This project is so cute. These are old cd's that I'm scrapping and making into a cd ring for my 10 year old (grand) niece. I got this great idea from Voodoo Vixen,,, found some pics on her Flickr site and fell in love with them!

I'm also working on a mini album for Frasier that I started way back when. I plan on getting this finished any day now...you betcha.




And I REALLY want to make an altered book now that I've watched the cd from Paperclipping that Noell Hyman and Dedra Long put together. I LOVED the cd...I wanted it to go on and on, I wanted to see more and learn more. I so love seeing what other people create. I love looking through galleries online, I love seeing all the scraprooms, the cards, the gifts. What a great hobby this is. Anyway....if you have an interest in making an altered book but don't know where to begin, or even if you DO know where to begin, this is the cd for you. It's over an hour long, has a ton of tips in it, and you get to watch Dedra and Noell as they actually work on their books. It's pretty cool, kids.

National Scrapbooking Day

A year ago I spent National Scrapbooking Day watching the live feed from Paperclipping. Unfortunately, there won't be a live feed this year, but I understand there's a crop going on in the crop circle forum.



This is what I wrote about Paperclipping a year ago.....

There are so many great blogs out there and one of my favorites is Paperclipping. It's more than a blog actually, it's an online learning center for scrappers with live video. You can visit paperclipping live and see Noell as she actually plans and puts together a layout, or view one of the many podcasts that she has available. It satisfies the voyeur in your little scrapbooking heart.....yeah, I know it's there. You want to see what everyone else does and how they do it....well, here's your chance. You won't be disappointed! Noell's live videocast has become very popular. As we watch Noell and listen to her describe what she's doing, we can chat with other viewers and ask questions.

You can go into Noell's podcast archives and watch one of her interviews with the likes of Ali Edwards and Dedra Long, visit Dedra's scraproom, view one of her fabulous altered books, read book reviews, product reviews, or learn how to cluster elements, layer elements, spruce up Prima's, and the list goes on. I've watched them all and I learn something every time. Noell has a very pleasing personality and explains things quite clearly, making it easy even for me.

So get over there and check her out. You can subscribe to her newsletter, join the crop circle, or any number of free activities that are worth your time and effort....or you can subscribe to her professional videos that take everything to a higher level of professionalism and understanding of this great hobby that we all love.

Have a wonderful day!

Week In The Life

I've noticed that a lot of people have been making Week In The Life books, so I clicked on a link at Paperclipping, and found the culprit behind all these books. Ali Edwards. Of course. She's SO creative. She just creates and creates and creates. (Right now she's busy creating a baby.) When I clicked on the Week In The Life link, I found this list of posts that Ali had made about the Week In The Life project....and I began to read....and now I'm hooked. I'm totally making a Week In The Life book. I know I can do this....even if my life is boring and I'm stuck in an office all day...I'm doing it. One week. Just one.

I already started...I'm taking pictures. Making notes. Went to Staples and bought some trading card page protectors. Took a picture of it. Went to Starbucks and bought a Frappacino. Took a picture of it. Made my bed. Took a picture of it. Yep, my life is boring....but it will be well documented for at least one week.

Seriously, I love this idea. There's so much in our daily life that we take for granted. I'm looking forward to appreciating the small stuff.



I received a Fall package from my secret sister yesterday. First, a birthday gift and now a Fall gift. I'm lovin that girl. Look how color coordinated....yummy stuff.

This is the final layout from last week. I just had to make a few final touches and add the embellishments. Did that while I watched and/or listened to Paperclipping Live last night. If you haven't checked out Paperclipping yet, please do. Noell's insight into design and form has been so helpful to me. I'm looking at layouts with more understanding of design, therefore, I think my layouts are getting better....even if I am a "scooper".

Thanks for looking!

Mother's Album

I started this back in March. I wanted to put a book together of just these pictures because I think this is when my mother was happiest. Young and in love, on top of the world, with everything to look forward to. I finished this over the weekend, just in time for Mother's Day, even though Mom's been gone for a while now. I used copies of the original pictures so they're safely tucked away. Someday I may do some journaling, but it doesn't come easily.



Many thanks to Noell Hyman and Dedra Long for the inspiration.

National Scrapbooking Day

This is how we spent a couple of fun hours on NSD. My ever present buddy, Frasier and I watched Paperclipping Live with Noell Hyman and Dedra Long together. What a fun time it was...two hours went by far too quickly. Both of these ladies are so talented, and so special in their own way that they bring an incredible amount of energy and knowledge to the table when they're together. We, the audience, were asking questions of the duo the whole time. No questions were too small, too big, too secret or too sacred to answer. These ladies love their craft and are so willing to encourage and help anyone else that's interested.

