It's What We Do, a book review.

A ragtag bunch of ladies get together to drink.  wine.  then tequila.  

Then decide to form a book club.

SUUUUPER hardcore partiers.

Not just any old book was chosen, either.  A pretty tough one, as far as subject matter goes.  It is The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch.  You know, the guy who endured my GREATEST FEAR OF ALL TIME.  (see a past blog post about that here.)

The book was created after Pausch delivered one lecture in a series of "Last Lectures" at Carnegie Mellon University.  Many professors have, and will, give theoretical Last Lectures - ones where they are asked to ponder life and present what information would be the most important to divulge IF it were their last lecture ever.  In Pausch's case, it truly was his last, as he had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

VIEW THE LECTURE HERE.

I really follow this dude's positive approach to life.  He is definitely a "Tigger" and not an "Eyeore".  He has time management all figured out.  He has a nice BALANCE between hard work and lotsa fun.  

The book is easy to read; most "chapters" are a mere couple of pages.  He throws out his opinions on how to truly live life, an example or two, and wraps it up concisely.  

So many good ideas, so many fabulous reminders to adjust focus to what matters.

My beef is that there are TOO MANY good ideas.  It is hard for me to focus.  I guess the overarching theme is to not sweat the small stuff, don't sit around on your butt, but rather DO things that matter.  

I ran across a Jane Austen quote the other day that I think adequately sums up my take-away from this book.  The thing that I am planning to make my focus:

"It isn't what we say or 

think that defines us, 

but what we do."

Not bad inspiration resulting from a bunch of rag-tag wine-os.

Have a lovely day DOING,

Stacey

What to do with all those Christmas Cards:

Do you have a wall in your home that looks similar to this?:

No?  

Oh, me neither.

I'm not lying!  Saturday night (yes, it was January 25) my homegirls came over and brought their piles of Christmas cards/pics.  Then I (finally) took mine down & we DID SOMETHING WITH THEM!

Isn't it grand?!

For the past few/several years I have been copying this exact same layout multiple times over to scrapbook the lovely Christmas cards I receive.  I'm not quite done with this years', so here are the photos from my 2012 cards:

 (sorry for the creepy blurred heads, but I didn't feel right about putting so many people's 

faces/children unknowingly out in "The Internets")

I've seen various documentation others have done with these cards.  Many people keep them all in one album.  A Christmas card album with several years' worth of cards in there.

But, although I make scrapbook pages in no particular order, I store each page chronologically in my albums.

If this looks like something you'd like to try, I will give you some simple steps to follow along:

1. Gather all of your cards/letters/pictures.  Separate them into those 3 piles.  (I usually throw out the cards, unless there is a personal note inside)  
2. Ruthlessly trim down all the photos - cutting out the cute bench/tree/old barn door and sometimes even their full length bodies. 
3. Sort the trimmed down photos into piles.  You don't have to do this, but I usually have all my family on the first pages, close friends second, and then all our other friends and acquaintances later.
4. Choose 2 patterned papers.  Trim paper into 3x12 inch strips.  Adhere to the bottom of your cardstock.  
5. Choose 2 washi tapes.  I recommend choosing ones that contrast with your paper, in order to stand out.  Adhere onto cardstock just above the paper.  (In 2012 I glued down a sequin ribbon between the paper & washi tape)  Use a thin strip of paper, ribbon, or other trim as another option!

6. Adhere down your photos.  Some tips: I start with big photos in the bottom inside border & build up and out from there.  Also, notice that the margins between each of the photos and the washi is all the same.  This space gives rest for the eye and provides a sense of order with all those photos!

7. I use a label punch to punch out how ever many of the medium size labels that I need (one for each photo).  I used a gold vellum in these photos.  I have used either cardstock or a very subtle patterned paper in the past. Use what you have! Then I write (in Sharpie) their family's name on each & adhere to the photo.

8.  For the easiest embellishing ever, I used the Heidi Swapp Color Shine (this is a liquid paint in a tiny spray bottle) in Gold Lame to sprinkle on the pages.  It dries in tiny little circles of gold dazzle.  It seriously trips me out - the goldy shimmer.  Aaaaanyhooo....

9.  Lastly, I build a simple pocket page for my letters and cards (and photo cards I find hidden by my children in the couch cushions when I actually clean them out in June or so...).

