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

June Scrap Share

Dad's Day is Coming! 

This week, Poppop and Nana are occupying the "T" -as we call the camping trailer we keep for out of town guests. Working with the June Scrapbooking kit from EmbelliskKits.com already had me in a nostalgic, old timey car loving mood, but that feeling is always enhanced when in Bundro company. As a teenager, my older brother painted the image of Ed's truck onto the rig's air filter. Even after the truck was sold we were surprised to see it while filling up at the local "Four Corners" Texaco. One of my clearest memories of my younger brother as a toddler is of him exclaiming "Car-ee" while proudly holding up the decoration off a birthday cake. Needless to say, it was no trouble finding memories that went perfectly with the designs included in this month's kit.
 

Let's get SCRAPPY!

One thing about memories, though, is that they don't always have tangible photos readily available. That didn't stop me from using up all but 3 die cuts, a few inches of twine, and roughly 4 x 0.5 inches of the papers Shelby assembled for our two, double page scrapbook layouts! The stickers were harder for me to find homes for, just because personally I'm not inspired by "son" stuff- SUN stuff, yes though lol.

Add caption

My daughter's have taken practically every class I've taught, and being the mimics that kids are, a mini cardmaking class was taught to Poppop in the front yard next to our newly created firepit.
Using a group of similiar themed items is a great way to embellish a card or even a scrapbook page. Put them in a grid as my family of crafters chose, or group them with some fibers, brads, and or bling to create a whimsical banner as I did on our second layout created from this month's kit!










 



Throwback Thursday

My brother's birthday being this week, there was plenty of inspiration for those car themed items. One of my annual goals is to use supplies in my stash that are collecting dust, and acrylic of any sort seems to be the product I can never think to include. I've always liked the look of acrylic cards and decided that a little birthday card/mini album for my bro would be the perfect way to give him photos from that trip we took to Lake Cushman last weekend.

Inside features awesome family camping trip pics

 

Back Cover closes with a Smile

I love having a pre made album prepped before an event... knowing which shots and even which orientation I need photos for not only makes for a terrific finished product, but helps me seek those shots that make it so. And then, sometimes those candid moments come completely un-staged, like the ones I included of us climbing into photo shoot position and of Ed flexing his guns for his visibly unimpressed son.
For the second layout feaured in the June Scrapbooking kit from EmbellishKits.com, I was really stumped for pictures. I considered doing a layout about my own dad, with a focal/main photo of him holding my girls, and an accompanying page of him through the years with each of my brothers and myself. Alas, as mentioned before in this post, sometimes the images of memory aren't readily available in tangible photo form. Instead, I crafted up a couple lovely cards perfect for Father's Day.
Then, inspiration hit! That title of This Is What Handsome Looks Like brought to mind the hilarious photo Rainies dad sent me of her one day while I was still working full time (at being a part time employee). Our little chub-a-lub was decked out in an ill fitting polo shirt with an accompanying caption of "Isn't he handsome?" We have two daughters, folks!
Anyway, I still crack up thinking about it and decided to give Sunday a few more reasons to resent my scrap-a-licious ways by dedicating that "handsome" decree to images of her first haircut. See how I layered icons that fit my theme to create a banner similar to the one shown in this month's design? This is a super fun way to use a lot of products to create a wow embellishment.

Second layout from this month's EmbellishKits.com scrapbooking kit.

By continuing those same icons in embellishment clusters across the two pages, we can easily create a coherent layout! Considering the amount of pictures I had on hand, I could even spread those themes of time, barbershop, and camera across a couple more pages. The top two photos on my page flip up to reveal an additional layer of cute, as well as my personal musings about why in the world I get so emotional about a few snips with the scissors. For now I've housed the remaining photos from this sentimental snapshot in pocket pages. If I forget to come back and scrap them, they will still be on show for viewing, and I can always add a few patterned papers or project life cards and call the story told.

 
I couldn't help but reflect on how much I ended up enjoying working with both the May card kit and this June scrapbooking kit, both of which featured patterned papers and embellishments from the Jack and Jill collection from Echo Park. Shelby included so much product with each shipment, that I had enough left overs to create over ten additional projects! And, having those smaller patterns left over to add to this kit made it possible for some more wood veneer fun, like the "hello" I adhered with mini glue dots next Sunday smiling with her new hair-do. Hey, justifying an addition to your club membership is certainly something I'm qualified and happy to do! You can find more subscription details at EmbellishKits.com.
So what's next for creativity this week? I've got my CraftWithAnna team registered for this weekend's Relay For Life at Peninsula High School where my crafty friends will guide participants through a quick but cute thank you card to send out their supporters. We'll also be creating mini memorial albums, so a lot of fun and memory sharing will be bound to fill my heart with happy. I'll be spreading the word out about my upcoming craft cruises, too- wouldn't want to deny any crafties the vacation of their dreams don'tcha know!

Another card just waiting to happen

Aside from that hub-bub of fab, I've got just a few more scraps to, well, scrap, including this pile which just happened to fall into a card design on it's own... gotta love it when THAT happens! Watch my instagram account @AnnaBradshw to see how it turns out and to catch highlights from this weekend's event.
Now, GO GET CRAFTY!

 

 

Best Day Ever Embellies Get Ready

Continuing into our vacation with what would become a Monday worthy of all those "Best Day Ever" embellishments I can never put down...

