Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Simple Stories WINNER is...

Congratulations @lynning, winner of a MemoryWorks Simple Stories scrapbook kit! I just pulled Lynn's name from the Easter bunny's head and snapped a photo with my Twitterberry. Yes, I did paint my nails for the first time in months due to this post. And yes, they are silver, the only color nail polish that was available at the time.

Anyway...I want to thank everyone that shared the giveaway with their followers, tweeted, retweeted and commented here on my blog. THANK YOU! You are wonderful!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The Retweetables: 10 Great Tweets from Scrappin' Tweeps, March 19-25, 2010

I secretly call my Blackberry a Twitterberry since Ubertwitter is the most used application on my cell phone. I love how I can stay in contact with the world (without actually having to talk to anyone) from the palm of my hand. Twitter is a constant source of wonderful information that can be educational and rewarding if you follow the right tweeters. The scrapbooking community on Twitter is jam-packed with creative folk who love to share and inspire.

These 10 tweeters are also my #FollowFriday recommendations, so please follow this wonderful group of people and businesses! In no particular order...

1. @MakingMemories: Eye Candy for a Friday http://blog.makingmemories.com/2010/03/eye-candy-for-a-friday-.html

2. @atthebluebarn: scrapbooking layouts for your teen: http://atthebluebarn.blogspot.com/ #scrapbooking

3. @peekatmypaper: Ha! Just finished a Scrapbook to Celebrate Grandma's 90 Years! Take a Peek: www.peekatmypaper.blogspot.com

4. @BeckyHigginsLLC: Scrapbooking system: On my mind. And maybe on yours too? http://tinyurl.com/yzwce86

5. @BoBunnyPress: Wow....need ideas for organizing your craft room! Come see Designer Carole Janson's new room! www.bobunny.blogspot.com It's amazing!

6. @wcopley: I made some labels for you to download and print and put on the marmalade you're going to make: http://ur1.ca/rdyx

7. @scrapscene: A great tutorial from Dina Wakely today: http://bit.ly/cq96ht

8. @LogYourMemory: Today on our Blog: 10 Ideas for Dating Your Layouts http://goo.gl/fb/J3HE

9. @wendysmedley: It is true, I love to laugh http://wendysmedley.typepad.com/possibilities/2010/03/it-is-true-i-love-to-laugh.html

10. @DCWV: Anyone can be a queen....or a princess, you choose. :) www.dcwvinc.blogspot.com http://bit.ly/di7d9r

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Green scrapbooking has a new supporter: @ecoscrapbook

Have you heard? I'm now tweeting as @ecoscrapbook! Take a look at a few of my tweets:
Now, I'm not a crazy-super-eco-granola-woman, but I try to make greener choices during the spring. Maybe it's the green grass, my April birthday or the annual Earth Day celebration... Whatever it is, changes are made in my life that can positively alter the earth, even if it's only a little bit.

As a scrapbooker, I use an overabundance of paper. It's pretty. I like it and use it to document my family with hopes that future generations will enjoy looking at my scrapbooks when I'm dead. I don't plan on giving up my favorite hobby to save the planet, but I will make choices to be more eco-friendly as I scrap. Thus, the reason I created @ecoscrapbook is to share the things I learn about green scrapbooking with you.

Do I know what I'm doing? No, but it's fun to learn! So follow me on Twitter as @ecoscrapbook and we can have fun together.

Friday, March 19, 2010

The Retweetables: Funny, crafty and cool, March 12-18, 2010


It's a wonderful thing when you can be inspired, laugh and learn from a group a people without ever leaving your home. I'm not a recluse. I do manage to get out of the house at least once a day. Yet, as a mom, it is not always easy to have adult conversation when there are children around. I'm lucky if I even get a chance to converse with people who don't make farting noises and scream when something goes wrong.

I turn to Twitter so I can feel grown-up and these five people often make my day a bit better since they are funny, crafty and cool. Take a look at some of their tweets:

  • Scrapping with real cupcake sprinkles: http://theluckythirteen.blogspot.com/ I'm going to do this again soon!
  • If you see my dentist in a fancy new car after next month, I'll give you one guess who made that possible.
  • Pic of my very purple info table at Create-n-Crop http://twitpic.com/184rbd #scrapbook
  • Best sign seen at Create-n-Crop vendor booth: "Your husband called, he said u can buy anything u want" #scrapbook
Honorable Mention: @GetItScrapped was in my #retweetable list last week and if you are a scrapbooker and aren't following her, stop reading this blog and get over to Twitter to follow her now. Here are just a few of her recent tweets:

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The story of the leprechaun


Long ago, March 2009, a little leprechaun hopped on a rainbow and traveled from Ireland all the way to Ohio. He wrote wonderful notes and brought shiny trinkets to a six-year-old girl while she sat in her kindergarten classroom. Each day after arriving home from school, the six-year-old would rush to the front door to see if the leprechaun left anything that day. She wanted so badly to catch this little leprechaun and put a Build-A-Bear box out on the front porch with hopes of catching a small, green fairyman.

Once St. Patrick's Day came and went, the six-year-old girl still checked the front porch. The leprechaun had to write a note to her saying that he had to go back to Ireland since his family needed him, but not to worry since he would be back the next year.

That six-year-old grew a year older and was now seven. She still dreamed of meeting a little leprechaun and started writing notes to him on March 1, 2010. The leprechaun knew that the seven-year-old was thinking of him so he sent her a card and stickers in the mail. He told her to leave a pot of gold out for him by March 15.

