Heather Ann Melzer

Merry merry!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the last week of 2009! I thought I'd pop in to wish you a merry holiday and share this year's holiday card with you. I had them printed as a 5x7 photo card at Shutterfly, with a design I created/uploaded. My brother-in-law, Jerel, took our family photo on the playhouse steps and I just love the way it turned out. A $1 Old Navy scarf sale was the inspiration for this year's photo shoot ;)

It's been a whirlwind week and I'm trying to make some sense of the disaster my house has become. (The Zhu Zhu's were a HUGE hit, by the way!). We also have Kenzie's 7th (gasp!) birthday coming up this weekend, so time to switch gears and get ready for decorating and cupcake making. At least I have a wonderful new toy to help carry cupcakes to Kenzie's class next week (wee!). My sweet hubby and kids also got me one of these cuties, thanks to a $50 off doorbuster sale at Best Buy. My 2010 posts will hopefully include a lot more live action because of it.

Kenzie and I are off for a Starbucks run, to meet Tom for lunch, and to get my eyes checked. Gotta use that health care account money before year's end (and I have a feeling my eyes have gotten worse since last November - ugh).

Talk to you soon!

Turkey eve

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Is everybody ready? Tom and I woke up today feeling our worst yet. My throat is 95% closed and my head feels 10 feet thick - ugggh. And we're going on 4 days with no sun - gotta love it! One of these days I'm gonna break down and get one of these. One of these days.

Thank goodness my sister is hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow. We just have to bring a few things: my favorite cocktail meatballs (that I lost the recipe for and had to spend the last 1/2 hour looking for it and decided to make a recipe page for it now so I don't lose it again), pumpkin muffins (with a from-scratch recipe I've been dying to try), and a fruit platter to go with my sister's strawberry fruit dip (equal parts strawberry cream cheese and marshmallow fluff) that the kids go crazy over.

I'm planning on running around in the morning getting everyone ready and cooking while Tom's out playing football, and then I'm going to find a nice spot on my sister's couch, splurge on yummy turkey day food, and try not to collapse on top of the sale papers - lol!  I don't think I'll be able to take Nyquil tomorrow night or I might miss my 4am Black Friday wake up call.  Eek!

DSD Eve

On the Eve of Digital Scrapbooking Day, I took some time for myself and scrapped one of my favorite recent pics of Jack with some new goodies. This page was made with my friend Gina's new Frightfully Fun Kit and a new template from my buddy Jen, which comes out tomorrow (although you can enter to win it today!).

Speaking of Gina, I'm hard at work on our 2010 8.5x11 Calendar Kit, as well as a ton of other goodies (like Desk Calendars, calendar toppers, and card/newsletter templates). The heat is on! I hope to have some things to share tomorrow :)

Scrap rules

I had a great question from Kim the other day and wanted to address it. She said that she feels like her scrapbook pages look cluttered because she feels the need to use all of her pictures instead of just choosing a few good ones, and wanted to know what I did with all of my other pictures. This one made me think - in a good way, and so I wanted to share some thoughts.

Kim's question made me think about 3 things: organization, structure, and rules. All of my photos are on my computer's hard drive or one of my external drives and then I back them up to DVD once/month by month. When I had just one kid and one job, scrapping every little thing she did was doable, now that just isn't possible. And let's face it, the second you tell yourself that you have to scrap every little thing that happens, the hobby is no longer a hobby - it's a job. And we don't need anymore of those, do we?

I do feel obligated to tell my family's story - I am a scrapbooker afterall. And it does stress me out that I haven't scrapped all of the funny, cute, silly, milestone-ish things that have happened. BUT, I also feel good about the pages that I have done, and the memories that I have captured, because it's more than I have of myself as a child, and I think the kids will appreciate what I have.

Because I have a crazy organizational mind, I do feel the need to put some structure around how I scrap. Although it's become looser and looser as my family has grown and time has dwindled. In general, I try to include journaling on all of my pages. When Kenzie was a baby and I was cranking out a layout/day, I think it was fine to make layouts with nothing more than a cute pic and a title or quote, but now that I scrap much less, I feel like I should make every layout count, so they almost always include some detail about what's happening. Now, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't allow myself to scrap a cute pic just for the sake of scrapping it, or looking for a pic that goes with a cute kit just because I feel like scrapping with it (gasp!). I scrap because I enjoy it, and "rules" are not something I think we should impart on our leisure-time activities. Who's with me?!

