What inspires your creativity ?

I have some incredible cookbooks that I have bought just for the illustrations. Susan Branch has written and illustrated so many wonderful books to explore. I own them all, but have never made a single recipe. I look through them and get inspired and find ideas for scrapbook pages, etc. Look at the wonderful flowered border on the page below. That will look great on a summer scrap layout.

The bubbles in the photo are some of the jars I bought. I lined them all in a row on my studio window ledge. I did a layout for one of my daughters with the actual plastic bubble wands glued to the page along with this photo of the jars... and of course the picture of her blowing bubbles on a summer day.

I love dishes and needless to say mine are colorful! I bought these in Positano, Italy and carried them between hotels during our month visit. I had grooves in my fingers from the string that they were tied with... worth it to me! Each plate is a different color and has different animals on it. One of the hotels we stayed at had stacks of these on a table and it was always fun to see if anyone got the PIG... he, he, he.

Books and magazines are great places to go for inspiration. These are knitting books... two by Kaffe Fassette. The photos are wonderful... I've browsed though them for many years. The sweaters are all patterned in beautiful colors. If you've not seen one of his books... make an effort. He has a website that is a reflection of all that he is. You'll have to google it.

Paper napkins are a wonderful inspiration... not the Dora the Explorer kind... but the prints. I have some tacked to my bulletin board in my study. And don't forget fabrics.

Everyone has a few special things that really SPARK their creativity! Things that speak to you... scream to you, and say, "How do you like my BEAUTIFUL colors?"... "Notice my shape?"... "You can do this too!!!"... and so on. Sometimes I get so inspired that I can't fall asleep because my mind is like a whirling dervish that is going around and around with ideas. It's something that connects with one of your 5 senses and excites you! And this can vary. Have fun exploring your world and jot down those ideas as they surface.

Decorating idea - Bathroom

I love to make changes... INEXPENSIVE... in our home. In the guest bathroom (also known as 'my bathroom') I change the colors with the seasons. For Summer I used lime green and blue this year. I only have to buy towels and a few small goodies to give it a totally different feel. The photo is of a small bench that is always in this bathroom. I like to sit on it when I dry and attempt to curl my 'straight-as-a-board' hair. To chang it's look I unscrew the top of the bench, and pry the staples off the previous fabric with a screwdriver. Then put a coordinating fabric (to my color scheme) on the seat and staple gun it underneath... pulling tight. Pop the seat back on the bench and put the screws back in. If you're reading this and thinking, "Does this lady think we're dumb & totally untalented?"... then the 'how-to' isn't meant for you. But, I have had people ask where I get all the cute benches. So, I'm really speaking to them. They probably are great with numbers or something... we each have our God given talents.

When the season ends, the towels are stored in plastic tubs with lids, along with some of the decorations. I throw in a fabric softener sheet to give 'all' a fresh smell. My tubs are labeled, so I just have to pull out the next season and put everything in it's place. It's a very quick job!

I like to check thrift shops, etc. for the little added touches... also known as 'goodies'. I store the pictures on the top of the tubs as they are changed seasonally, too. Ali Edwards had a blog about 'bathroom art' (see my list of links to reach her site) that she purchased at etsy.com. If you haven't been to etsy.com, then pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea and fasten your seat belt for a wonderful CREATIVE experience!!

I've Been Tagged!

We always hang large baskets of shade flowers on the lower branches of our maple trees. They're the first thing you see when you pull in the driveway. I love the look... my husband's idea!! He's so clever!

I was tagged by Isabelle from Scotland. What fun!

