Opus Gluei Challenge # 24 - Learning

All of us learn new things. We might not realize it, but we learn.

Right now I am learning to take care of me.

It isn't easy. I have to MAKE myself do things strickly for me.

As part of this process, and it is a process, I am taking a class at Big Picture Scrapbooking called

ME: The Abridged Version.

In the class we are making an entire album about ourselves. ME. I am having to learn again what matters to me. What makes me tick. What is important and what I like. AND I am having fun in the process.

So far, I have ALL of the pages created digitally.

That is to say that I have the basic pages laid out for each letter in the alphabet.

I only have a handful of them completed.

Getting them all done will take me a bit of time as I have to limit my time spent on this project to 20-30 minute chunks of time.

I will get it done AND I WILL get the pages printed and put into an album.

(You can see the "a" page in the below post.)

ME: The Abridged Version

This is my first page for this album. I have all the papers needed for this class. Except for the background paper. (Rosemary, I know you are thinking "How in bloody hell does she NOT have background papers?", but I don't. I want kraft and I can't find mine. I know I have it somewhere. So being the impatient soul that I am, I decided to play with PSE7 and see what popped out. I am THRILLED with the outcome.

Cathy Z is a GREAT teacher. She is teaching/leading us on how to get a book about ME. Okay if you were taking the class yours would be about YOU. But since I am taking it, mine is about ME. ME ME ME.

I have always wanted to do a book about me. With stories that my family can read later in life and get to know me a bit better. So when Cathy offered this class, it was a NO BRAINER.

Now that I have the first page done digitally, I have to find something to do with all the other patterned paper I just cut into specific sized pieces. Hmmm. Card sets maybe?????

Opus Gluei Challenge #23

Flowers. So many different thoughts come to mind. I love me some flowers.
I made this card.

(Papers are all old Daisy D's. Stamp is Unity. A few dew drops and some thin ribbon. Card stock is unknown. I have had it forever. Sketch is from Sheetload of Cards. Read below for more info.)

Actually it is one of a set of six. I think I will make it a gift for a friend. We exchange gifts every year for Christmas. Not expensive ones. Just little somethings that say "I thought of you". So I am sending her these. I hope she likes them. But if she doesn't, she will be giving them away anyway, so no biggie. Right?!?!?!

I found this wonderful blog. Sheetload of Cards. I know that some of you have already been there, done that. But for me it was like striking gold this morning. I used their pattern from September of 2008. Yup. I went over there and browsed back to then. I would have gone further, except that none else in this family was gonna make these cards, so I had to save the rest for later oogling.

Caardvarks is a bad influence. In a good way. :-D

You know how there are a gazillion challenge blogs out there. And you know how you really want to "do" them all, but just don't have time. (the family keeps wanting food and clean laundry. really, the nerve. I wish they would just accept that I have needs. Creative needs. Anyway, back to reality.

I have a project to do for my own challenge blog, OPUS GLUEI. This week is flowers. And later today I will post a project. I had intended to work on it this morning. But, I slept late, then I had to check my email, and surf a bit. Well, one of my stops was at ALL THE GOOD BLOG NAMES WERE TAKEN. Lauren is uber talented and very funny. Go there, but not until after you are done here. She is one of the DT members for CAARDVARKS. (do you see where this is going?!) And they posted a new challenge yesterday. They have 3 sketches from which to choose. Make a card based on one of them and whiz bang you can post in the challenge. Don't get me wrong, they are ALL great sketches, but one of them SANG out to me. I was powerless to resist the call.

Are you ready for it?

Ta-da:

Here it is.

Isn't it great?

Isn't it the best sketch you have ever seen?

I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the Martha Stewart punch "drippy goo".

It too sang to me.

This sketch and this punch are meant to be together.

Don't cha think!!!

Oh, yeah. The card I made.

(I really kinda cheated. I made this ATC 2 years ago (don't remember the manufacturer of the stickers, Quickutz bats and Bazzill paper) and now my baby has a home. The ribbon is from the Target $ section from last year. Paper is from a Walmart Halloween stack from a couple years back and the green drippy goo paper is the packaging from a K&Co Halloween Die cuts. None of which were used, or harmed, in the making of this card.)

Okay, duty calls, and now I am off to get floral...

Vacation Vacation

(Family portrait taken at 1900 Park Fare. Just kidding. This is my family with Lady Tremaine. She is one scary lady. I wish I could get Megan to jump out of her seat like she did. Maybe I should go to the Lady Tremaine School at Disney. She was very scary. She had me shaking in my boots.)

Yup. We are taking a vacation after the vacation. After 5 days of running around humid, hot Orlando, we need to take a few to relax, rest up and re-charge. Dorothy was SO right. There is NO place like home. I missed my bed, my pillow and my computer. I might not post a lot, or often, but I do some serious surfing. I missed lurking on all my favorite blogs. I feel like I am behind. Don't know what I am behind in, but I feel behind.

Today was the first of many school clothes shopping trips. DD2 and DD3 still need jeans. And maybe a couple new tops. We don't go all out in this house. It's still hot and summer weather here. Instead it is a constant school clothes quest. Today, however, couldn't be helped. Of all 3 girls there is only one, Megan, who had jeans that fit. And only 2 pair. Silly me. I can't bear the thought of them having less than 5 pair. 6 or 7 would be optimum for me. So Megan and I went to a department store where she wandered around not saying much and grabbing fewer items off the racks. Taking her shopping is B-O-R-I-N-G. I love the kid, but she isn't a shopper. She will walk around and only pause at very few racks. And then she only picks up 1 in 10 items she pauses to look at. I have learned not to make suggestions. Unless I am really, really, really B-O-R-E-D. Then I will only make a suggestion to get the eye-roll. Which, sadly, amuses me. I know I should get mad. Some would view it as dis-respect. I view it for what it is. Poor thing. I mean, come on. I am getting DUMBER and DUMBER by the minute, at this point in her life. She is 14 going on wise-old-pain-in-the-rear-I-know-it-all-my-parents-are-idiots. Not such a bad thing. I remember when my parents got dumb. I remember thinking "How in the world did they survive this long without me there to get them through life?!?!?!" Now I can sit back and laugh at myself, but then, I was way to out to show "THEM" what I was made of. I only wish I knew a 10th of what I thought I knew then. I would be a frickin' genius. No lie.

Anyway, I am almost rested enough to get some crafty goodness going. I have to get my Opus Gluei project done. I was supposed to have gotten it done today, but somehow playing a game of CLUE with my family seemed to take priority. So, I will work it in the morning. Just have to figure out what to do. It may be a quick card. Or an ATC. Or an inchie or twinchie. Or who knows???

Well, it's off to sleep for a bit now. More later...

Disney Adventure 2009 - Day 7

Magical Express to the airport.

Fly HOME.

Happy, tired and ready for my own bed.

Disney Adventure 2009 - Day 6

Magic Kingdom. (Yup, again. I love this park.)

Dreams Parade.

Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Wishes Fireworks.

Hotel for rest and packing.