Scrapbook Saturday

On our scrapbook retreat, this was the very first time all of us AYM members were together. It was so much fun to share all of our work--especially since it is so rare.

Here are the Christmas scavenger hunt pages:

This is mine. 

Susan's

Janet's

Jeanne's

Pam's

Nancy's

Karolyn's

Next, was our first AYM layout for this year. Our theme is all about our camera roll and how a single word can connect so many photos and memories. This is probably a bigger commitment because of the number of pictures involved. It really takes some planning to narrow them down. One thing is for sure---everyone is learning new things about their camera, photos and printing them in different sizes. It's going to be a fun year!

Also, this year, everyone is using all of their own supplies. We all have tons of stuff, so I think that's a good idea.

Our first word was "Christmas Trees." Okay, I realize that's two words, but rather than just "trees" I wanted to narrow it down further. 

Starting with my layout:

When I put "Christmas trees" in my search box, I think more than two hundred photos came up. I narrowed it down to 23 for the page. Each one holds some special meaning--many of which I'd forgotten about. I decided on a grid layout. I used a marker to make the lines. For the embellishments, I pulled all kinds of trees from my Christmas collection.

I had a little card that said "O Christmas Tree" that I used as my title. As for journaling, I made little descriptive slips for each picture. Then, on the "flip-up" I told a bigger story about my favorite Christmas trees and why.

This is Janet's layout. 

Everyone is on their own for titles and style of layout. Janet also got 23 pictures on the page in all different sizes. She made a fun title for her page.

This is Jeanne's layout. She chose 15 of her favorite pictures. We laughed about her black and white one of Ronnie, the twins and me--she wasn't even born yet! Still it has a Charlie Brown pitiful tree in the background!

She used a Christmas card for her title and added the word "trees."

Nancy got 26--3x3 photos on her page.

She stitched her grid lines, added labels, and Christmas tree stickers.

Susan used a variety of sizes to include 22 pictures.

She also used a Christmas card that she made with alphabet beads for the title. 

Pam's layout holds 14 photos.

Karolyn managed to get 20 pictures on her page.

She used the sewing machine with red thread for her grid lines. There are so many options!

Our word for February is "Happy" and we all did those layouts too. I'll share those next week.

Okay, that's it for this week!

Friday Frustrations

Are we having fun yet?

So, we're on our ski trip. Yesterday was our first day on the slopes. But, it was questionable as to whether we would get there. Here's the story:

I don't ski anymore, so now I have the "un"fun job of driving the skiers to the lifts and dropping them off. Last year, we had some huge vehicle--like an Exhibition or Suburban. Those trucks are ridiculous. I don't know why anyone needs something so big. For this "height-challenged" girl, they are way too big for me. I'm uncomfortable driving them. I cannot see around the behemoth. And, in the ski parking lot, there are kids running all over as well as adults not looking where they are going. My heart about pounds out of my chest trying to back up amidst those circumstances.

This year, Butch got a 7 passenger van. That definitely felt better for me. The only problem is that when I tried to get it out of the driveway, we got stuck on the ice and couldn't get up the hill. Butch got behind the wheel and tried everything. The boys pushed--which made me a nervous wreck--they tried a carpet square, some thin wood pieces, but nothing worked.

Thank goodness for AAA (Triple A). We thought that was going to be hours and hours! Actually, they were here in 10 minutes. The "guy" was a mountain man with a foot long gray beard! We have no idea what he did, but he was able to move it up the hill like it was nothing. He didn't even have to use his tow truck.

When it was all said and done, it was about an hour delay---not bad. 

By the time you are reading this, I don't know yet if we have the same problem today. When I do, I'll post an update. 

You just can't get a running head-start on ice!

UPDATE:

Okay, the decision was made that I would not be driving today. Butch chopped ice yesterday, so getting the car out today was easy with a running start on dry pavement. But, the plan is to keep the car parked above the house so I wouldn't have to get the car out by myself. Well, then Butch thought better of it because the walk from the car to the house on ice might be too treacherous for me. I cannot afford another fall. My ribs have not yet healed from the last one!!

I just hope they are able to get a parking place. That's always tricky--and expensive. Plus, now that you can reserve in advance, I'm not sure there is any available. I guess I'll find out what happened when they get home.

Five Things Thursday

I love tiny houses. But, I don't want it as a house. I want it as my scrapbook get-away. I'd love to just be in it scrapbooking, reading, taking naps until I got tired of it. Some of these look like dollhouses!

OMGosh! This gorgeous garden--I want my garden to look like this!!

What I Buy Wednesday

Since I was scrapbooking this past week, I didn't really do much shopping. But, yesterday, I made a stop at The Dollar Store while running errands.

