Alcohol Ink...

It's been a while but I'm back, I've been giving my "365" blog far more attention! I love alcohol ink and I have about 27 bottles. I haven't used it much but I found a couple of cool things to do so I thought I would share...

I have a ton of Heidi Swapp's "Ghost" shapes and letters. Although my son is 17 months old, I'm still lacking in "boy" scrapbooking products. I decided to ink a clear star and I love the way it came out! I chose a blue, a green and an orange color ink and dabbed each color on one at a time. It still looked transparent so to give it a more opaque look, I added a bit of white acrylic paint on the back. I found another interesting use as well. I'm working on a birthday card with a small, slide mount shadowbox. I wanted to add two very small rub-on butterflies. I transfered the rub-on to a transparency but then of course they were difficult to see. Using Tsukineko "fantastix", I painted on a tiny bit of gold alcohol ink...it gave it the pop it needed. I also colored in a dress rub-on. You can really see the difference between keeping it plain and using the ink!

Making a 365 kit...

I received an e-mail yesterday confirming that I'll be getting my 365 kit. Unfortunately it won't get here until mid-February so I'll definitely play catch up for a while. All of that said, I recruited my friend Lusya to take the challenge with me and she is doing great! She's just getting into scrap booking and loved the idea of this project. Of course I only ordered one kit, which as so many people know, was hard enough to get! I often order extra and then I'm stuck (I have extra school kits and expansion kits) and this time thought I would be "good" . Darn!! Instead of waiting to see if they will make more available (and who knows when that will be) I'm making a kit for my friend. I purchased an American Crafts 12x12 D-Ring cloth album (they also make leather and even corduroy) and We R Memory Keepers 4x6 photo sleeves (25 in a pack). The album is from Ritz Camera (which is running a 20% off sale until the end of January) and the page protectors are from Scrapbook.com . In the next couple of days I'll attempt to print the journaling cards whch were provided by Becky Higgins and we'll see what happens. I'll post photos of my progress just in case there is someone out there that wants to put one together!

Hope

I love three day weekends, that extra day takes the edge off the rest of the week. That said, I think this should have been a four day weekend. It would have been fantastic if Emily could see the inaguration tomorrow. When you can witness history being made you need to cease the moment! Yes, school is important but life's lessons are important as well and I think this is a great lesson. We had a long conversation today about Martin Luther King Jr. and why this inauguration day is so special. Em understood as much as a seven year old could understand, and sighted "Hairspray" when I explained rights and equality. I know that's a musical...but it had an important message...and she was paying attention. :) We are entering a new phase in this country and I am getting on the "HOPE" bandwagon. I hope things get better, I hope we move in a positive direction, I hope we feel stronger...I hope our new President will stay as calm, cool and collected as he appears to be. I have faith in him and I wish him all the best as he jumps in with both feet. In less than 24 hours Barack Obama will be our 44th President and I look forward to watching him take the oath of office. Although my daughter will be in school, my Tivo is set and I'll happily watch it again with her so we can share and discuss this historical experience.
(a friend of mine told me about this website http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fobamiconme.pastemagazine.com%2Fentries%2Fnew.html&h=a31992173cdc283ca8131a5e731c9aa8 where you can set up that poster. I thought it was cute and gave it a try. I then realized that this is the only photo I have posted of myself so far...so yes, that's me...maybe I'll post a more traditional photo soon) :)

This is why I scrap

You never know what the day is going to bring. This morning while heading to school we were slipping and sliding on the road. As I turned the corner there were two cars and honestly, this was an accident about to happen. I gently hit the break and headed right back home. There was no way I was risking the lives of my children...or their mom. It just wasn't worth it. We hung out at home, warm, safe and sound. At about 3ish I was listening to the radio and they mentioned that a plane had crashed into the Hudson River. My first thought was that it must be a tiny plane right? It wasn't. It was a commercial plane with over 150 passengers!! I could not believe my eyes when I saw a GIANT plane in the water. (I found this photo on Yahoo). Amazingly enough they are reporting (as of 7pm EST) that all of the passengers, including an infant, survived. UNBELIEVABLE!!

When those passengers got up this morning, they had NO IDEA that they would go down in a plane. They were lucky. When I got up this morning I had no idea I would slip uncontrollably on the ice and almost crash my car. I was lucky. You just never know what will happen. Each day really is a gift and we have to appreciate what we have (I KNOW that's not always easy). This is why preserving memories is so important to me! I want my kids to take the journey of their childhood through my books and projects. I want them to see who they were and what they were doing. I want them to see how much they were loved, not only through my words and actions but through my photos and journaling. It's so important that I do this because you just never know what the day will bring .

