Classes and other stuff

Spring is just right around the corner or at least I hope so!  I am feeling a renewed strength and believe you me that I am in need of all the strength I can get right now. 

I have fallen in love with this man's techniques....Tim Holtz, he is amazing in the things he can do with a little bit of ink.  I know I will never be able to go on a retreat or travel to a scrapbook store that he is teaching at, so his first online class is my answer.  I'm very excited!!

I am also taking another class by Christy Tomlinson and she has joined up with Junelle Jacobson.  I had the wonderful opportunity to have her in another one of Christy's classes last year.  I tell you what....this woman is completely awesome!  I have done a little bit of sketching over the years but nothing like what I am learning.  This is one of those classes that if it is offered again I would take it in a heartbeat.

I am still plugging along over at Suzi's school, with her a Lovely Dream class.  She has now opened it up for an all year class!  So very excited to be apart of what she is doing.  Her newest class fairies will be starting pretty soon and I am really looking forward to it.  There is a fairy I have been working on for almost 2 years.  The wonderful cool thing is the day after my mothers death I was able to finish her.  I felt her helping me, it was awesome.         

It is interesting, how each class I have taken over the years has met me right where I am.  I sometimes feel like I am just grasping at anything and everything to find my place.  I do truly LOVE what I do!  I'll be sharing more art soon!  Thank you for being here!!

Full steam ahead

Some days it really seems that I am going so fast that I can't keep up with myself, then I have to give out the gentle reminder that I am probably bringing it upon myself.  I have been feeling like I have been being pulled in so many directions.  This is our busy time of year and by the end of my children's days they barely have enough time to stop to eat with so much homework.  They are working hard in Marching Band and keeping on top of schoolwork.......chores got put to the back burner the first couple of weeks of school.  Now I am just trying to help them to find the balance to what needs to be done here.  I miss them when they are busy.

I decided to go back to school with Suzi Blu.....she is doing an awesome 8 month class on art journaling, you can read about it here.  I've also enrolled in three of her other classes here .  All of these classes are such a good deal!  You won't regret taking a look and possibly signing up.  Suzi really walks you through each step so you are doing it as she does it.  This is called a tower, it brought me a great deal of peace as I was working on it.  I am pretty sure it isn't complete yet, there are a few things missing but I will wait for it to speak to me.

It isn't to late to put your name into my birthday drawing, just scroll down and check it out.  It will remain open until Sunday October 9pst.  I will then pick a winner and post on Monday, October 10.  I would REALLY love to hear what you have done to make someones day!

What a wonderful few days I have had!!  June 9th, was my 27th Wedding Anniversary and we are going into 30 years of being together!  What the time we have had in those years, certainly a lot of bumps along the way but I wouldn't change a thing.  I love this man more today then I did the day I married him.  He is my constant companion, he misses me when he has to be away from home, he is my best friend and puts up with everything I do.  I LOVE you Darlin, always and forever.

Thanks, to two of children's friends coming over Saturday for a few hours, we were able to get our yard work caught up.  Now it is just about maintaining everything.  We pulled out some evergreens, then went to the nursery yesterday and bought some plants to fill it back in.  It is a challenging space because it is all shade.  I haven't had a shade garden since we moved from our very first house over 15 years ago.  I'm looking forward  to seeing everything grow and come to life.

I'm really loving the Summer of Color class.  Last fall that I took Nic Howards Color Class at Big Pictures Classes so I decided I wanted to change up my original little layouts to go into my journal for this class.  I love how it turned out, you can see my before here.  Each color will have two pages. 

Since I love Big Pictures classes I want to give you a heads up.......if you missed out on Nic's class in the fall they are offering it again at Big Pictures classes.  I believe it starts at the end of June and runs for 6 weeks.  Totally worth the cost of the class!! 

