Some Layouts to Share

Since I told a Max story this week, we'll continue with some layouts about Max. 

I shared this one at Write.Click.Scrapbbook., as I wrote about documenting in-jokes. 

Here's a little song that Dave made up about Max. It's quite catchy, and it doesn't mean anything. It's just silliness. Apparently, I got some of the lyrics wrong, but I don't feel like fixing them. Take that, posterity! 

I was never much of a fan of the color gold, but I have to say, all the trends in scrapbooking and fashion have converted me. Here was my first gold foray. I even bought some gold embossing powder! Now all i have to so is stamp something. 

Here is  just a silly little moment recorded. For posterity, no less.

Way back in the 1980's, being a nerd was a something to be avoided at all costs. Nowadays, it's a badge of honor, of sorts. It means you know a lot (and are slightly obsessed with) about comic books, games, or sci-fi shows. Sometimes my kids even argue about who is the bigger nerd, each one claiming the title for himself.

Go figure. 

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Max.

When he was little, he cried whenever his parents left his side (like every day at preschool). He hid behind his parents when people came to visit.

Well, Max grew, and grew, and grew until he became a very large teenager. (He barely even fits in this picture.)

And he wasn't scared to leave his parents anymore. (They were happy if he said goodbye before he left for school in the morning).

And he didn't hide from new people anymore. 

In fact, by now, Max was so big and brave and not shy anymore that he was in his school play. A musical. He danced (sort of), and sang, and wore a skirt. (I mean a kilt! a kilt!)

And his parents were kind of amazed and excited and proud of the whole thing. 

P.S. On the morning of the play, Max did say goodbye to his mommy. And then he just stood there for a few moments, not going anywhere. And his mother (who is quite fetching, I might add) realized that even though Max was big and brave and not shy anymore, he was feeling a little nervous, and so she gave him a hug and a kiss. And then off he went.

The moral of the story is: Even though you might think you don't like the music of Gilbert and Sullivan, after watching Pirates of Penzance, you will come to realize that their tunes are quite catchy, and that's probably why everyone likes them so.

Chanukah, Oh, Chanukah

One day in late October, I received an exciting email from the lovely Stephanie Howell, asking if I'd like to create some Chanukah projects using My Mind's Eye products. Uh, yes please. Well, just opening that box of goodies was an experience on its own. Then I got to work and had a thrilling, and productive, time, creating and creating and creating.

Today it is all up and running on MME's blog, but I'll post it all here as well.

I do not usually work with a whole line of products. I just usually have bits and pieces from many different companies. Here I worked with MME's Cut and Paste, as well as Lost and Found-Record It. I was pretty shameless about mixing the two lines together; I couldn’t get enough of the grays, and vintage elements in Lost and Found, and then I liberally added pieces from the Cut & Paste collection for pops of holiday color and cheer.

Each night of Chanukah we light the candles together, and sing the blessings and the prayers. In my layouts, I like to capture the event, but I also liked to add a little detail that captures a little something about us as a family. So, I felt it important to record for posterity, that we are not very good singers- especially by day 8 of Chanukah, when the novelty has long worn off.

Chanukah food is pretty dang tasty, and while latkes get all the press, jelly doughnuts are a family favorite. We are lucky to live a block from a kosher bakery that sells fresh doughnuts each day of the holiday, and we are usually there first thing in the morning to buy our daily dose.

Since there are so many traditions that happen every year, I decided to make a mini album as a home for this year’s photos. And just because it’s Chanukah, I made eight topics for my album; Thanksgivukkah, candles, singing, gifts, latkes, doughnuts, chagigah (a party), and a Chanukah story. I tore right into the Lost and Found 6x6 paper pad for the base of the pages, and layered on elements from both collections. I am not an avid mini album maker, but this process was so quick and easy- everything just looked great together right away.  All of my pages were ready before Chanukah even started, and as soon as the holiday is over, I can pick out my favorite photos and pop them right in.

Now here’s something you might not know about lighting menorah. It can be a messy ordeal. There are menorahs, matches, and candles. At our home, we also light an oil menorah, so we have a bottle of olive oil and wicks that we use each night. So, this year, after many years of good intentions, I decided to make all this “stuff” look prettier.

First I created a decorative bottle for the olive oil:

Then a tin for all those little tiny wicks:

Inside that tin, fits a cute, matching match box.

Or the matches can be left out for this adorable, little tableau.

 And just because I was having fun, I made another matchbox too:

If nothing else, this year is definitely shaping up to be the prettiest Deutsch Chanukah ever, thanks to My Mind's Eye!