• I trim a patterned paper down to 6x12 inches.  
• Use one of the washi tapes across the top of the patterned paper.  Then place adhesive right along the very edge of both sides and the bottom.  NOT THE WASHI EDGE, of course.  
• Stick it down and you've got yourself a pocket!
• Neatly stuff all your letters/misc items in there.

 Voila!

I hope this helps you in some way.  Helps you get your photos off the wall/out of the basket/out of the garbage can :)

I can tell you that my life is so much smoother when I have a plan.  And this simple plan for what to do with my Christmas Card photos makes me happy and feel accomplished.

Have a wonderful day!
Stacey

Serendipity & Hearts

My homegirl Christina had a fabulous valentine's day crafty party idea, which inspired me to look into my stash of decor.  Last year I searched online for some ideas, and then serendipitously discovered my children destroying a pack of playing cards!  I can use the hearts!  Yay for turning "lemons" (i.e. lost & bent-up playing cards) into "lemonade" (a super-cute little garland). 

Playing cards, shipping tags, doilies, buttons & ribbon garland.

Interestingly enough, this little side buffet that I keep in my entry way has a serendipity story as well.

At one point it was a china hutch with three shelves and glass covered doors.  Then we moved.  You see, we live in an agricultural community.  Everybody has a truck, a trailer, and a few available hours to help you move if you buy some beer or bake some cookies.  On its trip in someone's trailer down Highway 101, the top half of this hutch kamikazied right off the side.  Turns out it wasn't really attached.

Whoopsie.

So I ghetto-cover it with a lovely lace tablecloth from my grandma.  "Someday" I will get a beautiful marble top cut (AND attached) for the top of it.

But, for now - and most likely for many more years, the lace does a lovely job of covering up the rough raw wood underneath?

Yes?

So I distract your eye with garland...

And distract you with even more serendipity: We bought our current house - and get this: it has a built in china hutch in the dining room!  Bam! So now I have a nice little buffet/display table in my entry, as well as a nice little china hutch/display in my dining room.

These glittery red heart boxes? Found on UBER clearance last February in a Target post-Valentine's day area.  I bought a ton of them and filled them with See's Chocolates for a March 2 baby shower :)

 

You can see I had a few extra...

I also made this garland last year, but never really finished it.  I think it can use quite a bit of embellishing.  I used doilies, Whisker Graphics paper bags, pink feathers, and "tags" I made from patterned paper and cardstock for the base.  

But it is missing a certain Je-ne-se-quai...

(sorry for butchering your language, France) 

What would you use to embellish this?  

Hearts are clearly missing...

Something sparkly...

Aaanddd?!?!?

Lemme know what you think!

Muah,

Stacey

Workspace Wednesday

January.

I get all crazed with purging in January.

Post-holiday piles of stuff. 

My birthday, followed by Halloween, Clark's birthday, Thanksgiving, Jane's Birthday, Christmas...

Ah, January.

When the accumulation of stuff overwhelms me and I begin the process of sorting, tossing, and donating.  I love January. 

BEFORE

So I look at this stifling room; this office/crafty space; this space that was not inspiring me.  The lighting: (which still needs to be addressed) dim & yellow, the furniture: not working together well, the STUFF: everywhere...

DURING

So, naturally, I did absolutely nothing about the piles of crap (except move them into one monstrosity of a pile), and pick out some paint colors.  I had to move all the furniture.  I had to go get a new paintbrush.  I had to enjoy the therapeutic back and forth, back and forth of the brush on the wall. 

AFTER 

I am so glad I did.  The brightening up of this room forced me to clean through things.  It forced me to see things with a different light.  It forced me to rearrange.

The thing about rearranging your space is that it rearranges your mind/soul/spirit. 

Now, I'll take you on a little photo tour, circling to the right.  I'll show each wall, then a little detail, K?  If you have any questions about my storage/space that I don't address, please leave me a comment & I'll get right back to you.

(Spray ink shelf, in ROYGBV order- of course!) 

(East-facing wall)

(Super-cute assistant)

(Washi, Stamps & old letter stickers for the kids)

(South wall)

 (Kids' art stuff + Cute Assistant)

(West wall / Closet)

 Mini-books and storage

 And, back to my workstation

 Thank you for looking at this photo tour of my newly refreshed space!

May your 2014 be refreshing,

Stacey

World domination with C.R.A.P.

Once I read a book about design.  Ok, I have read a few.  One awesome book gave a VERY memorable acronym for the design principles of Color, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity.  

C.R.A.P.

Isn't that memorable?

Use the principles of design to get people to look at what you want them to.  

And then, you can take over the world! BWAHAHA!  

But, mostly I relate design principles to scrapbooking rather than world domination.  Mostly.  And I want to show you how I use these principles on my pages.   Today, let's focus on Repetition.  Repetition.  Repetition. The following three scrapbook pages use circles repetitively.

Simple, really.  Take one thing.  Then do it again and again!

Page 1 "FRIENDS"

Color: Monochromatic, with a contrast accent

Repetition: color & shape

Alignment: equal margins, symmetry

Proximity: lined up circles, groups of contrasting red

Here I've used a circle punch with a bunch of my yellow scraps. 

Repeating the color yellow, as well as the circle shape.

You will notice that I ALSO repeated the line of circles.

A lined up group of circles up top, and also down below. 

I (hopefully) have used repetition of colors and shapes to get you to look at the photos.

Lastly, notice that I use a contrasting color (red), 

and repeat circle shapes throughout. 

Page 2: "FUN on the Fourth!"

Color: contrasting

Repetition: color & shape

Alignment: assymmetry, title sits on a line

Proximity: triangulation

More circles!  This page utilizes a white die cut paper from Jillibean Soup.  

I filled most of the holes with repeating yellow or blue scraps of paper.  

Check out the how the title pieces are placed.  If you follow from the word "FUN"

to "on the FOURTH!" and then over to "2013" it makes a triangle.  Go ahead. 

Trace it with your finger on the screen!  The imaginary triangle makes the eye follow around the page; totally framing the photograph.  Which is, of course what I want the viewer to notice most: the photo!

Then you will notice the blue and yellow embellishments scattered around.  

I have repeated color, shape, and even type of embellishment for visual interest.

Lots of "triangle" placement is repeated as well!

Page 3: "XO XO XO!"

Color: triadic, contrasting

Repetition: colors & shapes

Alignment: groupings, title sits on a line

Proximity: circles in circles!

 More and more circles!  This time I used a circle punch to cut four circles from each of 

the papers from the Crate Paper Love Notes 6x6 paper pad.  I used a couple plates to

pencil concentric circles on the cardstock to more orderly place my circles.

 Repeats: circles (duh), sequins, washi tape, arrow clips, wood shapes, and colors!

All these elements point to (literally with arrows!) the photo.

Thanks for repeating with me today!


Thank you, thank you, thank you,
Stacey

Gratefulness 2014

There is a worship song we used to sing in Young Life:

Gratefulness

Gratefulness is what I long for 

Gratefulness is what I need

Gratefulness 

Gratefulness is what You want from me.

Each verse had a new "...ness" 

- Thankfulness

- Brokeness

- Joyfulness, etc

(Hanalei Bay, 2010)

In 2012 I began reading a book by Ann Voskamp titled, "One Thousand Gifts".  The memoir is a very deep and intense look at this woman's life - a life full of tragedy, pain, and dullness.  And yet, it is a life in which one may find a multitude of beauty.  One Thousand Gifts, in fact.  The author documents these blessings, numbers them, and sprinkles them poetically throughout her book.  

And I am, in an attempt to be more Grateful, going to list my blessings this year.  I've done an exercise in gratefulness before, and was amazed at how quickly I could fill a page with detailed, big, and small blessings.  Now, I am documenting them in my Project Life  Scrapbook.  

1,000 gifts in 2014.  

Join me? 

Off to find my cards of lists to share with you,

Stacey

Ac - cent - tu - ate the Negative.

But do not e-lim. In-ate the positive.  USE BOTH!!

Figuratively, both negative and positive experiences in our lives shape us into the person we are. 

Literally, both negative and positive scrapbooking items can shape up into amazing layouts! 

Yes, I spend too much time thinking about scrapbooking.

Below you will see some simple snapshots of my utilization of a scrap piece of white cardstock, some Heidi Swapp color magic letters, and HS Color Shine:  

I lined up the letters SO CLOSE together, because my cousin and I used this phrase as our hash tag to link up all our Instagrams of our Hawaii trip together in June 2013.  Check me out if you want: Stacemaee.

