Scrapping Away Hatzic Lake Retreat

Just a quick post to also say that I will be attending the Scrapping Away Retreat at Camp Luther at Hatzic Lake in Mission, BC this weekend.

Now that I have finished all my title and closing pages, I will have to figure out something else to take with me!

I should be OK - I have a few days to pack!

Looking forward to spending an entire weekend away without having to cook or clean.  Can stay in my nice new lounging jammies if I want!

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

It has been a very long time....

It has been a very long time since my last post.

Life and it's many ups and downs have been getting in the way of my enjoyment of scrapping and so it has been hard to even get to scrapping, let alone this blog.

Over the last few weeks, I have been working on finishing up all the tail ends of my family albums.  I am now working on my 18th album - dating from August 1990 to August 2008 (I still have more to go - just where I am at this time).

I like having interesting title/cover and closing pages on all my albums - something to give the viewer an idea of what is contained in that album.  The opening pages are a single page layout (using some of the leftover photos from that album, if possible) and the closing pages are divided in two - one half similar to the title page and the other half leading the viewer on to the next album - matching the upcoming title page.  Because of the way that I do this, I can not completely finish the one album, until the next album's title page is decided.  And I can decide the next album's title page until I am most of the way through the album to know what is encompassed in that album and therefore what I am going to do for the title page.

As I have inadvertantly made this a fairly complicated system (that I actually like), it has meant that I have to have about three full albums with me to work on to finish each of them as I go.  Therefore, it has been very difficult to carry to a crop and I have had to work on these at home.  I have also had to ensure that I concentrate when I do this as it could be very easy to end up with the closing portions of the albums in the wrong albums, etc.

When I started out scrapping, I would create the title page as the first item of starting a new album.  This worked quite well when I had packages and packages of printed photos.  Now that everything is digital, I only print out a little bit ahead of what I am currently scrapping and therefore don't have a good feel for the album as a whole until nearer the end of the ablum.

What got me a whole lot behind on these title and closing pages was the finding of a whole box of 'missing' photos (see earlier post) and that required, as I scrapbook in chronological order, the disassembling of many of my scrapbooks to insert the missing photos.  As I was not sure where each of the books would stop and start, I just left the opening and closing pages blank.

After I finished inserting all these photos, I started out about four years ago, to finish up all the missing opening/closing pages.  Just as I was really getting going on this project, my family life hit a major speed bump and I found it very hard to scrap the 'happy family' pictures. 

Through all of the trials and tribulations, this project has been sitting at the back of my mind, waiting to be completed.  Well, I can happily say that as of today, I have finally finished this project - up until the current album that I am working on.  There are no more yellow stickies on every album marked "Title" and "Closing" - I do have a few where I know that I have photos, but they are MIA at this time - so I have saved the pages until they are located.  I also have a few pages that are just too painful at this time to complete - namely the memorial pages for my Mom and Dad, and I know that I will shortly hit my sister's memorial pages too.  Those pages will just have to wait until I can face them.

It has taken a long time, but I am very glad to have this done - I like being able to finish things and cross them off my list.  I know that this is a hobby, and I figure that as a hobby, you should enjoy all the parts of it (why else are you doing it!), but sometimes just need to be pushed a little to finish something properly.

Here is one of my all-time favourite title pages that I just completed.  The colours of the paper where just perfect for my photo of our street in the snow.  The touches of red just pop off of the page and even the quote (that I had in my stash) was just right for the photo.

So, I might not get to this blog all that often (but I will try to get here more), but at least I am getting some scrapping done and starting to enjoy it again!

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

Butterfly Crop - Cancer Fundraiser - March 5th, 2011

Save the date!!!

We will be hosting another fabulous all-day crop on Saturday, March 5th, to raise money for cancer research in honour of my late sister, Sandra McDougall.

We will be serving pizza and salad for dinner (that is included in your crop fee). Please bring snacks to share with everyone.

Some of the events that we will have schdeduled are:

• 50/50 draws
• layout challenges
• make-and-takes
• and other mini events - check back for more information.

MINI EVENT DETAILS

PAPER DOLL

One of the special contests we will be having will be a "Paper Doll" contest. Everyone will get a paper doll and they have to dress them up using either the Everyday Paper Doll or the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridges. At the end of the event, all the paper dolls created will be sent to Children's Hospital to hopefully make a child smile.

BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY CARD

Another mini event we will be doing is to make a card to send to the Cancer Agency. These cards will be blank - for the patients to use.

