Facebook vs. Instagram

I don't really get the difference between Facebook and Instagram. You post a photo, make a comment and hope people "like" it. It's the same for both places.

While all of the girls were getting their hair done for the wedding, we had a great time just hanging out together. The subject of Instagram came up because Sandy recently joined. She doesn't do Facebook, so this was a big step in the world of social media for her.

I started asking questions. The grands decided I needed to be on Instagram. Jordan took over my phone and downloaded the app. She opened it and said, "Grammy, you already have an account! Look, you have 34 Followers!" What??? How did that happen? I have no recollection of ever setting it up. Most likely, sometime in the past, those same grands set me up. Jordan began to show me the "ins and outs."

I decided to make my first post. Jordan helped me. All of a sudden, I  yelled, "Oh My Gosh! Look, I already have 142 followers in just 15 minutes!" Jordan laughed, "Grammy! That's my account!" Oh.

I'll get the hang of it---maybe. But what I don't understand is that people post the exact same things on Instagram as they do on Facebook. I just don't get it. Why bother? Aren't the same people seeing it in both places? I will say, I do like the fact that Instagram does not have a bunch of advertising or junk posts.

So what I've really learned is that if Facebook is not enough to eat up my little spare time, then just click on over to Instagram to eat up the rest. Let's not even talk about Etsy or Pinterest.

A Year of Memories

This is year 7 for my AYM group. For 2016, I "stole" the title for this year's book from Ali Edwards. She has been doing One Little Word for over 5 years now. One Little Word by Ali is a workshop where you choose a word for yourself to focus on for an entire year. For AYM, it's completely different.

This year, our scrapbook is going to be titled "One Little Word." I believe that "one little word" can evoke a story or memory. And that's always my goal---getting people to tell their stories.

The format will be the same as in the past. Each month, members get a kit of materials and a handout with a topic and a few ideas to get them thinking. They interpret the topic any way they want. The only "rule" is that the page needs to contain a story. It doesn't have to be a long story---just a little more than pictures on a page. We meet and share our stories. It's also a lot of fun to see how each person uses the same materials and how different all the layouts are.

Our "One Little Word" workshop will focus on a different word each month. January's word was "Shine." We had titles like "Rise and SHINE", "my time to SHINE",  "sunSHINE", I've taken a SHINE to you"---you get the idea. February's word is "JUST".  Can't wait to see what the gals come up with this month. I always make the topics broad enough that you can take just about any set of pictures and think of a title to go with the monthly theme.

About 8 or 9 years ago, I developed my "Making the Most of My Memories" workshop---which is a way to completely organize all of your photos quickly and easily. I guarantee that by using my method, you can put your hands on any photo within a minute or two. It was very successful. But, I wanted to prove that it really worked. That's how A Year of Memories was born.

At the height of AYM's popularity---or I should say---when we had scrapbook stores---I had 3 different groups going with a total of 39 people. Now I'm down to 7 "diehard" fans. I'm always thinking, so it bothered me to know that the only scrapbooking that is getting done is the assignment for our group each month. We all have dedicated scrapbook rooms. That's expensive real estate in our homes to only use once a month. Sooooo, I came up with another idea.

This year, I've added a "Scrapbook Round-Robin" aspect to our group. We started in January and it's totally optional---although everyone was immediately on board. I had each member select a set of photos that they are having trouble scrapbooking. All they had to do was pick out the photos and type up the story behind them. Each month, we'll pass them around so each member gets a chance to work on someone else's page. After 3 months, you'll get your finished page back. I broke it down like this:
Month 1: Lay out the photos and attach.
Month 2: Decide title and place journaling.
Month 3: Embellish.

Since this is a brand new concept to us, there has been some trial and error. We're only on the second month and I've been told that one member "accidentally" did the embellishing step too. That's okay, we'll figure it out. I told her that she just probably wouldn't get another layout to work on this month. The page I got had so many pictures, there wasn't room for the title or journaling. I had to create a fold out. Like I said, we'll work out the kinks as we go. So far, everyone is enjoying this added little twist. Some say they feel pressured to be scrapbooking for someone else. Personally, I'm having fun with it.

I've also told the group about another little idea I have up my sleeve. Actually, if the truth be told, motivating other people to join me in my schemes, gets me moving too! Otherwise, I'm the type of person who has tons of ideas that would go nowhere.

Now if I can just get myself back on the treadmill....

Friday Funnies

Not exactly a cartoon, nor very funny---just the truth in my "book!"

Who Does This?

I would say "only Mindy" but apparently, Justin does too! 

The week before the wedding, Mindy and Justin came over to borrow luggage for their honeymoon. We were happy to oblige. Mindy returned it exactly like this on Friday night.

Seriously? She didn't even bother to remove all the tags. I told her that her dad would freak out! I left them so he could enjoy them as much as I did.

 Besides the tags left on, every zipper compartment was unzipped.

 Wouldn't you think it would be hard carrying luggage or even rolling it while it's unzipped?

I guess Mindy and Justin are perfectly suited for each other. They are both a mess!! And I mean that in the most loving way! There's just no other way to say it!

A Little Bit of Random-ness

Justin had to work on Valentine's Day. Mindy surprised him with the breakfast before sending him off. Isn't this what we all do when our husbands have to work on Valentine's Day? Oh, to be newlyweds again. sigh...

