2Peas Friday Blogger Challenge

Sofia asked:

What were you like in high school? How have you changed? How are you still the same?

Well, I think I am pretty much the same. My big love in school was Art. I LOVED Art class ... I think all the hobbies / crafts I do now are a reflection of that passion. A charcoal drawing I did when I was about 13 or 14
My interest in computers started then too ... but back in the 70's, our school had one computer - no monitor, and it filled an entire room off the Physics Lab. The exam for the "computer" course I took was comprised of creating a fistfull of punch cards ... one hole out of place and the computer would spit it back out. If you programmed the cards right, a Snoopy calendar appeared slowly on the dot matrix printer, created with all 1's and 0's. And if you could master that, you passed!
What a long way I have come since then; now I am the computer specialist for the city's cardiac sciences program, not to mention most of my free time is spent either building websites, on the net or building / troubleshooting systems for family and friends. So I guess I have always been a geek, but had lots of friends in school and was Captain of the cheerleaders and Social Convenor on student council (yeah, I got to book the bands at dances!) - not really a typical "Revenge of the Nerds" geek. In fact, just yesterday a co-worker told me "you don't look like a computer geek" ... a response I get quite frequently and take as a compliment!

A whole day of scrapping, Part Deux

Yeah, I have to remember ... not a good idea to give a teenager Starbucks Carmel Frapaccino and McDonald's food for dinner during an all day crop. Can you say "Really Hyper?" Daughter did (using our newest chipboard letters, that is). ...and she was ... But upon closer inspection, I have proof I'm not a totally bad mother; see? There behind the ... um ... frapaccino .... a bottle of water! Aha!

You can see our newest acquisition on the table too; a second tacklebox for more (yeah, even more) supplies to bring to crops! This Plano box is so perfect; it has three larger cases (holding ribbons, punches, stamps and more), plus 4 smaller cases (for brads, charms, clips and such) that slide out the front. Inside is perfect for more stamping supplies. Good thing I have that wheeled cart; we just use bungee cords to strap them in and away we go!

Last week as we entered the front door of the scrapbooking store, daughter quipped: "Oh look" said the store owner. "Our new stock has arrived. Oh wait, that's just Maureen and her daughter here to crop." How true...

Teddy Redone

A few days ago, I posted a layout I wasn't entirely happy with...it was missing ... well, SOMETHING. Then I came across a wooden teddy at Michael's in the sale bin. Perfect! Well, almost. I re-painted it to more closely resemble the teddy in daughter's portrait and viola! Now I am happier about the layout. Revised page
Wooden teddy before the repaint

A whole day of scrapping

Since I've been on holidays this week, daughter and I spent 8 hours at our local scrapbook store cropping on Thursday. It was so great! Air-conditioned, no cats knocking our stuff off the table, and we got so much done! Here are four pages I completed, and I even got a card made for a friend at work who is retiring:
Daughter at age 11 on the day we got her a new kitten, Sheba
Our latest fav at Starbucks

I wanted to do a layout with just cardstock -- and I think these photos were good to use for that; they are so busy, they didn't get "lost" in a bunch of patterned paper and embellishments.

2Peas Challenge

Melissa posted the question:

What is your favorite ride @ Disney (or at another amusement park)? - this is a fun one to bring out your inner kid.

Well, usually I am NOT a fan of rides at parks or carnivals; unfortunately motion sickness has hounded me since I was small, so I steer clear of anything that will make me queasy. However, we had a wonderful opportunity to visit Disneyland last August, and I HAD to go on the Indiana Jones ride. It was fantastic; we even took the ride twice - the animatronics are wonderful, it was scarey and thrilling, but not too rocky and was easy on my stomach. Unfortunately, my neck took a beating (or so I found out about 3 days later when it stiffened up). It took me months to heal my neck, so my daughter recently asked me that if / when we go back, would I ride Indiana Jones again? My answer: of course!

I also loved the Pirates of the Caribbean ride; so glad we could have taken it before the renovations; we got to experience it the way Walt made it. But now, I am so excited to take it again; I mean, what could be better than Johnny Depp and Disneyland??? For a sneak peek at the revamped ride, take a look at my other blog, Stale Coffee for a video of Johnny Depp on the new Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland!

It was magical to finally get to Disneyland (it only took me 45 years of waiting!). I really hope we can go back very soon... If you want to see my scrapbook layouts of our trip to Disneyland, check my 2Peas album here.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Well, since I enjoyed seeing this movie so much, I thought I would do some sort of layout with my ticket and the photo I took of Heather at the theatre. Can't go wrong if you're putting Mr. Depp on it -- so I took the cover photo from our theatre's magazine, the title graphic from an ad inside the magazine, and created an interactive page. When you "open" the treasure chest by unhooking the key, it folds out to reveal my ticket in a distressed and inked paper pouch, daughter's photo with Will and Jack, some pirate treasure (coins) and journalling in the font "TreasureMap Deadhand" on vellum. The title is done in the font "Aquiline Two" on transparancy. Charms on the title include Jack's compass and Davy Jones' key dismantled from POTC2 earrings purchased at Claire's. I added the lock and top silver ring myself. The metal key was purchased in the clearance area at Michael's, and the treasure chest image was downloaded from the official POTC2 website. I used pliers to bend the metal photo mount into a curve to latch the key onto the page. Paper is Bazzil cinnamon cardstock, covered with KI Antique Map patterned paper torn and inked on the edges.

This was so fun to make; all the while listening to the soundtracks of both Pirates movies on my MP3 player. (By the way, under the title "Captain Jack Sparrow" it reads "This pirate steals hearts" - a double entendre, I won't reveal).

2Peas Monday Blogger Challenge

Melissa posted today's question:

Just another manic Monday... Challenge:
What do you do to relax after a hard day of work?
Well, after working on a computer all day, I try to do something else to relax when I get home before I get dinner ready. I usually spend a little time in my favorite chair by the front window in the living room. I put my feet up on my ottoman reading a book or magazine, or I'll pull out my latest cross-stitch project, enjoying the birds and bunnies in our front yard. I usually pick up that same activity right after dinner too; most times the whole family is in the same room, doing activities and talking while watching TV at the same time.

I find that most week days I am too tired to scrapbook, unless it's a cropping night. I may do a small item like paint an embellishment or cut out a title, but if I try to scrapbook a page in the evenings, I tend to mess up more, so I leave scrapping for crops or the weekend.

2Peas Blogger Challenge

Melissa posted the question:

What's your favorite summer movie?
Well, Monday we went to see Superman Returns and really, really enjoyed it! Sitting in the theatre, watching the retro-style titles fly across the screen to John William's theme brought me back to watching the very first Christopher Reeve Superman in the theatre in 1978... I just loved it! The story was very good, the casting is incredible; much better than I thought it would be!

Next in line: Pirates of the Carribean Dead Man's Chest. Got to see this one in the theatre too... hopefully this Sunday. What can be better than Johnny and Orlando on the big screen? Yummy!

Hugs

Found this photo in our old albums, and had to scrap it. Daddy was so proud to buy daughter her very first baby doll when she was little. She still has that doll, and it was fun putting this page together.

New layout - needs something more

I'm weighing the decision on whether this page needs a title or not... but so far, here it is. I think this is one of the few times I've used the cardstock as the background, instead of patterned paper. I would also like to find some teddy charm or something else to add to the page...it doesn't feel quite finished yet. Any suggestions?