according.to.kim

Picture series scrapbook layouts

I really enjoyed making these layouts on the weekend! I started this series in May 2010 when I created my Picture Spring layout. At that time, I knew I would be taking more seasonal Picture classes from Tracey Clark at Big Picture Classes and that I would make more layouts with the same design, so I set aside the set of paper that the green paper had come from. And then I didn't manage to make any more of these pages over the past year! I didn't plan to do them all this weekend, but once I got rolling, I decided to complete the series and check this item off my scrapbooking to-do list.

P.S. I created a template for my photo collages and you're welcome to download it here:

Download Picture-collage-template.psd (1324.4K)

I had them printed on 8x10s and then trimmed the prints. There are 15 photo layers on the template, but I only used 12 photos per page which allowed me to be a little more selective about the photos I included (and left some room on the LOs).

Picture the seasons

Just thought it would be fun to see all of the photos together that I took during four of Tracey Clark's Picture classes at BPC. These are simply screenshots of the photos inside iPhoto, with text added in PSE.

Jan 31: One little word

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." Thankfully! I've always liked this quote and I think it ties my photo and my One Little Word together nicely. We are in the deep freeze right now, so it's a good reminder! I'm glad I managed to get a wintery photo to conclude Picture Winter.

I realize I haven't mentioned my word before. One Little Word is a concept that Ali Edwards has been blogging about and doing for several years. For 2011, she created a One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes to help participants keep their word more visible and top of mind throughout the year. (Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, also suggests choosing a one-word theme for the year.) I have never chosen a word before, but I wanted to try it this year. And I signed up for Ali's class, although I haven't done anything with it yet. I'm glad Picture Winter gave me a little start with today's prompt to capture our word.

As you can see, my word is patience. There are many, many aspects of my life in which I could use more patience! Around the first of the month, I had listed several words that might work for me, including focus, persevere, achieve, action, purpose, persist, and patience, among others. None jumped out at me right away, so I just left it alone. A couple weeks later, I just knew my word was patience. And the fact that it took its sweet time to reveal itself to me seems fitting!

Jan 30: Glimmers of hope

With a -34 windchill today, I simply could not find any signs that spring is just around the corner! Inspired by a classmate in Picture Winter who shot the word "hope" in the palm of her hand (with some wonderful bokeh light in the background), I quickly composed my shot with American Crafts Thickers. I think it works for "glimmers of hope," heh? :)

We had such a full day today! I had to write out the logistics of who was going where and when. Sophia had a ringette game and scored a hat trick! All of her goals were in the last 10 minutes of the game, and her team won 10-7. I was scorekeeper for the game, too. Meanwhile, Neil took Madeline to a birthday party (Lauren) and was able to watch the second half of the game. From there, Neil took Georgia to a birthday party (Henry) and then went to the first Irish Club Mosaic planning meeting of the year. Sophia and I went home for awhile and then picked up Madeline, picked up Georgia, and joined Neil at the Irish Club potluck (same location as the meeting). Neil had prepared a Red Quinoa and Black Bean Salad (yum!) earlier in the day. We enjoyed a delicious meal, and got home before 8:00 p.m.

I also worked quite a bit on Bite-sized Scrapbooking today. I double-checked and scheduled all of the email messages for this week. I also answered some questions and sent out Flickr invitations. I'm very excited (and a wee bit nervous) about the first email going out tonight at 1:00 a.m.! Do you think I'll be able to sleep? I never sleep well on Sunday nights, so it doesn't look promising. Oh well!

Jan 29: Your name in lights

Madeline made this large envelope to enclose her made-at-school Christmas gift to us. She was still in her phase of writing our names rather than mom and dad. I "lve" how she spelled love, too. :) (Sugarplum Paperie Painted Edges CU Overlays)

Sophia had ringette practice at 8:00 a.m. this morning and I was thankful that Neil took her (especially since she forgot her helmet at home and he had to drive back to get it!). I took Sophia to her piano lesson after that. Otherwise, it was a day of BSS work (fun!) and house work. Mom and dad brought Buffy (Dash's sister) to our house for the whole afternoon while they attended bison meetings. Neil also took Dash and the girls to our friends' house for a playdate with Chloe (dog) and Maren.

We're going to have to go out to get birthday gifts this evening, as both Madeline and Georgia have parties to attend tomorrow. I really wish I had dealt with the gifts earlier!

Jan 28: Details of winter

I took a quick stroll around our block today. Many details of winter around here! Once again, I was shooting in low light. Tough to get the colours just right.

What a day! First, Sophia turned 10! She has been looking forward to turning "double digits" for awhile now. At ten, she has grown up in so many ways, and yet she continues to be a spirited child at times. Sometimes it's tough to predict which version of her is going to appear. I guess that's the joy of pre-adolescence. No matter what, Sophia is an amazing girl and we're very proud of her!

The kids had no school today and I took the day off. The first part of the morning was pretty lazy. It was very nice that we didn't have to be anywhere. Mid-morning, Neil took the girls and Sophia's friend, Cyandra, to public skating at the Cooperators Centre. They were finished near noon, and Sophia went to Cyandra's house afterward. She enjoyed going in their outdoor hot tub. Meanwhile, Neil ran some errands and Madeline and Georgia stayed home with me. Neil picked up Sophia around 4 p.m.

I had been planning to launch Bite-sized Scrapbooking this weekend, but wasn't sure if it would be today or tomorrow. Well, I decided it was time! I tackled my launch to-do list and took the plunge. At 1:40 p.m., I sent out the launch announcement. It was very exciting! And then it was very stressful! I quickly realized the subscription process wasn't working correctly and I could not figure it out. I had done a lot of testing and it always seemed to work for me and Neil. It was very baffling, and I needed help.

I spent the next 2.5 hours troubleshooting the problem with MailChimp and PayPal (through online chat and phone). Thankfully, we figured it out and solved the problem! It's a long story, but basically when someone subscribed via PayPal it would send their email address straight to the mailing list -- and that wasn't supposed to be happening. And every time I had tested it, it worked fine because I was using a different email address than the one I use for my PayPal account. As far as I can tell, everything works now. What a relief!

So, it's official: Bite-sized Scrapbooking is open for business!  And 10 people have subscribed already! I'm so glad I followed through with my idea and didn't let fear hold me back. It's such an amazing feeling! I can't wait to see all of the scrapbooking that gets done one bite at a time. :)

Back to Sophia's birthday... It was Sophia's choice for supper. She wanted hamburgers (made by Neil) and she wanted to make macaroni and cheese from scratch by herself. She used a recipe from her own recipe box, and it turned out very well! For her birthday cake, Neil made a confetti cake and Sophia made blue and pink frosting. She had wanted to frost the cake herself, so I let her do that, too. After supper and cake, Sophia HAD to practice piano. We were out of options for this week. She's working on "Happy Birthday" right now, so that was fun to hear on her birthday.

Sophia received her gift from us a couple of weeks ago. It was a new parka and ski pants set that she had picked out herself way back in September. When Sophia and I saw these sets at Costco and looked for her size, it was clear we'd have to buy it right then or there would be no size 10s left. She agreed to get it as a birthday gift and wait until her birthday. I decided to give it to her a couple weeks ago because the weather was dreadful and she needed new ski pants.

Last, but not least, this is my 2000th blog post! I think it's pretty cool to have this milestone coincide with my child turning 10 and launching a new business. What a day. WOW.

Jan 27: Give yourself a hand

As a stay-at-home dad, my husband does a lot of dishes, and I really appreciate it!

I'm so glad this work week is over for me! I'm taking tomorrow off and the kids have no school. I think it's going to be a pretty special day in more ways than one. :)

Jan 26: A beautiful mess

Plenty of messes around here (it's frightening), but not many I'd consider beautiful! I think this qualifies, though -- remnants of recent scrapbooking sessions waiting to be put away.

