An Arizona summer isn’t complete without monsoon rain. When it comes, it really comes. And we can’t get enough of it.
Some of us are more content watching from inside. : )
delighting in the downpour.July 29th, 2010recent POTDs.July 29th, 2010In the world of Project Life, and specifically for those of us who are capturing a slice of life every day, POTD is an everyday term. It stands for Picture of the Day. Our kids have even started having an opinion of what they think should be in the POTD for our family’s yearbook. Love that. It’s been a while since I’ve shared some POTDs, so here’s a look at some recent shots that help to illustrate our family’s story. I’m a re-arranger. In our home, I move things around on a regular basis. This is the latest arrangement in the middle of our kitchen table. It’ll likely be different in a couple weeks. This photo illustrates my interest in home decor as well as one of my personality traits (I rearranged my bedroom furniture all the time as a kid.) Reminder to moms who are creating books for their kids & families: Don’t forget to include yourself, your hobbies, your quirks, your interests. You are just as much part of the story. ———-
We are so grateful that Porter (7) and Claire (4) have such a special friendship and get along really well. One of their latest “things” is that Porter massages Claire’s ears. I’m serious. Totally random and totally sweet. This photo illustrates Porter’s caring nature and represents their sweet relationship. ———-
Last night’s dinner: French Dip sandwiches. One of our favorites and the kids’ first time eating them. Click here for the recipe. This photo illustrates an everyday occurrence and basic human function — eating. It’s part of life and therefore, part of our story. ———-
Our oldest niece has left for college. I’ve been thinking about Kyra a lot and wondering how she’s doing. So excited that she is going to experience life away from home. So excited for what is in store for her — educationally, socially, spiritually. So this was part of our text conversation this past week. This photo illustrates a family relationship, how texting is a part of our world, and how I personally embrace new beginnings in life. ———-
Speaking of new beginnings … our baby is learning to swim! Crew has had a handful of lessons and I work with him as much as I can. Every day he has had a lesson he is extra snuggly with me. And I dig it. Particularly because David is the main recipient of Crew’s snuggles at home. This photo illustrates how much this sweet boy really does loves his mama and how much I eat it up when he slows down enough to snuggle with me. ———-
The other night Porter wanted to watch some spy show. I wanted him to hang with me in the office while I did some projects. A few minutes later he handed this to me. I had no idea he was working on it. Honestly, I think the boy knows I’m a sucker for his art. Very manipulative, isn’t he? Of course I fell for it. This photo illustrates how Porter uses art to communicate his deepest desires. (Note: I scanned the art.) ———- Every day there is something worth recording. Actually, there are a thousand little things worth recording. But even just taking a picture of one thing, writing one story or anecdote — these all add up to illustrate the story of our life. Even if it’s not every day, I know that so many of you are doing what you can to tell your story. I just love that. my mom, the giver.July 27th, 2010I’ve introduced her here on my blog more than once. This is my mom. Hi mom! (She will be surprised to see this post.)
One of my mom’s best traits is that she is a giver in many ways. Last week I posted these thoughts & pictures about taking pictures of words, particularly when traveling. A few of you recognized a name special to you in the picture of Finnish name plates. My ever-so-thoughtful mom took notice of those blog readers and tracked down name plates for them. For real. So now she has these name plates and wants to send them to those readers. For real.
She cracks me up — and yet — it really is so thoughtful. SO, cute blog readers who left a comment about one of these names — you know who you are — please send your shipping address to this email address and my mom will send you your name plate. For real. Know what might be fun? If any of you have met my mom (she has accompanied me on many trips back when I used to travel & teach on the road) … feel free to leave a comment to say hi to her, and maybe mention where you met her or what impression she had on you. This will make her day. In fact — feel free to say hi, even if you haven’t met her. : ) (No, it’s not Mom’s birthday. No special occasion. I just love her. That’s all.) scrapbooking travel pictures & becky gets deep.July 26th, 2010I’m getting this question a lot: What do you do with your travel pictures? Do you do a photobook, photo album, layout? Please tell me because I don’t know where to put all the pictures I take in my travels.
