We are so in love with this little guy, and it’s his birthday today. I feel so bad for him because he’s sick with a croupy cold, but I like the fact that he’s clingy and needs my extra love on his special day.

Hard to believe he was once this small, and that he’s now this big.

We’re celebrating as a family today with cupcakes. I painted an alphabet painting for him (have to post pictures later) and maybe we’ll even hang that today in his room. Thankful for gifts from grandparents and wishing they could be here to celebrate with us.

We love you little guy!

I did a post recently on the Scrap Girls Blog on how to make custom notebooks. There was further interest expressed on the exact details of binding the book. So I made another one and took photos along the way.

The notebook cover size is 5.5 x 7 when laying open. I used one of my Bursting Papers to make the custom cover. I printed it out on cardstock. Digital Scrapbooking Papers are great for this, or you could use photos or recycled paper from a phonebook, magazine, etc. You’ll want the cover to be cardstock though so it will hold up better.

For the inside I used some cool graph paper I found on discount at Office Depot. You can also use regular copy paper or printer paper or recycled paper. I cut the paper about a quarter inch shorter than the cover.

Fold the cover and the inside paper in half and lay the inside paper in the cover, lining up evenly what would be the spine.

Poke 5 holes using an icepick or paper piercer.

Needle goes down through the middle hole. I’m just using regular DMC floss, but you could use book binding thread if you’re all fancy like that.

Don’t pull the thread all the way through. You’ll use this little tail eventually to tie a knot.

Skip over the middle hole completely this time.

Back up through the center again.

This is where you’ll take your needle off now and tie a knot.

Trim thread. And done!

This is what the outside binding looks like.

You can add a nice finishing touch by rounding the corners of your notebook with a corner-rounder punch.

Have fun!

Oh, and if you get really ambitious with book binding you might check out this book. It’s great!

I also have a friend who takes orders for custom books. She makes gorgeous ones that blow these little ones out of the water. You can check her blog out here.

I’ve had a sudden burst of creative energy since returning home from my sister’s wedding. Instead of having a problem deciding what to create, I have spent my time starting multiple projects and bouncing from one thing to the next as the mood hits. I’ve literally been riding on an artist high. It feels delightful. I want to say I have an idea of where this creative energy is stemming from, but I’m timid to label it, for fear it will dissipate. Instead, I’m just savoring it.

I’ve been stitching on something that I can’t share just yet because it’s a gift for someone. Soon though!

I’ve been practicing more with my external flash by taking photos in the evening in my zero-natural light bathroom.

And then practicing editing them in Photoshop. I can get lost for hours editing photos.

I’ve been enjoying listening to Salvation Club and Joel Limpic and Coldplay.

I’ve been printing out photos and messing with my inspiration board.

I’ve been working on wearing all the clothes in my closet. Having fun mixing and matching new outfits and wearing skirts without needing to have a particular place I’m going. Dressing fun just feels good. Reminds me of an old post I wrote about high heels.

I’ve been creating stationary sets with my kids’ drawings, starting with Nehemiah’s monsters. I flip through old notebooks he has drawn in and then re-draw his drawings and color them. Then I make them into stickers to use with the unique stationary papers I created. Lots of fun, and lots more to explore in this area. I am trying to single-handedly bring back the beauty of a handwritten note. And I love having another way to use my kids’ drawings besides just custom dolls.

I’ve been soaking up some sun as I can and loving family walks after supper.

I’ve been creating mini-journals. Pictures of these will have to wait for a later date too, as I want to blog about them on the Scrap Girls’ blog first.

I’ve been thinking a lot about RESTing in God and what my IMPERFECT life would look like if I didn’t care what you thought of me. Out of this is going to stem the next Angry Homemade Noodles study, I just know it. More on that very soon.

I’ve been creating some dream lists. I love dream lists.

I’ve been letting a lot of stuff go around the house, in an effort to be less hurried. Allowing myself time to do some of the “get to” stuff instead of just the “have to” stuff and shaking off the guilt that wants to weigh me down. Be gone guilt, I’m FREE.

