04/16/10 My Valentine Sweetie

I meant to explain how I came up with my blog name in my first post but since I forgot I'll do it now.  I nearly drove myself crazy trying to decide on a name.  Should I include "scrapbooking" since I'll be sharing my layouts here ... or a play on my last name (Moore) ... if I liked it, it wasn't available (i.e. Scrapping My Life).  Finally, I decided to go with a play on my favorite song, Amazing Grace, and my two all time favorite words - grace and joy.  When it accured to me to combine them I was very happy.  It's different but not "out there"! (At least I don't think so ...)

Here's my 2nd layout this year.  I spent Valentine's weekend with my oldest daughter, Tiffany, and the joy of my life, my granddaughter Izzie.  While she was at work, Izzie and I had a little photo shoot and here's the result:

I just kept shooting pictures and loved how I got several different looks.  Tiffany wasn't too happy that I wanted one with her but I'm glad I did.  I love how she has special scrubs for all the holidays for her job at a hospital.

The style of this layout is VERY different from my usual simple style and it's all thanks to a wonderful online group I'm in which has started challenges every month.  I love the result and am excited about pushing my comfort level OUT OF THE BOX I've been in for years.  So, thank you to everyong at MSS, especially Nancy and Debi!  You guys rock!

Oh dear, I'm trying to align this to the left and it's not letting me .... grrrr.  I'll save it and come back tomorrow when perhaps I'll figure how to get it to do what I want! (As you can see I didn't!)

Here's a wonderful idea I found when surfing the web ... have you ever thought of writing a love letter to your grandchild?  I think this is something they would treasure and hope some of you are inspired.  Imagine giving them a notebook filled with letters, from each of their birthdays, for their 18th birthday?  How priceless it would be!

Grandparents, have you recently become a new grandparent? How exciting! Here is an idea I wish I had thought of when my grandchildren were born, but I may just do it for them on their next birthdays. When your new grandchild is born, write a letter expressing your joy, love, and hopes for your new grandchild. You can also include some family history and photos of ancestors. Don’t forget to label those photos! I have many old family photos without names. I’d love to know who they are. My grandparents passed away when I was very young, except for my Nana who never spoke of her very large family, and my parents are also gone for many years. I have no one to tell me who they are or any family stories. I regret that I don’t have the personal histories to pass down to my grandchildren. All I have are some names of ancestors that I’ve found on genealogy sites and a little history I stumbled upon along the way. But, I digress. I’d like you to have this grandparent poem for a new baby to also include in your letter to your new grandbaby.

Note: I try, try, try to always copy the website I find something like this but oh, this time I forgot. Please forgive me and I'll be happy to give credit if anyone knows where it come from or who the author is. (Yes, I did try doing a search for the author but it was un-fruitful)

Here's the poem that was included with the above article about writing to your grandchildren.

We Love You, Little One


We loved you from the very start,
You stole our breath, embraced our heart.
Our life together has just begun,
You’re part of us our little one.


From the day we first knew,
Our mind was filled with thoughts of you.
We’d daydream of the things we’d share,
Like bedtime stories and teddy bears.


Like first steps and skinned knees,
Like nursery rhymes and ABC’s.
We thought of things you’d want to know,
Like how birds fly and flowers grow.


We thought of lessons we’d need to share,
Like standing tall and playing fair.
Each naptime we lay you down to sleep,
We gently kiss your head and cheek.


We count your little fingers and toes,
We memorize your eyes and nose.
We linger at your nursery door,
Awed each day we love you more.


Through misty eyes, we dim the light,
We whisper “We Love You” every night.
We loved you from the very start,
You stole our breath, embraced our heart.


As grandparents and grandchild
our journey’s begun,
Our hearts are yours,
forever, little one.


~~ Author Unknown ~~

In the scrapbook I'm creating for my precious Izzie, I am writing the journaling directly to her.  That way when she looks at, she'll know it was made just for her!  I plan to do the letters for her in a special box with each year labeled on the envelope.

Thanks for stopping by ...
Karen

 

Blog vs Website

I've decided to take my blog public.  After blogging for over a year privately it finally feels right.  I set up a website but haven't figured out how to keep it just for my friends and family, so this seemed the easiest and the safest.  Now that I'm scrapbooking on a regular basis (after a year of just looking at my supplies and moaning) I wanted a place to share my creations.  My new year's resolution to JUST DO IT was the turning point, plus getting active with my online scrapboooking groups and friends. 

So ... without further ado, here's some of layouts from the last 3 months.

My first one was a challenge on my favorite Yahoo group.  It was fairly simple (which is my style) and actually seemed doable!  (Thanks Nancy and Debi for your inspiration and encouragement!)  The challenge was monochromanic, which I thought would be easy.  By the time I finished I was pretty tired of green and vowing to never use it again!!!   It's the first time I've ever used a sketch I did like how it turned out.

That's my "itty bitty kitty" Bailey.  Every time I go to take a picture of a layout she's right there, insisting she should be in the picture too!  Guess you could call her my "partner" since she loves reviewing my layouts - which is challenging when I'm in the middle of my creation process and she jumps up ON my work table!  The only drawback is she LOVES adhesive (my tape runners, scotch tape, masking tape) and I have to keep them all in ziplock bags!  I figure that's easier then trying to find a 12 step program for her! lol

Here's a closer look at the left page:

Brainerd, MN is where my grandparent's lived, my 3 older brothers grew up, my oldest brother raised his family and my parent's retired.  (I often look back and wonder what would my life have been like if I'd lived there or moved to after high school.)  It's a lovely town in northern Minnesota and nothing like the depiction in the movie Fargo!

Since I love adding maps to my layouts, I included one of the entire state of Minnesota with a little red indicator to show exactly where Brainerd is.  The other pictures are I love the welcoming sign you see when you enter the city, the bell tower at our family church and a shot of downtown.  This one has a bear, stamding on his hands, totem pole.  Definitely not your usual totem pole!

Right page:

I included 2 landmarks: the water tower and a restaurant my Mom worked at over 50 years ago, plus a picture of one of the many beautiful lakes you see all around the area.  Minnesota is known as the state of 10,000 lakes after all!

So, this has been exhausting and I'm going to go finish the layout I started yesterday!




Moore to come!   For those you don't know, that's my last name!  Thanks for looking and I'll be back soon with more layouts!

Karen