My Email from the Embellish It Website

36 Basic Grey Lines on Sale!!

Hi, Everyone!

I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything on my scrapbooking blog.  My husband has been dealing with more health issues, and my heart and mind have not been on blogging.  I am ready to get back to it, though!

I especially wanted my readers to know that on the Embellish It website there is a sale on 36 lines on Basic Grey paper and embellishments.  Some products are discounted as much as 50%!!  What a deal, right?  Just go to Embellish It.com to find out more about their sale.  I know there are many of you out there that love the Basic Grey lines, so best wishes on getting what you need to replenish your scrapbook paper and embellishments.

The link I put here for Embellish It is not an affiliate link, so I won't be paid by them if you do order.  However, I am hoping there is a Google ad that may match the topic of this post that I can run.  In that case, it may be possible if you click on that link and order, that I could receive a payment.

I hope everyone is almost ready for Thanksgiving.  If you are doing any Thanksgiving type scrapbooking or card-making projects, leave me a comment.  I'd love to know what you are creating!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Basic Grey PLU3605 Plumeria Paper Pad 6 in. x 6 in.-36 Sheets - 18 Designs-2 Each (Google Affiliate Ad)

P. S. This ad goes to a different site than  Embellish It, but there are some awesome sales on it, too!

What Would You Do?

I need some input from anyone who would like to give theirs.

I would like to develop a product that I could sell from my new website, once I get it up and running.  I am thinking about either doing scrapbook page kits, or card kits, or possibly a finished scrapbook page or card.

I know there are people out there that like to have finished products, but I also know that some of you like to put kits together, too.

Let me know your pleasure.  Just leave a comment here on my blog.  I welcome your input.

Also, please pass the word along about my blog to your friends.  I'd love to have lots of ideas on here from other scrapbookers and cardmakers.

Happy scrapbooking!

Organizing APS Cartridges from Digital Photo Files

OOPS!  It's been longer than I thought since I posted on this blog!  Sorry about that!  Today I'll catch you up on what I've been up do since my last post.

I did take my camera to that last scrapbook crop, but I got so busy working on organizing digital copies of my photos that I didn't take even one picture!  I have close to 200 or more APS cartridges that I have been taking to a photo shop to be scanned and placed on CD.  I am taking them in groups of 5-7 cartridges at a time in order to organize the pictures that I already have developed.  When I get the cds back, I load the images into my Creative Memories Memory Manager program.

That sounds pretty simple, except that (being the perfectionist that I am) I want the names of each individual picture to reflect the cartridge number.  The cartridges have either 15 or 25 pictures on each.  Also, sometimes APS rolls are numbered from the back of the roll forward which makes the numbers on each picture backwards from the actual order they were taken.  To get the images in the correct order, I go through my old planners and try to get an idea about the sequence of events from the notes I've taken.

Before I add the roll to my Memory Manager, I upload the pics from each roll to a file that I have labeled with the cartridge number and approximate date.  I use the year, month, day, and then the cartridge number.  So, let's say the cartridge number is 456-432. The file name would look something like this:  2000, 07, 09, 456-432.  That way the files will stay in order in date sequence because they are numbered.  Sometimes I add in the event between the date and cartridge number.  Like this:  2000, 07, 09, Wedding Day, 456-432.  After the file is ready I open the cd, copy the pictures from that roll then paste them (or move them) into the folder I just made.

Next I renumber each image.  I would number the image that comes first in sequence this way:  456-432_01.   The last in sequence would be 456-432_25.  If the order on the cartridge is not correct, sometimes I add a comma and the number from the roll:  456-432_01, Neg. 25.

I do something very similar with negatives from traditional film rolls.  I generally use the number from the sticker that is usually on the first negative strip.  Those numbers are usually 4-digit numbers like:  4567.  For those I would add two zeros at the end and place a hyphen in the middle like this:  456-700.

After I upload the pictures to Memory Manager, I change the dates on each image and try to get reasonably close to a specific date.  If I am not sure of the exact date, I either make an educated guess, or I just put the month and year.

As you can see it can take several minutes just to get through one roll of images.  I have the year 2000 finished for the most part.  I still have several rolls to do for 2001.  I also try to scrapbook some of the pictures as I go.  Right now I am in the process of scrapping a 6 X 6 album of pictures of our dogs.  Again, I have 2000 pretty much finished and continue to work on 2001.   My plan is to have the rolls from 2000-2002 finished before Christmas.

I am making use of monthly crops at the store where I work and at my church as well as two-day crops every quarter that my Creative Memories consultant holds during the year.  Once in awhile I take a few days off from my home-based business and work on my photo organizing on the weekends at home, too.

My next project for you guys will be to get some pics of my 6 X 6 layouts on the blog.  I am still trying to figure out how to get the pics uploaded right into the posts instead of in the side bar, so be patient with me.

Have a great day, and Happy Scrapbooking!

Hmmm . . . Should I Take My Camera to the Crop?