I’ve been laughing – with my kids, with my husband, at myself, at my life. There really is so much to laugh about.

We’ve been having fun with Nehemiah’s Superman Capes. They were handmade by his Great-Gran and were gifts from Mimi and Papi for his birthday. Needless to say, they are getting a lot of use.

Big deal that they chose Lincoln Logs to play with recently. These blocks tend to frustrate them still. Maybe it’s an age thing?

It’s been fun to incorporate learning letters with learning sewing. I’m not sure they have the patience yet (or that I have the patience to untie all the knots they make) to try a full alphabet sampler. But I think that would be fun for the the future.

Even Nehemiah says that he is sewing his “Ish” way.

If it disturbs you to see a boy sewing, please divert your eyes from above picture. But really, he loves it, and I can’t think how it would be a bad thing if he can sew a button on his own shirt when he grows up.

We’ve found a great use for our socks that are missing matches. Sock puppets! Who knew they would be so quick and easy to make?

And yes, Nehemiah’s does have a cape on. We’re pretty big into Superheroes right now around here.

We’re reading a little everyday.

Luther is eating a bit by spoon now. He holds onto my finger like that with every single bite. I used to get so frustrated with this stage of eating, because it requires more of my undivided attention. But I think this baby is changing me (in so many ways) and I thoroughly enjoy the experience of feeding him. He makes me giggle.

This past weekend the girls decided to create their own museum exhibits. The idea came out of nowhere it seemed, and before I knew it, our entire living room was transformed.

Even when life seems a little tense, or I feel totally uncreative and uninspired as a teacher myself, I look back on these photos and realize, creativity still, somehow, managed to be all around us. That gives me hope.

Here’s the girly-girl version of the Lil’ Bug bib. The purple material for the bug belly came from a women’s blouse. I have dreams of also using this fabric to make a bunny. I don’t know why a bunny. Maybe because it’s spring? We’ll see.

Anyway, we not only got to take a family a meal and this bib, we also were invited into their home to share the meal and to share some family time. Let’s just say there was lots of dress-up and lots of dancing and lots of girly giggles. Nehemiah toughed it out as the only male kid. The new little baby girl is precious, and I can’t get over how monstrous Luther looks next to their 3-week-old. They really don’t stay babies for long, do they?

Took advantage of my kids playing outside today (They played for three hours, with only chalk and the outdoors and a little bit of prompting from me to entertain them. So proud of them. Lots of tracking down and digging up buried pirate treasure and hiding from the bad guys.) Anyway, I cut up felt to make a reusable bunting type decoration for Steward parties. You know, birthday parties, Thank You Jesus parties, and any other reason we can come up with to throw a party. We really need to have more of those around here, and decorations can only help encourage that, right? Here’s my inspiration. Shalae’s always an inspiration.

Here’s a few other things that are inspiring me right now:

• Polyvore

• This Crafty Chica Book – I don’t care much for the projects in this book, but this lady gave me the permission I needed to just start sewing, even though I’m clueless and even though I don’t like using patterns.

• The Creative Family (I got it out from the library a second time. I’m not sure why I haven’t just bought this book yet.)

• Angry Homemade Noodles – Our Monday nite chats always get me inspired to be a better mom & wife. What an amazing group of women.

• Elsie and Rachel’s Class – Arguably the best crafty money I’ve ever spent is on the two on-line classes of Elsie’s I’ve taken. Seriously. You can’t sign up for this class currently, as it’s already going on, but I HIGHLY recommend taking any future ones offered.

• The very idea that I’m filling my days doing art because I’m starting to see how everything in life is an art. Makes me so excited.

I’m sure there is more, but I hear a baby crying.

*EDITED TO ADD MORE INSPIRATION:

• This amazing collection by Trish at Scrap Girls.
• JJ Heller – Thanks for sharing her tunes Abbi.

