Recovery - the first of may updates

Well, it's amazing how much time one spends on the computer when you can't really do anything else.  I am catching up one the blogs I follow, the instagrammers i watch and the shopping places i try   not to spend too much time (or money) at.

my computer time is helping me prepare for projects i want to do while i am recovering. i have a list of goals for the time i have off.  id love to write them down, prioritize them and do some brain storming, but, alas, i can't write anything down!  i had no idea how much i used my hands. specifically, my right hand!  hopefully, until i am more agile, i can LEARN!  i have several online classes and youtube tutorials that i need to spend time on. i will continue to research and do what i can to improve my online presence and my personal history recording.  i am still struggling towards my goals . what do i want in my future? what goals do need to achieve the future i want? what steps do i need to take to achieve those goals?

sorry, meds kicked in .... mind wondered ... rambling ensued. LOL   my point was, in the 5 days I've done very little other than surf the web, I've discovered a few things id like to change.

1.  i need to take more pictures of my life.

         


              So, my first , honest picture of my life.



             I need to send more cards. I make them.  I save them.
             I organize them (see photo for proof)  This was my                 first project in my summer off!

             Now - I need to start mailing them







this i discovered while reading the WEEK IN THE LIFE blogs by Ali Edwards.  
I have pictures from this year and last year that i would like to get them in albums with journaling before i go back to work.
                Anyway, Ali takes a ton of pictures, and actually scraps 10-12 a day. I only took 4-5 a day, and not all of them are scrap worthy!  I would like to be more aware of moments, aware of things and people worthy of recording. Things i see now  ... i want to REALLY SEE.



2. I can and probably should blog more about the process.

         


          This is the first step in the PROJECT LIFE 2017 album                                                                                        

          I am determined to finish this year!    

          I am grouping the photos from that week, I am then going to narrow down the ones I plan on using, I'll put them in the page protectors, then add papers and embellishments.

          You will be seeing more photos of this album soon.







I tend to blog about big things.  When they are done or if they are important i record.  That probably isn't necessary. I can share just the pictures with notes from my days. Or I can scrap the same. general photos, notes from the day. Everything isn't a huge thing to everyone else, but i know I don't record some thoughts that I would like to remember.


3. The blog is a great place to record some history and some thoughts.

             
          If you follow my FB page,

                 2cut's HEART

          You have probably seen this lovely picture of my arm.  I am 13 days out from surgery and already frustrated and wishing recovery was over.

          I think if I could be better about posting things here .... I might have a better timeline for some of the thousands of open thoughts  and projects rambling around my head.




 I don't utilize my computer to NEAR the potential it offers. It is a great resource. There is so much potential and i have not even explored the possibilities. I am hoping to explore resources that will work with my cra-cra thinking.  Maybe I can accomplish more.  Or, maybe I can just bore you all to death with my rambling!

Either way, you are going to be getting a taste of my crazy thinking.  My sorting my thoughts.   And my trying to get control of my space.  Welcome to this crazy ride!

So Welcome to my World

C

Touching base

So, today is the last day before I have surgery.  I am finishing up one more day of work and some scrapping and personal things around the house.  

I have big plans for what I plan to do with my 3 months off, but honestly, I am not sure what I am going to actually be capable of doing.  I'm kind of freaking out a little this morning.  I'm not even sure I can drink coffee left handed.  I don't think I can butter bread left handed!!  Not that I'll starve to death very fast, but, REALLY!!  I am so NOT left handed!!  

So, today, grocery store, change sheets on bed, pay some bills, get my CTMH order in, and try not to have a melt down thinking about surgery tomorrow.  I will be glad when I am into the recovery.  But today, I'm a little nervous.  

I imagine while I am off you will hear from me often.  I think I will be able to type better than I will be able to do any other form of communication. And I may need a place to feel in touch with my friends, I hope you will be here!!  

See you on the other side ...

C

MARCHING on!!

Good morning!  I am so excited to be sharing my MAKING WAVES pages with you all.  My monthly CLUB will be putting these together on Sunday, March 25.  My hostesses are Sally and Erin this month!  So they will be getting FREE product!!

I love that we get together once a month and finish pages.  I am getting a lot more scrapbooking done than I have in a long time.  Finishing  AT LEAST  6 pages a month and getting some of my albums caught up.  I also end up with a plethora of cards!!  I really need to start mailing more them.  How do you all manage the cards you make??  I really don't have room to hoard them.

I have a few events coming up that will be announced APRIL 1  Keep your eyes on this blog if you need some creative time!  I am also putting together some classes for the summer.  I will also be announcing those.  I'm still pulling the details together, but they will be very inspirational!!

I've got to get to work ... see you soon!  C

A deviation of life

I started this little project a long time ago.  I wrote about it a long time ago.  And .... I never shared it.

I am sharing it now because this is the thing I am going to do this year (2018) also. I love the concept of project life and having a spread for every day, but my life isn't that exciting and I think a page or two every month would be fine.  Except for the BIG events which I will scrap in a standard 12X12 album.  For me and my quiet life, I think I am going to stick with a smaller 6X8 album and a layout or two every month.  Maybe I'll have more time to blog!!  ha ha

And so, here is the post I wrote and never shared!


I know that my goal is to get baby albums caught up, and family albums caught up, and house cleaned and life organized and be in control of everything and ... and ... and ...

Not today!!

I needed to do something creative, but I really didn't feel like working on any "should do"s.  So, I started the mini me album I am doing with my planner.  I love this idea.  I started it last year (2016) with the planner configuration CTMH offered.  And, I decided that even though it means splitting my planner into 2 albums for storage at the end of the year, I am doing it again!!

This is 2017 ...soon I will start 2018 only it will be in a  BASHFUL 6X8 album!  

