Happy Accidents

(I miss my granny)

She was the kindest women I've ever known... never thinking of herself... just others.
AND...
She was an amazing artist! Oils mostly. We used to sit in her living room and watch Bob Ross paint on TV. Such an interesting guy... the neatest voice... almost like he's singing.
Anyway, one of Bob Ross's things was putting happy trees everywhere.
And that made me think of this... "There's no mistakes... just happy accidents". Now I can't remember if this was from him as well, or from my high school art teacher (I'm thinking the latter). Regardless, it stuck with me.

When I'm teaching scrapbooking I always stress this. When people are too scared to try something because it might "wreck" something they've done. That it's usually fixable. You might make a mistake and actually LIKE it!!And you will never get "good enough" that you stop making mistakes!
Case in point...
I was working on Ali's Challenge #5... "i am creative". I decided that I have a ton of chipboard that I'm saving for this "masterpiece" but I need to use it. The layout was done and then I decided to run some dots up the curve. So I did... and hated it. My solution... use rhinestone brads to cover the dots. Much better.


So even after 6 years of scrapbooking... I still create "happy accidents".

And I posted this for the December 5th class... an altered paint can and journal (perfect for teacher gifts)! Sign up for the class or the kit.



The MSS blog is updated with new stuff... I'll try to get the rest up this week.

Just sharing

Sick with a cold, feeling blah, kids running amuck... so this is all there'll be today.
I know you're all terribly disappointed!! LOL



Have a good rest of the weekend!

Play by Play

Play-by-play the last couple of days...

- Love seeing Buffy-esque stuff on TV. From cast (Wentworth Miller on Prison Break, Nicole Bilderback on Heroes) to story lines (Heroes - the cop who has powers to hear people's thoughts... enjoying it at first, and then all the voices just keep coming... Buffy Earshot Season 3). Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
And, Val, yes, I will milk that for all it's worth!

- Finished the beadboard in the kitchen. Finally moved the furniture back against the wall. It's been in the middle of the kitchen for two weeks.

- went to my parents on Sunday for my dad's birthday. Jodie came out which is always nice!



- 58 emails this morning. One was Ali's AEzine, one an email from a fellow LSS owner, the rest... spam.

- realized most of my pictures have horrible shadows.



But hey... I still think they're pretty cute!

- Keep getting prompts from Shimelle's "You Think You Know Me" class. Well I think I know I should start one day! Darn procrastination.

- made beanbags with Molly. What else are you going to do with three bags of popcorn kernels that are 3 years old??



- Decorated my bag. (A little restless energy).



- Added some racks to the shop. Not new and fancy, but they work. Now I'm just waiting on some for more paper!

- Lots to do at the store. Classes, kits, orders... oh man... have to order today. Guess I should get to that!

Happy Tuesday all.

VOTE

It's almost time. Time to have your say. Time to vote.
Remember this man when the time comes (Oct. 25). He is a wonderful father, grandfather, husband. He is kind and thoughtful and he listens. He cares. His father was a town councilor, as was his grandfather. He optimistic and funny and considerate. He loves this town... lived here his whole life. He would be great! Heck... he IS great!



VOTE RANDY RIETZE FOR CITY COUNCILOR ON OCTOBER 25TH!

And back on this end...

Every one was sick here last week. Of the five of us, only Derek escaped the wrath of the flu. Man... I hate that. I'm so behind on laundry now. Everyone will at least have clean sheets now though! LOL

Taking a break from the publishing part of the world. I need to. Takes me away from where I want to be... from WHO I want to be. I'll stick with the product and the shoppe and teaching. Other than that my time is for them and my pages are for them (and me!)

So, that said...

... a little scrappin' done this weekend (here)

This one was for the "Glue-B-Gone" challenge. Yup... no adhesive used here! Just stitching, staples and brads.
... and this one for the "Paperpalooza" challenge. Grab 6 papers and make 'em work.
The little stamp on the bottom and the lines on the top left are Fontwerks.
... and a couple of others you can see here.

The amazing shrinking to-do list

Believe it or not, the to-do list is shrinking! Along with tackling the usual stuff ... laundry, sweeping, being mommy... I'm making a little dent.

- plan Super Scrap Day (make and takes, etc.)
- get ready for Bible Camp event (goodie bags, display, etc.)
- get ready for Manitou class (in November)
- complete 2 circle journals (by the end of October) ~ one down, one to go

This is for Bryan's Technique circle journal. Long overdue. I loved Ashley Calder's pocket technique in the October 2006 Scrapbook Answers... but I didn't have the burning tool she used, so I used my sewing machine. I swear, if that machine ever stitches through fabric I'll be so suprised!!!

- finish holiday cards for online site (by the end of October) ~ one down, a few more to go
- finish tags for Christmas Tag Swap (by Nov. 15) ~ check
- teach two more classes this month
- start Shimelle's class ("You Think you Know Me")
- get December class ready
- order this week (remember to order more for December kit) ~ check
- get that sign done for the shoppe
- finish photo swap layout (by SSD) ~ check
- start Christmas gifts (and cards)

And now, some tidying up, and then off to meet Jen!