What’s inspiring you right now?

Our friends invited us over early in the week to make playdough. It has been a hit all week. We’ve had the cookie cutters and rolling pins and toothpicks out creating all sorts of fun stuff in our “kid kitchen.” I’m amazed at their creativity, no matter the medium.

Speaking of creativity, our Charis filled a plastic grocery bag with a blanket today and tied the top. Then she climbed up onto the highest part of the swingset and yelled to Zoe, “Tell Mom I’m leaving but I’ll be back. I’m going to fly with the birds. The wind will take me.” Only in Oklahoma do we have wind that will carry little 4 year olds away for a short time and carry them back safely to their mommy’s via parachute. Or only in Charis’ creative little head.

Meet Annie. He’s a boy with a girl’s name. He now belongs to Nehemiah, who not only named him, but drew him. I am amazed by this boy, and when I saw this picture of his, I knew this would be his next custom doll. Fantabulous. Nehemiah was lifting up Annie’s legs wiping his bum today, changing his diaper and even feeding him while I fed Luther. “He’s my bird baby, Mommy.” You might imagine how his love for this doll melts my heart.

First doll I’ve made with stuffed legs. I love these little skinny legs.

Pay no attention to the dent under his right wing. I may or may not have mastered the hidden stitch yet. HA!

I didn’t cut out a pattern this time. I just drew with chalk on the felt. Eyeballed it. It worked out well, considering I didn’t have the patience for a pattern and precision. Who has time for all that?

My favorite part so far about these dolls? Finishing them at nite after the kids are in bed and leaving them in the same special place in our living room. I hope it’s magical to them to wake up and check the special spot to see if any little stuffed person from their imagination has come off the paper and come to life.

We spent some time this week counting. We made sets of stuff for the numbers 1-10. Yes, Zoe is in her bathing suit. Some battles are not worth fighting.

After a little bit of practice, Zoe did manage to write all of her numbers correctly this week and was amazed when I told her she could now write any number in the whole world. Even thirty-seven fifty-hundred, she asked? Yep. Even that one babe.

This was the number 8 pile. Red ball added at last minute when we realized we only had 7 piggy banks and not 8. Oops.

I think this was pile 10, but it’s hard to make out the number through all the fur and hair.

Nehemiah was working on creating a tower of blocks for number 7.

I think their favorite part was that they got to get out a bunch of stuff and I promised to help them put it away.

These two have been buds lately, which is wonderful considering I remember a time I wondered if they’d ever even speak to each other. Ever since we had a tornado scare here (our first of many I’m told) Nehemiah has been clingy, and he sleeps with Charis at nite now. They call it having a slumber party. Charis has been surprisingly mothering towards him during bedtime…in a good way. Reading him books. Tucking him in. Loving, caring, affectionate, protective. You know, the kind of mom I always am.

I don’t know what she was playing with him, but he kept smiling, so I just left them be.

Speaking of Luther, he has actually taken a nap in his crib a couple times now. (That blanket was handmade by family special for Luther. Deep sigh.)

And even though I know we’re not supposed to lay a baby on his tummy to sleep, he seems to be loving it. Anyone know until what age that rule is in affect? See his little bald spot on the back of his head where he’s rubbed the hair away? All my kids have had that. It’s a good place for kisses. (That baby quilt was mine as a baby. It brings me great joy. Thanks Mom.)

Hope you all have a great weekend. We’re looking forward to hanging out as a family and having no agenda.

A few of you have mentioned that you weren’t getting my blog updates even though you were subscribed to my blog. I’m glad you let me know! Thankfully I have a husband who knows what you mean when you say that because I don’t. Or rather I do, but I don’t know how to fix it.

But he’s a ninja and he’s fixed it. He’s also added an option to get my blog updates by email if you prefer that. So if you want to be made aware of the new posts, I encourage you to subscribe. You can do that in the left-hand column on my blog. I’ll do my best to entertain you with creative inspiration and relate to you with story upon story of human imperfection. Who’d want to miss out on all that?

