New + Old = Love

Here’s an old love. I bought this USMC sweatshirt with allowance when I was 14 years old. I was on vacation at my Aunt & Uncle’s place (on USMC base) and I really liked it. I loved going back home and having it as my reminder of the vacation and my beloved family. It’s now holey and stained – heck it’s seen me through 16 years, painting houses, pregnancies, untold amounts of crafting, and much more.  Paired with my fave owl PJ pants shown here from the other day…

A new love? Making Valentines with digital supplies. Of course I love hybrid scrapbooking, but I also love taking those supplies and doing more with them…

I wrote up an article for scrapbook update – http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/2010/02/09/my-hybrid-valentine/

share the love: speak up.

Have you ever been surprised by a note, a letter, e-mail, phone call, even a text message that was totally out of the blue and filled with happy words? I have been blessed to experience this a few times and it’s incredible. More than I receive though, I really love to send out these positive messages.

A company that was wonderful with good service, an artist who lights up my life, a blogger who shares herself every day, a person who makes you smile on a regular basis, a friend whom I want to tell how fantastic they are to me… any of these and so many more are great people – and reasons- to tell someone you appreciate them.

Today, in some form, I challenge you to spread some love. Send someone a note (big or small, e-mail or paper… makes no difference) that expresses some positive sentiment. With so much darkness, and so much attention on negative things in the world I believe in working harder to spread joy. smiles. happiness. positive warm & fuzzies that keep on giving.

In other words, I try to make my positive voice speak louder than any negative things around me.

I will reach out to five people who do NOT really know me (blogs I read, etc) as well as five people I have personal communications with on a regular basis today. Some notes will be short, others long… but all will be with intent to let the person know they’re a bright spot in my life.

How better to share some love this week… and at a price any budget can afford to give. Just a few minutes of your time.

A week of love.

Valentine’s Day is one week away. What the what?!?! How did that happen?

Well my house may not have decorations, and I might not have the class Valentines done, but I am going to embrace all things hearts and love this week.

First up we baked our Valentine cupcakes. I found these heart shaped liners at target – LOVE! We made some for our firefighter friends + other specal friends as well. I just used the seasonal cake mix + coordinating frosting so it was fast and easy.

I believe in focusing on LOVE in general – not just romantic for this holiday. That’s how I was raised and how I continue to celebrate as well. I don’t do pricey gifts or expensive dinners. No, instead love all around is the focus and I hope to bring you some inspiration of all kinds this week here on the blog.

Happy love week!

Bakerella: inspiration and calories.

I’m always inspired by the things Bakerella comes up with, and always lust after the cake-y goodness too. After all – I’m not allowed that caloric goodness very often. Her attention to detail makes my creative heart sooo happy. Last night her post made me smile and was so timely I had to share -

Are you ready for some football? 

I told Jason I’ m happy either way. I mean – these are the two best symbols in the NFL - and two teams I’m totally down with too.

photo credit of course Bakerella & post is here: http://www.bakerella.com/are-you-ready-for-some-footballs/

some cuteness + digital masks

Photo masks & frames are straight up fun.

Especially when you have cute models wearing new skirts from Target. Lil B, by the way, is really into putting her hands on her face when you try to take her picture. It’s a phase, and I’ll capture it until she moves onto something else.

Most of my masks come from Katie Pertiet (the two above) or Rhonna Farrer (below). They’re digi goddesses that rock my world. Hey – they design it, and it’s easy to use. what’s not to love about that? Ok so it still freaks my bean that I can just hit a button and my photo will mesh with the decorative mask… I mean… it’s so COOL!

I also used an overlay from Jen Allyson on the above photo. One of my goals in 2010 is to take more “whole body standing” shots. I want to capture even more of the girls and get the full picture.

This weekend should be full of rainy day picture opportunities, fun, and of course Superbowl food. I’ll catch back up here on Monday morning with a new post and more fun…

Friday links & things

I’m looking forward to some major creative time today – including some time to create the final layouts for my new Big Picture class that starts at the end of the month. You can get info on class & register here: http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/gohybrid.php  If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comment section or e-mail me. I’ll be doing a post about class this weekend!

Above is a peek at a new article at Scrapbook Update - including a new layout. Loving the banner trend – can’t wait to use it more!

Speaking of hybrid scrapbooking, these digital lined papers are burning up my pages right now. Totally love them and all I can do with them.

Imagine my intense delight when I found out that Crumbs delivers. I’m going to order some for Valentine’s day for all of us to share & delight in. Very excited for a good sugar rush.

