Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful, blessed day!

xo
Tricia

Eye "candy"

I just wanted to share some sweet, Christmas cuteness. We will be decorating our Gingerbread house today, so I was inspired by some of these.


Thanks all for now.
xo
Tricia

For your viewing pleasure...

Here's some layouts I recently finished for Design you Life @ BPS. They are all pretty simple, but I was primarily focusing on the design principles of line and color. The journaling is a little hard to read, but if you are interested click on the image and it should open in a larger format.






I am working on a few other projects and will hopefully have something to share in a day or two.

xo
Tricia

I've got a crush...

On the magnificent photographer who took these magical, evocative, inspirational shots.






The photographers name is Tim Walker. He is a London base fashion photographer. I just love his captivating whimsical style! He had an exhibition earlier this year at London's Design Museum. He has an awesome 363 page coffee table book called Tim Walker Pictures that I am lusting after. This book is full of more than just pictures, it is full of art. Art created and captured through the lens of a photographic genius.

Special Delivery

Remember this?



Well I am happy to say that at long last I am holding this in my hands! I had no idea that one little piece of paper would be so difficult to come by. I supposed I underestimated it's popularity. I have waited so long for it that now that I have it I am not sure what to do with it. It is almost like the Holy Grail of scrapbooking paper. Maybe I should build a special shelf for it and display it for all to see. Should I hold on to it like some special cargo or actually use it? Of course I will use it, but I will definitely have a plan in mind before I start cutting it up. I am not going to hunt this little baby down again, so I am going to make darn sure I maximize the heck out of it.

That is all I really wanted to say today, just share the good news about my "special delivery"! Have a great day!
xo
Tricia

Catching up...

I have been a bad, bad blogger as of late. I keep meaning to post, I'm just not sure if I have anything worth blogging about going on.
Since my last post we celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving here at home. It was very nice and relaxing. Everyone helps to prepare a little part of our meal.
We have decorated the house for Christmas already, with the exception of the tree. That will come this weekend.
We celebrated my husbands birthday on Monday. It was very mellow and low key. The next day he left for a work "retreat" up in Tahoe.
I have been gathering items to donate for the kids' school silent auction on Friday and have successfully mailed out our Christmas cards for this year! WooHoo! I have many gifts already purchased and a check list of those left to buy.
We will be going to a performance of "The Singing Christmas Tree" this weekend. I am excited about that! I have also decided to do a December daily album inspired by Ali Edwards' project on her blog. I am enjoying the process so far.
I will be wrapping up my class at BPS with Cathy Zielske at the end of this month. It has been a wonderful class and I am so glad that I took it. ALSO, I just learned that I won a free spot in another class at BPS called "The Gift of Words". I was so excited when I found out!!!!!
So there is a SMALL glimpse into my life and why I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. I promise to try to be a bit more consistent in the future.

xo
Tricia

Scrap-tastic!

I've been a little busy! I've been scrappin' and organizing a veritable sea of photos! Over 16 years of photos. Can I just say that is a lot of photo's people? It feels very rewarding for this goal oriented girl to check this major task off her list! Now if I could tackle my closet!

Here are some of the layouts that I have done lately:
Sleepy, happy love
Sing, make a joyful noise
Stolen Moments

Today..........
Lego Lovin'
Back 2 school
Thanks for coming by!
~Tricia

Be an Angel

I came across this article and wanted to share it. I hope you enjoy it.


Beings of Light, Human Angels

"During each of our journeys, there are those inevitable moments when someone comes into our life at precisely the right time and says or does precisely the right thing. Their words or actions may help us perceive ourselves more clearly, remind us that everything will turn out for the best, help us cope, or see us through difficult situations. These people are human angels – individuals designated by the God to be of service to those in need at specific points in time. All human angels come into our lives when we least expect them and when we can most benefit from their presence.

A few of the human angels we may encounter are in professions where helping others is an everyday occurrence. But most of them are regular people, going about their daily lives until called upon to be in the right place at the right time to bring peace, joy, help, or heal someone when they most need it. You may have met a human angel in the form of a teacher who gave you a piece of advice that touched your soul and influenced your path. The person that momentarily stopped you to say hello on the street, delaying you long enough to avoid an oncoming car or a collision, is also a human angel. They may offer nothing more than a kind word or a smile, but they will offer it when you can draw the most strength and support from their simple action.Human angels give of their inner light to all who need it, coming into our lives and often changing us forever."



This poem that I have kept for many years sums it up nicely:

Be a torch or be a spark,
Be a candle in the dark.
Be a sunbeam, be a star,
Be the shining light you are.


Be salt, be light..........In short, be an Angel.

Thank you!

Today we observe and honor the 24.9 million military veterans who have served and continue to serve out country. Thank you for you service and your sacrifice.

Another scrappy post

I have lots of layouts to share again from my Cathy Zielske class at BPS. The first is a "mini book" asking the members of my family to use 5 words to describe themselves then 5 words to describe us as a family. I'd have to say my favorite response was from my husband. When describing himself he said, "bald". Ha! Nothing like stating the obvious. He totally makes me laugh.
It was a fun and easy project to complete and was interesting to hear what my family thought about themselves. It could be a neat yearly project to see how our view of ourselves changes over time.





For this one I printed up a blog entry that I wrote on our 13th wedding anniversary last year, so the journaling was already done! I just added a photo and a couple of embellishments and viola!

This one is about my son and his recent purchase of a drum kit. In fact, as I write I can hear banging, crashing and thumping. Aahhhh, deep cleansing breathe. In the top photo he is opening his wallet to show me that he is stone cold broke, but as you can see in the lower photo he is not too upset about it.

