be AUDacious

as luck would have it: happy birthday, little sister!

This month's Girl v. Scrap challenge is the perfect venue for me to wish my little sister a(n early) happy, happy birthday! She is such an incredible woman, and I am so proud of everything that she is -- whether she is running a 5K, taking care of her students at sporting events, being an amazing mama to baby A and wife to Jason, sharing her faith in word and in deed, or making me laugh until my stomach literally hurts. 

credits: Crystal Livesay, March Foundations template (#7), Live Your Stories; Shannon Hegarty, Luck of the Irish elements (striped bow, shamrock charm, shamrock epoxy), Design House Digital; Karen Funk, Lucky Charm digital kit (all other papers and elements), Design House Digital

Are you interested in playing along this month? Just create your layout using the guidelines below and link it up on the One Story Down blog. Winners will recieve an awesome paper pack for free, just for participating.

Causes, Contests, & a Cool Giveaway

February is National Heart Month, and Ella Publishing Co. is celebrating with three days of heartfelt stories and projects leading up to National Wear Red Day on Friday, February 3. For the rest of the week (today, Thursday, and Friday), the Ella blog will be featuring stories and projects from team members who have been affected by heart disease. I encourage you to visit the blog and read the incredible stories that Rachel and our other team members have shared. 

I was honored to be asked by Rachel to tell my story; as those of you who've known me for a while know, my dad died of a heart attack at age 44 almost 12 years ago. Each year, in May, I've commemorated this loss with a post here on the blog. Most of those posts end up on scrapbook layouts so that I can keep them, and Rachel's invitation gave me the opportunity to tell the story I posted on the 10-year anniversary of his death. 

To read my story, you can visit the original blog post; the journaling was pulled directly from here.

Credits: papers and elements: LoveLoveLove digital papers and elements by Robyn Meierotto (Design House Digital); frames: Pinned by Audrey Neal (Design House Digital); font: Olivetti Type2

This week, Design House Digital has a SUPER event for you… in celebration of the Super Bowl we have some fun and games of our own – scrappy style!  Here’s what is going on Sunday, January 29th – Monday, February 6th:

• 25% off Everything In the Shop

• Super Bowl-inspired Challenges

• Hosted Chats on Super Bowl Sunday (all times in MST):

Saturday, February 4th
12 PM – Jen Allyson
1 PM – Karen Funk
2 PM – Karla Dudley
3 PM – Shannon Hegarty
4 PM – Erica Coombs

Sunday, February 5th
12 PM – Robyn Meierotto
1 PM – Allison Waken
2 PM – Katherine Hansen
3 PM – Sarah Schmutz
4 PM – Gennifer Bursett

• The Super Gallery Bowl Prizes:

Play along all week long in our Super Bowl-inspired challenges, and you could win a $5 gift certificate to DHD. In addition, one Super Gallery Bowl Grand Prize Winner will receive Photoshop Elements 10! This winner will be chosen from all qualifying* layouts submitted to the Super Gallery Bowl challenges this week. That’s right… the more challenges you complete, the better your chances to win!

*Qualifying layouts must contain 100% DHD product and be inspired by the challenge. Upload layouts to the Super Gallery Bowl 2012 Gallery for entry in the grand prize drawing, and post a link to your layout in the individual challenge threads to be entered for the gift certificate prizes. Layouts must be submitted by 11:59PM MST on February 6th.

I couldn't resist the change to play along with a layout of my own. If you follow college basketball, you might have heard about a small western Kentucky school that's making big headlines: my alma mater (and current place of employment) Murray State University is currently the only undefeated D1 team in the country! That's right! It's an amazing time to be a Racer, that's for sure!

credits: circle tab, white papers, date strip (Jen Allyson, Up to Date Part 1, Design House Digital); gray paper, chevron paper, button, banner and brad (Gennifer Bursett, Up to Date Part 2, Design House Digital);  photo cluster template (Audrey Neal, 2012: Photo Templates Vol. 2, Design House Digital); alphabet -- recolored (Gennifer Bursett, Favorite Things 2, Design House Digital); paint splatters (Gennifer Bursett, Toolbox: Mists, Vol. 7, Design House Digital)

Shelley Haganman has an awesome Etsy store where she sells flair buttons, which are perfect for all kinds of scrapbooking and crafting projects. She's got so many great designs! 

I'm especially excited about her two recent additions, both of which use some elements from my Just My Type digital collection. Shelley was kind enough to send me a couple of sets for a fun little giveaway here on the blog.

