January 27, 2010

January 27th, 2010... Another Day
Yummy. Another day... another dollar. Actually... work has been going well lately. New business, a pick up of new work, and future work... and all in all... it's good. That suits my whole "look on the positive side of life" thing I've got going lately. Quite frankly... I see what the point is, in being positive... but I find that I am much more entertaining when I am mopey, grumpy, and put upon. Maybe my authentic self IS truly all of these things, AND self-depracating, lost, sarcastic, and somewhat put upon. Maybe looking up, means accepting these things about my self, and embracing it. ??? I'm just saying!

I did a layout for a contest (Crate paper)... of Beau and I. I can't put it here, obviously... but I will soon. Beauregard is such a joy. That dog makes me feel good. He's so sweet. I taught him to sit upon a snap, and then tell me he loves me with a kiss. I say *How do you do, Beauregard?* and he shakes my hand... and then I say "Tell Mommy I love you"! and he kisses me... smack dab on the mouth... just like that.

Ok.. so some people don't appreciate the wet kiss of a pooch. I get that. I mean... that tongue is loofa sponge and toilet paper all in one... but I can't help it. I choose to think that things get clean in there, and when it comes my way... it is germ free. Please don't try to convince me otherwise. Oops. I swear, I left that sarcastic me at the door... who let her back in?

Scrap Tiffany reveal and challenge.

Have you checked out Scrap Tiffany yet? Head HERE immediately, and check out the challenge for this week. I did a layout on my Mom and me. I'm the one young one (years ago)... That suit I'm wearing was the one I'd gone out and bought to wear to my Mom's funeral. I thought she'd like it. I was the grand age of 24. I felt like my world was done. Grief is like that. It robs you of hope sometimes. It robs you of someone you love... always. You are sure you won't be able to keep going. The world.. funny enough... has no such problems. It's insulting. How dare they? How dare the world? Don't they know that someone lovely and wonderful and beyond reproach has just passed away? Don't they know that the sun isn't shining nearly as bright? How could they not? That's grief too... it can rob you of common sense. Have you been touched by grief? Come on over HERE and see for yourself.

January 21, 2010

Stop Changing!!!

Life gets away from you. You become what you do on a daily basis. When you get into a rut, then you become that person who is in a rut. So I've been thinking of things to do to shake up my life. I've been wondering what I can do to re-create the real Sandie. What do you do when the daily grind affects the authentic you? How do you pull out of it? Or how do you prevent it from happening in the first place? I'm a creature of habit. I just love sameness. Some people crave excitement. Me? I crave sameness. lol. I love coming home to my favourite spot on the couch, with my husband in his easy boy to my right, and our son roaming around the house looking for food, and playing his music a bit too loud while doing his homework. That sense of sameness gives me a sense of security and safeness. I wonder what it is that does that? I wonder why some of us need one thing, while that would be deadly dull to others. I guess thats why I've been with my hubby for 29 years. OMG 29 years! I'm barely old enough to consider this. What was I when we met? 5? Sheesh. ok... so I'm 47. Wow. See... you can't enjoy a sense of sameness where age is concerned, because it's always changing. I should stop that... before I get any older. Of course.. what's the alternative? Might be better to embrace that change.

Layouts of Change

Here are 2 layouts that I did... A Distant World is me last winter, in Panama. The second one.. In Transition... is me when I was 24.. so 23 years ago. I just did both of these, and I enjoy seeing the me half a life ago.. and the me now. It's interesting to me to see the change that has occured in me. Wow

I'm going to start doing some layout sketches again for this blog. Stay tuned.

Have an AWESOME day!

January 18, 2010

Home Again Home Again Lickety Split
or however that goes.

I'm home again today! I am sitting on my sofa, with my laptop on my lap, and watching The Today Show's coverage of The Golden Globes. hmmmm. I taped them, in case there were some fine moments... but I didn't watch them. What WAS I doing? I was hard at work, working on a challenge for Scrap Tiffany.