————– It’s an excellent question and on a lot of our minds … so let’s talk about it. I’ll tell you what I do (you’re going to get a healthy dose of my personal scrapbooking philosophy) and I invite you to share what you do with your vacation/travel photos. Everyone needs to do what feels right for them. Do what works for you, not what you think you “should” do because you’ve seen so-and-so do it that way. Let’s just share ideas and inspire each other, right? Right. WHAT I USED TO DO. For years and years and years, this was my system: After traveling somewhere I would add that trip to my list of layouts-to-do. It was right there on my handy-dandy list right along with birthdays and holidays and momentous occasions and school pictures and … you name it. Anything and everything I wanted to scrapbook went on this list. I’m an organizer. That’s what I do. When time allowed, I would get around to creating those layouts, one at a time. This layouts-to-do list was always long and I never felt like I could get where I wanted to be, which is current. WHY THIS NO LONGER WORKS FOR ME. I have this innate need to feel like I’m on top of my pictures. As a lifetime scrapbooker, I was finding it impossible to keep up with my wishful thinking of countless layouts. I wanted to play with my kids instead of spend gobs and gobs of time putting layouts together. I enjoy the art – don’t get me wrong – but it can be oh-so-time-consuming. We all know it. So my list got longer and longer and I wasn’t actually doing any scrapbooking with our pictures — travel and otherwise. I evolved in my philosophy and approach to scrapbooking. I evolved to a place that is do-able. Realistic. Fun. Focused. And my pictures? I’m scrapbooking them. My list? I’m so over that. WHAT I DO NOW. Pardon the shameless plug, but I have two words – Project Life. This is how it works for travel pictures: We go somewhere. We come back. I go through our pictures, narrow down, and organize them in our iPhoto library. And then … I choose one picture per day to represent our travel. I add that to our ongoing Project Life book (I personally prefer the digital version). Those travel pictures receive equal treatment to every other picture that goes in our book. That amazing hundreds-of-years-old building we saw? Just as important as Crew learning to feed himself, Claire lining up her stuffed animals for a tea party, Porter losing a tooth, the vegetables we pulled out of the garden, the friends we hang out with. The little stuff in life is just as important as, if not more important than, the big stuff. It should all be included in telling our life story. WHY THIS WORKS FOR ME. I am a practical woman. Like really, truly practical. I try to do what makes the most sense and feels right. So for me – for our family - we now have our pictures and stories actually being recorded and preserved in a format we can enjoy, instead of making a list of scrapbook pages I’d like to do “someday”. If you see me in person and ask about it, you’ll have a hard time shutting me up because I am that passionate about the system and its ease and its flexibility. I want this to help so many people (scrapbookers and non-scrapbookers alike) because it has helped me. WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE PICTURES? I knew you’d ask. : ) We took a lot of pictures on our recent trip to Finland. After narrowing down, I have exactly 573 pictures that are now stored in iPhoto. Will I scrapbook all of those? Of course not. Would that be nice? Sure. Is it realistic? Heck no. There are thousands and thousands of pictures in our iPhoto library that aren’t being scrapbooked. I’m over it. Sometimes we browse through our pictures on the computer. Sometimes we incorporate our favorites into our home decor. Sometimes we share random pictures with loved ones. Sometimes we make iMovies with the pictures. There are so many other ways to enjoy photographs outside of actual scrapbooks. ABOUT THAT LIST. Going back to what I said about “do what works for you” — I do realize that there are many of my readers who are true-blue-traditional-layout scrapbookers. I love that. For those of you in that category who are also list-makers and who would be interested in keeping an ongoing list like I mentioned (because it works for you), I’m happy to share that list format again:
So … what works for you? word up.July 22nd, 2010Yes, I am fully aware of my nerdy side. Titling blog posts isn’t my greatest strength. Here’s another travel photography tip: Capture the WORDS where you go. This is another often-overlooked element of your experience visiting another place. Look at the signs. Notice names, titles, headlines, slang, lyrics or anything else in written form. Taking pictures of these types of visuals will further capture your traveling experience. This applies whether you’re enjoying a staycation or traveling somewhere where the language is different than your own. A handful of pictures from Finland … since that’s what’s fresh in our iPhoto library.
Remember looking for ANYthing with your name on it when you were a kid? So fun. Hey, if anyone needs a unique baby name idea … for the love of food.July 21st, 2010I don’t know what it is about photographing food, but I find myself staring at edible delights from behind the lens on a regular basis. Sometimes it’s to accompany a favorite recipe (for crying out-loud, I finally posted a new recipe!). Sometimes it’s to capture the essence of what our taste buds experience on special occasions. For those of you doing Project Life, consider photographing what you eat. After all, food is part of your life story just as much as anything else. Think about it from all angles. The examples shown here are “special occasion” foods because they’re from our travels abroad this summer. But don’t overlook that bagel you have almost every morning for breakfast or Mom’s famous meatloaf that you enjoy monthly or the snack you reach for while working on the computer. By the way, the last picture is my personal favorite. If that doesn’t tell the story of how delicious the dessert was, I don’t know what will.
