A Helping Hand

From Katie the Scarpbook Lady via Ali Edwards Azine

A MONTHLY ROUNDUP
Questions to answer

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
What special days did I celebrate and how?
What gifts did I give and/or receive?
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
What were this month's disappointments?
What were my accomplishments this month?
Anything else noteworthy to record?

Then do some (or all) of the following tasks to keep you organized and ready to scrap (and enjoy!) your memories. I don't do every task each month, but this is a good checklist for me to reference to be sure I am keeping things in order.

Pictures & layouts:
Back up all digital pictures and layouts to a cd
Print out any digital layouts created during the month and put them in albums.
Uploaded all digital pictures to 2 different sites. ( I use Sony Image Station & Costco photo center)
Send email links to online photo albums to your family or friends who might enjoy them or send a picture cd, or picture attachments. Share your memories!
Get your pictures printed out and put into simple photo sleeve albums.
If you use film, be sure you get all your pictures developed and file your negatives in a safe place. If possible, I would suggest you get a picture cd along with your developing.
Put finished paper scrapbook layouts in sheet protectors and albums to enjoy.

For bloggers - print out my blog entries to keep in a binder. My blog(s) really are like a journal and I was thinking that it would be nice to have hard copy to keep. I know some people back up their blog files which is probably a good idea. I copy and paste each entry into a word document, label the document with the month and year and then print it all at once.

Scrapbooking Supplies:
For digital scrappers:download, unzip, and file all kits & fonts purchased. Save a preview image of each kit and keep it in a separate file for easy browsing. Back up all new purchases to cd or dvd in case of computer crash or to maximize your hard drive space.

For paper scrappers:
put away any new purchases.
Do you still have stuff in sacks sitting around? I know some of you do! Put it away in an organized system.

For all scrappers:
Look through what you have purchased recently and decide what you want to use. At the first of the month set some goals for scrapping (hint – use this same list of ideas as a goal sheet for the next month)
Sort through old supplies that no longer appeal to you. Donate them to a friend who can use them or a charity. My older supplies go to my daughter who happily uses them to create many fun projects. I have also donated some to charity.
Look through what supplies you did use during the month and think about what it is about them that appealed to you. This will help you make smarter purchases in the future.
Clean up your area! Whether that is getting your computer in tip top shape, or clearing off the piles on a table where you can sit and work.
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I liked this idea and thought I should start touse this blog for collecting my memories.

Today is Mother's Day and it has been wonderful. I have laid in bed catching up on Uni reading and have been waited on. After lunch, (Takeaway burgers and chips, a guilty pleasure) I took Rachel to see a stage production of High School Musical. We loved it. After asking if I could sing, rachel promptly told me no. During the performance, she sang every note. My heart swelled up. I have now organised to meet my associate teacher for my prac teaching stint starting next Monday and am feeling nervously excited. Everything seems to be falling into place. I'll Speak next week.

GRATITUDE

This is a comment that I left for ALi Edwards. I thought that it might be good the place it here too.


I am grateful for oppurtunities and taking risks. I recently emailed my mother's cousin to ask for advice and support while I'm studying teaching. (she is a school principal.) This was daunting as she is quite well known and I thought it might be intrusive. I am glad I took the risk as she has rewarded me immensely. She has orgainsed mentors and oppurtunities for me while I am studying. How generous she has been with her time, spirit and resources. I am soooooo GRATEFUL.

Creative Manifesto

Ali Edwards' challenge for this week was to create a Personal Creative Manifesto.

Mine is short and punchy

• Just Do It - get in there and create.
• There are no mistakes.
• Anything Goes. If it feels good, keep doing it. ( I think I pinched that from somewhere)
• It's alright to change your mind.
• Scraplifting is inspiration, not stealing or cheating.
• It's supposed to be fun. If it isn't, then move on until it becomes fun again. (that applies to anything, I think.)

I think I will continue to add and revise this Manifesto , so WATCH THIS SPACE.

Also I have finished my 2nd TBR Challenge book,

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

I loved the notion that nothing is clear cut and that good people sometimes do bad things.

Now I'm off the prepare for Harry Potter and The Ghostly Hallows by rereading Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince.

See YA Soon

Book No 1 Down and Out

I have finished my 1st book for the 2007 TBR Challenge.

House Corrino - the 3rd Prequel to the DUNE series. I loved these three prequels and will go on to re read DUNE.


My LIFE ARTIST Challenge for this week wanted me to look at the scrapping item I am playing with for fun.

I am simply playing with storage. I am ORGANISING ( my word for 2007) my scrap space and having a lot of fun doing it. I have catergorised brads, collected all my pens, reorganised quotes and classified fonts and rub-ons and stickers. In doing so, I have rediscovered just how much stuff I have and how much I don't need to buy (who am I kidding with the Craft show on thursday). I am starting to feel re energised about creating after the mountain of Christmas presents I created last year.

Have a great week and I will see you soon, once I get started on my uni work. I'll tell you all about it once I wrap MY head around it.

Essentials Challenge

Ali challenged us to write a list of our "essential" scrapbook supplies.
Here is mine

CARDSTOCK - Bazzill - I love all colours but it must be textured.

PATTERNED PAPER - I am loving paisleys at the moment and I am a sucker for stripes.

OLFA ROLLER CUTTER, PERSPEX RULERS AND SELF HEALING MAT - I came to scrapbooking from patchwork and quilting, and I find my old supplies quite useful.

WORDS - stickers, handwriting, journalling, quotes, lyrics. It doesn't matter where I get them, my layouts are not finished with meaningful words.

CAMERA - Fugi Finepix 5600 Digital Camera - I love it. I always have it with me.

STAPLER and MAKING MEMORIES(MM) COLOURED STAPLES - I use these to attach ribbon, paper, card and simply to decorate.

MM MAGNETIC STAMPS - rummage and evolution fonts and embellishments. I recieved these for Christmas and already they have become an essential.

My word - ORGANISE

I have been searching for quotes that reinforce my word.

Here are a few dealing with organising my wants and things.

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. ~William Morris

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. ~Vernon Howard

Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves. ~Edwin Way Teale

The scultptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is a process of elimination. ~ Elbert Hubbard

I feel that I have too many possessions and no homes for these things to live. As Part of my "organise" challenge, I wish to contain my "need"/"want" for things and organise my home to be able to easily use the things I have. Even just putting this down in words is liberating.

New Year, New Focus

I have decided to ressurrect this blog for two reasons.


One is the challenges set by Ali Edwards through her Life Artist Newsletter at http://aliedwards.typepad.com.

One Word Challenge

My 2007 word is ORGANISE.

I would like to organise my study, thinking, reading, chores, home and family ( just kidding). I wish to bring peace and calm to my world in what is going to be a very busy year - I'm studying, Rach in year 3, jay in Year 1 and Miles starts preschool.


The second is to record my reading for 2007. I have joined the 2007 TBR Challenge at http://cafe-books.blogspot.com.

My 12 TBR books for 2007 are:-


Life of Pi - Yann Martel
House Corrino - Brian Herbert & Kevin Andersen
The Vinter's Luck - Elizabeth Knox
The Shipping News - Annie Proulx
Tully - Paullina Simons
The Known World - Edward P Jones
The Secret River - Kate Grenville
The World According to Garp - John Irving
Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
The Lady and the Unicorn - Tracy Chevalier

Extra Credit List

True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey
The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Over sea Under Stone - Susan Cooper
The Tale of Murasaki - Liz Dalby
Charlotee's Web - EB White