1. Where is your cell phone? In living room where I just talked to my daughter in D.C.

2. Relationship? Fun!

3. Your hair? Straight as a board!

4. Work? Play

5. Your sister? I'm an only child

6. Your favourite thing? My wonderful memories

7. Your dream last night? Forgotten

8. Your favourite drink? Diet Coke very, very cold

9. Your dream car? A lime green VW bug

10. The room you're in? Computer room/studio

11. Your shoes? Birkenstocks

12. Your fears? Snakes

13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Healthy

14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Family

15. What are you not good at? Patience

16. Muffin? Raspberry

17. Wish list item? Health & happiness for my daughters

18. Where you grew up? Milwaukee, Wisconsin

19. The last thing you did? Watched 'Music and Lyrics' with Hugh Grant

20. What are you wearing? Diamond stud earrings with a sweatshirt & pj bottoms

21. What are you not wearing? I'll never tell!

22. Your pet? Gabby the cat

23. Your computer? Sluggish today

24. Your life? Fun & interesting

25. Your mood? Silly

26. Missing? My daughters, but they'll be home in another week... YEA!

27. What are you thinking about? Crawling in bed to read

28. Your car? Clean out inside

29. Your kitchen? My husband's territory

30. Your summer? 2 weeks at Green Lake & get out other house ready to sell

31. Your favourite colour? RED

32. Last time you laughed? Now

33. Last time you cried? At a movie

34. School? Have 32 credits beyond Master's Degree. I'm done!!

35. Love? I Love easily

Sam Goes to Archivers

Sam is three years old and if you ask him... he'll hold up 3 fingers. His mom Chris picked me up to go to Archivers with them. I'd love to offer to drive but with 3 car seats in their car, that's out of the question. So, camera in hand, I was ready to take a few pictures. Sam had not been to a scrapbook store... should be interesting!

OK... here I am! What do I do now? Run up and down and around? My mom doesn't want me to touch things... only supposed to look with my eyes. But, I spied some Spiderman stuff over here and I really like Spiderman!

My mom said I could have one... but, JUST ONE! Hmmmmm... I think I like this one the best.

My mom is showing me all kinds of things that she wants to buy. They're nice... but, I'd rather have a Tootsie roll.

Hey... maybe there's a Tootsie hidden under my mom's shirt? Nope... nothing here but my mom!

Maybe there's a Tootsie in her pocket? Hey, hey... there is! Good old mom... she knows what I like.

Thanks mom! You want a bite Mrs. Possin?? OK, then I'll eat it myself... the whole thing. Yum, yum, yum.

I have to go pot-ty!!! Now! Nope I'm not fooling!

Good thing I brought my 'tee-tee' with me. I can rub it on my face... smell it. You want to smell it Mrs. Possin??




Boy, oh boy! I get to carry the bag of stuff my mom got. Spiderman is in my bag... yea!

Wanna sit in the back seat with me, Mrs. Possin? You can sit in Ben's seat!






Yippee... we're out of here! I wanna play in my new sandbox. My dad built it and a dirtbox, too!

Taking the plunge into SCRAPBOOKING!

Everyone (actually 1 out of 3 households in America) was scrapbooking... except me! It just looked way too overwhelming. My daughters were both scrapbooking and I still avoided it. Several years ago... the last day of school... a teacher received a small 6x6 handmade album for her to put pictures of her granddaughter in. The album was simple, feminine, and made out of folded cardstock. I WAS SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!! "That I can do!" I wouldn't even have to fool around with photos... just leave spaces for them.

So, on the way home from school...with the whole summer ahead of me... I knew I could do this. I could make gifts! Gifts for my fellow teachers and other friends. I wouldn't have to deal with the big box of unorganized photos of my family... the sorting process of the pictures alone would be overwhelming (that came later).

I stopped at a scrapbook store and asked many, many questions... paper? glue? punching holes?

etc. I walked around the store and every new item I came across I would ask, "How do you use this?"

I left the store that day with several bags of scrapbooking goodies, and an idea for my first album. One of my teacher friends had just bought their first family dog. So, I just focused on dog paper, stickers, a few stamps & ink, and ribbon.

I did stop at Office Max and bought a GOOD paper cutter... a purchase I've never regretted.

During that first week of summer vacation, I completed the dog album... it was so cute. I popped it in the mail and I was ready to start another... or several. I made a list of friends names and an appropriate theme for that person. My 2nd album was for another teacher..."The Lake"... perfect for some of her photos of their summer days at their cottage.