besides the destination itselfJuly 19th, 2010A little reminder today to those who are about to travel: If you put all of your focus completely on the destination itself, you risk overlooking the actual journey. Whether you’re taking a road trip into the mountains or flying half-way across the world to explore another country, be in the moment. Appreciate your journey for what it is. Pay attention to the details. And photograph them. They are just as much a part of the story. I’ll share some examples of the kind of pictures to think about taking on your next adventure. These are from our recent trip to Finland and Estonia but remember — the ideas apply to your travels, no matter where you’re headed. First of all, the packing. I would have loved to see how my parents packed back in the day. I gather & sort my outfits on our closet floor in preparation for packing. Details worth recording, don’t you think?
What kind of electronics, chargers, and the like do you pack for your travels?
What about any itineraries, passports, and other travel documentation? By the way, I picked up this snap-closure clear envelope at The Container Store (they’re so easy to find at Target and WalMart and just about anywhere) … and it was the most handy thing ever for our trip. It held our documents and passports but memorabilia along the way. For those of you who can’t stand loose papers, pamphlets, receipts, ticket stubs, etc. this is a really wonderful tool for traveling and keeping it all together.
And by the way, so is this skinny notebook. This is where I journaled brief notes from each day of our travels so I’d remember some details, the spelling of certain places, and other little things worth noting. I believe I picked it up at WalMart? Notice there is no thick binding, so that’s why it’s really terrific. Skinny and flat and I kept it in my handy-dandy clear envelope.
Think about how you get from here to there. Car, train, bus, plane … whatever and however. Like most of you, I have a favorite bag that goes right along with me. It’s right there beside me during the whole journey, my trusty travel companion. It deserves a picture. (PS – Yes, that’s my JoTotes bag. LOVE.)
What about ticket stubs and other memorabilia? Back in the day, I’d save that sort of stuff. Now I photograph it and toss the originals. That’s a personal choice but it works for us. Less stuff and yet, we still get a visual of those things.
And don’t forget about currency for those of you traveling out of the country. It’s something you use while you’re abroad. It’s unique to that corner of the world. So capture that. Again, this is part of the story.
project life loveJuly 15th, 2010
Thank you, friends. I appreciate the messages and comments about how Project Life is helping you with your endeavors to preserve your memories and do something with your pictures. Many of you seem to be spreading the word (especially to your “non-scrapbooking” friends) and I want you to know how much I appreciate that. You’re awesome. 1. Yes, I am working on the next version of Project Life to release in time for Christmas. Same kit with new, updated designs. The kits on Amazon right now are the last of this year’s design. When they’re gone, they’re gone. 2. If you’re outside of the U.S. you can order HERE. 3. Want to do something with your pictures, but not so much with a physical scrapbooking kit? If digital is your preference, click HERE for the scoop on that. Personally, I’m doing the digital version for our family’s Project Life. I know everyone has their personal preference. That’s why we’re offering both options. Take your pick. : ) 4. If you use Project Life and want to share this on your own blog, you can grab the graphic (you’ll see it right here – on the right side of my blog). Project Life is back in stock!July 15th, 2010the pet we had for 36 hours.July 15th, 2010Two nights ago the kids found a teeny tiny gecko in our little bathroom closet. Didn’t bother me one bit. Welcome to desert living. Somehow 3 people in our family got the idea that this little creature would become our pet. As of this morning, the baby was still safely kept in a red plastic cup with a few scraps of what my kids thought my be good food. Um, are those onion peelings? Why, yes. I do believe they are. Um, nice.
So this morning was one of those mama-knows-best moments. I had a pep talk with the kids. Explained that the two options were: 1) we keep the gecko and it will die — because my gut tells me that it absolutely will die. I’m sure of it. We’re not in a stage of life where taking care of pets is our best skill or interest. Option 2) we let the gecko go where he can survive and thrive and enjoy desert living the way he should. There was much resistance at first but after I explained that geckos have families too, my kids’ hearts softened. And then it was a quick, “Okay!” Okay!? Just like that? Sweet. So off we went to the backyard where we released our little baby gecko friend.
