Time for Scrapbooking and Crafts

The very cluttered and messy craft room/studio in near 360 view

March is hinting about spring, though I've not yet been to the mountains and the snow. I need to get some winter in, and if there are "stormless" days ahead, the snow should be delightful. You know that I like it in small doses.
Over at Get It Scrapped it's "Calvinball" time. People are striving to be productive and amass points in an ever changing rules environment with friendly SMACK talk, too. I only made a commitment to get more than 3 points this year. Yes, feeble-hearted on my part. One can get points for cleaning a scrap space, and that is a formidable task - I'll redeem my cowardice that way.
I had an excellent conference filled February where I met so many friendly people. Well, there was one inelegant guy at GreenBiz in Phoenix, but everyone else was delightful! I think most folks like others who are open and honest and I try hard to be that. Sometimes it takes time for people to learn. The universe knows that I've had to learn a lot.
This month is Craft Month, and that means it's time to work on projects. I got some great paints from a manufacturer while I was away and I'm contemplating using them for home decor projects. Those may need to be done this summer when the rain stops. It's so odd to say that, "after the rain stops." Rain is such a novelty after years with hardly any rain at all.
It was nice to begin and end February with my communities. I did learn so much at GreenBiz, but the craft world and my podcast peeps restore my soul!
I'm catching up with family now that I am back home. I have grand plans every morning to get stuff done, but I'm not making much progress. Today I cleaned up a corner of my very cluttered craft room/studio. I have done a few things related to the podcast; but, substantial things like taxes keep getting deferred. On the positive side, I am sticking with my diet and exercise program. I'd like to be more aggressive with that. However, I realize that any progress is good progress. So, I'm off to clean up another few square feet of the room and toss a load of laundry in the machine. My appointment for tomorrow is delayed until the afternoon, so I'll catch up a bit in the morning. I think I need to set goals for the next day each evening. It'll be my new resolution!

December Birthdays, Magic and Secret Weapons

I have a birthday in December. This year was a very lovely celebration.
As a child, I did not like having a December birthday. I believe I've told this story before. Money was very tight at my house, and there was no way that my birthday would be anything special. I remember my thirteenth birthday with sadness. No party, there may have been a cake at dinner, I'm not sure. I got fifty cents and a white half slip that had so little lace on the bottom edge only that you almost needed a microscope to view. I was hurt, disappointed and angry.
When I was a little child birthdays got to be more fun because I shared them at a family party with my cousin Darrell who was celebrating his, too. The dates are only three days apart. It was affordable for my parents to share the cost. I remember those parties with fondness.
My husband is not the best of gift givers. He loves to be practical. After my childhood, I so much want to celebrate with frivolity! In some past years, I arranged my own glamorous celebration by getting tickets to the Crocker Ball. It was a way to celebrate and to support a favorite charity. However, it was more fun to bring along family members. Now, with increased ticket prices, going as a group has become too expensive. Maybe for my next "decade" birthday it might be an extravagant indulgence. Nonetheless, my husband, despite gifts of kitchen utensils and a electronics charging station, did treat me to a hot fudge sundae at Leatherby's and the next night a dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Cielito Linda.

Those were fun celebrations and more of what I enjoy about birthdays! Of course, sharing memories is great fun and the
California International Marathon is always near my birthday, too. I almost missed this shot of the front runner!

My son, Chris, had Cal and me join his family for the annual lighting of the State of California Christmas tree before dinner at Tres Hermanas, another special Mexican restaurant that my grandson enjoys. Here is a page I made to celebrate the tree lighting ceremony. I'm working on other pages to remember the evening. Creating things is a passion.

This is a lift of a page design by Lisa Truesdell. Supplies: Lynn Grieveson kit - fresh festive; Scrapaneers stitching and enamel dots; font - Traveling Typewriter; shadows - FiddleDeeDee and Mommyish; washi tape - blueflowerart - harmony, dawn inskip - autumn elements, MLE - holiday cookies, Karla Dudley - rad bundle; mesh - KAagard, freewheeling

At Get It Scrapped, we have been participating in "Your December Story" where Debbie Hodge encourages us to tell our story following "The Hero's Journey." My son, Joe, is my "secret weapon." I request, as my birthday gift, that Joe decorate my tree since he has no money. He does a beautiful job, and it's no small task - I have 500 ornaments. He helps with the rest of the decorating including the outdoor lights, too, and the undecorating; but I treat him for those efforts. With my neck problem and Cal's advanced age and health challenges, too, Joe is the secret weapon to a lot getting done around here. Folding the sheets, taking out the trash or moving it to the curb, emptying the dishwasher, hanging pictures, or just getting things organized. He's always helpful. He also helps by enjoying the treats Cal cooks and watches football with Cal, too. It takes the pressure off me and helps me keep the weight off! Joe is my "special gift," without whom, I'd not be ready for the holidays.

