted to know what finally happened at the end!

I originally bought The Memory Keeper's Daughter because the title intrigued me...somehow I thought it would be related to scrapbooking and memory arts.  It's actually a novel about a medical doctor who is a photographer...hence the memory keeper.  This really was a good book...the tissues came out a few times.  It's not a thriller, not very suspenseful but just an all around good story...and, well told.

Unique Ability is a book I'm in the process of reading.  It's an amazing book that deals with discovering and using your unique ability.  Here's how the foreword describes unique ability.  It has four characteristics:  "First, it is a superior ability that other people notice and value; second, we love doing it and want to do it as much as possible; third, it is energizing both for us and others around us; and fourth, we keep getting better, never running out of possibilities for further improvement."   The book is based on the concept developed by Dan Sullivan...if you've read previous posts, you know I'm a huge Dan Sullivan/Strategic Coach fan.  Listening to his tape on Unique Ability a number of years ago is what really confirmed in my mind that teaching and publishing in the field of memory arts was really where it was at for me.  Reading this book is helping me solidify the concept...

For some decorating inspiration, I've been devouring French Country Living...I really love the more with less concept that is prevalent in French homes...how they can take the simple and make it elegant...how a few well placed items can make all of the difference.  The photography is beautiful and overall, the book is very inspirational.

For artistic inspiration, I am loving Pretty Little Things, a new North Light release by Sally Jean Alexander.  This really is a beautiful book; even if I never make a single project that she features, it is so totally worth buying because of the visual appeal.  Not only do I own a number of original pieces of Sally's jewelry, but the editor, Tonia Davenport, and the designer, Marissa Bowers, are friends of mine through North Light Books.  (Marissa is the designer for my new book, Lifelines.)  I love the peeks into Sally's studio...always love seeing where other artists work.

For more artistic as well as spiritual inspiration, I really have enjoyed the new release from Sharon Soneff called Faith Books & Spiritual Journaling.  There are some really beautiful, heart felt expressions of faith and worship in the books and projects that are featured.  In addition to work done by Sharon, some of the contributing artists include Christine Adolph (LOVE her "God's Heart Book"), Elsie Flannigan, Cheryl Manz, Deb Perry and Julie Scattaregia.  From a review written by Lynne Hybels on the back cover, I ended up ordering a book which she authored called, Nice Girls Don't Change the World.  I'm totally looking forward to getting this one!

To all of you out there who are as hopelessly addicted to books as I am, hope you're enjoying some great reads and awesome inspiration too!

both more...and less

As I was outside in the yard this morning feeding fish and enjoying the coolness of the morning, I started thinking (always an interesting sport :)).

Why is it that the same camera that adds 10 pounds more to my body doesn't capture the glint of copper caused by the early morning sun on the twirlie thing hanging above our pond?

How can the camera capture the little hairs on the stem of the new Gerbera daisy blossom but miss the brilliant colors in the petals?

And how does the same camera that creates blossoms that look like swirled peppermint candy miss the little rays of sunshine bouncing off those bougainvilla blossoms? 

Told you that my sport of thinking can end up being "interesting"!  Maybe you have some more and less camera stories to share?????

IN OTHER BACKYARD NEWS:

There is a battle going on for who is the biggest bird...the biggest bird gets the backyard and the pond fish.

  This big bird came to visit our yard last Friday. (Please excuse the photo...it was taken at high noon on a very bright sunny day over our wall to the canal area!)   We found her on our back wall staring into our fish pond 5 times that day.  Several of those times, I snuck outside very quietly, then "exploded" with flapping of wings and loud squawking.  It was a sight to behold, I'm told...I can only imagine.  :))

She is persistent...obviously hungry but not wanting to work too hard for her food.  We have a large canal behind our house.  In our area, the canals are waterways to carry irrigation and drinking water to different parts of the Valley.  There are groomed paths on either side that are frequented by walkers, joggers, cyclists and even horseback riders.  There are fish in the canal but it takes a lot more effort to get to them than to lift out my very trusting, very colorful fancy goldfish.

May I remind this bird that these fish are mine?  They have names, for crying out loud!  They are my pets!

On Friday afternoon, Vern and I stretched out some protective netting over the pond...it's ugly...the kind used to wrap around fruit trees to keep the birds away from ripening fruit...but at least it gives me some freedom to not have to constantly fish sit...and even the most persistent of birds wouldn't be able to pull one of my babies out of there.