ScrapTiffany Challenge #3

Check out the newest challenge, posted today. It's right here! This week's challenge is fun and carefree. You will definitely want to be a part of it. Don't miss out on the fun! Here is my paltry take on it. Whew. Not my fave layout. I think I'm going to do another one. I hate struggling with something. When I struggle, I feel pulled to do it again. To conquer. lol

What's Next?

What is involved in your decision on what to scrap next? When you go into your scrap area, what motivates you to work on what you are working on? Do you follow challenges? Contests? Submission calls? Trends? What picture is next in your file? Or do you scrap chronologically? Me? I will scrap whatever I feel like. At first, I complete what I need to, for my Teams or commitments. Then.. I will look at Scrapbook calls and see if anything hits me. Otherwise, I will start going through my photos, and see what speaks to me. Or.. depending on the time of year, I'll grab something to alter. ie.. if I need a gift, or something like a candy jar for Valentines Day, etc. :) You?

One More Thing!

You'll want to put this on your calendar. I promise that this is going to be good.Fun, good, inspiring, etc. Don't miss out!

January 13th, 2010

Work Day.

Do I really need to say more on that?

Creations

I've been creating in all of my spare time lately. Trying different methods, and different ways of going about things. I've mostly been adding photos to my pages. Instead of the usual small pics, or one main pic, I'm going with two, three, four, or more. Shaking things up a bit. I find them more challenging. Any ideas on where to go to gain insight and inspiration in multi photo layouts? Where do you go for inspiration, online? I love to hear about where others find their inspiration. I find the most interesting and helpful places when people take the time to tell you about their faves. Here are two layouts that I did. I'm way behind on birthday layouts. For some reason, I put them off. I think it's because I take a gazillion photos, and don't want to leave any out of my layouts. So 27 layouts later... the birthday is scrapped. LOL So the obvious solution is mini albums... so I put them off. :) :)

Late Night Drama

So do you watch Leno or Conan's Tonight Show? I watch Leno sometimes. I used to watch Conan... but don't since he started "The Tonight Show". I love Leno's monologue and things like streetwalking and Headlines. Funny stuff. But I don't watch it when it's on earlier. I rarely watch the interviews. Not my thing.

January 12, 2010

So, here I am... sitting in my living room, on my sofa, watching some tv. And blogging. Where am I not??? WORK. :) Note the smiley face. Hubby said to stay home and rest my leg... and voila... I did. He's a good hubby. Think I'll keep him.

I didn't share the latest challenge with you at Scrap Tiffany. Head HERE to see it, and join in!!!! Here's my take on the challenge. Definitely not my fave. I struggle with multi photo layouts. Because of that... I think I'm going to start concentrating on it more and more. I need to get better at these layouts. Why not head over and see where you are in this regard. Here is my take on this challenge...

I've been playing with other layouts and altered work as well. I just can't get enough of this thing called scrapbooking. You never get tired of it. I've had a lot of hobbies through the years, but never one that has been this large a part of my world, for such a long period of time.

So here's a few other layouts that I did. The one has no pictures, and the second one has 2. Again... I struggle a bit when I don't use just one... but I plan on rocking those pages in the very near future. What are the type of pages you rock? Why? Any advice on what helps and/or guides you?

January 6, 2010

Home from work today. That never means laying around and watching tv. Nope. It means stripping beds, walking Beauregard, cleaning house, fixing things that are currently askew... etc. Hmm. I shoulda gone into work. :(

A Christmas Layout

Did up some layouts last night. Here's one I did about Christmas morning this year. I suck at Christmas layouts, and so I have almost none done. And I mean almost none. I think I have about 5 done. For all the pics of all the years. Any ideas on how to overcome that block? I'd love some advice... or links to creative
Christmas layout ideas. I have 2Peas, of course. But I'd love somewhere else as well. Somewhere that offered tons of ideas on scrapping Christmas! Come on. Surely someone has an idea or two for me? This layout is called Santa was Here. It's just of my 17 year old son opening his stocking stuff. He gets to plow through stocking stuffers before going to Church. It's the same every year. After opening our stockings, we go to Mass... then come home and sit at the table while I cook a breakfast, and we sit as a family and remember what the day is about. Then, we bring our drinks (coffee, OJ, whatever) to the tree, and open our gifts one at a time. :D Fun! I'm already looking forward to next Christmas. LOL