My friend, Margo Walker, is a Creative Memories consultant.  She holds quarterly scrapbooking crops, and the last two have been at the Clarion Inn on West Kellogg.  I usually pay the fee for a 10' table which gives me lots of room to work.  Well . . . I have been known to spread out onto someone else's table if they leave early!

I am thinking very seriously about taking my Kodak Slice camera and tripod to the crop this weekend.  I have been wanting to photograph some of the pages I have been putting together for our 8 X 8 dog album.  I just haven't had room to set up my tripod and camera because I have been working on other things here at home.  I will share the pictures I take on my blog next week.  I hope to have some pics of other friends pages, too.

If you would like me to show off scrapbook pages you are especially proud of, just email them to me or upload them to Shutterfly or WalGreens and share them to me.

If you are in the market for a new camera, Sams Club has several cameras to choose from.  Check one of them out by clicking the link below.  This Nikon Coolpix L810 is equipped with a 26x optical zoom lens which would be great for taking photos at a distance.  They also have tripods to choose from.  You might want to check out the Manfrotto Compact Series Tripod Kit below.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Still Gathering Tools for the Crop

I'm thinkin' I had better take my Picture Mate Zoom to the crop this weekend.

One thing I like to do on my scrapbook layouts is to include smaller versions of some of my photos.  I bought the Zoom (made by Epson) a few years back, and it has been a great little printer for printing smaller photos.  It is fairly lightweight and very compact, so it will fit in a small cranny in my car.  It uses any 4" X 6" photo paper, but the directions say it is best to use Epson paper.  It also has a print cartridge that needs to be replaced now and then.  However, I have found that I get many more photos from a cartridge than what the directions say you can get.

I taught a scrapbooking class at Scrapbook Garden one time.  It was a birthday party, and in the class the kids made a little mini album.  I took pictures of the kids working, put the SD card from the camera in the Picture Mate, and printed the pics off for the kids to take home with them.  So the kids all got to go home with a small keepsake of the fun they had.

Some models come with a USB cable so that you can print right from your computer.  If you interested in a similar product, Epson now has newer, fancier models to choose from.

 Happy scrapbooking, everyone!

Two-day Scrapbooking Crop

I am getting very excited about a two-day scrapbooking crop coming up this weekend.  I need to get going on planning out what I want to work on.  My "work in progress" at the moment is an 8 X 8 album for my husband containing pics of our dogs over the years.

You'd think planning out a small page like that would be easier than planning a 12 X 12 size . . . NOT!  It must have something to do with the fact that I am so anal about making sure it looks right.  Well . . . MY idea of what it should look like!  Hee, hee!  I figure I'd better like what I end up with because years from now I don't want to have to look at a page and think, "I wish I'd done . . ."  That is pretty much my philosophy on any page I do, no matter what the size.

So . . . what am I doing to get ready for a fun time with other scrapbookers?
1.  Going through my photo boxes to gather more photos to scrap
2.  Looking at picture files on my PC and my laptop to gather more photos
3.  Ordering any pictures I need copies or reprints for
4.  Writing the name, place, and date on the backs of my photos
5.  Making sure I have enough supplies and scrapbook paper
     (My scrapbooking buddies would laugh at this.  I never use even a fourth of what I take with me!)
6.  Thinking about what tools I'll take:  my Cricut machine, my Quickutz tool, my Big Shot
7.  Deciding whether to take my copier and my scanner.
8.  Making sure I have digital copies of my pics on my laptop in case I need to resize and reorder.

I wonder if I've forgotten anything.  Oh well, if I have I only live about 20 to 25 miles from our meeting site.  I'll just go home and get it if I need it!

Time to take my hubby to a doctor's appointment!  Happy scrapping, everyone!

Back to Writing on My Bog

Wow what a hectic couple of months!  Has it really been almost two months since I posted?  Time sure flies when you're having fun!  Well . . . we haven't really been having THAT much fun.

Since my last post, many things have happened in the life of the Brown family!  After getting the results on Ron's tests, he had open heart surgery on May 23.  The plan was to do one by-pass on a 70% blockage and to go ahead and replace his aortic valve with a mechanical one.

Once inside, the doctor found that he would need a double by-pass because there was a branching off and both branches were clogged.  The aortic valve was worse than they thought, but they were able to replace that just fine.  Because the top and bottom chambers of Ron's heart weren't "talking" to each other, a temporary pacemaker was put in during surgery with a permanent one going in to his upper left chest on the next Tuesday.  The bottom part of his heart was not beating fast enough.  Ron came home on June 1.

Things were going fairly well until early in the morning on Friday, June 28, when Ron developed a fever of 102.  So . . .  back to the hospital.  In the ER they found he had developed pneumonia so they sent us home with prescriptions for antibiotics and told Ron to take Tylenol for the fever.  They also took blood to do some tests.

To make a long story shorter, we were back at the hospital on Sunday afternoon because the fever was back, and one of Ron's harvest sites in his upper thigh had become red and hard.  From the time we left the house until the time we finally got seen by a doctor in the ER, Ron's reddened site and swelled to at least three times what it was when we left the house.  The red area was at that point halfway to his thigh!