The kids wanted to name him Jaxon. After all, whether you have a pet for 10 years or 36 hours, you still give him a name, right? So … farewell, Jaxon. Hope to see you around. Thanks in advance for eating whatever little critters around here that we’d prefer to keep out of the house.
secrets to a perfect gridJuly 14th, 2010I am a grid-kind-of-girl. There is no denying that I prefer a perfectly aligned grid over any other arrangement of pictures, prints, and frames. Those of my readers who are familiar with my scrapbooking style and specifically my sketches over the years, know what I’m talking about. I think order is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
I don’t know how Martha does it, but I thought I’d share with you how we hang grids around here. “Oh Patient One” (a.k.a. David) has hung many, many frames with me over the years and I give him full credit for figuring this out during one of our grid-hanging projects. Maybe some of you have already implemented these tricks. Here is our most recent grid collection. A little gathering of some family pictures (taken by the lovely Kara Layne last year). To help our 6 frames fill the wall more, we used leftover scraps from our kitchen wallpaper and John (our handy-dandy wood-workin’ magician) created the yellow frame, all of which are attached directly to the wall in our hallway. And because I know some will ask — the neutral grey paint on our walls is called Castle Path by Behr brand at Home Depot.
To talk about any kind of picture-hanging, I have to first share with you that these picture hanging strips are the only way we hang pictures. No hammer & nails. No holes in the wall. No crooked lines. And no, they haven’t pulled paint off our walls. We are believers. Seriously. Check them out here or your local hardware store or Target or WalMart or home store … and note they come in a variety of sizes.
At the beginning of the grid-hanging project, we adhere a velcro tab set to each side of each frame. No measuring or figuring out if they line up or whatever. Just wipe the surface clean and stick the tabs on. Leave the paper on the exposed sticky side until you’re ready to stick the frame to the wall.
Here’s the secret (these secrets are meant to share, of course): A level is good for more than just leveling. It’s also great for creating perfectly even and straight spaces between each picture instead of measuring how far apart each picture should be from the next. So you start by figuring out your measurements for your specific space and figure out where that first picture (choose a corner) is going to be. Peel the backing off the sticky velcro backs and using level on top as your guide, firmly place that first frame on the wall. Then — place the level flush against the edge of that first frame. If you have another level or something long enough & straight, put that across the tops of the frames. Now you know exactly where to place your second frame without having to measure. Get it? Bingo! You would do this for each picture across and up and down. The lines are perfect. The spaces are perfect. Yay!
And if you’re curious about this velcro concept, here’s what you’d see if you lean up against the wall next to a picture frame. You so can’t tell looking at it normally. Did I mention we’re velcro fans for hanging picture frames?
Added note: If you happen to be in Arizona and happen to need any woodwork done and happen to have missed when I shared his info before here, our friend John Broderick rocks. He has done several wood-based projects for us and we highly recommend him. bbfurn@juno.com | 623.566.2232. project life for newlywedsJuly 13th, 2010I know many of you are anxious to know when Project Life will be available again. An appointment is finally set for Amazon to receive the shipment on Thursday which means … Project Life is expected to be available THS WEEK, probably on Thursday or Friday. Say hello to Candace and Ross who live in Indiana (gorgeous couple, aren’t they?):
Here is part of an email Candace sent to me: “I got married on January 1st of this year and Ross (my husband) and I are loving documenting our first year of marriage! Ross has taken an awesome interest in the project too, taking pictures of his daily activities and journaling at least 2 or 3 of the days each week. Without fail, every weekend he asks if he can go get our “pictures of the day” printed! It’s been so much fun. Not only have we already been able to document our wedding and honeymoon during this year’s project life, but we have a lot of big milestones coming up this year too! This book will be something we both cherish for the remainder of our married life because we will be able to remember all those special moments from our first year together in such an awesome way!”
I’d like to extend a special THANK YOU to Jan in Indianapolis. Who’s Jan? Jan Gerbers is Candace’s sister and the one who gave Project Life to the new couple. Candace is just entering the world of scrapbooking and I’m so, so, so pleased that she’s entering with Project Life. I’ve heard from many other readers who have given the gift of Project Life as wedding gifts and graduation gifts and I just want to let you know how much I appreciate that. You are truly giving a gift that will keep on giving. Project Life can start any time, any season, at any age or stage. Here’s the thing. Scrapbooking can get a bad reputation. There are so many who view this wonderful hobby as one that requires a lot of time and creativity and even money, right? I don’t blame them for thinking that. Scrapbooking can be that. But it doesn’t have to be. They are the reason — and you are the reason — that I created Project Life. So that anyone who would like a beautiful scrapbook can achieve that WITHOUT all the time and creativity and money. Project Life is scrapbooking in the simplest form. So think about your friends and family members. Think about who you know that could really benefit from knowing about Project Life and give them the heads-up that this week they’ll be available again. When they sell out, they are gone until we release the next edition later this year. My blog is the place for the most current information. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, what questions might you have about Project Life? Ask me here in the comments. Be sure to check out the Project Life FAQ section here too, as your question might already be addressed. And remember — the digital version of Project Life doesn’t run out. Anyone can try that out for free, any time. who’s a winner?July 12th, 2010How about sharing a little good news with a few lucky winners? First of all, the winner of a Project Life kit is Jeane in New Iberia, Lousiana! And going back to the Big Photography Giveaway I did in May … I have 2 more winners for that (since original winners never contacted their respective photographers). So congratulations to these 2 readers who left comments and entered to win a free photo shoot: Marilyn in Connecticut (who would like some portraits of her children with their grandmother) and Holly in Utah (with 2 boys and expecting a little girl). Marilyn: Email Shannon with skt photography. Holly: Email Jessica Mandile with Jessica Jo Photography. Jeanne: Email us to get the Project Life hook-up. how to make a fruit topiaryJuly 12th, 2010A little do-it-yourself home decor project to start off the week. (I’ll be announcing the Project Life winner later today.)