Frasier really thinks they're cool. He gave them lots of headbutts that day.

Paper Passion & Pixel Mania

I don't know where to begin, so I'm going to go with the flow and see what comes out. I'm just so distracted by how cute she is....maybe if her eyes weren't so blue...or her teeth weren't so white...and that blond hair....oh, I'm absolutely green with envy. I was cute when I was younger, but even on my best days I was never that cute! But this isn't about me...it's about Noel Joy.

Noel just happens to have another one of my favorite blog sites, Paper Passion and Pixel Mania, (how creative is that) She's a designer, a SOY finalist and she creates great layouts with the fabulous pictures that she takes with her Nikon Camera. Honestly, she's been published in Computer Trends, and several times in Creating Keepsakes. I know because I've seen them. And if you saw them, you wouldn't be hanging around here reading my blog, you'd be hanging out at Noel's blog and smelling the tulips.

What I didn't know is that Noel Culbertson has been a guest on another Noell's site. And that Noell would be none other than Noell Hyman at Paperclipping.com, another one of my favorite sites. That just goes to show ya...it's a small scrappy world out there. I don't know how I missed that but you can be sure I'm going back to paperclipping.com to look for it!

I love Noel's photography. Her pictures are so sharp and bright that they look as if they'd been taken by a professional. She's SO good that people are always asking her how she takes such great pictures. Well, she posted some photography tips in her blog one day and I just happened to be looking at new cameras at the same time. So you know what I did? I bought the same camera she uses. That may not be the way some of you make decisions on major purchases but I gotta tell ya.....I would have to be crazy NOT to buy a Nikon after seeing Noel's pics. (It's a good thing I didn't know that Joscie had a Canon Rebel at the time, or I would never have been able to choose.)

I can't tell you how happy I am that I bought this camera. You can already see the improvement I've made in just a few short days. Yep, my pictures are looking just like Noel's...

I think my hair's a little lighter too...

Paperclipping.Com

There are so many great blogs out there and one of my favorites is Paperclipping. It's more than a blog actually, it's an online learning center for scrappers with live video. You can visit paperclipping live and see Noell as she actually plans and puts together a layout, or view one of the many podcasts that she has available. It satisfies the voyeur in your little scrapbooking heart.....yeah, I know it's there. You want to see what everyone else does and how they do it....well, here's your chance. You won't be disappointed! Noell's live videocast has become very popular. As we watch Noell and listen to her describe what she's doing, we can chat with other viewers and ask questions.

You can go into Noell's podcast archives and watch one of her interviews with the likes of Ali Edwards and Dedra Long, visit Dedra's scraproom, view one of her fabulous altered books, read book reviews, product reviews, or learn how to cluster elements, layer elements, spruce up Prima's, and the list goes on. I've watched them all and I learn something every time. Noell has a very pleasing personality and explains things quite clearly, making it easy even for me.

I've watched Noell create a layout from start to finish and I'm just amazed with the finished product. She makes it look so easy.

I have so much going through my head...I'll be thinking about something and then realize I should blog it. I just haven't had time but I'm not incredibly busy doing anything else outside of work, and I'm not working extreme hours....so what's wrong with me? Maybe I'm getting tired of the blog again...it just never seems to last with me....and no one comes by except for Barb.....****Thank you, Barb!!!**** So I've been thinking about taking it more public and making it a scrapbook blog. Not that I scrap like some of the people I see on the message boards...they're what I consider serious scrappers and professionals....they're young...they have growing families and they want to document all of it! Yay!!! I wish I were YOUNG and documenting ALL of it! I'd make sure it ended differently, that's for sure.

There are a LOT of women my age that scrap. Someone posted at the CK Message Board about being an older scrapper and a TON of women replied. They were coming out of the woodwork for that one. Barb, for instance, is a kindred spirit (a baby boomer scrapper!) that I met at Paperclipping Live. So I was wondering where all the older scrapper bloggers are! Not that I don't enjoy the young crowd....I LOVE THEM! I just don't see many, if any, older blogger folk like me.

This is what I'm working on now.... I wanted to do an altered book type project or mini album, ala Dedra Long I think her creations are fabulous, but my style is so conservative that this would be really "out of the box" for me. I have these cheap little albums from Target's dollar spot that I thought I'd practice with, and I love the way it's turning out! They still look like me though....I wonder if this as far out of the box I'm going to get...! My eyes really want to add more stuff! I just can't seem to make my hands do it but I'll keep trying!

Mom at 19, what a babe.