The Summer of Color Class started yesterday.  I have pulled a few things together that I want to use.  One of them being my purple/pink moleskin journal that I have been holding onto for just the right project.  The tags were from the Nic Howard Color class I took last fall so I'm thinking they will be a nice addition.  Of course things that aren't pictured that will be used are photos, paper and embellishments.       

Soul Restoration 2, started today.  I am going to be honest......I'm nervous.....already today questions are being asked that I haven't thought about in years.  This week we are to concentrate on journaling through some questions and making our life journal.   

Finishing up She Had Three Hearts, which is so full of techniques it is unbelievable!  Keep and eye open for the class on Christy's blog, if she ever offers it again take it!  I personally haven't done any art journaling for the class.  I have my supplies together but my space seems messy.  So I decided to concentrate on watching all the videos and take loads of notes.  I'm glad I will have access to the videos for a few more weeks after class because that will allow me to put together technique cards. 

Orange and Yellow

These two colors are beautiful however I will have to say that bright Yellow has to be my least favorite color.  I enjoy the softer, milder Yellows ones with a little more golden color to them.  Orange, well orange I am just not sure of.  I have never been one to wear it or really have much of it in my house.  It shows up around fall time for me in my fall decor, leaves, flowers, pumpkins but again not to much of the bright shade.  I love the shades of orange that  have more red and brownish tones in them. 

Orange:  Something that stands out, adds excitement and wants to get noticed.  I guess God wanted me to notice Him this week.  Ten minutes before this picture was taken the sky was pink.  I love God's handy work.

Yellow:  Brightest of the true colors, vibrant, used to attract attention, indicates frienship, hope and helps you step forward.  This little girl of mine has always been a bright spot. 

Whole lot of stuff

This month I knew was going to be a hard one, just didn't know how hard.  I managed quite well for LOAD and decided to help me continue to be creative for me, I would take a couple of classes.  I am taking another Shimelle class this one is on journaling telling your True Stories.  I am looking forward to getting a little more help in this area for my scrapbooking.  I am also taking Nic Howard's class at Big Picture Classes called Colour! Or is it Color?  I am enjoying it and had a great time making my preclass tags.  If you are looking for class to take do check out BPC.  Registration for the Color class is open until Nov. 3 and it isn't to late to join us.  You can also head over to Two Peas In a Bucket and take a look at Jennifer McQuire's free Holiday class that matches her Thinking Inking class she did.  You can beat it because you can download the information and do it when you want to plus her class is free! 

Day 28, A seemed like yesterday layout with some journaling

Day 29, A Today layout, same young lady but we are both so different now

                                 

Day 30, The day you were born layout for my youngest

Day 31, The day you were born for one of my older girls.

Preclass Tags for Color class, we were given techniques to use with each of these tags.  I have to say this is the most fun I have had stamping in a long time.  Looking forward to sharing more with you soon.  

On it's way?

It is the last day of school, if you can really call it a day.  Seriously, do they really need to go to school for a total of three hours?  It has been over a week that I have had a hard time getting my children out of bed, there is NO motivation what so ever.  We are all excited about our plans for the summer, which I HOPE all work and no one is disappointed.  I am however really wondering if the summer weather will ever get here?  We are 10 to 15 degrees lower than we should be for this time of the year.  I know it is better than having 100 degree weather at least for me but I REALLY need the rain to stop doing it's thing everyday.

The last few months for me have been a jump start to getting things done, mainly scrapbooking projects.  I have discovered again through LOAD a few things.  I LOVE this hobby of mine and I believe I am over the guilt of every being caught up, it is pretty freeing.  I have learned about my style, what colors I use the most and what I love to do on my pages.  I have learned I am not a digital scrapbooker because I have this love affair with paper and pretty things.  I just LOVE it to much!  I know there are pretty things for the digital scrapbooker but reality is I am a hands on woman.  I have also been able to start to pin point the things I have purchased and just don't use.  Again pretty freeing to say it is okay to not use that and turn around, selling it to someone who will.  In my case it puts money in my pocket, so I can take a couple of online classes learning more about product that I own but haven't really used.  Like this class with Claudine Hellmuth and if you want to see a preview of what she has in store you can go to her blog.  With the help of LOAD in February and Shimelle's class I started on a road to spending less on scrapbooking supplies and actually using what I have.  Again freeing, especially walking into a store and looking around and saying........ya know, nothing really jumps out at me on a got to have list.