In the meantime it’s back to planning, creating, and making the most of 2010. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

I’m a scrapbooker.

A woman stopped me at Starbucks this morning & said “you’re a scrapbooker” and handed me a flier for her company that does local crops. *I* am a total spaz and assumed she recognized me (or Becca) from on-line and that’s how she knew me. I didn’t even think about the fact that I was wearing THIS t-shirt. (duh me)

Anyhow it was a good thing I was walking out of starbucks wearing the above t-shirt when I did because she gave me info on her business Scrap Again.

There is one March 13th I’m going to sign up for in Vacaville, CA. Any locals in? I think it’ll be fun and it’s at a nice hotel right off the freeway (and very near Starbucks, Sonic, and more). Plus the restaurant they have cater lunch is a good one. LOVE new scrappy discoveries!

Speaking of crops, I am looking at venturing out into teaching & crop hosting at stores again. I haven’t done any events in nearly two years, but I want to explore that possibility once more. If there’s a store you’d like to see me teach at please do let me know – I’m feeling really excited at the possibility of doing some in-person stuff again!!

mflaum (at) comcast . net is my e-mail addy, or you can leave info in a comment here.

Happy Crafting!

May’s lunch.

I don’t like mustard. Or onions. Yet I’ve come to appreciate both on my turkey sandwiches in the last few months. *kapow*  that’s the sound of my mind being blown. This sandwich that I’m sharing is my ideal lunch (except the bread pictured – not ideal). You can make it cold, but warm is much better. Here’s what you need to gather:

Turkey, cheese (I like havarti or sharp cheddar), avocado, lettuce (butter is best), grilled onions, deli mustard (grilled onto 1 side of bread), dill pickle, and some sourdough, french bread, or a nice crusty roll of some kind

Cucumber, bacon, and tomato have all made appearances on my sandwich, but the stuff listed above is crucial. I load up on turkey (low cal/fat) and lettuce. Skimp on the high cal stuff by just using small amounts and enjoy. You so do NOT need mayo for this. LET IT GO. So just get out a nice skillet and grill the bread (with mustard on the one piece! it’s so good that way!) along with the onions. Then stick the cheese & turkey on (open face) and broil until hot. Then add your veggies and enjoy.

It’s so good. It really is best with a crusty roll that’s soft & squishy on inside – not too dense a bread like the one I’m having in the photo.

It’s pure comfort lunch, and I can make it sized to fit my diet too. It’s rare to get that much flavor & fun without blowing my calorie intake for the day. If you make one – enjoy.

Eight years ago today…

I woke up in a suite surrounded by my best girlfriends and started getting dressed. It was THE day I’d planned for (myself – no planner required) and 200 guests would soon join in our happy day.

We picked a date based on the timing for our Disneyworld Honeymoon. 2.2.02 sounded cool sure, and it was groundhog day, but the timing of our vacation was the real reason for the date. That’s just how we roll.

Walking down the isle the traditional way was not an option for me. So J met me at the door of the church and we walked in together, arm in arm. It was the priest’s idea and a darn good one.

My friends asked if I was nervous or anything. I wasn’t. The cold feet never came. I was excited. Thrilled. Totally pumped. I knew I wanted to be married to J – and that was that.

We ate, drank, danced, and loved being surrounded by our loved ones. Then we ran off to the airport to catch the red eye to Orlando so we could start the next day on vacation. Yeah – I said we spent our wedding night sleeping on an airplane by choice and it couldn’t have worked out better. By 10am the next day we were rockin’ Universal Studios Orlando.

That’s how we roll.

Eight years, two kids, a new house, and lots of life later we’re still here. Still happy. Still a great team.

photo credit – the pictures are by Celeste Photo Art (Santa Rosa, CA) sorry they’re BAD scans from the album… scanner is angry this morning.

Scarlet Lime 2/10 kit:

February 1st, and a new Scarlet Lime kit has been introduced! I squealed aloud when this arrived at my door and I had fun with it. I’m hoping I get time to work with it more this month. For now, here’s two pages…

I thought it was fitting to scrapbook meeting Christy (Scarlet Lime’s owner) with one of her kits.

This kit had so much NEW product… talk about dreamy. I come home from CHA and find the new Melody Ross + American Crafts stuff I’d been drooling over!

I had so much fun with all the bits & pieces I put together for this layout.

You can check out the other designer projects at www.scarletlime.com