It might be called The Dollar Store, but it's now the Dollar and a Quarter store. Still, I got quite a few bargains for 15 bucks!!

Dessert plates, sandwich bags, Paris stickers, a pair of wine glasses, several cards, a lighter and some rhinestone numbers. Quite a haul for fifteen bucks, wouldn't you say??

Remember last week I shared my purchases from Pop Shelf? Well guess what, I opened the little stamp set I got and...

It was USED!!! I would never have paid $5.00 for a used product. I would go back and complain, but it would cost me more than 5 bucks to get there.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

Me On Monday

Just got back yesterday from out scrapbook retreat. As always, it was so much fun. 

Susan, Jeanne, Pam, me, Karolyn and Nancy

Janet was taking the first picture, so Jeanne took this one so Janet could be in it.

We always go to Kentucky Lake since it's about halfway between Nashville and St. Louis. This time, we were a little closer to Nashville (about 15 minutes) since we were in the land between the lakes (Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake). The house that we rented had 5 bedrooms and 4 baths. Just perfect for us. 4 people get private rooms and baths while 3 of us (Pam, Karolyn and me) share a larger room with 3 beds. We're used to sharing a room, so that works out just fine. 

We do have to drag a lot of tables and tools, but it all works out!

We divvy up all the meals and have "happy hour" every day. We have a good variety of food and use our last day as a "leftover" day. We definitely do some good eatin'! 

The funniest moment of the weekend: Karolyn was searching for her glasses.

Turns out Susan had them on top of HER head!! You can see her glasses on her shirt! We are all having senior moments for sure!! Someone's is a lot more pleasurable than the rest of us!!! Okay, that's an inside joke that perfectly fits the phrase: "whatever happens at Kentucky Lake stays at Kentucky Lake!" Right Jeanne??

Several things came up regarding our photos. Since I took an extensive course last winter, I thought I would go ahead and share some of the general info here:

First let me say that I only know about the iPhone and iPhotos. 

1. If you have multiple photos in several albums, they DO NOT take up storage space. The actual photo is only stored once on your phone and does not impact your storage. 

2. Any changes you make to a photo such as edits will appear across all places the photo appears. 

3. You can delete photos from albums and the photo will still be in your library. But, if you delete it from your library, it will be gone for good. You will no longer have it in any album.

4. It is possible to have two or more of the same photo if you received it from different places. For example, if several people share the same photo, you would have it more than once. That does take up storage. 

5. Since our phones are so smart, it detects duplicates. To eliminate them, go to your pictures on your phone. Tap on albums and scroll down to Utilities and find "duplicates." There will be a number there telling you how many you have. When you tap on it, you will get all the pictures that are suspected of being duplicates. Just choose "merge" to get rid of them.

Something for Sunday

This.

This is brilliant!

A new house is going up. I love this. What a great way to see what your choices are going to look like on the house. There's another across the street from Connie's house. 

In a way, it's kinda' sad. It represents a dream unrealized for me. I've always wanted to build a house where I got to pick out every little detail! It's a little too late for all of that now. Besides, I'm overwhelmed at the thought of moving anyway. 

I'll just be satisfied that I've been able to change out most of those insignificant details in our own house. Like, replacing all of the electrical outlets and light switches from builder's beige to white. And, I've replaced ALL of the window latches, and door hinges and handles not once, but twice. It's the only way to keep a 40 year old house looking like new! 

Yeah, I'm satisfied with that.

Scrapbook Saturday

So, I haven't scrapbooked this picture yet, but I will be doing it soon! We were invited to the Dominican Campus for a little photo shoot. We were interviewed for an article that is coming out in the Harpstrings Magazine for St. Cecilia Academy. 

Ten years ago when Jordan and Morgan were in high school, I was writing a check for senior pictures. It got me to thinking about all of the students who are there on financial based scholarships--more than 40%. Tuition is $22,800 plus books and course fees. That might sound like a lot, but it's pretty low for Nashville where most private schools range in the $30,000 to $40,000 range. 

I wondered how these scholarship students were paying for things like AP courses, senior rings, senior pictures, club and trip costs. With Butch's full encouragement, I started "The Lagniappe Fund" which means "a little something extra." I've spent my whole volunteer school career in fund raising, so it was a natural for me. I called on family and friends to donate so that the students who couldn't afford the extras could enjoy the full SCA experience. 

I'm talking about this now because I want to retire at last from fund raising! I have a dollar amount that I want to reach before I'm finished. So if anyone is inclined to donate, don't hesitate to contact me!! I'm hoping that once the article comes out, we'll reach our goal. I'm looking forward to being finished asking people for money!!

Now on to the pages: