Home Sweet Home, A Scrapbook Layout

Greetings friends! Today I have a bittersweet scrapbook layout to share with you.

While I'm all for young people growing up and taking on adult responsibilities, it's hard on the heart when not only do they grow up, but they grow their wings and fly away!

My son Tayo and his girlfriend Ellie recently moved into their first apartment. And while I'm so proud of them for having done it all on their own, I'm also very sad to have my second and last child leave home.

So what does a crafty mom do? Make a scrapbook page to commemorate the occasion!

To make this layout, I started with two sheets of Pinkfresh Studio's Happiness Blooms paper. I cut the floral element out of one sheet and used the other sheet for the background.

I traced an old Bazzill pink card stock heart that had scalloped edges onto the 'B' side of Jen Hadfields Picnic Basket paper, cut it out and then cut a smaller heart from white Bazzill card stock and mounted it on top of the Picnic Basket paper. 

The placement of the heart was dependent on the large floral element that I had cut from the Happiness Blooms paper. I aligned the cut floral element directly over the florals on the background paper and slide the heart between them.  When I did that, the right edge hung over the background so I cut that portion off. Once I figured out this main placement, I glued the two heart pieces together and then glued them to the background.

I mounted my photo onto white Bazzill card stock, and glued that to a piece of Pebbles Kid at Heart paper from the 6x8 paper pad. I topped the photo with the 'Home Sweet Home' chipboard from the Paige Evans Bungalow Lane Collection and embellished it with the key sticker from Jen Hadfields Live and Let Grow Collection.

I created a journaling box, which I will fill in later, by cutting a square shape from the B side of Jen Hadfields Bouquet paper, then cut a window out of that and embellished it with the gold butterfly from the same sticker pack as the key sticker above.

The 'We Grow Together' and the 'Happy Day' die cuts are from Jen Hadfields Live and Let Grow ephemera pack.

A date stamped with the Roller Date Stamp from Ali Edwards finishes the page!

What life event has tugged at your heart lately? It's a great idea to document these kinds of events, even if you just write something down in a keepsake journal. Your future self will be so glad you did.

Thanks for looking and see you again next month!

December Daily and Stories by the Month

Hello everyone, how are you doing with your New Year's resolutions so far?

The only one I have this year is to tell more of my family's stories.

The desire to do so came to me last November when I saw that Ali Edwards offers a Stories by the Month kit subscription. Each month you get a small assortment of journaling cards and embellishments, geared towards telling seasonal recurring stories.

At the same time I was seeing that Ali and a lot of the other prominent memory keepers were gearing up for December Daily, which is literally telling one story each day in December, focusing on whatever holiday tradition is being celebrated.

So here is the beginning of my attempts to get those stories told!

This is only my second December Daily. I made the first one ten years ago and of course our lives looked very different then. I'm grateful to my past self for having made that project happen. Knowing how intense the task can be, at first I decided that this year I would just write a small note at the end of each day, and that those accumulated notes would result in one page in my 2022 album. However, as the month progressed I started seeing how those notes could become bigger stories and found myself making a plan to complete an entire album. Now the album is essentially done - there's just a few more items to check off the list.

In January there was only one big story to tell. My son Tayo got his first apartment with his girlfriend Ellie. Of course such a big life event requires mom getting a photo on the big day and I felt that a large 6 x 8 print was essential in the documenting. I will write in some details on the two journal cards on the left.

The most appealing idea behind both December Daily and Stories by the Month is that there are no rules about how to document. It just requires that you think about and know your why. For some, December Daily is telling stories every day in the month, while for others it's December 'Daily-ish', acknowledging that there are limits to what one can (or should) get done during a busy hectic month. Same for Stories by the Month - maybe there is only one good story in the month to tell or maybe the plan is to document several smaller stories.

So here is where I'm currently at in my memory keeping journey thus far this year - one big, long story for December and one big important event for January.

It's the last day of February and I had a birthday earlier in the month so I'm hoping to get my photos of that event edited and printed, because, after all the February Stories by the Month kit is just waiting to be crushed, right?

Heceta Headland Day Trip

So believe it or not, this was our family's first excursion out into the world since before Covid. James and I, together with our son Tayo and his girlfriend Ellie, took a whirlwind day trip to the Oregon Coast and it definitely revived our spirits and gave us hope for future travels.

The lighthouse at Heceta Headland is a well known sight to most Oregonians. It's a large part of the history of the area, having been built in 1894. It is situated 205 feet above the Pacific Ocean on a bluff carved out of the west side of the 1,000-foot-high headland.