Saturday morning, I was kind of bleary eyed...had a cup of coffee in one hand and a cup of fish food in the other.  When I stepped outside, there was all of this commotion and movement from next to the rock where I feed the fish...it was my big bird friend.  She was quite shook up...and apparently spooked enough by my early morning bleary eyed look that she hasn't returned.

The net stays on...and for now, I'm the biggest bird...so I get to keep the yard and the fish!

making the dream come true...

...one corner at a time.

My dream is to be able to do a glamour shot of my studio...just once.

To have everything put away in its place, to have my work table actually be cleared off, to eliminate the piles all over the place...that's my dream.

But for now, it's one corner at a time.

This weekend, I was trying to get things together to start packing kits for an event I'm teaching in November in New Brunswick, Canada called Scrap Gala.  I couldn't even find the things I was trying to get together...they were stuck in a pile in the corner...a huge pile of all kinds of stuff.  In that pile were some very fun things for the wall...vintage city signs and an old, shabby shutter.

My mission:  clean up the stuff, rearrange some furniture and hang the things on the wall.  Pretty simple...you would think.

It took a good part of my Sunday to get it done but now that one corner looks great.  The shutter and signs came from Mystic Paper in Mesa.  I bought the shutter several months ago-it was part of their display behind the register.  The next time I came into the store, the signs were hanging in the same area...I bought them as well.  Kim and Jennifer, bet you're tired of me buying out your displays!  Wonder what they'll have up there next...remember girls, the theme is shabby/vintage cream and black! :) 

Anyway, it feels good to have purged out a big bag of trash...I found the stuff I needed for kits...my walls are covered...clean and photo worthy, one corner at a time.

Romeo, Juliet and Prague...

...huh?

These are the names of the brand new, just released sheets of rubber I ordered and received late last week from Green Pepper Press.  As usual, Michelle Ward, designer of the images and owner of Green Pepper Press, has amazed me with her talent.  Now I'm wondering why I didn't order the whole line instead of just Romeo,Juliet and Prague.

Here's what they look like:

Amazing, aren't they?

These are full sheets of rubber (8 1/2 x 11) so the designs and alphas are big.  Michelle also has some tips for mounting which she recently posted on her blog...a very clever idea.

I would have to say that Michelle Ward has been one of the artists who most influenced me when I started scrapbooking and I give her credit for helping me define my style.  It didn't take me long to get bored with the Creative Memories approach (a couple of months, actually :)) and I began looking for unique and more artistic ways to create my layouts.  I read my first Somerset Studio magazine in the spring of 2001 and was drawn to Michelle's published work.  I took the magazine into Ink It and asked Mary Ellen about who this Michelle Ward was.   Mary Ellen happened to have stamps of some of the designs Michelle had done for Stampers Anonymous...that was it for me...I bought them all and have been following Michelle's work and buying her designs since then.  Michelle continues to design for Stampington in addition to carrying her own line.

I love Michelle's work...it is exquisite...amazingly detailed...cohesive...and beautifully designed.  I can easily pick out her art on a page...even without seeing the credits.  She worked with scrolls and flourishes long before they hit the popularity level of today and she loves harlequins.  Need I say more?  I am the harlequin queen and I have always loved flourishes and scrolls...now all she needs to do is create a sheet of paisleys...hint, hint, Michelle!    And, her alphabets are to die for...I remember using her Montreal alpha in Designing with Words years ago...Michelle totally rocks!

I'm looking forward to meeting Michelle in person one of these days...we've talked on the phone and emailed each other and she is a warm and wonderful person.  Thanks, Michelle, for your awesome contribution to our world of art!  Now I think I need me a sheet of Painted Ladies and one of Curvature.  Oooh la la :)

Let's try this again...

I have a love/hate relationship with computers.  Last night, it was all about hate...

After spending over an hour creating a Memory Trends recap, complete with pics and links, I went to save the post.  I was asked to log in and after doing so, I got one of those awful white screens saying "Page Has Expired".  What's with that?  And why would they allow you to create a new post if you aren't even logged in?  Anyway, I was exhausted and just went to bed.  I guess I should consider it practice for today!

Memory Trends was good.  The attendance was lighter than usual but the upside to me was that I was able to spend more time with people who usually so busy they could only wave and say hi.

One of the highlights of the show was to finally be able to meet Celine Navarro in person. Celine is a fabulous artist from the South of France and, lucky for us, she is one of the guest artists in Tena's and my new book, Lifelines.  Celine is a doll...she's fun, cute and totally passionate about her art and for working with the company she represented at the show, Rouge de Garance.  Here are Tena and Celine at the booth...