They can be note cards or thank you cards - something bright and cheery.

We have lined up some great vendors to come to this event:

• Stampin' Up - Mary Kent
• Cherish the Thought - Jessie
• and, of course, Love that Bug - Maria and Brenda (me)

We should have room for at least 30 people upstairs in the old Remember Me crop room.

Cost is $40.00 and includes goodie bag, door prizes and a pizza/salad dinner. Please let me know if you have special food restrictions.

If you are interested, please drop me a line and I will save you a spot for this fun event!

Happy Scapping,

Brenda

Love that Bug Upcoming Events

I know that I have not posted here in a long time - life has been getting in the way of some of the things that I like to do....

Just to let you know that Love that Bug (my partner in all things Cricut) and I will be attending the following events:

• Saturday, February 5th (all day) - Ranch Park School Fundraiser Crop with Ultimate Scrapbook Retreats.  We will have the store there and be hosting two Cricut classes:  Cricut Basics and Sweethearts - Valentine's Cards and Box
• Wednesday, February 5th (7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) - Love that Bug Studio - Cricut Basics class
• Wednesday, February 23rd (7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) - Love that Bug Studio - Flowers for Mom card and gift box
• Saturday, February 26th (all day) - Baker Drive School Fundraiser Crop.  We will have the store there and be hosting a Cricut Basics class
• Friday, March 18th through Sunday, March 20th - Hatzic Lake Retreat with Scrapping Away.  I will have the store there along with hosting two classes:  Cricut Basics and Flowers for Mom.

To find out more specific information on the upcoming classes, please check out the Love that Bug class schedules.

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

Love that Bug and other Cricut tales

Just a quick note.

I have been giving courses on the Cricut machines - this is a Basics course that I taught previously, but now I am teaching at different venues.

I taught the class at Cherish the Thought in Port Moody last month, earlier this month, I held another class at Scrap Arts in North Vancouver.

I will be teaching the class again on November 20th at Cherish the Thought - for more information go to Cherish's website for details.

Talking about Cricuts - if you want to get a great deal on all things Cricut - check out my scrapping pal's new business:  Love that Bug.  She has great prices on all cartridges and accesories.  I will also be holding more classes at her home (aka "The Cardmaking/Scrapbooking Factory" - see my previous post).

Maybe I will see you at one of my Cricut classes!

Happy Scrapping,

Brenda

Life is a Roller Coaster - Hang on for the ride!

I just took a look at my blog and realized that it has been six months since my last post.

My crazy roller-coaster of a life has gotten in the way of my hobbies and my joy.....

I have been going through some very challenging times lately and that has definately had a severe impact on my creative side. It has been a struggle to find the creative spark to do the things that bring joy to my life.

I even put aside my scrapbooking for a while - that looking at some of the pictures was just too painful to work with. I am starting to be able to work with them again. Trying to remember that at the time the photos where taken that we were in much happier situation and try to journal with that time frame in mind, rather than the current time frame.

I did the same with pictures of my sister - journalling as if it were the very recent past rather than years before. That way I was able to keep the happiness of the photos intact, rather than overshadowing everything with her illness and subsequent death. That is much more how I would rather remember things - her death was only one small part of her life - not her entire life.

And so for my self-imposed moratorium on scrapbooking, I ventured into the world of cardmaking. I have made cards in the past for the odd birthday, and in the last few years Christmas, but only on a very simple level.

I remember when I was at the Ultimate Scrapbook Retreat last October that I saw some women with a huge pile of markers. They seemed to spend the entire weekend doing nothing but colouring.

At the time it totally puzzled me - now, I liked colouring as well as the next kid, but I found it frustrating, I did not like that you were to only use one colour red to colour the apple - don't you know that apples are not just one colour!! And then I tripped into the world of Copic pens..... I saw a video on YouTube one sleepless night and that was it - I was totally hooked!! Now I know what the draw was for the ladies with the millions of pens (or is that just millions of dollars worth of pens!!)!

And so I started colouring - stamped images at first and then I expanded my search to find 'digital stamps' - otherwise known as line art and found some of the cutest images to colour. One of my faves are the images from Mo Manning at Digital Pencil Too - check it out - I just love them.

I took a couple of classes and got the idea of the Copic Method of colouring.

