baby announcement & more Q&A

Hi there.

We've been burning lots of midnight oil getting ready for this week's launch of PROJECT LIFE. In the meantime, a quick bit of reading material for your day. First, a simple baby announcement idea and then a little more Q&A.

This is sweet Cameron.


I love the non-traditional shot of Cameron in my friend Kari's arms. This emulates how loved this sweet babe is. Adding text in Photoshop took me all of about 5 minutes or so and the baby announcement was ready to print.

Added note: The 2 fonts (and likely the 2 most commonly used fonts on my computer) are Rockwell ("cameron thayne") and Gill Sans Light (everything else).

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For those just joining the party, I invite my blog readers to ask questions from time to time ... and I answer a handful at a time. Here is the next batch.

Q: Everyone wants to know about the necklaces for their daughters...I want one for me. :)

A: They're the cutest, huh? And it can be such a fun addiction to sit and bead and bead and bead. So relaxing. Anyway, I believe my friends got a lot of beads at usbeadery.com and craft stores (Michael's, JoAnn) and who knows what other random places. There really are a ton of online resources for all kinds of beads.

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Q: I was just wondering if you could PLEASE re post the meal planner PDF?

A: You bet. Here is the Word doc (in case you want to edit for yourself) and the PDF.

ShoppingList.doc

ShoppingList.pdf

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Q: What's your favorite adhesive?

A: For all-purpose paper-based stuff (like scrapbooking, card-making, etc.), I like the Duck brand Permanent Easy-Stick adgesive rollers.



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Q: Did you take a photography class to learn to take such great photos?

A: Yep, a couple years in Photography in High School. And I got a D one semester. True story. The only D I ever got in school.

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Q: Cookies are always on my mind...do you have an all time favorite recipe?

A: So hard to choose THE favorite, but I'm going to have to say Andes Mint cookies. I posted that recipe here.

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Q: Do you let the kids watch DVD's in the car?

A: Only if the drive is "longer". Not around the neighborhood or running quick errands. I like talking to my kids. I also appreciate "quiet time" to think or make a phone call. So yes, the DVD player totally comes in handy for entertainment. Let's be real.

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Q: What is the first scrapbook project you would recommend for someone who has never scrapped before?

A: I seriously love that someone has asked this question because I seriously feel so strongly that PROJECT LIFE is the perfect first-attempt-at-scrapbooking type of project. You don't have to "scrapbook" (cutting & pasting & figuring out what goes where). You don't have to spend time choosing papers and embellishments. And yet you get the most awesome end result. And album with a far more complete & interesting look at your life than what most of us get with the traditional layouts we've been doing.

I'm a believer.

Q&A: Tuesday

It's been fun to see what's on your mind. I'll take a handful of your questions at a time and try to answer some all week long. Here we go!


Q: Do you have any suggestions for people who don't get their photo taken because they are always taking the photos. I have tried getting my husband to take some but he doesn't get those in the moment shots (which I love more).

A: You could always hand the camera over to your kids. Sure, they won't get the most amazing composition and you are guaranteed to get a handful of blurry shots. But they will love that Mom's letting them use the camera and they will take a LOT of pictures. And you will be in front of the camera for once! Of course you could hire a photographer too. But my favorite idea is to trade real-life photography with a friend. I've actually been thinking about doing this for a long time. You would have a friend come to your house for a couple of hours when there's a lot of activity and she clicks away while you and your family just do what you do. She captures you in the essence of your roles and duties at home. And then of course you would do the same for her. Think of the documentation that results from such an activity.

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Q: How do you keep track of everything going on in your life? Do you use a big paper calendar? On-line calendar, notepads, etc?

A: We use iCal. It comes on every Mac computer. It has become the key to our scheduling coordination success. Seriously. I love it. And it syncs with our other computers, iPhone, iPod Touch, etc. So I could add something to iCal right now and David would see it on the calendar at work almost immediately. I especially love the color coding for categories. So our family stuff is red, birthdays are blue, church stuff is purple, work stuff is green and so forth. I am experiencing one of the very busiest times of my life and organized calendaring has never been so important. I'd show you a screenshot of our iCal as it looks right now, but that's a bit personal. So here's a screenshot I found online. You can learn more about iCal here.



I also keep a small notebook by my computer and sometimes it even follows me to bed. This is my place for random notes, ideas, sketches, lists, etc. For all areas of my life. I have learned that whenever ideas pop into my head, writing them down is the BEST thing to do with the ideas. What this does is frees my mind for better ability to think creatively because I'm not always trying to remember stuff. If I write it down, I don't have to work hard to remember something. If I have to work hard to remember stuff, I am not able to clearly think about stuff. Get it?

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Q: I wonder if you've considered, now that you are not affiliated with any company or entity, writing a book on organizing? People read your blog for so many different kinds of ideas, not just scrapbook-related. I'd sure buy a book with chapters on organizing for a party, organizing for crafting, organizing nightly dinners (recipes), organizing your home/chores, etc. I'll bet I'm not the only one who feels this way.

A: You're sweet. I'm not that organized. I have a long way to go before I would feel like I could write a whole book on organizing, although I do love the subject. So I will continue to share my organizational thoughts & ideas here on my blog. Free of charge.

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Q: I always use your sketch books for my layouts. Your sketches were the only thing that kept me buying Creating Keepsakes mag. Are you going to be doing anymore sketch books ???

A: It makes me happy to hear how my sketches have helped scrapbookers. Thank you for sharing that. I think I have exhausted my mental supply of sketch ideas. But that's not to say that you've seen my very last sketch. Next time I come up with one for a layout I'm working on, I'll be sure to share it with you here.

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Q: Has cancer affected anyone close to you?

A: My brother, my dad, my grandmother, several extended relatives. Close friends. So, yes. It has.

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Q: Do you scrapbook everyday? I work full time and have four boys and am really struggling to find time. I've been scheduling scrap nights once a month with friends but I miss my scrap time! How do you do it?

A: Heck no. I'm struggling to find time just like you. In fact, I haven't scrapbooked in months. Months. But I'm itching to do some catching-up in our kids' books and am hoping to do that in the next month or so.

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Now, if you'll excuse me, I have about 5 or 6 things to check off my to-do list before I do what's next up on iCal. Meeting some girlfriends for a quick lunch. So excited to see a friend I haven't seen in a while. Be back tomorrow.