I went Stampin...

I actually went out to make some cards. I thought it would be funny if I took a picture of my last Stampin Up catalogue and the new one, But I can't find it. And why would it be funny well because the year on the last one would be 1998. That is the year that my husband check on board the USS Fitzgerald, and he was gone 9 months out of the year, until Sept 2001. And you would think that him retiring from the Navy would make life easier but it didn't it got even worse from there.

So here I set more than 10 years later, finally able to take a breath. Except all I could do is stare at everyone else doing such beautiful work, because I was so tired.

Yet I agreed I was up for a monthly group, and I am even if I have to come home and finish my work the next morning, like I did today.

 I can't wait until life is good, I've wasted over 10 years waiting for that, and have come to the conclusion, that there will always be a trial in my life. I am 40 hear me, roar!

Digital Christmas Scrapbook page

My little niece comes over to my house almost everyday. She escapes from her Mom that is next door taking care of our Mom during the day. I work from home. My little sister walked in on this one day:

And said 'You should take a picture.' I said I had. and she replied 'I never get to see those pictures.' Which is sad because I have some wonderful pictures of her two little one's. I do post some here every now and then when I don't have anything else to talk about, but other than that they reside on a memory card or on my computer.

Well here's a page for you Monica - I promise I'll make more, and show you how to print them and put them in a book.

Digital versus Conventional Scrap-booking

About a year ago I decided to give Digital Scrap-booking a try. I thought to myself everything gets done much faster on a computer, Right? I came to realize that wasn't case, at least not for me it wasn't.

I do graphic design I have Adobe Photoshop CS2 - I've been working with Photoshop for about 10 years now. I would say that I'm quite proficient at it. So what is Digital Scrapbooking they are graphics and photos and you bring them together, Right?

Wrong there is an art to it, at it has a higher learning curve than I thought.

First of all when you buy Digital Layouts some come with one file and the layout is there! Just erase what you need and place the photo on a layer below it. Done, Yes, if you like the layout the way it is. To be honest I've never liked anything the way it is.

Then there are Digital Layouts that come with a folder and each image is it's own file - I thought Great this is for me. Again not what I thought. If they are all JPG then you have to clean around them.

There is nothing in the descriptions of Layouts that explain to you exactly what you are getting, I guess it's one of those If you are buying this then you must know what you are doing.

I did get the hang of it, and thanks to the SBE Newsletter I didn't have to invest money while doing it - each month the Newsletter comes with free layouts again some one page files and some folders, you never know what you are getting.

The one benefit of Digital Scrapbooking is space you save it all on your computer and if you want to print it and put it in your book you do and if you don't you don't. There are no additional stamps, pens, color pencils, paper packets and all kinds of other stuff to store.


I like Conventional Scrapbooking. I like it because the design process feels different. You are working with your hands (not just clicking with a finger). You can feel the paper, the detail of using the color markers, pencils or different color inks on a stamp. I have to admit I like going to the store and acquiring more 'Stuff'.

Scrapbooking table

The fastest way to organize a desk is to use it. So I organized my scrapbooking stuff! I made a friend a Birthday card. The area above the desk has some wonderful energy!



Well as with most of the stuff I do - it is a little late. However this year I have decided to finish my idea's no matter how long it takes me! My friend hosts me while I attend the Puyallup Sew Expo every year and her Birthday is the First week in March - Actually her Birthday has always landed during the Show dates, but this year it didn't.

I took a picture of her cat while I was staying with her and thought to myself I can print out the picture of her cat and make her a Birthday card.

Well I did it! I haven't made a Card, Invitation or Scrapbook page layout in over 4 years, and guess what if you put away your scrapbooking stuff you shouldn't expect it to not dry out if you don't get to it with in a reasonable amount of time.



All my stuff is out and accessible, I realize I need new stuff, but I think that's the plus side to organizing. So now when I get an idea, it shouldn't take me 7 weeks to implement it!