And that was my summer.... making albums, trying new materials, trying new techniques, exploring every scrapbook store I could find, and reading Simple Scrapbooks, Creative Keepsakes, and Memory Makers magazines. I felt as though there wasn't a thing I couldn't make.

That Fall, when school started again, there were 6 pregnant teachers at our school. So I made each a 6x6 album for a baby gift.

And the holidays... what fun!! I had more ideas than time. At this point I still had not kept an album... they were all gifts. Tomorrow I'll share a trick for sorting out that box of unorganized photos... and getting organized!

I'm off to Archivers (my favorite store in this area) with a friend. Bye!

The Ice Cream Parlor

A favorite summer spot... The Ice Cream Parlor! Nestled on the shore of Green Lake, this small red and white building looks just the way I imagine an ice cream parlor looking. It has darling old-fashioned ice cream tables and chairs inside... picnic tables outside. There is a GREAT selection of ice cream and sherbet... tastes soooooo good in this hot summer, flip-flop weather. Mmmmm... maybe I'll have ice cream for breakfast today!

The photo is of a 2 page 12x12 layout from my FAMILY album.

Yummy Dollhouses!!!

Both of my girls have dollhouses. We had a wonderful store in the area (when they were little) that had wonderful hand-made dollhouses and the money went to Easter Seals. My mom let them each pick out a house for their birthday. Wendy picked this house because it had a bathroom with a door and she thought it would make a great tornado shelter. Kristin picked out a chalet with scalloped trim (which I rosemalled) and an outside staircase. Kristin was born in Germany when I was teaching there and she felt this style went with the pictures she'd seen of where we lived... Bavaria... near The Black Forest.

Recently, Wendy's house needed some updating! So I made window boxes out of balsa wood and shutters, etc. Then everything got fresh paint. I did some wallpapering and stenciling in the inside, and went on a hunt for new furniture. Fun, fun, fun!!! A BEAR FAMILY moved in (found them on a website in England) and have enjoyed their new cave.

There's such satisfaction in starting a project and completing it. It's like weaving a basket... good for your mental health.

Gabby Cat

Gabby the Cat got her name because she "talks" all of the time! She always wants the last word. She is the "queen of sleep" and her album is full of pictures of all her favorite napping spots.

Look who hopped in our bed and watched to see who would observe her cleverness. At this point she wasn't allowed on the bed, but we've given up fighting it. Welcome Gabby!! "Meow" She puts her little pink nose haughtily into the air and and tip toes off to another favorite spot in the house. She just wanted to win.

What book got you hooked??

This is Sam and he loves books just like his 2 brothers. His mom, Chris, has always made certain that there are a lot of books available for the boys to explore the illustrations and/or read. Chris & Kevin have made reading such a priority in their boy's lives! They just built a new home and have a wonderful room on the 1st floor that is a library for the boys. I'll get out there soon and take a picture of it... it's so motivating! It makes you want to drop everything and read.

This is Lauren and her mom, Jen. Lauren loves books!! She has baskets of them and chooses favorites for her mom to read to her. Having your child snuggled on your lap and reading to them, helps them make a wonderful EARLY connection between LOVE and READING. I applaud the families who make this an important part of each day.

The book that hooked me on reading (many moons ago) was Raggedy Ann in Cookie Land. And of course I read it to my girls when they were little. The original copy disappeared, but I did find a copy on Ebay. I did create a scrapbook layout about it.

What was "the book that hooked you?"

What do you know about flappers?

When I was working on my daughter Kristin's album, I had so many ideas for a layout using this photo. What fun to work around a flapper photo!! However, when I looked up "flapper" on the internet, I came across so many interesting facts about flappers and that era. I just thought... "Zelda" and "charleston". So I turned the page into a "Did you know..." page. I put the most interesting info into a bulleted list and the page worked so well. The picture told the story without any words... obviously she wasn't dressed for coffee at Starbucks. But the history of "flappers" was REALLY eye-opening!! Just another way of approaching a scrapbook layout... one of so many, many, many!

