AVATAR MOVIE

CHECK OUT the link to order this movie through Amazon if you are as excited as I am to see it. I wasn't able to see it in theaters so looking forward to an at home movie night soon :)

Scrapbooking Trends... We've Come a Long Way!!!

When I first began scrapbooking, in the mid 90's, I remember using white pages with small amounts of colored paper and lots of colorful markers and stickers. The trends at that time focused on making your photo a different shape - I had many templates that I could place over my photo and using a special photo pencil, I would trace the shape and using a scissor, I'd crop the photo to create the look I wanted. Since I was a beginning scrapbooker, I didn't always leave enough background on the picture and I'd end up with a face shot in the middle of a star shape. Then using some colored paper, I'd cut out a few more shapes and add them to my layout. Eventually it seemed to come together and I'd paste everything on to the top of my white background, sit back, and smile at how proud I was of my creation. Now I look at those albums, and even though I could possible redesign some of the pages, at least half of the photo's are cropped beyond repair, and they are not as pleasing to the eye either. The only positive part of these novice creations are being able to see how far we've come with scrapbooking. Thankfully we can now rely on electronic cutting machines to create professional looking designs for our layouts. I recommend the Cricut Expressions as it's design capabilities are endless! Click here to view this machine on Amazon.

Expression Features that makes this machine SUPERIOR:
Cuts 1/4" - 23.5 inches (most machines cut from 1/2" and at 1/2" increments - this is 1/8" increments - and about 7" max)

Cartridges - When on sale, they are worth every dollar for all the unique and intricut designs you can create. They also come in licensed designs - Disney characters, Nick Jr. characters, and more

Each cartridge seems to hold a large quantity of options and information.

Variety of layering options available

Design is clean, tight and slim, it's very light and portable
You can let it stand alone -- while it finishes cutting... you can be making the kids their dinner!

You will love how this machine can also be used for other projects. Kids school projects, greeting cards, wedding invitations, tags, vinyl wall lettering, bulletin boards, create templates/stencils to use for etching, and so many more fun ideas.

Now when I look at the adorable layouts in my recent albums, I love how pleasing they are to the eye and I'm thankful for all the advancements in technology that are available to help me create beautiful memories for the moments in time that are special to me.

Reading Bedtime Stories

One of my favorite bedtime rituals is reading a book to my daughter as we get ready to tuck her into bed. She loves getting to pick out the story we'll read. She has her favorites, that we both have mostly memorized, but there are some that she picks periodically that are just as enjoyable for her. We've found some of the best books for her through Amazon.com -- They have a wonderful selection of children's books with reveiws that you can use to help you decide what topics and writing style may best fit your child's interest. We have found that books illustrated by Jane Chapman for our daughter are always in her 'favorite' picks for storytime. We also found that some books can be therapuetic for her. After being hospitalized, she needed a way to cope with that experience. We purchased "Bear Feels Sick" by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. In this book, lovable characters owl, wren, hare, and others gather round to take care of their sick friend Bear. When he starts feeling better, he returns the favor by taking care of his dear friends. The pleasant rhyme from line to line engages the listener and each page is beautiful and whimsically drawn in this heartwarming tale making it enjoyable for even the reader (I've lost track of how many times I've read this book and I still enjoy reading it to her).

This book she simple adores, and continues to read as a tool to help her with illness and seems to encourage compassion towards others who become ill also. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a young child - I'm sure it will become one of their favorites to read!

I ventured out today, which for me, is an accomplishment in itself. We went to the mall and came across a store called Justice for Girls. My daughter, who is five, fell in love with it immediately. She picked out a few cute tee's and a few pairs of shorts. Of course, she also had to check out all the fun toys they had on display... which for me, as a parent, wasn't exactly thrilling as I spent much of the time telling her 'no' to all the thingy-ma-bobs she asked to have. For the most part, the store was well organized and the associates were very pleasant and helpful. I think some of the outfits may be a more suited to an older child, but they seemed to do a pretty good job of aiming the tween market. Maybe my daughter is just a bit ahead of her age group for fashion, or just simply a princess at heart, either way, we definitely had fun picking out some fun new clothes for the coming summer months!

SEW MANY IDEAS

April, 2010 - Today is my first adventure in blogging! I have no idea what I am going to blog about at this point, but have titled my blog "Sew Many Ideas" as I love to sew and will surely write about some of my designs from time to time. So if you sew and have any creative projects to share with me, please do, as I'm alway up for new and trendy ideas as they develop.