January 5th, 2010

Here's Beauregard, the Problematic Puggle of Perpetual Need, and me. I took this pic over Christmas. Can't you just see the attitude dripping outta this boy? Did i create this monster? lol

My New Direction...

So... from the many sites that I visit, I've seen several of them choose a word for the year. I kind of like that. I decided on a word. The word I chose?
Appreciate
I was going with another word, but Appreciate just seemed to call out to me. I appreciate my hubby and son. But I want to learn to live in the positive. Learn to appreciate the small things. I want to leave behind negativity. I want to see the glass half full. I have never been that person. I see the glass about to be emptied. I see water in the glass, that is about to be drunk. I'm not necessarily a down person... just a person who has had a number of teaching experiences, that I haven't learned to be positive from. LOL
Positivity.

That's the other word for the year. Based on the above. Yep. Those are my words. Appreciate and Positive. 2010 can be a different kind of year. I'm thinking that by sending out positive energy, I will draw in positive energy. That's my theory anyway.

What's YOUR word for 2010. I would LOVE to hear.

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January 4, 2010

Happy New Year! 2010
Can you believe it? It's NEW YEARS! It's a whole new year in this thing we call the Circle of Life. Time, she is a changing... and she's changing fast. (I've said that before, eh?)
Once again, Gary and I had a quiet New Years. We are just plain getting old, I think. We decided to watch our usual shows on tv... all the various and assorted New Years programming that we enjoy. And we watched hockey, of course!!! Hey! We're Canadian! It's what we do!

I did something different this year. I made no formal resolutions. No FORMAL ones. I always have end of the year, start of the year IDEAS, on what I want out of the coming year. You can call them INformal resolutions, if you like. I never stick to them anyway. I think they just add pressure to my otherwise pressured life, and hey... who needs that. However... contrary creature that I am... I have found myself feeling pressure that I didn't make any resolutions. So... stay tuned. I foresee some resolutions made in the coming few days. What can I say? I'm a creature of habit.

New Years habits that I DID follow through with? Dinner. I made our usual Holiday feast on the big day. It was just us though... and Dana's girlfriend. (she's fast becoming a part of the us, of which I speak). I usually make those prefab hams that are all gussied up plain and precooked. You know the ones. This time, I didn't. This one was a brown sugar glazed spiral cut ham that was SO UNBELIEVABLY BETTER, that I'll never go back. It was SO yummy. (if I do say so myself). Wish I'd taken a pic. What kind of scrapper/blogger am I, that I didn't??? Hmmm.
I put on her holiday best, and there she was... ready for us to feast, gussied up in her finery of pineapples, cherries, and cloves... and wrapped in a lovely brown sugar glazed robe. She looked good, and tasted better.

I did up a layout for a challenge this week! Come on over to Scrap Tiffany and play! You'll have a blast. I happen to know what the upcoming challenges are.... and you don't want to miss out!!!! The challenge for this week is "I Can't Live Without....
So my layout says... "I Can't Live Without You 2" This is a pic of hubby and son from Panama last winter. My guys. I used paint on the design on the right. I like how it turned out. It worked better than it shows here. It gives it a nice elevation. You might want to try it if you haven't already. Then I added bling centres to the flowers. It's a simple page. But the beauty of these challenges is that you can do anything. Come on and give one a try.
I hope you guys had a blessed 2009, and that your 2010 is more blessed than ever. May you find what you may be missing, appreciate what you have, and remember what brought you here.. the good and the bad. You are who you are because of it. Keep up the good fight and God Bless.

Sandie :)

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