Although we have visited the coast many times over the years, we have never taken the self guided tour of the lighthouse - until now. It's an easy half-mile hike on an uphill dirt trail and it was a perfectly beautiful and warm day. 'The kids' headed up on their own right away, while James and I took our time.

The 54-foot lighthouse tower contains a Fresnel lens that was built by the Chance Brothers of Birmingham, England and originally contained kerosene oil lamps which were maintained by a lightkeeper crew. These days the lamps are electric and automated. To this day it is still a working navigational light that is visible for 21 nautical miles.

After learning about and admiring the lighthouse, James and I then turned our attention to the stunning views. To the south is the sandbar at Cape Cove:

To the east you can see the sheltered Cape Cove Beach and the Cape Creek Bridge in the background:

As we descended back down the trail we stopped to view the Assistant Keeper's Duplex, one of the last remaining on the Pacific Coast. Originally there was also a Head Keeper's House, however it was demolished many years ago.

It was an enjoyable day of hiking, picnicking and sightseeing. At some point during the course of this day, however, it struck me how much we've missed over the last two and a half years. I've realized that I've allowed myself to get caught in the trap of thinking there's no use going anywhere anymore because everything has changed because of Covid.

And while certainly there have been changes in our perceptions and in how we navigate our day to day lives, it's also important to get out of our tightly held, cautious routines and enjoy nature and to see other families out there doing the same. And it also dawned on me how important it is to recommit to spending time with family seeing new things, exploring, and having that feeling of being free to wander and take things as they come, even if only for a day. It rejuvenates the spirit and helps us connect with each other in a wholly different way from our daily lives of work and worry.

For us, family trips have always been an important part of life and this day was an important reminder to continue that tradition, for ourselves and for the younger generation.

Have you taken any trips lately?

 

Hey There Tree Climber! A Scrapbook Layout

Hey There! I've always meant to share more scrapbook pages, but alas, as I look back at what I've posted here in the past, there isn't much! So today I'm publishing this layout about my son Tayo that I just finished.

Scrapbook pages are both a labor of love and (for me anyway) a labor intense activity. I spend a lot of time thinking about the stories that I want to tell and how I can best portray the character or characters and describe the event. I also spend a lot of time thinking about what the visual representation of the story looks and feels like. Traditional pages, like that above, are a fun and creative way to represent events, milestones or personality traits.

As well, the act of making a page is a vigorous mental activity that I enjoy getting lost in. Like collage, I enjoy solving design problems and spend quite a bit of time just sitting with everything in front of me and experimenting. A part of my brain gets very charged from this activity so I tend to want to stay there!

This page, titled Hey There Tree Climber! addresses both Tayo's love of tree climbing and showcases his sweet nature at age eight. There a quite a few photographs through the years of him climbing trees but I chose this particular set of photos because I was anxious to try out my new Spellbinders Layered Cherry Blossom cutting dies. Cherry or Plum Blossoms appear quite frequently around our house so I know I will get a lot of mileage out of this die set. In fact, I plan to make more scrapbook pages and some greeting cards as well.

For the base of my page I used two sheets of 12" x 12" Beautiful Things paper from BoBunny: Garden Party and Beauty. Before machine stitching the Beauty paper to the Garden Party paper I cut a section out of the middle of the Garden Party paper and set it aside for another project.

Each of the three photos are matted with Bazzill Avalanche cardstock.

The ornate florals are also cut from Avalanche cardstock and the remainder of the flower buds and branches are cut from leftover Bazzill bits and pieces. The details of the flowers are amazing! In fact once I had all the pieces cut I kept them in a vintage tray that was decorated with cherry blossoms and I got fooled more than once!

It took me a long time to maneuver the main branches and flowers into place while at the same time making sure there was room for the title and journaling.

The title, as well as the two moth stickers and the tabs on the sides of the photos are all from the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Indigo Garden Sticker Book. The journaling is printed onto copy paper. And finally, the insects at the bottom left of the page are cut from a sheet of 12" x 12" BoBunny Beautiful Things Collected paper.

And that's it! I'm happy how this page turned out and I hope you enjoyed seeing it.

Thanks for looking and bye for now!

 

Flattening the Curve, Day 53

Dear friends. Today is the fifty-third day of my mandatory leave from my government work site due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and it is Mother's Day here in the United States.

I'm guessing like you, my Mother's Day has been filled with mixed emotions due to the situation with the coronavirus pandemic.

