The Joy of Being a Collector

 
 Never one to shy away from promoting myself, I created this layout over the weekend to celebrate the joys of collector-hood. (Actually, I've taken so many photos of my collections for my other blog, I needed to create a layout about them)

And not only did I want to show off my fabulous collections, but I wanted to share my amazing song-writing skills. Yes, I wrote the lyrics to the new, definitive version of Rogers & Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things", from the Sound of Music.  Broadway will soon be knocking at my door!  You are welcome to sing along, or at least hum along as we all join together in song!

Blue colored dishes
and orange crate labels,
old vintage linens
to put on our tables.

Sweet toy typewriters
that type and go ‘ding’!
These are a few of
my favorite things.

Dick and Jane readers
and Raggedy Annies,
robots and postcards
and little stuffed lambies.

Banjos and zithers
with rust on their strings,
these are a few of
my favorite things...

Don’t have fur coats,
don’t have gold rings,
when I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember
my favorite things,
and then I don’t
feel so bad. 

SUP Surfing!

 
The big trend on the Southern California coast, where I find myself twice a day on my daily commute, is SUP surfing, which means Stand Up Paddle surfing. At first I thought it looked kinda wimpy, like surfers who needed training wheels, but I did a little research and found out it actually has a reputable history- surf teachers in Hawaii way back in the 30s and 40s, would stand up on their boards to get a better view of their students. So, as far as I'm concerned, if it has a legitimate Hawaiian origin, then it's ok with me.  That's not to say that all the SUP surfers I see each day are experts... some of them look a little less than, shall I say, masterful. This morning as I was standing along Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, a couple of the surfers fell off their boards just standing there. No waves. Just one minute up, the next minute, into the briny deep. Maybe it's kind of like a combination of surfing and sightseeing. Even when there are no waves and the hard core regular surfers are sleeping in, these intrepid SUP'ers are out, cruising along the coast, hanging out with the sea birds.

Liv Spa is Live!

 
 As I've done in months past, when my designs hit the toy shelves, I'll share with you! The newest Liv playset, the Tranquility Spa (to be used with the Liv color change Spa dolls) is out, ready & early for Christmas. It was a fun project to design, and went through a lot of changes before it got to its present form. But, perhaps your little daughter or granddaughter would love one of these for her next birthday or holiday!  You can find the playset on the Target website, and it will soon be available 'wherever fine toys are sold'!

The Clarks in TV Land

I have so many memories of watching TV with my family when I was a child.  We didn't get our first color TV until I was in high school, so those old westerns and dramas were enjoyed in black and white, even when all of my friends had a color TV. I enjoyed them just as much in black and white! The shows I'm featuring here in my slide show were the shows that I shared with my family in the 50s and 60s, especially my Mom. We didn't watch a lot of sitcoms, game shows, or variety shows. There were a few comedies we enjoyed, but it was the dramas that we loved.

There were lots more programs that defined my childhood: shows like "I Dream of Jeannie", "My Favorite Martian", "My Three Sons", "Leave it to Beaver". But these were primarily MY shows... I don't remember my Mom or Dad watching these with me. So I instead chose the shows that remind me of my folks, and sitting in our TV room (yes, we had a dedicated 'room' for the television... it had originally been a porch) watching some great, classic shows.

Cooking With Zoie!

When we were visiting my niece Sarah & family last month in Northern California, little Zoie was helping her Mom make breakfast. I loved watching her trying to crack the eggs exactly right, and stir up the mixture. I think she did a great job, and I got some fun, if blurry, photos of all the action.  Nice job, Zoie!

Living My Childhood Upside Down

 

When I was young, it seemed I spent a good deal of time upside down.  What? Do you think I was a baby opossum, hanging upside down from the tree outside my bedroom window? No, I was merely a young acrobat, doing headstands, handstands, somersaults, cartwheels, flips, round-offs, walkovers....on the ground and on the diving board. It suddenly occurred to me that I had a number of photos of myself upside down.... not very good photos, but I could see a theme coming on! Although the thought of being upside down now gives me an enormous headache.