Hi, I'm Jodi and I'm addicted to kits!

When I first started scrapbooking I HAD to do everything on my own. 12x12 albums, nothing "mini" and I never even considered buying a kit. Well, I still love to scrap BUT the amount of time I have has changed. Not to mention the fact that kits have come a long way. So now, in addition to my paper, rub-on, ink and embellishment addictions, I can't stop buying kits! OK, in my defense, I do pick and choose carefully. For the most part I gravitate to the CK Kit of the Month (despite the insanity over there, they do have some great stuff) and once in a while a QVC TSV. My "to-do list of projects is enormous and triple the size of what I listed. I'm also embarrassed to admit that I rarely finish the CKC projects from the conventions...even though I often love my classes. I still have a few from two years ago! Oh well, I do love being surrounded by my scrappy things and I at least the thought of getting something finished. I'm hoping this blog pushes me to stop obsessing and helps me to get something done. Probably not, but it's worth a try!

(so many kits/unfinished projects...so little time)

Riddle me this...

...my credit card was charged for the Project 365 kit...but no UPS notification! Hmmm. I was told I would be in the "second wave" of orders and my name is definitely in there. Since so many people only ordered one kit but were charged for more, I suspect a lot of inventory was replenished on Friday. That said, charge or no charge, I have no idea what will happen. In the meantime, I am moving along as if I'm *not* getting the kit. I have a plan of action and in addition to my own kit, I'll make one as a gift for a friend of mine. I'm not sure if anyone will read this BUT ritzcamera.com has a great sale going on right now. I got American Crafts 12x12 cloth D-ring albums for $13.59! (they are on sale through January). I also ordered my We R Memories 4x6 page protectors from Scrapbook.com...I'm thinking they will sell out so I wanted to get my hands on some. :) One more thing...kudos to Becky Higgins!! She is a stand up woman and no matter what is said, she is cool in my book. She posted digital versions of her Project 365 kit today...that's so helpful and she didn't have to do it...but she did. Mine is already downloaded.

I'm off to take advantage of a sleepy baby and a semi-quiet household. Working on my flip-flop...I'll post photos when I'm done!

"Nutmeg" lives!

Friday is finally here, I thought this week would NEVER end! I'm completely exhausted but I have high hopes for a creative weekend. I've made an executive decision, this weekend...we scrap!! I made some progress on my flip-flop and want to keep the momentum going. I must move onto the next project!

Speaking of which, for anyone following my Scrapronicity365 blog..."NUTMEG" lives! On day 7 I had a photo of a broken ceramic canister (it was very old and belonged to my grandparents). My painters broke it and as upset as I was, I vowed to put Humpty together again! I'm proud to report that I was successful. Unfortunately, there was a piece that was missing but I'm grateful that the rest were there. It may not look perfect but it's good enough for me. I suspect my grandmother was watching over me and *not* allowing it to smash into tiny, unsalvagable pieces. (Oh that large crack running down the front was already there...so I think it looks pretty good).

Life is too short...

...to sweat the "small stuff". Yes, we have all heard that but do we believe it? Do we sweat anyway? I admit, there were many times I was guilty of worrying about the little things. Then I lost my dad...and struggled with infertility...and watched as two gigantic towers in New York crumbled to the ground. On any given moment I can turn on CNN and see some one's house wiped away by a hurricane...or a fire...or a tornado. I can watch men and women lose their lives for our country. I can go on and on but the point is, these are really big things and far more important than many of the small things!

OK, I got on my soap box because there are a lot of people freaking out about the Project 365 kit. I totally respect the fact that people are upset, it was a complete disaster. That said, I have chosen to breathe in with the good and out with the bad. ;) I'm frustrated too because I thought mine would be in the mail...apparently that isn't the case. Instead of stressing out I have decided to join so many others who are proceeding with this project on their own. In fact, I have created a "sister site", scrapronicity365, so I can blog the project while still working on my other posts/projects here. I have already stumbled upon some great blogs which I plan on following and I'm trying to recruit some of my friends to join me on my journey. This is a project that's worth doing, with or without a kit!