On the one hand my son Tayo, who lives here at home with his dad and I, made me a tray of chocolate brownies and a funny card.

On the other hand, because my daughter Audrey lives across town, we are unable to spend the day together. But we did talk on the telephone, and that was good.

My mother Emily lives in a nursing home in my neighborhood and the only way I could see her today was to visit her through her window. Not an ideal situation.

But I did bring a variety of annuals to plant in the flower box right outside her window. Jim helped me haul in a large bag of potting soil with the wheel barrow and we dug the old dirt out of the box and added in the new dirt. As we planted the flowers into the box, I showed them to my mom and announced the names of each flower through the open window. It brought her a little bit of joy. She waved at us and I could see in her eyes that she was happy to see us. She can't speak anymore...

I also gave her a lovely bouquet of pink orchids and pink oriental lilies - the fragrant lilies. And, of course, a greeting card. My sister Joyce and her husband sent our mother a bouquet. I saw it sitting on my mother's dresser but I couldn't see what the flower varieties were, but it was a very pretty arrangement.

It's days like this that the fact of the pandemic hits me the hardest. There is nothing that can be done except wait it out and be grateful that we are not ill and that we have food, shelter and some activities to keep us busy while we flatten the pandemic curve.

Thank you for reading and Happy Mother's Day.

 

Flattening the Curve, Day 50

Hello friends. Today is day number fifty that I have been on mandatory leave from my job due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and with Mother's Day fast approaching I went flower shopping. It was good! Almost everyone was wearing a mask and respecting the social distancing rule.

My elderly mother lives in a nursing home and although I won't be able to go inside the building to see her on Mother's Day because of the pandemic, I plan to visit with her outside her window. There is a flower box there and so today I purchased a variety of annuals to fill it up.

For my mother's flower box I chose hot pink geraniums, pink snap dragons, pink impatiens, and a 'confetti garden' in orange blossom which is a 4" pot with a variety of flowers.

For myself, I bought orange zinnias, rosemary, the flower basket on the left, and that cute little blue ceramic bird bath. Also, Tayo and Ellie expressed an interest in growing tomatoes, so I got them two tomato plants.

And of course I couldn't resist a fun photo shoot.

Thank you for looking and I hope you are having a quiet evening.

 

Flattening the Curve, Day 40

Hello friends. Today is the fortieth day of my mandatory leave from my government job due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Like so many of you, our family has been quarantined under a stay at home order and I've been documenting my thoughts, feelings and experiences here on the blog since the first day I was mandated to stay home.

Do you have a loved one living at a care-giving center? I do. My elderly mom lives in a skilled nursing home in my neighborhood. I have not been able to visit her since March 11th when they stopped allowing visitors due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Today I went there to deliver a bouquet of flowers and a card to my mom. These gifts are allowed however I had to ring a bell at the entrance and a staff member came and accepted the items for my mom. Of course I wore the mask I made and safety gloves. 

I was going to say hello to mom through the window in her room but she was in the dining room having her lunch and the windows there are too high off the ground for me to see her. So I will try that again soon. But I was able to refill the bird feeders Jim and I had placed outside of mom's window back in February. I think next I am going to plant some flowers in the flower box which is also outside her window. The nursing home usually does that in summer but now is a better time, right?

Well, that's all I have for today. I do hope if you have a loved one being cared for somewhere that you are able to, at the very least, send in a greeting of some kind.

Till next time. 

Flattening the Curve, Day 38

Hello everyone. Today is the thirty-eighth day that I have been on leave from my government job due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

It's Saturday and Jim and I ventured out just one time the entire week for groceries. Before we headed out on the trip I contacted our daughter Audrey to see if she needed anything at the stores we planned to shop at.

Really though, it was an excuse to see her. Since we live in different households we have been keeping our social distance. So, since Audrey did need a few groceries, I was happy to pick up the items and stop by her place to drop them off. Of course, that means when I arrived I placed the items on her porch and walked out to the side walk. Then Audrey came out to retrieve them and we talked for awhile...at a distance. No hugs.

Such is life in this new and strange time.

As I mentioned, it's the weekend and on that same shopping trip the other day I picked up ingredients to make a chocolate cream pie. The kids like it quite a bit and it feels like everyone needs a bit of a treat. I also bought flowers. I always need flowers - they brighten my kitchen and elevate my mood.

I spent most mornings this past week working on collage projects. Above you can see a sneak peek of what I'm currently working on. I finished the piece today and hope to get it photographed and share it here on the blog soon. I'm reading the latest issue of kolaj magazine. I enjoy seeing what other collage artists are working on and reading the essays.

