This Is Why

I was on Facebook this morning and I ran across an album of pictures that my cousin posted of my family's holiday down south. The first photo that came up was one of my dad and my heart did a little leap to see him. I was immediately overcome with a longing to go home, to hang with my peeps and make the acquaintance of our newest members. I started to cry because I could suddenly smell the air of the southern landscape cloaked in its own unique winter and see myself riding through the gray light with my family to the gathering.
One photograph took me there.

I was so grateful to my cousin for posting those shots, and that got me thinking about photography, about how much it means to me to have pictures in my life, about how we as photographers sometimes lose our perspective in our quest for the perfect picture. When the photo came up on the screen I didn't even notice most of it, not the lighting or the color balance or if the subject was framed correctly. I just saw the face of my dad and then tumbled into that cascade of emotions. When you point your camera to the action at hand, when you capture those shots of seemingly ordinary moments, you might just be creating a shiny cherished trinket. You can never know what those captured moments might look like to someone else.

This is why I scrapbook.

Enjoying the Season

Getting together with co-workers for holiday parties.

Firing up the router to complete the "honey-do" list.

Getting to know the world-wide web on her new laptop.

Building, building, building.

Celebrating 24 years of marriage.

The 12 Tags of Christmas

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Winter Concert

Despite the call I received to fetch Claire from school yesterday morning because she wasn't feeling well, she made it to her Winter Concert last night.

Who would have thought that sixth-graders could make such beautiful sounds?
Many of these kids had never played an instrument until this year.
I think their band instructor is a miracle worker.
I wonder if I sounded as lovely on my trumpet in sixth grade.

Here's our flutist sitting next to her BFF Emily.
I am so proud of her for working so hard.

Unfortunately, her illness was not the migraine we first suspected.
She returned home and crashed last night and is still in bed this morning.

The principal said they may be able to stream the concert live next year.
How cool would that be?

Hello Christmas Busyness

Here's my little elf helping me with the Christmas decorations.

And here's my little contortionist.
He's always twisting his body in weird ways and has done so since he was a little guy.
It would not be uncommon in our house to see him playing his DS this way.
This is a yoga pose called Plow.
No problem for him.
No problem for Claire.
Mark came close. Very close.
I didn't even try.

The 12 Tags of Christmas, Day 4.

Day 5.

Day 6.

With all the other crafting going on around here right now, I am unable to keep up on a daily basis (who knew this work thing would take so much TIME!), but I am OK with that. (I'm not REALLY OK with that, but this blog post is serving as a little pep talk to myself to GET OK with it)!

The 12 Tags of Christmas

Day 3.
I just KNEW there would be some tissue tape involved!

The 12 Tags of Christmas

Since it's the season of tradition, I've decided to play along again this year with Tim Holtz as he creates 12 technique-infused tags during the first 12 days of December. It's really an amazing endeavor, and I try to stretch my creativity even more by using products I already have on hand. That part is really hard; he has some amazing stuff available.

Here is Tim's tag for day 1.

And mine.

Tim's tag for day 2.

And mine.

So far I seem to have none of the products he's using this year, but never fear. I bought some tissue tape and I just KNOW he's going to reward me!

My friend Wendy is playing along on her blog too. Anyone else playing?

Altered Art

I recently finished altering this 7gypsies printer's tray.
I used my favorite October Afternoon Thrift Shop papers along with some random little prints that I liked.

I love working on a small scale like this, finding treasures to place in the compartments.
It's a mishmash of significant items, including a penny from the year Mark and I were married , two more pennies for the kid's birth years, some sand from our trip to the Mediterranean, and of course a heart rock!

The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap

Look at what showed up in my mailbox.
This is the beautifully stitched felt postcard I received from Tina in the UK.
I love how the hearts are pouring out of the roof.
I love the hand-stitched flowers and the button on the sun.
This swap was so much FUN. I hope there's another one soon!!

Gratitudes

While I was watering plants this morning, I was reflecting upon a few of my gratitudes:

I am grateful for my amazing partner whom I love and cherish.
I am grateful for my beautiful, brilliant children, who bring me joy and humility each day.
I am grateful for clean water and abundant food.
I am grateful for the visual beauty of art and the auditory brilliance of music.
I am grateful for a respite from cancer for yet another year.

The turkey is in the smoker, the pie is cooling on the counter, and the jigsaw puzzle pieces have been sorted.
From our warm and grateful home to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.

Hello Monday

It is snowing. Three inches and counting.
Our first winter storm warning of the year has been issued, with a total accumulation of five to eight inches predicted.
A matinee of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows perhaps?

Who You Are and What They Say

A little ditty that appeared in my in-box:

If you are confident, they will say you are arrogant.

If you are deliberate, they will say you are too sure of yourself.

If you have a sense of purpose, they will say you are self-absorbed.

If you know who you are, they will ask, "Who are you, anyway?"

If you believe in kindness and compassion, they will say you are naïve.

If you are a dreamer, they will say "join the real world."

If you are a rebel, they will try to shut you down.

The instructions include:

rein it in
slow it down
wait it out

pull it back
take your time
play it safe

But you will know:

They are envious because they want what you have.

They are afraid of change even as they crave it.

