School

Today was the first day of Fall semester at Moorpark College. I'm taking an online Journalism class - Writing and Reporting for Media. We had our orientation online and it's pretty darn cool! I am going to be VERY busy reading, writing, rewriting . . . wish me luck!

Don't know how much scrapping I'll get done over this semester. And my book club may kick me out if I don't read the books we will be discussing! But I'm looking forward to learning about the writing for media - should be challenging. I have to start a blog to go along with the class as well. I'll post a link once it's up and running.

Good night - I'm off to sleep :)

Book Club

I attended my first book club meeting tonight! And I had a great time meeting new friends and talking about the book - Snowflower and the Secret Fan. I think I'm going to really enjoy this; I just hope I can keep up with all the reading! LOL!

Big Picture Classes

Big Picture Classes is currently having their Big Idea Festival and I love participating because it makes me think outside the box and pushes me to scrap things I might not have thought about. This year it's all about "Words to Live By." Each guest teacher gives a word and a sample layout they've made and then challenges you to create a layout with their particular word.

Here's what I've done so far:

Day 4: Give

I give thanks to God every day for my family.

Day 3: Less

With me looking for a full-time job, that would mean I have less time to scrapbook :(

Day 2: Wonder

I have always wondered how a fax machine works. I mean, it's incredible you can send letters, photos, etc. from one machine and it ends up at another machine in tact!

Day 1: Share

I love this picture of me, my sister and niece at the M&M Shop in Las Vegas - I was sharing my love of M&M's (the blue one especially!) and my love of Vegas!!

So far, I have done all of my pages digitally. I kind of want to keep it going to challenge myself to learn the PSE program better. It's fun and frustrating at the same time!

Moving and Scrapping!

It's Thursday, August 11, 2011 and we are settled into the new rental (2 moves in 2 months is not fun). My craft room is pretty much settled and I've been scrapping as much as possible! Yay!

I made this mini-album for our trip to Kauai in November. I'm going to use it to log our daily activities/itinerary. I'll have a ton of photos so those will go in a larger album.

This is a layout using "wood grain" product - my paper is called Woodland, by Basic Grey. These are old photos from a camping trip to Joshua Tree National Park. I think Michele and Tyler were 7 and 5 . . .

This is the 2nd challenge in the "Book of Me" challenge. This one was to scrap your bucket list. So much fun - I'll be able to go back later to see if I can scratch any off the list!

I found these great shots of Glenn's dad fishing in the Rogue River. The challenge was to use at least 3 layers of different texture, and also use a campfire song title or lyrics. I used Fish & Chips & Vinegar since Pops was fishing! LOL! Honestly, I don't remember that as a campfire song . . .

This card was for a challenge to use eyelets. I always forget about using eyelets. I love the way they turn out, but somehow don't remember that I have them in my stash.

This layout was for a challenge to use colored pencils on your layout. I used them to color in the title, and to outline the letters and around the title spot. I also used them to "stitch" around the owl.

I've had these school photos of the kids on the wall in frames for at least 10 years. They are glad that I've finally taken them down! Hopefully I can replace them with more current photos!

New Stuff

There is so much going on right now:

1. I joined a book club - I'm so excited! I've read the first book: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Really a good book and amazing things like that happened - I can't even imagine!

2. I joined the Ventura County Writer's Club - I'm nervous but excited and really want to learn the craft of writing. I've had some classes before but really want to get more serious.

3. We are moving again!! Can't believe it, but after being in our rental for 2 months, we have to move to another rental. Oh well, we've signed a year lease on this new place and I'm hoping we'll be really happy there.

Ok, that's about it right now . . . oh wait, one more thing.

4. Pinterest.com - it's very addicting, but cool!!

Books

I haven't been reading as much as normal. I did just finish a book by Ciji Ware called "Cottage by the Sea" that I really liked. I downloaded it for free on the Kindle. The setting is in Cornwall England, a little cottage on the coast. A woman goes there after a divorce and remembering her grandmother told her she was a descendant of the owners of the cottage and castle. It was a good read!

I'm reading "The Journey Home" by Michael Baron. I'm only 3 chapters in to it, but so far it's pretty good. It's about a man who loses his memory and trying to find his way back to his wife. Looking forward to reading the rest.

I was reading "The Secret Holocaust Diaries" but kind of lost interest. I'll have to pick up where I left off and try to finish it.

More Digital

I've done several more digital layouts. I have been posting again on ClubCreatingKeepsakes - I had not posted for about 6 months due to work, moving, etc. but found I missed "talking" to all the members, and doing the challenges for cards and layouts.

This is for the "Book of Me" challenge. Can't wait to see what the next layout will be.

This was for the layout challenge for the week of July 17-23 - using a "Summer" theme. I chose to use photos of us at the Malibu Winery on a Friday night. Such a fun time, eating a picnic dinner, sipping wine, and enjoying the band.

And this was for the July Color Challenge - use black, brown and white on your layout or project. I didn't think the black and brown would be too pretty, but I used a light shade of brown and I really like it.