I'm giving away 2 blue sets and 2 yellow sets, so that's 4 winners! Just leave a comment here on the blog to enter. For additional chances to win, tweet about the giveaway and post about it on your Facebook page. Just come back here with a link to your tweet and status update. The giveaway ends at midnight CST on Friday. I'll use random.org to select the winners on Saturday.

 

sale: featured designer at DHD

Don't forget about my Featured Designer sale this weekend with collaborator Karla Dudley! Our digital collection A Life Recorded is 25% off all weekend long; I created the papers and Karla created the elements. The creative team at DHD put together some sample layouts with this kit, and I think you'll agree that it is absolutely gorgeous! I love seeing how each of them put the different pieces and patterns to use in their layouts.

layouts by Wendy

by Celeste

by Jennifer

 
by Jen

by Missy

by Janell

by Jennifer

by Shannon

In addition to my collab with Karla, my entire shop is 25% off all weekend long. Plus, you can pick up Olive You for FREE and grab the Modern Fall alphabet for just $1.00!

take twelve: special themes and other options

Have you been playing along with the Take Twelve Photography Challenge on the Ella Publishing blog? If you're just now thinking about joining, it's definitely not too late! This is a project that you can start at any time -- the "twelve on the twelfth" format is actually much more flexible that you'd think at first. If you didn't get a chance to snap twelve photos (or more!) on January 12th, here are a few options for still joining in the project during the month of January:

• Select any day of the month that works for you -- the 5th, the 14th, the 28th -- and take your photos on that day
• At the end of the month, choose twelve photos from your photo stash and use those to create an overview of the month's activities
• Put the internet to work for you -- if you don't have photos from a particular day, grab screenshots, Facebook status updates, tweets, or other digital images and use them instead of photos
• Do you have creative kids? Use their artwork or let them recount your month, comic-style 
• Opt for a February (or March or April) start and document your 12-of-12 from that point for an entire year

If you'd like even more ideas for your photo options for this project, pick up a copy of Ella Publishing's Take Twelve Guided Inspiration Kit. It's chock full of photo checklists for each month, plus great variations on the Take Twelve concept. One of my favorite parts is that each month, in addition to featuring a photo checklist, the book offers a theme with related photo tips. 

As you can see, January's special theme is "collections." I love the idea of photographing and capturing all the things that we collect, so yesterday I spent some time seeking out the various collections in our family. It wasn't hard to come up with twelve photos; I tried to keep things evenly balanced, although you'll see that Chris doesn't really collect as many things as the rest of us do (maybe it's a girl thing? Or maybe his hoarding gene isn't as dominant?!?)

credits: My Favorite Things 2 kit by Gennifer Bursett; numbered journaling list from My Favorite Things kit by Gennifer Bursett; fonts are LiebeErika and Pea Sugar Noodles

No matter how you choose to play along with the Take Twelve photography challenge, we want to see your photos and layouts! You can upload them both to our Flickr group and if you're sharing via social media (Twitter, Instagram, etc.), make sure to use the hashtag #take12. For easy reminders about Take Twelve monthly contests and other events, sign up for the email reminders too!

giveaway: TAKE TWELVE

There are a lot of great projects being kicked off right now: Photo365, Project Life, Eat Well Move More. One that I'm really excited about is Ella Publishing's Take Twelve 2012 Challenge. I first came across the 12 on the 12th concept through a couple of different folks: Cathy Zielske, Lee Currie, and Elizabeth Dillow. I stuck with it consistently, but then my laptop crashed and I lost my photos before I had a chance to commit any of them to layouts. I won't be making that same mistake this year. The Take Twelve 2012 Challenge gives me the tools and the inspiration to get my photos taken, scrapped, AND shared this year. For those of you who feel intimidated by the daily/weekly pressure of Project Life or Photo365, this is a great way to document your year, one day at a time.

Ella Publishing Co. provides you with inspiring ideas, shortcuts, and printables for the 2012 Take Twelve Project. The goal of the 2012 Take Twelve Project is to take 12 photos on the 12th day of each month for a full 12 months—and scrapbook them! You can join in the fun any month of the year, but we hope you'll join in starting January 12. Get the scoop at ellapublishing.com/taketwelve.

Learn more about the history of the Take Twelve project and see our FAQ section.

I've got a free copy of the Ella Publishing Co.'s Take Twelve Guided Inspiration Kit to give away. Leave a comment to enter. Tweet about it and/or post it on your Facebook status for additional chances to win -- just link me up to your status update or your tweet. That's three chances to win!

I'll select the winner (via random.org) on Friday morning; in the meantime, check out the links on Ella's website and join us on Thursday to get started this month!