I end up with huge amount of coloured images - I was colouring at scrapbooking nights, I was colouring watching the TV - and, of course, I needed more and more colours - just having 20 to start with was far too limiting and so I had to have more. Just another three to get the yellow greens I wanted, and then another three to get the lavenders I wanted, and so on and so on. I did draw the line (temporarily at least) for a while - I do have a little of most of the colour families now - so I have some options, but I know it will only be a little longer before I feel the need to add to the collection!

So what to do with all the images that I had coloured??? Along came my little scrapbooking pal, Maria - she and another friend were going to sell cards at some local craft fairs and had accidentially double booked for the same weekend - so they needed more stock. Maria had turned her basement suite into a scrapbooking/cardmaking factory. She and Lil had combined all of their cardmaking/stamping/embossing/paper supplies and had a wonderful place set up to make all the cards you could ever want.

And so I joined them with a crazy week of laughter, a little tears and a whole lotta cards!!! I managed to make 80 cards in the week before the craft shows.

And so, here are some of the cards that I made - some with Mo Manning's images....

As much as I love scrapbooking, I had a great time making the cards too. I don't think that I will ever completely stop doing scrapbooking - I will get back into it, but I have been having a lot of fun making the cards.

So in the end, life is still a roller coaster, but as much as there are ups and down, you can find joy in some of the small things and that will help you find the joy in other parts of your life.

Live life and hope that you find joy - even in the small things.

Happy Scrapping,

Brenda

Scrapping Away at Hatzic Lake

This past weekend I had the chance to attend Scrapping Away's annual retreat at Camp Luther.  This is the fourth time, out of the last five years that I have been able to attend.

Hatzic is one of my very favourite retreats.  It is not at big event, only about 25 people, but Michelle Dixon who is the owner of Scrapping Away, knows how to do a great retreat!  There is plenty of room to scrap and plenty of prizes and give-aways, and the rooms at Camp Luther are very good for a 'camp' type of retreat location.

Beyond all of that, it is the group of people that attends this retreat are some of the best ever.  People that I met four years ago are still some of my best friends to this day.  It is a wonderful group of people that attend this event.

The best part of scrapbooking for me is the people that you meet - I love the craft of scrapbooking and the maintaining of the family history - but the connections you make with fellow scrapbookers is huge bonus to the hobby.

Happy scrapping!

Brenda

Cricut Swarm

Today I had the opportunity to teach a class at Pick of the Patch - a Cricut Basics class.  Eleven people attended the class where they had the opportunity to learn more about this great scrapbooking tool.  It all started at a Friday crop night - one of the regulars mentioned that she had had a Cricut for over a year that she had never even taken out of the box....  And that gave me the idea to do this class....

We had a mix of Cricut Personal Cutter and Expressions - along with my Create.  I taught everyone all about the differences between the three machines and all the features on the machines.

I was preparing of this course by re-reading the manuals to make sure that I had all the correct information to be able to pass along - I found that I learned something myself.  There is a function called Center Point - I finally understood what it was all about.

I had used the circle and oval shapes to makes mats for photos in the past, but always wondered how you would manage to cut out photos or patterned paper with any accuracy.  I could never figure out how you would control where the circle would be cut.  Well, the answer is - use Center Point.  Just position the blade over the very center of the image that you want to cut a round - press the Center Point button, select the appropriate shape and size and press Cut.  It will automatically figure out the position from there.

So, even when you know a lot about something, there is still more that you can learn - one of the best parts of the scrapbooking hobby.

The class was so well received, that I am hoping that I can hold another one in the near future.

So, if you own a Cricut and it is still in the box this is the class for you.  Check with Pick of the Patch to see when the next class will be schedule.

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

All-Day Crop at Pick of the Patch

Yesterday Pick of the Patch held an all-day scrapbooking event.  It was well attended - not so many that you were sharing a table - but enough to have a nice buzz of noise in the room.  I am all for only "one to a table" with all the paraphenalia that everyone tends to bring to these kinds of events.

As far a productivity goes - it was not my most productive day - but I did manage to finish some layouts that were missing pieces, photos or titles.  That is a good thing as I always like finishing the layouts right away.  I tend to find  that if I am missing a piece of a layout, I mark it to so that I can find it easily, but it can sometimes take months or years to get back to it.  I like to completely finish each page or set of pages as I do them - mark them off on my tally sheet and with a clear conscience, move onto the next layout.

So I cleared up some of the 'incomplete' pages and managed to get a number of new ones done.  So, all it all, it was a good day.