I shared my layouts in February here on my blog from LOAD but have decided to just post a link to my flickr gallery for the May LOAD.  I also completed my two oldest daughter's wedding albums, that you can see here and here, if you so desire.  For my own fun purpose I am keeping track of how many layouts I do this year and how many photos I will end being used.  Through the end of May, I have made 132 layouts and have used 512 photos.  When I started scrapbooking years ago it was with Creative Memories and I cut my photos into weird shapes.  I have also made a promise to myself that I will use those photos even if they are cut into weird shapes.  So if you see those weird shapes in some of my layouts you will know why.  Enjoy looking!!  Come back and let me know what you think.

Changing

Spring is here, it is getting warmer and I am feeling the itch for new things.  Funny for someone who doesn't really enjoy change all that much.  I guess I'm getting older....gasp......and realizing that some change is good.  You can change how you learn and while it can be scary, it ends up being all good.  Like this blog, it has been 3 years since I started it.  I didn't feel like I had much to say but over time my voice has changed.  It is getting easier to write and share eventhough I am not consistant.  I am however trying, thanks for sticking with me.

I am learning things to do with blogs from the class Bling Out Your Blog 3.0 which you can take at Little Light Studio.  I took Bling Out Your Blog 2.0 last spring but honestly didn't get very far, before I got frustrated.  I really am learning a lot and I am pretty proud of myself.  I'll be adding things I'm sure the next few weeks so be sure you check back.   

Spring Break......I don't think so

I would like to have a do over for Spring Break! It was cold, it rained and snowed, just couldn't believe it. It made us feel like it was winter all over again, instead of pretty spring days. It didn't help that my car was having problems. We did manage to get the backyard racked and the trampoline put up. Then back to school it was for the kids, while my car went into the shop. Hope I don't have to put down money on it for awhile. All the little things just add up. Oh well, it is done now.

Easter was nice. Pretty relaxed from what we are use to but it was good. We had Bruce's parents come over for a visit and they stayed until mid morning on Saturday. Some of best friends, Jim and Ann spent the whole weekend. Michaela and I took off with our friend Ann for a day of shopping on Saturday. We had a great time and shopped until we were all dead on our feet. Got home in time for us to go out to dinner at our favorite Pizza place here in town.

Last week also marked a big step for me. I've always wanted to learn more about drawing faces and painting with different mediums(which I love) so I sign up for this online class. I've been following Suzi for just over a year now and I haven't found a time that what she says doesn't speak to me. So, I'm on a journey. I don't know where that journey is going but I'm holding on for the ride. Suzi has also started a Vblog as apart of her normal blog for a 365 days. If you have time each day you may want to check out what she has to say. She is also offering a FREE class with the Artist's Way, totally worth it if you are searching for something that will change your life in 12 weeks. When signing up for her class you need to do it through internet explorer or firefox.

Thoughtful

Last week wasn't a good week for me. I spent all week sorting and organizing through digital photos on my computer. Which lead me to looking at photos of my Grand babies. A grief came over me and honestly it was hard for me to see the screen.

As I sat at my computer I listened to worship music and heard songs again that gave me a bit of hope. Crying and praying was all I could do as I looked at the beautiful faces I LOVE so very much! I realized again, that I am not in control of anything in my life or the lives of my children. God Himself is playing what I like to see as a symphony in my life and the lives of my children. As a parent I have responsibilities to care for them, love them when they fall and teach them where I can. However, if they choose to do something else I have to be okay with it. That is the way they learn and as the years have gone by it has become easier to Let Go and Let God. I'm thankful God is in control because honestly I don't want to be. My life is better when I just let him guide me to make the right decisions in everything.

