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

Retreat at Timberline Ranch

I can hardly wait - next weekend my scrapping buddy, Maria, and I will be attending a scrapbooking retreat at Timberline Ranch in Maple Ridge.

It has been almost 2 years since I was away at a retreat!

I don't care that they have only bunk beds - I won't be spending much time in my bed anyways! With the crop room open 24 hours a day - who wants to waste time sleeping when they can be scrapping!

I am getting all my pictures organized - I want to pre-plan a lot of the pages, so that I don't have to carry my entire scrap room with me to the retreat. Hopefully, Maria will do the same, otherwise we might have to hire a utility trailer to take all our stuff with us. ;o)

Only seven more days until we get away for a nice break!

Happy Scrapping!

Brenda