Write.Click.Scrapbook. December

Here it is, a layout for Write.ClickScrapbook.'s December gallery, Holiday Traditions:

This layout is more about how one particular tradition has changed a bit over the years; The Chanukah Wishlist. Sam, in particular, has taken this gift-y time of year very seriously, so the story is really about him.

This year, as the kids have gotten older, their lists were really smaller. Which allowed me to buy them some little gifts that in years past would have been a disappointment; slippers, a bathrobe, PJ's. Since their lists weren't filled with too many requests, or even a small amount of big expensive ones,  they seemed to appreciate these little surprises. 

It's only the beginning, but I am enjoying this year's holiday immensely.

A Pinterest Fail, That's Not From Pinterest

A few weeks ago, I saw a link to this DIY menorah on Facebook:

It was Sunday morning, and I said, "Kids, I know what we're doing today! We are making this menorah."

Well, Max had play practice (more on that to come), but Sam was happy to oblige. But in the process, Sam made a major change. He decided to make a menorah out of Legos. Which is good, because I was having trouble drilling holes in some of our toy dinosaurs.

Turns out it was difficult to get the right sized hole in Legos too. After much searching and drilling through different materials, we found these rubbery things that say they were meant for using candles in an oil menorah. Then, Sam spray painted the whole thing silver.

Perfect, right?

It was, and Chanukah arrived, and Sam lit this baby up.

We sang, exchanged gifts, and all that jazz.

And a little while later, a strange smell was coming from the living room. So, it could be the spray paint, or the rubber candle holders, both of which seem flammable to me. Either way, it was a little bit too well lit, and had to be put out.

 Sam declared it a Pinteret fail, even though Pinterest was never involved in the first place. But, it seems like the type of project that would be found on Pinterest.

Since this post is a story of Sam's craftiness, I will share this layout here. Same craftiness, different story.

Happy Chanukah, and Happy Thanksgiving!

On Inertia, Getting Started, and Blogging Your Heart

Oh, 2013, you have been a wonderful year, so far. A perfectly ordinary, life has its ups and downs kind of year.

It has not, however, been a great year for my blogging life. Which is okay, I guess. At some point, I decided blogging regularly just wasn't a goal for me anymore. I can't do it all, after all. But, now I would like to start again. For weeks, I have been collecting ideas. I have real notebook pages, and digital notebook pages filled with plans and words to get me started. I just didn't get to the starting part.

That's the power of inertia at work. Starting is hard.

But I came across Stephanie Howell's Blog Your Heart series. I'm using it as the nudge I need to get started.

So now I did it. I just have to keep doing it.

Let's move on to exercise. I had a pretty good rhythm going in 2013. It felt great.

Bike riding, with generous doses of Ellen Barrett DVD's,  (one day, I should write and scrap all about Ellen Barrett), had me feeling healthier than I ever  before.

But about a month ago, I was having some leg pains that could not be ignored. I didn't do anything crazy like, say, go to the doctor, but I realized I needed to take a break and heal. Stopping exercise is quite relaxing, I should tell you. It frees up some time, that's for sure. But, I feel  inertia lurking behind me, waiting to take over, so that another decade or two can go by before I start again. Because starting is so hard! So before inertia could fully work its evil magic, I tried a workout. I took it a little easy. One of the things I love about Ellen Barretts's approach to fitness, is her focus on paying attention to how your body feels. "If something doesn't feel right, modify it..." The next day I thought I really overdid it, but I realize now that was just the sore muscles talking. 

Ok, this is not the world's most interesting and/or earth shattering blog post. But it's a start.

Write.Click.Scrapbook November

Here's the layout:

  The theme for this month's gallery is "Dreaming." And, I felt a little weird using Comic Con pictures for said gallery, but really these guys have been dreaming of this day for months and months. In the summer, they were telling me all the things they needed to make their costumes, and I was like, "Why, oh why, are you talking about this now?" But all that dreaming and planning paid off, because their costumes kind of rocked.

They have already started thinking and planning and dreaming (Dave actually had a dream about his costume) for next year. I won't give away any details yet, but I will say  that Sam has been "working out," (on a sprained ankle, no less) because we have mentioned that we are not buying a muscle suit for a costume. So he's trying to build up some actual muscle.

Max was worried about walking through the streets and taking public transportation while sporting his costume, but before he even walked a few blocks, some admirers yelled out praises to him from their cars, and it made him feel pretty, darn good.