See you soon!  Connie

I have been Scrapping!

I know you haven't seen too much of me in the last little while, but I have been scrapping.  I am on a mission this year!  I am using up retired paper!  It has been a challenge and really fun.  Mostly because I am also finishing up an album for my bonus child, so I have no control over how many pictures I have per 'page' or what the subject is.  So, I didn't really use the CTMH page maps, I kind of hunted around for what appealed to me for some of them.  Some of them I used the CTMH designs.  But, just like you, PINTEREST is my friend.  

Unfortunately, sometimes we have to scrap the bad things that happen in life too.  

So, I slipped in a short page to add a few more pictures that I thought T should have, but they didn't really warrant another 12X12 page.  This works SO NICELY!! 

I LOVE this BALCK AND WHITE theme for dropping in pictures with no 'set' color scheme!

CTMH die cuts are THE BEST I have used so far!  

Nice clean cuts that are easy to work with and get on the page!

So, I know this is a quick, picture heavy update, but you will hear from me again soon!  

Connie 

So, after a small break, we are back to 'THE PLAN'.

My last post I told you I needed to add GENDER REVEAL pages.  To all 4 books.

I was so depressed that my plan go waylaid, that it took me a long time to even look at the pages and pictures.  But, last weekend, I did manage to get it done.

I told you my son is nicknamed SUPERMAN?  We still look for SUPERMAN stuff everywhere.  And the girls that put together the baby shower followed the theme.  Starting with a SMALLCAKE cake.  It was amazing!!  And they even featured the reveal cake on their FB page.  I thought that was so cool!!


So, unlike last layout, I found a layout I liked on PINTEREST for this spread.  I looked under "CTMH SUPERHERO"  and tons of layouts and cards popped up made with this paper pack.  It is from years ago!!

So, I used the CTMH SUPER HEROS paper for Will and Laura's book. 

This is the beginning of the layout.  B&T in place, some basic stamping done, photos added, but no embellishing yet.  I still needed to 'think it through'. 

I had a ton of pictures to add to the kid's book that didn't really need to be in mine or the other grandparents.  So, for W&L's I added pocket pages in the center.  

The scribbly note is me deciding what pictures I am going to add, where I am making cards, and what is going to be on them.  I'm obsessive about planning it out as I am printing most of these pictures at home.  That can be expensive!  

I love these stamped and sanded details!! 

The final page ...

turned out SOoooo CUTE!  

Then ..... now to the pages for the rest of us:

This is the PINTEREST picture I planned to copy

And.... this is my version! 

I didn't have enough SUPERHERO paper to copy it exactly, so I used the SUPERMAN paper that I have accumulated over the years. 

And, the photos I had weren't lining up size wise to what I needed for the page, so ....

I created!  

This is what I came up with. 

So Cute!  Here are some details ....

I will have you know I fussy cut that SUPERMAN out!  

Isn't it awesome?  Did you notice the same stamped and cut out images from the first pages?

And, here are the pages for the smaller books:

For the great grandparents and L's parents, I just chose the highlights and focused on those.  

There you go!  My show and tell for today!  

Stay posted for more adventures in scrapbooking from me!  C

Having a plan

So, everyone who knows me knows that I always have "a plan"  something I am brewing in my mind taking in the 'whole' picture and planning the steps I will take to reach the end result I am desiring.

When I found out that my son and his significant other were expecting their second child, I started hatching the 'plan'.  

I made 4 baby albums for my first grandchild. 😱 One for each of four families.  Myself, the parents, the other grandparents, and my mom and dad (great grandparents) all got albums.  Four albums. I started with a plan and then DIDN'T follow through.  By the end of the albums, it was total chaos!!  I did not want to have that happening with this baby.  I needed a better plan.

About the time we found out about the second baby coming, one of the wonderful designers at CLOSE TO MY HEART developed a BABY'S FIRST YEAR workshop using the WHIMSY FUNDAMENTAL paper pack. 💗 This was the answer to my prayer!!  A simple scrapbook, I could pre make, that I could make multiples of and just drop pictures into.  

This, my friends, was my plan!

So, some of my friends and I did the work shop together.  They are perfect!!  I love them.  I made 2 books worth of pages from one paper pack and they were all ready to go when my little Rowan entered the world!  

Of course, by the time he arrived, I had already decided that I was going to customize the baby books a little bit by accenting them with dinosaurs!!  I would use some of the 2016/17 CTMH color of the year SEA GLASS and left over WHIMSY paper to make adorable baby dinosaurs with my CRICUT machine.  

Shortly after Mr. R was born and I started the album thinking I was so on top of things!  I had a plan, after all.  You all know what happened next, right?  

God laughs at those who have plans!  

I forgot that I needed a title page! 

So, I make one.  I used the SEAGLASS CS and some of the WHIMSY FUNDAMENTALS. A tag, I love adding those to pages, and a couple dinosaur eggs!   

What better than the picture of Zoey's t-shirt and the story of how 'she' told us?

Oh!  and then, I need to put in the pictures of the maternity shoot we did a few weeks before he was born!  I didn't even consider those when I made my 'plan'!  Shoot, another adjustment to the plan.  Oh well, scrapbookers are flexible!  

I love this paper.  I knew the minute I saw it I would use it for the maternity pictures. After the monthly club where we made them, I just tucked them away for these pictures. I was hoping to get more of Laura and Miss Z, but she would have none of it.  

Now, I thought, I can get to the birth/hospital pictures and then the 'ready' album.  Nope.  I still needed to add the gender reveal pictures.  Maybe I take too many pictures.  What do you think?

The point of this rambling post is, 

Have a plan!  

😜

(but stay flexible!)  

I will continue posting pages from this album as I get them done.  Hang in there!  

See you all soon!

Until then, keep scrappin!  C