New Series

Before I discuss my new blog series, I would just like to say this: While I don't claim to be a saint, I don't think I am a horribly materialistic person. Sure, compared to the majority of humans who have ever lived, and who live on this planet right now, I have a ridiculous amount of material goods. And, there are always things on my wishlist. But, within the context of living in 21st century America, I try to be happy with what I have.

Furthermore, here is a favorite Valentine's Day story that my friend told me this year. Her husband was going to buy her chocolate for Valentine's day. He called up from work on Valentine's day saying he wasn't buying her the chocolate, because he had a coupon, and he forgot it at home, and he knows she would be more annoyed at him for paying full price, than she would if he didn't buy anything. And, to me, that's a very sweet and romantic Valentine's day story. Because, it's not about what you buy, but about the fact that they know each other so well, and enjoy each other's company.

Despite that, my new series is totally selfish and materialistic. It will run once a week from now until June 16th. (And by once a week, I mean whenever I get around to it.) The name of the series is:

A List of Items My Husband Can Buy me for Our 15th Wedding Anniversary

I don't want all of the things on the list. But, I want it to be a jewelery, and I want it to be a little nicer than a regular anniversary gift (which we sometimes forgo altogether). And, I want it to be a little romantic. Maybe even with a special little note engraved on the inside about how special I am.

So, without further ado, I bring you, the first installment of:

A List of Items My Husband Can Buy me for Our 15th Wedding Anniversary


This beauty can be bought here:





This darling can be bought here: And it's pretty inexpensive, so it might go nicely with this:


From here.




This pretty flower is not my usual MO, but it's interesting, and might go nicely with the last item for today, this:

Oops

Well my last post was about a blog hop, which I tried to join in depute it being the last days of Passover, by setting my blog to post on Monday. That didn't seem to work so well, but on Monday another of my layouts was posted here. It was this little fellow:



Previously, it was this guy:




Till next time.

Welcome Blog Hoppers! Happy Spring!

Welcome all from the SSC blog hop!

I am offline today celebrating Passover (thanks Chrissie for linking me up), which in Hebrew is also called "Chag Ha'aviv," which is the "Festival of Spring." Sometimes an extra month is added to the Jewish calendar (which goes according to the lunar cycle), to make sure that Passover falls out in the spring. This year was one of those years. (I know some of you are in parts of the world where it is not spring. They celebrate Passover now too. I don't know how to solve that problem.)

Now it just so happens that the many (many, many) preparations for Passover begin right after the holiday of Purim, which this year, actually fell on the first day of spring. How appropriate! As we were out and about on Purim, I saw the first buds of the season, and I was inspired to make this layout:






Thanks for stopping by, and if you leave me a comment, I'll be happy to come visit you on your blog after the holiday!

-Aliza

Grrrl Power!

I made this for my latest sketch at SSC.






There are many things that inspired this layout, and I feel compelled to share them here. See, first of all, I worked as a construction worker for a year and a half. It was a big change from teaching preschool, and there is a long story about how I got there, and how I got back to teaching. All of which, I would like to capture in scrapbooking form at some point. I think this layout, is my starting point. It only captures one small facet of that journey, but I think I have come to realize that that is how it is going to happen. There are too many pieces to the story to get it all at once. So, I will capture small pieces as they come to me.

When I first decided to leave teaching, and I got into the training program here,, I got this card from my mother in law:



But, more importantly, it came with this stamp:




And with these words: "I think you are a real Wonder Woman."

Fast forward a couple of years, my mother in law now lives in the building next door, and I did a lot of work to renovate her apartment. (I am shamelessly proud of myself for that.) One of the finishing touches on that apartment was to put up a bar in the shower. As I came out of the bathroom with my drill and my hammer, she said, "you really are what we worked for all those years." The "we" there, was all the women (and men) who fought, demonstrated, and demanded equal rights for women. Now, I had already thought about the fact that it was pretty amazing that I got to do what I did. Sure people doubted me. I even doubted myself, but I never thought I shouldn't be a carpenter.

So this layout says: "I am sure that many academic articles have been written about the modern day feminism. Whatever they might say, I know this: I have been a mom, a preschool teacher, and a construction worker, and I never felt like I had anything to prove. I just did what I wanted to do. So to all the women who worked to make that possible: Thank You."

And now I will shamelessly show off the work I did in my mother in law's apartment. I will show off both my painting and carpentry skills, as well as my fabulous design. A lot of people shuddered when they first saw this apartment, and I don't think my mother in law was that thrilled with moving in to this:





But I managed to turn it into this:









I even made the kid in the picture.