We’ve been trying to eat healthier and incorporate some exercise into our life.

For me and Tony that means implementing our tweaked version of the Body For Life plan.

I first heard about this in college, and I’ve used its methods off and on a lot since then. It consists of a well-balanced diet, drinking lots of water and some basic exercise/weight-lifting.

Because we’re eating healthy I am missing baking, so I am trying to get healthfully (is that a word?) creative in the kitchen. I’ve been making some healthier waffles by substituting whole wheat flour for some of the regular flour in my recipe. I find it nice to make a bunch of these ahead of time and then freeze them. Then for breakfast we can just pop them in the toaster. My kids are even loving them. (And they’ve gotta be cheaper than eggos, right?)

I also made pizza crust by partially substituting whole wheat flour. I’m not sure if this pizza would be Body For Life kosher, but I did say we’re following our “tweaked” version, right?

My exercise is hit or miss at best, but I am trying to get on the treadmill at least 3 times a week. I can do this if my 2 month old is sleeping and if my 2, 4, and 5 year old are riding their bikes in the garage. It actually works pretty well (so well that I’ve only done it twice). On the days the treadmill doesn’t happen, I either want to get outside and take a walk with my kids (if it’s warm) or I want to start implementing some of Erin’s creative tips in this wonderful blog post. Let’s face it, I’m going to have to get creative with my exercise.

Where do you look for healthy recipes? And how do you implement exercise into your day?

My journey towards cloth diapers has been a long one. I remember my mom talking about using them for me. I thought it sounded crazy and I was so thankful for disposable.

When my second child was born I had a good friend who used cloth diapers with her baby, and I asked her a lot of questions about how they worked. It interested me, but not enough to actually convert. The initial expense seemed crazy to me and who wants to do all that extra laundry…and poopy laundry at that?

In California, my good friend Christina adopted a beautiful little girl and I watched her experience using cloth diapers. It seemed like a lot of work, but the idea was growing on me. I changed her baby’s diaper one time, and I realized how soft the cloth was. Who wouldn’t want to be swaddled in that sort of goodness?

When we moved to Oklahoma I started reading some books about simplifying your life. I also started to settle into the transition of being a completely stay at home mom. Domesticity was growing on me quickly and things that once seemed too time-consuming and unnecessary started to shift and seem beautiful and right. (Baking, sewing, cooking, book reading, decorating my home, being creative with my kids and, well, even diapering.)

Right before Luther was born I was inspired by my friend Courtney who twittered about how she was enjoying using cloth diapers. And it clicked. I want to try this out. For me, I think it was the enjoyment that slowing down brings. When I’m not rushing through life I can appreciate soft cloth, pretty colored diapers and less trash. I can appreciate money savings that will come in the future when I have time to work the numbers and attempt to live on a budget. And I can appreciate loving on my baby, in whatever ways I so choose.

So I’ve started using cloth. I only bought 4 diapers to start out with, but after using them for a few days, I’m ready to commit and buy more.

For once, life seems like it isn’t just flying past me as I am frantically trying to hold on. Cloth diapers are, ironically, a breath of fresh air. For me, they symbolize a life less hurried, a life that is free to be at and enjoy home more, a life that soaks in (no pun intended) and appreciates simple joys.

Here are some links about cloth diapering that might interest you. Thanks to Angie and Karen for letting me know about them:

Cotton Babies – Learned on this site that with my 3 previous kids I’ve added 3 Tons of trash to landfills. Ugh.

Diaper Pin – This site has a cool calculator to figure out if you’re really saving money with cloth diapers. It takes into consideration your water bill and your electric/gas bill.

Also, Karen wrote a great summary post here about cloth diapering that you may want to check out.

Been taking a lot of photos around here:

Yummy Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies.

All the different cookies we made this year:

Notice the bright icing. I learned about how to make bold, bright colors from this highly creative woman.

