Saturday, December 31, 2011

Tips: Chipboard Shortage - Solutions

Tips: Chipboard Shortage - Solutions

Not only will this technique save your bacon while at a crop away from home and the comfort of having your entire chipboard stash nearby, it will also save you some money (so you can buy more awesome products to hoard....I mean collect).

So the design dilemma, I had the perfect size and shape alpha chipboard letters to finish my layout - but not nearly enough of letters I needed. Solution: use the chipboard sheet that hold the alpha as a stencil to trace the letters I was missing. Using a black American Craft s Stamp Marker I was able to achieve a bold trace.




Thursday, December 15, 2011

Remembering






Title: Imagine 

Ingredients: 

Tinkering Ink Convent Garden Victoria Willow Patterned Paper 
Tinkering Ink Convent Garden Oxford Soft Spice Patterned Paper 
Tinkering Ink Convent Garden Monogram Letters 

Journaling: 

The moment the phone call came I was at work, in the midst of a ho-hum day. The message coming from the other end of the line left me gasping for air while dropping the phone in disbelief. My grandmother, my precious grandmother, who always boasted of never having been sick a day in her life, was in the hospital after a serious heart attack. That is it - no other details. I had so many questions, and still I was speechless. I had to make plans immediately to get to her side yet my feet would not move. Terror of not having her in my life drained the blood from my body. 

We hastily packed whatever it didn't seem to matter what. All that mattered was getting on the road. Early on during the six hour drive, the song Imagine by John Lennon played. It stuck in my head, only the words changed as it ran through my head over and over. Imagine the person who influenced me and is responsible for who I am not being there. It was too much. 

Imagine? No, I could NOT imagine such a thing, like the song says it would be like imaging there is no heaven. After arriving at the hospital we learned she would have to undergo quadruple bypass surgery. It was a big scary deal. More family members Arrived, we all moved into the ICU waiting room. It seemed like forever before we had any news. Finally a huge relief, she had come through the surgery. It was God's will to spare her. She has so much more to give to this earth. 

When I saw her face to face it was so strange, simply unreal. This woman I have admired all of my life, the strong woman who prevailed against all odds, she was lying there on the bed so pale and frail looking. I called on all the strength I could muster to put on a brave face and not show how afraid I was.....

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Scrapbook Problem Solving: How to deal with not so great photos

This happens to everyone at some point, bad light, bad camera, whatever the cause. The moment you wanted to capture is blow out, crazy color, etc. Here's how I handled the situation when it happened after recently "upgrading" my pocket camera. Side note, let's just say my trusty Rebel will be my first choice in the future until the new camera is outta here.


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Monday, December 12, 2011

Top Ten Chipboard Layouts - Personal Favs - Ode to Chipboard


Ode to Chipboard - my favorite product to design with!

Ode to Chipboard.....

Oh chipboard, how I love thee
There you are plain, raw, yet beautiful in your simplicity, but this you already knew
Your possibilities are endless, making you perfect, how you are coveted by me
I will never tire of sanding, misting and painting you, achieving the perfect hue
You are the finishing touch, the icing on the cake, we all know it's true

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Top Ten Layouts Featuring Chipboard - My Personal Favs

1. You Rock & Run
2. Pre-Ker



4. Fresh Face

5. Willful

6. Goodnight Girls!

7. Extreme Me

8. These Shoes

9. So This is Christmas?


10. It's a Triplet Thing

Monday, December 5, 2011

The Lost Art of Hand-washing dishes...



Whoa! Upon my arrived at the homestead this evening after a long day at work, followed by an extra intense workout at the gym, I find my husband standing in the kitchen with furrowed brow.

Ut oh, maybe I should find some errands to do and come back later...nope...too late, I am already in the door. Dare I ask what the problem might be? {sigh}

I make the inquiry with hesitation; he informs me that the dishwasher is BROKEN. I take this to mean that oh-so-convenient appliance we love to shove dishes at the end of the meal has met with an untimely death and will now have to be put on the freakishly long TO DO LIST.

