Beatrice Estelle Smith

Recently Heritage Scrap has a new designer, Roberta T. Designs. This is a layout of my Great Grandma Bea, whom I most resemble of all my relatives and ancestors. It was created with her

Botanical and Lace kit.

Life Book Challenge At Heritage Scrap

Life has been so crazy, I don't know if I have even mentioned that last month I took on a new position as Creative Team Leader at Heritage Scrap, which is a digital scrapbook store and community designed to serve the needs of heritage and vintage scrappers with special emphasis on telling the story!

My new friend Vicki has started the Life Book Challenge, which when finished will complete the entire life story of yourself or a person in your family. I chose to do mine on my Grandma Hopkins. Since I have shared so much about her on this blog, I decided I will post some of the pages here.

This page is going to be the cover or opening page of her book. I blended a photo of her taken midlife with a background paper from Jean Daugherty in the collaborative Old Tyme Rose kit, the wide lace band from Digizines by Teri's Misty Morning Kit and the narrow lace from Annie's Digital Things' Grandmother's Sewing Basket kit. Next up is the birth pages. I think this is going to be a lot of fun!

Our Prayers For You

This page was made with Lori Ann Imel's Be In Prayer Remix available at Faith Sisters. My step Dad Jack will be having stomach cancer surgery on February 5, 2009 in Seattle, WA. If any of you pray, please pray for his healing and that the surgery will go well. Also, please pray for my Mom Ruth as she waits. Thank you.

Made Ya Look Monday

Faith Sisters has a column called Made Ya Look Monday, where the administration chooses several layouts in the gallery that "make ya look". The layout above is one of mine that was chosen today. I created it using a wedding photo I took several years ago (and if you've been here before you have seen it in some of the heritage scrap layouts I've made) and a beautiful kit from Willro & Co Designs called Sweet Things .

I decided to play with it some more using Willro & Co's Sorbet Dream kit, also available at Faith Sisters. I'm trying to stretch myself creatively and work in some styles that are not my natural. I have a tendency to get too "tight" in my creativity and need to "loosen" up. So, I tried these heritage photos with modern design. It was kind of fun to do something different.

And today is this couple, my maternal, maternal great grandparents, would have celebrated their 104th wedding anniversary (if that were possible!).

I'll try to post more often. I have been a bit overwhelmed finding my way around forums and assignments and all the new things I am doing on the Creative Teams.

Made Ya Look Monday

Today at Faith Sisters one of my layouts was chosen for Made Ya Look Monday, which features several layouts that "make ya look" in the galleries. It was a nice surprise when I checked in today.

This is my paternal Grandmother and Hubby fixed this photo for me on PSE in the days before I was working with it. My Grandma had a fight with my Grandpa and tore it. We always laugh though because we knew she couldn't really mean it because she carefully tore just the left side off and not through her face! LOL It's the only portrait picture I have of her. It's her birthday today (January 2nd when I made this), so I felt like making a layout of her.

I used a beautiful kit from Debra Ballance, called Fall Elegance (http://faithsisters.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1393). The journaling page is one of Debra's beautiful Autumn Journaling Boxes (http://faithsisters.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1759). The portrait was taken in September 1946 so I thought the rich autumn colors and designs were perfect for it.

Happy New Year!

Did you stay up until Midnight to bring in the New Year? I talked my Hubby into staying up with me last night - usually he is bah humbug about it! Being the little nerds that we are, I was on my lap top and he was on his, but we enjoyed the night together working on our computers and sharing a late lasagna dinner after the kids were in bed.

Did you make resolutions? When I was a teenager I spent all evening working on a LONG list of things to work on over the next year. As the years pass and are filled with more important things that I ever wrote on those lists, my list grows shorter. I'm learning to lay perfectionism aside. I'll never get there and it just drives me crazy trying. That doesn't mean that I don't strive for excellence, but I will leave perfect up to God.

So my list is more like categories to work on in 2009.

1. I want to get below a certain number in my weight and I have made an extremely reasonable goal.

2. I want to eliminate clutter in my life.

3. Most importantly, I want to work on being more real in my relationship with God and growing closer to Him, focusing on some specific areas.

4. I want to learn more in digital scrapbooking and design, as well as photography.


Today I am starting off on the right foot. I am sorting through all the clutter in my bedroom. Since there are five of us in 940 square feet, my crafting area has moved all over the house in different areas. As the children grow older, my areas get smaller. I used to drool over pictures of lovely scrap rooms posted in the gallery at 2 Peas, but I am no longer discontent. I am thankful for the littel space that He has given me and I'm learning to make the most of what we've got. One blessing is that we have quite a large master bedroom, so we are also able to use it as an office area. We are still compact and it's not the romantic bedroom I'd like to have, but it works for us.

This morning I started with loading up the shelves we installed earlier in the week with my clear shoebox size plastic boxes that contain my different supplies for scrapbooking and stamping. Then I moved on to sorting through the paper scrapbooking papers. I am moving more and more toward digital but will likely still do some projects in paper. Consolidation is the word! After this break, I will start sorting through my 12x12 papers and supplies. Next will be magazines... I've been subscribing to Memory Makers and Creating Keepsakes since 1997! I finally stopped my subscriptions because my focus had changed and so had theirs, though I occasionally buy a newstand issue.

Can I tell you a secret? Organizing and cleaning craft supplies, while overwhelming at times, is kind of fun! lol I get to look at everything and say, "Oooh pretty!" or "Oh, I forgot about that!" :o)

So, in January, I thought I would talk about organizing and if anyone is here reading along with me... please join in the conversation. If you comment and leave your email, I will answer!

Happy 2009!