Such are my weekend vibes.

I hope you are safe and that you are finding activities to keep you busy during this great pause.

Till next time.

     

Flattening the Curve, Day 28

Well friends today is my twenty-eighth day of quarantine from my work site due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and I experienced what perhaps by now many of you have already experienced.

Today is our daughter Audrey's birthday and because of the strict social distancing measures in place, also due to coronavirus, we were unable to celebrate in our usual custom of sharing a nice dinner and a celebratory cake together.

Instead, Jim and I visited Audrey at her home and placed her gifts on her front porch. We then walked out to the sidewalk and called her to let her know we were there. As Audrey opened the door to come outside we held up the family 'Happy Birthday' banner, torn, tattered and taped from years of use, and greeted her with big smiles and a happy birthday salutation.

In truth as we waited for Audrey to appear, I held back tears. I had a sudden moment of overwhelm as I stood next to Jim, anxiously waiting to see our daughter, and thinking about how crappy it must feel for a young person to not have a proper celebration surrounded by friends and family.

But those thoughts and feelings passed as Audrey came out, dressed for her special day with her hair nicely styled. She was upbeat and said despite the situation that she was having a good day. She told us about how her friends had visited her earlier in the day (adhering to social distancing of course), bringing gifts, and that her step-sister Kaede had sent birthday greetings. And she said that tonight she will be watching a movie with friends via Skype.

It was so good to see Audrey and I felt much better after hearing about how her big day was shaping up.

Happy Birthday Audrey - I love you!

Flattening the Curve, Day 25

Hello friends. Today is the twenty-fifth day of my mandatory leave from my work site due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and Jim and I just returned from a neighborhood walk. There was a letter that needed to be mailed and rather than placing it in the mail receptacle right outside our door, we opted for some fresh air, sunshine and exercise and walked to the local post office. Don't worry, I live in a suburban area and going for a walk means not encountering crowds.

Today was a stressful day. It didn't start out that way. In fact when I woke up I was excited because I had purchased an Easter greeting card and a lovely bouquet of fragrant pink lilies and roses as an Easter gift for my mother. I wrote about my mom here on the blog on Day 11.

Mom lives in a skilled nursing home just a few blocks from where I live and even though I have not been allowed to visit as of March 11th, due to the coronavirus epidemic, I have been allowed to hand off items I want given to my mom to someone at the door and I did just that with the flowers and greeting card this morning.

Then, this afternoon, I got a call from one of the facility administrators. Mom is fine, but I was informed that someone who was working at the home tested positive for the coronavirus. If you've followed the news at all here in the United States, the coronavirus first occurred in the US in a nursing home in Washington state. My heart sank and I almost couldn't speak. Our family has already talked about this possibility but until I got the call I had no idea how I would feel.

I was assured that the person that was infected was last in the home on March 21st and that proper guidelines, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, have been and continue to be followed and that everything is being done to prevent illness.

And yet, I worry.

I understand that in the grand scheme of things that getting news that someone is not infected (at least not infected at this point in time) with this horrible virus is nothing compared to all the death and grief happening right at this moment all over the world.

As my sister Joyce said today when we talked on the phone after getting this news, no one is untouched by this tragedy. I think what hurts the most about this situation is how each one of us wonders in the back of our minds will it be me, or will it be my husband, my wife, my boyfriend, my girlfriend, my sister, my brother, my son, my daughter, my aunt, my uncle, my grandparent, my friend, my neighbor, or my coworker that will die? Will I get that phone call? And the emotional toll it is taking on each one of us day by day is unbearable.

Let's cherish every moment we have.

Flattening the Curve, Day 17

Yesterday, day 16 of the mandatory quarantine from my work site due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, was the 20th birthday of my son Takeō. He is not a teenager anymore, and yet, stepping into the adult world, especially now, feels like a scary thing.

It was sad that our whole family could not be together for the event. Our older daughter Audrey lives across town, and because we must now practice the social distancing that is required to help our community reduce contagion from the virus, she was not able to join us. But we did talk to Audrey on the phone and Skyped with her also.

So although the circumstances were not ideal, Takeō's dad Jim and I put our best foot forward, so to speak, and honored his special day in the same manner that we always celebrate family birthdays with a homemade dinner and cake. And with his girlfriend Ellie, who lives with us, by his side, his spirit was elevated and the four of us enjoyed the food and conversation.

When it was time to blow out the 20 candles on his cake, Takeo wanted to express how it felt to celebrate a milestone birthday during this difficult time.