Thus . . . more blood tests, another stay in the hospital with intravenous antibiotics, a wound vac placed on Ron's thigh, and home on Thursday the 28th but not before a trip to a couple more doctor's offices for wound vac supplies and intravenous antibiotic supplies (with a lesson on how to use the antibiotics at home).

Since Ron has been home this time we have been back and forth to doctor's offices a couple times a week between our twice daily intravenous antibiotic applications which we are doing ourselves at home!

Ron is doing much better now.  The wound is shrinking, is no longer red and swollen, and is not painful for him to do a little walking.  We are walking first thing in the morning before it gets too warm.  He is getting stronger every day, and we even took in a movie yesterday . . . The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel . . . a great movie for people our age!

Ron's daughter and her two girls are in town visiting which is a nice distraction for Ron.  We have enjoyed having them come visit as it makes the days go faster for both of us.  We will be celebrating one of their birthdays today . . .her sweet sixteen!  Now you are all caught up with our lives to this point.

Lord willing I plan to write posts for this blog two to three times a week from here on.  Here's hoping your life has been less eventful than ours has been the last two months!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Page Layout Picture-taking Put on Hold!

My picture taking is going to have to be put off for a little longer as my husband is going in to have another heart cath and a procedure that will allow the doctor to see his aortic valve.  So photographing page layouts will have to wait a few more days.

I hope you are all planning lots of scrapbooking time this weekend.  If you are in the Wichita area, stop by and see the girls at Across Time and Page Scrapbook Emporium at 21st and Webb.  It's a pretty store with friendly staff!  I know, because I'm one of them!  I won't be there because I will be standing by at the hospital for Ron's results.

Happy Scrapbooking!

My Camera is Fixed!! Time to Photograph More Layouts!

My camera is back from the shop and working as good as new!  Yay!!  I can't wait to start taking more pics of layouts.  I hope to have some new ones up by the end of the week.

Send me your ideas on Mother's Day page layouts you are planning or have done in the past.  I'd love to see them.

Do you need an idea for a great Mother's Day treat?  You can get personalized M&Ms chocolate candies for your celebration at http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-5571210-11043159.

Thank You Card

See the Thank You card below.

Celebrate Mother's Day with a Special Crop!

Hold a Mother/Daughter scrapbooking crop for your friends to celebrate Mother's Day!

Each mother/daughter pair could bring with them photos of a special event or trip they took together to create a special album together.  Another idea would be to create layouts for an album for another family member.  If working together on the same album doesn't suit, separate scrapbooks made by each would work.

Make sure to take pictures of your friends and their mothers and/or daughters as they make this special memory together.

Share Your Ideas

I am sorry to say that my camera is in the shop, so I won't be able to upload any pictures of my projects for awhile.

In the mean time, I'd love to see some of your ideas.  Cards, scrapbooking, paper decorating type projects, or other things you have been working on.

How many hours have you used your Cricut this week?  Join my blog and leave a comment.

More Scrapbook Layout Ideas

Today I want to discuss a few ideas about how to include memorabilia pockets in your scrapbook pages.

Pockets behind pictures work great if you have no extra room to lay them.  Creating pockets that slide out from behind the pictures is a great way to include things like show tickets and theme park passes.

 To do this adhere 1/4 inch double-sided tape to three sides of your picture or picture mat.  Then adhere the ticket or pass to a piece of cardstock.  You can layer this with a printed paper in between the picture and some plain colored cardstock, or put plain colored cardstock behind the picture with the printed paper at the very back.  If you do the latter, make sure the printed paper is a heavier type similar to cardstock weight.  You can add a tab of some kind to the back layer to make it easy to pull out your insert.

Photo Ops for Your Christmas Scrapbook

This is a post I began to write in December.  I thought it might give you some ideas about photo ops for spring break and summer break.  Enjoy!


It is always fun to take pictures of your loved ones opening presents.  But have you ever thought about taking pics of your kids or grandkids playing with the rolls the wrapping paper comes on or the boxes larger gifts come in?

Before I became a scrapbooker when my son was small (he's a daddy now with FIVE children!) he would take the cardboard rolls and do all kinds of things with them.  One of his favorite things to do was to make a spy glass and put a smaller roll inside a larger one.  He would move the larger one up and down as he scoured the living room with his invention!  I wish I had known then what a photo opportunity I was missing.  I'd love to be able to scrapbook that memory!

Another neat photo op my husband thought of is kids playing with boxes.  His kids would take the larger boxes and make forts and houses and boats out of them.  They'd put them under the dining room table, under the baby grand piano, or right in the middle of the family room.  They'd hook them together and crawl through one into the other or they'd stack them.  And again . . . he has no movies or pics to use in a scrapbook of those memories!

Make sure your memories of the small things get documented.  Even the most mundane, everyday activites could be a memory you'd like to preserve in print.  Catch your kids or grandkids at their creative play and snap that photo.  You'll have thousands of wonderful pictures in your albums that your whole family will enjoy for many years.