So I totally forgot... One Little Word

One Little Word was the other scrapbooking related thing that was overwhelming me.  Two years ago I posted about it.  It's something Ali Edwards does her blog... picks a word to be the theme for the year.  Two years ago I picked Opportunity.  This year I am stuck.  I cannot decide between Serve and Content.  Most of the time, my life is all about me... my wants, my comfort, what I want to do.  But my example is Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve.  On the other hand, am I ever content?  I see something and I want it, sometimes I even get it.  Sometimes I can be a brat if I don't get my way.  I am sure no one reading this can relate.  But Paul is a great example... for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance.  He didn't need whatever the latest and greatest craft-related thing was.

So would it be wrong to have two One Little Words?

Are You Overwhelmed?

... because I am.  Here it is, nine days into the new year, and I am already overwhelmed.  I am overwhelmed by lots of things... some serious (can you say Government debt?) and others not so serious (say, potty training).  This post is about something not so serious.

At the beginning of the year on all the websites and message boards where I hang out, people are talking about Project Life, or photo a day, or 365 Challenge, and things of that sort.  It's overwhelming.

I have been scrapbooking for a long time.  I made my first scrapbook in junior high and two more in high school.  I scrapbooked our honeymoon almost 20 years ago and bought my first Creative Memories album in 1996.  I've kinda' always have done things the same way... chronological or theme.  And I've been happy with that.

So why do I feel the need to change and try Project Life or something else.  My only answer is peer pressure because "forced" to take a picture every day or document every week really just does not appeal to me.  Is that bad, as a scrapbooker, to say that?

I recently saw this blog post at This Is Me Challenge.  She talks about 12 different ways to document your life in the coming year.  Obviously I needed to make a decision.

One of the other things that has been overwhelming me lately is my own sin and failure (real or perceived).  So along that line I decided to do 365 Days of Thankfulness.  I took a journal that I already owned and made a cute logo (with my Silhouette) that I put on the inside cover.

Now nine days in it has already been a wonderful tool to praise God, even on days when I think I'd rather not.  Even the days where the one being potty trained has run out of underwear and pants, I can be thankful for my washing machine.  

After reading about the This Is Me Challenge, I also decided to do that... in another journal to answer the questions that she has posted about life.  I would love to have something like that from my parents or grand parents or great grand parents.  I am not sure if someone else will care as much about reading mine, but that's the topic for another post.

How are you keeping your memories or telling your story this year?

Happy New Year!!

Sharing a Scrapbook layout

Since I switched to digital scrapbooking I am constantly amazed at all the cool things that can be done with a page.  In September when I was at SpragueFest (I should post about that), I watched over someone's shoulder while she made this way cool "part photo, part sketch" layout.  She directed me to the tutorial she used and I made a layout like it... and then another, and then another.  It is such a cool technique I know I will use it over and over.  You can find the original tutorial here.  If you have Photoshop Elements you can use a levels adjustment layer on step 4 to achieve that look rather then the curves (which is only in Photoshop CS).  Here is my layout:

Now go may your own amazing layout.  I can't wait to see what you make.  :)

Retreat

This past weekend I attended a scrapbook retreat. I went thinking it would be a time to get some scrap book pages done and hang out with some friends. I got 17 digital pages done... but I got so much more. When I have gone on scrapbook retreats before I scrapbooked and hung out with friends... that's about it. This retreat was at Camp Lebanon in the middle of no where MN. I knew it was a Christian camp that ran a month of craft retreats in the fall and a month of craft retreats in the spring. I did not realize it was a RETREAT with a whole retreat program.

I arrived late. It started on Friday afternoon, but because of family circumstances I wasn't able to leave until Saturday morning. I left my house at 8 AM. As I got off the expressway it started to snow. I still had 20 miles to drive on country roads to get there. The snow came fast and furious and the whole time I was thinking, "I am never coming here again." The drive was slow, but I made it. At least it wasn't snowing the whole time I was on the expressway too. I got my car unloaded (not much to bring when you scrap digitally) and parked my car. I found my friends and got all set up and started working on a page. When lunch time arrived we went to the building where the lunch room was and had lunch. Part way through lunch the retreat host goes to the microphone and prays for lunch and makes some announcements. Then she shared a devotional with us from God's Word. I guess I should add that the theme was "Sweeter than Chocolate". So, much of the food (desserts) and fun activities (guess how many m&ms are in the jar) related to chocolate. And all of the devotions (lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch. I missed the first dinner and breakfast) related to how God and His Word are sweeter than chocolate. Wow.

So by Sunday the snow had stopped, then sun was shining, and I had been fed with something sweeter than chocolate.

I am definitely going back.

Here's some pictures:



The main camp building:


Our cabin where we slept and scrapped:


The grounds of the camp:



The room where we slept:


The room where we scrapped:


Did I mention I only brought one pair of shoes?


I'll post pictures of layouts later.