Of course, knowing Mindy, this was planned far ahead. I'm sure she had to hunt for the heart shaped cookie cutter. She probably saw the heart-folded bacon on Pinterest.

This is the best packaged chicken salad that I've ever had. It almost beats The Picnic's chicken salad---the best in town. It has pecans and cranberries.

You can find it at Costco. We don't belong there, so Connie gets it for me---it's pretty big, so we usually split it. Pair it with Sister Shubert rolls and a "congealed" salad. Mindy hates that word---coming from St. Louis, we said "Jello" salads---southerners say "congealed".

This is the best green onion dip. I supply St. Louis family with it since you can only find it at Krogers here. It's cheap too---75 cents.

While on our sister's crop, we went to a seafood buffet. The food wasn't all that good. I mean, come on--what did I think I was going to get---fresh seafood in the middle of Kentucky for $13.99? I did snap this picture of Jeanne eating frog legs. We had to eat them as kids, but I don't remember if I liked them or not. I was going to give them a try, but they came in pairs. That sort of freaked me out. They look exactly like frogs legs.

Speaking of Sister Shubert rolls, that seafood buffet had them---only in miniature. I've never seen little ones. Very cute.

I can't say I've seen a line of birds on the stoplight pole in a very long time. They made me smile.

So proud of Mitchell for making the Dean's List!!! He's smart and dedicated! We love that! In fact, we are very happy that our grandchildren appreciate their educations and are not wasting our money!!

Despite what it looks like, Butch said it was a crappy fishing trip. He and his brother are never paying for fishing guides again! They haven't had very good luck with their fishing trips. They are just going to play golf instead! They did enjoy the Daytona 500. They've been going for about 20 years or more.

That's about it for my random pictures this week. Wishing you a week of fun random stuff!

Satisfaction...

...is when you go from this:

Completed needlepoint and fabric selections for the finish work to this:

 Finished pillows!

 "Along Came a Spider" has been one of my favorite things to make. It was so much fun to work with many different stitches and fibers. The melted wax on the candle is made with French knots---such an easy way to add dimension. I've left my pillow at Nashville Needleworks. The owner, Connie (not my Connie) is offering a class on this in July.

This is 10 year old Elizabeth's first completed project.

 It's a 10" pillow. I love the tiny, purple ball fringe.

This is Jordan's first completed project. I forgot to tell the girls that it is important to sign and date your work. So, I did it for them.

And then there are these (say that 5 times really fast):

Eight tiny witch's hats. I can appreciate the time that went in to the finish work. All of the braided trim had to be hand made.

I've already assigned each one, but the girls will have to wait until Halloween to see which one they get! I did do one more witch's hat that is a sample piece on display at Nashville Needleworks.

This is just a drop in the bucket of what I have awaiting the finish work. I may have to pick up a part time job to pay for it! Anybody need some organizing?

If you would like to order any of these canvases, just call Nashville Needleworks or let me know and I'll pick it up for you.

Sisters are the BEST!!

Don't you just love it when your sisters bring you little bits of the past? Well, it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's such a nice surprise.

Jennifer left these on my nightstand---two dresser mirrors and a shoe hook that belonged to our grandmother. The large mirror has some sort of mother of pearl inlay. To be honest, I don't remember ever seeing any of this stuff. When we were little, my grandparents lived in a small apartment above the restaurant they owned. We weren't there very often. Still, I'm happy to have these things that belonged to her. When I pass them on to my grandchildren, they will have something from their great-great-grandmother. Not too many kids can say that! I can't!

Jeanne brought me the following note in the original envelope from 1971. I'm sure I was pretty tired of writing thank you notes by the time I got to this one. Plus, Jeanne was only 14, so I doubt she cared. I promise, my thank you note writing has improved since this one! As a new bride, I had never cooked, so maybe that's my excuse for this. Still, it's no excuse!

I plan to put this note on a scrapbook layout about the two of us. Or, maybe I should give it to a teacher as a perfect example of what NOT to say in a thank you note! When I was in school, we were not taught how to write notes. My girls learned how to write notes and they all do a great job of it! Of course, I can write a decent note now-a-days too!

Thanks, sisters! I love you!!

Sometimes...

...it's just about preserving the pictures. I'm a storyteller. I think it's important to tell our stories. I think our stories are interesting. I teach the importance of telling our stories. No, I don't just teach the importance of telling our stories, I preach the importance of telling our stories.

But sometimes it really is just about preserving the pictures. Those are the times when there will be lots of photos on the page. Collectively they tell a story, but no story in particular. Usually, when I have a story to tell, the story itself is the main feature on the page with the photos being the corroborating material.

Last weekend while with my sisters, I made 22 pages. That made me so happy because the photos were really starting to pile up. I needed to get them preserved. Stories were secondary on most pages. It didn't help that we had no printer. I'm a big proponent of journaling by hand--unless the story is long. Then typing it makes more sense. I have several stories to tell which need too be added to some pages. I'll get to it. I hope!

For now, here are some of the layouts I completed. I am not all that artistic. I'm very linear in my approach. You won't see things crooked or catywampus on my pages. That just doesn't work for me.

 We received an invitation to a fund raiser for the Nashville Symphony. I loved the shiny, silver, red and black invitation and reply card. It was "Mad Men" themed. I saved them and used them on this page. I journaled with a metallic gold pen on the outside of the invitation.

 I used the invitation as a place to store more photos.

The next batch will be the storytelling pages.