Madeline and I went to her piano lesson this evening. She's doing okay, but really needs to practice more. We're having a tough time fitting it in these days, so I think I'm going to have to make a schedule and stick to it. And I don't mean that she needs to stick to it; I mean, *I* need to stick to it. I know she'll practice if I guide her through it.

Jan 25: The magic machine

My computer and the internet have opened my world to many new friends and possibilities, and I am very grateful for that. Without this magic machine and its connection to the world, the business I'm launching this weekend would not be possible!

This evening, we all went to Balgonie for Sophia's ringette game against BP Red, one of the best teams in the league. The Sticks of Fury played very well tonight. It was an exciting back-and-forth battle right to the end, and Sophia's team won 10-9! The girls were totally thrilled to win as they've lost quite a few close ones lately. Sophia played defense again today because she's very strong (no surprise there!), so when she gets the ring, she can hang on to it and move it out of a throng of players. Fun to watch!

Jan 24: Obscurity

I didn't necessarily capture "obscurity" but I thought this was an interesting progression from snow to bark. The tree trunk is covered on one side from snow being shoveled off the sidewalk.

Monday, Monday. Would have been a whole lot better without the headache, neck ache, and shoulder ache I have developed. I think I need a massage!

I'm so excited for this weekend's launch of BSS! I love that people are letting me know they're interested, and I can see that the news is spreading. Thirty-five have signed up for the launch announcement and Facebook "likes" hit 50 this evening! I really appreciate every little bit of support, whether it's just because you know me or are truly interested in Bite-sized Scrapbooking. :)

Jan 23: High strung

Today was ALL about the big birthday party. Thirty* children attended (including our three, and four cousins) and I didn't have a moment to think about the prompt. At least I caught a glimpse of the streamers Sophia strung around the room, and that will have to suffice for "high strung." (And, yes, I was a bit high strung before and during the party!) Picture-Winter-prompt aside, these photos represent today perfectly.

We rented a room at the South Leisure Centre and had my cousin, Richy Roy, perform a magic show and make balloon creations for the kids. The show was fantastic! Richy is so animated and entertaining. The children LOVED it, and we adults certainly enjoyed the show as well. I am totally amazed by his magic tricks! Watching the kids' reactions was fun, too.

Richy had each of the birthday girls come up and help him with something. Sophia and Madeline helped with a magic trick. A little later, he asked Georgia to come up and be his balloon helper (or something like that). The smiles and laughter from Georgia during that scene were worth every minute of the party planning and more. He made a cool octopus for Georgia and then proceeded to make something for each child. With that many children, and how eleborate some of Richy's creations were, it took some time.

After that, we served cake (white cake with buttercream icing from Costco; very good!), ice cream, and juice boxes. All three birthday girls helped serve these things, as they had requested. Once everyone had finished eating, the party was over and we sent our guests home with a treat-size bag of chips and fruit gummies. (I decided to forego goodie bags.)

We did not do a gift opening at the party because we had made this gift suggestion: "a simple donation to be used 50-50 as follows: *birthday girl* will give half of what she receives to Chili for Children (www.chiliforchildren.ca) and use the other half to purchase something for herself." (A friend of Madeline's did this two years ago and I thought it was brilliant!) I think this went over quite well with the parents; they were very generous. A few told me they loved it.

The girls will make a donation of $200(!) to Chili for Children and they each get to keep $65. I'm so glad we did this. Not only did we not have to bring a couple dozen things into our house, the girls are making a considerable donation to a very worthy cause. It warms my heart. And next time, I'll shoot for 100% donation! Just couldn't get buy-in for that this year.

Also, I should mention that the party had a bit of a Rider theme at Georgia's request. We asked everyone to dress in green or their Rider clothes if they had any (optional, of course). We also decorated in green and white.

