WMD - Memorize Monday T-10.1

Blog surfing. It comes naturally to someone as "open-minded " (ie: scatterbrained) as I am. It starts innocently enough, usually on Pinterest. You find a recipe, or craft idea, or card or scrapbook page you want to pin. But of course you have to make sure the link actually works (many don't). Then you have to check out the whole site because... uh... because that's the way I roll. Eventually you find a link to some other blog, and Click! another hour gone. Eventually, inevitably, I find something I think I need to incorporate in my life NOW. That is how I found Memorize Monday.


The Girl Child is leaving on her mission in ten weeks and she feels like she doesn't really know how to teach in English, much less in Spanish. So we are going to start Memorize Monday.  Each Monday we will select a much loved scripture or quote  to memorize. We are calling it Memorize Monday but we are hoping to memorize at least two a week so I may have to add a midweek episode or something. We will memorize it "Primary style". That is to say it will be posted on the fridge on Monday and each day we'll delete parts of it until we can say it all without prompts. We will also throw in some MTC style learning as we write it on a 3x5 card, only the first letters of each word, to carry with us and refer to often. And for added excitement we will review it aloud in Spanish until it can roll off the tongue.

It sounds like a good plan. But that's only part one. Part two is getting the Girl Child to buy in. (note: The entire paragraph above was written using the Royal We.)

Current Passage: My purpose  as a missionary: Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. - Preach My Gospel ch1

WMD -In the beginning

In the beginning there was a wedding. And the wedding was good and the photos thereof were brought unto the Mom. And the Mom said: Let us go down and make an album for the wedding that it may not be forgotten by future generations. Thus went the Mom to the scrapbook store and obtained many supplies to make the album. But it came to pass that the Mom was displeased with the colors in those supplies. For indeed the wedding clothes were pink and the papers were blue as the heavens. Therefore those supplies were cast aside to be used in another, equally worthy project on another day. Therefore it came to pass that the Mom went back to the scrapbook store to obtain new supplies and the new supplies held much pink like unto the photos and brought much joy to the heart of the Mom. And the Mom said: Now I will go down and build a wedding album. And there was rejoicing in the land.

But it came to pass the Mom was not wise and put her trust in Pintrest and not the Scrapbooking Fairy. The Mom wiled away many days searching in vain for the perfect album to scraplift. After many days the photos of the wedding became lonely and remained apart from the album for the album had not come to pass. And the Mom heard a still, small voice, even the voice of the photos as from under the dust. And the voice said: Oh thou wicked and unproductive Mom. Why sit ye gazing into the computer screen?Wilt thou put thy trust in Pintrest rather than follow thine own workings? Hast not the Scrapbook Fairy been thy companion and repaired the flaws in thy scrapbooking many times in the past? And thus the Mom repented of her vain searching and said unto the photos: if it be possible, remove mine insecurity from my mind. Thou photos are acceptable unto me. I have been blessed with lovely supplies that will serve well as thy companion. I will set aside my vain longings to scrapbook in a style that is of the world and I will bring forth a wedding album by my own hand and in the style which I have heretofore used. And it was good and there was rejoicing in the land.

Mojo booster

 Need a card makin' Mojo Boost?
Here is a database of a bunch of card sketches.
As for me... I gotta quit gawkin' and start buildin'.
I've got a wedding album to build and a card box to fill.

Clearance is a scrappers best friend.

With the advent of a new family comes the opportunity to build an album. I stopped at JoAnn's on the way home from the ceremony and grabbed what I'd need. OK, so I grabbed what I'd need for seven albums. I couldn't help myself...it was on clearance. I got all this for $35!

2 -8x8 albums (at $4 each I should have gotten more)
2 - pads of double sided paper - $3 each
1 - pad of coordinating glitter punch outs  - $3
10 - packs of coordinating embellishments  -less than $1 each
 1 - roll of glue dots (not on sale, but I was OUT)
2 - rolls of ribbon (which were not on sale - lame)
and a partridge in a pear tree, which will be served for dinner.

Admittedly, Other paper sets would have gone better with the brides outfit. (It's all about the bride!) But nothing in the right colors grabbed my fancy. So...if you can't find paper you love, love the one you find on the cheap.  ;-)

Mr & Mrs DS3

Congratulations to Landon and Jessica who became Mr & Mrs DS3 today.