(By the way, once in a while the "small stuff" CAN be important. One of my favorite quotes is..."Enjoy the LITTLE things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the BIG things". Food for thought...talk amongst yourselves...) :)

Project 365

Becky Higgins (a biggie in the industry) had this idea. Take a photo a day with a bit of journaling for an entire year. Just a photo and a journaling block and that's it. She even put together a kit that went on sale Jan. 1st. As usual, it sold out in about 2.2 seconds! (I thought I purchased one but it looks like I was stuck in the evil CK ordering vortex. They need a system that doesn't crash). So, although I probably will not get the sold out kit, I am completely intrigued by the concept. For some reason, this doesn't make me sweat like the Stacy Julian method (see my post below)! I admit, it seemed like a daunting task at first but how bad can it be...and won't it be worth it? The beauty here is it doesn't necessarily have to contain just photos of your family, etc. You can use a concert ticket stub or take a picture of an object. For example, my brother and SIL took me by surprise yesterday and dropped off some paella they had made. It was such a great gesture since they know I LOVE paella and they don't live around the corner. Ah...day 3...surprise paella in a plastic container!

I will start my own "Project 365" using the concepts explained in the kit. Here is a link so you can understand the idea... Project 365. When I begin to make my own kit I'll post photos. In the meantime I'm taking the pics and jotting down my daily journaling in a notebook.

This really isn't as scary as it seems, in fact it will most likely take minutes to accomplish. I hope to get some people to join me...I would love to know what YOU are doing with it! I'm really looking forward to this long and interesting scrap book journey. :)

Ideas are easy...

...it's the execution that's difficult! My head is FULL of ideas but once I sit down and try to accomplish something, my brain stalls. It's so frustrating. I wish I could just place a photo in a book, jot down a few details and be on my way. This summer I took "Finishline Scrapbooking" with Stacy Julian at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in PA. The concept is interesting...don't concentrate on the layout, concentrate on getting the photos down on the paper, Cut your photos...don't analyze where you put them or what embellishments will go with them. Go from page to page...do NOT look back! Here is your book...and some paper...and a time limit... just get it done..."GO"! What? Huh? NO WAY! I sat examining my photos, refusing to cut haphazardly, refusing to slap any piece of paper on the page...I simply couldn't do it! My friend Kim was sitting next to me, a witness to my (semi) silent nervous breakdown. It just wasn't going to happen and here I sit with the project in a baggie, five months later.

That night I realized something. I realized that I'll always have a "to-do" list. I realized that there will never be enough hours in the day to accomplish what I want. I also realized that I LIKE staring at a blank piece of paper or tin or chip board cover and thinking of a plan of action. I LIKE sorting through my beautiful paper and embellishments and carefully deciding what will look best together. I LIKE taking a ready made kit and somehow making it my own. Although it may take a while, I LIKE holding the finished result in my hands and feeling proud of what I accomplished. While I know realistically my kids will just want to see photos and read my journaling, I want to give them more. I also want to give myself more...it's my creative outlet and the process is what keeps me sane...in spite of the frustration

For the record, Stacy Julian is one cool woman and I know her concept works for so many scrappers. It's not her...it's me...but I'm OK with that. :)

A New Year...A New Blog!

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog. Yes, I know, EVERYONE has one which may be the reason I hesitated! ;) I started searching and found some really interesting scrapbook blogs...so I'm taking the plunge! I thought it would be great to have a spot where I can discuss scrap booking and post some photos. I suspect I'll be talking to myself for a while...or possibly forever...I have no idea how this blog thing works! In any case, here I am and I'm looking forward to the experience. :)

Why "Scrapronicity"? It made me laugh. I'm a huge fan of The Police and I kept thinking..."With one breath, with one flow, you will know...Scrapronicity". (Yep, I'm a dork). It should not be confused with Kevin's Police cover band on The Office..."Scrantonicity". ;) (still a dork) OK, synchronicity has little to do with scrap booking . If we want to sort of stretch the definition however, it IS something that we can do at the same time! (Yeah, I know...you can't blame a girl for trying). The name doesn't really matter, it's the passion we all feel for this hobby. I adore paper and rub- ons and ink and the creativity of it all. I love to find others who love to scrap as much as I do. I have so many projects in the wings and hope to eventually hear what everyone is working on out there!

I'll post some links and photos soon and spruce up the place. My only resolution this year is to COMPLETE some albums! Have a happy, healthy and creative 2009!