Future Scrapbookers

Jolie is the daughter of a friend of mine. I sat and watched Jolie as she put together this elaborate creation using a variety of art media. She was involved in the process for at least an hour. Her mom Wendy, is a wonderful scrapbooker and invites her 2 girls to explore the materials in their own scrap boxes. Jolie worked hard and intensely... her work is her play at that age. How wonderful to have a mom who encourages the exploration of these art materials and is such a good roll model as she works on her own layouts.
Meet her little sister Kenzie...

Kenzie is exploring the use of stickers. Why bother with paper when you have hands to stick them on! Isn't she a cutie? The powerful influence we have in children's development as parents!

Engaged!

Wendy and Darin were recently engaged. Congratulations!! I'm going to be a mother-in-law and couldn't be more delighted. The wedding date hasn't been set... both so busy with their work and at opposite ends of the country. However, next Spring looks good!

I made this "board book" album with just head shots of the 2 of them and added the text of the old song, "A You're Adorable" to each page. I gave Wendy the original and she's going to take it to Kinkos and have colored copies made of each page to make several additional albums. I've done this before when I'm making duplicate pages for both girl's albums. Embellishments copy with a very 3-D look to them. So... Barb in Iowa... a copy will be coming your way one of these days. Enjoy!!

Scrapbook Layouts

I forget that pictures load with the last one on the top. So, if I sound redundant it's because I was writing bottom up. I'll catch on to all of this eventually. I haven't shared any scrapbooking ideas recently, so I'll share some tonight. In this photo Wendy was peddling hard to get up the incline and Shamrock was running along beside her. She said that his little legs were getting tired, so she picked him up under her arm and gave him a rest. I tore the paper on the layout to represent the mountain she was riding up.

In this photo Wendy and her Westie Shamrock are kayaking in Alaska. I love his little ears perked up at attention. They lived there 3 months while she and a friend got ready for a trek in Tibet. She made it to Mt Everest but wasn't there to climb. I was able to read about their trek on a website, and "lost it" when they said she had altitude sickness. But, she stabilized and continued on. The title on the layout was cut with my Cricut machine.

This is a 12x12 of Wendy's dog, Shamrock, getting a ride up the hill/mountain in Colorado in a friend's pack. Shamrock goes wherever Wendy travels and has already led "9 lives" during his adventures. On the layout I journaled up the mountain to draw your eyes to the steepness. The snowflakes were made with a good old fashioned potato cut and white paint. I added doodling on them and sequins for a little bling.

PS Shamrock is my GRANDDOG!!

Bed, Wonderful bed!

I love my bed! I especially love being in it... when it's dark out and my husband's asleep in it and our cat is asleep on it... and I can't be in it because every time I put my head on my pillow... I COUGH! It's a tickle cough. The kind that drives you crazy. The cat scowls at me every time I open my mouth to cough... and then I start sneezing. Our cat thinks she's royalty and this is way beneath her status in this house. I'd like to blame her for my allergies and did, until I had all those allergy tests done and the Doctor said it's "just seasonal"... yes indeedy... spring, summer, and fall. My dear husband has our central air flipped on, even though it's cool out, to weed out the allergens or whatever they're called. So the house is cool-to-cold and I can't get in my wonderful feather bed because I can't stop hacking. It's actually light out now... somehow that makes me feel better. Why is it one can go all day without that tickle or sneeze and the minute you crawl in bed it starts? Time for a cup of tea, my book, and the couch. I foresee a wonderful Sunday afternoon nap today.

My Favorite Summer Salad

I can't get enough of this fantastic salad my husband made for the 1st time a few weeks ago and I've had it almost every day since... I do things like that. He is such a great cook!! The flavor and texture of this salad is addicting. He chops lettuce (any really green variety... not iceberg) Then he adds strawberries, cantaloupe, blueberries, dried cranberries, and toasted slivered almonds. Then he drizzles Kraft "Light Done Right" Catalina dressing over it all. And then... freshly shredded parmigiana reggiano cheese. Yummers!! I love, love, love it!