So, when it comes to what pictures I include on my pages, I usually pick the ones that relate to the story I'm telling and that are good shots (unless I just can't bear to leave one out that didn't turn out as well as I hoped). The rest will be on a CD/DVD, or whatever medium will stand the test of time down the road. Event layouts are the hardest for me to narrow my pics on, so I'll usually include a ton and scrap them in some kind of grid style or grab one of my quick fills. I always try to leave space for a title, journaling, a few cute embellishments, pics, and some breathing room.

TIP!  The smaller your pics are, the more breathing room your layout will have, which will make them feel less cluttered. A 12x12 canvas is a big space and what may look small on your screen will be much bigger when printed full-size.

Here are some of my favorite pic-heavy layouts...

   

 

 

Whew!

She loved it.

Of course she loved it. She made an new friend, learned the rules (which were the most exciting part of the day for her), and played on the very cool playground. The most detail I got about the day was the description of the uneven monkey bars and how she made it ALL the way across them - lol. She was so excited to see me when I picked her up, and even more excited to get on the school bus this morning. Tom left a little later this morning so we could all watch her get on the bus. Jack was screaming and jumping up and down as the bus pulled up (after throwing a fit because he was too little to ride it). She was beaming as the bus pulled away and found a seat next to her friend from across the street, so all was good.

I'm dying to see how much of her lunch she actually eats. I never thought it would be possible that my child could be a pickier eater than I am, but it's happened. We finally settled on PB&J (without crust), chips, a juice box (because she won't drink milk), strawberries in a thermos (goodness), and some sugar snap peas. I have a feeling she's going to come home starving.

And I wonder how long before she's labeled "class clown"?

Katie's been feeling a little lost with all the 'Kenzie new school hoopla', so I'm going to take a mini road trip to meet her and Tom for lunch today. We're taking her to our favorite Chinese restaurant and I'm hoping she doesn't devour an entire bottle of soy sauce while we're there. She and Jack - much less picky than their older sibling.

I'd love to find a few minutes to scrap Kenzie's bus picks with Gina's new kit, too. Almost everything on the top layout is from it - those buses are so adorable.  The flower doodle is a part of a little something I'm hoping to have up on my site today :)

Photo Book Giveaway

Our friends at Shutterfly have just come out with some very cool Soft Cover Photo Books and have donated some for me to giveaway - thanks, Shutterfly! 

The new photo books come in a variety of sizes and are priced starting at just $12.99 for a 20 page book (and only $10.39 with their current 20% off promotion!).  I think these would make great gifts or fun little event albums for kids.  They've also come out with a new hard cover option for their 8x11 hard cover books.

Up for grabs are codes for the following:

(2) 5x7 soft cover photo books

(2) 7x9 soft cover photo books

(2) 8x8 soft cover photo books

(2) 8x11 hard cover photo books

Just leave a comment on this post by 8am tomorrow (Thursday) morning to enter!  One comment per person - winners will be verified.  I'll do a random drawing tomorrow morning and post the winners soon after.

Good luck! :)

August already?

That was entirely too much fun. Nothing motivates me more than new scrap goodies (and a cute pic, of course). 

It was Tom's birthday yesterday, so I missed posting. His birthday stresses me out like nothing else. He hates cake (any sweets at all, actually) and really doesn't need or want anything. He mentioned that he needed a new coffee mug for work, so I got all pumped up to make him a custom one, and then he said he wanted something plain. Ok, I do not do plain. So, I decorated a Starbucks tumbler for him and told him to use it on the weekends. Then I went out and bought an ice cream cake - hmph. Sometimes I wonder how we ever got together in the first place. How did I end up with someone that doesn't like cake??  Maybe that's a good thing, I don't need anyone encouraging that already crazed obsession of mine.

The girls made him all kinds of goodies at school, including this bear from Kenzie (that she laughed and told him he had to sleep with - lol!) They are so goofy, those kids.

      

My crazy week continues. Work is so stressful right now and my creative juices are overflowing, which makes it even more difficult for me to get the things done that I need to. My brain is telling me to get through it, and then I have fabric and beads and my computer screaming at me for attention. I already devoted enough time to that topic this week, though. Moving on!

It's going to be a million degrees here this weekend, so we're hoping to get to the waterpark before it closes and we realize we bought season passes for one 2.5 hour visit (yikes). I also have huge plans for new jewelry and sewing goodies for my Etsy shop and to finish some kits and 2010 calendars (that time already?!!). I truly cannot believe it's August already. I'm already stressing about xmas - somebody stop me.