I guess proper icing etiquette would have you stick out your pinky as you ice.

Pay no attention to this though. Licking does not fall under proper etiquette guidelines.

The pink ribbon, if worn tied in a knot on the side of your head, ensures your manhood while guaranteeing you the title of “Icing Ninja.”

Unwrapping the caramel Hershey kisses is a beloved activity by my kids, especially since I promise they get to eat a couple for every batch we complete.

My friend Allison told me last year about her kids making gifts for each other. I thought it was such a cool idea that we tried it this year. This is what my girls made for each other, and they totally loved the process. I like that they have to think about someone else and put real effort and creativity into caring for them. My friend Brandie suggested letting kids wrap the presents themselves, so they also did that. So cute. And they are dying to see each other open them.

I too tried to make some gifts this year. These are for Charis and Nehemiah. I finished up Zoe’s owl last nite, but didn’t get a chance to photograph it yet. I love how they turned out, and I used Syndee’s embellishments for my pattern. Maybe I’ll write up a short tutorial sometime for the Scrap Girls newsletter about how I made them. So cool to used digital scrapbooking supplies this way…But they were seriously easy and hard to mess up.

Then I made this for Baby Luther. I got the idea/pattern from this inspiring woman. She also suggested putting a jingle bell in it as you’re stuffing it, which I did. It makes a sweet little jingle now as you shake it…or as Nehemiah throws it as hard as he can at you. The cute little animals I found in this book by Aranzi Aronzo.

I wanted to knit Tony a scarf, but it was a little too much to take on both learning how to knit and creating my first knitting project all within a couple weeks before Christmas. HA! I’m way too ambitious for my own good sometimes. I must say though, I’ve enjoyed the process of creating gifts for others this year. It’s something I’d like to continue in years to come. Maybe even plan a little better for it, so I get started earlier. There is just something special about pouring my time, love and creativity into a gift to give to someone I love. It feels so much more special to me then to pick up something off a shelf that I’m not even sure if they’d like. Finances motivated me to do it this year, to keep Christmas buying costs down, but I fell in love with the process. It didn’t hurt that I was taking Elsie’s class at the same time, and she was throwing buckets of inspiration at us. I’ll share a few other pictures after the holidays. I don’t want to ruin my sister’s present by posting it here too soon.

Also, wanted to be sure to share this post with you. John Eldredge was a professor of mine in Colorado for my last semester of school. Christianity truly came to life and became FREEing once I met this man and heard his heart. Anyway, he has some great thoughts on Christmas that are worth reading. I love how he talks about Christ’s coming as a “rescue with fierce intention.” The ultimate display of “FREEdom” and restoration. This time of year I love celebrating the idea of “collective redemption” as Obama would call it and all because of the birth of Christ.

Now Tony’s parents are here for a few days and we are relaxing, making yummy food and enjoying each other’s company. We’ll get to be with his brother and family as well on Christmas day. It’s going to be a simply beautiful holiday filled with delights. I hope yours is as well.

Haven’t posted about my new digital scrapbooking products for awhile.

Here’s two new fun things I’ve designed, and a couple layouts to go with.

Wild West Collection

This one got sketched and designed while Tony was away from home at a conference in Texas a few weeks ago. I had some incredible creative energy flowing that week. A couple times Charis sat on my lap and watched me color in my illustrations. I loved how intriguing it was to her, as though the little cowboys and girls were coming to life right on my screen.

Overlayed Collection

This one was heavily inspired by all those cool little scrapbooking projects that Ali seems to do with acrylic embellishments and transparencies. I was desiring the equivalent in digital, and this little collection was born. Sometimes I think there may be a sister collection to this buried in my creative folds somewhere. We’ll see if she ever shakes loose.

You can click on the image to get a complete listing with links to the Scrap Girls products I used on this layout.

This post is all about creating today. The theme seems to be weaving in and out of my life in many different ways lately.