I'm extremely relieved that everything went well and very thankful for all the help we received today from family and other parents. We could not have done it on our own. I'm thrilled that the girls enjoyed their birthday party, too. They had been looking forward to Richy's magic show birthday party for a long time and it was everything they hoped it would be. I'm glad it was a great success, and I'm so glad it's over! :)

*Eight did not reply, so I wasn't sure if they'd show up or not. Apparently not replying to the invitation means you're not coming. Really? I would rather know for sure. Pet peeve! On the flipside, everyone who attended the party did reply, so that was good. (And kudos to the two who said they couldn't attend.)

Jan 22: Centrepiece

I don't normally have a centerpiece and my dining room isn't very photogenic, but I played along with today's prompt and sent Neil hunting for a bag of pine cones I collected years ago. (He found it in the garage; I wasn't even sure we still had it.) I made this centrepiece of sorts, took a couple test shots, and then my photo session was completely derailed. Since I lost daylight before I could take any more photos, I worked with what I had. Hoping to add more interest, I changed the angle of this shot in iPhoto. (Okay, it's one of those times when I have to accept that I won't get the perfect photo!)

Neil just made Chili Meat Loaf from The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook (a favourite of ours) and it smells awesome! We're just waiting for the potatoes to finish cooking.

We continued to prepare for the big birthday party tomorrow. I believe we have everything we need now, and I think that despite the large number of people attending, it will be a relatively easy party for us parents. I'm looking forward to it!

I also put in a few hours of work on Bite-sized Scrapbooking today. I really enjoy doing this work and I truly can't wait to get started! I'm very close to being ready for launch. I have already put so much into this business and yet it doesn't seem entirely real that I'm doing this. One week until opening. Wow.

Jan 21: Winter's pull

I was off work today. It was so nice to see the sun shining and a warmer temp! I didn't even mind going outside on a photo hunt. Otherwise, we filled the day with errands and various types of work around the house. I did a massive calendar update and checked a few items off my BSS to-do list. Neil ordered the birthday cake and picked up a few other items for the party on Sunday. It was GREAT to have a free day to get some things done.

Madeline insists that she's not sick, and, indeed, she did seem fine to go to school this morning. We gave her some cough medicine and she went. It was one of those times when you just do not know if the child should go or stay home -- and she really, really wanted to go to school today.

Jan 20: Frosty

You'd think "frosty" would be easy on a day like today. Well, with a -40 wind chill, I didn't spend much time outside taking photos! I snapped one photo of Neil's breath when we parked at the hospital this morning (and then cropped it significantly as I wasn't happy with the original).

Georgia had her annual check-up with the pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Kakadakar, today. All is well! She had an ECG, but no echo this year. Her heart rate is 59-60, which is fine. She'll have a Holter Monitor in a few months because she hasn't had one since July 2009. She's 111.8 cm (44") tall, and we were very excited to see her weight: 18.6 kg = 41 lbs = no more 5-point harness = big girl, easy-to-do-up seatbelt from now on!

I've said this before, but it's worth saying again: the staff at RGH are so great with Georgia! She wouldn't say a word to them or crack a smile in their presence, but she was thrilled with all the stickers and the little teddy bear she received. Likewise, Georgia is a super patient. As usual, she stayed perfectly still for the ECG and was totally cooperative for everything.

P.S. Neil took Sophia to her ringette practice this evening. I didn't take Madeline to her dance class because she had a fever of 39.1. She's been coughing a lot, too. I sure hope no one else gets it! But what are the odds of that?

Jan 19: A different kind of story

A glimpse into my world. En route to and from my kids' activities is where I'm at, quite often, in this stage of my life. This evening, I took Madeline to her piano lesson. (This sure says "Picture Winter" to me!)

Jan 18: Centre of attention

It was Madeline's 8th birthday today, so of course she's the centre of attention! Also, I love capturing this smile and it is near the centre of the photo. :) This was taken at Sophia's game this evening. I tried to get a good picture of M with her birthday cake and candles, but it wasn't meant to be.