Thanks, coach

The kids' t-ball season came to an end last week and I wanted to do something to recognize the coaches.  I had all kinds of ideas in mind, but in the end I went with what I know and love and put together a little hybrid scrapbook page. 

I took tons of pictures this season, so I picked 2 of my favorites of the team in a huddle and printed them on a piece of 12x12 photo cardstock with a title, simple elements, and a poem.  While the kids were waiting in line to bat, I had each of them sign their name in the space I left in the bottom corner and then I framed it in a 12x12 black frame from Michaels. 

Here's the digital page (cute baseball is from Dani's MVP kit):

The poem reads:

You freely gave of your time and talent
to teach us how to play.
With patience and encouragement
you guided us each day.
You taught us all the basics
and made it so much fun.
That’s why we all agree
that as Coach you’re #1!

I'm so proud of Kenzie for being so enthusiastic about playing.  She really enjoyed going to the games and had her coaches laughing out loud at her antics.  She had to be reminded many times each game that the baseball field wasn't a sandbox and she did a little more dancing in the batter's box than her coaches would have liked, but they were very patient with her and told Tom and I that she has a ton of natural athletic ability, which was really fun to hear.  We just have to tune that focus of hers and she'll be ready for anything ;)

Here's a pic of Devin and Kenzie with their trophies (that Kenzie promptly dropped on the ground when popsicles were being handed out - lol!)

Creativity abounds

What a creative day I had today - boy, that feels good :)

First I did some scrapping.  Gina's June Idea Notebook has some real cuteness inside - lots of variety for scrapping summer pics and beyond.  I adore the orange slice paper and the cool surfboard.  And what scrapper wouldn't love that cute camera paper :)  You can pick it up now for a steal.

Then, my little man turns 2 tomorrow, so I sewed him a cute little shirt to wear to school...

 

All Tom had to say was that it was his last night as a 1 yr old and I went into a hug/kiss frenzy until Jack finally pushed me away and practically begged to be put in bed - lol.  The girls helped me make a dirt cake for Jack's school party tomorrow.  Crushed Oreos and Gummi Worms - yuck, er YUM.  I poked holes in the cake with a straw and then pushed the worms in, which worked great...

I have to go downtown for half the day tomorrow, so I'm going to try to make it to his birthday party at school in the afternoon.  Then I have to bring the girls home with me so that we can make it to Kenzie's 5:30 t-ball game, and then we need to start prepping for Jack's birthday party on Saturday (just our families) and hopefully start the playground project.  Although rain is in the forecast again, so who knows what we'll actually accomplish.  It's been 60-70 degrees for the last month and we've had more rain than I ever remember this time of year.  I haven't had to water my flowers much, which is nice, and the grass is a lovely shade of green, but the kids are dying to put on their bathing suits and it's nowhere near warm enough for that.  I know it will probably shoot straight to 100 degrees overnight, so I really should stop complaining.

Thanks for your sweet comments on our trip pics.  I ended up losing 9 lbs. before we left and then gaining 4 back on the trip (ha!).  I'm almost back to where I was when we left, but it's hard.  Knowing I was going to be in a bathing suit all week was great motivation -  even more reason to book another trip now!  Ha ha.  I really just cut down on my usual enormous portion sizes and cut out sweets (which can sometimes be half of my daily intake).  Most days I had a granola bar for breakfast, a turkey sandwich with a handful of Baked Lays for lunch, and a Lean Cuisine for dinner.  I also allowed myself a cappuccino/day and a 100 calorie snack in the afternoon.  It wasn't much, but then I usually have close to 0 activity each day, so I shouldn't need much.  I'd still love to lose another 10, but I don't know if my body is even capable of that.  I think my body wants to be a size 10+ no matter what I do (or at least my bottom half does) - we won't even get into the 2 size difference between my upper and lower halves - ughhh.

I still have so many other pics to share of Kenzie's graduation, the surprise grad party, t-ball snacks, a movie night.  I'll be in my office all next week, so I'll be ready to share all kinds of stuff (and hopefully start creating again).  Until then!

Wanted

I've been meaning to get 3 of these to start the kids school year albums, and now that I'm motivated to order, they're impossible to find because they've been discontinued.  I'm looking for 3 black leather 12x12 sized ones.  Anyone know of a site/store that might still have some?  I really need to get Kenzie's kindergarten year done and do the pre-K years for all of them. 

Hoping someone is in the know! :)