Creating Example #1: What are you supposed to do when life gives you apparent rotten bananas (otherwise known as over-ripe)? Mash them into a beautiful smelling banana bread and delight in them for breakfast. I never dreamed my creating could come out in ways like baking, but I sure have been enjoying that creative release lately.

Creating Example #2: I finally was able to get into see the new Refinery building on our church’s campus. It really is an incredible place. And I got to see my art displayed. I think it’s amazing how I’ve always wanted to display my art in a gallery for others to enjoy, and that God gave me this desire of my heart, quite by accident. I had created 20 pages of a little book while I was reading the Purpose Driven Life. My idea was to create a page for each day of reading (40 total – although I still haven’t completed it yet.) A friend from church (thanks Leigh!) came across the postings of my little book on my blog and mentioned it to his wife, who in turn contacted me and told me about her plans to display art like this in the new building. And so God brought a gallery to me. How cool. It was a joy to get to see my art displayed with other talented artists’ pieces, and to see it used for much more than I ever dreamed it would be. The prints are 11×17 size, to give you a better idea of what you’re looking at.

INSERT ULTRASOUND PICTURES HERE.

Creating Example #3: We, as a family, leave in an hour to go find out the gender of this little baby that is being created in my belly. It will never cease to amaze me that God allows us to be a part of the creation process in this way. I love the “magic” of pregnancy (minus the throwing up in the bathroom at 2 AM the other morning) and I feel alive with creative inspiration, simply by knowing my body is in a constant creative mode right now, developing a masterpiece that we can’t wait to meet.

Creating Example #4: Digital Scrapbooking and designing the products for this fun art has been so fulfilling for me. I love the fun of gathering inspiration and then putting my own spin on creations. Just yesterday I finished a new project and it was like a creative sigh of relief.

Sometimes art just has to come out of us, and it will figure out how to do this, one way or another.

I was struck by a verse this morning in Psalms. It was one of those moments where the line jumps out at you as you’re reading and wraps around your heart and you realize it was placed there just for you for this very moment. It just makes so much sense. He is indeed an intimate God, speaking directly to me at my level of need and openness.

I must make the choice to set God continually before me. CONTINUALLY putting Him first. CONTINUALLY following behind Him. CONTINUALLY giving Him the chance to lead, because He won’t force Himself into that role in my life. And the decision to NOT put Him before me, however subconscious it might be, is the decision to put something else before me. And before I know it, I’ve no clue who God is, where God is or what He thinks about my life. Why does He seem do distant, so unfair, so out to get me?

I created this little 4×6 piece to have on my desk.

Scrap Girls supplies used:
Brush Set: Stamped Dates
Assemble Your Own Zoom Pages – 4×6: Prayer and Praise
Nessa Embellishments

I want to remember to keep God before me, so I don’t lose sight of Him, so I don’t forget His heart for me is good, so I don’t make the mistake of putting something else before me, so I don’t start to doubt His intentions. It happens so quickly, so subtly, so craftily – one might almost assume there was a thief attempting to steal my joy and spread lies about God – oh wait, there is.

Let me summarize what the Psalm goes on to say “Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. My heart is glad, my glory rejoices, my flesh is secure, my soul is not abandoned…You make known to me the path of life and Your presence is fullness of joy, in your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Wow, who doesn’t want all those promises. I’ve got to train myself to put Him before me. It’s a discipline, it’s hard, it often feels unnatural, but it’s so worth it.

Just doing the normal things you do on a day home from work.

Laundry – I’m wading through mountains of it. We got our broken washer fixed rather quickly, but I still got behind.

Replacing a broken fridge shelf, and patting me and Tony on the back for purchasing a 5 year warranty when we bought the thing so that the new shelf was free, free, free.

Sending off tax stuff to the IRS, and singing the praises of my husband who took care of all that nasty stuff for us last nite.

Clearing out my email in-box which has gotten quite silly.

Flipping through mail, filing, organizing the stack of bills to pay.