It's an extended birthday, too. My stepson and his family are planning a dinner out with me and Cal.
The moments with family and the memories we share are some of the best parts of birthdays and celebrations. Those gifts are the most precious of all.

Using Templates when making Scrapbook Pages

 On DSD (Digital Scrapbook Day) this year I taught a class at Get It Scrapped about using templates to design pages.
Even if you follow a sketch or design exactly, including supplies and title, one would not end up with the same page as a designer since your photos and story would be different.
However, in my pages that follow, you'll see how I used extra photos, and rotated the sketch to make four different pages from one layout. Definitely not a cookie cutter approach! I usually use a lot of different patterned papers and embellishments. This time I only used that style on one layout. My idea was to change the look by using different color schemes and sketch alterations. Template - Scrapbook Coach 21, Top Heavy, Layout 4 from GIS Template Library.
I hope you enjoy reviewing these ways to vary the look of your scrapbook page using one basic design.

This is a template variation from my challenge using Scrapbook Coach 21 Top Heavy Layout 4, in an analogous color scheme. I advise limiting colors in this scheme. While 5 can work, three is the most eye-catching. Here I've used four colors - yellow, yellow-green, green and blue-green. I eliminated one photo from the top band changing that to a slightly smaller and lower positioned journaling block and added a stock photo as a repetitive element in place of the original journaling. The title uses the template font Butterscotch regular with a Mommish glitter style in Ocean, shadow styles - Mommyish, ephemera, and string/brad, speech bubble and brad from the template with brad and ephemera recolored. Geo tag brad - Gennifer Bursett, My Happy place, Grape wreath - Kimeric Creations, Making Memories, wine bottle  and glass stamp - Stella, tag - gennifer Bursett, Now, Fonts - Avenir Medium regular and Traveling Typewriter.

This is a variation in a split complementary color scheme of yellow, orange and blue-violet. The modification I used here was my signature using a photo as an embellishment attached with a paperclip, Again I've kept a few of the templates elements in place, recoloring and texturizing the papers in Adobe PSCC, wood star clip - OneLittleBird, This Magic Moment, star - TheDailyDigi, Let's Get Messy, arrow brad - WMsquared, XOXO; styles - Mommyish, Scrapaneers Champions; fonts - Bohemian Typewriter, Avenir Oblique

This is a monochromatic layout in yellow. If you check your color wheel you'll see that olive green is a shade of yellow. I did need to recolor the green in the camera embellishment to make it dark olive. Neutrals, like black, white and gray, of course add contrast without color and I did add a low opacity wash of yellow to the ephemera in background. Many consider beige tones neutral, too. I tend to be more narrow in my definitions so I did add the light opacity wash.

Supplies: Papers - recolored and texturized in Adobe PSCC; Bow - Mommyish, I've Got A Plan; camera brad - A Sweet Caroline Amanda Yi Collab, Focus,Click, Repeat; Paper Dolls - The Daily Digi, My Life of Wonderful; Fonts - Myriad Pro, Traveling Typewriter, Bohemian Typewriter; Brade and speech bubble from the template, Scrapbook Coach Top Heavy/Layout 4 from the GIS Templates

This variation of the template challenge, that I demonstrated on DSD, is made in a variation on a triad primary color scheme where the blue is augmented by using blue-green. Brown functions as a neutral and also balances the predominance of blue hue. If using a complex color scheme it's probably best for those less experienced with color to use mainly materials from a single kit as I have done here. I altered one of the photos by making it a 2 photo collage. DDE Playful Kit by Gina Cabrera, brown sticker - justjaimee, September Storyteller 2014, tag - Sweet Shoppe, Studio Basic Designs, Adventure Begins, logo - ShePodcasts, some embellishments from the original template, styles Mommyish, fonts - Avenir Medium, Avenir Roman Italic, Lobster 1.3 regular. Template - Scrapbook Coach 21, Top Heavy, Layout 4 from GIS Template Library

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.