NOTE: When setting the letters, be gentle and don't push them down.  This way they will not stick to this paper & can be used on another project!

I used Pink on the left and faded it with Coral on the right.  Just a few sprays each will do...

Remove the letters...
And you will have two great items to use!

I trimmed the misted cardstock down, cut a triangle notch out of the right side to create a banner, and handdrew a fine black line around the edge for some definition.

And here's my final project with it!
 (this page has all Fuji Instax photos, FYI.  They are so fun!)

And here is the next page & use of the actual letters:

Because the box I spray/glitter/emboss in had so much powder and other overspray, the letters were not very sticky.  I was worried they would fall off, or that my hand would fall off trying to glue each one individually.  SOoo, I just ran it through my sewing machine.  Super easy, as long as the sewing machine is already out!

BALANCE

In my life, the scales often tip heavily in one overwhelmed direction or another.  Sometimes aimlessly.  Sometimes purposefully.  I rarely notice until it is too late and it all comes crashing down. 

This reminds me of when I had my first flight lesson.  My dad was my first instructor and he was SO.  FRUSTRATED. with me.  At least I would have been frustrated with me! (he was a pretty calm dude).  I can still remember the first (and continuous) phrase he would repeat.  “Don’t let the helicopter get away from you.”  You see, flying a helicopter is a series of CONSTANT, tiny corrective inputs.

Imagine standing on a ball.  You can’t lean too far off to one side, because you will have gone too far (“dynamic rollover” in a helicopter), and you don’t have enough time to correct it before you fall. 

(oopsie.  Dynamic rollover in a Robinson R-22.  NOT ME!) 

Literally, you would crash a helicopter if not for constant attention and tiny corrections.  Figuratively, your life crashes when you just don’t pay attention and make changes, even small ones.

All that to say, I am striving for BALANCE in 2014.

I want to take good care of my body.  Keep on running and doing yoga.  Be healthy and strong – without getting all crazy about being as skinny as so-in-so, or as fast as whats-her-name.  Healthy, not obsessed.

I want to be presentable.  Keep on putting on a little makeup and wearing cute clothes  - without getting all crazy about not being seen in public without makeup, and not worrying if I have a messy house and inviting friends over anyway.  Presentable, not obsessed.

I want to read, play, and listen to my children.  Keep on volunteering when possible and reading, reading, reading – without getting all crazy about how many letters they know or screaming at them when they don’t put their shoes on fast enough.  Loving, not obsessed.

(one of my all-time fave comics)

I want to appreciate my husband more.  Start giving compliments, encouragements, and being present – without getting all crazy about what makes me mad and focusing on the negative crap.  Positive, not obsessed.

I want to enjoy things and experiences.  Focus on travel and family and friends – without overspending money on other random crap throughout the month (Target, I’m looking in your direction).  Giving, not spending.

Healthy, Presentable, Loving, Positive.  Giving.  BALANCED.

The only place where I want the scales to tip completely is with God.  I want to be sold out, worship fully, and love others because of His great grace.  Like this one song says, “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves me.  Oh, how He loves us!”

Other areas where I have goals, dreams, and wishes in 2014:

Scrapbooking:

1.     Going to start Project Life for the year.  Read about what that is HERE.

2.     Getting on a manufactuer’s design team.  Trying, even if/when I fail.  And trying again.

Blogging:

1.     Actually doing it.  Scheduling time for myself to accomplish this. Aids in #2 goal above.

2.     Coming up with 2-3 weekly features.  And DOING it. J

Yoga:

1.     Going twice a week, rather than the one I currently attend.  It feels SOOOO GOOD.  If you don’t go, try it!

2.     Focusing enough to do an unassisted headstand.  (!!!)

Gratitude:

1.     Writing my blessings down.   Focusing on the positive.

2.     Trying for 1,000 gifts in 2014

Going to tackle all these items by not tackling them.  Just making tiny, constant corrections.  Course corrections that will change my landing spot entirely.  Here’s to a great 2014!

I would love to hear from anyone out there in the Internets. 

Do you have some goals? Resolutions? Some desire for BALANCE?

Let me know!

Making tiny corrections,

Stacey