MDF Initials

I scrapped these real quick for Christmas gifts for all the kids.

Scrapbooking meets "The Office"

I loooove Cosmo Cricket. Not just the product, but also all the people of the company. Lindsay (used to be with SEI) and Julie and Eric (the famous Comstocks at WRMemory Keepers keep it real and keep it really funny. These videos are proof. And they're doing a great job using their blog and video performances to create interest around their new products. They have made the ideal scrapbooking company. I hope Larry knows how lucky he is. (Note: CHA is the huge trade show in Anaheim, CA every January. My quote about CHA: "When a scrapbooker dies and goes to heaven, it looks a lot like CHA.")

Joining the bandwagon

Everyone else is doing it; I might as well.

Ali Edwards picks one word to focus on throughout the year. For me, my word for 2009 is LIGHT:

• I've gained a few pounds since the wedding, so I need to LIGHTEN my load.
• I want to rediscover photography, focusing on natural LIGHT.
• Christ is the LIGHT of the World; I want to bring more of Him into my world.
• I'm burdened by stuff from my move. I want to release the stuff and LIGHTEN my footprint.
• I want to really look into the eyes of my loved ones and see the LIGHT in their eyes.

So maybe I should call this blog, Light Here, Light Now :-)

Galveston, Now Open

I've decided to do a photo essay of some of the businesses now open on Galveston Island. Survivors of Hurricane Ike, they are welcome sights to see! Check it out! Galveston, Now Open!

I need to get back into blogging

Hanging out on the web, I learn something new all the time. Right now I'm learning (realizing) that I miss blogging. So now I'm learning how to export and import blogger blogs. So for now I'm re-publishing some of my favorite and relevant posts right here.

Published Work

For a scrapbooker, getting published is a mark of honor. I remember first time I submitted, on whim, and my submission was selected. "A Good Day Shopping" appeared in a Memory Makers idea book on 3D embellishments...when 3D embellishments were made, not manufactured! I must say, my layouts that are selected for publication tend to be the ones that I did when I was "in The Zone," the place where creativity flows without thinking, without effort. I strive to be in The Zone on every layout, every card, every project. Below are some of my published favorites.

"My Son Has Planned a Work of Art"
Memory Makers
Celebrating Holidays Scrapbook Style Idea Book


"HOG"
Memory Makers
Scrapbooking Your Adult Years Idea Book




"First Tooth"
Carson Dellosa
Memorabilia Matters Scrapbook Idea Book




"Grandma's Letters"
Carson Dellosa
Memorabilia Matters Scrapbook Idea Book


"Sink Bath"

Scrapbook Trends Magazine

Texas 2008: GASC vs. CKU

This year, CKU-Houston is scheduled for the same weekend as GASC-Arlington. So why does this matter? Well, I'm in Houston. The big show every year is the GASC in Arlington, just outside of Ft. Worth. It's one of the largest shows and I've attended every year since I discovered scrapbooking. My parents and my sister live in Arlington, so the June event has been my busman's holiday for years. I can't pass up free room and board and babysitting!

GASC, which in now owned and run by F&W Publishing, is getting head-on competition from the other major player, CK Media. Texas will be torn in two. The Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook Expo , usually the second week of June in Houston, is switching venues and seasons. It will be in Conroe, north of Houston, in October for 2008. But Texas scrappers may find themselves torn between the two early summer events.

The difference is in the offering. GASC is a traditional trade show, with a vendor hall plus classes running all three days. CKU is education-focused, filled with celebrities and lots of sponsor product. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Scrapbooking's Image

Marianne shared how she would like to see scrapbooking portrayed in the media:

Scrapbooking is so often ridiculed because of the following it has created. Realistically, scrapbooking has been around for many years, in fact centuries, in one form or another. [We take] pride in our works.

I agree. Scrapbooking shouldn't be portrayed as a separate lifestyle, but simply as an extension of our lives. We're already taking photos; we're already making memories. Scrapbooking is a way for us to showcase and share them. Focusing solely on the creative aspect alienates newcomers. Scrapbooking is a great gateway to crafts, but it's not where it starts. It starts with a memory. And scrapbooking helps us appreciate the moments that become memories.

Another day, another attorney

Another $5,000 retainer quote. Imagine the scrapbooking supplies $5,000 would buy?! I don't want to think about it.

The thing with all this? There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

I mean, the non-custodial parent stops paying child support at some point. In many situations, boom, responsibility is over. Turn eighteen, get the diploma, whatever. There is an end in sight to the responsibility, the "duty."

But for those of us who do the day-to-day parenting (especially those who do 100% of the parenting), it's like laundry: there is no end. We will always care. We will always give. We will always worry. And we will always put our child's needs above our own.

Scrapbooking supplies are a need, you know.

Wish me luck, tomorrow and always.

Long Live the King!

Today...is the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley.

I remember when the King died (ahem, I will not disclose how old I was, but I was young enough to not know who he was). It's one of those vivid childhood memories in addition to being a milestone memory, like "where were you when Kennedy was shot?" or "where were you when the Challenger blew up?" and, of course, "where were you on 9/11?"

When Elvis died, my family was having a small reunion at my parents' house. My parents had over-stuffed, dark brown Naugahyde sofas and linoleum flooring in the den. I remember my aunts and uncles spinning yarns about Elvis, debating the earlier hits and the "fat years." It was one of the first times I remember wanting to hang out with the adults to hear their conversation instead of playing with my younger siblings or creating Lite-Brite designs. If memory serves me right, I was wearing my pink, square-framed Coke bottle eye glasses. Eww!

Where were you when Elvis left the building?

P.S. A local restaurant, Chuy's, has several shrines of Elvis, built on their customers' love of the King.