 

 

Christmas: how we celebrated

Christmas was pretty low-key, which is the way we like it. Our weekends involved a couple of different activities while the girls were still in school. Chris and I are lucky enough to get two full weeks off for Christmas break while the university shuts down, so it makes for a nice break. 

This year we headed downtown for an event called Dicken's Alley, which was a recreation of an old English alley, with a blacksmith, a foodseller, a storyteller, mule-drawn wagon rides, and even a pickpocket who gets locked up by the constable. The girls were able to do a few little crafts -- making reindeer food and writing a letter to Santa -- before we admired the newly lit Christmas tree on the court square and then headed home. The next morning was the annual Christmas parade. We're always amused at the variety of "floats" that make up our local parades each year: 20+ emergency vehicles, all with sirens blaring; Corvettes, antique cars, motorcycles, old tractors; church and community organization floats, decorated in a variety of themes...You really never know what you're going to find. If you're a kid, you can usually end up with pockets full of candy too. 

We also make a trip to Nashville every year to visit the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Millions of lights decorate the hotel atriums and the grounds. We head down early so we can shop at our favorite used bookstore (McKay's), then grab a bite to eat at Outback. This is our way of celebrating our birthdays too, since mine is on the 23rd and Chris's is on the 26th. One of these years we'd love to actually get a room at the Gaylord and stay overnight; the girls in particular want a room with a balcony that overlooks one of the decorated atriums.

We also decorated our tree; we usually end up waiting until just a couple of weeks before Christmas because we get a live tree each year. That hasn't always been our habit; we had a fake tree when the girls were younger, but after moving three different times, it just didn't hold up. I prefer a real tree, so I'm glad we made the switch. When I was growing up, my parents owned 40 acres of land, and my family would head out onto our own land to cut our own tree each year. It's one of my favorite Christmas memories. Even though we don't cut our own tree (we buy it from Lowe's), I love the fresh smell in the house. We also add a new ornament from Opryland each year; the girls pick one out while we're in Nashville. The rest of our decorations are a mix of vintage (mostly family heirlooms from childhood) and handmade, like the circle garland I keep hanging on our windows.

The girls were so pleased with and grateful for the gifts they received. Despite being 15, Cassidy was so easy to shop for this year. Several of her gifts were obviously panda-themed, and she got some really cute clothes as well.

I'm not sure there was a kid alive who was more thrilled with her gifts than Cami was. Cass bought her the Adele Live at Royal Albert Hall CD/DVD combo, and Cami's face just lit up when she opened it. Her latest LaLaLoopsy obsession was fueled by two new dolls, and -- after two years of being her sole Santa request -- she got a pair of fancy rats, appropriately (???) named Peanut Butter and Cheese. (Those names have been in the works for YEARS now, seriously). 

My pile of gifts were impressive too: the PJ20 collection (book, CD, DVD) the newest Cassandra Clare novel, a new phone case, new Chucks in the prettiest gray color, as well as a new lamp for the living room. (Cami was sweet and put it together for me, since I was sick at the time). 

We spent the week after Christmas with Chris's family in Memphis. It's so wonderful to be able to bring everyone together for a full week of playing Wii games, eating great food, telling stories, and just spending time with each other. It's always one of my favorite weeks of the year.

 

10 on Tuesday: the gifts for readers edition

Christmas is just around the corner and...

Wait. Seriously? How did Christmas arrive so quickly this year?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that in just two days, both of my children will have ages in the double-digits. BOTH of them. 

Anyway, I also have a birthday fast approaching -- two days before Christmas (my husband's is the day after Christmas, by the way) -- and I've been working on my Christmas and birthday wish lists. As always, many of my wants are book related (most of the time, my list is nothing but a long list of book titles). I thought I'd put together a 10 on Tuesday gift-giving guide for the readers on your shopping list.

1. Paddywax's Soy Wax Candles Library Collection: The scents in this collection are devoted to some of the world's most popular writers, such as Jane Austen (Gardenia, Tuberose, Jasmine),Oscar Wilde (Cedarwood, Thyme, Basil), and Charles Dickens (Tangerine, Juniper, Clove). You can purchase 9 oz. candles, diffuser kits, and travel candles. I've smelled these, and they all smell lovely, although I prefer Whitman, Poe, and Thoreau.

2. Out of Print Clothing offers your favorite vintage book covers on a range of products, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, coasters, notebooks, totes, e-reader cases, iPhone cases, and more. 

3. Personalized bookplates: There are tons of options available on Etsy (I put together a little collection two years ago), but I thought this vintage illustration was so charming. Plus, the name was already there. As a reader, I love the look of bookplates but I never seem to buy them for myself. They seem like just too much of a luxury, maybe?

