Scrapbooking for the Fun of It!

KimJensen_LiveOutLoud_brad, TDF88_vid_adventuretime kit; Fonts: Quicksand Bold, Remington Noiseless Reg; Fiddle-Dee-Dee Mystified template; Styles: Mommyish and Scrapaneers Championsstyles 

Lately, I've been back at making scrapbook pages for fun.

It seems that many of the pages I made over the past 6 months were ones for scrap assignments. It's good to be back creating just because.

Certainly, lots of fun things going on have inspired pages to scrap and pushed me to devote myself to my hobby. I'm using up old kits and products in paper and playing with templates and kits and even exploring techniques in digi.

I'm in a happier place than I've been in a long time and it is reflected in my work.

Oh, I'm still behind in things at home but spring cleaning is going on and steadily I'm getting on top of things. This month is starting slow but am loving the longer days. I believe I get sad in the winter.

This very happy page was made to celebrate my visit to Boston to meet with friends that are a part of the Get It Scrapped community. It was so fun to meet in person though we've been virtual friends for a while.

Learning - Scrapaneers Live! event starts tomorrow

Scrapaneers Live! April 16-17, 2016

Looking ahead to Scrapaneers Live. Something about learning tech graphics is appealing to me. I mean, truly; I co-host The Digiscrap Geek Podcast. You can listen to our latest podcast for an interview with Tiffany Tillman-Emanuel where she discusses "Live!." Of course, it's no surprise to you that I am into this stuff. I enjoy learning in general, though.
Coursera.com, Lynda.com, Get It Scrapped and Scrapaneers are some of my favorite educational sites. I do like Noell Hyman's Paperclipping videos, also. I am frustrated and disappointed that some places where I purchased courses are no longer available. While they offered the power to download the classes, it was not the right time in my life to collect the materials. Nowadays, there is time. I'd love having access to those Big Picture Classes and Creative Passion Classes. I'm not going to get overly depressed about it; not when great lessons at Scrapaneers and Get It Scrapped exist. I've looked at the program at the new BPC but have not subscribed for membership. I would enjoy hearing from folk taking classes there to discover what they think of the experience.
Now, if you are a current digital scrapbooker, please consider signing up for the Live event. It will be available virtually later if you are not free this weekend. If fresh to digital scrapbooking, check out Scrapaneers.com for a free introductory course in the hobby.

Friendship

It has been a privilege to take this recent trip to the East Coast. There have been many highlights. The people I know, those who I have met, and that lovely group of people, familiar because of web interaction, and whom I now know in person, are right there at the top of my list of highlights.
The top of the list is a crowded space. Receiving my FAMWA degree (Fellow of AMWA) from the American Medical Women's Association is truly a great honor.

The experiences I have had visiting art shows at some our nation's great institutions have not only been educational; but they have also been emotionally moving experiences, as well. Seeing friends honored at the meeting and getting to know friends better has been great. Mini Murthy MD, you do so much good through the UN and so deserve the Elizabeth Blackwell Award. Mary Guinan MD, it was a delight being part of the FAMWA Award class of 2016 with you. Every success on your terrific new book, Adventures of a Female Medical Detective.

Kathryn Ko MD, I loved visiting your studio in Manhattan and our cozy chats. Diana and Emilio, thanks for the experience of Miami Cuban culture. Susan, friend for almost 50 years, wonderful to share time, friends, good food and great art with you. Gretchen, thanks for the Manhattan experience. Meeting you, along with Debbie, Helen, Betsy, Paula and Jennifer in Boston was fantastic! The city experiences amazing, and the Get It Scrapped team-building was perfect!

This post is one of many blog posts that sit in my pending file. Too many things are going on, like Cal, my husband, always says of me - "organized chaos." I do not like the feeling of being "behind." I view this blog as a sort of diary of life and as a place where folk I know or who are interested in my life can visit. If I do not write with regularity, so much gets left out. As a scrapbooker and memory keeper, I know that one cannot include everything. Some left out parts are simple editing, some moments are too painful, but some is just because I have not made sufficient time to document the moments.
Life is busy for all of us. I also have this addiction to learning things. Laura Gardner, exploring the Periscope app with you was a delight. Our young women medical students are so bright and talented and helpful. My interactions with them have me confident in medicine's future. Fatima Fahs and Shilpa Darivemula are two more students with whom it has been a great honor to work.

This trip gave me a lot of material for future scrapbook pages. Travels, friends, those darling young family members, and my silly and fun husband and sons, there is much to document. It's hardest to record the desperate things - dealing with aging, loss, anger and sadness. Some folks think it is better to gloss over those parts or ignore them. I am uncertain, as it is all part of a legacy. As I am getting older, I wonder what the future would want to know about me. Future historians will want to know about the lives of common folk. Mine is a privileged life but not one of great fame and fortune, so I feel quite ordinary. Every time I read and study about discoveries of how families functioned, particularly the lives of women in the past, I am grateful that these things remain. If only we had a record of their thoughts and emotions through the ages, it would be marvelous.