Accomplishing another round of freelance work. And really excited about another freelance opportunity I have coming up. More on that later.

Reading books with kids, playing cards, eating fish sticks and discussing The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. We’ve been reading a chapter a nite in this book and just finished it Tuesday nite. Our kids are enjoying talking about it, and are excited for daddy to start the second book in the series.

Changing sheets on the beds.

Looking forward to starting this new book.

Loading some old cds of music into my iTunes Library. Reminiscing to Titanic, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Rich Mullins and Chicago. Crazy how songs can take you back places.

Pleasantly surprised by this post.

Working on making some new Scrap Girls products live. Here’s a product I released recently with a new layout. One of my co-workers actually inspired the idea for the Nearly Taped brushes:

Anxious to catch up with Tony’s uncle who’ll be in LA this weekend. Love it that we live somewhere that people “pass through” a lot. Love getting to visit.

Contemplating whether to get a BUNCH of photos printed somewhere and have them shipped to my door, or whether to print them out myself at home (this means going to buy nice matte paper). Any advice? I want to use them in some art I’m dreaming up in my head. Also desperately wanting to get some poster sized prints made of photos to paint/collage on, but scared out of my mind to commit.

I had so much fun painting these backgrounds. And actually, I was painting them for something else and ended up thinking, “Hey, these would perfect for Scrap Girls new 4×6 product line.” So this product, Painterly, was born.

Shalae did a cool self-portrait layout with them too!

Spent a lot of time sketching flowers for this product. I’m amazed at how there are endless ways to draw a flower.

Some new stuff I created for Scrap Girls.

Alright, it’s time to get these artistic hands moving again.

I’m knee-deep in a beautiful new collection for Scrap Girls. Let’s just say I’ve been drawing lots of interesting flowers, and I finished up the papers today. Yeah! On to embellishments and word art.

I’m working on a digital scrapbooking layout design book with Valerie that we seriously need to wrap up. It’s going to be really cool.

I’ve also got some ideas mulling in my head for watercolor illustrations.

AND, I want to get back to reading my new book. I’m about half-way through it.

Oh, and here are some recent layouts I did for my new products that were released at Scrap Girls this past week.

Recognize that photo? My sister and her boyfriend. I just love those two.

I’m going to get busy! Taking advantage of the day at home.

I got two new magazine subscriptions for Christmas that I’m really enjoying. They are great for design ideas, color ideas and overall creative inspiration.

Domino Magazine

Ready Made Magazine

Anthropologie Catalog

I would also highly suggest getting on Anthropologie’s catalog mailing list. It’s free and they are beautiful to look through. Of course they are available online too, if you prefer that.

Memory Makers Magazine

I also just found out from Ann that I have a layout published in the current issue of Memory Makers magazine. I haven’t seen it yet, but they’re supposed to be sending me a copy. This will be my first layout published. I’ve had a mini-album and some cards published, but a scrapbooking layout is new for me.

I made a tough decision today. I decided to step down from being a partner in the business Scrap Girls. My role in the company was changing and becoming less and less creative, and more and more something that didn’t fit me. And for a few months I’ve been feeling God was preparing me for a big change like this.

I sure have learned a lot from being a business partner at Scrap Girls for nearly three years, but I feel very ready for this next chapter in my life. Ready to embrace and chase after the artist life God keeps putting before me. It feels really risky to leave what is comfortable to chase down my dreams, but “free” is my word for the year, and I intend on chasing it down, no matter what that means. Perhaps this is just one step of many I will take in 2008.

I plan to continue on the product design team at Scrap Girls and look forward to working more closely with that creative team and getting to know them all a little better.

I’m also in the process of starting a part-time job with a design company where I’ll be illustrating and designing. It will be a combination of remote work and on-site work.

I’m still working on some other plans of mine that involve painting, photography, writing and illustrating, and am excited to have my time freed up to start pursuing a lot of the things I’m passionate about. Here’s to the rush that comes from living the free life God promises. I look forward to sharing my 2008 journey to freedom with you.