So last week was this little man's birthday! I couldn't post my birthday wishes for him because I couldn't get them out, without tears. So today I want to wish 'The Little Bear' a belated Happy Birthday. I wish for you to be strong, to always bring joy to everyone's life that you touch. May the sparkle in your eyes always remain and be able to see the good in every situation as you grow strong. Always know that where ever you are Little Bear, your Granny loves you more!

As my heart is healing thoughts of Valentine's Day are coming into my mind. I LOVE Valentine's Day for a couple of reasons. It was the day I committed my life to the Lord and the day I knew I would love my DH forever. Both are the biggest decisions and most important that I have made in all my life. So this is the very reason I just have to take another wonderful class from Wilna! I LOVE her teaching style and the projects she puts together. Be sure to go check out her blog and she'll tell you how to sign up to come and enjoy in the fun.

Stories

I have always loved to journal and telling my stories has been apart of me for a long time. As someone who only has a handful of photos to show for her life, it can be hard to tell a story. So over the years as I have a memory that I want to preserve I find away to scrapbook it. Most of the time being taking photos of just about anything.

This week I can across a class offered by Jessica Sprague. It is FREE which is the plus and I think it is going to help me to move past this blah feeling I have about the holidays. You can't beat FREE.

So I think you owe it to yourself and your family to tell your stories. Come on over here and join in on the FREE fun! It will be good for us all.

Loved the class!!

Can I say just how much I loved Wilna's class. It really helped me to get my creative side back in line! It sure is a struggle when you can't find your place!! So here are a few things that we made that I have finished. I had to take a break from fun stuff to finish a wedding present scrapbook that should have been done 7 months ago! Terrible I know but sometimes life just gives big curve balls and you end up going in an unknown direction. I just have to remember that today is a NEW DAY! When I was living closer to my Granddaughter I would pick her up once a week if I could and we would go for 'coffee'. I would get real coffee and she would get her chocolate milk which she believes to be coffee. This little miss has also been known to sneak some of her mommy's coffee when she isn't looking! Both of the pictures of one of our outings.This photo is of the man I share my coffee with every morning on the couch. It is a silly picture taken at a local park with us sitting on the metal goat. He is actually kinda cool because he actually eats garbage if you give it to him.I ended up making this little album for my Mother so she could keep it in her purse. I filled it with photos of her and my Dad with their great grandbabies. She got it in the mail the other day and called to say it was very special. I like making people's day!

Whirlwind

That is what seems to be happening around here! A whirlwind of happenings, we had out of town guests over the weekend. So much fun!! No agenda other than to just relax, enjoy each others company, play a few board games, and hit the Spokane's Pig Out in the Park. They city takes Riverfront park and divides it into sections, adding food booths and stages for music. I tell you what, going with a group of people is the way to go. You end up spending less on
food when you all are sharing what you buy!! The kids road the Carousel which they haven't done since we visited Spokane 4 years ago. I need to take them again before they close it down for the season, next year they will celebrate 100 years......amazing!! If you like Carousels their site is full of fun information and coloring pages.

The kids are back at school and adjusting to getting up early. Tonight we will be going to our first football game of the season, not because we enjoy football but because Ethen will be marching. It should be a good game as it is with the rival teams of the Mead district. I'm sure there will be a lot of energy!

I'm getting back into my mom routine and finding balance, it is so nice. The only thing I haven't been able to get back to, is my scrap booking. I've felt the pull to do things for months but other stuff has come first. I have plans to take a online class with Wilna, which I have done before and enjoyed so much. If you get a chance, go check it out and take her new class she will be offering soon. The information she gives is worth every penny.

Here's to routine, balance, fun and just living in the moment.