Pinwheels = Summer!

So many things remind me of summer. Pinwheels are one thing as they were always a part of the new season. We'd make them at school, at home, and even buy the plastic variety in stores. I found a bunch of wooden skewers in my husband's cooking supplies, cut squares out of 2-sided scrapbook paper, slit them from corner to (almost) middle, and pushed in a thumbtack to secure the paper to the stick. I put them in a pitcher on a table and they really add a summer feeling to the room. Cost=$0.00

Journaling Discs

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the THINKS you can come up with if only you try!" - Dr. Seuss

I'm trying hard to finish up last summer's scrap albums before my camera officially starts snapping this summer's photos. And I'll admit, I'm not putting the time into the albums that I normally would. I just want to get them done & tucked into the basket in the other room that holds the mini-albums. I whipped up a few albums this week... realized I had only used one side of each page. Ah-Ha! Room for journaling! Pictured above is my solution for my blank pages and my journaling.

I typed a string of words, put them in a circle, printed on cardstock, cut with my Coluzzle tools, and added pencil lines with my Chatterbox Journaling Genie (later to be erased). Problem solved! At this time of night photography isn't the best... they're really cute in person. The borders say:

summer

love you!

memories

dingbat blue baby feet

dingbat picnic ants

dingbat birthday cupcakes

dingbat flowers ( The dingbats were from Elsie's collection of fonts)

The possibilities are endless. I'd love to hear what you can come up with!

Where Am I???

Can you quess where I spent the afternoon? The picture backgound will give you a hint. No, it's not a barn, even though I do live in Wisconsin!

Let me tell you a bit more. Because of all the time I spend at home scrapping, reading, knitting, chatting on the phone, etc, I suggested to my husband that HE pick out someplace for us to venture to at least once a week. I promised that I'd go along smiling, humming, maybe even skipping... never a grumble.

And today, I didn't grumble because I love him and because I knew I could turn anyplace he took me into a "photo op" for a mini album... he, he, he! Quess where we went? OK... here it is...

The Railroad Museum! Yes indeedy! And we pulled in the parking lot the same time as this HUGE tour bus full of cute little white heads. Nothing against SENIOR CITIZENS... I am one too! Anyway, the first 2 hours really weren't bad. We took the train ride around... and around... and around the grounds. And then it was movie time. What can I say?? I snuck out and went to the gift shop. I used to be drawn to gift shops but they seem to have lost their appeal. Maybe it was all the Thomas the Tank stuff. I snuck back in the movie and Boyd was smiling ear-to-ear at the movie. Yea... he was having a good time! Movie ended and we hiked off to see the exhibits and the building where they kept all of the REAL trains. I took sooooo many photos that my camera started showing signs of a low battery and it had been freshly charged this morning. Boyd climbed into every train and train car and insisted I join him. Hour 3 and 4 were full of smiles that said, "I haven't had a nap today... I'm getting hungry... the Seniors are lined up 20 deep at the ladies bathroom... I need a diet Coke... we're missing Oprah". But he never knew... and I'm so glad, because he had a WONDERFUL time!!! And he deserved it!

PS On the way to a restaurant built from an old train depot... he mentioned happily that it might be fun to go on the submarine in Manitowoc next week. Ugh! But, then again I could make a mini album shaped like a submarine and...

You have to LOVE what you do!

It was just a year ago that I retired and said goodbye to my school family and a job I really loved and believed in. I was the Reading Specialist for at-risk readers in 1st and 2nd grade at Pioneer, a wonderful elementary school. The photo is of the EXCEPTIONAL teachers of these first and second grade students. They are an intelligent, educated (Master's Degrees), DEDICATED, hardworking, and LOVING team of teachers. They love what they do! The children come to school each day to risk-free environments, where they can learn and grow from "where they are" at that moment to "where they need to go". I was always so proud to work with them all! I only taught for 15 years before retiring... was a stay-at-home mom for my daughters before that. All I can say is, " Lucky children and lucky parents to have these people as their teachers". I LOVE YOU ALL!