I will also be teaching "Cricut Basics" class at Pick of the Patch in the near future.  If you have a Cricut at home and have never used it or hardly even turned it on - this is the class for you.  Come and find out the basics of this extremely handy scrapbooking tool.  I am on my second machine - I don't know what I would do without my Cricut!  Stay tuned for more information.

I also am planning on doing a follow-up Cricut class after the Basics - "Cartridge Exploration" - using your cartridges to their fullest.

Next all-day crop is February 20th - maybe I will see you there or at my Cricut class....

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

Milestones and Memories

It is very hard to believe that it is 2010 already.  These years have a way of creeping up on people!

This year has a number of personal milestones for me - a big birthday and also my 20th Anniversary.

The main reason that we scrapbook (beyond the love of paper and collecting 'toys') is to document and preserve the pictures and memories of the years as they go by. 

No where was this more noticable than in a little acrylic album kit that I did last year - it is a little house shaped album with a snow-topped roof.  I started it just after Christmas last year so, it seemed appropriate, to make it about the holidays.  I have made it a point to take a picture of the two boys in front of the fireplace each year - just before taking down the stockings on Christmas morning.  Each individual picture by itself is a memory of that particular Christmas - but put together, year after year, it becomes a document of the growth of the two boys.

With the flip of a couple of pages, you can see the changes in the boys in reference to the fireplace mantle and each other.  When I started - back in 2000 - the youngest was just a little taller than the mantle and they both did not even come half-way up to the large wreath over the fireplace.  Over the years, this has changed.  I am looking forward to putting this year's picture in the album because as of this year, they both almost reach the top of the wreath, but Marcus is now taller than his older brother! This little album is a record of not only Christmas mornings, but the boys as they have gotten older.  It is a summary, if you will, rather than the large family albums that I have normally done.  This little album is special and I bring it out at Christmas time - it has now become part of the decorating of the house at Christmas time.

So, I will be documenting the milestones that come up in 2010, but also remember to document the rest of your lives - the little everyday pieces of it that make up the bulk of life - rather than just the 'high days and holidays'.

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

This Time I Have Made Lists

So for this weekend's retreat I have made lists, checked them twice (or maybe three times) and then crossed them off as I packed everything - I don't want to forget anything important.

I believe that I have enough supplies, that if I got stranded at a scrapbook retreat for a week or three, I would never run out of things to do!  With all the equipment that I am taking with me you would think that my scraproom would be almost empty - not a chance.  I would have to hire a truck to take all my stuff - thank goodness we don't have to bring bedding with us this time - leaves a lot of space open for the supplies.

The retreat this weekend is put on by Ultimate Scrapbook Retreats and is being held at Loon Lake Lodge in the UBC Research Forest in Maple Ridge.  I have never been to this place before, or the the Ultimate Retreats before, but I know that they sell out far in advance of the dates that are posted.  One of our group actually signed up over a year ago to attend this retreat!

The only thing I have to pack is my clothes - I better not forget them otherwise everyone could get very tired of seeing me in the exact same outfit day in and day out.  It is not like it is that far away that I could not go home and get whatever I had forgotten, I just wouldn't want to loose the time away from scrapping.

On that note, maybe I should check my lists again, just to be sure - it is not like there will be anyone else there who might have some supplies I could beg, borrow or steal.....

Happy Scrapping,

Brenda

Have you ever arrived at a crop.....

Have you ever arrived at a crop, set up your stuff and realized that you are missing "_________" (fill-in the blank) the one thing that you absolutely needed for the project you are working on??

Well, I did that last night - had all the papers that I needed for my cards.  They were all cut and folded.  All I needed to do was stamp and emboss three different things and then assemble them.

Pulled out all the bits out of my kit - but where was the black embossing powder??  One of the items I specifically purchased for this project.  I had the paper, the stamps, the ink - but where was the powder.  I tore through my entire kit - but it was no where to be found!

As there was nothing else that I had brought with me (figuring that between this project and chatting there would be no time to do any other projects) my choice was to either just sit and chat (all the while beating myself up for forgetting the key piece to the project) or see if the store had some embossing powder.