I scrounged around and found this old article I wrote that had an interview of Kendall Payne. I guess the Uhaul thieves weren’t interested in stealing old teenage Christian magazines because I found a whole little pile of old magazine articles that survived.

But I have another reason for posting this, other than just showing my article. As I was looking through this old box of stuff I came across old emails I had printed out, old letters from teachers, old greeting cards. Precious stuff that I had collected and forgotten.

I read an old email I had written to my mom in college. I was telling her about an amazing conversation I had with my journalism professor. A professor that made me cry quite often. A professor that made me hate writing for the first time in my life. A professor that made me feel like a failure. I was amazed to read in this email the words he had said to me on my last day of class with him. Amazed that he had said such encouraging things. Did he really pay me a compliment? Really? I don’t even remember. I have no recollection.

I picked up another letter…a high school English teacher had written this one. It was a referral letter for a scholarship for which I was applying. It was a glowing report, some of the kindest things I’ve ever read. And he even used the “a” word – artist. He called me an artist! I don’t even remember. I have no recollection.

I started to glance through card after card. Letter after letter. Note after note. My memory has failed me, I thought. I’ve forgotten so much. I have no recollection.

It made me realize two things:
One – the importance of documenting such things. I’m so thankful I have a handful of these old memories still in my possession. Ah, so this is why scrapbookers scrapbook.

Two – the importance of believing in yourself. Obviously it’s been my own choice to focus on the negative things that people have said about me. It’s been my own choice to blow those hurtful words up so big that they become insurmountable bumps in my path to “FREEdom.” It’s been my own choice to forget the positive encouragement I’ve been given, and to use the lack of it as my excuse for not becoming what my heart so longs for me to become.

I was so happy tonite, sitting on my cold garage floor with papers all around me, to be snapped into a different reality then what I had conjured up in my own mind. So thankful for words of encouragement from long ago that can feed my heart still today. So thankful that there were people who believed in me then even if I didn’t “get it.” I’m going to start listening to the positive more. Focusing on it more. I believe it will make for a better me.

I made this mini-album to pinpoint some everyday things that Nehemiah was doing at 10 months old.

Waking around 7 AM.
Close to walking.
Watching out the window when Daddy leaves.
Laughing when pulling the curtains over his head.
Pointing at things he notices.
Hating to get dressed.
Making Zoe and Charis laugh.

It was a fun album to make, and I was thrilled that it got published in the July Babies Book put out by Scrapbook Trends.

I just remembered I never posted it on my blog.

Blogged with Flock

I’m going to start posting digital scrapbooking content on the Scrap Girls Blog every Monday (for beginners) and Thursday (for more intermediate digital scrapbookers – techniques on using ScrapSimple templates). It will be original content each week, so if digital scrapbooking interests you, you may want to check out the Scrap Girls Blog on these days for tips, how-tos, and inspiration.

Found out this week that I am a runner-up in the Memory Makers Masters Contest. Almost 600 people entered, and I know for a fact there were some outstanding entries, because some of my friends at Scrap Girls entered. And they’re good. So, I’m grateful that I was picked as a runner-up, and was told in an email that runners-up may get some assignments throughout the year. We are also encouraged to submit article and project ideas, of which I’ve already submitted one that I’ve had in my head for awhile. I’m thankful for the chance to be a part of this magazine in an extended sort of way.

I have a new eBook up in the Scrap Girls store. It’s a beginner’s guide to laying out text on a scrapbooking layout, called Ten Beginner Tips on Type. I was inspired to write it because type is always one of the reasons we have to turn down people who apply to be on our Layout Design Team at Scrap Girls. I’ve found that type can make or break a layout.

I wanted to draw last nite, but got sucked into working on the Scrap Girls blog. Excited about some planning I’ve been doing on it and hope to implement it soon.

Perhaps there will be time for drawing today? Or, perhaps I should make time for drawing today.