Bread, glorious bread!

"The sight and scent of a newly baked loaf has a romantic appeal that transcends all other culinary achievements".
~ Elisabeth Luard

My husband, Boyd, is a fantastic cook and baker. He calls it his "scrapbooking time"... in other words... his hobby. As a retired scientist he's very curious about the chemistry involved in cooking & baking. His latest quest has been to figure out how to make the perfect loaf of French bread. Day after day he made loaves looking for just the right texture and crust. I think he's got it!! Not only is our house constantly filled with the smell of baking bread, but we get to be the tasters. Yummers! To go with the bread he infused olive oil with different herbs. He put basil (my favorite), rosemary, and oregano in 3 different containers covered with a good virgin olive oil. He let them rest in a dark place for 2 weeks. Then he took the herbs out and poured each oil into dark bottles (light isn't good for olive oil) for table use. My girls like to put olive oil on the plate, salt, ground pepper, and freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese. It's good any way!!

DIGITAL MINI ALBUM

I found a free "digi album" at Shabbyprincess.com... lots of page templates to drop your pictures in. I liked the colors but changed a lot of the design that I didn't like. And it was soooo quick! After I printed it, I added embellishments (so I guess that means I'm a Hybrid scrapper). The album captures 2 weeks last August when my husband's family rented a fantastic home on a beautiful Wisconsin Lake. It was a great vacation, but the photos have been sitting in my computer all this time... along with hundreds of others. I feel sooooo good that the memories are in an album & now I can send a copy to each of the family members. There's so much joy in making things for others.

MINI ALBUMS

I love mini albums!! Love, love, love them!! Making them, giving them to friends, getting them as gifts. In the beginning I only made 6x6 albums... sometimes with colored paper bags (See photo). Now I have NO boundaries as I create... NO restrictions. I make all sizes and shapes... as MANY of you scrappers do, too.

I like to keep a variety of small albums in a basket on an end table. They're such fun to look through and to revisit the life-moments captured on the pages. Friends and family have easy access to them, too. My larger 12x12 albums... although very precious... just don't get viewed frequently.

Recently, as I'm exploring digital scrapbooking, I've found it's so easy to make multiples of these mini albums and to mail to friends & family. We are all blessed with talents of different kinds. I feel it's really important to share your special talent with others.

BLESSINGS

I count my daughters among my blessings every day.

They are lovable, loving, and loved!

Treasured Words

On the wall above my desk I have a very large wooden shadowbox where I store my rubber stamps. But because it's what I see when I look up from my laptop, I seem to be tucking loved keepsakes in front of the stamps. Tonight my eyes kept going to some special journaling tied with a red ribbon. I hadn't untied that ribbon in several years... have just enjoyed the comfort of what that ribbon holds... treasured words written by my mom before she died. Her name was Jane... I think that's a beautiful name... and I was always sooooooo proud that she was my mom. She was very organized and had filled out All About Grandma (and Grandpa) books filled with pictures and information. But, these rolled up papers in her handwriting, tell the story of her years in 9 foster homes after her mother died (when she was 5) and her father went back to Norway without her.

Tonight I untied the red ribbon and read her words... her story. It was just as though she was talking to me. How blessed I am to have this to read and touch anytime I want. Today, one out of three families are scrapbooking with journaling. Their children will be blessed too with words, feelings and love to wrap themselves in someday.

A Billboard With Heart

I saw this billboard as I dropped my husband off for an eye exam. There were lots of trees around it... not "right out there" for the city to see. I hopped out of my car and got up close to see the whole thing (and of course record it with a photo). What a terrific message... what a great thought to carry through the day... what a deep thought to write down and tack above your desk and to think about. Pass it on to others! It says sooooo much!!