Now, something to keep in mind, I am not really a 'stamper' - I resisted purchasing almost any stamps for many years.  I hated the thought of carrying around 'half a tree' with all the wooden block stamps.  I believe that I actually only purchased one or two wooden block stamps in the first 40 years of my life.  Once I found acrylic stamps (no trees involved), I have actually purchased quite a few stamps - but I still resist purchasing a lot of supplies to go with stamps.  I almost always purchase the tiny little ink pads - that way I figure that if I don't use them more than once of twice and they dry up, that it is not so much of a waste.  (Don't even talk to me about the cost of purchasing the little ones over the big ones - I have it in my mind that if a little one dries up, it is less of a waste that a whole big pad.)

So back to my point - with a brand new jar of black embossing powder missing in my kit, the thought of purchasing a new jar was something that I had to think about.  I know, it is only a few dollars in the big scheme of scrapbook supply purchases - but it just seems such a waste.  But it was either purchase a new jar or 'waste' my time, sitting there just visiting (not that there is anything wrong with that too - it was just that I had planned to finish the cards - there is a time frame involved with them).

I checked the store and they did not have the fine embossing powder that I had originally purchased, but they did have black UT (ultra thick) - it makes for a different effect, but I guess I can justify the purchase by rationalizing that I actually did not purchase the exact same thing as I was missing, but a slightly different product...

Lessons Learned

• Before going to a crop - if you have a specific project in mind - double check to make sure that you have everything with you - or at least you can find it in your kit!
• Always bring more than one project with you - you might finish that one project sooner than expected and can carry on with another project

As I am off to a big weekend-long retreat next weekend - I am going to double and triple check my kit to make sure that I have everything with me!

In the end, I purchased the black UT, and with Catherine's assistance, finished up the project that I was working on.  My one consolation was, out of the five people at my table last night, three of us had done the very same thing - forgotten a key item or tool for the crop!

Here are some pictures of the finished cards:

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

PS I am going to find that missing jar - even if I have to pull out every little scrapbooking item out of my kit bags!!

Totally Addicted Part 2

Yes, I am totally addicted to scrapbooking.

I know this as when we went on our vacation in the rented motorhome, I had to check to make sure that there was room for my scrapbooking stuff.

Mind you, this was not just a small kit, this was my big rolling bag, my paper taker, my other kit bag with the two project boxes included and, of course, my Cricut Create. Luckily, there was plenty of space in the storage area of the motorhome.

Now, it might be considered a little overkill if I did not do any scrapping, but I did manage to get 10 pages done on the one series of our family vacation in 2006 (only three more years until I am caught up....., yeah right!). The only reason that I stopped at 10 was because I ran out of the paper that I was using on the layouts. I should have another four or six pages to complete the vacation and then I am on to the fall of 2006.

Oh well, I have added to the amount of photos that I have to scrap on this vacation as we have travelled all over the province - from Big Lake, BC near Williams Lake to Victoria and finally to Fruitvale, BC in the Kootenays.

Another family vacation is coming to an end....

Next trip, and, of course, lots and lots of photo ops is Washington, DC in just two weeks. That should keep me scrapbooking well into 2015!

Yes, I am totally addicted to scrapbooking -- my name is Brenda and I AM ADDICTED -- I freely admit this, but am in no hurry to find a cure.

Happy Scrapping,

Brenda

Totally Addicted

You know that you are totally addicted when your son comes home from his high school graduation dance and hands you his ticket stubs and program so that they can be included in your scrapbooking.

When even your teenagers recognize that you will want to keep all the pieces of their lives - then this you know that this has gone beyond the casual straight to the obsession level as far as hobbies go!

(He did tell me that I was not allowed to scrapbook book is his grad cap though!!) (That's OK - I found a tassel that was lost - I can scrapbook that!)

Happy scrapping,

Brenda

Baby Showers and Other Ideas

Today I attended a baby shower at the office for one of our lawyers - her little boy was born last month. I used to spend hours and hours knitting or crochetting little outfits for the latest editions. They were wonderful and I really enjoyed making them, but after the second or third time that they wore them, the baby had probably out-grown the outfit and it was put away for the next baby or given away to someone else. I am sure that the next person loved them too, but the time that I had put in for the original person had a very limited life span.

For the last couple of baby showers, instead of knitting something, I have instead made a little personalized scrapbook album. That way, even after the baby is long grown into an adult, the parent still has the present that I specially made just for them as a long term momento.

The added bonus to me is that I get to use a hobby that I love (not that I don't love knitting and crochetting too) but that the little albums can usually be finished in a single evening instead one or two weeks of work. In addition, the gift of a little album is truly a one-of-a-kind type of gift - the new parent doesn't get four of them!