Hello - One Sheet Wonder

One Sheet Wonder. The principle is simple enough: slice up a single sheet of patterned paper into various sizes and make a stack of unique cards, each with only one or two bits of the PP. Many OSWs  leave no waste of the PP, most leave just tiny bits. It's a great way to create a set of cards that are matchy but not samey. This OSW uses an 8x8 sheet. The cutting guide and samples can be found at Joyfully Made Designs.

Now the down side...

While the OSW is an economical use of patterned paper, it requires matting and embellishing with coordinating paper. That is to say, the entire sheet of Patterned paper may be used to its most economical advantage but you'll need to chop up several additional sheets of coordinating cardstock which will not  be used to advantage. I keep a box of large scraps for just this purpose but the deception of the name, One Sheet Wonder, still bothers me.

Several bloggers have found their own very useful solutions to this problem. Sandy at OWH cuts her full sized sheets down to card sized bits so she only ever handles papers 4.25x5.5 inches.  After she makes the card, she tosses the trimmings, no messy leftovers. I'm always afraid I'll want an additional 1/4 inch stripe and have to cut a whole paper to get it. Connie at Simply Simple Stampin' has a series called Flash Cards. The premise is you cut your papers into basic sized swatches and use only those 3 bits for your cards. I was skeptical. Being an inside the box thinker, I was sure you could only make two cards with the sizes she gives. She has created an entire series of terrific (ie: reproducible) cards using 3 little bits of paper each. Pretty. Darn. Amazing. Her videos are on YouTube as well as her blog. Seriously, check it out. She is a fabulous designer and a great teacher. LeeAnn at Flowerbug's Inkspot has created something more like what I'm interested in. She calls it a Four Sheet Wonder. Her pattern includes instructions to cut the patterned paper as well as the mats and embellishments for 9 cards using 4 sheets of paper. Plus, the patterns are printable onto your cardstock. That means no measuring, just print and cut on the dotted lines. Pretty cool, but there is a charge for the pattern and unfortunately my budget only allows for FREE.

So what to do? I'm just going to have to invent my own solution to the One Sheet Conundrum. I don't know how this is going to go down but it will be awesome.I'll keep you posted on the progress.

WMD - A Thousand Words

New Card Ship Date

Soooo... The All Things Spring OWH box did not go in the mail as scheduled. My Bad!

The new target date is Jan 31. The great news is that Valentines Day will come again next year. So if you have Valentines Cards to include in the box feel free to bring them over. They'll keep. The new deadline will include St. Patty's, Easter, General Spring, Graduation, Mother's/Father's Day, and as always anything generic like Love, Miss you, Thinking of you, Thanks you, and Birthday.

I'll even take Summer/Fall cards to include in the box scheduled to ship in May.

WMD - Unplugged

After a thorough search of my desk and the surrounding premises I am forced to conclude that the cord that connects my camera to the computer is lost. Therefore all photos are suspended until such time as it either resurfaces or is replaced. What fun is a crafting blog without photos?!? Grumble Grumble Grumble.

My Grandma used a lovely farming colloquialism referring to a compost pile: "Things resurface when the pile turns over." Since my scrap room is a pile more the size of a landfill, I may just want to order one on ebay.

...And a Happy New Year

The Christmas tree is down and my weight is up. That signals the end of the holiday season for me and HOPEFULLY the return to the season of normal. At this time of year I'm grateful not to celebrate Epiphany. I could not handle an additional 12 days of Christmas.

Because the Girl Child was born on Thanksgiving Day it adds an additional degree of festivity for us. She turned 19 this year, just after the announcement that young sisters can apply for missionary service at that age. So we've had the added flurry of mission paperwork and all that comes with that. She received her mission call on Dec 19.  She will report to the Missionary Training Center (the MTC that isn't crafting software) on Feb 27, 2013 where she will  have 6 weeks to learn Spanish then she will serve in the Fresno California Mission. It's an exciting time for us. My next 8 weeks will include gathering everything she'll need for the next 18 months and packing it into one suitcase that she can lift by herself. Wish me luck.

In addition, DS3 has officially announced his engagement and moved into a lovely apartment. He plans to marry before the Girl Child leaves. So far I've not been made privy to any other arrangements. I'm hoping for an elopement.

What was that I said about the Season of Normal?  It may be a myth.