Another show highlight was in meeting Helle Greer, another passionate artist whose published work I very much admire.  Did you ever meet someone and just totally connect immediately?  And you felt like you knew them all of your life?  That's how it was with Helle...it was so great to spend some time together sharing stories...enjoying a mutual passion for artistically recording our family histories.  Helle just exudes enthusiasm for life!

There were so many great people that we ran into or saw in their booths and it was just fun to be able to catch up with them for a bit.

We had a great time doing our demos at the North Light booth...we met so many cool retailers from around the country...signed and gave away freebie books...just had an all around great time.  Dinner at the Vodoo Cafe with the F+W people was great...great food and a great view.

Here are some of the products that I really loved:

1.  Trace Industries has quite a few unique products.  I loved their color printed canvasses, stretch frames and vintage tacks to embellish the stretched canvas.  The canvas can be run through a printer or may be inked and stamped-it's just awesome.  I also love their line of "chippers", a high quality line of shaped pieces of chip.  The unusual thing about their chip is that it is actually dense mat board and not raw chip.  The white embossed letters were incredible and so alterable...the possibilities are endless.  They also had this textured paper with pierced dots that reminded me of dotted swiss fabric.

2.  Making Memories came out with a fabulous line of patterned kraft paper.  The picture just doesn't do it justice, but it's actually kraft and not white paper with a printed kraft surface.  When you tear it, you see kraft.  The patterns are just beautiful...these will make awesome book covers!

3.  Saunders came out with a new UHU glue specially designed for fabric, felt and ribbon.  Finally!  Anyone who has ever taken one of my classes knows that I am absolutely partial to UHU glue...I still don't own stock in the company although I'm thinking that maybe I should!

4.  Rouge de Garance had a beautiful line of papers, all from France.  I truly had a hard time deciding which line was my favorite...loved them all.  One of the lines was actually 6"x12" paper, double sided, glossy and patterned.  Great for including on a layout or cutting down to add to a mini book.  The colors were so vibrant...can't wait to use them!

5.  I loved the new Heidi Swapp colored bling in all of the great frame shapes...the colors are so rich...loved them.

6.  Bazzill's new line of cardstock called Bazzill Bling was amazing.  It's a coated, shimmery cardstock with gorgeous colors.  Love the concept...it works so well with all of the bohemian stuff and the blingy accessories.  Also thought that their Chemistry of Color Designer Kit was a stroke of genius.  It contains all of the color formulas of all of their cardstock colors to just plug into the computer when doing digital scrapbooking.  Just awesome!

7.  I thought that the new colored metal corners from Rebekka Erickson were so inventive...love the colors and can't wait for my LSS to get them.  It was also great to see my long time Australian friends, Rebekka and Joan...they are warm and wonderful women!

8.  Mustard Moon came out with a line of papers that was one of those "why didn't anyone think of this before?" lines...colored ledger paper.  I LOVED these papers...they are so versatile and looked great in both vintage and contemporary applications.  Great job, ladies!  (Please excuse the quality of the photos...they don't do the paper justice!)

9.  The new alphabets with a flourish from Delish Designs were a must-have.  Loved them and the large chip clock hands. 

10.  Speaking of flourishes, AccuCut came out with a large and a small flourish die...I think I'm in heaven!  Loved them.

11.  One of my favorite booths is always 7 gypsies.  There is so much inspiration in that space...love the artwork...love the displays...love the product.  I thought that the new colored binder rings were great...perfect to hold together those loose book pages.

12.  The Christmas lines from Scenic Route were beautiful.  Just loved their metallic gold chipboard alphabet.  I'm thinking they would be perfect for those place holders I want to make for Christmas Eve dinner.

So, these are a few of my favorites...so many of the manufacturers had new papers that were beautiful...lots of great rich colors...lots of cool new bling. 

Thanks to the manufacturers who so generously shared their product...can't wait to start playing!

off to Vegas...

...on an early morning flight tomorrow.  Looking forward to another Memory Trends...can't wait to see what's new and exciting!

Tena and I are doing a couple of demos at the North Light booth...one on Tuesday, 10:30 to noon and one on Wednesday, 9:30-11:00.  The booth is #283.

We're going to be making a really cute, really quick mini book...we'd love to see you there!

And, rumor has it there might be a few freebie Artful Memories books to give away!