(I know someone’s going to ask about the yellow candlestick and that turquoise vase-pot-container-thing. Got both of them at Home Goods.) This is what you need: styrofoam ball (I used a larger size but you have options) sturdy toothpicks hot glue gun small flowers or moss (more on that toward the end of the post) mini fake fruit ( same or a variety). I picked up a couple of these little variety packages of mini fruit at Target, in the home decor section, but you can find mini fruit at your local craft store too.
So this is what you do to start: Poke a toothpick in the bottom of one of the little fruits:
Then you stick that anywhere on the styrofoam ball. Push it all the way down:
Repeat those first two steps with each little fruit, placing them side by side or clustered, so long as they’re touching one another. Nestle them as close as possible:
Keep adding fruit. Get some water and stay hydrated. : )
You will eventually have your entire ball covered in fruit. Adorableness:
Okay … notice all those gaps? There are a couple ways to fix this. 1) Cover your ball with crafting moss first so that you see that instead of styrofoam. Or 2) use very small flowers to fill the gaps. I picked up a couple bunches of these flowers. The yellow goes well and they’re little. Perfect.
Trim the little flowers so there is just a short stubby stem:
One by one, hot-glue those little flowers between the fruit, filling in all the gaps:
That’s it! Done. So easy. And there is even something therapeutic about covering a styrofoam ball with fruit or flowers. (I’ll be sharing a flower topiary soon.) Know what? This could be a really fun project to do … on your own, with your friends, with your kids … And remember: Those big craft stores (Michael’s, JoAnn, Hobby Lobby, etc.) — they offer great coupons (like 40% an item) and have sales on florals and stuff ALL the time. There’s no reason to pay full price. Also keep in mind that the bigger your styrofoam ball, the more stuff (fruit, moss, flowers) you’ll have to have to cover it. project life update & my favorite thingsJuly 9th, 2010Happy Weekend! [ thank you ] so much for all the happy, thankful, warm messages regarding the Doors of Tallinn collection. I’m so pleased that some of you can actually use that. It’s neat to hear that some of you are printing & framing it as a gift also. [ interview ] Kari over at Ucreate asked to do a little interview with me recently. If you’re interested in a quick read, you can find that article here. [ a few of my faves ] You can view some of my favorite household products by going here – Becky’s Picks on Amazon.com. Be sure to notice the categories to the right. I finally found the perfect mousepad – in Finland, of all places. It’s marimekko, which I love, and really thin, which I love even more. I’m picky about that. Anyway, they have the marimekko mousepad on amazon, so that’s in my collection of favorites.
You’ll find various things we use & love in our home — cameras, computer, label maker, the best gadget for going paperless in your home office, those cool canisters in our pantry, my favorite scrapbook albums, baby must-haves and yes — oh yes — even spray paint. This is a start and I’ll more things. [project life update] More kits have been made and we’re just about ready to release those on amazon.com. I will let you know as soon as they’re available — here on my blog and on twitter and facebook. So if you have that friend who thinks “Good for you that you scrapbook, but I don’t have the time or money or creativity” — this is an excellent way to help her do something with her pictures without having to invest the time, money, and creativity that tends to be scrapbooking’s reputation. Or maybe … you’re that friend and you need Project Life? Let’s have fun today. Who wants a Project Life kit for FREE? Leave your first name, city, and state (U.S. shipping address only) and I’ll announce a lucky winner on Monday. PS – Yes, a school kit is still in the works and Yes, I’ll be releasing a newly designed (same kit, new graphics) Project Life kit later this year … in time for Christmas. The one that is about to re-released is the original Project Life kit and this will be the last chance to get this year’s design.
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