Captivated by the Sun's Rising

After my mornings typed musings had reached their 5000 letter limit, I sat in bed gazing out the balcony window, watching the sky continue to lighten with the promise of a beautifully warm although somewhat overcast day. Listening for the footsteps of room service really. D headed into the water closet. The phone rang- Hello? "Oh hello madam, are you awake then?" Mmmn, yes. "Okay, then I will bring you the food to your room." Oh great! You mean you're on your way? "Yes ma'am that is correct." And back in bed I jumped to sit and wait for the food to arrive! A knock at the door- Yes, come in! Another knock. Yes? Oops, I guess I need to answer the door instead of sitting here in bed like the queen of Sheba.

Breakfast m'lady?

One of many polite people working on the boat, "Room Service Man" Oshando? came in (once I invited him) and waited patiently for me to shove the clutter on the vanity aside in order to allow him to set his tray down. Steaming black coffee, another pot full of hot water for tea, and two covered dishes with a side of apple, orange, yogurt, granola cereal and linen covered silverware stacked and waiting to be enjoyed on the balcony with my bestie! Does it get any better, friends?
Pouring my first cup of coffee and heading out to the balcony seemed to be an especially pleasing idea, but I thought with the sound of the wind howling outside all night that it might just be a tad chilly, the high for the day only being an expected 68*. OMG was I ever tickled to discover that the coat was completely unnecessary! 

a Zen moment

Back through the doorway flew the coat, and with coffee in hand I experienced the ultimate breakfast delight; warm salt mist in the air, sunlight already reflecting off the waves, and not a soul to disturb being able to silently absorb how wonderful the moment was. To really be present in appreciating the splendor that could come from such an act as simple as crossing a threshold. Then it was back in to grab a camera, for what would a cruising cropper like myself do without a self-timed picture of me silently enjoying said moment. I would actually have to remember it, like, in my mind?!
We were quite surprised at the humidity when we stepped on deck, but quickly made ourselves comfy and set in at enjoying our fresh fruit and atmosphere. Lot's of laughing and exclaiming, mixed in with the usual life's muddling's and reflective musings that come so naturally when we're together. I kept my eye down in the spray and reveled in the simple delight of catching sight of a single flying fish skimming along the water perpendicular to the ship. 

Dolphins beneath my window

Suddenly, I stutter-shouted excitedly, "They're HERE! Oh man oh gosh look they're really here!" D didn't even stop to question what I was shouting about, running back inside for cameras and back out in time to capture one of the most hoped for moments of my life: porpoises playing in the wake directly beneath us! OH wow- were they ever fun to watch, and I may have over stretched a cheek muscles with my maniacal  grinning.

Goodbye Friends!

 I had been sharing just moments before how disappointing it had been not to witness more marine life on my families previous to cruise to Alaska in the fall of 2012. Friends, have you ever had a dream you have no way of controlling come true? Then you will know how cushiony the cloud of air I floated down on to visit our conference room friends was. How could the day possibly get any better...

How about with an afternoon sun siesta, followed by the attendance of the Sexiest Man in the World contest? You'll have to stop by tomorrow to read all (okay, maybe not ALL) about the antics displayed by the contestants in another bit of Best Day Ever enjoyment. Thanks for following along on my high-seas Caribbean adventure, and feel free to share my stories with your friends on facebook, etc. There are icons directly below this posting that will take your right into a status share window. 

Have a Best Day Ever story to share? Comment below and you could win an embellishment to emblazon with!

 

My Cute Cowgirl

 The girls and I had so much fun exploring the fairgrounds this year at the Western Washington State Fair.

 Formerly known as the Puyallup Fair, there seemed to be a childhood memory waiting to be re-lived for me around every corner! I was ecstatic sharing all the goodness with Rainier and Sunday. After all, they don't know what corn dogs and BBQ corn on the cob, and earthquake burgers, elephant ears, curly fries, and caramel apples and SCONES taste like, so they weren't disappointed not to be offered any. And there was no way I could share or withhold such goodness, so I was able to resist somehow as well :-) It's a good thing I never saw a pickle barrel, though, that might have snagged me.

We got to see a lot of our favorite animals, including, a Camel! By the time I was ready to leave, we were all pretty pooped (how could we have only been there for three hours?!), but I managed to get one more photo shoot in, and my cute little cowgirl hopped up on the hay bale before she realized what the reason was for. She never has been into smiling on command! Or photographic eye contact either. Hence, I got none of her looking adorable-y at me, but did get an adorable shot nonetheless :-)

The map print background is by Studio Calico, and I got it in a kit from a Creating Keepsakes class about Mixed Media. The kit included a piece of dressmakers pattern paper, which could have been adhered with decoupage techniques. I chose to just use my regular favorite Red Duck adhesive down the sides and then grabbed a couple border strips for the top and bottom.

Once I had figured out how I wanted all my layers to go, I got stuck. This layout sat for about a month on my desk, I couldn't figure out just what it needed. With the additions of the border strips and my journaling last night, I finally feel like it can be put in the album.

Whew! I don't like it when an unfinished something keeps getting in my way of creating something new, but it's almost a feeling of relief once I have it completed! And who would have guessed that pattern paper can work with our beloved patterned papers! Not me...

now where are all those old patterns I'm not using... 

Here's another shot with the flash on, so you can see a little bit different view.