Amd back out of my comfort zone again

Another circle in a layout, and slanted pictures in the latest Simple Scrapping Sketch Challenge. Slanted pictures?!! I can't remember the last time I did such a thing. I thought for sure I would have to straighten these babies out, and substitute something "roundish" for the circle, but it all came together in the end.




It's funny, because if I look back at layouts from over the years, the ones about Sam are so often about how he moves: biking, climbing, jumping, etc. Recently, I made this one (again with the circle):



But I also have these, some dating back all the way back to 2006:







And here's one that I still love as much as I did on the day that I made it:



On the one hand, I think it says a lot about Sam. He is active, energetic, brave, talented, and a risk-taker (G-d, give me strength),and I guess he always has been. But I think it also says a lot about me. I am the one who took the pictures, and I am the one who scrapbooked them. I haven't always scrapbooked birthdays or holidays. Sure I mean to, but when I sit down to scrap, what are the layouts that get done? Well, so many of my finished layouts are about the kids' play, about nature, about activities we have done together, and about how much they have grown over the years. So, in their own way, all my layouts reflect what I enjoy most and what I value.

What do your scrapbooking subjects say about you?

Back to my Comfort Zone

I've been working very hard on leaving my comfort zone; of scrapbooking in all neutral colors, grid designs and with few, if any embellishments. But making this layout, made me realize why "comfort zone" is called just that: It just feels good and right. This layout makes me breathe easy. So simple, clean lines, all around goodness. And, I LOVE this picture of Sam.

Sam, my baby, who is not a baby anymore. And while I thought I would be sad, I really love the kid that he is now. Sure, chubby baby cheeks were great, but it turns out there is even more to love after they are gone.

New Sketch, and some Passover Goodness

First the sketch over at Simply Scrapping, which I will just say again, is a great site to share your work, find challenges and tutorials, and just generally connect to other crafters around the world.



And then my take:



I actually wasn't going to post this one, because it's a little sappy, and I generally try to keep that stuff to myself, but then my sister mentioned that her friend just died after battling cancer, and how her sisters had to say goodbye to her forever, and so I decided to just go for it.

The photo on this page, well, how can I put this gently...we all look like crap. But, it was a rushed Friday afternoon, 2 out of three of us were traveling, and the lighting there was less than stellar. But, it is rare for us all to be together in one place, so this photo is special anyway, despite our various shades of sallow.

And on a different note, I was commissioned to make these place cards for someone's Passover Seder.








I love the way they came out, and I'd love to make some for myself, but we are not quite classy enough for place cards. Perhaps one day.

Sketchy Saturday Challenege is Up

No big introduction, just here it is, this week's Sketchy Saturday challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts:






I LOVE the way it came out, and it was super fast. With family still visiting this week, I did not work on this layout till the night before it was due. Sometimes that's just the way it has to be, and my only fear when that happens, is that I will get stuck on a detail. Sometimes layouts come together right away, and sometimes I need to let them sit for a day or two before I am completely satisfied. That wasn't a choice this time.

Here's how it went down: I sat down with the idea to make this layout about my kids and their cousins, and how they've always been close. But soon after I printed the pictures, I did not like the way it was turning out. That was the kind of "stuck" that I was worried about, but without panicking I found these photos. After weeks of family visits, and a Bar Mitzvah, I had lots of pictures and stories to work with. I haven't really ever scraped about my nieces and nephews, except when they are in pictures with my own kids. One nice thing about working on design teams, and, therefore, working with deadlines, is that it forces me to do scrap more often, and with that comes scrapping about different subjects. This layout features my 4 year old niece from Israel, Meital, who is just plain cute. She usually warms up to me pretty fast, but she was so jet lagged, and there was so much happening that we didn't have that much time to bond. But, last Friday afternoon, I managed to play with her a little, and snap these photos. Also exciting, was using pinks, and frills without worrying about being too feminine. When this was finished, I just in my chair, staring at it, swooning over my work. I felt like Narcissus.

Something else I thought about as I made this layout. I am not a huge buyer of scrap products. I do buy some stickers, brads, buttons, ribbons, and tags, but I don't usually have a huge amount (compared to others). First of all, it's expensive, so I try to spend my money on the basics-namely tools and paper and cardstock. Second, I am a pretty simple scrapper. Third, there's a part of me that feels like I am cheating when I use pre-made items. And finally, I don't have that much room for tons and tons of supplies (though I am starting to think about how to squeeze some more storage into my scrap space). This past week, however, I decided to buy some supplies that I don't usually get--these swirly flourishes would be included in that. And, I do really love the way it looks. And it was so easy!! It makes it look so good, so fast. What shall I buy next...?