Using the F word

Today, I'm going back in time to a piece I wrote last year on how grateful I am for the "f-"word...
 

Forgiveness isn't always easy to earn. I'm sure there have been situations where you've thought to yourself, oh I could never forgive this! And, don't get me wrong, sometimes that's entirely appropriate. But to be on the offending side, thinking you've lost (or inevitably will lose) it all...well then all sorts of reasons why you should be granted amnesty seem obvious.
Forgiveness isn't something you can convince another to give you, either. Sometimes that idea can get in the way of working to repair the damage you inflict until someone reaches the point of saying, enough is enough!
Forgiveness opens a door in your heart that unwise or unplanned decisions, foolish or foolhardy acts, and deceitful cover-ups tend to close. Maybe if we all loved ourselves a little more, believed in our pureness a little more convincingly, we could love others better as well...and I believe there's a book about that!
Having been on the receiving end of heaping helpings of forgiveness in my life, I guess my final thought for now is that, hate hurts. Resentment builds walls. And, sometimes, people (or horses) make mistakes. So open your heart to a situation you've vowed not to allow forgiveness towards, and send love in that direction instead. Learn from those examples that have come to mind as you read this monologue.
This Thanksgiving and holiday season, I wish you pleasant days, however they're spent. And if the food gets burned, your team loses the game, you run out of pumpkin pie and can't have it for breakfast tomorrow,  etc., just remember...Forgive! Forget the hate but not the lesson! (And maybe assign cooking duties to someone else for next year)

 

A Tree With Windblown Trimmings

Day 8 of our Journal Your Christmas prompted remembering invites us to explore our Christmas tree trimming memories.


PNW screenprinting in action at the
 Nordstrom Holiday Party

I think back and see the twinkling of the personalized ornaments made to commemorate each Christmas that my brothers and cousins and I received each year from our aunt and uncle.
 I smell the fresh pine of our live tree inside, mingling with the cast iron tea pot of potpourri, the smoke of logs burning in our woodstove beneath, and the sweet, spicy, and oh-so- special cinnamon candle in a tin, brought out this time of year and lit exclusively by my mom.
 Almost forgot- the music! The well known and loved sounds of the season! No decorating party would be complete without them... because, It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... deck the halls with boughs of holly... and soon enough, we'd be rockin' around the Christmas tree!
Out of concern for our children's exposure to toxicities, I am usually the one to take care of hanging the decorations now, and our tree is usually outside to keep busy hands from exploring those hanging baubles, so I am content with capturing my daughter's gaze of adoration through the window.


With eyes shining with wonder,
she gazed in delight~
No tree that I'll trim
will shine nearly so bright.

No soundtrack for this moment; instead, I hear the memorable voice of my German step-dad singing proudly O Christmas Tree in his native tongue...
and, I smell the faint scent of our animal pens and think of Mary's first moments with her new baby ♡

As Pastor Dan Whitmarsh commented Monday morning to our MOPS group; having a baby-in a barn- probably a little messy. Even if it was God's son!
A windblown tree may need to be up-righted more often, it may look a bit soggy, but it's twinkling lights shine even brighter against the black backdrop of night. Without worry of small hands touching, it invites observation, reflection, and dreams of what may still come this holiday season.
Hoping your tree is just as inviting,
(but if it's not, maybe a Welcome to Christmas ornament is in need) ~Anna

Same-Month Scrapping

Working on a layout featuring photos taken within the same month...is that an even thinkable task with scrapbooking?! With the blossoming of Project Life style scrapping, i.e. daily, weekly, or monthly recapping of life's happenings, this idea is becoming more realistic. Add to this equation tiny printers that you can wirelessly send your photos to for instant printing, and you've got a recipe for some same month scrappin.

Well, I don't have a Project Life album per se, and I don't have a cool new Selphy printer, but I do have pictures, an album and I do have a printer! So even though the ink is running out in said printer, I did print off my fourth of July pictures and scrapped them within the same month. I'm pretty proud of this accomplishment.

I started with a series of photos of my family taken down at the beach as we waited for dusk to turn to night. My hunny is known for his dislike of the traditional family portrait taking session, but my mom's got an iPhone, so within the 30 or so pictures she snapped I found three that I really liked and wanted to have all on the one page. You can tell when looking at the photos that I was trained to hold my picture smile! 'Cause I am like the wax statue that my family is posing around lol.

This year I've been working really hard towards reaching for my not-favorite items. Not that I don't love all my products, but there are definitely some with dust accumulating on their edges. Instead of patterned cardstock, I got into my patterned paper (probably purchased over a decade ago) and chose an unlikely sheet of a snow covered treescape. It reminded me of that grey light that our eyes see as the sun sets. Next I pulled that striped sheet from a gifted paper pack which includes the die cut letters you see in my title.

When I have trouble getting my die cuts to pull cleanly from their background, I simply cut around the letter for a fun and funky new look, and then pull up the edges on the letters for a bit of dimension. This saves me a lot of frustration (and wasted letters)! Plus, on this layout especially, it can lend my alpha a bit of visual weight it may be lacking.

Under my title I added some scraps as banners. Some banners got their edges inked for more depth, and I even cut the lighthouse from Graphic 45's By the Sea collection and turned it to create a nautical flag as well. There are so many different reds in the picture itself that I didn't worry about matching, and tried to use bright, dull, and everything in between shades without fear. The same idea was in mind for the many blues, and it seems to have translated well. Rub on stitching and Queen & Co.'s star shaped rhinestones helped to emphasize our Fourth of July fun.
It doesn't show much in the photo above, but I got really creative with some washi tape fireworks as well. I'll be sure to post an additional entry with my completed left page and a close up of what I think are some of the coolest fireworks amongst my album to date. Thanks for reading today, and don't forget to comment for a chance to win either a die cut or a scrapbook page designed just for you in my Scrapbook Expo contest going through the end of the month.  

Add a Fourth of Fun

Today I'm sprinkling a dash of creativity, adding a Fourth of Fun, and mixing up a big scrap bucket of card fronts!
Occasionally, there are nights I successfully bring myself back downstairs after tucking the kids into bed. Earlier this summer I discovered a way to make a table I can work off while sitting on the couch and it's opened up a few more hours of crafting for me! As hunny and I watch our fill of the Orange is the New Black, I sort through my scraps and find interesting color combinations to play with. Sometime I'm really happy with the results, and sometimes I just love the idea of what I've made, but not really the card itself.

That's the case with this card to the left; I actually like it a lot more photographed and here on the blog than I do in real life. It was fun to create though, and that's what matters most to me. The cute little paper flower was made by folding strips of paper and then topping it with a fussy cut flower and a pearl. A peek-a-boo sticker from the kids and an assortment of additional blings bring the focus onto the flower. Thank goodness I have every color bling under the sun to compliment all the shades shown here, thanks to Queen & Co and their value priced booth at CKC each year!

Speaking of bling, I need to go make some Fourth of July cards for the peeps I'll see. I've got some blue and red star blings that are just dying to get on something.
Have a safe and fun, festive Fourth- and make it crafty!