4. Book Art: These adorable paper-pieced images are created from old books and made by my friend Melanie. There are lots of great options available in her shop. 

5. Book Totes: Although I buy a lot of books each year, I also check out a lot of books from the local library. It helps to have a dedicated tote bag just for library books (I keep it hanging inside our hall closet, and when I finish a book, it goes straight to the bag) so that when they are due, I can just grab the bag and go. This tote would make a really cute option. (Of course, you could also use my iron-on tutorial to make your own design.)

6. Classic Coup Atticus Finch shirt: This is one of my favorite t-shirt designs of all time. Any book lover would love it.

7. The Black Apple print: Emily Martin's prints are perfect, and this one perfectly captures a love of reading with a cleverly illustrated Morrissey quote.

8. Book-themed jewelry is always a great choice, whether the piece is serious or more tongue-in-cheek like the selection above. 

9. Bookends: I'm always looking for ways to corral extra stacks of books (on top of my bookshelves, on my nightstand, on my desk, etc) and cool bookends add some extra beauty AND function all at the same time. This set is one of my favorites from Etsy, though they aren't available anymore. Still, you can find tons of amazing options there with just a quick search. 

10. Bookmarks: You can never go wrong with a few sets of really cute bookmarks. I used to be one of those horrible readers who dogeared my books -- I know! There's a collective gasp of horror echoing around the internet right now. ;) But I broke that habit and now I use a bookmark in any book that I'm reading. I'm usually reading more than one book at a time, so having multiple bookmarks available is a great thing. Postcards work wonderfully too, by the way -- they are large enough that they don't get lost easily, and you can even jot a favorite quote on the back, if you so like. 

update: Portrait of a Reader

Thanks to the first nothing-going-on weekend we've had in over a month, I was able to sit down and do some work on my Portrait of a Reader album. So far I've only completed one section, but I plan on continuing to work on it as I have the time. This is definitely a work in progress -- and most likely will always be, to an extent, since I'm always reading new books.

One of the main reasons I wanted to complete this book was to have a hard-copy record of the books that I've read and my thoughts on them, to file alongside my books here at home. Goodreads allows me to do this digitally, but I wanted something that wasn't web-dependent too.

Supplies: white cardstock, mini stapler, hole punch, ink pen, paper trimmer

Although I linked up a number of really cute book-themed kits, I ended up just creating a set of simple templates to use for this project. I found a color palette that I thought would work well:

In addition to this, I created a simple chevron pattern in each of those 6 colors and saved it as a letter-sized page. This allowed me to print out full sheets of the chevron paper for accents and for the center filler on the album pages.

I created a simple index card and backed it with a solid color -- again in all six colors. These cards were created to fit the measurements of my specific album sleeves; they ended up being 4x6 5/8". I left a larger left-side margin so that I could hole-punch the cards without overlapping any of the writing on the cards.

For a final touch, I made little page banners with the year and the star rating for each list of books. I simply printed these on white cardstock and cut them out, then stapled them with a mini-stapler to the index card before slipping them into the sleeve protector. 

Putting this all together has been really simple. The best part is that I can print everything out ahead of time and then work on adding the content to the pages as I have time. I chose to handwrite my lists; this might sound boastful but I really love my own handwriting and how it looks so I try to use it whenever possible. It also adds a great personal touch to my projects.

If you've put together a reading album, I'd love to see your progress. You can share, if you'd like, by leaving a link in the comments section. Feel free to share links to other great reading-based albums you've come across. 

two quickies to share

Are you familiar with Geninne's artwork? I am amazed at her watercolors, and her studio is perfect. PERFECT. Each month, Geninne offers up a lovely desktop calendar. It makes me smile to have her lovely little birds fluttering across my screen. Even better, this month featured San Francisco (Alcatraz Island), one of my most favorite places to visit EVER.

Also, related to yesterday's post, I came across a RT by Holly Black, alerting me that one of her short stories was available on the Storyville app. A quick search brought me to this subscription app that offers a free short story (from a forthcoming collection) once a week to subscribers on the iPhone or iPad platforms. It's a great way to preview the collections and a fantastic way to have a little bit of story waiting to be read each week. 

 

more pages for the Going West photobook

The credits are the same as the ones posted here. Thanks for all the nice comments about the first four pages. I'm loving how quickly this is coming together, and how it's really fitting with the image in my mind. I've been trying to record some information about each place on the pages too -- mostly just some summary info. Luckily, David brought back all the maps and guide papers for me to use. :)