The TO DO LIST warrants all caps, and we are not going there now.

He repeats the "dishwasher is broken". I am puzzled and far too tired to get the meaning of his inflection. Just tell me, like I'm in third grade, it will be faster that way.

He explains the gross condition of the supposedly hand-washed dishes, discovered when he was attempting to put them away . No go on that plan, mission aborted. We won't get into naming names on who might be responsible dismal effort mailed in last night.

In a semi-controlled fury, he rants about the lack of quality control kids demonstrate these days, the abundance of short-cuts available that lead to the inability of kids to even complete a simple task of properly washing a dish without the aid of an appliance. While this is probably more of a case of laziness versus the complete ability to complete the task, I get it and I agree.

In so many ways, the foundation of survival has eroded to near extinction. Therefore, in an effort to address the situation and make the lesson really stick....

The dishwasher has been declared "broken", until further notice.

In the meantime, the dishes will go on - old school style. Hey kids, hold out your hands, meet the dishwasher. Roll up your sleeves and settle in, those dishes are not going to wash themselves.  

Let's embark on the journey to mastering the lost art of Hand-Washing Dishes.

Wish us luck!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Running, license to be gross

Photo by  Randy Lefko 

Weird, but fun fact of being a runner, when participating in a race - you get to be as gross as you want to be! Yep, it's true, be gross, it's okay and even encouraged.

When you run you just let it all hang out there. The simple fact is that there is no where to hide it. It being your imperfections, your modesty, your vanity, your pain, agony...the list goes on. In summary all that you have put in or failed to put in up to race day will shine through at the finish line, whether its the good, bad or ugly.

My draw to the organized events is that I am a born competitor. It simply does not matter if I am the best, fastest or even prepared for the event, I will leave nothing in my reserve tank, I will bring everything I have to the table. Many times this leaves me gargling my heart steps before the finish mats, I push through. I love every moment ... after I'm done, that is.

There you are, you and your shoes and as many gadgets as you can strap to your body and still move. The first mile, lactic acids try to choke the momentum out of you. But experience will teach you, push through, it gets better, you settle in and find your stride.

So, the gross fun part, you get to be a complete pig. You grab your water cup from the race volunteers (those people really deserve some extra credit and sweaty hugs for catering to us, sometimes that sip of water is your lifeline when you bonk and want to quit). Little paper cup in hand you attempt to keep moving but water is sloshing around and hitting your face but not your mouth. Drat! You then do a weird half walk half jog before succumbing to the full walk so you can take in the fluids.

Double crud, the stroller people are approaching. Nothing sucks worse then having  a baby stroller pass you by. Forget that, time for a swish of water in and a giant spit - gross. At least I make an effort to peek behind me and make sure I am not spitting on someone - so not cool. Crumble up that cup and throw, oh yeah, throw it on the ground. It's so counter-intuitive, we are forever picking up and keeping things tidy. But in this world we just throw and go, no remorse, move on.

It's funny how a small thing like throwing your cups on the ground is naughty and fun too, breaking the rules, I like it! And this is where I extend another huge thank you to the race coordinators and volunteers who have the enormous responsibility of picking up after us racing piglets.

Disclaimer to the stroller people, I was once one of you - with my triplet stroller filled with babies, oh the pride I felt every time I was able to pass someone. Evil laugh, born to compete.

Reclaiming My Time


I am so excited about taking the "Reclaiming My Time" Class by Karen Grunberg at Big Picture Classes.

After going from being a single mother of triplets to a married life with the addition of two more kids that are with us part time - whoa that's a lot of change. Between family obligations, working full time, working out 4 days a week, running events a few times a month, errands, chores and homework and scouting and blah blah blah.

No, I really should not "blah blah blah" my life, however, that's what it feels like sometimes. Like maybe I am just getting through the days and not really "living" them. So, the goal of the class is the really dig into where the time is going and refocus energy on things that important and spend less time getting wrapped up in the daily grind.

That's the goal, wish me luck. Even better come join in the class. It just started and it's going to be great!

~Dionne