But in celebration of my youthful flexibility and skill -I could stand on my head for hours (at least it seemed like hours) I created this layout.

Two!

Our grandson Jackson celebrated his second birthday on Saturday, and I thought it would be perfect to use last year's layout as a template & format for this year's! I loved the continuity of the same high chair, and same bib.... it just seemed like it was a natural! (I have a feeling he won't be sitting in a high chair for birthday #3, so I'd better take advantage while I can!)

Jackson has the cutest personality. He definitely knows how to use facial expressions to his advantage. I loved every one of them! 

Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad

When we were in Yosemite last month, we took a moonlight train ride. The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad (restored logging railroad, narrow gauge) had a dinner train ride that we thought sounded like fun. They served a yummy BBQ, with great entertainment, and then we all boarded the train for just a few miles down the mountain, where we sat around a campfire and sang old-time songs... reminded me of Girl Scout camp! While we were waiting to eat, I browsed around, taking pictures. These photos of the engineer doing his pre-trip prep work, were some of the results of my curiosity. It just reminded me that railroad engineers have been doing this same routine for decades.

Jackson Turns Two!

 My little grandson Jackson had his 2nd birthday party yesterday, and we all had so much fun. His actual birthday was Friday, so it worked out perfectly to have the party on Saturday. He was shamelessly spoiled by family and friends. In addition to the books and Thomas the Train toy, I made him an ABC book. I wasn't organized enough to have it done in time to have a hardbound book made, so I just uploaded the pages to Costco, and filled a 8x8 album with the images. It really turned out cute, and I think it will make a fun quiet book for church.

Some of you might recognize the template- I created this same format for an ABC book for my older grandson Aidan a couple of years ago. But I switched out many of the photos, and made it special, just for Jackson.

Here are a few photos from the big party, a layout will be coming soon!

 

California Delta

When we were in Sacramento a few weeks ago for the State Fair, we stayed in Fairfield with my niece Sarah and her family. Fairfield is about an hour southwest of Sacramento, and we made the drive back and forth a couple of times. The beautiful wetlands area between Davis and West Sacramento is just beautiful this year. There were so many wildflowers blowing in the wind, I thought they made a lovely accent to the photos of the wetlands themselves. Bruce waited patiently in the car while I took photos, so I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wanted to stop at several other spots that were a bit more photogenic! He has the patience of a saint when I get in the mood to take pictures!  I don't think he thought this area was as beautiful as I did.

Small Blessings

 

I've been a little discouraged about my scrapbooking lately... wondering what the heck I'm doing and why I'm doing it. It's not that I don't have any creative energy or ideas, it's just that sometimes I feel I just don't have a place in the scrapbooking community. (Tiny little pity party)!  But yesterday I got two small rewards that made it all worthwhile.

My scrapbooking home is 2 Peas in a Bucket, and I post all of my layouts there, in the digital gallery. 2Ps is both a traditional and digital site, so we digi folks are a very small percentage of the scrapbook community. Yesterday, I was looking through the General Scrapping message boards- these are 90% about traditional scrapbooking and all of the tools, techniques, and supplies involved in scrapping. There was a message board post asking people to list their favorite current two-page layouts in the gallery. I casually opened the thread, and was so surprised that someone had listed my layout as their favorite! Not only is my layout one that I didn't think was all that spectacular, but it was also in the digital gallery, so I didn't think many people would notice it. That made my day!  (The layout is the one I just posted, Santa Monica Pier).

Also yesterday, my sweet niece Emmie emailed me a photo of the artwork I created for her new little one Brooke, hanging on their nursery wall. It looks so cute, and it's so rewarding to see something actually being loved and appreciated.

I think I'll take these two small blessings and add them to the many that I already have!