Hooray! LOAD is Over!

Whew!  I really do love Layout a Day, but boy am I ever glad when it’s over!  LOAD 513 could not have happened at a worse time for me due to all the events going on this spring.  As a result, I got behind for the first time ever.  That really frustrated me, because I’ve always somehow managed to get that layout done every single day, one way or another.  I even managed to keep up through the retreat and the National Scrapbook Day event at Dallas Crafters Marathon.  But the day I came home from the retreat, I was just so exhausted that there was no way I could get a page done.  Then, later in the week, I got busy with work, and it just snowballed from there.  Here it is, June 8, and I am finally working on the very last page of LOAD 513 that should have been finished 8 days ago!

You might ask me why I do LOAD.  I know a lot of people who say they would never do it because they can’t do a page every day.  And it’s true, a lot of people don’t.  That’s okay, too.  I do it because I like to challenge myself, and the daily prompts inspire me to do pages that I never would have thought of otherwise.  Plus, I do get more scrapbook pages done during LOAD than at any other time of the year.

For LOAD 513, we actually had a prompt one day that asked us, “Why?”  Here’s my answer:

Digital layout made using elements from Shabby Princess “Promise” and “Sun Porch by Amy Teets.

The Grocery Game

Just dropping in with a quick update on National Scrapbook Day 2013.  Everything was going great today until we had a major mishap with the plumbing.  Luckily, it was at the back of the building in a storeroom, so no one’s crafting supplies were damaged, but it did leave us unable to use the toilets or run water for a while, and poor Heather and I did a lot of mopping and cleaning. 

On the up-side, I completed my LOAD challenge for the day and I am about 2/3 done with the perpetual calendar I sold online last week.  I’m hoping to finish it up tomorrow.  I don’t have any pictures of it in progress, but here is my LOAD challenge for May 5.  The theme was “Greed”, which made me think of my pantry that I keep full of whatever I can buy each week using the list I get from "The Grocery Game" .

 P. S. If you visit the Grocery Game website and you decide to sign up, please tell them I sent you!  You can give them the following address:  cindym3ATtxDOTrrDOTcom (replace the AT and DOT to make it work).

May the Fourth Be with You!

You have to forgive me for being a little late posting today.  I spent my evening at the Dallas Crafters Marathon, celebrating National Scrapbook Day, and because there was so much going on and so many old friends that I haven’t seen in a very long time, I didn’t get much done.  I had to complete my LOAD project, and what should have taken one hour wound up taking four.  I really like the end result, though.  What do you think?

The theme this year is “May the Fourth Be with You”, and when we went to dinner last night, we saw this wonderful Yoda drawing on the menu board.

I’m super excited about this National Scrapbook Day crop.  There are so many good friends here and we are having a great time.  One of these days I might actually manage to attend one as a participant instead of a worker!

Under the Knife

I’m just dropping in to pop out a quick blog post before packing for my National Scrapbook Day weekend with the Dallas Crafters Marathon.  I’m getting really excited about a whole weekend of cropping.  I really do get excited any time I can go crop away from home, and it’s always extra special to do it for a whole weekend with some really awesome ladies.  If you are in the Dallas area (or even if you’re not) check them out at DallasCraftersMarathon.com.  They generally meet once per month near the end of the month, but the April meet-up was moved one week later to take advantage of scrapbooker’s favorite holiday.

I’m a little bit disappointed that I won’t get to work on much of my own personal stuff this weekend.  I had planned to dig into one of my bigger scrapbooking projects like some of my cruise pages, but as it turned out, I got an order for one of my perpetual calendars last week, so I decided my time would more wisely be spent completing that so I can get it shipped out soon.  Besides, I have another weekend coming up when I go on retreat later this month.  So for this weekend, I’ll be finishing up the calendar, and if I complete that, I decided I would start on a Texas A&M calendar that I’ll donate to my Aggie Mom’s Club.  I’ve been meaning to make one for a long time, and this will be a good opportunity.

I will get to do at least some personal scrapbooking this weekend, too.  Since LOAD 513 is going on, I’ll need to complete a layout each day while I’m there.  I really don’t want to drag all my stuff with me just in case I might need it for one page, so I decided the next few layouts I do will have to be digital ones.  And as it just so happens, today’s layout is also digital because I didn't really know what I was going to do with the prompt “Knife” until 10:00 pm and I didn’t have any photos printed or anything. 

I really do like throwing an occasional digital page in with my other scrapbooking.  It adds interest to the book, and it allows me to try out some things that I just can’t do with paper.  I especially liked working with digital tonight, because I was in a hurry and I can see all my paper and supplies at a glance, and it’s very easy to put something down on the page and then remove it if I don’t like it.  It’s also nice to be able to resize something that’s just a little too big or too small. Best of all, the supply is not wasted because I used it, and I can use the same element over and over again in a lot of different ways.

Well, that's it for today.  I'll try to keep up with the posts over the weekend and hopefully I'll get to share with you some pictures of our National Scrapbook Day celebrations!

Elements of this layout were designed by Carrie Stephens, www.FishScraps.com, and from the Teal Tranquility collection at www.ComputerScrapbook.com.

Four Great Ways to Get Photo Prints

In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been counting down to the New Year with our blog titles.  Today I want to tell you about some deals on photo prints that you might not have thought about.

1. FREE Prints:  Christen discovered this one a while back.  Did you know you can trade in your Coke Rewards points for free prints from Shutterfly?  Just go to MyCokeRewards.com to set up your account and start collecting points.  50 points will get you a voucher for 50 prints.  But hurry, this offer ends 1/31/13.
   
2. QUICK Prints:  CVS Photo has a special running through 12/29/12 for inexpensive prints in a hurry.  Order a minimum of 75 prints for in-store pick-up and get them for just 10¢ each.  Use promo code PRINTS10 when ordering.
   
3. CHEAP Prints:  Snapfish is offering  Penny Prints again!  Get 99 Prints for 99¢ through 1/1/13.  Use the code NEWYEAR13 at checkout.  Shipping and handling are extra.
   
4. LARGE Prints:  I was all set to tell you about a website I use for printing large-format pictures (think 12x12) and digital layouts.  It was the only company I knew of that printed 12x12 photos at a reasonable price.  Alas, when I went to the website to look up pricing – they’ve gone out of business.  But have no fear beacause then I found Persnickety Prints!  They are currently running a special on 12x12 prints for just $1.99 and they have some free digital scrapbooking downloads, too!

Now I think I’ll see about getting some of these digital layouts printed for my scrapbook!