Today's MSS spammer count - 3

TGIF (& Ali Challenge #3)

Day before yesterday.... Jack told me that a girl in school said she hated him. Now... this is a boy who's so shy and timid... wouldn't hurt a fly. But what killed me most was how nonchalant he was about it. We would tell him that maybe she was having a bad day and didn't mean it, or if she did it was wrong and he should ask his teacher how to handle a situation like that. He just shrugged it off... "No. She just hates me." So sad. It's not OKAY for people to say that. I debated about what to do about it. This is Kindergarten. I decided to wait to see what would happen the next day. And what happened? "She was my friend today!" LOL Which is great! Cause he loves school (most of the time). Especially playing in the house.... 'cause there's cowboy boots there you know!

Looking forward to a nice weekend. Not at the shoppe, just at home. I have to take a MAJOR look at my (scrapbooking) to-do list...

- plan Super Scrap Day (make and takes, etc.)
- get ready for Bible Camp event (goodie bags, display, etc.)
- get ready for Manitou class (in November)
- complete 2 circle journals (by the end of October)
- finish holiday cards for online site (by the end of October)
- finish tags for Christmas Tag Swap (by Nov. 15)
- teach one more class this month
- start Shimelle's class ("You Think you Know Me")
- get December class ready
- order this week (remember to order more for December kit)
- get that sign done for the shoppe
- finish photo swap layout (by SSD)
- start Christmas gifts (and cards)

... and I'm sure there's more... but I'll start with this. I'm going to try to copy the list and check them off as I go....

And Ali's challenge from her AEzine.

This week your challenge is to create a layout that tells the story of your relationship with photos and/or your camera.
Consider the following questions:
What is your personal photo-taking process? What are your strengths in regards to taking photos?What do you want to change about your process? Which photos that you have taken are your favorites? Why? What makes those photos your favorite?
If you don't have time to create a layout this week I would encourage you to simply think about how you take photos. Write down a photo goal for yourself this week and do something about it over the next seven days.

Of course I read it once and didn't refer to it 5 days later when I actually did my layout, so I didn't answer ANY of those questions. But... that's just the kind of rogue scrappin' rebel I am! LOL!

Today's MSS spammer count... 3

Happy Thursday?

Feeling glum about the whole industry today. I'll get over it... just the usual issues...
- magazines "creating" celebrities with all their contests.
- people who are obsessed with "celebrity" blogs. I love Ali... but I'm pretty sure if she'd tell us what brand of garbage bag she uses they'd sell out. Not her fault. "Our" fault. Really! I love Ali... love her art, her perspective and outlook, and her as a person... totally inspiring! My #1 fav! I just think WE are silly sometimes... the way we act.
- my own personal lack of publishing, although I'm pretty sure I don't suck.
- magazines publishing the same stuff (some even scraplifted from previous issues).
- getting sucked into the whole "recognition and affirmation" thing that comes along with submitting. Really... why do I care if 6 people I've never met like my layout???

Thrilled and inspired about scrapping though... that's a plus! Flipping the bird to submitting. (Pardon my French)

And I'm loving "non-celebrity" work lately... ala Kristina Contes, Heather Burch, Jill Hornby, Amber Skolnick, etc. Totally gets me inspired!

I'm leaving you with a little piece of my home...

September in review

Ali's challenge #2:

I put this one off for quite a while! I somehow misplaced my bottle of ink for my printer... last I saw it it was in my bag... so I couldn't print off any wallet sized pictures... which was my plan. So I only had this one that I could crop. Darn, if I don't excel and photo composition and therefore can't crop my photos in farther! LOL!

So anyway... I did it.

You can see more interpretations here.

And I'm still scrapping (I love Saturdays!) so they'll be more to share later.

Edited to add one more layout!

Happy Thanksgiving!

... to all of my fellow Canadians... Happy Thanksgiving!

Molly had a playdate today and Derek took Jack after school till it was time for Molly to come home (and save me a second trip to town), so I had 1pm - 8pm just me and Max. He played, we played, I scrapped! So nice!!! He is sooo good entertaining himself. Sometimes I just sit there watching him play... the conversations he has with himself! So cute!
This weekend will be busy with gatherings, so it feels really nice!

So... these are my accomplishments...

OLD pictures (summer 2004)... Molly at the petting zoo. Brushed paint along the edges. Stacked the Heidi Swapp journaling spots (which I love). Not happy with the title... but oh well.


Really happy with this one. I seem to really enjoy those ones that I DON'T think about. This one took probably all of 15 minutes. I tend to over-think stuff... trying to get things perfect. And if I throw that out the window... get just my basic photo placement down... I'm so much happier with it.
By the way... those are the pictures from the September online crop.

And then this one... which for some reason isn't loading. Started this one on Thursday at the crop... and in true Marcy-style... finished it at home!

(I just realize I already posted today!!! Hee hee! Past my bedtime!)

Too funny

Okay... I hijacked this from Jen's blog... thought it was too funny!!!!!

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name)Angel Road 18N (okay... this one doesn't work for me... Let's go with my last one... Angel Ninth)
YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather or grandmother on your mom's side, your favorite candy)Lena Caramilk
YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name)m-car
YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)red cat
YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)carmel winkler
YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in)penma wiwin
SUPERHERO NAME: (your favorite color, favorite drink) red coke

Okay... so Jen's were a lot funnier, but still...