Today was a GOOD day!

I finally got to scrap today! It took an hour to clean off my craft table so I could actually start, (hey, not all those legos were mine!), but it was so worth it! I put together the layout for the first class of my Year in Review series at A Memory to Scrap. Hard to believe this will be the fourth year in the series! It has been such a blessing to me in so many ways - creatively, personally, professionally. I am forever thankful to Ashley for giving me a chance to teach this hobby that I love! Speaking of the hobby I love....

I got to scrap today!! Yay! I pulled out the Bazzill Worth Remembering collection and stared at it for it a while. (No one really mentions just how much staring is involved in scrapbooking, but let me assure you, there is a LOT!) Then I punched out a few flowers and a few circles and started layering away. I just can't tell you how good it felt to be creative. It has been a busy, busy couple of months with my nose to grindstone trying to accomplish tasks for the betterment of my family and community. It seems I've had a series of weeks where there is something to do from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to bed. And, since creating a layout today for my class could be considered work, I felt so refreshed at the end of the afternoon because I got to CREATE SOMETHING!! It didn't feel like work at all!

And, to top it off? My 12 year old son said, "I can't believe the things you are able to do with that paper!"

Ah, yes.

Today was a good day!

Project Runway is Back!!

Can I just say that I LOVE this show?!!  I've watched every season and the creativity that goes on never ceases to amaze me!  While I'm still trying to decide if I like the new hosting/judging crew they have for the All-Star edition, I do know that I am in love with the challenges. 

For the first challenge this season, the returning designers had $100 to shop only at the 99 Cent Store!  The unconventional challenge is always my favorite.  In the past, they've had dresses made out of candy wrappers, Twizzlers, umbrellas, recycled peanut bags, lettuce (not very successful), corn husks (very successful), flowers, plants and paint roller trays.  Now, I am most assuredly NOT a fashion designer.  I can not sew, even though my grandmother and my mother tried to teach me several times.  I'm not really even a person who follows fashion all that much, but what I love and why I think this challenge in particular appeals to me, is that it requires the designers to look at things in a completely different way! 

As a scrapbooker and scrapbooking teacher, this completely inspires me!  It motivates me to use "my stash".  When I know what I want to use to finish a page but I don't own the exact product that I am picturing in my mind, I hear this little voice asking, "What can I use instead?"  or "How can I create the same effect with this piece of paper/ribbon/chipboard I've owned for 10 years?"  How cool is that? 

It's motivated me to make my own flowers,

use my letter stickers in a different way,

create an accent that costs more than what I wanted to spend

 and even better, it gets me using product that's just been sitting around for a while along with trying new techniques!  So, let the designer get to designing and let me get to scrapping!