Rhonna Farrer - Another Beautiful New Line - Rhonna Christmas

I've been a great fan on Rhonna Farrer's (of Autumn Leaves) products for awhile now and her new Rhonna Christmas line certainly doesn't disappoint.

She's always impressed me with her bold use of color. Her intricate die cut designs in some of the papers themselves and also in the embellishments are just awe-inspiring. I also envy her delicate doodling (certainly can't do this myself!). As if they weren't beautiful enough, this line also includes a few papers with glitter accenting...just another way to enhance the feeling of 'magic' on holiday layouts. I also love the patterned felt that can act as ribbon and or borders and the texture and sense of 'warmth' it will add to the season. Now I can't wait for Christmas and winter/snow (well, maybe not the second part) to get here again so I can use this line!!

Rhonna...I just can't say enough...you are amazing!

A Little Too Much Cotton Candy!

Last night we went to the circus.

We enjoyed the show.

Kaitlin got some cotton candy.


WARNING: THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR CHILD HAS TOO MUCH COTTON CANDY:

Fun Quiz - Just One Word

Just One Word - Just a fun little meme for today:

1. Where is your cell phone? Charging
2. Relationship? Married
3. Your hair? Long
4. Work? Necessary
5. Your sister? Lynn
6. Your favorite thing? Scrapbooking
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Tea
9. Your dream car? Clean
10. The room you're in? Basement
11. Your shoes? Flip-flops
12. Your fears? Numerous
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Content
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Family
15. What are you not good at? Housecleaning
16. Muffin? Cheesecake
17. One of your wish list items? DSLR
18. Where you grew up? Farm
19. Last thing you did? Change
20. What are you wearing? T-shirt
21. What aren't you wearing? Dress
22. Your pet? Fish
23. Your computer? Dell
24. Your life? Good!
25. Your mood? Relaxed
26. Missing? Time
27. What are you thinking about right now? Supper
28. Your car? Dodge
29. Your kitchen? Ugly
30. Your summer? Fast
31. Your favorite color? Burgundy
32. Last time you laughed? Today
33. Last time you cried? Recently
34. School? Work
35. Love? Kaitlin

If you play, be sure to leave a link to share.

Summer CHA Sneak Peaks - Fancy Pants, Karen Russell, Rusty Pickle...Lovin' 'em!

The Summer 2007 CHA convention starts this Friday...and with it comes the release of some GREAT new products (as if I need any more spending temptation!).

Here are a few of my favorites so far with the sneak peaks I've seen:

Fancy Pants (always a favorite for me):

Evidently, there will be three new PP lines and several new styles of embellishments to match and accentuate.

Karen Russell - some new papers and accents to go with some existing lines (Antique Cream and Melonberry) that happen to be favorites of mine:

And Rusty Pickle (this one I actually already have on order...the first time I have purchased RP):

Wedding Scrapbook Album...Completed!

So, my wedding gift to my sister-in-law, Katie, was to make a scrapbook of her favorite wedding photos. Well, she got married last October and guess what...yup...the album wasn't done. At least not until this past Saturday, that is. Of course, I didn't actually get the pictures until February or something, but I don't have much for an excuse other than my own procrastination since then (sorry, Katie).

However, I finally bit the bullet and dedicated three full days (including two days off from work) and just went to it...and completed a 28-page 12x12 album in three days.

The actual pages end with the black border (slide.com added the nifty white border with corner treatments). The flowers used throughout are actually from the bridesmaids bouquets and made great embellishments. The cream colored cards behind most of the 5x7's are journaling cards onto which my sister-in-law can add her own thoughts and memories about her special day. In case you are admiring the photography...no, I definitely can't claim that. Her photographer was Rebecca Miner of Rebecca Miner Photography...a personal friend of mine and obviously, great photographer.

Now, if only I could complete that many pages of my own in that amount of time! :-)

SSFS #24 - Quotes: Related to Scrapbooking

I love to collect quotes and use them in my scrapbooking when I'm at a loss for words or just want a little 'something' to enhance the journaling already on a page. I've even been known to use a quote as a page title before.

These are a few quotes that I've come across lately that really appealed to me in the way that they relate to scrapbooking (and photography also, really).

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
Albert Einstein

This quote made me laugh when I first read it! Isn't this so true...people are pressured to come up with best and brightest ideas/concepts/products every day...but how many of them are 'truly' original? If scrappers are honest, I believe most would have to admit that they glean a great deal of inspiration from other scrappers...and most have done at least one scrap lift or two. In most situations, people often seem to want to hide their 'sources' and take credit for themselves. However, scrapper's tend to be a bit of a different breed in this respect (IMO). They openly share their work, their sources, and encourage others to take inspiration from it.

"Imagination and fiction make up more than three-quarters of our real life."
Simone Weil

This one is just thought provoking to me...how much of what we portray through our scrapbooking (or photography) is 'real'? For example, if you were to look through the scrapbooks I've created for my daughter, you would think that she's a perfect angel. She is, sometimes, but she's certainly had her share of 'moments'. However, as of yet, no many, if any, of those 'moments' have made it into her scrapbook. I guess that the last thing I think of doing when she's slamming doors and yelling, "FINE!" at the top of her lungs is grabbing my camera. I should work on that. After all, she deserves to be reminded of those moments when she's older, right? Like when she has a child of her own slamming doors! :-)

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection."
Anais Nin

To me, this one sums up the entire reason why we scrapbook...and why we take pictures in the first place. Isn't it so that we can remember the people/events/moments in our lives that shaped us? And isn't it interesting that often the thought or emotion that we had 'in the moment' can often be so different than the one we have 'in retrospection'. I often take Kaitlin out 'just to get some good pictures to scrap' and then when prints come back to me, they can bring out so many deeper emotions like how precious she is to me, how quickly she is becoming a girl and no longer my baby, and fear and excitement all at the same time in imagining what her future may bring.

What thoughts/ideas do these quotes bring to mind for you with respect to your scrapbooking? Do you have others quotes that you have come across that have made you stop and think along these lines? Please share!

Story Time at the Library

At work a few weeks ago, a colleague of mine who takes her son to the same daycare that Kaitlin goes to said, "Kaitlin is signed up for Story Time (at the local library), too, right? Jaden is excited to have her there."

"Oh, yeah..." I had signed her up for this several months ago as it was one of the few summer programs our city offered in the evening and that I could take her to. "When does it start again?"

"Two weeks ago," she said.

"Oops...we'll be there tonight!" Let's just say June was a VERY busy month for me.

So, we've been going for a couple weeks now and Kaitlin really enjoys it. Jaden and Kaitlin have been joined at the hip...she'll even grab his hand (sorry...missed that shot) when they go in to the story room and out to the activity area. It's so cute!


They usually read three stories with a similar theme...this week's theme was being proud of who you are and standing tall.

There is usually some singing and dancing involved, too. "If you happy and you know it, clap your hands..."

And, then they watch a video and do a craft project. This week, they got to trace (or I did, rather) a life-size image of themselves on paper and color it to look like themselves. Pretty cute!