This one is for the challenge I do with my homey's. I made a color wheel in the center and placed my families photos into a circle with the journaling around the edge. I had originally put it on a different background paper but didn't like it so I changed it up a bit. I like this version much better.

This one I used some of my beloved Sassafrass paper. Isn't it lovely? I love the lone blue chickie in the bottom corner.

This is one about my son's favorite sleep shirt. He has two identical shirts and wears one of them almost every single night since last Christmas! I cannot tell you how many pictures I have of this boy where he looks like he is wearing the same darn thing!!!!!! I love these pictures because they also show a bit of his goofy side.

I used some super old photos on this one from when my son was born. He is 8 now, so it was practically a life time ago. I have never scrapped any photos from when he was this little (I started scrapping four years after he was born), so it was nice to get some of these done while I was inspired to do it.

Well that is it for my scrappy update. I actually have been doing other things too, I just haven't had time to blog them. Thanks for stopping by and spending some time here with me. :0)

More from class

I have been a busy girl! I have had some time to scrap this week and was able to finish my assignments from last week and this week. I am LOVING that I am able to scrap lots of older photos that haven't made it to a page yet!

A short list about Peyton @ 10.

Me and hubby when we got married and now. This one highlights the way we are the same since we've been married and how we've changed.

Hubby turned 40 last year and we went to San Francisco for the day. I am glad I got these photos scrapped before his next birthday in a month and a half. :0)

These pic's are from a random day a couple of years ago at the arboretum.

The family at the peak of Mt. Lassen 2 years ago. The number in the title is the elevation of the summit.

Okay, now I am off to get started on the recipe box challenge.
~Tricia

Blogging hiatus

I have not posted in quite some time! It is not because I haven't thought of it, I just don't feel like I have had the time. I have been busy in life and I have been busy scrapbooking. I took a couple of class at Scrap in Style and I am taking a 12 week course over at Big Picture Scrapbooking with Cathy Zielske. In the class I am scrapping in ways that are typically not my style, but I am learning to embrace change. I like that her style is more linear and graphic than mine tends to be and as a result often allows you to get more pictures on a page. Also, I have not done a two page layout in FOREVER, and since being in her class I have done 2. Up till now I had never done an 8 1/2 x 11 page either, now I've done 3! I am just breaking out of my "scrappin' box" big time and will hopefully be learning some great fundamentals of design along the way.
The first layout is one I did with my homeys for our Elsie Recipe Challenge Blog.


This next one is digi. It documents a very special day for my husband this last summer.


The rest of these are layouts that I have done for my class.
This one is supposed to represent why I scrapbook.

This one is some pic's of my kids playing on a playground that I played at when I was a child. These are the same toys from when I was little, nothing has changed. It made me feel a little nostalgic to see my children playing on them.

This is from an excursion we took up to Apple Hill this past weekend.

These are from our vacation this summer to San Diego. We went to Balboa Park and I was in love the architecture, so I took lots of pictures of buildings. I am glad that I was able to incorporate them onto a page.

For this one I used and old photo of my family and a quote I read on Ali E's blog. It completely captures the essence of why I love to scrapbook.
Here is the quote:

Mary Jean Iron : Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.


Thanks for reading. I hope that you are having a beautiful, "normal" day.

~Tricia

Put on your Sunday best cuz we're going to church!

Words, Deeds, Heart...

Words are a unit of language that carry meaning by definition. Though they are sometimes small, like the word "no", they can carry quite a meaning. And likewise, just because a word is multisyllabic does not mean it is any more important. Case in point, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I am a self proclaimed lover of words. I think that they are fascinating. It is intriguing to me that a single word can potentially explain a moment, a feeling, an experience.
Words are powerful. Proverbs 18:21 says, " The power of death and life are in the tongue". Likewise, "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life." (Prov. 15:4) and "The lips of the righteous feed many" (Prov. 10-21) We have the ability to build people up or tear them down just by using words. That is a tremendous amount of power just by opening our mouths.
Words set to music often evoke feelings within us that may otherwise lie dormant. Greeting cards and poems can sometime express the words that we feel, but are unable to formulate ourselves.
Our "word" is our vow, our promise that we make to someone else. By reciting words to one another and an officiant, we are able to commit ourselves to each other in marriage. A union that is meant to last a lifetime merely by the exchange of words.
Through conversation we get to know others, and through the written words on this page you are able to delve deeper into my current thought process.

Yet, words alone are all too often what you will get. Words without any action to prove them to be so. Words without action essentially are void of sincerity. Take the wedding vows I mentioned earlier, by word you are committed, but it is by your actions that you thrive in your marriage. You can tell a person that you love them, but if your actions do not align with your words, those words are empty. Your actions must be in alignment with your words. Much like James 2:17 tells us, "Faith without deeds is dead". We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, we don't have to DO anything it is a free gift (Ephesians 2:8). It is what we do once we are saved that proves our faith and shows others to whom we belong.

So where do the actions, words and faith come from? The heart! "...For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Mat 12:34). The words you speak and your actions say a lot about the current condition of your heart, for better or worse. We are talking fruit here people. Matthew 7:16 say, "You will know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?". You mean I cannot just say I'm a grape and get to be a grape? Darn it!!! If only it were that easy.


This is a video to a song by Casting Crown's called "Lifesong". I think it sums up what I am trying to say nicely.

"So may the words I say ,and the things I do make my lifesong sing Bring a smile to You!
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, let my lifesong sing to You!"

No words, just this

Scrapping some faith

I did this layout for a challenge with my Homey's. I used the lyrics from a song that I love and tucked some journaling on a note behind them.



There have been times in my life when it would have been easier to curl up in a ball and give up, but I have learned that if I choose to draw closer to the Lord during these times He becomes even more real to me.