So the next time that you have a baby, bridal or other event where a small personal gift is appropriate, don't forget to put your scrapbooking skills to good use!

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

Very Big Thank You to All Who Participated

The Butterfly Crop went off without a hitch on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009.

I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for all who participated. From all reports, a great time was had by all. Not only did everyone seem to get scrapbooking done, but they had a good time too!!

Thank you too to Sandra and the Pick of the Patch gang for the use of their crop room - Sandra provided goodie bags for all the participants and waived the crop fee so that more money could go to this worthwhile charity.

We raised $700+ for the BC Cancer Agency. I am sure that they will put the money to good use.

Plans are already in the works for our next Butterfly Crop in early November. Stay tuned for the announcement later in the year.

Thanks again!!

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

Butterfly Crop - Cancer Fundraiser All Day Scrapbook Crop

Last November we hosted an all-day long crop to raise money for the BC Cancer Agency - on May 2nd we will be again hosting another all day long crop.

The crop was renamed the "Butterfly Crop" in honour of my sister, Sandra, who lost her battle with cancer earlier this spring. I want to continue to raise money for this cause so that maybe, some time in the future, no one else will have to loose their sister to cancer.

The crop will take place at Pick of the Patch, on Schoolhouse in Coquitlam, just west of Silver City Theatres, on Saturday, May 2nd from 9:00 a.m. until midnight. The cost for the full day will be $40.00 and it includes a pizza and salad dinner. There will be door prizes and 50/50 draws. We ask that everyone bring a snack to share with the group.

If you are interested in attending - space is limited - please e-mail b_wjohnson at telus dot net if you would like to attend or would like more information.

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

Will You Ever Run Out of Things to Scrapbook??

I was flipping through the newspaper this morning, skipping all the bad news and heading to my favourite section - the comics - and there was the perfect scrapbooking comic in there today.

I just had to post it here as it as I am sure that my kids might feel like that from time to time.

I am sure, however, that I will never run out of things to scrapbook (like most of us)!

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda

To My Sister - Thank You for Introducing Me to Scrapbooking

My sister, Sandra (aka S.A.M.), introduced me to scrapbooking over 10 years ago. I don't know if I ever thanked her for that or not - but it has become a very big portion of my life and a major creative outlet for me.

Last year, I did a layout that featured early pictures of the two of us. Click here to see the post about the layout.

On March 1st, 2009, Sandra passed away, a day before her 47th birthday, after a 7.5 year long battle with ovarian cancer. She continued to fight right up until the end, but the dreaded disease proved to be too much for her.

For her service, Ruth (Sandra's BFF) and I created a unique guest book for everyone to sign - a 8x8 scrapbook with pictures through the years of her life. That way the people who attended did not just sign their name on a line, but could pick a picture that might represent the time or place in Sandra's life that they knew her, but also write a note or two either to Sandra or us.

After the service, reading the notes left by everyone was both hard and good at the same time. To be able to have a record of all the wonderful things that people had to say about my sister is a great comfort and I will treasure the book forever.

I will at some point in the future, do memorial pages for Sam, when I am able to (to join the ones for our parents).

Scrapbooking has always been a way for me to preserve my family history and the stories that go along with the photos, and that is even more important now. My sons will be able to remember their aunt, who loved them very much, and whose life ended much too soon.

So, if I haven't said it before - thank you Sam for introducing me to scrapbooking - it has been a blessing and a way to carrying on through all the tough times....

Brenda

Retreat at Timberline - How it Went

Well, Maria and I had a good time at Timberline - not much sleep for various reasons, but a good time. One of the highlights was meeting and getting to know Jessie from "Cherish the Thought".

I managed to get 22 pages done!! Not bad.

I have to say that pre-kitting my pages made a really big difference - both on the speed that I was able to get going on things and just the amount of stuff that I did not need to take with me. On top of that, I ensured that I used my stash first!!

Before the retreat, I had spent quite a bit of time sorting my pictures and gathering any cardstock and pattern papers that I already had on hand and placing them in 12x12 plastic bags. If I had enlargements, I included them as well - so all I needed to do was to pull out the next package and I was off and running.

I also used a form from Creating Keepsakes - a 'to do' form that had space for the title, and if the photos and/or paper was there waiting. I found this to be a big help as it kept me organized.

Now I just need to keep going and I might even catch up to 2006 or even 2007 this year!!

Happy Scrapping,

Brenda