We gave Madeline her gifts in the morning before I went to work. She received a real twirling baton and a little Zhu Zhu Pets bed and blanket. She has wanted a baton for a long time and had no idea she was getting one for her birthday; however, she did see the long triangular box that arrived in the mail a couple weeks before Christmas and was very curious about what might be inside. She could not figure out what could possibly be that shape and she asked about it many times. It was fun to finally give it to her.

I took an earlier bus home after work (arriving home at 4:55 p.m.), so we'd have a few extra minutes for birthday cake. Neil baked the confetti cake and made fluffy frosting during the day. We ate our supper soon after I got home, and then I quickly frosted the cake -- half pink and half green at Madeline's request. We sang Happy Birthday, ate some cake, and then headed out the door by 6:00 p.m. to go to Sophia's ringette game. It was nice that Bronwyn was with us for the birthday cake, too. (Laurel picked her up at the rink.)

At bedtime, I read to Madeline alone (i.e., without Sophia). We do this occasionally anyway, but today, I made sure to read what Madeline wanted. She has been enjoying the Help Me Be Good series (by Joy Berry) for several weeks now, and today was no exception. I always read the main part of the book and we assign speaking parts for the cartoon-like illustrations. She loves reading these books with me.

Jan 17: Stark raving magnificent

I don't know about magnificent (actually, I'm quite sure it's not), but it's stark and it's all I've got for today. This is part of our back yard. We've had record-breaking snowfall this year: 120 cm (47") which is more than double the norm at this point (and more than the norm for an entire winter in Regina).

Madeline was perfectly fine today and went to school. I guess she was just very tired yesterday.

Sophia, on the other hand, is getting headaches which started last evening at bedtime. During her ringette game yesterday, she fell backwards onto her head, so she may have sustained a slight concussion. We've been giving her acetaminophen and that seems to work fine.

P.S. The girls bought themselves iPod Nanos (blue for Sophia, green for Madeline, and pink for Georgia) and they arrived today. There was much jubilation in the house!

Jan 16: Wrapped up

This prompt was a good excuse for a little photo shoot with G. Not that I need an excuse. She may think she's a model. :)

I spent a few hours today working on the email components for BSS. I'm doing a lot of testing and I think it's coming along nicely. For the most part, this month seems to be passing slowly as I anticipate launch day. I am really looking forward to getting started! On the flipside, I have occasional moments when I'm thinking, "Whoa! It's coming soon! Am I going to be ready?" I think this thought is going to be more prevalent over the next two weeks.

We all went to Sophia's ringette game this afternoon. Her team didn't win but Sophia scored her third goal! She played forward today. After the game, we went to The Bay because they have all of their women's winter boats on sale 50% off. I had to buy a new pair because one of the zippers on mine broke. I would get a boot full of snow if I tried to wear them.

I think Madeline is coming down with something. She's been sleeping almost continuously since we got home at 4:30 p.m. I really hope she's feeling better for her birthday on Tuesday!

Jan 15: Cooling it

I had given up on getting a good shot today until I went out to run an errand at 5:30 p.m. In PSE, I applied the PW Cooler action, and in iPhoto, I moved the Temperature slider to -10. So pleased with this!

Friends were doing a test bake today at their brand new business, Orange Boot Bakery, so we went and bought a couple loaves this afternoon. We devoured one whole loaf as soon as we got home. So good! Orange Boot will open on Tuesday, January 18 (3904 Gordon Road). GO!

Jan 14: Beyond the chill

Just about the only thing I saw today that wasn't covered in snow. It was dark when I left home this morning, almost dark when I got home (the bus was 15 minutes late), and I didn't have my camera with me at lunch time. The only reason I managed to get this shot was that I had an appointment mid-afternoon, and I asked Neil to bring the camera when he came to pick me up.

I'm so glad the weekend is here! And I'm not working the next seven Fridays. Not at my day job, anyway. :)