Thank you, Netflix

I'm a TV watcher. Once the kids and my early-to-bed husband are asleep, I like to watch shows that I've Tivo'd while I putz around, folding laundry and doing other super exciting things. I don't have a TV in my scrap room....and this sort of sucks. I used to just put my ipod in the sound dock and listened to music while working in there....and sometimes I still do.......but it just isn't the same as the comforting glow of mindless crap playing on a screen in front of me. I finally realized about 6 months ago, that I could plug in our travel DVD player, set it up on my little tool station on my scrap table and watch movies while I work! YAY! So I joined Netflix and have been a happy little crafting hermit ever since. This weekend I watched the last two seasons of Weeds (loved it) and got lots done! So thank you Netflix.....for being the crutch that keeps me crafting well into the night. Two new pages and a collage for my Mom's birthday. Her birthday isn't until Wednesday, but I think it's safe to post the picture anyway as she still needs tech support to find my blogs. Love you Mom.

Weekend Round-up

Some new frames for the shop.
I love making these. They are a bit time consuming, but still fun to make. On the left we have "The Sweet Family" frame, and on the right - "The Once Upon A Time" frame. I ordered this newly released SEI paper ("Dilly") with these in mind. I love the colors!





I've been trying to catch up on scrapbooking - as usual. I've been going to some crops with friends and have gotten some pages done at those. For the most part, the pages I do away from home are just so-so. I don't have the ability to walk away, and come back later. I don't have ALL of my stuff with me.....so they usually end of being pretty boring. And sometimes that's totally okay! My gosh, they can't ALL be winners. Sometimes, it really is just about "getting it in the book " - even for a scrapbooking control freak like me. Here are a couple of new pages that I really like though. I would love to finish scrapping Christmas this week. Nothing like Christmas in July!

The One Picture Layout

I've noticed that there is a definite scrapbooking trend toward showcasing only one photo. Sometimes this just won't work for me. At least 50% of what I scrap is "event" type stuff which tends to yield LOTS of pictures: Birthday parties, trips to the zoo, this type of thing.
In my opinion, scrapping only one photo tends to make the experience more about the art and less about the day, the event, the record-keeping part of it. To be honest - I love that. I'm more about the process of scrapbooking....picking the colors....finding that perfect embellishment.....painting.....stitching...the therapeutic part of it all! It's a great way for me to get out of my head for awhile. Speaking of pages being more for the process - the Thanksgiving LO below is a good example. I love that paper. I love the fall colored flowers. And I wanted an excuse to use them! The picture isn't anything all that special - I don't even know where we were when I took it. I just know that it was around Thanksgiving because of the turkey bib. I wanted a Thanksgiving page for Jack's book. So there you go.

Sometimes I'll have one really great picture (like this one of Nick and the puppy), not a series, and I want to scrap it. For me, this is a pretty simple layout. But it was quick and painless - now I can get this great picture of my handsome son into the book.

More and more....I'm about the overall integrity of the page as opposed to cramming as many pictures in as I can. It all just depends.
It's fun to talk about scrapbooking like it's a very important and meaningful subject matter!