When March 15 arrived, the seven-year-old girl wrote a note, left a pot of (fake) gold on the porch and went off to school. The little leprechaun took the gold and gave the girl a shamrock headband and the next day, he dropped off a pair of shamrock earrings.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and the leprechaun has already stopped by the little girl's house, left all of the (fake) gold he took on Monday and some he took last year. Now there are green fairy wings waiting for this seven-year-old girl to remind her that leprechauns are really fairies in Irish mythology (something she doesn't believe right now).

And this was my leprechaun story. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Below is a scrapbook layout I created to celebrate the month of March. The bottom-left photograph shows the six-year-old with her pot of gold on St. Patrick's Day 2009.


Supplies include MemoryWorks Simple Stories, DCWV cardstock, Scenic Route arrow, Me&My Big Ideas flowers.

Posted by Picasa

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Retweetables: My Top 10 Crafty Tweets, March 5-11, 2010

I love Twitter and if you are reading this, you probably already know that. I like to tweet and retweet often, but maybe too much about crafty things. Realizing that all my followers are not scrapbookers or crafters, I know they could care less about tie-dyed tights and paper flowers. Out of respect for them, I've decided to create a weekly list of my favorite tweets that I would normally retweet. This Top 10 will also be my #FollowFriday recommendations, so please follow these wonderful people/businesses!

Note: I have also included the actual links, when possible, so you know what you are clicking. These tweets are in order by date.

1. @GetItScrapped: Scrapbooking yourself? Bookmark this post with Quotes re self from Twain, Plato, Ovid, Thoreau & more! http://bit.ly/cQmqzF
http://debbiehodge.com/2010/03/scrapbook-yourself-now/

2. @UnKit: Sign up for unKit and Sudie TV newsletter here. http://bit.ly/aJU9J3

3. @GetItScrapped: Scrapbook Your Interests with No Words on @scrapscene http://bit.ly/9RxMgv
http://www.scrapscene.com/2010/03/scrapbook-your-interests-%E2%80%93-without-words.html

4. @GLUEDOTS: Make your own Baby Announcements! http://ow.ly/1giob

5. @MemoryMixer: What little thing do you love about Spring? http://clixtrac.com/goto/?15780 (I love daylight savings ENDING!) :)
http://thelittlethingsbymemorymixer.blogspot.com/

6. @makeandtakes: Bloomin’ Handmade Greeting Cards You Can Plant http://bit.ly/bnBTYm
http://www.makeandtakes.com/handmade-plantable-greeting-card

7. @craft: How-To: Tie Dyed Tights: Bust has a great tutorial for tie dying tights on their site.
http://bit.ly/apegWM
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/03/how-to_tie_dyed_tights.html

8. @CaraScrapNStamp: Die Cuts R Us Challenge "Bouquets of Paper" http://tinyurl.com/yk47glu Show us your paper flowers!
http://diecutsrusdesignteam.blogspot.com/2010/03/challenge-29-bouquets-of-paper.html

9. @luisitas: How has scrapping affected your life? QOTD on CSDivas: http://ning.it/dBoKAx
Note: You will need to sign-up to be a part of Creative Scrapbooking Divas.

10. @mmscrapshoppe: In my search for the perfect ribbon storage I came across some incredible unique ideas! Come by the blog and see!... http://bit.ly/8YGF2u
Note: Link takes you to Facebook which then takes you to http://mmscrapshoppe.blogspot.com/2010/03/creative-ribbon-storage-ideas.html

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Make gardening easier with a journal

Gardening books had once overtaken the shelves of my bookcase. The books were filled with loads of useful information, but not all pertaining to my garden. I wanted to slim-down my collection since I needed room for all of my scrapbooks. I decided to use an empty journal that had been gathering dust and turned it into my favorite garden tool.


Back in 2007, I was full-swing into the garden phase of my life and had completely revamped my landscape. During that year, I photographed my flowers, plants and trees during each season and used a journal to record everything that happened. I included the basics, like how much sun was needed, if I should fertilize, pests and diseases that visited, when each bloomed and any other tips that I found useful.









(Note: Did you notice the funky carrot cluster? Apparently I'm not good at growing carrots. Oh well.)

I made mini journaling cards using Microsoft Word and printed them onto green cardstock. This was particularly helpful with my roses since they needed a lot of attention. (Unfortunately, I no longer have my roses since I was unable to keep up with their high maintenance after having my youngest child in May 2008. I failed. They failed. But by keeping a record of how I did take care of them, I know how to care for roses in the future if I want to go down that road again.)



My favorite garden memory of 2007 was when I planted a Three Sisters Garden- corn, beans and squash. Now this type of garden is meant for a large amount of land, but I only had a 4'x10' area to use. I still wanted to do it since I loved the story behind the Three Sisters. The three seeds are planted together because:

They want to be together with each other, just as we Indians want to be together with each other. So long as the Three Sisters are with us we know we will never starve. -Chief Louis Farmer (Onondaga)

Beautiful.



I also planted a row of Mammoth Sunflowers behind the Three Sisters for added privacy. These sunflowers were named Mammoth for a good reason too. Mine grew over 12' tall, which my daughter absolutely loved. And with sunflowers, birds and squirrels are always nearby.



My garden journal is far from being fancy- just plain white pages, cropped photos, scribbles of words and a few doodles. Yet, I reached my goal. I reduced my stockpile of gardening related material and created a one-stop source of information for my garden. Now gardening is easier and there is still plenty of room to continue documenting my garden experiences.