Accidents Happen

Let me start with an apology.  I struggled a bit with Friday’s blog post (technical difficulties) and as a result, I got in a hurry and sent it out without checking for typos!  Oops!  I am usually much more diligent than that.  I did correct the errors, but for those of you who subscribe by email, I’m sorry….

We all make mistakes sometimes.  Usually it’s best to confess them and move on.  But mistakes in scrapbooking or other crafting can be harder (and sometimes easier, depending on your perspective) to deal with.  Just last week, my Aggie Mom friends and I were decorating some wooden picture frames to sell in our Parents’ Weekend Boutique booth and we accidentally decorated some of them upside down.  I had to get my dear hubby to drill new holes in the right place!  Ooops!  

I’ve made some doozies over the years.  Some I try to fix, and some turn out to be happy accidents and I leave them be.  Here’s a few I’ve dealt with over the years.  Can you spot the changes in this first layout?

After I completed this layout, my son informed me that the dates I used were wrong.

Changes made:  replaced the file folder, including all stamping and journaling.

After I completed the "Night Ops" layout, my son came home for Christmas and informed me that I had the dates all wrong.  This meant I had to retype all the computer journaling, re-stamp all the images, and hand journal the rest.  Oh, and I had to cut a new folder because I had already ruined the other side AND it had staple marks, rendering it unusable.  I couldn't remember which die cut I used, so I tried ever die and stencil I had on hand, but they were the wrong size.  It wasn't until months later that I remembered I had been at a retreat when I cut the folder, so eventually I was able to go back and cut another one to finish the page.  This turned out to be a "happy accident" because it allowed me to do a better job of stamping the "For Your Information" stamp, my handwriting looks better, and I got to re-stamp "URGENT" as well.

I don't have pictures of the original "mistakes" on the rest of these, but the captions explain what went wrong:

This was a page I made when I first started scrapbooking.  I originally made it with a
manilla background and pastel tags in an assortment of colors.  I hated the way it turned
out, so after discussing it with several "pros", I decided to make it a dichromatic page
instead.  I love it so much better now!

That mustang wasn't on the original layout.  The journaling has changed, too.
Originally, I had a cute picture of "Fred the Fish", the unofficial mascot of the
high school swim team.  Unfortunately, my daughter informed me that the
team adopted Fred the following year, and that he was not part of the 1998
Homecoming float.  To fix it, I replaced Fred with a mustang die cut and I replaced
all of the journalling.

This layout is an example of a page I did not fix.  As you can see,
when I stamped "October 3", my blocky stamps gave less than
excellent results.  I didn't have any more of the sparkly white paper,
so I just decided to leave it be.

How do you deal with your mistakes?  Are you a leave it and forget it?  Do you turn it into a Happy Accident?  Do you fix it somehow?  Do you tell others about it?  Share your scrapping mistakes in the comments…we’d love to hear how you dealt with it!

Everything's Coming Up Aggie!

You may have wondered why I haven’t been posting as much lately.  I blame my son.  He just had to go off to Texas A&M University, an institution that some may claim is a cult.  Well, sure enough, I drank that maroon Kool-aid right off the bat, so I am just as indoctrinated in that culture as he is, and I’ve been volunteering with the Denton County A&M Mothers Club ever since.

The Aggies have a funny saying, “From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it.  From the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.”  Texas A&M and the Aggie Spirit have a way of grabbing you and making you feel like you’re home…like this is the group you should have always belonged to.  You wonder why it took you so long to find it.  And if you’re lucky enough to be born into it, you can’t imagine ever belonging anywhere else.  The Aggie network is a brotherhood and sisterhood of all Aggies.  They recognize each other from across the room and they are drawn to each other to share their love for that little school on the Brazos.  It’s not so little now, boasting some 50,000 students, but it still feels like home.

One really unique feature of Texas A&M is the Aggie Moms clubs.  The first club was started in 1921 when the mother of one of the students decided there was no female influence on the young men attending what was then an all-male, all-military school.  The mom’s club started by bringing some welcome home-cooking to the cadets and staff, and has since evolved into a far-reaching organization that supports the school, provides thousands of dollars in scholarships every year, and so much more.  I’ve met so many wonderful ladies through this organization, many with children who graduated long ago.  That’s why I signed up to help with the Aggie Mom Boutique four years ago, and I’m still at it!

This past weekend was  Texas A&M’s annual Parents’ Weekend, where the school invites the Aggie families to spend a few days on campus touring classrooms, attending banquets and awards ceremonies, and, of course, spending money that helps this fine educational establishment.  One of the things parents spend money on is the Aggie Moms Boutique, a craft show to end all craft shows featuring none other than…you guessed it…everything “Aggie” that you can imagine.  Picture two huge ballrooms full of maroon – it’s hard to imagine!

As the Co-Chairs of this year’s Boutique for Denton County, my partner, Alisa, and I were responsible for filling up 5 tables with assorted products of our choice, which you can see below.  Alisa and I made some of these items, and some were purchased or were donated by other Aggie Moms from Denton county.  In our booth we had etched glassware (a huge hit!), decorated picture frames, some altered windows, hand knitted items, sterling silver charms and other jewelry, Christmas ornaments, and, of course, fliers for our Fundraiser Cruise.

So why did I share all of this with you today?  Well, for inspiration, of course!  Maybe you’ll be inspired to check out Texas A&M University for yourself.  Or maybe you can start one of these unique clubs for your school to raise money for scholarships.  You might even be inspired by some of the crafty things we’ve made – you don’t have to make them maroon!

To get an up-close peek at some of our crafty projects, visit our photo album here.

P.S.  If you or your organization is interested in participating in or organizing a fundraiser cruise, please contact me at Crafty Neighbor Travel!  I would love to help you with a cruise, or you are welcome to join ours!

Happy Easter!

I just wanted to share a quick post to show off these cute napkin folds I’m going to use on my Easter table.  The folds were inspired by this video I found posted on Facebook.

The original poster used a paper napkin, but I did mine with cloth napkins.  You can also do it with a rectangle of single-sided scrapbook paper if you just want.  Here’s a photo of the folds I made with a paper cocktail napkin (pink) and a 12” x 6” piece of single-sided (thin) scrapbook paper.

Are you doing any special crafts for Easter?  We’d love to hear about it!