They are projecting their own regret into resentment of you.

It's not all bad news: some of them will sort themselves out and end up joining you. Because you are a good person and have had plenty of false starts of your own, you'll understand and welcome them warmly. We've missed you! you'll say. It's about time you made it.

As for the others, well, you will remember what Gandhi said:

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau

Hello Winter

Look what we woke up to this morning.
Completely unexpected.
Welcomed with open arms in this family.
Both kids are snotty, so we had an impromptu sick day.
Everyone needs a little rest.

I get to stay home too.
Art and laundry are my mantra today.

ATCs

I recently joined a local Artist Trading Card club that meets once a month to swap tiny pieces of art. Our theme for November was gratitude and this was the card I created.

And here's a few cards from swaps gone by.

Right Now

Our beautiful curly-haired Claire.
Learning to play the flute.
She recently finished a season of middle-school volleyball.
Totally loving books right now.
Sassy-mouthed and sweet, this one.

Hello little cute man.
He's all Lego Star Wars, all the time.
Unless it's Xbox 360.
Thinking he might want to give Karate a try.
His mouth is a tangle of too big and baby teeth right now.

My mountain man.
This pic is pretty representative of what he's been doing.
Hunting.
And working hard at the sequencing core.
And getting freakin' amazing at Sudoku.
And turning forty-five. Yikes.

And me, the mama.
I'm just swinging along, working and taking care and making art.
Nesting into my new home.
Experiencing my first root canal.
Steering clear of cancer for another year.

Life is good.

Start With Art

Welcome back me!
This is my postcard for The (great big) Stitched Postcard Swap.
It's being mailed to a fellow artist tomorrow,
but I can't tell you who just yet.
I hope she likes it.
You can view other postcards here.

Hello Monday, Goodbye

I think Mondays are always good for starting fresh.
I had my teeth cleaned this morning.
I crossed all the to-do's off my list that needed phoning or emailing.
And I decided to let go of this blog.
It's been on my mind for a while now.
Updating is starting to feel more like an obligation than a creative endeavor.
I'll still be posting on the Paper Pals Design Team Blog.
And I'll have a gallery at Flikr and/or Two Peas for art.
I might come back. I might not.
I'll just roll with it.
Thanks for hanging with me.
Peace and love.

Art Share

Here's a couple of layouts of my favorite gal.

Tenth birthday in Jena, Germany. Homemade "american" cake, meaning it actually used sugar as one of the main ingredients. German confections tended to be on the milder side of sweet, and one of the little girls at the party couldn't eat the cake because it was just too sweet for her. I wonder how she would have felt about one of those 3-inch frosting-laden creations from Safeway!!

Claire and her BFF last summer. Isn't it fun when you find people who share your passions in life?

Wordless Wednesday

Swell Saturday

I spent most of the day puttering around in my studio/office/guestroom, known hereafter simply as my space. Mark just received an enviously-beautiful laptop as part of his new job, so I've moved MY laptop downstairs to my space and I'm sitting here in front of a sunny window listening to tunes and working on photos. I just scored Adobe Photoshop CS4 and I'm eager to take a class here so that I can become a master! Life is good.

How about some holiday-themed layouts to share?

This is the My Mind's Eye "Boo to You" line.
One side of the paper had cool spiderwebs,
so I cut them out and then outlined each strand with copper stickles.
And you'll be seeing a lot more stitching on my future layouts.
My sewing machine is back home and I am a big fan of the results.

Again with My Mind's Eye.
Will it become my Scenic Route replacement?

Hope you're having a swell Saturday.

Back to the Art

Now that we're pretty much settled and I've had a little time to scrapbook,
I have lots of layouts to share.


This layout was created for Paper Pals Design Team using the Origins line by Basic Grey.
It's been in the store for awhile, but I haven't had a chance to post it here.
Yes, I'm still working on those photos from Europe.

Ditto on this layout.
I really do love boys who love flowers.

Wordless Wednesday

Forty Four

Just another day really, except there's a new picture on my driver's license and a new age to remember; it's harder the older you get you know.

I'm hoping for a gluten-filled dinner of ravioli with alfredo sauce (sorry honey!) and a trip to Baskin Robbins for many scoops of ice cream. I bought my own birthday gift yesterday; four Copic markers, and those of you who know about these beauties will understand my excitement!

Off for a day in the greenhouse, where the sun is always shining...

One Big Awesome

Our new house is awesome.

Here's a shot from the window in my living room yesterday as the sun peeked out right before sunset to illuminate campus after a day of rainy gray.

And these guys are awesome.

They are riding their scooters to school every day now.
And they are both hosting sleep overs with their BFF's tonight.

And this guy is awesome too.

He got to hang (but mostly work) with our cousin Tim, who came from Oregon to help tie up the loose ends of our move. Thanks Tim!
He's spent a couple of days steelhead fishing in Idaho recently.
And he's been offered a new position at WSU and it looks like he's going to accept.

And I'm doing pretty awesome as well.

Here's a layout for Design Team using the new Basic Grey "Origins" line and depicting me enjoying Starbuck's in different European locations.

Balmy, sunny weather on the Palouse today, but I hear it's snowing in Louisiana??