Friends, may all the world's young people develop their strength, resolve and courage to continue moving forward with fortitude in these uncertain times.

Take good care of yourselves and your loved ones.

Flattening the Curve, Day 11

Hello friends - do you have a loved one that lives in a care facility? I do.

My elderly mother resides in a skilled nursing unit very close to where I live. On March 11th I was informed that due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, visitors are no longer allowed until further notice.

That was a sad day. And since that moment there has been a very heavy weight on my heart. It's been difficult enough with job and family duties to make time to visit my mom, but now there are no visits of any kind allowed. Of course it is for the protection of all the residents in the home and I am grateful that the administrators made the right choice.

But I did need to deliver some new clothes to my mom that my sister bought for her and today was the first time I experienced the new method of bringing personal items to her. I called ahead of time and was instructed to ring the bell at the back entrance and someone will come and retrieve the items. So I placed the clothes in a plain paper bag, knowing that the bag will probably not be allowed into my mom's room, and stopped at the grocery store and bought a nice bouquet of flowers. I chose pink roses and pink oriental lilies. The lilies are so fragrant.

I did feel relieved to finally get the new clothing delivered to mom but I was so very sad not to be able to see her and give her a big hug and sit next to her and just be together.

And none of us know how long this will go on...

Be well family and friends. 

Flattening the Curve, Day 8

Friends, today's image is not to boast about my recent birthday nor is it to brag about how perfect my family is or how happy I am.

Rather, it's a time stamp on a moment that occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic struck my country. And, perhaps, it is a moment where I will forever look back on it as 'that time before the pandemic' and as 'the time before I was put on mandatory leave from my government job'.

We now all share this pivotal moment which has changed our daily life as we knew it. Those marks we made on our calendars to set aside time for important family events, photographs taken and shared, gifts, greeting cards, bits of wrapping paper or ribbons saved as evidence that 'this happened' - and now, we don't know where all of this is going, do we?

I have been an avid memory keeper and scrapbooker for a number of years. I know that everyone (including me and my family) is scrambling for survival. But let's not let this situation allow us to loose sight of who we are or of what is important to us.

My hope is that as we find our new rhythms and patterns of existence that we are able to take time to appreciate those precious memories of the past, and, at the very least, be able to document in some way those photographs which have the most meaning.

Even if all you have is a stack of photos that you haven't had time to do anything with, now could be the time to take a soft pencil and write the date, time, place and people appearing in them on the backside.

I was reading an article in The Atlantic last night - How the Pandemic Will End. And then I saw this morning on Twitter that President Obama was recommending it be read. It is based on science, facts and the opinions of professionals - something the world desperately needs right now.

Take care family and friends.

Sahalie and Koosah Falls

Hi friends! Three thousand years ago volcanic activity here in Oregon sent thick flows of basaltic andesite lava into the McKenzie River from nearby Mount Washington in what is now called the Willamette National Forest. That activity created two beautiful waterfalls - Sahalie and Koosah.

Sahalie Falls is a loud roaring cascade of water that plunges 100 feet straight down into the McKenzie River producing misty sprays of icy cold river water that float in the air. As James and I stood at the viewing area watching the falls and feeling droplets of cloudy water-mist on our skin, we breathed in the fresh mountain air and looked in wonder at all the green that surrounded us.

We then walked along the McKenzie River following the 2.6 mile foot trail from Sahlie Falls to Koosah Falls. The trail takes you through a conifer forest of mostly Douglas Fir, some old-growth Douglas Fir, and other species such as Hemlock and Cedar. There are a variety of mosses, ferns, wild flowers and fungi as well. Koosah Falls flows 70 feet down into a deep pool of cold water.

Of course I did some exploring with my camera as I do have a fascination with scouting out nature compositions. And because there was a slight tinge of autumn beginning to show itself I was interested in capturing the forest as it looked in that moment on that particular end-of-summer day.

In 1893 U.S. President Grover Cleveland designated the Willamette National Forest as part of the Cascade Range Forest Reserve. This official designation came about as a result of campaigns conducted by Oregonians concerned by wood choppers intent on exploiting the resources of the forest. It is said that the famous naturalist and explorer John Muir spent a considerable amount of time in Oregon exploring, lecturing and gathering information which aided his efforts in helping to establish the Cascade Range Forest Reserve. In his call for Oregonians to protect their forests, Muir is believed to have stated "The trees and their lovers will sing their praises, and generations yet unborn will rise up and call them blessed".

Blessed indeed!